Light Of Freedom

CHAPTER 5: INTO THE SLARAP WOODS

"Hey girl, wake up....", "Are you awake yet?" Kyra kept hearing as she slowly came back to her senses. It was morning and her eyes were overly sensitive due to her long period of unconsciousness. As her vision went from blurry to clear she saw a blonde, handsome man. He was lean but quite chiseled and for some reason, he had a bandage around his ribcage and shoulder. She tried to move but all to no avail. Suddenly the events of last night began to come back to her. The Imperium Guard soldier...Oh no, why was she tied up? What did he do to her? What was he going to do to her?

"Mmmm...mmm....", she tried to say something but her mouth was gagged. "Are you talking to me or are you trying an incantation?" Sarsson removed the piece of clothing from her mouth allowing her to talk. "You dog!!! Why have you bound me?", "You're lucky I don't know any incantations or I'd have turned you into a damn worm" Kyra spat out. Before Smith could give one of his witty replies she continued "I hope you didn't defile me because if you did, I swear by Lunaris I'll.....", before she could finish Smith put the piece of cloth back in her mouth. "I doubt any man would want to lay with a woman as foul-mouthed as you, especially when she tried to kill him a couple of hours ago".

Smith put his shirt back on and started to gather his things. If he could manage his broken rib and dislocated shoulder till he met a healer in Tartum he'd be okay. The majority of his supplies had been on his horse when she got spooked and ran away. Now he was left with the clothes on his back, 3 pieces of gold, and some dry beef jerky which the women of Lerdia gifted him. After gathering his belongings, he was about to leave and venture into the woods when Kyra blurted out "You're just going to leave me here to die of starvation or be devoured by wild animals?", "So much for being a changed person". "Sarsson cool as a cucumber replied "I'm not freeing you before you try to kill me again ", "Besides where are you from and where to?"

"I'm from a village close to the eastern border, about 12 day's journey on foot from here", "I'm on a quest to find and kill the man that took everything from me," said Kyra. "And the man is around these woods?" asked a puzzled Smith because there weren't any settlements for miles of here until you got to at least the southern end of the Slarap woods. "He is at Tartum...", answered Kyra. "Well, I was on my way there myself, I would have you join me but a broken rib, dislocated shoulder, and lost horse have forced me to decide otherwise....". "I swear, you better not untie me from here or I'll hurt you so bad...." Kyra said but before she could finish, Sarsson cut in, "Fine, I'll leave you here then, your hands are tied up and you can't make any hand gestures to use your magic, and you'll make a great meal for a hungry bear or wolf pack..."

Kyra thought about his words for a moment and he was right. "Alright, untie me and I won't hurt you...", "I promise...". Sarsson dropped his pack and in about five minutes he had untied her from the tree. He cut her binds and watched as she rubbed her chafed skin. For a foul-mouthed maniac, she was quite beautiful. She had dark brown skin and lush black hair. Her amber eyes gave the impression of fire in her soul. "What are you staring at?" Kyra inquired, "Waiting for you to finish grooming yourself so we can go to Tartum together...", replied Sarsson.

"Heh, I'm not going anywhere with the likes of you!!" Kyra said walking away. "You're walking in the wrong direction...." Sarsson yelled after she was some distance away. "Whatever!!!", she yelled back. "Look I know the path to the edge of the Slarap woods, where you're going you'll get mauled by bears before you can say 'Jack'...". She thought about it for a bit. He was right, there was no definite path through these dense woods and she would most certainly get lost so she agreed to follow him. They would separate when they got to Tartum.

"How long till we get to Tartum? asked the mage, "Well if we were on horseback it would take us about four days but now that we're on foot, special thanks to you..." he paused and gave her a sarcastic look, "...we'd be there in a minimum of 7 days". "7 days?! 7 days with you would kill me" Kyra shot back at him. "Well I'm a dead man walking even now..." Smith muttered absentmindedly. She went on to tell him how they would sleep apart from each other and how she would kill him if he ever dared touch her.

"Well you must really want to sleep with me if that's all you think about, and mind you, we need to be well fed and hydrated to proceed...", "....we have little food supply, very little drinking water, and physically, I'm half the man I was before you stormed into my life last night in a blaze of glory...." Sarsson said rather calmly. He continued, "....if you want to stay alive and make it to Tartum without getting eaten alive by wild beasts I suggest you shut it and walk", "....and you better not think of doing anything rash while at it cuz I'm your only hope out of these woods", he continued. Kyra fell silent and kept walking. They walked until nightfall and eventually got to a clearing where they could set up camp.

After they set up camp, they both sat around the pile of wood they had gathered. Sarsson looked intently at Kyra, who looked up and pouted. "What? You're still mad about the scolding earlier in the day?" Sarsson sarcastically questioned her. "....", no reply. "I mean ....", said Smith looking at the pile of wood then back up at her,".....don't you want to at least get to Tartum to do whatever the heck it is you want to do before freezing to death out in the woods?"

"You would start a fire if I wasn't here wouldn't you?" questioned Kyra absentmindedly. "Yeah, if both my shoulders were in place..." Smith said gesticulating towards his bandaged shoulder. "Look, I can't, okay?", "I suck at channeling my magic and I've never really studied magecraft," said Kyra a little embarrassed. Smith was surprised at how the immense power he experienced the previous night was raw and unrefined. She continued, "I can't control my magic and I might end up starting a forest fire so I better not...", she rolled up her collar and caught her knee feeling defeated. Sarsson threw two big smooth pebbles at her feet which he'd picked up along the way.

"Strike them together over some dry leaves," said Smith as his breath froze and turned foggy. Soon Kyra started the fire and there was warmth. They ate some of the dried beef and as the night wore on, Smith out of the blues asked "How did you identify me as an Imperium Guard soldier?", "The Imperium Guard emblem on your neck, the sword...". Smith paused for a moment then said "Takes me way back to when I raised my sword at innocents because of the selfish ambitions of a few", "Never again...". Kyra looked up at the man opposite her and wondered if there really were good people like him in the corrupt system.

---------------------------------------------------

While the duo were asleep, a low growl could be heard from a short distance. Sarsson was asleep when suddenly he opened his eyes and soon gained full realization of his surroundings. He looked around and in the surrounding darkness, he saw golden eyes that glistened in the moonlight, a wolf. Slowly it crept towards them and as Sarsson moved to wake Kyra up, the wolf gave a loud guttural howl and other wolves began to emerge from the darkness. By now Kyra had woken up and the wolves pounced upon her sensing her to be the weaker target due to her smaller size.

Sarsson thought fast and took a piece of wood from the fire and struck at the wolves who were trying to eat Kyra. He waved it at the others as they growled and barked. Kyra conjured up ice magic and sent spikes at several wolves injuring them. The wolves numbered about a dozen and a half and killing some didn't prevent them from charging again. They came at the duo again and again and by the time morning came, an exhausted Smith and Kyra were surrounded by the carcasses of several wolves and drenched in wolf blood. "This is just the damn first day..." Kyra said, "I sure hope we've killed the entire wolf population of these woods...", Smith replied as he got up and helped Kyra up. "...it's still a long way to Tartum, we better get going", he continued and they continued their journey silently aware of the fact that it would be a perilous one.