The Blessed City

They rode for two days. Riding through the night and as far from Aaurn as the mountains could take them.

Maleah did not miss a moment since they'd left. Basking in the horse-thrown winds and relishing in the crisp winter air. The exhilaration of feeling a large, breathing beast beat its hooves on the ground as it carried her towards a hopeful future. Even still, she could not ignore the undercurrent of fear the clutch to the edges of her sanity.

As she raced along the foothills, she noticed the lack of life beyond the city. Trees did not shed; their branches chipped and their trunks split. Not a single animal jumped from a tree nor did she hear a call from any winged creature. Nothing turned the soil or revived the dead flora from their slumber.

They rested only when they had put a great distance between them and Aaurn and slept a few dismal hours before riding again.

By the second night, they strolled the border of the mountains and the Red Desert. She could still feel the heat from the sun as its heat waves crashed over her. No living creature could survive the journey across. In the close distance, Maleah spotted a desecrated village.

"What happened there?" Maleah asked as they sauntered towards it.

"Scavengers. Come, we can make a camp here for the night." Cam urged them into what remained. Maleah's heart ached as they tied the horses outside a home.

Falling into an easy rhythm, Cam gathered bits of wood and Rhys made the fire, forcing two rocks against each other until a spark lit the wood. Maleah studied her as Rhys lowered her mouth to the fire and blew steadily.

They took the night in watches. Maleah took ease knowing they listened intently for danger even as she fought to sleep. When it was her turn, Rhys woke her and she sat outside with a small fire. The soft snores of her companions waded from hollow windows and blended with the horses' whimpers.

She passed time as she had always done: by staring into the darkness. Though she knew she wasn't in the borstal, she couldn't help feeling that the day would never come. The stars did not appear nor did the moon show its face. A steady stream of clouds curtaining them, leaving her to her thoughts and creating room for worry to creep in.

Why her? Had her father searched for her upon his return home? Was her mother truly dead as her nightmares dare to tell her? Why her?

For years she asked herself the same questions. For years no answer ever came.

She tossed a piece of wood, heard its soft thud. Pulling out the map, she studied it. Scanning the names of cities from top to bottom. Finding the small island - the only island - where she assumed they'd come from off to the top left, lingering alone in a vast ocean. Then looking down, from the Arenian Mountains, where Aaurn was tucked away, to the Red Desert and into the desolate land they would travel through.

If her father had taught her anything, it was how to read a map and figure out where in the heavens she was. And by the looks of it, she knew they rested in the crevice of Tailt and sighed when she estimated that they had weeks of travel left before they were anywhere close to Ilioch.

Their rations would not last them the whole journey. Perhaps ten days. Twelve if they rationed meticulously. But they would need to hunt or find a village to get more food. Her eyes glanced across the map, searching its symbols for freshwater spots.

Strange, she thought. There were few rivers between Tailt and Ilioch. She could've sworn her father had said there were dozens of waterways running towards the sea from every mountain east. Where were they?

A stirring aroused her. Cocking her head, she found Cam stretching on the door frame behind her.

"You should be sleeping."

"A couple of hours is all I need. What are you doing?" He peered over her shoulder. His face coming inches from hers so that his hot breath washed her cheeks.

"Trying to determine where we can find water and food when ours runs out." Cam sat next to her, leaned in. Automatically, she adjusted her seat.

"Smart. Freshwater is hard to come by without a naturalist to help pull it from the earth. That's how the larger cities remain in good health," he added when she scrunched her face at him. "I know a few watering holes that survived scavengers and King's Men raids. We can head south in those directions without prolonging our arrival."

"What about food?"

"Hunting will be impossible. All the animals have migrated to where the water is. Naturally, we'll go there, too. In the meantime, the horses will have fresh fruit and vegetables the witch gave us. We can survive on rolls and dried meat."

Maleah nodded along. "Where will we be able to restock?"

The edges of his lips frowned in the orange light. "The Tri-Bordered City."

"What's the Tri-Bordered City?"

"It's another Aaurn." They both turned to Rhys. She had pulled her cloak around her shoulders and crossed her arms firmly over her chest.

Maleah said nothing of the pain she recognized in Rhys' tone. "Worse?"

"Worse," Rhys confirmed. "It is a parley city. Anyone who enters swears to abide by the rules of the city. No fighting. No factions. It is a city for King's Men and scavengers to live in neutrality. There is no lord as the city is built at the crossroads between the Jayurn, Capor, and Fenrah. It is each man for himself."

Rhys avoided all eye contact and stared into the dark land ahead of them. Maleah looked to one, then the other, saw the flicker of sympathy in Cam's eyes.

"Am I missing something?" she said aloud.

Sighing, Cam answered. "The Tri-Bordered City is another name for The Burrows."

It clicked. Maleah turned to Rhys, "We can find another way."

But she shook her head. "It is the quickest way south and the only city that we can undoubtedly get supplies for the rest of the journey."

"The sun is rising," Rhys shook the silence, stood. "We shouldn't waste any time."

No one said anything about Rhys' past as they stunted the fire and scattered its ashes and stones.

. . .

Danger did not find them for days. Even as they rested in the cover of naked trees or in the skeletons of villages. Following the rises and falls of the land, Cam led them to the Tri-Bordered City.

There was never a dull view. Each shift in land proved itself unique. From small to long, hills and flatland, they rode. Desert and brown grasslands. The closer to the city they came, the more nature roamed freely. Dirt became soil and from soil grew grass. Still, life was still. Trees did not grow and animals did not wander. Each day spent atop their horses grew colder than the last and the days lasted fewer hours the before.

Maleah used the moon to track their days. Counting each night as another day gone. One two five. Ten.

When nature's soft whispers no longer found her content, she asked the others to tell them tales of the land. Understanding her curiosity and her limited exposure, they amused her.

Rhys confirmed her suspicions: her knowledge of history and myths were great. She knew the history of the lands before the King's Men. About creatures and races living in peace. About magic and its lost purity.

"Magic fades every day, can't you feel it?" Rhys had said as they passed through the wild grasslands of Dearum.

Cam, on the other hand, spun stories of battle and chaos with every village they sighted in the distance. And, though she was tempted to, she did not press how they had gained their knowledge. She had a feeling all will reveal itself in time. Instead, she listened and allowed herself to imagine the wonder and the intrigue of mysterious people that once wandered across it. Indulged in the sweet, simple, and safe fantasies of peaceful days.

Around the fire on the eleventh night, she pestered them both. How did they protest? What became of the villagers? Where does the fae reside now?

To the latter, Rhys responded with a heavy heart. "Here and nowhere."

Maleah ached at her words. Looking into the fire, she twisted the bread on the end of her stick to warm it.

"How did you make the portal?"

The question surprised her. "I don't know."

"I've only ever heard of gods conjuring portals."

Maleah laughed at Rhys. "I am no god."

"Why did you wait to use it?" Rhys plucked a roll from her stick and tore a piece off.

"I don't know." When Rhys frowned at her, she bit into her own bread.

"A portal appears in your cage out of nowhere and you don't take the first opportunity to leave? I don't believe it," Cam snorted.

"A portal appears from nowhere," Maleah mocked. "Would you trust it?"

Rhys tucked her knees to her chest. "I said before, even magic fades. But that does not mean great magic does not still exist."

It was her turn to laugh. "I spent four winters inside that cage. Listening to the whispers of the halls as if they spoke only to me. I fed off the moss as if its rebellion was my own. And in a way, it was. Doc was my only friend and the only person to believe I was extraordinary. Yet, after having walked through that portal myself, I cannot trust it. Great magic may exist, but not with me. Someone else made that portal and I can only be grateful they did it when they did."

She cast her gaze from Cam to Rhys; their silence could move mountains. They may never know who made the portal but be grateful they did.

"Well, I cannot live that way anymore." Rhys pulled her cloak over her. "Displacing my faith in the wrong people, mistrusting my own voice. And we cannot run forever always looking behind us."

A quiet fell over them. Maleah felt her anxiety creep through her. Peering into the quartered moon, she took solace in the constant presence of the stars surrounding it. Each shining uniquely. Unrestricted. Free.

One day, she promised herself. One day, she'd be as free as they were.

"Did Doc ever show you his experiments?" Smiling softly, Maleah nodded to Rhys. Easing into the change of subject, Maleah laughed with her companion. Bonding over fond memories of a shared friend.

Somewhere in the distance, the grass swayed easily in the tamed breeze. The conversation became lighter as Cam joined in, allowing his own nosiness to get the best of him.

When sleep became hard to ignore, they let the fire burn through each of their watches. She took the last watch, as usual, and wrapped herself next to her horse. Its muzzle rested next to her head and the heat of their bodies mixed for warmth. And in its constant rise and fall, she slept.