A King's War (Excerpt Only)

Chapter 4

VER

I had only ever left the Kingdom of Ralorn once in my life. And that was the day it fell. The day my parents were slaughtered, my home was ripped away from me, and the day I became one of the hunted. Like an animal. During that time, I'd had no choice but to endure what The Outskirts had to offer. Aila, Galen, Ilrune, and I had kept to ourselves and kept our weapons ready. For at night, it was the dark hunters that would kill you, but during the day, it was anyone else. Criminals ran rampant and unchecked throughout The Outskirts, preying on the weak. If they felt you had valuables, they'd strike. And valuables out in The Outskirts did not mean jewels or coins, it meant food, weapons, or anything else that could be used for survival.

Luckily, we had only been out there for a few days before Tephysea found us and smuggled us back into the kingdom and to her house. Still, those few days were not anything I liked to think back on. None of us had slept at night for fear of the dark hunters and we barely moved during the day to avoid bringing attention to ourselves.

There weren't many towns in The Outskirts, but the town of Lost I'd heard of. I had my suspicions as to how to it got its name, though I couldn't confirm it. It was the town closest to the Red Forest. The forest that divided many of the kingdoms from each other and held Valveronia at its center.

The Outskirts alone were bad enough to travel through, especially after dark. The towns still functioning in The Outskirts could probably be considered worse than The Outskirts themselves. People there could not be trusted. I doubted Lost was any exception. Why Tephysea had thought that this Raven person would help us, I did not know, but I trusted her judgment. Of course, should this, Raven, choose not to help us, we'd make do on our own.

Galen had watched and reported when they had moved Ilrune, which had, unfortunately, been that very night. We hadn't been able to follow because had been closed immediately after the blue tunics had taken Ilrune through. So, we'd had no choice but to set out at first light.

We set out as soon as the sun rose and the gates of Ralorn opened. It would take us until midday to reach Lost if we didn't run into any trouble. We knew there was no chance of getting to Ilrune while he was in Ralorn as Zatir was personally watching over him until he had been taken from the kingdom, and it would be impossible to actually get to him if he made it Valveronia, so our only chance was to catch up with to him was when they were in the Red Forest just outside Valveronia. Although, they already had a good lead on us, and unlike us, the blue tunics knew where they were going. It would be very difficult for us to catch up and if we didn't get to them before they'd taken Ilrune into Valveronia, he'd be lost forever.

We didn't stop nor slow in our journey to the town of Lost, making it there just after midday.

"Charming," Aila said as she studied the town with a sour look on her face.

Metal bars and wooden beams barricaded the windows. Steel doors were at every entrance. Wooden fences were broken and in ruins. Several of the buildings were crumbling messes of what they use to be. There were no signs on any of the buildings, the streets were dry dirt, with people kicking up dust every time they walked through it. The town was a wasteland and it was easy to see why people had come to call it Lost. And the people living in it didn't appear to be any better.

Their skin was tanned and worn, bleeding, and scabbed over. Their clothes were in tatters and filthy, covered in dirt and mud. They watched as we began to walk through the town. Watched us with a hunger in their eyes and scorn on their faces. I placed my hand on my sword and noticed Aila and Galen had done the same. The people there looked like they were starving, suffering, and would do just about anything for some reprieve. We were strangers here, and it was entirely like they'd try and take what we had. My hand on my sword tightened and I also found myself grasping at my bow wrapped around my torso.