Chapter Three

The first obstacle presented to me about this trip was horse riding. I had zero experience with that, so I struggled to even mount my horse. After about two minutes of struggling, Angelica simply pulled me up onto her horse, and instructed me to wrap my arms around her waist. I did so, and then we were finally able to set off.

I had no stuff, unlike the delegation from the Dawn Order, who had already packed up all of their things. Cassius, who was closer to me in size than the muscular Tomas, offered to loan me some clothes, but Matthias refused that, and bought me some simple garments at Vina’s general store prior to our leaving the small village.

The horse that I had been purchased, a brown stallion with intelligent eyes, trotted along behind Angelica’s horse, which was a gray mare called Arrow. Matthias had said that I would learn to ride one day, and that he’d paid good money for the horse, and it was Vina’s best.

Rosalie, who sat astride a cream colored mare named Honey, rode closely alongside me and Angelica. Matthias’ gorgeous wife being close to me was something I wouldn’t say no to, no matter how kind Matthias was to me.

“So, my king, would you rather I give you some lengthy lectures, or do you prefer more of a question and answer education?” Rosalie asked me.

“Question and answer, definitely. I’d probably zone out if you lectured.” I admitted, which drew a laugh from her full lips.

“Alright, so, what’s your first question?” Rosalie asked me.

“How far is it to Daena?” I decided to start off simply.

“It’s just shy of a week. It’s pretty easy terrain from here to there. Mostly winding trails through forests, though we do walk through the Abara Plains for a day or so. If we didn’t have so much stuff, we might chance a gallop, but we don’t want to lame any of the horses.” Rosalie explained to me. I nodded slowly.

“Ok. So, Matthias said that there was a Stronghold of the Dawn. Is that like, some kind of Vengar barracks?” I asked.

“Vengar aren’t like soldiers, my king. They don’t live in barracks, and they only ever organize if there is a pressing concern. They answer solely and directly to the monarch of the kingdom they live in. The Avonan queen herself ordered the Avonan Vengars to the Dahkan to slow the Illians.” Rosalie explained, “The Vengar have no specific association with the Dawn Order or any society. There are Vengars in almost every righteous society, yes, but they are all there because they believe in the ideals of that society, not because they are assigned there.”

“So… the twins, Matthias called them Knights of the Dawn. That’s the Dawn Order’s army, then?” I asked.

“Yes. They serve the five captains of the Dawn Order, along with the Chancellor.” Rosalie nodded.

“Chancellor?” I asked.

“The Chancellor of the Dawn Order is the head of the entire organization. He has five direct servants, the five captains, of which my husband is one, and the captains manage the Order under the Chancellor’s orders.” Rosalie explained.

“Gotcha. So, if there’s only five captains, one of them traveling to a small village must be a big deal.” I gathered.

“You’re correct. The five captains don’t usually leave the Solani Citadel.” Rosalie nodded.

“The Solani Citadel?” I asked curiously.

“The main compound of the Dawn Order. It’s named after Solana, goddess of the sun. Do you speak Old Tongue as fluently as you do Simple Tongue?” Rosalie questioned me.

“What?” I asked.

“You have a strange accent, but you are speaking Simple Tongue, the basic language of this world. There are varying languages of course, but Simple Tongue is the native language of the modern humans who live in the world. Old Tongue is what the ancient humans spoke, before it incorporated Elvish into it to make the language more structured.” Rosalie explained, “The elves shaped the language we speak and the world we live in, and for their help, they were hunted down.”

She seemed contemplative and bitter, and I glanced around a bit awkwardly before asking my next question.

“Why were the elves hunted?” I asked.

“The kings of man feared them. They were ageless beings with secret tomes of knowledge that humans cannot fathom, and are capable of shaping the Everlight in more powerful ways than any shaper born of mortal blood. How the elves lost the Purge War, I do not know, but the surviving elves withdrew from the world, and no one knows where they are now. There are some occasional half-elf children who are discovered, but no one ever knows either of the child’s parents. They are orphans, and some survive, some don’t. Losing the elves was a major blow to this world, and there are still some who congratulate each other on their victory in battle.” Rosalie said incredibly bitterly, “My own grandfather slayed sixteen elves by his own hand during the battle of Boar Head.”

“Oh, so this was pretty recent.” I realized in surprise.

“Six decades prior, yes.” Rosalie nodded.

“Hold!” Cassie’s voice called from up ahead, and I saw Tomas’ hand shift towards his axe.

I tried to lean around Angelica to see what was happening, but she pushed me back firmly behind her.

“Lady Rosalie, get behind me.” Angelica urged, and then she glanced back at me, “And take our king.”

Rosalie sidled up beside Arrow, and I awkwardly slid over onto Honey, and my arms settled around Rosalie’s waist. Angelica pulled from her boot a simple dagger with a symbol of a flame on the hilt, and she offered it to me hilt first. I took it in confusion.

“Stick it in your boot. If I fail you, aim for the throat.” Angelica told me gravely, and she led Arrow forwards. Cassius came up behind us, as the rear guard, and he and Angelica ventured forwards out of sight through the trees while Matthias fell back a little bit to be near Rosalie and I.

“What’s the matter?” Rosalie asked.

“It’s a roving pack of bandits camped out up ahead in the clearing. They probably won’t put up a fight against two Vengars and two Knights of the Dawn, but if they do, keeping the two of you alive is my highest priority. Should we be separated, Rosalie, take our king to Jurona. They have quite a large garrison there, so the town should be well defended. You know the methods of communication to contact the Order and get an escort sent out to Jurona.” Matthias instructed.

“It’s just a pack of bandits. The four of your people seem pretty tough.” I put in. Matthias looked at me.

“The people of this world may not believe it, Will Thompson, but you are the sole chance at salvation. Any threat to you is too great a threat. One day, you shall be mighty enough to crush me underfoot, and I plan to keep you alive until that day. I have dedicated my entire life to the serving of the ideals of light and righteousness, to spreading Solana’s message. I will not fail the goddess now, not when you are in this world and on the precipice of greatness.” Matthias said passionately. He was obviously uncomfortable calling me by my name, though, that much I saw.

“Wow. It’s kinda weird to think that you spent years of your life trying to… what, pave a way for me? I’m a nobody, this is insane.” I said, running my hands through my hair.

“You may not yet be somebody of import, my king,” Rosalie said softly, “but we have all seen the prophecies. You are destined to be the hero we all need. To defeat the Dusk Queen, whenever she comes to this world, and save the lives of everyone. I would gladly swear my life, body, and soul to you right now if I thought you would accept me as your humble servant. I imagine we all would.”

My mouth fell open as Matthias gave a nod of assent.

“You do not realize how much your presence is going to impact this world, Will Thompson. You will save us from damnation, if we can keep you alive long enough to complete the Rites and become Dawn King.” Matthias nodded.

“The Rites?” I asked.

“There are a series of things you must do before being crowned Dawn King. We all know it is your title, but you must first prove it to the world. Make your claim to the Solar Throne indisputable.” Rosalie explained, “For now, don’t worry about those. We must focus on getting you safely to Daena, and then worry about stopping the Illian invasion of Ciren. A war-ravaged Avona will make the completion of the Rites ten times more difficult.”

There came the sound of a horse clopping towards us, and Matthias drew his horse up in front of Honey, producing a crossbow from under his great cape.

But upon the horse sat just Cassius, who slowed his horse to a stop upon seeing the crossbow bolt aimed at his chest. Matthias gave a relieved nod at the Knight of the Dawn, and his crossbow was tucked back into whatever it had been tucked into before.

“Was there any issues with the bandits?” Matthias asked. Cassius shook his head.

“No, the bandits may be criminals, but they aren’t stupid. The second they saw the Vengar Mark on Tomas and Angelica, they surrendered.” Cassius informed Matthias. He gave a nod.

“I expected as much. Excellent. How secured are they?” Matthias wondered.

“Cassie was finishing tying up the last of them. If you’re not too troubled by our absence, Cassie and I can ride to Jurona and bring back some soldiers from the garrison to arrest these bandits.” Cassius nodded. Matthias considered it.

“Send Cassie alone. She can rejoin the group at Taron Bluff, if she hurries.” Matthias instructed.

Cassius nodded and rode back the way he came.

“What’s Taron Bluff?” I asked.

“Do you know what a bluff is?” Rosalie asked.

“No.” I admitted.

“It’s like a mountain, I suppose, except it’s not sloped, it’s a sheer wall. Taron Bluff is enormous, and has a large plateau atop it, along with several ravines that wind through the Taron Plateau.” Rosalie explained.

Matthias glanced back at Rosalie and I.

“It sounds as if matters are in hand, so come. We should try to make it to the Dahkan Stream by nightfall.” Matthias urged us, and took the lead, his horse trotting along.

Honey followed Matthias’ horse, while my unnamed brown horse that I couldn’t ride followed behind Honey.

“I assume the Dahkan Stream is an offshoot from the Dahkan River?” I checked.

“You assume correctly.” Rosalie said approvingly.