It has taken me some time to remember the events of that evening. We had travelled a great distance, Sparrow was on the verge of collapsing and I could not blame her in the slightest, she had been through much in Enedwaith. We made camp beside a pool nestled between two hills. I denied Sparrow lighting a fire yet she slept soundly enough, I remember listening to her breath as she slept with the child wrapped within her arms. The night was quiet; the only other source of sound came from the pool which made my eyes grow heavy. To keep myself occupied on the watch I pulled a whetstone from my pocket, it had been a long time since I had sharpened my blade. Each stroke roused my awareness; I have never been fond of the sound of metal.
As I looked up I saw a full moon in the centre of the sky, its light shining upon the water of the pool giving it an eerie glow. A sudden gust of wind caused Sparrow to shiver in her sleep; the child in her arms seemed unaffected by her movement. I gazed upon the child for a brief moment; it had already begun to spout a healthy head of hair, raven hair much like my own. It was clear that Milawyn had adjusted to motherhood, yet she knew that I would never willingly become a father to the child. I thought of the woman Adaryn in Bree-land, how Sparrow had caused her to miscarry, what right does she or I have to a child of our own?
My concentration was broken as a twig snapped in the distance. I jumped to my feet, lifting my sword into a ready stance as I squinted into the dark opening. After a long moment of silence I believed it to be nothing more than a creature in the night, a wolverine perhaps, they were common in these lands. My thoughts of safety were broken at once as stones began to fall from the hillside, splashing as they dropped into the water one by one. I whirled around, slowly backing towards Sparrow giving her a swift kick with the tip of my boot. She awoke, saw my blade and instantly made for her daggers which lay beside her, setting the child down within its basket. We stood side by side as the sound of armoured feet scrapped against the stone as they drew closer towards us. I could not see their features, for their skin was pure black. I saw only yellow eyes and the symbol of a white hand printed upon each of their brestplates.
I heard growling as they came to a halt. The realisation hit me that we were surrounded, from above and below the hills. I refused to wait to be fired upon so I charged my nearest foe, lifting my blade into the air in an attempt to bring it down upon the nearest creatures shoulder. My blade clashed with another, the creature pushed me back with such force that I almost stumbled. It lunged at me with its crude blade aiming a strike at my torso. I deflected the attack with a side step parry, whirling my own sword in a circular motion to strike back at its right arm. The strike failed, the creature was well trained in the arts of combat for in a flash its blade was there to meet mine. I could hear the sound steel around me; Sparrow must have also been putting up a fight. Immediately the creature attempted to lunge with the side of it’s blade directly at my face, I shifted my body to the side and leaned back to avoid it, repeating the movement as it trusted again, this time catching the side of my cheek with a light cut. I lifted my hand, pressing it against my face as it attempted to barge into me with an armoured shoulder. Quickly I stepped aside, lowering my blade to mid height to cut through its stomach as the foe passed. I was successful, it’s blood spread along my blade and armour followed by an echoing roar. I turned on the spot to meet a second foe, holding my blade aloft ready to strike. At that moment however I felt a searing pain spread across the back of my skull, one of the creatures had hit with the pommel of its weapon. I fell to my knees, my eyes watering from the pain as I looked up towards the nearby tree. The child was gone, missing from its basket, yet I remember seeing a stray piece of fabric dangling from within a hollow hole of the tree as I was plummeted into darkness, a foul smelling sack thrust over my head just before I fell into a deep slumber.
When I awoke I remember the feel of cold stone against my face as I lay against a pillar within a dark chamber. I struggled only to find that my hands were bound. As I looked down I saw that my armour had been stripped from my body along with my sword. I trashed against my bindings, my foot meeting something soft that stirred at the touch. I pushed myself up against the wall to find Sparrow beside me, groaning in a daze with a fraying sack still upon her head. Dread flooded my body as the realisation hit me once more; I was a prisoner again…
