Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
ALINA
My chest burned with every breath I took.
I kept placing one foot in front of the other, though my body had already reached its limit.
But instead of giving up, I pushed on. The afternoon sun beat down mercilessly on my black leather suit, but I refused to quit.
Tynan, Sol, and Victor were already speeding through no-man’s-land and should be nearing the first temples of the sacred city.
What if they get ambushed by the undead beasts? What if they get trapped in the temple?
My heart was ready to jump out of my chest.
I looked up at Frid when she kicked a stone out of the way and swore. From what I could put together, early in the morning Victor had knocked on her door to tell her the news.
"I can’t believe it. First, I’m forced to wear dresses, then I’m excluded from training with the big, scary men, and now they just left me behind on a mission," she muttered.
"I . . . I’m sorry. It’s my fault." I panted, leaning forward.
Frid gave me a not so friendly look.
Suddenly, we could hear a sharp metallic clanging coming from the castle.
“What’s that?” I straightened, looking up.
“Come on!” Frid grabbed my hand and we sprinted back.
When we finally reached the top of the stairs, a huge crowd had gathered by the entrance. The main doors stood wide open. Peasants from the settlement, wide eyed women and crying children waited in the square.
“What’s happening?” Frid raised her voice.
“Hanoch wants to break the news to the people.” Denis leaned against the wall with his arms crossed on his chest.
I looked away, realizing that both me and Frid were in our flying suits. In the moment of panic, none of us thought about our cloaks.
“Brothers and sisters,” Hanoch stepped into the circle and raised both of his hands. “I asked all of you to come because a new danger is upon us. A new type of the undead was discovered close to our borders.”
The public gasped, somewhere a young child screamed.
"Luckily, we have ways to defend ourselves, and many of you already know what to do. But for the rest of us, some adjustments will need to be made. Specifically, women, children, and others who cannot fight must be safely evacuated. Every warrior has loved ones we want to protect, and no one can fight while worrying if our families are in danger. That’s why I’ve chosen the most capable person to oversee the evacuation plan for the civilians.
" Hanoch took a long pause making sure that everyone paid attention.
“I appoint Frid Ducastel as the person in charge. Any questions?”
I looked around, seeing no objections, only determination on multiple faces.
“Congrats!” Denis smiled.
“What just happened?” Frid barely moved her lips.
“They found the best person for the job.” I placed my hand on her forearm.
Almost immediately, a group of women surrounded us, speaking all at once. Frid looked a little overwhelmed, but I was used to handling the people of Gora. Without hesitation, I began directing everyone into an organized line for questions or concerns.
“We’ll have to have a separate meeting to come up with the best plan. First of all, it’s important to consider that not all of us will be in the same place in case of a sudden attack.” I said and Frid looked at me with gratitude.
"What about the monsters? What’s going to happen to all of us?" one of the women cried, almost hysterical.
“There’s no need to worry. We’ll walk through everything during our second meeting. For now, it’s important that all the people get the message that we are going to have another meeting. Please spread the word to everyone you know, make sure to check in with all of your neighbors.” I said.
"When’s the second meeting?" someone yelled.
"Same time tomorrow. Same place," Frid finally regained her composure.
Denis stepped closer to Frid, but when he spoke, his eyes locked with mine.
"Let me know if I can help either of you with anything," he said.
"Thank you," I replied, almost immediately turning away.
Frid seemed a little stressed. I smiled and squeezed her forearm.
"It’s alright. We can handle this," I said.
Everything had turned upside down, a sharp contrast to the routine we had just grown accustomed to.
Frid and I did not have any free time to ourselves.
We spent countless hours speaking with the citizens to work out the best plan for evacuation.
We both agreed it would be wise to run every detail by Hanoch to ensure our plans would not conflict with the city defenders' strategies. But before presenting our proposals to the clan leader, we first needed to find suitable places to shelter everyone. Once we reached that decision, I set off to familiarize myself with the servants and spent hours studying the building’s intricate layout.
When I went to the kitchens, I unintentionally interrupted the dinner preparations. As I spoke with the kitchen maids, one of the older servants moved in close, scrutinizing me intently.
“You’re so beautiful. No wonder the great Ruh paired both of you together,’ she said.
“What are you saying, grandma?” I leaned closer to her.
"Both of you will lead this clan to prosperity," she said, taking my hands in hers.
“I don’t understand.”
"Hanoch is the clan leader, Tynan's brother," another maid said, shaking her head as she wiped her hands on her apron.
“Hanoch?” The old woman blinked, evidently confused.
“Thank you for your kind words.” I squeezed her hand.
She sighed, and took a seat by the corner table, looking lost.
By the end of the day, we had a mostly working plan that we still needed to implement.
I shared all of my ideas with Frid while we were running along the mountain road later that evening and she listened in complete silence.
I could tell that she was distracted because, contrary to what she used to do as of late, she did not slow down to let me catch up to her while we were running – like she forgot that I was even there.
“There’s a spacious basement, well ventilated and it has some dry food items. We would have to figure out a water supply and places for people to go if they needed to use the privy.
In a cramped space it could be devastating for everyone.
What we really need to consider are beds for people who can’t sit on the floor.
Pregnant women, the elderly. Are you listening?
Frid?” I stopped trying to catch my breath.
“I’m really not good at this. How are you so calm about everything? You’re not even a little concerned.” She stopped.
“I am. I just try to do my best.”
“What you did, going to the kitchens, talking to all the servants; It never even crossed my mind. And what about this trip? Where are they? Is he alright? I hate it that I’m not with them.” She pressed her lips firmly together.
I lowered my head, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with worry.
“I know. I feel the same way. What did Victor tell you before they left?”
"He said Tynan wants you protected and that I was the only one who could do it. That's a lie, any of them could do it."
“I’m sorry you had to stay.”
“There’s a silver lining, now I can wear my flying suit everywhere.” Frid said dryly.
I never had time to dwell on the fact that no one seemed to care that we were wearing our flying suits.
In fact, many women started wearing them once news of a potential attack spread.
I exhaled and looked around, my heart raced with anxiety and worry.
Even in these rare moments of calm, I could not relax, because Tynan was not with me, and without him, I could not find peace.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” I said more to myself than to Frid as we entered through the main set of doors.
Almost immediately, two women approached me with questions and we returned to our duties.
The next day was a blur. I found myself busy every moment I was awake.
Coordinating and planning the best way to protect all the civilians was not an easy task; and while everything was ready in the castle, we still needed to make sure everyone in the village knew what to do.
Frid and I spent hours walking through the valley knocking on every door, and despite what I thought, many people did not know anything about the evacuation plans.
Along with that revelation, we had to face an even more concerning one: many people would not be able to move through the valley quickly enough to escape any possible danger.
For those individuals, we had to come up with an alternative plan.
Frid was really useful because she knew the people, and knew how to talk to them.
We quickly established safe places for villagers to go to in case of an attack, neighbors would share space in their cellars for others to hide.
With a lot of time and effort, everything progressed smoothly and a plan was put in place.
As we walked back to the mountain castle, a man that had just galloped past us came to a sudden halt, and dismounted in one swift, effortless motion. I glanced up and saw Denis approaching us.
“Hey, Frid, Aly!” he greeted both of us.
I was relieved to see that his eyes did not linger on me this time. Maybe what Tynan did actually worked, and he got the message.
“Denis?” Frid paused.
“Hanoch wants to know if you need any help,” he responded.
“Let me think. There was something we needed.” She turned to me, a crease formed between her eyebrows.
“Yes. We need beds, as many as we can get, and blankets. We asked people to bring some to the storeroom, just in case, but I know we will have a shortage.” I looked at both of them.
“Done and done. What else?” He glanced at me, and immediately averted his eyes.
“At some point, we have to rehearse,” I said.
“Rehearse?” He returned his gaze to me.
“Yes, to make sure everyone knows what to do; that no one panics, and we have not overlooked something important.”
“That’s a great idea!” Frid nodded.
“Sounds good. I’ll let Hanoch know.”
“Thank you,” I said.
"No problem. Let me know if you need anything else." He walked back to his horse and, without a second glance jumped into the saddle and rode away.
Later that night, I lay restless in my bed, hoping to feel even a faint trace of our bond.
But I knew Tynan was too far for me to sense anything.
I turned onto my other side and closed my eyes, trying to sleep, but the cold, dull emptiness seeped into my heart and soul.
It had been days without him, and I was sick with worry over his well-being.
I could not bear the thought of another day without him.
My longing to see him, touch him, hold him in my arms was almost unbearable. I sighed and turned onto my back.