The Search Begins Volume 02 of An Unwanted Destiny

Forty-Seven

Two weeks after we left Porthia we were hit by a snowstorm, trapping us in a town named Winadale. The town was roughly the half the size of the boroughs back in Cinnar. The tallest building, located in the center of the city, stood only ten stories tall. On the way through Winadale, I could not help but notice that there were a lot of signs that a battle had taken place recently.

There were some places where all I saw was burnt rubble. I had seen soldiers wandering the streets in white armor with a red emblem which looked like a shield behind a lion pinning down a gazelle. I believed that they were members of the city guard, but by the looks of the townspeople, I started to think that they were members of whomever it was that attacked the city.

We searched for an inn and found one, a two-story building, on the east side of the city with a couple rooms available. Inside I saw more of the same soldiers sitting around tables ordering the servers around as if they were dogs. If they didn't bark out orders, they grabbed whoever passed by to the point that I saw a couple woman cry out in pain before rushing away holding their wrists.

I had to keep myself from going over to take care of the soldiers for what they were doing. Eryn and Drak looked like they were fighting with the same feeling. We wolfed down our food then headed back up to our rooms. The next day I woke up early and headed downstairs, hoping to have something to eat before the inn got crowded with soldiers. Unfortunately, that was not going to happen.

I let out a sigh and decided to take a walk around Winadale. I headed back to the room to gather the thickest cloak I had then stepped out into the storm. It was worse today. I could barely see more than five feet in front of my face as everything was a white wall around me. I pulled the hood up and kept the cloak close as the wind whipping through the streets felt like it could turn my blood to ice.¬¬

After a few hours, I ended up outside of what looked like a tavern which had seen better days. I stepped inside and could hear the yelling of soldiers. I sighed and stepped inside anyway as the cold was too much for me to take without some kind of break.

I kicked the snow off my boots then headed off towards an empty table to merely rest before heading back off into the cold. A young girl asked me if I needed anything. I requested some bread and whatever they had for juice. She smiled then disappeared into the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with a plate of food and a carafe of orange juice. I thanked her, handing her a couple Repron Coppers which brought a smile to her face. I smiled back as she slipped back into the crowd to help someone else in her area.

I started eating and was halfway through the bread when I heard a scream come from one of the areas thick with soldiers. I rose to my feet trying to peer through the armor to see the young girl who brought my food as well as four more young girls thrown onto the shoulders of some of the soldiers. The young girl who served me cried out reaching for someone.

"Put them down!" yelled a man in his late twenties. He was wearing the same type of clothes as the girls and knew he had to be a worker.

"Quite it if you value your lives," said one of the soldiers as he reached for the sword on his hip. "If you want to fight, go ahead. We will kill all who oppose us and burn this establishment down."

Some of the people who were standing sat down which brought forth a laugh from the soldiers. The soldier who spoke snapped his fingers. The soldiers carried the four girls away. I looked around the room and could see anger on the faces of everyone and as the door shut the man who spoke tossed an empty carafe bottle, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

"Someday," the man said kicking over a chair, "those damn Madrian bastards will pay for what they have done!"

"Easy Johan," said a man with gray streaks through his black hair. "Right now all you will bring about is more destruction and the loss of innocent lives if you cause trouble with the soldiers."