Topic: The Greening

Sianna · Date: 2005-11-02 00:52 EST

A road led through the wood. The road was fair, smooth and sandy, winding just enough to interest the eye, without being dizzying, near enough the trees for the view, without being tumbled by intruding roots. It was a road that went someplace fair, one could tell that much at a glance, but through no fault of its own, it was one of the roads less traveled.

The wood was haunted. By otherworldly creatures, said some with a nod and a wink. By the fair folk, said the old wives over their tea. By brigands and footpads, said those who came limping and staggering in wasted state from one side of the lovely greenwood to the other, who troubled not to cause grief and terror to any who dared pass through, be they rich or poor, young or old.

Any maid who dared trespass on that lovely, sun-dappled border, surely had to be fool enough or mad enough to deserve what fate she encountered.

Sianna · Date: 2005-11-02 01:11 EST

So it would seem did this one. A maid alone, barefoot and clad only in her shift, with nothing to aid in her defense but a walking stick. She brandished it before her with the sort of calm that desperation brings, and with her back against a spreading tree, never turned her eyes towards the fair road. It would be foolishness indeed to count on a rescue that she never dreamed would come.

?I beg of you,? she said. ?Let me go. There will be trouble.?

?Oh, we?ll trouble you all right, miss,? said one of the bullies at her side with a smile that held more than its share of leer to it, a fact that he seemed to feel made up for any lack of cleverness in his repartee. ?It?s no trouble at all to trouble the likes of you.?

?We heard what you did to them down by the village,? said one of the others. ?That makes you a witch needs burning.?

?Isn?t it handy all these trees around?? said the third one, to the fourth, who nodded with a disturbingly quiet laugh.

?I figure,? said the second. He was the one who fancied himself clever, and was smart enough to stay clear of the woman?s staff. Even a woman could land a lucky blow now and then, especially if she was as spooked as this one seemed to be. ?There?s nothing in the rules says we can?t have a little fun with you before we tie you up and burn you.?

?I wish you?d let me go,? said the woman, not for the first time. Her voice was low and soft, and if it were not for the shaking of it, one might never have guessed she was afraid.

?Well,? said the second, as if it were the first time he had heard her request. As if he and his friends had not been chasing her through the green woods for almost an hour. ?Why didn?t you say so, miss? All you have to do is pay the toll!?

His friends laughed at this, and nodded to each other. Two more of them appeared from the brush in time to appreciate the joke. The woman shook her head, where her sun-gold hair had fallen from some elaborate, flowered coiffure. A few blossoms still clung there, like the last breath of springtide.

?I have nothing to pay with,? she said. They had taken her money, her clothes. She had nothing but what she stood in, except her staff. She adjusted her grip upon it tightly.

?Oh, that?s where you?re wrong,? smiled the bandit, very warmly. ?A pretty maid like yourself, I feel sure that among ourselves, we can come up with an appropriate form of currency. Say? a yard of freedom for every kiss?? he beckoned, and one of the men stepped nearer to her on one side.

?Or you could just spread your pretty, bare legs and when we?d all had a turn, you could run as far away as they?d carry you?? said the first brigand, clearly anxious not to be left out of the fun.

?And then we burn you,? said the witch hunter, who was of tenacious mind.

The woman shook her head. ?No,? she said. ?Please? just let me go. I?ve no wish for anyone to be hurt.?

The men all laughed as one at that, and the robber closest to her side reached out to catch her by the arm. Like lightning, she swung, the staff in her hand turning to strike him in the head with a sound like an axe passing through a melon. Blood and teeth sprayed the small clearing, and the robber crumpled. The woman adjusted her grip on the staff again.

?I?m sorry,? she said, from the sound of her voice, truly repentant. ?But I did try to warn you.?

Gavilean · Date: 2005-11-02 17:39 EST

Several weeks had passed since Madison West had left him. They were several weeks of such torture and depression that he could take it no longer. Just the sight of her room in Oxburgh Hall made him hurt from the emptiness felt in the pit of this stomach. He needed to get away.

With all the matters of the estate taken care of and the end of the year accounting seen to, Gavilean had the time to leave Wakefield Castle and journey to Rhydin once again. He had not been back there since the time he and Madison left the Inn, both suffering from the wounds delivered by Talomar and Charles. It was good to be back, and he was enjoying the much warmer weather of Rhydin.

He had stayed a day at the Inn and then headed out to find Hemshire. The last time he headed in that direction it was a night, and he was following the tracks of Talomar?s horse; thus he had only a general feeling regarding the location.

Unfortunately, that general feeling left much to be desired in the way of accuracy; and he unknowingly found himself journeying down a road that was much less traveled, a road that wasn?t heading anywhere near his desired destination, a road that was evidently prescribed by the Fates that control one?s destiny in ways unexpected.

Gavilean was seated comfortably on his destrier, Nasrullah. He was fully enjoying the ride as the road wound though a pleasant forested area, and then through a more heavily wooded area. He had not seen woods like this in quite some time - possibly forever.

While in the midst of a heavy growth of trees he thought he heard an out-of-place noise over the clip-clop of his horse?s hooves. He reined the horse to a stop, and listened. A moment later the sound of laughter could just be heard over the usual forest sounds. ?That?s odd,? he thought.

Again the sound of laughter broke though the trees from the right side of the path he was taking. He nudged Nasrullah and turned his horse in that direction and the sounds became clearer. They were the sounds of men laughing, and mixed in was a softer voice ? that of a girl who was not laughing. His experience as a knight-captain in the army told him that this was usually not a good combination of sounds when one is in such a remote area without any chance of help.

He nudged Nasrullah closer to the sounds, then heard the sickening crack of a head splitting and he hoped he was not too late to save the girl. He broke through the trees and reached back over his shoulder, pulling his sword from its sheath with the ring of fine steel. This was just what he needed to take his mind off his problems. Five men were shouting angrily as they circled about one young woman; another man was on the ground with his life quickly slipping away. ?You men looking for fun?? Gavilean said with a grin on his face and a look in his eyes that shouted, ?You?re dead.?

The retired knight sat upon his 17-hand, jet black warhorse. He wore a black uniform with silver trim and a high collar. He was tall and on the horse he appeared as a giant. ?Return to your home now, you pieces of shit, or you?ll never return again.? He nudged Nasrullah forward. The horse?s eyes were wild with excitement, having been in this position many times before.

Sianna · Date: 2005-11-02 23:04 EST

He might have resembled a giant, but there was a confidence that came in company with a superiority of numbers and a few skins full of sour ale. That confidence, misplaced though it might be, was clear in the faces of the half dozen or so brigands that stood round the tree. One man on a horse, one woman with a stick. These did not seem insurmountable odds.

The woman herself turned her white face upwards as if she could scry the knight's face in spite of the blinding sunset at his back, turning his features to mere silhouette and the countryside to a spreading wealth of crimson and gold. She still held tightly to her staff, the upper edge of it bloodstained now, but did not flee.

How she wished she could see him. It might tell her whether she was in truth being rescued, or only falling into even worse hands.

Her uncertainty goaded the villains about her even further. One of them laughed. "We can take him, boys!" and while one kept his eye, and his sword, on the maiden, the others gripped their weapons tight and began to move in. From the side, someone else began flinging stones with surprising accuracy, and the fight was on.

Gavilean · Date: 2005-11-04 14:39 EST

The problem with scare tactics is that it assumes those against whom the tactic is being used actually have enough wits about them to be scared. These fellows obviously didn?t.

Stones came flying, one hitting Gav in the chest, another grazing his head enough to leave behind a gash that bled instantly. His training told him that when faced with an enemy who is directing missiles in your direction, the best defense is to charge forward. It hastens their aim and causes them to think more about their retreat than their attack. Gav kicked Nasrullah forward. The horse, nostrils flaring, sprang into a gallop directly into the midst of the largest group of thugs. One was trampled and a second lost his head to Gav?s steel blade as he leaned to his right and brought the sword down in a backhand motion designed to protect the rider?s horse in the follow-through.

Before the brigands could regroup, the horse and rider had disappeared into the thick growth of trees and brush. Then could hear steps of a horse moving about them, but could see nothing. It was unnerving for they didn?t know from where the next attack would come. Then sound of sticks cracking and leaves being crushed were heard intermittently from different directions. Then the horse and rider broke through the trees with the sun at his back and again rode right into the midst of the largest group of men. They could see no details because of the glare of the sun, but they swung their weapons wildly at the fast approaching attacker.

The rider passed through the center of the group and just to the right of the tree where the elf girl and her captor were standing. An instant later the horse and rider had against disappeared into the dense brush and trees. Another brigand lay dead on the ground. The would-be rapist who held his sword pointed at the girl had lost his grin. His eyes rolled upward and he fell forward into the girl then collapsed at her feet with his neck severed from the back.

The men turned to where the rider had again disappeared, but this time no sound was heard.

Sianna · Date: 2005-11-05 02:58 EST

There had been six men all told in the group that threatened the young woman. The first had been knocked to the ground by her staff. The second trampled and the third beheaded. The fourth had been attacked from behind and now lay dead at the girl's feet while she clutched her staff tightly against her chest. The two survivors shared a white-rimmed glance that took in the maiden, their fallen comrades, and the surrounding and ominously silent wood.

"He's coming back. You should run," suggested the woman when it appeared they were at a loss, and without further ado, the pair of them took her advice to heart.

Gavilean · Date: 2005-11-06 02:57 EST

Gavilean returned just in time to see the two survivors running off in the opposite direction, but this time he was not on his horse ? a low hanging branch saw to that. He lowered his sword until its point rested on the ground; adrenalin was the only thing keeping him standing.

He put the palm of his left hand against a tree trunk and hung his head down as he caught his breath and hoped he wouldn?t get sick. Blood was still flowing from the gash left by the thrown rock; but other than that, his body suffered more from the slashes of branches than from the slashes of the men?s weapons. Those slashes left his face streaked with blood. His ribs were bruised where the thick branch had caught him and lifted him off Nasrullah?s back, and his backside was bruised from the resulting landing.

Nasrullah slowly walked into the opening where Gavilean was standing. Gavilean looked over to the girl with the staff. ?Did they hurt you?? he grunted out between breaths.

Sianna · Date: 2005-11-06 03:15 EST

They had. Sianna was bruised in body and spirit, but in the light of the knight's obvious and bloody wounds, she was too proud to say so. She shook her head, golden hair swinging where it had come down in her struggles. "They would have done much worse," she said. "If you had not interrupted them."

She considered him a moment with eyes clear and impossibly blue, above the faintest smudge of a bruise on her cheekbone. "Will you permit me to tend your wounds? I am greatly in your debt."

Gavilean · Date: 2005-11-06 11:25 EST

He straightened up with a slight groan and actually looked at her for the first time. The young lady was indeed very attractive, and he wondered what she was doing walking in the forest all alone ? but that was a question for another time. He looked around at the fallen men whose blood was now soaking the ground. Other than Charles, he had not killed anyone since leaving the army several years before, and to kill even perverted men such as these gave him no pleasure.

?I would appreciate your help,? he replied, his hands sticky with his own blood. ?In the army we had a saying that the elements of surprise make fickle allies. We should first find a place more secluded just in case our ?friends? return with reinforcements.?

He wiped his sword free of the blood and sheathed it. Nasruallah nudged him. Gavilean smiled and stroked the nose of his friend. ?Are you familiar enough with these woods to know where we might find concealment for a while??

Sianna · Date: 2005-11-06 21:42 EST

Sianna nodded, the ghost of a smile playing about her lips. "It so happens," she said softly. "I do know of just such a place. I was on my way there when these rogues surprised me. If you can ride," and the look she cast him was doubtful. "I will lead your horse."