10 chapters remaining! I'll be update frequently now.
Several days had passed. They had made progress, but that was hard as the terrain had begun to lose its desert feel. Instead of long, rolling sand dunes, they had reached more mountainous land, meaning that there wear more large rock formations scattered around the landscape as they neared the mountain line.
They were travelling through a rock valley. There were rocks that were formed high over their heads & the formations cast shadows across the path. It was considerably cooler as a result, but not by much as the sun still beat down on them from above.
There was an unsettling feeling about the place. They felt like they were being watched as they made their way through.
'Let's move through as quickly as possible,' Baurest said. 'The sooner we're out of here, the better,'
As the day trudged on, the feeling became worse. Every sound seemed to be loud & alerted them to something being there, following them.
At about midday, they made camp in the valley, despite the cool air around them.
'We'll eat lunch, then we'll keep moving,' Maurmon said.
'Are you sure that's a good idea?' Thoreien asked. 'I think we're being followed,'
'I have to agree there,' Ronan said. 'But I don't think we're being followed,'
'But you just said-' Thoreien began.
'We ARE being followed,' Ronan said, cutting him off.
'By who?' Zenia asked.
'I don't know,' the Harbinger responded.
'Well they aren't bandits,' Sonia said, looking around.
'Then what are they?' Cormer asked.
'My guess is it's the Highthorn,' Sonia said.
They ate lunch in silence. Afterwards they began to leave when there was a rather crash.
'What was that?' Doria asked, startled.
'I don't know,' Thoreien said softly. 'But I think we're about to find out,'
Then all hell broke loose.
First, an arrow barely missed Cormer's face. Then there was a battle cry.
In seconds, they were surrounded, with Highthorn soldiers in all directions, weapons drawn.
The travellers had drawn their weapons too, but they were severely outmatched.
The soldiers didn't even bother trying to talk to them. All at the same time, they advanced, sending the world into chaos.
With soldiers coming from all directions, it was only a matter of time before Ronan, Maurmon & Baurest decided to change to werewolf form in an attempt to better the odds. This was partially effective, but resulted in them drawing more attention to themselves. By the end, all three of them were covered in cuts, with arrows sticking out of their shoulders.
It wasn't only soldiers & archers: there were also several mages on site, which resulted in Cormer & Thoreien engaging in a bloody battle with magic, ending in both Cormer & Thoreien surviving, but they were covered in burns.
Meanwhile Doria, Sonia & Zenia had all taken down the remaining soldiers. This was no easy task, but they survived, despite the cuts & occasional arrow wound.
After the battle, they regrouped a good 100 metres from the scene. At the sight of each other injured but alive, they all began to relax.
There was no way they could continue. They made camp & began to focus on healing themselves.
They all knew that things wouldn't be easy from now on.