Nadine's Journey

Chapter Thirteen

Nadine

As promised, Lord William had our supplies ready in ten minutes... only, he sent a servant to deliver them. He did not make another appearance. I suppose that his uppity manner did not allow him to make some leeway. Agustin and I were snuck out of the manor through a secret passage, leading us to a single horse by the same servant. The horse had a beautiful dark brown coat, nearly black. "Her name is Ash. Lord William said that she is to be yours," the stable boy told us. Not five minutes later, we were off, racing towards our destination.
 
"Nadine," Agustin starts hesitantly. "You shouldn't have stood up for me. Nobles have unspoken rules that they must follow... and you are one of the most powerful nobles."
   
"Agustin," I warn. "I do not care what 'rules' I must follow. You are my friend. Those unspoken rules, as you put it, are rude and stupid. It should not matter what social class you fall into. People should be kind and respectful to others... no matter what there station is."
   
"But Nadine--"
   
"Say thank you and be done with it." He sighs, his stomach rising and then rapidly falling under my fingers. "Say it."
   
"Thank you, Nadine."
   
"Good. Now we can be done with this matter. If I need to revisit the whole unspoken rules thing, I will throttle you."
   
"Alright."
   
"Now where are we headed?"
   
"Well, we are going around the outline of Scorcia."
   
"Wouldn't that take longer?"
   
"Yes."
   
"Do you care to explain why exactly we are taking the long route?"
   
"Scorcia is basically a wasteland, a desert with very few oases. Many dangerous creatures have made it their home... jauhts, terilils, kyroteys, warriblies, and," he swallows hard, "dragons. And those are just the most dangerous of the hundreds of species that reside there."
   
"Dragons?"
   
"Yes, dragons. They are truly a marvel, but they're easily angered. They can fly, speak any language (even mind-speak), and blow a stream of fire a mile long. Their intelligence is only matched by a mythical person... someone who is yet to come... or as some say, someone who is yet to come out of hiding. There are only a few known things about her. She will be more powerful than any of the royal line that came before her. She will not be swayed by the dark mages, no matter how hard they try to tempt her to their side. And, most importantly, she will break the curse upon this island and ascend to her throne that was stolen long ago by the darkest of mages."
   
"There are dark mages?"
   
"Of course. Nature must have a balance of darkness and light forces. One will never be truly squashed, but they can be contained. The light mages have been trapped here on this island by the dark mages, who have taken over the mainland. Sadly, this fact is unknown to everyone on this island... with the exception of you, me, and the spies of the dark ones."
   
"How do you know all of this, then?"
   
He tenses under my grip. "I would rather not talk about it, Nadine. That time was... traumatic... parts of my life that I will never get back."
   
"Are you a noble in hiding? Is that why you know things about the powers and the curse?"
   
"Nothing so grand, Nadine. I wish it was only that. I will tell you when I feel that I am ready."
   
"What if you are never ready?"
   
"Then I will not tell you. My secrets will not put you in any immediate danger, I promise. Just leave it be."
   
"I am here when you need to talk... and I always will be."
   
"I would not believe anything less from you." He relaxes. He slows the horse to a trot. 'We are coming to the edge of Lyria."
   
"Are you certain that we must go around Scorcia?"
   
"I am. I would be alright if I were to cut through Scorcia, but I do believe that you would not be prepared. You do not know how to use your powers, let alone what your unique powers are. You do not know how to fight as well, either, and trust me when I say that you would be at risk."
   
The wind picks up suddenly, a fierce gale nearly pushing us off the horse. I hear a brief wail, but the wind carries away the sound. Faster than it began, the air becomes still once more. "What was that?"
   
"The wind can sometimes pick up and then settle down quickly around Scorcia. It is as if the fires of Scorcia are trying to battle and spread to the neighboring lands."
   
"Not the winds... that wailing sound!"
   
"There was no wailing sound."
   
"I swear that there was."
   
"It might've just been--" The wailing started once more, louder now that the wind could not drown it out.
   
"See," I push. "I told you I heard it. What is that?"
   
"Dammit! Are we ever not in danger!"
   
"Danger?"
   
"It seems that the dark spies definitely know about you-- that a dark mage has been set upon ending your existence. I should've known when we saw the packs of hell hounds. Who else could have summoned them?" He digs his heels into Ash, urging her to go faster.
   
"Agustin?" He turns briefly, his eyes fierce. "What is that?"
   
"Wraiths, Nadine, wraiths."
   
"Wraiths?"
   
"Spirits summoned from the depths of the underworld. They can be summoned by dark mages, but there are many consequences. For one, it messes with the balance between the living and the dead. If anything is left on this plane by the wraiths-- particularly the weapons they wield-- it can cause a plague worse than your worst nightmare. Their weapons can be countered by mortal steel, but their blades are naturally stronger than ours. They cannot be killed, though, by a blade because they are not tangible... they can only be conquered by magick." The wailing gets louder and louder, now from multiple places. "Dammit!" Agustin urges Ash to go faster.
   
"What can we do?"
   
"I am afraid that we have no choice but to try to outrun them. Unfortunately, it seems that they are coming from every direction except Scorcia."
   
"But didn't you say that we should avoid Scorcia because of the danger?"
   
"Yes," he sighs. "Why does it seem that we always get into these situations. Don't tell Lord William your true identity... we end up telling him. Don't go into Scorcia. Well, here we go. Dammit!"
   
"We have no choice." His body tenses even further, his expression twisted with uncertainty. "Right?"
   
With great reluctance he says, "Yes. Do not worry, Nadine. We will survive... I will make sure of it." He urges the horse to pass the border which we avoided. A blast of heat comes and goes the second that we pass over. "Welcome to one of the most dangerous places on this island, Princess."
   
The ground gets blacker as we advance until there is no sign of plant life, only sand. The sun bears down on us, a never-ending attack. I spot strange creatures in the sand. "What are those," I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me. I point at creatures the size of a wolf with black armor and a pointed tail.