Chương 12: Nightmare

**ERICKSON'S POV**

Arthur and I spent the typical day on the road. There was nothing different about it than any of the other times that we had made this trip. Well, I guess that wasn't true. This time, both Arthur and myself were both worrying about Addie with each passing minute.

That night, I was overly tired since I had not slept the night before. I fell asleep the moment I laid my head down in the back of the wagon while Arthur took first watch. I needed to sleep.

I just wish that it was a peaceful sleep that I was getting.

I dreamt that we had made it to the city and was turned down by every wolf that we asked for help. No one traded us the cure for Addie, none of them. We were forced to return empty handed.

Helen screamed at me when I came back with no medicine for our daughter.

"You promised me, Erickson. You promised me that she would be OK."

I wasn't immune from the accusations from Catherine either.

"Daddy, you told me that my sister was going to be OK. Daddy, you promised." Catherine's eyes were full of tears and she and her mother hugged each other like there was nothing that could make things better.

"I failed you, Dad. I failed you." Arthur cried out as he stood next to Addie's bed. "I couldn't help you." I had made my son feel like a failure because I couldn't do what I had promised them that I would.

Then the dream changed. My whole family was walking in a line down the street while I guided a horse that was pulling the wagon that carried Addie's coffin. Everyone in the village was whispering and pointing just like they had last year when John Bacon died of the same disease. He had been about Addie's age as well. The whole village thought that there was someone responsible for the butcher boy's death and now they were going to think the same thing about my little girl. They would start to fear that there was a killer living among us.

"Mercer, how could you do this to me?" I saw Briar, the healer. The rest of the village was running him out of town as if they were a mob.

"What are you doing?" I asked the people as they chased the man.

"He killed those two children." A random voice from the crowd yelled at me.

"I did not." Briar yelled at them. "I am a healer, not a killer."

"You were all they had in common." They screamed at him as they chased him with farming tools.

"No, they had the same disease. I did nothing." As I watched, a farmer caught up to the outsider and pierced him with his pitchfork.

"NO!" I screamed and sat straight up from my sleeping position.

"Dad? Is something wrong?" Arthur asked me as he stood up from the fire and looked at me.

"I'm sorry, son." I said as I looked at his sleepy face. "I just had a bad dream. Come on, we will switch places now."

"But it's not time yet." He protested as I went to get out of the wagon.

"It's fine, I'm already awake." I pressed the issue while I jumped from the wagon and stretched my aching muscles. "I got enough sleep, it's your turn now."

"Are you sure?" He asked me with a wary look in his eyes.

"Yes, go now."

He did as I told him to and laid in the wagon, right where I had been. He fell asleep almost instantly, that was good. He was still young, so he needed his sleep.

I sat there for the rest of the night, watching the fire and thinking about the dream that I had. There was no way that I could let any part of that come true. I had to get what I was going to the city for. I would save Addie and I would keep the villagers from thinking that Briar was the cause of all of this. Without him, my daughter would have died for sure. Now, though, there was hope.

The next morning, we had a quick breakfast and headed out as soon as we were packed up. We were only a few hours away from the city now and that was at the most. We would be there really soon.

The moment that I saw that large stone façade come into view, I felt a small glimmer of hope. Getting to the city was just part one of the mission to save my daughter. Soon, we would be within those towering, gray brick walls.

The city itself was surrounded by a massive stone wall. Those walls were as tall as at least five of my houses stacked on top of each other, and my house was two stories high. The place was massive.

The gray of the brick was not a dark and depressing gray, but a light and bright color that was much closer to white than it was to black. There were a total of four gates into the city, but we humans were only allowed to enter in through the south gate.

At each of these gates there were shining, blue topped guard towers that watched down on the traffic moving through the gates. There were guards there, in addition to the ones that were checking everyone as they attempted to gain entrance into the city.

Beyond the gate, I could see the roofs to many of the buildings in the lesser part of the city. That was where humans like me had to stay. We were not permitted to move beyond the commoner's part of the city. If we happened to stray into the part meant for Noble wolves, then we could have been executed on site.

Thankfully, the majority of the market was between the lesser and commoner districts. I had been told many years ago that the Noble's market only held items made by the rich for the rich. My goods would never be sold there.

Even further beyond the roofs of the buildings in the outer part of the city you could see the tops of the Noble buildings. They were made of bright, shining stones that reflected the light. They were in that same soft grey color, but they seemed so much brighter than any other gray I had ever seen before.

And beyond those Noble homes you could see the massive castle where the king lived. The castle was also made of those shining gray stones, but it was topped with brilliantly colored blue towers and roofs. This was a welcomed break among all that bright gray. Aside from the amazing design that had been put into the designing of that castle, the only color that could be seen was the blue tops and the large, glittering, stained glass windows that were there for everyone to see. I couldn't see them from here, but I had seen them in the distance when I was looking near the castle.

The castle was in the center of the city, so it could be seen no matter where you were in the city. The class system of the city worked inward. The first place that everyone had to pass through was the worst part of the city. Then they worked their way inside. It went: Lesser wolves, Commoner wolves, then the Noble wolves, and finally the Royal wolves.

The further away from the Noble and Royal wolves I was, the better. That would be the safest thing for me and my family.

"Dad, do you think we will be able to make the trade?" Arthur asked me as the city grew larger the closer that we got to it.

"I have faith that we will, son. I have faith and you should too."

A few minutes later, we were in the line waiting to enter the city. The guards that usually manned this gate knew both me and Arthur by sight so there wasn't likely to be an issue as we tried to pass through.

"Mercer? This isn't your scheduled day." I was in luck, Henrich was the guard that came up to us.

"I just thought I would change things up. There was a lot for me to unload before the Cold Season hits us."

"Ahh, well I guess that makes sense. Well, you know the standard questions that apply. Anything other than merchant work planned today?"

"No sir, just trading some of our goods for stuff back in the village."

"That's what I figured, go on, head inside."

Thankfully, that went smoothly, now we could work on finding that cure for Addie.

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