The pink, swirling droplet run swiftly down the pale woman's brow, pausing briefly at the bridge before carrying on along the ridge of her thin, pointed nose. From the tip, the mixture of blood, sweat and rain formed a steady drip, drip, drip that splashed to the muddy puddle on the forest track below. She could taste the blood in her mouth, a blend of her own and that of her foes, she was coated in the sticky black substance, plastering her long auburn hair flat to her scalp.
She stood frozen, her wide unblinking eyes keenly searching the thick tree line for anything that would reveal the next attack. Around her lay the three misshapen forms of the ogres. The huge, lumbering beasts had crashed from the forest, faces full of rage in their blood frenzy, hoping for an easy meal. But Keria had been ready. She had heard the monsters pounding through the undergrowth long before they could even be seen, but with her years of training and experience, even outnumber three to one, she knew the odds were still stacked well in her favour.
Still she listened for the next attack.
But none came. All she heard was her thudding heart, quick breath and the constant patter of the rain on the forest canopy. She tensed as one of the Ogres shuddered, letting out a gurgling sigh, the creature's broad chest falling with it's last breath. Keria stepped away from the hulking bodies, all the while squinting into the muted evening light, searching for any movement, listening for any noise that might give away an enemies position. But the forest was quiet.
She allowed herself to relax, and pain hit her instantly. In shock and confusion she looked down at her arm. A blow from an ogre's club had buckled the light, studded shield, obviously breaking her forearm. But the combination of adrenaline and her Rune magic had numbed the pain, masking the injury to the warrior, dulling her senses just enough to allow her to stay the fight. Now it hurt, it hurt a lot.
She dropped to one knee, head spinning, a cold wave coursing through her body. Keria knew shock would soon set in and if attacked now, absolutely nothing would save her. Slowly the warrior tried to slide the destroyed shield from her twisted arm, gritting her teeth, trying not to scream. She felt her head go light and her vision turn black as the strength suddenly seeped from her body. Then nothing else.
-o-
When Keria woke, the rain had stopped and the sun glimmered through the whispering forest canopy. A songbird whistled its lonely call somewhere above as she propped herself up on her elbow, leather armour creaking, stiffened with the water of the previous night's rain. Her shield had been removed, cut away at the bindings, her sword and gauntlet laid neatly by her side. Keria looked down at her shattered arm but found, no broken bone or torn skin, there was nothing more than some dark, tender bruising; a couple of days and there would be no sign there had ever been an injury. To her side, wrapped in a cloak, lay Milly. The young girl was curled in a tight ball snoring. Keria leaned forward and kissed her daughter.
"Thank you little one," she said, stiffly getting to her feet.
She stretched, working out the knots from a night of lying on the cold, hard ground and the exertion of the fight. The ogres still lay where they had fallen, entrails sprayed across the forest floor. A swarm of flies busied themselves around the corpses, drawn by the acrid smell of the creatures that filled the air. Keria though, was unsure whether it came from their bodies or the copious smatterings on her armour, probably a bit of both.
Picking up the shield, she inspected the buckled armour, checking to see if it could be salvaged. But the blow had made it useless, it runes split, the infused magic gone. After a quick rummage in the undergrowth she found her pack where it had been thrown in the frenzy of the fight. Taking out the water pouch she pouring some of the cool liquid over her face, doing her best to clean the dry, crusty gore from her pale skin; it was hardly worth the effort. She swung the pack over her shoulder and bent down, scooping up Milly, for once happy her daughter was small for her age. Milly, she knew, would be asleep for hours yet and this would give her more than enough time to get her home into her own bed.
As she walked, Keria continued scanning the forest for movement but apart from a startled deer and an inquisitive fox there was nothing. She guessed it must be around midday and knew the ogres always favoured dusk but lately, they had become unpredictable and aggressive, Keria couldn't let her guard down for a second. The beasts had started taking ever increasing risks over the last few months, even attacking nearby villages and causing panic. She had just visited one of these hamlets after an attack, gathering what information she could, trying to determine what aid could be provided. Five people had been taken and the villagers were no-where near prepared enough to fight off the monsters. This had to change.
In hindsight, it was perhaps foolish of Keria to bring a nine year old along on the journey but it was only a couple of days walk and Milly had accompanied her mother on such trips many times before; besides she knew exactly what to do if the unexpected happened. Her blending cloak made her near invisible when used properly and Milly knew her mother would defend her with her life. Six months ago Keria wouldn't have thought anything of it, no ogres had come down from the valley for decades, but those days were over, Keria had now seen this first hand.
After a couple of hours walking they emerged from the cool shade of the wood into the late afternoon sun. She had stopped several times to gather her strength as even though Milly was small, carrying the dead weight of an unconscious child for so many miles was far from easy. Now, she stood on a low ridge overlooking the Duraeden Plain, soaking in the view that she never grew tired of seeing.
On the plain, farms sporadically dotted the landscape, a vast array of fields stretching in-between. This fertile landscape never ceased to provide, growing every crop the population could possibly need and more besides. She could see farm hands making their way home for the night through the newly cut fields, some walking, some lounging on the fully laden hay wagons as they trundled lazily along.
In the distance was the towering form of Darkspur, the Great Black Keep. It's imposing central stretched pyramid towered above the sprawling city as it had for hundreds of years. The straight, geometrical shapes of the fortress were in sharp, controlled contrast to the jumble of houses, shops and taverns that spread out below. Half way up the colossal structure, jagged battlements ringed the castle and above them, scattered randomly over the smooth dark surface, countless windows and balconies peppered it's slanting walls. At the summit, stretching high into the sky, an imperceivable fragile watchtower reached for the heavens.
Surrounding the Keep, a great wall sat, with a huge array of towers and bastions spread out along it's lengthy perimeter. But unlike the precise, order of Darkspur itself, the towers were a jumble of styles and shapes with many partition walls creating a complex maze of inner courtyards and walkways.
From the wall stretched the city itself, a labyrinth of tight, cobbled streets, save for the main road running almost directly to the gates of Darkspur. At that moment, much of it's irregular, red tiled roof line was hidden behind a haze of wood smoke that hung lazily in the still evening air. At one point, it to was protected by a smaller defence wall but that had long since been overrun with street upon street of still more shops and dwellings. The city had steadily grown over the years and now had a population to rival any of the great cities of the world, if not surpassing them all.
Darkspur harbour couldn't be seen from where Keria stood, it sat over a steep ridge behind the castle, it to protected by the inner wall. The sheltered cove could harbour literally hundreds of vessels and the bustling quay side was constantly packed with wares brought to the city from over the Atretic Sea.
At that moment the keep was adorned with numerous brightly coloured flags and banners that hung from the battlements or dangled from poles erected along the walls. The harvest festivities had just finished and the vivid decorations had yet to be removed. It was an awe inspiring sight.
Milly stirred in her arms. "Shh, quiet child," Keria whispered. "We're nearly home."
Within an hour she was passing through the evening streets of Darkspur. Even though the festival had ended several days before the shops and taverns were still regaled in their bunting and decorations; it seemed the people weren't ready the party to end quite yet. Most shops were still open and the taverns so busy their patrons spilled out onto the streets as minstrels played and people stood around singing. Vendors walked the main road selling all manner food from around the world, the smells mingling together making Keria's stomach grumble as she passed. The people had had it hard for many years since the plague, many feeling this had been the first year they had manage to get back to some sort of normality after loosing so many important figures in their lives. It was time for celebration and they just didn't want to stop.
Keria had forgotten about her bloodied appearance and also that she was carrying an unconscious child, causing many concerned townspeople to asked if all was well. Keria just smiled and reassured them that Milly was just sleeping and everything was fine. Most were placated, others knew exactly what the mess on her armour was and weren't so easily satisfied. Eventually though, she reached the market square in front of the castle gatehouse. Most of the stalls had been cleared for the night but a few still remained, hoping for some late customer to pass by and perhaps purchase on a whim; it also helped if they had maybe overindulged in one of the many taverns that ringed the square. The castle gates were open as normal and four guards stood chatting at the entrance. One noticed Keria approaching and marched forward, looking at the sleeping girl.
"She's fine," Keria said before he had time to ask."Just sleeping. We had a bit of a busy evening last night."
"I can tell," said the guard, grimacing as he caught a whiff of Keria's soiled armour."Is that ogre plastered all over you?"
Nodding, Keria asked, "I need to get to the King, do you know where he is?"
"He's was the Council Chambers earlier," he replied. "A delegate arrived this morning from overseas,"
"Here," Keria said, passing her daughter to the guard."Take her to Mother Kell, she'll get her to a bed."
"Don't you think a wash first would be prudent, Lady Keria?" a voice piped up from behind.
She turned to see the plump figure of Mother Kell. As usual she was dress in a plain, dark woollen gown, her head covered with one of her flamboyant hats that allowed only her round, chubby face to be seen.
"Normally yes, but I think this is important, " Keria said.
"The King is with some perfumed diplomat from the east, I don't think he, or the diplomat for that matter, would be too happy if you turned up smelling like a dung heap," Mother Kell remarked.
"I just thought that it may make a point that the threat is quite real," Keria continued."We could have died out there Heslet. If it wasn't for Milly, I might well have." Keria still felt strange using Mother Kell's first name but she insisted.
"Did she use her healing?" Heslet asked excitedly.
Keria pulled up the sleeve of her tunic. "It was badly fractured, the Rune magic wore off and I passed out, when I woke she had healed me. She's been asleep since."
"A bad injury like that and being so young she'll be asleep for a while yet," Mother Kell replied examining the slightly bruised arm. "Simply amazing for someone her age. She's going to be very powerful, Keria, like her father."
"Take the Lady Milly to my quarters," she ordered the guard," and you wash. I don't think it's the right time to making a point to the King, do you?"
"Yes, Mother Kell," Keria bowed her head, feigning submission.
"And you can stop that as well," replied Heslet, wagging her finger.
Keria turned towards the castle gate chuckling.