Jill Sorrel (jillsorrel) wrote in thedas, @ 2010-03-11 17:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! scene, & before 9:45, @ jill sorrel, @ ordhan wyland |
Backscene: into the woods
Who: Ordhan Wyland, Jill Sorrel
Where: Forrest outside of Lotheringen
When: Eluviesta 9:40
Summary: Not all messages can be delivered without trouble...
Rating: Teen.
It was twilight. Darkness was falling quickly.
Jill let Salma decide the way, trusting her sharper vision. They were picking their way through a wood, the falling dark making every shadow grow and distort. The small road fought it's way between the tall pines and the bushes and brambles. It was early spring still, and in the fading light, not many patches of green could be seen. Jill pulled her green cloak tighter around her, shivering a little. She seldom felt afraid when she was out with Salma, but the approaching night robbed this forest of any natural beauty or tranquillity. What was left was an eery feeling of uneasiness, that she could neither justify, nor shake off.
Salma was tired, they had been riding for many hours without stopping. The horse was sighing, and she didn't move with her usual energy. But if Jill had calculated correctly, they should reach town in less than an hour.
"Whoah, girl, let's slow down a little", Jill told her softly, enforcing the command with a slight pull at the reins.
As Salma moved slower, they came into a small clearing, the ground covered in bushes.
In the middle of the clearing stood a man. He must have heard them approach, because he turned around. When he saw her, he suddenly smiled broadly. It was not at all a pleasant smile.
"Good evening, young lady. You are right on time," he said. "I would like that message you have in your bag."
He had streaks of dirt on his face, but his armour looked well kept, and he didn't hold himself like a common bandit. Jill had encountered her fair share of bandits, but this man looked different somehow. Plus. someone had tipped him off about her coming to Lothering.
For not the first, and definitely not the last time, Jill wished she knew what the messages she delivered said...
"I can't give you that," she said softly, shrugging. Leaning down to pat Salma's neck, she felt the horse tense in response to her own reaction. In just a second, she would be forced to run, and Jill felt sorry for her.
Just as she dug her heels into Salma's sides, she vaguely noticed more shapes appearing around her. Salma went from standing still, to a gallop, in just a heartbeat. She dodged the man in front, and the road lay in front of them once again. Snatching forth her bow from it's place next to the quiver of arrows at the saddle, she rose in the stirrups, turning around.
The arrow flew through the night, but she could not hear, nor see, if it found a target.
Jill turned back to get another arrow. She rose up in the stirrups again and...
THUD!
The rope that was tied between two pines, stretched across the road, hit her over the chest and shoulders. Had she been sitting down, it would have cut her throat.
Nevertheless, she landed heavily on her back, breath knocked from her lungs, lights spinning in front of her eyes. The cloak was bunched under her and her left leg was twisted uncomfortably.
The first thought she could manage, was for Salma.
But as her vision cleared, and she planted her palms against the ground to get up (must look for Salma, is she all right? have they hurt her? Oh, gods, if they had hurt her....) a sword appeared in her field of vision.
The not-a-bandit-man stared down at her coldly. Behind him she could dimly see more moving shapes. Hearing a horse whinny, she struggled to get up, but the point of the sword came to rest on the skin of her throat, keeping her still.
She heard Salma again, the horse making frightened noises some distance to her right. Jill struggled, but the sword didn't move. A stinging sensation, and she could suddenly feel the warm trickle of blood.
Staring at the sword and the man holding, Jill thought that this was a rather bleak way to die...