She blinked, but only blackness stared back. Her breath surrounded her
face. Moist and warm. Heavy footsteps bounded around her. She pulled the
blanket from her face and caught the flutter of shadows running from
her and into the forest, until silence encompassed her. Light from
torches floated along the road they had taken. The creak of wagon wheels
and footsteps drew near. Cognizant of the fact that she was alone and
defenseless, terror scraped against the edges of her mind. She stood,
but pitched forward, landing hard on her hands and knees and jarring her
senses.
Despite her acceptance in what was happening to her, she would go in her own accord. With tremendous strain, she mounted, pressed her body against its back and gently squeezed with her thighs. The animal ambled away from camp, following the shadows of the trees.
In the wake of her exertion, her head pounded mercilessly. A sharp pain shot down her legs. Like the pain which struck her without warning, so did the profanity which slipped from her lips. She gripped her thigh with her free hand. It was then she tasted blood in the back of her throat and her nose began to bleed. Frenzied horror seized her mind and tears formed at the corner of her eyes. She swallowed the blood and the ball in her throat and wiped the blood from her nose with her sleeve.
She placated her mind and closed her eyes against the throbbing which assaulted her body, but did not allow consciousness slip from her. If she fell from her beast, she would not be able to stand again, let alone mount.
Fever and exhaustion caused her muscles to spasms and her body to shudder. Her teeth chattered.
As twilight settled in her mind and her body resigning to the darkness, from the fog of her mind, she heard her name. Pulling herself from the murk, she slowly became aware of the gentle rock of the theriine still beneath her. Somewhere, the sunlight cast warmth against her skin. Opening her eyes, indistinct shapes converged around her. She was only certain she was no longer in the cover of trees. A circle of blood stained her sleeve which rested below her face.
Her name came again.
The swaying stopped and a heavy hand fell against her back. Pain. She lived. His face filled her vision. Finn's voice came to her ear, and he continued to speak, but comforted by another's presence, she allowed consciousness to slip from her. It was enough.
He collected stalks to fashion a small trap. Deep in the vernal marshland and far from the post, tracking in the soft ground and mid-afternoon light was effortless. Bird droppings marked the grass like white flags; large lizards marked by the drag of their tail; and rodents, their unique print, staggered small front feet paired with elongated hind feet. With the degree of settling of the mud; the hard hay-like fragments of plant cuticle and stalk made up the rodent's diet, he concluded they passed through twenty-two bells ago. In the distance, brushes surrounded a tree. Even further, the glimmer of water. The obvious path the lizards made, led straight toward the water. Birds also circled the area.
In the distance, Hugh approached a cluster of brush and trees with the breeze at his face. After several moments, he inched forward. Then stopped. Looked. Watched. He didn't proceed any closer to the brushes. Instead, he continued further into the marsh and disappeared under the grass.
He turned his attention back to his task and headed toward the brush where he quickly attached his simple snag on the branch of a brush. The rodent's white under coat caught in the twigs of the branches, a flurry of footprints and hard scat. He followed in the direction Hugh had gone. The flurry of padded foot in the mud gradually petered into single tracks. Keeping the breeze on his face and the scat and tracks between him and sun, he walked. Ahead, Hugh was on one knee with his bow drawn. A squarish head peaked over the tall grass.
The oversized rabbit took the both of them some time to gut and clean it in the pool of water. Although he knew the border guards would have appreciated the innards, they left it for the birds and lizards which inhabited the area.
At sun set, the cooks had prepared a thick stew and they ate. Raffe was missing from the mess tent.
He stepped from the tent and into the street of the sprawling compound recently erected after Belenus failed to overtake the syndicates by force. The Ira Border Observation Post, manned with no less than fifty border guards and a dozen construction personnel, stood five bells from the marshlands. It contained a total of thirty DRASH tents for sleeping quarters and command posts, two general purpose tents for dining and infirmary, two maintenance tents and two temporary watchtowers.
Stripped of his armor and in his infirmary garb, Raffe was a slight figure on a stool. He intently watched her from behind clasped hands. His head turned slightly and he stood upon his approach. "Brother Finn."
The lesions which plagued her body, blistered. Some had erupted and had stained her clothing and bedding with thick, yellowish liquid. The fetid odor of decay assailed his senses. It didn't seem to effect the attendant.
The youth chewed at the inner side of his lower lip. "I've never seen a case as severe as hers. The prisoners under Rougefort Castle suffered the same manifestation of fever, blisters, ulcers." He protracted her bottom lip. "Even in her mouth. For the moment, I have only given her basic remedies for ague and general discomfort."
Despite her acceptance in what was happening to her, she would go in her own accord. With tremendous strain, she mounted, pressed her body against its back and gently squeezed with her thighs. The animal ambled away from camp, following the shadows of the trees.
In the wake of her exertion, her head pounded mercilessly. A sharp pain shot down her legs. Like the pain which struck her without warning, so did the profanity which slipped from her lips. She gripped her thigh with her free hand. It was then she tasted blood in the back of her throat and her nose began to bleed. Frenzied horror seized her mind and tears formed at the corner of her eyes. She swallowed the blood and the ball in her throat and wiped the blood from her nose with her sleeve.
She placated her mind and closed her eyes against the throbbing which assaulted her body, but did not allow consciousness slip from her. If she fell from her beast, she would not be able to stand again, let alone mount.
Fever and exhaustion caused her muscles to spasms and her body to shudder. Her teeth chattered.
As twilight settled in her mind and her body resigning to the darkness, from the fog of her mind, she heard her name. Pulling herself from the murk, she slowly became aware of the gentle rock of the theriine still beneath her. Somewhere, the sunlight cast warmth against her skin. Opening her eyes, indistinct shapes converged around her. She was only certain she was no longer in the cover of trees. A circle of blood stained her sleeve which rested below her face.
Her name came again.
The swaying stopped and a heavy hand fell against her back. Pain. She lived. His face filled her vision. Finn's voice came to her ear, and he continued to speak, but comforted by another's presence, she allowed consciousness to slip from her. It was enough.
~~~
He collected stalks to fashion a small trap. Deep in the vernal marshland and far from the post, tracking in the soft ground and mid-afternoon light was effortless. Bird droppings marked the grass like white flags; large lizards marked by the drag of their tail; and rodents, their unique print, staggered small front feet paired with elongated hind feet. With the degree of settling of the mud; the hard hay-like fragments of plant cuticle and stalk made up the rodent's diet, he concluded they passed through twenty-two bells ago. In the distance, brushes surrounded a tree. Even further, the glimmer of water. The obvious path the lizards made, led straight toward the water. Birds also circled the area.
In the distance, Hugh approached a cluster of brush and trees with the breeze at his face. After several moments, he inched forward. Then stopped. Looked. Watched. He didn't proceed any closer to the brushes. Instead, he continued further into the marsh and disappeared under the grass.
He turned his attention back to his task and headed toward the brush where he quickly attached his simple snag on the branch of a brush. The rodent's white under coat caught in the twigs of the branches, a flurry of footprints and hard scat. He followed in the direction Hugh had gone. The flurry of padded foot in the mud gradually petered into single tracks. Keeping the breeze on his face and the scat and tracks between him and sun, he walked. Ahead, Hugh was on one knee with his bow drawn. A squarish head peaked over the tall grass.
The oversized rabbit took the both of them some time to gut and clean it in the pool of water. Although he knew the border guards would have appreciated the innards, they left it for the birds and lizards which inhabited the area.
At sun set, the cooks had prepared a thick stew and they ate. Raffe was missing from the mess tent.
He stepped from the tent and into the street of the sprawling compound recently erected after Belenus failed to overtake the syndicates by force. The Ira Border Observation Post, manned with no less than fifty border guards and a dozen construction personnel, stood five bells from the marshlands. It contained a total of thirty DRASH tents for sleeping quarters and command posts, two general purpose tents for dining and infirmary, two maintenance tents and two temporary watchtowers.
Stripped of his armor and in his infirmary garb, Raffe was a slight figure on a stool. He intently watched her from behind clasped hands. His head turned slightly and he stood upon his approach. "Brother Finn."
The lesions which plagued her body, blistered. Some had erupted and had stained her clothing and bedding with thick, yellowish liquid. The fetid odor of decay assailed his senses. It didn't seem to effect the attendant.
The youth chewed at the inner side of his lower lip. "I've never seen a case as severe as hers. The prisoners under Rougefort Castle suffered the same manifestation of fever, blisters, ulcers." He protracted her bottom lip. "Even in her mouth. For the moment, I have only given her basic remedies for ague and general discomfort."
by Jade Saelee
Read the complete version here: Gyse, Láréow
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