**Story written by Santino. Please bug him until he writes more**
A crisp wind blew through the swamps and forests. Snow capped peaks could just be seen through the canopy of trees off in the distance to the north. The Spine of the World was an unforgiving place. Yet the Drowned Lands of Mayene were far worse in the winter. The air itself seemed to freeze and stick to the skin, it left the clothing and armor stiff and cold, for the men and women that called the Drowned Lands home. Yet it was home, and there was no place they would rather be. Groups of women and men gathered around smalls fires here and there just west of the great bridge of Mayene. All told they numbered fifty, and every one, a loyal Winged Guard, the elite force that protected The First and Mayene. The sun was just rising, but all knew winters grip would hold, regardless of the suns height.
"What are we doing today Bron?" A youth of seventeen asked the man to his left, as he leaned over the fire warming his hands. Bron's gaze flicked to the youth then back to the fire. "Routine patrol Yoren. Lieutenant Santino ain't happy with the attention the Tairens have been showing our borders lately. Way I hear it, the First herself ordered him to scout the borders and make sure all is as it should be." Bron held the rank of Squad Leader, and was second in command on this expedition. He stood slowly, his left hand going to the small of his back. "I'm getting to old for this," he thought sourly. The Squad Leader shrugged and reached both arms over his head, the armor encasing his chest and middle tightening in a comforting way, and stretched long and hard for a moment. With a sigh he let both arms drop and rolled his shoulders, loosening his muscles. "Santino?!" Yoren exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He smiled and shifted his greaves to a more comfortable position, he was still young and had not yet grown into his armor. "If the Lieutenant is out here it must be important. If anything this trip won't be boring," the youth mused quietly, adjusting straps and buckles along his body. Bron eyed the young man for a moment, a frown overtook his face and was gone a second later, he briefly wondered what it would have been like to stand so easily.
"Stay ready, we'll be moving soon if I know the Lieutenant." Bron said, rolling his shoulders once more before beginning to move off. "Squad Leader," Yoren barked, his right fist slamming into his breastplate, just over his heart. Bron continued to move, it was time to speak to Santino and find out the days objectives. As he walked and passed various fires he greeted those at them and found himself again thinking of youth.
Santino sat his horse a few hundred feet to the west of the camp, his eyes studied the ground. He was a young officer, in his mid twenties, he had been a Winged Guard for as long as he could remember and had risen quickly through the ranks. He had fought hard to get to where he was, and the road had been hard and bloody, yet he still had his easy smile and was charming in his own right. He didn't yet have the far off gaze that he had seen on the faces of most men who had been in constant combat, and had stared death in the face many times. "I have no wish to ever learn that look," Santino said to himself, still staring at the slick mud in front of him. "Mud and swamps," Santino mused, "The natural resource of the Drowned Lands." He grinned wide and brought his right fist over his heart. "Our mud, our swamps," he said, while chuckling to himself. "Talking to yourself again Lieutenant? Ain't sure that's seemly for an officer of the Winged Guard." A voice said behind him, causing Santino to nearly fall off his horse from shock. The Lieutenant recovered quickly and turned his horse towards the intruder. Bron stood a few feet behind him leaning against a dying tree, a smile splayed across his face. Looking down, Bron shook his head and drew his boot out of the mud with a loud squish. He sighed to himself and shook his boot, sending water and mud flying in different directions. Santino grinned at the man and turned his horse back to the west, surveying the land. "Only you Bron." He murmured.
"Ready our force Bron, we move west as soon as we are able." Bron gazed at Santino a moment, then looked down and said, "Aye Lieutenant. I'll gather the scouts and send them off now." He turned on the spot and began walking back towards camp. "Scouts won't be necessary Squad Leader. We are hours from the border, and these are our lands. We'll send them out as we get closer. If there were a threat nearby we'd already know." Bron turned back around one eyebrow raised and stared at the back of the young Lieutenant, "No scouts? Foolishness. Tairens been trying to take our lands since before even my time! They know these lands nearly as well as we do!" Bron thought to himself. "Uh Lieutenant, I think..." Santino turned his horse once more, his eyebrows drawn together, his face tight. "Yes?" Said the Lieutenant, his back straightening. "Uh, well, nothing Lieutenant. I'll gather the men as you said." Bron said, his shoulders dropping. He saluted with fist over heart and started once more towards camp.
The Winged Guard had been on the move for over an hour, their force was small but all knew their job and place. They marched in two columns, down the narrow twisting roads that lead to the western border of Mayene. Lieutenant Santino lead at the front, Bron just a pace behind on his left. They conversed quietly as they rode, "I'm not sure we should stay on the road sir, I don't like being so exposed." Bron said, scanning left and right with a nervous manner, uncommon to the man. "Be at ease Squad Leader, we've received numerous reports on the Tairen's activities. They've been seen NEAR our border. Not within our lands. We have numerous patrols stationed across our border. This is a routine sweep to investigate their intentions. A small show of force so that they know we're aware of them." Santino said with a grin. "The mans completely on edge, you would think we were in Tear itself." He thought, shaking his head and glancing at Bron as he rode.
"I'm aware!" Bron said testily before remembering who was speaking too and adding a hasty, "Sir." Looking down a moment Bron continued, "Sir the Tairens are a wily bunch we've been away from Mayene and any reports for two days now, we aren't sure why they've been testing our borders, but we know they have been. I just think its prudent to be wary until we have more information." Santino's face darkened noticeably and he stopped completely, swinging his horse towards Bron's. He stared the man in the eye and bulled forward bringing his horse right up against the Squad Leaders! "Enough Squad Leader! I am fully aware of our situation and have everything in control! You are as panicky as a green horn! We are hours from our own border. HOURS Bron!" Santino yelled, forcing Bron's horse back with his own. Bron's eyes widened as Santino forced his horse to jig backwards, his horses head tossed wildly and kicked out a back leg, threatening to buck. "How dare you! You young bastard! You may be a lieutenant but you're obviously still green." Bron thought as he fought to maintain control of his mount.
Santino seemed to remember that he was before all his men and pulled his horse back and lowered his voice, "I will not be questioned Bron, I was chosen for this because..." His words froze in his mouth as he felt something punch into his back just below his right shoulder blade. He gasped hard instead, breath expelled itself from his lungs with one hard wheeze. The Lieutenant slumped forward, unable to scream as pain wracked his body! Bron was frozen for only a moment then spurred his horse forward roughly and clothes-lined Santino out of his saddle, pulling him roughly onto his own horse, he nearly lost his grip but managed to hold firm and position him across his lap. Looking around the Squad Leader could see arrows falling from all directions, coming from the heavily forested drowned lands surrounding the road. Gritting his teeth he growled loudly before roughly sawing his horse back towards his men. They were spreading out all yelling incoherently, all bowing outwards from the main column. "FORM UP!" Bron screamed. "FORM UP!" Some men looked in his direction and began to echo his call, and slowly order began to reform. Arrows still poured in on them from all sides, everyone did their best to protect themselves but shrieks pierced the scream littered soldiers here and there.
Bron surged forward, an arrow finding only empty air where his head had been a moment before, looking around he leaned down and seized the nearest man he could, it happened to be young Yoren. Bron lept from his saddle, releasing Yoren for a moment while he steadied Santino as he left his mount. "Get on that saddle boy, protect the Lieutenant. You make for the bridge. Send a runner to Mayene and tell them to send more men!" He screamed in the boys face. Yoren was visibly pale and his eyes were wide and white, his hands shook as Bron guided them to the reins of the horse. "Did you hear me boy!?" Bron screamed cuffing Yoren roughly across his head. Yoren nodded weakly and replied, "Yes sir, I understand." Turning away from the youth, Bron screamed once more, "First Squadron, WITH ME. We will hold here until the Lieutenant is away. Second Squadron you will make for the bridge. Await further orders there. We will catch up when we can. Move you bastards!" Before he had even finished the two squads had begun to split, they were well trained and knew what was expected of them. Bron assisted Yoren in mounting the horse, holding Santino firmly where he was as the boy positioned himself in the saddle. Arrows were still reining down on them but it wasn't as frequent. Looking around he watched the men and women of the First Squadron begin to form into a rank, he could now hear war cries and screams coming from all sides, he could hear the Drowned Lands protest as ranks of foreign men made their way through them towards the Winged Guards position. "With me you chortlesnorfling dogs!" The Squad Leader screamed. "FIGHT!"
Yoren gripped the reins of the horse and Santino hard, his knuckles were white. His mouth dry. He was caked in blood, none of it his own. He urged his horse onward, he had been at a full gallop for nearly a half hour, the horse was blowing and lathered. "I have to get myself under control, I have to stop, or I will get nowhere!" He thought. He pulled up on the reins, careful to avoid the arrow sticking out of Santino's back. "Breathe," he said aloud. "Just breathe." He slowed the horse to a walk and after a few minutes a stop. It was never good to stop a horse right out of a hard gallop. Yoren knew that from his father. Looking around the young man could see Winged Guard behind and ahead of him, he had stuck to the roads for fear of losing the horse or the Lieutenant. Most of the Winged Guard had gone straight through the drowned lands and so were able to cover more distance more quickly. The road was windy and long. And far less safe.
"Numb," thought Santino as he came out of the blackness that had encased him. "Warm." The Lieutenant opened one eye slowly and peered around at his surroundings. He was near a fire, his left side uncomfortably warm. "They've left me baking like an apple," he thought and grimaced with discomfort. He suddenly remembered he had arms and went to push himself up...Pain ripped through his entire body and he found himself screaming as he fell back to the soft mud beneath him. Eventually his screams ended with a soundless keel, and he could hear men speaking and moving around him. "Water" he managed, finishing with a cough. A skin appeared near his face, the hands holding it shaking. Santino drank his fill and coughed again, hacking up a bit of water as he did. "What's happened? Where are we?" He asked the air. A voice seemed to come out of the mist, it belonged to someone young, and terrified. "You were hit with an arrow Lieutenant. We are preparing to remove it now, you won't be able to move and can't be moved while its still inside you. We were hit on the road, an ambush. Squad Leader Bron ordered Second Squadron to get to the bridge. Him and the First stayed to fight and give us time. He ordered me to get you to the bridge. We haven't seen hide or tail of him or the First sir." Santino heard a quiet sob and then another, he sighed quietly.
"What's your name boy?" He asked, closing his eyes. "Yoren sir. Yoren Brite." Santino cleared his throat and grimaced again. Any movement seemed to agitate his back and pained him greatly. "So we're at the bridge then?" The Lieutenant asked. "Uh...well, well no sir. The Tairens expected our retreat. We're cut off from the bridge sir. We ran right into another ambush just west of it. My horse was shot from underneath me, both of us took a tumble. That arrow broke off in your back. Had a few of the other Winged Guard not been running up on us we would have surely died. We yanked you up and carried you as best we could. We're a mile or so south. We took the old road and now we're camped west of it." Yoren finished with another sob. "We're in bad shape sir." Santino felt his anger rising, he had messed up, and he knew it. "Angry? Since when do I get angry?" He thought. "Sorrow."
"Sir?""SIR!" Santino opened his eyes, finally free of his mind and thoughts. "What a cage the mind can be," he mused to himself. "Sir do you know where you are?" Santino could only look at the flames of the fire, "Where I am? No. Where are you? Hmmm who are you? Have the dead already begun to haunt me? Am I dead? I should be." The men gathered around Santino and stared down at his back. His eyes were open, but there was no response from the man. Yoren looked around at the group, terror gripped his heart and bile rose in his throat. An older man with a rough beard looked back at him and winked. Yoren knew his name was Hap. He was a squad leader. The bearded man squatted down and looked at the wound in the Lieutenants back. He nodded slowly as he rose back to his feet. "Gotta be done, it needs to be cut out, then we'll have to put a coal to it. No other way. He's feverish. We can't move him like this and he may need to move on his own." Hap looked at everyone in the group and then surveyed the small camp. Thirteen. That was all that had managed to gather. He idly wondered how many were left before shaking his head of all thoughts. Looking towards the man to his left Hap nodded and held out his hand. A knife was placed in it. "Hold him," he said firmly.
"Paaaaaaaiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnn!" Santino screamed. He cackled madly as iron and fire ripped through his back. As the pain bled into his lungs and screamed through his body. Those holding him grunted with effort as his legs and arms twitched. "Even as fevered and hurt as he is, pain can bring a man to life nearly as well as it can kill him." Thought Hap as he finished his sewing. Nodding to himself, clearly pleased by his work he cut the gut with a knife and folded it into a stitch. It would have to be cut out later but it was better than nothing. The bearded man reached out and took a nearby cup of water. First he poured some onto the now unconscious Lieutenants lips then the rest over his wound, attempting to wash it clean of any dirt or grime. He nodded once more and stood. "Bandage it, bind it tight. It's not the best of work, but its the best we can do for now." Yoren nodded to his words and saw that the few remaining men did the same. Hap had taken care of them since they had arrived a little over a day ago. The young man was terrified, but at least he had something to hold onto. Hap stretched his arms over his head and glanced up at the falling sun, "Best get some sleep men. We leave at first light."
Santino's eyes slowly opened, he was on his stomach, his back protested as he raised his head to peer around. All was black. He was near a fire and all around him were the bodies of sleeping men. "What has woken me?" He thought. Raising his arms slowly from his sides he put his palms against the ground and began to slowly raise his upper body. Santino bit down hard and slammed his teeth together with an audible *clack* in order to keep from screaming. His throat felt raw as he tensed it up in pain. Had he been screaming before? Finally with himself fully braced he was able to get his feet underneath him and stand slowly. The Lieutenant lost his balance halfway up and nearly fell but caught himself against a nearby tree. Breathing hard he stopped a moment and caught his breathe. He leaned over and retched silently, as he raised his head he caught a glint of something. It was as if moonlight had flashed across some kind of metal. "What is that?" Santino thought, leaning forward, looking down the hill that was their camp, his brow furrowing. Was it coming closer?
"Tairens!" The Lieutenant spun on the spot and fell to his knees. He screamed as his back wrenched and tightened. Summoning all the air he could he screamed once more "Tairens!" Men were already throwing off blankets and jumping to their feet. "They won't have long before the Defenders were on them but at least I've given them a chance." Thought Santino. "I've got to get up!" He growled, already pushing himself off the mud, refusing the pain. Hobbling back towards the fire he found young Yoren and gripped his shoulder for support. "Find me a sword boy! Quickly!" Yoren nodded and started off. Santino turned back to the north and could now see torches being lit as the Tairens gave up on stealth. "Lieutenant!" Hap appeared at Santino's side drawing a sword and throwing the sheath off into the brush. "Make your escape. We'll hold them off as long as we can, maybe if we use the trees we..." "The hell with that!" Santino interrupted. "Look at me, I'm not escaping anywhere. I can barely move. You run. Go around them. Make it back to Mayene and find Lord Bertain. Get back to the First." Santino coughed as he finished, spittle flying out of his mouth. Hap looked closely at him and saw how pale he was. Saw the dark circles surrounding his eyes. "Even if he made it back to Mayene I'm not sure he would live, the fevers come back," Hap thought. The bearded man looked from Santino to the mud at his feet and back. They stared at one another moment and then Hap slowly nodded. "Good luck Lieutenant," he said as he turned and began sprinting into the darkness.
Yoren turned up just as Hap left, carrying a recently oiled long sword with a well worn brown leather sheath. "Lieutenant," he whispered as he offered up the sword. Santino took the blade and turned it over in his hands. With his right hand he grasped the hilt and pulled the blade free. "For years I've heard stories of blades that seemed to whisper death as they were pulled from their sheaths, I think this one must be broken." Santino mused aloud. Peering for a moment at the sheath he turned it upside down and jiggled it up and down. The Lieutenant looked back at Yoren and shrugged. Yoren now wore wide grin and shook his head sadly. "I don't think we're going to fair well with this Lieutenant." Santino nodded slowly, "I think you're right lad." He then grinned and clapped the boy on the back, causing his wound to scream at him for his stupidity. "Do your best. If you see a chance to escape do so. That's an order." Yoren looked out towards the darkness, his eyes seemed to sparkle as the tears that sat upon them were met by firelight. "Yes sir."
The Tairens weren't coming fast. They knew they had won. They were approaching slow. To the Winged Guard in the camp, their numbers seemed endless. The men of the soaring hawk knew their time was up. Yet they stood proudly. Shoulder to shoulder, looking down on the Defenders from their elevated position. Yoren held Santino up, and all together, they looked out at their murderers. "For the First and Mayene!" Santino cried, and his grimace of pain turned into a smile as the call was taken up, the remaining twelve men screamed for their country and told the enemy that they were willing to die.
The first Tairen to make it up the hill had a blade in his eye, courtesy of one of the Winged Guard. But he was quickly replaced by another, then another, and another. The Defenders came on, no matter how many were cut down they pushed back. Santino stood hunched over with his sword in the ground, blood covered the space in front of him. He hadn't been struck yet, but he knew his time was running out. He only had so much left before he would collapse from exhaustion. Screaming out over the chaos he yelled, "Yoren to me!" Dutifully and quickly Yoren materialized out of the darkness and stood at Santino's side. "Run boy, we've lost. Get out of here." Yoren looked up at Santino, tears began welling in his young eyes and he opened his mouth to speak. He was cut off as Santino cuffed him across his head. "Go" The Lieutenant smiled and turned back towards the fight, turned back to keep the Defenders off the hill. And Yoren ran.
All things seemed to slow down in combat. While Santino wasn't new to this feeling. He had never been so close to death. He could feel Death breathing down the back of his neck. Every twist or movement sent shocking pain throughout his body. But still he fought on. A Defender charged up the hill towards him screaming, he had no energy left, there would be no riposte or sidestep, he raised his sword high over his head and brought it down with all his strength. The blade bit into the joint at the mans neck and shoulder, once it passed through the first layer of bones it seemed to just sink in. "HA!" Santino exclaimed, happy to be alive for even a minute more, he began laughing and pulling his blade free. And then he felt something sink into his side. He felt himself being driven to the ground. He felt the push of whatever had stung him as it pinned him to the ground. And finally he felt the Drowned Lands accept him, and welcome him home. "Home." Santino thought...
More to come....