The Wilderness

Amos: I rode hard away from Royalgrove Point. Once I was far enough away I reigned the horse that I had taken for myself in. I looked out across the horizon, there were no trees or mountains to break the straight line that was the horizon. The distance seemed foreboding. I knew that the city I was heading for was just past the horizon, still out of sight, but not for long. I dug my heels into the horse and he reared up. Using my knees and arms, I was only barely able to stay on the beast. After he reared up, he came back down hard on his two front legs and began running at a breakneck speed. I used my knees to steady my balance on the jolting, unstable creature. I watched the tan landscape fly past me in a blur of color as I rode farther and farther. Eventually the sun started to go down, and it got to the point that I was barely able to see, and the horse was stumbling in his tiredness. I slipped off the beast as he stumbled yet again. I patted his neck in a comforting sort of way before laying down. I could only hope that the horse wouldn't run away, though I thought that I had most likely made him so tired that even if he tried to run, I would easily be able to catch him. "I will name you Estel, because you are my only hope," I said to the horse before I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up in the morning to see Estel standing next to me, awake and alert. He hadn't left me after all. I sat up, and only then did I regret the decision of leaving so abruptly. I was hungry, and there was nothing to eat for miles. I sighed and reluctantly stood up. I knew the sooner I got out of the wilderness and the intense heat the better it would be for both myself and Estel. Although there were plants that were edible to horses, I knew that Estel couldn't live on that for more than a few days, especially while running at the speeds that I was forcing him to run at. Looking out on the horizon, I could barely discern what seemed to be the outline of the city. But I could simply be having some type of a hallucination. I knew from experience that the combination of heat and lack of food could cause hallucinations to occur in the brain. But I had also seen the outline of the city last night, as well as what had seemed to be fire near the outline. I jumped onto Estel and dug my heels into his flanks once again. He didn't rear up this time, but he lunged forward faster than he had before. I looked at the horse, "You've been holding out on me," I chided quietly. I wondered to myself if I was going crazy, talking to a horse. I leaned down so that my head was next to Estel's head. It seemed as though we were one creature when I did that. After only one day of riding I was able to guess the moves and jolts that he would make as he ran. As I looked ahead at the horizon, I occasionally murmured words of encouragement in Estel's ear.

We arrived at the city around nightfall, it had taken longer than I had expected. I dismounted Estel and gently encouraged him forward. He followed me without question. I found a sheltered place to stay for the night since the city gates were closed. Before I drifted off I stared at the city. The city called Blanwood.