Silver Shackles

Chapter 7

Warm morning light shone our way through a snow-covered trail on the Irisian Spine. Baal whistled along with me as he held onto my waist. We had woken up to a beautiful morning today, so we were very cheery. After eight days of traveling through the mountains, Blessed Cael's Spear was but a mere day away. We could see the top of the mountain from our current trail. Snow was a constant at this height and the air was thinner than in Cordelica. The wintery forest landscape around us contained common pine trees and shrubs ethnical to the area. The cold wasn't an obstacle for the birds nor the small rodents jumping around the snow. It was surprising it was this lively up here, the last time I had climbed these mountains there were only miles of dead rock to admire.

Baal and I hadn't really made any progress in our relationship. One day we had gone on a date and the next we were back to normal. It's not like we pretended our date didn't happen, we just didn't talk about our standing. It irked me a little that neither of us was willing to take action on whatever it was we felt. If I wasn't so anxious about him liking me back and letting him in my life, I would have cleared our relationship status right away. Unfortunately, despite my attempts at boasting my confidence, insecurity ate me up on the inside. There was so much that could go wrong, so many ways he could end up hurt or dead...

"Hey Luke, how much longer until we reach the peak?" Baal asked letting out a yawn afterwards and interrupting my crazy train of thoughts. "We need a second horse, riding together must be tiresome on Ion."

"Sorry, it just flew right past me we might've needed another horse with all the excitement and stuff." Our last day in Cordelica was unusual. "In a day or less we should be arriving to the peak if our current pace doesn't change. We've covered a lot more ground than I initially expected."

The weather had been fairly nice to us. Days had been dark and cloudy at worst but not horrible enough to actually pose as an obstacle.

"Cool, finally I'll find out what your mysterious 'thing' is." I laughed at his words and he pressed his face against my back. It was obvious he was still drowsy. "Soooo, what's the plan for after we get your treasure?"

"We're going south. I've no idea what my brother plans to do at the moment, but I know someone who might be able to tune with him." I replied taking a whiff of the air.

Some strange, melancholic scent lingered in the air. The wind must've carried it down the mountain since it waned in intensity to a point where it vanished before remerging. I had been smelling it here and there for a few days now.

"Huh, is your friend an oracle then? They're pretty rare on this day and age."

"No, he's an angel." I replied beckoning Ion to stop, the scent had become constant and I could hear horses prancing through snow further up the mountain. "He's stronger and more accurate than an oracle when it comes to my brother... There's people coming down the mountain and they smell funny."

"An angel? You know one? Why does it even surprise me..." Baal moved a little, I assumed that to look ahead. "I don't see anyone, how far up are they? Can you tell?"

"They should enter your field of vision in a few minutes. Put your hood on and cover your face. I don't want to risk them seeing you, just in case."

My hand rested on my old sword's hilt while I used the other one to hold Ion's reins. I ushered the horse to move forward and minutes after, I finally saw the funny smelling travelers.

Their scent was strong now, it triggered a memory at the back of my head and I instantly thought it was impossible. The reason they were weird, I hadn't smelled something like them in what I believed was an eternity.