Magnifico

Maintain traveling West

Early in the morning of the second day, they all woke up early and took their breakfast as early as they could. They were in a hurry because they know they don't have much time on their side and the little time they had need not to be wasted unnecessarily. They all packed their stuff and backed their horses and started their journey again. At this point, they maintained the West road but they weren’t sure of where exactly they were heading. Maintaining traveling west would guarantee them a safe and more convenient return if they eventually succeed in Zaphra. Maintaining and traveling straight would also help them not to miss their track. It's a strategy they had used throughout their journey for a safe and easier return in case they decide to follow the same way on their way home. Sun was hoping that they would find a close-by village where they will find people on the way so they could ask them for proper directions on the path they should take so that they will not make a mistake of taking the wrong way and end up wasting their own time.

They rode for hours until it was afternoon, hot and uncomfortable weather has made the whole place to be very hot. The weather drains energy twice as fast as normal weather should. They had to settle down where they saw a shelter and fed their horses. They also had their lunch, drank, and waited patiently for the heat of the Sun to lessen before they ride again. The heat reduced and they felt it was comfortable to start traveling. They packed their stuff once again and backed their horses and zoomed off.

They rode continuously for eight miles before they met what seemed to be a village down a hilly rise. Though they were not close enough to have a total visual description of the village but they sure know that they were very close to see people they will interact with and people they can ask questions about directions to Zaphra. They sure know that they had to be careful because they don’t know what they may see in the village or the difficulties they may face. Phox was a pure example of what seemed not to be a problem at first but later evolved to become a full-blown war between untrained men and women of Phox and groups of professional killers that hides in the mountain top of the village. When they were up the hilly terrain, looking down to take a proper look at what happens around the village, Sun was imagining the possibility of seeing other bandits that may bolt out from the grasses or perhaps thieves that may be hiding in the surrounding canopy leaves that may attack the three of them there surprisingly. Sun decided to wait for the night to get darker so that it will help them blend in swiftly inside the village than riding with their horses inside and end up attracting unwanted enemies to themselves.

Coming closer, Sun was on top of his horse, studying and observing the village. On top of this hilly rise, Sun could spot a pure white river bed on the far left of the village, slim but long with red-like mahogany trees lining the banks. He considered the possibility of escaping from harm if by chance they get targeted by any unwanted group or persons they will meet so, he took out time to study the terrain from the hill because that would be the best place to see whatever you want to see without much visual impairment from the surrounding area.

“I think we will wait till it is the evening before we move down to the village. What do you think?” Sun asked while on top of his gregarious white horse walking back and forth in search of grasses he would eat.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to say. You just said my mind, we can’t afford to draw much attention to ourselves” Jonas added.

“I’m suggesting we keep our horses somewhere safe around here and move down the hill and make inquiries and also get to ask people questions about where we are going to. Ask them about Zaphra” Viruz said.

“Yes. I think you are correct” Jonas said.

“We can’t afford to leave our horses here without protection. In as much as I support your idea, I wouldn’t want to come back here and see that my horse has been stolen” Sun opined.

“So what do you suggest?” Jonas asked.

“I suggest we keep our horses here only if someone will stay behind to look after them. The other two persons can then move to the village and make arrangements on where to eat and possibly sleep. I’m famished and our food pack has finished so we need to buy more possibly from the village.”

“That’s a nice suggestion. I will stay then” Viruz said.

“Sure?” Sun asked.

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Okay. I think we need to get our horses closer a little because I can’t afford to walk down to that village from here. It is far if we trek it, time, and energy-consuming. And for the energy, I have exhausted mine. I have really exhausted it” Sun said. They slowly drove their horses down the hilly terrain but not close enough to the houses in the town. Jonas and Sun walked down to the village. Drawing closer to the village, there was this alien smell of carrion flowers and even though it was already evening, butterflies could still be seen perching on these flowers. After they had passed the narrow street road where they saw these flowers, they took right and met a major street road. There, they saw lots of men and women buying and selling things by the roadside. Brown wooden houses are lining both sides of this road which most of them were shops while others were people's houses. Lanterns were hanged on the walls of these shops and arranged in such a way that it hangs on both sides of the road. The accent Sun and Jonas heard people speaking here were quite different from that of people of Phox but there was a slight similarity. Tables were seen standing on both ends of the roads as people carefully showcased what they were selling on top of these tables for people to buy.

Walking down the street, Sun and Jonas stayed close to each other and walked confidently because they don’t want people to suspect them of anything or spot any difference or possibly say that they aren’t from there.

“Here looks cool. I think I like it here,” Jonas said blissfully.

“It is glitteringly quiet. But you know what they said about all that glitters Jonas?” Sun asked he continued walking down the street.

“I remembered General.”

“Good. We better be careful though and remember we have someone waiting for us. Let’s find a place we will crash in and get food and leave for now.”

“Okay General” Jonas concurred. They saw an old all wooden semi-detached bungalow, which one side, people were coming in to and fro while on the other side of the bungalow was looking grave. Inside this shop were carefully arranged seats placed round tables in every corner of the shop. The atmosphere was hot owing to the people coming in large numbers inside the shop to buy their foods while others were also seen sitting and eating their food. They found there to be very comfortable, so they agreed to buy food from there. They went inside and bought a nicely prepared cuisine; a lump of well-spiced beef meat mixed with rice and a well-sauced stew. They left immediately they got hold of the food while they leave the shop and went back to where Viruz was.

When they got back to where they left Viruz, he was seen sitting down on the floor resting. Spotting the General, he stood up.

“We are back Jonas. Wait were you sleeping or what?” Sun asked as he walks into their hiding.

“No, I wasn’t General,” Viruz said quickly.

“You came back sooner than I expected though” he added.

“Well, yeah. The village seems cool to me but not for the General. I suggest we take on our horses because we can’t afford to sleep here in this bush again. I mean again,” Jonas said.

“Hmmm. Jonas, I don’t think that’s a nice idea” Sun said.

“Why not? Maybe you aren't aware that mosquitoes wanted to kill me last night that I was having a smooth and nice night's sleep,” Jonas said.

"Mosquitoes? they didn't bite me," Viruz said.

"Oh. That's because you snore while you are sleeping so you aren't aware of whatever that happens after that" Jonas grinned.

“I don’t know. But it doesn’t feel safe yet to inside" Sun said.

“Common General, we have been sleeping in the bush like nomads but here we have an opportunity to sleep and have a fine refreshment. Look, for me, I love this village, and staying in this bush this night would seem more dangerous than staying inside the city.”

“Why did you say so?” Sun asked.

“Okay.. Look at it this way. Yesterday when we slept in the bush, close to the valley where we stayed, there was no one around or any village close by so we were literally afraid of nothing. Everywhere was free so what we were afraid of was just animals or maybe scorpions that may creep in inside our tent and bite either one of us. But in this case, we are very close to this village and if we are spotted here by mistake, it will be assumed that we are intruders that came to their village hiding in the bush.”

“So?”

“So, hiding here will attract more enemies than it should if we stay there. What are you going to tell them exactly? If the people find out that some random guys are hiding somewhere close to their mountain, what do you think they are really going to do to us? Will they listen to our excuse if we have any? Do you think they will really pay attention to whatever explanation we will give them? Well, I don’t think so. We are in for a really big mess if we see people we don’t really want to see here tonight. I’m exhausted and I don’t have the energy to fight.”

“I think he is right General” Viruz agreed.

“You won Jonas. I think you have a point. We better rush eating our food and get back to the village. We will find a place we will crash and wait for daybreak.

What do you think?” Sun said.

Jonas smiled and nodded. He sat down on the floor and took his share of the food. Sun and Viruz joined him to eat the food they had gotten from the shop down the village.