Chapter 29 Kalt Ravine
Kalt Ravine
The sun had begun its descent by the time they reached the main dusty road leading to the town of Kalt Ravine.
It took longer than expected; images of the bodies in the ballroom and on the battleground tangled in Luna’s mind, making her stop to vomit until nothing was left, then she’d dry heave.
Damien, true to his word, waited by the outskirts of town, near the river for the humans.
Once they had their items, they all walked the rest of the way together.
In front of the town was a pair of large black iron gates, with two guards standing on either side. As they approached, Damien leaned over to Luna and whispered, “Just look like you belong and don’t catch their eye.”
Without a thought, she glanced up at the guards.
Two figures loomed against the gate, disdain filling their eyes.
The guard with a black curly moustache that dominated his face kicked a few empty beer bottles littering the ground out of sight, as best he could.
“State yer . . . business . . .” The rest of his sentence was a drunken, incomprehensible slur of words.
Then, as if that single statement had drained him of all his energy, he closed his eyes and passed out.
The other guard, with a protruding chin and small grey eyes, wasn’t much to look at.
He scanned the group, his gaze lingering a little too long on each woman, seemingly uninterested in his partner’s state of consciousness.
When his eyes landed on Luna, he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, wrapping her in a sense of unease.
She looked down and shuffled closer to Damien, who slipped an arm around her and pulled her in, as if his hold alone could shield her from any danger they would face.
“Well, you heard him,” the guard said, finally addressing the group. “State the reason for your travel.”
Sael answered, “We only seek to rest our weary heads after a long, long trek.”
After what seemed like an eternity, the guard turned his attention from Luna to Sael, sizing him up and down before he made a clucking noise with his cheek. “We’ve been asked to keep a lookout for a lady . . . kind of like this one here. The reward for her is quite handsome.”
Luna’s feet suddenly became the most interesting things in the world. A rush of heat climbed up her neck and she forced herself not to look up, as if acknowledging his statement would be confirmation.
Gawen began to scream. Not just a little scream, either—an earth-shattering one. The high-pitched wail seemed to send shock waves through the air so powerful that Luna could’ve sworn he split the clouds above.
The guard’s face scrunched, his hands flying to cover his ears. “Shut that thing up!”
“He’s just a baby,” Taemin replied calmly but not meekly. “If I knew how to make him stop, don’t you think I would do so?”
The guard hissed, “I know one way—”
“I have never!” Taemin interrupted, rage flashing in his eyes as he narrowed them at the guard.
“How dare you threaten a child—and an innocent baby at that.” His voice was controlled, lethal in a cold, calculating manner, like a crossbow drawn taut, locked onto its target.
“Clearly, he is tired, and here you stand, in our way, all high and mighty with coin on your mind.” He kept one arm curled tightly around Gawen, the other slicing through the air like a furious mother goose flapping her wings, ready to poke out the guard’s eyeballs.
“You should be ashamed of yourself. This woman has been travelling with us day and night. If she was wanted by King Hendrix, don’t you think we would’ve grabbed the reward for ourselves by now? ”
The guard hadn’t mentioned anything about the king on the hunt for her. Trepidation hit Luna like a bucket of water being thrown over her head. How much did Taemin know?
Continuing with his scolding, Taemin said, “The audacity and ignorance you’ve displa—”
“Alright,” the guard said, attempting to interrupt Taemin, but there was no stopping the insults; they came one after another.
The guard could only nod and mutter the occasional, “yes, sir” and “my apologies.” After several long minutes of Taemin’s assault and Gawen’s continuous screams, the guard finally had enough and opened the gate, waving the group through.
The creak of iron put an end to Taemin’s barrage; he strolled forward, chin raised with an air of superiority as if the presence of the crying baby in his arms gave him an unassailable edge. The rest of the group trailed behind him.
Damien’s gaze stayed fixed on Taemin, shadowed with distrust. He hardly seemed to care that the guard had nearly recognized Luna. When they were a good distance away from the guard, Luna asked Damien about it, her voice low enough that only he could hear.
“If the guard had insisted you were, in fact, the king’s runaway,” Damien replied, “I would have had a fight on my hands, which wouldn’t have been ideal, but I expected to run into roadblocks like that.
What I hadn’t expected is for a human to be”—he made a face, searching for the correct word—“helpful.”
Fair enough. He’d made it abundantly clear what he thought of the human species earlier.
Beyond the gates, the dirt road ended, replaced with stone. The buildings in town stood so close together it was impossible to tell where one started and another ended.
The group, who’d been walking ahead while Luna spoke to Damien, stopped by a corner and made themselves at home. Sael held two metal spoons and tapped them together against his knee while Taemin whistled, the tune matching Sael’s gentle rhythm. Ly smiled at her husband, then began to sing.
“What are they doing?” Luna asked.
Ly paused mid-song to answer her, “What we always do when we get to town. Make money. We’ve become sort of a travelling choir, if I do say so myself.”
The children clapped their hands to their parents’ song and danced on the street. It wasn’t long until the townspeople made their way over to listen to the unfamiliar melody. The children pulled people out of the gathering crowd, encouraging them to dance to the tune.
Luna stood awkwardly off to the side, unsure what she was supposed to do. Part of her wanted to join in the fun and sing, but she didn’t know the words. She watched the people dance wildly and sporadically, with no rules governing their movements; they moved in whichever direction they liked.
One of the townspeople, who had recently gathered, came over to stand by Luna and Damien. Damien turned a cold shoulder on the older lady, but Luna, trained with her lifetime of nobility mannerisms, greeted the stranger. “Lovely song, isn’t it?”
“Why, yes. Yes, it is,” the lady said. “It’s nice to see some joy again. There haven’t been many visitors since we were attacked by those nasty unicorn fiends.”
Luna turned to her, taking in her thin pink dress covered in patches and her dull blue eyes. She understood what it was like to have your world turned upside down, and the attack must have been awful if the battlegrounds were any indication. “I’m sorry you went through that.”
“Sorry don’t make nothing better, nor does it fix the evil that has been done.” She let out a weary breath. “I’ve had enough of people bein’ sorry for our town to last me a lifetime.”
“My apolog . . .” Luna closed her mouth, stopping herself.
“We’re the lucky ones,” the lady continued, ignoring Luna’s almost apology.
“Many towns have been wiped off the map. We were able to stand against them. Push them out. We even killed a few, though many got away. They’re just so strong.
If I were a betting woman, I’d wager they’re the ones responsible for attacking Juden. ”
Juden was a small village along the main roads through the mountains.
Damien and Luna would’ve passed through it on their way here had they not travelled through the backcountry.
Luna tried to maintain a calm appearance, nodding along as the lady spoke, even though her stomach was rolling.
This was the first Luna had heard of Juden being attacked, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Knox and Harlow were responsible for their devastation.
What would the lady think if she knew she was speaking to a unicorn now? Luna bit the inside of her cheek, praying to the skies above for a change of subject.
Her prayers went unanswered.
The lady prattled on, “My Jimmy, may he rest peacefully, was one of the heroes who fought against the beasts here. We always keep some unicornbane dust on hand, and when the unicorns were burning everything in sight, he grabbed our stash and sprayed them down. I can still hear their screams. It’s the only thing that gives me any peace at night.
” Hearing such a confession was unsettling, but the lady didn’t seem to notice Luna’s discomfort.
“Horrible creatures. They didn’t spare anyone: children, men, women. We’re all targets.”
Demetrio, Luna’s old tutor, had said something similar weeks ago; humans were missing from their homes, never to be seen again. She looked towards Damien, curiosity edging in her mind. “I wonder if the unicorn attacks will ever cease?”
He didn’t turn to look at her; his eyes remained focused on the group and the people coming to drop coins into Ly’s hands.
“No clue,” the lady answered as if Luna had asked her. “Rotten beasts deserved to be wiped from existence. And if I ever get the pleasure of meeting one, I’ll show it a version of hell that is beyond imagination.”
Thankfully, Luna didn’t have to respond to the lady because the group’s song came to an end, rescuing her from the conversation.
The adults took their bows, thanking the crowd for their attention.
Ly gathered all the coins together and proudly announced they had more than enough for supplies to make it to the next village on their way home.
Taemin shifted Gawen in his arms, hesitating for a breath before gently passing him to Ly. His arms hung limp at his sides afterward, drained from holding the baby so long.
“Oh no!” Ly cried out. “His little leg. Look . . .” She pointed to a bright red welt. “Poor thing.”
“Looks like he got pinched by something,” Damien commented, his eyes fixed on Taemin as he added, “or someone.”
“A bug probably bit him,” Taemin answered with a shrug. “Don’t worry about it, Ly. These things happen.”
Ly nodded, brushing off the concern, and they moved on—children still dancing, as though the music had never stopped.
They passed a stable built from thick timber beams, the wood weathered in places by years of rain and use.
The scent of hay and horses drifted from the open doorway.
Damien and Luna went inside to drop off the horses while everyone else headed to the inn.
Inside, a young man—no older than sixteen, with messy blond hair—hummed a simple tune as he scooped hay.
Damien whistled, and the boy spun around so fast that Luna was surprised he stayed upright. He dropped his pitchfork and hurried over, reaching for Pickles’s and Barley’s reins.
“Give them a good brush out and plenty of food and water,” Damien said, pressing something into the boy’s hand. “Have them ready to go at first light tomorrow.”
The boy nodded and thanked Damien before leading the horses into separate stalls.
On the way to the inn, Luna asked, “How far are we from Winta and Felix’s?”
“It’s about half a day’s journey from here,” Damien explained. “We’ll spend the night and take off first thing tomorrow morning.”
“We aren’t waiting for Gregory?”
“I’d rather not push my luck with you being nearly recognized; I’ll find a way to let him know we’ve passed through if he isn’t already here.”
The inn was a long rectangular building, built out of logs like the rest of the structures in town. Smoke curled from its stone chimney, and a wooden sign creaked above the door as they entered. Inside, the air was warm and heavy with the scent of stewed meat and old wood.
Taemin stood at the counter, one elbow propped casually atop it, a grin plastered across his face. “They had one available room left, and I made sure to snag it for you two before anyone else could.” He dangled a brass key between his fingers as proof of his purchase.
Damien folded his arms in front of his chest, expression flat. “We can’t accept this.”
“Nonsense,” Taemin said, balancing the key on top of Damien’s crossed arms. His voice softened, and he turned to Luna, eyes downcast. “Considering all the trouble you went to for us, the least we can do is pay for your room.”
“How’s Gawen’s leg?” Damien asked flatly, one brow raised. “We’re even, don’t you think?”
Taemin’s face tightened—guilt, or maybe shame, settling over him. “I don’t think we’ll ever be even.”
Before Damien could hand the key back, Taemin turned on his heel and disappeared down the hall, presumably to his room.
Luna glanced at Damien. “I guess we’re sharing . . .”
“It would seem that way.”