The woods around him came to life slowly as even as the light began to creep into the sky in the East. Animals of the darkness were replaced by their counterparts of light. The calls of birds could be heard as they moved about trees as could the ‘rata-tat-tat’ of a woodpecker as it searched for a morning meal. Thankfully the downpour of the previous night had turned into a damp fog and Painin stretched to try and get the stiffness from his arms and legs. The rain had soaked his canvas badly and the bread inside turned it into sudden mush. Not wanting to waste the bread coupled with not knowing when he might find more Painin squeezed it into a ball forcing as much water out of it before he ate it. Painin swallowed the lump of bread and fought to keep it down though his stomach was uneasy afterward.
Painin scrubbed his teeth with the end of the stick and chewed on some wild mint leaves he found to try and settle his stomach, before drinking the remains of the small collection of rain runoff collected in a large leaf. His stomach growled in protest as he set off reminding him that he had not eaten much as of late. Even thoughts of his father’s campaign cooking made his mouth water as he thought of hot porridge filled with pieces of salted pork.
As he followed the path through the woods he stopped and broke his fast on some berries that he found growing on a stunted little bush and quickly picked the bush clean. Further down the path a Laughing Jay nest was on the ground, no doubt knocked down from the storm. A quick check found it devoid of eggs and Painin hurried down the path trying to avoid the swooping attacks of its owners and their ruckus cries of anger. The pair of birds followed him taking turns attacking him before they finally flew back towards their ruined home. Painin sighed as he watched them hop about the nest laying on the ground and understood just how they felt.
The mud seemed to magically get deeper in some parts with little to no warning as he moved amongst the trees alongside the road. Thankfully the rains had lessened turning from an all-day deluge into only passing showers that sped on their way. There were almost no people along the road except for the occasional rider that went thundering past requiring him to hide back among the trees. Even so, Painin thought it best not to press his luck being so exposed upon the road in case he was caught unawares and moved into the woods just off the road.
Time seemed to blend for him as he continued to make his way through the tangled undergrowth of the woods though occasionally, he was able to travel faster as he came across an old game trail that seemed to run mostly parallel to the road. He quickly fell into a routine of drinking whatever water he was able to find from the rainstorms and whatever bits he was able to forage while still maintaining his North direction.
Painin thought back to one of his last trips with his father in their cart being pulled by their old horse when they had come this way to make a delivery of a plow head that his father had made for Oldman Sebiv who was an old dirt farmer that lived outside the next town. His father had known that Sebiv lacked the money to pay so he took vegetables in trade for the work. He explained to Painin as they loaded the goods into the cart that "Not everything in life was about money or being paid. There were some things that you did for people because it was the right thing to do."
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His father didn't often talk about his time before being a blacksmith but whenever they went into town the people deferred to him and sought out his council about different matters. Oh, Painin knew his father has once been a famous man of some sort in the military but to him that didn't matter to him as he had only known him as a man of solid muscle, no neck, and a large heart. That is not to say that he had not seen his father angry, but it was always directed at the root of the problem and soon gone once it showed its head. His mother had often said that Painin inherited his father’s anger, but he had not yet developed the ability to release it when required as of yet.
Sounds off to his left snapped him out of his daydream and brought him back to his present and he crouched down amongst the roots of the tree as he scanned the road through the woods. At first, he thought that it was a trick of the woods around him but that thought was dashed aside as a rider came trotting down the road holding a torch which reflected its light against the slick sides of his horse. He was soon followed by some other riders each with their torch and with care, the men and horses picked their way down the road. Painin pulled himself further back against the roots of the tree in an effort to further hide himself outside of the ring of light put forth by the torches. Slowly the men continued upon their way their harsh guttural language reminding him of the men from back at the stream that he had seen. They were dressed in much the same way a mismatch of different armor pieces of different types and styles.
Allowing them to pass Painin was surprised to see a second group of men approaching down the road either on foot or riding on a large wagon that was loaded with items and secured with rope. A length of rope was attached to the back of the wagon and a group of people were tied to it and forced to keep pace with the wagon as it pulled them along. Some of the people had noticeable wounds and their clothing was dirty and torn. Some of the better-off people helped others to keep up with the pace of the wagon and Painin scanned their faces looking for ones that knew. An older woman fell as the wagon jerked sending her sprawling into the mud of the road and the wagon began to drag her along before the others could help her. She was helped to her feet and forced to shuffle along her body now fully caked in mud.
More of the men walked along around and behind the prisoners absently keeping pace with them and offering well-placed kicks or jeers to keep them moving. Painin hated to see the people treated in such a way but he knew that he could do nothing to help the people and would most likely get caught himself in the process. He decided that once they got further down the road he would follow them from the safety of the woods. One of the men moved to the edge of the woods and began to relieve himself the warm liquid steamed in the chill air as it arced to land a couple of yards away from Painin’s hiding place. His fellows jeered at him and he replied something that caused them to laugh before he finished up and continued with the group.
As the group passed by across from him, the small party of captives parted, and he saw her tied like the rest but in the middle of the group. Kobi daughter of Mr. Barnes lived a little bit down the road from his family’s farm. His blood ran cold as he saw that blood covered half her face and hair as she stumbled along, with one of the others helping her keep pace. She stared straight ahead seemingly numb to what was going on around her before the group once more closed rank around her.
He watched the group as they made their way down the road anger beginning to flow through him. He slowly ceased to be cold as the warmth of his hatred roared through him and he found himself with his hand clutching the handle of his belt knife hard enough to cause his hand to ache. He knew that he had to save her, he couldn’t let her share the same or worse fate at the hands of the men.