Before the Last Snow

Chapter 14: El joven poeta (The young Poet)

No one's POV

He had been traveling for hours, with Pearl. He was hungry, thirsty, sweaty, but the thought of him doing this for Nebula was enough to keep him going. Pearl, too, was more than happy to be with her master. She was grateful for a man who had saved her from abusive stable owners as a young filly and she had voyaged to many faraway lands with him, so of course, she trusted him with her life. But, so did Lexon.

As they rode on the dirty paths undiscovered, they saw a young boy dressed in a bright lavender suit, walking by the side. By the looks of it, he seemed to know where he was going, but Lexon did not. So, he brought Pearl to a stop and got off her, to question the young lad.

"Boy, do you know where the Cherean hills are?", Lexon questioned.

He smiled, reciting,
"Everything you wish for
will come unexpectedly
Have faith, King Lexon,
and you'll find what you seek"

Then, suddenly, a translucent white-colored gas surrounded them. It was a fog. Or maybe more than that, but it was mystical almost. The more they tried to escape it, the more it suffocated them. Pearl started neighing, out of panic, which only increased Lexon's worrying. There was nothing they could do now, it was too late, perhaps.

The last thing Lexon's eyes saw before shifting into temporary unconsciousness was the light grey smoke. Then, his eyes shut as he could no longer fight.

Although the sense of time did not matter much to Lexon at this point, he assumed he had fainted for only a couple of minutes, but he was not very certain. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on the road, on the street, in an unknown land. He gathered his scarce strength to stand on his two feet but found himself confused after he failed to locate Pearl near him.

He politely approached one of the many residents who were staring at him, and quizzed, "Excuse me, sir, have you seen a white female horse nearby? She is about this tall and wears a Royal saddle pad."

The man only continued to stare at Lexon, looking at him in disgust.

"That's all right, sir. Have a good day."

He continued walking, no, wandering on the streets. Everyone's eyes ogled him and every inch of his body which had a stench of royalty. He kept walking, in desperate search of Pearl, hoping to see any white animal at this point. He was still dying of hunger and waiting to quench his thirst for water when his eyes found the young boy again. He ran towards the lad and hurriedly held his hand, "You! You are the one I met before I fainted and came...here. Where is my horse, what do you want from me? I will give you gold, but you must be honest."

Again, the boy riddled, "Patient, you must be
Pearl is the least of your worries
Follow the dark Oscuro's mother
Soon, nothing else would bother"

"Boy, stop with such vague sayings. You must help me find an exit, at once. Do you not know who I am?"

"Lexon, a gentleman and King
You have nurtured the dark being
Now, you have come here to find
the answers, as you're out of time"

With that, the boy vanished into thick air and crowd. Once more, Lexon was left distraught and helpless, he had no clue of his location, let alone the location of Pearl.

"No, wait! Where are you going? Wait!"

So, another time, he lifted his heavy steps and placed his feet on the unfamiliar ground. Oh, how he missed the comfort of Nebula's arms and her smile, especially her smile. He was well aware of the widened eyes on him, well aware that any of these people could jump on him and injure him, well aware of-

His train of thoughts was interrupted by a sudden pull. A middle-aged woman shushed him, putting her hand on Lexon's mouth. She gestured him to follow her, as he did and led him through a tunnel under a bridge.

His mind was still running with countless possibilities and what-ifs. He was unsure of ever returning back home, to Nebula, and was scared, for the first time. He had never been in an unknown land before for his late father had taken Lexon on all his voyages. He grew up with the Moonlander and Cherean princesses, traveled frequently to the Zath and Serion Kingdoms, so the very possibility of a place unknown to him frightened him. The fear came from a place of reason, however, for his late parents had never returned after going somewhere far away. The last letter they wrote described a place where "countryside met skepticism" and as Lexon got older, he made it a rule to never travel to unfamiliar places. Now, as Lexon painted this new land onto his memory, his heart raced because the similarities between the place in that letter and this realm were too many. 

Lexon carefully observed the city's builds, it was essentially no different than the other kingdoms, but it was at a higher altitude because of the clouds faintly visible to the naked eye. A glimmer of hope arose in his mind, maybe his parents were still here, well and alive? But, soon that hope turned into a nightmare. Why didn't his parents ever come back, even if they are all right? Can anyone come back from here?

As he followed the woman and as they transitioned to a more countryside area, he began noticing the subtle differences. His best guess was that this place, long ago, was abandoned, but the people found safety in these lands, and they made it home. When she finally stopped walking, Lexon looked straight ahead, at the huge cottage-core mansion. He still thought that perhaps the woman works as a maid, for her clothes were ripped, and her face was unclean yet. However, the nearer she got to the entry, the more graceful and poised she became. She took every step so very carefully, lifting her gown, her posture straightened, with her chin up, like a lady of a noble family.

Lexon's assumptions were proven wrong when all the maids and servants began bowing to her, greeting her, but that did not surprise him the most. What did shock him was that he saw paintings of Hedwig all around the mansion, many with Lexon in them, but he wondered, how did they know Hedwig? Why did they know Hedwig?

A/N

Hello lovelies! How are you all doing? I am doing okay-ish. My writing schedule is all packed as I am plotting the finale for this book and writing more often now! Hopefully you all are doing fine, too :)

As always, don't forget to comment/vote if you are enjoying the story. I always appreciate any feedback, too, if given politely :) 

Have a good day, lovelies!