Journey of the Forgotten: A Novel by Charles Franklin

Author:Charles Franklin [Franklin, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Collin

Collin took Blackwind from Corporal Dannos and exited the City of Mal. The trip to meet with his men and Donk would be a long one on foot. He gave himself an imaginary smack in the head for losing Ethan’s horse.

What was he doing? He felt as if he had made no progress in finding Ethan. While he sweated in some silver mine or dodged swords in a pit, Collin lounged in an inn and had awkward run-ins with Leeza outside the washroom. Such as the one that morning, when she had let her thin robe fall from her shoulder and gave a giggle as she pulled it back up.

Collin had grown feverishly hot beneath his collar and gulped down his breakfast before bolting out the door. Leeza had called after him, but he kept his mind on getting to the forest and finding the guards. And on Autumn. Was she okay? What was she doing right then? Did she think of him?

He walked gingerly down the beaten road leading out of Mal. The fight with Butcher left him with bruises all over. Breathing caused his ribs to ache. His shoulder throbbed from smashing into the wall. It even hurt to think.

The sleepless night before hadn’t allowed his body to heal any. In fact, it hurt worse. No matter, he had a fight in twelve hours.

After a while, the Mal Road led him back into the forest. There the mighty trees reached for the clouds and swayed gently with the wind. The breeze whispered obscure secrets. From the trickling stream came the foul smell of rotten eggs, and any thirst Collin had was gone.

When he came upon the guards—deep in the woods—they jumped to their feet. Collin searched their faces. All present and seemed to be okay. All but one.

“Where’s Donk?” Collin asked.

The men’s faces grew glum, and they looked to one another. “He left,” one of them said, then gulped.

“Gone?” The hairs stood rigid on the back of Collin’s neck. “Gone where?”

“He—he wouldn’t stop crying!” the guard said. “Kept yelling for his momma. We woke up one morning and couldn’t find him. We’ve been searching the forest ever since. No sign of him.”

Collin put his hands to his head and grabbed fistfuls of hair. “Bliss will kill us all if we lose him! Do you realize that?” He remembered seeing her in action. Blood sprayed from her enemies and splattered her face. Their heads lay at her feet. Collin now saw his among them.

“We couldn’t go too far. We had to wait for you!” The guard snapped his fingers and pointed to the horses. “Break camp! Get mounted! Let’s find the giant.” He turned back to Collin. “That is…if we’re done here.”

“You are,” Collin said, “Your mission is to find Donk. I have to go back.”

“For what?”

“To earn silver.” Collin blew out a sigh. “I can’t go into the slave market to look for Ethan unless I can pay. I can earn silver in the fighting pits.”

The men burst into laughter.

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