Almost Home
“Lady Cassarah, it is time for us to head out,” Ballard called, penetrating my dreamless sleep.
Vasin lifted his protective wing and tucked it back by his side, letting the cool morning air rush in.
It reminded me of when Becka used to pull the covers off me when I refused to get out of bed.
Slowly, I sat up and glanced around at the camp, only to see that it’d been packed up.
Surprised, I blinked a few times and looked up at the sky to see a dim glow from the early morning sunlight. How early was it?
“Ballard let you sleep as long as possible, but the rest have been up for some time already,” Vasin explained.
Feeling self-conscious, I stood up and shook out my dress, trying to make it look like I hadn’t been wearing it for the last three days.
Seeing my efforts were useless, I gave up and walked to the reservoir to wash my face.
I might be living in the forest, but I didn’t need to look like a wild beast. I gasped when I saw my blurred reflection on the water’s surface.
It seemed all the leaves that I’d been sleeping on ended up knotted in my hair.
I quickly unbraided my hair and shook out as many leaves as possible.
What I wouldn’t give for a hot bath at this moment.
I was trying to make the best of this but was sick and tired of living in these conditions.
I was a proper lady and their queen, or so they claimed.
How could I meet the clan members looking like this?
Who would want some wild wretch to be their queen?
Hurriedly, I combed my fingers through my hair, attempting to tame the wild curls that had come to life with a mind all their own.
“Here, before you scare the horses,” Cole said as he thrust a simple wooden comb in my face.
I frowned as I took it. “Is this the only kind of brush you have?”
“If you don’t want to use it, fine. Hand it over and look like the mouse you act like,” Cole growled out, trying to grab the comb out of my hand.
I slapped his hand away, pulling the comb close so he couldn’t grab it. “It was a simple question, no need to get so upset.”
“Women,” Cole grumbled, marching away from me, tossing up his hands.
Raking the comb through my hair, I tamed it into a single braid and wrapped it into a bun, pinning it in place with a sturdy twig.
Finally ready, I walked back to the smothered campfire where everyone else was waiting.
The men watched me cautiously as if they were still deciding what to make of me after my outburst.
“Today, you’re going to ride with me,” Ballard informed me, breaking the silence my arrival had caused.
“We will make it there by night?” I asked, excited that this part of the journey was ending so soon.
“Yes, if the weather holds out, we should get there before nightfall, and you’ll have a proper bed to sleep in tonight.”
“Are you sure I can’t just fly? Vasin holds the memories of all the past dragons, so I’m sure he knows the location already,” I said, not loving the idea of riding double all day.
“We’ve moved locations many times since a dragon last graced our clan. Where his memories would take him is no longer accurate,” Ballard explained. “Once we get to our current location, you will be able to share that information with him.”
I looked over at Vasin. “Is he right? Can you find us once I’m there?”
“Yes, now that we have harmonized, I will always be able to find you.”
“Very well.” I sighed, knowing it would be a long day. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Don’t sound so glum. Tonight you will be sleeping in your new home and even be able to take a bath,” Ballard said, giving me a warm smile.
My heart sank a little as he mentioned the word ‘home.’ I hadn’t had much time to think about the fact that other than these strangers, I didn’t have a home to go back to.
My parents had been okay with letting my dragon die to save their reputation.
I’d always assumed my father would be on my side when Mother crossed the line, but sadly, the honest truth was shown to me that night in the library.
My father made his priorities known, and I was not one of them.
Sobered with this truth, I took Ballard’s outstretched hand and was pulled up behind him on his horse.
We silently journeyed through the mountains, and I was amazed at its strange beauty.
It was like nothing I’d ever seen before in my sheltered life.
Every living thing fought for its place here—nothing was given freely.
I could see why the mercenaries chose to make their home here—few could withstand the tests that it doled out, keeping them safe.
A harsh wind twined its way through sparse, stunted trees and all that grew on this part of the mountain’s peak.
I buried my face into Ballard’s warm, wool-cloaked back, trying to use him as a shield to block the wind.
No matter what I did, though, the wind always seemed to find me, chilling me to the core.
Somehow, it felt like the wind was alive and testing to see if I was strong enough to survive on its mountain, worthy of its protection.
Finally, we descended deeper into the lower regions of the mountain, the wind losing its biting power amidst the thick pine trees.
Ballard led us confidently down paths an untrained eye would never see.
I was glad they hadn’t made me find this place on my own, or I would’ve been lost forever in the woods.
We briefly stopped for a simple meal of dried meat and thick flatbread, and strangely, no one seemed willing to speak, even now as we rested.
Was there some danger I didn’t know about?
No, Vasin would have told me if he saw anything following us.
“Saddle up. We have the final stretch ahead of us, then we’re home, boys,” Ballard said with a grin.
The men laughed quietly and elbowed each other, showing the first signs of the men they’d been last night.
Yet as soon as they were mounted, not another word or sound was uttered.
My attention was pulled away from my musings when we exited the thick forest and abruptly found ourselves on the edge of a cliff.
I thought we’d taken a wrong turn somewhere and were now lost because there was nowhere to go but back the way we came.
I should’ve known not to doubt Ballard, but you had to wonder when your fearless leader sent you off a cliff.
“Ballard, are you trying to kill us?” I whispered harshly as I fisted the back of his cloak. Ignoring me, he kept his horse moving and stepped off the cliff to our death—or so I thought.
Large steps had been cut into the side of the mountain, hidden from view unless you knew they were there. Even though I knew the steps were there, I couldn’t keep my eyes open for fear I might scream at the sheer plummet of death on my right side.
“We’ve safely made it across. You can relax now,” Ballard murmured, followed by a chuckle.
I opened my eyes to see we had indeed crossed to the other side of the huge ravine that would have normally taken two or three days to cross.
I looked back, and even aware there were indeed steps, they were impossible to see from this angle.
How in the world had they managed to carve those?
These mercenaries gained more and more respect in my eyes.
I never imagined there could be such skilled people in the world.
True to his word, the worst was over. We traveled swiftly down smooth, packed trails that looked well-used. I also noticed that the men started to speak to one another in soft-spoken conversations, but there was a more relaxed feel to our surroundings than before.
“How much farther is it?” I asked.
“We should be home very shortly. We made good time since the weather was clear.”
I pictured making the journey in the rain or snow and shivered. I’d never have been able to survive without them in those conditions. It just reminded me once again how much I needed to learn to be of any help to these people.
The ground was softer than before, covered in grass instead of the harsh shrubs of the higher mountain region.
The trees overhead grew thick and close together, creating a ceiling of leaves.
Suddenly, Ballard brought his horse to an abrupt stop, and unprepared for it, I crashed into his back, almost unseating myself.
I peered around Ballard’s body to see a man standing in the middle of the forest holding a bow at the ready. “If you’re looking to pass, you have to pay the price.”
“Credit is better than money, my friend,” Ballard called as he tossed back the hood of his cloak.
The man laughed and lowered his bow. “Truer words were never spoken, ye old goat. Glad to see you and the boys made it back safe. Did you succeed in your plans?”
“She’s riding behind me. I’ll introduce her to you all later. It’s been a long trip back.”
“Of course.” With that, the man let out a shrill whistle, and a moment later, a hidden gate that blended into the forest was opened. “Welcome home, boys.”
I watched in awe at the transformation once we passed through the gate.
The woods seem to fall away into a huge open meadow with sheep and goats grazing in large pens.
Simple wooden houses arranged in a large circle had smoke drifting out of chimneys, sending pungent smells of the dinners they cooked through the air.
In the middle of the circle of houses was a large building two stories high, equaling three of the other homes.
This was the building we all stopped in front of.
Ballard helped me to dismount first, then he swung down.