Valiant

Chapter 35: Recovery

With difficulty, and much pain, I take up the long journey to healing upon the road. In the daytime, I suffer bitter goblets of medicine, and in the night, I lie awake and listen to the horses, trying desperately to fall asleep to no avail. Time is fluid and elusive, now flying by so that the awkward conversations held by my trainer's friends slip past my ears, and now standing still to let the complete agony of my wounds and situation set in.

But then, on the third night, something changes. My vision focuses, and suddenly, I am upright again. The cold, black touch of the night whispers in through the slits in the wagon, clutching at my feet and exposed skin. My wound is a sore nerve, full of weird, tingling sensations and fiery declarations of sheer misery. But other than the pain, I feel fully functional. My wrist is now scarred, but not scabbed, and my other various bumps and cuts have mended themselves as well.

With a start, I realize that we have stopped. The carriage is motionless beneath my feet. Suddenly, the walls of the carriage seem to close in on me, making the air sparse and stuffy. Fighting off this sudden claustrophobic panic, I stumble out into the cool, night air.

The stars stretch before me- an endless, limitless canvas of sparkling glory. Warriors and heroes from another age beaming down upon the land. For a second, it takes my breath away. The moon is full, and reminds me of a fresh cherry pie even though it shines a cold, sterile white.

The Blood Plains are bathed in this cool, stern light, throwing their infamous red grasses into a shadowy display of grays and pinks. The wind whispers to me, softly tugging at the hairs on my neck and face and showering me in refreshment. Under any normal circumstance, I would have been overjoyed to be here. This region holds such deep roots and stories that defy the passage of time. Any other time.

But now, a singular purpose burns bright in my mind, and I return my thoughts to my mission. The camp my trainers have set up alerts my senses to the right. Stretched out on cots next to a smoldering fire, my trainers' breaths rise and fall in the easy rhythm of slumber. Cautiously, ever-so carefully, I sneak toward the camp. I try with everything I have not to make a sound, stepping in the way that Isaac showed me how to so long ago.

As I near the fire, the light cast by the moon and by the hot coals brings the sleeping friends of Isaac into view. Bryce snores furthest from the fire, clutching a skin of what smells like whiskey. Trenton dozes fitfully, mumbling and twitching occasionally. Jade is still.

Checking to make sure that everyone was asleep, I begin gathering supplies. First, I grab a small pack from the edge of camp. I slip my hands into Trenton's purse, and withdraw five sovereigns, storing them within a fold of my tunic. Then, I go over to where the food is stored, withdrawing three loaves of bread and two handfuls of salted, dried beef. I follow that up with dried fruit and a large skin of water, pausing to drink and eat a little as I placed the food inside the pack.

I change my bandages by the light of the fire, wincing as I draw my arms above my head to take my tunic off. Once I am satisfied, I change my clothes, favoring fresher garb, and pack an extra tunic and some smallclothes in the remaining space of the pack. Then, I grab a blanket and Bryce's traveling cloak, smiling a little at the thought of him waking up to find it missing.

I go to the chest containing my armor, slipping on the chain and scale over my tunic, and tightening the belt about my waist. Then, I strap the greaves about my ankles and the gauntlets about my wrists. Bryce's cloak I throw about my entire form, concealing the gleaming metal from the fire, and muffling the noise as I moved about. The rest of the armor would have to stay until I returned, I conceded.

The horse started as I approached it, stepping back and huffing with a skittish snort, but it allowed me to untie it and to strap my supplies to the saddlebags. Then, I heave myself onto the back of the horse, a mare by the feel of her, and walk slowly around the carriage toward the road.

Suddenly, a dark figure wheels up in front of me, brandishing a lantern and a mask of cloth about her mouth. Lady Jade had risen.

I stop, and stare evenly down at her, drawing the hood on the cloak tighter about my face. Daring her to tell the others.

"Little one, to where do you flee?" her voice is soft, but thin, and her eyes stare coldly, calculatingly at me.

Measuring my response carefully, I whisper, "You know exactly where I am going. And don't try to stop me."

She shakes her head sadly, and withdraws a sheathed broadsword from her back. "You may run from us, but never from this. Take it with you, and ride swiftly. Northeast," she says, pointing toward the half of the road to my left. Nodding thankfully, I lay hands on the ancient, cherished blade.

Remembering fondly for an instant the first time I held a sword, stolen from the Prince all those years ago, I look now upon the sword in my hands with an almost uncanny sense of disappointment. It is not especially detailed, but it is a good blade. It is about five cubits from the burnished, steel pommel to the tapering point, with a studded, two-handed grip. A bloodstain mars the bleached, leather handle near the blade, where a symbol is etched into the base which I can't make out in the spare light of the moon.

Starfyre, the Blade of the Dawn! Carried by heroes from every age since Alakai, passed down generation to generation with the solemn oath of servitude. And yet it looked so, utterly ordinary that I couldn't help but be disappointed. But, for all I cared right then, it could have been a rock she had given me.

Gratefulness swells in my throat as I nod to her, and strap the blade on over the top of my cloak. And then, with a sharp kick to the mare's sides, I rode.

No longer was I to be subject to the whims of fate, I decided as the wind billowed about my cheeks. I am the master of my own destiny. And whatever that is, I am going to face it head on without fear. The way Isaac would have wanted me to.

I am flying along the road, kicking dust on the camp as I run. But no matter my fate, I will save Lilly!