the green Ravens: departure into uncertainty

The journey begins

Sahra rode along the road for some time. Although it was dark and she was getting more and more tired, she wanted to ride as far as she could. But soon she realised that the tiredness was pulling too hard on her.

She tugged on Karas' reins and thus slowed him down. Sahra looked around. There was nothing but forest around her. The cold autumn wind swept through the treetops and Sahra began to shiver.

She steered Karas to walk a little off the path. At a fallen tree she finally stopped.

„This is where we will sleep tonight, Karas."

Sahra got off Karas and removed her backpack from him. She tied the horse to a small log that stood next to the fallen tree. She then unrolled her sleeping bag. It was not the first time Sahra had spent the night outdoors. She had often slept in the forest before. Her father never approved, but now at least it paid off. Sahra quickly gathered some small and large wooden branches. She put them together in a pile. Then she took out a small piece of iron and a grindstone from her bag. Her father had once shown her how to make fire like this. She used some small twigs and a bit of dry grass. She was happy that it had not rained and therefore everything was relatively dry. She arranged the twigs and the grass in a pile. Then she took the piece of iron and the grindstone and quickly rubbed some shavings from it. Already at the first attempt, sparks came out of the iron. But Sahra had to repeat it a few times until the grass started to burn. She quickly put more twigs on the small fire and added it to the pile with the big branches. After a short time, a bright and warm fire was burning. Sahra moved to Karas and took the saddle from him. She also removed the bow and the arrows from Karas' back. She put them next to her sleeping bag. Finally, she took off her sword and placed it next to the bow and arrows. Sahra sat down on her sleeping bag and looked into the fire. She thought about whether it had really been the right decision to leave Pihlus. Particularly without saying goodbye to the others. Besides, she wondered where exactly their great journey should start now. Sahra checked her bow, remembering what the blacksmith had told her. That his cousin lived in Altstein and that she could drop by there.

„Karas, tomorrow we'll set off for Altstein. What do you think?" Karas was lying on the dry earth floor and had already lowered his head to sleep. He didn't even look at her, Sahra just grinned and looked back into the fire.

„You're right, it's been a busy day." Sahra lay down in her sleeping bag and closed her eyes. It took her a while to fall asleep as it was already very cold outside. But after a while, she finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Sahra woke up to the sound of birds singing. She immediately checked to see if her things were still there and that they hadn't been stolen during the night. She instantly saw that everything was still there, just as she had put it. Karas was also already on his hooves, eating some grass from the forest floor. Sahra slowly climbed out of her sleeping bag. She had to get her bearings for a moment, where precisely she was. She went to her backpack and took out some bread and a carrot.

She gave the carrot to Karas, who ate it immediately.

„I'm afraid that's all I can give you. But don't worry, I'll get more at the next village, I promise." She stroked his fur. Sahra took Karas' saddle and secured it to his back. Likewise the bow with the arrows and her backpack including her sleeping bag. She put her sword around her waist again and mounted Karas.

She rode with him back to the road. Meanwhile, she kept biting off her piece of bread and eating it. When they reached the road again, she briefly considered riding back, but she continued in the opposite direction. She didn't want to return. Unlike last night, she didn't let Karas break into a fast gallop, but rather rode in a relaxed and calm manner. Sahra thought to herself, it wouldn't matter when she arrived. She had as much time as she wanted and she realised that no one was going to tell her what to do and what not to do. This made Sahra laugh. Sahra rode the road awkwardly for some time. She thought a lot about what her father would say to the others in the village. Why she had left and what they might think.