Spero of Iter

59. Charred Valley

            Jaqueline awoke to a hand covering her mouth. Her eyes opened with a start, peering up to a crouching Fredrick, his countenance filled with anxiety. She glanced over at Vincent, who also had a hand over his mouth, fear stricken in his face. Fredrick then retracted his hands and placed one finger on his lips. "Shh." With that, he slowly turned and peered out of their tiny cave. His head turned from left to right. He then crouched next to Vincent, placing pelts and other materials back in its proper bag. "We have to leave carefully," he whispered. "They sent scouts. A few have passed by. I think the rest of the soldiers didn't follow."

Vincent and Jaqueline glanced at each other, then turned back to Fredrick, nodding simultaneously. Both broke out in movement, following the elder red head's lead of packing. Jaqueline tied Sir Aaron's sword around her waist with a piece of rope, the sheath lost with the washed-up knight, then gripped the hilt tightly. After their escape from the king's palace, it seemed her only source of comfort. All readied, the three exited the cave in single file; Fredrick, Vincent, then Jaqueline. Each peered about swiftly, their ears attuned to any sound, and their periphery perceiving more than it ever had before. Fighting the beasts they had before was almost better than the anticipation of a battle. How she hoped they could avoid it all together.

The crunching of burnt grass beneath their feet made Jaqueline tense at every step as they make their way into a thicket; if you could call it that. The lack of pine needles or anything resembling the color green was quite unnerving in every sense of the word. How she craved the cover a living forest could provide.

The sky was yet gray, and it seemed still early dawn by the navy tinge the air about them had. Jaqueline strained her eyes to see as far away as possible. She saw movement in the distance, obscured by the skeleton of a tree. She pulled out her sword almost automatically, standing tall, ready to fight. The sound of a crow as the black bird flew away. She shut her eyes harshly as she sighed, placing the blade back in her makeshift sheath. Vincent watched at the bird flew north, his brows knit in childlike worry. All that had befallen them... he didn't deserve to go through.

Finally, they reached their horses. It seemed as if the burden would finally fall from her shoulders at the prospect of being able to sprint away faster than any spy on foot. All placed their bags on their steeds, then mounted. Fredrick looked around again, then nodding his head the way they should go, around the other side of the cave.

So they walked. Jaqueline hadn't noticed how close they actually were now to the mountains, the night before being so full of anxiety and shrouded in fog. The weight on her shoulders only then increased as she made the mistake of peering upward. She saw black smoke rising from the peak of the tallest mountain. It wouldn't be long until she couldn't see it at all. She knew she'd seen the mountain from a distance, but it only felt more real. Aaron was a selfish traitor, Jorje and the rest of that village were dead, and they would be lucky to make it to the dragon, and even then, she wasn't sure what would happen. Was it truly worth it? It seemed she asked herself that question quite a lot as of recent. Wasn't the use of the adamant hero in movies supposed to give the protagonist a sense of clarity? That was basically what her subconscious had created, right? A narrative to explore the impending doom that was her future? No. She couldn't revert to that mindset. It was all too real to be fake. Aaron- she might have loved him before he used her. Jorje was strange, but he was like family. Vincent was the little brother she never knew she wanted. Fredrick.

She peered forward at the older of the two boys, seeing his stark shocks of hair. She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was on high alert from his posture alone. She remembered his rude nature on the first couple legs of their journey. However, he hadn't so much as cracked a smile out of place since they escaped. Fredrick's face then turned to meet her gaze.