Freyr

“T-Those are my eggs?!” Freyr yelled. His mate nodded. Freyr’s eyes widened, his breathing became quicker.

“Are you oka--” His mate started to say.

“No! I’m not!” The gaoler yelled. He ran off into a hallway.

Freyr had always hated living in the Fortress Of Ends. He had always hated the Fortress. He had always hated the other gaolers. He didn’t want to join an order. He didn’t want to be a keeper or an overseer or anything like that. He didn’t want to be stuck doing one thing for the rest of his life. But of course, he had to join an order. His whole life was terrible. His horrible mother had forced him to be with a gaoler he didn’t love. He hated her in fact. And now, he was being told that she had his eggs?! Freyr didn’t know what to think. But he did know one thing, he couldn’t let his hatchlings grow up in a place like this. In the Fortress Of Ends. He couldn’t let his hatchlings be forced into anything they didn’t want to do. He couldn’t let them grow up with his terrible mother as a role model in their lives. He had to get them away from the Fortress.

That night, Freyr snuck out of his quarters. He slipped into the hatchery and looked for his nest. The gaoler found his nest and picked up the three icy eggs. Freyr very carefully put one into his bag. He covered it with some already shed fur. He did this again with the last two eggs. The gaoler then walked out of the hatchery and into the empty halls of the Fortress. “Okay, just gotta get to the exit.” Freyr thought to himself. “This should be eas--”

“Hey! Stop right there!”

Freyr froze. “What are you doing out here at this time? I don’t recognize you as a sentry.” A stern voice said. Freyr spun around slowly. A sentry gaoler stared back at him. Correction: Glared back at him.

“I, uh. Um. I need to-- I’m going to-- I have to uh.” Freyr took a deep breath. “Sooo you know how the Seeker Order was just reinstated, S-Sir. I need to take these, uh, p-provisions,-” He gestured to his bag. “-to the seekers since they’re getting ready to leave,” he managed to stutter out.

The sentry narrowed their eyes at him but said, “Fine. Go ahead, but head right back to your quarters when your done.”

“Thank you, Sir!” Freyr said. He ran down the hall. “That was a close one.” he thought.

After a bit of walking and avoiding more sentries, Freyr had made it to the gates of the Fortress Of Ends. Two sentries were stationed there. “I'll just use the same story as before.” Freyr thought. He walked up to one of the sentries and said, “H-Hello there Ma'am. I'm here to d-deliver these provisions to the seekers.”

The sentry nodded and opened the gate. “Just be quick about delivering and come back immediately.”

“T-thank you Ma'am!” Freyr said as he walked forward. The other sentry walked to the one Freyr had talked to and said something. Freyr ignored them and started to walk a little faster.

“Hey! Wait a second, didn't the seekers leave yesterday?”

“Shoot.”

Freyr ran as fast as he could. He had to get away. The sentries chased after him. One fired a contuse to try to slow him down but Freyr dodged it. He looked around for a place he could hide. He spotted a cave, but didn’t go in for fear of being cornered. Another contuse was fired, and the sentries were gaining on him. He really needed to find someplace to hide. There! A mountain was up ahead. Now, if he could just make it there. He started to run in a zig-zag pattern. Suddenly, Freyr felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked down to see the fur on his shoulder was scorched. They had hit him with a contuse. But Freyr was full of adrenaline so he kept running. The mountain was right there! He made a sharp turn right and dove behind a large tree. Freyr was breathing hard but still tried to keep as quiet as possible. He heard the sentries footsteps coming closer then suddenly stop. “I heard something over there,” one said.

“Let’s go,” Said the other. The footsteps started again then faded into the background.

Freyr walked out from behind the tree and sighed in relief. He did not feel like fighting.

“Hey, aren’t you gonna thank us?”

Freyr spun around. Two gaolers were standing there. The first gaoler had dark fur and was just hatchling. She was the one who had spoken. The second gaoler had bright, colorful fur and was an adult. Freyr tensed, “Who are you?” he asked.

“The ones who just saved you,” The hatchling replied sassily.

“What she meant to say, was that I am Thornrock, but you can call me Thorn, and she’s Umbrella. We saw you running so I threw a rock that way,” The other gaoler said as she pointed in the direction the sentries went.

“Thank you. I’m Freyr. What are you guys doing out here?” Freyr asked. “They can’t be sentries,” he thought. “One’s just a hatchling.”

“We could ask you the same thing,” Umbrella said, narrowing her eyes. Thornrock shot her a look.

They seemed trustworthy enough to Freyr, plus they had saved him. “I was.. Running away from the Fortress,” He sighed and opened his bag. “Icewarden I hate it there. And, and I couldn’t let my hatchlings grow up there.”

Umbrella and Thornrock peered into the bag. “Oh,” Umbrella said softly.

Thornrock shifted her balance. “Well, I guess since you trusted us enough to tell us. I’ll tell you why we’re out here,” Umbrella looked at Thornrock and Thorn nodded. “My,” Her voice broke, “My girlfriend, Sintara, went missing, but no one seems to care. So we’re going to go find her.”

Freyr nodded. “So where are you guys going to start looking?”

“This sounds strange but, something tells me the Windswept Plateau is a good place to start,”

“Well, I’m just trying to get as far away from the Fortress as possible. Would, would you mind if I traveled with you?”

“Not at all.”


TO BE CONTINUED.