A trip to Adela.
At first, Ishka hadn't known what to think, then her indecision turned to nerves. She'd never been to another country, let alone through the mountains! What was she going to do? Well, she'd do the same thing she always did, do what was asked of her. The man she worked for had business in Adela, and she was going along. She would do her duties quietly as always, and there would be no need for anything out of the ordinary to happen.
Then, her feelings started to be mixed with something more than just nervousness, excitement. Ishka was not a person to push her limits, but she couldn't have helped but to feel a little curious about the trip.
The journey there had been uneventful, no different from the other trips Ishka had been on, though this one was decidedly longer, and the scenery started to change the farther they went. The grasslands peppered with small copses of trees gave way to flat, thicker forests, which then started to become more rocky and hilly, and then they were traveling through the mountains. That was probably the hardest part of the trip. Even on the road, the horses often had trouble pulling the wagons up some of the steeper inclines, and they even once came across a part of the road that had been blocked by fallen boulders. That set them back a day.
When they finally arrived at Ketra, Ishka was more than ready to be back in a city. However, it was completely different from any city she'd been in before. The people looked different, even the architecture was different from what she'd known.
They were to stay at a fancy inn, and after all of her master's belongings had been moved to the room, Ishka was sent out to deliver a message to the man her master had come to meet telling him that they had arrived.
At this, Ishka's curiosity of the new place vanished, replaced by fear. She knew nothing of this place, and she was expected to go out, on her own, and travel through this unknown city to deliver a message? But she didn't argue. She received the address of the place she was to go to and ventured out.
She kept her head down as she made her way through the city, speaking to no one and going as quickly as she could. She made it to the address with no incident and delivered the message, but by the time she was on her way back to the inn, the sun was starting to set.
The streets that had been busy on the way were now slowly becoming more empty, and nearly everyone had dispersed by the time it got dark. Ishka rushed through the streets, her heart beating in her chest as she went.
She hurried aroudn a corner, only to bump into someone on the other side.
"Oh!" she stumbled back with a gasp, but the person grabbed her arm, stopping her from falling. She looked up at the man, and he grinned at her.
"What's someone like you doing out in the dark?" he asked, leering.
"Let me go!" Ishka cried out, trying to pull away, but to no avail. "HELP!" she screamed. Before the man could even react, however, a shout sounded from behind Ishka. The man's eyes widened in fear as he saw who was approaching, and he immediately let go of her and rushed away.
Ishka spun around to see who her savior was. Three men were walking towards her, all wearing some sort of dark uniform.
"Thank you!" Ishka gasped as they neared. "Thank you."
"Don't thank us," the man in the front said, and Ishka took a step back at the look in his eyes. He looked at his two comrades. "Serenian," he said to them, then looked back at her. "Right?"
Ishka nodded slowly. "Yes. . ." this was strange. . . This didn't feel right.
The man stepped forward. "Good."
Ishka cried out as he raised his hand, and tried to duck, but his fist connected with her temple, and she fell to the cobbled street, unconscious.