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Enough. There were armed people approaching. Friend or foe, he didn't know, so best to be cautious. "'Ere, someone's coming!" Burne said in a harsh whisper. "Sounds like a lot of 'em, too. From the racket, they're armed. Anybody here know what they're about." He stops to look at Fledgel pointedly. There was something he didn't like about this fellow, though it was only a hunch. "Let's be ready for trouble, but not go ebout startin' none." He stings his bow, and gets one of his heavier arrows out. If all went well, a fight could be avoided.
Sooner than you expected, the trees are brushed aside, and four husky, armed men burst through. The moon glints off their dirty swords and chain-mail. They don't smell too clean. Judging by their heraldry they are obviously a patrol of the Earl's guards. Upon seeing you, one of the men speaks up, with a stuffy tone: "What are the two of you doig here id the dark?" says the guard. You look around. No Fledgel. Figures.
"How are we supposed to keep a secure patrol with people campig out on the fringe? You two better bead it. The nearest town's eight hours dat way," as he points north. One of the guards coughs.
That's strange. You could have sworn the nearest town was just down the hill a couple of miles. Timglae. In fact, you can see it from here.
"Now bead it."
Jiriss gives a nice sheepish smile to the guards. She whispers to Burne, without turning her head. "What do you want to do? I don't think we can take these guys. We could move off for now, and try to sneak past the patrol into Timglae later." She is thinking to herself: when I get my hands on that Fledgel...!
Burne nods and mutters, "I be thinkin' the same thing."
He tips his hat to the guards. "Sorry ta be in yer way, sirs. Didn't mean ta be causin' no trouble." He picks up his things and heads in the direction the guard pointed, intending to double back when they're out of sight. He feels a bit guilty about the ruse, but his curiosity has been piqued by the obvious lie.
When out of earshot of the guards, he comments to Jiriss, "That be odd. Why are the guards lyin' ta us when we can see the town. Somethin' ain't right about the whole thang. Like they're tryin' ta herd us away from Timglae."
In the darkness, Jiriss and Burne head through the trees. The night air is nippy, and vapour ascends from their breath. A commotion can be heard from back where the guards were. Some shouting, and fast footsteps. Then quiet.
"I wonder what that was.." says Jiriss.
A few minutes later, another, similar (but more distant) sounding commotion again. The guards' angry shouts can be heard. Then it is quiet again. Approximately five minutes later, a figure appears before the two. It's Fledgel, and his shirt is slightly ripped. He's seems out of breath.
(Pant) "They almost caught me," (pant) "but I got away..". As he catches his breath, he shivers a bit. "Let's go down to Timglae!". The three carefully turn and head toward the village. At one point, they accidentally pass dangerously close to another patrol (could it be the same one?) but manage to slip by.
Under the cover of night, the three find it easy to slip into the village. The village is rather quiet - most folk are tucked away in bed. Heading past some darkened pens and wooden homes, some coughing can be heard. A baby is crying in the night. Finally, they approach the main part of the village. One of the taverns, called "the Green Cockle" looks busy. An inn further down the cobble street has vacancies.
Fledgel instinctively heads off toward the tavern. Meanwhile, a little further up the street, a group of at least two dozen people are gathered. They seem to be close to the Iris temple. Drawing nearer, the crowd seem to be lined up outside the doors. Some of them are being carried. A weary-looking man, clothed in white, appears at the door. He addresses the crowd.
"I'm terribly sorry, but we can not help anyone else tonight." Moans and grumbles can be heard from the crowd. A few people cough. Some people begin to turn away.
"What are we to do, we shall die!" calls forth a desperate man. The weary man looks heart-broken.
"We have done all we can. It is now up to the will of Iris." He casts some petals onto the crowd, and chants a blessing. Then he begins locking the doors to the temple.
Jiriss turns to Burne, "I don't know about that Fledgel. I'm not paying him to drink in a tavern. When we see him again we're going to have a little talk. And if he doesn't quit taking off, I'm going to punch him out!"
She pauses for a moment. "Anyway, isn't this a temple of your faith? I think we should go speak to that priest, and find out what's going on."
Burne hurries to the doors, hoping to reach them just in time.
"Par'n me sir! Hey, cin I 'ave a moment? Me name be Burne FitzOwen, maybe ye know me? I be a follower of Iris, so maybe ye seen me once or twice 'round here. I don't be wantin' nothin' from ye but a bit o' yer time! Please sir!"
Burne is perplexed... these people seem to be sick. Their group had just recently taken some "medicine". Could they be related? "At least that'll help solve one mystery," he thinks.
The voice of Fledgel can be clearly heard down the street, coming from the direction of the tavern. "Aaaaaaah! Help! They're taking me away!! Please don't kill me. Jiriss? Burne? HEEEELP!!" The sound of clinking chains can also be heard.
"Burne, I think Fledgel's gotten himself in trouble again. I better go help him. You can stay here and talk to the priest if you want." With that, Jiriss heads off running down the street to where all the commotion is. As she is running, it looks like she is casting something.
Burne mutters to himself, "Guess those answers'll have to wait." He quickly follows Jiriss, but refrains from drawing his weapons. "Listen Jiriss, don't be jumpin' ta no fights. If e's bein' arrested fer cheatin' at cards or some liftin' someone's purse, it'd serve him right. Friend," he stopped speaking for a moment. "Companion or no companion," he corrected, "if e done wrong, we won't be doin' no good ta nobody by savin' him."
There's a group of four guards carrying Fledgel off.
"What's going on here?" pipes Jiriss, hands on her hips.
"We were just getting some subber, and this little THIEF starts harassing one of the patrons. Then we realized he's the sabe wretch who tried to nab Garru's money pouch. So we're arresting the little bast--" He pauses for a moment, and then it dawns on everyone. These are the same patrol men you ran into by the camp fire!
"Wait a minute! You two are from out of town. You're not supposed to be here either!" Three of the stalky men begin to circle Burne and Jiriss. Two of them pull out some shackles.
The guard who's holding Fledgel speaks. "So you know them, eh? These are friends of yours, Fledgel?" The guard pokes him with a finger.
"Mmph!" exclaims Fledgel, through a tight gag, shaking his head.
"You're all under arrest," he states, as they draw their swords.
Burne sighs. He readies his sword in one hand, his axe in the other, and moves into a slight combat-ready crouch. "I cain't remember the last time it were against no law ta come inta no town. 'Specially seein' as I tend ta regard THIS here village as me home. 'Sides, ye never TOLD us not ta be here. Sure ye hinted an' all, but a hint don't count as law. That ain't right. I don't like fightin' but if ye think bein' the earl's men gives ye the right ta throw yer weight around whenever ye feels like it, it's a fight ye'll get!"
One of the men leaves, carrying Fledgel off. The three remaining men close in on Jiriss and Burne, swords in one hand, shackles in the other.
With the men closing in, Burne and Jiriss attack first. Burne slashes with his long sword at one of the guards that is close to him, and misses. He tries to hook the shackles with a hand axe and misses again.
"I won't be goin' down easy!" states Burne.
Jiriss slices at a guard with her scimitar. She misses wildly. The guards close in a little tighter. A guard tries to jab at her, but misses.
The first guard takes two useless slashes at Burne. The other gives him a small slice on his left shoulder. Burne slashes back, delivering a wicked blow to the first guard's left arm!
A quick glance over at Jiriss. The guard that was fighting her looks disoriented. She tries to take advantage of this, but misses again. She doesn't appear to be hurt at all.
Burne mutters "What the 'ell am I thinkin' ?!? Me axe are too clumsy ta use this way!". He drops the hand axe, and quickly grabs his dagger. He swings with his sword twice, but cuts through the air.
The third guard has lost interest in Jiriss, and turns to Burne. Jiriss nails him squarely in the back with her scimitar.
Burne is surrounded by the three guards. The one that was wounded in the arm, gets lucky and deals a wicked blow to Burne's left knee. The back-swing from the same attack glances off his temple. Burne winces in pain. Fortunately, the other guards' blows merely glance off Burne's armour.
Things aren't looking good. Jiriss desperately tries to help, but misses the guard who's back is to her. Feeling the warm blood trickling down his face, Burne switches to a more defensive stance. He takes a swing, but it bounces off the chain mail. He holds back, ready to block the next attack.
The guards, each take a swipe in turn. The first one swings wide and almost drops his sword. Another guard misses. The third one does a tricky little twist, avoiding Burne's block and slicing deeply into his left shin.
Jiriss' sword lowers slightly as she looks ruefully at Burne. He's sure she feels guilty for dragging him into this. It's hard to see where the wounds stop and Burne begins.
The guard with the gashed arm looks bloodthirsty, like he's in a rage. The guard who hasn't been hit (he looks like the strongest), seems to look questioningly at Burne. There's a momentary pause. Even pausing is taxing for Burne, who's left leg has two deep wounds.
"I ain't givin' ye the satisfaction, bastards! Ye'll have ta earn yer VICTIM," Burne grunts, placing heavy emphasis on the last word. "If et's yer job ta take in people who wasn't causin' no trouble 'til ye decided ye didn't like the look of 'em, then yer in the wrong callin'. I'd ruther go down fightin' like a man then be taken in by a law wit' no justice!" With that, he doubles his efforts. He hopes his ma would've been proud of him.
As he makes his next attack, he bellows, "Jiriss!!! Get your arse outa here!! Let others know what the earl's men 're doin!!! Now run!!!"
Jiriss runs, and the three guards ignore her. Meanwhile, Burne clenches his teeth and keeps fighting. He nails the formerly uninjured guard in the left elbow. His other attacks miss. One swift blow from a guards sword, and everything goes dark...
Burne awakens to the soft, itchy feeling of hay. His body is stiff, and the feeling of dried blood is on his face. His leg now feels a gnawing pain; without the adrenaline of last night, the pain is much stronger. Someone bandaged him. He wonders if Jiriss managed to get far enough away.
He looks around. Stone. Bars. Musty. Must be the Earl's castle. A beam of dusty light streams down at an angle, its strength indicating noon-time. But it's a cold day. Burne tries to stand, but his head throbs from the wound to his temple. He speaks Fledgel's name aloud. No answer. He must be imprisoned somewhere else. How much time has passed since the battle?
He limps over to the window bars. They look pretty sturdy. He slowly moves over to the door. It doesn't look as strong. Made of iron bars, it's hinges look rusted and cracked. Burne feels weak. He slumps on the straw bed, and sleep overcomes him.
"Burne? ... Burne!" That's Jiriss' voice. He sees a moon-lit arm poke through the window bars.
"Jiriss, is that y--"
"SHHHHHH! The guards will hear. Hurry, touch my hand." Burne limps over to the wall. Reaching up, he feels a small, cold hand grasp his. Then he feels a surge of tingling warmth go through his whole body.
"Hey, ye sure makin' me feel good," whispers Burne. A second, weaker wave of warmth goes through him. He feels a bit better.
Burne grips the bars in his hands. With a deep breath, he tries with all his strength to bend the bars. They won't budge. Jiriss tries, but can't. They both try together, but again, the bars won't budge.
"Wait..." she says.
A few minutes later, Jiriss returns with a large stick. She attempts to pry the bars with it, but again, nothing happens. Frustrated, she sits down in the wet grass.
"I found out that everyone in Timglae is sick with some disease. When they try to cure it, it works for only a few people. For most, it goes away for a while, then it comes back. Some people have already died. And they won't let people out of the city, for fear that they'll get more people sick. They're all going to die, soon." She looks around outside, then sticks her face in the window again.
"I had a hard time getting out of town. They caught me the first time. They were going to bring me here, but I pretended I was sick. So they brought me back to town. The second time I managed to get out. I can't find Fledgel."
"(Sigh) Burne, what are we going to do?" Jiriss is shivering. It's very cold outside, and she's wet from the dew. The moon is bright, and she's a sitting duck outside on the castle wall.
"Ye have anything I cin use as a tool? A dagger or somethin'? Mebbe I kin use that."
"Sorry," she says, feeling around her pockets. "Just my scimitar, but I'll need that in case something attacks me."
"Now get out'a sight girl! Ye won't do nobody no good if ye get caught!" states Burne.
"Okay, I'll leave. But I'm coming back. I'm going to Ravendale instead of Timglae. I figure its safer. It's bigger, and I know my way around better. I'll see if I can buy a tool or something."
She looks around outside, again. "I'll need at least a day to do the round-trip. That's if I can get a friend to lend me a horse for the way back. When I come back I can heal you up more.. you still look really weak." With that, she takes a few deep breaths, then bolts for the trees.
Burne sighs. So much secrecy. So much he didn't know. At least now the pieces seem to fall together. The guards were enforcing some sort of quarantine. "Why didn't they jest say so? Woulda' saved everyone a lot o' trouble, and spared me a few bumps in the process."
He considered. Maybe they were keeping it secret. Why? So as not to cause a panic? Then why weren't they prevented from entering the town when they got there? "Foolishness. At least if people know ebout what's goin' on, they can protect 'emselves."
Maybe people DID know what's going on, and it was this damned memory lapse. He shudders. Maybe it was a commonly known edict, and he had forgotten it along with so much else. In that case, it was just possible that he HAD broken a law other than standing up for himself, without knowlege. Whatever happened, while he once respected the earl and his men, his regard for them was rapidly dissolving.
Burne slumps back down on the bed. She was right - he was feeling weak, even after some healing.
He stands up, and moves over to the door of iron bars. He tries to bend the bars, or rip the door off its hinges. No luck, despite its aged appearance. Looks like he's trapped. At least some rest will do him good. He falls asleep on the straw bed.
At day-break, Burne is feeling a bit better. The day in prison passes by uneventfully. No sign or sound of Fledgel. The pasty meals are not something to look forward to. Sleeping most of the day, Burne manages to store up a bit more strength. Quickly, night falls. Burne stays up, awaiting Jiriss' return.
Soon, he hears a whisper at the window. Jiriss is there, on foot. She looks exhausted. She reaches through, and heals Burne twice. Now he is feeling much better. Nervously, she passes something through the bars. It's a small coil of strange wire.
"It's called sand-wire," she whispers. "You can use it like a file to cut through the bars. Don't run out until ten seconds after the guards pass by the window. I'll wait by the trees over there, and then we can talk." She darts off for the trees, where she had pointed.
Burne pulls out some of the wire. It feels coarse. He strings it around the center bar, and begins drawing it back and forth. It begins cutting through the soft iron bar surprisingly quickly. He does this until it is almost cut through. Then he begins on the next bar. Occasionally he stops to allow the wire to cool down.
While he's doing this, the guards pass by. They didn't see anything. Burne continues and the whole process takes about an hour. After all the filing, he waits. The guards pass by again. He puts the wire away, and quickly tries to bend the bars. It's harder than he thought, but he manages to bend them inward. He scrambles out the window, and makes a run for the trees. He trips in the darkness, but manages to get up and into the trees without being seen by any guards. There was definitely some luck working for him there.
Jiriss is waiting in the trees with a nice horse.
"We'll have to share it, if that's okay," she states. "It took me about three hours to return from Ravendale on horseback." She sighs. "I'm so tired... Anyway, the people in Ravendale don't seem to know that the people in Timglae are sick. I spoke to one person who knew there are guards blocking entrance into the village, but he didn't know why. What do you think we should do now?" she asks.
