Free Fall - Into Other Worlds

Chapter 4 : The Guide

The sun was already beginning to dip low in the sky when three horses and their riders arrived at the entrance of Ghredlo Village. It was a small village to say the least. The one-storey buildings surrounding them had mud walls and thatched roofs. None of the houses used wood, which Kara found odd considering the towering forest not far beyond the village.

The residents all came out to stare at the strange visitors as Cawfeil led them to the village chief's house. The people of the village looked just as rustic as their homes. Most of the children were naked or wearing simple loincloths. The women wore knee-length sack dresses tied loosely with rope at the waist to give shape. Most of the men were either shirtless or wearing loose vests along with varying length skirts, but some wore only loincloths like the children.

Kara's ears burned hot with embarrassment at the sight of so much flesh. The weather was never that hot where she lived, and even during summer once the sun was low people would put on a jacket. The heat of this place made her sweat, but she felt it wasn't hot enough to consider wearing nothing but underwear. Much to both Kara and the mage's displeasure, rather than the young fit ones, it was the big-bellied and old wrinkly men who were parading their almost naked bodies around. To avoid hurting her eyes, Kara pulled her hood further forward and stared down at her horse's mane so she could see nothing else.

Mage Wix saw Kara's action to save her eyes and wished he could do the same, but knew it could be taken as a show of insult. He didn't want to cause any upset with these villagers when they were there to ask for an important favour. Wix found the village strange in that there were no signs of outside influence or advancement. The houses had no glass in their windows, and it seemed they still used a bucket and well system to get water. Most towns and villages in the country had adopted to using pipes to channel water to pumps either inside or just outside each home. It had already been a hundred years since it was first put into practice, and so to see a village still sharing a single well was a very odd sight.

They were brought to a stop and Cawfeil jumped down from his horse. "This is the chief's house," he said pointing to the large mud hut behind him. "I'll go in and talk to him alone. So please wait here with the horses."

After nodding his agreement, Mage Wix slid off his mare gracefully and walked over to Kara. She was curiously comparing the chief's hut to the surrounding houses as Cawfeil walked through its door. "Kara," he said to get her attention as her peripheral vision was still blocked by her hood. "Come, I'll help you off the horse."

It was an awkward sight. Kara tried to swing her leg over the back of the horse only to discover her butt had gone completely numb and her leg wouldn't co-operate. Having seen her struggle, the mage took her waist in his hands and pulled her off the chestnut mare's back. This made Kara's face flush pink. She was amazed at how his hands completely encased her. As she'd never considered herself to be thin, she assumed his hands must be big.

They both ignored the stares of those with nothing better to do and gazed with hopeful expectations at the cloth door a few feet away. Aside from its size, the only difference between the chief's house and the other huts were the many intricate designs carved into all its exterior walls. The shadow being cast by its walls was getting longer, and the sky turned a brilliant mix of pink and yellow. This made the mage nervous, as he'd wanted to secure their position with a guide before night fell.

"Are you alright?" the mage asked Kara after seeing her plop down onto the ground.

"I'm tired." Then touching her stomach as it growled she added, "and hungry."

Mage Wix sighed. Just what was taking Cawfeil so long? He'd been in there for at least an hour already. Surely it shouldn't take so long to make a simple request? His head snapped up at the sound of the heavy fabric door lift aside.