Upon the cliff's face, two elegant spires had been carved out of the black stone. At their bottoms, wide heptagon shaped staircases connected them to the ground below. A doorway leading into carved structures resembling miniature fortresses, from where, at the tops, the spires began. Slender windows opened up in even distances all the way to the top, where Noah's eyes eventually failed him.
He had never in his life seen a thing so elegantly crafted. Even from the distance they were at, it was clear to him the quality and artistic vision chiseled into the ancient stone. It stirred something within him, something resembling wonder and pride.
Drawing his eyes to the left and the right, he spied another carving in the cliffside, and squinted to get a better view. On each side, perfectly symmetrical with each other, two slants running up at an angle jutted out from the outer side of each spire. Upon them, he thought he saw little specks moving along them.
"Thomas, do you see that? All those carvings."
"Yes, I see them. We're getting close." Noah had noticed a change in his companion since the previous night's conversation. Of course, he still seemed moody, and lost in thought much of the time. However, whenever Noah asked a question, or tried to make any other conversation with him, there was usually some type of proper response now. Not a lengthy one, but he would take what he could get. And, right now, he wanted to get information about what he saw.
"Is that the palace? Is it behind there?" Noah pointed to a wooden wall standing between them and the pillars. Thomas looked over at him, a hint of concern in his face.
"Um, no." He thought for a moment. "You've never seen a palace before have you?" Noah shook his head vigorously, his red curls bobbing about in the sun. "Right, well, no that is not where the palace is. The palace is up there." He pointed to the top of the cliff. Along its edge, Noah thought he could see great pine trees growing like spikes atop a wall. Though, from this distance, they appeared as small as the cones that grew upon them. No structure of any sort could be seen, no matter how hard he looked. Noticing his desperate searching, Thomas spoke again.
"Yes, when I say that, I mean it is up on the cliff's top. Not right on the edge of it. Once we get up there, we should only have another day to journey."
"The top?" It had been something that Noah never really thought of. With each passing hour that they drew closer to the ancient cliffside, he became more wonder struck at its magnificent size. No plant grew down it, and no sign of decay or erosion suggested its diminishing anytime soon. At the top, he thought he occasionally spotted a low hanging cloud brush against it and vanished. This, during their previous time traveling, made him wide eyes with adventurous wanderlust. Now, it revealed to his mind just how high up he would have to go.
As they came out from the red forest and back into the open world again, Noah got the chance to finally view the base of the location properly. A lengthy wooden wall, not unlike the one from home, curved in a half circle, connecting both ends to the black stone far behind. Noah, while not seeing any real man made buildings poking up from behind the spikes, calculated that they could place at least five or six houses within the space, if needed.
Red and green painted gates stood at the wall's center, where a squadron of armored soldiers was positioned in front and atop. The majority stood ready, silently observing those before the gates, spears and shields ready. This prompted Noah to fully look about.
He noticed the large amount of white and brown tents scattered in the space between the woods and base. People wearing, to him, outlandish clothes moved about in the early morning chill, crafting fires and chatting with each other. The scent of herd animals wafted into his nose, followed by the bleating of sheep and goats off somewhere out of sight. None of them seemed to take notice of the newcomers, and Thomas did not acknowledge them in return. Noah saw that he only kept his eyes on the soldier at the gate, and looked too.
While the other wore the red and green armor of their region, this man did not. He wore all red, and kept no helmet upon his balding head. In his hand he held a ledger, much larger than the one the jolly soldier had at the previous checkpoint. And he observed no humor in his long face. He talked to a large man, who stood flanked by two more men of his type.
The large man had long flowing white curly hair, matched by a beard reaching down to his navel. He spoke with arms moving in large sweeping gestures, smiling spread across his face. The words, while loud, couldn't quite reach Noah's ears, however, the two men with him nodded in agreement at everything he spoke. The soldier in red looked less convinced.
He simply held the ledger against his belt, other hand on his sword hilt. His eyes continued to look from the trio, who he scanned up and down repeatedly, to the camp behind them on either side of the road. This pattern went on and on, until Noah felt his cold eyes fall upon him, and the soldier's body shifted towards them ever so slightly.
"Come, over here." Thomas pulled his reins and steered the horse off the road to the left. Noah followed, glancing back at the man one last time to see his attention had shifted back to the loud man before him.
Thomas led them through the tents narrowly avoiding small fires where people cooked. The smoke from these little camps wafted through the air, layering a thick haze over the tents. Noah's eyes burned and watered, making him struggle to follow behind his companion. Indeed, he nearly ran directly into the other horse, who had abruptly stopped before a large tent.
Two men in heavy white cloaks and head wrappings stood on either side of the entrance. In their belts were large knives, which they kept a hand upon at all times. They looked up at the riders, eyeing them suspiciously.
Then, to Noah's surprise, Thomas leaned down towards them and hailed the two in a language he had never heard. The two men's eyebrows went up, and the tight lips opened to a wide grin. They each responded in a similar phrase that Noah could not understand, then proceeded to have some type of conversation.
Much nodding and gesturing took place between each statement, and one thrust a thumb over his shoulder towards the base, rolling his eyes and saying something that made the other two laugh. Noah joined in, with a slight chuckle, hoping to be considered one of the group. This turned out to only make the three go silent, and the two men looked him up and down with their suspicious expressions returning. Thomas waved a hand at Noah, laughing through more words that Noah, while not knowing their exact meaning, could tell was something along the lines of 'ignore my stupid companion'. Their response of nodding and turning away from him was all the confirmation he needed.
With a few more exchanges, the two men called over to a young girl, who promptly ran over. They spoke to her, which she responded with a nod before walking to the horses and taking their reins. Thomas looked over at Noah.
"Follow me." He dismounted the horse, and ducked under the tent's entrance. Noah followed, dismounting the horse, but stumbling onto his bottom when his foot caught in the stirrup. The two men let out a joyful laughter, and a few passersby did the same.
The morning frost upon the grass bit right through his pants, and soaked him within moments of him being there. His face went red, already feeling the outsider from all perspectives, even his own companion.
With a curse, he raised himself to one foot, only to realize his boot had gone missing. Looking up he spotted it still within the stirrup, dangling like a caught fish. Noah let out a frustrated sigh, as the laughter continued, and began to stand up. Before he could finish rising, the girl holding the reins, walked about the horse and yanked the boot free. She stumbled back a bit with the effort, but quickly recomposed herself and stood to look at the two men. They quickly went silent. She turned back to Noah, offering him his boot with a smile.
"My apologies, sir. Please." She stepped aside and gave him a path to the tent's entrance. He looked at her, shocked at hearing his own language being spoken to him, and felt a comfort in the small action. He stuffed his bare foot back into the boot, stomping it upon the ground a few times to make sure it was fully inside. Then, he turned to her, and bowed his head.
"Thank you, ma'am." He was unsure if the gesture was correct, but he made it again when standing before the two men, who responded with a nod. Noah looked back at the girl, who he observed to possibly be a year older than himself, as she led the two animals away, speaking softly to them all the time. Turning back, he ducked his head under the entrance and went inside.
Pillows, blankets, and veils of fantastic designs decorated the inside of the place. Their vibrant color infiltrated his vision with reds and purples. Incense burned in the far left side of the tent, where some sort of wooden statue stood upon a table. The spiced scent filled the area with a warm spark of something he had never known. A few well placed oil lamps illuminated the tent's insides with their lovely orange glow. All in all, compared to the bitter early morning gray of the outside world, Noah felt he might as well have been taken to a whole other country.
"Hurry up and come here. We don't have much time." Thomas sat on the thick cushions at the center of the area. A man handed him a cup, which he began sipping from eagerly. "Damn, been too long since I've had any of this." He nodded a thanks to the servant and looked back over at Noah, who stood stupidly in the entrance. He rolled his eyes and waved him over. "Come, hurry." Noah quickly walked over and slumped into pillows. "Why are your pants so wet? Actually, never mind that. Listen, in a few moments a man is going to come through that entrance and speak with us. He will ask me what we are doing here. I don't have time to explain all of this to you, so I need you to do something for me."
Noah leaned in, the steam from the cup making a screen between the two men's faces.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Understand, I mean this as no insult. You talked last night how you felt you were smart enough to keep up with this journey. So, listen to what I have to say now." Thomas looked to the servant to make sure he did not listen, even knowing the language barrier between them. He looked back to Noah, and swallowed hard. "I need you to start thinking, and playing this chess match with me." Noah frowned, but kept listening. "I can't carry you, you are right about that. I will have to treat you like an equal for this. But remember, that means I can't save you either." Noah noticed the absolute lack of jest in his companion's face. A silent desperation and hope could be seen in his eyes. He nodded.
"I will, I promise."
Thomas let out his pent up breath and leaned back, taking another sip from the steaming cup.
"Good. Because I hear him coming now."
Noah heard the loud voice rounding about the outside of the tent, laughing through each word. Then, through the entrance, he saw white curly locks come through the entrance. The giant of a man nearly touched the top of the tent's ceiling as he looked down at the two men. His white teeth glistened in the lamplight.
"Greetings my fellow men. My people tell me that you both seek to join our tribe and walk in our faith."
Noah had to use all of his willpower to stop his head from snapping over to look at Thomas in a panic.