A Place of Promise

Even when the sun was at its highest point, indicating noon, it was still bitter with cold. Whatever heat that the sun emits, the cold steals from it. That isn’t the most unbearable part, though. Breathing in the stinging air is ten times the pain of walking and breathing it in, but running through it feels like there’s just not enough air to enter my lungs, and when it does it leaves trails of jagged ice throughout my airways. Each breath is stinging like a cold shot of distilled liquor.

I can hear the maddening yells behind me, and I know that I’m no match to outrun a wise man’s knowledge of the lay of the land. The only thing keeping the men behind me was the jagged path I took to avoid getting detained by them.

Moments before, I had hit the checkpoint of Arcturus, but they had been looking for a girl my age, black hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin that didn’t quite fit the standard for most of the people I had passed on my journey. The line of horse drawn trailers filled with caged chickens squawking, and walking mothers with babies tied with cloths to their back had been pushed back into a gridlock. To be fair, I stopped and looked at the hand-drawn image that had been glued to an officer’s hand as he waved people through. I stood there almost dumbfounded at the image, seeing the familiar, robust hair that curled at its ends in length with her shoulders. A straight line of the lips that didn’t notion towards a smile, and eyes round in a subtle deadpan look, almost similar to school photos I had taken when I was younger.

I had run almost immediately, circling around the checkpoint through the forest and back onto the road. I hadn’t been clever enough to have avoided their gaze when I ran; I had been far too panicked to even remain calm when they asked me to remove my jacket to verify that it wasn’t me in that sketch.

But I ran quickly, and had slid down the slope against the hillside of the mountain down to a small ledge that was capable of holding me as I ran against it. The officers behind me had followed but the horses had spooked easily at the sight of the fall that had given me enough time to keep my pace far enough ahead of them.

Yet, now, as I was running with all the energy I had left in me, I could hear the officers struggling to close the distance between us on foot, abandoning their horses because of their reluctance to chase. My pace was beginning to slow; the snow around me had grown thicker as the path here was less traveled than the one above me. I was knee deep in snow, trudging through it, grabbing hold of tree branches that were sticking out from the depths of the white dust.

“Stop right there!” The gasp of the officer’s breath indicated that he was also tired from the chase. “We are officers from the eastern village, Arcturus! We are officers of this ward! We follow under our Lord and Lady Eurycles who have requested the whereabouts of this woman. If you are withholding information, it is punishable by Arcturus law!”

My legs were trembling beneath me. It wouldn’t be long before they gave out. The resistance was too much. “Please, let me go! I must go to Vega.” A heavy body tackled me to the floor, my face making contact with the snow. My arms flailed in panic against the heaviness on my back, my legs kicking against the body above me. “Insufferable!” The officer cried, and pulled me up from the collar of my jacket. The officer dragged me up back towards the trail, his other two brigadiers flanking behind him. I screamed in frustration, digging my heels into the road to prevent me from moving any farther. “How is it a woman like you can be so problematic?” The officer asked, pushing himself against my body.

I was seething. If only one thing could have gone easily and smoothly, I wish it was this. Altair was just beyond my grasp.

Some god Taygeta was.

“Let me go you weather-bitten dolt!” My arms reached behind me, grasping ahold of the small bristles of hair atop his head. Stabilizing it, I used my grounded feet to push up from the floor, my head making contact with the bridge of his nose. His hands immediately released me and I spun around on my heels breathing forcefully through my mouth, my hood long fallen from my head. I backed up from the lot of them, the two flanking officers looked astoundingly from me to their Chief, and back again. Unsure of what to do they tended to their fallen leader.

“Leave me alone!” I warned, “I just need to get to Vega.”

The head officer looked up, his nose bleeding from the impact. “It’s you; the girl from the poster!” He declared and shoved his tending officers away from him. His eyes were wide; his pupils had grown wild at the sight of me. “You must return to Arcturus with us. If you do not come willingly I will force you!” His sword was drawn from his hip, the other two officers following suit.

The only defense I had against them was the bag that I had carried with me up until now. I had eaten on my way to the checkpoint, and it had now become significantly lighter. I removed the bag from my shoulder. I held the strap tightly in my hands, ready to swing if necessary.

“I told you to stay away from me!” My voice was shaking uncontrollably. My adrenaline caused braveness, but it had withered along with my intent to resist.

I was being cornered as they approached me. The edges of their swords looked warn, and it worried me. They had used it before, and using it against me was not going to be an issue for them. I would definitely not die by their hands, but I was almost sure that I would not make it to Vega.

My eyes focused on movement behind the officers. A horse was charging in the distance, its nose flaring from the speed and its rider hidden behind the head of the horse. The sound of hooves beating against the snow alerted the men to look behind them. They immediately stepped away from my direction, removing themselves from the dangers of getting trampled on.

I, on the other hand, dropped my bag on the ground and began running away from the approaching horse. I sprinted down the side of the trail forcing my legs to make wider strides away from the danger. Yet, for every step I took, the horse drew two steps more. My slight fear was that the person’s intentions of riding the horse was to run over me with it, but my biggest fear was that if I stopped those officers would come after me the moment that this person would pass.

The horse was now trotting beside me, keeping up with my fastest pace easily. I looked up, and saw a burgundy cape and hood being worn by the horse’s rider. The person was looking behind, seeing the officer’s now gathering themselves to come back this way. I had started walking at this point. I wasn’t cut out for running – it wasn’t like I had life experience running from danger back in Altair.

“Looks like you need a ride.” A man’s voice rumbled from the chest of the rider, purring in withheld laughter.

I swallowed hard, and looked back. The officer’s had gained quite of bit of ground on me. “I need to get to Vega.” I was asking desperately, not stating where I needed to go.

One tanned hand reached out towards me, black ink of clockwork pieces travelled up his strapping arms and torso only being interrupted by a white, coarse scar that protruded from the base of his collar bone to his ear. “Perfect. That’s where I’m headed.” I looked up at the man hesitantly. His blue eyes like bleached forget-me-nots stared back into my own and a smile wet his lips seemed more forced than friendly.

I probably wouldn’t have grabbed his hand if I wasn’t as desperate as I was. But I was. I could hear the voices of the officers screeching at me to come back, but I grabbed the man’s cold hand tightly, and he pulled me up to his level, and settled me down in front of him on the horse’s back.

He kicked the horse in its side, and we took off. The distant screams of the officer’s behind me waned, and all that was left was the gauche silence and the pitter-patter of the horse’s hooves. I gazed for a moment looking out at the reddening sky; the sun falling behind an astronomical mountain.

I took a deep breath. “Thank you,” I finally muttered.

The horse began to slow again after moments of a steady gallop into a slight trot. A low, flowing chuckle escaped from him as he removed one of his branded hands from the reign. “Why…you are very welcome Thea.”

My heart sputtered, “How do you know my name?” My breathing was shallow as I mangled my fingers in between one another.

“Because Thea…everyone in Lyra – no Mechty – knows of your presence, and the Knight of the First Kingdom, Vega, has just gotten a hold of the girl from Altair.”