There was another jolt throughout the carriage, my head smacked against the glass window, pulling me out of my revere. The small boy had been thrown to the floor, now that I could see him I noticed the shabby clothes that hung off of his body. He had a loose over sized brown shirt and scratched up pants that barely made it to his ankles. Nobody moved to help the boy up, not even the blonde woman. Great. I stood up in the cabin, keeping my neck bent so that I wouldn't hit my head on the roof. I picked him up and sat him back in his seat,
"Are you alright?" I asked cautiously. The poor kid looked almost ready to break.
"F...fine, thank y...you" he stumbled out his response.
I gave him a slight smile, hoping to ease his mind just like everybody else had done before. I mentally hit myself, not even I thought I could smile in this situation. I pulled my self back up into my spot opposite the black man just as another bump ran through the carriage. I fell into my seat with a thud. Ugh, if I'm still alive tomorrow I'm going to be really sore. Suddenly the carriage pulled to a stop, the woman beside me shifted slightly in her seat. She looked past me, out the window and for once during this horrible journey, her smile faded. I felt my stomach do backflips as I spun around to look out the glass. There was a break in the thick forest, to accomodate a long dirt track. It passed through a winding metal arch only a few feet away, at the end of the track was a wall, large enough to keep even dragons out. Or keep something in. There was a gruff croaky voice that came from outside the carriage, most likely the footman. The cabin rocked slightly as the man hoped off and made his way to the side door. I was the first to step out, being the closest to the exit. The pale old man, had a large hunch and his eyes were red and mangey, he held out a hand for me to hop out,
"Hurry it along would you, I have business after this" his voice was hoarse and worn with old age. I took his hand, jumping out onto the dirt. I was followed by the rest of the passengers, everyone eyes were fixed on the massive wall in front of us. I heard a snap as the old man cracked the whip, signalling the horses to move. Then within a minute the rickety carriage had disappeared into the fog stained forest. I turned to face the track, it wined left and right between small patches of trees but lead straight to the stone wall at the end.
"Come now, we should start walking" the black man gestured towards the wall, taking a step.
"Hold on now" it was one of the twins this time, he was smirking at the man.
"Who says we can't just ditch now" the other twin this time.
"You know, go for a stroll"
"In the other direction" they both pointed towards the path we had just come from. Each snickering at the man, who now looked about to burst.
"Are you insane!? We must travel this way" he gestured to the wall. "You cannot turn back!"
He was practically seething with rage, his teeth were bared towards the twins. I looked over to the woman who was standing silently, her hands on the little boys shoulders.
"Oh, can't we? Nobody's here, and who's going to stop us? It's not like we want to die" they spoke in unison this time, not skipping a beat as they said each word perfectly in time with one another. I wondered if maybe this had been rehearsed.
"I will" the man called. "I do not want my family perishing, because of some dimwitted kids, who thought it would be funny to trick the gods!"
This time the woman chimed in,
"If your so called gods are even real, they mustn't care all that much about you, they are sending you to die after all"
The man spat at the ground in front of the woman, ruining his image of high standard aristocrat. Now he was just an asshole. He turned on his heel and stomped off toward the wall. The rest of us stood in silence, waiting for somebody to move. I had to admit I did sympathise with the twins and the blonde lady. I did not believe in the gods, nor did I want to die. However, even if I didn't sacrifice myself I would have nothing to go back to, and if the gods were real, I would not risk the lives of every body else just for my own selfish reasons. And so, I was the first to move, slowly taking a step towards the wall, then another, until I had begun walking at a normal pace. It was at least a minute before I heard hesitant steps behind me, tapping as their feet sunk into the gravel. I glanced back to see if the twins had really turned away and ran, only to find that every single one of us had begun walking to our doom.
YOU ARE READING
•{Beyond the Wall}•
AventureA rag tag group of people have been chosen as sacrifices to the gods, they are to be thrown beyond the wall and killed. A worthy sacrifice to escape the wrath of gods. But what they find beyond the wall was not exactly what they were expecting. This...
