A Tale of Blood and Ice.

Chapters

Chapter 1: High Prez
Chapter 2: Preparation
Chapter 3: Savanna
Chapter 4: Setting off
Chapter 5: Recovery

Chapter 1: High Prez

Chapter 1: High prez

Aidan stood in the main atrium of the Kingshaw Palace. The squeaking from his boots echoed throughout the halls as he nervously moved about, his mind lost elsewhere. Every so often he would stop, mumble to himself, shake his head, and go back to his pacing.

Aidan was a 24 year old human, he looked fairly average for his age. He sported a commoner’s garment which consisted of a cotton fleece, interwoven with sheep wool for extra warmth, a pair of crude wool trousers, and large leather boots.

His face was riddled with scars, many of which came from working in the mines for years while working off his city debt. The most prominent scar started from the tip of his nose, curving left to meet the corner of his mouth, the torn flesh healed badly due to the inadequate health care this far from the empire.

While his face carried many reminders of his early years, that scar in particular was strangely sentimental. He gained it while on night duty as an outer wall guard. He looked out over the middle of the city, where the palace and noble districts are located. Behind him; in-between the inner and outer walls were where the middle class and servants were housed and even further; outside the wall, were where the peasant houses were located.

Aidan was patrolling the outer wall as usual, the night was cold and made his skin bristle, frozen leaves snapped underfoot and wolves howled. He was finishing up his last walk around the city, counting twenty nine laps when he heard suspicious noises coming from a nearby alley.

Unsheathing his sword; he slowly crept down the steps, being careful not to slip on the icy surface. He approached the alley, balling his feet to muffle his footsteps and braced up against the wall. Excruciatingly slowly, he inched his head around the corner, squinting to see anything in the dark.

Just as he was giving up hope, the clouds cleared; lighting up the sky and subsequently the alleyway. He saw two men cornering a small girl; no more than eight or nine years old, she was laying on the floor, curled up and whimpering into a blood covered rag.

The larger of the two men grunted, “Look at the bitch cry. This’ll teach you not to talk back to Count Alfred.” He motioned to the other assailant, “Tie her up, I’ll make sure the coast is clear so we can move her.”

The second assailant nodded and proceeded to reach into his bag. Pulling out a long length of rope, he closed in on the girl; tying her arms and then her legs. Aidan could see he was taking his time, savouring the girl in front of him.

The first and larger man stepped back, turned and started lumbering towards the entrance of the alleyway. Aidan stepped back and readied his weapon in front of him. The guard turned the corner. Taken back from the seemingly sudden appearance of a guard, he gasped and pulled a blade out of a sheath hidden behind his back.

“Alright guard, I’ll give you one chance to drop your weapon before I make you.” The giant of a man said before taking one step toward Aidan. Back in the alley, Aidan couldn’t estimate the size of the guy, but up close he was starting to have second thoughts about this.

“N-no, I won’t sit by and let you hurt her, I’m arresting you.” Aidan replied, gritting his teeth as he watched his enemy’s features like a hawk for any slip up.

He chuckled, making Aidan wince; it felt like his laugh was reverberating throughout his helmet. “You guards are always the same,” He started talking sarcastically, “I’ll uphold the law and help the-”

Aidan had enough; he charged forwards, sword just to the side. He aimed for the guy’s hand; Aidan needed to disarm him before he could take him anywhere. It seemed like this guy was the brains of the two and taking him out would mean he could easily dispatch the other.

Aidan’s enemy swung down, hoping to strike Aidan on the head, but missed, resulting instead with his blade slicing Aidan in the mouth. Aidan staggered but took the opportunity nonetheless and slashed his sword into his foe, leaving a bloody gash across the front of his stomach, spilling his guts over the floor.

The man cried out in pain, his wails surely waking anyone up from slumber and alerting his partner in crime. As expected, the other man rushed out of the alleyway, pulling his pants up and tightening them before pulling a dagger out of his pocket.

He charged Aidan, missing him by millimetres. He swung time after time, but Aidan was too quick, ducking and weaving back and forth, dodging the swings. Finally, he became too fatigued to continue, dropping to the floor and passing out. Aidan pulled him over to a nearby railing and tied him to it, using his handcuffs.

Aidan turned around, eyeing the corpse on the floor. Trying to find remorse for him, but failing, Aidan walked over to the alleyway and towards the little girl. Crouching down, he skillfully undid the knots tying the girl’s hand and feet.

“Miss, the bad men are gone.” Aidan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and cursing himself for getting involved, there would be a lot of paperwork once this is over, “I’m a guard. I’m here to help…” He nudged her with his hand; getting no response, he rolled her over.

Aidan looked into her eyes and saw no spark, no life left in the girl. Shocked at this, he recoiled, emotions rising. His thoughts turned to the man tied up on the railing. Aidan walked out of the alley with his sword held down by his side.

He crouched beside the man and asked, completely calm, “Did she cry?” Aidan moved his sword up and reflected light into his captive’s eyes, “Did she CRY!” Aidan reached up and gripped the man’s hair, pulling his head back, exposing his neck to the blistering cold.

“I should take you to the guard’s tower for processing… But I don’t think they will miss one more thug…” Aidan grinned. Somewhere inside his mind, he was unsure of what he was doing, but that part was squashed by the adrenalin and excitement of holding another’s life in his hands.

He gripped the handle of his sword so hard, the whites of his knuckles were beginning to become whiter than the snow around them. “Nobody’s going to miss you…” Aidan places the edge of the sword on the man’s neck and breathed out. As he took a breath in he pulled away, spraying the railing and ground with blood, warm enough to steam off the tainted snow.

That incident was two weeks ago. Aidan was put through many different psychiatric tests to determine what treatment was best for him, but all came back negative and he had passed with a clean bill of health.

The same couldn’t be said for his service record. As soon as the incident reached the printers, he was discharged from duty and stripped of all his possessions. Since then, he’ had to live off of family members, sleeping at each of their places one night at a time.

Aidan’s mumbling was interrupted as the massive wooden doors leading to the court swung wide, slowing to a crawl as they just barely touched the outside walls and stopped. Standing in the middle of the doorway was the secretary of the Prince, Miss Pura.

Pura was special in more ways than one. First, she was the youngest citizen of High Prez to become a royal advisor in over a century and second, she was the only woman to join the council of elders ever.

She stood in the doorway looking over her papers, sorting this and moving that. Aidan turned around, unsure of what to do; either stand there or go over. He decided to walk over and introduce himself.

“Greetings, I’m here to see the Prince.” Aidan asked, hoping that she was the one to show him to the prince and not just passing through.

The young girl jumped, not noticing that Aidan had moved in front of her, “Huh wha…” She repositioned her glasses on her nose, straightened her skirt and coughed into her hand, “Yes, I am. Are you Aidan Ó Birn?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, follow me.” She turned around and started walking down the hallway.

“I don’t suppose you know what he wants to see me about?” He asked, looking around at the paintings and sculptures that lined the hallway. Many of the paintings portrayed many of the battles that had taken place over the first forty years on the continent.

Humans had only arrived on Alaria in 293 of the celestial year, their home island having sustained irreparable damage from a war ten years prior. The colonists named the new land Alaria, meaning Hope in the old language.

For the first few years, peace reigned, but as humans met with the natives, things started to break down as differences in culture and ideas emerged. A fair number of skirmishes broke out over petty things, but never any full blown war.

Pura stopped walking as she made it to the set of doors that housed the council chambers. Aidan turned his head just in time to stop himself from bumping into her and stepped back at attention. The two doors swung open like before, making a slight swoosh sound as they slowed.

Pura turned her head and looked Aidan in the eyes, “Come on, we better not keep him waiting. The Prince is very busy.” She turned back to the front and made for the room, Aidan trailing just behind.

Prince Ductoris was a relatively new ruler, having only been in power for little more than nine years, the oldest ruler had been around for forty and thirty of them were on the old island.

“Ahh Pura, how good to see you.” The prince rumbled cheerfully, his voice deep and fatherly. The prince wore a blue silk top, cotton trousers with gold stitching, and oddly, plain leather boots. He reached up and undid a clasp that held his robe around his neck and let it fall to the ground as he rushed forwards and embraced Pura in a hug.

Aidan stood there feeling awkward, he’d never been in the presence of royalty before and didn’t know how to act around them. His mother had always told him to act like they always knew best and to do whatever they said.

The two’s embrace ended and they pulled away from each other, the secretaries face a little more reddened. The prince turned and eyed Aidan, it wasn’t often that he sent word to meet with commoners, “You must be Aidan, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Aidan instantly stood at attention and bowed, “My Lord, it is an honor to be summoned.”

Ductoris sighed and shook his head, before chuckling, “Please Aidan, stand up straight and talk to me.” The prince switched places with Pura and placed his hand onto Aidans shoulder, “Son, stand.”

Aidan rose and looked Ductoris in the eyes, “Why have I been summoned, sir?” He asked, showing confusion at the strange prince. Of course, Aidan had thoughts that the order was because of the incident, but put them in the back of his mind when the letter didn’t mention anything about it.

Dear Aidan Ó Birn.

Enclosed is a high priority order for your attendance at Kingshaw Palace on the date of: 1st of Granite.

Only the requested person(s) shall be allowed to be in the presence of Prince Ductoris.

Be well, Pura.

Office of administration.

Aidan shook his head and returned to the present, just in time to hear what the Prince had to say, “You have been in service for the last four years, correct?”

“Yes sir, I’ve only recently been dismissed. I’m sure you’ve heard why.” Aidan replied with an edge of remorse, which the Prince instantly picked up on.

“Yes, that did come to my attention... actually that is why you are here.” Aidan tensed up, his hands gripping the fabric of his trousers, “Of course, that was a good thing. In fact, if that didn’t happen, I would have had to choose someone less qualified for what I’m about to ask.”

“And that is?” Aiden asked, releasing the tension in his body, he didn’t know what he would have done, but it wouldn’t have been pretty.

Ductoris turned and walked to the end chair, pulled it out and sat down, “Please, sit.” He motioned to the two seats on either side of the table.
Both Pura and Aidan walked over and sat down, moving about slightly to get comfortable. “Sire, shall I?”

“Yes Pura, give him the documents.” She nodded and placed her papers on the desk, she searched through them for a few minutes and took out what she needed. On the desk next to her stuff laid a green folder.

“This is why you have been called, read it.” She placed both hands on the document as if, at any moment, master thieves could swoop in and steal it. She pushed forward, stopped when the folder was in front of Aidan, and leaned back into her chair.

Aidan placed one hand on the flap of the folder, taking a breath and folding it back to reveal only a few torn and burnt pieces of paper on top of what looked like a reconnaissance report. He picked up the piece that looked to be burnt the least and read what was on it.

From what he could make out, it was some kind of mining operation on the border of the desert straights. A dangerous and nearly untraversable straight of land that passed almost all of the way across Alaria, only a few bridges of the continent actually passed through and made travel possible.

Picking up the reconnaissance report, Aidan looked it over. What he saw showed on his face and the Prince and his secretary leaned forward, awaiting his reaction.

The report was hazy at best, but spoke of the Anasazi. Their king started the war on the homeland, forcing us to flee and make a new home here on Alaria, every coastline ever since has been patrolled to make sure they didn’t return.

Now they had returned. It meant only one thing, Death. Not only for humans, but for the elves and even for other timid races, such as the faeries. The Anasazi won't stop.

“What do you need me to do?” Aidan asked as he rose his head from looking down and looked the Prince in the eyes, determination rising.

Every child in Alaria knows of the great purge, the time in history where, instead of battles against the Anasazi, it was massacres. Rivers of blood flowed into the streams turning them red.

Even humanity's best defences lost to time couldn’t stop the wave of Anasazi warriors. Humanity had skill, warriors quick and agile; able to dodge and attack with grace; but the enemy had numbers. For every one a human killed, ten more replaced it.

It were the cities that fell first, mighty and tall, harnessing the twin suns themselves as a power source. They rose above the clouds, gold spires shining their light upon the towns and villages that sheltered around them, like a beacon of hope.

As they fell, one by one as the battle line became longer; became unmanageable to hold, our military was stretched to the breaking point. A knight came, he lead his own army, one rumored to have been forged in Mt Ardnós itself.

They slaughtered thousands, though he never asked for any rewards; even his army was silent. Even as his comrades fell, he would never ask for anything.

But even great warriors must die, either by the battlefield or by time. Some say he knew his time was over, marching into the middle of the Anasazi horde slaying hundreds by himself, his army taking down thousands in a single day.

After that battle, nothing was heard from him; as if he had just vanished.

Chapter 2: Preparation

Chapter 2: Preparation.

“What do you want me to do?” Aidan asked, thoughts shooting through his head at how they could have made it that far inland, let alone to the Desert Straights, “I’m prepared for anything.”

“I know,” The Prince replied, leaning back in his throne, “I picked you for one reason and one reason only and it wasn’t because you can handle yourself.” Ductoris closed his eyes and took a few breaths in and out.

Aidan’s frustration rose, “Damnit, why did you choose me!” He shouted, rising up and pushing his chair back.

“I picked you because you didn’t hesitate, you didn’t hesitate because you cared.” The Prince looked up at Aidan, “I read the report over and over, I’ve had submissions from lieutenants and even from the general, asking me to take one of their men, but none of them came close to you.”

“But... I’m just a... I was a wall guard, surely someone with more experience or skill would be better suited for the job.” Aidan’s voice was full of uncertainty, the knowledge of the empire’s enemy returning and the Prince’s trust weighing heavily on him.

“Exactly, someone with more skill will just strike and cause a mess, someone with more knowledge of combat will just wait it out and, in the end, accomplish nothing.” The Prince rose, silently walking around the table and placing one hand on both of Aidans shoulders, “You are the perfect person for this.”

“I don’t know...” Aidan replied, pushing the Prince’s hands off him and sitting down, the pressure of the whole situation finally getting to him.

“Take the night to think it over,” Ductoris turned to Pura, “Give him a guest suite and anything he desires.” Turning back to Aidan, he continued, “You might need it.”

Aidan sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Alright, I will.”

“You would be a fool not to.” The Prince said, grinning, “Pura, please escort our guest here to his room.”

“It would be my pleasure, Sire.” She replied, rising from her chair and walking over to Aidan, “This way... please.”

“So, how are you taking all of this?” Pura asked as she walked alongside Aidan down one of the many Palace hallways.

“I’m... alright,” He looked about, trying to think of anything that would give him an excuse to back out and decline, but nothing came to mind, “This is really happening, isn’t it?”

Pura looked down in thought, “Yes it is... The Prince is too proud to admit, but we need help, and the empire is scared. Not only for ourselves, but for the other races as well, we may not have had a great relationship in the past, but nonetheless they don’t deserve this.”

“Yeah, I have to ask, the report didn’t mention on how the Anasazi managed to get so far inland.”

“That’s because we don’t know. One day, the settlement was peaceful. The next, there was no reply from them.” Pura turned, “All I know is that we are going to stop them this time. No matter what.”

They stopped in front of an unassuming door, “Here we are, your quarters. If you need anything, just ring the bell and a servant will answer.”

Aidan nodded and opened the door. Turning back, he saw Pura had disappeared, leaving the hallway empty. He turned to face the room and walked in.

The room was generously furnished with expensive silk from the elven abyss, yew logs from the borders of the centaur woodlands, and the finest food from all over Alaria. Aidan shook his head and closed the door, “I guess this isn’t all bad...”

He walked over to the fire, placing another log on it and laying down on the sheepskin couch that was laid out in front of it. Aiden sighed as he sunk into the couch, letting his tension go. He began to think over the things that would miss him if he went off to some unknown place. His family? His Friends?

As time went on, Aidan found it harder and harder to stay awake, the warmth of the fire and the comfort of the couch pulling him into unconsciousness. He decided to get up and get into bed, taking his clothes off as he walked over.

He pulled the covers back and slid in, feeling the silky touch of the bedding underneath, he was asleep before his head even touched the pillow.

Aidan woke up to the sound of a rooster, a slightly welcome sound compared to the shouting of his family in the morning. Getting out of bed, he noticed that he didn’t have a bad back due to a poorly made mattress for once and, with a smile on his face, he strutted into the bathroom.

After his morning business, he put his clothes back on, hoping nobody would notice. Once all suited up, he made his way over to the door, taking one last look at the room; it may not be his, but it was the nicest he’s been in and may be in for a while.

He was walking down the hallway when Pura turned a corner and ended up alongside him. “Good morn’ Aidan, how are you?”

“Good morn’, I’m alright...”

“Still thinking? That’s okay, we still have a little while before our time frame closes.” Pura says, looking back at Aidan.

“Time frame, what do you mean?” Aidan asks, confusion written on his face.

“Oh, didn’t we mention... there’s only a short window before it’s too late to travel.”

“But... wouldn’t I just go around the mountain, there’s nothing stopping anyone as far as I know.”

Pura giggled, “Ah yes, our miners have found a shortcut through the mountain, cuts the journey time by two thirds.”

“What!? Why is there a timeframe then if I can just go through?”

“Because, we don’t want the enemy to find it. If they do, then the war is lost before it’s properly started. The Prince has decided to detonate the shaft, with or without your help.” Pura stopped and turned to face Aidan, “It’s basically one way...” She had a look of sorrow on her face and refused to see him in the eyes.

Aidan faced away, his thoughts returning to the threat on the horizon, he would do anything for the empire, especially if he would stop the Anasazi threat before anybody else died, “Alright, I’ve made up my mind.”

“Really! That’s great.” She looked Aidan in the eyes for the first time since the walk, “And?”

Aidan stood there for a few seconds before answering with a small smile, “I’m sure the Prince is busy, let’s go.”

Prince Ductoris was in the council room surrounded by his advisors, the council of elders. “Ductoris, are you sure he’s right for this?” The Prince’s general asked, “He did recently get dismissed from service.”

“Yes, for the last time, I am sure he is the right person; I’ve read all of your submissions, none were good enough.” With a huff, the general turned away, picked up some papers and started marking off different sections.

At that moment; Pura and Aidan opened the double doors and walked in. Aidan with a look of determination and Pura only slightly smiling. Everybody at the table turned to take a look at the two new additions, they had read about Aidan, but hadn’t met him yet. The first to rise and walk over was the general, “Ah Aidan, an honor. The prince has been telling me all about you.”

“Not everything I hope...” Aidan replied, unsure of where this was going.

“Aha, don’t worry, I don't get involved in matters of the Wall guard.” The general scoffs before walking back to his papers. Aidan shrugs and walks over to the table.

Prince Ductoris looks over to Aidan after moving a piece of paper over the other side of the table, “Aidan, good of you to join us... do you have your answer?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And?” The Prince asks; the tension in the room rising instantly.

“I’ll do whatever you need.” Everyone releases a breath they forgot they were holding. One by one, they rose and thanked Aidan; some shaking his hands, some hugging him, even the general came over and said a few words.

Finally the Prince made his way over to him and stops, “Thank you Aidan, you are doing the empire a great service.”

“You haven’t told me what I have to do yet.”

“Of course, we’ll get to that now.” He turns around and shouts, “Guards, bring in the map!”

After a few minutes, two guards walk in a side door carrying a large map of the continent. Some places, like the major towns having blue flags pinned in them, while the settlement in the Desert Straights having a red flag on top of it.

“Place it on the table.” The guards did as they were told and laid it flat, everyone moved around it, waiting for us to get in position.

“Alright, so we are here,” Ductoris pointed towards a blue flag in the top right corner next to a chain of mountains known locally as “The snow-blown mountains” because they never stopped snowing, “The settlement was here,” He points to the only red flag on the map, it was due south in the middle of the map, “Your assignment is to collect information on what the Anasazi are doing at the settlement and report to Creywick, no detours.”

Aidan rubbed his chin, his hand making it’s way to his scar, it never healed properly and thus tended to flare up at times. “Why wouldn’t I just come back here?”

The general interrupted before the Prince could reply, “What happens if the Anasazi follow you? Anyway, we are blowing the tunnel after you make it halfway through, we cannot let them take this city, under any circumstances.”

Aidan felt a little intimidated at the tone the general was giving off, “O-ok... what do I do once I reach Creywick?”

“You meet with the Prince residing there... Last time i checked it was, Gabriel.” Ductoris replied, not filling Aidan with confidence.

“What about money? Or gear? You don’t expect me to go to the Desert Straights Without anything... right?” Aidan asked, hoping to receive a good answer.

“Of course not, we will be outfitting you with whatever you desire. What’s in the city is yours.” Ductoris exclaimed, getting a little excited.

“Good... Lets go, I have a lot of shopping to do.”

Pura and Aidan walked down the stone path that lead out of the second shop they had been to that day. “Okay... so what have we left to get?”

Pura flipped the top page of the checklist and looked down it. The whole way down was filled with items they needed to obtain with ticks on most of them, only two more items were needed before Aidan could even think of setting off; “We need to find you a good weapon and shield.”

“Alright, I think I saw an arms shop a little down the road.” Aidan spoke as he pointed down the road towards the wall. They walked for a good ten minutes before reaching a shop with a sign hanging above it; a sword and shield, “How original.” Aidan mumbled as he pushed the gate open and held it till Pura was through.

They saw the lights still on and pushed through the door, the bell above rung out. As they waited for the owner to server them, Aiden took a look at the weapons on offer, most of them looked either too old to use, or had been on the shelf for a long time.
He spent a few minutes looking at the weapons before one in particular caught his eye and caused him walk over. A sword, almost looking like any other except the inscription down the middle of the blade:

Vel preteritus nex

“Vel preteritus nex?” Aidan mumbled as he opened it’s case and pulled the sword out.

“Hmm, good sword that is; Unfortunately nobody want’s to buy it, It’s been in my family for a good few years; the inscription reads : even past death.” The shop owner said smugly.

Aidan turned around and stared at him, then to Pura, “I’ll take this one.”

They closed the door to the shop, waving goodbye to the owner before walking down the path. “You sure you wanted that? It looks a little fragile...” Pura asked, shivering from the cold.

“Yeah, this is the one for me. Now we have to find a shield.” Aidan replied; taking his cloak off, which was given to him as a thank you gift by one of the Prince’s advisers, then wrapping it around Pura.

“Thank you...” Pura mumbled as she wrapped it tighter around herself, “The Palace should have a few spares, that is if you're okay with a plain one.”

“I’m sure a Palace-made shield will survive the trip.” Aidan shakes his head and journey onwards back to the Palace, against the frigid cold, trying to ignore the pain from his scar.

Due to the cold, the time it took them to get back was almost doubled and, as such, the day had quickly turned to night.

“I can go find the shield then go to the council room, you should go get warmed up by a fire... you don’t look so good.” Aidan gave Pura an apologetic look before she turned and rushed off to the nearest common room. Aidan turned around and began looking for the barracks.

He thought he had a grip for the Palace, but it turned out he only knew the way to and from his room to the Council room. “Where is it!?” Aidan mumbled before turning a corner and bumping into a patrolling guard.

“Watch it noble.” The guard sneered before looking down and seeing who he bumped into, “Oh Aidan, I’m sorry. Let me help you.” The guard helped Aidan off the floor and brushed him down.

“You know who I am?” Aidan asked, not knowing who the guard was.

“Of course, everyone here does; you’re the guy going through the mountain, it’s incredible.”

Aidan chuckled, “Word gets around fast I see... anyway, any chance of showing me to the barracks?”

“Sure, follow me.” The guard walks down the path he was following and the two end up outside wooden double doors. The sound of exercise and the clangs of metal hitting metal sounded from inside.

“Here we are,” The guard turned to Aidan, “I have to go, but it was nice speaking with you.”

“Yeah, same... bye.” The guard walked off to carry on his patrol route. Aidan gripped the handle and pushed the door open. Various smells hit his nose instantly; the smell of sweat being the first and strongest.

“Wow...” He said through gritted teeth.

Walking over to the shield rack, he saw a couple of shields sitting there and picked one up, “Hmm, nice weight...” He decided that the first was best and slotted it onto his back, tying it in place. Aidan then turned and walked out of the barracks.

Chapter 3: Savanna

Aidan walked back into the council chamber a bit flustered, having gotten lost a good number of times has left him slightly annoyed. “At last!” He shouted, causing everyone in the room to jump and shout at him.

“Now you look like a warrior.” Ductoris shouted, “Come and sit, we have a few things to discuss and plan.” Motioning to the seat next to him.

Aidan rushed over, pulled the seat out and sat down, making sure he didn’t

scratch the wood with his sword.

“Good now,” The Prince pointed at the map, “We’ve told you that you have to go through the mountain, but not how.”

“You said you had a passage.” Aidan interrupted.

The Prince coughed into his hand, “Yes, but the passage is dangerous at best. We don’t know how long it is... at least not initially.”

“Hold on, you’re sending me through without any information about it!?” Aidan looked shocked.

“We have information, it’s just scrambled... We know it does lead to the other side, but it’s pitch black in there; with multiple passageways intersecting. The best we could do was make a small map detailing which passage is the right one.”

“O-okay, sorry.”

“It’s okay; now we have you all set up, you can take the night to relax. In the morn’, we shall lead you to the mine, but past that you are on your own.”

“Yes sir.” Aidan replied with a sad undertone which didn’t go unnoticed.

“Don’t look so sad, you are possibly saving the empire here.” Ductoris leaned in close and whispered, “And between you and me, it holds well with the women,” Before chuckling.

Aidan shook his head while rising, “If that is all, then I bid you goodnight. I have a lot to think about.”

The Prince stopped laughing and rose, “Goodnight Aidan, sleep well.” He said with a small smile on his face which did go unnoticed by Aidan.

Back in his quarters; Aidan sat on his couch, holding a glass of elven wine. He took another sip, a quantity that was lost to him and cringed, he could almost feel his taste buds dying off with each sip.

After a couple of glasses though, he stopped cringing and started to enjoy the taste. He heard a couple of knocks on the door, sitting still to make sure it was the door, he heard them again. Placing his glass down on the ross-wood carved table, he rose with a slight wobble and made his way to the door.

Gripping the handle, he opened the door. Standing in the hallway was Pura, clothed head to toe in heavy robes. “H-hello Aidan, can I come in?”

“Of course...” He moved out of the way as Pura walked into his quarters. He eyed her with only a small bit of suspicion as he grew up outside the wall and suspicion was naturally needed to stay alive.

“Why are you wearing that robe?” He asked, moving back over to the couch and sitting down again. Pura moved in front of him; blocking out the fire, causing a faint gold outline to appear around her.

She untied the knot that held her robe together and let it fall to the ground. She stood there unrobed and utterly naked. “I thought a going away present would ease your mind.”

Aidan looked over her body, she was pale white, a clear contrast against the harsh backdrop of Prez. “I... think it would...”

Pura moved forward, swaying her hips; causing Aidans eyes to move down, “I’ll take care of you tonight.” She whispered.

Aidans eyes slowly opened, this time to no rooster call. He rolled over and felt that Pura wasn’t in the bed anymore. Sighing, he got out of bed and opened the curtain and looked out over the city. It seemed to be early morning, barely past 11 am.

Quickly, he threw on his gear and rushed out of the door, he wanted to get to the mine and onto his journey as fast as possible and sleeping in would waste valuable hours that he did not have.

He ran into the Council room gasping and wheezing for air. The Prince looked up from his lunch, “Aidan, what a surprise. I’d have thought you would want to lie in for at least a couple more hours?”

“No time,”gasp“Assignment more,”Gasp“Important.”

“Are you okay?” Asked Pura from behind, running her hand over Aidans back.

“Yeah, I’m good.” He replied, finally able to catch his breath, “and you?”

“Oh, I’m alright; sorry about this morn’.” She said, surprised at Aidans thoughtfulness.

“Ductoris, can I get this over with. I want to finish this mission as soon as possible.” Aidan demanded, moving over to the Prince.

Ductoris sighed, “Sure, I was just finishing up here anyway.” The Prince rose, “I’ll lead the way.”

The three of them walked out to the front of the palace where the Prince gained an escort; they carried onto the mine entrance.

The mine was located right at the base of Mt Snow-blown, the tallest of the chain. Around the entrance stood a small town; only there due to the unusually high levels of coal and metals located deep down.

They stood right outside the entrance, the Prince’s escort forming a semicircle around them as they talked. The wind blocking any sound from escaping around them.

Ductoris moved up to Aidans side and gripped his shoulder “Ok, here we are. It’s simple enough, you follow the signs until you reach the passage, then light your torch and follow the map till you get to the other side; got that?”

“Yeah, I’ll make it through just fine; What could go wrong, it’s just a passageway.”

Pura shook her head, “Anyway, you should get going; by our estimates, if you make good time you could make it out the other side before nightfall.”

Damn, ten hours of walking. Aidan thought to himself, “Alright, I’m ready.”

The Prince released his grip and shook Aidan’s hand, “It’s been an honor to meet you, good luck,” the Prince let his hand go and stepped back.

Pura stepped forwards, “Aidan, good luck...” She rushed in and hugged him, surprising him. She let go and stood back, a red hue on her face.

Aidan rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away, “I’m not so good with goodbyes... so I’ll just go in.” He shouted, over the sound of the rushing wind. He then turned and pressed forwards, leaving the city he grew up in, possibly forever.

After ten minutes of walking, Aidan had had enough of the gloominess of the tunnels and the constant crunching of his boots. Hoping to shorten the time, he sped up his footsteps.

He pulled out his map as he came to the end of the mine and the start of the passageway. He looked over the map and saw that it had been hastily drawn and had almost no detail on it. Sighing he put it away and trekked on forward, drawing and lighting his torch.

Movement through the passageway was made troublesome by the cramped environment, sometimes bringing Aidan to his hands and knees as he had to crawl through the small holes.

“Aidan help us, they said. It shouldn’t be too hard, they said. Bullshit.” He mumbled as he pulled out the map again as he made it to a four-way tunnel section. “It shows I have to go forwards... okay then.”

He carried on forwards at a steady pace, climbing over rocks, crawling under obstacles, and sometimes jumping over cracks in the ground. As he went deeper into the mountain, the cracks around him became deeper and more numerous, and soon he found that the floor simply gave way to a pit.

“Oh crap... um... I can’t go back; I have to go and find a way around.” Aidan backtracked a small portion of the passage and found a side tunnel leading in the same general direction and took it.

He traversed that for another twenty minutes, sure in the knowledge that he had bypassed the hole. But as his hope rose, it plummeted as he found another hole in front of him. While still large, it wasn’t as big as the other one.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Alright, I don’t have time to go around.” He pulled out a long portion of rope and tied it to a large boulder next to the hole and then to himself.

Lowering himself down, Aiden started to climb the wall across; but stopped as his grip failed him on some damp rock. “Damnit...” He gritted his teeth as he hung here looking down. From where he hung, it seemed like the hole stretched for infinity and made Aidan feel slightly nervous.

“Alright, lets do this.” He mumbled as he regained his grip on the rock, this time bypassing the damp patch and getting about half way before he heard an ominous sound.

Ccrrack

“Oh no...” He saw the boulder detach and fall, plummeting into the abyss. He frantically tried to untie the knot around his stomach, but with only one hand, he couldn’t in time and had the breath knocked out of him as the weight of the boulder pulled him down screaming.

Aidan woke up with a splitting headache, “Ugh... Wait, the hell...?” He picked himself up off the floor and took a look around, he was still in the passageway; the crack in the floor was in front of him. He took a look down into the abyss, “Yeah, still an abyss...”

“I could have hit my head on something... That would explain the headache and the whole not being dead.” Deciding to leave it for later, he turned around and made his way back to the main tunnel to look for an alternate route.

He backtracked for what seemed like hours before making it to what seemed like the tunnel entrance. He turned a corner , having to cover his face as a beam of light hit his eyes momentarily blinding him.

Aidan stumbled forwards, unaware of what was in front of him, almost tripping over rocks and roots before his vision returned. As he passed the threshold of the tunnel, warm air blasted him in the face.

The light died down to a manageable level, where he could see. Aidan gasped; in front of him, stretching out past the horizon, was an endless sea of savanna.

He could do nothing but stand there, his mouth gaping open. The sight of a vast wilderness suddenly appearing where he thought his snow-fallen city, High Prez once stood, brought his brain to a near complete stop.

He stayed like that for another five minutes before he shook himself out of it and took an actual look around, “Hmm.” Aidan mumbled while talking his pack off, crouching down and taking a look inside, “Seems I need some water... Must have burst from the fall...”

He rose back up, looked for a good footing, and moved forwards towards the start of the grassland.

Aidan pushed through the thick brush, having given up any hope of finding a water source long ago. It had been several hours since he left the damp tunnel entrance and he has been regretting every second of it. Almost as soon as he started walking, the heat, his clothes and his body had not agreed, causing him to remove the top part of his ensemble; leaving his undershirt and shield clinging tightly to his back.

Aidan looked up to check how long he had left to trek about, he fell over at the sight of only one sun in the sky. “I must be dehydrated or something...” He wiped some sweat off his face, “Only one...” he muttered, shaking his head.

Pushing himself up, he checked to make sure he hadn’t lost anything, “...Good, still have the rations... I guess I can eat them now.” He unpackaged the rations that Ductoris’s chefs had prepared for him, A bowl of sun roasted rock-shaw and pea soup. Thankfully, it was still sealed at the top.

He found a patch of shade under a white, cracked and withering tree and sat down with his back against the trunk. Popping off the lid, he inhaled the sweet smell, his stomach pleading for the food.

Before he knew it, Aidan had inhaled the food and not a drop sat that the bottom of the bowl, “I’ll have to thank the chefs when I get back.” He thought while getting back up.

Putting the bowl away back into his pack, he strapped it to himself and gazed around at his surroundings. “Nothing in any direction...” Aidan stopped when he saw what looked to be smoke rising in the distance, “Smoke... hopefully it won’t be faeries...”

Aidan trekked through the grass and bushes until he saw that the smoke rising was almost a few minutes away. He cleared the last few bushes and stopped, he gazed upon a small shack standing a few meters away from him.

Thinking for a few moments, mainly to calm himself down from the long walk, Aidan walked forward towards the front of the house and stopped in front of the door. He raised his hand and knocked slowly, making sure anyone in the house could hear him.

A couple of small bumps and crashes were heard inside the house. Aidan stood there, impatiently tapping the stone path with his boot. “One second...” A woman’s voice shouted from inside.

Aidan knocked on the door one more time out of frustration. A few seconds passed and the sound of locks being undone were heard, before the door swung open.

In the doorway stood a waist high, cream colored... pony? “Woah,” Aidan shouted before jumping away, landing on his back, “I need water...”

“Eep!” The pony slammed the door and locked the bolts. Her breathing ragged and shallow, “Don’t eat me, I’m not tasty!”

Aidan got off the floor and shook his head, “The hell did I just see... wait, did that thing talk?” He waltzed over to the door and banged his hand against the wood, “Open up! Please, I need water... I promise not to eat you.”

“No! You’re lying to get in here!” She shouted back, “I’m not fooling for it!” The pony turned around and lifted up the letter flap, spying out to make sure the horrible creature was leaving. Unfortunately for her, the thing was still outside her door.

“Look, I don’t know what you are, but I’ve been walking for hours and I’m not feeling so good...” The strange creature replied, this time with less anger. The pony took a step back, unsure of what she should do. On one hoof, she had something scary which sounded angry just outside her door, on the other she had something scary which needed help. “What kind of pony would I be if I left some creature to die.” She thought to herself before taking a deep breath, “Whatever you are, you can have some water, but you have to move back from the door, and leave everything outside.”

She smiled to herself, she was helping what could possibly be a new friend. The small nagging part of her that said it would hurt her was being pushed to the back as she moved forwards and pushed the locks across with her muzzle. She took one more deep breath and looked outside, through the flap again. The creature had moved back and was now taking it’s saddlebag off.

She felt safe enough about opening the door and gripped the handle in her mouth, pulling down and back.

Aidan stood there, his sword and shield at his feet just in case anything happened. The door in front of him opened slowly and the creature stuck it’s head out, looking right at him. He motioned around himself, “Alright, I’ve taken off my stuff. Can I have some water, please.”

The thing slowly nodded, “This way...” She said before moving out of the house and trotting around the side. Aidan was apprehensive about leaving his gear on the ground, but a quick look about put him at ease, no other houses were even close to this one.

Aidan followed it around the side of the house. Now that he had clear line of sight, he took the chance to examine the creature. It was clearly pony shaped, though the strange cream coloring and light blue two-tone mane were a definite giveaway, ”Maybe the elves have been experimenting with their chemicals again...” Aidan shook his head and sighed, ”I’m obviously dehydrated, once I have some water and a rest It’ll clear up and I can figure out how to get home, war be damned.”

The other thing that stood out about the... pony, was the mark on it’s flank, ” Maybe a stamp?”

The two walked around to the back of the house and into the back garden, “Wait here, I’ll get some...” The pony asked before trailing off. She turned and rushed inside, closing the door behind her.
Aidan sighed, ”I don’t know where I am... taking orders from a pony... What happened back at the tunnel...” He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn’t hear the pony come back into the garden, balancing a glass of water on it’s back.

“Here, you look like you need it...” The pony said, waiting for Aidan to take the glass. He nervously gripped the glass and raised it.

“I guess I don’t know what to expect anymore.” He sighed, causing the pony in front of him to raise her brow.

“So... you’re not going to hurt me?” She asked, hoping her question wouldn’t be taken badly by her new guest.

“Hurt you?” He said, looking down into her eyes, “Of course not. Thank you.” He added.

“She looked away, a blush of embarrassment forming on her cheeks. She had the idea of leaving the creature to finish it’s drink in peace before her curious side emerged, “What are you?”

“Me?” He asked, jumping slightly at the sudden question. “I’m human, and you?”

“Human... human... Can’t say I’ve heard of that.” She mumbled, “Oh, I’m an earth pony.” She replied smiling, “My name is isabelle, what’s yours?” she asked with a slight tilt of her head.

“Aidan... Aidan Ó Birn.” He replied with a smile.

“Aidan... That’s a nice name, definitely not scary at all...” She mumbled, “Would you like to come inside? It gets quite cold at night.” The pony asked, looking up hopefully.

It had been quite a while since she’s been able to entertain anypony and since she wasn’t about to be eaten anytime soon,m this was the perfect opportunity.

“Alright, Let me get my stuff.” Aidan said turning towards the side of the house.

After Aidan had gathered up his bags, he returned to the back of the house to see Isabelle waiting for him on the step leading inside, “What took you so long?” She asked with a slight smile.

“Sorry...?”

“Don’t worry, we have lots of time, come on.” Isabelle turned and trotted in, Aidan following.

As he passed through the door, he saw that the home was furnished quite like a normal human home, grey carpet on the floor, settees facing the fireplace, kitchen looked normal, except a big grey box in the corner of the room.

“You can sit over there,” Isabelle motioned towards one of the settees, “I’ll be over in a minute.”

“Ok.” Aidan walked over to the settee and sat down, noticing the softness far surpassed anything from High Prez, even the royalty of Creywick would have a hard job to beat this.

Isabelle wandered into the room and noticed Aidan examining the settee, “Are you alright?” She asked, concerned.

“Hmm,” Aidan looked over, “Oh... yeah I’m fine.” He replied with a small laugh, “Where did you get this? It’s so comfortable.”

Isabelle moved over next to him, jumping up and laying down. “I bought it where everypony gets their furniture...” She looked at Aidan funny and continued, “You’re not from around here are you?”

Chapter 4: Setting off

“No... What gave it away?” He replied, chuckling at the day he’s been having. “Let’s just say I’m from somewhere far away and have to get home, fast.”

“Alright, I can take you into town in the morning if you would like.” Isabelle asked, a small smile on her face, “Don’t worry, not everypony will behave like I did.” She added, blushing at the embarrassment.

Aidan chuckled, “That would be kind, thank you.” He looked about before realising he still had his boots on. He leaned down and undid his laces before sliding off the boots, laying them neatly next to the settee.

Isabelle looked on in wonder at his fingers as they worked the strings, “What are they called?”

Aidan leaned back up and looked over, “Say again?”

“Those things there, what are they called?” Isabelle asked, motioning to his fingers with a hoof.

“These are called fingers. You don’t have any creatures with these?” Aidan asked, holding his hand up and wiggling his digits about.

“Nope, first time I’ve seen something like these.”

“Hmm, okay.” Aidan put his hand down and looked about, “Do you have a toilet in here?”

Isabelle shook her head and looked away from Aidan’s hands, “Of course, it’s up the stairs, second door on the left.”

“Thanks.” Aidan removed himself from the settee and away from his source of comfort. He traversed through the doorway and into the hall.

The hallway ran through the middle of the house. To his left was the front door, to his right was the second door to the kitchen, and in front of him, leading upwards, was the stairs to the second floor.

Aidan made his way up the stairs and counted two doors, opening the second, and walking into the bathroom.

He came back downstairs after doing his business and saw Isabelle in the kitchen, cooking. “Hey, what are you making?” Aidan asked, scaring her.

She turned around after making sure nothing was spilled or broken. “Oh Aidan, you really scared me.” She backed up so she didn’t have to raise her head too high. “I’m just making some pasta for dinner.” Isabelle looked at the pasta and back to Aidan, “I guess I made a little too much, would you like some?”

“Sure, I lost almost all of my food on the way here.” Aidan replied, grabbing a plate and placing some pasta on it.

Isabelle and Aidan walked over to the settee and sat down, “Not that you being here hasn’t made my day, how did you get here?”

Aidan took a deep breath, "Some if this might sound a bit crazy, but bare with me... Okay?" Aidan looked over at Isabelle, waiting for her answer.

Isabelle nodded then picked up her fork in her forehooves. Giving a mighty twist, she picked up an impressive amount of pasta before shovelling it into her mouth. "gow um," she says between chews. Covering her mouth to shield Aidan.

Aidan sat there, looking at Isabelle for a couple of seconds before shaking his head, "Alright, I was asked to..." Aidan recalled his last couple of days to Isabelle, who listened on in half interest. Half for the story, and the other half being directed at the scrumptious plate of food in front of her.

Every so often she would look over and either nod or mumble "uh huh" then go back to her plate.

"I had to backtrack and find another passage, I hoped that a different one would lead the same way, but unfortunately it didn't." Aidan shuddered at the memory of falling down the hole.

"What happened then?" Isabelle curiously asked, picking up on the gesture. She moved her plate and Aidan's, moving them to the floor before shuffling slightly closer to him.

"Haha, It's nothing really. I just fell down a small hole." Aidan rubbed the back of his head, looking away. "When I came to and found my way out of the caves, I found the savanna."

A look of realisation slowly fell on Aidans face, "I'm not getting home, am I?" He leaned forwards and placed his face in his hands, "Not only that, I don’t know where the caves are now... Even if I did, I wouldn't know what to do."

Aidan turned to Isabelle, "Thank you."

She looked confused, "What for, I didn't do anything."

"For letting me in. You could have let me stay out there. It was very kind of you, I am in your debt." He said this with clear gratitude in his voice. Isabelle looked Aidan in the eye before turning away, embarrassed.

"Please, it was nothing." She couldn't bring herself to look him, so she just settled with a small smile.

"We can talk about this later. For now, you can tell me about yourself, where do you hail from?" Aidan asked, leaning in a bit closer and getting ready to listen.

"Heh, where to start... I've been all over, never really stopped in one place too long. I think the longest I've stopped for, other than this house, is in Ponyville... That was for a couple of months." Isabelle let out a couple of tears as she finished.

"Hey hey, don't cry." Aidan cooed, "What happened there? If you don't mind remembering."

"I... can't, it's too painful to remember..." She buried her face in her hooves, mostly to hide her tears.

"It's okay, I think it's best if we turn in for the night anyway..." Isabelle rose her head and nodded.

"Yeah..." She sniffed to clean her runny nose and got up, "Follow me, I'll show you where you're sleeping."

"I'm not sleeping on the settee?" Aidan asked, confused as to where he was sleeping.

Isabelle rolled her eyes, "I'm sure we can find something better than that old thing, come on." She gave a small grin and turned the corner, small beats signaling that she was ascending the stairs, "Come on, we don't have all night!"

Aidan shot up, bolted for the stairs, and quickly climbed them. He turned at the top to find Isabelle waiting for him outside one of the doors. "Here we are, your room." She motions for Aidan to go inside and moved back a little, letting him pass.

“This is it, not much to look at, but it should be okay for the night.” Isabelle said, moving in behind him, “You know where the bathroom is, I’ll wake you up bright and early so we can get going. I’m sure you’ll want to get back as soon as possible.”

Aidan merely nodded, preferring to leave his reply unsaid. He sat down on the edge of the bed and bent down to remove his socks and trousers.

“I guess I’ll leave you to it then, I’ll see you in the morning.” Isabelle mumbled as she closed the door to his room.

“He doesn’t have to be so rude...” She muttered, blowing a strand of mane out of her face. She stopped walking and sighed, “He’s probably missing his home right now, how could I be so insensitive...” She shook her head and carried on to her own room.

Isabelle wandered over to her dresser and picked up a small picture frame. In the frame was a picture of what looked to be a younger version of herself, being held by an earth pony couple. One was a dark shade of red with a blue mane and the other was light green with a white mane.

“Mom... Dad... I miss you.” She whimpered as a tear dropped from her eye, landing on the frame and rolling down the glass. “I should never have left Manehattan. If I stayed... everything would be alright...”

Aidan awoke sluggish and annoyed, “By the suns...” He rose from bed stumbling from his clothes underfoot and closed the curtains which, for the large part of the morning, had neglected to stop a small beam of sunlight from landing on his eyelids.

“Alright, now that that’s taken care of...” He stepped over his stuff and shuffled over to the door. Listening out for his Pony caretaker and hearing nothing, he opened the door slowly, and stepped out.

Aidan tip-toed down the stairs and grabbed his bag. He rushed back up and into the bathroom, “Phew... Time to get sorted.” He stuffed his hand into the pack and took out a few items, such as bags of powder and soap, plus a bag of leaves from a new plant only recently found called Mentha. “I don’t know how these will cure bad breath...” Aidan looked at the bag skeptically, but shrugged nonetheless and closed the pack, pushing it over into the corner.

After he had finished with his business in the bathroom, Aidan wandered out and back into his room, putting on his gear from yesterday.

“Aidan, are you up?” Isabelle shouted from her room.

“Yeah, give me a second to put on my stuff.” Aidan shouted back, “and… done.” After he had sealed the last buckle on his chest piece, he left his room, feeling secure to go out into a world of ponies.

He made his way downstairs and waited for Isabelle to come down, a couple of minutes later, she had come down and was starting breakfast, “I can help if you would like?” Aidan asked, hoping that she would let him to save himself from the awkward silence that was going on.

“No no, it’s alright, I can do this myself.” Isabelle waved Aidan out of the kitchen and continued, “You’ve had a rough couple of days, please relax.”

After Aidan and Isabelle had finished breakfast, they got their stuff together. Aidan tied up his boots and strapped his pack to his back, taking care to keep the sword’s blade away from where ponies might be walking.

He made his way over to the front door and waited for Isabelle to get her stuff, “Where are we going to first? Apple...”

“Appleloosa, It’s just down the path and doesn’t take long to get to.” She looked Aidan over from head to toe, “Well, for somepony travelling light anyway.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve done long distance before, I’ll be fine.”

Isabelle gave him a look, but shrugged and opened the door, “I don’t doubt it, but from what you’ve told me, you’ve only done it in the cold.” She turned back to him, “This is anything, but cold.” She grinned.

A wave of warm air hit Aidan in the face as he stood there waiting for his eyes to adjust to the brightness.

Isabelle grinned some more, “Told you so.”

Aidan took a step out onto the path, he took a breath, feeling the warm air fill his lungs. “Let’s go,” He said to nobody in particular as he took another step.

“Woah, wait for me.” Isabelle exclaimed as she galloped up to his side, “I don’t know where you’re going without me.”

“Sorry, got lost in the moment...” Isabelle nodded and Aidan continued, “How come you’re all the way out here on your own?” Aidan looked about, seeing nothing but trees and the path they were on.

“Oh... no real reason, I’m not really good with other ponies...” Isabelle replied with a bit of uncertainty in her voice, “They don’t get on with me for some reason.”

“Strange, you seem fine to me.” Aidan looked down to her, she looked away and moved slightly in front of him.

“Yeah, because you’re not a pony...” Isabelle was starting to regret helping Aidan at this moment, “Look, this thing happened in Ponyville, and ever since, I’ve kept away from other ponies.” She was barely keeping back her tears, having to silently stop and wipe them away.

“Isabelle... Please, let me help...”

Isabelle stopped and turned around to Aidan, she couldn’t stop herself and broke down in tears. “I-i...”

Suddenly, a voice rang out behind the pair. “Well now, what do we have here!” Aidan turned around to see a pair of gryphons in front of him, brandishing swords.

“By the suns!” Aidan jumped back and landed on his pack, “What are you doing here, foul beasts?!” He shouted at them, causing them to chuckle.

“I’m going to make this as simple as possible, even that pony can understand.” Aidan gave a small glare and rose from the ground. “Give us all of your supplies and we’ll let you live.”

“Isabelle, stay back.” Aidan said, looking down to her, “I’m trained for this.” She nodded and stepped back, well away from the three of them.

Aidan looked back to the two gryphons, “You picked the wrong week to mess with me.”

The gryphons looked to each other and grinned slyly, “I doubt it.”

Just as Aidan was about to pull out the sword from his back, another gryphon swooped in from above and tackled him down, knocking the wind from him and knocking the sword away into the bushes.

“Just as I said, I doubt it.”The first gryphon said, he looked to the third gryphon, “Take his stuff and tie him up, he might fetch a good price. Tie the other one up as well, we’ll take them back to camp.” Just as he was about to lift off, he stopped and looked about. “Find that sword as well, I want it!”

As the gryphons went about tying the two up, Aidan looked over to Isabelle and could see fear in her eyes as the gryphon approached her.

Author's Note

Thanks to Zeta040 for helping me with all of the chapters so far : D

Chapter 5: Recovery

"Aiden... we-where are they the-taking us?" Isabelle stuttered, looking Aiden in the eyes, her own filling with tears.

"I don't know and don't cry, it won't solve anything." He didn't like to be cold, but his training dictated that he would have to be.

They were currently travelling across the border of Equestria into Grythonia. The bumpy paths and uncomfortable wood made sleep all but impossible and the stares of fear that he recieved from the other occupants of the cart got tiring, real fast.

Aiden looked over to the other ponies in the cart and raised an eyebrow. There were several that were crowded together, huddled in fear.

"What's your names?" he asked, hoping for a proper reply, other than squeaking in fear. When no such luck appeared, he shook his head and turned back to Isabelle and said with a hint of sarcasm, "I thought you said it wouldn't take long to get to Appleloosa?"

"It wouldn't, there hasn't been a gryphon near appleloosa in years."

Aiden frowned. Not only did he manage to run into Isabelle, which in itself is a blessing, but he managed to get outwitted and captured by Gryphons.

Shaking his head at the situation, he knew he had to get out and possibly save the ponies, which for all he knew were innocent. Plus it would give brownie-points to whoever is the Lord of Appleloosa.

Feeling around, he felt the binds around his hands were a tiny bit loose. "Obviously tied for a pony..." Aiden thought as he wiggled his hands around, trying to find the perfect way to free them.

It wasn't helping that the cart was surrounded by three gryphon and their commander that were squawking to each other, giving Aiden a headache.

"and done..." Aiden slipped one hand out from the knot and quickly undid the other, clenching his hands to regain blood flow. He looked around for any signs that he could use to gain an advantage on the gryphon.

"Hey Isabelle, keep your head down, this will get messy..."

"What do you me-" she was interrupted by Aiden vaulting over the side of the cart and knocking over one of the gryphons.

He punched the one in the beak, cracking is slightly and smirking as he heard the howl of pain from his opponent. Crouching, Aiden reached out and ripped the gryphons' sword from it's sheath and jabbed him in the chest, breaking past the armor and feathers, staining the ground red.

The ponies in the carts gasped and huddled closer together out of shock. Aiden turned around and quickly blocked as his sword, now the commanders, cut downwards. He blocked it with the length of his short-sword and pushed it back.

"I want my sword, beast!" Aiden shouted, throwing a few short swings at the bird.

The commander backed off slightly and let his two subordinates take care of Aiden, expecting this to be a short fight.

The two other gryphons landed on either side of Aiden and slowly circled, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Aiden lowered himself slightly so he would be able to jump out of the way, if he'd need to.

The gryphons pounced and in one surprisingly graceful move landed where Aiden was. They looked confused for a second before realising he had jumped out of the way.

Aiden cut one of the gryphons down in a spray of blood as its head caved, covering the side of the cart in blood.

Isabelle looked up and screamed, "Aiden, behind you!"

He turned around just in time to see his sword swing down across his bare chest, slicing his flesh open. With an agonising scream, Aiden felt adrenaline flow, numbing the pain.

The commander looked confused as to why his opponent wasn't slain and went to attack again, but was stopped when Aiden parried the sword and kicked him in the face, shattering his beak.

"Mrr blrk!" The commander screamed, blood leaking out. He shouted some more in a language Aiden couldn't understand and tried to open his wings to fly off.

Aiden swung and separated the gryphons left wing from his body with a sickening "slick". Walking closer, he raised his sword up, utter a prayer and jammed thr sword into the gryphons chest, pinning it to the ground.

Turning to the last gryphon, Aiden picked up his old sword and made towards him. The gryphon himself looked quite small and it stood shaking. "If you go now, I won't hurt you."

"T-they will k-kill me..." The bird squawked, shaking even more.

"I assure you I'd do worse." Aiden left it at that and watched at the gryphon took off, gaining speed until he couldn't be seen.

With a sigh, Aiden walked around to the back of the cart and with a grunt of pain, he opened the door.

Undoing Isabelle's restraints, he fell to the floor in a heap. "Sorry Isabelle, looks like you're on your own."

"Don't say that, You can't die!" She had tears dropping down her face onto the floor. "You saved us all, you don't get to die!" Isabelle rushed over to the chest in the front of the cart and bucked it, smashing it open. He took some clothing and ripped it up, making a make-shift bandage and wrapped it around Aiders chest.

"Can somepony help!" She screamed, turning to the cowering group. The continued to shake together and at her outburst tried to make themselves smaller.

One lone Pegasus colt squeezed itself out of the bundle and scampered over. "Rain Drop, stay away!" his mother shouted, but he ignored her.

"What do I do?" he asked, looking down at the ever reddening shirt.

Isabelle looked at him for a few seconds and smiled, "Put pressure on his wound, don't stop even if he says it hurts."

Rain Drops did exactly that and winced as a spurt of blood passed his face.

Isabelle turned and jumped in the front of the carriage, then onto the ground. "Alright, time to get back home..." she said, hooking herself up to the harness. After a couple of minutes, she felt comfortable enough to take the long trip back To Appleloosa.

She pulled herself forwards and slowly turned the cart around. It took longer than she would have liked because only she was pulling, but eventually they were on their way.

~~~

Aiden groaned, his chest feeling like it was on fire. He felt around for something to know where he was and found he was laying on an extremely soft and comfortable bed.

"Hello?" he croaked out, his throat feeling like parched. Opening his eyes, they were blasted by the ceiling lights. Aiden covered his eyes and hissed in pain, "By the suns!"

His groaning subsided quickly as a set of clip-clops echoed into his hospital room from behind the door. Looking down the bed, through his hazy vision, he saw the door slowly opening and Isabelle hesitantly walk in.

Her eyes widened, "Oh you're awake!" She walked in, closing the door behind her and trotting over to the side of Aiden's bed. "How are you feeling?" She asked, jumping into a small stool.

"Horrible, I guess I'm a bit off..." he replied, before coughing violently.

"Oh, here!" Isabelle said, passing a glass of water over from the desk next to the bed. "drink it slow..."

Aiden reached up and took it, downing the whole glass, "Ahh, needed that. Thanks." The room quieted down for a few minutes before Isabelle spoke up.

"The ponies you saved are next door, if you're wondering?"

"They wern't hurt at all, were they?" he asked, reciving a shake of her head.

"No, none. One of the colts basically saved your life though." She smiled, "He stopped your bleeding so I could get us here!" Isabelle jumped up and held herself against the bed, "he was brave..."

"I'll want to thank him before I leave." Aiden thought for a moment, "I'm guessing we're in Appleloosa?"

"Yeah, this is the only room they have... It's basically an infirmary, but for you, they used everything they had." She grinned, "You're a hero!"

Aiden blushed, "No, I'm not. I'm a guard, which has to get home." Breathing deeply, he leaned forwards and tensed himself for the pain but was pleasantly surprised when there were none. Reaching down, he pulled his makeshift gown away and sighed at the freshly made scar running across his chest. "How long was I asleep?" he asked, running a finger over the sensitive skin.

"Less than a week," Isabelle looked away, "we thought you wern't going to make it. The doctors used all of their magic and thankfully it was enough."

"They healed me... with magic?"

"Yup, everyday."

Aiden removed the covers and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, placing his feet onto the cold floor. He leaned forwards and rose to his full height.

Stretching, he looked around his room for his gear.

"What're you doing?" Isabelle asked, jumping off the stool and wandering over, "I'm not not sure you're allowed out of bed yet."

"I've spent a week in bed and besides, I feel fine," he replied, walking over to the door. "You coming?" he asked, looking to Isabelle, "I need my stuff."

"We can see if you're alright on the way, I guess..."

"Good." Aiden opened the door and passed through into the corridor looking both ways, he saw the doctor's office and walked over to the door.

Knocking, he waited for a couple of seconds and opened the door, walking into a surprisingly spacious office. The Twilight sun lit the room with splashes of orange and red across the walls and shelves.

On the far side sat bookcases and various shelves of medical equipment and books. Sat next to them was a table where a small typewriter lay, with a scruffy and disgruntled unicorn sat typing.

"Fritter, I told you, I don't need more of your-" The unicorn was cut off as he turned around and saw Aiden standing in the doorway. "Oh you're awake... You're awake!"

Thr unicorn jumped out of his seat and rushed over to Aiden, pushing him out of of the room. Isabelle followed close behind but didn't say anything as she'd been on the short end of the pony's temper before.

"Hey watch it!"

"You shouldn't be awake, let alone walking about," the pony said, huffing in frustration. "But seeing as your ARE awake, we can do some tests."

Thr pony herded Aiden back into his room and he sat down next to Aiden, who sat in bed.

"I feel fine, doc."

Isabelle sat next to him and placed a hoof on Aiden's shoulder, "Just let him help..."

Aiden looked at her and sighed, "Fine. What do you need?"

The doctor smiled, his patient finally cooperating, "Finally, somepony with some sense." He leaned forwards and pointed his horn at the wound on Aiden's chest; a beam of magic shot out and poured over the scar.

Aiden grunted and squeezed the bed, his chest feeling like it was burning. "It'll be okay..." Isabelle whispered into his ear, "Only a bit more."

Aiden felt the magic stop and opened his eyes to see the doctor frown at him, "Well, I don't know how you did it, but you are indeed fine." He shook his head, "You are a very lucky... Human?" The doctor rolled the work off his tongue, not sure if he'd said it correctly.

"Thanks, I take it you were the one looking after me?" Aiden recieved a nod, "In that case, I am indebted to you." he stood up, scooted over and bowed. "If you ever need anything, ask."

"That's mighty fine of you, but knowing you're better is enough." The doctor rubbed the back of his head then jumped off his chair, "I'll just go get your stuff." The unicorn trotted out of the room and turned the corner.

Isabelle turned to Aiden and smiled, "I had a thought while you were recovering; we could ask the Princesses to help you."

"The princesses?"

"Yeah, Celestia and Luna!" Isabelle looked excited, "I've only seen them once, at the summer sun celebration, they were amazing!"

The next couple of minutes were of Isabelle explaining who the Princesses were and how they helped the balance and harmony of the land.

"I'm sure we can ask them, there's no harm and it's better than sitting around. if their as powerful as you say, they can get me home in a flash." Aiden's smile faded, "Nobody will know I'm gone."

"It's a short train ride from here to Ponyville, then onto Canterlot. Bit we don't have to leave the train-cart, so it's alright."

"Alright..."

The room was quiet until the doctors return broke the silence, "Well here we are, everything you had on you."

"Thank you, again." Aiden said, removing his gown as he started to put on his clothes.

"Don't mention it. Now, I have to do some work, I don't want to see either of you two again." The doctor turned around and left the two of them alone.

Aiden put on the last of his gear and turned to Isabelle, "Let's go and see the Princesses."