Entry #264907, added on 03-26-06 @ 12:32 am EST
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Rugo didn’t know for how long he had been out. Opening his eyes, he noticed that his sight hadn’t completely returned, though he could tell by the faint glow that it was morning. He had no recollection of the preceding night, but scenes flickered in his memory like when one wakes from a dream.
Three massive forms, larger than steer, with thick furry bodies had surrounded him. He hadn’t seen them in the masquerade of night, for they moved quickly, and had bitten him before he even knew they were upon him.
Now, Rugo’s head ached. And he could still feel a stinging pain in the back of his neck. He tried to kick, but found he couldn’t move. A thick web, made of some sticky substance, kept him tucked into a tight fetal position, and the small space prevented him from reaching his sword and cutting himself free.
“Help!” he screamed once, hoping someone nearby would hear him.
“Not even a day from home and you find yourself in a predicament.” Even if he hadn’t recognized the voice, the inflections and tone of playful mockery would have been enough for Rugo to distinguish it as Cerine’s.
“Will you get me out of here already?”
Cerine still laughed as she cut Rugo from his sticky prison. At first he couldn’t see her as the bright morning light caught his eyes, but as he grew accustomed to the light, the features of her face became more visible. The soft, radiant glow of her skin, brilliant eyes and smile comforted him. She was a beautiful girl, and he admired her, though he never admitted it. Even if she had teased him, at least he was no longer alone.
Rugo stood and embraced Cerine, her warmth in his arms a nice feeling after the numbness of the spider’s poison. As he stepped back to take another look at her, his legs, still weak, gave out. He stumbled back and fell onto his behind.
He noticed that Cerine looked different than usual, her long hair cascading down her back instead of tied up in braids as she normally wore it. Also, she was dressed in a light blue tunic and leather breeches. It was the garb of a wayfarer, instead of the traditional frilly dresses the town girls wore back home.
“Did anyone see you leave home dressed like that?”
Cerine frowned. “I wore this for function, not form.”
“What are you doing out here alone, anyway? You could have been killed,” Rugo said sternly as Cerine helped him to his feet. Rugo noticed that his cloak had been slashed by the spider’s teeth, but just enough so that he didn’t have to cut it as he had planned. He took a seat on a fallen tree beside Cerine.
“I could say the same for you,” she replied, poking him in his rib. “It’s a good thing I came looking for you, or else you would be dinner for spiders by nightfall.”
Even though she was right, Cerine’s remark sounded like one from his mother, and Rugo slightly resented it. But he was glad she was there.
“I’m going with you,” Cerine added assertively.
Rugo stood and looked off in the way he had been heading. “The questing life is not one for a girl,” he said with a sigh.
“If it weren’t for me, you’d still be hanging in that web about to be spider food.” Cerine stepped in front of Rugo and stared at him, eyebrows furrowed. “You need me, Rugo.”
There was no debating with Cerine. She had been like that since they were kids. Ignoring her comment, Rugo walked by her and started off on his own.
Cerine was quick to catch up. Rugo frowned down at her and sighed, resigned. “Does anyone know you’re gone? I mean, they would be pretty worried if they knew you just left without a word.”
She huffed as she made sure to stick close beside him. “Only your mother does. She told me you had gone, but she didn’t know where.” She jabbed Rugo in his side with her finger. “I think it was pretty stupid of you to just walk off on your own like that, without telling anyone where you were going yourself.”
“This is my journey, and I have to do this myself. I couldn’t have the entire town marching along with me.” Rugo sighed again as he stopped and looked at the path verging at a point on the horizon. “Besides, I didn’t want anyone else to worry about me. It was hard enough leaving Mother alone. I couldn’t put you through that too.”
Cerine grabbed his shoulders and turned him around to face her. “You already did." She paused. "Come on, you have always confided in me when you had a problem. Let me help you now.”
“But this is different, Cerine.” Rugo’s face took on a different look now. He looked more confident than he had before. “This journey is personal. If it was my normal edaro quest, you wouldn’t be allowed to join me.” Rugo pulled away from her and began walking again.
He really did want Cerine to come along with him, even if only for support. He didn’t look back to see if she was following, though he knew she was. After a short while, her depressing silence was too much to bear. He stopped to let her catch up.
“Why did that man attack your father?”
Rugo had been pondering the entire day over the very same thought. “I don’t know. He didn’t have any enemies that I knew of. Lamnos must have wanted something from him.” Rugo scratched his chin as he thought for a moment. “And my father didn’t want him to call him by his name. I wonder why.”
“Where do you plan to look?” Her first question sounded out of curiosity, but this time it was like she was testing his ability.
There was no easy answer to that question for Rugo. He didn’t even know how he knew to head in the direction they were going in the first place. And he had messed up already, getting lost only a week into his journey. Still, it was as though something drew him this way. He looked at Cerine and shrugged.
She shook her head in mock disbelief. “I still think you are foolish for attempting this,” she chided, crossing her arms over her chest. “But if you insist, I’m sticking with you no matter what.”
They had been walking a good hour since Cerine found Rugo, and decided to stop for a rest at a bubbling brook that flowed over a cleft in the ground, forming a small waterfall.
Cerine ran her hands through the cool water. “Remember when you and Landon raided Farmer Asharn’s pumpkin patch, and he dismissed you two, thinking it was really Brion and Riggs?”
Rugo laughed as he paced along the brook. “Yes. I wonder what made him change his mind. I never saw those boys so scared in my life.”
“I planted some seeds in their gardens, and told Asharn that it was them.” Cerine giggled as she noticed Rugo’s jaw drop. “Yes, it was me that helped you out, even then, when I knew you were in trouble. You could say you owe me one.”
She splashed Rugo lightly with brook water to ease the tension in her friend, and giggled.
He stuck out his tongue at her in response and joined her at the water’s edge.
The image of Marton, alive and well, appeared in Rugo’s reflection as he stared into the water. The two looked very similar, with the same hair, narrow facial features and pointed chin. Rugo chose not to grow out a beard like his father had, and his mother had once told him she liked it better that way.
The longer he looked, the more youthful the reflection became, until it was his own face he saw. Suddenly he felt strong, as if some new power crept within him. He looked over at Cerine, who had been eyeing him with some concern. He didn’t know what to say to her. “All right, let’s go.”
They followed the brook, hoping it would lead to civilization. It ran for several miles, toward what they knew would be Long River. They rested at the joining of the brook and the river, across which was a camp of tents.
“We should keep our distance,” Cerine said, looking toward the camp. “It belongs to a gang of bandits that have robbed my father quite a few times in the past.”
Rugo couldn’t see anyone. “How do you know?”
Cerine pointed at the skulls adorning the poles of their tents. “Those skulls belong to their most recent victims. I remember seeing them the night before the first robbery. They had just set up camp, and while posting the tents they shoved the heads on top to scare off any trespassers.” Cerine shivered. “I remember it clear as day.”
Rugo nodded. “We will wait and rest here, then. Maybe they’ll pass and move on before morning.”
The black of night descended quickly upon the sky, Rugo and Cerine lay in a tall bed of grass, which was very soft and comforting, like the lawn outside his house, which was always landscaped carefully by his mother. He thought about the days he’d lay out on the lawn, gazing up at the sky and watch the clouds drift overhead.
While Cerine took no time to drift off to sleep, Rugo lay awake for almost an hour, looking up at the flickering multitude of stars. He stared at the moon casting its soft glow and leaving a rippled reflection in the river. It was a cold and cloudless night, innocent yet hiding a foreboding sense of fear.
“Let go of me!”
The loud scream broke the serene silence, waking Cerine from her slumber. Both recognized from the shrill sound of the voice who had screamed. He had done it enough times back home, when the older boys would play pranks to scare him.
“That was Landon. I’m going after him.”
Before Cerine could protest, Rugo picked up his sword from the ground near where he lay and waded through the shallow part of the river where it met the brook. The water came up to just below his waist. Once on the other side, he ran toward the camp as fast as his legs could carry his water-weighted body.
In the center of the ring of tents, three scruffy-looking men with bushy beards and dressed in leather jerkins stood around a boy. His clothes were torn and skin caked in dirt that was the same shade of brown as his hair. The tallest of the men held the boy in the air, while the skinny, ugly one searched his pockets inside and out with grimy hands. The third, the dumbest-looking of them all, taunted him and hounded him for information on where his money was. Tears trickled down his bruised, boyish face as he struggled to free himself from the bandits’ hold, to no avail. The men were much stronger than the boy.
Rugo crouched behind a pyramid of barrels stacked on their sides. They were filled with rum and ale, and more than likely stolen. From this hiding place, he looked on as Landon was tied to a tree where he was forced to watch the men eat and drink by the fire.
Their faces were illuminated by the orange glow of the flame, their grotesque features enhanced and resembling trolls with their beards dripping with froth. One of the two larger men stood and pulled the hem of his jerkin out from being tucked into his leggings. “I’ve had enough eats. Let’s count our loot!”
“Hold yer horses, Rudick!” shouted the largest bandit, flinging a crust of bread at Landon. The crust rebounded off Landon’s head and landed on the ground just out of his reach.
Rudick stuck his tongue out at his partner and sat down at his place by the fire, mumbling under his breath.
The largest bandit’s eyes flared and lips curled into a crooked sneer. “What are you saying over there?”
“Nothing, Denis! Keep stuffing your face so we can divide our loot,” Rudick retorted. He quickly ducked as a bone thrown from Denis just missed his head.
Landon watched the bone fall near his feet, and his mouth watered as he noticed the scraps of meat still clinging to it. He wriggled under the rope, trying to shift so he could grab the bone with his feet. However, his toes just barely grazed the tip of the bone, and the bandits burst into a round of laughter at the look of desperation on his face.
“Now we can divide the spoils.” Denis rose to his feet, still clutching this chubby chest from laughing so hard.
The third bandit, who had remained silent the entire meal, picked up a sack next to him and emptied its contents into a pile between the men. Rudick grinned and twiddled his fingers at the pile of assorted gems, coins and fancy jewelry.
Rugo’s eyes widened at the sight of the treasure. He had never seen such a large amount of riches in his entire life. If he had the chance, he would make an attempt for a piece of the loot, in case he’d need some more money later on. For now, though, his main goal was to free Landon. He looked around, surveying the general area for the best escape route.
The bandits finished counting and distributing their treasure. They had put everything in large burlap sacks, which the silent bandit put away in the tents. The idea of getting some of the treasure was out.
“Do we let the rascal go now?” grunted Denis as he cast a long hard glance in Landon’s direction. He let out a loud belch, and the other two laughed.
“Of course not!” The largest of the three responded with a laugh. “He sleeps like he is. We will put him to work for us tomorrow.” The others joined in unison.
The tree wasn’t far from Rugo, but there was no clear path to it without attracting any attention to himself. He grabbed the closest object at hand, a fist-sized rock, and lobbed it over the heads of the bandits and into in the brush on the far side of the campsite.
The bandits’ heads quickly turned at the sound of the stone rustling the bushes. “What in blazes was that?” Rudick hissed. Swords were quickly drawn. The three were amongst the shrubs, slashing at brambles and scouring for the supposed intruder, while Rugo dashed to the tree.
The agony on Landon’s face faded once he saw Rugo appear out of the darkness of the forest. He was about to call out to him, but the look in Rugo’s eye silenced him.
“Don’t let them hear us. When I untie you, run the way I came from,” Rugo whispered.
Landon nodded to indicate that he understood.
The rope that bound Landon to the tree was thick, and held him securely against the trunk. Rugo fumbled slightly with the intricate knots the bandits had tied. Finally, he was able to undo Landon’s bonds. The two silently slipped away before they were seen.
They fled to the ford, not looking back to see if the bandits were following them. Fortunately they were still scrambling about in the bushes, looking for nothing. Their frantic voices carried on for a while as Rugo and Landon crossed the ford.
A weary Landon stumbled while wading through the water of the ford, sinking to his knees. They couldn’t stop now; the bandits would be upon them if they didn’t keep going. Rugo picked up Landon’s sore and weakened body and carried him across the water.
Cerine waited for them on the other side, smiling when she saw that Landon was safe. “What are you doing out here?” she asked as they reached the ground.
“I saw Rugo leaving town last week, and had to see why he hadn’t returned.” Landon coughed and caught his breath. “Those men attacked me as I was sleeping.” Despite his pallid face, he looked to Rugo like he had just gotten into mischief back home, with his newly-tattered clothes and ruffled hair.
Rugo held back a laugh with a smirk.
“He’s looking for that man who killed his father,” Cerine explained to Landon, handing him one of the two daggers that was tucked into her belt. “And I’m going with him.” She ushered him off toward the main road, but the boy dug his heels into the ground, refusing to move.
“You don’t think that I’m going to let you go without me, do you?” Landon stood up straight and put his hands on his hips, wearing a mask of determination and confidence on his face. While he tried to keep a straight face, a hint of a smile seemed to peek through. “Not on your life!”
Rugo forced a smile of his own, reassured by the devotion of his friend. “Of course not; just watch yourself.” He rested his hand on the crescent moon of the hilt of his sword and looked at the road ahead. He had no idea where he was going, but he assumed that there would be somewhere he could find information about Lamnos.
If he had only known that the mysterious wizard had taken this exact path not long ago. |
© Copyright 2006 Mark C Bradley (UN: auric at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Mark C Bradley has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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