jackal-among-snakes-16091326
chapter-247

Orion wandered for a long, long while, much of it aimless. As a prince—now crown prince, he reflected—of Vasquer, his lone outage was something largely intolerable. His presence was noted and reported everywhere he wandered. Though he could wander as he pleased, he could not do so alone… or so his father decreed.

But Orion ignored that. He ignored them, avoided his pursuers at every turn, and simply wandered. He drank water conjured by his blessings and ate animals raw in the snow-covered forests. He wished to be alone with his own thoughts. He did not have the same success at avoiding the voices of the gods. They hounded him every waking minute, intent and instructive. At the very least, Orion was growing better at shutting them out.

Yet this relentless escape made his introspection dubious in quality. Often, he thought more about avoiding people than the problems that plagued him. Eventually, he knew he would need to get to a place that Vasquer could not reach. This conclusion gave him a destination… and the infancy of an objective.

And so, wearing an ill-fitting ratty robe given to him by a mendicant priest, Orion chose his direction and walked it relentlessly. The environment changed from the wintry forests and sprawling hills of northern Vasquer to long plains of dead grass with mountains miles off watching like guardians.

Though the royal knights seeking to persuade him to allow their accompaniment briefly redoubled their efforts once his route was more predictable, eventually… their pursuit began to taper off. They had little reach in these lands. Their number was fewer and fewer, and then soon none at all.

Orion swam with the rivers, walked through the hibernating forests, crawled through the plains, only taking pause for food and rest. He hunted stags, eating his fill and donating the remnants to local villages. He slept sparingly, as the time needed to sleep forced him to hear the whispers of the gods clearly.

The prince stepped to a hill a fair distance away from a large city, one hand held up to block the light of the early morning suns. The settlement was flat and wide, and housed innumerable people. Even now, caravans came into and out of its walls. At the foot of the mountains, miners began their day, heading into the depths while followed by an overseer earth mage. Walking opposite them were others ending their day in the mines, hauling ore and debris.

Orion’s gaze fixed on something beyond that. At the point where two mountains ended, a miles-tall wall of taupe stone bridged the gap, two keeps wrought out of the stone of each mountainside. A gargantuan metal door rested at the bottom of this manmade wall, a great golden lion emblazoned on it. Just beyond a mountain cliff, one could see a lion statue, an orange sphere clutched in its jaws.

Seeing the wall, Orion took a deep breath and smiled. With certain steps, he walked towards the Lionsun Castle.