The Borderlands The Memoirs Of Lord Tristan

Chapter III

The next morning the blizzard had past. We scavenged for food, and surprisingly, there was a lot of it. Most of the prisoners had been fed well enough, so we didn't have to worry about only taking a small amount at a time. Everyone ate their fill and after an hour of waiting for the food to settle, we started the journey down to the plains. It took awhile as the paths were covered in knee deep snow, we were a large group, and they weren't as lithe as they could have been. I helped as much as I could. I carried two children, one on my back and one in my arms. After two hours, we finally made it to the plains, I took the same path going down that I took coming up.
I was met by one of the captains, who looked very surprised. It must have made a comical image with me carrying two children and a string of a couple hundred malnourished civilians trailing behind.
"My Lord Tristan, by all the gods what have you done?!" he exclaimed, in delighted shock.
"I have retrieved those that were imprisoned by the Raiders," I said, saluting.
"You, Sir, are one sent from the gods," he exclaimed.
I almost smiled. "I really must be getting on though Captain. As you know, I have a second mission to complete," I said.
"But can't you wait until morning?"
I shook my head. "No, this mission is a priority above everything. All I ask for is a horse and provisions," I said.
"Your wish is my command," he replied.

Within the hour the used-to-be prisoners were seen to and I had my horse, but I knew I needed to find the answer to at least one more question. For, it didn't all add up, that is, from the way I saw it. For I knew that the Raiders rarely took prisoners. I found the woman that I had talked to the night before.
"Out of curiosity, do you know the reason why you were held by the Raiders?" I asked.
"Well I learned that each person, at least in my cave, were questioned about a girl named Selina, all of us had had some connection with her at one point, but I don't know what made her so unique," said the woman.
"This Selina didn't happen to have curly white blond hair with green eyes?" I asked.
"She did actually."
"And did Selina happen to be in the cave with you, was she the one who escaped?"
"I'm not sure, I never learned her name, she looked like Selina though. That woman over there with the long black hair knew her well."
"Thanks a lot," I said. I approached the woman with the long hair. "Excuse me," I said.
"Mmmm?" she asked, turning to look at me.
"The woman you knew who was in the cave with you with curly white blond hair and green eyes, was her name Selina?" Her demeanour changed immediately.
"Who told you?" she hissed.
"Please don't be afraid, if you must know I'm on a mission appointed by His Majesty," I said.
She sighed in relief. "Yes, her alias was Selina, but her real name is Aaliyah."
"Do you know where she went?"
"Not exactly, I know she said she was going inland to some place close to Ardine."
"Thank you so much!" I said.

It was much more than I had hoped for, one minute I was looking for a girl of nineteen who might resemble Gena and who might not exist anymore, and now I was looking for a woman near Ardine with the name Aaliyah or Selina who did look like Gena, and who is alive.