Part 2
Vaydros stared at her, and she studied him in return, her eyes
glittering from under her hood, her face carefully unemotional. His mind went
blank and he fumbled with words, hoping he didn’t sound like a complete fool
“I….uh…hello there.” The woman arched an eyebrow at him and her lips tightened,
suppressing a smile. Her eyes skimmed up and down his body, sizing him up and
taking careful note of his weapons. She motioned for him to move forward, keeping
her arrow trained on him while guiding him through the stark
trees and the underbrush towards her camp. As they carefully made their way
through the woods, Vaydros struggled to remember what he had practiced saying
when he thought about meeting her again, but all of those thoughts were gone. Now,
the only thing he could think about was how he was going to get her to put down
her bow. It would definitely be awkward to get killed by her while trying to
thank her for saving my life, he thought wryly.
As they approached the woman’s small camp, a soft rustle of
branches gave way to three very large men. Very large. As Vaydros’ gaze rose up
to look at their faces, he decided this might be a good time to be worried.
Then the unexpected occurred. To his
complete surprise, she lowered her bow, and then gestured for him to sit at the
fire. He stared at her, wondering what was going on, but she nodded and waved
at the rock. She made her way around the small blaze and sat down on a stone
across the fire from him, keeping her eyes on him with her steady gaze. The
three large men were surrounding them, so Vaydros knew that even without her
bow, his escape would be unlikely…not that he was thinking about escaping from
this situation. He grinned as he realized he was right where he wanted to
be…but minus the very large men. He finally sat down, and the woman smirked
softly and pulled her hood back, running her hand through her hair
subconsciously. Vaydros stared, dumbfounded. She was beautiful. She had shoulder-length
blonde hair, nearly the same shade as the fine sand he had seen along the ocean.
Her skin was fair and clear, with a wide mouth and lips that were a pale shade
of pink. But then he looked in her eyes. Vaydros gasped when he saw her eyes…they
were a clear, deep, blue, nearly the shade of sapphires. They were wide set and
slightly tilted, but beyond that, Vaydros saw her obvious wisdom and confidence.This
was a woman who knew exactly who she was and what she wanted; Vaydros doubted
he had ever met someone so sure of herself. He suddenly felt like a boorish
lummox sitting across from her, and he hoped she didn’t notice.
She stared back at him, a bemused smile on her face now.
Vaydros tried not blush, wondering how long he had been staring, and he hoped
his jaw had not been hanging open. He looked back at the fire and clamped his
teeth together just to ensure his jaw remained closed and grimaced, embarrassed.
The woman continued to study him silently, her lips still curving up in a
slight smile, but caution governed her eyes. After what seemed to be a very
long moment, she spoke, her voice steady. “Who are you, and why are you sneaking
up on my camp?”
Vaydros swallowed the lump in his throat and quickly tried
to think of what to say “well…uh…my lady….I was traveling to Caradyn, and I saw
some movement in the trees. I thought it might be….uh…well, those strange
beasts.” Vaydros hoped she didn’t notice how much he stumbled over his words. Gads,
her gaze could befuddle the mind!
She gave a quick laugh and her eyebrow arched again. “I find
it interesting that you should choose to pursue them again, considering your
last encounter with them nearly left you dead!” Vaydros’ eyes widened and he
could feel the heat rising in his face. He managed to stammer “you…uh, remember
me?” She chuckled and nodded then smiled at him. “Yes, I do. But do not worry;
you fought tremendously well against the beasts, especially considering you
were alone.”
She frowned as she waved her hand, referring to the three
large men with her, “we have killed several of them, and they are difficult to
slay, even for the four of us. For you to fight them and manage to kill one and
injure the others on your own speaks very highly of your abilities. Would you
like something to eat?” Her abrupt change of subject made him blink in surprise. Vaydros finally managed a nod
and an awkward thank you as she stood and rummaged through her pack to find him
some fruit and some dried roasted rabbit. Vaydros ate the food hastily, just
now realizing that he hadn’t had much for breakfast and he was famished. She
glanced up at the large men, still standing around him, and gave them a nod and
a few quick hand signals, and they left the camp and went back about their
duties. “I am called Lendri. I am a scout in the King’s Command, and we are on
our way back to the Royal Palace. Those large burly men are Rodney, Thomas, and
Ivan, and they accompany me as guardians…not that I need them, mind you”. She
looked at them as they worked and she grinned, and Rodney and Ivan looked like
they were trying not to smile, while Thomas grimaced and glared back at Lendri.
Vaydros smiled, wiping the juice from the apple off his hand
off on his coat before extending it to her. “My name is Vaydros, though I am
known more as Wanderer. I am nothing as grand as a King’s Scout….just a man who
didn’t want to stay in his little village in the middle of nowhere all his life.”
Vaydros looked at Lendri, who was studying him again. Women were impossible to
figure out, he had decided years ago, and this one was beginning to look like
she could be an even greater challenge to understand. “So, why suddenly decide
to drop your bow and treat me like a guest?” Vaydros asked curiously. A smiled
played at the edges of her lips and she leaned over to grab a small log and tossed
it on the fire.
“Well, Vaydros, I recognised you right away, but I wasn’t
sure I should trust you. However, I also remember how well you fought, and I
have no reason to believe you aren’t loyal to the Realm. I made a choice to
trust you. Don’t do anything that would make me regret that decision.”
Vaydros nodded and with a lopsided grin, eyeing her bow.
“Don’t worry Miss Lendri, I don’t think I would survive being on your bad
side.” Lendri’s head tipped back as she laughed.
Vaydros continued to eat while Lendri asked him questions
about himself and where he came from. He noticed that she wasn’t so quick to
answer his questions aimed at her, and she seemed to change the subject rather
effortlessly, bringing the conversation back to him. Finally, he finished eating,
and while he wiped his hands off with a cloth, he looked squarely at Lendri and
said “I have answered all your questions, Lendri. Now I have some questions of
my own.” He took a deep breath and saw her wince faintly, but he continued.
“You say you have fought these beasts before...they are like nothing I have
ever seen, but you seem oddly at ease when dealing with them. Do you know what
they are? Where they came from?”
Vaydros watched her, knowing that she knew more than she was
letting on. She glanced to one of the other men with her… and he glanced back,
giving her a warning look that might have been imperceptible to anyone not
paying attention. She glanced back to Vaydros quickly, then stared into the
fire, chewing her bottom lip. She was silent for a moment, and then spoke so
softly Vaydros had to strain to hear her. “At ease is hardly what I would call
it, but I…I heard stories as a little girl….about creatures such as this, but
they were just stories. They weren’t real. They are called Ghubleks. According
to the stories, they are creatures twisted from both shadow and men in the time
of the ancients. They supposedly were banished over a century ago, but I have
no idea why they are here now or how they came to be. They were just stories my
grandmother told me to…keep me out of trouble.” Lendri fell silent and stared
morosely into the fire. Vaydros stared into the fire as well, thinking about
his last experience with the creatures, and some of the stories he had heard.
The camp remained silent for several minutes, everyone deep in thought.
Finally, Vaydros lifted his head and
glanced at Lendri and her distressed look mirrored his own. These were creatures
from a nightmare, except they were real, and they were terrorizing and killing
people. How does one fight such evil creatures?
He wanted to encourage her somehow, but nothing he could
think of seemed right. Vaydros opened his mouth, about to speak, when flaming
arrows flew into the camp, striking trees, the tents, and narrowly missing Lendri
and Vaydros. The tents burst into flame and Vaydros heard a strangled shout
come from one of the men. It sounded like Ivan. He did not stop to think about
him, he was focused on Lendri. Vaydros and Lendri both ducked down and he grabbed
her arm, pulling her along behind him as he swiftly leapt behind a large tree.
He pushed her to the ground and dropped down beside her with his arm and
shoulder on top to protect her. He peered around the tree and saw Ivan lying on
the ground, arrows sticking out of his large body, flames licking his clothing
and hair. He heard Lendri gasp and knew she had seen Ivan. What on earth was
going on?
Vaydros looked around through the thick smoke, trying
desperately not to be terrified. He saw Lendri’s other guardians lying low on
the other side of the camp, but Vaydros saw no other indications of people. He
turned to look in the other direction, and there, right in front of him, was a
pair of large feet in black leather boots. Vaydros followed those boots up
until he saw the tip of a blade uncomfortably close to his face. He briefly
wondered how such a large man with boots like that could walk so silently.
A
low, growly voice came from the man’s scarred face “stand up slowly and keep
your hands where I can see them, or you will feel my blade between your eyes.” Vaydros’
heart pounded as he tried to think. Should he comply? Should he try to escape?
He slowly began to stand, and felt Lendri rising beside him. He could hear her ragged
breathing, and knew she was as terrified as he was. Some hero I make, he
thought. He felt around with his hand until he could subtly grab her hand, and
he gave it a quick squeeze of encouragement. It will be OK, he silently
promised.Even if he was a terrible hero, no harm come to her, not if there was
anything he could do to help.
He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and he glanced
over to see Rodney and Thomas at another’s blade point, an arrow sticking out
of Thomas’s shoulder and a bloody wound running along Rodney’s side. He heard a
small gasp from Lendri and he wished he was a great hero. Heros always knew
what to do and could get out of any situation, no matter how grim. They won the
hearts of the fair maidens, and they rarely got hurt. No, he was definitely not
a hero. Vaydros sighed quietly, knowing they were beaten and he brought his
attention back to the man in front of him. He was tall and burly, with a bald
head, dark eyes, and dark skin. Another large man came up behind Vaydros and
wrapped his curved dagger around Vaydros’ throat, preventing him from moving
more than a hair’s breadth. Vaydros saw a tattoo on the man’s neck and he
groaned inwardly. A pirate? What on earth were pirates doing this far inland?
The bald pirate stared at Lendri, studying her up and down.
She blushed angrily and stiffened under his perusal and Vaydros thought she
might actually try to hurt the man, even though he was twice her size. He stared
at her, silently imploring her not to do anything rash, but before he could say
anything, she brought her fist back, lunged forward and smashed him, square in
the nose. The bald pirate let out a grunt and threw his
head back and laughed, reaching up to wipe the spot of blood off his cheek. He
moved quickly for his size, and before anyone could react, he threw Lendri to
the ground and brought his blade down hard, stopping just before running her
through. He growled “you are lucky that we need you alive, little girly. I
would slit your throat where you lie, or perhaps...” he cocked his head to one
side and leered at her “perhaps we could find other uses for a spirited girl
like you.” Vaydros felt the bile rise in his throat. He did not like the leer he
gave Lendri, and he whispered “Lendri…please, just…don’t be rash.” An angry
looked flashed across her face, but she relaxed her body, and the man looked
back to Vaydros and laughed, then took the butt end of his sword and brought it
down on Lendri’s head, knocking her unconscious. Vaydros was about to jump at
the man, but before he could move, he felt a sharp pain in the side of his
head, and his world went black.
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