Part 13: Riding Into the Night

No time to lose. No time to lose. No time to lose.

It was a phrase Philip continually repeated to himself as he rode with Hauseld into the early evening. The riding was somewhat slow, but it was far faster than Philip could have ever hoped to move on foot. Above him the sky had darkened and a myriad of stars were visible from one end of the horizon to the other. Lore, the larger of two moons orbiting in the heavens, was half full, sitting a few degrees above the Vanryd Mountains. Vesk, the smallest of the pair, was barely beginning to emerge over the Eastern horizon.

“No time to lose,� Philip muttered to himself as he rode on down the main North-South road along the Eastern plains of Terris, heading South along it. The road he had taken from White Oak to Green Port was up to the North, and the road that would take him to the city of Fork was just a little South of his current position – at least, according to Philip’s knowledge of the stars it was.

Unfortunately, Hauseld had other plans. After a few more moments at full speed, he began to slow down to a canter, and then his speed dropped to a trot before he settled on a slow walk. Philip groaned and kicked the tired beast’s sides a couple of times.

“Come on, Hauseld, not now! We have to go! We have to get moving!� As if understanding every word he spoke, the horse came to a full stop and shook his head back and forth, letting out a snort of disapproval. Philip sighed and shook his head. “Alright, look… If we can get to the road that will take us West to Fork, we can stop for several hours. But we absolutely have to get there!�

It took several moments of coaxing before Hauseld finally relented and began trotting again, his speed eventually picking up once more to just a little past a canter. The evening air was cool but comfortable, and the sky was perfectly clear. Philip directed his gaze to the heavens and sighed again, stroking one hand across the creature’s neck.

“I never thought anything like this could happen. Not that you care about the affairs of Man; you’re just a horse.� Another snort came from Hauseld as Philip spoke these words. “It’s all so confusing. It’s all too big. It’s all too big…� he repeated, muttering in frustration and even fear.

Hauseld managed to keep the exhausting pace up for several more miles before Philip gently pulled the reins and Hauseld instantly slowed down, lowering his head, walking slowly forward in fatigue. Philip pulled again and brought the tired beast to a stop, looking to his side to read the wooden sign that stood at the fork in the road. There were numerous directional arrows, with the names of distant and nearby cities carved into them, and there was enough of Lore’s light left for Philip to read them.

He read over the names slowly. Many he recognized and had seen in person; some he had heard of but never visited before. To the North were cities like Green Port, White Oak, Wood Bridge, and Idyll. South, there laid the towns of White Sand and East Port. To the West, the village of Yellow Field and Philip’s first destination, Fork – the town where the Great Midland Road began and traveled West to the far away city of Attendam.

Tugging the reins lightly, Philip coaxed Hauseld to travel about half a mile down the road to Fork before finally pulling him to a stop and dismounting in a patch of tall, lush trees to the side of the road. There was a small stream nearby, and plenty of lush, green grass. Philip patted Hauseld’s side and removed the saddle from his back.

“Graze as much as you want, but don’t wander off. We have to get moving again in a few hours.� With that, Hauseld snorted and moved straight to the water, drinking for quite some time before beginning to graze on the sweet grass.

Philip stepped off the road and sat down at the base of a tree with a groan, leaning back against it. He kept his eyes to the stars above, identifying as many constellations as he could before his eyelids became too heavy to keep open. Slowly, he drifted off into a deep, long sleep, his mind wandering far away from his worries and his cares.