Chapter 4
written by Darknezz
Note:
The content of these chapters was written 10 years ago and wasn’t changed since. Writing style differences may occur as the story goes on. Only the translation is recent.
Cheyennes thoughts are cursive.
Fateful Decision
New cruel world
Foot of the Klissave mountains, northern Luminastrelle
Adocaz trotted leisurely in front of Falconheart and the brown pony. The path slowly led them out of the dense forest of Luminastrelle and became steeper from time to time. It seemed to lead them to higher realms.
Cheyenne didn’t know where she and Glaczio were, or what lay ahead. Only a few minutes ago they had left the village of Mediasilva and then taken this direction. Her companion did his best to steer his pony and keep it at pace. All this went too slowly for the girl, but she was afraid that if they switched to a faster pace, her acquaintance would land on the floor in the blink of an eye. She had never seen anyone ride so badly. Why does he have a horse if he can’t ride? He would be a thousand times faster if he walked… She decided to talk to him about it. “Glaczio, why do you have a horse? I really don’t want to be rude or anything, but… I’ve never seen such a bad rider and you’re really untalented when it comes to handling your pony. I’m sorry, but honestly. You give him signals that contradict each other and don’t even pay attention to what he wants to tell you.” Glaczio grinned and looked at the small head of his mount. He agreed with Cheyenne. “Angel, tell me something new that I don’t know yet. I feel sorry for the little one here myself. But I never learned how to deal with these animals and I only bought it so that I don’t have to walk all the time. It doesn’t even have a name. It was a bargain and actually you can even say that I saved it from the butcher. The seller said it was so old and no longer any good. He wanted to have it processed into sausage. That’s why he sold it to me at a ridiculous price, saying it would only live a few more years anyway. I gave him all the rest of my money for it and well… I’m not faster with the little one here either, but at least I don’t have to walk every day anymore. I’ve had the pony for about two weeks now.” Cheyenne looked forward again and sighed. Sometimes she really didn’t know what to make of Glaczio. On the one hand, he had saved the nameless pony, on the other hand, he had only done so out of complacency. The young man looked at her horse. “You and your Falconheart here, you seem to get along very well. I didn’t know that you could keep such large animals in the undercity. How long have you had him?” Cheyenne thought for a moment before giving him an answer. “Hmm, I think for three years. When Xaver and I freed the horses, I was fourteen and he was fifteen, so yes, I’ve had Falconheart for three years. In the undercity it is unusual to have such large animals, but next to my house there is a barn where I could store him and Xaver has converted an empty building next to his home into a kind of stable so that Shiva could live there…” “Hey, hey, hey, wait, wait a minute… You’re seventeen? So three years younger than me… Hm…” Glaczio had interrupted Cheyenne and stopped his pony. Now he turned his head away and seemed to be thinking about something. The girl stopped Falconheart as well, and it seemed strange to her. There it was again. That feeling that he knew more. She asked him about it. “Um, yes I’m seventeen. And when you’re twenty years old, I’m three years younger than you. But what’s so special about it?” With a reproachful and questioning look, she waited for the answer of her companion. “Oh nothing, nothing. I just realized how old I am and how young my beautiful little angel here is.” Cheyenne already regretted that she was traveling with him. She rolled her eyes. Does he really think I’m so stupid? As if I didn’t notice that he was hiding something from me. This excuse was just so transparent and lousy. But if I continue to impute such secrets to him, I’ll only get back such cheap excuses… Cheyenne decided to play his game and get one over him in the process. “Okay, but if you’re that old and you feel so old, then you should act like that and not keep flirting with me like a teenager and giving me these stupid nicknames. That’s not appropriate for such an old man.”
She rode off again and looked back with a grin. The sight that presented itself to her was worthy of adoration. The girl had actually managed to silence Glaczio for a brief moment. He sat on his pony and was stunned, dumbfounded, and for the first time since the two had met, he seemed speechless. Then he tilted his head, raised an eyebrow a little, and smiled mischievously. “Hey, doll, now you’ve really given it to me. Ouch! Man, that really sat there. Hehe. But if you had had a good upbringing, you would also know that you have to have respect for old age and not make fun of older people. Checkmate, baby.” Cheyenne had to giggle. Her companion probably had a saying ready for every situation.
With all his efforts, he managed to get the pony running again and they rode on. The forest was now thinning, and the girl admired the beautiful view; To her left was a deep rocky abyss, you could overlook part of Luminastrelle and see all the way to the sea. To their right were some trees and shrubs, behind them rose a large, wide and high rocky mountain. In front of her, the now stony path tilted steadily upwards. Glaczio noticed her enthusiasm and explained to her where they were. “I thought you’d like it here. When I saw this for the first time, my eyes almost fell out. At that time I hadn’t seen anything of the world and then something so stunning. There would be another way to Saraley, through the forest, but it is not half as beautiful and the travel time would be about the same. By the way, we are here at the foot of the Klissave Mountains. There used to be a village up there, but it was destroyed. A few years ago, it was buried under boulders that had come loose due to Lumenium shortages. Since then, it has also been forbidden to go further up and deeper into the mountains.”
While Cheyenne knew that the lack of Lumenium did not bode well, the fact that it was already so bad that entire villages were wiped out was frightening. But she couldn’t do anything about it and chased away the gloomy thoughts. The girl let her gaze wander into the distance.
The light blue sea reflected the chromastars and the source of life. Her eyes wandered from the water up to the sky and she was now staring directly at the beautiful night-black structure. Cheyenne thought and came to the conclusion that it must be made of Umbraurore. It was at least surrounded by a black mist and the interior moved like water startled by a wave. Glaczio followed her gaze and then confirmed her reasoning. “Ah, you’re looking at the Noxastrum Vitae, huh? Beautiful, isn’t it, angel? Almost as enchanting as you are. The name ‘Noxastrum Vitae’ is in the Yin-Yang language and does not mean source of life. People only introduced this name because they found it more appropriate. The correct translation would be ‘night star of life’, which in my opinion actually sounds nicer than ‘source of life’. You’ve probably never known what it’s made of before, but since the smart, lovely Glaczio told you something about the life force Umbraurore, you’re guaranteed to be able to guess it. But, my pretty angel, that’s not all. Noxastrum Vitae is not only composed of Umbraurore, it is even the origin of this power. There, new life is produced and old is processed. When a body dies, all life force and soul emerge from it, atomize into microscopic particles that can no longer be seen with the naked eye and rise to become the night star of life. There, the Umbraurore is regenerated and processed, splits up again and returns to earth. The cycle of life is fascinating, isn’t it, sweetie?” Cheyenne nodded. I wonder how the world came to be. It is hard to imagine that everything was simply there, or that nature itself is so clever that it invented these cycles, without which there would be no life. But before the apocalypse, the world was also very different. I would love to know what happened back then… Will I ever know?
Glaczio rode on to catch up with Adocaz, who was already trotting quite far ahead of the trail. However, the girl continued to look at the source of life and was lost in thought. Suddenly, she felt a strong grip on her right foot and shortly afterwards on her right forearm. Before she could even look in that direction or realize what was going on, she was torn from her big horse and landed with her back on the hard stone floor. The impact was tremendously painful and she could not breathe for a short time. Cheyenne narrowed her eyes in pain and heard only the startled neighing of Falconheart and Adocaz’s barking in the distance. Again she was grabbed and pulled up until the girl was on her feet. She coughed and gasped. Then she opened her eyes and saw two men in metal armor, a third, stronger one stood behind her and held her tightly. He dragged her to a tree, pressed her tightly against it, and held a knife to her neck. The other two laughed and rejoiced. “Finally we found you, hahaha, little bitch! Because of you, we had to sit all night on these wretched horses and now we feel every single darn bone! But at least we finally have you and are guaranteed to be promoted, haha. I’m sure the commander will be pleased!” The Knights of the Research Laboratory!
Cheyenne breathed abruptly and groaned in pain. She got scared and could already see her life passing by in fast forward. She couldn’t even move to try to fight back. The knight who held her down pressed her so hard against the tree that she felt like it was going to break every single bone of her. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the knight also delighted in the sight of her pain-distorted face. Suddenly, one of the rear two men in armor was knocked over. Adocaz had jumped against his back and growled at him threateningly. The other knight, frightened, took a step back and stared at his colleague threatened by the fairy wolf. He couldn’t say any more, because he too fell to the ground. Behind him stood Glaczio with a large, beautiful sword that looked like it was made of ice. He had slashed the knight’s back with it, even though he was wearing metal armor. The cut was apparently very deep, for the enemy lay motionless on the ground, blood gushing out of his mouth and coming out of his wound on his back. The eyes were wide open and empty. The second knight next to him had thrown Adocaz away, drawn his sword and ran towards Cheyenne’s companion. He raised his sword and with all his strength attacked Glaczio, whose lowered sword pointed to the ground. He didn’t even seem to notice that the knight was about to attack him, for he stood with his back turned to his enemy and looked at the corpse. He’s about to kill Glaczio! Why don’t you turn around? Cheyenne wanted to warn him, but couldn’t make a sound. The pain was too great and the grip of her counterpart was too strong and constricting. She would only be able to watch desperately as the knight kills the young man and she would then be next.
The attacker’s sword went down and would hit Glaczio’s head right away, the idea of his head being split in two was cruel but real and it would happen at any moment. Cheyenne sobbed and felt tears rolling down her cheek. I’m sorry I dragged you into this, Glaczio… I shouldn’t have allowed anyone to accompany me… Now he has to die because of me! And I’ll never see Xaver again… He will wait in vain for me and they will also find him and kill him… No…
When the girl had already given up all hope, the young man turned around in a flash and blocked the attack with his sword at the last second. His ice-blue hair rose into the air as it turned before hanging down quietly again. He took advantage of the element of surprise that arose and stabbed the astonished knight with his ice sword into the heart. This time, too, the armor did not bring the knight any protection, and he sank to the ground, gasping for air, chuckling and dying, after Glaczio pulled the sword out of the enemy’s chest. The last man in metal looked back, curious by the sounds of the fight. He saw that his colleagues were no longer alive and that their killer was slowly walking a few steps towards him, his sword pointed at him defiantly. Cheyenne’s companion looked really scary and dangerous at that moment and she was glad that he was on her side and wanted to save her. Adocaz had pulled himself together again and came to the healer’s side, growling menacingly and baring his teeth. But when the knight made no attempt to let go of Cheyenne, Glaczio issued a warning. “Let go of this girl right now…” The enemy began to sweat and pulled Cheyenne forward, only to push her back again with a tremendous force. She cried out in pain as she crashed into the tree and sank to the ground, trembling. Then the knight came up to the young man and attacked him. The man in armor did his best and put all his strength into the attack, but Glaczio always dodged elegantly or blocked. It almost looked like he was dancing and just playing with the knight instead of fighting seriously. For him, it seemed like a no-brainer to trick his enemy and maybe he just wanted to make the sluggish man tired. Apparently this was exactly his plan, because when the young healer noticed that his opponent’s attack was waning and his attention as well, Glaczio put a leg on him and the knight fell over it, falling to the ground. Before he knew it, Cheyenne’s companion pointed the ice blade at the enemy’s neck and whispered a few words. “I would love to see you suffer and slit your throat. Watching as you can’t breathe and suffocate miserably. Just as you always watch your victims suffer and laugh at them. But I’m not on the same level as you, you’re lucky. I give you a quick death.” Glaczio closed his eyes briefly, opened them again, lifted his head a little, and rammed his sword into the knight’s chest.
As he pulled it out and walked towards Cheyenne, Adocaz was already with her, licking her face. Her rescuer inquired in a calm voice how she was doing. “Is everything alright, little angel?”
The girl didn’t know what to say. She was in pain, but it was only a minor matter for her at that moment. A few meters in front of her lay three dead knights, defeated by her companion, who was also a healer. Shouldn’t he actually save lives instead of taking them? But on the other hand, he had saved her life from certain death. Cheyenne was confused and at the end of her rope. Once again, someone had risked his life for her. Trembling, she sat leaning against the tree and pushed Adocaz slightly away from her. He whined uncomprehendingly and lay sadly on the floor next to her. Noticing this, the girl averted her gaze from the corpses and reached out to the fairy wolf. He happily stumbled back to her and sat down protectively next to her.
Cheyenne almost couldn’t move and still had to breathe jerkily. Meanwhile, Glaczio had laid his blood-dripping ice sword on the grass and had come closer. He seemed worried. “Angel, everything alright? Everything is fine, these people can’t harm you anymore. They will never hurt you again… Are you in pain?” He took the girl’s head with his cold hands and lifted it so that he could see into her deep red eyes. However, these were clear and the healer knew that Cheyenne was fully conscious and only slightly shocked. However, before he let go of her head, he took a closer look at the eyes and again his gaze became thoughtful. The girl withdrew from his hands and tried to breathe calmly. “Am I in pain? Everything hurts, I thought the guy was going to break my every single bone…” Glaczio grinned and closed his eyes, then a magic circle appeared on the ground at his feet and he used his healing spell again. For the second time that day, an enormous feeling of cold flowed through the girl’s body, which briefly hurt more than the actual complaints. Then, however, her suffering was alleviated and she was able to stand up. The healer and Adocaz also stood up, and Cheyenne thanked him. “Thank you… Again… I’m starting to get really deep in your debt, huh? Why did you help me and fight against these knights? They could have killed you…” Glaczio picked up his sword and wiped off the blood that stuck to it in the grass that grew beside the tree before giving her an answer. “You know that I like to be the savior in need for pretty ladies. But this answer is not enough for you, so I’ll put it this way. I knew that if the knights didn’t sleep all night, they must be pretty tired. So I didn’t put my life in danger for you. They wouldn’t even have had the strength to block a strong sword blow. In addition, I can handle my sword a lot better than them. After all, these were knights of the lowest rank, they just get the basic training. Besides, I can’t stand idly by and watch these evil people do something to my angel here, can I?” He grinned and turned around. “Well, doll, now that you’re back on your feet, I’d suggest we get out of here as soon as possible before more of them come, or someone sees that they’re dead on the ground and we’re nearby. That wouldn’t necessarily be beneficial.” Glaczio went to the pony and took off the scabbard for his ice sword attached to the saddle, put the blade in it and attached it to his belt. From now on, he probably wanted to carry his sword with him at all times and be prepared for anything. Just as Cheyenne had her bow, through her weapon belt, with her at all times.
The girl knew that her companion was right, they had to get out of here as soon as possible. But the matter was not yet settled for them. But first of all, the top priority was to get out of sight of the corpses. She also hoped that they were the only knights pursuing her. But if this commander Atropax really wants me or even wants me dead, he is guaranteed to send more knights after me. It’s certainly not over yet… But, if that’s the case, I’m putting Glaczio in more danger with each passing second, and I’m dragging him into this whole thing, even though he may not want to. He can fight well, you have to give him that, but when there are more knights, at full strength… Then he certainly won’t be able to defeat them all. Even though he’s such an annoying loudmouth, he still doesn’t deserve to die because of me. No one is allowed to die because of me anymore… I don’t want to experience something like grandmother and grandfather again…
Cheyenne had so little strength that she almost couldn’t get into the saddle. With great effort, she was able to climb on Falconheart’s back. Glaczio had finally managed to get on his pony after a few minutes and now they rode on along the stone path. Adocaz trotted ahead again. Neither the girl nor the healer struck up a conversation. Cheyenne was now too exhausted to talk. She hadn’t slept since yesterday afternoon and hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since yesterday morning. She leaned on her horse’s neck and stared at the passing ground.
The path became so steep in some places that the horses had to climb properly. Due to its size, Falconheart had an easier time than the brown pony. At one of these steep spots, the little one had made a jumpy leap and Glaczio almost fell down.
The day was slowly coming to an end, the source of life disappeared on the horizon and the glow of the chromastars became weaker. The colorful clouds in the sky also became increasingly darker. Glaczio discovered a grassy ledge to the right of the roadside, pink mountain flowers grew there and even a small stream flowed between some rocks and its spring water plunged into the depths of the abyss at the end of the beautiful square. The splashing was the only sound you could hear. There were also a few trees rising up there and some large branches lying around on the ground.
The healer steered his pony to the spot and Cheyenne let Falconheart run towards it as well. Adocaz was the first to get there and looked straight down the deep abyss.
The young man jumped off his pony and tied it to a tree, the girl did the same. Both horses started grazing and while Glaczio gathered a few branches and twigs to make a fire, Cheyenne stayed with her big four-legged friend and scratched his neck. Falconheart chewed contentedly and snorted. Oh, what would I do without you, Falconheart… Thank you for carrying me all the way here. Now rest nicely, you really deserve it. You are really the best horse in the whole world. I love you so much. Thank you for existing. Cheyenne gave him a kiss on the neck, then went to her companion and sat down on one of the fallen tree trunks, in the middle of which a small, orange-yellow fire illuminated the dawning darkness. Adocaz had curled up next to it and seemed to be asleep from exhaustion. Glaczio couldn’t resist the comment. “Hey, little angel, I want a kiss from you too. Oh, and I want to be cuddled too. Hehe.” He grinned and seemed very amused by Cheyenne’s eye-rolling. Since she apparently did not want to talk to him, he continued to speak. “There is a stream with spring water over there, you can drink from it without hesitation, I can imagine that you are extremely thirsty. I don’t have anything to eat with me, but the berries on the bush back there are delicious, sweetie.” The girl was very grateful to him and realized that this time he really meant well with her. He had even almost completely renounced the nicknames. She was almost proud of him.
Tired, Cheyenne stumbled over to the small creek and took a handful of water. It tasted delicious. Never before had she drunk such clear and good water. In the undercity, it had been almost inedible and always had to be boiled before it could be drunk. Because the people in the slums had no running water from the tap and had to fetch some from the river every day. Cheyenne took a few more handfuls of cool water until she quenched her thirst. Now she wasn’t so hungry anymore, but decided to pick some berries and eat them anyway.
In the meantime there were only a few chromastars left in
the sky and in a few minutes it would be pitch dark, only the fire would still
shine. The girl had picked some of the purple berries and then went to Glaczio,
who was now sitting on the slope with his feet hanging down. She sat down next
to him and did the same. Then she offered him berries, he took one and thanked
her. “Thank you. They taste good, don’t they, little angel?” Cheyenne
nodded and they both ate the delicious berries. When there were none left, she
decided to talk to him about what had happened and what would happen tomorrow.
The girl had made up her mind and wanted to tell the healer what she was up to.
She was already taking a breath and opening her mouth, but he preceded her and
was the first to speak. “Imagine if I lost my shoe and it fell down the
slope. I think then I would have a problem. Hehe. You want to talk to me about
something, am I right, doll? Well then, go ahead, my angel.” He leaned
back and lay on his back while the girl looked at him in disbelief. Um, yes, okay, what’s the point of the
statement with the shoe… Somehow Cheyenne had to grin, but she quickly
became serious again, let her gaze wander into the distance and thought about
how best to start. “Um… yes… so, your sword. It doesn’t exactly look
normal. So, don’t get me wrong, it’s very nice, but just very… special. I’ve
never seen anything like it before, or… No wait, yes. This knight, Atropax,
also had such a special thing. Except that his looked more like water and yours
looked like ice. Why do you
have almost the same swords? And why do
you know so much about the knights? I just can’t believe you’ve acquired all
this knowledge in school.” This wasn’t her actual topic, but it was also
interesting and Cheyenne wanted to know. And it would be good to talk about
something else first. Glaczio crossed his arms behind his head to lie more
comfortably and calmly closed his eyes. “Sweetie, you insinuate that I
have something to do with the knights? Hehe, darling, you’re terribly wrong.
The commander and I, we both have so-called elemental swords. They are
specially made for their owner and have a certain element in them. The element
is a special Umbraurore ball that, as soon as you bring it into contact with,
in my case, ice, takes on the element of ice and then you set the ball in sword
metal. The sword takes on this special shape after about twenty-four hours and
becomes the Ice Elemental Sword. This is the same with every sword. By the way,
which element the weapon gets is entirely up to the owner. Before forging the
blade, it is determined which element suits you best and which complements you
perfectly. There are six normal elements: fire, water, earth, wind, ice, and
lightning. That’s all about my sword. By the way, when we arrive in Saraley, I
would strongly recommend that you get one as well. Although these things are
incredibly expensive, there is certainly a way to get one. Even if you don’t
want to believe it, I really learned everything I know about the knights in my
training, little angel.” Cheyenne
was sorry that he had taken her question as an insinuation, that had not been
her intention. But she guessed he knew that anyway. Now she finally wanted to
talk to him about what was on her mind most and tell him her decision, but she
hesitated. Glaczio, of course, noticed this immediately. “There’s
something else you want to tell me, isn’t there, sweetie? Sometimes you’re
really easy to see through. You can talk to good old Glaczio about anything,
you know that, don’t you, little angel?” Cheyenne doubted that and she
would never talk to him about everything. Absolutely not. But this had to be
told to him. She took a deep breath and then started talking. “Glaczio,
listen… I… I have…” She sighed. “To make a long story short: I
have put so many people in danger, my grandparents have even been killed
because of me, because of me Xaver can no longer go home and is being hunted
and you risked your life before to help me. Even if I don’t understand anything
at the moment, I just don’t want to put anyone in danger anymore, or that
someone has to die because of me. And that’s why… therefore… I will
continue my journey alone from tomorrow on. I’m sorry I got you into trouble.
Your help was truly priceless and I am eternally indebted to you. If we meet
again at some point, I’ll try to pay off my debt. I should try to get some
sleep now… Thank you for everything, Glaczio.” The girl stood up and
waited for a reaction from the healer, she suspected that he would not accept
her decision just like that. But he didn’t even open his eyes. So Cheyenne made
her way back to the fire. Well, then he
just doesn’t say anything about it. Makes it easier for me to leave when he
doesn’t care about anything. But is he really so indifferent? He thinks I’m
easy to see through, but it’s all the harder for me to see him through… Even
though I’m actually happy to finally be rid of this annoying guy with his
stupid sayings and comments, I’ve gotten used to him a bit. Shouldn’t it be the
same with him? Apparently not, otherwise he wouldn’t care so little about what
I said…
But her thoughts were interrupted by Glaczio’s voice.
“Do you think you solve problems by running away from them? I admire how
considerate and good-natured you are, but I don’t think it would be good for
you to wander alone in these times. But I guess it’s your choice what you do.
It was an honor to have met you. Take good care of yourself… Cheyenne, my
little angel.” Without saying anything on it, she went on to the fire and
lay down on the grassy ground next to Adocaz. His words had made her thoughtful
and even a little sad, even if the girl didn’t quite understand why. After all,
she was glad to finally be rid of him. Cheyenne snuggled up to Adocaz and
closed her eyes. Tomorrow we will part
ways again and Adocaz, Falconheart and I will be on our own again. I should
have asked Glaczio for directions… Oh no, how stupid of me to forget that…
Well, somehow I’ll find Saraley. As soon as the first chromastars appear in the
sky, we are away from here. Sleep nicely Adocaz…
Slowly it became bright and the cold night gave way to a
warm day. The birds chirped happily, spreading the news that the first
chromastars were already shining in the sky. The girl was awakened by the loud
chirping and looked around. The fire had gone out and Glaczio was still asleep,
a few meters away from her. I could
hardly sleep… This night didn’t really do much for me, I’m still tired and
also a bit exhausted. Luckily he’s still asleep … She stood
up and stumbled as quietly as possible to Falconheart. Adocaz had already been
awake and was sitting on the stone path, ready to continue his journey.
Cheyenne would not say goodbye to her acquaintance at all, but would simply
leave. That way it would be easier for everyone involved and he wouldn’t be
able to stop them. She untied the reins of the horse from the tree and swung
herself into the saddle. One last time
she looked at her former companion, who had helped her on her way, before the
girl got the horse going, rode onto the stone path and moved further and
further away from the sleeping place.
It had been a few minutes since she had ridden off when
she heard something behind her. Cheyenne feared they were knights again and she
looked back. Oh no… Glaczio came trotting along the stone path on
his pony and tried to catch up with her. The girl was already afraid that he
would fall down at any moment, but he held on surprisingly well in the saddle
of the wildly trotting little horse. “Hey, little angel, I changed my
mind! I don’t want you to wander around alone, I’m happy to risk my life for a
pretty girl, you know that. Actually, I didn’t even believe that you were
serious about the whole thing. In any case, I have come to the conclusion that
I may not quite agree with your decision after all and tadaa. Here I am, again
at the side of my pretty angel.” That’s not possible… Did he notice that I was gone? I
thought he was sleeping… And the justification he just gave was another lousy
excuse… Why does he want to stay with me, no matter what? Cheyenne wanted to
ask him this question at the very moment when suddenly the ground gave way and
crumbled under the weight of the horses. Falconheart reared and slipped with
his hind legs, fell down the slope. It’s
like Glaczio told me , just like with this village further up in the Klissave
Mountains! The Lumenium deficiency causes the ground to collapse! No,
Falconheart! Ah! Before she knew it, she too fell down a slope
about ten meters deep, just like Adocaz, Glaczio and his pony. Cheyenne closed
her eyes and tried in vain to hold on to somewhere and find her balance. Here
and there her body was intercepted by rocks and falling stones crashed against
her until she finally landed painfully on a hard ground at the end of the
slope. For a brief moment, she couldn’t breathe and writhed in pain. Then she
could breathe again, but her whole body was shaking. She opened her eyes and
saw many scratches on her arms and legs. They must have come from the fall just
now. The girl tried to
realize what had happened, but it was very difficult for her, because
everything happened so fast. I… I’m
still alive. Oh no! Falconheart! Adocaz! Her concern for
the companions caused Cheyenne to have enough strength to stand up limping. Her
gaze wandered wildly and she searched the surroundings with it. Finally, she
found her horse, almost unharmed, standing next to the fallen rocks. It had
only suffered a few scratches, but otherwise seemed to be fine and was now
trotting towards Cheyenne. She could also discover Adocaz. He had somehow
managed to get to a ledge, from which he now climbed down and ran to the girl
as well. “Luckily, you’re both fine and only have a few scratches…”
Cheyenne stroked both of them and then she caught sight of Glaczio. She had
almost forgotten him in all the excitement and confusion. He knelt in front of
his pony. It lay motionless on the ground, not moving an inch. The healer stood
up, and the girl saw why the little horse stopped moving. One of the broken
rocks of the stone path lay directly on the head of the brown pony. Blood
gushed out from underneath and made its way through more small stones to the
ground. It had been beaten to death, the entire head smashed.
Cheyenne didn’t want to see the dead animal anymore and
narrowed her eyes, turned her head away. She was breathing faster and her heart
was making small misfires. If she hadn’t ridden off alone, but had waited until
Glaczio had woken up and walked the path with him, it might have already
collapsed or they would have taken another way. If I hadn’t acted so hastily, the pony would still be alive… I make
one mistake after another, I can never do anything right… Cheyenne once
again blamed herself for everything that had happened. Glaczio approached her
and saw that she had begun to cry. He tried to comfort her. “Hey, little
angel, it was already old and sick anyway… I spent all my remaining money on
it, but well, what the heck. But I have to admit, I kind of liked the little
one. It’s a pity that it blessed the temporal. But no one could have known that
the ground up there would collapse just like that. These paths here should
actually be tested and safe…” He tried to hide the fact that he was a
little sad about the death of the pony, which he had grown a little fond of
during the last two weeks.
Plagued by remorse, Cheyenne left the healer standing,
swung into Falconheart’s saddle and tried to speak as best she could.
“It’s… I… I’m… so sorry!” Then she turned her horse and rushed
away, into a forest. Glaczio called after her. “It wasn’t your fault!
Cheyenne, stay here, wait!” But the girl did not pay attention to his
words and disappeared with her companions among the trees. Only some of her
tears she left behind.
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