Friday, November 30, 2018

“A Fork in the Road” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 81: Thissraelle

Here's how you can read the story a week (two scenes) ahead of everyone else!

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Thissraelle had thought to rest in the back of the wagon as they traveled, hoping to restore a bit of her spent magical will, but the shaking and rocking of the wheels wouldn’t let her. Finally, she gave up and sat, braced, against the side of the wagon bed, just trying to keep herself steady as she flipped and slid from side to side. She imagined the kids getting bounced around and felt bad for them.  Suddenly with a jerk, the wagon stopped, and then rocked back a few inches. The creaking and rattling stopped, and all she could hear were the sounds of the forest birds and the horses nickering and stepping in place.

She crawled over the edge of the bed to look out between Antonerri and Granthurg. “What happened? Are we there?” She squinted out into the night, illuminated by the lanterns before the horses.  She saw the road ahead split off into two directions.

“Which way?” She said

Granthurg shrugged. “I’m not sure. The horses seemed to know the way before, but now, they aren’t moving ahead, either.”

Antonerri asked, “Do we have that map?”

“No, it’s back at the cathedral. They wouldn’t let a book like that out of the house. Besides, the map wasn’t that detailed. It didn’t show every path or even every turn of this one.”

One of the horses shook its harness, as if it were asking for direction. It stamped back and forth a little, but didn’t pull to one side or the other. Antonerri stepped off the wagon and walked forward, unhitching one of the lanterns. He stood in the triangle of wheel ruts, inspecting them.

“None of them seem any more or less worn than any others.” He took a few strides in one direction, trying to shine the light up the path a bit further. Then he came back and scouted up the other a ways, his lantern light disappearing behind the trees.

“Can you try to reach out to Karendle and see where they are?” Granthurg asked

“I can.” She replied quietly. “Although I had been planning on saving my strength for the portal, or for the fight that follows.”

Antonerri came back into view, shrugging. He reattached the light. The wagon shook a bit as he lifted himself up by the toeboard and climbed back onto the bench.

Thissraelle leaned back and found a place in the center of the wagon bed to sit. She closed her eyes and focused. She reached down inside of herself and felt her will surging. With a push, she sent it outward, forward, like a shock wave of soft blue rippling away before her. Her awareness stretched out between the trees, over the ridges, past the brush. Then she sat, waiting, motionless, as Antonerri and Granthurg looked on, wondering.

A few moments later, she felt a small surge return back to her. It wasn’t forceful, but when it hit her, it snapped her eyes back open and her shoulders jerked. She pointed down the left fork.

“That way. It’s not far, now!”


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This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing. If you like this story, support us at our Patreon!
Thank you: Chet Cox!

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