Chapter 3- The Fallen
Micahel rode quietly along the trail accompained by his fine band of adventurers. Together, they had formed a column in which to ride in. Solomon and Benjamin were riding twenty metres behind him whilst Irwin and Shannon were twenty metres ahead of him and Vern was tagging along much further behind the main group. He wasn't expecting trouble, he knew he was safe. What he didn't know was that his mind had not recovered from the trauma it had experienced recently. In the end this is something that Michael would never forgive himself for. Lives would be lost due to his ill-awareness.
Solomon and Benjamin continued to ride along, matching Michael's pace. They were somewhat more suspicious of their surroundings than their valiant leader. They only had one problem. Benjamin was also still recovering from something, except in this case it was self-inflicted. Alcohol was a dangerous thing, a lesson that Benjamin would not be given the opportunity to learn. Eventually, he sheathed his sword and relaxed a little, attempting to relieve his body's aching limbs and in that moment- he simply stopped paying attention. This was his gravest mistake.
Irwin and Shannon hadn't ran into any trouble either, however, Irwin, being a Ranger would never let his guard down in a situation as delicate as this. He would deal with any trouble he encountered, failure was not an option. Shannon on the other hand had very limited combat experience and was only present due to her skills as a tracker.
Naturally, when the inevitabkle ambush came, Irwin didn't waste any time in dealing with the nuiscance. He notched an arrow and fired before Shannon had any idea as to what was going on. He could see archers, seven of them, well six now. Arrows continued to fly past. Irwin's first instinct was to protect his horse, Storm, but he knew in this style of ambush nothing that got in the way survived for long. It was the hardest decision he ever had to make, but it was one that had to be made or his own life would be plunged into jeopardy. He quickly dismounted and used his horse as cover. If he hadn't, he would not have survived another ten seconds. Irwin knew this but it didn't make it any easier to live with. WOOSH! Another arrow swept straight past, the situation was getting out of hand. He needed a new plan fast or there wouldn't be anything left to defend. Something came to him shortly after, something crazy enough that it just might work.
Meanwhile Solomon and Benjamin had been attacked by a different group of archers. Solomon got his shield up just in the knick of time but his careless companion wasn't so lucky. He was literally filled with arrows before he could respond. Next, the archers took out Solomon's horse sending him sprawling to the ground. He lay there, unable to move trapped under the weight of his horse. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Michael, Shannon and Irwin were all that was left standing, well figuratively, Irwin was taking cover behind his now, dead horse. The other two had taken a stand behind a gigantic rock, shielding them from the deadly force of arrows. What they had not realised was the ambushers were expecting this. They soon sent a squad of swordsmen to deal with Michael and Shannon. Michael could see them coming from a mile away but he still struggled to formulate a plan. He had nothing.
"Now , Shannon you have to listen to me very carefully." Michael waited until she as paying attention before he continued. "We cannot defeat them and they will kill us if we stay here". He paused again, noticing the fear in Shannon as she observed the men charging at them. It was a particurly grim sight. " I will hold them off while you run, Irwin will have taken care of the archers." She nodded and got ready to run. "Godspeed Shannon." He whispered as she sprinted off into the distance. That was the last time he saw her alive.
Baron Arald was first alerted to the nearby battle by one of his aides. He immediately dispatched knights to deal with the disturbance.
Captain Grainwad led the knights through the increasingly dense forest until they came across the so-called battle. It didn't look like a battle to the good captain, looked more like a massacre to him. He saw that a man and a women were dead. Three more were wounded. While one was still engaged and losing badly. They needed to get to these poor people fast.
Michael knew he would be dead in a minute, one way or another, may as well make it count. He dropped his shield, took his sword with both hands and charged at the nearby enemy while crying some senseless phrase about what he would be doing with their corpses in just a few short moments. The first enemy never knew what hit him. Imagine running in a race before hitting an invsible brick wall, well... that comes pretty close to describing what that guy was going through. They only saw one man so they remained relaxed as he charged, not believing themselves to be in any danger -not such a wise move on their part. Four men were dead before they could react. They were helpless to defend themselves against this senseless rage that had been unleashed upon them. This attack had now blinded them to the cavalry now coming up quickly behind them. Captain Grainwad and his knights took care of the swordsmen easily enough.
Everyone stood there, speechless until the Captain broke the silence.
"What happened here?"
"I'm not sure, I'll let you know as soon as I do." Said Michael, still panting from his ferocious charge. He then walked off in the opposite direction to inspect the aftermath of the battlefield. He paid particular interest to the armour and weapons but still could not come to a conclusion as to the real identities of their adversaries. Luckily, Irwin had some idea of what he was doing. He approached with a slight limp, the result of a throwing dagger.
"Sir I think I know who these people are." Michael was oblivious to the outside world as he was deep in thought. His mind was slowly returning to its previous fluency. It took several minutes but Michael finally came to the realisation as to who the men lying in the dirt were.
"Oh my," he exclaimed. "My brother has been busy." Michael then walked off to inspect the fallen archers. What he saw confirmed in his mind the identity of his attackers. These truly were dark days for the Kingdom he thought to himself.
Captain Grainwad had been given orders to escort the survivors directly to Castle Redmont. Lets just say he wasted no time in doing so- much to Irwin's disgust. Protests could be heard the whole way to the keep, attracting quite a bit of attention from peasants and various children. No one took much interest in Michael or Solomon, just Irwin. Rumours of a mysterious Ranger in the area spread like wild-fire. Some said it to be Halt's long lost son, others said that it was in fact half-man half-beast. Irwin was particurly proud of that last one considering his relatively small stature, not completely unlike Halt, hence the first insane tale.
Anyway, soon after they dismounted and then walked to Baron Arald's office. It did not take long for Michael, Solomon and Irwin to realise that they were prisoners, not guests. It was going to take some convincing to get them out of this one. Nonetheless, Michael firmly believed that Baron Arald would see things his way, he had to, the fate of the Kingdom hung in the balance.
Baron Arald waited, looking forward to meeting the adventurers his men had rescued. His aide knocked on the door to indicate Captain Grainwad and the others were waiting outside.
"Enter." Spoke the Baron. To doors slowly creeked open at his command."Now to business," the captain then walked out to speak to his men.
"What have you three gotten yourselves into?" asked Baron Arald, who, by now, was expecting answers.
"I think I can explain my Lord" Said Michael, hoping that the man who so patiently sat in front of him would let him explain.
"Please do, i'm expecting this to be quite entertaining."
"Well... my Lord, approximately a month ago we were ordered by King Duncan to track down a ver y dangerous cult. I believe the men who attacked us were sent by these cultists to prevent us from following them."
"Why are they so dangerous?" Baron Arald particurly wanted to know the answer to this.
"Thats a question i've been asking myself for some time now." Truth be told, Michael had only figured it out yesterday. His mind was well on the road to a full recovery.
"and... do you care to provide an answer?"
"Yes, I would.I believe they are slowly making their way towards Castle Araluen and I don't think it would be wise to let them get that far. They need to be stopped." It was a question within a statement, he needed Arald to let him go soon.
"You will be allowed to leave soon enough. I still have more questions. Who were the men that attacked you?" Questioned Arald.
"This is also a question I have been pondering ever since the ambush. I believe I know have an answer, one your not going to like."
"I doubt it, I have recently been informed that the Scotti have invaded. I only just recieved orders to marshal my troops and ride north."
"This is not good, we must ride for Castle Araluen at once!"
"Why?" This had the Baron slightly more interested.
"Because they were Temujai! Do you know how disastrous an invasion on two fronts would be? It would be the end of Araluen!"
"Are you sure about this?" He needed to be sure that he could rely on Michael.
"Positive." He replied, Michael was sure that they were Temujai and it could only mean one thing. The Scotti and the Temujai were working together.
"Then we will ride at once." The Baron's mind was made up. It seemed for the moment that he could trust the three adventurers standing before him, the next few days were going to be very interesting.
Just when Michael thought he had everything figured out, just when his next course of action seemed simple, Irwin asked a question that pretty much destroyed the plans in his head. It was one that sent a shiver down his spine.
"Michael where is Vern?"
Stuart and Peter rode ahead of the main group, attempting to gain some private time. Somehow, Peter had gained a common respect for Stuart, despite what he was planning. It horrified Peter, what was he becoming? Peter had recently decided that he had to prevent the assassination and gaining Stuart's trust was integral to that plan. They were only an hour's ride from Castle Araluen, whether or not hsi brother was dead, Stuart would get his chance, there was no preventing it. For the first time since he joined the conspirators, Peter could not forsee what would happen, there was no guarantee that King Duncan would live but it was best not to dwell on such an outcome.