The Road Behind... Pt 2

Dustin walked into the Inn, and made arrangements for his stay. Only one night, that's all he needed. Tomorrow would be another day, and he would hopefully be on his way.

The sun was still high in the sky, a nice drink from the saloon would be perfect, he thought. Maldor was still buzzing; even the blacksmith was still working. You could here him swing his hammer onto some white hot metal in the warm afternoon. But Dustin was headed for the saloon; he would stop by the blacksmith tomorrow before Galen was to arrive. But for now, he needed a drink.

One of the benefits of being a messenger is that he could drink for almost nothing. A round of drinks for the folks at the bar would only cost one gold coin. That was pretty cheap considering everyone else was only served two drinks for a gold coin.

There was always plenty of room in the saloon, most towns were sparsely populated, the largest Dustin had seen was his own town of Atanna with close to 90 people residing. Maldor was home to only 30, not including the three messengers that hailed from here. The saloon in Maldor doubled as a town hall. Townsfolk would meet here to discuss a variety of topics that affected their small town. Although the need for these gatherings was usually dictated by messengers coming into to town, undoubtedly there would be another of these gatherings following the return of Galen from Colodia.

Dustin spent the rest of the day in the saloon, listening to tales from locals until the sun hid behind the horizon. He returned to the hotel and turned in, the trip from Atanna had been long and he was tired. Tomorrow would be a long day.

He woke late in the morning. There was a commotion in the centre square of the town. He jumped up, threw on some clothes and strapped his axe to his back. Looking out the window of the room he could see the whole village gathered around a man on a horse. Dustin recognized him; it was Galen from Colodia, no doubt delivering news from his home town. Dustin rushed down the small flight of stairs and rushed out to hear the news.

"Dustin, come quick!" Galen shouted as Dustin walked out of the Inn.

Dustin pushed his way through the small crowd, "What's the rush?" Dustin asked.

"Get your horse, we have to leave fast!" Galen exclaimed.

"Why? What has happened?" A member of the crowd shouted.

"I'll explain on the way," Galen said talking only to Dustin. "Saddle up, we have to go!"

Dustin turned and ran. He would have to get his horse ready himself, as the whole town was in the centre square. It would only take a minute and they'd be rushing off.

"Let's go!" Galen commanded, turning his horse to the north as Dustin rode out from behind the Inn.

They rode out of town to the north. Ahead was the village of Norfolk, Dustin had known about Norfolk, he had been there once before. It had been months since he had seen Norfolk. Draven, the messenger he had met from Norfolk had been his guide on that trip. This time he rode with Galen of Colodia. He was confused. Dustin had been under the impression that he would be accompanied by Galen to Colodia, why were they headed to Norfolk?

Galen pushed his horse as Dustin struggled to keep up. Galen's horse was faster than Dustin's trusty steed. The sun had just reached its zenith and the two rode hard and fast. The road to Norfolk was lined with a thick forest on either side of the dirt road. Travelling this road had been dangerous in the past; Dustin had encountered many beasts intent on making him their dinner on his last trip. This time the forest was silent, only the thundering sound of the two horses galloping through filled the air. If the horses could keep up their pace, they would be in Norfolk in less than a day.

To be continued: Next installment January 11, 2008.

Image source: Alpena