The Sword Bearer

Chapter 5

I felt cold drops of something being dropped on my face. I opened my eyes reluctantly to see Daren’s face above me looking down at me expectantly. When I opened my eyes his eyes started to glow and grabbed me into a hug. I winced. He saw my expression and looked at me. I could see he wanted to apologize. I sat up and pain shot through me. I leaned my back against a tree trying to ease the pain. “What happened” I asked Daren slowly not wanting to hurt anymore than I had to. “You fainted and when you feel it was on a rock so well I think you broke a few ribs” he explained looking at his hands. I nodded trying to move my body as little as I could. “How will we keep moving” I asked. “Well when you were asleep, I went into a town in disguise and got two horses” he said uneasily. He had just left me and went into a town! What if I was taken hostage when he was gone? I narrowed my eyes at him but then realized he had done it for me. He could have just as easily walked and left me to suffer with my ribs.

He helped me up to my horse lifting me up from my waist. I gripped his hand uneasily as he did this but it was only a brief moment until I was securely on the horse. Daren climbed another one that was right next to mine. The horse I was riding on was white with a few flecks of black on its face, next to his nose. They looked like freckles to me. I found the horse beautiful but they were so how different than on Earth. I cuddled its head. I looked over to Daren’s horse it was brown but I saw that it was a litter shade at its side. The texture of it was different too. I stared mesmerized as the horse unfolded its wings. This world got stranger and stranger everyday but this was one thing I wasn’t prepared for. I gaped as my horse did the same. Its wings were tinted with a light blue but there was some white in some deformed shaped, patches. I wondered if we were going to fly on these beautiful creatures. My question was answered when my horse galloped back a few steps. It was immediately followed by Daren’s. It started to rush forward and I closed my eyes it leapt into the air. My stomach dropped as my eyes were closed. After a while I hardly felt any movement. I just felt the horse’s deep breathing against my body. I opened my eyes a little to see puffs of white around me. It looked like cotton. I tried to puzzle out where I was and I realized that I was in the clouds. I tried touching them but only felt a little moisture.

Daren was smiling at me when he finally saw me open my eyes fully. I tried not to look down but my curiosity got the best of me and as I looked down I only saw clouds. I sighed in relief. I wasn’t ready to look at the ground from this height. Even though I couldn’t see anything under me I was still clutching onto the horses neck for dear life. I knew if I fell off then I would survive. I saw that Daren had secured the straps around his legs and only held lightly onto his horse. He made it look so easy. I reluctantly started to slowly, bit by bit, let go of the horse’s neck. I still mad one hand on its next as I struggled with the straps. I gulped and moved my other hand cautiously off and quickly started to fix the straps. As soon as they were secured, I put my hands around the horse’s neck again but lightly this time. I leaned my head against it. I could still feel small pangs of pain as we flew but it was nothing compared to how much it might have hurt to walk. The horse’s started to lower down under the clouds. Suddenly I could see everything for miles around. The landscape was sandy again but I could see the line where the forest started. It wasn’t the same forest we were at before. The trees were of a different breed. They were silver and their leaves were metallic. They reflected a little of the suns light into the forest. The horses landed next to the forest.

Daren tied the horses onto a nearby tree and sat down next to me. He pointed towards the forest and mumbled “Keep looking at the forest”.  I found the tress quite spectacular already but as the sun hit the horizon I gasped in amazement. The sun changed its color to a bright orange that was tinted with a bit of pink. The trees started to reflect the light causing the trees to turn the same beautiful color as the horizon. The light filled the forest but the reflection was so faded that the color mixed with the silver in the trees and the green of the grass. It was so beautiful that my eyes filled with tears. I hugged Daren and thanked him hastily for showing me this. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and he started to blush madly. Why was he so embarrassed? I giggled at him and after a while he grabbed me and started to tickle me. I laughed for a while then my ribs started to hurt and I started screaming. He gasped and set me down quickly. His eyes were full of concern. He looked ashamed again like on the first day I met him properly but this time he had nothing to be ashamed of. It was a mistake and I know he didn’t mean it. He had retreated farther away and I walked over after him. I sat down next to him and only then did he notice me. I looked straight into his eyes showing him that I wasn’t mad.