The Defender: Elderwood

One

Allan ran.

He'd been running for three days. He thought at the end of the first day the guards would give up. Early into the second day of his flight from Elderwood Ford, he passed by a village. He didn't know the name of the village, but he did know that it was at the far western edge of the domain of the Lord of Elderwood. Beyond that the Lord, and the Lord's guardsmen, had no authority. Or so Allan had hoped.

By the middle of the morning, Allan saw that his hope was dashed. Six guardsmen were still following him, five on foot, and their leader on horseback. They had left moving steadily west, trying to pick up his trail. Allen kept running.

He slept as best he could up in a tree that night. The next morning he decided to keep running. He wasn't going to waste time with hope and observation. He would keep going.

He wished he could stop running. He wished he could turn himself into the guards. He wished he could return to the city, and make his case. Foolish wishes all, he told himself. The man who killed Elena because she refused him did nothing of the sort. If I hadn't avenged her, no one else would have.

On the third day of his escape from Elderwood Ford, Allan stopped late in the afternoon. Unlike his stop on the second day, it wasn't to look behind him. He'd picked up the rough outline of an old road earlier that day. The road dated back to the time of the mages, and the wars to end their terror. The road consisted of paving stones, and sections of dirt where stones had been removed. It was regular enough to follow, and smooth enough that he could make good time.

Allan stopped because the road had almost come to an end. Ahead of him was a castle, or more truthfully, the ruins of a castle. Allan had no idea what it looked like when it was in use, but it didn't appear impressive to him. Certainly not as impressive as the castle of the Lord of Elderwood.

The first sight of the castle Allan got was of the stone walls that had protected it. In its prime, the walls were twice as tall as the tallest man. Some sections of the walls were still that high, but most were much shorter. The walls surrounded a rectangular stone building three floors high. Half of the end of the structure that Allan was approaching had fallen in. Only a small portion of the roof was still intact.

From the instant he saw the castle, Allan knew what it was. It has to have been the home of a mage. Everyone knows the mages lived out in the country. That was so they could protect themselves from soldiers sent by Lords or Princes.

Allan glanced around. The trees here are fairly tall. Maybe, back then, the land was cleared. Maybe the mages had spells that protected them.

He heard a voice on the wind. The guards are following the road, just like me!

He turned back to the castle. There might still be spells there. There could be traps.

It's going to be night soon. I need a place to hide, and rest, and eat the last of my food. There's not another place to hide anywhere around here, except up a tree again. If the guards are on the old road, then they'll know to look around here. If I climb a tree tonight, they're bound to find me this time.

They're bound to search the castle, too.

Well, I know how to hide within a building. This is another building, yes? If I hide here, and they don't find me, maybe they'll give up.

The noise from the guards got louder. I have to take that chance. I don't have any other places to hide.

Allan advanced on the castle. He found a section of wall that he didn't have to struggle to clear. He scrambled from the wall to a window that had long since been broken out. He slipped through empty hole in the castle wall. He entered a wide room centered on a long stone table. There were no chairs around the table, and there was no decoration on the walls.