The Dawn of Light

(4)Camouflage for the Blind

The dense jungle was replaced with a beautiful scene of rich greenery and stone. Leibysos was huddled in the cliffside of a large mountain range close to the ocean. As we rode up the wide, dirt path, the large city slowly come into view.

"Almost there." Narray remarked and hurried her dark chestnut horse to gallop faster towards the city gates. Malreus and I followed close behind.

We left Olympus at dawn; saddened by the fact that we'd miss out on some of the festivities, but more than happy to do our duty towards the kingdom. It wasn't often that there was so much mystery surrounding our missions and perhaps today we'd be able to shed some light on this murky situation.

Malreus' black stallion pulled to a slow trot and Narray and I steadied our pace too- the gates were right up ahead and we didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves by rushing in like hell-hounds. I stroked the mane of my horse; his long black hair neatly trimmed and combed. These horses were large and fast, but weren't used to such a mountainous terrain.

We trotted in slowly, nodding to the guards at the entrance of the gates. They paid us no mind.

I'd been here only once before, to do a scouting mission for my father, but that had been nearly five years ago. The city had expanded greatly since then- the market was vast and the amount of people walking in the streets shocked me. Leibysos was densely populated now, where before, it had been one of the smaller cities in the region.

There were children running around, dogs in the street and people of all shapes and sized- some walking briskly towards their desired stall or shop and their wandering along, chatting. It was very busy here in the mornings.

"Ugh... Mortal smells." Narray pulled her face up in disgust, but kept her voice down.

Malreus and I shared an amused look. His eyes caught something behind me; "Oh, look."

I turned my head to where his gaze was fixed to find a large, Greek styled temple. Its borders were gold and blue and the structure was made from marble, but it didn't look very old. It must've been a new temple.

"A temple for Poseidon." I smirked; "Do you think if we prayed there, uncle Don would come down to have a drink with us?"

"We could try..." Malreus chuckled, but Narray's expression soured; "I do not want to be drinking anything here. These people are filthy."

"That's a bit harsh." I laughed at Narray's lack of interest at the bustling culture around her. She was part mortal herself, but in some ways, I think she wanted to erase that part.

"So do any of you two know where the Baron's estate is?" Malreus asked and directed us towards the nearest stable.

I pulled at a piece of paper from inside my black coat. "It's close to the cliff on the north of the city. I have the details here."

We stopped at the stables and jumped off our steeds. Malreus called a young hand closer and instructed him to watch our horses while we were away. He tipped the boy generously, nearly causing the young man to gasp out loud. "Y-yes, sir! Right away!"

He bowed deeply and grabbed the halters to lead the three, large animals to a bale of hay. By the looks of it, they were leading him more than he was trying to lead them.

"Alright." I opened the note that Narray's father had given me before we'd departed. The other two leaned over my shoulder with interest. "So like I said- it's north from here and close to the cliffs- over there." I pointed to a general area where the ocean would be.

Malreus nodded and removed his black gloves from his hands and tucked them into his coat. It was slowly getting warmer; the morning mist fading, but the air was still crisp. "Right. Let's get going."