Evermoure

The Journey

Crowds of townsfolk lined the main road through the village, and men, women, and children cheered and waved the party out with blessings. The road was dotted with wildflowers from the people of the village, who continued to toss them as Enphyra rode past. The loud, monotonous drumming of the party’s horses on the cobblestone mingled with the celebration of the crowds. Enphyra was handed many various species of wildflowers straight from the villagers, humble tokens to their future Lae Elf Queen. Smiling upon receiving each one, she put some behind her short, pointed ears, entwined them in her braid and in her mare’s mane. By the time the company reached the end of the village, Enphyra and her mount were thoroughly adorned. She smiled and joked with a few of the expedition members who commented on her decorations.

“Lady Evermoure,” an older human man addressed her as he led his horse up beside hers after her laughter died down from a previous comment. Enphyra gave him a polite nod in greeting. She recognized him from court as well as a few times back when she was in training with Amoreus.

“Lord Clodius.” she gave him a smile as her horse clopped along next to his in the party.

“You look like a painting, my Lady,” he stated pleasantly, a chuckle in his deep voice as he regarded her decorations.

“A painting, really?” Enphyra laughed, leaving room for him to explain. From under thick sandy brows, the skin around his grey eyes creased with deep smile lines.

“Your ivory hair and skin is the canvas, and the bright flowers are the paint.” His voice was soft, poetic.

“That’s an interesting way to see it, Lord Clodius,” the Lae Elf replied.

Their conversation ended once the entire company increased their pace to a gallop, and the expedition team was off through the green hills in a thundering procession down the dirt road that led north.

Days of confrontationless riding through the countryside that made up the region just North of Lae’yera brought Enphyra and her escort to the rocky Cliffs of Ire. The grasslands and farms dwindled progressively the closer the party got to the towering walls of earth, and they managed to take her breath away still. She had seen them a few times before, but she knew she was in for an experience today to get past them.

Leading the group of horses to the base of the straight, wall-like cliffs, the expedition party rested in the shade of the rocky heights to water the animals and stretch their legs. Enphyra would be parting from the majority of the group soon.

After a brief respite from riding, and keen eyes on the watch for rock panthers, the party divides according to plan. The Lae Elf remained standing in the shadow of the towering precipice, accompanied by just two of the best warriors. After waving farewell to the rest of the party as they started out back for Lae’yera with the threesome’s horses, Enphyra and her guards made their way on foot toward a great fissure in the rock wall.

The rest of the day was spent traversing the path that wound through the Cliff’s of Ire, a great chasm of rocky walls and cliffs that split the north from the south topographically on the map. Their destination was Raven’s Point, a thin spire built on one of the higher cliffs, where flights upon the backs of great birds could be purchased. It would be impractically harrowsome, and near-impossible to reach the far north by any other means.

The small travelling group reached Raven’s Point by nightfall with only a few encounters with the indigenous beasts that inhabit the Cliffs of Ire. A spiral of illuminated lanterns wound their way up the twisted spire as the company of three approached the rise it was built on, a warm and welcoming sight to the travel-weary group. Lodging was available in the buildings that rested near the base of the small tower, and the group paused in their journey to sleep there for the night.

Enphyra was awoken a few hours before dawn by a brief rap of knuckles on the wooden door to her room at Raven’s Point.

“I’m up,” she called softly, her voice a bit raspy from the hour.

“Brell visited the village just now, we’ll break our fast in his quarters before departing, my Lady.” Enphyra stood from her mat, clearing her throat as she massaged the drowsiness from her eyes.

“Thank you, Hearse, I’ll join you in a moment.” His footsteps faded as he left.

Pale light filtered through the small window of the room as Enphyra dressed, re-braided her hair for travelling, and gathered her small amount of gear before leaving the room. The light from flickering lanterns lit her way in the windowless hall as she made her way to her travelling companions’ room. The door was open when she arrived, and she set her bag and Ethera down before joining the Men at the small table. They bade her good morning, and she took the chair offered.

A humble breakfast of fruit, bread, and cheese was shared between the small company, and the three discussed the day ahead of them.

The two warriors both knew the chasm and the Cliffs of Ire well; They were brothers and mountain men from the iron halls of Brax, a main city built into the biggest and deepest desert valley of the Chasm.

Enphyra’s journey from here would be relatively long, travelling by flight for approximately a week and a half, ever upward in elevation from thenceforth. North of the Chasm lay the small mountain range of increasingly barren land that further separated the kingdom of Lae’Yera from the cold Far North. The brothers of Brax would only accompany her for a portion of the journey. Once she arrived within a distance of the Dark Spire, she would have to begin concealing herself with the Shroud of Ghaela, alone.