Stargazer

Chapter 11

I could see the planet, Markotar directly above us, which was much slower at orbiting our planet compared to Orwitar and would be exactly West in the sky. But I had never been to any other realm, and I knew there were quite a few, mainly smaller ones, Geldel being by far the largest and same size as Sordova. I could only hope that Nova had been to the palace before and knew exactly where we were going, but I couldn’t help but ask, the pressure of it being my mission.

“Nova, how do you know how to get to the palace? Have you been there before?”

“Lots of times!” She shouted back to me against the wind in our ears. I sighed in relief until she continued talking. “But never been inside! That’ll be all up to you to figure out!” My heart sped up as I began thinking about it. Was I skilled enough to ‘figure it out?’ I certainly thought I was at one point, but now my mind raced full of doubt. “And I know how to get there because the palace is in the heart of their largest city, Geledia. It's West from the academy until you reach the Flyta River which marks our borders running north between Sordova and Geldel. Once you cross the river, head northwest until all the way to Geledia."

It wasn't long before we came to Flyta River, a loud crashing of its many falls making its presence well known. It seemed the bauble birds had no issues with water and their strong legs crossed easily through the flowing river current.

It was a few more hours of riding on the bauble birds before I saw any hint of city on the horizon. By that time, I was getting pretty sore, being I wasn't used to riding such a creature, and my body was tense on it.

I praised the heavens when I saw the lights of the city get larger and larger until we reached an outcropping of trees just outside the city walls. I could tell it was a large city, largest I've ever seen, even from this side of the walls. It had many towers and spires peaking above and lanterns lighting up the windows and roadways.

A man met us in the trees with a cart and horses. Nova nodded at him in expectation. She handed him a pouch and the man nodded back as he retrieved it, then rode away on the one horse and without a word.

The cart was full of barrels roped together and covered with an old, thick fabric.

Pierce took off his Assassin Tunic, threw it into one of the barrels, and pulled out a grubby looking farmers robe in its place with a straw hat to complete the ensemble.

"Get in," he said, not kindly in the least. He helped me in as the barrels were a towered sideways pyramid with the ropes being the only thing holding them all together. His face gave away a soreness and I could tell he still took the other night personally. I was stupid to think he would perhaps apologize for his behavior and maybe we could move on, but now I could see that wouldn't be the case.

As I climbed in I immediately became claustrophobic but saw Nova was climbing into a barrell near the bottom as well. Pierce put the covers over us sealing off the stars and I plunged into the darkness.

As the horse and cart began clumsily moving, I tried to distract myself from wondering how long my air supply would last as it already felt thick and warm with my breath. Not long after we had begun, the horse stopped once again.

"Reason for visit?" A faraway voice called, from the wall above the entrance, I assumed.

"Delivery!" Pierce called back.

A moment later I heard the bustle of a person in armor.

"Papers?" He demanded. Oh no, I thought, we're screwed! No way we're going to have papers they need. But the next thing I heard was the rattle of papers being extracted.

"Where to?"

"The Cellar and The Mortar's Manor" Pierce replied in confidence. "Then I'll be staying the night before traveling home."

The guard hesitated then began knocking on the barrels with something. One by one the barrels sounded with a full "thunk" and thankfully he couldn't access the sides of the two Nova and I were in.

"Aye. Let him in!" He called up to someone and the sound of large chains turning and metal screeching resounded, until we were moving again at last.

It wasn't long before I saw the stars again. Pierce popped open the top and as I climbed out, I saw we were in the rear stables to a Manor.

"Pierce, how'd you have papers?" I asked.

"We regularly stock supplies in town from our own farmland," He replied. "There's a few owned by undercover academy employees in Geldel. That way everything's legit and we have constant access within the town. Smart, huh?" He untied the horse and led it up to some feed and water buckets in the stable shutting the door behind it. Then began pulling the barrels down. "I really have to deliver these now, though, the one downside. You guys stay here so you're not spotted."

He began rolling the barrels up the path, one by one, to a back stockroom door and leaving them in a pile.

Nova sighed looking at her pocket watch, "We'll have to wait, we have about an hour before the shift change at the Palace. The palace is right next door. We won't want to hang out there, they have a lot of eyes."

We both pulled out our canteens and sat in the now nearly empty wagon. She pulled out a little flask, took a sip and offered it to me as she was set into a coughing fit. I took it and coughed on whatever it was as it burned my throat going down. But moments later, I began to calm a bit as we looked up at the stars just like Jasmine and I did.

There it struck me; looking at those stars. The constellation, Olivia, the dove. I saw it stand out to me, brighter than the others, then it suddenly seemed as if it moved! It came forward in my vision, grew larger in size, and began to spin! The constellation swirled into my eyes until the sparks of the stars were all I could see, and my vision became black.

I opened my eyes and still, blackness enveloped all around me except for a large bird; a massive dove stood over me. It cooed at me and jolted its quirky neck side to side that caused me to feel like a snack about to be pecked at. "You must not kill him," it cooed in an angelic voice.

"Who are you?" I heard my weak, shaky voice ask.

"I represent peace and life. You must not kill him. The future of all the realms will eventually pay the price, beginning with his death."

A vision slammed into me taking my breath away: screaming, torture, bloodshed, and fire. Somehow, I knew they were my people suffering, the people of Sordova, with their hay thatched roofs and little wooden huts. The huts were burned to a blackened crisp, leaving only a pile of ruin and ash.

The vision ended as I vomited over the side of the wagon.

I was sweating and furiously shaking, unable to process what had just happened. I felt out of my mind. Nova noticed my distress and began to worry, but chalked it up to a bout of sudden nerves.

"Here, eat some bread and honey. It'll calm the stomach and help the shaking." I took the bread from her hand but just looked at it, unable to bring myself to take a bite.

"You'll be okay. My first quest, I was a bucket of nerves! But you have to remember to have confidence in yourself," She smiled her sweet, innocent smile at me. "I've seen your skills and I even know you're a strong person."

I nodded at her and attempted a smile, unsure if I succeeded enough. My head was spinning with confusion. I was here to murder Prince Drudo, nothing less. It was clear by the vision I somehow saw, that doing so would start a domino reaction of chaotic events. What was I going to do?