The Loyal

5- Across the Savannah

Dain ran, uncaring through the sharp pines that grew on the tall trees, he hadn't noticed all the scars and cuts on his arms, and kept on running. Far behind him, burdened by their armour, shields and spears, the guards stumbled and fell behind, cursing and yelling. Dain leapt over a fallen long and landed catlike on his feet, thinking wildly on where he would go.

All Dain could smell was blood, awhile ago Dain accidently ran into a tree while trying to find where the soldiers were. Now, he had blood dripped down his face and a throbbing nose. He could still hear the guards screaming at each other to hurry up, but other than that, all was silent. The animals of the woods had vanished, frightened away by the noises. They left the woods feeling empty and haunted.

Dain pushed on, ignoring the burning pain in his thighs and the flinches every time he stepped. It seemed after two hours of escaping, the forest was thinning. But Dain didn't know where to go. He'd never left the cell complex, much less seen a map.

He collapsed by a small pond, gasping and choking as he slipped his bag off his shoulders. It was mostly occupied by bread and a thick winter cloak, but pressed behind was several scrolls, each with hand written notes on them. He selected the first one; letter of warning, give to the leader of where ever you go to.

The next had no note and was clasped by gold ribbon. Dain carefully released the fabric and cried in amazement at the map the rolled out before him. It was illustrated with life-like pictures of castles and before long, Dain spotted Skyhaven, on the eastern shore of The Endless Waves. 

The map didn't tell him where the prison camp was, and Dain had no way of telling his location now. There were three forests on the map; The Star Canopy, The Untold Woods, and The Forest of Night. Each forest was near one of the five havens. There was also a chance that the forest Dain was in was even noted on the map.

Dain would have to guess. The Untold Woods.

Dain partly chose this one because it sounded really cool, unlike the others which just sounded strange.

According to the map, Dain would have to travel North to reach the nearest Haven; Starhaven. After returning the map to his bag, Dain discover a circular object that spun every time he moved it. Painted upon it were four arrows, each labelled with a letter. With a start, Dain realised that this was a compass, which he'd only heard of in stories from his mother.

Dain swallowed a small hunk of bread, pulled the bag back onto his shoulders and began following the compass North. The green scenery melted away into a cold grassland. Clouds rolled across, their greys dark and unfriendly. Dain gazed into the distance, spying a wall of mountains, occasionally red streaks were seen flashed above the mountain range. Dain prayed he wouldn't have to journey up there to reach Starhaven.

Dain stumbled on, uncaringly wandering out into the plains. He didn't notice any animals which watched him from a distance. All he wanted was a bed, he'd take his old prison bed, and warm soup. His feet ached and his spine was stiff. Right now, Dain felt as if he'd welcome the guards if the brought anything comfortable.        

Dain dropped the ground under a large, fanned out tree. He pulled the cloak from his pack and a spare blanket. He curled up around the blankets and fell asleep immediately. The sun fell behind the land and the moon rose up, half eaten by the moon goddess, Fero. during the night a brave Paniger sniffed around Dain and discovered the food inside his pack. 

The feline ate all it could find, leaving crumbs scattered around the area. These crumbs encouraged other animals to come out and try their own luck at finding food. Several creatures fell asleep under the tree, pressed against Dain. The animals in the plains had never before seen a Havian without a hunting spear and were led to believe he was a different species, being smaller and darker skinned than the other havians.   

Dain woke suddenly at dawn, crying out when he found himself somewhere knew. It took awhile to establish what had happened yesterday and when he did, Dain realised he was surrounded by sleeping animals. Half of them he'd never seen before.

Dain dragged himself out of his roll, careful not to wake any carnivores. He repack his bag and reached in for some breakfast. Upon finding there was no food left, Dain curled up again and cursed, wished he'd never left the cells. Then he remembered his mother and Thom. They would be disappointed in him, he was their only hope.

He jumped over the sleeping body of the Paniger that had eaten his food and began following the compass North, feeling more nervous as he strayed closer to the mountains. Dain smiled as he discover thousands of prints in the group, none of them Havian. The landscape was rugged and beautiful. As if one of the gods had personally lived there.

The sun rose steadily, it's hot rays beating down, burning every bare patch of rock. Despite being hungry, Dain felt excited with a new day and the guards long behind him. Many animals watched from afar, their distance not worrying Dain. They all crowded in harmony, not even carrying for the food chain.

Dain began counting all the gods by lunchtime, giving something to occupy his mind as he walked. His feet were slightly sore but Dain knew if he stopped he wouldn't ever start again. The trees were what interested Dain the most. They had spindling trunks, writhering this way and that, then their branches sprayed out, flat. The leaves were an olive colour and largely-shaped.  

Dain lost his positive edge when the mountains loomed closer. He'd travelled so far that day and couldn't believe that no Havians lived out here. He dropped by a large lake and washed his face, enjoying the soft cool water that trickled down his neck. Dain wished he had food, but knew that if he dwelled on the subject, it'd make the problem even worse that it really was.

A timid antelope ducked her head into the lake, watched from one eye that Dain wasn't making any moves towards her. Dain remained where he was, crouching at the edge, he had no intention on startling the creature and was happy just to watch her delicately slurp up water.

He waited a few more minutes before trekking back out under the sun, roaming closer to the grey mountains. At another time during the evening, Dain pulled out his maps to identify the mountain range and discovered there was a mountain range winding around the whole of haven, further than that, Dain wondered, what would be there. In some places there was the ocean, but in others, there was land.

Dain decided to camp for the night in a small crevice in the side of the mountains. He planned to climb them tomorrow. Dain hoped he could get over them and wouldn't have to turn around with no food.

That night Dain found he couldn't sleep. He rolled over and discovered a rock spiking into his side and removed it. He simply lay there, thinking about everything that had happened over the past two days. Dain shut his eyes and decided to tell himself a story to get to sleep. This story he'd heard many times before from his mother but had never narrated it himself.