"Oh for the love of-" Wulfsen snatched the reins from Lek. "Hold on!" Wulfsen put his horse into a gallop, Lek's mare had no choice but to keep up.

Shawn bit his lip to keep from laughing as he followed at the same pace.

Lek clung to the saddle. He was going to die.

From the Raiders->

Cyan was getting tired, it was getting harder to keep her head above water. She did not know if she had lost the raiders or not, but knew if she stayed in the river any longer should would drown. She swam to shore and pulled herself halfway out of the water, then flopped down on her back with her feet still in the river to rest. She felt her belly and was rewarded by the small flutter. Maybe Baby Kedves would grow up to be a swimmer. After Cyan caught her breath she looked around.

There was a road. Cyan got up and walked over to it. The road looked sort of familiar. A cold wind blew and Cyan shivered, clutching her wet tattered clothes to herself as she tried to figure out where she was. She was beginning to feel confused and tired. She sat in the road.

Portside! That's where this road led. She had been to Portside a few times. So this road also should lead to Buckley Village. Cyan wanted to go home, but then she remembered what had happened. Would there even be anyone still alive there? They were destroying the village. So she should go to Portside. Cyan got up and walked back and forth a few times, she could not remember which way was Portside. She was so cold her teeth were chattering. The wind would not quit and she was soaked to the bone.

Finally Cyan sat down in the middle of the road again, hugging herself trying to keep warm and untangle her mind. She was too cold to notice that her hands were still bleeding.

Aalyssa sat upon the wagon bench. She watched the scenery as she continued to go over in her mind what she needed to do in Portside.  She didn't venture there often and was hoping to be able to locate what they needed. And then she spotted the young woman on the side of the road. "Hold!" she called.

Once the wagon stopped, Aalyssa jumped down and approached the young woman. "Are you all right?"

Cyan sluggishly got to her feet and was making ready to run into the trees when the woman approached her.

"Don't hurt me." Cyan said, looking from the woman to the men with her.

The men wore matching uniforms and armor... The raiders had been all mismatched, most did not have armor, much less uniforms. These were not raiders? Cyan shivered and tried to cover herself better with her torn clothes. Blood dripped from her fingers. She was so cold and tired it was hard to make sense of what was going on. This woman seemed kind, but Cyan recalled the midwife who worked with the raiders.

"Cold." Cyan whispered. "Please, don't let them hurt me."

"I won't harm you," Aalyssa vowed. She spoke in a calming voice but made no move to touch the woman in anyway. "Nor will these men, they are the knights of Lord Thornblade who only just arrived to oversee Buckley Village. I'm Aalyssa, I'm healer in the village with Difyr. You should have those injuries looked at.

Cyan stared at the woman until she recognized her. "You work with Difyr. I saw her just a couple days before... before." Cyan noticed for the first time that her hands were bleeding. She shook her head.

"Help." Cyan pleaded, reaching for Aalyssa. "I can't lose my baby- it's all I have left from Coop."

Make a palette in the back of the wagon," she ordered the men, her arms going around Cyan. "We're going to do everything we can for you." Aalyssa looked at the men. "We need to get her back to Difyr and then we can go back out." Once the palette was ready, she nearly lifted Cyan into the wagon and a few of the men came to help her. Aalyssa climbed up beside her.

Cyan was shivering.

"Those men... They have others." Cyan said fretfully. "The-the virgins they're going to make brides when they get to Boville. But the others... They were going to start a brothel with the women but they were slowing them down- they're going to kill them."

Aalyssa glanced toward a knight who nodded. "They're headed for Boville you say? When we get to the keep, there will be a squad sent out in that direction, I'm sure." Aalyssa received another nod. "There, that's settled, let's concentrate on you for now." She ran her hands over gently over Cyan's stomach.

One of the knights took off his cloak and held it out to Aalyssa for the girl. He could not help but take a look at her though.

"Is that a bite?" He blurted, then blushed and averted his eyes. "My apologies."

Aalyssa accepted the cloak. Cyan would welcome it once the exam was over. Her attention went to the mark the knight had mentioned. "It appears so," she said with a hint of anger.

In reply to Lyssa (msg # 69):

Some color rose in Cyan's cheeks. Now that she was not so numb from the cold her shoulders were aching, not just from the bite but from the strain the hairy old man had put on them. She self consciously covered the bite mark with her hand.

She worriedly looked up at Aalyssa.

"The baby's all right, isn't he? I could feel him kicking after I got out of the water." Cyan nervously chewed on her lip. "I did everything I could to protect him."

The knight politely turned his back to give privacy. "I would like to be on the squad that goes after those... cads." He was embarrassed but angry.

In reply to Cyan (msg # 72):

"I don't see any indication of danger to him, but I'll want you to rest for a few days. No moving around at all." Aalyssa tucked the cloak around her to warm her up. She looked to the knight. "While I settle Cyan in the healing room, you can speak with Xavier about the squad and wanting to be on it."

Cyan rested her hands over her belly, hoping Aalyssa was right. She felt another reassuring flutter and relaxed a little.

"I don't know if the other women have much time." Cyan told Aalyssa and the knight. "One of those men was talking to me with a knife to my throat about killing the... he called them whores... but sparing just a few for mistresses."

"Lord DeVale will have a squad dispatched very quickly. And the men can move faster on horse than they can on foot."
This message was last updated by the player at 03:38, Sat 12 Mar 2016.

"That's why they are going to kill these women- because the woman are slowing them down." Cyan said. "The raiders might kill them right where they're camping now... Probably by tomorrow morning."

"We'll send the best men with the fastest mounts. We will do everything possible to get to the other women," Aalyssa vowed.

Cyan still looked worried, but it did not look like there was anything else she could do. Hopefully the raiders would not start murdering the women right away. She made herself as comfortable as she could on the pallet, the wagon was hitting a couple bumps. She held her belly.

"Where are we going?" She asked Aalyssa.

"We're going to the abandoned keep just outside of the village. It's not much to look at right now, being rundown, but it's safe  We have knights on guard everywhere. Just relax."

Pain flared through Cyan's shoulders. She stifled a groan.

"My baby will be all right?"

'"If you remain calm and relaxed, I see no reason why he shouldn't be. He feels like a strong, healthy babe."

"Everything I did was to protect him." Cyan said softly. "It was the last thing Coop asked of me."