Urgent shouts of “Close the gate!” came from the direction of castle Coronton, but it was too little, too late. A horse in full gallop was already barreling out through the portcullis, and very soon after her came a dozen more. However, most of the pursuers were halted in their tracks as the gate crashed down before them. Only one of their number remained undeterred in their chase: a figure clad in all-black clothes and armor, and even riding a pearl-black steed to boot! From the top of the high wall soon came the silhouette of a horse leaping over the crenels– and from a height seemingly impossible for man or beast to survive unscathed–and yet both horse and rider thundered to the earth with a crash, and only required but the briefest moment of recovery before they took off after their quarry once again!
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Niklas stared in amazement down at old Chestnut, who had not only carried both his weight and Nayantara’s on top of that, but had then galloped as fast as a prize stallion and was putting even the expensive warhorses that were hot on her tail through their paces. He almost wondered if the Huntress had fed the beast some strange, unholy elixir for her to strengthen and quicken so unexpectedly, but as he peeked back over his shoulder at her he saw the same look of amazement upon her face as well! No sooner had he turned back, however, than was he forced to swiftly duck his head, as a hatchet suddenly whooshed past it through the air!
“Don’t hit the Count, you idiots!” He heard a gruff, chiding voice shout from the back of the oncoming pack.
Despite Chestnut’s best efforts, six of those large and ragged soldiers straddling large war mounts were steadily gaining on her, and even began to circle around her at the sides and the back!
“Give us the boy!” That same gruff voice yelled out as the horse and rider on the right closed in fast, the man with his arm outstretched, reaching right for Niklas’ scruff! However, just then, he was forced to pull back and away to avoid a tall mound of rocky earth; and indeed, when Niklas looked forward again he saw that they were leaving behind the long, steep slopes of Coronton’s countryside for the many short and wave-like hills that were more common throughout the rest of the County.
Spying an opening, the pair on the left now approached, the rider lofting an arming sword with which he lunged at Nayantara, who pulled back to avoid the blow. He followed her movement with a cut backwards towards her neck, to which she leaned back even further still, until the back of her head nearly touched the horses’ haunch! But it turned out to be fortunate that she did so, for as she hung upside-down from her steed, another assailant behind them fired a crossbow bolt straight at Chestnut, which Nayantara snatched from the air with her hand just before the barbed tip could reach her horse’s thigh!
The soldier at their left growled in frustration and disbelief at her dexterous maneuver, and he was forced to pull away again by oncoming terrain. But he had no sooner withdrawn than did another man on horseback close in to take his place, and before Nayantara had righted herself. Even for a woman of her strength, the awkward angle at which she currently held herself, along with the force of gravity and the jostling from the speeding horse, were too much for her to overcome in time!
A worried “Uh oh!” came from Nayantara as she saw the man approaching her, his axe raised high, fully prepared to bring it down upon her neck in a beheading blow!
A cold fear suddenly swept through Niklas, and he reached down to his inverted companion’s belt and grasped for the small, dull knife she kept there–a tool meant more for craftsmanship than war, but it was a weapon nonetheless. Then, as the oncoming soldier leaned back to build momentum and strike a stronger blow upon the Huntress, Niklas whipped the little blade at his foe by its handle. His makeshift projectile did not spin in the air as he had pictured it in his mind, but rather it flew straight and true, and promptly sank into the axe-wielding thug’s meaty neck! The target shook with a violent spasm as he instinctively raised both of his hands up to his throat, letting go of his horse’s reins and twisting his body in an awkward angle! Unsurprisingly, he quickly tumbled from the back of his horse, landing hard upon the rocky soil and rolling lifelessly away. Meanwhile his mount stumbled and corrected itself too far to the left, causing it to collide harshly with another horse and rider at the back of the group, who lost their bearings and tumbled as well!
Niklas stared, wide-eyed, back at the mess of bodies he had inadvertently caused. As he realized what he had just done, he retched over the side of his mount and nearly vomited up the sumptuous meal he had been served in his cell. He must have looked quite dreadful, then, as all the blood had drained from his face and he was queasy and covered in a cold sweat besides.
“First time, my Lord?” Asked Nayantara, who had finally pulled herself back up to a properly seated position. “I remember I reacted much the same way when I first killed a man, though I was only seven at the time…” As she spoke she tossed the bolt that she had caught out of the air nonchalantly back over her shoulder– which then, unseen by her, struck the crossbow of the man who had originally fired it right as he was aiming for her again. Her unplanned maneuver caused him to misfire wildly, his bolt veering into the haunch of the horse at his left, which tumbled head-over-hoof, crushing its rider dead as it rolled across the ground!
“Shit!” The crossbowman cursed, realizing what he had just done. “We’re dropping like flies!”
The man on their right roared in frustration, but finally found a gap in the terrain to close in on them again! This time he lofted a short spear above his head, the tip angled downward at a diagonal, aiming straight for the head of the galloping Chestnut! Thankfully, his blow was intercepted by a black and wavy blade, as Nayantara had drawn her sword off of her back and used it to swat the weapon from his hand with a clang!
This attacker was forced to pull away once again, just in time for another man on the left to make his approach. He traded a couple of swings of his sword with Nayantara, who parried him with her own blade. It was abundantly clear she thoroughly outclassed the man, and she ended their short duel by deftly etching into the man’s sternum with a powerful cut, one which shattered his chain shirt and felled him from his steed!
The man behind her then fired his crossbow for a third time, but this time with a spinning flourish, and what appeared to be like some precognitive sight, her sword was held at the perfect position for the bolt to deflect off the flat of its blade just before it would strike her in the back!
Without a pause, the rider to their right came swooping in one last time, reaching out towards Nayantara with both of his hands. Clutching her sword at its half, she attempted to cut him away, but the man intercepted her blow and deftly caught the blade of her sword with both of his hands! The two combatants then wrestled for the weapon while balanced precariously upon the back of their steeds, who were both running side-by-side at full tilt. Perking her head up suddenly, Nayantara pulled back harshly and let go of her sword, and as the momentum forced the man to lurch forward after her, he was unable to avoid an oncoming patch of trees, whose branches struck him with a meaty thud and vanished him off of his horse in an instant!
“My sword!” Nayantara cried dejectedly, craning to look back over her shoulder to where her flamberge was now lost to the wind.
As his Captain fell with the rest of the men, the final rider at their back pulled on his reins and his horse came to a halt and reared, leaving Niklas and Nayantara to ride on alone.
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Finally there was silence, but for the galloping of the horse beneath them. “I...I think it’s over.” Niklas stammered, still pale and recovering a bit from his retching.
But Nayantara did not respond, her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she looked about.
“Look out!” She abruptly cried out.
For suddenly closing in from their blind-spot came a black mare with a fully cloaked and hooded rider! He appeared to be unarmed, but yet as he pulled up alongside them he raised his arms into a fighting stance. He quickly struck multiple times at Nayantara with his knuckles or the palms of his hands, and she in turn raised her arms before her as a bulwark. Niklas hurriedly took the reins from her and leaned forward fully until his body rested upon the back of Chestnut’s head, all so he would not be accidentally struck in the melee!
The Huntress and the mysterious black-garbed figure rapidly traded blows back-and-forth, him attacking without any regard for himself, while she held her forearms up in front of her head and collar in a protective stance. Unfortunately, a brawl seemed to be more of his forte than hers, and with a few deft strikes to her ribs and then to her shoulder, he was able to pry her arms apart. Now he was able to target her nose with a stiff palm strike that sent her toppling back from her horse and rolling away, head-over-heels, into the distance!
“No!” Niklas cried out in fright as his only protector vanished from view.
But he had not the time to worry for her, much less turn back to find her, for the black-clad man was still running along at his side and was just reaching out to snatch him. First, he placed a hand on the back of Niklas’ neck and pulled him to the side, though Niklas resisted him with every fiber of his being, and so the assailant wrapped his other arm beneath the struggling Count’s chin and squeezed!
In an instant Niklas felt his consciousness begin to fade as the flow of blood to his brain was forcefully cut off. He felt his extremities begin to weaken and grow limp, and the sensation of his body being lifted from the back of his horse even as she still raced forward at a break-neck speed–
–Crack!
It was then that a terrible and ugly noise rang all of their ears, horses and riders alike! Niklas felt the grip loosen from around his neck, and with all of the strength he could muster he slipped free and desperately pressed himself back down across Chestnut’s neck! Meanwhile, the assailant pulled away from him and reared in agony, his back and the cloak upon it now smoldering and releasing smoke! His hood finally fell back then to reveal a defined and rugged man, with skin as dark as his clothes and curly salt-and-pepper hair. Niklas had only ever read about the likes of him, besides for his recent acquaintance with Nayantara herself: this was a man from the South Continent!
The black-clad man pulled away at last, just as the face of a jagged rock wall hid him fully from view, leaving Niklas free to continue his journey back towards the distant mountain where his Castle resided…
… Unpursued, but entirely alone once more.
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As she stood upon the battlements and stared down across the surrounding countryside, Uldred resembled some tall and menacing grotesque, made to unsettle and strike fear into the hearts of any men or evil spirits who thought to infiltrate her home. This was not a place she visited often, and in fact she went so rarely that it had taken her several tries to find the door which led her onto the correct path, but she was driven by a most unpleasant feeling that had recently set root in her gut. For as the last few parties of Elders and Lords from the most distant Towns and Cities had steadily trickled into the courtyard over the past day, no sign of her diminutive husband had been seen nor heard since his abrupt midnight departure all those nights ago.
A loud and cynical voice in her mind scoffed at his absence. He’s probably gone off to stay with his wealthy friend Lord Borney for good, and left all of his responsibilities and consequences to be sorted out by the rest of us!
The logical part of her mind, however, would not be so easily swayed with such a meagre supply of evidence. But news of the Moot did not reach us ‘til several days after he left for Coronton, so he should have had no way to know of it.
Additionally, the note which had originally spurred his sudden departure had come by way of the ever-traveling Thomas, who was not such a cunning man as to buddy up to a immoral fellow such as Lord Borney, nor was he wise or forward-thinking enough to consider the potential rewards of doing such a thing. No, something was definitely amiss, and yet all Uldred could do right then was gaze off into the misty distance and brood on it.
“Countess?” Called a voice at her back, and as she turned to look at its source her eyes landed upon Lady Mayor Merida, who was just now climbing up one of the stairs that led to the battlement. “Come here often?”
“...Yes.” Uldred fibbed curtly, turning away from the other woman once more to continue her weary vigil.
Lady Merida approached so that she could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her niece and follow her gaze up the road and into the gray nothingness which lay beyond.
“Waiting for your husband, I take it?” Her Auntie asked, allowing a rare wry smile to crack her normally dutiful and stoic visage.
Uldred nearly jumped at that, startled by the woman’s mortifyingly accurate supposition. Lady Merida smiled in full for a brief moment at her reaction before she stifled the expression and returned it to her regular blank neutrality.
“I only thought,” She continued as she slowly circled around Uldred’s back and over to her other side. “-that you resembled a woman I know. Her husband captains a ship upon the Eastern Ocean, and so she tends to stand on the docks and stare out into nothingness, awaiting his return… much like you are doing now.”
A terrible, wrenching, conflicted feeling erupted in Uldred’s gut. On the one hand, such a romantic tale took hold of her young, inexperienced heart and caused it to race with excitement, for there were not many such tales included among the dusty tomes she had found around the Castle. However, at the same time, the thought of she herself engaging in such a soppy and romantic act, and for him of all people, left her to wrestle with some particularly embarrassing, unpleasant and conflicted feelings.
“I… am merely awaiting his–the Count’s arrival, as is my duty as the Countess. So that once he returns we may resolve this matter promptly, and sooner free my courtyard of all this rabble and noise.”
Merida leered over at her with suspicion in her eyes, but did not comment on her suggestion any further. “Well, I simply came to mention that enough Elders and Lords have arrived that the Moot may begin at any time. All who meant to attend will have arrived by now, and any who did not are unlikely to appear.”
She then turned and began to depart, but stopped halfway in her descent back down the battlement stair from which she had first arrived. She spoke a final time.
“You had better hope that he arrives soon, lest the Moot take place without him. You know how it is likely to go if he is absent for it and can provide no defense for himself. It will be the end of him, and maybe you along with him if you are not careful.”
And with that the Lady Mayor disappeared entirely from view, and the sounds of her clacking footsteps upon the cobbled stone faded into the distance as well, leaving Uldred alone once again.
Uldred sighed heavily and shrank in on herself a bit as well, now able to relax her demeanor away from the scrutiny of others. Do not be too much longer, please! She prayed. thinking of a certain...
…She then startled as she realized what she was thinking, and who about. It is about the Moot, the Moot I tell you! It will be difficult for me if he is absent for the Moot, is all.
But it was far too late for such denial, as her cheeks and ears were already hot and flushed., All she could do was clench her fists by her chest and hang her head, letting out a defeated noise as she cursed her Aunt, whose terrible words had taken root so strongly in her mind.
“Oh!” She moaned in frustration.