NaNoWriMo 9

His eyes strayed on them, watching them as they disappeared into the distance on the path. Literally disappeared. He started his steed forward, unsure of if what he was seeing was really there. His entourage of guards followed closely behind, calling out to him as he trotted forward and peered at the ground closely. "Junie, come here. Examine these tracks!" He called his head woodman forward from the ranks. The man did so at his order immediately, so that he could do what his Prince requested. He dismounted and walked through the guards so that he could examine the tracks in front of the Prince more closely. They seemed to veer a little to the side before vanishing into the woods. There was nothing beyond the tree line, no hint that any person or beast had passed by there.

The men behind them were murmuring, wondering what was happening, in hushed voices that held an inherent wariness of the forest around them, knowing that it was dangerous here and that it was far too easy to stray to their deaths. The Prince gazed back. "Fall in and parade order!" The command gave the men direction. They did so, falling into the orderly rows that delegated their order far better than the slightly messy lines that had been in before. The Prince turned his attention back to the woodsman. "And what is your determination?" It was said in a quiet voice, that seemed to be muffled even further by the blanket of solemnity that hovered over the soldiers. At the same time he motioned for the man to come close so that his answer would not be overheard by ears that should not hear it.

He gave a slight sigh. It was barely audible, but tinged with regret. "It seems that these riders have been led off by the greencaps, or perhaps willow sprites. They have been stolen away."

The Prince's shoulder stiffened. "With a Sylph should they not have avoided this?"

"They are not trained in woodslore, except for some of the most minor avoidances. They are too often kept in the cities where they have no need of such things, and are mainly trained as healers. The sprites would not care of her rank, or of whether she was needed. We should take care lest we also fall to a similar fate."

"Is there no hope that they might be saved?"

"They have as much chance as anyone of surviving. We cannot follow where they have been taken. That part of the stories is true."

The Prince grimaced, furrowing his brow. This was not good- they would have to save themselves if they were in trouble. With any luck, his own contingent would not fall, either. His back straightened. "Men, head out!" None of his worry tainted his voice, and it echoed clearly through the trees. They could not worry about this at this point, regardless- there was a war to be fought and a border to be brought into order.

They kept heading along the road. With so many, the likelihood that they would be tricked into evil places was far less, but it was still not a safe thing to be dealing with in this area. His eyes kept towards the road, letting his men take care of guarding the borders of the men. The cavalry spread out at his motion, taking to the sides and herding the men closer together.

Nia sighed deeply as her eyes opened. The gentle rock of the horse beneath her comforted her an unusual amount. This was nice. She lifted her head from Kirn's back. She could feel that the folds of his clothing had made an impression on her face, and so she tried to lift a hand to rub it away. Her hands happened to be tied around his waist, though. "Am I a slave or a captive?" she murmured quietly, trying to get his attention without startling him. From the look of his shoulders. he was tense with something> Worry? Panic? He didn't look good, though, from where she was looking.

He glanced back to ensure that she was awake. "I didn’t' want you to fall off when we were riding. I hope you don't mind. Give me a moment." He stopped the horse and started to unknot the rope. "Are your writs’ chafed?"

"No, they feel fine." She drew her hands back so she could rub them, feeling a slight tingle as blood started running through her hands more freely. "Thank you. Falling off would naught have been an experience I wish to be acquainted with."

"Well, I hope being lost is not one that you're too eager for, either. Unfortunately, it seems I might have taken a wrong turn in the woods. I have no idea where we are at this point."

She glanced around them, taking in the sight of the dark trunks of twisted and warped trees pressing in on them. The sun was still in the sky, and she could feel a warm breeze brushing her hair away from her face. It gave an odd whistling sound as it wended it's way through the woods. Her shoulders shuddered, though, as she realized the implication of his words. "Ach. So the greenies have gotten the best of us? Or one of the woods sprites at the very least. Any idea of how to get us out of this mess?" They weren't really questions to be answered. The answers to all of them were fairly self-evident. If there had been any hope of him knowing how to avoid the traps, they wouldn't be in this situation in the fiorst place. If he knew how to get them out of it, he would have already. All in all, Nia was frustrated with herself, as she had no better idea of what to do at this moment.

"Let me down, ne? I would appreciate a look around us. Perhaps I can get my bearings better on my feet. I've naught been on a horse before, and it's making me motion sick." Kirn let her slide off. She did so slightly awkwardly, but was right on her feet well enough in a few moments. Her eyes looked around, trying to find something useful other than the dirt of the path ahead, for the path behind them... It hardly seemed believable, but the path behind them only extended for a few feet, then disappeared into overgrown thicket and woods. It was as if it was dead-set on eating them whole, the way it was enclosed on them. Her fingers tightened, and she walked over to it, pushing aside some of the branches, hoping for some clue as to what to do.

That turned out to be a bad idea, however, as there was a high-pitched squeak, and her fingers came away with a dozen thin slices that bled like no tomorrow.
It was painful, so much so she jerked her hands back and burried them into her sleeves. The blood seeped through the material, staining it bright crimson. Her gasp of pain didn't go unnioticed. "What is it?" Kirn dismounted quickly and hurried so he could see. It appeared worse for him since her sleeves were now red up to the elbow. "The greenies!" He hissed, looking back at the brush with fear in his eyes. They weren't attacking yet, but... his eyes went back to her wounds as she pulled them out so he could see. It was a relief to know that she wasn't more hurt than she was. He turned towards the horse to see if he could get her pack so she could take care of her hands only too see that the horse had disappeared. "Nia, please tell me I am imagining this." It was a quiet order. Her gaze lifted from her hands, where they had been fixed by the little wounds, and every motino was stilled.

"It's gone."

Her voice was quiet, unbelieving, panic starting to run into her tone. "I can naught help us if I do naught have my pack. Where did it go?" Her hands gripped into fists in front of her. clasped together. "Kirn, we're stuck and lost here. Where did the horse go?!" er tone was rising into the hysterical. Nia's eyes were wide, and he could see the whites clearly. Fear was practically pouring from her pores. His hands went up and grasped her shoulders.

"Listen. We aren't going to find the horse if we sticka round here panicing. Understand? We'll be finw iffin we just keep walking." His eyes bore into hers, trying to give her the confidence that he himself wasn't feeling. A bursh of leaves on his elbow encouraged him to take a move away from the end of the path. It was slightly terrifying, as it meant they were slowly growing. He gazed at them, looking at them, seeing them slowly gorw and encoutageing them to keep moving.

Nia's eues followed his gaze. "Imma sorry!" Her feet started moving, pulling him along after he started her moving. "I shouldna gotten off, and now we're stuck without my pack, and we do naught have the horse-"

"It would have happened at some point. Better the horse and your pack disappear before us, right? There would not be much else to happen first." Your hands will stop bleeding soon enough, we don't need your pakc for that. Just keep them wrapped in your sleeves." She nodded and obeyed his words. She knew that already, felt silly for forgetting, for letting her mind be thrown by what was happening. This was the best she could do, though. Nia wasn't going to lie- she was scared. This was the first time that she had really been out and about in the wilderness. She had always been by the cities, or in populated areas. Very few people lived out in the wilds, and those usually didn't need her skills- they themselves knew the best remedies for their maladies from haing lived out there.

She stuck close to Kirn's side. There was little else to bother her at htis point, other than their being attacked. It made her grateful for Kirn's sword. As a healer, she had to fundamentally be against them, but as someone who needed it's protection, it was something else entirely. With her hands in her sleeves, there was no way for her to grab his arm- something that she would be tempted to do if she were not wounded, something that would be dangerous and a hindrance if he needed to draw his wapon.

Kirn kept his hands on his weapon, not knowing when he would need it. He was just grateful that Nia could not smell the blood that he could- faint, but not hers. It didn't bode well for their ride, but their feet would be enough for them right now. They would carry them far enough, and once they got to the camp, they could find a new one. What else could be done?

----
Liam glanced at the road ahead of him. It didn't look right. Where were they heading? This seemed very odd, indeed. The trees were becoming a pale, ghostly color. He could almost feel the sunlight through them, see the outlines of other trees. He halted the company and motioned his woodsman forward. His woodsman looked pale. What did he know that the rest of them didn't? The men had fallen into light disarray again, bunching together in familiar groups that they used for fighting. "Sire? My Lord, what do you need?"

His eyes leveled at Junio. "Where are we? What direction are we headed, and if you do not know that, what does this place seem to be to you? Woodsman, I assume you know your lore. " He was disturbed by what was around them, in ways he could hardly describe.

The woodsman wasn't in much of a better position. "My Lord, it seems we are still heading in the direction that we should be. However, I feel that... I feel that we may be passing into their realm. The sprites seem to have led us into a dead place, someplace that the life has been sucked out of, by whatever force lives here. See, this seems to be the best explanation for... this." He held out a leaf that he had plucked from a tree, and when h rubbed it between his fingers, it turned to grey and began disintegrating into ash.

The Prince's lips tightened. "And why did you not see fit to notify me of this earlier?"

"My lord, I-" He was cut off as the Prince ordered his men to take him, tying him up and one escoting him to the back of the group. The Prince turned to his men, their murmerings and whisperings of fear reaching his ear and growing louder by the moment as they saw what happened. "Men! Fall in and parade! I know how many men we started out with, i wish to know how many we have now! Know your fighting brother! War groups pair together in line!" His orders were obbeyed. There was a flurry as men lined up together in the groups they would fight in on the battlefield, feling the safety in eachother's presence. However, not all of them were complete. Shouts went up as several soldiers were found to be missing. His eyes scanned the rows of four, picking out which ones were incomplete. One was left with only two men, while four others were missing one. Five men out of eighty-four. It wasn't a bad count, but it wasn't a comforting one, either. Two horsemen had also disappeared into the woods. Those were worse losses, but ones that they could deal with.

The names that were brought back revealed that four of the men had been suspected to run regardless- and Liam suspected they would not be seen again in this world- while the others were good soldiers. Two had been brought from the healing camp, the others had been the soldiers he had brought with to save the camp. His head bowed for a moment, and a quick prayer was sent up to the heavens on their accounts.