Blades of Honor

Chapter Seven

The ride to Whitewall was supposed to take about three days. JiYeong usually warped from the Spinel Outpost to Whitewall, she'd never had to run physically because it took too long.

Not to mention JiYeong had never actually rode a horse before. The saddle on YeongGi was surprisingly comfortable, though after about an hour the constant bouncing from riding her butt was sore.

The ride was boring, to say the least. Silvvyr and Iridia rode with ease, which wasn't surprising to JiYeong considering they'd probably been riding mounts their whole lives. Plus it probably helped that Silvvyr was a Hunter and Iridia could float if she got tired.

JiYeong readjusted herself again, glancing at the water as they passed by. Riding wasn't too bad, even if she did have to get used to it. It was certainly different than in game, where she just had to click on a spot or use her arrow keys to move. But YeongGi didn't need much instruction, seeming to know where he was going already. She supposed that to him the world was real as well, and the times she did run from Spinel to Whitewall must have been engrained to his memory.

"I love riding my horse!" Iridia said, drawing JiYeong's attention from the water to her. "I don't get to ride her too often, so this is really fun for me."

She wasn't even holding onto the reins. In fact, the more JiYeong looked, the more she realized the horse didn't have reigns. She supposed they weren't entirely necessary since Iridia had wings, and wasn't really in danger of falling off her horse. The horse had wings as well, and JiYeong wondered if Iridia weren't using her to fly because she and Silvvyr were with her.

"There is not much need for riding in Sylfelia, is there?" Silvvyr commented. She also wasn't holding on to the reigns, her arms folded across her chest. "Most places you can get to by flying. It is a wonder horses are bred there at all."

"Faerie's get tired of flying too ya know. The wings aren't just for show. Plus there are some places that are too far for us to fly to that we use the horses for." Iridia explained, patting her horse's neck gently. "Lady here was bred when I was young. I raised her, as much as I could being young, with help from Hunter's."

"You named your horse Lady?" Silvvyr rose an eyebrow, an amused look on her face.

"I was six, okay? It was either that or Sparkle."

"Let us be glad you did not go with Sparkle." Silvvyr laughed.

JiYeong couldn't help but feel a bit put out by the two's banter. From what she understood, they hadn't known each other too long, only having been paired to each other to retrieve JiYeong. But they talked like they'd known each other for quite a while. And though she knew she was being ridiculous, it only served to annoy her further.

She tightened her hold on the reigns as they hit a rough patch, taking a deep breath. Only two more days until they reached Whitewall. She could do it.

She couldn't do this. They'd only been riding for half a day, but the sun was high in the sky and blazing down on JiYeong. She was sweating, and her butt hurt, and she was surprisingly hungry. They hadn't stopped at all, and JiYeong wasn't sure how much longer she could last.

The answer was exactly five minutes.

"Hey!" She called.

"Did you require something?" Silvvyr asked, barely turning her head in JiYeong's direction.

She took a deep breath. "I need to stop."

"We do not have time to stop. It is important we get to Whitewall as quickly as possible."

The calm JiYeong was fighting to keep a hold of was slowly slipping away. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a Hunter like you, and I don't have wings. I need to stop."