I belong to a small village behind the mountains. The people who mostly depended on farming, animal husbandry and small businesses happily lived together in peace.
But every six months on the full moon the guards of the witch queen came to the village to take away one unmarried girl to sacrifice her to the evil god who protects her beauty and Kingdom. If the villagers do not give into her demand, the guards start killing their animals and destroying their farms, children and lastly the men.
This time it was my turn but on the way to the witch's castle, the horse carriage broke in which they had captivated me and the horse ran off. They couldn't reach the place of sacrifice in time and the sacrifice was aborted for that full moon. The witch in her anger killed all the guards who had been given the work of bringing the sacrificial offering and I was put into the cell till the next full moon.
The sacrificial offering
They were so busy in their conversation that they didn't notice that it had started getting dark and they had to return home quickly cause it would be difficult to find way back through woods in utter darkness as they did not had anything to light their way. But at that moment they suddenly saw someone running towards them carrying a lighted stick. It was the town's market leader who had coming searching for them,
"Where have you been? You are father wants to see you right now. It's urgent so both of you hurry back home"
But he knew Vialla couldn't walk fast, so he carried her in his arms and hurried back home.
On reaching home they found a note at the door stating that they wanted them to be at the market meeting place so they walked towards the market but when they reached there, they saw that the entire town had gathered there. It was obvious that the town was about to face some big trouble else there wouldn't be such a sudden gathering. They made their way through the crowd and found their parents standing with the elders of the town. Bravial's father left the group as he saw them coming and spoke to them after taking them aside.
" Today the fruit man had gone out of the door to collect some fresh fruits and vegetables but while returning he saw two soldiers from the palace of the witch standing some distance from the tree. So he hid in the bushes and heard them saying that the witch had decided to break the agreement and attack our town within two days. They were making plans to break open the door through the tree as it was easy for the witch to do so. The fruit man waited until the witch's men left so that he could enter the town again and inform us. But now dear we need to empty the town tonight without waiting for even a day as we cannot trust the witch. "
The town meeting
Everyone took only the belongings that were necessary and needed throughout the journey though they had no idea how long it would take to reach a new destination. They took a route from the opposite side of the town instead of the magical door. Bravial's father made sure to erase every step leaving no trace of the escaping caravan by being the last one to follow his people. They kept on walking without taking a break so that they could reach the river which they had to cross. By the time they reached the river it was quite dark but there was a wooden bridge which they had made if ever they needed. The chief instructed everyone not to cross the bridge in hurry as it may get overloaded. By midnight each and everyone was safe and sound on the opposite side of the bridge. Now the chief who was the last one to cross the bridge broke it with the help of other people so that the witch and his soldiers would not be able to follow them. After breaking it they didn't wait and starting moving forward to be as far as possible so they could be out of the witch's reach. The chief kept on walking behind the group and continuously kept on erasing the steps. It was only by the break of the dawn that they were able to reach the mountain which they had to climb. But everybody were too tired to take a step further as they had travelled through the night and stopped there to have food and rest. The further journey needed enough energy as they to climb the mountain to reach the other side where they hoped to be safe.
The journey
The chief and some of the leaders decided to climb a highest point from where they could get a better view of the route ahead and plan the journey ahead. So they left the women to cook food for the entire caravan and the others to rest by the time they came back. A group of five leaders and the chief were selected to go ahead to decide the route.
The town people gave them a sendoff by praying and wishing them goodluck to return back safe and sound. Slowly the group started to climb the cliff which was a little rough and slippery. They didn't want to lose the grip so they took the steps carefully. After an hour they reached a point on the cliff from where they could see the other part of the cliff. There was still one more cliff ahead before they could reach a proper route to some other town or a place where they could live peacefully for a few more days.
The group reached back to others after climbing down again for an hour and informed them what they had seen. They asked everyone of them that would they like to rest for a day more or start marching ahead by noon. Everybody decided in unity that they would like to move ahead away from the reach of the witch's army. Finally with everyone's affirmation it was decided to move forward after the lunch and some rest.
The women had cooked soup and bread for everybody from as little as possible because they had to save the food until they reached some town. But it was enough for everyone and each of them had their full. After the lunch they all went to sleep leaving some elders to guard while others rested.
The route ahead
