William Grey

Will was in the back of the riding party, Plet had fallen behind, even though they were riding slow. So, Will, and Landon had slowed to check on the old man. Not that they believed the man would be thankful for assistance. When they reached the old man, who had fallen behind the last wagon, he was breathing hard, and was slumped over his saddle.

“Plet are you well,” Landon asked the exhausted man, as the villagers kept pressing on. Plet said nothing as he caught his breath, his face was red, and he was flushed with sweat. “I’m fine, get on now,” he said in a strangled voice, that did not portray his usual grumpiness. Plet usually would take a ride in the wagons towards the end of the ride, when he was too tired to continue on the back of his horse.

Today had been a walking ride, the road was gravelly with stone, and snow from the day before had turned to ice. Making the road even more bumpy, normally they would slow, but John had told them that they would reach a village that day, so they should keep pace.

Lain had insisted Plet ride with them in the front, but the stubborn old man had refused, and here the old man was barely staying atop his horse. Will waited for him to catch his breath, allowing the travelers to get ahead of them. They were a while ahead, when Gil caught up with three, he had been riding behind to ensure they were not followed.

Gil nodded at the three, and stopped with them, “trouble, old man?” he asked Plet, who scowled at him but said nothing. It was a total of three minutes before Plet caught his breath, and even then, he spoke heavily with weariness in his voice. “Damn you children, I am not so old I can’t find my way back on my own” he said, while his voice lacked its typical harshness his gaze did not.

Will shrugged, not wanting the man to continue to speak in his condition, then he turned to Gil, and Landon. “Landon, go tell Lain we’ve fallen behind, and ask if they would stop, tell them that Plet will be joining them in their wagon,” Will said. Landon nodded, and then looked ahead gulping, the wagons had gone over a steep hill, and weren’t in sight any longer.

Will smiled at the boy, “Gil why don’t you go with him until he gets to the wagons, keep an eye on him,” he said, Gil smiled realizing what had happened. “Aye don’t worry boy I’ll join you” he said already leading the way, “I wasn’t worried” Landon grumbled. Though he looked relieved as he followed the other man on his horse.

Plet, and Will followed at a much slower pace, allowing the older man to rest as they slowly made their way. “Think you can force me into a wagon boy?” Plet said once he had fully recovered. “Aye I think I can, old man,” Will said smiling at the old man.

Plet snorted with derision, “I won’t have it, I was meant to ride, as a boy I could outride all of you youngens,” he said puffing himself out with pride. Will smiled, “aye, but you are no boy now old man, you’ll get in that wagon, or I’ll put you in it, I won’t have you falling behind for the wolfs.”

Plet grumbled a couple times, then sighed, “perhaps I am too old to be riding on a horse” he said after a sigh. “You sound like your father boy” Plet said looking up as him, with a look of pride, “when you first came to the village, I half expected you to take anything you could get your hands on, and run for the woods,” the man said with a chuckle.

Will grinned at that, “couldn’t take much, not with you staring at us as you did,” he said looking at the old man. “Aye, well you were good lads, though I didn’t realize that at the time,” he said with a chuckle, a grin settling on his old face. Plet studied Will’s horse for a second, and nodded satisfied, “and I taught you well, I remember when you hated even getting on the horses, eventually we couldn’t get you off of them” the old man let out a chuckle which turned to a fit of coughing.

Will glanced at the old man concerned, the old man waved him off, “just like you father” he said shaking his head when he stopped coughing. “Always worrying about others” he said with a chuckle, “I remember when he came to us to, him and Lain had been old friends” he said with a shake of his head. “John came, and immediately started making changes, bringing in men to work as mercenaries, taking the men off to complete jobs” Plet said with a reminiscent smile.

Will listened intently to the old man, “you almost sound like you like him” he said with a grin at the old man. Plet shot him a withering look, “I do like the man” he said gruffly, which took Will by surprise, “you do?” he asked with suspicion.

Plet snorted, “aye, we may not always agree, but your father means best, and he’s saved my life on three different occasion’s you know” he said smiling once again. Will raised his eyebrows, “I did not know that, may I ask how?” he said curiosity blooming in his chest.

“Ha, ask your father boy” Plet said with a chuckle, “I’m not keen to revisit past mistakes, as are most old men” he said looking up at the sky for a second. Will allowed silence to fall over the pair, until he thought of a question, “Plet what did you do before working in the stables, before coming to the village that it” he asked the old man.

Plet grunted, “getting in my business boy is that it” he said with a raised eyebrow, Will shrugged, and Plet sighed. “Just like your father, I swear if it weren’t for your eyes, and ring I would think you were his son” he said gruffly. The reminder of his family made him stiffen, Plet noticed this, and sighed, it was a weary sound.

“Ah, I meant no offense boy, the man raised you up, taught you to be a man, that’s a good of father as any” he said in a way that was almost apologetic. “Besides its not every man that can say they are descended from kings” Plet said watching his reaction closely. Will spun, and looked at the older man in surprise, “you know” he said with wide eyes.

Plet only chuckled, “I knew for sure before even John knew,” he said with a look of pride on his face. “I’ve been around for a long-time boy, I remember when men used to talk about the savage kings in the north, even if they were extinct” he said with a smile. “Aye I knew who you were, it wasn’t exactly hard to piece together,” he said with a smile.

Will thought about that for a second, not knowing how to respond he merely nodded, and they kept riding. Plet broke the silence this time, “I was a soldier” he said, Will frowned, “sorry?” he said to the old man in confusion. “I was a Feosian soldier, fought in the last war against the western raiders” Plet said, “you asked” he said with a shrug of his old shoulders.

Will realized he did ask, and he nodded, “John says that men will expect me to rule when I head north” he said after a moment to the old man. Plet nodded, and waited for Will to continue, “I- I don’t know if I want to rule, I’m not a king, I barely know anything of the north” he said with a sigh. Plet nodded again, as if he had been expecting this, “men don’t like change boy, that’s the truth, and this, well this is the about the most a life can change” he said with a sigh.

“Know this however boy” Plet continued, and Will listened intently, “a good leader doesn’t rule because he wants to, he does it because he has too” he said giving Will a hard gaze. “Fate rarely gives us a decision” he said once he had wills full attention, “fate is like a horse boy. Fight fate, and you will get dragged along, let fate run itself out, and you enjoy the calm that comes after” he said with a smile.

Will raised an eyebrow confused, only before he could ask the old man he heard a familiar squawk, and Cain came flying down to land on his shoulder, giving Plet a hateful stare. The old man snorted, and after that they road in silence for a bit, until they saw the wagon’s that had stopped, and reached them.

To their surprise, a village was in the distance, it was a village made of wood, and Will could not see any of the people from the distance that he was at. When they reached the last wagon of the traveling group, Landon was waiting them. “Will, John wants you at the front of the wagon train” he said with, “you go ahead, I’ll make sure Plet gets there” he said continuing.

Will nodded to him, said his goodbyes to Plet, and began to leave, when the older man stopped him. “Boy don’t forget what I told you, stuff like that is good to know” he said, unsure of what to say Will smiled, and nodded at the man. Who snorted, and waved him away, Will made his way up the grouping of wagons.

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Will was almost too the front when he realized something was wrong, the village was silent, and the wagons weren’t approaching close to the village. There was nothing from the village, no dogs, no voices, only silence. Will made Grey move a little faster hoping to get to the front of the wagons faster, Cain gave a caw when he reached the wagon. Causing both Lain, and John to turn to face him from their seats atop the wagon.

“Will your finally here, how’s Plet?” Lain asked smiling at him as he approached, Will replied with a smile of his own. “Fine now, just old, and stubborn”, Will said, Lain nodded, and then John spoke up. “Village is quiet, and I can’t see anyone, Tom, and Lont are searching the surrounding area for signs of fleeing” John said in a monotone.

Will nodded, “what would you like me to do” he asked, John replied immediately, “you, Gil, and Lant go into the village, be careful, something feels odd” John said with a frown. “We have other Lost, we will be able to guard the wagons easily enough, but still we need to know if the village is safe” Lain added.

Will frowned, his hand going to his sword, “where are Gil, and Lant” Will asked as he undid his fur cloak and put it into their wagon. “Going to fetch their weapons, stay together now, and make sure Gil doesn’t cause trouble” John ordered, Will nodded.

When Gil, and Lant arrived, they both had their weapons, Gil a short sword, which he was actually pretty good with, and Lant with a axe, and a hammer. The three nodded to each other and headed down the road towards the village.

All the doors were closed in the village, and it was silent too silent for Will’s own comfort. The village looked to be in good shape, but there was not smoke from chimneys, and no lights throughout the entirety of the village. “This isn’t right”, Lant said nervously, Gil responded with a smile that was clearly faked.

“Maybe they don’t like strangers” Gil said weakly, Will stayed silent, when he did speak, he dismounted his horse as he did so. “Turn the horses around, and wait, I’m going to check inside one of the houses” he said handing his reigns to Lant who was still mounted. “Gil, check one of the houses over there, but be ready to get back to the horses” Will said to Gil, who was the better fighter of the pair.

As he approached the house, Cain started squawking with a fury, he jumped off Will’s shoulder, and began flying above the houses. A sense of foreboding over came Will as he approached the house, he intended to investigate. Will reached the door, and heard something on the other side, he stopped, and listened.

The house was brown, and small, it had a fireplace, with no smoke, and three steps leading up the house. Will stopped on the second to listen for any other sounds, he heard it again, footsteps, he took a step back down, the stair creaking under his weight. Then Will heard cursing, followed by the sound of a sword unsheathing, he jumped back. “Gil ambush get to the horses, he yelled as he turned to run towards, Lant, and the horses. Cain Cawed, loudly sounding like the laugh of a mad man as he flew above their heads.

Will heard the door open behind him, and boots clutter down the steps, he unsheathed his sword, and glanced over his shoulder. Two men in makeshift armor that looked like it had been stolen from different sets charged, him the leader was bald with a nasty scar running down his face. Men burst from further down the village, and the horses screamed.

Will realized he would be cut down if he tried to mount, and turned to face the men, he took a deep breath, and met the men running towards him. The man in charge the bald one held a long sword, though it had cracks, and was slightly rusted, the tip of the blade glinted menacingly in the white snow.

The first man swung at him with an overhead strike, Will caught the blade with his own, and nocked it aside with a flourish of his blade. Will then brought his blade up before the man could react, and sliced through his throat, Will kicked the man at the other fighter behind him. The other man caught the body with his own, causing him to stumble back, when the dying man fell, Will had already lunged, ramming the tip of his sword through the man’s throat, killing both men.

Will turned, and ran the two paces to his horse, mounting, and all three men took off towards the villagers. The village was swarming with men who looked like bandits, coming from houses, and the nearby woods, some moved to the front of the village to attempt to block their escape. Arrows hit those who moved to block their path, and more arrows were fired, Will looked up, and saw Lont, and Tom firing arrows from down the road.

Lant, and Gil were ahead of him, and they burst through the village, a man jumped out with a spear Will, but he knocked it aside with his blade, and then they were out of the village. Men still charged them, and he heard the whistling of arrows as he road, whether they were towards him or the men he could not tell. Until his horse got scratched by an arrow that narrowly missed his back, just behind the saddle, a line of blood start to well up.

Grey screamed loudly, but kept running almost in panic, when they got to the wagons, John, Lain, and a dozen other men were in front of the wagons with weapons. Ready to face the oncoming bandits, Tom, and Lont had retreated at well standing behind the men, on their horses, and firing at the bandits.

The three dismounted, handing their horses over to some of the unarmed men standing between the armed men, and the wagons. The three turned, and prepared to be met by the bandits, there was a lot of them to say the least. Though Will had no clue exactly how man there were, more of these men in rough armor than there were of their warriors.

Will made his way to the front of the group just as the men reached them, there was a cry from both sides as the men met. The first man lunged at Will with a great axe he held in two hands, the man was bigger than Will, but Will was faster. Will dodge to his right, narrowly missing the axe, and brought his blade up opening the man’s throat.

Will then parried a mace, with his blade, then kicked the man’s knee in causing him to stumble, Will stabbed him sword through the man’s belly. Will saw Gil struggling with in combat with a man, a wound on his arm, he was about to help, when he saw Lant smash the man with his hammer.

John fought like a devil, slashing, and stabbing and bringing death to their enemies. Lain also held his own, but he sported a wound that seemed to slow him a bit.

A man with a one-handed axe, came next, he swung the axe in a overhead cut, will backstepped, then grabbed the axe, and slammed his blade through the mans skull. When the man’s hand when limp on the axe he ripped it free, find a target, and throwing it at him, killing another man with a longsword.

Will dodged one blade, and rammed his sword through the man’s neck, continuing the forward motion by cutting through the man’s neck with his blade in an arc. Which landed his blade in the neck of another man, who he kicked backward to free his blade.

Will took a second to take in the battle, he had killed plenty, as had John, and Lain, and their archers. However there had to be at least fifty to sixty bandits to their twenty men, and they were starting to be pushed back. As the Lost around him fell back, Will followed suit, killing any men that came too close, he noted with anger as he stepped over bodies of village men as well as bandits.

Men were being pushed up against the wagons, and there seemed to be no end to the bandits, despite the number of men that they killed. Will parried one blade, cut the man deep across his chest killing him, when he heard a loud horn sound, though he didn’t recognize the sound he was relieved when the bandits started running into the trees to their left.

However, that relief quickly changed to fear, when he heard the hoofs of horses. Keeping his hold on his blade he looked, and saw a large group of riders, a larger group than the bandits, riding the largest horses that Will had ever seen. They rode hard too, passing through the village from the opposite end, when they reached the wary mercenaries, they stopped short of them.

A man in black armor, with a snowflake on it called out “Which way did the bandits go” he called, though Will didn’t see it, he heard, Lain call out, “too the left through the trees”. The armored man nodded, barked orders, then dismounted not bothering to tie his horse, at least two hundred men also dismounted, only fifty stayed on their steads.

The men left without a word, heading towards the direction Lain had pointed them towards. Many of the men were still on guard, and even the two archers kept their bows aimed. Another man, older with grey hair dismounted off his horse, his was black with white spots. The man was the only one in the group of men not wearing a helmet, and he got down studying the group.

Will met eyes with him, and the man’s eyes widened, for only a second before returning to normal, John stepped forward to meet the man, and Will moved to stand behind him. The fifty or so men behind the older man also dismounted and moved forward waiting for commands.

“John is that you?” the man said his eyes opening in shock at the sight of Will’s adopted father. “It is, you got old Flint”, John said with a smile, and the two men then embraced, Will glanced back at Tom who had eased on his bow. Tom gave him an unknowing shrug, and Will turned back to the men, who had parted, and had begun talking once more.

“It’s been so long John why are you- “, The man, Flint began before John interrupted him, “we have wounded, and dead, we can talk later”, John said, and the man nodded. Then he barked orders at his men, “help these men, and treat their wounded, we wait here for commander Rein”, he said in an authoritative tone.

The men behind him immediately began to move, to Will’s amazement none of the horses moved from where they had been dismounted from. Will looked at John in confusion when the old man beckoned him forward. John shouted for Tom as well, who approached cautiously, “boys this here is Flint Carathian”, John said.

Will felt shocked as he looked at the man closely, he saw the resemblance between the two men. “He’s my older brother, and commander of the Winter Reserve soldiers” John said.