Quest for Cydonia

“I think we’re almost there,” said Dom, trying to break the uneasy silence between the three of them. Chris nodded in agreement, while Matt tried not to start up another argument. He still didn’t believe a land like Cydonia could possibly be real.

They reached the crest of a grassy hill and looked down towards the small town of Palda. It rested at the bottom of a narrow passage between the mountains leading to the center of Palus, and it was the only guaranteed path to Cydonia.

“That looks a little strange,” Matt said suddenly, frowning. He motioned towards a steady stream of people traveling from the town, and not going through the mountains.

“‘Strange’ is an understatement,” Dom replied. “This is bad.” Chris didn’t say anything, but nudged Berry forward. Matt and Dom walked alongside him, and they reached the town in a few minutes. Chris was relieved to see that the streets of the small town were not made of cobblestones, but tightly packed dirt. Berry immediately seemed less afraid.

They approached the entrance through the mountains, but found it blocked by several rows of guards. Matt frowned.

“They’re not wearing the colors of Palus,” he muttered to his friends. “Something doesn’t seem right here.”

Dom wasn’t listening. His eyes were riveted on the faces of three of the men. They looked too familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen them before. All of them wore dark armor, almost black. The three of them brought their horses to a halt just a few feet from the soldiers. Berry eyed them warily, and Chris did his best to reassure the nervous horse.

“Let us through,” Matt said to the one that looked like their leader. The man laughed darkly.

“We are not to let anyone pass,” he told them. “There have been several rockslides due to the recent rain, and it is unsafe to travel through the mountains.”

“Rain?” Dom questioned. “There has been nothing but fair weather for more than a day.” The man stepped towards him, and Dom subconsciously began to reach for the bow strapped to his back.

“I said no one is allowed to pass,” the man said ominously. “If you need to get to Palus, you always go through the western forests.” Matt glared at him and reluctantly turned his horse to the left, closely followed by his friends. He didn’t speak until they were out of earshot.

“He’s lying,” said Matt.

“Those were not soldiers of Palus,” said Dom. “They must be from Cydonia. No kingdom’s soldiers wear the color black.” Matt stopped himself from speaking. As much as he disagreed with Dom’s theory, it made sense.

“Do you realize what this means?” Chris asked them. His next statement was a grim one. “We have to go through Archos.” Dom wasn’t sure what to say.

“We can defend ourselves. And it’s not like there’s anything but archers in the forests, anyway,” said Matt. This earned him a glare from Dom. “You know what I mean.”

“We don’t really have a choice,” said Chris. “The forests lead straight to Cydonia, anyway.” Neither Dom or Matt could come up with an argument against it, so they took off at a canter toward the gathering of trees just over a mile away.

The trees grew denser and thicker after just a few minutes, forcing them to form a single line behind each other. After Matt’s horse tripped over a tree root and nearly sent him flying, they had to slow to a careful walk.

The sunlight was almost completely blocked by the layers of dark, emerald leaves, casting liquid shadows that seemed to swirl around their feet. There were a few spots not far away that were too dim to see through, causing Berry to grow even more nervous. Velvet began to prance in place; even Sedrik tensed up. Dom took this as a sign of trouble and held his bow in one hand, ready to reach for arrows if necessary. Matt glanced back at them.

Before he could speak, they heard footsteps approaching from behind. The other two looked back, with Dom and Matt counting on Chris for an answer, but he saw nothing.

Two blurred forms sprinted past either side of them; it was all Chris could do to keep Berry remotely calm.

“Run!” cried a female voice. Berry seemed to want to obey this command wholeheartedly.

“What’s going on?” Matt called. The two forms stopped momentarily.

“Just go! Get out of here!” yelled the other, a male voice that sounded older than the first. “I’ll hold them off as long as possible.”

“Hold off what?!” Dom shouted. Before either of the cloaked figures could answer, they heard several far-off earsplitting screeches and the sound of flapping wings. Berry and Velvet wheeled around in fear and planted their feet into the soft dirt. All three knights drew their weapons simultaneously.

“It won’t do any good. They can only be killed by magic!” cried the girl.

“But that’s not-”

“We don’t have time for this, Matt,” Dom snapped at him. “Let’s go!” They took off at a frenzied gallop, hoping the horses could see the ground better than them. Chris glanced to the side and saw one of the figures running after them. His attention was diverted from Berry’s mental state for only a few seconds, but that was all the horse needed. He leapt into the air and kicked out, sending Chris flying into the dark forest, and pranced in place with a squeal of fear. Dom quickly looked back, but there was nothing he could do to stop the terrified horse.

“Keep going!” cried the figure nearby. He realized it was the girl. She caught up to Berry before he could start running and hauled herself onto his back, then took off after Sedrik. “There’s a place up ahead where we can hide!”

“We have to go back for him!” Dom yelled. Regardless of this, he knew he couldn’t get around Berry unless both of them slowed to a walk; the path was too narrow. And walking was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. His eyes flicked back past the thundering gray horse, and he looked just in time to see a black curtain overtake their fallen friend.

A bright flash of pale blue light seemed to come from nowhere, forcing back the creatures. Dom was shocked at the sight of the large bats. There were hundreds, possibly thousands of them, all larger than horses and letting out shrill screeches of pain from the light. He grimly turned back to face forward. Matt was far ahead of him now, and it looked like he had stopped. There was a glint of flickering, golden light next to him. A fire.

“Follow him,” called the girl. Dom nodded and pulled up next to Matt. He looked around with a small shock to realize that they were in a wide cave filled with various supplies. He jumped off of the dark horse and loosely held its reins with one slightly quaking hand. Matt had also dismounted, only he was sitting on the ground, with Velvet trying to eat his black hair. Dom would have found the scene comical any other time.

“We have to go back for him,” Dom repeated. The girl simply handed him Berry’s reins and walked back to the entrance, then began muttering words in some language he didn’t understand. He saw a few glittering lights emanate from her hands, but at this point, he was unfazed by what must have been magic.

“What’s going on?” asked Matt, breaking the uneasy silence. “Who are you?”

“My name is Z,” the girl finally answered. She removed the hood from her head and turned back to face them. “That was my brother, Koda.”

“And what were those monsters?” asked Dom.

“Those were the Zan,” she replied, taking a seat on the stone floor opposite the two knights. “They’re meant to keep out invaders.”

“But we’re not invaders!” Matt cried indignantly. “We’re trying to get to Cydonia.” Dom blinked a few times in surprise at the fact that Matt wasn’t whining about the place not being real, but said nothing.

“They could smell no Archosian blood in you. They consider you invaders. It’s simple.” She suddenly gasped and stood, racing over to Velvet.

“What?” Matt asked in confusion. Z pointed at the horse’s knee; it was covered in fresh blood.

“I can’t believe you didn’t notice that,” she muttered with distaste as she began collecting various things from the pile of supplies around them. She carried the armful of flasks and glass vials to a clear spot far away from them, then returned to Matt. She tried to grab the horse’s reins, but he kept them away from her.

“I don’t want you using any so-called magic on my horse,” he said bitterly. “You might hurt him.”

“Magic just saved both your lives!” she scoffed indignantly. “All five of your lives, if you think about it,” she added, glancing between the three horses. Berry was quivering in fear, but seemed calmer since Sedrik was next to him. But Sedrik was uneasy; even the older, more seasoned horse hadn’t seen everything.

“What about Chris?” Dom asked quietly. The girl seemed to ignore the question and snatched the reins away from Matt, then led the horse to the other side of the cave. After removing Velvet’s saddle and bridle - and tossing them on the ground, much to Matt’s discontent - she cleaned the wound with water and soon began mixing several of the other things in a wooden bowl. Matt and Dom shared a skeptical glance, but said nothing as she worked.

She spread the thick, claylike substance all over the deep gash, mumbling to herself about how they should’ve been more careful, and pulled something from beneath her robes. It glinted and glittered in the low light of the nearby fire, but neither of the two knights could tell what it was.

There was a flash of pale blue light at the entrance of the cave, and Koda stumbled inside, struggling to keep a half-conscious Chris standing. Matt and Dom immediately rushed to his aid, but Z seemed to be ignoring the situation completely.

“He’ll be fine,” she said, standing up. Matt and Dom couldn’t tell who she was talking about. “The horse, I mean,” she added.

“So will your friend,” said Koda, breathing heavily.

“So…where are you two from, anyway?” Dom asked. Both of them were silent for several seconds. The girl was the first to speak.

“Well…we’re from Cydonia.”