Nightsworn | The Whispering Wall #2

Fifty Eight: Returning

As Shadow's Reach rose over the horizon, Jordan's heart mirrored it in the opposite direction. It no longer occupied the space as a smudge of burning orange in the darkness; from this direction it seemed new and alien, the fringes of the buildings visible in the rising light. He was certain it had looked smaller before; had it always sprawled so far, as if reaching out to drag him back?

The journey back to the city had been as uneventful as they could have hoped. They had avoided all the settlements this time, and the only group of bandits they'd seen had run from them – it was no mystery who, and what, they'd been mistaken for. If something trailed them back, they saw no evidence of it. Jordan's exhaustion occupied his mind entirely. Sometimes he resented stopping to rest, if only because it meant he had to force himself to get back up and start moving again afterwards. On two occasions had Yddris had to drive off demons; most they saw as smudges in the distance. By the time they were in sight of the city, Jordan was feeling as though the Barrens had failed to meet up to their fearsome reputation.

Not that he was complaining.

"One more stop, I think," Yddris muttered, setting down his huge pack. Jordan also carried one of similar size, since they hadn't had the wagon to aid them this time. They sheltered now in the lee of the tree they had stopped at on their first night in the Barrens coming the other way. It didn't feel like long enough ago, suddenly.

The hardest part of returning had been the goodbyes. Jordan hadn't anticipated that it would be so hard to leave people he had only known for a couple of months, but even many days into the journey the thought still brought down a low mood. Thirris had embraced him and earnestly wished him well in the same way Jordan would have expected from a blood-relative, and it was difficult not to return some of the sentiment. Never had he been so unconditionally accepted by a community of strangers, and without judgement.

"Thank god," Jordan muttered. He settled down at the edge of the fire Yddris lit and undid the buckles on his boots to let his feet breathe. His soles were hard and painfully cracked from the exertions of the previous weeks. Ren jumped from his hood with a chirrup and set off to hunt for her own dinner in the long grass.

"Try this." Yddris chucked a small pot at him across the fire. Jordan, now used to having things thrown at him without warning, caught it on a reflex. He opened it and sniffed, wrinkling his nose at the bitter smell.

"What is it?"

"Blister balm. Nadiya's."

"I could've done with this days ago."

Yddris just shrugged, taking out his belt knife and inspecting it. "Forgot I had it till I saw the state of those. I'm going to see if there's anything worth eating out and about. Don't get your hopes up."

Most nights since they'd left the Guildtown they had had to make do without meat. They could only take as much food as they could carry alongside their belongings, which wasn't a lot – the rest of their diet consisted of whatever they found or caught. At the edges of the forest they had scavenged early fruits and edible leaves, but the Barrens were devoid of anything much but grass and rocks. They could only have meat if they could catch the small, scampering rodent-like creatures that denned underground. Bulk could be found in thick tubers growing beneath the ground, though they were few and far between and difficult to identify without digging down. Most of their rations were dried, stale and hard by the second week. Jordan hadn't had a full stomach since they'd left.

He dug in his pack for their meal; hard flat biscuit and the last of a hard cheese that Thirris had gifted them for the return journey. By the time Yddris returned with a single small mammal dangling from one hand, Ren running alongside him and yipping excitedly up at the carcass, Jordan had fought his way through most of his biscuit with plenty of help from slightly sour water from his water-skin. He couldn't wait to get back to Nika's cooking.