Journey!

The looming walls of Frostfell were quickly left behind as Thufrat rode as fast as the Thunder Horse would carry him. Open plains as far as the eye could see was all that greeted his sight when he took his eyes off the road for even a second. Numerous battles had taken place on these plains, and even though the last battle was a long time ago, Thufrat could still get a weird feeling from these plains.

He continued his journey, from desolate plains to vibrant wildlife in the forest, Thufrat kept riding his horse for a couple of hours before taking a break. The horse was a magical beast and had a lot better stamina compared to a normal horse, but numerous hours of running non-stop at high speeds would still eventually tire it. Stopping by a small stream, Thufrat made himself comfortable and ate some food he had bought earlier. The horse was busy drinking from the stream, and Thurat took the chance to rest a little against a tree. Even though his body was sturdy, riding for multiple hours was still uncomfortable.

After the horse had finished drinking, Thufrat let it rest for about half an hour and gave it a couple of carrots before he continued on his journey. He had a little trouble actually getting onto the horse since he was a dwarf after all, but after his first try, he had gotten the hang of it fairly quickly. Petting the horse a little before setting off, Thufrat sighed. This was going to be a long journey.

The road that slithered its way through the forest was obviously not as well-maintained as the road outside the forest, but all things considered, it was actually pretty good. As even more time passed, the sun had already started to set. The golden rays of light that penetrated their way through the treetops only to slowly fade away was quite the beautiful sight, mesmerizing even Thufrat into silence.

After night had fully established its presence and stars were visible in the sky, Thufrat decided that it was time to rest, fortunately for him, as he was looking for a good spot to set up camp, the road led him into a large clearing. The road went straight through this clearing and continued into the forest on the other side, but Thufrat urged his steed to stop as he entered this clearing. The reason being that a small village had established itself in this clearing.

The village was surrounded by a wall made out of wood, although calling it a fence would probably be more appropriate. A lone man sat guarding the entrance to the village, he wasn't very strong though, and he was mostly just there to act as a lookout. When he saw that Thufrat was approaching steadily on an expensive-looking horse, he ran into the village to get the village head. The lookout running frantically through the village aroused quite the commotion, and soon, half the villagers watched eagerly ad curiously as this dwarf made his way to the village.

Since he didn't want to startle anyone, Thufrat let the horse walk to the village, since its speed would probably scare these villagers otherwise. When he was about to enter the village, Thufrat noticed an elderly man with two strong adult men at his sides. These men held pretty shabby spears, but compared to the rest of the villagers, they were certainly dangerous. The old man was obviously someone important in this village, and Thufrat made a mental note to himself that he would behave properly.

After explaining that he only wanted a place to stay for the night, most of the villagers dispersed, and Thufrat was led away by the old man. Not long after, Thufrat was led to a pretty small and shabby house on the outskirts of the village. After knocking on the door, a middle-aged woman opened the door. After explaining the situation, the old man just left Thufrat there by himself and went home. Thufrat's horse had been left in a stall on the way, for only 5 copper a day.

The middle-aged lady was actually fairly beautiful, but Thufrat had never been too astounded by beauty before. Growing up, he had learned that looks were only secondary to how a person actually was and acted. When it came to falling in love with someone, beauty was merely a part of the equation, nothing more and nothing less. The most attractive woman Thufrat had ever met wasn't actually someone beautiful, the only reason he saw her as attractive was because of her personality.

As this thought crossed Thufrat's head, his heart couldn't help but ache, he didn't like thinking about her, it only brought him suffering.

Standing there baffled and taken aback, the middle-aged lady soon regained her bearings. "I'm sorry for being rude, please come inside."

Hearing her say that only made Thufrat feel awkward. "Don't worry about it." He said, before following her inside. The house was pretty small, with only 2 bedrooms, a small hallway, the kitchen, as well as the living room. After taking off his shoes, Thufrat quickly noticed a small head poking out from one of the rooms, staring at him viciously. The head belonged to the woman's son, who was currently only 10 years old.

After entering the kitchen, the woman turned to look at him. "Have you had anything to eat yet?"

"Oh don't worry, I have already eaten, thank you for the concern though!"

The woman was a little baffled by Thufrat's politeness but quickly shrugged it off. After showing him around the small house a little, the woman stopped outside her room. "I need to prepare a few things before you can use my room if that's ok?"

As Thufrat heard this, he was a little perplexed. Why would she give up her room to him?

"I'll just sleep on the couch, I don't want to intrude after all." He said as he walked into the living room. Leaving the woman standing baffled outside of her room.