Under the Cover of Darkness

Chapter 6 - Festival of the Champion

July 1 approached faster than Fitch had thought it would and faster than Bryce had hoped it would. The morning of July 1, Fitch knocked on Bryce's door and yelled through the oak, "Get up! We've gotta get to Ardor or else we'll miss the welcoming ceremony and festival. Get up!" 

A muffled, "Alright, I'm up," could be barely heard, but the alert and wide awake Fitch could hear anything. His excitement was bubbling as he rushed downstairs to make a light breakfast for the two. Upstairs, Bryce opened his eyes and could have sworn he went blind. The room around him was pitch black. His eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and he could clearly make out objects around the room.

"So I'm not blind," he whispered to himself. Suddenly he screamed, "Fitch! What the hell time is it?"

"It's five," could be heard from the bottom floor in the kitchen.

"Hell nah," Bryce said to himself quietly and jumped back in his bed. "I'll see you later then. I sure as hell ain't gonna wake up at damn five o'clock in the morning. Meet you in Ardor later!" Bryce called downstairs.

In the kitchen, Fitch was thinking little about the setback. His excitement and zealous cheer couldn't be beaten down; thus, he continued with the plans he made, Bryceless. "Who needs the guy?" Fitch said to himself as he exited the front door of the house with his mug of coffee. He was walking behind the house to where Malum was resting. Before he could make out the old garden shed in the darkness, Fitch heard the familiar whinny of his best friend.

"Hey, girl. Did you have a good night's sleep?" Fitch whispered to the horse. Malum nickered in response. "We're gonna be going to back to where I first met you. We might even be able to see your old owner." Fitch opened the gate to the makeshift stable and let Malum prance around to get her legs used to walking. He smiled as he took a sip of his coffee and turned back towards the house.

He entered through the front door again and went straight to the kitchen. Balancing himself against the island's marble counter, Fitch swung his head back and chugged the remaining black liquid from his mug. He set it down on the island with a gasp of satisfaction. Remembering what he was doing, Fitch quickly turned around and took two items off hooks on Seeds's left wall. One was Fitch's satchel while the other was his raggedy light brown cloak.

As he exited through the front door, Fitch flipped the hood over his milk chocolate brown hair. A smile spread across his face as he let out a deep breath of air. He jumped down the steps and quickly ran over to Malum. Fitch grabbed the saddle and palette from the garden shed, and then he tossed the palette over Malum's back. Malum stood still as Fitch then put the saddle over her back. He strapped it down and patted Malum's neck gently. Lastly, Fitch ran back into the garden shed to get the reins that Jaeger was so kind to give him. Once he put those on, Fitch hopped on and sat thinking.

The two were an odd spectacle. A small frame swallowed by what looked like a potato sack rode atop a smaller horse. It was none other than the Ghost of Silver Forest though, and he was looking to be the champion of Ardor. Fitch rode out quickly. His excitement seemed to seep into Malum as she galloped quickly and happily down the dirt paths towards Ardor.

Around seven o'clock in the morning, Fitch could see the grand front gates of Ardor's capital city.

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Ardor's capital city never was given a specific name. People just called it Ardor as the size of the kingdom was so small that the city was often times considered the whole kingdom. The rest of the land was seen as parts of the Great Expand as it was just hills and plains along with farmlands.

The city was a sight to see though. It was made of three rings. The outer, middle, and inner ring. The outer served as the marketplace and first wall of protection against invaders. Before the golden age of peace in Ardor, savage tribesmen from the Great Expand would invade the city of Ardor, so walls, twenty feet high, were built out of pure stone to safeguard the people who would crowd into the densely populated streets. The outer ring normally housed refugees and army camps before trade opened up decades before, and it was used for sojourns looking for trade deals and merchants setting up booths to sell their respected items. Most permanent stores and taverns were found in this ring of the city as well, but they were found near the southeast side of the city away from the front and only entrance in the northwest. It made up three fourths of the city's square footage as well.