[Aylwen Dreamsong]

Jesslyn fought hard during the raid on Alphirion, though the forces of the Wild Men seemed endless. On more than one occasion Jess arrived too late to save one of the villagers, but just in time to see their throat slit or their backs stabbed. The moon could barely be seen through the darkening clouds, and Jess thought she could feel the drip of a raindrop or two.

At one point, Jess was fighting off three Wild men with one of the younger men of the town, when a great chain of frightened screams could be heard and were followed by roaring laughter. Jess and the man, Khole, exchanged worried glances and quickly worked to get rid of the two Wild Men they had been fighting. Then they ran off in the direction of the screams, bringing a few of the other brave fighting villagers. They ran towards a dense chain of trees, sprinting like jackrabbits in the night. More people screamed and shouted beyond the line of trees. No words were quite clear, but Jesslyn knew they were desperately afraid, and that the cries were for help. Once they came close enough to make out the words, Jesslyn went first, bursting through a gap in the trees where the willows had been pulled back. The screaming continued, and most of the voices were clearly belonging to children; the young and the elders of Alphirion had been found. A great rage rose in Jess, overpowering any fear or apprehension that had once been.

The moon still provided enough light to see that there were twenty or thirty Wild Men surrounding a group of about ten or fifteen older men, women, and quite young children. This relieved Jesslyn only slightly, for it meant that not all of the young and old of Alphirion had been found. Apparently the group had tried their hardest to reach the safety the others had found, only to fail at the very last. Now the group formed a small circle with the children in the middle as a last pathetic defense.

The victims of the attack were screaming challenges, crying, or even comforting. The Wild Men roared back, laughing and smiling malicious grins revealing horribly cared for teeth. Sharpened tree branches and clubs made by the attacked villagers swatted and smacked at the attackers, to no affect or avail. The Wild Men began to slit the throats and gut through the stomachs of the outer folk of the circle. Jess continued on towards the group at a dead run, for whoever they went to help…it looked like they might be too late.

Jess and her fellow defenders attacked the attackers at two angles. Five middle-aged men and women darted into the circle to grab the children and sprint them off to safety with the rest of the old and young of Alphirion. The rest of the help attacked the Wild Men from behind. This battle raged on for almost a half hour, and by the end, heaps of Wild Men lay dead throughout the wooded area. Whatever was left of the killed villagers was too masticated to bury in some way.

They had only saved six people, and three were children, according to the five middle-aged rescuers.

~*~

Cartil was glad that the attention had been averted from him, and he listened carefully as the two Wild folk argued over…Laurel? Cartil had no idea exactly who they were talking about, but it had to be Laurel! That was what…what was his name? Cuor. That was what Cuor was fighting for?

Suddenly, as the woman Gita stormed out, the ‘king’ turned his attention back to Cartil. He growled, a deep growl that came from the bottom of his lungs. The King drew a dagger, golden and shining as it left a gold reflection on the animal pelts on the floor. He brought it straight to Cartil’s throat.

“I must attend to more important things than a scum like you at the moment. I will deal with you later, and if you do not agree then, than your head will soon be no longer attached to your neck. And should you move or make any attempt to leave, your throat will be slit and the blood will forever stay in a vial around my neck,” grunted the King. He whipped the knife away, almost cutting Cartil’s throat anyway. The Wild Man stalked out of the tent.

For the first time in his life, Cartil began to have doubts as to whether or not he could make it out of trouble alive.