Three
“We
should leave first thing in the morning, I think,” Lance said as he, Justin, JC
and Chris gathered by a tree. “At first light.”
“That's
fine by me,” Chris said. JC nodded silently. Justin groaned inwardly but nodded
as well.
“We
cannot overload the horses. You must take only what's necessary. We can forage
for our food while we are on our way,” Lance continued. Justin thought Lance
was acting sort of bossy, but the elf and dwarf were nodding in agreement. A
thought struck Justin.
“Uh,
horses?”
Everyone
looked at him. “Yes, horses,” Lance said slowly.
“Not
to rain on your parade, but I don't have a horse.” Justin shrugged
apologetically.
Chris
let out a hearty laugh. “I thought humans had no sense of humor. Obviously I
heard wrong.”
“How
did you get here, then?” JC asked.
“Well…”
Justin looked around blankly.
“Warrior,
I asked you before to take things seriously,” Lance said, frowning. “Your horse
is in the stable with the other mounts. Are you sure you are up for this? I
wonder if that blow…”
“I'm fine,” Justin said quickly, looking at
JC. There was no way he was walking away from something this beautiful.
After
they finished talking, Justin wandered away to find the stable. A strange small
creature bowed to him. “Master Warrior…you are back to check on your horse?”
“Uh,
yes,” Justin said. The creature bowed again.
“He's
at the end, in number four. I've brushed him down and fed him. Your bags are in
a corner of his stall.”
Justin
approached stall four, and stared at the beautiful creature the color of
mahogany. The horse snorted and walked over to nuzzle at Justin's neck. “Hello,
uh…” Justin's mind searched for a name. What would he name a horse? “Uh,
Michael Jordan? Magic Johnson? Iverson?” The horse looked everywhere but at
Justin. Justin frowned. “Dylan? Clapton? Michael Jackson?” The horse gave
Justin a withering look. “God…I don't know. Mercedes. BMW. Mustang.” The horse
whinnied and stomped his foot. “Okay, that's just stupid. I named a HORSE
Mustang?”
“You've
found the horse you thought you didn't have, I see,” Lance said, walking over.
He spoke in a quiet tone, in a language Justin didn't understand. The horse
immediately seemed to relax, allowing Lance to run a hand down his face. Lance
spoke again, and Justin caught a word that sounded very similar to “mustang.”
“You
know the horse's name?”
“Of
course.” Lance gave him a strange look. “I brought the herd together, remember?
I named all the horses…and gave this one to you long ago.”
“Right,”
Justin said, nodding.
“There
is a tent by the fire,” Lance said. “I think it would be wise if you slept,
Timberlake.”
“I think you're right,” Justin said,
suddenly exhausted.
By
the time Justin had his bedroll open and situated in the tent by the fire, his
stomach began to rumble. He dug through his bags but found only a loaf of what
seemed to be stale bread. He was hungry, however, and bit into it hungrily. He
opened his canteen, and washed the dry bread down with a swallow of warm water.
“Warrior.”
Justin heard a scratching at the flap of his tent, and he pushed the fabric
aside. It was JC. “I'm sure you need to refill your water. Care to walk down to
the stream with me?”
“Of
course.” Justin brushed the breadcrumbs from his tunic, his hunger long
forgotten. He barely remembered to bring along his canteen as he followed JC's
thin form down towards the water.
“We
shall definitely be written into the books of history, you know,” JC said, his
eyes straight ahead. “For so many reasons. A human, a wizard, an elf, and a
dwarf?” JC shook his head and laughed slightly. His dark hair seemed to shine,
and the moonlight was not very bright. Justin swallowed the sudden lump in his
throat.
“Not
to be rude, but I didn't see a sword or a club or anything,” Justin said. “What
can you do?”
“I
am an elf, Timberlake,” JC said gently. Justin just stared at him. “I use a bow
and arrows,” JC said slowly, as if Justin was five years old.
“Oh,
right, duh,” Justin said. “Sorry.”
“Warrior,
I do not understand you.” JC stopped walking, his head tilted to the side as he
looked at Justin. “I have heard many tales of your bravery, how you have faced
death again and again in protection of your people.” JC bent down by the
stream, filled his own canteen, then stood back up before continuing. “Yet you
do not seem to take all of this seriously.”
“I
do! I just…I'm not myself, Chasez. I apologize if I've offended you.” Justin
looked at JC's slender throat, where the moonlight seemed to glow. “Please
forgive me.”
“You
did not offend me, Warrior,” JC said. Justin bent down to fill his canteen,
hoping JC couldn't see his red face. “I just do not want you to cause us even
more danger.”
“I won't, I promise. Not on purpose,” Justin
said earnestly, and JC finally smiled.
Justin
slept fitfully that night. Not only was he concerned about the fact that he was
off to face a dragon, but JC's handsome face remained in his dreams constantly.
JC seemed even more precious and fragile than before, yet there was a steel in
his blue eyes that Justin hadn't noticed before.
“Timberlake!”
A voice roared outside his tent. “Do I need to be comin' in there to waken
you?”
“No,
Chris,” Justin mumbled, rubbing at his eyes and sitting up.
“How
disappointing.” A bearded face poked into his tent and grinned. Justin couldn't
help but grin back. Chris was Chris no matter what.
“Lansten
has brewed us some sort of special stew for our morning meal…to get us off
right,” Chris explained as Justin hurriedly packed his things. “It looks odd,
but smells good.”
“Am
I the last one up?” Justin asked as he stepped out of the tent.
“Aye,
which is surprisin'. Always thought that elves were the lazy ones.”
“Why
don't you like elves?” Justin asked.
“Dunno.
Just not right, those elves. So pretty and weak-lookin'.” Chris shrugged.
“Always looking around, spoutin' off about the beauty of the world. Half the
time I can't say that I understand a word they say.”
Justin
hid a smile as he followed Chris to the others.
