Chapter 7

They camped in a cave a few miles after passing through the wall. Vale felt they could continue during the day, but Booruck insisted that they wait, at least a few hours. Aarden was almost dead on his feet and needed the break.
Vale stood guard while Booruck and Aarden lay down. Aarden struggled to stay awake but soon fell deeply into sleep.
Aarden was walking through a forest, a dagger drawn. He knew Vale was nearby with his bow, but couldn’t tell which direction. He began to panic.
Aarden began looking around frantic; then remembered what Vale had taught him. He concentrated on slowing down his heartbeat and began using his other senses. The forest smelled old, a deep pine scent flooded his mind. He closed his eyes to remove his sight from his mind.
Immediately he could feel a breeze against his face, it felt cooler than the other air around him. It was coming from the south and he began moving in that direction.
The smells became fresher, the pine forest drifting away. He soon came upon a clear mountain stream. It made him suddenly thirsty.
Aarden kneeled down and touched his fingertips to the water. The water was chilling, almost painful. Aarden looked upstream to see snow topping the nearby mountain peaks.
The sky was strangely bright and blue. He looked down at his hands again and found them a strange caramel color. The Durvy tan that had escaped him for so long had finally settled in his skin. Aarden finally dipped his hands into the water and took a drink.
The water cooled a rough fire in his throat. He felt it filling his almost empty stomach. He quickly dipped his hands back into the water.
Before he could bring the water back to his mouth, a trickle of blood slid into his hands. It whirled a moment and began intensifying.
Aarden quickly dropped the water and looked upstream again, seeing the blood sliding down the rocks. He crouched quickly and moved up the rocks.
The stream of blood became thicker as he got farther up the stream. The stream began moving to the west and slowing down.
Fear gripped Aarden as he began to round the corner. The water was deeper, diluting the blood in a small pool. He continued following the blood and started to climb a small drop. Almost at the top, he fell backwards into the small pool.
Aarden woke suddenly. The sun had begun its journey towards the horizon. Vale was asleep next to him and Booruck sat, hunched over at the mouth of the cave.
Booruck turned when he heard Aarden rising. His eyes seemed to glow a bright blue. Suddenly, he blinked and the blue light disappeared. Aarden tried to wipe the sleep out of his eyes. Booruck smiled a nervous smile and gestured for Aarden to move closer.
Outside the cave, Aarden saw an empty meadow. It looked peacefully quiet. The sky looked bigger, almost closer. As he looked closer, he could see a small green snake sliding through the grass.
“If we left now, we could be out before sunset,” Booruck said eerily. Aarden shuddered as he remembered the blue eyes he thought he saw.
“Out of where?”
Booruck looked at him a long time. The stare became uncomfortable. A chill slid through Aarden’s poncho and he shuddered again. Finally, Booruck broke his gaze.
“Out of Durvy territory. We’ll be in Dwarven territory soon.”
“Dwarves?” Aarden was suddenly excited. No Durvies ever went through the wall. Other races of creatures were legend in the school books he had read, but he thought it was only stories. Aarden looked to see if Booruck was teasing him, but there was no trace of kidding in his face.
They heard Vale begin to stir behind them. Booruck nodded and began gathering his equipment.

* * *

The group traveled north as the sun cut across the sky behind them. Booruck led them and Vale stayed on the lookout for game. Several times, Vale bounded into woods on the edge of the meadow they were traveling through. Booruck snatched and killed several snakes from the grass. He soon had a bag full of them and they decided to stop to eat. Vale added some dandelions and herbs to the snakes and they had snake and dandelion stew.
The sky continued get closer as the sun set deeper into the sky. It was nearly dark by the time they rejoined their journey.
Vale was enjoying this adventure. There was a light in his eyes that Aarden hadn’t seen since Vale was adventuring around the streets of Distrus as an orphan. Aarden had met Vale on one of these adventures. Vale broke into Aarden’s house to steal some food. Aarden had been sneaking some treats from the kitchen when Vale tumbled out of the pantry.
The two were instantly friends. Aarden took Vale in and shared his food and clothing. Vale took Aarden on his adventures, sneaking into the noble’s manors and sleeping in the fields and gardens. Aarden’s parents looked on the relationship with concern, but allowed the two to hang out together. They housed Vale and helped him find the ()s who fostered him. Vale strained at their rules and restrictions and it often got him beaten.
Vale was forced to abandon his adventures when the two got older. Girls soon replaced Vale’s love for adventure. He was at ease among the young Durvy women while Aarden was timid and awkward. Vale was attractive where Aarden was tall, clumsy, lanky and pale. However, Vale was an orphan, an inappropriate choice for a husband. Aarden’s family was noble and wealthy and the girls were more than willing to marry his name.
Aarden looked at his friend chasing after a rabbit. He took aim and fired, barely missing the rabbit as it went scurrying down a hole. Aarden retrieved his arrow and hurried back to the others, smiling.
Booruck however frowned at Vale. “We need to keep moving.”
“What’s the hurry? We’re free.”
“If you don’t remember,” Booruck barked, “we’re fugitive criminals. It won’t take them long to find their way through the Wall. If they catch us, they’ll execute us, including the farm boy.” Vale nodded quietly.

* * *

As the light from the sun vanished, Aarden had the sinking feeling that the sky was crowding even closer to them. It seemed to be a darker brown color and almost had a texture to it. Finally, Booruck stopped.
Vale and Aarden both stared in wonder at a hole in a mountain side. The mountain had come from no where. Vale looked up, trying to see the top of it, but it just blended into the sky.
“This is amazing,” Vale whispered. Booruck smirked as he ducked into the hole. Vale and Aarden looked at each other and smiled, diving in after him.
The hole turned out to be a tunnel. Booruck barely fit through, his shoulders brushing the ceiling. After a while struggling through, the cave got smaller. The three were forced to crawl. Finally, Booruck pushed through an exit, hidden by a thick bush.
Aarden found himself on a hillside. He turned around and saw a huge mountain behind him. The sky was dark black with pinpoint stars throughout. Aarden felt suddenly small and insignificant. The air was thin and cold. All the smells of Durvy rushed away from him.
Vale staggered from the hole and Aarden saw the same effects attacking him. Booruck on the other hand stretched and smiled. The relief was apparent on his face; he clearly felt they had passed beyond the reach of the Durvies.
“We’ll camp here,” Booruck said, starting to unpack. Vale and Aarden looked at each other, confused.
“I thought we wanted to travel at night,” Vale asked, “we’ve been traveling only a few hours.”
“You two need to become accustomed to the outside world before we move on.”
“The outside world,” Aarden asked.
“You’ll understand in the morning. I’ll stand watch tonight, you two get to sleep.” Booruck began building a small fire as Vale and Aarden, still reluctant, unrolled their beds.
Vale suddenly tensed. A rustling came from the leaves of the bush they had just pushed through. Aarden looked at Vale concerned. They both looked at Booruck who was oblivious. Vale loaded his bow and Aarden drew his sword. They crept closer to the bush. Spot suddenly exploded through the bush. Booruck heard and jumped on the Ingot. He held spot up by the neck, his sword drawn.
Aarden knocked the sword away and pulled Spot away from Booruck.
“What is this,” Booruck sneered. “We’re being followed by this mongrel?”
“He’s mine. He must have followed us from the house.” Spot climbed onto Aarden’s shoulder and grunted at Booruck.
“I forgot the Durvies’ love for their pet Ingots.”
Booruck sheathed his sword and returned to squatting on his rock. Vale settled down into his bedroll and was soon asleep. Aarden stared at the back of Booruck for a long time while Spot nibbled on some berries Aarden had brought along. Aarden had always assumed Booruck was a Durvy, even though his appearance was different. Aarden was different, but he was still a Durvy. How had Booruck known his way through the Wall, what was he, was he some sort of spy? Aarden’s distrust of this creature was growing deeper.

* * *

Aarden was suddenly awoken by strange sounds. Vale was awake, watching through the bushes. Booruck was no where to be seen. Aarden jumped up, scrambling for his dagger. He finally found him and rushed over to Vale.
Realization suddenly hit Aarden. The sky was bright blue and light flooded in from everywhere. Aarden was overwhelmed by the space around him.
They had camped on the foothills of the mountain Aarden had seen the night before. The hill overlooked a large valley pock-marked by clumps of trees. A small river wound its way through the valley. Everything was overwhelmingly green.
Finally, Aarden located the source of the loud noises. A unit of soldiers was dug in between several groups of trees. Tribes of goblins were attacking from all sides. They were throwing themselves against the works, their bodies piling up.
“Vale,” Aarden whispered quietly, “what do we do?”
“We need to get inside that wall I think.”
Aarden looked around for some sort of answer. Spot was on edge, watching the mountain behind him. Aarden followed his eyes and saw troops restlessly hidden among the rocks. He grabbed Vale’s arm and pointed into the hlls. Vale quickly saw what Aarden was pointing at.
“Whose side are they on?” Vale strained his eyes to see the warriors. Aarden finally got a good look at one of them.
“They look like Dwarves; at least what I think a Dwarf would look like.”
“I think that means they’re probably with the Humans, but I didn’t think Dwarves were warlike.”
Spot suddenly let out a strange cry. Aarden had never heard him make a noise like that before. Spot started throwing rocks at the hidden Dwarven units. Vale hurried over to Spot, grabbing him and slapping his hand over the Ingot’s mouth.
A Human ambush unit suddenly appeared on all sides of the hill. Vale, still holding spot, ducked into a bush. Aarden tripped backwards and rolled down the side of the hill, rolling through the ambush line.
Aarden stopped and waited, but the soldiers didn’t come after him. The unit rushed towards the center defenses, smashing the goblin tribes against the defended Human center.
Vale appeared at Aarden’s side and dragged him back into cover. They crawled through the bushes until Vale found a fallen tree. They climbed into its hollowed out trunk and laid quietly, listening to the battle sounds around them.