Solo The road to Zeltiva

[Weylin Quickshot]

Winter 1st, 512

Weylin had ridden for too long. Her lower back ached from where she had stayed in the saddle for hours on end, her inner thighs almost beginning to be rubbed raw. In the growing twilight she stared out along the worn road from Syliras and Zeltvia, the last rays of the winter sun sinking beneath the horizon. For days if not weeks she had travelled the Kabrin road, escaping the sea of grass upon her mount, the Cyphrus Strider Averti, and into the world beyond, stopping occasionally at places of civilisation, but only for small amounts of time. At first she could tell Averti did not understand their sudden departure, but after a while the horse became use to the open world and for the meanwhile accepted his fate. She dismounted and stared between the trees, thoughts of food and hunger filling her mind. It would have been best to hunt sooner, but she was focused on making distance beforehand. Weylin stuck to the path where she could, only leaving it when it was the only option. Even then, she dared not to travel far, for she knew if the beasts here were anything like that in the Sea of Grass, she alone would stand no chance in survival. Occasionally she hunted small game, keeping herself down wind, her steps slow and careful, and her bow ready as she stalked through the undergrowth. She kept her breathing near silent as she came closer to her target, a rabbit that remained perfectly unaware of its surroundings. For a while she stopped and listened, ears pricking, keeping herself aware of what else may be about, the sounds of the wind, the quiet rustling as other wild rabbits moved about behind her target. She slipped into better cover and waited, ensuring her prey would not escape any time soon. Slowly she raised her bow, and took aim at its skull. The arrow was loosened, and shot through the air, striking true. It barely had time to let out a squeal of fright before it dropped like a stone. Quickly, Weylin gathered herself and took her kill, taking careful steps to make sure to not draw too much attention. In the growing gloom, she took the rabbit and returned to the road and her mount. She gently took the reins and led it on down the path.

It was dark, the stars of the night sky hidden by the mighty branches of the towering trees. A grey fog blanketed the land, covering shapes and hiding forms, the river covering sounds and muffling noise. The hold of winter had taken hold of the land of Sylira, the path becoming over turned and bog like. She could hear the faint rush of the Avitar River behind her, and the break between the trees suddenly coming into view. She stopped herself at the path side overlooking the road and made up camp, pitching up the tent that she had received nearly a lifetime ago. It was difficult in the dark, especially as she tried to keep an eye on Averti and make sure the horse did not wander away. After a while she succeeded and proceeded to hurry in creating a fire, firstly by gathering what she needed; tinder, kindling and wood before arranging it into the base of a fire. She hurried in using the flint and tinder when a howl echoed in the distance, remembering her days from the Sea of Grass and urging her hands to act faster. It sparked, catching onto the tinder in which she blew upon before it burst into flames. She worked quickly, adding kindling before exhaling as the fire began to roar. She fed it, and walked around the edge of her camp, picking up what firewood she could before returning to her camp. She began to relax as the fire began to burn, and looked upon the carcass of the rabbit she had hunted earlier; she laid it and her tools as a hunter out on the ground. She looked at it carefully, firstly removing the arrow that was still logged in its side, before carefully thinking on how to deal with the animal. She thought carefully for a while, yawning loudly as time went on. She skinned it the best she could, before trying to cook the meat over the fire. She was a hunter, not a chef, but she tried anyway. The night drew on, her attempt at cooking resulted in her burning most of the rabbit meat, but she ate it anyway. Her hunger was much greater than her preference for food, so she continued, before dragging herself into the tent and to sleep.

Perhaps it was the sound of Averti screaming that awoke her in the night, the sounds of voices ringing out into the night. She awoke with a start and found a stranger standing over her, knife glinting in the dark. He grabbed at her as she stared up, horror filling her face as his grip tightened. She was pulled out and thrown to the ground, the shouts of the men in common tongue, giving Weylin no chance to understand them completely. One of them wrestled her to the ground, holding her in place as she struggled back. She could hear them shouting still, looting and searching. He shouted at her again,
“Where is it?”
She went still as she felt the knife being pressed against her throat, his words slowly forming into place.
“Where is it?”
She shook her head “I don’t know what you’re talking…”
The knife was pressed tighter.
“Better just get rid of her.” One of them spoke as they tried to grab at the reigns of Averti “Wild horse too, better put-“
It was the sound of a cracking as Weylin’s attacker toppled to the side after she reached out for a branch and struck him with it. She watched him grunt loudly as the wood struck against his skull and momentarily stunned him, giving her enough time to throw him off. She kicked away his dagger, before grabbing at the back of his head and forced his head into the ground. She watched the other two who were dealing with Averti wheel round to face her, they advanced, shouting too quickly for her to pick up on what they were saying but knowing they were about to attack. She watched the man behind her struggle up to his feet, and grabbed him, throwing him into the path of her attackers.
She got the time she needed to catch the sight of her bow and quiver, and dashed towards it. The men barely had time to turn round to face her before she had an arrow nocked and ready to fire. For a moment she watched them hesitate, unsure on whether to advance or not. They advanced, and her stomach knotted as she released the arrow.
Weylin had never killed another human before, be they of her kind the Drykas, or of any of the other human races. She watched him stagger and drew another arrow, letting it fire at one of the others. They continued on, and barely ducked one of the swipes of a blade as it came overhead. She punched at the first and ducked as the second swiped again at her, but this time his blade lodged into the other. She listened to him let out a cry of pain blood oozing out. She took the opportunity and backed away, firing another arrow at the two men watching one of them drop down dead before letting out a scream of pain. The man she had shot first had crawled up to her, a look of rage and anger filling his face as his knife went through her leg. Her eyes grew wide with pain as tried to focus herself, but all attempts failed as she felt the burst of adrenal go through her. She back handed the man, knocking him to the ground before nocking an arrow and putting it through his skull.
“Not now, not never!” she shouted in Pavi at the last one as she took aim and loosened the arrow.
Her chest heaved as she felt the pain seep back into her mind, and dropped the bow. She looked down at the knife that was stuck in her shin and let out a cry as she let herself slip to the ground, shakily grasping at the hilt. Every touch seemed to hurt, blood going down her leg as she tried to remove it. She steeled herself, and drew in a deep breath.
Do it, do it now.
Weylin Quickshot let out a mighty how into the night.

Come morning, Weylin barely had strength to take down her tent, but she forced herself to anyway. She needed to keep moving. She did not bury the bodies of the dead, she had no time to, but she still had enough honour in her to lay them out so they had some form of dignity. She knew not their Gods, and so said no prayers as she mounted Averti and left. Her left leg ached from the knife that now sat in her saddle bag, and was now poorly wrapped up in the scraps of material she could find. She knew it would need tending properly, but for the meanwhile she would have to travel on to the port city of Zeltiva.

[Weylin Quickshot]

The previous camp was a distance behind her now, she had set Averti into a gallop at the first possible moment, escaping the scene and out of distance of it. Afterwards she brought him down to a simple trot, allowing the horse to catch his breath. She stared wearily on. Weylin saw the world blur in front of her eyes, the still winter air becoming a mist as she blinked. She could feel her stomach twisting, her mind screaming out, but it was muffled. Her head rolled as she tightened her grip on Averti, trying to keep her mind sharp, but struggling to do so. The previous night had left her panicked and startled, giving her no time to rest, and no time to forget the guilt of taking a human life, let alone three of them.

She no longer felt hungry, a bitter taste grew in her mouth when ever she thought of food, and then her stomach would wrench whenever she thought of the dead corpses she left behind. She shuddered and shook, trying to give herself an answer in reassurance. And when Weylin could not find one, she found herself simply staring down at her hands, and Averti leading the way on down the path, horse shoes clacking against the ground. Her vision blurred again, and she shook herself.

Need to stay awake, need to focus.

She stared down at her leg wound, and the poor attempt at wrapping it. She hissed when she touched it, sharply withdrawing her hand, she gritted her teeth and focused on what was before her. Weylin could feel the world going into a blur again. Slumping forward in the saddle she weakly stared ahead.

Stay awake, need to focus.
Need to focus. Stay awake.
Where is my energy when I need it?

Weylin caught a glimpse of mountains in the distance, far off shadows that filled the sky. She exhaled, and stared on. She knew between them laid Zeltiva, and perhaps, she hoped, the answers on finding honour and pride.

[Arcane]

Rewards and Treasure! Experience Points +1 Hunting +1 Wilderness Survival +1 Riding +2 Brawling +3 Weapon: Bow +1 Medicine Lores Wilderness Survival: Making a Campfire Killing a Man in Self Defence Miscellaneous Physical Injury: Knife Wound (Full recovery 30 days, Mark 2 Healing Gnosis for instant recovery) +Inventory: Knife Comments Tough life Weylin have there! Hopefully Zeltiva will be kinder to her