The Beast That was Promised ✔

TWENTY-FIVE: To Ziya

Riding on horseback for days upon end was exhausting and painful. Nerin had never ridden for more than a few hours and Ashera had never ridden a horse before in her life. She constantly complained about the pain, but they couldn't stop, not even for a moment unless they were sleeping. Ziya would still be a while away, even without knowing where exactly they were.

That being said, there were times where he wanted nothing more than to be off the horse. His body ached and he was exhausted, but they had to keep going. The only time they could stop was when they needed to sleep, eat and rest the poor horse, who would be even more tired than they were.

He had no idea where they were, hadn't since they'd run from the army camp after being caught in the supply cart. They still had his maps, were still heading east, but they hadn't seen a road in days and all the towns they'd passed were filled with Ishini soldiers. Out of fear of being caught again, they didn't go near them and thus couldn't find out what town they were passing through. The map was practically useless.

But they would have to stop at the next town. They were almost out of food, the rest of their apples had been given to the horse, meaning there was less for them. In another day, the rest of their supplies would be gone and if they wanted to keep moving, then they had to stop.

With every second they grew closer to Ziya, the worse he felt. He wasn't ready for what would come when he finally reached his brother, barely knew what he was going to do. All he knew was that he needed to make up for what he had done by stopping Harudan from taking control. He should have been doing it from the moment he'd arrived back in Ishmar, but instead, he was the one who had been convinced of doing something he didn't want to do.

Maybe when everything was over, he would be able to see Isiah and Rina and Emrick again. He missed them, even Emrick, who he had hated for a long time. He needed to apologise to them even if they had no idea what he had done. If it hadn't been for him, Ishin might never have woken or if he did, it wouldn't have been so soon. Isiah would have had time to prepare for it.

That was if he made it to Ziya on time. They had been travelling at a steady pace for days but he couldn't help but feel as if they would be too late. If he was, what would happen? Harudan would rule, but there was still a chance to stop him unless Isiah died. If that happened then everything they had done since saving Rina all those weeks ago would be for nought.

There was so much weight sitting on his shoulders and he didn't know how to deal with it. When they stopped for the night, sleeping in abandoned farmhouses or anywhere else that was dry enough, he wept for what the realm had become, his dreams plagued with awful nightmares of facing his brother again.

Ashera sometimes woke him and tried to soothe him, but it didn't do much. He appreciated the effort, but he knew he would be having nightmares for a long time after the war was done, no matter what the outcome was.

She sat behind him on the horse, the saddle just big enough for the both of them, her hands bunched into his shirt. They hadn't spoken for a while and he wasn't particularly in the mood for conversation, considering everything he had to worry about. And she seemed to be fine with that, content to watch the passing hills and forests. Both of them knew that he had to focus if he was going to find and stop his brother.

It was freezing cold and a storm brewed behind them. It wouldn't hit them, but that didn't make him any warmer. He could barely keep them both warm with his powers and the fyrite and the more tired he became the weaker he got. They would have to find somewhere warm if he wanted to get his energy back for even a few minutes.

"Nerin," Ashera said, her teeth chattering. He pulled himself away from his thoughts, glancing over his shoulder at her. She was shivering and stupidly, he gave more of his power to her. It made him colder, but at least she would be a little warmer. "What's that?"