“What should we do?” asked Paul.
“Nothing,” replied Raestin. “Let’s find Kaitlyn and see what’s going on.”
The five men continued to glare at Raestin’s group as they moved along the road. Then all of a sudden, the five men departed the front of the mill and headed around the back, disappearing in the trees.
“Ever see them before?” Raestin asked.
Behind him came several negative responses. Paul shook his head and said, “No.” Keeping a quick pace, Raestin and his guards hurried toward the village center through which they would pass on their way to the Borenson home.
As they passed home after home, they were greeted with silence and solitude. Occasionally, the occupants would peer out at their passing without any attempt at salutation. The whole situation had Raestin growing more and more worried.
Raucous laughter was suddenly heard coming from up ahead. It wasn’t long before they saw four men, derelicts by the look of them, standing together outside The Sterling Sheep. A woman emerged from the inn, a short distance from them. Upon seeing the four men, she immediately turned in the opposite direction and hurried away.
One saw her departing. Breaking off from his fellows, he hurried after her. “Now, where are you going in such a hurry?” he asked.
The woman didn’t even so much as turn her head to look at him, only quickened her pace.
His three buddies followed after and they soon had her surrounded.
“Leave me alone!” she cried as she was forced to come to a stop. Her plea only made them laugh all the harder.
Paul glanced to Raestin who nodded. To the other guards, he said, “Come on boys.” Kicking his horse in the ribs, he bolted toward the poor woman.
“Give us a kiss,” one man was saying as he grabbed her by the arm. He was about to pull her closer when he heard the approach of Paul and the other five guards. Releasing the woman, he and his three friends gauged their odds. Outnumbered by men on horseback, they backed off.
Crying badly, the woman raced away as well.
“Madam!” cried Paul. But she paid him no heed and raced away as fast as she could go. Anger filled him. Little in this world set him off like when he saw the helpless being victimized. Turning his gaze to where the men who had accosted her, he saw that they had been joined by the five who had been in front of the mill. The nine of them stood in a group, staring at Paul and his men.
“What is going on here?” questioned Paul.
“Not at all like it was the last time,” commented Sterret. He too had little patience with men like these.
“No,” he replied, “it isn’t.” With a final glare toward those who had accosted the woman, he turned his horse about and returned to Raestin. “Let’s find your lady and get to the bottom of this.”
Raestin nodded, then moved off quickly toward Kaitlyn’s home.
Paul kept an eye out toward the nine men that still stood watching them. The other he scanned for any signs of potential danger.
Once past the village center, it wasn’t far to the Borenson home. As they turned off onto the lane leading over the hill to the house, they heard the sound of men’s voices and the bleating of a sheep.
“Trouble,” Paul said.
Without thought for his own safety, Raestin kicked his horse in the sides and sped forward. Paul raced alongside him with the other guards right behind. Topping the hill before the Borenson home, he saw a group of men, eight in all, gathered before the front door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A tall man in his mid thirties with sword in hand banged on the door with its hilt. “Open this door!” he demanded.
From within the house, came the voice of his love. “Go away!” she cried, fear evident in her voice. “He’s not here and I don’t know anything.”
“Yes you do!” he yelled.
Baaaaaaa! Baaaaaaa!
In the pen not far off, Black Face was bleating wildly. Running along the fence of his pen, it almost seemed as if he was trying to go to her aid.
“Shut that sheep up,” the leader said.
Raestin raced with all speed forward.
A man drew his sword and headed toward the pen.
“No!” screamed Kaitlyn from within the home as she realized what was about to happen.
The man with the sword moved to the pen and with a single strike, removed Black Face’s head. As its lifeblood flowed from its lifeless body, Kaitlyn shrieked.
Bearing down on the men that had caused his beloved such pain, Raestin was the specter of death as he drew his sword and charged. He was halfway to the gathered men before they even noticed. As they turned toward him, fear appeared on their faces and they drew their swords to defend themselves.
Such was the fury that drove him, that upon reaching the first man, he struck with great ferocity. The blow cleaved the other man’s sword in two and continued on to remove his head. As the bodiless head flew through the air, Paul and the others joined the fray.
Sterret’s horse trampled one man, and with a cry of battle, he struck at another but the blow was deflected. A second later, a bolt from Cailin’s crossbow struck the man in the chest and knocked him backward.
Koryn and Warry had waded into the fray with swords flying. The men before them were no match. Simple caravan guards they may be, but Paul was a hard taskmaster and daily drills were a requirement. Now, all that hard work was paying off.
Hack, block, slice, connect. A man fell to the ground with half his arm gone. Then another dropped beside him as Warry kicked the lifeless body from his blade.
At the sight of their comrades being taken out so readily, the last three men dropped their swords and fled.
Thwock!
A crossbow bolt struck one of the fleeing men in the back. Slowed but not stopped, the man continued to flee.
“After them!” Raestin commanded.
“Yes sir,” replied Paul. To Sterret he said, “Come with me. The rest stay and protect Raestin.” Bolting forward, he and Sterret went after the fleeing men.
The creak of an opening door drew Raestin’s attention. He saw his beloved peering out. “Raestin?” she asked in disbelief. “Is it really you?”
Tossing his bloody sword to the ground, Raestin leaped from his horse and went to her. “Yes my love,” he replied. “I am here.”
Flinging open the door wide, Kaitlyn Borenson came to him. Wrapping her arms around him in a fierce embrace, choking sobs began issuing forth.
Raestin wrapped his arms around her gently and said, “It’s over. You’re safe.” As her tears wet his tunic, he couldn’t help but glance over to the pen where Black Face had met his fate. Anger burned in him anew, he knew how much that sheep had meant to her.
Later that evening, after Black Face had been laid to rest and the bodies of the dead men were dragged off to the woods for the kidogs and wolves, they gathered around the dinner table having a meal Terrance had thrown together. Outside, Koryn and Warry stood watch.
“It’s been this way for over a week now,” she explained. She then spoke of the coming of Daniel and their subsequent meeting at The Sterling Sheep. “At first it wasn’t bad, but now…” She paused a moment then said, “They say Riyan has found the King’s Horde.”
Raestin’s eyes widened. “King’s Horde?” he said in disbelief.
Kaitlyn nodded. “It’s possible,” she said. “Somehow he and Chad was able to get into the Warriors Guild. He’s also sent money home in those packages you would bring.” She sighed. “I never thought…”
“I know,” Raestin said.
