There was no way we would make it to the war camp in time to help with the attack.
Watching Haldis pace back and forth when the horses needed a break was nerve-wracking.
All we could do was pray that our message reached them in time for them to prepare.
There was a lot of pressure laying on my shoulders. The warriors were constantly keeping an eye on me waiting for the next time that a vision would occur.
Wondering who had survived the attack and who didn't.
Not only did their gazes have me on edge but just the thought of failing my first actual mission from Milady was enough to chase away any sleep from my eyes.
We were approaching The Outerwall and should be there in time to camp for the night.
I doubted staying there a few days to get our baring together was still on the table.
Haldis has even stopped looking for a creak to bath in, he deemed it a luxury we couldn't afford with his men's life on the line.
I couldn't say I blamed him, Bolt's death had been gruesome, even if he did die in honor. Saving another mans life in the process.
The Eagle Beast was vicious and I couldn't help but be repulsed by it. Something in the depths of its grey eyes held evil in them.
It lived to kill.
"Have you had any more visions?" Haldis asked, his deep voice vibrating his chest that was pressed against my back.
My thighs were calloused now, from all of the riding and I dare say that my body had become used to Haldis surrounding it.
It had become a comfort. One that I was not prepared for.
"No. You'll be the first to know if I do." It had been a day and a half since my last vision and everyone was on edge including me.
The forest was growing thicker and thicker, and the trees and grass began to shift into a different shade of green.
More wildlife was showing themselves to us, either because there were more of them here or because they had excepted us as about of them now.
The horses stilled.
"Did you hear that?" Clementine asked no one in particular. She was still seated behind Jade who looked unimpressed, but then again that was her normal resting face.
I listened...
The faintest sound of water trickling could be heard and I laughed.
A couple of other people started to whoop and yell.
We were here.
We were at The OuterWall.
As we approached it slowly, I grasp just how beautiful it was.
There was a river below us, the cliffs end only a couple of feet away. Big thriving vines hung down past the ledges of the several cliffs above us.
The air was filled with a citrus smell that let me know this place was filled to the brim with all kinds of fruit trees and greenery.
The sunshine leaked in through the crease in the split mountain, highlighting everything just enough to give the place a purple hue around it.
The steps of the horses echoed off of the hollows of the walls. So instead of around thirteen men, we sounded like a full army marching forward.
I wondered what all of the warriors sounded like here.
Just up above our windows embedded in the cave, lights shined from them letting me see that it was a house on the inside.
A wooden kitchen table and a modern fridge and stove.
I don't know what I expected to see but it wasn't a fully functional house and there were thousands more embedded in the stone.
These warriors had made a living for themselves and their families here and I suddenly understood why none of them wished to come back to Ouizwell. This place was far more beautiful and less crowded.
"This is lovely," I said breathlessly still taking in all of the smaller aspects of the place.
"Oberon would be glad to hear it. Since he designed this place himself." The childish Oberon had created this? That just let me know he had more productive things on his mind then sinking himself into someone.
"Shower, eat and sleep. Because tomorrow at daybreak we are back on the road." Haldis didn't have to yell for any of the men to here him because the echoes from the cave were loud enough that it was impossible not to hear him.
"Clementine, Jade, and Ayumu can stay at my house. It's big enough to accommodate the four of us." I glance under Haldis's arm to see that Clementine was just as much in amazement as I was. I could even spot a look of surprise on Jade's face.
"And where is your house?" I asked him glancing around at all of the windows trying to guess which one could belong to the general.
"It's there." He pointed up and my jaw fell slack in awe.
A sturdy bridge led up to the second set of cliffs and sitting just a few feet back was a massive skull.
I've heard of giants living a long time ago but I had never seen any type of artifact from their time on this planet.
Its eyes were windows and its mouth was open allowing us entrance into the lavish-looking home.
"I knew you had taste cousin." Jade cued at the spookiness of the house.
She seemed to be the type that likes all things spooky.
Haldis laughed deeply before dismounting the horse. He held out his hands to help me down.
Clementine and Jade dismounted their horse and without a word from Haldis the creatures began walking off and making their way back down the bridge.
"I'll have some one bring your stuff later. So you three can shower."
I could only imagine how magnificent, yet creepy, the shower in this house would be.
I was dying to find out.