Beyond the Hills - Chapter 9

Prologue: topic37432.html

Chapter 1: topic37490.html

Chapter 2: topic37965.html

Chapter 3: topic38391.html

Chapter 4: topic38444.html

Chapter 5: topic38742.html

Chapter 6: topic38872.html

Chapter 7: topic38914.html

Chapter 8: topic39094.html

CHAPTER IX

the boat had sixteen massive sails, six on the main mast, and two smaller masts on the front and back, each with five sails on. Connecting the masts to each-other, there were smaller triangular sails. It also had a massive staff which stood out on the front of the ship. The ship only just fitted into the wide river. On the ship Rachel could see there was a great commotion. Then, she heard a voice cry out:

"Lower all sails, hoist the staysail and spanker, drop the anchor!" Elvy was also staring. Then, she saw a great big iron hook being thrown its the water. After a few moments, the ship slowed, and stopped. It was scarcely twenty meters from them.

"Where you two going?" The same voice asked. She could see a man with a strange hat, and what from a distance looked like a long beard. Rachel thought for a while.

"We don't know. We're trying to get out of here though!" She shouted back.

"We need an extra few hands up here if you'd be willing to join!" She heard.

"What do you think Elvy?" She whispered.

"If they're going to take us out of here let's go!" He replied.

"Where to are you going?" She called back.

"To the great ocean world! It's not more than half a day's sailing from here!" The man called back.

"We'll come!" Elvy shouted, before Rachel could say anything. Rachel glared at Elvy, who was smiling maliciously. A ladder was thrown down the side of the ship.

"Come and get on then!" The voice cried out.

* * *

Dran woke early to start off. He was going to climb the hills again. He hadn't fallen too far, he was still three quarters up. Hiking was hard with the broken arm. He thought of a slave, a women, saying 'Good riddance.' Maybe I should start confessing. He thought to himself. He then replayed the events leading up to where he was now.

He stood in the white triangular tent that these people called tepees. In front of him sat the leader of the tribe. On his head, instead of a crown he wore feathers of many colors.

"Do you swear the oath to run this race clean, and use no tricks?" The leader asked him. Dran went on his knees, lifted his right hand and said:

"I swear an oath to run this race clean, and use no tricks." Behind his cloak he cringed. He was making an oath he knew he wasn't going to be able to keep.

The next day, he was standing on the edge of a forest of spruce trees. With him, stood hundreds of other hikers, determined to win this race. Each hiker had a slave appointed to take care of him. Dran's was a woman. On the far line of the hikers, sat the chief. He waved his hand to a man standing on a small wooden tower. Dran closed his eyes, imagining the ground, spotted with grass crunching beneath his feet. He opened his eyes. In front of him now, a horse stood, panting. The only sound Dran could hear was the swishing of the horse's tail. Suddenly, the horse sprang off, signaling the start of the race. Everyone sprinted. Everyone but Dran. He walked at a leisurely pace. His slave ran in front of him, signaling for him to run. He shook his head. He was going to win no matter what. He followed the other hikers , away from the forest.

After about half an hour his slave had stopped trying to get him to run. He and his slave were the only people for miles around. Dran's eyes searched the ground. Finally he found what he was looking for. A slight elevation of ground. There was a slit in the turf on it. He pushed his fingers through the soft turf.

"What are you doing?" His slave asked. I forgot about the slave! He thought to himself. He ignored her, and lifted the turf up, revealing a wooden trap door.

"You cheat!" She cried out, gasping. Dran signaled her to be quiet.

"No!" She called out, running in the direction of the camp. Dran took a knife from his belt. He was the best knife thrower in a thousand worlds, and could throw a dragonfly on the horizon. A tear trickled down his cheek. He really didn't want to do it, but he had to. He took the knife at it's tip, and threw it.

While climbing the hills again, a tear still ran down his cheek.

The knife went through her neck, and she thudded to the ground. He ran closer, picked up the body, and carried it to his trapdoor. The knife poked through her throat. He slipped the knife out. It could cut through anything. He wiped it clean on the grass, cutting it. He sheathed it and opened the trapdoor. Underneath there was a stoney tunnel. He had cut through the rock a year before with his knife. It was called tunnel digger. There was neatly cut out stairs. He laid the woman's body on the stairs. He nailed the turf to the trapdoor so that it would close with the trapdoor. He climbed in, and closed the door. Now there was absolute darkness. Carefully, he stepped through the tunnel.

Dran had no idea how long he was in that tunnel, but what he could remember was terror. When a herd of Aurochs stampeded over his tunnel, he thought the tunnel was collapsing. And, what made it worse, was that he smelt the stink of corpse all the way. He started to think what her family would think. It brought him to tears. But, when he finally bumped his toe against the stairs on the far side's trapdoor, he was relieved. He climbed the stairs, and opened the trapdoor. He was now concealed by trees. It was night. When he stepped out of the forest, he saw the distant lights of the first stop. He walked there, slowly, while he composed a story of his slave's death. A bear had attacked her. Yes, and had gobbled her up while Dran had watched helplessly. The bear then walked away ignoring him. This was the story he told the chief. Everyone had thought it was the fear for the bear, and the grief for his slave that had drove him on. Luckily, there were no extra slaves.

* * *

The climb up the shaky ladder had been scary, but rachel had survived. When she reached the top, she saw the ship properly for the first time. All around the sides there were beautiful railing with vines carved out on them. She was standing in the middle of the ship, and to her right was the front of the ship and one of the huge masts. It had stairs leading up to the higher platform. To her left was the back and it had many stairs. On top of that, there was a big wheel. behind the wheel one of the massive masts stood. In front of her was another mast. Just looking up at it made her dizzy. The man who stood at the wheel, smiled broadly and walked down the stairs to her. He bowed low.

"Hello, I'm the captain of this ship, Captain Black Rose! And you are?" He asked. He wore a hat in the form of a ship, which he wore horizontally. He had a dark blue shirt, and a black britches.

"Rachel, and this is Elvy," Rachel said, somewhat surprised at the man's behavior.

"Now I'm sorry that the rest of the crew can't be here, but they're a bit busy. Anyway, this here is Awy, and he'll be your guide on the ship," the Captain said.

"Hello." Rachel heard a shaky voice say. "I'm Awy, and I'm going to show you around the ship."

* * *

The next day, Dran did the same. He went to his new trapdoor, and went through to the other side. All the while his reputation under these strange people grew. The only thought that drove him on was the thought of his daughter. She was sick with a deadly decease for which there was only one cure. The Grack plant, found only in the world of Sofio. It was a purple branch-like plant which was poisonous to all beings but those infected with his daughter's decease. But, the people who harvested these plants charged a lot for one dose. One thousand gold coins. The price for the victor in this race was one thousand gold coins. That was why he so desperately needed to win this race, and that was the thought driving him on.

The last day. The same as everyday. He took his tunnel shortcut, and won. He crossed the finish line first, and was crowned the fastest hiker in all the worlds. It was then that he traveled to Sofio, twenty ponies full of Grack. He was going home. His home was in Omla. a destroyed world, taken over by Esmassma, but too small to be seen as something of worth, so Esmassma had ignored it. There he got to his daughter he loved so much. She was in bed, her skin peeling off. It was there, where Dran had told her how much he loved her, and enjoyed every second with her, and his wife. It was there, while his daughter was getting well for the first time, that the Elders had called him away, since he was the fastest hiker in all the worlds.

Chapter 10: topic39097.html