[Krom] - Danger, run from danger

[Elyna]

69 Ashan 716

There was a certain type of deep-bone-cold that only came from camping overnight, on the hard ground. Elyna sat up and tried shaking off the ache settled in her shoulders. She rolled to one side and used her arms to help push herself up to her feet. She’d slept for a few hours, wrapped up beside the fire. She smelt like wood smoke, but before long her awareness of that would fade and it wouldn’t bother her anymore. She nodded to Simon on the last watched and crept between the sleepers to stoke the embers of the fire. Nudging them into life.

Dawn was greying the horizon, the ground was wet with dew and her clothes were coated in it. She crouched beside the flames she’d coaxed and started laying on fresh wood. There would at least be warm water for tea before they set off on the rest of the journey. She took the time to unfasten and her hair, shaking it out before re-braiding it with stiff fingers.
The bird started waking the others and she stretched, yawning and waving a greeting. She wasn’t one for words so early in the morning and was relieved to find that few of her companions were either.

There was something about the easy comradery the group shared as water was boiled, the camp packed up and the horses fed, saddled and readied for the day ahead. She had settled amongst the group a little more. The day before had gone similarly, they’d dragged themselves to their aching feet and ridden on the road to the lake. Checking barns and farmsteads for bandits, handing out supplies. She had been proud of her own contribution, during the morning preparations she’d managed to drop a young deer. It had been too much for them to carry for long, but most of the animal had been passed onto the young farmer and his pregnant wife. It paid to be an early riser, or at least, someone who didn’t sleep long hours. Elyna had kept her watch along with everyone else and pitched in with the group tasks. She was growing more accustomed to their jokes and sense of humour and joined in with their laughter, chuckling quietly to herself.

It wasn’t as if she was avoiding the Captain, but after their discussion the first night she had kept herself busy and focused on the tasks need at each time. Rotating to the front and rear guards and managing to miss riding alone with him on each count. She was grateful that no one realized that they only exchanged a few perfunctory words throughout the day and night. She didn't say much anyway, preferring to listen and watch the others as though she could absorb their happiness through osmosis. It was a younger knight, Ronald who she guess might be approaching her own age, if he had not just surpassed it, that made a consistent effort to include her in the overall conversations. She was thankful but wary at first. However, he remained friendly, talking about his childhood in the city. Elyna was curious to listen to his stories as they differed so much from her own. He had invited her to join their card game over the long stretch of night and she had agreed, admitting that she didn't know the rules.

Like a well-oiled clockwork, horses were mounted and the ground bore little sign of their passage. The front riders set off, then the next pair. Naturally, it was then that as Elyna turned Ember to follow, that the bridal snapped away from the bit and fell, useless in her hands. She cursed and dismounted. She pulled a strip of leather from her coat and freed the useless end of the bridal. Peering over Embers neck as the horse took the opportunity to grab more grass, she watched the others departing, waving that she could catch them up soon enough. Ronald hesitated but she waved him on again and he turned to catch up with the center grouping. It was a simple repair, she started tying knots in the broken strap, attaching it to the new leather. Once convinced it wouldn’t slip free in an emergency, she would loop it around the bit and fasten it once more.

[Malcolm]

Malcolm had relieved Kathryn of her watch early the first night and stayed up until the fourth break, it was then he decided to wake Heath, well overdue his turn, and crawled onto his bed, blinking and tired. His eyes watered and he had recalled rubbing them gently before drifting off to sleep. That day, having been afforded only two hours of rest, Malcolm was quiet and decided to ride at the back of the group with Benjamin, a man in his early thirties who was much more mature than Heath, but a little dry when it came to humour. This suited Malcolm perfectly as after the night he had endured, talking was on the bottom on his todo list.
The morning seemed to fly by with their visits to the surrounding farms going well. A young boy who stood at the end of a long driveway waved out to the Knights and ran alongside Malcolm's horse. The captain stopped and leaned down to take the boy's hand and pulled him up onto the chestnut's back. He rode down the long driveway to the house, pacing the horse by shortening the reins to see that he moved at a light canter. Outside the house the boy's mother smiled and thanked him for the supplies sent from the city. Malcolm took the boy down from the horse and watched him run along inside before leaving again to catch up with the others.
The day had passed without a hitch and the team's work ethic had impressed him. No one was complaining of homesickness, most of them appeared well rested and on task, and other than a few squabbles about who should take first watch that night, everything was going according to plan. Malcolm picked Heath to take first watch who would be followed by Elyna, Ronald, and finally Simon. He hadn't opted to play the part of lookout a second night, a task that was well below his rank, though he did it from time to time to earn and maintain the respect of those he worked with.
He had fallen asleep to the sound of the fire cracking and hissing as it burned through the off cuts of their evening meal, and dreamed of home, when he and Vanessa had lived on the farm where they had raised their sons. Sometimes it was hard to recall in perfect detail how she had looked then, the more years one spent with the same person, the easier it was to remember the now and forget the then. One thing that he would never forget was her smile.

On the morning of the 69th, Malcolm had been the first one up, packed and ready to go. He had walked down the hill they had found to camp on and eaten some of the dried food he had brought with him for the journey, tearing bite sized pieces away while he watched the sky turn purple, red, and gold, only to see it grow grey and finally blue when the sun touched the sky. It wasn't strange for him to wander off alone, his team had grown accustomed to such behaviour from their captain, and packed up without him, getting on the road before he had managed to climb the hill again and led his horse down to the flats.
It was then he noticed Elyna on the roadside, adjusting something that looked to have come loose. By the time he had managed to cross the field on foot, leading the gelding behind him, the noble woman looked to have sorted out whatever trouble she was having and Malcolm mounted up. He steered his horse to stand alongside the bay and slipped his boot clad feet into the stirrups. "We'll be in Krom today," he told her, "I hope you're ready for the river crossing, it's difficult this time of arc with all the snow from Endor melting and running through the Burning Mountains to rush out to sea down the Avari and Zor River."

He thought about it and knew it was probably safer to take the road, but the men liked the crossing and being that it would be Kathryn's first attempt, he decided to go ahead as planned. None of them had really been able to wash in the last two days, save for the odd whore bath, as the boys like to call it, at the streams they stopped to let their horses drink from.
Malcolm paused and it seemed he wanted to say something else, feeling as though he owed the woman some kind of apology, though for what he wasn't quite sure. "Try not to fall behind," he said instead and kicked his horse lightly to go on ahead.

[Elyna]

Elyna felt a sense of dread as she realised she was no longer alone. Of course it was the Captain, "bridal snapped," she explained quickly. She nodded, the others had mentioned the crossing. They seemed excited, but she would admit to herself that it worried her. She had a healthy respect for rushing cold water, even if the crossing was smooth - it would still be cold, and wet and a lot of hard work.

She finished her knot, checked the repair again and mounted up. There was a tension in the air and she realised that in avoiding further conversation with Malcolm, even if she wasn't prepared to admit she had been, she may have unwittingly caused a friction. She hadn't intended for him to believe he had offended her, but in truth she could see how her actions would make him think so. But, he hadn't sought out her company either. The was a dark cloud over his mood and it was palpable. She was determined to remain polite and civil and maintain their friendship if possible. But his comment about her keeping up did nothing but rankle. That too, was out of character. She wondered if he was being snippy with everyone, of if was something reserved especially for her. She let him move ahead and held her temper before nudging Ember into action to catch up. She wouldn't convince the Captain by anything else other than her actions. She wasn't going to hold the team back. She would be nothing but the perfect example of a Skyrider accompanying Knights.

[Malcolm]

Catching up with the rest of the crew proved difficult and soon Malcolm found that he was lagging behind with Elyna. He knew this team were excited about reaching the river today, but he would have to be firm with them all later and remind them of protocol. When they eventually did reach the river, Malcolm was shocked, and at the same time totally underwhelmed to find the men stripping off, if not already in the water and splashing about, gear, horses, and supplies all abandoned.
The captain had to turn his horse about in order to hide the amused smile he was finding difficult to cease, though he soon found encouragement as he spotted Elyna trotting up the road. Quickly the man turned and took a deep breath, his voice a storm as he called out to reprimand them all. "Men! We have lad---," Malcolm was stopped mid-sentence by the sight of Kathryn, topless and making a mad dash for the water. Stunned into silence the captain dismissed with a wave, those he had managed to gain interest from, "I was about to remind them that we have two ladies present, but seems it is just the one," he told Elyna, doing his best not to smile, as her horse walked up to stand alongside his.

With tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth, Malcolm saw his horse go forwards, driving the animal up towards the edge of the river where he then pulled on the reins in order to bring the gelding to a standstill. The tall male got down from his horse and laughed as Heath pushed Benjamin under water and the man moments later came back to the surface coughing and spluttering like a child. He was tempted to join them, but someone had to play lookout, instead, Malcolm removed his boots and rolled up the ends of his pants to dip his toes in and get his feet wet.
The river was wide and looked relatively calm this morning, but Malcolm new it was deep, enough so to sail a fully rigged tall-ship into the lake, not that many of those got by the new bridges, fancy western designs that opened up with a little man and horsepower. The horses should have been all right to swim across the River Zor, but untested, Malcolm feared his new gelding was probably going to freak out at first. He planned then to follow the others in and hope that would keep the animal calm.
"Captain!" Heath waved, "get in, the water is perfect!"

Malcolm smirked and shook his head.

[Elyna]

Elyna bit back her own grin as she approached. It had been the excited shouts that had warned her of the sight she was about to see before she reached the river. She watched Malcolm turning away and suspected he was trying to contain his own amusement. Eventually she gave up trying to stop grinning and simply hid the expression behind a hand. Well, she had to at least act like a Lady.

"Well," she lifted a shoulder, "I suppose all the extra etiquette lessons are paying off, a few weeks ago - who knows," she flashed a smile that verged on cheeky before concentrating on Ember. She dismounted to give the mare a rest and removed the bags, checking their water proofing. She didn't want to get caught unawares when they did, eventually cross. She let the horse drink then graze and stood at the waters edge, boots abandoned and barefoot she'd rolled up her breaches and let the water lap against her legs. The other called to her but she shook her head. There was no way she would expose herself to scrutiny in daylight. She was well aware that they might have something to say about the bruises that littered her torso. Her gaze returned inevitably to the Captain. Worse, she suspected he might have something to say and she didn't much fancy being sent back to the city, alone. Or reprimanded in front of everyone else. A bumps and bruises were normal. Expected. It was part of the job.

It was Ronald and Simon that caught her by surprise though, rushing her from the side and tumbling her into the water. It was like being hit by a rock and she twisted free, scrambling back to her feet, drenched in river water and gasping for air. She turned on Ronald and pounced without mercy, dunking the young man in retaliation before he could so much as apologize.

[Malcolm]

The woman's words had taken Malcolm by surprise, it wasn't that he didn't think her capable of such an act, but the admittance in itself was somewhat left field coming from her. "Don't worry, my lady, a few more days with us and I would expect to see you in there first," he smirked, this lot really were a bad influence.

What came next would have been completely unacceptable if it hadn't been for the noble woman's most recent admission. Instead Malcolm laughed wholeheartedly at Elyna's misfortune, right up until Simon made the mistake of splashing the captain. His mouth drew a straight, unamused line across his face that saw Simon cower in his own skin, shying away from the shore to retreated into the safety of numbers.
Malcolm stepped backwards, his gaze fixed on the man until he was certain Simon was well and truly wetting himself at the thought of retribution. The captain turned to his horse and slipped out of his tabard, an act swiftly followed by the removal of his shirt, belt, and trousers. Unlike the rest of them, he decided to leave something to the imagination, stuffing his belongings into the saddlebag before he ran down to the water and jumped in, the action meet with a mighty cheer from his team.
It always surprised Malcolm just how much better he felt after a swim, the water seemingly washing away more than just two days worth of sweat and dirt, took his strange mood with it. His musky scent was replaced by the refreshing smell of the mountain water after some scrubbing and he rinsed the dust from his hair, the lengthy, black waves flattened against his skull like black slugs until he shook the water loose and pushed it back against his head with two hands.
After a few minutes of relaxation, Malcolm swam to the edge of the river and climbed out to sit down on the grassy bank, hoping the sunshine would dry him out. Heath was the next out of the river and ran to the place he had discarded his clothes with both hands comically cupping anything he didn't want Elyna to catch an eyeful of. Kathryn on the other hand was shameless and left the lake without so much as raising a hand to tuck under her armpit. Malcolm averted his gaze all the same, while Heath just whistled.
"Heath," the captain scolded light heartedly.
"Sorry captain!"

Soon everyone was done with their swim and Malcolm found himself looking about for Elyna. He got up and summoned his horse with a whistle, the act acknowledged by the gelding but in no way was what it responded to accordingly. From the saddlebag he took his pants and shirt, making sure the old slave brand that decorated his outer right thigh was covered by his shorts before his pants went on. As he approached Elyna he pulled on his shirt and tugged the end down to try and stop it from clinging to his still wet chest and back. Are you cold?" He asked, after all the men had pushed her into the water with all her clothes on. "You can have my cloak if you like?"

[Elyna]

Once in the water, Elyna took the oppertunity to wash the dust from her face and hair before making a quick retreat. She truly hadn't intended to get so wet. On the bank she tried to dry her clothes, without the risk of removing them. If she was honest she was distracted by the Captain. If his presence was enticing before, she found it near impossible to keep her eyes off of him when he joined the others in the water. When he finally emerged she finished re-braiding her hair and turned, shivering as she tried to wring out any water.

His approach made her turn in surprise and she shook her head quickly, "thank you, but I'll wait till we're across then change." He was distant, then friendly then harsh and she frowned, conscious that her own clothes cling without mercy as they part dried in the sun, "don't worry, Ser," she swung up onto Embers saddle. The others looked ready to move. "I won't slow us down," she looked ahead quickly, before she could wonder too much about the way his shirt was trying to stick to the damp skin of his chest.

The crossing went well at first and Elyna was pleased with her mare. But it was when she was just over half way that the arrow pitched into Simon, shot from the bank they'd left behind. Elyna was closest and already spurring Ember forward as the man simply fell forward into the water. She managed to grab him, gasping with the strain as she coiled her arm under his neck to keep his head above water. Arrows whistled overhead and she felt the searing pain of a scratch along her scalp.

Some of the group had already crossed and they shot back at the small band of archers. Almost pulled off her own horse by the weight of the man, Elyna struggled to keep hold of him and was exhausted by the time Ember climbed, with long laborious steps, up the bank. Kathryn came to relieve her and she slipped off the mares back, landing on weak legs as the other woman checked him over. Elyna reached up to touch the source of a blinding headache and her fingers came away from her hair damp and red. She let out a slow sigh and looked up. The bowmen on the far side of the bank were dispatched, but a small band of bandits approached from ahead, rushing with weapons raised. The young Skyrider did the only thing she could and drew her sword, steadying herself against her horse.

[Malcolm]

Kathryn, Ronald, Simon, and Elyna had gone first, leaving Nathan, Benjamin, and Heath along with their captain to follow shortly after. Nathan followed Heath into the water as the first group made it to the halfway point in the river, right before the first arrow flew overhead, striking Simon in the back. Malcolm saw the man go down and pulled firmly on the reins in order to turn his horse around and face the danger head on. He yelled for his men to carry on across the river and as soon as the first group got to the shore, they returned fire.
Ronald had managed to take two of the bandits down with his bow and Kathryn had rushed to Simon's aide in order to yank the arrow from his back and pack his wound quickly. She dragged the man from the shoreline and left him on his side before drawing her weapon as the group was attacked on Krom's side of the river. Nathan and Heath quickly came ashore with swords in hand and charged the men on foot, leaving Kathryn and Ronald to finish off a couple of the strays along with Elyna's help.
Malcolm and Benjamin, who were yet to cross the river, attacked the bandits on the other side, Benjamin with his bow and Malcolm with his throwing blades. With the second near miss of an arrow, Malcolm rolled out off the saddle and stood beside his horse in order to shield himself from anymore direct attacks while he struggled to get his shield free. When it came loose he charged the men, raising the shield to defend against an attack before turning his body to throw one of the daggers into one of the men who had fired at them. The blade stuck the bandit as Benjamin's arrow got the man beside him, cutting back their thinly spread numbers.
After finishing off the last of them, Malcolm collected his abandoned knives quickly and sheathed them on his belt before racing back to his horse to mount up and gallop towards the river. Benjamin went in first and with some difficulty, Malcolm managed to convince his horse to follow, the two getting across the river in record time. Once there, Benjamin raced ahead to provide backup to the others while Malcolm was off his horse again, this time to check on Simon. He pressed his fingers to the man's throat and felt a strong pulse which caused him to believe the surprise arrow had merely hit the right spot and left the man incapacitated for the time being.
Ronald was the first back to the riverside and skidded to a halt on his knees at Simon's side. "He's all right," Malcolm assured the man.
The knight sat up to catch his breath, "he's breathing?"
"Just fine," the captain nodded. "Any casualties?"
"Everyone's fine I think."
"You think or your know?"
"I know, Ser."

As the group slowly reformed, the Knights returning one by one, Malcolm stood up and called out for Heath. The man exited the tree line limping, tugging the reins of his horse. "Bastard threw me off!" He cringed and closed his teeth together tightly. "I think I might had broken something."
"Just your pride," Kathryn shoved him and laughed.
"Where's Elyna?" Malcolm called.
"Right here," Benjamin followed the woman out of the woods and Malcolm bowed, putting his hands on his knees, thankful that they hadn't lost anyone.
"You're bleeding!" He noticed and went to her side, "sit down, let me see."

At his back Simon finally stirred with a violent roar of pain that made the hairs on the back of Malcolm's neck stand on end. Simon was helped to his feet and Kathryn took a look at his wound before quickly covering it again. "He needs a doctor!" She said.
"Kathryn, calm down, the closest doctor is a two day ride in either direction, you're trained for this," Malcolm coached her, "get the healer's kit and do what you can."
Kathryn's eyes watered, she had been trained to deal with worse but the sight of blood caused her to panic. "There's blood," she waved a hand, "there's a lot of blood," she breathed heavily.

Malcolm told Elyna to sit tight and hold something against her cut while he went to help with Simon. He pulled out the bloody cloth and within seconds his right hand was covered in the man's blood. Ronald went as white at a sheet and Heath turned away, lifting his hands to scratch his fingers through his hair as he looked skyward and closed his eyes. Kathryn looked as if she were about to faint and Nathan stood hunched over beside the river to throw up, all the adrenaline getting the better of him.
The only two that seem to have their heads screwed on right were the captain and Benjamin, and neither of them knew very much about medicine, not the modern kind they used in the city at least. "Ben can you get a fire going? Heath, find the med-kit, Kathryn walk it off!" He ordered.

Malcolm packed the wound again and had Simon sit down. The captain rinsed his hands in the river and cleaned one of his blade as best he could while the others got a fire going. Once the flames were strong enough, Malcolm held one of his daggers in the fire, the iron a lot thinner than that of a sword, allowing it to heat up faster. When the blade was piping hot and burned a bright shade of red and orange, he had Simon bite down on a belt of leather and got Nathan and Benjamin to hold the man as he pressed the blade over the wound in order to try and cauterise it or at the very least stop the bleeding. If there were anymore bandits in the woods, Simon's near deafening cry had just alerted them to the unit's current location.
"We have to move," Nathan said.
"Should we cross the river?" Kathryn asked.
"No," Malcolm told them, "we will have to go to the bridge, if Simon gets that wound wet it's going to get infected."
"We could push on to Krom?" Heath suggested, "it's a two day ride either way but if we go to Krom it means only one more rough night instead of two."
Malcolm closed his eyes, he knew Nathan and Benjamin didn't want to go that far from home because of their families, and he had Elyna's feelings to consider too. He thought about putting it to a vote, but hated to pit his team against each other like that, and so he took his responsibility as leader seriously and made a decision. "We go to Krom."

[Elyna]

There had been no more danger on the road, for which the tired Skyrider remained grateful. But the weather, as it was want to do in Ashen, turned ugly fast. They were pelted with sheets of rain from almost the moment Malcolm had announced their orders. The continued journey had been fraught with patches of uneasy silence and worry for Simon and the exhausting expectation that more bandits would rise out of the grey, wet surrounds in attack. Everything was wet and it was a credit to the team and their companionship that the mood overall didn't turn entirely bleak, but subdued.

They stopped later that night, in the dark with the rain still falling. Elyna wondered if she could even remember what it felt like to be dry and took charge of the horses and their needs as the fire was made, after much swearing and several failed attempts, and the hot meal made.

When the time came she would carry out her watch but with a throbbing headache she retreated back to the tree line and found a dryer patch of needle covered earth to sit on. The rain had turned to a fine mist and was easing off into the night. She sank into her coat, with her legs drawn up and listened to the drops falling, pattering the ground surrounding her. Funny, before her acquaintance with Malcolm she could have counted on one finger the lives she had taken, but the number was steadily growing. Maybe it was the damp, or the persistent ache in her head but she felt separated anew from the group of knights. She watched them, quietly preparing to rest and set her head back against the tree trunk with a sigh. The day was done. Her eyes inevitably drifted to the Captain once more, lingering as they had no right to do.

She touched her fingers to the cut along her skull, above her left ear and grimaced, it still stung. Along with the other wound she'd collected in the woods. But at least the bleeding had stopped, mostly. Her touch caused a thin trickle to snake down her cheek to her neck and soak into her shirt. She'd wrapped the wound along her ribs with as much care as she could during the ride and knew, inevitably she would need to do it again. But it would wait a few moments more.

[Malcolm]

Their progress had been slow and miserable thanks to the rain and Simon's persistent groaning, his way of dealing with the pain they all supposed and did their best not to let it get them down. When night fell they had continued on along the road for some time, and unable to find any high ground, settled for a spot in the woods that would let them dry off at least a little. Benjamin had been smart enough to bring a tent and Ronald helped him set it up in the dark, the inside only big enough to house two or three if they didn't move around too much. Simon was given the tent and Ronald joined the man to keep him company.
No one seemed very hungry but Malcolm forced them all to eat something, chewing a bit of the overlooked rabbit Nathan had managed to catch and prepare. The Captain hung his cloak up near the fire, hoping it would dry out; he no longer cared about the smell of smoke that would stick to the fabric and follow them all the way to Krom until they turned around to go home again. He checked in on Simon when the noise had died down and then went to see how Heath and Kathryn were doing. Heath was still complaining of pain but no longer believed it was anything as serious as a break. Kathryn was just tired and happy to get the change to sleep without having to worry about watch duty tonight, something Elyna had been assigned to, followed by the captain himself and later Benjamin.
Everything felt damp but the nights in the north were cold all year round save for the hottest part of summer, and Malcolm didn't want to risk getting sick. He pulled off his tabard and hung the leather over a branch before removing his shirt to trade it for a new one. Any sense of being clean during their swim in the river and been washed away by the day's events, and for now he just wanted to feel dry. His boots were left upside down with the openings pointed towards the fire alongside four other pairs left there by the members of his unit, and as he looked around to find somewhere comfortable to park his bedroll, he noticed Elyna sitting under a nearby tree.
Briefly their eyes had met and Malcolm took his bedroll with him to sit down beside the woman on top of the rolled up pack, his right shoulder pressed to her left. He didn't say anything for a while, just stared out into the darkness and watched the shadows dancing across the tree trunks where the light from the fire played tricks on his eyes. The camp was quiet, nothing like it usually was, and Malcolm was relieved to think Krom was only half a day's ride if his estimations were right. Through the cover of trees it was impossible to see the sky, the captain yawned behind his hand and finally spoke up in a low tone of voice, muttering really, "how's your head?" A silly question perhaps but one that highlighted his concern.

"Don't answer that," he smiled, his gaze pointed at the tent, "you don't have to stay up if you're tired, I can take your watch for tonight." He noticed the blood on the woman's shirt and leaned back a little to get a better look at the cut above her left ear, had it come from there? Perhaps it might not be a good idea to send her off to bed, after all head injuries, in his experience, were nothing to mess with. "On second thought, how about I keep you company?"