NightStars

part vi

The smell of food and the soft thunk of dishes hitting the table awoke him from his doze.

When he sat up and opened his eyes he saw one of the most amazing sights ever.

A stuffed turkey sitting in front of him, carved and calling his name. Next to it sat a huge tureen full of orangey soup. Just left of that was a basket of colossal rolls and a steaming bowl of mashed potatoes.

Jasper thought he was going to start drooling.

Slagen handed them all plates and goblets full of a drink that didn’t completely process in Jasper’s mind.

He grabbed a turkey wing and bit off a chunk of meat. It was nice and tender and fatty juice spilled into his mouth. He chewed slowly, savoring the taste of hot food as it flowed down his throat.

After trying some turkey he sampled the orange soup. It was very creamy and tangy. It set of an explosion in his mouth. The combination of flavor was very strange. It tasted like cinnamon, nutmeg, and vegetables all at the same time. He wolfed down a bowl and tried a roll. The outside was crusty but the inside was soft and chewy. They tasted like normal bread, but they were warm. Jasper had had enough of bread over the last few days so he preceded to the potatoes. They were steaming hot and he nearly burned his tongue on the first bite. The potatoes were creamy and had just enough salt and butter on the top to give them an excellent taste.

He smacked his lips and licked his fingers appreciatively. He glanced over at Justin who had had even more to eat then he had had and was working on more of the exotic soup.

Jasper took a sip from his goblet and almost gagged at the bitter taste. He looked down and saw the dark purple liquid. Wine. It was probably his least favorite drink of all (even more so then buttermilk and that was saying a lot).

With a great effort Jasper swallowed the drink and took another bite of potatoes in order to wash the nauseating taste out of his mouth.    

Jasper sat back as far as he could (without falling off the bench) and yawned. His stomach felt bloated from all of the amazing food he had just eaten. Eating always made him feel sleepy.

He felt his eyes lids sagging but then he heard Slagen clear his throat.

“Well, now that you’ve all eaten, what is going on?” he asked.

Aliastra looked at Justin and Justin started from the very beginning. He didn’t leave out one little detail except the dreams about the girl. He wasn’t quite sure why he left this out but it didn’t seem right to tell them somehow.

When his story was finished Slagen sat in stunned silence for a few minutes and then he turned to Aliastra, “Well, I think you know where we have to go then.”
            She nodded.

“Where?” Jasper asked.

Aliastra shook her head, “It’s kind of hard to explain but basically it’s the only safe place for Justin. It’s the only place where his father can’t get him.”

“I don’t understand why my father wants to kill me so badly.” Justin told her.

“ I think it started off a long time ago when Slagen, your father, and I went on a journey all across Callidra and Spitzberg. When we reached Latheria Forest (which is in Spitzberg) we came across a group of people who were scared at our arrival and so they captured us and took us back to their world.”

“What do you mean their world?” Jasper asked.

“They live in a magical place between two worlds that can be accessed only with a mineral called Akonyte and usually appears in the form of a golden jewel…” she explained while her voice trailed off.

Justin stared at his knife, “You mean that this knife is like a key into the other world?”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Aliastra told him,
            “But that still doesn’t explain why he wants to kill me,” Justin persisted.

“Well you see, while we were there we were able to visit their gigantic library and we read about a prophecy concerning their world. It also concerned you, your father, and your mother. Their child was going to be the next king of their minor world,” she explained.

Justin stared at her, “Are you saying that I’m their king?”

Aliastra nodded.

“But that still doesn’t completely explain why my father wants to kill me!” Justin groaned, exasperatedly.

“Well, the prophecy also explained that if the child was to die then the closest male heir would take his place. If, somehow your mother died just after you were born, so she wouldn’t have anymore children and then you died he would become king.”

            “Are you saying my dad killed my mom?” Justin shrieked.

            Aliastra shrugged, “I don’t know, it’s hard to say because she was sick at the time and your father loved your mother very much. I think that’s why he’s kept you alive this long.”

            Justin’s stomach tightened, “How would that keep me alive?”

            “I have two guesses,” Aliastra told him, “One that your mother asked your father to take care of you until you grew up or that you reminded him of her so much that he wanted to keep you as long as he could.”

            Justin thought this over, “So, why did he try to kill me when I took the knife?”

            “He probably thought that had discovered who you are meant to be and then he jumped to the unfortunate conclusion that you were running off to Latheria Forest with his knife so you could go to the other world.”

            Justin thought this over, “So, we’re going to Spitzberg?”

            Aliastra nodded.

            “When are we leaving?” asked Jasper.

            “Not for another day, at least,” Aliastra yawned.

            “Tired?” Slagen asked.

            Without waiting for an answer he brought then through another doorway up a flight of stairs and into two attic bedrooms (Jasper and Justin shared.)

            Aliastra was so tired from non-stop traveling and little food she fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

            Jasper fell asleep pretty fast too, but Justin lay awake thinking it all over. It made sense, but it still felt weird to think that he was going to be a king soon and that his knife opened a gate to another world.

            His mind wandered back to the bizarre dreams he had had. Could the strange girl some how have been from the land that only he could reach?

            Justin shut his eyes, hoping to find answers in his dreams.

            He was right.

            The image of the girl reappeared in his mind. He almost wanted the dream to end quickly because he couldn’t stand to see that man attacking her again.

            But as he watched she pulled a stick off of a tree and wrote in the dirt, Hello, my name is Chamonix. It is pronounced Shom-a-nee.

            Justin stared at what she had written and she smiled as the dream imploded into darkness.

            He knew he was awake but he didn’t have the energy to move at all… so he said to himself, so quietly he could hardly hear it, “Chamonix.”

            And his mind wandered back into dreamless sleep.

            The smell of sizzling bacon awoke him. It was past dawn because behind the covered window light was visible.

            Jasper was still slumped on the floor, snoring, his head half on a pillow that lay on the floor and his feet resting on the edge of the bed.

            Justin quietly stepped over Jasper and walked back out to find Slagen, puffy eyed, pale, and looking a little punch drunk setting a plate of eggs, bacon, and a tin of biscuits on the table along with three more glass full of milk and one full of hot tea.

            Slagen grunted and rubbed his eyes.

            “Um, are you okay?” Justin asked.

            Slagen just grunted.

            Justin didn’t need telling twice. He dug into the eggs, bacon, biscuits, and milk immediately.

            By the time he had dug into his second helping of delicious, crispy, salty, warm bacon, Jasper had gotten up. He looked pretty tired.

            He sat down next to Justin and started wolfing down semi-warm salty scrambled eggs.

            Slagen grunted at his entrance.

            “What’s up with him?” Jasper whispered.

            Justin shrugged, “I think he might have a hangover.”

            Jasper wolfed down some more eggs and started on the bacon.

            Justin nibbled on a biscuit, thinking about Chamonix mostly.

            He finished his breakfast and waited for Jasper, then the two of them went back to their room.

            “What’s up with him?” Jasper asked.

            “I think he had a bit too much to drink last night,” Justin decided.

            Justin flung himself back on his bed and stared up at the plain ceiling.

            “I can’t believe what happened last night!” Jasper muttered.

            “Yeah, it’s really…weird…”Justin replied.

            “Jasper, Justin, come back in here,” Aliastra’s voice yelled from somewhere on the other side of the door.

            The two of them ran over, Jasper tripping over Justin in the process.

            They finally managed to wrench the door open and dash out into the private back kitchen.

            Aliastra was eating and Slagen was drinking a mug of tea.

            “Okay, so I’ve been thinking,” Aliastra told them, “We’re going to have to leave by tomorrow morning, at the very latest. I think you both have all of your stuff together, right?”

            They both nodded.

            “Excellent, well you’ll need a spare set of clothes and I think I can find you both some, but that’s not the real point,” she explained.

            She pulled a scroll from somewhere under the table and unraveled the rough, yellowing parchment. It was a map of Callidra and Spitzberg, viewed joined with a light boarder line separating the two of them.         

            Aliastra pointed at a black dot marked Applebensmittel, “This is where we are, and,” she pointed to a few green splotches on the map, “this is about where we need to go. We need to find the fastest and safest root that we can.”

            Jasper touched the dot marked Applebensmittel and traced his fingers across into Spitzberg, “If we cross the boarder now we’ll nearly be at Latheria forest!”

            “Bad idea,” Slagen told him, “Kagen’s got some pretty good friends in Spitzberg who are all probably patrolling the boarder. Any way it’s almost impossible to sneak past those guards, because the boarder is separated by a wall and you’ve got guards on both sides. But I do have an idea, the only place where they don’t check everyone’s identification is at the river.”

            “But they still look,” Aliastra added.

            “Well, when your on the boat they check to make sure you have a ticket or some paper that says you’ve paid to ride the boat to Spitzberg.”

            “We can’t buy tickets, they’ll find me for sure!” Justin interjected.

            “Well, why don’t we sneak on a ship then?” Slagen persisted.

            Aliastra looked at him, “You know that’s actually not that bad of an idea, assuming we can find a ship that can hide us and that we can sneak aboard.”

            “I’m still working on that,” Slagen explained and gulped down a mouthful of tea.

            Justin turned to Jasper who was looking a bit green, “Do we have to go by the river?” Jasper asked.

            Aliastra nodded.

            “Um, I’m going to, get our stuff together,” Jasper mumbled as he dashed to their room.

            Justin followed him, but found that Jasper had locked the door.

            “Jasper, come on, open!” he barked.

            There was the sound of the lock being turned and Jasper opened the door, “Come on,” he grunted, and Justin followed him in.

            “Sorry,” Jasper muttered.

            Justin didn’t say anything. How could he have been so stupid?! Jasper was one of the bravest people he knew but when it came to water Jasper could hardly breathe for fear.

            He had never really know why, but never asked.

            “I’m sorry,” Justin said awkwardly, “I completely forgot you were afraid of water.”
            “It’s okay,” Jasper choked, “I’ll just have to conquer my fear.”
            “That’s the spirit!” Justin encouraged and slapped Jasper on the back in a friendly sort of way.

            Jasper smiled, “I think all of our stuff is together.”

            Justin shrugged, “You know, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”         

            “Sorry but it’s too late to talk me out of this,” Jasper reassured him.

Part V

   Jasper, Justin get up, someone hissed through the darkness.

Justin sat bolt up right and drew his knife.

     It’s just me! the voice said.

A golden light appeared, illuminating Aliastra’s face.

Come on! she hissed, we’ve got to get moving before it gets too light!

Justin leapt to his feet. Jasper rolled over.

Jasper, get up! Justin snapped.

Don’t wanna! Jasper grunted.

With the help of Aliastra Justin pulled Jasper to his feet.

By the light of the lantern Justin could see that Aliastra was masquerading as a boy, which would be useful because they had Noel Ysan’s identity card.

Aliastra’s red hair was hidden by a black three cornered hat. She also wore a brown jerkin and a pale tunic with brown leggings and black boots. She looked like she was Justin’s older brother.

Got everything? she asked.

Yep, Justin told her.

Come on, she said, prying the bolt of the door and easing the door open.

They slipped out into the early dawn. The sun had not yet peeked over the tops of the distant mountains.

Aliastra beckoned them down the road, and after they came to the end they turned right, left, and left again, until finally the reached the outer boarders of the city. By now the sun was just casting it’s first warm golden glows over the city.

Good mornin sir, the guard said, might I see you identification?

Aliastra handed over the paper about Noel Ysan.

Well, Mr. Ysan, these boys don’t have any identification do they? he asked, skeptically.

Aliastra shook her head.

Oh, find, ‘ave it your way, go on, the guard mumbled, stepping aside.

When Justin passed the guard stopped him.

You look bloody familiar boy, the guard told him.

Do I? asked Justin.

Yeah, you look an awful lot like that boy they’s all been looking for,” the guard whispered.

Do I? repeated Justin, stupidly.

Yes, and you know what I think boy? the guard whispered. He had Justin by the scruff of the neck and was bringing Justin’s ear closer to his mouth, I think you is that boy and I get 1000 gold piece if’n I catch you.

Something very hard and cold was being poked into the small of Justin’s back. It was a sword.

Now, Mr. Eelie, if you would just come with me, he hissed, pressing the dagger into his back harder to emphasize the point.

There was a loud crunch and a soft thud. Suddenly, the guard’s grip slackened and the guard keeled over.

Aliastra stood just behind him holding a huge plank of wood, looking very please with herself.

Come on! Jasper yelled, before someone else comes.

The three cut into the forest again, but Aliastra told them to get far in so the trees could cover their escape.

The trees were a lot thicker here. They were mostly oak with a few bristle cone pine trees. The long, pointy needle clawed at their faces as they pushed through the dense, dark forest. Branches snagged at their cloaks and faces trying to pull them back into the darkness behind them.

Once they couldn’t see where they put their feet Aliastra decided it was time to stop. Jasper just flopped down where he was standing and fell asleep almost as soon as he lay down. Aliastra moved to a sheltered clump of bushes a bit farther away from where Jasper lay.

Justin wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to sleep. He didn’t think he could stand to see the man hurting the girl. He carefully lay down farther away from Aliastra and Jasper, just in case he woke up again.

Justin was very lucky that night. He didn’t have any dreams, except for one that consisted of him eating a very large and expensive looking pastry. When he had finished it, his dreams dissolved into black.

Weak sunlight oozed in through the tree branches and ominous black clouds that obscured the sky.

Aliastra wouldn’t let them stop too long anywhere. She was convinced a storm was coming and she was right.

At about six or seven o’clock it started pouring. Justin’s cloak was soaked through within minutes. Aliastra took off her hat to save it from the vicious rain and was therefore drenched. Jasper seemed to have gotten off better then anyone else, probably because his cloak was the thickest and warmest.  

They tramped through the rain for the rest of the day and well into the night. When it stopped none of them really wanted to rest for the night, so they continued until day break. By that time even Aliastra was too exhausted to keep going.

Justin found a tight thicket of trees where it wasn’t as wet and slept. No dreams came.

They slept until noon the next day. Justin was beginning to take this mundane life of sleeping when they could, eating when they could, and walking for the rest of the time.

After about an hour in silence Jasper posed the question that Justin had been wondering for quite some time now.

How much farther until we get to your friend’s house? he asked Aliastra. 

We should at least get in the city by nightfall. I can’t say how far it will be to his place, she explained, and there is still the problem with Justin. I don’t know what we’re going to do because those guards aren’t as stupid as we thought. They’ll do anything for money and it looks like you’ve got a nice price on your head Justin. Two thousand gold pieces and three hundred silver pieces.

Justin gulped. He knew perfectly well that his father possessed all that money.

Um well I dunno, Justin mumbled.

Aliastra sighed and shook her head, Well, do you have an idea?

Sorry no, snapped Justin.

Well, Jasper muttered, I’ve got a short of an idea, and I don’t know if it will work, but we could try.

*    *   *

Justin shook his head in disgust. This was going to be very tricky.

He waited right on the edge of the wall just out of sight of the guard. Aliastra walked up to him and said, Good evening general, as she handed him Noel Ysan’s paper.

He opened the gate but when he turned around Aliastra was still standing there, I’m just saying, she told him, this wood looks like it’s rotten, that won’t be much help against foreign invaders, will it?

The guard looked puzzled, but then said, It doesn’t look rotten.

While Aliastra was rambling on about rotten wood Jasper and Justin slipped through the open gate behind the guard’s back. When Aliastra saw that they had made it through safely she said, You know I think you were right, this wood isn’t very rotten at all. And she left the confused guard staring at the wall.

That was close, she hissed at them when she got in, we’re not doing that again unless we absolutely have to!

Jasper made a face and Aliastra rolled her eyes.

Appvögel was quite big. Seven streets split off from the gate and those split of into even tinier streets. The streets themselves were quite empty but the taverns and pubs that lined them were light up and buzzing with noise, glasses clinking, and chewing.

Aliastra took the road in the center and took the third side street that split off of that one. From there she stopped at the fourth building and stopped at edge of the property to read the sign that hung above the door. It said: La Maison de Nourriture and in the bottom left hand corner in thicker, sloppier handwriting it read: Slagen.

Aliastra pushed open the wooden door. Immediately the stench of smoke wafted up to Justin’s nose, making him gag.

Jasper poked Justin in the ribs, Keep your hood up.

Justin nodded and did so.

The pub was crowded. Seven long wooden tables stood in the middle groaning under the weight of  at least fifty people, who were all laughing, talking, drinking, smoking, eating, and having an all around good time.

A few people were blowing on some old decrepit flutes and other people were tapping their feet to the music and even a few were dancing.

Aliastra threaded her way though the thick mass of tables over to the back counter and tapped tentatively on it.

A man who’s curly gray haired head was burred in heaping mug of ale turned around. He wore grimy spectacles, a plain white shirt and brown pants, but when he saw Aliastra he dropped the mug. It splattered on to the floor and the ale went everywhere, but the man didn’t seem to notice.

Aliastra smiled, Hello Slagen.

The man choked on his words for a few minutes and then he whispered, Aliastra?

She nodded.

He motioned with his head to follow him back behind the counter and the three of them obliged.

They followed Slagen through a door that he unlocked and dull, rusted brass key. It opened up into a back room with a smaller table lined by benches on other sides. A fire burned listlessly in a stone grate adjacent to the table. Just behind the table stood a window over looking the black night outside. Under the window sat a moth eaten mattress covered by an equally moth eaten blanket and topped off with an extremely moth eaten pillow. The pillow’s stuffing was also trickling out of the top left corner.

Slagen motioned for them to sit down at the table, Are you all hungry? he asked.

The three of them nodded vigorously.

I’ll be back with some food in a few minutes, make yourselves at home, he invited.

Jasper and Justin ran over to the table and both sat down. Jasper laid his head down on the rough, polished wood and Justin started twirling his knife between his fingers.

Aliastra waltzed over to the mantle piece above the fire in a dream like state. She pulled a small red book off of the top and flicked through it.

Jasper’s eyelids began to droop and he dozed off in a state of semi-consciousness. He was aware of something solid beneath him and an alive something next to him.

He drifted off into a few brief moments of uneasy sleep.

part iii

They trudged off the road into the thick forest. It was cool and breezy. Shafts of gold lights fell through the boughs of the trees.

            When they reached the decided trees Justin spread his cloak out underneath him and fell fast asleep.

            He certainly sleeps a lot, thought Jasper.

            Jasper undid the straps of his pack and pulled out a gold and red apple. He bit into it.

            The crisp, sweet, refreshing taste filled his mouth. Juice leaked out from the corners of his mouth, where he mopped them up with his tongue.

            He chewed slowly, as the leathery skin rubbed over his tongue.

            The sun was now fully over the mountains and the night broke into day. Sun light illuminated the dark forest.

            After he had finished the apple, it suddenly hit Jasper what they had forgotten. Water.   

            It won’t be too much of a problem, he thought, there’s bound to be a spring somewhere round here.

            It turned out that Jasper was right. There was a fresh water spring only a few yards from their measly camp.

            He sipped the ice cold water and splashed some in his face.

            Jasper retreated back to camp and curled up on his cloak. He too, was fast asleep.

            Jasper wasn’t totally sure what woke him, but something did. It was warmer and the sun was brighter. He stretched and shielded his eyes from the blinding rays of sunlight that flittered through the tree’s low boughs.

            He shook Justin gently. Justin groaned and rolled over, “Don’t wanna get up!”

            “Come on Justin!” Jasper begged, “It’s just past midday, you’ve slept way too much already.”

            Justin sat up. Jasper thought he looked terrible. His cheeks some how looked hollowed and the color was draining from his face. Crinkles and shadows were forming under his eyes and his normally spiky blonde hair was matted.

            “Are you okay?” Jasper asked.

            “I feel awful! All achy and exhausted. Which is weird because I just slept about six hours and I normally sleep less at home.” Justin grunted.

            Jasper pressed a hand to Justin’s forehead. He wasn’t hot at all, not even sweating.

            “Can you get up?” he asked.

            Justin slowly stood up.

            “Are you thirsty?” asked Jasper.

            Justin shook his head.

            Jasper was very confused, but they could waste time now. It was even more important that they got to a place they could stay so Justin could be looked after.

            The two decided that, because it was just past mid day, that it would be a good idea to try and cut across in the forest.

            After trekking over a barren hill that the sun beat down on mercilessly they came to a small forest. It was full of oak mostly. Strange plants grew throughout it and they found a little stream that trickled down the opposite side of the hill.

            Just past the stream they found a field of dewy, cold green plants. Jasper’s feet were aching and boiling. He slid off his shoes and sock and carried them in his left hand.

            The cold, chilly, wet plant felt so wonderful his feet seemed to sigh in appreciation.

            It’s like taking a hot bath after you’ve been out for a few hours in a freezing cold snow storm, but the exact opposite.

            “I’d watch out for the queen snakes if I were you,” Justin warned.

            “There’s not such a thing as a queen snake!” interjected Jasper.

            “There is, and it’s poison too,” Justin taunted.

            “I never heard of a queen snake,” snapped Jasper, who was carefully placing his feet on queen snake free ground.

            “That’s cause you never took lessons like I did,” Justin reminded him.

            “Hey! I took a few!” Jasper shrieked, “What does them queen snakes look like?”

            “They look like ordinary garden snakes,” Justin lied, “but they’re as poisonous as coral snakes.”

            “’Ow can you tell the difference?” Jasper demanded.

            “You can’t till they bite you!” Justin teased.

            Jasper looked positively alarmed now.

            “The only difference they have from those garden snakes is that they have really dark gray spots on their back, and you can only tell when it bites you. Those spots are the last thing that you will ever see.” Justin told him, evilly.

            Jasper sat down in the middle of a snake free plant bead and pulled his shoes back on. 

            “Those shoes won’t help much,” Justin groaned, “The queen’s snake’s teeth are so sharp it can bite through leather.”

Jaspers stomach twisted into several swollen knots.

            They left the forest as the sun was setting. By now they were entirely off the little hill and back in shallow wood on the road’s boarders.

            As soon as the sun went down Jasper and Justin returned to the road.

            “Do you think you can travel all day and night tomorrow?” Jasper asked.

            Justin looked a bit uneasy, “I dunno, I’ll definitely be able to do all day, but I don’t know about all night.”

            “If we keep going for twenty four hours we’ll be to the next city soon,” Jasper reassured.

            “Which one’s that?” Justin asked.

            “It’s called Appkritik.” Jasper explained.

            “Appkritk, that means, in ancient Callidrinean, the city of music.” Justin muttered.

            “I still can’t figure out how you get all that stuff,” Jasper groaned.

            “It’s easy,” Justin explained, “App- is the prefix that means, ‘the city’ and kritik means music. If you combine them you get the city of music.”

            Jasper started muttering darkly under his breathe, but them he said, “You know you still haven’t decided where we’re going.”

        “Yeah, I was thinking about that,” Justin told him, “how
about my aunt?
 She lives in Apptaucha. It’s the city just after Appkritik.
She’s a blacksmith, so I
 thought she could help us get some work so we can make
our own way.”

            “Fair enough,” Jasper agreed, “What does Apptaucha mean in old Callidrinean?”

        Justin thought for a moment, “Well ‘tauchen’ is a verb that means to
trade, so conjugated Apptaucha would mean the city of trade.”
               “I’m so happy they got rid of all that old Callidrinean before I was
born,” Jasper grunted.

            Justin yawned, “Well, you’d better hope we don’t go to Spitzberg, their language is twice as complex as old Callidrinean, because their language is adapter straight from Farjian.”

            “What in the name of Princess Telwyn is Farjian?” Jasper moaned.

            “It’s the language both countries use to speak before they broke off into two separate countries,” Justin explained.  

            Jasper shook his head, “I hate history. It’s so boring!”

            Justin nodded, “But it can be interesting if you try and make it interesting.”

            A damp breeze blew across the hills, ruffling their hair and cloaks.

            Justin suddenly stopped.

            “Are you okay?” asked Jasper.

            “HIDE!” squeaked Justin.

            “What?” snapped Jasper.

            “Just hide and fast!” hissed Justin.

            Jasper was alarmed but never the less sprinted up to a patch of shrubs and ducked down behind them.

            Justin spotted a rocky outcropping and dove under and over hanging rock.

            It was then that they heard the clopping of hooves coming from the road. But they didn’t continue down the road. They stopped right by where they were hiding.

            They heard the sound of feet connecting with ground and then footsteps walking right for them.

            The heavy footfalls walked past them and stopped right on the hill that they had just been walking on. Justin could hear the footstep retreating up the hill. He was suddenly seized by a sudden epiphany.

            He motioned to Jasper to follow him. Silently they dashed out on to the road. Justin and Jasper climbed up onto the horse’s back and Jasper gave it a good sharp kick in the flanks.

            It began galloping off down the road, bearing Justin and Jasper on it’s back.

            The man who had been looking for them heard his horse galloping down the road and chased after it, but eventually lost sight at dawn.

            At day break Jasper and Justin were both exhausted from the night’s ride and camped in the forest far out of the road’s sight.

            They tethered the horse next to them while they ate crusty bread.

            “How did you know?” Jasper asked.

            “Know what?” replied Justin.

            “That that man was coming to look for us?” Jasper inquired.

            “I dunno, I just knew. There was something…evil on that wind. It was so terrible I knew something bad was coming.” Justin explained.

            Jasper didn’t totally understand what he meant so he took a bite of the crusty bread and said, “We should find some water.”

            Justin pointed to the horse’s saddle bags, “There’s some in there.”

            One further inspection of the saddle bags, Jasper and Justin found almost thirty gold pieces, three canteens of water, and a few sandwiches. The sandwiches were hot and starting to smell, but they ate them anyway. There was also a sword, dagger, a black vest, a cloak, fresh horse shoes, and most importantly identification papers. The man’s name was Noel Ysan, he was 25 years old, and was natively from Appvögel, which lay south east of their city.

            After they had gone through the saddle bags and finished their food they continued on their way, riding the horse.

            Justin kept his hood up as their horse trotted down the road, but even so he was terrified every time they passed someone.

            They only thing that kept Justin going was sleep. Every half an hour he would nod off for a while until something woke him up. Jasper kept the horse going until it was too dark to see anything.

            They camped by the side of the road again. Justin was so tired he didn’t even bother to eat dinner.

            Jasper could hardly sleep. They would reach Appkritik, so they could resupply if needed and maybe get a fast ride to the next city. He also wanted to see if someone could look over Justin, because he still looked thin, hollowed, and the creases and shadows under his eyes were darkening.

            Jasper wasted no time the next morning. He skipped breakfast, so by the time it was a few hours past lunch they had reached Appkritik. This time they had no trouble getting in. Jasper gave the guard Noel’s papers and the guard let he and Justin in.

            Appkritik was a huge, walled city, surrounded by sandstone. In the town square there was a small fountain with a flute spurting water. People were grouped around it, washing clothes, gossiping, selling, or feeding the pigeons that pecked on the cobblestones. Around the fountain stood stalls. Most canvas standing on four legs like a tent.

            The boiling sun beat down on them as their horse trip-trapped through crowded streets of Appkritik. It was about the same size as their city, but there were a lot more people. Houses were crammed together, leaving little room for ground. After scaling the city roads a few times Jasper found two things.

            That these streets were also lined with posters of Justin, and a place to sell their horse. Jasper sold the horse for twenty gold pieces and bought them a ride to Apptaucha. Jasper was really worried about Justin, and made him keep his hood up the whole time. Their ride to Apptaucha was a hay wagon. They paid the driver ten gold pieces and were out on the road just past dinner.

            The wagon was pretty small. There was enough room for Justin, Jasper, their luggage, and a few bails of hay to fit comfortably. There was a small platform where the driver sat, urging the horses forward. There was no canvas on the back, so it was quite cold by the time the sun went down.

            “How far to the next city?” Justin asked Jasper.

            “At least a day, but this should be faster, and you can sleep the whole time!” Jasper encouraged.

            Justin nodded and rolled over on a soft bail of hay. He shut his eyes and fell asleep so fast he could hardly believe it. Justin had a very strange dream. It was actually the same dream he had been having all through their journey. He was holding a golden jewel, just like the one in his knife and it was glowing silver. The silver glow solidified and traveled through him. But it didn’t hurt. It spread a warm feeling all the way from the tip of his nose to the tips of his toes. But it never totally got through him in one sitting. It had gotten very close though.

            Tonight was no different. The jewel glowed silver and the light formed into the river of gas that flowed into him. This time is came in through his eyes. The warm feeling spread through him. First his head, then neck, then arms, then torso, then legs, but it stopped at the tips of his toes.          

            Justin felt very disappointed. More then anything he wanted the warmness to totally cover him. It seemed like that was all the silver stuff needed. It blasted out of the jewel and immersed him in it. Justin willed it, pleaded the light to go all the way through, and this time it did.

            What happened next was astounding. A surge of power shot through Justin like an electric shock. And the gold jewel exploded into bands of silver and gold light. The light zoomed into him. The over whelming power caused Justin to shake. But he knew that this was good power.

            It filled him like your favorite kind of hot soup does on a snowy day.

            That was when he woke up.

            He found that for the first time since he had stolen his father’s knife he was not tired in any way. He wasn’t aching any where. He felt like a normal person again. Nothing hurt, nothing ached, and he still had that warm fuzzy feeling.

            Justin extracted his knife from his leather belt. The gold jewel was still there, but it glowed and sparkled in the dim moonlight, but it seemed to feel different some how. It reflect moon light that wasn’t there, and shined as bright as the silver stars twinkling in the heavens.

Part II

ps there might be mistakes, i only copy and pasted.

Justin started back at Jasper, “I swear I’ve never killed anyone in my life! You know the worst I’ve done is pick pocketed, and you know that. ” he reminded.

            “I didn’t believe it, but your in trouble, we’ve got to get you out of here. Maybe we can beat your father and lie low some where,” reasoned Jasper.

            “We can’t beat him, but we hide somewhere. He’s got at least two days on us, and he’s probably on horse back. He could be near the mountains if he traveled into the night,” moaned Justin.

            “Oh, so there’s no chance of beating him…” mumbled Jasper.

            “It was a good idea, but I just don’t think we can make it.” said Justin, wishfully.

            “So, where are we going to go? We can’t just stay here,” asked Jasper.

            “What do you mean we, you don’t have to come,” Justin told him.

            Jasper cast a look around the room, “There’s nothing left for me here. Absolutely nothing. I’d love to go on an adventure, so why wait? I’m coming whether you like it or not.”

            “But you’ve got a job!” Justin persisted.

            Jasper cast him an exasperated look, “I don’t have a family. I’m just a servant and now that my mistress is dead what’s to keep me here? I don’t want to stay here with Graham.”

            Justin knew there was no use arguing.

            “Where are we going?” Jasper repeated.

            “My aunt’s,” Justin decided. The idea had been in the back of his head the whole time, but he decided it was the safest place.

            “Okay,” shrugged Jasper.

            “We need to leave as soon as we can, so the guards don’t realize who I am,” Justin whispered.

            Jasper immediately stood up and ripped on the drawers out of the chest and threw the contense on the ground. There were two cloaks and two pairs of boots, spare clothes, money, walking sticks, two bed rolls, two packs, and a knife. It looked a bit like a bread knife to Justin, but he didn’t say anything.

            “Did you steal all of this?” Justin asked, incredulously.

            “Um…well pretty much yeah. It’s mostly Graham’s old stuff or stuff that he doesn’t use,” Jasper explained.

            Justin pulled out his father’s hunting knife and added it to the pile.

            “All we need is to pack this stuff and get some food,” Jasper instructed.

            “You’d better get the food, I don’t think your servants would like it if I just walked down there, when they all think I’m a mass murderer.” Justin told him.

            Jasper skittered off down the stairs, while Justin began packing the stuff into the bags.

            Soon, Jasper returned with bread, fruit, carrots, and cheese.

            “Sorry, I thought the meat would spoil if I brought any,” Jasper explained.

            “Naw, it doesn’t matter,” Justin said, nonchalantly.

            They stuffed the food on top and loaded their packs and cloaks on their backs. 

            “’Old on,” Jasper muttered, and ran over to the chest of drawers. He grabbed leather bound book off the top. It was very small and the corners were a bit flakey. They pages smelled old and rotten. They were also very blank.

            “What’s that for?” asked Justin.

            “A record, of our great adventure!” yelled Jasper.

            “Okay, so once it gets dark we’ll leave, agreed?” asked Justin.

            “Right you are mate!” grunted Jasper.   

            Justin crawled on to the bed and shut his eyes. He was still pretty tired, and soon he was fast asleep, dreaming of worlds beyond the moon.

            “Justin, wake up!” a voice whispered through the dark.

            Justin sat bolt up right and smacked his head against the low ceiling.

            “Ouch! What?” Justin whispered.

            “It’s just me, Jasper, come on, it’s just past sunset!” Jasper’s voice told him, somewhere near his left ear.

            Justin tried to get out of bed, but instead tripped and fell flat on his face.

            “Get up, come on, you need shoes, and your cloak,” persisted Jasper.

            Justin got up and tugged on some wool socks and boots. He clipped the course, gray cloak around his shoulders, picked up his walking stick, shouldered his knap sack and followed Jasper out the window.

            The climb was much easier out of the window this time, and they had no trouble what so ever crossing the deserted streets, until they reached the boarder. There was nothing particularly special about the boarder, except that it blended into one long dirt road that wound around and around. The only trouble they had was the guard, waiting to see who got out and who came in.

            Justin kept his mouth shut and let Jasper do the talking as he sidled up to the guard. The guard was dress in a blue jerkin and pants. He wore high boots and his jerkin was emblazoned with a dove holding an olive branch, which was the symbol of their country, Callidra.

            “Good evening sir,” said Jasper, “My name is Mr. – Mr.- Zimmer. This is my traveling companion and servant, Signore Sancho. He speaks only Spitzbergian, so you will have to excuse him.”

            “And what business do you have leaving the city?” asked the guard, scribbling a few words down on a yellowing piece of parchment.

            “Well, you see, Sancho and I have-or rather we had business in the city. We are simply trying to return to Spitzberg.” Jasper lied.

            “Do you have any sort of identification?” asked the guard in a bored voice.

            “Uh…” Jasper stammered, “well, no but don’t you think you could let us out?”

            “Absolutely out of the question,” the guard snapped.

            Justin saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a full whiskey bottle.

            He poked Jasper in the back.

            “Umph! Excuse me, I think Sancho wants to talk to me,” Jasper stammered.

            The guard just ignored their whispered conversation.

            “Should we try and go around?” hissed Jasper.

            “No, I’ve got an idea,” whispered Justin, “Looks like he’s got a nice full bottle of whiskey, tell him you left you identification back at the inn, and see if we can get him drunk. We’ll give him a piece of paper that has just scribbles on it. He won’t be able to read it anyway.”

            “That’s a great idea!” Jasper exclaimed in a whisper.

            They stood up and sauntered back over to the guard.

            “Sancho just reminded me that we left out identification in our room at the inn we were staying at. We shall be back by dawn to give it to you,” Jasper explained.

            The guard nodded impatiently, and when he thought the two of them were gone, he uncorked the bottle and guzzled the whiskey.

            Justin watched from just behind the guard. (They were hidden by a tree.)

            “He’s drinking it!” he told Jasper, who was up in the tree creating their identification.

            “Good, because I can’t even seen what I’m writing!” moaned Jasper.

            “If we could get him drunk really bad maybe he’s just knock himself out and then he wouldn’t remember us.” Wished Justin.

            “You’re just lucky he didn’t recognize you,” Jasper reminded him.

            “I just wish he’d hurry up!” fumed Justin.

            “Wait!” Jasper told him.

            “Alright, alright, we’d better shut up so he doesn’t hear us anyway,” whispered Justin.

            They waited and watched. And kept waiting. Slowly the guard started to hiccup and his eyes glazed over. He was stone drunk.

            “Looks pretty drunk to me,” Justin hissed.

            “I know, come on,” Jasper whispered back.

            The dashed forward and Jasper said, “We’ve found it sir.”

            The guard stared stupidly at them and hiccupped, “Go *hic* on *hic* them, sirs *hic*.”

            Jasper’s eyes twinkled and they raced out into the dark night.

            A chilly breeze ruffled Justin’s messy blonde hair. The sweet sent of pine wafted toward him from the forest that surrounded the road. Justin and Jasper traveled along the winding road until the first orange glows broke of the tops of the mountains, bathing the path in a thick golden light.

            “No use traveling now that we can be seen,” grunted Jasper.

            Justin yawned, “Maybe we outta rest for a bit, then see if we can cut through the forest until night fall.”

            “That looks sheltered,” Jasper proclaimed, indicating a group of pine trees with thick, low boughs that was far off the road.

            Justin yawned in agreement.