Part 7
The rain was pouring from the sky when Angus, Garrett and Ivar set off to Barneph Forest. They were all cloaked but that couldn't keep them from getting soaked. Untill they reached the marshes everything was going rather smoothly, despite the rain. This was the point where they had to continue on foot, leading their horses through the treacherous marshes. They walked in single file, Angus leading them, which was why they hadn't exchanged a word with one another untill they set up camp by nightfall just when they had finished crossing the dreadfull marshes.
It had stopped raining, but the moist, close air made them all cold to the bone. Ivar and Garrett tried to gather some brenches to make a decent fire, but finding even a dry twig was impossible.
'Well, at least these are dry', said Angus, showing Ivar and Garrett three thick woolen blankets. 'Saved them under my saddle.' Garrett patted his back. 'Angus, if it wasn't for you, eh!' 'Deirdre wouldn't be drinking your blood.', Angus sneered, but than, at the sight of Garrett's hurt face, immediately added a soft 'sorry'.
Allthough they all pretended nothing had happened, Garrett's face still stood grave and between conversations deafening silences fell. They soon fell asleep, lying tight against each other, trying to keep each other warm. Without the fire and with the night darkening around them, they didn't feel the need to stay awake. A long journey would be ahead of them again tomorrow, and they were still weary from today.
Right before Ivar closed his eyes he thought he'd seen a glitter between the trees, a flutter of tiny wings. But since he was gravely tired he took no notice to it. 'I must be imagining things', he whispered to himself and fell into a deep, unpeasefull sleep.
***************************************************************************
Garrett woke up to see that Angus and Ivar were already up and ready for departure. 'Goodmorning Garrett. Eat your breakfast and then we're off, we were actually waiting for you to wake up.' Ivar handed him a small piece of bread.
'Yes, well I would've woken up earlier if a certain someone didn't wake me all through the night by poking me between the ribs!', Garrett glared at Ivar.
'Well at least I didn't groan and snore like you two did! It was impossible to get any rest sleeping between you two! I seriously thought a herd of wild horses was thundering past us!', Ivar replied.
'Come on ladies, stop quarreling, its time we got on our way', Angus interfered, taking the rein of his horse. 'No sign of any dreadfull rainclouds yet, we might keep it dry at least this morning.' Garret and Ivar followed his lead into Barneph Forest, forming a more cheerfull company this time. The air seemed cleared between them and were joking and chatting to each other, while Angus wisely kept himself from making tactless remarks like the day before.
By the time they reached the other end of the forest, it had started to rain again. The knights were soaking wet when they entered the camp. 'Odd', Angus thought, 'the camp was further removed from the forest in my memory..'
Expecting that they would be welcomed with warm fires and roasted pigs, this was not at all what they had hoped to find. They saw wounded soldiers limping and holding on to each other. Few tents were still standing up and from those tents heartrending cries could be heard.
Ivar walked up to a soldier who was tending to the wounds of another soldier. 'What in the name of Lugh has happened here?' The soldier looked up, shakily. 'Temra's, my lord, hundreds of them.' Believing this answer should be sufficient, he returned to tending to his wounded friend.
'This isn't right..', Angus mumbled to himself. 'Of course it isn't', Garrett frowned. 'No, no, I mean to say that.. this camp, it isn't right! I've been here before but it resembles nothing from what I had seen then..'
'When? When did this happen? Where did they come from?' Ivar still tried to get the soldier to speak. 'Where did they come from?' the man looked up and smirked. 'From right behind you!'
Ivar turnde and noticed that all the seemingly wounded soldiers had formed a circle around him, Angus and Garrett. All men had ripped of the yellow Kells tunics and revealed the purple Temra uniforms.
Torc appeared from behind a tent. 'Oh my oh my, three knights caught in my net! The queen will be ever so pleased. A lesson for the future..' he approached Ivar and pulled his sword, pointing it at his chest, 'if you have one that is..' The soldiers bursted out into menacing laughter. 'Never judge a soldier by his uniform!' He lifted his sword to strike but Ivar was faster and menaged to avoid the blow. He and the other knights pulled their own swords, with no time to summon their armours, and a battle emerged..
Aideen who had watched the three knights closely for the past few days, flew off to the castle for rescue, as fast as her wings could carry her. She doubted though, that the three knights would get their help in time.
***************************************************************************
Indeed, the battle did not take very long. Within moments the knights had to give up. They were simply unprepaired and still weary from their journey. Torc had bound and gagged them and they were all three now sitting in one of the tents, unknowing what might happen next.
With their hands bound behind their backs it was quite the operation to ungag and unbind each other, but eventually they succeeded. Garrett curled his lips and whispered: 'Well look at the bright site, at least we have a roof over our heads.'
'It looks hopeless. We might as well prospone any escape plans untill they're moving us to Temra castle. We'd better try to get some sleep', Ivar replied. They all nodded in agreement.
***************************************************************************
Garrett was awoken by a faint whisper. When he opened his eyes he noticed that night had made its entrance. The camp was well lid though, so he could see everything rather clearly. He soon found out that it was Angus's whisper that had awoken him. His face was sweet stained and he was tossing and turning in his sleep.
'Angus, wake up!', Garrett grabbed him at the shoulder and shook him in attempt to wake him. He didn't succeed but when he retrieved his hands he noticed blood on one of them. Angus's left sleeve was soaking in it. 'The wound must've re-opened', Garrett thought. He immediately awoke Ivar.
'It's best if we take off his tunic first to clearly see how bad it is', Ivar said. The gash on Angus's arm had indeed re-opened and was bleeding very badly. Ivar ripped a piece of his cloak and bound it around Angus's arm. Garrett had tried to alert the guards, but they had simply ignored him and laughed at him, believing Garrett was using the oldest trick in the book to escape. 'Of course your friend is sick, and I'm sure you want us to come into your tent and get slapped on the back of our heads so you can escape eh?'
'Today of all days they decide to use their brains for once.', Garrett sighed. 'This should stop some of the bleeding for now, but what he really needs his Cathbad's care. All we can do now is wait and hope..' The concerned look on Ivar's face worried Garrett. Would his stupidity mean the end of his friend afterall?
Angus breathed quick and hoarsely. Garrett looked at his chest, fearing it would cease to move.
'What's this?', Ivar bend over Angus and reached for the necklace that layed on his bare chest. 'A deer..', Ivar stroke the silver and the blue christal. Garrett moved over to look at it as well. His eyes widened as he recognised the deer. 'How did Angus get hold of this?', he asked in suprise. 'Moreover, why didn't he sell it.', Ivar said, frowning.
'It's not just juwellery Ivar, it's the symbol of the royal house of Simrach! The very king wears this exact same pendant!' Garrett bend over to look more closely at the gem. 'Though I believe the king wears his pendant, like Angus does, with only one half of this stone.. the other half if I'm not mistaken!'
Ivar smirked: 'Do you think Angus realises what he is wearing?' 'I wonder..', Garrett looked pensively. 'I don't think Angus has ever left this island.. How on earth did he receive or..' Garrett grinned 'or knowing Angus, steal this pendant?'
'I'm afraid we'll have to ask him when he gets better.' Ivar sighed, 'and let's hope he does.'
Suddenly the camp stirred, the knights heard horns blow and clatter of metal against metal. Ivar's face lighted up. 'Our rescue arrived sooner then we thought!' He crawled to the entrance of the tent and peered outside.
He turned to Garrett. 'It's save! Kell's men!' They both now heard Rohan call out their names and Ivar stepped out of the tent to get to him. Angus suddenly half opened his eyes and whispered softly Garrett's name. Garrett grabbed his hand and pinched it, a tear trickling from his eyes.
'I'll make it up to you Angus, I promise.'
Garrett heard men approach the tent and quickly whiped his tears away with his sleeve. Rohan entered and looked startled at the sight of his best friend. He glanced at Garrett, suspiciously, before pushing him away to get to Angus himself. 'Owh Angus, what did they do to you..', Rohan said worryingly, taking Angus into his arms and rocking him slightly. He then noticed that his only injurie was the re-opened wound. Rohan clenched his teeth and glared at Garrett.
'Tell the men outside to get a horse ready. Angus has to get back to the castle as soon as possible.' Garrett had thought he couldn't feel any worse, but he did. He ran out of the tent to find a strong horse.
Rohan quickly wrapped Angus in a woollen blanket and cloaked him against the freezing cold outside and then carefully carried him outside. He mounted the horse Garrett had found for him while two soldiers pushed Angus up on the horse in front of Rohan.
Before they rode off, Rohan turned to Garrett, his eyes red and furious. 'If Angus dies, I fully blame you.'
*
***
*
Duh-duh-duuuuuuh!! Finally updated, hoping to update it again at the end of this week.
Thank you for your reviews Dr. D1 and Arularas (interesting name ;-) ).
The rain was pouring from the sky when Angus, Garrett and Ivar set off to Barneph Forest. They were all cloaked but that couldn't keep them from getting soaked. Untill they reached the marshes everything was going rather smoothly, despite the rain. This was the point where they had to continue on foot, leading their horses through the treacherous marshes. They walked in single file, Angus leading them, which was why they hadn't exchanged a word with one another untill they set up camp by nightfall just when they had finished crossing the dreadfull marshes.
It had stopped raining, but the moist, close air made them all cold to the bone. Ivar and Garrett tried to gather some brenches to make a decent fire, but finding even a dry twig was impossible.
'Well, at least these are dry', said Angus, showing Ivar and Garrett three thick woolen blankets. 'Saved them under my saddle.' Garrett patted his back. 'Angus, if it wasn't for you, eh!' 'Deirdre wouldn't be drinking your blood.', Angus sneered, but than, at the sight of Garrett's hurt face, immediately added a soft 'sorry'.
Allthough they all pretended nothing had happened, Garrett's face still stood grave and between conversations deafening silences fell. They soon fell asleep, lying tight against each other, trying to keep each other warm. Without the fire and with the night darkening around them, they didn't feel the need to stay awake. A long journey would be ahead of them again tomorrow, and they were still weary from today.
Right before Ivar closed his eyes he thought he'd seen a glitter between the trees, a flutter of tiny wings. But since he was gravely tired he took no notice to it. 'I must be imagining things', he whispered to himself and fell into a deep, unpeasefull sleep.
***************************************************************************
Garrett woke up to see that Angus and Ivar were already up and ready for departure. 'Goodmorning Garrett. Eat your breakfast and then we're off, we were actually waiting for you to wake up.' Ivar handed him a small piece of bread.
'Yes, well I would've woken up earlier if a certain someone didn't wake me all through the night by poking me between the ribs!', Garrett glared at Ivar.
'Well at least I didn't groan and snore like you two did! It was impossible to get any rest sleeping between you two! I seriously thought a herd of wild horses was thundering past us!', Ivar replied.
'Come on ladies, stop quarreling, its time we got on our way', Angus interfered, taking the rein of his horse. 'No sign of any dreadfull rainclouds yet, we might keep it dry at least this morning.' Garret and Ivar followed his lead into Barneph Forest, forming a more cheerfull company this time. The air seemed cleared between them and were joking and chatting to each other, while Angus wisely kept himself from making tactless remarks like the day before.
By the time they reached the other end of the forest, it had started to rain again. The knights were soaking wet when they entered the camp. 'Odd', Angus thought, 'the camp was further removed from the forest in my memory..'
Expecting that they would be welcomed with warm fires and roasted pigs, this was not at all what they had hoped to find. They saw wounded soldiers limping and holding on to each other. Few tents were still standing up and from those tents heartrending cries could be heard.
Ivar walked up to a soldier who was tending to the wounds of another soldier. 'What in the name of Lugh has happened here?' The soldier looked up, shakily. 'Temra's, my lord, hundreds of them.' Believing this answer should be sufficient, he returned to tending to his wounded friend.
'This isn't right..', Angus mumbled to himself. 'Of course it isn't', Garrett frowned. 'No, no, I mean to say that.. this camp, it isn't right! I've been here before but it resembles nothing from what I had seen then..'
'When? When did this happen? Where did they come from?' Ivar still tried to get the soldier to speak. 'Where did they come from?' the man looked up and smirked. 'From right behind you!'
Ivar turnde and noticed that all the seemingly wounded soldiers had formed a circle around him, Angus and Garrett. All men had ripped of the yellow Kells tunics and revealed the purple Temra uniforms.
Torc appeared from behind a tent. 'Oh my oh my, three knights caught in my net! The queen will be ever so pleased. A lesson for the future..' he approached Ivar and pulled his sword, pointing it at his chest, 'if you have one that is..' The soldiers bursted out into menacing laughter. 'Never judge a soldier by his uniform!' He lifted his sword to strike but Ivar was faster and menaged to avoid the blow. He and the other knights pulled their own swords, with no time to summon their armours, and a battle emerged..
Aideen who had watched the three knights closely for the past few days, flew off to the castle for rescue, as fast as her wings could carry her. She doubted though, that the three knights would get their help in time.
***************************************************************************
Indeed, the battle did not take very long. Within moments the knights had to give up. They were simply unprepaired and still weary from their journey. Torc had bound and gagged them and they were all three now sitting in one of the tents, unknowing what might happen next.
With their hands bound behind their backs it was quite the operation to ungag and unbind each other, but eventually they succeeded. Garrett curled his lips and whispered: 'Well look at the bright site, at least we have a roof over our heads.'
'It looks hopeless. We might as well prospone any escape plans untill they're moving us to Temra castle. We'd better try to get some sleep', Ivar replied. They all nodded in agreement.
***************************************************************************
Garrett was awoken by a faint whisper. When he opened his eyes he noticed that night had made its entrance. The camp was well lid though, so he could see everything rather clearly. He soon found out that it was Angus's whisper that had awoken him. His face was sweet stained and he was tossing and turning in his sleep.
'Angus, wake up!', Garrett grabbed him at the shoulder and shook him in attempt to wake him. He didn't succeed but when he retrieved his hands he noticed blood on one of them. Angus's left sleeve was soaking in it. 'The wound must've re-opened', Garrett thought. He immediately awoke Ivar.
'It's best if we take off his tunic first to clearly see how bad it is', Ivar said. The gash on Angus's arm had indeed re-opened and was bleeding very badly. Ivar ripped a piece of his cloak and bound it around Angus's arm. Garrett had tried to alert the guards, but they had simply ignored him and laughed at him, believing Garrett was using the oldest trick in the book to escape. 'Of course your friend is sick, and I'm sure you want us to come into your tent and get slapped on the back of our heads so you can escape eh?'
'Today of all days they decide to use their brains for once.', Garrett sighed. 'This should stop some of the bleeding for now, but what he really needs his Cathbad's care. All we can do now is wait and hope..' The concerned look on Ivar's face worried Garrett. Would his stupidity mean the end of his friend afterall?
Angus breathed quick and hoarsely. Garrett looked at his chest, fearing it would cease to move.
'What's this?', Ivar bend over Angus and reached for the necklace that layed on his bare chest. 'A deer..', Ivar stroke the silver and the blue christal. Garrett moved over to look at it as well. His eyes widened as he recognised the deer. 'How did Angus get hold of this?', he asked in suprise. 'Moreover, why didn't he sell it.', Ivar said, frowning.
'It's not just juwellery Ivar, it's the symbol of the royal house of Simrach! The very king wears this exact same pendant!' Garrett bend over to look more closely at the gem. 'Though I believe the king wears his pendant, like Angus does, with only one half of this stone.. the other half if I'm not mistaken!'
Ivar smirked: 'Do you think Angus realises what he is wearing?' 'I wonder..', Garrett looked pensively. 'I don't think Angus has ever left this island.. How on earth did he receive or..' Garrett grinned 'or knowing Angus, steal this pendant?'
'I'm afraid we'll have to ask him when he gets better.' Ivar sighed, 'and let's hope he does.'
Suddenly the camp stirred, the knights heard horns blow and clatter of metal against metal. Ivar's face lighted up. 'Our rescue arrived sooner then we thought!' He crawled to the entrance of the tent and peered outside.
He turned to Garrett. 'It's save! Kell's men!' They both now heard Rohan call out their names and Ivar stepped out of the tent to get to him. Angus suddenly half opened his eyes and whispered softly Garrett's name. Garrett grabbed his hand and pinched it, a tear trickling from his eyes.
'I'll make it up to you Angus, I promise.'
Garrett heard men approach the tent and quickly whiped his tears away with his sleeve. Rohan entered and looked startled at the sight of his best friend. He glanced at Garrett, suspiciously, before pushing him away to get to Angus himself. 'Owh Angus, what did they do to you..', Rohan said worryingly, taking Angus into his arms and rocking him slightly. He then noticed that his only injurie was the re-opened wound. Rohan clenched his teeth and glared at Garrett.
'Tell the men outside to get a horse ready. Angus has to get back to the castle as soon as possible.' Garrett had thought he couldn't feel any worse, but he did. He ran out of the tent to find a strong horse.
Rohan quickly wrapped Angus in a woollen blanket and cloaked him against the freezing cold outside and then carefully carried him outside. He mounted the horse Garrett had found for him while two soldiers pushed Angus up on the horse in front of Rohan.
Before they rode off, Rohan turned to Garrett, his eyes red and furious. 'If Angus dies, I fully blame you.'
*
***
*
Duh-duh-duuuuuuh!! Finally updated, hoping to update it again at the end of this week.
Thank you for your reviews Dr. D1 and Arularas (interesting name ;-) ).