The Journey of Vengeance

Chapter 7

After riding non-stop for half an hour we stopped at a lovely tree, in the middle of a plain field. It wasn't because we were tired, I had ridden a few times when I was younger with my father and I was pretty used to it. Blake was the son of the Royal Recruit Master so of course he was used to riding a horse. No, we stopped to discuss our strategy and what we were going to do now.

"So, we're here... And there is the castle..." Blake murmured.

He had grabbed a map of Alysia and now we were investigating it. Well maybe not we... I wasn't much of a "map-investigator".

"Where do you want to go?" He suddenly said.

I knew where I wanted to go. This tragedy all started when my father went to that old lady in the mountains. So that's exactly where I will be going.

"Just behind the mountains lies a small village. That's where I want to go." I said firmly.

"Okay, then we must not wait too long, it's going to be a long ride." He answered.

"That's a good idea. Maybe, while we're riding, I should tell you why we're going there." I said.

And he nodded.

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"...And so I decided that the old lady has to have some answers." I finished.

I was scared what he might think of me. I mean, I kind of just told him that I come from a magical family that only exists in fairy tales and that my father believed the story of an old woman and that that's the reason that he is dead. When he finally spoke I closed my eyes for a second. Keep calm, Laide. Everything is going to be all right. You can always travel alone. You will survive. I kept saying these things to myself, but one little voice kept saying: No, you won't survive on your own. He's the only thing you have left. My thoughts were stopped abruptly by his voice.

"I always knew that you were special." Was all that he said.

I was perplexed.

"Look, Adelaide. I don't know how this can be, if it's even true or even if I should believe you. But I know one thing for sure, and that is that I believe in you and that is all that matters." He said.

I didn't respond immediately. I looked at him and said: "Thank you, Blake. I'm so lucky to have your trust. I really am."

And with that being said we proceeded our journey.

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The first sight we had of the village was the smoke that was rising behind the mountains. I pointed it out to Blake and a certain worry was visible in his eyes. He looked at me and said: "This isn't regularly smoke of chimneys. This black smoke is something else and I'm not sure what it is."

"What do you think it is?" I said, curiously.

"Fire. And not a little fireplace that's burning brightly." He said while starting to pace and quickly after that, to gallop.

I did the same and after not that long we were on the top of the mountain ridge that had separated us from the village until now. It was horrible. The black smoke was everywhere and I saw people screaming and running all over the place. A few had been lucky and they were running to the mountain in front of us on the other side of the village.

We galloped down towards the village and we didn't stop. I had grabbed a piece of clothing and had ripped a piece of fabric of it in a rectangular shape. While I knotted it around my head in front of my mouth, Blake did the same. It wouldn't help much against the filthy smoke, but it would suffice.

When we were almost reaching the village we slowed down. It was difficult to see much with all the smoke but I tried hard and with sufficient effort I could see enough.

"Did your father tell you anything about the whereabouts of this woman?" Blake yelled, trying to reach me over the noises that surrounded us.

"No, only that she was quite old." I yelled back. And with a nod he carried on.

We looked everywhere where we could and eventually I gave up.

"How will we ever find her if we're not even sure that she's even here?! If she's even alive?!" I yelled at Blake. I didn't mean to be so rude to him but he was the only thing in sight where I could abreact my anger, so I didn't have much choice.

"Calm down, Adelaide. We will find her!" Blake said to me, and to prove this to me he kept moving, looking through the ashes and smoke.

I wasn't pleased with Blake right now. We could die here. Right now. The perpetrators who had done this could come back and then the odds wouldn't exactly be in our favours. I've never been the girl who thought of the perks first and then the disadvantages. No, I wasn't really such an optimist. So I didn't come to my mind that this could've just been a bonfire gone wrong. Or some cooking that took a wrong turn. No, that never popped into my mind and unfortunately it didn't make me feel comfortable whatsoever.

Suddenly Blake stopped right in the middle of the road. He raised his index finger in a shushing-gesture. But I acted like I hadn't noticed and yelled: "What are you doing, you moron!" I had started to become very annoyed with him and I had no intention to not let him notice.

"Shh." He just said.

"'Shh'?! Are you out of your-"

"I said 'shh', Adelaide!" He yelled at me.

Now I was quite impressed and almost scared. It didn't often happen that Blake lost his temper. Not with me anyway.

"Sorry, Adelaide. I didn't mean it like that. But I hear something." He said while looking to his right. I did the same, but all I saw was a little alley that lead to nowhere. He, apparently, didn't see the same.

"Blake," I said, "Are you allright?" The worry clearly audible in my voice.

"Yes, yes... Yes, I am..." He said, but it seemed like he wasn't there with his mind. It looked like he was somewhere else far away. It was worrying.

He dismounted of his horse and walked towards the alley. I did the same and followed him quickly. He walked slowly and kept stopping, and carrying on again. And then, he stopped, turned to his left and now I saw it too. There was a little doorway in front of us. I was perplexed that Blake had found this but I didn't think about it too much.

We entered a small room, perhaps the living room and the kitchen. I couldn't really clarify where we exactly were because of the great amount of smoke that happened to be here.

I had trouble with breathing and looking, because of the tears that had formed in my eyes as a product of the filthy smoke.

Just when I was about to pull Blake back out of the doorway, he hurried forward and then I saw it too. In the corner lay a small woman. She fitted the description, but well, that wasn't much because probably most woman of age would. Blake and I hurried to her and we pulled her up, carrying her through the doorway outside. She wasn't too heavy but because of all the smoke, the job wasn't particularly easy.

We managed to fasten her on Blake his horse and we hurried to the mountains, leaving the burning village behind us.

I looked next to me where Blake was riding. The woman was still unconscious. I looked over my shoulder at the burning ashes that remained of the wooden houses. And I wondered while I saw cattle trying to escape the flames, why would anyone set fire to a small village like this without even plundering the village?

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I'm so excited to write the next few chapters!!! There are so much good/perplexing/amazing things going to happen! What did you think about this chapter? Please let me know, because it will help me a lot! And as usual, please comment and vote!

~ Josien