4. Jack
FOUR
JACK
Jack and his father traveled with the regiment of soldiers by horseback.
An aggressive pace was set, and within a few days, familiar mountains and forests gave way to open deserts and small towns.
Whenever they rode through a town, dark scowls and nervous glances were directed their way.
It was clear the inhabitants of the land outside New Hope had no great love for the Queen or her men.
It was something Jack had always known, but now he was lumped in as “one of them.” It was a chilling feeling to be looked on with such disgust.
“Different, isn’t it?”
Jack almost fell out of his saddle as he turned to look at Lieutenant Baker, riding beside him. “What is?”
“Being regarded with such disdain without even so much as a chance to prove otherwise. They look at you and think just because you wear a uniform, they know you.”
“Why do they distrust you so much?”
“Because we’re from the last great city of men. They think we hide behind our walls, horde riches for ourselves, when the truth is so much closer to them than they realize.”
“What truth?”
“Until recently, we were no better off inside the city than they are.” The lieutenant looked at Jack, flashing his clean white teeth.
“We were barely scraping by. Our political structure was deteriorating, crime was rising, there was so much corruption within the city’s police force, it made it impossible for any real good to be done.
We were rotting from the inside out. Truth be told, people were probably better off in the Outland than in New Hope. ”
“What changed?” Jack found himself beginning to like the lieutenant and his honest, easy manner of speaking.
“She did. When the Queen came to power ten years ago, she was the savior New Hope needed. She pulled us back from the brink. She saved us from ourselves. It was slow going at first. People resisted the change, but one street at a time, one crooked police officer or soldier fired, one positive and moral political representative elected at a time, the city started to change. We’ve clawed our way back from oblivion.
Now New Hope is a place its people can be proud to call home. ”
Jack bit his lip as he thought on the lieutenant’s words. The picture that was painted of New Hope’s history was one new to him. He always heard the city talked about with an air of scorn. It was as though the population of the Outland hated the city and its inhabitants for all the wrong reasons.
“So while the Outland was blaming New Hope for not helping, New Hope was actually fighting its own battle of survival?”
“That’s exactly right, Jack. But now New Hope is stronger.
We’re making advancements in every area, especially in the fields of magic and paranormal study.
We may soon be in a position to offer the cities in the Outland a helping hand.
But I fear something dark approaches. Something that could set us back into an age of darkness. ”
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“I’ve said too much,” the lieutenant answered. “The Queen will tell you more.”