~ For Argaland ~

Chapter V

From that day on, Adar became part of our group, he was amazingly skilled with the bow and was a huge help to us navigating the harsh environment. The mood of our company started to change, it was if a peaceful, content feeling had settled in our hearts. Within the first day of our journey away from the river, we made it through the thick forest with help from our new ally. The forest was truly a beautiful place, although we were constantly on the lookout for soldiers of the dark prince who could be lurking in the nearby thickets.

Adar explained to us that he had many times journeyed around Argaland and knew exactly which routes to take. Therefore before we were to travel to the mountain pass that would lead us to the capital, he said that we must obtain horses. We would require their power if we needed to flee from an enemy.

It took most of the day to travel from the river to our destination and we arrived at a wooden cabin just in time to escape the night that was chasing us. Adar declared he owned it, along with three horses he had acquired before setting out to rescue us. It was a quaint little place, a large pile of firewood was stacked against the outside wall and on the other side was a horse pen that held a white gelding and two chestnut mares, one female's face decorated by a white star.

The gelding nickered and pawed the ground in excitement as Adar came close to his pen, showing it's affection for its owner.

"Hush Flame," Adar gently scoled the horse, as he led us up to the cabin, the door scraping against the wood floor as he pushed it open.

"It is not much, but there are enough supplies to last us on our journey through the mountains," he stated, "there is a small village a few days walk from here where we can restock."

I nodded and glanced around as Akari and Essie spoke with Adar. There was a fireplace at one end of the modest shelter, a small table sat against a wall with two chairs and three makeshift beds of hessian and blankets were laid out on the floor.

Adar was not aware there would be two people accompanying me, so he slept on the floor by the fire that night. The next day we set out over the mountain pass; it was a difficult course. The trail led over high mountains that seemed to rise out of nowhere and then dip into steep crevises that on several occasions caused the horses hooves to slip and we to almost fall to our demise.

The air was cold and although we had coats, the material was oftentimes not enough to keep out the chill, the only respite was to huddle by a small fire at night, and we took turns at two-hour intervals to keep watch for the enemy while the others slept.

Two weeks later we were travelling through the contry until we came by a forest I will never forget. I remember that day as clearly as this moment, for a great sacrifice was made that day.

We were travelling through an airy forest, there was only a space amount of trees and many open grassy areas, times moving through those places made my stomach churn with worry that we would be found and captured.

"Akari?" I asked, turning my attention to my friend pacing at my horse's side, "does it trouble you to be so very visible out here?"

She sighed, "a little, but it is so quiet, you needn't worry about lurking dangers, I doubt even a rabbit could hide in this place."

"Even so," I answered, "it is-."

Before I could respond, our three horses halted as a harsh sound of tramping feet and rattling weapons came from behind us. Adar immediately pulled an arrow from his quiver and drew it back on the bow, ready to fire as the rest of us strained our eyes for the source of the noise.

Moments later, a heavy feeling gripped my heart in its claws as ten soldiers cantered their powerful horses into view. I swallowed hard and looked at Adar for direction, but he had already kicked his horse into a gallop, motioning for the rest of us to follow.