Follow: Book 1 The Rose Tree Chronicles

Chapter Four: Stalling

Gerardo no longer cared enough to make his way to a neighboring town, even though no one in Cair would allow him to stay in an inn. He had sought out a lonely back alley and slept in the dirt by the mounds of trash and debris with only a tattered, abandoned cloak that he had stumbled upon to keep him warm. The memory of losing Rein left an overwhelming feeling of guilt in his heart that had him tossing and turning throughout the night. The next morning, harsh rays from the Southern sun rudely awakened him from a short night's sleep.

As he sauntered back onto the street, Gerardo noticed that nothing about the town had changed. Nobody even witnessed him egress from the darkness between the two battered shops in his musty uniform. The townsfolk were still busy working to revive their town and to keep what was left of their families alive. Gerardo pulled the worn hood of his cloak over his head to avoid being recognized when purchasing food. When he felt sure that no one was paying him any mind, he proceeded to search for an exit out of Cair, but this time his goal was to reach the dreaded Emperor Mentir's palace.

Cair was a very small town that sat in the middle of acres upon acres of grass and weeds. Gerardo followed the seldom-traveled dirt road that split the flat valley between Cair and the palace in half. All that he could survey of the landscape was the trail that led around the Lucierna Forest, surrounded by vibrant green grass stretching as far as his eye could see. Further out in the distance he spotted the palace sitting on the horizon like a little white stone on a bright green ring. He took a steady, deep breath and forced himself onward.

~~

The suns were high in the bright blue sky now, but as winter was ever nearing, they were tiny and emitted little heat. After walking for half the day with only a couple of short breaks, Gerardo felt a tad warmer with the additional help of his new cloak, but the air was still chilly and it caused him to shutter every so often. Over a quarter of a day further into his trek he had stopped shivering, but his muscles were sore and his joints ached with every step he took.

When the Southern sun began to set on an exasperatingly tedious day, Gerardo heard the muffled sounds of galloping and yelling resounding from his left. He glanced over and discerned nothing aside from the Lucierna forest line. Still, the noise grew louder and clearer. Gerardo slowed to a stop and squinted his eyes in an attempt to make out the tiny black mass emerging from the trees. As it approached it got bigger and brighter, until finally Gerardo realized the figure was a unicorn. He felt slightly nervous when the huge, dark gray-colored horse with the silver horn on its forehead ran directly up to him showing no signs of slowing down. Gerardo wondered if it even noticed him standing there.

At last the unicorn skidded to a dead stop in front of Gerardo, kicking up a large cloud of dust between them. They gaped at each other for a few short seconds. Gerardo waited for the creature to speak but the unicorn wondered if it should. Finally, Gerardo sighed through his nose. He scanned his surroundings, feeling quite unalarmed for this poor creature, and spotted a tall blackwood tree ahead to the right of the road.

"Hide behind that tree," he said, pointing. "I'll be casual about it."

The unicorn gave Gerardo a second, untrusting glance before quickly and silently obeying. Moments later, two hunters bolted out of the forest to see only Gerardo wandering along the path, like a random traveler ignorant of their situation. They rode up to him on their white and brown horses, their bows and arrows ready for any tricks that he might pull. Once they realized they had a distaste for this soldier and his mere presence, one of them spat in his direction before they both retreated back to the Lucierna Forest, neither muttering a word to him.

When the hunters were out of sight, the unicorn showed from its hiding place and trotted over to Gerardo. However, Gerardo paid it no attention and continued to walk onward, watching his feet.