Ben's NaNoWriMo Log

Chapter 3 added Sep 23, 2005
Unused to walking such long distances, Sarah climbed onto the back of a northbound tinker's wagon. The tinker stopped at a roadside inn near midnight, and Sarah spent the night hiding in the stable. She was worried that people might be looking for her at the inn itself. She slept fitfully on a bed of straw, waking at evert snort and stamp of her roommates. As dawn began to light the sky once more, Sarah crept out of the stable. A group of travelers had assembled outside the inn. From the looks of their clothes they were a diverse bunch, rich and poor alike. No doubt they were traveling together for safety. the highway was generally safe, but it never hurt to take extra precautions. Sarah tried to blend in with them as best she could. Near midday, she spied a mounted patrol coming up the road from behind them. She forced herself to keep walking calmly. If they were looking for her, there was no way she could outrun them. She could scarcely breathe as they grew nearer. With every heartbeat she could hear voices shouting her name and deadly spears piercing her back. The horsemen passed them by, however, and Sarah let out a long sigh. Whatever steps were being taken to find her, they did not involve the road patrols. At least not yet. The motley group marched through the day and night, stopping only for a quiet midday meal. Sarah kept to herself, and began to wish that she had taken more food when she left home. She was hungrier than she had anticipated after the endless hours of walking. When they finally got to Northfield, she spent the last of her money on a hot meal and a night at an inn. She slept in the common room, happy just to be out of the cold. Tired though she was, she made sure to go well into the city before finding a place to stay; if someone came looking for her, they would check the inns nearest the highway first. Sarah got her first view of the city of Northfield early the next morning. Compared to Crown Bay, it wasn't much to look at. The whole place seemed to be nothing more than a fortified farmers' market. Considering the miles of farmland she had walked through to get there, Sarah was not terribly surprised. The shortest path to the Ahandrian border was the road through the port of Stormwatch. It was only six leagues to Stormwatch, with the border another three beyond that. With each passing day, the fear that was driving Sarah loosened its grip slightly. She was beginning to hope that she might escape unscathed; perhaps no one was after her at all. The highway continued eastward up into the mountains; The way before Sarah was only a broad dirt road, packed hard by centuries of feet and hooves. As she walked alone on the road, she couldn't help but feel a sense of freedom. Despite the fact that there might be people lurking in the shadows plotting her death, she was a sixteen year old girl out from under her parents' roof for the first time. It was a heady feeling. As the day wore on, other concerns began to reassert themselves. Sarah had saved some of the previous night's dinner to break her fast in the morning, but as she neared the coast again hunger began gnawing at her belly. The first thing Sarah saw as she approached stormwatch was a tall tower that she guessed must be at least two hundred feet high. The architectural accomplishment of the tower itself was remarkable, but even more striking was the great fiery bird hovering at its apex. The bird flapped its wings slowly, its hooked beak facing eternally out to sea. Sarah had heard sailors talk about the Firebird of Stormwatch, but she hadn't expected anything so spectacular. The city sprawling out from the tower's base seemed prosaic by comparison. Multicolored spires could be seen rising up from behind the whitewashed city wall. As she passed through the open gate, Sarah was amazed at the cleanliness of the cobbled streets. Thinking back, she couldn't recall ever hearing much about Stormwatch; it seemed strange that she had never heard of such a strange and beautiful place. Still cautious despite her awe, Sarah took to a side street shortly after getting inside the city wall. As she wandered the unfamiliar back ways, she kept expecting to enter a bad part of town, but the entire place seemed to be uniformly marvelous. The people she had seen on the streets were largely well dressed; it seemed as though there were no poor people to be found. Sarah found it strangely disconcerting. As she turned down yet another small lane, Sarah happened upon a strange sight. A tall man was sitting on the ground with his back against the wall of a small cottage, long legs crossed and hands on his knees. His eyes were closed; he seemed to be asleep. Sitting on the ground in front of him was a sparkling purple crystal the size of Sarah's fist. Sarah thought perhaps this was what passed for a beggar in this city. The man's short dark hair seemed to be well kept, as were his clothes. She drew near the man, yet he remained unmoving, eyes still closed. Sarah had never stolen anything in her life, but her stomach growled as she thought of how much a such a crystal might be worth. She crouched next to him, and still he made no move. For a moment she thought he might be dead, but his chest rose and fell slowly. She reached for the crystal. As her fingers touched the crystal, the man's long-fingered hand shot out and wrapped itself around her wrist. Grey eyes opened and glared at her. "What do you think you're doing?"
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