Cursed

Chapter 10: The Outskirts

Strolling between the back streets of Holt with Ura on my heels was less pleasant than I had hoped it would be. She kept asking questions about where we went, why we did something and if this wasn't against protocol.

"Can you trust me for once?" I stopped walking and turned around so I could look her in the eyes.

Her eyes were big, whether that was in fear of getting caught or surprise that I had raised my voice wasn't clear; both were possible.

"The Hunters aren't here, so can you relax for just a minute? You're missing all the beauty of the city. Look around you," my hand waved through the air. "These people live in such small quarters, but look how inventive they have been. They use the streets above to dry their clothes, they use big pallets as a bridge to put their food outside in the cold air."

My hands ended up on Ura's shoulders, my eyes fixed on her chocolate orbs.

"Enjoy a minute of freedom. There is space and time on a mission to do both. I haven't gotten in trouble for it and I do it all the time."

Ura stayed quiet. Her eyes didn't change, but her muscles tensed under my fingers. I let go of her shoulders and looked towards a narrow alley that could only let one person at a time through. My lips curled up when a plan formed itself inside my head.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to someone."

I motioned with my hand for her to follow me and disappeared inside the narrow alley. I had to walk sideways through it so my shoulders wouldn't scrape against the rough stone of the walls. By now the street had started slaloming upwards. It wasn't far anymore for us to reach an open place that showed us the view of the main street lying below us.

"It's not very logical to build streets this narrow," Ura grunted.

"I don't think they planned it like that," I snickered.

"Probably not, but still ... totally useless such streets."

"Totally agree, but they're fun though. It gives that extra sense of adventure," I turned around to look at Ura and grinned. She rolled her eyes but finally I saw her mouth twitch.

"I'm not sure I want your kind of adventure," she mumbled, but her eyes were softer than before.

You thought differently when we were kids, I thought. But that was many years ago and she had gone through too much.

We finally reached the end of the narrow alley. The place opened up, a small well decorated the square. Now that we could see further than our own two feet, we saw the mountain hover closer than ever. It stood in front of us as if it was the city wall itself. The multiple story buildings seemed small in comparison.

"Woooow."

Ura joined me, her jaw hanging down while she took in the mighty view. The dark and colorful houses from Holt stood sharp against the dull white and gray mountain stones.

"Majestic, right?"

"It's huge."

I grinned. Finally she was releasing some of that Hunter intensity.

"It's not far anymore."

Neither destination was. I simply had to find a way to sneak off on my own without it being suspicious. Usually the best ideas presented themselves on the spot, so no reason to worry yet.

After strolling through another street or four, we arrived at a square right at the edge of the city. The mighty stone walls were visible through the few streets that were surrounding the square. Even though the houses had multiple levels, the wall doomed behind them.