@Fuin Elda
Gladhron
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree. Rather far from the road.
(Suffering from a serious concussion)
The throbbing in Gladhron's head was getting worse and worse, the ringing in his ears was back, and he hardly felt the blade against his neck. His vision was beginning to fade and the struggle to stay conscious was more difficult than ever. It was a losing battle, but he fought it still, with all the willpower he had. She was talking, saying something but Gladhron could hardly tell what. The sound of her voice was muffled, almost drowned out by the ringing. It was like trying to hear someone talking while being underwater. Whatever she was saying, the sound of her voice was making even harder to stay focused. "Trying to..talk me to death..?" He mumbled, barely audible. His head had been bleeding all this time, which had been making him weaker and weaker as this fight went on, and had run out of adrenaline, it seemed.. vaguely, the thought that he had lost, and failed, flitted through his mind but there was little he could do about that, now.
Daedhrochon
"Daed"
On different portion of road, a short walk from Gladhron and Umoya
The wagon ride so far had been fairly uneventful, since the bandits had fled. At least, until they got within about a day of the inn. Daed was beginning to feel that it had been too quiet, too uneventful. Looking around, he wondered if he was feeling that way simply because it was growing dull, riding along when he usually walked. There was little to do. It made him feel lax, and he didn't like it too well.
Suddenly the monotony was broken by a flash of movement. Daed's head whipped around and his gaze found the source rapidly; a small, dappled grey horse emerged from the forest to the side of the road, and ran across their path, quickly running off into the forest on the other side. "Hold it!" Feeling that there was something wrong, Daed motioned to the merchant to stop the wagon, and he was leaping out before the man had a chance to do as he said. "Stay and guard the wagon," He called back to the other man who had been riding with them, as a guard to the merchant. With that, the ranger set off at a rapid pace, following the tracks the horse had made on the forest floor. Someone may be in trouble.. there could be bandit, or perhaps wolves had beset some traveler.. perhaps something had merely spooked the horse and it threw its rider, but they could be hurt, and he had to find out.
And a good thing he did come, because as he drew nearer, he caught a glimpse through the forest of two people fighting. Daed's rapid approach slowed to a more cautious one, then he ducked behind a tree, trying to make sense of what was happening. He frowned, watching a moment, and saw a young man, barely an adult by the look of him, (by Dunedain standards) was bleeding heavily from the forehead, while a woman approached him with a dagger, looking intent on killing him. Even from here, he could tell the young man was badly wounded, but more than that; he had the features of one who was of Dunedain blood. In fact, he looked somehow familiar, though he'd never seen his young man before. Daed was just in time to see him try to swing a stick at her. The poor boy failed miserably, and she knocked him down easily. Daed began stealthily moving nearer, grey eyes narrowing at what was happening. After a brief struggle, he saw the woman, Haradrim by the looks of her, put the blade to the young man's neck, and he felt certain she was going to kill him if no one stopped her. A rage filled Daed at this sight... a woman, clearly an enemy, trying to kill an unarmed man, who was too wounded to fight back. Forgetting stealth, he now leaped across the distance. Hopefully, she was too absorbed in her 'killing moment' to hear any sounds his boots made. He had moved near enough by now to hear what she was saying, too.
An iron grip caught her arm as it was poised to stab the boy, followed swiftly by Daed's other hand grabbing the back of her collar. With a sharp yank upward and back, he hauled the female away from the helpless young man with all his strength, fueled by his fury. Whirling now to face her he glared at this enemy, a servant of the Dark Lord, according to what he'd heard her saying to the wounded man. It was tempting to draw his sword for a better, more impressive effect, but he resisted that urge.. there were too many trees around to use his sword in combat here, and he sure didn't want to make the same mistake the young man had made with his branch. Instead, the seasoned ranger swiftly drew out a long dagger. "Well," He gave a wry smile. "You must be very proud of yourself. You've proven that you can defeat an unarmed, wounded
boy." Glaring, he stood where the woman couldn't get to the young man without getting past him, his dagger out and ready to fight. "Let's see how you do against a more experienced ranger, hm?"