Before You Go…

Chapter 6

"Tristan!"

He froze at the sound of his name and turned his head slowly, he knew that voice all too well. He turned to stare in shock at the face of the woman as she let the shawl fall to the ground at her feet. His entire body shook in a mixture of shock and disbelief as he watched tears streaming down the woman's cheeks.

"Please don't go out there!" Douma said loudly, one hand stretched out toward him as if to take hold of his arm and stop him. "Please, I can not watch you die!"

"Douma…" He said, his mind wheeling and trying to comprehend what was going on.

"The woads killed the roman I was promised to, I can go home and marry whomever I wish!" She was crying profusely, something he had only seen her do once before. Her entire body shook as she sobbed in fear and anger. "I will not allow you to go out there!"

"Douma…" He reached out and pulled her against him as she sobbed, trying to keep himself from doing the same thing. "I…"

"I am sorry." She said between sobs, "My father said he would rather see his shop burned to the ground then let me go back on the deal with the roman… I could not tell you…."

"Shhh…" He said, kissing the top of her head, "I understand…"

"I do not want anyone to die, but I… please do not go out there!" She said, her face buried in his shoulder and her arms wrapped around him. "I do not want anyone else to die because of me!"

Range swung his ax again and looked down the path. Having expected some sort of arrow fire fro Tristan he paused for a moment as he saw Douma holding him and him holding her. "I suppose it does not matter now little brother." He said quietly, glancing over and seeing Dagonet surrounded. "Dag!" He called, racing over as quickly as he could, felling several woads in the way.

"Archers!" Gallic called, his dagger ringing as it deflected a woad hatchet and he drove his sword into the man, turning the body so that it blocked the arrows fired at him. "In the trees!" He kicked the body off his sword and spun in time to stab a man in the neck with the dagger while parrying with the sword.

Ware threw himself roughly at one of the woads, the spikes on his shoulder digging holes into the man he was against and knocking him back at the same time, his other arm coming back to shield himself from the sword of the man behind him. "Die." He said shortly, spinning around and nearly slicing the man in half with his long sword.

"Torm!" He called, the smaller boy ducking and allowing him to throw a knife into a man coming from behind him. "Look out for that." Torm nodded and stabbed a woad in the eye with one of the roman's short swords he had picked up after loosing his own.

Tristan released Douma and sheathed his sword, turning to his horse and pulling the bow out again, knocking an arrow and staring down the shaft in time to catch a woad as it stabbed for Bors who grunted and continued slashing at anything in the range of his blades.

Tristan pulled an arrow back, striking a man that was coming up behind Dagonet. "Stay behind me." He added, pulling another arrow from his quiver. "And do not scream…"

"Dag!" Range repeated, the smaller brother turned in time to come face to face with his sibling as his entire body went stiff. "You have to watch everything Dag… Never focus too much on one thing…" He stumbled forward into his younger brother and spit a mouthful of blood onto the ground as he rested on his brothers shoulder.

"Range!" Dagonet called, staring down in horror as Range spun around and beheaded a woad, six arrows sticking out of his back as he stumbled forward again, his ax driving into the chest of another woad as he fell.

"NO!" Gallic called, throwing his attacker back with his sword and scrambling toward the brothers while tripping over the dead bodies around them.

"Range!" Dagonet called, bending down as Gallic and Bors both took the offensive and allowed him time to check his brother.

"Here…" Range said with his usual smile, his hand reaching up and dropping something into Dagonet's waiting palm. "Do not loose it…" He said slowly, closing his eyes, "You are only holding it for me remember." He let his head rest on the ground, "I need to rest… Go kill the bastard that did this for me would you?"

Dagonet nodded and took a deep breath, slipping it onto this finger and standing again, his sword moving before his feet.

"Tristan!" Douma said, ducking under a knife as on of the woads came across their hiding place. "Get off!" She said loudly, stabbing back at him with an arrow as he grabbed her.

The woad fell back and lay still as Tristan let and arrow go into his forehead. "Are you alright?" He asked quickly and she nodded, hiding the knife wound in her side with an arm, "I will be fine." She said with a forced smile, knocking another arrow.

"Bors and Gallic…" He said shortly, turning his arrow toward them in time to see Dagonet knock down several of the woads attacking them with a single stroke. He let an arrow loose and struck one of the archers hidden just inside the trees. The others soon falling as Dagonet and Bors reached them.

The knights that were still on their feet surmised the damage. Were had a large gash across his back. Bors' head wound had reopened and blood was streaming down the side of his face as he walked. Dagonet had a cut next to his right eye that was likely to leave a lasting scar. Gallic had been struck in the shoulder with an arrow and his arm hung at his side in an attempt to stop the pain. Torm sported a matching pair of black eyes and a large cut from his jaw to his ear. "We came out the better…" Ware said quietly as Dagonet returned to Range who smiled as they sat him up.

"We have to get the arrows out." Gallic said, reaching for the shaft of the closest one.

Range grabbed his hand and shook his head, "Leave them."

"We can not stop the bleeding if you…" Torm started to explain.

"I know!" Range said irritably, using Dagonet as a brace to push himself up into a standing position. "It does not matter." He walked as best he could to the edge of field of bodies. "We have to get back…" The others followed behind him at a respectful distance, watching as he reached for the arrows one at a time and broke the shafts close to his skin, dropping the feathered tails to the ground.

"Range." Tristan said as he walked out from behind the turn, Douma following behind and holding her side nonchalantly. "We should be going…"

"My thoughts exactly." The man said with his usual grin. "It is just too bad we failed." He smiled at Douma who was staring at him with tears streaming silently down her cheeks. "I told you did I not?"

He walked to his horse and with some difficulty pulled himself up. Although several of the others felt compelled to help him they stayed where they were, nothing they did would be welcomed by the stubborn man anyway. The three younger knights stared at Douma for a moment before comprehension dawned on their faces and they turned away, walking to their own horses that had settled near Range's.

"Tristan…" Douma said quietly as they started toward their own horses. "Tristan, wait… please…"

He turned to look at her and frowned, her face was contorted in pain. "What happened..?" He began.

"I am afraid that I will not be returning with you…" She said, smiling quietly. "It seems that I…" She winced and looked down, the black dress clung to her side where the blood had weighted it down and stuck it to her. She laughed slightly, "I believe my plans for growing old will not go as I would have wished…"

"No…" Tristan said, staring at her as she cried.

"I am sorry…" She said, falling down.

He caught her and held her against him again, "No, you are going to come back with me…"

"I would have married you." She said quietly, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I wanted you to know… I love you as well…" She felt her knees beginning to give out under her. "I am so very sorry…."

"I know…" He said quietly, kissing the top of her head again and pulling her closer to him, "I know… you do not have to say it…" He felt himself shaking uncontrollably as he held her and she leaned against him.

"I am glad I am with you now…" She smiled against his shoulder and felt her knees shake and give out, her weight dropping onto him suddenly. "I will wait for you…" She said with a smile, "With all the fallen knights, I will wait for you."

He felt himself sobbing but didn't understand what was happening to him, his own knees shuddering slightly as he felt hers give to the weight of her body. "I know…" He kept his grip on her as her breathing slowed and finally stopped. "I know…" He repeated again, the burning in his eyes telling him he was crying again, the feeling not a welcome one.

The other knights watched as Tristan walked toward them, his face set as if it were stone and the blood on his shirt frozen to it from the cold of the air around them. They stared in shock at the limp form of Douma in his arms as he laid her gently on the ground and unrolled his blanket, laying it out and placing her on it, rolling it up around her and tying it off.

They watched and turned away as he lifted her and placed her on the back of the horse, making sure to keep her face covered. As he secured the body to the back of the horse she had been riding he paused and took out the bird carving, sliding it into the roll of cloth. "I promised you." He said quietly, getting up onto his own horse and taking hold of her horse's reigns. "I will meet you at the end…" He turned his horse and quietly walked it toward the others, following them silently down the path as Range sat as straight as he could in the lead.

Around the corner ahead of them came the wagon and the other knights, several staring blankly at the broken party as it came quietly toward them, not a single person speaking as they turned and started back toward the village.