HavenGuarde

Chapter 28 - With the Help of his Friends

Chapter 28

With the Help of his Friends

- And so, he felled his enemy and threw him into the pit, with the aid of his friends -

Thonavar lay awake.

He could not sleep.

His body ached from tossing and turning upon the cold hard stone. They were eached assigned a small room with three walls and a long door which reached the ceiling. Inside the room was a small mat of straw for sleeping and resting purposes. There also a table on which were some plain clothes. Other than the two items, there was nothing else. There was a window high above from which a shaft of light speared through.

Thonavar's was weary from the day's events. Memories surfaced in his mind. His mother kneeling and embracing him and his father's tall silent form standing nearby. Silent and sullen boys and girls torn apart from wailing parents. The division of the children into groups by dark-robed men and the slow procession to their living quarters. No one spoke. When they had come to the doorway of his assigned living space, the men who had escorted him to his room had given Thonavar an instruction. He was to rise with the sun and to proceed down the hallway and out into open grassy lands where there was a forest and clearing within. There he was to wait for his next instruction.

He had not slept for hours now and already he could imagine the sky outside turning from nighttime darkness to a dark blue, then light blue and then turning golden with the sunrise.

His mind was a jumble of thoughts. What was he to learn in a place like this? Was he really going to become like the dark-robed Felix? Would he be imbued with special powers? When would he get to see his parents again?

A wave of anxiety surged through his body. Then frustration. Thonavar felt powerless and trapped. He could do nothing. Looking up, the shaft of light above him illuminated particles of dust which floated silver-like in the moonlight. Magic dust.

Suddenly, the light increased in intensity and became brighter. Thonavar sighed to himself. It would be morning soon and the sun would be rising with the dawn. Sitting upright, he got to his feet and did a few stretches, easing the tension from a stiff body that was full of aches. He put on the clothes that were on the table. The upper shirt was body-hugging and slighty tight. The pants were loose but clung firmly to his waist. Both pants and shirt were a dark grey. A pair of laceless shoes of the same colour was also found under the clothing. It was light, fitting snugly and strangely comfortable. Thonavar realised that the inside of the shoe was made with a wollen sock-like material and he reasoned that this would protect his skin from walking movements that would cause abrasion to his skin. He looked up. The shaft of light seemed to getting brighter and he knew it was time to go. He stood in front of the long wooden doors that stretched to the ceiling. With a deep breath, he pushed them. To his surprise, they opened easily without a sound and a cool breeze hit him. It was most refreshing.

Outside his room, the hallway was silent and Thonavar wondered if the others had managed to rise this early or if they were still sleeping. He walked stealthily down the hallway, careful not to make much noise. At the end of the hallway, he found himself peering down two passageways. One led further into the darkness. He chose the other passageway where he could see the moon in the dark blue sky.

Walking out into the nighttime sky, he came to the edge of a steep grassy hill and peered out at the horizon before him. He could see the land stretching into the distance, ending at the tall peaks of mountains, dark and forbodding in the distance.

In the dark, his eyes picked out what looked like a nearby small forest with a small clearing in the middle. To get there, he had to climb down the grassy hill and walk across the valley to the edge of the forest. The surrounding grasslands were a mix of even fields and rolling hills. Strangely, there did not seem to be anybody around. He proceeded toward the grassy slope that led down into the valley.