A cart was hightailing towards the young man the soldiers were sworn to protect. One is obviously curious whether the young noble would be safe or he’d get sent off to another world. But perhaps what caused the wooden vehicle to roll down as a death trap in the first place, surprisingly or not involved his friends.

—

Thomas, or more known as Tom, rode with his friends underneath the scalding heat of the sun. Travelling through the forest provided a bit of protection and the wind was cool, but everybody seemed so quiet and serious. He sighed and fanned himself with a hand.

“Oh man, it’s really hot.”

He eyed the carriage in front of them, a safe haven from the sun—no doubt enchanted to be cool and comfortable. He leaned slightly on his horse’s head and turned to Cedric riding close by, waiting. The young soldier was keeping to himself, riding on a moderately fast pace with evident ease. He frowned at the lack of a reply, was his head in the clouds?

Some of the older soldiers were talking amongst themselves, quietly but still conversing.

Yet, nobody else attempted talking with the young soldier. Tom wasn’t sure if it was because of the man’s noble station or just the tense atmosphere that surrounded him as they rode. It was most likely with the fact that the two of them were stationed at the very back of the caravan. He waved at him.

“Oi Darby, you ride on those kinds of sweet carriages eh? How does it feel being under the heat of the sun now?”

“Well it’s not too bad, I took some riding lessons before. My father and brothers were usually the ones who rode on carriages though.”

A gracious smile would be evident on the young man’s lips, although beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. Tom frowned at the sight but nodded his head. He expected the man to complain even a little bit. But Cedric Darby tended to brush things off. So he shrugged and looked ahead of them.

“Okay, heeey, you Kelton?”

Frank was talking with one of their superiors. He was part of those assigned to stay close to the carriage. Once he noticed him and Cedric looking, the man excused himself and slowed down his horse, as the two caught up to him. Tom couldn’t help but notice that his friend held his reins a bit too tightly. His knuckles were white but decided not to mention it.

“It’s not that hot, I’ve had the sun beating down on my back as I hauled off cargo. Plus our armour reflects some of the light I think?”

Tom glanced at the man’s face. The lack of any visible sweat was a testimony that Frank indeed was unbothered by the sun’s rays. Quite unlike the two of them. The soldier then moved his arm a bit, the light reflecting off from his armoured gauntlets. Tom swatted his hand in front of his horse and resumed his gaze at the thankfully not shiny carriage.

“Sooner or later, the horses or I’m gonna get blinded by that armour.”

A small chuckle would erupt between the three of them as they hastened their pace to catch up with the others. They had stations, but shifting a little bit wasn’t that bad right? Once they drew a bit closer to the carriage, they saw Hyde peeking out of the curtains. Tom lifted a brow and lazily grinned.

“Oh look at that-”

The curtains immediately drew back, Tom blew a raspberry and shook his head.

“Well, now that was nice. Hyde gets to be cosy and now ignores us. What a bunch of nobles am I right?”

Tom was sure that anybody else would have gotten an earful or a whack on the head… but most of his companions were used to him. Even Cedric didn’t seem aghast at the statement and just sighed. Tom’s gaze flitted to the forests. At the speed they were going at, it’d take a group of bandits some planning before even thinking of raiding them.

He patted his horse gently as it whinnied, they needed to take a break sooner or later. Didn’t they had apples in the cart? Maybe he could sneak some later. Anyhow, Cedric and Frank were alright, Hyde was stuck inside the carriage…

“By the way, anybody seen the pipsqueak?”

“Heey, that’s mean!”

The familiar voice of Jaime shouted from the other side of the carriage. Tom laughed and motioned his horse into that direction. He then blinked at the sight of Jaime inside the cart with the luggage, he laughed even louder.

“Are you skipping out on our duty?”

“No! I got stuck with cart watching.”

“Oh is that so? I’m sure you’re eating all the food now. This is almost as good as Hyde’s ride! You’re slacking off aren’t you?”

“I’m not touching anything at all!”

“Really? Is that true mister?”

Tom lifted his head higher to glance at the back of an older man who was driving the cart. Their gray hair was peeking out from a cap that was as aged as the man. They had elderly people and they still haven’t taken the chance to take a break? What were they? Undead? A belly laugh interrupted his train of thoughts.

“The boy’s quite behaved actually.”

“Well, there goes my thunder.”

“Mister Noah is nice unlike you.”

Tom shrugged at that and rode closer to the cart, guess it’d be harder for him to snatch an apple for his horse now. He grinned at Jaime who frowned in return. They had around ten soldiers, but that didn’t mean that the Falcon family didn’t hire anybody else to go with the lot. There was the coachman and also the people driving the carts filled with supplies and goods.

“So where’s your horse?”

“My horse?”

“Yeah, don’t tell me that you were on this cart the whole time.”

“I-I, just a few hours… I got a bit of a heat stroke you see so the captain made me ride here instead.”

The young soldier sighed to himself, maybe he should have gotten the chance to act dehydrated and he’d be tossed in with the luggage too. Or their captain would have left him in the dust. There was always that option.

“Of course, but then where really is your horse?”

“Over here boy, my mare actually likes having his stallion pulling the cart together.”

Tom pffted but needed to do something to distract Jaime. The young man right now seemed bashful, scratching his head but Tom needed enough time. He could already eye some of the fruits marked on a crate.

“Oh by the way, shouldn’t there be a roof over this cart? The heat’s gonna spoil food you know?”

“Enchanted, my boy, the Falcon family is quite gracious with their servants.”

He whistled in reply, and from the corner of his eye, Jaime gawked and moved closer to the cart driver. His friend’s back already turned towards Tom.

“Enchanting a cart? That’s amazing! Is there some sort of etching? Or rune?”

“Amazing indeed. I don’t know what kind of folks have enough funds to enchant a cart for all its worth, but this one is enchanted no doubt.”

Tom stealthily leaned forward. His horse trotting behind the already slowing down cart. One of the wooden crates were right at the edge, he could lift the lid up and nab a fruit or two. A little closer—

Neigh!

The sound of alarmed horses filled Tom’s ears as the cart jolted backwards. His horse jerked away, his grip on the reins the sole thing keeping him from falling off the animal. He pulled himself upright. The sight of two horses, a mare and a stallion galloping away to the forest. He swerved his horse to chase but cursed at the sight of Jaime and Noah flat on the ground.

Somehow Jaime managed to cushion the older man’s fall. A small sigh of relief escaped his lips as he jumped off his horse, and took the liberty of clutching the reins. He walked towards them before he looked ahead. He frowned at the sight, the carriage was skidded but apart from that and the freed horses… no other mishaps.

“Heeey!”

He called out to the soldiers regrouping and immediately regretted it. His horse bolted up in surprise. Tom immediately moved best to soothe the creature and avoid further accidents.

“Shhh… it’s fine, breathe.”

As the horse seemed to calm down, he heard the sound of something taking off. His eyes widened at the sight of the cart hurtling itself down the road.

“James!”

Tom raced after the cart, pushing his legs to move faster. He paused at the sight of the two lying at the side, now sitting up and quite safe from the cart’s path. Well then, his sense of geography was bad? Wait a minute… he groaned and chased after the wooden vehicle again.

“Cart!”