Cinderella vs. Happily Ever After

Chapter 10

            Valerie stretched her arms as high as she could over her head while she stood on her tiptoes. Despite the stretching she’d done before going to bed, on Isaac’s orders, sleeping on the ground hadn’t done much to help her sore body. Still, she was relieved to be out of her fat costume. She turned to look at the egg, which sat in the ashes of their fire, wrapped in yesterday’s clothes and encircled with branches to hide it from view. She sent a quick general prayer that the egg hatched safely before picking up her backpack.

            Isaac was already standing at the top of the bank, waiting for her. She took one last look at the egg and waved, saying “Goodbye Eggbert!”

            “I can’t believe you named it,” he said, shaking his head but smiling.

            “He needed a name and since I don’t know what it is, Eggbert will have to do. I mean imagine giving a griffin or a harpy a dragon name?”

            “We ate the same instant noodles for breakfast so how are you this energetic?” He said before sliding down the bank.

            She followed suit. “Because I’m a morning person and you’re not.”

            “No, it’s that you’re feeling smug about the damn egg. Don’t even pretend you’re not, I know you.”

            Valerie grinned at him. “What can I say? I like to win.”

            He chuckled. “Don’t I know it. Just channel all of that competitiveness towards finding the army. Like a game of hide and seek.”

            “No. I’m going to channel it towards beating every person who gets between me and Darren into a smear on the ground. And then doing the same to him,” She said, shifting her backpack a little higher.

            “Your homicidal tendencies are showing again sweetie. You’re going to have to work harder if you want people to believe you’re sane.”

            She snorted. “We’re walking around an unknown forest that’s probably filled with the enemy, looking for allies who may or may not actually be there. We’re doing this alone when I’m the number one person everyone is looking for. We’re doing all of this so we can have an army of our own so we can finish this war. Not only is what we’re doing already insane, I think homicidal tendencies are going to be a big help in getting us through this.”

            Isaac thought about it for a moment, then ruffled her hair, smiling. “You’re right about that. Now, less talking more walking. We have a lot of ground to cover, especially if we want to find anyone tonight. And sadly, since we’ll be in the area filled with enemy patrols, there will be no more fires at night.”

            Val shrugged. “That’s fine. Whatever we have to do.”

            They continued in silence for a while, finally getting back to the road before the sun had gotten even halfway to its zenith. Amid birdsong and rustling leaves they retraced their steps until the came to the fork that led to the east. Only the wooden sign, worn with age and weather, let them know that this was heading the right way. The forest looked identical.

            “How long before we have to get off the road?” Valerie asked quietly when they were well away from the northern road.

            “We should get off around noon. We’ll follow the road from the woods for a while longer than move straight into the heart of the woods. You said you had an idea of where the camp was?”

            She nodded. “Griffson showed us all the map. He said it was a day and a half’s march from Merritty to the camp so we probably won’t hit it until the tomorrow some time. And that’s if we don’t get lost first.”

            “Or captured by the enemy,” Isaac reminded her cheerfully.

            “There is something wrong with your head.”

            “I know, I hang out with you.”

            She made a face. “Don’t think I won’t hit you.”

            “You only say that because you can’t think of a comeback. Which means I win,” he said, grinning.

            She lifted her nose in the air and walked off, not looking at him. Isaac’s grin widened as he followed behind her. They hadn’t gone far when Valerie noticed something lying in the middle of the road. She hurried her steps and as they got closer, she realized it was a pile of horse droppings. She turned to look at Isaac, whose face had lost its smile.

            “Patrol?” she whispered.

            He nodded. “Probably. I wish we could tell how long ago they were here.”

            “There’s one way,” she said, leaning over and picking up one of the sticks that littered the ground. “But I’m using a stick and not my hands because this isn’t one of my books and that shit, literally, will smell.”

            Standing over the pile of horse refuse, she poked it with her stick, noting that the dung was still soft on the inside. When she looked at Isaac he grabbed her arm and pulled her off the road with him. He didn’t need her to say anything. The sudden paleness of her face couple with her wide, darting eyes told him everything.

            They crashed through the underbrush for over an hour before either one calmed down enough to speak. “About how long do you guess?” Isaac finally said as he helped Valerie over a fallen trunk.

            “An hour I think. But please remember I’m going from the fantasy books I’ve read and who knows how accurate they are,” she replied, scrabbling over the log while he heaved her up.

            “Well we’re probably far enough away they won’t find us.”

            “Yeah but that’s because we don’t know where we are. We lost the road a long time ago,” she said, panting slightly on the other side of the giant tree.

            Isaac shrugged. “We’re in the eastern woods. That’s where the survivors are supposed to be. I say we make a base count and go about searching for them logically, in sections. I’m sure we’ll find the road or a trail at some point if we do that. Now, I think it would be best if we followed this trunk to its roots. You can see some of the leaves at the crown and if we go to the bottom, we’ll have shelter from one side. And it’ll have knocked out any underbrush and other trees when it fell so we’ll have a clear area.”

             She shifted her backpack up, rolling her shoulders to try and relieve some of the soreness. “You’re the boy scout. I’ll follow you.”

            They followed the trunk, which was longer than they thought, to where its roots flared out, still holding onto a large chunk of earth. They rounded the edge and found the place was half circled by thick pines. They also found that they weren’t the only ones to think that it was the perfect place to camp, the ringed fire pit, the cloak propped up into crude shelters and the battered pot beside the pit screaming the presence of others.

            Valerie’s hand had only brushed the tip of her hilt when she felt a tiny pinprick against her neck. “Don’t move,” said a female voice, low and harsh.