Raith lay in the head tent at the edge of camp two hours after the caravan stop. His head swam as he awoke from the poppy induced sleep. his shoulder ached and everytime he took a breath shooting pains ran through his collar. ‘Talora did her best but she’s no surgeon’ He tried to lean on his good arm, but even that put too much pressure on his break to stand. He layed back down for the pain to subside somewhat before rolling onto his side and using his legs and abdomen to stand. He got a good look at himself in Talora’s mirror as he rose. A short slender young man looked back at him. His green eyes took on a sickly yellow cast as his eyes sank into themself from exhaustion, heavy bags beneath. Curly brown hair matted with blood, covering his forehead. His gambeson had been removed in his sleep and a sling holds his arm below a gruesome yellow and purple collarbone, deformed in multiple places. “That’s no good at all, I won’t be able to fight for months like this’. He grabbed his cloak and threw it over his shoulders as he headed for the entrance. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be so pessimistic, Talmon and Shirk didn’t make it out alive today. I’ve made it out with the shells compared to them’. The men were breaking down tents and placing weapons and shields on the horse as he stepped out. The mist is rising up with the sun as it breaks noon in the hills. Raith spots Talora heading towards their tent at the same time she spots him.
In a rush Talora sprints into Raith and gives him a tight hug. A cry of pain cuts across the hills as she squeezes him without thinking, it echoes through the grass lands and back off surrounding hills. Talora cries out “shit! I’m so sorry love, I wasn’t thinking I just-” as she shrinks back away. Raith takes a seat in the grass as tears of pain run down his cheeks. Nobody speaks for what feels like an eternity to Talora, but eventually the silence is broken by Raith with a soft weak laugh.
“It’s okay, I understand the impulse”. Raith says with a lighthearted smile.
Talora replied “I thought we’d lost you when I saw you get thrown by that horseman. It felt like the world crashed down onto me when you landed”.
Raith looked confident as he said “You should have known better, you’d never be so lucky”.
Talora pulled her knees in as she replied quietly “I couldn’t lose you, not after Marco, never you”.
Raith finally felt the weight of the situation that he was in, and the effect that it had on his beloved. He looked at Talora, her faintly green skin darkened by the tears running down her face, hair only a few shades off from her skin still up in a tight topknot from the fight. He leaned in and laid his face in the crook of her neck. He turned his head and whispered “thank you for pulling me out and setting the sling, I owe you many debts that I could never hope to repay chan’tan’hi”. He knew that he had made a mistake by making light of what happened, so he replied in her homelands tongue. He never was good with language but the phrase ‘breath of my lungs’ stuck with him. Talora turned and kissed him on the forehead.
“We captured five of the horsemen, but one made a break and got away while the men were looking over the loot”. Talora said with a grimace
Raith felt anxious suddenly and he quickly stood. “Fuck, we need to take off quick then”.
Talora pushed up off the ground and said “They’re taking down camp and getting us on the move right now, we need to get you settled in a cart and we should be off within the hour”. She began walking with him towards the end where men were loading carts and speaking with footmen prisoners. As they walked she turned to him and said “I’m thinking of making Bat’tor an officer after yesterday, provisional and temporary until Jerricho is ready to lead again”.
Raith felt a bit shocked to be honest “Bat’tor, really? The insubordinate one”? He replied curiosity written on his face
Talora smiled at what he said as she replied “you know Raith, we don’t have a good history with authority either. He also led the archers well today and secured the footmen prisoners with his team after surrender. I think he’s earned trust today, as well the archers love him”.
Raith replied “the archers love gambling with him more like”. As he saw Talora was about to object “but I see your point and I trust your judgment, you want to include him in today's meeting”?
Talora shrugged and said “I think so, I’d like to hear his input at least”.
The conversation died there as they moved up to Berrick and Bat’tor who were directing the packing of weapons and provisions. Talora spoke as they arrived “Berrick you old fool I’ve good news! I’ve decided on the next officer”.
Berrick turned to the two and smiled “fantastic, who’ve you decided on”?
Raith looked at Berrick and said “the young gambler that just pocketed some dried meat while you weren’t looking”
Berrick turned sharply to Bat’tor and hammered on top of his head. “Damn fool, I’ve told you we need to count the supplies before we divvy any”.
Bat’tor rubbed the top of his said as he eyed Berrick and said “and I told you I’m hungry, old bag”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Raith laughed out loud and said “you were right Talora, I think he’s gonna do just fine at the council meetings”.
An hour later the supplies were packed into wagons and the soldiers were supping on perishable supplies. Five figures sat around a dying fire discussing movements of the king's lawmen. The sun was still high in the sky as they spoke.
Talora spoke “Berrick today didn’t go as bad as it could have, but it certainly didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Why did you and your scouts miss the footmen trailing behind the caravan”?
Berrick looked abashed as he said “I’m sorry commander, we watched and followed the men for a good half hour to make sure we had the count right. They must have come from somewhere else, another group traveling a different but close route. Perhaps a garrison at a waystop, the king has been making moves to secure his military supply routes of late”.
Talora was thoughtful for a moment, but just as she was about to speak a cry sounded out from the camp's sentries. Two men ran toward the fire yelling something the officers couldn’t quite understand as men dropped food and ran to the weapon cart. As they grew closer they were all already standing and they’re words became understandable. “Raise the alarm! More than a hundred soldiers headed toward the smoke quick as they can, mounted troops and footmen, a quarter archers”. Everyone sprinted toward the weapons cart, except for Talora and Raith. They shared a grim look with eachother as Raith spoke “I don’t think we can handle that Tally, we can't fight that”. Talora looked down at the ground with wide eyes as she thought.
After only a short moment she spoke “we have to abandon the supplies and run, we won’t be fast enough with three wagons in tow”. Raith looked distraught as the words settled on him. Talora didn’t waste anymore time as she yelled loud as she could “every man arm yourself and grab chainmail, gather horses and mount. We will leave the wagons and only take what we can grab in less than two minutes, count the seconds and be ready”. She looked at Raith and said “Go find us a horse, I need to grab our weapons and armor”.
Raith burst into motion running towards the hitching wagons. They only had twenty two horses fit for riding, they would have to ride two men to a mount. Talora jumped into their tent and quickly threw her gambeson on, then strapped her longsword on. She didn’t spend time securing the gambeson, the belt would have to be enough. She grabbed her logbooks, their bedding, and a pouch of coins. Raith soon moved back to the fire with a saddled horse and a halberd in hand. Talora exited the tent and ran to the horse. She saw two chainmail hauberks slung over the horse and slipped one on as quick as she could. As she saw men moving to her position on horseback she shouted “officers lead squads east through the forest and split up, we will meet up ten miles east at postman bridge over river taleighleigh”. With that a thunderous horde broke east into the trees and disappeared.
Talora slipped the hauberk over Raith as he winced with pain. She helped him onto the back of the saddle and mounted after, then broke off at a gallop as the sounds of troops grew louder from over the hills. Raith leaned into Talora and bit the neck of her gambeson to keep from crying out with the pain of the ride. The horse moved hard and fast through the trees, practiced from years of travel through the woods it kept a steady pace. A rough patch of earth came up and shocks went through the saddle into Raith, who in pain dropped his halberd. Raith looked back and cursed at the fallen weapon as they sailed away.
After nearly an hour of riding they came to a river, they stopped for a rest and the horse drank from the water. Raith begged Talora to remove the hauberk and she obliged. After a short fashion they remounted and moved at a comfortable pace down the river to the bridge. After some distance they could see horses gathered around the bridge up ahead, not nearly enough horses. Talora steeled herself as she arrived. “Are we waiting on the rest”? Berrick and Jerricho looked at eachother with grimaces.
Jerricho spoke first “no commander, we’re what's left”. Everything came crashing down as the words hit her soul. There were only sixteen men left including the officers. Eleven men plus the leadership, down from the forty they had this morning. And suddenly it was all over, years of sacrifice and politics were gone.
‘So much blood spilled, so many lives lost. Families without fathers and mothers, is this really what it was all for’? Talora’s eyes were glazed over as she stared toward the ground. ‘I’m in quicksand, I’ve been at the bottom for months and I have nowhere to go. I walked into quicksand and mistook it for air, breathing and letting it fill my lungs until I could no longer escape’. ‘Is this truly all we can do, nowhere to run pushed to the edge of everything we’ve worked for with nothing to show’?
Raith came to and picked up a voice coming in his direction. “Captain, commander? Where do we go from here”? A tall thin man with rosy skin that glimmers faintly in direct sunlight was looking back at him, more awake than he’s seemed since Marco. Raith didn’t speak for some time and Talora didn’t seem to register that anyone was speaking.
Raith didn’t know what to say “i just- I need some time to- I need to think for a moment and the officers need to discuss”.
Bat’tor cut in there “oh give in with the talk of officers, we’ve only sixteen of us left we all deserve to be a part of the conversation”. A murmur of agreement broke out over the crowd.
Raith was less friendly than his usual self from the stress “I’m tired of your insubordinate behavior Bat’tor! Back down now and let me think”.
Berrick scowled and replied “what is there to think about? It’s over you damn fools we’re done for, we should all pack up and go back to what semblance of life we had before this gods damned waste of a war”.
Raith said “what life is that? At best you go back to a life of servitude under the tyrant king, the only other option is find a city where no one knows your name; how are you with learning languages? I hear northeast they’re very kind to beggars in Rhotmonkharr”.
Bat’tor snorted “not everyone in this crew is a known name, those aren’t the only options for most of the common men”.
Talora finally awoke from her thoughts and cut in “we only have one option, we have to seek Erghall, the mother of the tree’s. We have to ask of boon”.
Bat’tor looked as though he would burst from rage “not all believe your foolish god was so kind, the enlightened folk know the truth! You would have us seek a deceiver and a cheat in search of what, old power long lost”? He scoffed “as if such a thing was ever truly given to your people”. He looked assured now “No, I’m leaving and I’m going back home. I miss my parents, I just want to live the rest of my days as a craftsman. The way I was meant too, but was too foolish to see”.