Here comes chapter nine! I hope you like it! :)
Leon woke with a throbbing pain in his head, the sun shining through the windows straining his eyes. The knight tried to sit up, but that was his mistake, because the moment he moved his left arm an aching pain ran throughout his body. He looked over to his shoulder which had clean white bandages wrapped tightly around it – well, clean except for a tiny spot of red were his blood soaked through.
Then Leon's gaze fell onto the bed beside his, were a large knight he knew all too well was snoring in his sleep. It was Percival.
"Percival… Percival, wake up!" Leon shouted to his fellow knight whom groaned before slowly opening his eyes.
"Where are we?" Percival asked, confusion clearly written across his facial features.
"I've no clue; I was hoping you could tell me…" Leon looked around at his surrounding trying to take it all in. It was clear they were not in the castle, or even Camelot for that matter. They were in a small wooden house with a tiny kitchen area in the corner and a fire burning within a stone fireplace. A narrow window was open letting the fresh air from outside blow in, the wind peacefully ruffling the curtains. It was serene, comfortable, and yet completely strange. It was, of course, strange most likely due to the fact that neither Leon nor Percival had any memory of coming to such a place. "Are we dead?" The blonde, curly haired knight asked bluntly, with only a tiny hint of humor in his voice.
"I'm not sure… Where is Arthur?" Percival asked, now concerned. Leon shook his head 'no' having not the faintest idea. "What about Merlin?" another shake of the head from Leon. "What of Gwain? Or Elyan?" However, before Leon could say he truly had no clue as to where any of them were, the dark skinned knight walked through the small door, with, oddly, an armful of firewood.
"You're awake!" Elyan exclaimed happily, "you two were beginning to worry me, as well as Althea."
"Althea? Whom – may I ask – Is that?" Leon questioned.
"The woman who took us in. If it weren't for her generosity, I fear you both would be long gone." Elyan was set the wood down before adding a few pieces to the roaring flames. His burnt hand was tightly bandaged in gauze so he slowly threw the branches and sticks onto the fire with his other arm. It didn't seem to faze him, almost as if he were use to it.
"How is your hand?" Leon asked, even though he had much more important questions on his mind.
"It's healing. However, it still aches when it comes in contact with anything so I'm stuck using my right hand for now…" Elyan paused, sighing while poking at the coals of the fire, and then he turned to face his friends, "how about you? Are you feeling well?"
Percival and Leon glared at him then back at each other before simply shrugging their shoulders in response. Finally the large knight brought up the question both he and Leon were wondering.
"What… What happened?"
Elyan looked confused, "you mean to tell me, you don't remember?" He looked back and forth between the two of them who sat uncomfortably in beds they didn't recognize, "I suppose it would make sense for you, Leon, to not remember anything… But, Percival was awake for a while before passing out."
"Alright, well first, answer me this," Leon began, "where in the gods name are we?"
Elyan stood up and walked over to the window as if to observe where they were himself before turning, letting his back face the cool breeze blowing in from outside. "We are in a small woodland village called Bellwood. This house belongs to a young woman named Althea. She's a healer, and fortunately for us, she is the one who stumbled upon us when I had all but given up hope. You two would be dead by now if she hadn't come in time." He looked at their lost expressions, "Perhaps it would be best if I told you the whole story…"
After the ambush…
The two bandits dragging Elyan away were suddenly thrown up into the air. The knight fell to the ground and reached to his boot to grab the small dagger he kept stashed within. After taking hold of the inevitably sharp object it took only a few short moments before he had cut through the rope binding his wrists. He threw the rope to the side before taking the dirty cloth out of his mouth. It was dark all but directly ahead of him, where he could clearly make out torches and waking men.
'Argh'
The bandits whom were dragging off Elyan were, too, slowly arousing. He quickly, without thought, hit them upside the head with the hilt of his dagger and they fell to the hard ground with a 'thump'. When Elyan turned back to the light source he was surprised to see all the remaining bandits running out into the field as if they were chasing after something. So he took his chance and ran over.
When he spotted Percival, Elyan thought he was dead, when suddenly the large knight started to groan and roll over. He had a small wound – although not to deep – that was bleeding out. However, he was at least conscious, unlike Leon who not only had an arrow sticking out of his shoulder, but hit his had on some rocks when he fell.
Elyan helped Percival to his feet before running over to Leon, who he picked up and threw over his shoulder, before making it out into the field outside the Ebony forest.
Percival followed instinctually, but was messy on his feet due to blood loss. Fortunately for them, no fighting was required. The bandits were chasing someone through the woods, or Elyan guessed the missing Arthur, Gwain, and Merlin. So for the time being they were safe to hide behind the trees and catch their breath.
Elyan set Leon down on the ground before turning to Percival, "Are you alright? Let me see the wound."
Percival leaned against the nearest tree and slid down, promptly sitting on the forest floor. Elyan barley had time to make it over to him, let alone check the wound, before the strong knight decided to pass out.
"Great… Just my luck – being stuck with these to." He looked over at Leon then back to Percival who sat still in front of him, "You too better hang in there. If you die on me, I might just have to bring you back to life to strangle you myself." However, the two unconscious knights made no movement nor sound and Elyan quickly gave up, having no idea what to do.
Soon enough the sun was beginning to set and Percival had woken once, only to mumble a few words before drifting off once more. Elyan was able to slow the bleeding to all their wounds, however, he dare not try and pull the arrow from Leon's shoulder in fear it would cause more harm rather than good. The bandits hadn't returned from their little hunting trip for the king of Camelot – most likely because there was nothing to return to – which was lucky for the knights, considering thy couldn't go anywhere.
Elyan started a fire and was about to drift off into sleep himself, he couldn't do much more for his fellow knights anyways, so he might as well of gotten some rest, when suddenly a twig snapped in the distance.
"Who's there?!" Elyan asked startled. He looked around not seeing anything and was about to pass it off as an animal when suddenly a cloaked figure appeared from behind a large tree. "Who are you?"
The secret person walked cautiously forward before removing the hood of their cloak.
It was a woman – and a beautiful one at that.
"Do not fear me. I can help." Her voice was soft and kind. Elyan felt completely calm for some reason and couldn't stray his eyes from her face. She had pale skin and long, dark brown hair that was separated into two braids that fell to each side of her face. Her eyes were of two different colors, her left – a deep green, and her right – a light brown. She wore a simple blue dress that was faded and torn and her cloak was made of a rough fabric which was a lovely lavender color. She reached out her hand toward Elyan.
"My name is Althea, I'm a healer. May I help your friends?"
Elyan shook her hand slowly, still taking in her beautiful features. "Please, I fear they do not have much time." He let go of her light grasp and turned to his friends. Leon's forehead was beaded with cold sweat and Percival was deathly still. Althea gave Elyan a quick smile, trying to reassure him all would be alright, before hastily moving toward Leon. She checked his pulse, and then brought her hand to his head to determine whether or not he had a fever.
"His pulse is there, but it is weak" she moved her hand to Leon's cheek, "and he has a high fever…" She looked to Elyan, obviously lost in thought at what to do.
"Can you save him?"
"Only if we get him back to my home," Althea's gaze then shifted to Percival, "him as well. I fear if they do not come to my village, I can not give them proper treatment, and they will die…"
Elyan stared at her in disbelief, "Then we must surely bring them there!" He began to stand before she raised a hand to stop him.
"We can not bring them there ourselves. I am much too weak to carry either of these men. I shall get help and return as fast as I can. I shan't take long; do your best to stop any further blood loss." She started to walk away, pulling the hood back over her head.
"Thank you, Althea… Please hurry."
"I shall be as fast as possible." She smiled before turning and running off into the woods.
"Then what happened?" Leon asked.
"She came back soon later with two men from her village. I believe their names are John and Alcott. They carried you back here, I followed, and Althea has been tending to us ever since." Elyan explained.
"How long have we been out?" Percival finally spoke up for the first time in a while.
"This is the third day since the ambush – so… two nights and two and a half days. No one has –" Elyan was cut short when Althea suddenly walked in, and hanging from her arm was a basket filled to the brim with flowers.
"They're finally awake!" She smiled while walking over to the small table and setting down the beautifully woven basket. Then, abruptly, she walked over to Leon and touched his forehead with the back of her hand. "And they are doing much better as well."
I fear this isn't one of my best chapters. I definatly think it could have been better, but I still hope you liked it. Please review and I'll post chapter ten as soon as a write it! Bye for now!