Our second world- book one: Past beginnings

Chapter 29: Haren

By mid-day the snow on the mountain had all but disappeared. Replaced instead with muddy paths and rocky slopes slick with melted snow. There was more than one instance where someone slid off the path, followed by a miniature landslide of rocks and pebbles. Fortunately, Haren didn't fall from any. With August supporting him, he was able to walk without putting a lot of weight on his injured foot. He didn't want to admit it to anyone, but it was really starting to bother him. Grace was right: walking on it did make it worse, and he was starting to regret refusing Augusts' offer to carry him.

"I can't wait to get off this stupid mountain," Grace grumbled, pulling her hood up.

"We're almost there," Leogry answered, pointing ahead of them." You should be able to see it soon."

"See what?" Thomas asked, peering at the gray horizon.

"The outpost," Marie began.

"That's how we got here," Lucas interjected." A wagon should be waiting to take us to the nearest town."

"Which means we'll be at a town within the next three days," Marie finished, elbowing her brother.

They were twins. A brother and a sister, yet they looked identical. Both with bright, flaming orange hair that they kept cut around their shoulders, tan skin, and electric blue eyes that could rival the sky on a clear day. They wore identical clothing as well, so it was almost impossible to tell them apart despite their opposite genders. It didn't help that they both answered to the others name, or that they sounded similar either.

It wasn't long before he spotted a looming black tower creeping over the ridge. At the base was a small compound surrounded by a black stone brick wall. Two guards stood at the gate; they saluted to Leogry as he and the others walked past. Inside the wall were two buildings. One made of wood housing six large stallions; the other was of stone and connected to the tower. Two men were tending to the horses while a third stood guard at the door to the stone building.

"Welcome back, commander Leogry. We've almost got your horses ready," one of the stable boys called.

"Great. Then the wagon is ready?"

"Yes. It's waiting outside the east gate," said the other.

"Wonderful, thank you," Leogry said, leading the group through another gate that led outside.

He and the others threw their bags in the back of the large covered wagon and climbed in. Diana and Leogry helped hook up the horses to the cart and climbed in front while Harens' group climbed in back.

On either side of the wagon were wooden benches that had a gap underneath them. The group had tossed their bags down in the space before spreading out. Pulling up the small wooden back, the twins locked it in place before sitting down. There was a loud crack of leather and the cart lurched forward. After about an hour or two of relatively smooth ride, Marku and the twins started throwing down blankets on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Thomas asked.

"Sleeping," Lucas replied, sprawling out on the floor." Marie and I have the night shift."

"Night shift? You mean you don't stop?" Grace asked.

"Nah, we just take turns sleeping and ride through the night. We only stop to rest and water the horses. If we stopped every night it would take almost a week to reach the nearest town," Marie answered.

"Sounds hard," Thomas said, leaning back in his seat.

"You can take a shift if you want," Markus mused.

"Uh...no thanks. I'm good."

"I might," Haren said, glancing at the sky through the small gap in the covering.