Grimbol the Slayer. Chapter 3

The next night passed uneventfully. Fearful of attracting any unwanted attention, they walked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, stopping only a few times to down some pemmican and berries or tend to nature’s call. As the sun rose, the forest canopy suddenly gave way, and a vast field of grassland stretched in front of them as far as the eye could see, with only an occasional copse of trees to break up the monotony. A few steps into the sea of grass Aalina came to an abrupt halt.

Grimbol turned and inquired, “What is it?”

“It’s just… I’ve never been outside of the Great Wood before.” The morning sun glinted off her tear-filled eyes. “I’d seen the grassland from the trees but never dared to venture out.” And for the first time she thought to ask, “Where is it we are going?”

He stepped toward the river bank and beckoned for her to follow. Finding a stick, he cleared the ground and began to sketch. “This river is the Po. It runs from the Great Wood, across these plains to the sea. From there we head south along this trade road to the city of Leeside. I have business there, and you’ll be safe to start a new life.”

The enormity of her situation suddenly struck Aalina. The city? What could she possibly do in a city full of strangers, probably all humans? But as far as she knew her people were all gone. The orc hordes had made sure of that. Even before the final raid, the elves’ numbers had been dwindling, slowly picked off by roaming bands of the monsters. No, the woods were not safe. But where else could she go? Like it or not, this aloof adventurer was all she had. The numbness, her denial of what had happened, began to melt away, and her tear-filled eyes began to overflow. She tried to stifle her sobs, but a few whimpers broke forth, and her shoulders shook.

Grimbol stood from where he was crouching in the dirt, uncomfortable at her display of emotion.