This is it, the near constant traveling would be over.
Today I was going to be riding a horse branded with a triangle on its flank, instead of sitting in the carriage as usual. Like all the horses the soldiers rode, the dull brown mare was smaller than the huge black horses that pulled the carriage.
"Hey Marrow?" I asked as he finished packing up.
"What miss." He replied with a sigh.
"If a girl horse is a mare what is a boy horse?" I said petting the horse Marrow set aside for me.
"A stallion." He replied.
"Stallllllionn." I repeated, tasting the new word.
I wasnt happy about the idea of riding a horse all day again, I could still remember the ache from our last long ride but Cerastes said to trust him so I complied.
I was informed that the goal for me today was to stand out as little as possible. Marrow had replaced my uniform with a different one, it was well worn. After putting on the different uniform, Marrow first had me roll on the ground untill I smelled like dirt, and then he took a horse blanket from his pack and told me to rub it all over my hair face and hands.
All of the soldiers wore masks with their hoods up, to the unlocking eye I was just another one of the ranks.
Complete with a white cape.
Swish swish, flap flap.
The cape waved as i manipulated it with my hands. I felt like a big bird. Marrow saw my action and shook his head in disbelief, his loose blond hair swept over his shoulders lightly. His blue eyes rolled as If he had been forced to babysit a particularly trying child.
Marrow and Cerastes must be cut from the same blanket, their expressions are so similiar.
I straightened up and cleared my throat before climbing up into the saddle. The leather creaked as I pulled my leg over to sit down.
As I waited for everyone els to be ready to leave, I bent over and started braiding the horses hair.
"Miss, please refrain from any odd behavior, and remember to sit upright. You are in his lords retinue." Marrow called over his shoulder.
"Ahh right." Im 'Soldier Rowan' I need to think soldier thoughts.
Horses.
swords.
sitting up straight.
Shortly after we began to press up the mountain again.
From what I understood from bothering Marrow. All the soldiers in this back group belonged solely to Cerastes. While the soldiers just ahead of us were less trustworthy, an unknown number of soldiers belonged to his brothers.
....
The horses weight shifted from side to side causing me to bob up and down with each step.
The brown mares head also bobed up and down as she meandered over the road, occasionally shaking her head to scare off a pesky fly.
The landscape began to change.
The forest became more rocky and hilly, the closer we got to the mountain. The trees were less dense but still very tall and the road itself was more inclined.
The forest that looked beautiful in the day slowly but surely began to seem more ominous as the light faded.
The group that guarded the carriage had been the ones who had been sent to Pyros villiage and seen the unfortunate human caterpillar roll.
None of the soldiers had mentioned the incident or even laughed about her oddness antics like they had before. In fact they didnt speak to her at all. She was an animal to be avoided. They didnt speak to me, they didnt walk near me, and it was almost as if they saw through me.
"Marrow?" I asked, the sound muffled through my mask.
"Yes miss." He mumbled back.
"When are we going to get to the mountain?"
"What." He said turning his head
"Will it be dark by the time we get to the mountain?" I reiterated.
"We are already on the mountain we should get there before it gets to dark. Now please make sure not to talk untill my lord allows." He said quietly.
I complied with a nod self correcting to sit up properly.
The gap between the carriage guard group and the supply guard group was already growing smaller and smaller.
Just up ahead I could see the rows of soldiers dressed like us. Infront of them were horses without riders. Some cattle. More than a dozen wagons full of goods and even a wagon carrying people. Headed by another group of guards.
The gap closed and the procession stopped abruptly.
"Why are you stopping?!" Marrow shouted at the soldiers infront of us. He raised an arm in the air and rotated It in a circle.
The soldiers in our group immediately tightened into diffensive positions around the carriage. Marrow positioned himself so close to me our legs touched. He took the reigns from my hands and held them in his lap. Scanning the area with eyes.
I could hear my horse nickering anxiously, shifting her footing. Her ears twitched in different directions.
"Incomming!" A soldier cried up ahead.
The guttural bellows of a giant boar squealed ahead.
The boar barrelled through rows of soldiers with its large tusks. Some of the soldiers had managed to attack the beasts flanks with long spears but the pointed end couldnt seem to break through the boars thick wirey coat.
If anything the poles seemed to infuriate it more. The spear wielders were flung horse and all into the forest by a sweep of the boars tusks.
Dirt and dust permeated the air so much I felt like I was choking on it. People were shouting and running about in panic. I felt the anxiety swell in my chest at this familiar situation, loud voices and choked breathing.
The surrounding turmoil fell away and I slipped into the memories of a world on fire. A sound jerk pulled me back to reality. Marrow had the reigns of my horse and urged his horse to take cover in the woods.
The boar still squealed on its rampage. Knocking over entire carriages. The boar was larger than the wagons, and taller than the carriage. Its black eyes made it difficult to tell where it would strike next.
"Hes not going to like this delay." Marrow said under his breath.
Watching the fight from the side lines made the whole situation feel unreal, like a storytelling come to life. There was only one person Marrow could be referring to, and he was sleeping unaware in the carriage.
"We have to warn Cerastes!" I screeched trying to pull back my reigns from Marrow.
"My orders were to protect you, under any circumstance." He said grabbing the hand that was trying to regain the leather straps.
Just then the boar reared back on its hind legs and bellowed angrily. The force of his front legs colliding back to the ground sent out a strong vibration. The giant beast then turned its face to the black carriage, scantily protected by less than ten guards. Weapons at the ready.
It charged.
Oh no. I pulled my hand out of Marrows grasp and jumped off the horse. Faster. Faster. Faster. I have to run faster. Viewing the scene from the side, I could tell that even if the soldiers managed to hold the boar off I wouldnt be able to wake and pull Cerastes out of the carriage in time.
The boar reached the carriage before I did and knocked a soldier off his horse. The horse and man fell to the ground together. The enemy raised up on its hind legs a second time to smash the two under its hooves, when I rammed into its flank.
Pyros villagers are much stronger than the inlaws that come up the mountain but I doubt I could have knocked it over had it been standing on all four legs.
I immediately jumped back to prevent being kicked. The boar squealed laying on itside, trying to stand back up flinging its legs wildly.
I turned my neck to look at the carriage. The horses that pulled the carriage stomped anxiously and screamed shrilly in fear but it was undamaged.
A loud snort pulled my sight back to the angry pig. It had righted itself, supporting its weight on its knees before standing shakily.
Oh Abyss!
I pissed it off. I saved the carriage but shook the wasps nest. The boar lowered its head and charged. Snorting loudly. Trampling the earth with its hooves. Marrow appeared Infront of me on his horse with his sword drawn.
We were both going to be flattened like bread under the beast.
All I saw was the boar being sent flying through the air and into the trees. This wasnt like how I had managed to push it off balance. This was shear force.
My eyes shifted back to the place where the boar had charged from. Cerastes stood looking annoyed and disheveled.
His leg still raised from the kick that had sent the beast flying.
When he moved it was a quick shift. My brain didnt register the movement and then he was gone. He reappeared ontop of the boar.
His sharp nails seemed to elongate as he rendered flesh from bone, muscle from tendons in the boars neck.
He jumped off the boar and returned back to the carriage, no to me. He nodded his head.
"You." Cerastes pointed at a soldier. "Ride ahead and bring back all the available wagons and medical aid for the men."
He delegated at least a dozen tasks then he walked over to the wagons that had been tipped over and set them upright.
By the time everything had been returned to their original places the sky had already grown dark. Cerastes cut up the boar and with his hands. The organs and head were left to scavengers.
The meaty pieces that were kept were wrapped up in its hide to prevent them getting dirty and several of the unmanned horses were added to pull the wagon. The large tusks of the beast were transported in a seperate wagon.
The trees had been cut down in front of the wall. So I could see the wall from a distance. Fires were lit around the top of the stone wall as well as the entrance. Otherwise I may have never seen it in the pitch black night.
Several guards waited infront of the entrance, where a dragonkin sat waiting.