Page 86 of Black Onyx
“I say we go through; we might hear some information we need, and I’m not familiar enough with the area to know the threats that surround the villages,” Killian suggests, and everyone quickly agrees.
“Hopefully, the tavern in the last village will have rooms too. We’re going to need to eat and rest by the time we get there.” Mayhem adds as we slowly progress along the dirt road, the sound of the thud of the horse’s hooves on the packed dirt strangely calming.
“That will only give us a day to reach the location of the Void beast and try to convince it we want to help, not harm before we run out of time and we fail the level.” Killian frowns.
“We don’t have much choice; we’ve been on the go for hours, and I don’t want any of us to make a silly mistake because we’re tired. We’ll get it done, and we won’t fail. On that note, though, I think we should pick up the pace so we can make it to the first village in good time.”
He doesn’t wait for an answer as he orders his horse to pick up the pace, and all of our horses automatically follow his lead.
The ride to the first village passes quickly, and what Storm described as a village is actually a bustling town. It’s just past midday, so the cobbled streets are busy and lined with merchants but thankfully because it’s such a big town, no one pays us any mind.
“Keep your ears peeled as we go through the town. We might be able to find out some information here without directly asking anyone.” Storm orders.
I don’t really hear much as we walk through the town and then the houses on the outskirts, at least nothing that’s relevant to the Void beast. Eventually, we get to the part of the town where houses become more spread out, and it turns into farmland, and we get stuck behind a cart. There’s a steep bank on either side of this part of the road, so we just stay behind until we can pass. I tune into the conversation as soon as one of them mentions something about a beast.
“Have you heard about all the trouble, Triunea are having?” one of the guys driving the cart of vegetables asks.
“Oh aye, something to do with a giant beast if the stories are to be believed.”
“I doubt it's true. They’ve been trying to get some extra funding for years now. Besides, they’re known for their tall tales.”
“True that, boy. I wouldn’t believe it unless I saw it.”
Their conversation starts to fade away as they take a turn and finally free up the rest of the road.
“Well, that was interesting. Is Triunea where we’re headed?” Killian asks.
“Yeah, it is. Let’s kick it up a notch again. The sun is already starting to set.” Storm suggests.
“Yeah, and I’m hungry,” Loki groans.
“You’re always hungry,” Reaper replies, rolling his eyes.
“I could eat,” Zev adds in.
Loki reaches over, and fist bumps him. “I knew I liked you.”
Zev just chuckles in response, and then his eyes flash white again, “We should probably pick up the pace now.”
“Doesn’t that ever get too much; Killian doesn’t get them nearly as often as you do?” I ask him.
“Don’t forget, it's not my main gift,” Kill points out.
“It’s been the same my whole life, and I don’t know any other way,” Zev explains and then nudges his horse to speed up.
Taking the hint, we all do the same. If the future Head Seer gives you advice, then it’s probably best to take it.
We’ve only been riding for an hour or so when the clouds decide that they’re going to grace us with a drenching of rain. Within seconds I’m so wet that the water is practically streaming off my nose, and I’m relying on Revel’s extra senses to guide me because I can’t see shit. We don’t slow down and try to find cover; there’s not much point; judging from the blackness of the overhead clouds, it’s not stopping any time soon.
When lights start to appear, signalling that we’ve got to the edge of the tiny village, I’m wet, cold, miserable and starving. We don’t bother stopping; no one is about to ask questions anyway. Everyone smart enough to be tucked up in their nice warm homes and most likely eating hot meals right now, my stomach grumbles.
Because it’s such a small village, the tavern seems to double as an inn as well and is set right on the edge of the village, almost separate from it. I keep everything crossed that they have room for us all; we aren’t a small group. We follow the path around to an area by the stables that are covered, and a stable boy runs out to meet us.
“For the night?” he asks.
“Yes, please, so long as there are rooms inside.” Storm answers.
The boy giggles, “No one comes to our village, sir. There’ll be space!”
