[Brinniel]

Due to her poor vision, Shae was nearly on top of the bodies before she saw them. She immediately reacted, yanking on the reins and bringing her horse to a sudden halt. Carefully, she dismounted to further investigate.

There were two bodies, both dark haired and dark skinned. Examining the armour, Shae identified the dead men as slavers. Unanswered questions suddenly overwhelmed Shae. What could have possibly happened here? As she scanned the bloody ground, a shape caught her eye. Stepping closer, she could see that it was another man, but this one was not a slaver. Though Shae could not see the man's face, it was easy to tell that he was much fairer than the other two simply by looking at the colour of his hair. Glancing at the armour, Shae grew curious- it was like nothing she had ever seen. The sword that lay beside him was yet even stranger. The blade was covered in foreign symbols she could not read. Shae easily concluded that this man was the killer of the two slavers, yet she remained puzzled by his identity. She had never seen any kind like him before.

After minutes of pondering, Shae began to turn back to her horse when suddenly the strange man stirred.

He's alive.

Immediately, Shae bent over and turned the man over onto his back. Examining the body, the woman could see the wounds weren't nearly critical. A few scrapes and bruises, a gash to the head, and perhaps a cracked rib- this man could easily live. Shae cursed herself again and again for nearly abandoning someone- someone who had killed her enemy. The woman unwrapped the bandages from her hands and placed them around the man's head to help slow the bleeding. She cursed herself again for being a poor ex-slave unable to give the man better care. In the distance, Shae could hear shouting and the clashing of swords. Pickening up her pace, she brought her horse to the unconscious man. Lifting the him onto the horse was not an easy task, as he was nearly twice her size. After several long minutes, Shae managed to accomplish the arduous task.

Back on the horse, with the injured man sprawled in front of her, Shae's mind took over again. What was she supposed to do now? Turn around back to the camp? No. She was not ready to face Khamir again. Not yet. The best she could do for the man was bring him back to his people. But she did not know where that was. Hearing the sounds of fighting once again brought Shae back to attention and away from all thoughts. Instinct took over and before she knew what she was doing, she was galloping towards the noises.

It did not take long for Shae to find the source of the sounds. Careful not to get too close, the woman slowed her horse to a stop. Her eyes widened at what she saw. It was the slavers' camp, but not at all how she expected to find it. It seemed the entire camp was in chaos. But who was attacking? More of the injured man's kind? Shae squinted her good eye, hoping to better make out the small figures, but was unsuccessful. She thought about moving slightly closer to the camp, but before she could act upon it, the man in front of her began to stir again.