We'd better ride! PROLOGUE -C3

The persons are riding hard and fast. We want to avoid being caught by the town's people.

“I said, Ride for the hill!”

I, Shallynne and Thallin rode at breakneck speed to escape the town that had turned against us. “No to be more accurate It’s just me they are after. You see there has been a bounty set on my head. Dead or alive!”, I said as I began to slap my horses withers to have pick up speed.

“I told you to put away the sword. You wouldn’t listen to me!” Shallynne said as she looked at me,

I saw the torches being held aloft by the town’s people, as they chased after us.

We began to ride into a huge bank of fog, Ahead of us was a huge blanket of fog rising from the river's bank; there was a chill to it on our flesh. We were galloping as fast as we could ride. The blanket covered the horizon in its grasp holding everything. There was a cold that swarmed over us as it seeped deep within our flesh. We could feel it gnawing away at our nerves. It held us like a garter on a woman's leg to keep her stockings up. I could see my breath out of my mouth, ease from my lips. On my waist hung a sword which I was proficient in using when it was called for.

\Thallin said,”Creeton. Watch the way your horse is riding! We’re near the bank of the river here!”
“
I know this,” I said as I began to pull back on my reins to slow down,I looked over my shoulder to see the torch light following us. They vanished into the fog. I began to relax.

The reason that they are pursuing us. Is thanks to me, wearing the sword in its balrick. It is my father’s sword. It is distinctive as the cross piece has marking on it of my father.

“The bounty is 15 gold pieces, it is a great deal of coin that they would receive if my body or I walk into the sheriff’s office with one of them leading me there.” I said as I thought about it happening to me. There would be no trial. Just the executioners blade to fall on my neck.

“I think I see, something a head of us!” Thallin said as he peered into fog ridden darkness he saw seven flames at the height of our steed’s head. Two of these things looked to ears of a horse, two more looked like eyes, nostrils and mouth, there were four of them there. He pointed at the fires before him.

“Didn’t you see, the flames there! Its about the height of steed head.” Shallynne said as she looked at the heads of these horses there.

“I see them!” I said as I had drawn closer to these flames. I heard hooves striking the earth, I saw a shadow with what appeared to be a head on its shoulders. I turned away from this shadow it looked like a man. I saw flames in its head where its mouth should be, and eyes were in flames as well.

Night was falling, the moon was full, but there were dense clouds covered the skyline. So, there was no moon in the sky, but I knew it was there above us. I saw it rise on the horizon as I entered the tavern to partake of some good ale, talk with the patron and have a good time there. Maybe play a few hands of cards as well. I wasn't much good at that Thallin was better at it than I. Also perhaps listen to bards as they sing their songs or dance to be paid for their show.

Shallynne urged her mustang ahead of mine, pale hair streaming like a banner from it's sigil. And Thallin, bless his soul, clung to his reins as if prayer alone could keep him in the saddle. He hadn’t fallen off just yet. His fingers felt the chill of the wind howling about us. The wind tried to make him release the reins. He would die.I f he did this and he knew this. He would not release the reins.

I dug the heels in harder to urge my steed to gallop further and harder. Behind us, the glow of torches flickered in the dark like embers in a forge. I swore I could hear them chanting for me to fall into their hands. They imagined what they could buy with it. That is the prize they sought.

####

You see my father was gambling man, He was cursed with the plague that this had brought this to our home. He lost what should have been his home. But he put the marker down on his wife instead of his house.

Pa left the house one evening when a slaver was brought to the house with a few of his people to acquire mom from the house. His people walked into the house, they arrived late in the evening.

There were five of them, including the slaver. They woke me, when they came in. They headed to the bed chamber of my parents, they opened the door. Stepped inside one of them was holding a net which they flung over my mom as she woke.

Another one of them grabbed me, when I strode out of my room, I grabbed my dagger to protect mom from whoever this was. One of them grabbed me, by putting a dagger to my throat I froze.

“I don’t wanta hurt you boy!” the figure holding the dagger said as I felt the chill of its blade against my skin. I turned to face the man holding the blade there against my skin at my throat.

“Drop the dagger. I will allow you to say good bye to your mom! Otherwise I will kill you without a thought.” the man said, his skin was pale as pale as the moon in the sky. His hand did not falter as he held it there.

I released my dagger, my eyes swept the room. There were three people in the bed room, one holding my mother’s wrist as another threw a fist at her face. The third figure was a big man, he was a big man, maybe twelve stones. Muscular in build he wore a black breast plate with a skirt of leather.

The other figure was holding the door open, he looked at me and said, “You’re a fighter! Good to know1” Wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“There’s a fire going. We might as well brand her now. That we have her!” The one with the breastplate said as he pulled out a metal rod with a flat end on one side of it. He pressed the rod into the fire which was burning there. He withdrew the rod from the fire the tip was red in color smoke rose from it. He brought the rod to my mother’s hip. She screamed,

I tried to attack, but the knife at my throat caused me to not attack them.

They left the house.The wind howled as it blew through the house. Pa was no where to be found.

When he returned, he saw that I was awake. He looked at me and said,”Where’s mom?”

“Someone came here and took her with them,” I said.

“That’s unfortunate, that this had to happen here,” Pa said as he looked at me, he wiped my tear filled eyes.

The man I knew who was wearing the black metal breastplate was a slaver, no one questioned him or dared to question him for his actions. Pa was afraid of what had happened.

I snarled,”What is the meaning of this happening?”

“It seems, there was debt that had to be paid off! She chose to pay it off!” Pa said as he looked at me.

“Whose debt is this debt?” I growled as I approached Pa

Pa took off his sword from his balrick that was on his back, to put the sword to my chest, I felt the blade’s edge cut into my flesh. He declared,”If you dare to question me. I will kill you! Without a qualm. Do you understand me!”

I stepped back from his sword’s edge. He smiled as I did this. He said,”You will obey me!”

I closed my hands and said,”I would do this?”

Pa smiled as he lowered his sword from my chest, He gave me a hug. I accepted his doing this. I wanted him to pay for what he done to mom. I knew i would have wait until he fell asleep. I would bid my time with him.

He did not see what the slaver did to mom. My heart was cold upon seeing this happen. He fell a sleep that day. I drew up my dagger slipped silently into his room. He lay there sleeping, I slowly began to walk toward his sleeping form.

He was on his side. The bed was in the center of the room, I crept upon him. He turned to face me. His eyes were closed, his eyes shifted beneath his lids. I threw my dagger at his neck, I cut his jugular artery. Blood jettisoned out of his body.

I smiled as he died. I stole his sword from his body. As I pulled it out of its baldrick smoke poured off the sword’s edge.

There were things etched into the blade, that looked like words but I could not read them.

The pommel was cold to the touch, until the blade was a blaze. Than it grew warm in my hands. I put the blade back into its sheath. I was nearly 11 stones, I was muscular in build. My black hair fell to my shoulders. I took my cloak and walked out of the house after setting it a blaze.

Someone put a warrant on me. I would be hunted until I died.











We’d better ride!
C3

We went to bed, the room had a queen sized bed, so someone would have to sleep on the floor. I decided to sleep there, I would not truly sleep on the floor. There was a chill in the air, I could see my breath. I went outside to grab my blanket and take it inside the bed room.
Thallin grabbed the blanket and stole the majority of the bed. Shallynne struggled to steal a portion of the blanket. She had begun to fall a sleep.

There was a heavy hand upon the door. I drew up my sword from its sheath, I crawled across the floor to tug the blanket off the two others fast asleep.
I heard a voice scream,”Open up!”
The door sagged away from the boom of a fist upon the door.
Suddenly Shallynne leapt for her sword, Thallin still yawned he brought his hand up to his mouth, his eyes were still closed.
Her hand fell upon the sword, and her other touched the sword in the balrick.
The door swung open, three guards stood there dressed in armor, holding heavy swords in their hands, on the opposing arm was tower shield, with the emblem of the kingdom that ruled over them. It was a dragon spewing fire from its maw. The guards looked muscular and determined.
The weapon in its balrick began to have a massive arm attached to a tall knight. The knight lifted his sword from its sheath looked into the face of the three soldiers as Shallynne leapt to her feet. She smiled.
Thallin sprang for his bow as he woke.
I turned about to try to stop the soldiers standing there.I quickly leapt at the guard in the middle. He tumbled backward taking with him the other two. We all crashed into the wall behind them
The knight who was with us charged into te fray, his sword took the head off the first one who regained his footing first. The head flew off his body to collide with the one on his right
I shoved his sword into the arm where the elbow met the bicept. His arm fell off his body along with his shield, Blood ran from his body. Charging into his body knocking him from his feet he collided with wall. Pieces of the ceiling toppled down onto me and him. He tried to grab me to hold onto his footing, his shield slipped down his forearm to arrive on my forearm.
Shallynne swung her sword at the guard who had just about stepped out of his way. The sword hit his neck protected by a mail hood. The sword did not tear his head off. The soldier began to swing at her.
Thallin fired an arrow into the eyes of this guard over Shallynne’s shoulder. As she received his sword in the middle of her breastplate. The guard released his sword brought his hands to his eyes. He screamed,”My eyes!”
Shallynne fell over backwards over the bed into Thallin. He let go of his bow to try to get out of Shallynne’s body. Her hand struck Thallin in the face.
I hurled his body into our knight, who had turned to face my direction as he collided with him. The knight shrugged his shoulders as he threw his weight at the man hurling him down the hallway knocking the guard with an arrow in his eyes aside.
We raced away from the room, barreling down the other stairway to the exit, The knight vanished as soon as Shallynne took his sword from him. Shallynne often wanted to speak with the knight, but the knight did not say a word to her or us.
Our horses stood there at the rail. We vaulted onto our horses and rode as if the devil was on our heels. We were afraid of what the guards were doing here. Why were they here? How did they know we had gone here.
We rode to the next community, there were no wanted posters of Creeton anywhere to be seen here. I relaxed having found that no one was here looking for us.
Shallynne walked into a grocer to buy some apples and some wine. She walked back to us with the supplies. I was afraid of what the guards were looking for me. Thallin held the reins of the horses.
I walked beside Shallynne as we walked down the road to get to the bridge, where I could have a bath and so could she. Her form was magnificent.The water was clear and we could see fish in the water swimming past us. I smiled and splashed Shallynne who returned the favor. After we finished frollicking about we came out of the water.

Thallin lay dozing beside the water. He woke with a start, he said,”We’d better be careful. I think something is going to happen aways from here.”
“Any idea as to what will happen?”
“I think, it will involve a noble’s coach!” Thallin warned as he patted his horse’s mane.
We both got onto our horses began to ride down the road. Shallynne gave her mustang some of the apples.
I gave my horse some hard tack. It accepted as readily as Shallynne’s accepted her’s.
We were relaxing as we rode to the community. It was near mid-morning. We had begun to ride toward the next community.
Something about the road looked very familiar to me. There were lanterns on the streets of the community, they stood twenty feet above the street. A mist slowly began to grow in depth and thickness. The moon slowly rose into the sky, thick heavy storm clouds began to fill the skyline.
The moisture was setting into our bones, the chill sank like a depth charge into my flesh. I opened and closed my hands to loosen up my grip and shake the chill from my bones. I heard the scream of thunder tear the silence to shreds. Lightning lit the sky, jagged lightning flashed into the sky.
I could no longer see anything beyond my hands reach. I slowed my steed as did the others. We moved slowly as slow as our horses can go in a canter. I heard the sounds of horses running at a full gallop.
There was the sounds of coach riding on the road. I could hear their hooves striking the road. I saw something that was a yellow fire, about the size of a horse’s head, there were two flames where a horse’s eyes should have been. A flame appeared at the height of a horse’s maw, but it looked like it was a dogs or wolves maw. Instead of s horse’s. There were two of these fires there.
I saw suddenly the fire from one of these maws vanish. It reappeared again before us.
I tried to pull my horse’s reins.
Thallin tapped me on my shoulder. I turned to face him, he pointed at what I had seen. I nodded. He slowly climbed off his horse as did I. The horse began to rear up when we let the horses be. Kicking at the air where they were.
I approached where we had seen the fires at the height of a horse’s head, I looked down at the ground as he began to move silently through the mist, I saw two flames on the ground than I saw another four flames on the gound. I felt something brush against my side, it felt warm. I looked up and saw the maw of a wolf standing at eight feet above me, it looked like it was eight feet high.

“One big wolf. What the hell is happening here?” Thallin said as he reached for his bow, and quiver. Thallin nocked an arrow from his quiver, he lined up and fired at the wolf. The arrow struck the wolf, and arrow burst into flames.
The wolf turned toward where Thallin was standing, huge body of a horse fell onto the road, its throat was bleeding and was torn loose from where it should have been on its body. Thallin screamed,”NO!”
The wolf brought its head toward Thallin, Thallin leapt aside, Flames roared from its maw. It missed him by an inch setting the brush into flame. Thallin dove toward its maw His sword slipped into its throat and neck.
The wolf tried to reach him. Flames fell from its throat and neck. More of its neck tore loose from where it was attached to it. Thallin rolled out of its oath. The wolf was moving more sluggishly. Thallin leapt onto its neck on its back. He grabbed its fur with one hand and the other he drove his sword into its back of the neck.It fell to the earth,

I saw its face, flames spiling form its maw, saliva was in flames as well. The eyes glowed with this yellow fire. I swung my sword into its maw. It opened its maw to grab me by its teeth and flaming maw. I brought my sword into its maw. The fire covered my arm and hand. It felt as if my hand was a blaze.

Shallynne drew her sword as she found us not to be on our horses back. She saw a man she supposed as she saw its form with the light from the lightning bolt. It was a muscular body, it turned to face toward her. It opened its eyes and she saw the flames in its eyes and maw. It swung a fist at her. She stepped aside.
She hit him in the back as his fist flew passed her. With the edge of her sword, she was frightened upon seeing the fire in his maw and eye holes. She drove her blade through its shoulder and ribs. It turned to attack her again. She kicked it in the chest, snapping its back like a branch.
It fell to the ground, the flames diminished to nothing. She stood there frozen with fear that slipped inside her mind. Her hand still held her sword.
The wolf tried to kill me, I dove beneath its mass. I felt a liquid spill across my hand, the sword felt as if it weighed at ton. I could barely keep my hand closed about the sword’s pommel.
The wolf tried to bit me, but missed
I raced beneath its underbelly, swinging my sword to tear away the skin and flesh that it is there. It tried to circle about to reach me. Smoke climbed into the heavens from my arm. My hand released the sword. I looked at my arm and hand, that refused to grab the pommel of my sword as it lay there. The under belly of the wolf exploded into flames, its organs spilled out of its body.It spilled over my body as the flames covered me.
I lay there, I could not even begin to move. The only thing that I was able to do was breath. Heat covered my body. I screamed,”Help me!”
Shallynne leapt toward the wolf falling on ther ground,
Our knight reappeared there he began to attack the wolves.

Shallynne charged toward what was behind the horses. There were four horses who pulling a coach. They race toward the coach the horses were dead. She sees a group of people attacking the coach. She grabs a man’s arm, the figure turns to face her, portions of its was missing the eyes were glowing and in flames, it reached for its weapon of choice.
Shallynne swung her sword into its body before it could reach the weapon, she caught it across its shoulder and flowing downward. The face had half of skin on its cheek gone, grey flid spilled from its wound on its face.
Her sword sank like a stone in water. It did not come out of it. It swung its hand toward her the hand reached her shoulder. It drove her to the ground, She kicked its legs tearing them from the earth. Her sword hung from the chest.
It looked at her as she tried to pull her sword out of its body. She cognized what her foe was. It wasn’t what it appeared to be. It was demonic form. She screamed,”Use fire. It will cause them to die more readily. Their deamons!”
Thalling lifted his bow, and drew an arrow put a cloth on the arrows tip. He set fire to the cloth, He fired an arrow at the nearest one,
The being exploded. They were swarming all over the coach. Shallynne set on fire a cloth throwing the fire at the demons.
The door to the carriage was open. Shallynne leapt toward the door, she peered into the chamber, she saw a table in the middle of the carriage she saw two nobles inside the carriage one had a spear through its chest cavity and the other was a woman. Dressed in a dress. She looked into her eyes. Tears were flowing from her eyes. She said,”Why are you here?”
“We have found your carriage on the road. Why are you being attacked by these demons!”
“Take the maps to my father! He will know what to do?” the woman said, an arrow flew over Shallynne’s shoulder to catch the woman in the heart. Her eyes opened wide.
Shallynne looked over her shoulder. She saw an archer lining uo the next arrow. Shallynne leapt aside from the archer’s view.
An arrow struck him in the chest, with a fire on the arrow. It exploded showering the area in flames,
The knight walked toward the carriage. The man inside with the woman shook hi shead to look at the knight, he drew up an object from his pouch to hand it to him. The knight accepted it in his hand,
Darkness descended, we could not be able to see anything. When the darkness was abated. Shallynne found herself standing beside what appeared to have been a carriage, there was one wheel that was intact, the rest of the carriage was with a door hanging open, the roof had collapsed. There sat two skeletons, a spear hung in the skeleton dressed in a male’s clothes. The other was dressed in a gown.
There was a body dangling from where the coach man would sit. There were no bodies of what we prosumed were deamons. The wolves bodies were gone.
Thallin screamed,”Creeton! Where are you?”
I heard his voice, I could not answer him. Thallin looked about for me. The skeletons of the horses were visible. There were six horses with saddles on them. Four other horses were in harnesses.
Thallin stepped over a skeleton of the horses to see me laying there. I looked at him. Thallin knelt down to look at my body, he saw my ches begin to move. There was blisters covering my body,
Our knight knelt down beside my body, He closed his eyes, put his hand on my shoulder and with the other he closed his fist. When he opened it a light flashed brighter than the lightning that lit the sky.
Rain pounded the earth, My skin looked as if it had been thrown in a fire. My right hand and arm had been burned to a state that its bones were exposed there. I felt pain flood my body.
I felt a chill sweep over my body.
I looked at the knight, he brought his hand toward my own. He put the pouch into my hand. Thallin approached me. The knight vanished from view. My arm and hand still stung as if I was stung by a jellyfish.
Thallin began to cry.
Shallynne walked to where I lay. I looked at the pouch which began to disintegrate. The only thing I now held was a brooch, made of an emerald. It was carved in the shape of kidney. I asked,”Shallynne, you should wear this.”
Shallynne accepted the brooch.