As the heavy winds calm down, the relentless punches against the shoddy walls of the shack finally subside. A moment of quiet and respite arrives. The few people gathered, huddled together, start to relax their muscles as if they can finally breathe. One of the men, a broad-shouldered and burly fellow, walks towards the door.
"No, wait," whispers the old lady in the far corner of this tiny, dark, and filthy place. The burly man turns around to look at her, then he notices all the others staring frightfully at him.
"It will be okay," the man gently whispers. "They could not have followed us through this storm, of that I am sure."
"How can you be sure?" a second lady asks quietly. All the voices are hushed, so fearful of making any sound that might alarm anyone around them.
"We have been sitting here for hours," the man says. "Surely they would've found us by now."
The entire shack goes quiet at his words. Everyone stares at the door, the only exit to this shack. There are no windows or even holes to look through to be reassured by those words; the only way forward is to open that door.
"We have to try," whispers a second man, a smaller figure, slender, with long dark hair far beyond his shoulders. Slowly, he stands beside the first man.
"Let us open it. Let us do this together," the slender man says calmly. The woman in the far back also rises up, quietly sneaking towards the door.
"Yes, let us all do this together. That way, if there is more peril ahead, we will face it together as we always have," she whispers as she stands between the two men, turning to the others in the shack. As her words softly fill the room, reaching every ear, they slowly become a force. Her words start to lift everyone to their feet. All nine of them gather at the door, holding out their hands. One last time, they look upon each other dearly.
"It has truly been a blessing to have fought with all of you," the slender man says.
"The honor is all mine," says a third man, the oldest and most veteran of all. His face is scarred and still bloody from the last fight a few days ago. Every man and woman knows the truth: if this is the end, it would be the greatest they could have ever imagined, for it is with the ones they came to love and trust throughout all of this. The words do not need to be said; all of them know them in their hearts. A final nod makes them all move a bit closer to each other. The burly man slowly turns the knob on the door that has seemingly kept them safe for so long in a world where doom awaits. As the door opens, it creaks and cracks, a deafening sound to those inside, their heartbeats syncing up. A blinding light fills the dark room, more and more as the door opens. The veteran releases a sigh of relief and slowly walks into the light. Always the first to enter battle, now the first to enter their unknown fates. As he walks out and his eyes start to adjust to the brightness of midday, he sees all around him. The shack stands in the middle between two hills, one in the front and the other more to the left, perfectly hiding this place from view. Perhaps it is what saved them? By the time the other eight come out, the old veteran is already moving towards the hill in the front.
"What do you see, dear friends?" the old woman asks, her eyes still blinded, but not by the light of the sun. Her sight went away a very long time ago, only able to see pieces of what she used to.
"It is so beautiful," says the slender man. "All so quiet, calm, and warm. The grass has grown, the soft winds moving them gently." As he speaks the words, the old lady starts crying.
"Is it finally over?" she asks.
"I do not know," the burly man says as he puts his arm around her shoulders.
The old woman lets out a deep, drawn-out sigh as she, with the man's aid, starts walking slowly. Another lady, slender-built with long white hair covering her entire back like a waterfall, stands on the other side of the old woman. She also places her arm around her for extra support as they walk down the small slope on the unsteady terrain towards the little hill in the front. She takes one last look at the shack, her dark forest green eyes captivated, before suddenly tearing her gaze away from the safety they had finally received and back to the unknown path ahead. With sadness in her eyes yet a smile on her lips, she embraces the challenge and helps the old woman further.
"I got her; you do not have to stay behind with us," she whispers softly to the man.
He thinks for a moment and gently releases his embrace of the old woman. Once he lets go, his eyes meet hers and a soft smile spreads across his lips. A few moments later, the entire party has gathered on the hill, except for the old woman still struggling to find her footing and the white-haired lady still supporting her. Impatient to know what she is missing out on, the old lady asks, still not too loudly in fear of attracting danger, "What can you see now?"
The old veteran replies firmly, "Salvation."
"Are you certain of this?" asks the slender long-haired man, doubting what lies before him. On this little hill, they can see far ahead, only one other hill and a few trees blocking the view for many kilometers. There, not so very far away, lie dark figures on the ground. Countless figures, unmoving, in a swamp of mud and pools of what looks like filthy water from this distance.
"This, my king Lorh, is a battlefield. Already fought and over with," the veteran replies.
"Between whom?" the slender long-haired man asks, still doubting what can clearly be seen.
"Whoever it is, it does not matter to us," the veteran says, shrugging his shoulders as he turns towards the second hill.
"Why is it our salvation then?" Lorh, the slender king, asks.
"I think this battlefield allowed us to sneak into the hut. My guess is that this battle was fought a few days ago. No man would risk coming close to such a foul place," another man says, stroking the start of what could be a beard while he thinks over his words.
The burly man looks at the one who just spoke. "Always the thinker, Vénri. You could be right. Although this battle, by the look of the field and the decaying corpses that not even the crows are touching anymore, must have been fought perhaps weeks ago. At least that is what I make out of it."
"Good that we stumbled upon the hut and not..." the old lady says, leaving her words hanging in the air, unable to finish this awful thought in words. The entire party looks around for a few more minutes, waiting to see what would happen. Whether or not the corpses would rise up and run towards them, or the earth would start shaking by the hooves of the scouting parties. Yet only silence meets them, except for the old veteran who, as he climbs onto the second hill, makes deafening noises disturbing this serene silence. With a collective sigh, as if the entire party knows what to do in that instant, they all turn towards the veteran.
"Hold on, Edro. You are going way too fast for Enra," shouts Lorh to the old veteran who turns towards the party, already halfway up the second hill. "Do not worry, once up there I shall discover. Go back to the shack and wait there for me," he shouts back.
"You heard him," laughs the old lady Enra. "Let us go down to the shack."
The burly man puts his arm around her shoulders once more as they slowly start descending. Just as before, the white-haired girl goes to the other side of Enra. The rest, however, still in awe of the sights, stay behind just a little bit longer.
"Come on, guys. Lorh, get them moving," the burly man says, his face straining with difficulty trying to keep the old lady from falling or sliding down the hill.
"You heard the gentleman," Lorh replies, saluting as if he were in the military following orders. They all smile, even allowing a giggle here and there.
"Silly Lorh," the long-haired woman replies, shaking her head but with the most beautiful and gentle smile on her lips. Her eyes like fire focus on the soft and darkened eyes of Lorh. He meets her gaze and tries to hold it for as long as he possibly can before becoming too shy to watch her beauty any longer. Her brother, jokingly poking Lorh in his side, whispers, "One can never look too long into the sun," and with a wink, he starts walking downhill. It takes them only a couple of minutes, even the old woman, to get back down. Meanwhile, the veteran stands atop the other hill staring out over the countryside. Lorh, looking at this imposing figure, starts to ascend the second hill as well. With great haste, Lorh is able to reach the top. Standing there in awe next to the great veteran of old.
"Always greedy for adventure, aren't you?" the man asks quietly, without ever looking anywhere other than the far distance. Nothing but immense fields as far as the eye can see, not a single threat in sight. This piece of land, so peaceful and quiet.
"It is difficult to believe that here we see peace, while on the other side is nothing but war," Lorh replies softly, still in awe of the magnificent view. The old veteran merely shrugs his shoulders and starts to turn back towards the party.
"Have you truly seen so much that nothing ever amazes you anymore?" Lorh asks the man, genuinely interested in knowing the answer.
"I have lived long enough and seen more than my share in this world," the veteran replies coldly as Lorh sighs, seemingly unable to understand this man.
"I hope you will, one day, open up to me and actually talk as the others do," Lorh whispers softly in the wind as the old veteran starts to slowly descend again, but these words halt him.
"Believe me, your highness, some things are better not to be known or understood. Sometimes silence is the only true gift or blessing a man can get." With these words, he starts to descend again, this time as fast as he can to escape the conversation, it seems.
"Perhaps, old Edro, perhaps you are right." It takes Lorh a few more moments of staring into the great and beautiful distance. The luring unknown compels him to descend towards it, away from the party, yet he doesn't. Slowly, Lorh turns around and quickly follows the old veteran Edro.
"What have you seen?" asks a burly, strong woman, a bit heavier than most of the men. She has short golden hair that waves softly with the wind.
"Strange for you to finally speak," Lorh smiles. The burly woman smiles politely in response without saying anything further.
"Erdria, do not mind Lorh. He is only trying to be funny," the young woman says jokingly to tease him. "But do tell us, what have you seen?"
"A great plain, fields of grass as far as my eyes could see. Not a single hill or forest blocking the view. Some trees here and there for shade, yet not even a house or anything man-made," Lorh explains vividly, his eyes intensely focused on each and every party member as he speaks, although his eyes remain the longest on Horre's.
"I think we should move towards the battlefield first," Horre's brother says.
"That would not be a wise idea," replies Edro.
"Why not? That field has countless bodies, nothing but free weapons and armor for us. We should at least try to find some weapons, no?" the brother, balling his fists as he shows his muscled arms, replies.
"The battlefield has been there for days if not weeks. The chances are too high that there will be nothing of value left," answers Vénri calmly.
"I agree with Vénri, you should not be so hasty to rush into danger, Vérien," adds the old lady Enra.
"So we shouldn't even try? Have a look around?" asks Vérien, visibly frustrated now, throwing his hands up as if to say he does not want to believe what they are saying.
"Hush now, brother, let Lorh decide," Horre says, putting her hand on his shoulder to calm Vérien down. The entire party, except for Enra and Edro, looks expectantly at Lorh, who becomes uncomfortable with all this attention. He stares at the ground, unwilling to meet their eyes until he has made a decision. When he finally does, after a few moments, he looks up straight into her eyes before meeting every other gaze. He then immediately fixates again on her with a longing desire, seemingly giving him strength to speak up.
"We shall not go to that field. Our destination is not in that direction and as we have established, the risks would be too high. Therefore, I think we should move immediately towards the north." A sigh of relief passes through the party, except for Vérien. He keeps his jaws firmly shut, as if to try and stop the words from breaking out. His arms are still shaking as he can't seem to relax his fists.
"Let us go then," the old Edro says as he starts walking towards the space between the two hills. "Once we are out in the open, we shall head straight north as you suggested."
"We do not know what lies beyond, hidden in the fields or after. So everyone, please keep an eye out as much as you can," Lorh asks gently. "We have come so far already; let us make the last part of this journey together."
The party becomes quiet again with these last words said. All start to move towards Edro, who as always has taken the lead and is already marching away.
"Please go help Edro, stay close to him. Don't make him walk alone," the old lady whispers gently to Lorh.
"Don't worry; I will make sure he doesn't get hurt," he answers with a wink to Horre, just before turning around and running off to catch up with the old veteran. Enra lets out a second soft sigh as she blankly looks onwards. Slowly, she shakily sets the first step on this unsure journey, her body hunched over ever so slightly and the expression on her face tells a story of worry.
"As Lorh said, do not worry. You will not lose Edro so easily," Horre adds, also staring off into the distance. The old lady starts smiling, hearing these words and realizing something she hadn't before.
"Our lovers walk so far away, so much faster than us," she says jokingly. Her smile grows as she turns to face Horre and their eyes meet. It takes Horre a moment to process what she heard before she looked onwards again to the two men. The old lady now, dead serious again, softly puts her hand on Horre's shoulder as they walk.
"Do not worry, dear."
"I am not worried about Lorh. It is everything else that worries me," Horre whispers.
The old lady places her arm around Horre's waist as she does the same.
"Everything will be okay," Enra says determinedly.
-END OF CHAPTER 1-
Thank you for reading part 1!
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