Heart of Ice

Black Forest

The next day, as soon as the sun rose, Anna, Drago, and Harlow set out towards Port Norsaroc. The rain had run its course through the night and now the sun was shining brightly. The way to the Port was short and they arrived there by night. Harlow found a place for them to rest for the night and the next morning, they set out to find a ship.

It proved harder than they had previously thought to find a sailor willing to take them to Vie de Ivyaki. Vie de Ivyaki was too close to the Broken Mountain for anyone to risk even sailing to the port.

After much negotiation, they were able to find a sailor who was willing to take them to Vie de Ivyaki for a hefty sum. Unfortunately, horses were to be left behind. After a tearful goodbye between Anna and Lightening, the three boarded the ship and three hours later were on the sea.

After being on the sea for an hour, Anna realized something — she was not meant for the sea life. The first bout of vomit came and Anna found the first thing she could, the sea, and threw up everything she had eaten that morning.

From then on, Anna spent all her time throwing up or generally feeling sick.
The gentle sway of the ship made Anna dizzy. Her eyes watered as she threw up for the hundredth time.

Nausea and Anna had become bestfriends since being on the ship. And they still had one day and two nights to go. Drago gently rubbed Anna's back and held her hair back as she put her face down into the bucket again. He wiped the sweat from her forehead and pressed a wet cloth to her forehead.

The cold winds of autumn chilled everyone. Everyone knew, the closer they came to Vie de Ivyaki, the colder it will be. And even though autumn had just began, the cold had swept through half of the Ersenland.

The worst part of the journey came when a storm came from the north. The rain arrived with harsh winds. The water rippled and mad the ship rock violently. The bitter storm took it's anger out on the sea. Anna's health took a worse turn and she spent the last night and day locked in a room, sweating and shivering — and throwing up from time to time.

Drago joined Anna's side when he refused to leave Anna alone to her miserable self. His insistence on taking care of Anna left him sick as well. Except his was much less severe than Anna's.

Anna kissed the ground when they finally docked on the port. She was glad she was back on the ground. Anna did not know how much longed she could've survived being on the sea.

Anna, Drago, and Harlow bought three horses supplies from the nearest market and continued their journey towards the Black Forest. The three did not spend much time in Vie de Ivyaki but she knew the city was much bigger. From what she had heard, the city was smaller than the Black Forest.

Vie de Ivyaki was known to be the smallest city in the whole of Ersenland, not counting Port Norsaroc — but then again not many people acknowledged the port as a city but just as the name said, a port.

The journey to the Black Forest was short, shorter than any travel from one city to another Anna had done. Anna was starting to notice Drago growing whiter by the second and the sweat forming on his forehead that he kept wiping with his tunic.

The fear inside of him grew, like a vine growing over a wall. His grip on the reins of his light brown horse. Anna slowed down her horse enough that she was riding beside Drago and strike a conversation while her uncle rode ahead of them.

"I killed my first animal when I was nine. It took me five hours."

Drago passed a confused look before he replied.

"What did you kill?"

"A fish." Drago let out a laugh from deep within his chest. "Do not laugh! It was hard okay? The fish would not just let kill it. It kept swimming away from me and I kept running after it. And it would not stop — that slimy, slippery fish."