Ascension (7 page)

My eyes were soaking up every detail
of the horse, memorizing each curve of its muscular frame, every
glimmer in its shining pelt. When I finally was able to remove my
gaze from the horse, I turned it to the mule. This creature was
more comical than majestic, with tall ears and a short mane that
stood straight up. It was a rich rust color, with a big splotch of
white on its nose. As I walked up to it, it swiftly came up to me,
pressing its nose into my hand and flexing its lips over my
fingers.

“
Ahh!
What
’
s it
doing?
”
I yelped, yanking my hand back
and checking it for all five fingers.

“
He
’
s just looking for a snack is
all. Hey, it looks like he found some! Atta boy,
Samuel!
”

I turned around
to find the mule
’
s head in my bag, pulling out the carrots I had packed for
myself.
“
Hey, give those back!
”
I yelled, jumping forward and grabbing the
carrots by the leaves. Fighting against the mule for the carrots, I
finally gave up when I felt his drool dip down the carrots and onto
my arm.

“
Yuck!”
I
exclaimed, shaking my hands towards Croxley, purposefully flinging
the goo in his direction. He dodged, but I still managed to get
some in his hair, which he picked out and flung towards the
ground.
“
What did you call him,
”
I asked as I was wiping the rest of the drool
off my hands onto my shift.
“
Samuel?
”

“
Yeah. It
’
s really a bad joke. Get it, Sam
the Mule? But good
‘
ol Sam
doesn
’
t mind,
do ya boy?
”
Croxley reached out and gave
Sam a hard pat on the shoulder, and I watched as a cloud of dust
rose from his coat. Croxley returned to loading his gear onto to
the horse
’
s
back, and I slowly crept up behind him, getting as close as I dared
to this intimidating animal.

“
And the horse?
What is its name?
”

“
This
isn
’
t just any
horse, it
’
s a
stallion. And he happens to be named Sir Thunderclap
Firebolt.
”

I stared at him
in disbelief.
“
There is no way
I
’
m calling him
Sir Thunderbolt Firespout, or whatever it is, even if he is a
stallion
…
by the way, what exactly is a
stallion?
”

“
Well, basically,
he hasn
’
t had
his manhood removed. So, like me, this handsome guy can get to all
the women he wants.
”
He looked back
towards me, standing in a position I assumed was supposed to be
impressive, but with traces of mule drool still dripping from his
hair and dirt from the tunnels dusting his clothes, I
couldn
’
t help
but laugh. And once I started, I couldn
’
t stop. I felt like all the
stress from the day seemed to be escaping with every laugh, and so
I let myself go into the moment of joy, knowing that my high
spirits probably wouldn
’
t last.

“
What are you
laughing at?
”
He frowned at me,
tightening the strap around Sir Thunder
’
s waist. I tried to answer,
pointing to his hair, but each laugh was pulling me closer and
closer to the ground, until I was sitting there, breathless,
hiccups interrupting my slowing chuckles. He sighed and rolled his
eyes.
“
Fine. You just sit there while I
load up all of the rest of our supplies on Sam, and then we are
leaving.
”

Ξ

Croxley had us walk Sam and Sir
Thunder, which was my nickname for the stallion, through the last
length of tunnel. It had gotten much brighter to the point where we
no longer needed the lantern. I felt my legs tremble with
excitement, my imagination aflame with all the new information
Croxley had given me, mixed with what I had already known
before.

As we left the tunnel, the sudden
light attacked my eyes, and I shielded them against the sensory
onslaught. Blinking rapidly, I tried to clear the blinding glare of
the sun out of my eyes. While they were still clearing, my ears
picked up on a confusing array of sounds. My mind supplied me with
a few answers, telling me that the soft whispers I heard was the
wind, and the subtle babbling was water flowing over rocks. Others
were lost to me, like the high-pitched whistles echoing through the
forest. To add to the overstimulation, my poor nose, used to the
slightly metallic smell of the mines and the stale air of the
caves, was suddenly attacked by a wide array of scents. It reminded
me of when we would till the garden underground, revealing the dark
soil and sprinkling it with animal dung, but on a much larger
scale.

“
Welcome to
Ahrenia! Don
’
t
worry, you
’
ll
get used to the sun. It just takes a few minutes.
”
Croxley had been walking in front of me, but now
I could barely make out his shape.

“
Will the sun
always do this? I can
’
t see a thing!
”
I stretched my
hands out and grabbed onto Sam to keep me from
tripping.

“
Excuse me, what
are you doing,
”
Croxley said, and I feel
his mouth move under my hand.

I squinted,
mortified upon the realization that I had placed my hands directly
atop Croxley
’
s
head.
“
Oh! Sorry! I thought you were the
mule!
”

“
Is that supposed
to be an insult?
”
He teased, pretending
to be offended.
“No matter. Don
’
t cover your eyes, it will only
make the process much longer. Just keep them open and
they
’
ll
adjust.
”

Gradually, through squinted eyes, my
vision returned until I could make out my surroundings. I was
flooded with colors, so many different shades of greens and browns,
and even some reds and yellows. The assault on my senses left me
feeling strangely vulnerable. Used to having the walls of the earth
to protect me, being out in the open instilled me with a fresh
sense of fear and vulnerability alongside a renewed vigor for
adventure.

“
I thought that
trees were supposed to be green. Why do these have red and orange
leaves?
”
I walked up to a tree and rubbed
its leaves between my fingers. The underside was soft, velvety,
while the upper side was waxy. It broke off in my hand, and I
gasped.
“Oh no! I
’
m sorry, I didn
’
t mean to do that! What's gonna
happen? Is it going to die?
”

Croxley chuckled
and removed another leaf. I gaped at him, distressed for this giant
plant we were slowly torturing.
“Don
’
t worry. I don
’
t think losing a few leaves has
ever caused a tree to die. Besides, this one looks like
it
’
s about to
lose its leaves anyways.
”

“
Why? Is it
sick?
”
Concerned for the
tree
’
s health,
I inspected its thick trunk, troubled by the bits of bark peeling
off.

“
Hardly. It
’
s just changing seasons.
It
’
s autumn,
which is when many trees lose their leaves to prepare for winter.
Before the leaves fall, they change colors. It
’
s really quite
beautiful.
”

“
Oh.”
That was
all I could muster. I looked around and saw many different types of
trees losing their leaves, alongside trees that had long, sharp,
dark green needles coming out where the leaves should be. There
seemed to be plants of every size and color. Some of them even had
flowers, which were like nothing I had ever seen before. While
scanning the landscape in front of me, my eyes suddenly stopped on
a bush with small white berries. My mouth began to water as my mind
processed what it was seeing. I was accustomed to a few kinds of
tubers and vegetables, but underground we couldn
’
t grow fruit. The sweetest
things we had to eat were carrots. I examined the bush, wondering
how they would taste. Croxley must have noticed, because he called
out a warning.

“
I
wouldn
’
t touch
those if I were you, Fara. Those are poisonous.
”
My spirits deflated, and I wondered if I would ever be able
to taste the food that had always made my stomach rumble when
learning about them in my mother
’
s classes. While I was lamenting
my lack of berries, Croxley jumped up on Sir Thunder, making it
look effortless. He looked back at me as if he expected me to do
the same.

Sam and I just
stared at each other. I hadn
’
t the slightest idea how I was
going to get on.
“Um, pardon me, Sam. I
’
m just gonna climb up on you
now.
”
As I tried to pull myself up, Sam
moved forward, causing me to lose my balance.
“
Just hold still!
”
With an effort,
I jumped up and landed with my stomach laying across his back.
Okay, I was on the mule, but now what? Swinging my body around, I
tried to sit up, but my tunic wouldn
’
t let my legs split. Shooting a
look at Croxley, I noticed he was watching me with an amused grin
pasted on his smug face. I scowled and he turned and urged Sir
Thunder forward.

Abandoning all
modesty, I hitched my frock
’
s skirt above my knees and put
my legs on both sides.
“Go on. Walk. Move. Forward, Sam.
Go!”
My efforts were useless. Sam just sat
there, chewing on some grass.

“
Just kick him in
the sides,
”
Croxley called back to
me.

Kick him in the
sides? I was suspicious that Croxley was trying to get me thrown
off, but I wasn
’
t having any success my way, so I lightly tapped Sam with
my heels. Not surprisingly, he didn
’
t move.

“
Harder! He would
have felt a fly before feeling that kick!
”
Croxley called back, having turned Sir Thunder around to
watch me struggle.

“
Um, okay. Sorry, Sam!”
With more power this time, I kicked him and was nearly
thrown off his back when he surged forward.
“Ahhh!!!”

“
Fara, come
back!
”
Laughing, Croxley kicked Sir
Thunder into a run to catch up to us. I grabbed onto
Sam
’
s neck as
he slowed down to a more leisurely pace, while Sir Thunder settled
beside us. Sam just huffed and resumed chewing on the grass he
still had in his mouth.

“
See?
Easy!
”

I shot him a
glare.
“
Alright, I will admit this is
somewhat enjoyable.
”
I tried to let my
hips sway to the rhythm of Sam
’
s gait, finding it a bit more
comfortable as I grew more relaxed. After a while, though, I could
feel a pain radiating from my tailbone into my hips.
“
How long until we get to the capital? A few
hours?
”
I asked
Croxley.

“
Try a few
days,
”
he called back over his
shoulder.

My shock must
have been obvious, because he continued with,
“Don
’
t worry, time
flies much faster here than in the tunnels.
”

Wondering what I
had signed myself up for, I realized that I really
didn
’
t think it
through before running off. Hoping that I could find a way to help
my people, I resigned myself to a long journey.

“
This
isn
’
t so bad,
is it?
”
I patted Sam on the neck as I
gave one last glance towards the cave before it disappeared into
the forest.

Chapter
8

This was bad. I
don
’
t think I
have ever been in this much pain. After riding all day, I felt like
I would never be able to sit again. When Croxley finally announced
it was time to set up camp, I groaned with relief and nearly threw
myself off of Sam. Rubbing my sore end, I was baffled at
Croxley
’
s
ability to slide off Sir Thunder so gracefully, not seeming to have
any ill effects from the long ride.