A quiet, simultaneous sigh was shared by the soldiers as the young woman laid a solid kick to the bristling lumberjack's groin. Rinus dismounted with a vigorous amount of jostling and advanced on the warring pair, his jaw firmly set. Buyir and Cossan exchanged knowing glances, while Io simply watched on with apparent glee.
"You... little... *****..." Griger ground out from between clenched teeth, rising from his stooped position with fire in his eyes. He was about to lunge at Elliara when an iron hand clamped onto his shoulder. He was pulled backwards and thrown to the ground.
"That is enough!" Rinus said sharply and loudly, coming to a halt in front of the young woman, who was still in a fighting stance. He made no threatening gesture, nor did he reach for any arms. He did, however,make it abundantly clear that he was in charge, and that she was not to leave until he was finished. His voice was stern and solid, like a father reprimanding a child.
"I don't know what the hell is going on here, or who's fault it is, but you do
not smply walk into my camp and lay a hand on my villagers. You are being given safety, food, and shelter.
Our safety,
our food,
our shelter." Each punctuation was marked by a firm armored finger pointed at the center of her chest. "The next time this happens, you will be expelled."
"And you!" he shouted, whirling to face Griger, who was bing loosely restrained by two soldiers, "You are a troublemaker and a thug. There is no room for either in this camp. If you cause anything other than the slightest little comment, you too will be expelled. Is that clear, Lucas?" The lumberjack grunted in reluctant submission, pulling away from the soldiers slightly. They let go of him, but Rinus was not finished, and so he stood, rubbing his face and standing awkwardly due to the pain between his legs.
"Good." The captain finally smiled, albeit sarcastically, looking around at the villagers, soldiers, Griger and Elliara. "So we are all one big happy family again, eh? I guess this is as good a time as any to announce some bad news." Walking back to his horse, Rinus remounted and adjusted himself in the saddle, then took a moment to survey the entire scene before speaking.
"The newcomers from Lus, which includes this fine lady here," he nodded at Elliara, "were pursued. An enemy force of unknown numbers bares down on us from the south at this very moment."
There were scattered gasps and murmurs throughout the crowd of villagers. Most of them began to move immediately, already guessing what was in store.
"I regret to announce that our stay at The Tower has been cut short. I want everyone out of this camp within the hour, following Shilas and the other woodsmen. We head west!" With that Rinus turned his horse around and departed. There were even more gasps and whispers as the villagers questioned why they were to be heading directly into the Mountains, but nobody challenged the decision; yet.
Griger shook the snow off his shoulders and glared at Elliara for a moment, before turning and walking away with the crowd, his band of thugs following.
~~
As the villagers went about the hurried task of picking up camp and moving out, Ravius arrived at Rinus' side, after running down from the tower and across camp.
"Captain, the main enemy camp has spotted us!" he whispered. "They've mobilized forces and are heading towards the Tower."
Rinus' face grew pale. His eyes darted to the east, where the cliffs blocked his view of what was going on below. He trusted Ravius' words, however, and those words did not bode well. They now had not only a single unknown enemy force coming from the south, but an entire
army coming from the east. Any hope that he had preserved of them escaping alive had now dwindled down to nothing.
"We have no time to gather anyone together now." Rinus said quietly, observing that the preparations for travel were already well underway. "Begin circulating the news amongst the villagers once we depart."
Ravius nodded and then ran off to help with the packing. Rinus' horse neighed nervously, and the captain's eyes went anxiously to the sky, where great gray clouds were slowly descending upon them, accompanied by driving snow and the shrill whine of a deadly wind. They would not survive the night.
