Protectress of the Small: As soon as I read your reviews I started typing this out especially for you...If you have any ideas, feel free to tell me. Oh, I tried to find your stories to read them but when I typed your name in the search box under "Pen Name" I could not find them. Where are they and what are they called?
Chapter 4:
Neureleine sat on her mountain pony, her hands clasped firmly around the reins with a mischievous tilt to her mouth. Here she was, riding away from her one friend, when just over three hours ago, she would have given anything to be with her. She was leaving behind all she knew to ride away with a man whose name she may or may not have truthfully, to Goddess knew where. You always were one for irony.
As she thought back on the past few hours, her grin faltered. She had left Mally all alone in a town full of people with not exactly benevolent feelings towards her. While Mally was perfectly capable of defending herself (with not just a little damage to her attackers), against the whole town she might encounter some problems-unless....But she didn't want to think about the other option.
Neureleine glanced at the man riding next to her and wondered again what he was doing there in the eastern regions of Tusaine and why he'd decided to take her with him.
Loki turned and seeing her watching him, he grinned wolfishly. "Admiring the view?" he asked jokingly.
Neureleine blushed and looked away. "As appealing as that may be-no. I was thinking about your, uh-occupation and wondering why it is that you have no merchant's cart or aides. It is a dangerous part of the country you travel, Master Loki and most wouldn't take the risk. Judging by your presence I would have to assume you are very foolish, very capable of taking care of yourself, or not a merchant at all, intending not to be conspicuous. Unless, I am much mistaken, you are not foolish. This leads me to the last two possibilities. In this case you are either a criminal or on a mission you do not want me to know the details of-and I prefer not to believe the most of people. So forgive m, you must have a perfectly good explanation, which I am sure you are about to give.
Her abrupt end to this long speech brought loud peals of laughter from Loki which Neureleine watched with mingled curiosity and amusement.
When Loki finally settled back into his normal state of composure, he looked at her, eyes shining with admiration that made her feel uncomfortable.
"Not one for subtlety are you?"
"No, not really."
"I didn't think so. But you are right; I'm no criminal, well, not today anyway. Nor am I a merchant-and apparently not a good liar either. I'm afraid that's a skill I'll never master."
"Do you always avoid giving straight answers or is that an ability you'll never master too?" she asked irritably.
Loki gave a gasp of mock indignation. "Why no, my good lady! I thought I'd fulfill your high level of curiosity in one fell swoop-I wouldn't want you to get irritated over small details mistakenly left out of the telling, so bristle not and let me finish the telling of my noble, yet short tale." By the end of this speech, Loki's hands were raised in a Player's salute and Neureleine was trying very hard, however unsuccessfully, not to laugh.
"You missed your calling," she said, trotting ahead of him, feeling amused yet slightly unsatisfied.
Four days later, Neureleine, after performing her now familiar tasks of making camp, wandered off into the trees to think. Being the first significant amount of time she'd had to do so, Neureleine was oblivious to anything else. She was taken utterly by surprise when the first thundering of hooves was heard to her right.
Neureleine looked up in time to see the readied swords of her attackers but didn't wait any longer to find whether the intentions of their owners were for good or ill. With the swiftness she had trained for, Neureleine leapt to her feet, bringing her waist dagger to level with the leader's stomach. Just as she was about to throw, a horseman grabbed her around the waist, scooping her into a lock. Using her weight as leverage, Neureleine jammed the hilt of her dagger into the pressure point at his wrist, loosening his hold enough for her to drop. Flinging herself out of the way of the horse's flying hooves, Neureleine propelled herself to her feet, dashing back through the trees. By now it had started to rain and all hopes of concealing her hurried footsteps were lost. Neureleine flung herself into the low hanging branches of the tree, taking advantage of the dense foliage to hide her path and safe haven.
All her senses prickled with tension. She waited for the sounds of horses' hooves growing nearer and nearer to her (searching and spotting her with gleeful whoops) that never came.
Dripping and miserable with the cold rain, Neureleine nodded off with a sudden onslaught of exhaustion.
Neureleine woke to the sight of wet trees and an unfamiliar squawking in her ears by a complaining blue bird that wanted to come into the nest she had apparently disturbed, from the rain.
"You too?" she growled.
After checking the scenery for any signs of her pursuers, the girl jumped down from the tree and landed with a groan on the hard ground, feeling the strain on an unknown wound in her arm.
The rain, not having stopped in the night, poured on steadily, leaving Neureleine with the unpleasant task of finding her way back in it.
She sighed and started out in what she thought was the right direction. With a resounding clap of thunder and inexplicable agony, Neureleine fell to her knees. She arched her back as pain she had never imagined tore through her. Pain rent her body in a million pieces as she screamed an agonized cry that reverberated through the forest and brought Loki running.