Defying Equilibrium: Book II

Chapter 20: Two paths intersect

Chase and Dakora took a break to a stream, to allow their horse a chance to drink and rest. They had been riding all through the day and night, although Dakora wasn't sure what was so urgently calling them back to the Malachi fortress. She wasn't going to complain, though. In fact, the two barely spoke at all. The messenger boy parted ways with them soon after they left, to pursue other errands, so it was only the two of them now.

Dakora liked it. Before Ahmed had called for her help on this expedition, she had been living on her own in the woods. She spent her days hunting and exploring, and it was true when Ahmed said that no one knew these lands better than her. But as much as she liked the freedom of living on her own, she missed having friends.

Not that Chase was the world's friendliest person, exactly. In fact, he barely spoke to her at all unless he had to. Even so, she enjoyed his company.

She bent down and washed her face in the stream. The horse that they were riding was a large, piebald stallion, and its even temper reminded her a lot of her previous horse, Blizzard. She missed that horse. He was a good mount, trustworthy and strong. In the last village they had passed through before arriving at the forges, Ahmed had paid a stable boy to wait a day before following their trail and then to take the horses back to the town. She hoped that the stable boy had been an honest one, and had not simply sold the horses for a tidy profit. If they were still in the town, then Ahmed could pick them up later. The thought of seeing her horse again brought a smile to her face.

"Something funny?" Chase caught her smiling, and looked at her quizzically.

She shook her head. "No, just thinking. Does your horse have a name?"

He walked over and stroked the horse's muzzle. "Yes, his name is Shinrei."

"Shinrei?" She repeated, and smiled. "It suits him. Does it mean something?"

Chase nodded. "Back before the Rule of Equilibrium unified the divided lands, many people spoke a variety of different languages. The people of the mountain spoke one language, the people of the coast spoke another, and so on. The Malachi are the only people who keep records of all of these languages. We call it the old tongue, the old language that is still spoken only by both the Line of Cain and the Malachi. In that language, Shinrei means 'strong one'." He cocked his head at her. "Although, I'm surprised you didn't know this, with a name like yours."

"A name like mine?" She wasn't sure what he meant.

"Dakora. In the old tongue, it is the word for fire or flame."

She grinned. "It's a fitting name then. I don't think my parents knew the old tongue though, so it must be a coincidence. And your name? Does that mean anything?"

He shook his head. "No, not in any language I know. I'm just Chase." Suddenly, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to the ground. "Get down," he hissed. "We're not alone."

She did as he said, and they crouched together behind a large tree. Moments later, Dakora heard two voices, one male and one female, accompanied by the sound of footsteps and breaking leaves. The voices were heading straight for them, seemingly unaware that Dakora and Chase were there.

Chase frowned. One of the voices seemed extremely familiar. He couldn't place it though. The female voice was low, mellow-sounding, soft. It stirred something in his memory, but he didn't know what.

A male voice. "Raven, you do know where we are going, right? I mean we're not just blindly bashing through woodland here, are we? Because I once heard this awful story about a boy getting lost in the woods, and that gave me nightmares for weeks."

A snort. "How old are you, six?"

"And a half," the male voice laughed. "Seriously though. You do know where we are going?"