Free The Winds of Crowns and Wolves by K.E. Walter Page A

city gates.
    The cobblestone was much different to ride
on, Neach thought.
    Maintaining his focus, Neach galloped
through the gates and over the bridge which connected the city to
the other side of the river.
    The sun was setting just over the hills in
the distance. Around him was a vast expanse of grass and trees that
appeared to be untouched by humanity. He had always felt at home in
nature and this moment was nothing less than that. Everything from
the weather to the horse he was now riding seemed to strike a chord
deep within his soul. Peace, serenity, a complete equilibrium that
could only be experience in solidarity.
    Once the adrenaline finally wore off, Neach
stopped his horse and dismounted, attaching him to a tree near him.
Luckily, this tree had fruit that it bore and it appeared to be
edible. He grasped one of the fruits in his hand and fed it
directly into the horse’s mouth.
    “I think I’ll call you Rine,” remarked
Neach.
    The horse was, unsurprisingly, unaffected by
this proclamation and continued to devour the fruit which Neach had
given it.
    The sun had all but disappeared behind them
by now. The sweet serenity of the landscape captivated Neach as he
sat with his new friend beneath the cover of the tree.
    Darkness was not welcomed; in fact, it was
at this very point in the year that darkness is the one thing you
dreaded about each day. It came swiftly and early, shrouding all of
the beauty of the land around you in a cloak of blackness that
wouldn’t be removed until the morning. This cloak brought with it
shivering cold and the solitary confinement offered by the night
sky’s presence overhead.
    As it crept in, Neach and Rine sat beneath
the tree and gazed out at the open meadow in front of them.
    A few colorful flowers could be seen poking
their heads through the small layer of snow which still remained
and they offered a speckled contrast to the overall bleak nature of
the ground. These flowers proved to be evidence that winter was
indeed ending and that a new season was primed to begin.
    Even tonight, with the sun down, felt warmer
than many nights previous. For the first time in what seemed like
ages, a warm breeze swept over Neach as he lay on the ground
beneath the stars. What had begun as a beautiful day in the city
had ended as an equally beautiful one outside its walls.
    In the distance, mountains could be seen
with their snow covered peaks protruding far from the horizon.
Neach had never seen a piece of natural creation which was so
massive. Even from such a long distance away, it was clear that
those mountains were larger than the hills outside of Spleuchan
Sonse.
    They captivated him. In his exhaustion and
seeming bliss, Neach gazed upon the mountains with a smile upon his
face. A warm sensation seemed to fill his body as he remained level
with the grass in front of him. Their planes brought together as
one in a synthesis of nature and humanity.
    Nothing about what he had experienced
earlier made much sense, but there was an inexplicable comfort in
this fact. He knew not what to expect upon his arrival at this
mysterious island, nor did he know what it meant that he was
bestowed with this book.
    This book, which spoke to him, assisted him.
But surely that had to be his imagination? No one in their right
mind could believe that this book had actually formed words and
cast them at Neach. It must have been intuition, or maybe he was
really crazy.
    One thing which he could not work out as
purely mentally conceived fiction was his interaction with the girl
in the marketplace. As he lay motionless on the cold ground beneath
that fruit bearing tree, thoughts of her danced around his head. He
closed his eyes and her soft skin was brushing against his arm. She
curled into him and embraced him beneath that tree. Fortunately for
Neach, this thought would have to do for the night. There was
nothing else which would come to his side at this time and he could
only comfort himself with his own