Unkarra Gate (1st draft)

Chapter 32.5

The morning light crept through the small cracks of the tiny cabin's shutters, giving just the faintest outlines to the few things in the room; mainly the two girls and their cots. Ezara was awake first, as usual. And like usual, she stayed curled up, keeping warm and wishing the world would just go away.

It didn't go away, but it did leave her alone for longer than expected. By the time the light sneaking through the window became enough to see clearly by, Dara had awoken, and it was long past the time Bogrel would knock on their door to get them out for breakfast.

"How late is it?" Dara asked in her first moments of consciousness.

"I don't know. Late," answered Ezara, still curled up beneath her blankets.

"I'm hungry. Where's Bogrel?" Dara received no answer to the question, so she stood and donned her outer layers and scarf, and tried to door of the cabin. It opened with a clunk, and light poured in; soft light from an overcast sky. "No one's outside," she reported after taking a look.

"What do you mean?" Ezara asked. A large amount of camp noise was clearly audible.

"No one is watching outside. What do we do?"

Ezara jumped out of bed quickly and checked for herself. Then, she too, quickly dressed.

"Where are you going?"

"Well, I'm not staying here." She grabbed the small bag of things she was allowed to keep and made for the door.

"Wait for me," Dara said as she followed, sneaking out, past any notice, and into hiding once again.

The rain made it easy to go unnoticed, as they had good cause to cover their faces with their hoods, and everyone else had covered their faces as well, and so they weren't looking at the girls very closely at any rate. Ezara did not walk far before realizing she really didn't know where to go. Dara stopped beside her, and Ezara could feel the questions from her friend, even though they went unsaid. She just wanted to find a spot to be left alone, unsupervised.

There were people walking back and forth near the cabins, but no one seemed to be watching for them; or even care unless they got in their way. There was a veritable stream of people going in and out of the fort. Inconspicuously she fell in line, Dara following, and walked to the walls of the fort, where there were many piles of supplies and people milling about.

Naturally, she found Rollo first of all. She was right beside him once again before he noticed her.

"Ezara!" he exclaimed.

She held a finger to her mouth, paired with an angry look. "What's happening?" She asked of him.

He told her what he knew, which wasn't much. The Geberrans were coming, and so was the battle. She decided to hide within his group, glad to be among friends again. Dara followed suit quietly, keeping her complaints about being in the rain to herself.

Flavias exited the fort eventually, with a group of men, all talking and too busy to notice her. She sat there unnoticed for some time, almost becoming upset about it. Whenever it was that he did notice, Ezara didn't know, but he casually crouched down beside her to talk. They found a more private spot, leaving their friends outside the fort, where Ezara could pull back the hood.

"I want to fight out there with you," she said.

"I don't want to fight. Why do you want to?"

"You'll need my help out there. I'm better with a sword and you know it."

"Except we're fighting with spears."

"Whatever. I don't want to be stuck in the fort, especially if Matias is in it."

"I want you to be stuck in there. Then you have a chance to escape back to Unkarra if things go badly."

"I'd rather die out there with you."

"No. I won't let you come with us. You're staying behind."

Ezara fumed at the answer and turned away, anger giving way to frustration and fear, bringing tears with them.

"Promise me you won't get killed."

"I promise," he said, with great hesitation.

Ezara removed the scarf around her neck and put it around Flavias' neck. "this is the one thing I've kept from my home. You bring it back."