Balestone by Toby Neighbors

out of the ordinary.”
    “Except a giant city that was completely abandoned,” Rafe said.
    “We don’t have to go far,” Tiberius said. “Look, there is a building that is mostly intact.”
    He pointed to a smaller structure. The building could have been a home, Olyva guessed, although it was very different from anything she was used to. The structure was square, almost like a child’s block, but one corner was demolished. There were tall openings all around the bottom side of the building, but the roof seemed intact. It wasn’t made from stones or timber but appeared to be one single block, almost as if it were carved from a huge boulder, but there were no chisel marks.
    “Fine,” Rafe said. “We could all use a break, but we leave at first light.”
    “I still don’t like it,” Lexi said.
    Olyva didn’t like it either, but the oppressive feeling she was struggling with was growing worse, and she didn’t speak.
    Tiberius slipped from his saddle with a look of excitement on his face.
    “I’ll go in search of firewood,” he said.
    “It’s better if you don’t go alone,” Rafe said. “I’ll take Olyva and the horses. We’ll get settled. Don’t stay gone long.”
    “We won’t,” Tiberius said.
    Olyva thought Lexi looked frightened, but she didn’t complain. She dismounted and handed her reins to Rafe. Then she checked the dagger that was tucked into her belt. Olyva saw Rafe nod as if he approved of her precautions. Then he led the horses forward. Olyva’s mount followed without any instruction from her. She was little more than a passenger, no different than a flea on the back of a dog.
    Rafe dismounted when they approached the strange building. He tied the horses to a post that protruded from the strange structure. Olyva slid off her horse and looked at the building. She ran a hand over the smooth surface. It was hard and cold, like stone, but it was different. It had an almost molded look to it, the way pottery sometimes did before it was fired and glazed.
    Rafe looked through the large openings. There were shards of glass still in the frames, and Olyva realized the openings had been windows. There was no door, just a gaping hole like a missing tooth. The floor of the building was covered in dirt, just like everything else, but there were furnishings still inside. Most were broken down, either by wear or age. The floor was blackened under the hole in the corner of the roof, and Olyva guessed that others had sheltered in the strange structure.
    “This is strange,” Rafe said. “I should check the interior. You stay here with the horses.”
    Olyva nodded. She didn’t want to go inside the building, although she didn’t know if it was because the structure was so strange or because she wanted to be outside. The thought of being cooped up, even in the grandeur of an earl’s palace, seemed stifling to her now. She wanted to feel the air moving on her skin. She wanted to soak in the sunlight and feel the earth beneath her feet. She couldn’t do that indoors, and she had no desire to hide herself away from the elements.
    “It’s empty,” Rafe said, coming back into the front room. “Lots of sleeping chambers and such. It must have been a lord’s home.”
    Olyva nodded but didn’t speak. She had a feeling of foreboding that was quickly sliding towards terror, but she couldn’t explain it. Instead she helped Rafe unsaddle the horses. They brushed each of the animals down and poured each a little water from their dwindling supplies.
    “We’ll need to find fresh water tomorrow,” Rafe said. “These horses are suffering, and we’ll be out of water soon, too.”
    “I wish we could find water now,” Olyva said in a soft voice.
    “I wouldn’t want to drink anything from this place,” Rafe said.
    “There is nothing good here,” Olyva agreed. “We should move on.”
    “We will, but Ti’s right — it’ll be dark soon. At least here we’ve got a little shelter for the