Eddie
The thunderous gallops of the mounts trampled grass and dirt in their wake, leaving a cloud of dust behind that only grew wider in the relentless charge of the horses. When the trio neared the fork, Josephine expected the cue from the girl behind her. She did not fall short of precision. Before the horses were on top of the twisting roads, Amaryllis warned the younger girl and they made to the left, not once giving the mounts a chance to rest through the lightning race.

The one horse they were most concerned about was Tagus', for its injury was still fresh from the pelting arrows shot by the barbarians. However, it revealed to be in great form and, hopefully, it would keep going until they reached Midde. It was still a long way to go, but they made progress when the night became the darkest, praying for the resolution of the sun to come rising as it did in the end of the darkest hour.
Frankie
She had hoped they would slow down at the fork, but they barreled onward relentlessly. She understood why they needed to hurry... The three of them alone? They were vulnerable, and going faster decreased the time they would be vulnerable and the likelihood that they would be attacked. But her butt hurt! She was going to be so saddle sore after this... 

At least she was starting to get used to the feel of the galloping and wasn't quite as afraid. She still held on rather tightly, but she was no longer clinging to Josephine like a drowning man to a life preserver. The were lit by the moon as they traveled along ,sticking to the road and following it towards Middle. Amaryllis was halfway afraid that they would miss some of the landmarks in the dark, but her eyes adjusted and, with the moon, she was able to discern things and figure out where they were at. 

Finally, they came to a bridge and, after crossing it, Amaryllis got Josephine's attention and said, "From here, we can follow the river to Middle. It'll be faster that way."
Eddie
The wooden bridge rolled drums with the passage of the horses, the sound being twisted to the hooving over grass and dirt when Amaryllis spoke out to follow the river. There was no better time to have water, for the sun's rays perked from the eastern horizon and slowly brought clarity to a sleeping world. Tagus had the idea of making a quick stop to rehydrate the horses that heaved as they were commanded to slow down by a pulling grip over their reins.

"Hold, hoooold..." Tagus told the horse, though Josephine would be much less strict with hers. Any of the other two could notice how smooth she was, leaning over the neck to whisper on her mount's ear. The horse flicked its pointy ears and came to a stop, which was followed by the girl sliding off its saddled back. "Want some help?" She offered Amaryllis, a hand then two that reached around the sides of the shepherdess. "Let's stretch our legs a bit!" The ride was fun, thrilling even, and it helped a great way to focus the young noble's attention in something other than her knights and the night she left behind. But, when they stopped to rest, her mind was plagued with worry and the thought that she took the lives of other beings.

When both girls were down, Josephine led the horse by softly caressing its muzzle as she walked towards the bank of the river. The mount followed without question, eager to wet its lips and savor the fresh water. A couple of birds were curious, so much that they fluttered their small wings about and ended up landing on the girl's shoulders. They chirped and leaned towards her, cocking heads left and right.

"Hello you...!" She said with a happy tone with underlying sorrow. It wasn't very hard to notice that she wasn't faring that well, especially when she sat by the horse as it drank.

Tagus pursed his lips watching this. He removed his sword from his back and laid it on the ground next to his own horse he led to the bank of the river. He never really knew what to tell his friend, but he was also in the same situation. Were the others alright? And- was killing someone that simple?
Frankie
Amaryllis was relieved when they stopped! Finally, a break, and she had no doubt that the horses were tired too after running for so long. She was sure Josie's horse was especially tired after carrying two passengers, although they were both pretty slight of build. She did end up accepting Josie's help as she slid off of the horse, and when she landed, she found her legs to be a bit weak and wobbly. Plus, her butt hurt! Who knew that the constant bouncing on horseback would make one's butt hurt that bad? How did Josie and her knights ride so far and so much?

She waddled down to the riverside, grumbling a little over the bumpy ride and her aching ass. She didn't sit by the river, but instead knelt down and drank from the cool water, cupping it in her hand and bringing it to her face so she could see around them as she drank. A moment later, she noticed the birds chirped on Josie's shoulders and her eyes widened in surprise. She had never seen birds do that! They just sat on either of her shoulders, looking at her and chirping at her. Of course, she had seen birds up close before, but never that close and that tame-acting! 

She just gawked for a bit, eyes wide and wondering, before the birds finally took flight and fluttered away. With that, she shook her head and blinked, rubbing her eyes for a moment before just sitting there in silence. She had noticed that Josie wasn't her usual self, despite Amaryllis' distraction. And a part of her knew why. The killing of another human being likely weighed heavily on the young woman... Amaryllis herself had just killed two of the wolfmen, but oddly, she felt nothing. No remorse and no guilt. Perhaps it was just that she was used to death, at this point in her life, and she understood that her survival was more important than anyone else's.

Finally, she moved toJosephine's side and tried to distract her by saying with a smile, "I've never been so glad to stop in my entire life! You ride so well! How do you do it? Ride so far, I mean."
Jeremy
Whalren Achov

Iron Gate

The guards moved quickly when giving Whalren his rations, hoping he wouldn't notice, treating him like a caged feral animal. The most obvious assumption would be that they did this out of fear, and they did, but not fear of his strength or fear of his size, fear of conversation. John De Beargh outfitted his noble cells with every amenity a hostage would need, even going as far as to not lock Whalrens cell. This meant that in order to give the bear man food, which they had to do in many trips, they would have to fully open his door and risk talking to him. He seemed to sleep at totally random hours throughout the day and was totally silent regardless of if he was conscious or not. The bear person was obviously lonely, but also excruciatingly uninteresting. Any guard brought into one of his conversations could be here for untold hours, and by De Beargh request, they shouldn't reject a conversation, as it was very rude.

As the days began to pass by, many of those responsible for him questioned why he was here. He clearly had little to no affiliation with Darin, he had no valuable information on him at all, he had nothing to do with the duke's escape. He could literally 'escape' at any time and it would almost certainly affect no one.
Eddie
It's not that the teenagers felt remorse for killing others. It was not feeling bad or wrong that made them think about what was really right. After all, they learned together that one should kill to survive and that the real world was in itself a huge battlefield they always needed to be prepared for. But Tagus didn't approach Josephine, instead letting Amaryllis take the initiative while he unstrapped his plate and rested from donning the heavy piece for so long. When his greaves and arm guards were off, he couldn't help but run off in the lightness of his body, which in comparison to the run he showed in the previous evening, was something completely new. He loved to be free of the shackles of armor and society, running freely through the fields that spanned beyond the eye could see. Josephine glanced at him run off, knowing that he wasn't only doing that for fun but to investigate deeper into the trail they would use after their much needed stop. She turned around with a polite smile more than it was genuine, her head full of things to think about, but as she took in Amaryllis' excitement, the doubts wore off her mind and let a sense of happiness settle.

"Well, my father has taught me how to ride ever since I was little." Josie explained, glancing at her new friend before gazing back to the reflection of herself in the crystal clear water. Her left hand's fingers drowned in the freshness of the river and soon fish of all kind would join to nibble on her fingers in some sort of greeting before swimming off. The first breath of wildlife was attuned to Josephine, or maybe she was attuned to the nature that surrounded them. "And I've always been good with animals. Did you know that there are horses that eat men in Taemar?" She paused, for a moment, perhaps expecting for an answer before continuing. "I didn't—until my father saw me playing with one. He said I gave everyone quite a scare too!" The girl giggled at the memory that surfaced in her mind. She was only seven when it happened, when she snuck into the end of the stables and found them, the great man-eaters of Raunkastel. "He also said that there is a region to the north where horses run without chains or saddles, wild and free." Josephine sighed then. "I wish I was with them now. They seem to live so simply... Without worries. I hope Lord Roderick and the others are okay..." She finally let out, feeling her eyes grow teary and emotional. The girl tried to hide it by moving her head away and quickly wiping the tears with the sleeve of her shirt.

Somewhere in the depths of the woodlands of Northwind, a massive howl brought an entire horde of wolfmen to its knees. On the crest of a small hill inside the valley of forest, a large man donning red wolf fur raised his big hands in white knuckled fists. Before the slope of the hill, at the very bottom, several wolfmen were lined up, whimpering and whining. They looked down in shame and sadness, despair even, as their leader spoke.

"Our ancestry goes back to the first men born of wolves! We are a strong and undefeated tribe of warriors! We do not lose until the last of the wolfmen die!" He strolled down the hill, with nothing to bear but his mystical wolf pelt to cover his back. His eyes glanced at the men kneeling in front of him, cowering with fear. "Those who run..." He continued, looking up at the blob of barbarians standing at attention. "-are not wolfmen!" Echoes of howls and roars extended towards the edges of the valley, rolling up the larger hills around it. As his followers screamed, the alpha wolf turned his yellow orbs' focus to the barbarians cheering and, without holding ceremony, grabbed the skull of one of the men before him and snapped his neck. Then another. He didn't show that he liked what he was doing, if he did. The wolfman had a stoic expression about his mangled face. "The mistake of our lessers cannot go unpunished, nor can it run amok! Our pride and our fame must not be stained by a handful of knights! Today, we prepare the horde for war! Our cubs shall accompany us in the ride to ruin of all villages and cities in our path! Northwind and the entire world of Marin will whisper the name of the one tribe that made them all fall!! Call out for your brethren! Call out for the dire wolves and the brood of Fenrir! Our path of blood and destruction begins today!!!"

Before the golden gaze of the wolfman, hundreds flocked to his call, and hundreds more would join before the horn blasted the foreboding sound of war. The barbarians were coming.
Frankie
Whatever the two teens were feeling, Amaryllis didn't understand it because she didn't feel it. She had lived to see another day, and in Northwind, that was always cause for celebration. It was a cold, harsh world out there, yet she lived again. Granted, once more, she hadn't survived on her own. If it had been just her there that night, she would have been just another sheep at the slaughter. She grimaced at the thought of what had likely happened to her flock...

At the mention of man-eating horses, however, her eyes widened and she looked rather afraid. Taemar was a long ways away, but all the same, it frightened her to know that such creatures existed! She'd rather have animals that she knew ate people and seemed natural doing so, like mountain lions and bears and wolves. Things with sharp fangs, meant for eating meat and ripping creatures apart! Horses? She shuddered a little at the thought.

She was distracted from her thoughts by Josephine's tears, and her heart instantly went out to the young woman at her side. The poor girl was having a rough go of it, no doubt. Perhaps she wasn't as sheltered as other nobles, but she had still been sheltered. And now the poor thing was suddenly flung into the cold, unforgiving world and expected to be okay. She hugged her young friend tightly, wrapping her arms around Josephine as she let the young noble have a shoulder to cry on. What a pair! A noble and a peasant: friends, confidants, emotional support. Amaryllis supposed that, if the two of them could become friends, anything was possible.

As she held Josephine, she replied, "I'm sure they're alright! They're strong and well-organized, and certainly well-trained. If it weren't for them... Last night, I would have been killed. I saw what your knights were capable of last night, and so I have no doubt that they'll be okay." She paused for a moment, then said honestly, "Though I don't know that Sir Tagus should be going off on his own... We're safer together, as a group." 

Not wanting to worry the woman further, however, she continued, "But I'm sure he'll be fine as well. He's certainly a fast runner!" She let go of Josephine then and sat back, giving her friend a little grin as she said, "Just remind me to double-check every horse I see from now on. Just in case."
Eddie
The sweet and tight hold of Amaryllis' arms was so warm that Josephine felt the shackles of blue blood running through her veins break free and her body adopt a more comfortable posture against the lithe frame of the shepherdess. She was in a safe haven, abandoned from guilt of murder or worry of others. She felt alright, even though her eyes motioned for her to cry further. The tears that rolled down her cheeks, from the corners of her large green eyes, each swept away the feeling of anxiety she once had. Josie clung to her friend's support, hands on Amaryllis' shoulders.

"They are my father's best warriors, he said. I'd like you to meet my father someday." She spoke calmly, but there was a sulk then and about. It didn't phaze her if such display of weakness towards a peasant should be beneath her. That status always felt like an illusion to her, and it was showing in the real world. The mirror of lies was broken long before she took a step outside of her home. It was hard all the same to know everything was grey as she thought. Out of the pantheon her father taught her, and all the talk about spirits, she quite liked Camira and her tales. They were filled with freedom and the joy of the wild, but dig further into her stories and there were the allegories to darker things. She learned about herself, mostly, because her mind was in the constant struggle to develop and memorize names, the number of staff in her household, their faces, their schedules, the Pithagorean Theorem, her knights, finding a lot of relief when she found Tagus after two years of limited interaction.

She met him in the marketplace, with his back facing her as he tried to protect her. He didn't know her and was some peasant, but a lot of people were watching and none stopped. It was a city bustling with activity, who would notice with their blank eyes, projected in their small egotistical world, a little kid being harassed by others. And her hero coming in, for a beating shortly after, but still a victor. The fight was broken by Lord Roderick and Hausel, who barked the most and inspired fright in the young boys. They insulted the knights as they ran. Tagus sat up and have her a stupid smile. She couldn't stop laughing. Her father hit the nape of her neck lightly and she cleared her throat, tears in her eyes and a wide swept grin of joy looking at the boy. Clovis was taken more my a faith dislocated from the pantheon and more towards his daughter. She was just a child still, yet she had no friends that made her look like that. He looked at the young boy and nodded at him. "You, boy. What's your name? What's your full name?"

Tagus blinked and looked at the man with a wobbly head. He sat his hands on the ground to further keep his body, but his head was a bit loose from all the pounding. Roderick knelt beside him and gave him his right knee. The boy accepted it instinctively. His head was laying against the thigh guard. He could watch Roderick more clearly, without his brain wriggling about. "I'm sorry, my lord. *Can* You repeat that?"

The thugs hit him with some solid punches before he downed. His fight was lacking, surely, at least the knowledge of it. Clovis was catching on to what he didn't see, though perhaps not everything. He still didn't know why the boy would do such a thing. "Your- full- name." The noble spoke with pause between each word, making sure each would enter the rocked little world of the boy.

"Tagus- Portus- Ibericus." He answered back, naturally and without actual candor beyond the one Clovis spoke with. It was certainly a bit different with gruff from the act of talking alone. There was disorientation clinging with the boy that was swept when he saw the eyes of the nobleman. Was he glaring at him? Staring deeply into his eyes and seeing his life? He heard a rumor that the man in front of him could do that. Or was it another one? All nobles looked the same, but this one had knights pouring around the Knight Commander, up to six. They were assembled and waiting the noble man's order.

"Tagus, I'd like to treat you back at my place." He spoke like he would a boy, a teen of higher or lower birth, whatever. "You can probably tell by my outfit that I have coin.-"

"Lord-" The interjection was banned from sound at the utterance of the syllable of the first word. It was silenced by principle from whoever knight it was.

"Yes! It's time to go. Shall we, Tagus? Josephine?"

Josephine was thrilled by her father's idea. Of course he'd help her hero and *Friend*. That was something that would truly unravel after Tagus was healed and sent to the barracks. They managed to meet here and there, but...

"He fears he isn't strong enough. He's always trying to catch up to some shadow. You know? He really looks up to every knight in this journey, even Hausel. They all trained and did service together for two years. Since Tagus joined, that is. I've known some all my life!" Josephine was much better, though her eyes were a bit red. She was happy she had met another friend, so suddenly and quickly wrapped. It was surely a bit more different than with Tagus. But it also felt true. And it was because it felt so true. It wasn't love that guided her steps, at least not the kind of love the people talk about all the time. Love had been twisted to interest and contract, but in the wilderness, with Amaryllis and no novel restraint, she was free express and feel.

"We made sure not to bring them. They... Look scary for some people... Well, a lot of them." She gave a little evil laugh, though there was a bit of guilt in her heart. Her father warned her that it was best not to take the horse she chose, never really saying why because she should know better. "At the first scream, please turn around." He told her. The ride didn't last long. They turned around at the walls of the castle. The peasants outside thought it was the Death March! It was a small crowd, but it was a little difficult to contain. Many ran, but later got the ruse. Why would a child ride the man-eater? That was the next question. Of course, the whole city knew about it. And more drama ensued.

A few dozens of meters away, Tagus was taking a bath. It was a quick nip and out he was, scratching his sack and whipping his pipe. Then he shook his body and head, off all the water excess. Tagus let himself dry for a bit in the sight of the sun, eyes closed and accute hearing. The deaths of last night crept into his mind. He saw their faces when he hit them. Some didn't really have a face anymore. They started to be mouths screaming. Faceless mouths. Several of them, as if he had killed a horde, displayed themselves before him. He opened his eyes.

"If that's what it takes." He looked back at the pit stop area, distant enough he could see, but frames and no actual detail. Best for his nudity to act, without others around. When he was getting dressed, shirt in and a sleeve of the pant in, two men rushed toward him with their weapons drawn. It was a dagger one and a sword two, both black like iron. Tagus was practically nude again, so he focused on their soft clothes and how he had to fight them. Hopefully they'd just rush him both and he could try to knock them down on each other. When they did, his feet shifted and ankles turned for him to dodge to the right, left flank of the unknown attackers. He kicked the side of the leg of the one closest to him, number two, and made him trip and go low in front of his friend. Tagus gave one no chance and jumped, pair-footed, onto his skull. That would leave a mark. Percussive drums, heavy and loud, emerged in the man's brain. The other, holding the dagger, threw slashes and thrusts at the boy. They were meant to scare or elude, for the man took two steps at a time and at times, with no real pattern.
Frankie
Amaryllis smiled and shook her head at Josphine, finding the young woman rather entertaining. Of course man-eating horses would frighten people! But her "Evil" Laugh was amusing to Amaryllis and made her smile. The two of them continued to chat for a bit, as Amaryllis was doing her best to distract her fried from how she was feeling after the battle. She wanted her to be happy! So she chatted away and asked Josephine to tell her more about herself.

Their conversation was interrupted, however, by the cry of one of the men attacking Tagus as he was felled. It was a short, piercing cry that ended abruptly. Too abruptly. Instantly, Amaryllis was on her feet and looking around for where the cry had come from, calling out, "Tagus? Sir?" She looked around for a weapon of some sort, but alas, she had none. Her shepherd's staff had been left behind, and she had nothing with which to defend herself.
Eddie
The men were in the middle of it and too far away for the sound of Amaryllis' voice to have any effect. Tagus, fighting for his life, saw an opportunity in grabbing the man's wielding hand, but he just tossed the dagger to the upcoming left and, in that process, Tagus simply pulled with his arms and thrust his hip forward as he shot his long leg towards the gut of the man. The attacker was surprised by the tug, but otherwise focused in going for the face with his weapon. He ignored the lengthier limb coming from below that made him groan and bend his body forward. By the time he tried to react to the foot on the abdomen, the leg was gone and Tagus moving around him. He threw a fast right hook square on the face of the perpetrator. Another hook, with his left, ensued as upper body rotated to the other side of the coming punch, bringing the arm forward as the knuckles pounded the flesh and temple.

"Who are you?!" He asked loud and sternly. Perhaps the girls could hear the shouting. It didn't go much beyond the men cowering, concussed and confused. Their weapons confiscated, the two knaves tried to weasel out of the knight's grasp. He sneered in response and used the blades they wanted to use on him to kill them. One was stabbed in the chest with his own sword, the other, his throat was slitted. They never did tell Tagus who they were, nor did they make sense. The two men were hesitant of saying their purpose, and the boy didn't think of torture. They did try to kill him, however, and they would do so again with the way they tried to always come at range of his limbs.

"I heard that!" Josephine stated. "Let's get the horses and ride to Tagus. You *Can* Ride a horse now, right?" She said in a rush, going for the woundless one.
Frankie
Amaryllis froze at that, her eyes widening and her face paling a little. Just the fact that she had ridden behind Josephine did not, by any means, mean that she could ride a horse now. She had no clue how to ride! Instead, she just kind of shook her head and replied, "N-no. I'll... I'll run and catch up. You go on." Without waiting for a reply, she ran in the direction that she had heard Tagus' voice come from, through the briers and thick shrubbery along the bank of the river. Josephine would have to go around all that, while Amaryllis could cut directly through it.
Eddie
Josephine giggled at Amaryllis' reaction. Maybe she half expected the girl to act like that, but a side of her was warm because of it. Although there was worry and danger in the air, she was happy that Amaryllis could anchor her. She was focused in the gallop, though they arrived late.

"They didn't answer me. Just tried to go for their weapons." Tagus said with a blank stare. Despite being mounted, Josephine didn't arrive much earlier than Amaryllis. The shepherdess was there as well when Tagus spoke.

"You did well." The young noble soothed him, dropping from her mount to touch his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, but I think we should gather our things and go."

Blood trickled from bodies drowning in the bank. It cloaked the river's lower streams red, darkening its shade.
Frankie
The blood in the water reminded Amaryllis, once more, just how close she was to death at any moment. It was something that she had learned from a young age, and she had fought to survive up to this point, but one simple cut with a knife... She shuddered a little at that and bit her lower lip, then shifted her gaze to Tagus. His voice sounded wooden and strained, and his eyes... He was struggling.

Her heart went out to the young man, and she wished, more than anything, that she could do something to make it all better. Yet, she knew nothing and could offer him nothing, despite how badly she wanted to do just that. 

Amaryllis nodded at his suggestion and made her way back to the river, gathering up their things and putting their meager possessions into the pack on the horse's back. By the time Tagus and Josephine had returned, the horse and Amaryllis were both ready to go. With Josephine's help, she mounted the horse and wrapped her arms around Josephine once more, saying, "We should be there by sunset."
Eddie
The eighteen year old rolled his arms and nodded at himself. Yes, that should be their next course of action. Josephine agreed and they were soon back at the makeshift camp. The knight clad himself in the hard and heavy armor and mounted his horse while the girls mounted theirs.

"The faster we ride to Midde, the better." Tagus said.

With that in mind, the young noble went ahead and set up the pace of their journey, making it swift though not as fast as before. She was eager to get away from the bodies of dead men and eat herself a hearty meal from some inn, sleep in a warm bed. And wait for her knights to catch up with them.
Frankie
They rode for several more hours, but just as Amaryllis has said, when the first shades of pink began to color the mountain sky, Middle came into view in the valley below them. They made their way down the pass into the city, where the three of them were greeted warmly. Visitors were fewer in number here, though trading caravans made their way through here occasionally during the summer months on their journey to the Witherlands. Before long, they had procured lodging and both horses were put up in a stable. Now they just waited for their companions to catch up with them.

Amaryllis breathed a sigh of relief when they made it to the town. With the wolfmen on the prowl south of here, Amaryllis was glad to get back to the safety of a comfort. Here, they would be sheltered by the protection of a group, as well as the few soldiers here. It was also nice to sleep in a nice warm bed as well, along with having a wonderful meal cooked by a plump elderly woman that made some of the best food she had ever had.
Eddie
They were grateful for the safe journey from the river all the way to Midde. Tagus was glad they had a good guide alongside them, but the knights would probably be delayed because of being short of one. However, the young boy tried to shake those thoughts. He was inside the bedroom they rented for the night, removing and packing his armor for the time they remained in the town. With any luck, it wouldn't take long for Lord Roderick to arrive.

Josephine was downstairs, already changed out of her armor and wearing casual clothing of simple fabric. She had ordered a soup and a loaf of bread, just to snuff her appetite. They hadn't eaten since the previous night, basically doing the whole journey without rest.
Frankie
Amaryllis washed up outback, enjoying the feeling of the cool water from the well and the wonderful scent of the soap the keep had given to her. It was a welcome change, and she was definitely in a better mood after a good meal, washing up, and settling in. Her butt hurt something awful though, and it showed as she walked around all bow-legged and stiff.

After washing up, she joined her friend, sitting down across from Josephine as she asked, "How are you feeling?"