The Ride

All I could hear was the crunch of the frosted grass and stones under my horses hooves as we made our way along the road. The world was still and there was a deafening silence, aside from the wind swirling snow around above us. To my left and right were steep slopes of the mountains surrounding us. That moment I felt what it was to be truly on my own. "Come on Honora." I said, urging my horse on. I had quite a bit of ground to cover if I wanted to reach the Northern Fort by nightfall. I began to hum a familiar tune to ease the eerie feeling I was developing. Winter has set in, that's for sure I thought as I shivered underneath my cloak.  Of course it seemed as though it was always winter this far north of the capitol. Remembering my mothers farewell warning of thieves and bandits along the road I gently patted my sword, tucked safely on the side of my saddle. 

I had ridden about 2 hours into the mountain range and the sun was setting. The shadows in the trees were black as coal, not that much light shined through during the day. I wondered what it must be like to live up here. I loved running through the grassy meadows during the summer months at home, but something about this land intrigued me. A loud noise from the trees snapped me out of my deep thoughts, but not quickly enough to dodge the large stone that hurtled toward me. It struck my head with a  force so great I almost toppled off of Honora. I could feel warm liquid seeping down my face. More stones came sailing by, which startled Honora, causing her to throw me to the ground. I felt my head strike first, then darkness overcame me. 

Author's Note

A short excerpt of a story i'm working on.