Ever So Lightly- Book 1

15

For three days, Saria and Gretchen raced toward Faron with a fury not to be matched. They covered the most ground through each night, with only the light of the moon threatening to reveal the two women on the run. Just as the sun would begin to burst over the horizon behind them, pinks and oranges spreading across the sky that seemed to be chasing them, mixing with the deep blackness of night and the pale blues of morning, Gretchen would order for them to stop and rest. Then, after just the bare minimum of sleep, which would leave Saria in a foul mood that was steadily increase each time Gretchen roused her from wonderful, beautiful sleep, the two would once again begin their trek southwest, at a much slower pace during the day so as to keep from drawing unwanted attention, only to begin their race onward once more as soon as the blackness of night fell.

They were making much better time than Saria had been with the wagon party she had left behind at the inn. Gretchen seemed to think they would arrive at their home city in just two or three more days. The rainy weather seemed to be at an end for the time being, and though each day brought with it more chilling temperatures, Saria much preferred being constantly shivering to being drenched and miserable.

On her fourth night of riding next to Gretchen, Saria was beginning to feel lonely. Gretchen wasn't one for much conversation, and Saria had started out feeling okay with that, she still hadn't forgiven the older girl from her childhood for tricking her into that tree. But after riding in mostly silence for days, Saria was sick with how much she missed Zephyr. At the same time, she wanted desperately to reach Faron and her father, if only to beg him to offer aid to her friend. Saria could feel the sadness and urgency building inside of her, and, not wanting to cry in front of Gretchen, decided she needed to distract herself.

Saria looked about her at the lands that were quickly passing by. The entire ride so far had been a continuously boring visual. After they left behind the dense wooded ring that went for several miles outside of Bremerton, there had so far been nothing but flat, plain farmlands. Saria sighed, remember how as a child she had wanted more than anything to travel to the more exciting parts of Auros. The towering Skypeak Mountains in the north, the Doelith Mountains hundreds of miles south of them, the Avery Sea splitting the two as if it were an enormous, watery pass. She longed to travel through the seemingly unending Feiwyn Forest that stood sentry before the Doeliths. And what all was there to see beyond the two seas that bordered Auros? With enormous natural barriers on all sides, Auros had always seemed to contain everything there was to be seen, and Saria hated being contained. She wanted to cross the Sea of Mist and get a first glimpse at whatever it was those mists hid from the eyes of the Aurians.

The only out of the ordinary place that Saria had ever seen was the very edge of the Kish Ocean, which was in fact not an ocean, but a desert. That was before she was old enough to really remember the trip, and her father hadn't actually led their family into the desert for fear of attack from sand pirates. How exciting it would be to meet the infamous sand pirates! Saria unleashed a sigh, her breath whirling past as she rode onward. She gave up looking for anything interesting to think about in the scenery passing her by, and thinking about all of the places she would never see was only increasing her temper. She instead lifted her icy blue eyes to the endless sky above her.

"Gretchen," Saria began, catching the woman's attention, "Do you remember the stars?" Gretchen looked up to the heavens as she rode and took a moment before answering.

"Yes," she said solemnly. "Yes, I remember them well actually. Do you?"

"Just barely. I more remember the feeling they gave me, especially out here in the middle of nowhere with none of the light of the city to hide them," Saria said, a hint of nostalgia in her voice.

Saria had been only three years old when all of the stars had winked out. It hadn't been a large event, in fact, most people hadn't even noticed they were gone right away. One moment the night sky was filled with countless glimmering specks of light, the next, there was only the two moons, Terminas and Vaden, to break up the inky blackness. No one knew why their stars had disappeared, though many had theories. The most popular seemed to be that the sky was mourning the deaths of the Starlings, the ruling family who had been murdered when Queen Lorelei stole the throne. Saria didn't know if the sky could mourn, but the timing did make the two events look as though they were connected. The disappearing of the stars happened just days after Lorelei's coronation. Ha, Saria thought, maybe that's the queen's big, mysterious power. What a letdown. That's not even scary. It was sad though. Saria had always missed the stars, especially out here where she could see the sky for miles and miles, where it didn't seem to never end, blanketing the earth in it's embrace. With only the bright moons up there, it felt so...cold. So much farther away.