It was quiet between Mel and Marcus as they made their way through town to the eastside. They had packed up all their belongings and headed out from the inn before sunup. It was dark outside, and the air was bitter. The ground was filled with heavy water drops, not cold enough to freeze, but still making the road damp and chill.
Mel had her red cloak wrapped around her body like a tight package and underneath, she wore the clothes she had worn while traveling to Stonehearth. They were thicker and sturdier than her brown trousers and shirt. But not prettier or fancier.
These clothes were a soft wool and cotton mix, mostly in a gray color, except from where dirt had colored sections of the fabric brown while sleeping on the ground. She knew she didn’t look great, but that wouldn’t matter to the nobles from Stonehearth, anyway. They had seen her yesterday in the best clothes she’d brought and still laughed at her.
Mel felt hopeless about her situation. It didn’t matter to her that some people didn’t like her, but these were all the people she was going to study with in Falden and she needed at least one confidant. One person she could spend her days at school with or eat lunch with. She didn’t want to have to count on finding someone in Aldrion who liked her. That would probably be even harder than someone from Stonehearth.
At least she and the nobles from here had things in common, like growing up in the valley and not experiencing a never ending war every day. She couldn’t even imagine what that was like and how hardy the people from Aldrion really must be.
Mel hiked her backpack further up her shoulders and felt the heavy sensation of a bag filled with items weighing her down. She and Marcus had stocked up on a few food supplies, but really most of the trip was going to be covered in the price of the agency. They were responsible for transporting the group, feeding them and making sure they had enough water to get to Aldrion.
Most of the weight in Mel’s backpack was from her other clothes, a few apples, a pocket knife, and a tinderbox. Really, it was probably the apples weighing her down, but Mel couldn’t imagine spending three full days without her favorite food. She had always grown up with fresh apples outside her doorstep and she had hated that she didn’t bring any on her trip to Stonehearth.
Mel and Marcus stepped into the waiting room of the travel agency. The place was almost empty except for a receptionist behind a counter and an intimidating woman cutting up a pear with her pocket knife by the entrance. The woman was probably around her late fifties and had a huge scar running down across her entire face. Her skin was pale and leathery, with wrinkles everywhere. Her hands looked callous, even more so than Mel’s blacksmith hands or even her fathers. Mel wondered what this woman had done in her life to deserve her looks.
She gave Mel a long glance, starting from her shoes up to her hair. She took in Mel’s presence and then gave Mel a twisted smile before returning to her pear. Mel swallowed hard, feeling like she didn’t want to be in her presence any longer. She hoped this woman wasn’t going with them on the trip. She didn’t really look like a student, so Mel thought she was safe from having to spend time with her.
“We’re traveling to Aldrion today,” Marcus said to the receptionist. “I’m Marcus Bruse and this is Melissa Temper.”
He pushed the scroll with the booking confirmation over to the man behind the counter. The receptionist looked it over and then pulled out a slip of paper.
“Two gold,” he said.
Marcus placed two gold on the counter and the receptionist took it.
“Don’t forget your receipt,” the receptionist said.
Marcus took the small piece of paper and studied it with a frown covering his face. He tucked it into a pocket in his forest green cloak and lifted his gaze to the receptionist.
“The others are waiting for you by the eastern gate,” the receptionist said. “Grace will escort you to them.”
He pointed to the harsh-looking woman by the entrance, and she gave them a hideous smile before exiting the building. Mel and Marcus ran after her with their backpacks slamming against their bodies.
“I’m Grace,” she said, while walking fast toward the east gate. “The agency hires me to escort people through the mountain pass. I’m what you would call a contractor. Stay close to me and try not to get on the fancy people’s nerves and you will be alright.”
Mel and Marcus caught up with her, and Marcus extended his hand to Grace.
“I’m Marcus and this is Melissa,” he said.
Grace shot a glance at his hand and then picked up her speed.
“Don’t make me hate you,” she said. “I already know who you are and I’m not one for small talk. Let’s keep talking to a minimum, okay?”
Marcus lowered his hand and tucked it deep into his pocket.
“Okay, sorry,” he said.
The three of them arrived at the gate in no time. Mel breathed heavily when they finally stopped and felt like she had been running the entire way here. She hoped the rest of the journey wouldn’t be kept at such a hurried pace and that Grace was just a maniac.
A small man dressed in something Mel thought looked like a unitard threw out his hands to his sides when he saw Grace approaching.
“Now we’re all here,” the man said. “I’m Gregory, and I will be your official escort from the travel agency. We are going to be traveling together for about three days and there are some rules I would like to go over before we set off.”
Mel looked around the group and saw to her surprise that all the nobles from last night were wearing similar clothing to yesterday. The two ladies, Gabriella and Clara, were wearing the chest plate dresses that Mel couldn’t quite comprehend what they were good for. They were both wearing black, but they didn’t look less fancy than the ones from yesterday. Mel wondered how they were going to walk for three days in these dresses.
Clara whipped her hair in the direction of Mel and gave her a pointed glare. Mel averted her eyes, feeling foolish for staring at Clara. She clearly didn’t like Mel.
“We will travel during sunlight,” Gregory said. “That means that if the sun is up, we will continue forward. We only stop when darkness falls and meals will be served by the fire in the mornings and evenings. If you’re hungry during the daytime, you will have to eat what you brought yourself.”
He looked around the group of people and gave Marcus a long glance before continuing.
“There will be water available at all times from the travel agency carriage,” Gregory said. “A barrel will be placed with a tap at the back. Help yourselves to as much as you need. Before we enter the mountain pass, during the second night. Grace, our wilderness contractor, will go over a few extra things with you. I expect you all to listen to her carefully. The mountain pass is not a place to make mistakes. Is that understood?”
“Yes,” Mel and Marcus shouted.
The rest of the group gave them a sideways glance, and Mel winced.
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“Okay,” Gregory said. “Let’s move out.”
Mel adjusted the straps on her backpack and when she turned to walk, she noticed the nobles had disappeared. All four of them were gone. She looked around dumbfounded, just to find Gregory hopping into a large carriage with two women from the travel agency.
The horse started moving, drawing Gregory’s carriage down the road, and what followed were four other carriages. When Mel looked inside the windows, she saw the four nobles riding inside a carriage each. They had a servant or two walking by the horses. At the side of the road, Grace walked in the grass, carrying her own backpack.
Marcus grabbed Mel’s hand.
“Let’s go,” he said. “We don’t want them to leave without us.”
Mel followed Marcus, and eventually they were walking side by side in the grass after Grace.
“I didn’t know they would bring horse-drawn carriages on this trip,” Mel said. “Is this normal?”
Marcus shrugged. He probably had no idea what was normal in Stonehearth, either.
“Yep,” Grace said from in front of them. “I told you to not get in the fancy people’s way. Stick close to me and you won’t get kicked out of the group before we reach the mountain pass.”
“Will they take the horses through the mountain pass?” Marcus asked.
“Nope,” Grace said. “The pass is treacherous and the carriages cannot travel through there. We walk by foot on the last stretch. Even the fancy-people will have to walk.”
Mel shared a glance with Marcus, and he had a smile on his lips.
“The fancy people,” he said in a mocking tone. “Do you think they will be happy about that?”
Mel shook her head. “Probably not.”
#
After an entire day of walking, Mel felt her feet ache and her stomach growl. They had lit the campfire and a large pot of stew hung over the fire. A woman from the travel agency was handing out bread to the group sitting by the fireplace. The other woman was stirring the pot and Gregory was supervising everything from the back.
Mel let herself sink into the log and arched her back like a bow. Marcus brought out his hands toward the fire, warming his fingers by the hot flames. The woman handed her a bowl of stew and Mel dipped her piece of bread into the brown liquid. She took a bite, and it tasted like the best meal of her life.
She was sure it wasn’t. She had seen the two women prepare the meal, and it hadn’t looked that difficult. Just some vegetables, potatoes and water that were heated over the fire. But Mel had never before been this hungry, either. She guessed this was what it felt like to actually push yourself to the limit.
Gregory sat down by the fireplace and ate his stew. But unlike the rest, he didn’t seem quite as mesmerized by the meal.
“Is there anyone here who has a story for us?” Gregory asked.
The group looked up from their food, but no one seemed to want to speak, let alone tell a story.
“I always try to request a story from my travel companions,” Gregory continued. “I learn so much by hearing different people tell me what they’ve been through or what someone else has been through. Last spring, there was a man who told me about fighting off a boar outside of Stonehearth. Of course, I didn’t believe the story was true. The man was way too noble to fight anything off, but I liked the story. So, what do you have to offer me?”
“Melissa can probably tell us one,” Brandon said. “She’s, after all, from the infamous dragon cult. Or maybe her dog can share his story of how he became her servant?”
Mel felt Marcus’s body jerk, and she put a hand on his knee. She looked into his eyes and shook her head. It wasn’t worth starting a fight with these people. They needed to listen to what Grace had told them. Do not get in the way of the nobles.
Grace looked up from her bowl at Mel and gave her a thin smile.
“Oh, the dragon cult,” Gregory said. “I always wanted to hear a true story from Windbrook. We hear so many false ones about crazy priests and virgin sacrifices. I would love to know how it’s really like there. Please, would you tell us?”
Mel looked around the campfire and the four nobles eating their humble dinner and at their servants leaning in behind them to hear Mel speak.
“Okay,” she said. “I guess I can tell you one story about the dragon cult.”
She took in a deep breath and emptied her lungs.
“So, every year we have this celebration on the spring equinox. We light a big bonfire as a beacon for the dragons to find their way home and drink a lot of spiced wine. But one year, when I was about ten years old, the elemental warrior from Auburn Hills, who always lights the fire, didn’t arrive in Windbrook on spring equinox. There had been a storm, you see, and he had been delayed on the wrong side of Dragon Lake. It wasn’t safe for him to cross with the ferry. All the leaders in Windbrook were furious and cursed the heavens for making a storm. This would have to be the first year in a thousand years that the bonfire wouldn’t be lit on spring equinox.”
Flavio raised his hand, and Mel looked at him in surprise.
“Can I just ask what the spring equinox is before we continue?” he said.
Gregory shot Flavio daggers, but muttered, “It’s the start of spring. The day when the sun’s up almost the same amount of time as it’s down. Please continue, Melissa.”
Mel felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips, and she could see Flavio blush in embarrassment at having interrupted her story.
“So, as I was saying, the leaders were furious and trying to come up with a way to save our tradition to light the bonfire,” Mel said. “But the thing is the bonfire couldn’t be lit with anything other than dragon fire, because that was tradition. So they discussed moving the celebration a day or two forward to when the fire summoner could arrive in Windbrook. Or if they should use regular flames to light the fire. But they simply couldn’t agree on one solution. The town was torn and on the night of spring equinox, the bonfire stood cold and dark in the night.”
“The whole town gathered around, drinking cups of spiced wine and mourning their lost holiday. My parents discussed maybe not attending next year, because what was the reason when the dragons didn’t seem to have anything to do with this holiday anymore.”
Mel paused and took a sip of her stew. She felt the dramatic pause increase the anticipation of her audience and Mel let them hang for a second longer.
“You see, me and my younger brother Andrew loved the spring equinox and especially the lighting of the bonfire back then. We loved to run around without our parents checking our every move. We loved that they usually drank a bit too much spiced wine and didn't care as much about us getting into trouble.”
Marcus chuckled next to Mel and a wide smile spread across Mel’s lips.
“So, I took Andrew’s hand and dragged him off to Mrs. Hallden’s booth where the spiced wine was sold. I explained my plan to him and got my eight-year-old brother to sneak into the back of Mrs. Hallden’s booth and steal their tinderbox. We snuck together to the back of the bonfire where not many people were gathered, and I used the tinderbox to start a small fire by the edge of the pile of kindling. Then me and Andrew snuck back to our parents and waited.”
“The flames spread and soon the whole bonfire was burning like a beacon for the dragons up in the sky,” Mel said. “The entire town cheered and since no one had seen us sneak behind the back and light the fire. The High Priest of the dragon cult announced to everyone that the dragons had come back to us to light the fire.”
Mel laughed and giggles spread around the fireplace.
“Until this day, my parents still don’t know it was me and Andrew who lit the bonfire. But when the dragons didn’t show up after a week or two, the High Priest suspected what had happened and we had to attend a very detailed sermon instructing everyone about the dangers of starting unsolicited fires.”
Now the entire group broke out in loud chuckles and Mel felt her heart soaring. They were laughing with her and she felt more accepted into the group than she had since she met them. Gregory slapped his knee and wild fits of laughter shook his body.
Marcus leaned in toward Mel and whispered in her ear, “I didn’t know that was you.”
Mel gave him a wicked smile and a wink. Marcus chuckled and Mel felt a warmth stronger than the fireplace spread inside her body.
After dinner, when Mel was softening her bag to use as a pillow on the ground in front of the fire, Gabriella walked up to her.
“Thank you for sharing your story tonight,” Gabriella said. “I really liked it. It made the dragon cult and people from Windbrook seem human. I mean… I know you’re human…I just never heard stories like that before.”
Mel gave her a wide smile.
“That’s okay,” she said. “I understand the dragon cult isn’t especially popular outside of Windbrook and, to be honest, I don’t especially like the cult, either. But we aren’t crazy and we don’t sacrifice virgins.”
Gabriella laughed and Mel saw a warmth inside her eyes just like she had when she greeted them at her mansion.
“Good to know,” Gabriella said. “And if you want to, you’re welcome to sit in my carriage tomorrow.”
Mel’s smile vanished from her face, and she looked at Gabriella with a startled expression.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yeah, really,” Gabriella said. “I would love to have you as my companion.”
“Thanks,” Mel said. “See you tomorrow.”