The Pass by Zion Kistler (books to read romance TXT) 📖

recruit people, he thought that people would definitely stop trusting them.
Next after that there was a while of barren land, where he guessed were pastures and plains of grass, since that area was unlikely to have desert. And a few miles after that was The Pass, which was a long strip of mountain ranges that Treaf had remembered seeing on the map. Dammit! And if we can’t pass that were gonna die right at the spot, he thought, and cursed. A ways down the mountains, however, were the Dark Lands, and after a long stretch of those they would be safe in the headquarters of Mourgorth, fighting a large battle.
Actually, there might be a few major cities along the way; perhaps more in The Jaragon, and after that I doubt we could get anything more than a few farmers. He stuffed a last sack of potatoes into the large pack, and then he grunted as he lifted it with one arm. Holding the horse’s saddle, he strapped one side on, and then he went over to the other side, and attempted strapping that one on. The trouble was, the horse seemed to want to get a good look at Treaf, and it kept turning around and around until Treaf called Mildo to come and hold it.
After awhile more of the work Treaf looked around and realized that they only had ten more packs to go. Great! Now we can pretty much leave. He walked over to one of them and stuffed things in five at time absentmindedly. After no more than a few seconds he was done with the inside, and after that all he had to do was strap some mats, blankets, and tents on to the outer shell. Then he lifted it, attached it to the horse, and started with the next.
Hardly after they had even begun they were done, and Treaf awaited Malock’s command. There were a few moments of silence, in which Treaf noticed people were getting a bit restless. Hah. I guess they want to continue just as badly as I do, Treaf thought as he looked at Sloyd, who was constantly shifting feet and bighting his lip in a characteristic way.
Then there came a few mutters as something came around the corner, which happened to be the King and his subjects. I wonder what he has to say, Treaf wondered, and then stared on when he started talking.
“I am pleased to see you all here right now, and if you please, I would prefer that you leave according to your schedule, and not waste much time saying good-bye to your beloveds.” He then paused, breathed, and pleasantly continued, “I hope that danger and the enemy will be stalled in your favor, for I know the danger that you must face—Mourgorth, I think it is?” Malock nodded, for he was at the head of the group. “Yes—anyway, I thank you for your time here, and I also thank you for helping save this town from utter destruction.” He then wiped his mouth with a silk bandana, and then waved it at them to beckon for them to go.
“Nice speech,” Mildo muttered to Treaf, and he chuckled. “ Yeah, no more of them, I guess,” he replied.
Under order of Malock they then mounted their horses, and Treaf had partially forgotten the feel of their backs. But after a few seconds he had welcomed and realized the feel and it became normal again.
They stood facing the town and its people, and the King said good-bye and all of the others too. Treaf was not one of the few that said good-bye in return, and the ones that did looked slightly foolish and embarrassed.
After a minute of this, they all turned, and Treaf now saw the gate to the battlefield before him. This is it. They all then went trotting towards it as it opened, and in no time Treaf had seen the gate pass before him and he was now riding into the battlefield, which was not recognizable as one anymore. He saw the woods a ways off, and then saw the people one last time. He then paused, then made a whoop and headed towards the front of the party, where Malock was.
“You’re in high spirits,” Malock noted. Treaf did not reply but headed on. Instead he asked Malock a question that had just popped into his head.
“What’s at Mt. Ecron?” Malock paused and grimaced.
“Nothing really. It’s just a mountain with a name, and it is barren, so I doubt you would want to raise a family and live there.” Malock smiled, and Treaf said loudly, “No one ever said anything about me living there!” Malock smiled again, and Treaf decided that he would go back to the end, but he realized that he wanted to see the forest head on, so he moved over a few spaces to the right of Malock.
He could now hear birds and things, and the forest really didn’t look much different than the one in Goshop. He guessed that it was in fact the same one, and wondered how much longer it would continue without being intercepted by something else.
It took merely seconds before the sun was off their backs and cool forest air entered Treaf’s lungs. Twigs and needles cracked underfoot, but luckily there was a road that continued all the way to the Northern Ledges, so there was not much undergrowth. At certain places some sunlight entered through the trees and hit the ground, but Treaf did not like it when they happened to pass through one of these, for the light hurt his eyes, and the horse seemed to want to run off every time.
After a few minutes they had not encountered any streams, and Treaf knew that they would be able to hear one a ways off if they did encounter one.
With a jolt Treaf realized that he had not drawn his bow, as he had done in Goshop. If they were attacked by surprise he would most likely take one of the enemies down, even though he was not one of the best archers. It had not taken him long to learn the skill, however, and he reminded himself that he had participated in the battle with the Dark Hoods. He had done quite ell, too.
By midday they took a break and had some food. It happened to be some kind of large sandwiches that had a reasonable amount of smoked ham in them, and also lettuce with other things. Treaf had decided that day that he would stop not eating meat, and he realized just how good it was, especially in sandwiches. Otherwise there was not enough to keep one functioning the rest of the day. Besides, it helped the group a lot, because before that they had made special meals for Treaf and Mildo, and he had felt a little ridiculous eating these ‘specialty foods.’
They had, in fact, found a stream, and that is where they had eaten the lunch. The horses also took a drink and ate some of the grass that grew nearby. Are we gonna need to bring feed along with us when it’s wintertime? Treaf wondered as he looked at them. That would mean more weight, and that would mean more horses, which would need more feed—and the cycle would continue on for a long time if they weren’t careful. They could always just abandon the horses, but it would be hard walking all the way, and basically they would just need to make the horses slightly uncomfortable if they expected to get anywhere.
After this consideration Treaf mounted his horse along with the others. They were on their way shortly, and there was truly not much interesting that was going on. Treaf, however, definitely favored this rather than working in The Jaragon along with all of the others, so he did not complain even though he was very bored.
The overall set up of the group was pretty much the same as last time they had been traveling; the Seven Warlords were in the front, along with Treaf and Mildo, and the villagers were in the back, with the Rangers in the middle. We wouldn’t have won in such a terrible way if we had had more Rangers, Treaf thought, and scowled. But at the time they had had enough on their hands, even though Treaf did not really understand their motives anyway.
Presently Mildo started talking, and Treaf did not really mind this that much, even though the only thing he was talking about was hearing about something in a book. Treaf was not really paying attention, and in this way several minutes passed before Treaf realized something. When should I tell Mildo about the book I got about Mourgorth? He wondered. But then he realized that would be a long time in the future, for he had decided in the city that he would not tell anyone until he had read it himself. But at least I will have something interesting to look forward to tonight, he thought. They could actually learn something from this book that would help them extremely in the long run.
After a few more seconds Mildo stopped talking and looked at Treaf. “What are you thinking about?” He asked.
“Mourgorth,” Treaf replied, and he was not lying. Mildo shook his head and was silent for a few moments. “If you’re gonna worry about him so much, your life will be wrought with some kind of curse, probably,” Mildo said in mock wise ness.
“I’m not worrying about him!” Treaf snapped back. He grimaced. “Thinking about him. That’s all. Besides, it’s completely different than worrying about him.” Mildo shook his head. “They’re the same.” Treaf felt his anger rising, and then he decided not to get too worked up, for there was no point in getting involved with someone like Mildo.
“We actually might have enough Magical Beings to create a whole army, though.”
“We already have,” Treaf replied dryly. They had, in fact, made a hundred of them, or at least the Elder did.
“No, I mean like an army big enough that allows us not to have to fight.” I don’t think that’ll ever happen. He then decided to move back in the group and find the Elder. It might actually be interesting to talk to him, for after all Treaf had helped him once with creation. Actually Treaf realized that he hadn’t really helped—he just stood there and asked questions.
After a little while he found him, and he was riding with the other villagers. They were all talking about something,