The Dragon Thief [I]

A Strange Girl [2]

Chapter Two
A Strange Girl

Nox

Aria led him to a shallow bank on the Saliscan River. The river water flowed calmly this deep into the woods and was as shallow as a stream. Nox demounted his horse and let her drink from the pristine, blue waters. Following suit, he cupped his hands into the river, shivering at its coldness, and drank deeply. A second horse joined Aria in drinking moments later and he saw Alderyth standing beside him.

"We should take a break," the aged Master suggested, petting the horses and soothing out their manes. Nox found a thickly trunked tree to slink under and began digging into his apple. He looked upward into the cloudless sky and studied the weather. Just nights ago it was raining, coming in soft, then heavy at random intervals. The weather had since cleared to Nox's delight. They had been delayed because of the rain, confined to their camp place an extra night than planned. Nox tried to make up for the lost time by shortening eating breaks and setting off earlier in the days, but the horses couldn't keep up.

Alderyth came and sat beside him, shifting his robes away from the dirt to the grass. The Master was grey haired and bearded and old, though he managed to keep up with Nox when travelling. Nox always wondered if Alderyth's spectacular health was natural or a work of some amazing magic. He offered his Master an apple and Alderyth took it gratefully.

"We aren't that far off now from the fork to the King's Road," Alderyth said, squinting into the woodland trees. "It should only take us four or five days until we break out of the forest."

Nox finished his fruit and aimed to throw it into the river. It made the distance and splashed the horses, though they didn't care to pay any attention to it. The core bobbed downstream and disappeared with the other floating twigs and leaves.

"We'll make it back in time for the new semester," his Master went on to say. "You needn't rush home."

Nox sighed. "I just want to get out of this forest and be done with it."

They had been here for two weeks already tracking and searching with no luck in finding what they wished to obtain. Alderyth had meant to stay for a third week but Nox was sick of coming up short and wasting his time on a meaningless matter. Every time he thought about it, a heavy feeling fell over his chest and he found himself unmotivated, restless and agitated at his failures. He wanted to just return to the Mages Guild and resume studying from there where things were simpler.

Sick of the thought of the last two weeks, Nox stood and returned to Aria. She was his trusty steed, gifted to him on his graduation day at the guild by his sister, Avalin. He named her Aria after the Harthian fable of the lost Princess Aria, who was legendary for her cleverness and speed. The fable goes that the Harthian princess who had grown up a commoner reclaimed her rightful place on the throne by killing her younger sister, Queen Delaine. Although not a heartfelt story, Aria was known during her reign to be so quick she could outrun all her sister's loyalists who tried to kill her. Nox had liked the allusion to the speediness part and decided it was befitting for his first horse, hoping its name would lend to its speed. Avalin on the other hand hated it, thinking he meant it in a way to signify the plotting of her demise by his hands.

Aria nudged her rider endearingly and he scratched her under her head. He watched as little blue fish edged near the rocks where he stood. They swam forward, then shifted back, then forward again, until a shrill scream pierced through the forest. The fish disappeared into the sands of the water, burying underground. Aria whinnied and kicked and Nox had to grab for her lead so she wouldn't take off. He looked to Alderyth urgently.

"Someone's in trouble," Nox exclaimed, searching through the woods with his eyes. He was certain it had come from the north. Alderyth came to him and Nox handed him Aria's lead. "Take care of the horses. I'll be back shortly, I'm just going to check it out."