Chapter 3
AN: Thanks to all you lovely reviewers, I'm glad you like the story. Here's the third chapter as requested. The plot thickens...
For a few moments the knights just stood, slightly confused at what had just happened, at the spot where the young woman had been. As the shock faded the reality of what had just happened hit them. They knew that she was heading straight into the arms of the Saxons, and that she was too weak to resist if she came upon them. Arthur saw that a plan of action was needed, his conscious would not allow him to let her freely run into the Saxon, he thought quickly and decided that if he sent two of the Knights to find her while he and the other led the rest of the caravan east, they would be able to leave now and rescue all the villagers he had decided to take along as well.
"Tristan, Gawain: You go and find her" Ordered Arthur "The rest of us will move east, if you are fast enough you will be able to find her, and bring her back safely before she runs into the Saxon lines."
"Arthur, we have no time to be running around the forest looking for one person" argued Lancelot, he did feel something extraordinary form the girl, but a stronger part of him felt the urgency of their situation, if they spent any more time trying to save these people then they were going o have to fight. However, he noticed that neither Tristan nor Gawain argued against their task, in fact they both seemed eager to go after her.
As soon as Arthur had given his command Tristan felt a weight lift from his chest, he had feared that Arthur would just let the girl go, even though he was wary of the urgency of their situation, something inside of him felt that he had to protect this young woman. Gawain too had felt a similar relief, but not because he wanted to protect her, more because he wanted a chance t find out about her, he was curious about this girl and wanted to know who she was, where she came from, how she had ended up in that dungeon. They both mounted their horses and drove them into a fast gallop, heading in the same direction which she had run.
After a time they came across a set of footprints, they were heading deeper into the forest, spurring their horses on they followed them until them came across a stone wall with a ramp leading to the entrance of a cave. As they arrived they saw the woman they had rescued retreat into the cave. As silently as possible they both dismounted and followed the ramp to the entrance of the cave, when they looked in, they were awed. Far from looking like a dank harsh cave, it was furnished with hand made wooden items, the winter light shone in, giving it a warm glow. Looking round they spotted her, she looked more exhausted that when Tristan had helped her out of the dungeon, she studied her body, then just sat for a moment, not wanting to disturb her Tristan and Gawain slipped silently into the cave. Yet as fast as lightning her head shot up and she scrambled to get up. She tried to stand, but was shocked from something, as she was about to fall both lunged forward to catch her, but only one made it on time.
After a time of fast running Mya finally came upon the opening of her home, the cave. The entrance was not at ground level, she had to climb up a natural ramp to get to the opening. She walked wearily up the ramp and stood on the ledge at the entrance looking out into the forest for a moment, she looked over the land which she had called her own, her animals were no longer there, Marius had taken those, her crops were nothing more than a scorch mark on the ground, but at least they had not desecrated the seven little mound of earth in the far end of her garden, those were precious to her. Noting that the damage done to her land could be solved she turned and walked in to her home. They had not taken much from here; they had probably thought it cursed she thought to her self. She lowered herself into a bed made from animal furs and cloth, leant against the cold stone wall, examined her battered body, regarding her dislocated fingers, bruises and gashes with little shock, and just sat there for a few minuets she had thought it was silent, then with horror she realised there was another sound. Drums, beating continuously, above all people she knew what that meant, panic was rising in her, a wave of nausea caught her unaware as she tried to stand up, she was grateful to the strong arms that had caught her before she fell.
Okay: bit of a cliffy there, I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit short, and seems rushed- it is- I had two ideas for this chapter, which would have different outcomes, I chose to go with this one. I don't know who is going to pair up with Mya, but there will be more characters introduced in later chapters (she says). I am hoping that the next couple of chapters will have more dialogue in them, I am palnning on having her tell the knights her past soon. Hope you enjoyed it. Don't know when I can next update as computer at home is bust and college breaks up on Friday. Thanks for your reviews they do help!
