The Gift of Beauty | ONC2020

Chapter 4

The sun was already going down when Brandon and Rose reached the top of a hill. It had been four days since they had left Kios behind, and Rose had barely said a word to him. Brandon was bothered at the start, but he had made his peace with it. Travelling through the forests and plains surrounding the capitol in silence wasn't half bad, anyways.

From atop the hill they had a great view of the surrounding area. Right in front of them stood a mountain that made the one they just climbed look like a molehill. Brandon had taken a lot of maps with him, but he didn't have to check them to see what this one was called. The mountain of Sol; their first goal. They seemed so close now. All they had to do was travel down this hill, and up the mountain.

Brandon jumped in surprise when Rose poked him. "Ow! What did you do that for?"

"Look," she said, pointing downward, "Smoke."

Brandon looked down to where she pointed. Before him was a valley, separating them and the mountain of Sol. In this valley was a small village, Brandon knew from studying the maps that it was called Helios. Even from this distance he could see that it was heavily guarded, much more than the other villages they had passed along the way. There was a large fence built around the houses, complete with gates. He wondered what they were trying to keep out.

But the most striking part of Helios was a large tower, located in the middle of the village. That in and of itself was not that strange, but the fact that it was on fire was.

"We have to help them," Brandon said. "We can't let it spread to the houses."

Rose nodded. "If the fence catches on fire...." Before she finished her sentence, she spurned her horse and shot forward.

Brandon hadn't even thought about that. If the fence caught on fire than everyone in the village would be caught in a sea of flames. Quickly he spurred his horse after Rose.

When they finally reached Helios, the fire was already under control. Though it was still smouldering, it seemed like the structure underneath had managed to survive. They wouldn't be able to use it anytime soon, though.

They tied up their horses at the edge of the village, far away from the burning remains of the tower, and walked towards the centre. People were still walking on and off to the well with buckets filled with water. They walked up to one of the villagers.

"Excuse me," Brandon said. "Can you tell me who's in charge here?"

The man put his bucket down and wiped the sweat of his brow. He was a young man still, but looked like he hadn't slept in days. His clothes were stained black from ash.

"Who's asking?"

"The name is Brandon. My father is a nobleman from Kios. I want you to bring me to your leader."

"A nobleman, heh? Don't get a lot of those around these parts. Most o' them are smart enough to avoid this wretched place," he spit on the ground and gestured towards the tower. "Thomas is over there. He's in charge of our defences, so he's the one you wanna talk to. He's the one shouting orders at everyone, you'll find him easy enough." He didn't wait for Brandon to answer, and picked up his bucket and continued his work.

As they were walking towards the tower Rose mumbled. "They look so... empty."

Brandon looked around and realized that she was right. Every single one of the villagers looked like the man they had talked to. They were young, early thirties at most, and yet there was no happiness, no life to be found on their faces. But even more odd, there wasn't sadness either. There was only exhaustion. Those were not the normal emotions for someone who had just seen the centre part of their village burn down.