Jeremy Laszlo - The Choosing

Seth limited his input to the group’s conversations, preferring to just listen as they walked. His mind wandered and he found himself thinking over the last several days, taking in all the events that had come to pass, that had brought him to this point. Though he had nearly lost his life, he could not believe the tremendous luck that had so obviously filled his life. He and his twin had traveled from home, accompanied by a man blessed with the gift of healing. A man he was now proud to call his friend. They had arrived in Stone Haven, and due to Ashton’s gift had been given free food, and free goods to include the crossbow. It was also Ashton who inevitably led them to eat outside the inn that morning he first met Sara. Seth was extremely grateful for this part. Not only had he met her, he had protected her and in doing so, had laid the foundation for their relationship. A relationship he now knew he could not live without. Joined now by the woman he would come to love and adore, they had set out from Stone Haven along the road to raven’s hold. Sara had slowed them, causing them to fall a day behind, but this too was as if it was meant to be. Because of their delay, they had fallen into the path of the goblin that had nearly killed him, but as it had turned out, Sara had instead played a vital role in killing the creature that mortally wounded him. If not for her, Seth would have died, and probably his twin and Ashton as well. Again Seth had been blessed by Ashton’s friendship, being healed by his friend’s control of the Goddess’s gift. Their delay had run their stores of food dry, and this had lead to Garret’s meeting with the knights of Valdadore who had rewarded them not only with the food they so badly needed, but also with enough coin to deliver them safely, and comfortably to the castle city of Valdadore with what should be several days of time to spare and enjoy the city. All this Seth felt had to be more than just pure luck. No one on the face of Thurr could possibly have ever been this lucky. Seth felt as if someone watched over him, guiding his life safely to some predetermined end. He felt thankful for it, he felt blessed. He now looked at Sara and realized if they had not met, he would not be here to look upon her this day. She, in his greatest moment of need, had come to the rescue just in time to save his life. As he had vowed to protect her, she had in turn protected him, his little guardian angel. The thought made Seth smile, and returning from his daydream found Sara’s eyes watching him. The small twin suns, that were her eyes, were filled with love for him. Seth hoped to himself that she too could see his love for her in his own eyes.

The group marched along through the evening much the same as they had through the day. They talked occasionally about nothing in particular, and Seth had started at one point to relay the dream he had had the previous night to them, but then thought better of it. This he would keep to himself at least for the time being.

The flat, bleak, shrub infested plains had slowly cleared as they walked, and now had been replaced by slightly rolling hills. The hills were covered by tall grass that for the most part remained green. Occasional groves of trees dotted the hills, and eventually the group could see fenced pastures on the horizon filled with animals. This they knew marked civilization. Before long they could see the roof tops of several farm houses over the hills and as they grew nearer, the buildings themselves came into view. It was not long before they were passing down the road between those very farm houses. Occasionally they would see someone in one of the fields, tending animals or crops, and each time they spotted someone the person would wave or nod to them in greeting from a distance, and they too would in turn wave back.

The farms continued for a long time, and eventually as the sky began to grow dark on the horizon, they no longer noticed people in the fields. It was when they were approaching a large gray farmhouse that Garret stopped abruptly in his tracks, and placing his hand above his eyes peered off into the distance ahead of them. He had stopped so suddenly that Sara had actually run into him, but Garret seemed not to notice as he tried to focus on something just out of sight. Garret stood frozen searching the horizon as his companions stared at him in wonder.

“I think that’s it.” Garret stated matter-of-factly.

“What’s what?” Seth asked his twin.

“That.” Garret said jabbing his finger toward the horizon in front of them. “I think that’s raven’s hold.”

All four companions studied the horizon, and after many moments all but Ashton could discern, barely, the massive complex of buildings that was as of now just a smudge on the horizon.

“How far away do you think it is?” Seth asked his brother.

“It’s hard to tell.” Garret began. “I think I first saw this house about three hours ago.” Garret now pointed to the large gray home only a stone’s throw away from them. “I would assume, that if that is the city, then it is much bigger than the house here, so probably can be seen from farther away. If I had to guess I would say four maybe five more hours give or take.”

Seth nodded his agreement to his brother’s calculation, and turned his gaze to the sun.

“We only have a couple hours of light left, three at most.” Seth stated, knowing as he did three hours was being very generous.

Almost without thought the four began walking once again, a new urgency to their pace. They agreed shortly after resuming their trek that they would not stop until they reached the city, even if it took them until well past dark. The road was level and wide here, accustomed to frequent use, and easily discernable from the fields around it. It would not be hard to keep to the road even in the darkness.

Just over two hours had passed since Garret had spotted the city on the horizon. Now however the sun began to shrink past the horizon to the west. They had traveled a great distance in the last few hours, their pace much faster than it had been throughout the day. Now, in the last minutes of sunlight the city was much more easily discernable in the distance. It was apparent that they would indeed need to continue a few more hours into the night to reach their destination, but at least now they knew they could see the destination they sought. Raven’s hold was not what they had thought it was previously. From a far distance it appeared to be several different sized building jumbled together, creating a broken silhouette. However now that they could see the city more clearly it was apparent that it was actually several rows of buildings, each row taller than the previous, growing ever taller towards the center of the city. The whole thing it appeared was surrounded by a great wall of stone, with enormous towers at each corner. This much the group could see in the last moments of light, however, any more details they might take note of were lost as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.

The group was in luck it seemed. They did not walk on in endless darkness towards their destination as they all thought they would have to. Instead, both moons had appeared full this night, lighting their way in a yellow-green half light that was plenty enough to see the road clearly. They could also see their destination in the darkness. The city itself was obscured, but above it shone the light of the hundreds of lanterns and torches that must have been lit within the city, creating a dome of light in the sky above it. The four walked on at a brisk pace in the half light, hurrying towards the city that seemed to grow larger with each step.

All four companions stared at the high city walls as they approached. They could see from here the gigantic towers that made the corners of the city, and the enormous stone walls that surrounded it. Directly in front of them was a large gate in the wall, where they could see on the road well ahead of them that people walked, and carts rolled though the massive gate. As they neared the gates, the group could see guards posted to either side, who would occasionally stop a person and speak to them before letting them pass. Raven’s hold was bigger than any of them had imagined, and it occurred to Garret that there very likely would be more than one inn in the city. They needed to find the inn where Sirus had said would have a room and horses awaiting them. Garret figured he would have to ask for directions from someone familiar with the city to see if they knew Sirus.