35- ON THE WAY TO THE TORBELEAN MOUNTAINS

"Don't run! You won't be able to escape"

The rain had already begun to create puddles everywhere, and within the forest, Sherek ran recklessly without realizing that there were deep puddles. Running and looking back from time to time to see the distance of the fast-approaching machinery. Unaware, he steps on a puddle and falls; the steam-powered machinery continues to approach, plowing through tall grass, branches, shrubs, logs, and other fauna. Sherek quickly gets up and tries to guide the machinery towards a puddle to sink it and be able to escape. He continues running at full speed, very scared, avoiding hitting branches or trees while looking for some kind of pit to jump over or go around in order to sink that noisy and strange machine. After several jumps between branches and bushes, he notices in the distance a fairly deep puddle, almost like a pit. He approaches and goes around it; the driver of the machine struggles a bit but manages to also go around it. Sherek, running, turns around and realizes that it's difficult for the machinery to turn, so he starts spinning to try to escape. Unaware, he steps on another puddle, but this time he sinks instantly up to his neck; it was a pit created on purpose by something or someone. The machinery manages to get close to Sherek before he can get out of the pit, and the mounted man sees him and says, "The beautiful flower found you in this rain, die quickly, stranger." The machine begins to generate some smoke as a giant and strange revolver begins to rotate to aim at Sherek. Scared, he holds his breath and sinks deeper into the pit, waiting for a sound or impact to anticipate his death or try to get out of the pit while the weapon reloads. Sherek begins to run out of oxygen in the pit and still doesn't hear any sound or feel any kind of impact in the water other than the drops that are falling. After a few more seconds, Sherek can't hold on any longer and surfaces to breathe, cautiously realizing that the machinery is still aiming at him, but this time the driver is dead with an arrow in his head. Sherek, puzzled, starts climbing out of the pit to escape and sees two riders approaching; they were rebels' hunters who had been guarding and watching Sherek from the beginning to prevent him from escaping elsewhere. Sherek thanks them and begins to ask the hunters about the machinery. "You have things to do, right?" asks the hunter. "I will inform the lords that the Betrayed is alive and fulfilling his duties. Take him to the northeastern mountains." "Of course, comrade," says the other hunter who accompanies him. "Quick, Betrayed! Get on behind!" adds the hunter. Sherek settles on the horse with the hunter, and they start galloping. "I'm Dosperd. Those machines you saw are things you should avoid, as you can see they are very dangerous. The only way to stop them is by killing their driver; the defenders use them to hunt people." "Were they going to kill me?" "I don't know, it seemed like it, but there are many possibilities. Right now, focus on drying off and doing what you have to do in the mountains. I can only help you by taking you to your destination, but once you get off the horse, you're on your own again, so be careful when you return." "Wow! It's hard to be a rebel." "It might be a little, but that's how we make sure we don't have useless people among us." "Well, I'll try not to be one of those." Dosperd looks at Sherek and responds, "It's either that or your life, kid." During the journey, Sherek manages to rest a bit and calm his nerves after being on the brink of death once again. Now he only thinks about how to return, perhaps by stealing a horse or running through the forests, but it would take too long. Suddenly, he quickly notices several blacksmiths with many workers and a lot of hustle and bustle. When they stop, the hunter says to him, "We're almost there. Be careful when you get off; I advise you not to venture too much into the city. It can be hostile if they don't know you around here. Good luck on your way back." Sherek gets off the horse and notices the only blacksmith with a house next to it. It is slightly separate from the others, and the house is almost in ruins. He finds this very strange, as he thought it would be a much more prestigious house since it is where Commander EspinaGris had left his clothes. He searches for the keys he was given and opens the door, quickly noticing a strong smell throughout the house. It looks dark due to the lack of lighting, and several of its walls have collapsed, but he must find the commander's clothes, so he explores the small rooms, but only sees debris and many rats everywhere. The smell is intense, and he needs to go outside to breathe some fresh air. He goes out and sees many people looking at him with curiosity, tries to ignore them, and after thinking for a bit, he quickly goes back inside, covering his nose and heading towards some corners he hadn't checked. He finds the source of the smell; it is a ball of dirty clothes with larvae and rats around it. As he observes it, he tries to quickly pick up all the clothes and take them outside. It is a difficult task, but he has no other option. With disgust and determination, he collects this pile of filth and runs outside the house, dropping some socks and scraps of torn fabric behind. When he throws this dirty pile of clothes on the ground outside the house, a slight crackle is heard as the clothes fall; they were socks, shirts, capes, pants, and sweaty, bloody underwear filled with rats and other filth. The people around become disgusted and quickly move away due to the strong smell emanating from it. Sherek lies on the ground tired, wiping his arms with dirt. He feels a great anger and frustration; he thought he was finally being assigned a more honorable task than the previous one, but now he finds himself in an unfamiliar area with a bunch of disgusting clothes that he must carry alone to the barracks. A sixty-five-year-old man in a gray robe, with a long beard, sees him and says, "Hey! Get up from the ground, kid! Those bugs will crawl all over you if you lie there." Sherek gets up and realizes that many larvae were already crawling on his clothes. He shakes them off and stands up. "Thank you, sir." "Call me Desarmador Soeld. You should clean yourself up a bit. Otherwise, you'll just catch some strange disease." "First, I have to put this shit in my sacks so it doesn't stink so much." Holding his breath, Sherek clears the clothes of some rats and larvae to start putting them in the sack. He closes it and goes back to Desarmador. "Go clean yourself in the river near the markets," the Desarmador points towards the merchants' area, where Sherek notices a lot of people bustling, trading everything. "Got it. I feel disgusting. Thanks, Desarmador." Desarmador Soeld says, "Since you're going there, bring me an orange rope from the market. I'll give you some gloves so you can pick up your filth. You'll be able to differentiate it from other ropes because the one I need has a small purple mark in the middle."