Meetings

 

Chapter 2: Meetings

 

Andra and Gryphon put their horses at a quick trot towards the road in the shadow of the trees, both of them quiet. Then, with a fierce yank of the reins, she spun Midnight around and started to nudge him into a gallop back toward her mother, toward the draken.

Gryphon reacted too quickly, though. Even though he missed the reins, she felt the strong tug on the back of her shirt. It was just enough to unbalance her seat in the saddle, slowing her down enough for him to catch up and grab her reins.

“Stop it, Andra. This is foolish. Your mother said to go. I will not let you go back there.” He turned them around and set his mare at a trot, making Midnight trot to keep up.

Andra snatched her reins back and scowled at Gryphon, but she did not turn around again.

“Your mother will be fine, Andra,” Gryphon said softly. “She is a Swordmaster, after all. I think she can handle herself. Besides, if she has to look after you, she’ll be in even more danger.”

“But against draken! They’re not even supposed to be real, just fairytales! Mother, even a-a-a Swordmaster, may not even be able to handle twenty giant…m--! th--! Creatures!” Andra said, her voice rising in pitch as she sputtered.

“Be quiet, not so loud,” Gryphon hushed her. “We don’t want to attract attention.”

“There’s no one here but us.”

“Maybe not. Earlier, when you were looking back, I saw a man following us through the trees.”

Andra whipped about in her saddle, scanning the trees on their left. The trees stood silently, the dark spaces in between keeping their secrets.

Turning back to Gryphon, she said, “I don’t—”

Loud laughter broke out around the pair; it definitely came from more than one source. Gryphon grabbed his bow and had an arrow nocked before Andra realised it. Andra spun Midnight around again and saw six men come out of the wood and surround them. She pulled out the Sun sword and felt a strange warmth in her hand. It hardly helped her nerves any. Carrying a sword was one thing, but knowing how to use one was an entirely different matter.

“Look what we ’ave ’ere, men!” said a bald burly man who seemed to be the leader. “A young pretty and ’er bodyguard.”

“Who are you?” Gryphon asked. If he was frightened, he was doing a bloody good job at hiding it. “Let us pass!”

“Look there, they’ve got swords!” one thief with dirty shoulder-length black hair and a rather squashed-looking nose sneered. “An’ the body guard ’as a bow.”

The bald man spoke again. “D’yeh mean to tell me yeh’re travellin’ the Riverwood Road and yeh don’t know o’ the dreaded Cralden and ’is band o’ thieves?”

Andra and Gryphon glared stonily, clutching their weapons.

“Then we’ll teach yeh a lesson yeh’ll not soon forget.” Cralden laughed again. The motley crew edged closer and took out their swords. It was evident that their weapons were not of the same calibre as Andra’s or Gryphon’s. Andra could see rust in most places and notches all up and down the blades; second-hand or stolen, more like.

Truth to tell, Andra travelled the Riverwood Road quite often and had never heard of Cralden. Obviously, he and his “band of thieves” were not as notorious as they thought.

Andra thought quickly. Gryphon couldn’t possibly use his bow; before he got off two shots, the thieves would be on them. The men weren’t mounted. Maybe they could use the horses to escape.

“You men take care o’ the boy, I’ll take care o’ the girl,” Cralden said. “You lot can ’ave ’er when I’m done.” The ruffians chuckled appreciatively.

Andra was watching Gryphon. His handsome features hardened with anger at Cralden’s last comments.

From the corner of her eye, Andra saw something move. She looked around just in time to see a large stone drop from a tree—a tree? It hit a ratty man with thinning brown hair. Andra looked up—trees did not usually drop stones on nearby thieves—and nearly fell from her horse in shock. A man with a cloak hiding his face was sitting in the tree holding too more large stones in his hands. He raised a finger to where Andra assumed were lips, and Andra turned to Gryphon. He still glared angrily at Cralden.

“Easy now, Gryph,” Andra whispered from the corner of her mouth. “Someone has come to rescue us, but don’t look. You will give him away.” Gryphon might have nodded.

“Sayin’ yer—” Cralden cut off sharply. He had obviously spotted the unconscious man.

As soon as Cralden had turned his attention onto the hurt man, Gryphon kicked Fog in motion. She sprang forward and he turned her with his knees. “To the woods, Andra!” he cried.

Andra cursed under her breath. Leaning back in her saddle, she pulled Midnight’s reins up tight and he reared, kicking at any thief stupid enough to have gotten close. Then she kneed his ribs and shot forward. The mysterious stranger was nowhere to be found.

“My mother said no!” she yelled as she galloped up, but he had already gone in. Andra growled in annoyance and followed him into the dark wood.

Gryphon was easy to follow because of the twigs Fog crushed under her hooves. Slowing Midnight down to a walk, she tried to keep track of her friend. The thieves were not following.

“Gryphon,” she called. “Slow down. Cralden is not following us.” When Gryphon stopped, she rode up to his side. “We should leave the wood now. You know it isn’t safe at night.”

Andra could barely see Gryphon in the darkness. His dark tunic and breeches blended into the empty spaces behind him, and his eyes shined eerily.

“We can’t go back out there. I doubt Cralden and his men will have left completely. If they will not come in, we should stay,” Gryphon said calmly.

“If they will not come in,” Andra countered, “maybe there is a reason.”

Midnight whinnied and Andra patted his arching neck. Fog, too, whinnied. She began to shuffle and fidget despite Gryphon’s efforts to calm her.

“Shh.” Andra perked her ears. “Can you hear...” her voice trembled as the ground began to shake beneath her. There was nothing she could see in front of them. She wheeled Midnight around, and her jaw dropped as fear seized her stomach.

A giant bannis stood before them, its large eyes at a level with Andra’s even as she sat atop her tall stallion. The dilated pupils reflected what little light filtered through the trees’ leaves. The boar-like creature snorted, its breath steaming.

“Into the forest, Gryphon?” Andra said hoarsely, accusing.

“Andra, do not move,” he whispered. He re-nocked his bow with difficulty; Fog was nervous and tugged at her reins. “Get ready to run—”

“Out of the woods,” she said firmly. “I would rather beat Cralden bloody than be eaten by a giant pig.”

The bannis squealed, a terrifying sound that sent chills up and down Andra’s spine, and Fog bolted.

“Gryphon!” Andra yelled. Her friend had dropped his arrow, but manage to just barely hold onto his bow and his seat. Don’t move, don’t move, don’t move, she told herself, hoping Midnight would heed her. And Andra was left alone with the bannis.

It did not attack her, though. Instead, it writhed around, grunting and squealing at something Andra could not make out. Then she saw him. The stranger from the tree stabbed at the bannis and ran around, stabbing and dodging, over and over.

But the mysterious stranger’s hood had fallen back, revealing long fiery red hair, obvious even in the dark wood. He was a she.

“Stop staring!” the woman cried. “You have a sword!”

Andra swallowed and kneed Midnight forward. To her surprise, he obeyed. I really did train him well, she thought. She rode up behind the bannis while it turned to the stranger, and she stabbed it in its side. The sword sank up to its hilt in the thick hide, and the animal squealed again. Then its front legs buckled.

Yanking her sword out of the bannis, Andra rode around to its head. The stranger yanked her sword out of the underside of its neck, but the animal’s eyes were still open and rolling. So Andra stuck her sword up underneath its jaw. It...groaned? That was the only way Andra could describe it. And then it fell to the ground, its dead eyes still reflecting.

“Thank you,” Andra told their rescuer.

“‘Twas nothing,” the woman said sarcastically, wiping her sword off on the bristly bannis hide. Andra dismounted and imitated the woman.

At the sound of hooves, they both turned about. Gryphon rode up to them, breathing heavily.

“By Solanis,” he murmured, looking at the dead creature. “Is it...?”

“Aye,” the woman said. “Your friend here finished him splendi’ly.” Her accent was strange to Andra’s ear. It did not sound like any of the Almanians she had ever heard, and a fair few traders came through West Village.

Looking at Gryphon, Andra shrugged. Splendidly was not how she would have described it, but the bannis was dead. She still could not believe it. A bannis! In the Riverwood! I’ll never go into the wood after dark again. She shuddered, then turned to the woman.

“Thank you for your help, with the bannis and the men. I tried to get him to stay calm, but—”

“I was calm. I just had to do something or they were going to take you and—”

“It was no problem, child,” the woman said to Andra. “And I know you two are travelling to Lithe’s Bend, so I decided to help you get there. It is much faster through the Riverwood, and as I happen to be going that way myself, I would gladly serve as your bodyguard.” Colour bloomed in Gryphon’s cheeks; he too had heard the woman’s pointed emphasis on “bodyguard.”

“You mean we would stay? In here?” Andra’s voice rose in anxiety.

“Yes. You just need someone to guide you around the bannis barrows.”

Andra swallowed down the lump in her throat and exchanged a questioning look with Gryphon. Andra was sceptical; the strange woman looked like she knew what she was doing, and seemed friendly enough. But to stay in the wood? But Gryphon nodded.

“We accept your offer,” he said. Andra sighed and nodded reluctantly.

I just won’t sleep tonight is all.

The trio walked deeper into the Riverwood, the stranger in front.

 

Reviews

[Chris]

Like the last two, this chapter was also interesting. This is a really good story you've got going. One thing though:

"So Andra stuck her sword up underneath its jaw."

I could be wrong, but I think this is a fragment. You can fix it by either getting rid of the so or adding it to the previous sentence by just changing the period into a comma. Also, I think thought is usually shown through italises (sp?), not underline, unless there's a different rule to it where you live.