Chereads / MIDAS / Chapter 33 - Last Stretch

Chapter 33 - Last Stretch

Once the driver turned himself away from the large tent in the center of the camp, the loose group of hunters quickly dispatched, Grafs's dreadful look meeting foreign glances as the hunters turned to resume their daily tasks, retreating to their tents while exchanging low-sounded words with each other. Haya looked at the northern salesman, his gaze still somewhat unsure, unable to make out what his words meant, longing for an explanation. "He lied to protect us; don't worry about it." Midas reassured him, his left hand resting on his partner's shoulder, speaking before Graf noticed them, as they were the only ones remaining on their spot.

The bald man's eyes lay in shadow, his head unable to rise upon what had happened mere moments ago, almost looking ashamed; his eyes widened slightly as they lay on the two youths in front of him. Inaya didn't move much, her masked face still turned to the sobbing young girl seeking her protection. His two fingers massaged his brows before he spoke with a mellow tone, "Why didn't you two wait at the sledge?".

 "We were worried something might have happened to you three." Midas's brows were still stern, his gaze switching between Haya, the faintly lit inside of the broader tent on the other side of the doorless wooden frame behind them, and the bald man in front of him. "We filled both of the vases and waited a long while for you to arrive. After you hadn't, we entered the camp to look for you." Reporting back to him, he ended his speech with a murmur, "...still, even if something would've happened, we wouldn't be able to do anything about it." his eyes traveled onto the same ground the driver stared into.

 Haya lit up quickly after Midas finished speaking, his head turning to the boy to search his face, "You said he was able to bend water, right...? Do you know this guy by any chance? Have you seen him bend water before?" His glance was focused on him, looking somewhat serious. Even Graf was quick to let his attention be caught by Hayas's words, probably spoken too loud for their own good. Midas took a step back from the rest of the group, frowning slightly at the stress that emerged inside of him when thinking back to what had happened back in the fort.

"We shouldn't be hanging around here anymore; let's get the sledge and finally leave this place behind..." Graff's voice was still low, sounding urgent to leave. Ignoring the fact it had already turned dark, he began to walk. Midas followed, his teeth clenching at the thought of Almas's death, still somewhat overwhelmed by the past. Haya waited for Inaya to move, wondering why the boy refused to answer him. Midas and Graf lead, the boy walking at his side as usual when walking through a place they were weary of.

After the sledge made its way through the camp, a ride feeling much longer than it most likely had been, the five of them glanced sharply upon by the residence, the group found themselves arriving at another wooden gate, many large stones were mounted to stay upright, stabilized by tinier rock to form another wall spanning the Shama rift, in which the camp was built into. Just as Midas watched the complement of rocks coming closer to the crew, he unwillingly reminded himself of what possibly roamed outside the hunters territory.

"I see, you are the bunch that the water kingdom's commander spoke about..." One of the three guards turned to them, his spear tightly grasped by his thick fingers. Ladders were stabilized onto the walls inner sides, the wood they were made out of seeming old, various types of it used to put it together. Midas spotted upright, standing sets of runes, some of their shapes foreign to him, others having the same distinct sharp edges as the characters that are used by the people of the desert. Those he was able to read spelled words unfamiliar to him, somewhat sounding like names; the many runes were scattered around and scratched into what seemed to be every single rock the wall was made out of.

Two other guards stood atop the boulders, one of them turning to glance at Grafs head before nodding down to the one right beside them, upon which the other commanded, "Open the gate!" The third one squinted his eyes slightly; Midas wasn't able to make out any details of their bearded faces as the sky turned dark. "Are you sure you want to head out at nightfall? You have been warned about these desert barbarians, didn't you...?" Shortly after both of the guards grasped the round handles of the gate to shove its doors apart, he asked directly. Met with a quiet nod towards him, he watched the ride leave through the gate.

"Are you sure we should've left in the dark...?" Midas asked hesitantly, worried about Grafs quietness; the boy's head turned upwards towards the almost black sky, only torches paved the way with their lights, lonely flames that appeared and passed them as they headed further away from the camp. Haya also turned to Graf, his expression somewhat similar to Midas's, even though something else seemed to be brewing up inside of him, as his view was glued onto the bald back of the driver.

"From here... all the routes to Puertagua come together—our goal; there is only so much way to it left... I'd rather risk going at night than sleeping inside of the same borders as this general—or whatever the brat calls himself." Grumbling, he replied, his teeth clenching at the thought of either the commander or a set of brawlers coming for him at night. Upon entering another creek, just large enough to make the ride fit without scratching the wood, Midas watched as the little bit of color that tainted the dark blue sky faded into black, darkness now consuming them, the tight space of the crack resembling the halls of the ruins, the thought of someone or something jumping at them dreading the boy.

Just as the two rock fronts dispatched from each other, Midas's stressed eyes were quick to catch many distant white lights darting across the sky, their distant shine seemingly much stronger than they should've been, lighting the void the sky above them had become. The valley they entered through was quiet; winds howled through it, stopping to pile up and wash down the rugged cliffs on both of their sides, before Graf abruptly stopped, shaking up the rest of them, as Midas held himself from leaping forward. As his head raised up to meet what stood infront of them, he glanced at a dark silhouette, standing right under an arching rock, connecting the both of the walls as they came closer at the end of the valley, resembling a bridge.

The head drooped to the side, and as the stone fronts of both of their sides began to light up in torch fire, flames began to light up to their right and left. From atop the edges of what lay outside of the valley, held up flames shone down to them. In a haste, Midas was able to make up three on both sides, waking up the young girl. Graf quickly retrieved to scan the hay for his dagger, wildly searching through it, as Haya and Midas got on their feet, both of them prepped for battle.

"I think it's a northerner...! Look at how many slaves he got—he's rich, I bet...!" A shrill tone from one of the distant orange lights lurking above them, the silhouette in front of them began to slowly stretch out his hands, and as the tiny fires began to drop down into the valley, the group was only able to watch as the so distant sparks began to spread through the ground and up the bark of the many tree husks that riddled the valley. The spreading fire was quick to illuminate the place, and panicked glances were exchanged with each other, hulled in stark shadows as they listened to the roaring of the wildfire.

A shrill, overtoning laugh emerged from the broadly stanced figure in the dark, which slowly retrieved out of the lowland, enjoying the skirmish that developed in front of it, holding in, as the dry bark of the trees burst, their branches falling off from the stems, as the fire made quick work of any natural material, which had been dried by the climate that ran in this region. Midas's shaky pupils were only able to watch the tangling fires creeping closer towards them, encircling them in an inferno they couldn't escape from, the only exit blocked by the person hulled in darkness.

"Get them, you idiots!" The command resounded from the dry rock walls encircling them as the person vanished from their view. Graf unsheathed his dagger, the light of the fires reflected by the metal blade. Tucking his sickle from his back, Midas prepared, his heart racing as his eyes darted to multiple free spots in between the spreading fires.

"They are attacking at the same time...!" Graf shouted as Midas and Haya were met by three masked shadows darting towards them. Inaya tucked the young girl under her arm, letting her head sink, unable to stand. Haya angled his knuckles outwards, meeting Midas's stressed gaze, as the two of them tried their best to focus on their survival, sterning their brows. 

A faint orange light shone through the fabric covering Midas as he risked stretching out his arm.