The Winds of Crowns and Wolves (8 page)

Neach silently accepted the bestowal of the
bow upon his person and threw the quiver over his shoulder. Within
it were about a hundred iron tipped arrows, much more effective
than the wooden ones he had grown up with.

Every child in Spleuchan Sonse was given a
bow from a young age. Most of the time it was used simply for
target practice and recreational activity, but once every season,
the men of the village would partake in a deer hunt. Their hearts
beat as one in the pursuit of the elusive antlered creatures.

He knew he could handle himself with the bow
and he expressed his gratitude toward Daniel with a nod of his
head.

“Go on now, son, onward to the island. Just
remember, sometimes you don’t need to know how to read it for that
book to speak to you,” Daniel said.

Neach accepted this advice and bounded out
the door of the estate into the late afternoon sunshine- his
destination uncertain, his purpose undefined.

Out in the streets they were dancing.

A menagerie of colors and shapes, Neach had
no idea what he was witnessing. There was an atmosphere of
jubilation and every citizen of Leirwold seemed to be celebrating
in full force.

All around the marketplace, people could be
seen frolicking about in the early evening sunlight. Their tunics
were colored brightly, as he had never seen before. He waded
through massive crowds of people hoping to find his way
northward.

Smiles could be seen breaking out upon every
person’s face in the center as music began to play. The serene
sound of a lute accompanied by a horn of some sort filled the air
and brought the city to life. The residents who were seemingly lost
within themselves were now flocking toward the musicians.

Each person seemed to play a specific role
in the beautiful chaos of that day in Leirwold. There was not a
single distraught person that could be seen from Neach’s vantage
point-everyone was imbued with a feeling of joy.

What he was witnessing, unbeknownst to him,
was the Festival of the Sun. Brought to Leirwold hundreds of years
earlier by a ruling empire, this festival sought to rid the city of
evil before the impending springtime.

The people of Leirwold gathered in all of
the city centers for a full day, eating and drinking frivolously,
in hopes that they could cleanse the city of the doom and gloom
which had resided over it in the preceding winter.

Recently, the temperature had been rising
all around the Kingdom, and sunlight seemed to be prevailing over
clouds, bar a few snowy times.

Neach continued through the marketplace
before his eyes fell upon someone standing directly in front of
him. Their eyes met and they locked gaze for what seemed like an
eternity, as the festival appeared to freeze and the two were
brought together.

It was a girl, but not just any girl. She
had piercing green eyes, and jet black hair. There was a mysterious
aura about her that drew Neach away from what he was doing. He
couldn’t help but venture closer to her as she did the same toward
him.

In the center of the marketplace they met,
and spoke not a single word. She simply grabbed his hand and guided
him into a group of dancing people. The two joined in the dance and
melded without the slightest sense of difference.

The low angle of the sun caused an
illuminating effect on her tunic. The blues and oranges vibrant in
the late afternoon sunlight, she looked as beautiful as anyone he
had ever seen. Her mystical qualities acted as bait for Neach, as
the further she went into the crowd, the further Neach would follow
her.

She continued through until she reached a
clearing near the edge of the district.

Behind them, the music and dancing continued
as the people of Leirwold celebrated the end of the season which
had left them cold and desperate for a return of better weather.
Winter always seemed to do that, even in Spleuchan Sonse. The lack
of sunlight and barren despair of winter’s wrath caused even the
most stable of people to crack under the pressure of the
season.

As they reached the empty space in the
marketplace, she let go of Neach’s hand and began to walk away.

“Wait, where are you going!” shouted
Neach.

Without a response, the beautiful girl
simply slid into the shadows and disappeared.

Neach was left by himself in the empty
corner of the district, completely befuddled, but with a resounding
smile still present upon his face.

A stiff breeze brushed across his cheeks as
the sun dipped below the outer wall of Leirwold. It provided ample
cooling for the heat he had worked up in dancing with the
mysterious girl for the past few minutes.

He couldn’t wrap his head around what had
just occurred; was she real? Did she actually exist? Or was it
simply a figment of his imagination, a desirable figure in a life
which had been so filled with disappointment lately.

Suddenly, he was brought back to
reality.

Night had almost fallen and he was meant to
be travelling out of the city, northward toward some island where
he would find some man that would teach him something.

The ambiguity of it all toiled with Neach as
he headed northward through the stables district.

He had never ridden a horse before.

Yet he also had no means of purchasing one.
The idea of having a horse seemed appealing to Neach as it would
make his journey much more simplistic. Comparatively speaking to
walking, it would probably take a third of the time to reach his
destination as it would on foot.

He approached one of the stable workers and
asked a simple question.

“How is it that I could go about purchasing
one of these horses?” he asked.

The stable worker who could not have been
any older than he himself was, replied first with a wry smile.

“You want a horse, yea? Let me go ask me
boss,” he chuckled as he walked off.

It was evident that Neach was only just a
man and considered a boy by many in this city still. Nevertheless,
the owner of the stable came out towards Neach with an incredulous
glance.

“Who do y’think you are, boy? Asking to
purchase one of me horses on the day of the Festival,” the man
questioned.

“I’m sorry, sir, I wasn’t aware of the
rules,” Neach stated with defiance.

His confidence had grown exponentially in
his short time in the city.

Taken aback by this admission of difference
in such an adamant fashion, the man leered into Neach’s soul.

“I tell you what boy, you figure out how to
ride one of these here horses, you can have him for free,” the man
claimed.

Neach was always fond of a good challenge
and this seemed to pique his interest.

“Sounds like a good deal,” Neach
responded.

“You have three tries, son, if you can’t do
it in that amount, then you n’er would be able to in the
slightest,” barked the man.

His rude nature seemed to spark a charisma
inside of Neach. His desire to win and prove the man wrong would
hopefully lead to his success ultimately.

He approached his first attempt
cautiously.

Neach placed his hand firmly on the back of
the horse and prepared to hoist himself up on top of it. After a
few pumps to gain his footing, he threw himself upward.

What happened next was comical. He overshot
the horse and flew over the other side of its body, crashing to the
ground below.

The man stood laughing with his stable hand,
bearing all of the three teeth he was in possession of.

Neach fumed with anger. He clenched his fist
and seemed eager to throw all of it into a punch directed at the
stable owner.

But he remained composed and walked over to
the horse again.

The horse was a beautiful chestnut color,
with eyes as big and brown as the trunk of the trees that lined the
hills in Spleuchan Sonse. He seemed relatively good natured and
Neach hoped to gain his trust. This time he thought he might take
the more reserved, cautious approach, as opposed to hauling himself
up quickly.

He again walked toward the horse, intent
upon mounting it and taking it under his control. Placing his hand
on its back again, he put his foot into the left stirrup. This time
he was set upon making it atop this majestic creature and riding it
off into the sunset.

This lift was much smoother, and he threw
his right leg over the other side of the horse and his left
remained in the stirrup. Unfortunately for Neach, the horse was not
keen on having him sit atop him. He reared his head and shouted out
into the air as Neach flew backwards of his back, once again
crashing into the ground below.

He was furious now.

Unsure of what to do, but equally unwilling
to give up just yet, Neach sat down on the ground beside the horse.
He closed his eyes. All he could hear was the laughter of the
stable owner, but he attempted to drown that out. After a few
moments, he was successful. The only thing which he could hear was
his own heartbeat.

Until something spoke to him.

“
He knows you, you know
him,” it said.

“
As the clouds roll in, you
too must roll; show your benevolence,” it spoke again.

In a state of serenity, Neach opened his
eyes and rose to his feet. In front of him stood the horse,
majestic and strong, a representation of all that was natural and
good in the world.

He heeded the advice of the mysterious voice
and crouched down onto the ground again. He and the horse made eye
contact, and Neach slowly pushed himself forward until he rolled
right in front of the animal.

“The hell is he doing la?” queried the
curious stable owner who was looking on.

But Neach seemed to know something the
others did not.

As he reached the feet of the horse, it
turned itself sideways toward him. Seemingly beckoning for him to
mount him, the horse breathed slowly and heavily. Neach cautiously
touched its back again and placed his right foot into the stirrup
this time. With a swift motion, he hauled himself and his left leg
over the top of the horse.

His left foot slid into the other stirrup as
the two men looked on in disbelief. Perched atop this stunningly
beautiful animal was a village boy who had never ridden a horse
before.

He sat there, without moving, for a few
seconds. A smile as wide as the river outside the city walls spread
across his face as he comprehended the reality of the situation. He
trotted around the enclosed area of the stable and the stable owner
looked on in awe.

“How in the world did you do tha? Never in
my life must-- you“, before he could finish, Neach gave the reins a
bit of a tug.

He could be seen riding off into the
distance, out of the city gates.

The cobblestone was much different to ride
on, Neach thought.

Maintaining his focus, Neach galloped
through the gates and over the bridge which connected the city to
the other side of the river.

The sun was setting just over the hills in
the distance. Around him was a vast expanse of grass and trees that
appeared to be untouched by humanity. He had always felt at home in
nature and this moment was nothing less than that. Everything from
the weather to the horse he was now riding seemed to strike a chord
deep within his soul. Peace, serenity, a complete equilibrium that
could only be experience in solidarity.

Once the adrenaline finally wore off, Neach
stopped his horse and dismounted, attaching him to a tree near him.
Luckily, this tree had fruit that it bore and it appeared to be
edible. He grasped one of the fruits in his hand and fed it
directly into the horse’s mouth.

“I think I’ll call you Rine,” remarked
Neach.

The horse was, unsurprisingly, unaffected by
this proclamation and continued to devour the fruit which Neach had
given it.

The sun had all but disappeared behind them
by now. The sweet serenity of the landscape captivated Neach as he
sat with his new friend beneath the cover of the tree.

Darkness was not welcomed; in fact, it was
at this very point in the year that darkness is the one thing you
dreaded about each day. It came swiftly and early, shrouding all of
the beauty of the land around you in a cloak of blackness that
wouldn’t be removed until the morning. This cloak brought with it
shivering cold and the solitary confinement offered by the night
sky’s presence overhead.

As it crept in, Neach and Rine sat beneath
the tree and gazed out at the open meadow in front of them.

A few colorful flowers could be seen poking
their heads through the small layer of snow which still remained
and they offered a speckled contrast to the overall bleak nature of
the ground. These flowers proved to be evidence that winter was
indeed ending and that a new season was primed to begin.

Even tonight, with the sun down, felt warmer
than many nights previous. For the first time in what seemed like
ages, a warm breeze swept over Neach as he lay on the ground
beneath the stars. What had begun as a beautiful day in the city
had ended as an equally beautiful one outside its walls.

In the distance, mountains could be seen
with their snow covered peaks protruding far from the horizon.
Neach had never seen a piece of natural creation which was so
massive. Even from such a long distance away, it was clear that
those mountains were larger than the hills outside of Spleuchan
Sonse.

They captivated him. In his exhaustion and
seeming bliss, Neach gazed upon the mountains with a smile upon his
face. A warm sensation seemed to fill his body as he remained level
with the grass in front of him. Their planes brought together as
one in a synthesis of nature and humanity.

Nothing about what he had experienced
earlier made much sense, but there was an inexplicable comfort in
this fact. He knew not what to expect upon his arrival at this
mysterious island, nor did he know what it meant that he was
bestowed with this book.