Chapter Four: “Dai”
When Alene awoke, everything was different. The sun was shining, bright and clear overhead. She sat up, looking around; when she’d run last night, she’d fallen down a gully, and now lay beside a stream.
She stood up, dusting the dirt from her dress. Her head hurt, but that wasn’t strange; she remembered hitting her head. She reached to the rocky edge of the gully and pulled herself up.
“I was that close…?” She now saw that the path to Perierat; if she had slowed down and taken the time to look around, she would’ve seen the path before. She laughed at her own foolishness. Alene jogged down the path towards town.
“Hello, Alene.” One of the merchants smiled at her. “Where is William?”
Suddenly the girl remembered. Her grandfather… he was gone. Tears began falling from her eyes, slowly. But, she remembered Miho; there would be time to grieve later. She had to find Moss. “He is gone… um, have you seen a man named Moss?”
The merchant seemed confused. “Moss? Isn’t that the man who escorted a large group out of town today? I heard he was taking all of those people to their deaths.”
“He was going to take people to Coelum! They were going to be safe.” Alene took a deep breath. “Which way did they go?”
The merchant pointed to the North and the little girl began running towards the northern town gate. For a moment she wondered why she wanted to go to Coelum so bad. The girl could only think of one reason: her grandfather.
As she walked, she could only think about how her grandfather had taught her about the king and how she’d longed to see him. But something was different. Why did she want to see the king anyway? Was it because she really wanted to or was it just because her grandfather wanted her to like him? All the memories of her grandfather rushed back to her, but this was not the time to grieve. She had to find a way to Coelum, where those who killed her grandfather would not find her.
Alene sat down on a stone and sighed. She leaned back and stared at the sky. Her eyes closed, as she thought about that question. Suddenly she felt something pulling on her on her dress. “What is going on?!” She opened her eyes and found a sheep chewing on her dress. “Go away!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. They eat anything.” She looked up and saw a boy, about her own age, standing nearby. A sheep lay draped over his shoulders. “My name is Dai.”
The girl smiled. “Hello, Dai.”
“Hello, what is your name? And what brings you here?”
“My name is Alene.” She looked down as a little lamb came up to her, bleating happily. “I was on my way to Coelum…”
The boy’s face lit up with joy. “I am from Coelum!”
“But, if you are from there, why did you leave?”
Dai picked up the lamb and patted its head. “I have a job here, from King Ansaldo. These are his flocks of sheep. And I am their shepherd. I also shepherd the people who want to reach Coelum and that includes you, Alene.”
“What do you mean?” Alene looked up at the young man.
“I assume you missed Moss this morning, because that would have been the best time to go. So, I can lead you a ways.”
The girl smiled, “Thank you Dai, but why?”
“The king wants all those who look for him, to find their way to him.” Dai smiled. “I need to take the sheep back towards Coelum. You may come with me.”
Alene nodded. Maybe, as she traveled she would figure out why she wanted to see King Ansaldo.
[Next Chapter: Nature sets out to stop Dai and Alene.]