Waiting for Spring - Part I

Chapter Four

655 dead, 1344 injured. The reports come every fortnight. One of the bloodiest yet. I fear that Ocean will be overrun if they press further. From the watchtower you can see the burning pavilions in the dead of the night. It is a field of stars and lost souls.

Four days until reinforcements arrive. They claim that no god or goddess watches over us, but I still hope that some deity will come to my aid and spare my family. Four days we wait. Four nights without sleep.

-Excerpt from Lord Cillwall of Ocean's journal, Ward.

The rain poured down on the boat above their heads. It had come so quickly, surprising them all. The party marched homewards. They tried to walk under the vessel, using it as protection against the precipitation, but it was uncomfortably crowded beneath it. April carried a large barrel of fish in her arms, making her a bit clumsy.

"Could you please stop pushing me around April?" a man behind her asked.

"It's not that easy to carry a barrel half the size of your body," April snapped back.

It went quiet again. No seemed to be in the mood for small talk, mayhap it was the weather. After hours of constant walking through wet undergrowth they found themselves in a familiar place.

"We're not far away now," Kirth announced when he noticed the old outpost used for hunting. Moss and climbers writhed all over the old platform. It looked as if it would fall down at any moment, that any gust of wind would simply overthrow it.. April had never participated in a hunting party and from what she had heard it was far from exciting. Patience, it's all about patience. She had a hard time fancy how it would be to sit there a rainy day like this.

"Just an hour of walk left," Kirth continued with a cheery tone.

"Can't you just shut up, Kirth? I can't believe how in the ancestors name you can be so damn happy to walk in this shitty weather," his brother instantly responded.

"Well, looks like someone suddenly transformed into the second bright and breezy woman of this trip," he joked and threw a smiling gaze at April. She didn't smile back, neither with her eyes nor lips.

"That wasn't very funny," she replied instead and looked away.

"Why are the two of you so bitter? Come on!" Kirth's words echoed in hollowness of the boat above their heads, ending the miserable conversation.

When they arrived back in the town they were all completely soaked and there were no one outside to be seen, none there to greet them home. It made a lot of sense though; only a madman would be out walking in this weather. The rain had escalated and shifted to a minor hailstorm. The men quickly put the boat inside its barn while April dragged the fourth a dozen barrels to the stockpile shed. The hail rain hit her like arrows and it felt almost as they were to penetrate her leathers.

When she finally reached the tiny house she pulled the barrels inside and sat down on a sack of potatoes. She was home again and for the first time in a long time it didn't really any good. She had no desire to confront Carwyn again since the mood around them was quite tense. April quickly realised it was inevitable. She put her face in her hands and sighed. A tiresome feeling came creeping. Maybe all I need is sleep she thought and stood up.

When she finally left the shed the others had already departed and April assumed that they were home already. The rainfall had subsided to drizzle and left nothing but a grey haze. She walked over the damp ground with slow steps and back to her house. She left her boots just inside the front door before climbing up the ladder to her room.