Where the two knights left on their journey with the sun shining down on their faces, they now sat there in their saddle, bent over as if they were trying to make a small target for the rain as possible. Lindovor thought they could reach the Forsaken Inn in two days, if they'd ride hard they'd arrive in a day and a half already. They found no problems what so ever on the road, and left after but half a day of resting at the Inn for their next destination: Ost Guruth, too optimistic of course...
What should be a trip of but a few days, resulted in a trip of already five days, and they hadn't even reached Weathertop. It still stood there, on their left side, giving the two men a slight grim, mysterious feeling. "I do hope we can reach Weathertop this evening, my dear friend Turgur!" said Lindovor. Nothing but a loud growl-like sound came from the other rider, clearly showing his feeling about their rainy journey so far.Lindovor couldn't stop himself from laughing softly, seeing the tall, muscled blond knight sitting there in the saddle like a bag of potatoes. Really unelegant, to say it nicely...
After hours of searching, the men finally found a good place to put up their camp. Three large rocks gave them shelter from the rain, leaving only their northern side sligthly free, as some trees stood there along with a couple of bushes. "You light a fire, Lindovor, than I shall go and hunt something to eat. It's been a couple of days now since we ate something warm, and we need to save our dried rations as much as possible." Lindovor sent a quick nod towards Turgur, and immediately gathered some branches and logs, dry enough to burn properly. In the meantime, Turgur took the small hunting bow they took from the Order's armoury, and went out to shoot a rabbit or two, if he was lucky perhaps a deer. Surprisingly silent for such a tall man cladded in heavy armour, he disappeared in the darkness of the night that grew denser and denser every minute. "Oh and don't stay away too long, Turgur!" shouted Lindovor in the night, hoping Turgur heard him. It's better not to stay alone in these lands for too long...
Turgur found a prey pretty quick, but to catch it, that was another thing... He already missed one shot, and had to search for nearly an entire hour to find a new fitting meal. Slowly sneaking closer, he never let the rabbit out of his sight. The rain would mask his scent more than enough to come close enough to the rabbit, making it practically impossible to miss. "Right, hold here, Turgur. This should be close enough..." he thought in himself. But suddenly, he heard that typical sound everyone would recognise... In front of his eyes, the rabbit was shot by an arrow, and launched the animal, only to land a few feet further on the wet soil, a long arrow sticking out of its chest. Turgur froze, not daring to move to make his presense noticed. What if the archer saw him as well? Was he aiming at him this very moment? But before he could think of anything else, two men stepped out of the bushes to his right, laughing loudly with their prize. Turgur tried to recognize their faces, but it was too dark already to see them properly. And they also wore hoods, making it even harder for him. Yet their accent betrayed them, as he recognized it immediately when they spoke a few words... "Now what in the name of all that is Good do these easterlings here? I'd better get back to the camp..." Turgur thought, and as silent as possible, he sneaked away from his place, heading back for their camp.
"Who goes there?" Lindovor quickly stood up from his place at the small fire, holding out his sword in front of him. "It's Turgur, my friend." The man of Dale stepped inside the protective circle of the rocks, dropping the bow and quiver near the fire, but no prey. "I see the hunting went well..." said Lindovor with a slight smile on his face. "Yes, I know, just don't mention that. I have something else important." Turgur sat down next to the fire, reaching out his hands to warm them. "Oh, and that is?" Lindovor his smile turned for a more serious expression as he eyed the knight. "I was about to shoot a rabbit as dinner, but two Easterlings were first... I really wonder why those would be here, so far away from their lands." Lindovor his expression turned even more serious when he heard the words of Turgur. "Is it safe then to keep this fire burning? And with how many would they be here, I wonder?" Turgur simply nodded, taking some time before he would answer his friend. "Yes. If they are here in a larger group, they would have noticed our fire perhaps. Besides, we need to try and dry our clothes as much as possible, if you do not want to get ill, my friend. Come, sleep now. I'll take the first watch." Turgur stood up and took a piece of bread and dried meat with him as he walked to the entrance of their shelter-like rockformation. Munching slowly, he stares into the night, his blade resting on his legs, should they get some unwanted visitors...
At the break of dawn, the two were already in the saddle, travelling further on. It seemed they finally had some luck on their side again, for the rain had ended that night. The two men enjoyed the warm touch of the sun on their faces in silence, after all those dark, cloudy days. Lindovor saw from the corner of his eyes how Turgur reached for the small hipflask again. After a quick gulp, Turgur softly muttered: "Pf, this is far too strong for the morning! But it makes you awake, no doubt about that!" With a wide grin, he bended over to his right a bit, holding out the flask towards Lindovor. He kindly refused the offer, as he still remembered the bitter and far too strong taste of his first sip. And he won't forget Turgur laughing at his face so easily as well... Grinning even wider, Turgur took another sip and put the flask away again. "Let's hope nothing with evil intentions crosses our path when we ride beside Weathertop." said Lindovor, clearly with a worried look on his face. Turgur nodded, but suddenly began to sing a song. It had a joyfull melody, and the lyrics would make many men so ashamed they would sink through the ground of shame, but since they were alone, Turgur raised his voice and sang even louder, in the hope he could somehow cheer up his fellow. Lindovor looked at him with a raised brow, not knowing what to say or do. "Come on, sing along, my friend Lindovor! I'll teach you the lyrics!" Too astonished to refuse, Lindovor sat there with his mouth wide open. Turgur laughed heartily, and started to sing slowly, so his friend would understand the words. Soon, both were singing loudly, enjoying the witty distraction after the past days...
In the middle of their fourth song, Lindovor suddenly stopped singing and pulled his reins. He pointed towards a black dot laying on the edge of the road, at the foot of the Weathertop hill. Without hesitation, both the knights spurred their horses towards the black dot, that looked far too much like a human body... "I shall see what I can do to help the man, Turgur! You look around to see if there are any signs of a struggle!" Accepting the order of his officer, Turgur drew his longsword and sent his horse a bit to their right side, to the edge of the road, looking out for any signs of struggle. In the meantime, Lindovor arrived at what once was a human being. Or still would be? Blood and dirt covered the entire body. Lindovor kneeled down at the right side of it, and when he turned the body around, his eyes widened in fear and astonishment....
