I remembered my own, and how excited I was to be finally traveling with my ma and pa. Seeing my first blizzard up close and having a nice warm room in Oakhenge after. If everything went well, I could give Aria a bit of my childhood.
“Sounds fascinating! I’m looking forward to it! Mhm!” She vigorously nodded before humming a happy little tune.
I would’ve loved to hear her sing, to hear that crystal-clear voice of hers in full bloom. I knew she had a deeper songstress voice she kept in reserve, and I’d imagined her taking the stage with that.
We were making good progress, and soon we spotted the village up in the distance. I frowned a little as we neared the peak of the hill. There were black dots below us, but they weren’t moving. I tugged at Caen’s coat. Those figures didn’t look right. He pulled out a thin spyglass from his belt, extended it, and took a moment to glance down at the village. From how his expression turned from a light smile to a heavy frown, I could tell that it was serious.
“W-What’s going on?” Aria broke the silence, staring at the two of us as she finally made it to the peak.
“The church, they beat us here.” He handed his metal spyglass to me. Five. No, ten. At least a dozen men, all carrying polearms and crossbows. Chainmail. The white, black and yellow adornments of the church. Not a single villager in sight. I gulped. They were serious.
“I guess that means we’re not going sledding anymore…” Aria made a sad whimper as Caen continued business as usual.
“What if we go around?”
“It’s too low, right across there.” I pointed to the flatlands on the other side of the village. “They’ll spot us unless you want to crawl. And if we crawl, we risk getting buried by a blizzard.” I turned to the group. Caen was busy planning while Aria peeked down with a curious glance at the town. She looked like she had no idea what to do.
“The town center’s too small. There isn’t enough room for anyone to sneak around.” Caen pointed at the center of the town as I nodded. It was one open square, with minimum cover. That, and there were at least three inquisitors, with more we couldn’t see from this angle. Guess they knew defensive positions as well as we did.
“It’s starting to look like a bloody crawl,” Caen grumbled, as Aria’s lit up.
“I have an idea! Why don’t I cover us in mist?” Aria’s eyes perked up, her silver eyes swirling with excited color. “I could cover us in fog, and we’ll just walk right through! No crawling required!” She seemed pretty smug about her plan, but I had doubts.
“Okay, but will we be able to see?” I wondered out loud as Aria pointed to herself with a sly grin.
“Fear not. I’ve thought of that too. See, my mist doesn’t affect my own vision, so I’ll lead everyone past the guards. Easy!” Aria’s plan did sound solid, but Caen had to interrupt.
“You are correct, but you’re going to freeze us to death.” Aria opened her mouth to protest, but Caen continued. “You might be able to cover us with fog, but you can’t actually control the temperature of said fog. You may not freeze, but we will.”
I watched Aria’s expression slump to disappointment as I turned to Caen. There was no need to shoot down her like that.
“Hey, there’s no need to put it so bluntly!” Sometimes I got the feeling that Caen never dealt with kids, even if he was right.
Caen snapped his fingers, drawing our attention to him. “How about we put the two plans together? We’ll sneak around the side of the town. Aria, you cover us once we get to the town center. Then once we’re out we make a break for it. The blizzard will cover our footprints.”
It was a good plan, but I felt uneasy being the weak link in the chain. “That sounds good, but I’m going to be pretty useless if anything gets hairy…” I eyed my bow, but Caen was one step ahead of me. He reached into his belt before lobbing a hatchet in my direction.
Unlike the woodworking hatchets my family owned, this one had a bladed notch at the axe head. Not good at cutting trees, but great for smashing in doors, armor, and heads. I gave it a couple of testing swings. It might’ve been pretty beat up, but it swung like a charm.
“So this is a war axe? I always imagined these to be bigger for some reason.” My fingers ran across the edge.
“They won’t be expecting us, so try to go for the head. Better yet, don’t. If things go awry, you two make a dash for it.” Caen slid down the hill before I could make a rebuttal. Darn it! Why was everyone else here so…weird?
Aria looked a little unsure as I prepared to slide down. She gave me worried glances before turning away again, a worried frown on her lips.
“They’re all looking for me…and it’s my fault.”
I sighed and gave her a pat on the back. I wasn’t going to leave her on top of the hill as a nervous wreck.
“Come on. It’s not all your fault. Now let’s get this done, because we’re counting on you.” I tried to give the best smile I could, because this was not the time to have doubts. I spotted a mischievous grin. She was fine! I felt her fingers on my arms, directing me to give her head pats. I gave her head pats, because I was too stunned to do anything else.
“Ehehe, all better!” I felt a blush on my cheeks as she let out a giggle.
“We’re about to walk into combat. Could you be serious!” I shouted, only to feel one of her slender fingers on my lips.
“Shh. They’ll hear us.” She didn’t lift the finger, continuing as her shining eyes solidified into a forceful light.
“I assure you, Charlotte. I am quite serious, and by the Trinity I will keep you safe. I…just sometimes want head pats too.” She lifted the finger from my lips as I let out a resigned sigh.
“Fine.” I ruffled her hair as she leaned into me with a soft, satisfied murmur. “Has anyone told you that you’re like a cat? Or a fox? Whichever one causes more trouble?”
“Oh please,” she began and I spotted Caen looking up at the two of us. He looked pretty annoyed. “Most people are either terrified of me, or treat me like a doll to be protected. None of them lead to anything good.”
I guess that made me falling for her eyes less embarrassing, but only slightly.
With a low crouch, the two of us slid down the hill, one careful step at a time. Soon enough we were at the bottom, still some good distance from the town. Caen was primed and ready for the approach, sword in hand.
It was the first time that I had seen one unsheathed and up close, and it was a beautiful thing. A metal extension of the man’s arm that cut off at a cross guard of ashen steel. Silver engrains swirled around the cross guard and pommel, while blue leather wrapped around the handle. Finally, there rested a large steel pommel with no jewels of any kind. It almost looked like a tiny hammer on the end of his sword.
“That’s so cool…a sword,” I said as Caen turned to me, first in surprise then with a slight smile. Swords were rare weapons, seen as outdated by some and romanticized by others. Didn’t help that every story about dragon riders I read included some fantastical sword in the plot.
“It’s a nice piece to have…even if I think they’re a bit overblown.” Caen gave his weapon a boastful twirl as I watched Aria rush to our side. “There’s a reason that most inquisitors carry a poleaxe. Most of the time, it’s a better weapon,” he remarked as I felt Aria’s head poke up right over my shoulder. She was like an ice block encroaching upon my neck.
“Not today?” I pulled out my axe as he nodded, our group beginning to scurry onward.
“Not today.”
The town was quiet. Caen was a good tracker, as he scouted ahead and relayed info about the guards with quick finger gestures. As we were hugging the houses, we could hear rustling, and even living people shuffling about. Even the occasional cry of young children. Aria must have aroused the ire of someone truly powerful for them to lock down an entire town.
