The Epic Tale of Cregan

Chapter 18: By Any Other Name

At first, Cree thought he may have been dead. That would be the perfect way for this journey to end. They survived Sara and her bullshit 'games', Dev'al Ordon soldiers who are constantly trying to kill them, getting attacked and kidnapped by Latyrs, only to end up dying by drowning in cold-ass water.

But he comes to realize that's probably not the case once he feels the warmth of fire sinking into his bones and warding off the numbness from the water.

He blinks his eyes open and sees a cloudy sky overhead as a storm passes through. Not only does he see the sky, but also the standing walls of a broken wooden house. He sits up and looks around to see that he's laying in a warm fur bedroll and there's a campfire burning to his left. The wound on his shoulder has been wrapped up as well as his sprained ankle.

He's not cold anymore and it's not just from being out of the frigid water. The air no longer holds the chilling bite of winter that covers the northern half of the continent. The only cold he feels is from the light drizzle of rain and the clouds blocking the sun.

But he doesn't allow himself to relax for even a moment once he sees that he's alone in the destroyed house. It doesn't look like he's in Whiteridge anymore. This house looks as though it's been withering away over decades, maybe a century or more.

Regan and Reela aren't with him, making him immediately get up from the bedroll and grab his backpack that was leaned against one of the decaying walls.

He makes his way through a doorway that doesn't have a door and enters another room of the roofless house, when he sees that there is a full bed and a fireplace, and Regan is comfortably tucked into the blankets on the bed. His wounds have been bandaged as well and his torn clothes have been replaced with a fresh new tunic.

He's still asleep, but Cree's worrying makes it next to impossible to not at least check if he's alright. He rushes over to the bed and sits on the edge, pressing his hand to Regan's chest and waiting. He finally allows himself to relax a bit once he feels Regan's heartbeat and the steady rising and falling of his chest as he breathes.

But he still feels uneasy as Reela is nowhere to be seen. Fear and panic strike his heart when he remembers he had left her in the canal in Whiteridge. If she was still there and alone, he has no way of knowing if she's even still...

He stops his train of negative thoughts once he hears childlike giggling coming from outside the destroyed house. It sounded like Reela, so he quickly rushes out the decayed front door and out into the streets of an unfamiliar village that looks deserted.

The cobblestone streets are cracked and overgrown. The houses all have a great deal of damage done to them and faded signs of charred wood on the walls and floorboards. At the center of the withered town is an old cathedral that has probably taken the most damage as the top of the building has crumbled in on itself and left sitting in piles of stone rubble.

The empty decayed streets and the grey clouds overhead make this place look like a ghost town. Maybe it is. As far as he can tell, anyone who lived here is either long gone or long dead.

In front of the crumbled cathedral is Reela and a person in a dark leather coat and black trousers, but he can't see their face as their back is turned to him. Reela is talking to the person, smiling and laughing carelessly.

"Reela!" Cree calls to her as he steps away from the house and approaches them. The person and Reela both turn and look at him, and Reela's smile widens.

"Cree!" she bounds to his side and wraps her arms around his waist. He places his hand on her back but doesn't take his eyes off the person, who he now sees is a woman with dark red hair and kind green eyes. He doesn't recognize this woman, but she smiles as she sees him.