Chapter V

Unexpected Findings

Alan was obviously the reason why she was still alive. With out him she would be dead, a carcass lost to the world. But was his life worth more then hers? Had God abandoned him for her? He was sick, it was obvious and she had no idea what to do.

He had urged her to go on, told her to flee while she could. But she would not abandon him for nothing. Her freedom was nothing without him. No she would stay, slowly nurse him back into life. Or at least try, she knew nothing about medicine. Only the basic's a cut would have to be cleaned, a fever cooled. That much was obvious as for the rest she left it to luck. Luck and god would cause this man to heal. He was part of her, part of her life and she would have to fix him.

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She was scared, they had not moved for days, mainly because of his condition. But everyday she knew he drew closer. They where not far; and with a skilled tracker they could easily be found. Alan slept most of the day, leaving her time to cover her tracks and look for a source of food. She had done what she could, her horse's body left on the path. Alan's horse had left hoof prints, which was to her an advantage.

They would think that she had gone on, that she had left him to some fate. She had then taken Alan's boots and made a trail away from the horse carcass and into the forest. Something any good tracker would easily look over and ignore. But hopefully someone stupid would come along and follow them. They led to nowhere. And so this person would be left to their own thoughts, as far away from them as possible. As for her and Alan they had made cover miles away, hidden in the trees. She had made sure that there was no evidence of their passing. It would seem foolish to take cover in the trees, but her hate towards Gardious drove her on. Even the blue demons could not control her rage.

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They had spent days there; no one had attacked her, or found her. And so she was in a semi amount of peace. If Gardious really did never find her then she was indeed in Gods hands. Her only problem was staying away and out of his grasp and keeping Alan alive. But Alan was not doing well, his fever rocked up and down as they days progressed. Rya for one was unsure of how to help him.

And sometime she just left him to die, hoping for a sign. The past days had been hard, unforgiving. Every night she would awake to his cries of pain. Pain he even felt in his sleep. His cut oozed of some unknown substance, which she would often clean away. Her own body was sticky, unkempt and dirty. She would wash often but the summer heat constantly heated her. Often she thought that she herself had caught a fever. But it was just the heat, the sun burning down upon the world.

Another day passed, another unforgiving struggle. She lacked hope something many would say was her downfall. Hope was rare though, rare in such horrid situations. Alan was in fact healing, his wounds crusting over. Her prayers had been answered. Her whispers of god noticed. God had not forgotten Alan. His fever cooled, not all the way but enough so to reassure her. He would get better; she knew it. God had sent her a sign. Everything would turn out fine.

--

But something went wrong; something always goes wrong when you mess with god. Her father had once said. Perhaps that is why he had never prayed; never nodded his head in thanks for what good had come. Her mother had never been okay with that. But they had managed, but was she going to manage? Night had crept upon the world, they sun's setting not visible behind the clouds. A storm was coming, something rare in the world. But it was coming.

The skies alight with the sounds and colour of thunder. Alan had awoken hours before, claiming to be all right, his hands clasped over the cross as the storm broke out. Life always slows when agony strikes; she could feel every drop of rain that fell upon her. Every rumble of thunder seemed to shake the earth, which she sat upon. They did not speak, Alan slowly falling into a deep sleep.

Oh how jealous she was of him, sleep was hard to find in such a storm. Another crash of thunder rang above and so with a snort she turned her head away from Alan. Soon she would have to sleep; tomorrow she would have to take care of Alan, and herself. No sleep would have to come; it would be short. She knew that much but somehow she would force herself into it.

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Over the next days Rya began to wonder where Gardious was. It had been a fortnight since she had left him. And he still had not found her, was the forest that large? Or had she just gone into a place that was to unpredictable to find. Either way Alan was still in pain, he had began to walk. But he walked with a limp and often left work for her to do. Finding food was her main priority. And over the next few days Alan and her moved to a piece of land close to a village. Every day she would wander there collecting food to eat. They would soon have to leave, they knew that much. But for now they had fallen into a semi amount of peace. That neither Rya nor Alan where in the mood to break.

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Staying to long in one place was most definitely their worst mistake. Possible the reason why their freedom had not been shortened. Night had fallen once again upon them; time had been sweet to them. Life boring as Alan healed more and more by the day.

In the distance a horses hoof beats awaken her. Eyes carelessly open as a snort of a horse echoes. Raising herself, she stands. Her eyes flicking over the darkened woods in search of the source. A silhouette of a horse and rider comes into view. Tucked in between the trees, weapons cover the riders body.

A great sword hanging lose from its scabbard. The riders head moves towards her, their eyes meet. His cold and dark, her own covered in fear and hate. He nods a small smile creeping onto his lips. Her muscles tense wondering what he will do next. But he does nothing, merely turns away. A kick to the horse's side follows and they are gone.

--

Sleep captures her, pushes her away from her thoughts. Dreams pull her away from reality. She has no idea what's going on in the real world. After the strange incident with the man she did not awake Alan. She did not run, she merely fell asleep.

Uncertain of what to do and far to scared to run. Was that the man who was supposed to take her back? No he had said nothing, nothing had echoed from his lips. Just a nod and then he had left. Gone… But could he be someone else? A scout? A tracker? But then why had he not taken her while he could? Or was he just a hunter?

Someone searching for food? There where more questions then answers coming from the man. And so she had let sleep take her, he had done her no harm, nothing that would cause her to repel or run. She would have to go on, dismiss the thought from her mind. Life was to short to dwell on such hate and thoughts.

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AN: Guess who the mystery man is. Yes Arthur's knights will play a role in this… Probably only a small one but we will see.