There it was again.. That sensation of falling..
I jumped to my feet and drew my basket hilt and dagger, ready to fight more of Virgil's monsters, but none were found. I was back at my camp, and it seemed that no time had passed at all. My sudden jump to my feet had startled the dogs, and woken my horse. I could feel the warmth of the campfire I had gotten going just before I had passed out.. before I was pulled into that horrible place.. had it all been a dream?
No, although I had not been there physically, the pain that wracked my body was real, that horrible feeling of failure ripped me to pieces on the inside. I dropped to my knees and let out a yell of frustration that echoed loudly among the snow covered tree's. I drove my fist hard into the frozen ground and continued to do so until my arm was to heavy for me to lift. Giving into my exhaustion I soon lost consciousness.
When I woke at sunrise I went about getting ready to leave, but it was all muscle memory. I was lost deep in my mind, I might as well of been back in Hades. I mounted my horse and spurred it forward, giving no command to my dogs to follow, who only did so after realizing no command was coming but i continued to venture forth. I was so out of it, and so lost in reliving what had transpired the night before, that I hadn't even noticed that I had in fact come across the cattle thieves I had forgotten I was supposed to be tracking down.
"Yoo picked the wrong camp to stumble on."
There was five of them. They must have just gotten around to packing to move out because their tents were still pitched in a horse shoe shape around a smoldering fire. To my right, under the protection of some overhanging branches were the three cows they had made off with.
It was at the sight of the cows that I remembered the letter I had gotten from father. "Oh. Yeah." It was all I was able to muster. To be honest, I had no interest in fighting them at all. In my current state they could keep the damned cows for all I cared, but in my experience, thieves will do anything to keep their catch, even attack unprovoked.
The first attack came from my right. I parried the attack by grabbing the wrist of the hand that held the dagger ment for me and pushed it away from me, but pulled my attacker closer. I drove my head into his, I was wearing a helmet. He was not. He dropped to the ground hard, his hands clutching his nose, which bleed profusely. This spurred the others into attacking. The first man to reach me caught my hammer to the gut, which dropped him to his knees, winding him. They were not fighters by any stretch of the imagination. Probably simple folk down on their luck who needed money and had decided to steal to get it. I swung the hammer over my head and around to strick my third attacker but was blinded sided by a fourth I hadn't noticed. My hammer dropped to the ground and I found myself rolling around on the ground with my attacker, his buddies cheering him on. When we finally stopped rolling, I managed to pin the man to the ground, rasing my fist I brought it down hard into the side of the man's head. The second my fist made contact, Hawkthorns face flashed before my eyes.
I froze a moment. Over come by my anger I brought my fist down again, this time it was Marcus I saw, which drove my anger further.
Over and over again my fist made contact with the man's face. Soon I was unable to control myself. "You let them die!" I shouted as I drove my fist into the man yet again "you left them behind" again I hit him "you could have done more!" Another hit "you should have done more" two more hits "it should have been you!" The leather on my gloves tore open and soon both my knuckles and the man's face were torn open and bleeding freely. With every hit visions of Hades flashed in my mind. Even after my arm grew tired and sore I continued to hit the man, who had stopped moving. I did not even notice his two friends trying to get me off him, I drove my fist into his face, blood splattering mine. "You coward!" I hit him again, his head jerked violently "you don't deserve the life you have been given!" My voice echoed loudly through the snow blanketed forest. It was the call of my name that broke me from my anger. Turning I looked to see who had called my name. So did the other thieves. If she had not removed her hat, I would not have recognized Maisie at all. She stared at me through fearful eyes. In one hand i held the bloody pulp of a man, the other was a blood stained mess help poised to strick it's target again. I dropped the man to the ground and his friends pulled him away, all five of them mounted their horses and raced off, leaving behind the cows. I straightened myself out and marched across the camp to Maisie. For a moment I stood there, looking at her, anger still gripped me. "You shouldn't be here" i grabbed her hat from her hands forcefully "We are going home."
The two days it took us to get home were silent. Neither of us spoke. Maisie rode my horse since hers had been lost, well I led the cows on foot. We didn't stop to make camp. Maisie slept on the horse and i led them through the night. The landscape was white, covered in a thick blanket of snow, but it seemed empty and vastless to me. It held no beauty in my eyes. Everything was empty.
By the time dawn came around i could see the mountains that marked the start of our land.
As we rounded the bend toward the farm i elbowed Maisie's foot to wake her. As we walked into the farm I noticed Maisie's horse eating by the barn. Not surprising. All our horses were trained to find their way home. I handed the reins of my horse to my mother who was practically in tears to see Maisie home safe. Then I handed the rope that I had tied to the cows, to my dad, but I didn't stop to talk. My dad had tried to start up a conversation but I pushed past him, ignoring him as he called out to me. My dogs stopped with the cows and I made my way down to the small lakeside cabin alone. I shut the door behind me and I locked it. The last thing I wanted was to be around anyone.
I do not own any of these photos. All and full credit to the owners.
No comments:
Post a Comment