�Lady Insei, you will be leaving any moment. Please get dressed and meet Rinn down at the stables,� Trine said, waiting for a reply from Insei.
�Rinn, who is he?� She had never heard of anyone named Rinn before, and she knew everyone who lived within the walls of the school.
�Rinn is the one who will take you to the Tower. Don�t worry, you can�t miss him.� Trine let himself out the door, leaving Insei once again alone with the darkness of her room.
Stumbling through her room, Insei found a candle and her flint and steel. Lighting the candle brought a quick result in banishing the darkness that had come into her room over the night while she had slept.
She pulled out her traveling clothes, brown and green garments, more sturdy than aesthetic. She pulled them on quickly, not bothering to check herself in the mirror that hung on the wall. She quickly pulled her long brown hair into a loose braid, just wanting to get the mess away from her face. She pulled on her boots while scavenging for her knapsack and fell over only once. She had packed her stuff the night before, knowing that she would have to leave early.
She blew out her candle and slipped out into the darkness of the hallway. She knew the hallway like the back of her hand, having constantly slipped out into the night with Misora. Thoughts of her friend brought back the lie that she had told her. She was leaving her best friend in the shadows, something she had promised never to do. She banished all thoughts from her mind, not wanting to remember anything.
In no time at all, she found herself outside the stables. She stopped and looked about. Light streamed out from inside the stables, and she heard movement inside. Horses snorted and tack made small clinking noises, adding its own choruses to the night sky that still shown with hundreds of luminous stars.
Soon a shape came out from between the two stable doors. A tall broad man came out, pulling two horses behind him. The horses were lightly packed with saddlebags, decorating the back of the horses. The man soon saw her and headed in her direction.
�You must be Insei,� the man�s deep voice seemed to rumble through Insei. The man stood tall, and with his broad stature, it made Insei feel like a mouse next to a giant. He bore a thick red beard, neatly trimmed, contrasted to his dark tanned skin. He wore light, leather armor, from head to toe, and bore two broadswords upon his back. All in all, he seemed a very imposing figure.
�Yes,� Insei said with a brief moment�s hesitation.
�Good. We ride,� he said as he tossed the reins of a small mare to her. He climbed onto his horse, a thick black stallion, and looked down at Insei. She climbed hurriedly onto her mare, holding the reins tightly between her hands. Rinn, Insei vaguely remembered Trine telling her his name, kicked his horse, and it immediately broke out in a gallop. Insei followed suite, and soon the two were outside the gates of the school.
Insei looked over her shoulder, looking back at the school where she had lived since she was little. It was her only safehaven, and yet she was leaving it for the darkness to take over. But soon she could no longer make the school out from the darkness around. She turned back around, pushing all thoughts from her mind, and followed Rinn in the darkness of night.
***
The sun lay on the edge of the far horizon, turning the sky a golden orange color, mixing with the blue. Insei and Rinn sat with their backs to their saddlebags; their horses tied to a nearby tree. They ate a small meal of dried meat and bread. Insei was tired of the silence that ran rampant. Rinn had not said a word to Insei since they left, and she was tired of not talking.
�So, where are we heading first?�
�The city of Talorn,� Rinn said without looking up.
�What is there?�
�A friend,� Rinn still did not look up, but continued to eat his meal.
�Who is this friend?�
Rinn finally looked up and said, �Do you have to talk?�
�Just trying to make some kind of conversation,� Insei said, feeling hurt.
�Well don�t,� Rinn looked back down, and finished his meal. The sky darkened, bringing night down upon the two. Rinn had not made a fire, wanting no one to find them out in the middle of the vast plains. Insei climbed into her blankets, and instantly fell asleep. They had only been gone two days, and already she was exhausted past the point of knowledge.
***
Not long after the sun rose, they soon saw a town on the edge of their vision. They kept up their swift pace, hoping to reach the town by midday. As they rode, Rinn turned to Insei.
"That star you wear around your neck, take it off," he said without feeling.
"My Ether symbol? Why?" It was her last link home, and she had no wish to part from it.
"That will be the first thing people notice. And we want to hid, not give people a reason to watch us," he said, keeping his eyes straight ahead. Insei, with one hand, unclasped the silver chain, letting the symbol of Ether fall into her hand. She slowly put the necklace into her pocket, making sure she could feel or touch it when she wanted to.
Rinn nodded and brought the pace up a notch. The sun was in its zenith when they entered the town of Talorn, a large merchant town on the edge of a broad river. All Insei knew was the small tidbit of information Rinn had giver her last night. She inwardly sighed, already beginning to hate the world.
They stopped at an inn called the Falling Stars on the edge of the town, the sign above the door bearing the symbol of the Ether. They took their horses to the stable, where one of the stable boys took their horses from them. Shouldering their packs, they headed into the inn itself.
The inn was quiet and clean, separated from the swarm of merchants going this way and that further in. A small, thin man in the corner of the common room played a small flute, the enchanting melody weaving a peaceful setting in the clean inn. The innkeeper was a pudgy woman with a kind smile.
�Hello, Rinn. The usual, I suppose,� the innkeeper said, more of a statement than a question.
�Yes, Mareth, the usual.�
�Up the stairs, and use the last two rooms on the left. Food will be brought up this evening, and lunch will be served once you drop your items off,� Mareth turned and left, heading in the direction of the kitchen.
�Come,� Rinn said before heading up the stairs. Insei followed him slowly up the rickety stairs, walking through the shadows that hung closely to each step. Once Rinn reached the top of the stairs, he turned to the left and went down the hallway. The hallway was even darker than the stairs, leaving Insei slightly confused. Fortunately, Rinn soon stopped at a door, and Insei thanked the stars that they had finally come to a stop. The days of riding horses were taking their toll on her.
�You will sleep in this room tonight,� he said as he gestured the last room in the hallway. �I will be in the room next to yours. Go in, settle, and meet down in the common room in half an hour,� and with his simple instructions, Rinn disappeared into his room. Insei stared at Rinn�s door for a few moments, wondering how one could be so emotionless. She shrugged her shoulders, pushing the matter away, and slid into her own room.
A small window in the far wall allowed plenty of sunshine into the small room. A small window in the far wall allowed plenty of sunshine into the small room. A bed and a small table stood to one side, the table bearing a bowl and a pitcher full of water. At the end of the bed was a large chest, empty of any contents. She placed her bag into the chest, closed it off from the room�s sight.
Insei walked over to the window, and looked out upon the view. She could see the river of Talorn, a river of commerce and wealth, weaving in and out of hills covered with lush grass. The sky was a light blue, with clouds chasing each other about the broad expanse. A hawk flew over the river below, letting out the cry of a weary hunter.
She fingered her necklace, a sudden urge of homesickness coursing through her mind. She wanted to race back towards the Tower, back to the home that she had always known. She sighed, knowing that she would not be able to return there until her job was done. But that did not mean she had to like it�
She opened the window, letting the cool, clean air into the small stuffy room. She took a deep breath of the clean air, letting it refresh her tired lungs. She still had time before going downstairs, and contemplated on whether or not to sleep. She continued to look out the window, as her mind floated about scattered thoughts, coming finally to rest upon her friend Misora.
She smiled briefly, remembering her childhood friend. No matter what happened, Insei knew that Misora would be waiting ever so patiently for her at the end. With that in mind, Insei went to the chest at the end of the bed. As she lifted the lid, she examined the corners, which were deeply engraved with stars surrounded by lazy swirls. She soon lost interest in the interesting markings, and pushed the lid back. After rifling through her pack, she found her small writing kit, which contained paper, ink, and a feather pen.
She brought the small kit over to the bed, and placed a sheet of paper on the hard back of the kit's case. After dipping the pen into ink, she rested the sharp edge on the paper, and thought of what to write. She wrote the first two words, 'Dear Misora,'. But after those two simple words were written, she could think of nothing else to write. She could lie, surely, about abstract tales in the abode of her family, but she could not bring herself to write the false words upon the white paper.
A sudden thought occurred to her as she bit the end of her pen. What if she was to tell her friend the truth? She knew Misora could keep a secret, knowing full well that she could trust Misora with her life. Insei set pen to paper with a renewed sense of vigor, madly writing every thought and feeling onto the paper that she would inevitably send to her friend. Her hand sped across the page, dragging the pen quickly behind. Insei made many mistakes, leaving blots of ink everywhere, but she continued on, not pausing for one moment.
When she finally stopped, she raised the pen to her lips and stared at the slowly drying ink darkening the surface of the once clean paper. Before her, in simple words, told of her story thus far, spilling emotions in manifold ways. She felt strangely detached as she folded the paper, and brought out her wax. She quickly heated the blue and white wax, and put a generous amount over the paper where the two edges met. She then brought out her necklace, and placed it into the still warm wax, leaving the symbol of Ether alone.
She put her necklace away, and cleaned up her writing supplies. She gently rested her letter upon the pillow of her bed, leaving it there for when she returned. She glanced once more out the window, across the slow winding river, before heading downstairs.
She slowly walked down the dark hallway, to the dark stairs, before finding herself at the bottom step, looking into the common room. A few feet away Rinn was talking to the innkeeper, Mareth, in muted tones. Insei stopped and leaned against the wall, into the shadow of the staircase. She knew she shouldn't listen, but she needed to know more. Rinn's back was turned away from her, but she could still see the innkeeper's face, which was lined with sadness and worry.
"Are you sure?" Rinn asked in a sad voice.
"Yes, I saw her myself. I'm so sorry Rinn," the innkeeper replied as she placed a sympathetic hand on his arm.
"But she was so strong..."
"We all have to go sooner of later. It was her time..."
"But I never got to say goodbye..." Rinn turned around, letting Insei get a good look at his face. His light brown eyes were filled with a sense of sadness and loss so deep that Insei missed a heartbeat. Whatever had happened to Rinn had hurt him so deeply that he would never recover.
At that moment Rinn noticed her standing on the stairs. The sense of sadness left his eyes, to be replaced by a look of quiet strength that masked all other feelings. He motioned her to come down with a wave of his large hand.
"We shall eat, then we shall look for my friend."
Our bishel dragon has come from Bishen Realm, no stealy!
Images for this dragon home were made by me,
do not use unless you ask.
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