Seekers

Gamel and his sister, Amala, desperately search for Snoe and Aedric

The Forging of the King

By Eddie Davis

© 2014

 

 

1.

Seekers

 

They rode by night, with only the sounds of hoofs betraying their presence.   The few that beheld them in the dark, hid from them, for the riders’ eyes shown a glowing red which, with their dark skin and white hair, hinted that they were supernatural beings.  Perhaps they were demons on the prowl, or  the Wild Hunt searching for lost souls.

 

They rode with a somber purpose about them, and did not stop where any could see them.   But though their appearance was frightening, in truth they were far from sinister.

 

They stopped close to dawn, having ridden up the Dwarven highway for many miles.

“We’ve lost the trail.   We don’t know how far they went on this road,”   The male -who wore full plate armor and was astride a powerful warhorse- said to the female, who knelt close to the ground, glancing for any signs.

 

She wanted to protest his statement, but she knew it to be true.   Between the rain and the tracks of thousands of men and horses, there was simply no way they could proceed.

“We should follow this highway… just to see,”   She finally said, glancing up at the Drow man.

“Amala, you know if they ran into this army, it won’t be good.   The tracks are all jumbled up.   The army went back and forth this direction and you heard what those two farmers were saying when we crept along side their barn; the Gorge Bridge has been destroyed.   Snoe couldn’t have gone further west.   We don’t even know if she caught up with Aedric.   If she didn’t, she probably ran into that army.”

The Drow girl’s eyes flashed red hot as she glared at her younger brother, “Don’t say that!   We don’t know that!   She might have found a way around them.”

“Yes, let’s pray that is the case.   But we can’t find them.   If Redburr’s army has them as hostages, I’m sure they’ll contact father to use them as bargaining tools.”

“If they didn’t kill them,”   The girl said, shivering at the thought.

“Have faith, Amala.”

“That’s hard to do, Gamel.   Snoe is too young and inexperienced to be out here by herself.”

“She probably is with Aedric.”

“Well that doesn’t make me feel any better!   He’s nearly as green as she is!”

“He’s not as inexperienced as you think, Amala.”

“He’s an arrogant pompous idiot that sweet-talked Snoe into going with him!”

“You know that’s not true!   He’s changed, Amala.   You saw how different he was!   He’s a Paladin of Yesh - believe me, Yesh would not bless him if he was arrogant and pompous.”

“Well, he’s still an idiot!   Thanks to him, Snoe may be dead!”

“Amala, he didn’t get Snoe to follow him!   Dad said that he was adamant that she stay behind. “

“Hah!”

“I think he’s innocent of that, Amala!   Snoe likes him; he didn’t lead her on; she has a crush on him… or something.”

“Well, her infatuation with him is probably going to get her killed.   If she isn’t already dead.”

“She’s not dead,” Gamel replied, a somewhat far away look in his eyes.   Amala started to say something, but recognized the sort of look on his face.   It was similar to looks that both of her parents got from time to time when Yesh revealed something to them.

“How do you know?”   She finally asked her little brother, while she mounted her horse.

“I just know,” He smiled, giving the same answer her parents always gave, and they were always right.

Amala sighed, somewhat relieved, but still desperately wanted to know where they were.   They had ridden for several days, searching for them, and they knew that Redburr’s army was marching southward to connect to the King’s highway, probably to march upon Westmark.   Thankfully, her parents would know by now and would hopefully have the caravan of refugees from King’s Reach nearly to Westmark before Earl Redburr’s forces arrived.

“So what do we do now?”  She asked her brother.

“Well, Redburr’s army is between us and Westmark, and with the Gorge Bridge gone, we won’t be able to get around them by the northern route.   So I guess our only option is to ride south and try to see if we can get around the army once it has passed over the Fallow River Bridge.   We probably won’t reach them before they get to Westmark, though.”

“If we just had a teleportation spell!”  Amala sighed, “Do you know of any wizards or sorcerers nearby that could cast one upon us?”

“No, I’m afraid not.”

“Well then I guess we’ll just have to go back to camp, pick up your squire, and ride, trusting everyone’s fate to Yesh.”

Gamel just nodded grimly and with that said, they both turned their horses to the south and rode quickly off, wondering and praying for those they could not help.

Reviews

[Dhaye]

"...supernatural beings. Demons on the prowl, or perhaps the Wild Hunt searching for lost souls."---I think that last statement is a part of the long line, not a separate line, Eddie.

"The few that beheld them in the dark, hid from them, for the riders’ eyes shown a glowing red which, with their dark skin and white hair, hinted that they were supernatural beings, like demons on the prowl, or perhaps the Wild Hunt searching for lost souls."

This is a very good start. Nice chapter. And congratulations for your own made characters in that photo. You're a great artist, Eddie. Keep it up!

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Daisie, I appreciate you taking time to read it.