Esra (17 page)

 It was hard for her to believe that most of all, that she gave people so much hope.  But underneath the terror of leaving all that she knew behind, there was excitement to venture out and see some of the grand sights that had so far only been described to her in books.  To discover who she really was.

       Esra looked around at her new friends, her Assembly.  They would now become the people she would trust her future and her life to.  “I will come with ye.  I highly doubt that I will be the great sorcerer that everyone expects, but I will do what I can to help.”

       “Great,” Fynn reached over and slapped her leg with his wooden spoon, as everyone gave each other glances of relief. “Better eat up good tonight and get some sleep.  We need te wake early.”

       “Why, what are we doing tomorrow?”

       “Tomorrow,” he winked at her, “we leave fer the Stronghold.”

XIV

       The Sun was barely peeking over the horizon when Esra felt herself being gently shaken from sleep.  She gingerly pulled herself onto her elbows, leaning over to rub Meshok’s stomach vigorously.  The Wolf let out a long, low groan and rolled over to get a better belly rubbing.  Fynn placed a small plate of cooked Eggs in front of Esra and started to pack away the remaining dishes.  The others were already up and ready, with the welcome addition of five Horses already laden with the rest of their goods.

       “Why didn’t ye wake me sooner?” Esra protested, shoveling the Eggs into her mouth.  “I could’ve helped with the packing.”

       “Sorry, love,” Fynn apologized.  “I was all fer waking ye up, as I’m quite lazy by nature and would’ve swindled ye into doing all my work.  But alas, Baelin here insisted that we let ye get yer rest.”

       “What is he, my grandmother?” Esra complained loudly.

       “Aye, and a big hairy one at that!” Fynn agreed.

       “Very funny, the both of ye.  Just wait ‘til this big hairy grandmother squashes the brains from ye like a ripe Roja fruit.”  He held his hands out and slapped them together in an imitation.

       “Eek!”  Fynn made a high pitched squeal and hid behind Esra.  “I surrender te ye, oh large and meaty one!”

       Esra shook her head at them in disbelief and started rolling up her blankets.  At least her new friends seemed to be a jovial and entertaining bunch.  Which she was sure would come in handy during the dark, bleak possibility of the Kingdom being taken over.

       The day smelled fresh and cool, perfect weather for traveling.  Esra noticed that one of the colossal Horses was Fariel, her grandparents grey Steed from the farm.  So there were others like him after all.  He appeared to be truly Baelin’s now, and she was glad for it. 

       Nadia approached and pointed out a large white Horse to the right of the pack.  Most of the time Nadia looked as real and solid as the next person.  But there were instances when she appeared to be there and nowhere at the same time, like a shimmering shadow.  It would take some time getting used to it, Esra assumed.  They walked over to the Horse with his long white mane and Nadia leaned over to stroke his strong flanks with her small hands. 

       “The saddles were crafted by Baelin especially fer these kinds of Horses.  They are made with less restriction than a traditional saddle, since it is helpful to be able to lean forward very far when riding.  Sometimes ye will even find it preferable to lay down fer longer rides.  So the saddles are mostly fer holding various objects at the sides, but not primarily to restrain yer movement.”

       Esra nodded as she tied the last bundle to one of the straps, noting the strange shape of the leather.  There were not even any stirrups for mounting.

       “Yer Horse doesn’t have a name yet since we were waiting to give him to ye.  He is bred from the Great Keeper of Strength’s own stock of Horses.  All of these were.  His line was a gift to the Keepers from the Elves.  We call them Skycatchers, because the Elves say that when ye ride one, it seems as if ye are going fast enough to catch the sky.  Fariel and this white one are brothers,” she motioned towards the group of Horses, quite a majestic collection.  Esra had never before seen any other Horses like Fariel.   She took note of how truly massive they all were.  Each one had to be at least eighteen hands. 

       “He’s beautiful,” Esra murmured, rubbing the broad white face gently.  Meshok trotted up to them from where she had been laying and stood beside Esra, staring up at their new friend.  Although Meshok was higher than Esra’s waist, the Horse stood well beyond her own chest.  Slightly panicked that the sudden appearance of a Wolf would spook the Horse, Esra held her breath in nervous anticipation.  Her fears were unfounded, as the Skycatcher appeared to be unstartled by the Great Wolf’s approach, and barely paused a moment before leaning down to greet her.  Esra stood by in awe as Meshok returned the salutation by touching her nose softly to the Horse’s cheek.

       “Great Wolves and Skycatchers are longtime friends.  It is said that they fought together with the Elves, Unni, and Shendari long ago when our Kingdom was first formed.  This one here is mine.”  Nadia motioned to a dazzling light brown female standing next to Fariel.  “I call her Meda.  The larger brown male next to her is Arland’s Horse, Errol.”

       “And this,” Fynn said, appearing suddenly next to a black mare, “is my one true love, My Lady.”

       “I daresay it is the only lady ye will ever have hope of riding,” Arland called from beside Errol.

       “Ahoy! Did ye hear that My Lady?”  Fynn tilted his forehead into the Skycatcher’s neck.  “We will punish him later when he is coughing behind us in the dust and we are leaping easily towards the Stronghold.”

       “I’ll take that bet,” Arland announced confidently.

       “Oh, dear,” Nadia rolled her eyes at Esra.  “Those two are
always
competing at something.  I swear if I didn’t have Baelin to knock some sense into them once in a while I would have surely whacked their arrogant heads off myself.”

       Esra chuckled as Fynn strutted by to grab the last of the satchels. “Not that I will like te be so far away from ye, my Nadia.  But alas, I must constantly defend myself from being labeled a weakling by the other two burly males we traverse with.  A real man will fight fer what he wants.”

       Fynn cocked a flirtatious eyebrow towards Nadia and snatched up two bundles before she could react, carrying them back to the Horses.  A red flame shot up Nadia’s cheeks, appearing partially from anger as well as embarrassment.

       “Are ye two courting?”

“Courting!”  Nadia sputtered. “Certainly not.” 

“Then I must say, I think Fynn has taken a liking to ye,” Esra observed with a smile.

       “Fynn has always had a liking fer me,” Nadia sighed.  “Of that he is not shy about.”

        “Oh, I can’t believe he means any harm in it.  Besides, he is quite handsome, don’t ye think?”

       “Handsome!” 

Esra didn’t know she had stumbled upon such a sensitive topic and laughed at the wide eyed look Nadia was giving her  “Ye look like I just admitted I’m actually the Keeper of Carrots.  Ha.  Don’t ye like him?  He seems to be very nice, and funny at that.  No one can resist that smile.  Besides, I’m sure that he can write yer very own Rabbit stew love ballad.”

       “Oh, Esra!”  Nadia groaned.

       “I think we’re ready,” Baelin called to them as he swung himself up easily on Fariel’s back.  Nadia gave a quick nod at Esra and with stunning dexterity, leapt upon Meda as if it were no more than jumping atop Meshok.  Fynn and Arland mounted My Lady and Errol in similar fashion as Esra looked from face to face and back to her Horse with disbelief.

       “Is that some kind of spell?  And how do ye propose I get up there?  There aren’t even any stirrups!”

       “Esra, ye are stronger and faster than ye think.  Just jump and don’t think too much about it,” Arland encouraged her from atop his massive beast, Errol.  Meda and My Lady began to circle around impatiently, eager to stretch their legs after a few days’ rest.

       Esra stayed rooted to her spot, unwilling to accept that she could perform such a feat.  Even the few times she took Fariel for a stroll on the farm involved the clever stacking of wooden crates.  It was as if they had just asked her to jump over the Trees in the forest.  Although she did consider herself to be healthy and strong, this was beyond any physical limit she could imagine, especially for someone as clumsy as herself.  Even the thought of it seemed mad.  Then again, they had all done it without difficulty.

       The white Horse leaned down to nose Esra’s shoulder, encouraging her.  She shrugged in submission and decided to trust her new friends, backing up to prepare for the jump of her life.  A picture played in Esra’s head where she smashed into the side of this enormous white beast and trickled down the side into a pathetic, crumpled heap.  She shook the image from her head before pushing off the ground with all her might, racing forward to gain momentum before springing upwards. 

       She made it, but barely, and landed awkwardly on her stomach with the saddle knocking the breath from her in one quick rush.  She scrambled to throw her leg over the side of the Horse, and dangled there for an uncomfortable moment, recovering from the shock of the occurrence.  The Skycatcher did not move throughout the entire ordeal.  Most Horses would have been extremely unhappy with such an attempt at mounting and thrown her off almost immediately.  The others cheered loudly and Esra grinned at them wearily, pulling herself upright and grasping the reigns.  It wasn’t pretty, but it would do.  She patted the Horse’s neck in gratitude, leaning down to whisper in its ear.  “Thank ye.  I’d imagine that wasn’t the most graceful display ye’ve ever experienced.  Ye really are a catcher.  And I must say ye are a very comfortable Horse to sit astride, considering yer great berth.”

       The Horse whinnied, tossing its head up and back, nodding in agreement.  Esra laughed at her playful friend and sat back for a moment, relishing in her unlikely accomplishment.  On the top of the left shoulder of the Horse was a large black birthmark, the only blemish on the otherwise pure white skin.  She traced the mark with her finger.  It was about the size of her palm with six curved edges like a Roja fruit.

       “That’s what I’ll name ye, Roja!”  She exclaimed, tapping the shoulder where the birthmark was.  “They’re my grandfather’s favorite.”

       “Roja?  Like the fruit?”  Nadia asked.

       “Like the thing that Baelin was about te squash our heads like?”  Fynn joked.  “No, no, ye should give him a good strong name, a manly name.  How about He Who Makes Pulp of Yer Pathetic Human Body or perhaps Elite Death Bringer Served with a Large Helping of Pain.”

       “Says the man on the lady Horse,” Arland called loudly.

       “True, true,” Fynn agreed.  “Besides, those are all too long winded.  By the time ye announce yer Horse’s name yer opponents will have hacked both yer legs off.   Roja it is!”

       They all cheered as Esra took hold of the reins to urge her newly named friend forward.  It was then that she noticed that the small leather straps were not connected to any bit or bridle.  They were short and tied to opposite sides of the saddle.  Seeing her confusion, Nadia trotted over to explain.  “Those aren’t really reins, they’re extra straps fer tying supplies.”

“So then how am I supposed to ride?”

“When ye want to go, lightly press yer finger here,” she indicated a spot between Roja’s shoulders.  “When ye want to stop, touch here.”

Nadia pointed to a spot only a few inches down from the first.  “If ye want her to speed up or slow down, the harder or softer ye will touch.  Fer turning ye touch her on either side of her shoulder.  Ye needn’t press hard, they respond to the softest tap.”

“This seems complicated,” Esra remarked nervously.  “I’ve never ridden in such a way before.  What if I steer us into a tree?”

“Don’t worry, Fynn spoke to Roja and told her this would be new fer ye.  He’ll take it easy today.  Ye’ll also find ye don’t need to steer much when we are traveling somewhere.  The Skycatchers know their way around LeVara very well.”

Still uneasy, Esra gently touched above the center of the mare’s shoulders and Roja lurched forward to join with the group. 

“Just the lightest touch,” Nadia reminded.

Esra nodded and tucked the non-reins into the sides of the saddle.  It felt odd to be sitting astride a Horse with nothing to hold, so she curled her fingers under the front of the saddle. “So where exactly is the Stronghold?”

       Baelin turned towards her as Fariel stomped heavily on the ground.  The tone of the morning turned more serious as the rest of her Assembly waited patiently for their Fifth to answer.  “I needn’t remind ye the importance of keeping all of this information secret.  The Stronghold is in the Jade Gardens.  They are northeast of Sorley and just south of Fire Lake.  It will take about four days te travel there.  Normally it would take six, but chasing the Elites took us two days east already.  With slower Horses it would take much longer.  We will stop in the town of Tirbaz te rest briefly, which is a little over a day’s travel from here.  There is someone there we need te speak with, but we must keep hidden from the rest of the townsfolk.  I’m unsure how far-reaching Tallen’s guards are, but ye can be certain that he has eyes on the lookout fer us in every town surrounding Sorley, perhaps in all of LeVara by now.  We would not normally stop in Tirbaz, except we need te speak te this person fer Cane regarding an important matter.”