Chronicles of Den'dra: A Land Torn: Ancient Powers Awaken Read Free Page A

into the garden with Skeln. He even began sorting through the bag of potatoes for the usable ones and tossing the rotten ones.
    Skeln could have cared less either way. He was used to working alone. He finished removing the last of the weeds and began the task of softening the soil for planting. He had several rows finished when he heard footsteps on the path. Looking up he saw Akeli skipping up the path in some rather sturdy looking shoes. His heart sank to his stomach at the implications. Sometimes he wondered if she was really as simple as she acted. His ploy of staying on the other side of the garden wasn’t going to work today. Skeln thought about hiding but realized it was too late. She had seen him. The options of enduring a tiresome and potentially dangerous conversation or fleeing through a patch of brambles were all that was left with the latter appearing more preferable by the moment.
    “ Are you alright little miss?” Akeli’s hand shook like a leaf in the wind as she froze with her hand on the twine that held the gate shut. She hadn’t realized that Skeln wasn’t alone. The disgust was evident on her face as she turned and skipped down the path without offering an explanation for her visit. Skeln was glad then for Urake’s company. The potatoes were planted without further interruption and Skeln decided to leave the rest of the planting for the morrow. There was still enough time left to take a bath before dark. To this end they made their way up the valley to their house. Skeln left Urake at the house and continued to the pool.
    After stripping he slipped into the frigid water and began scrubbing himself. The water came off a glacier field high up in the Garoche Mountains. It warmed but little in its cascades down the hill. Skeln had been told that if he were to follow this valley up the hill he would find himself in an area where not even trees could grow and winter reigned year round. Soon the water that flowed past Skeln was no longer murky with the dirt he had washed off. The cold water didn’t bother Skeln like it bothered most people. Cold weather never bothered him either.
    Slipping into the dirty cloths was a necessary evil. Skeln returned to home and ate supper in silence. By the time he had finished Urake had already gone to bed as usual. Skeln tossed and turned on his bed for a while before he managed to fall asleep. He wondered how he was going to live in the future. Living off the proceeds of a small garden, odd jobs and the infrequent barrel of ale was not a very secure future. He thought about apprenticing in the village for a bit. The one occupation that he had any real interest in learning was blacksmithing but that was clearly out of the question. There was the leather tanner who also served as the village saddle and harness maker. There were also a couple landowners that might hire him as a field laborer this summer. Beyond that one would have to travel beyond the valley into the Lower Garoche to find any other apprenticeships. Sleep finally came but it didn’t bring the restful slumber that Skeln had hoped for.
     
     

 
    Chapter Two
     
    The sun was still climbing in its circuit as Skeln finished planting the last of the seeds. Urake hadn’t come today so he was keeping a watchful eye on the path in the hopes that Akeli didn’t come visiting. He had taken the preparation of smashing down a path through the brambles from the back of the plot on the chance that she did manage to sneak up.
    Nothing unusual was happening until he heard the sound of hoofs on the hard packed path. Horses were not creatures that commonly came up the valley this far so Skeln went to the side of the garden closest the path to watch them come by. He was mildly shocked to see a carriage pulled by a double team of horses. There had never been in his memory such an occurrence. There was no reason that he could think of that might warrant a team of horses and a carriage this far up the valley. Only Urake and