The Valley of Revlere. Finally!
“Are you sure, are you absolutely positive that this is the Valley?” Caro checked.
Jon nodded.
“I’m positive. But look down there,” he pointed into the Valley where dead animals lay and dwarps hovered over the carcasses.
He looked at Caro and she bit her bottom lip.
“Those things will eat us alive,” he told her.
“But I thought they only attacked at night?”
He looked at the sky. Small patches of blue began to peak through the black sky.
“They aren’t attacking those animals… they’re just eating the remains. They wouldn’t be out here attacking with the sky looking like” –he pointed up to a blue patch- “that. Something else got to them before the dwarps did.”
Caro was scared.
“So they attack in the night and feed in the day? That’s hard to believe, Jon, and we can’t risk that theory. If I were a dwarp I would attack and eat right away…”
“We have to get through the Valley… and we aren’t going to be able to do that with those dwarps down there along with whatever else killed those animals.”
Jon scratched his head. What could they do?
“I guess our only option is to go around the Valley instead of through it.” Jon said.
“That could take all night though,”
“It’s either that or risking our lives against those creatures. If we go around the Valley we can just cut south when we get past the dwarps.”
“…Let’s just go around. I’d rather be alive and take extra time than risk it and be dead.” Caro told him.
They proceeded to go around the Valley, carefully keeping a watch on the swarm of dwarps in the Valley feeding on the dead animal, making sure they weren’t going to be followed. It took them at least two hours to go around the Valley far enough that they wouldn’t be seen before they turned and headed west. They figured that going an hour and a half in that direction before turning south would keep them at a safe enough distance from their enemy.
“I just hope they don’t decide to fly south where we’re headed; then all this time would be wasted.” Caro declared.
Jon hadn’t even thought about the possibility of the dwarps leaving their food and flying in the direction they needed to go.
“Well… let’s just hope Belbriv is on his way back for us, and that he got Noble to Dule safely.”
Caro pulled on Ad’s reigns. Jon looked back at her and stopped, wondering what was the problem.
“Jon… what if the food the dwarps were eating was Noble and Belbriv?”
“Caro!” he yelled in disbelief.
“I’m not saying it was, but… what if?”
“Stop. You’re being absolutely ridiculous.” Jon fumed. There was no way it was them.
He refused to accept that it was, but he knew it very well could be them. He didn’t believe it, even though he had no idea what the dwarps were actually eating.
“Come on,” Jon said as he urged Sib to run.
They couldn’t waste any more time. They had to get to Dule.
***
Belbriv and Triloben rode with haste, not stopping for anything along the way until they reached Jon and Caro. Belbriv didn’t say a word the entire day; he thought of the worst scenarios and it made him want to find them quicker.
“Belbriv, the horses need to rest; they’ve been going hard at it for a long time,” Triloben advised as he pulled back on the reigns.
Belbriv halted and the horse gasped for air.
“They could be dead, Tril,” Belbriv told him.
“But if we exhaust the horses then we’ll be forced to find them on-foot.”
“I just pray they didn’t forget which way to go,”
“It isn’t hard to remember, Belbriv. Once you get to the Valley you go south, around the Mountains, and you’re there.”
“But it wouldn’t be easy if you ran into trouble and had to go a different way.”
“You need to stop worrying so much. If you believe that these three are called, as you say, then they’ve got to be smarter than you’re making them sound.”
Belbriv was impatient. He knew all of this, but he knew that neither Jon nor Caro had been outside of Bef. It was forbidden for them to be unless instructed. All they could do was pray that they reached the two before something- or someone- else did first.
***
“Don’t you think we should stop for the night?” Caro asked as she twisted her body in the saddle, trying to find a comfortable position.
“We’ve lost a lot of time having to go around the Valley. Besides, I don’t like the idea of stopping here in this clearing; there are no trees or anything to cover us. The sooner we get out of here the better.”
The night air was warm, an unusual thing to happen. The moon was a red/orange and massive, Lighting the coal-black sky. Neither one spoke a word for the longest time. Howls from pogs could be heard in the distance and cries… more like hissing shrieks that sounded like nails on a chalkboard were loud as well.
Neither one dared to make even the slightest huff with their breath, as if the sound of their horses wasn’t loud enough. Caro’s back was arched and her shoulders were back, stiffened with fear. Jon rode up beside her and touched her arm gently.
“It’s okay Caro. With any luck we’ll be in Dule tomorrow,” he reassured.
“If we don’t run into trouble, of course…”
Jon didn’t say anything.
“I just figured that Belbriv would’ve been back to us by now,” Caro assumed.
Jon cocked his head to the side and looked at her.
“Trust me like you trust Belbriv, Caro.”
“Jon, I don’t know if I can trust Belbriv anymore! After all we’ve been through these past few days on account of him, he’s leading us to our deaths quicker than when we were back in Bef.”
Jon knew and felt just as frustrated as she was.
“Then, if no one else… just trust me.”
Caro gazed up at the moon for a few seconds before saying anything.
“I do trust you, Jon.”
He wasn’t afraid anymore; even with the pogs and dwarps howling and shrieking in the distance and them being on the run for their lives without any weapons. But Caro still chose to trust him. And she genuinely meant it.
***
Belbriv and Triloben were almost to the Valley by the time the moon hung high into the sky, their horses still walking.
“We can’t stop until we find them, Triloben.” Belbriv kept telling the half-asleep giant.
He was talking more to himself than his friend, but Triloben kept replying with a tired “uh huh” just to make Belbriv think he was listening when all he really wanted to do was sleep.
“I can’t let them down. I promised Noble… Triloben are you listening to me?”
“Uh huh,” the sleepy giant replied once again, his head bobbing up and down.
“You haven’t heard one word I’ve sa…” but Belbriv stopped talking and pulled on the reigns.
Triloben coughed and his eyes shot open when he heard it too. Pogs. They looked at each other and realized time was now even shorter.
***
“They’re getting closer to us, Jon!” Caro said frantically while checking behind them.
“They aren’t what I’m concerned about anymore… listen.”
They both listened carefully. Hoof beats. Heading straight towards them.
“Falfreys,” Jon whispered in fear.
Now they were as good as dead.
***
The wind was warm but chilling as the two giants rode quickly. Wherever Caro and Jon were, they were going to find them before any wretched beast of the darkness did.
“Belbriv,” Triloben pointed to two forms on horseback riding towards them. Falfreys. Both Triloben and Belbriv pulled out their swords from their sheaths. If these monsters killed Jon and Caro…
“They look too small to be falfreys,” Triloben pointed out.
He was right; Akaidish only chose the biggest and the strongest to be his falfreys. Belbriv lowered his sword.
“It can’t be…”
***
Jon and Caro could only surrender. They had no way of escaping these two. Jon’s heart was literally pounding out of his chest.
“I am so sorry, Caro.” He apologized.
She tried not to cry. She couldn’t now, after all they had been through.
“Jon… Caro…” a voice called.
They looked at each other and tears now fell from Caro’s eyes and onto her hot cheeks. Belbriv. They were going to be okay. When Triloben and Belbriv reached them, Belbriv jumped off his horse as Caro and Jon dismounted and he hugged them tight. Nobody said a word; everyone was going to be okay after all!
“Noble?” Jon questioned.
“He’s going to be fine,” Belbriv answered.
None of them could be happier than they were in that moment; they were reunited. Now it came time for the real “adventure” to begin.