A Dark Dawn and the Man in Grey
The time had finally arrived for Jagger Jack to do his bidding with Chaney. She was slumped forward, wrists aching from the constant gnawing and chaffing the shackles had caused, digging in and cutting almost to the bone. Jagger, was striding up the hill with a number of brigands whom would take up positions as if like sentinels on guard.
It was at this point Chaney would notice the grey clad figure suddenly and swiftly with little effort drop down the steep slope from above, and blend in with the surrounding shrubs and trees at the edge of the clearing where she had been tied for such an age.
However, this man in grey weren’t the only figures she had spotted. As she strained through bloodshot, watery, tired eyes, she could make out two, maybe three other figures suddenly come into view, crouched upon the top of the slopes, ensuring that they were not seen by the brigands.
Chaney would suddenly feel a man’s hand come around her mouth muffling any chance of her making a sound. The man whispered into her ear “One comes not to hurt you, but to set you free.” The man cut the ropes which were holding the shackles in place and she started to fall forward and down. The man would hold her from falling, even offering a dagger so as to kill her oppressor. Chaney, however, hadn’t the strength to do this and collapsed in a heap on the floor.
The noise would cause Jagger Jack to turn around, too late though, the man in grey had already struck. The man’s longsword had cut through Jack. Jagger would fall to the ground, his reign of terror within the woods was finally over.
Whilst all that was happening the other figures had now made their presence felt and had taken up arms against the brigands whom had now been raised to the alarm and had come ready to fight. The man in grey would carry Chaney to safety at the edge of the clearing and tend to her wounds whilst the others started to pick off the other brigands.
A dark clad woman would come near to Chaney and call out to her. Chaney, badly injured and in a state as it was, would recognize the woman’s voice. It was that of her friend, Taala. It was Taala of The Bloody Dawn. Surely then this would mean that the Dawn had arrived in the nick of time also.
In the ensuing melee and chaos that was happening around her, Chaney would drift in and out of consciousness. At one point, however, the man in grey had left her side to what would seem to aid the others. Taala managed to get close to Chaney and tend to her dear friend. Chaney could make out Taala saying that this other man was someone called The Grey Warden. It was at this point that an unfortunate turn of events would occur.
In the heat of battle, The Grey Warden, as he had now come to be known, may have mistook Taala for a brigand, and nocked an arrow and shot her straight in the thigh. This would cause her to fall back in agony. Chaney would try in vain to help her friend, but to no avail.
The other ‘Dawner’s’ would see what had happened and immediately fire arrows upon the Warden. His movements were far too fast for them though and he escaped into the night. Taala would manage to recompose herself and tend to Chaney whilst the men from the Dawn would take up the fight once more against the Blackwold’s.
Chaney’s life had been saved, but the fight was far from over. Now they had to fight their way out the brigand camps. Fight for their lives………………fight for their freedom…
