01 - The break
The commanding officer of the rohirrim patrol looked around the tight, shallow valley. Rocky slopes were in contrast with vivid grass covering the ground. Boulders were growing unevenly from the surface, some of them big like a bull, others almost like a mead-hall.
Captain of the patrol stopped the troop, then looked to his right hand and left hand riders – Agelred and Kortheod.
Agelred, the second man in charge, look around, then peered into the distance. This was one of his big opportunities.
Kortheod smirked and turned his head from side to side slowly, senses stretched. Captain held his hand up, giving sign to his men to standby, ready to charge just at the moment the hand goes down. All twenty men stood quiet, waiting to charge the horses.
Kortheod kept listening. He also sniffed the air as he observed the boulders and rocks. A perfect place for...
“Ambush. I smell ambush,” said Kor silently, but firmly.
“Maybe...” said Agelred, raising in the stirrups and looking at the valley. But his tone was finishing the unsaid sentence: ...but I only care about getting fame from killing some enemies.
Kor wasn’t much older than him. He understood the zeal. But he couldn’t understand, why to put their whole unit in danger.
“We should send a scout,” he proposed.
Agelred turned to him, frowning: “This is not your responsibility to order, soldier.” Still, all the men knew Kortheod is absolutely right.
The captain looked in Agelred’s eyes. “Scout the area three hundred paces in front of us. Be extremely careful.”
The eager captain’s right hand hit his horse with spurs and went to execute the order. The unit was watching him, as he crossed the plain, checking the nearby rocks and trying to evaluate more distant terrain. Here and there he was returning a bit and crossing his own path to see from several angles. Captain nodded to himself, watching the skill.
Agelred returned to his troop.
“Capt’n, it looks clear.”
The commanding officer nodded. Then gestured with his hand a “slow forward” order. The patrol started riding into the valley. The men were calmed a bit, but still alert.
When they started to trot, suddenly a figure appeared at one of the distant rock, like another two hundred paces from them. It suddenly appeared on right side of the boulder. Whether it came from behind it, or stood up from the ground, wasn't important. Important was, that it looked either badly wounded or exhausted, because in next moment it fell in the grass and started to crawl towards the horse patrol.
The Captain raised his hand again to stop the unit, gazing on the groveling person. Even from the distance, fair hair and greyish hauberk could be recognized.
"One of us!" shouted Agelred.
Captain didn't think long. "Forward!"
The next few moments carved into Kortheod's memory with bloody gashes.
As the patrol reached the wounded person at some forty paces galloping, just before slowing down, suddenly a rope arose from the ground across their way. It stretched strongly exactly at the height above horse knees.
The cry of pain and anger of the falling Rohirrim was mixing with neighing of the horses with broken legs.
"I knew it!" growled Kor with ire, when he fell off the horseback in a serie of somersaults. Nothing broke, lucky bloke. As soon as he could, he stood up. His first look aimed at the supposedly wounded rohirrim rider. Inert body in rohan armour was lying over there on the ground. There were long sticks tied to its arms…
With loud yelling, a few bunches of enemies came out from behind the rocks. Kor only noticed unknown colours and pattern on the attackers’ armour and ochre skin.
Kor pulled his sword with a jerking move to defend before two of the unknown wild men, that chose him as a target. Evading a swing of wide sabre of the first enemy, he cut above the elbow of the other and cut off his arm. Then his sword returned to parry the sabre. The blades met with a loud “cling!”, both creating a significant tooth on its edge. Though sword was not so heavy, it resisted the crushing blow. The attacker stretched out for the next hit. The sabre was too heavy for his arms, slowing them down. At least it seemed to Kortheod. His sword quickly came out in a counterattack and opened the enemy’s belly. Kor glimpse quickly over his shoulder. The rest of his patrol was being slaughtered by only like a dozen ochre men. But one of them looked like…
Run, whispered his wild dunnish instinct. Run, ordered his rohan consciousness. They had maces and sabres. No bows, no crossbows. No remorse. Kor threw away his sword and helmet and started to flee towards the river. He knew he would make it. Just before plunging, he got off his hauberk too.
Water soothes. Water carries. Water forgives.
Agelred, you zealous bastard… you narrow-minded idiot… No, you're not to blame, we all fell into trap...
Who am I now? A deserter? Or just a witness?
The last look on the familiar person was the worst memory of the day. Even within a fragment of a second, the quickest glimpse, he knew what he saw. The sunburst skin, the typical tattoo, the ritual beeds intertwined in the beard…
Draig-luth. The treacherous dragon clan.
