Chapel Orahamm

Farrow greeted Rowan and gave me a wary once over. “How’d it go?”

I shrugged. “Think it’s fine. Looks like the party is going to continue for a while yet. We ready to get out of here before I get dragged back?” Rowan was studying me the same way Farrow was. I scowled back at Rowan for the look. “What?”

He squeezed the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger as he blew out a frustrated breath. “You look like death.”

I chuckled, “Welcome to Nutcracker season. Alright, grab the bags. I want out.” Every joint in my body screamed as I made for the bed where Farrow had our packs laid out. I slipped on one of the money pouches. Farrow pointed me to a pack he wanted me to carry. Glancing at the other two, I got the impression that this one was the lightest of the three, and for good reason. Wallace the Wizard either had a serious health problem or didn’t eat right and leave his tower to get some exercise ever. “As we say back home – I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” I gave them a pleasant smile, but from their expressions, I wasn’t fooling anyone.

Rowan, after considering my condition a second more, gritted his teeth and nodded. They grabbed their packs and helped me with mine. We quietly traipsed down a flight of stairs I hoped to never have to ascend again and slipped quietly out to the stables.

Quamire chirped at Rowan and ping-ponged off of Farrow in excitement. Farrow rubbed the beast’s head affectionately before tossing his bag down inside a stall Rowan pointed him to. I peaked in to find a broad, heavy creature possessing six legs and a crossed fortitude between a salamander and a rhinocerous. I dragged to a stop to look it over skeptically. Rhino and hippo were dangerous and I had absolutely no desire to be crushed. “What is that?”

“A suf. Good for pulling and carrying. They tend to have a gentle temperment. This is Ravur, my travel suf. I figured you would be more comfortable on her rather than Lis, my trenant. He’s trained for military work and more fiesty. I understand that you would probably not have these types of animals from where you come from, but are you familiar with riding in general?” Rowan pulled over a big saddle with two pommels and a wide back section of hide off that back. He made quick work of tacking it. There was more than plenty of room for two people to sit, and Quamire made it obvious what the cape like section of hide at the back was for. Rowan strapped our bags behind the saddle seat and Quamire settled in along the massive creatures somewhat flat back. The saddles sat high, like they were built on top of trapazoidal stands so the rider’s hips weren’t flared out so painfully.

“I rode a horse at a children’s fair at my school when I was three. There was a picture of me on it. But no, I have no idea how to ride.” I shook my head and tried to find a way I was expected to get up to the top of the saddle.

“Right. Won’t do you any good if I put you up there everytime, so let’s show you the trick.” Rowan rubbed at the back of his neck and yawned. We were all tired and getting started on a journey well into the dark hours. I had to wonder at how wise this course of action was. He showed me how to command the suf to squat down and use one of it’s bulbous knees to lift myself up onto the creatures back. From there, Farrow took over and showed me how to move across it’s back and up into the back saddle safely.

“Farrow, if you can get Ravur out of here, I’ll meet you.” Rowan saluted Farrow and jogged into the darkness of the stables.

“Will do.” Farrow met the gesture and took up the reigns tied to the front pommel. He clicked his tongue against his teeth. Ravur lumbered up and the saddle swung wildly. I grasped for my pommel with a curse and hoped I wouldn’t fall off with the first step. White knuckled and eyes tightly clamped shut, I lost track of the creature’s movements as it surged out of the stall in more of a monitor or lizard motion than a rhino. My gut twisted up into my throat. I had to hope I wasn’t going to puke.

A different sounding footstep from the slight drag of Ravur made me carefully open my eyes. The world swayed back and forth in an unnerving giration. Rowan sat astride whatever his burden beast was. This one was taller, still stocky, and possessing a bipedal form similar in structure to either a dinosaur or a bird, but with long white silky chords and a mouth made for foliage and not me. Meat. Not made for eating meat. I swallowed hard. What kind of world had I been pulled into?

The night folded around us, a beautiful aurora swirling above as we made quick progress along a wagon road. It led up and out of the shallow bowl that created the agricultural fields, centering the castle to it. A section of the forest was short lived enough to not make me nervous. The area beyond it lay pasture land and in the far distance, illuminated by a massive moon were a series of white topped mountains. In short order we swung off the road and into one of these pastures to a small hovel dug into a shallow rise of earth. Farrow jumped off Ravur and made his way into the little hole. I swayed unsteadily in my seat, exhaustion and pain swamping my nervous system. I dragged in stuttering breaths and had to wonder yet again at the constitution of the bed-ridden prince.

Farrow emerged with another pack and slung it onto our other packs. Reshuffling the load, he balanced the bags into a respectable lump and hopped back up on Ravur in a way that reminded me that my traveling companions weren’t human.

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