A/N- this is a continuation of Camille's story. Thanks for your continuing support
Talorot slammed down his knife in disgust. They were gone, after murdering the most effective spy employed by the wall in years. Uther walked into the tent only to turn away his face from the very messy death of the worm within. Talorot followed him and knelt by the chest. He picked up the golden torque Wynth had been forced to leave.
"If I know Woads," he intoned "Which I do- they must have been forced to leave in a hurry if they left this" he indicated the torque he held "they must have left shortly before we arrived, startled off. Therefore, they'll probably lurking close by waiting until tonight to swoop in and relieve us of this little lot"
"A trap then, you think?" mused Uther thoughtfully
"with this gold as bait" agreed Talorot, showing all of his teeth in a savage grin "perhaps your axe will be put to use tonight after all"
"As will your sword" Uther said, grinning back. The two left the tent and called the rest of the knights over into a huddle "Now" whispered Uther "This is what we'll do…"
Wynth and Boaret watched the men from a safe distance, ensconced deep within the cover a tree.
"I must get that necklace" she muttered
"lady? That gold would be a very useful contribution to our cause" Boaret ventured,
"It would, wouldn't it?" she replied. "Gather your men, here is what we will do…"
That night, true to Talorot's prediction, Wynth and her men, stole into the camp where all the knight's lay sleeping.
"Dispatch them," she ordered in a low voice. The Woads stole up on the sleeping figures by the fire. Freeing their swords from their sheaths, they brought them down upon the blanketed men beneath them. Boaret pulled his broadsword free and inspected what he saw to be a bundle of straw, moss, and twigs, artfully arranged to look like a sleeping body. Comprehension dawned on his face just as an arrow thudded into his back, ending his troubles forever. Wynth and her remaining three men whirled to face eight of the knights who charged from their hiding places in the tree cover. Howling furiously, they met with an ear-jarring clash. The Woads were three to eight but they fought bravely, knowing, they were fighting for their lives.
However, the superior numbers began to tell on them and soon they were surrounded. With a roar, Talorot dropped his bow and quiver and pulled free his sword to fend off an attack from one of the men. He dispatched him easily and closed in on the red-haired woman, ringed from all sides, yet still wreaking havoc with her two long swords. The knights, recognizing his silent order, fell back to allow him sole access to her.
She smiled fiercely and thrust ferociously with one sword as the other whistled inches from his throat. He realized that he was against a warrior equal to his strength and skill and was thereby outraged when one of the braver knights slipped behind her and pulled a garrote tight about her throat. The remaining male Woads were disarmed and on their knees and so watched helplessly as she struggled against her unseen assailant. Furiously, Uther slammed the man on the head with the butt of his axe, knocking him unconscious to the ground in acknowledgement of the fact that it was Talorot's fight. The woman rose gasping for air as she reclaimed her swords and swung exhaustedly towards, still determined to fight and win. Realizing that there would be no glory in killing such a beautiful creature when the odds were unfairly against her, he sent her blades flying from her tired hands with one swipe but caught her as she fell, eyelids fluttering in sheer fatigue.
"Bind them and set them by the tree", Uther commanded "We'll take them back to the wall" Talorot squatted in front of the prisoners and addressed a hulking man with a nasty gash above one eyebrow
"Are you Wynth?" he asked. The man did not respond and he continued, "Well if you are not, I don't really care. He is either sitting here bound before me or dead. So where is the rest of your mighty fighting force? Surely, a criminal as famous as you wouldn't dare roam without a larger band of scum to protect you" A short cleaver looking man beside him laughed harshly and said
"You fool! There have never been more than five of us!"
"You are Wynth then?" Talorot replied shrewdly. A sharp bitter laugh answered this remark and he turned to see the woman watching him defiantly. She smiled, her dark lips parting to reveal white teeth
"I am Wynth" As he stood, struck and partially stunned by the fact that such a figure of current legend was a woman, the ropes dropped from her as if by magic and her fist, clenched around the tiny dagger with which she had cut the rope, met his jaw with a satisfying thud, laying him out on the ground. Moments later, she had run through the startled knights, scattering them like nine pins and disappeared into the trees. As they grabbed their weapons and started after her the large man spoke in a deep booming voice
"Fools! You will never catch her, she is Wynth Arden, sister of the forest and lover of the wind!"
"Whether or not his claims about her family or sex life are true" Uther commented dryly "I do believe that we have little chance of catching her in her home forest at the moment."
"No" agreed Talorot, rising as he spat out blood "But I swear I will not rest until I have tracked her down and dragged her back to the wall in chains!"
"And bedded her I suppose" added Uther thoughtfully.
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