But a few short kisses later, they agreed Endermon should go lay down and sleep as they had a long day of travel ahead of them. Shiloh said she would keep watch and they parted for the night. Endermon went and slipped into her cot content that she had not inadvertently caused another person's downfall.
The next morning after reheating the leftover soup, they packed up and loaded up the horses. By Endermon's estimation, they still had several days until the river merged and became a larger river. And then more days after that where the river becomes too rocky to pass safely. So they would have to cross the river at some point.
But that was still days away and for now, the river was calm and slow. They continued down the river for a while, only stopping for a quick bite to eat. There was the sound of the carriage following them from a distance, but other than that, most people kept to the main road. There was a noise and the group was surprised to see an unkempt man approaching them. Endermon had them stop to see if they could help him.
Just because they wanted to assist, did not mean that they were not ready to defend themselves, should the need arise. The man started out fine and then got more and more agitated when they wouldn't give him any money or valuables.
The man pulled out a knife, and everyone took a step back. Since all three were adept at either protecting themselves and close quarters combat, they wanted to find out why this man was so certain that they had what he wanted. They tried to talk to him but every try got them a wild swing from the knife.
Needing to get him to calm down, but not wanting to risk injury, they went to the horses to try to come up with a plan. Needing to incapacitate him, Endermon asked Dresden to run interference while she and Rutus worked on getting stuff together to tie him up and unarm him.
Dresden ran off and in a few minutes they could hear a wolf howling in the distance. Vthe man who was already jittery, started looking around for the dangerous animal. This caused the man to be distracted, and therefore Endermon could get his knife away from him. Rutus took no time in binding his wrists and ankles. Once he was tied up, but not gagged, Endermon had Rutus go get Dresden.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
As she faced down the man, she remembered her training and started questioning him. She kept her face blank and unforgiving. For a bit, the man refused to talk and then as much as she hated to do it, Endermon began using pressure points to cause temporary pain.
Endermon disliked torture as a means to get information or solve a problem. She usually went for the peaceful approach. But seeing as the man left her no other choice, she systematically began twisting and pressing on parts of his body that caused enough pain for her to get the reason behind the attempted assault.
She found out that he was a man with no family to speak of and had taken to robbery to keep himself fed. She asked why he didn't just stay in town or at least stick to the main roads, where there were more desirable targets.she asked why they were targeted specifically. Endermon was met with more silence.
By this time Rutus and Dresden had come back. Getting frustrated, endermon said they could try to get more out of him because she was going to get rid of the headache that was forming, right in the center of her forehead. As she left, all she said was not to kill him. Then Endermon went off to sit by the river and let nature carry her troubles away.
Hearing cries of pain, Endermon went back to the road and watched as Dresden circled the man as a big black dog, growling and snapping at the man, while Rutus would ask questions and if she didn't like the answer, would give him a superficial cut. Endermon also noticed one eye was swelling and would turn out to be a spectacular bruise later on.
Once everyone got all the information they were going to get, he was untied and pushed in the general direction of the nearest town. Which was in the opposite way they were going. The man half stumbled, half ran, glad to be away from them. Nevermind the fact that he lost anything he had gained on his journey up to that point.