Sewyn’s shoulder ached still. It had been over a week since he had been struck with an arrow, and he’d regained much of his strength. Yet he was still tired, and cuts and bruises adorned his body. But that mattered little, he resolved. He could walk, and every day he spent resting in the Shire was another day his quarry gained ground. He had to keep moving.
It was his own damned foolishness that had gotten him injured in the first place, he chastised himself. He had grown negligent on the road, and walked right into Delugoth’s ambush. It had been a costly mistake that cost his horse’s life, and nearly Sewyn’s own life as well. He could think of little else, dwelling on the course of the fight. Every mistake, every missed opportunity and every injury played through his mind time and again. Next time would be different, he assured himself with grim determination.
Autumn had moved into the northern expanse of Ered Luin, and with it, it had brought crisp and cold air. Sewyn had not expected his journey to lead much further than the Shire, and had not prepared himself for the cold nights in which he traveled. Neither had he expected to be joined by a companion, yet his expectations seemed ever to be defied.
She was a young lass. He had met her on the road, asking if she had seen the fugitive he was tracking. Their exchange took place just before the ambush, and it was she who found him slumped against a tree, bloody and unconscious. Now, it seemed, she refused to let him travel north alone, for fear of his injuries. He wished she had stayed; she had no idea what danger awaited them.
It had been four years since Sewyn left Archet. For four years, he had served as a member of the Watch in Bree. And in those four years, he had seen horrors he had never imagined in his youth on his family’s farm. And yet none of those compared to the deeds of Delugoth. Sewyn knew little of the man’s past, save that he was a foreigner. Since his arrival in Bree, the man had left a trail of savagery in his wake. He preyed on men and women alike, ravaging, taking and killing what he pleased. Often, foreign bounty hunters came in pursuit of the man, only to be found in Bree’s dark alleys.
The Watch had tried to stop the man, but after several especially horrific murders and suspected bribes, they began to turn a blind eye to Delugoth’s activities. When Sewyn heard, he resigned from the Watch and joined a new company. They weren’t exactly legal, but the Blackwatch had enough popular support that the Watch didn’t stop them. And they did not compromise in their fight against the ruffians of Bree. Delugoth was no exception.
Sewyn spoke little as he traveled north with the woman. He did not even ask her name. It was better, he reckoned, that he not be too attached should he be unable to protect her from Delugoth. His mind was ever on Delugoth alone. His dreams were haunted by memories of Combe. It was in Combe that he first saw Delugoth’s work, a woman found in the Comb and Wattle Inn who had been raped, beaten to death and left disfigured. He later learned that she had been neither Delugoth’s first victim nor his last as bodies appeared in both the town and countryside. Even the Blackwolds in the Chetwood were in terror.
It was late when the two arrived in Gondamon. The night air was frigid, and even an occasional snowflake fell. It was there that they met their foe. Delugoth approached them as they left the stable, and was soon upon Sewyn. The fugitive was no dunce with a blade, but Sewyn was able to slice his leg. He was repaid with a mighty blow to the head.. When he awoke, he learned that Delugoth had fled. Lissilana, he learned the woman was called, had pulled him to safety and tended him through the night.
He was grateful that she was unharmed, but ashamed that Delugoth had evaded him once again. Worse still, he feared what Delugoth could have done to her, had he so desired, after Sewyn was so easily dispatched. He returned his mind to the mission as they continued on their way to Thorin’s Hall.
