Awareness returns painfully, the light of the setting sun sears my eyes. As I adjust, I am met by a sky awash with hues of amber and purple. At the edge of my vision, the tall dark silent trees of the forest jolt me back to reality.
“G-guys?” I whimper out, attempting to push myself up to no avail. I sigh, thinking this is what I get for being a 23 year old woman playing tag in the woods with her friends, God forbid a woman have hobbies. I wince, as my body starts to remind me of my injuries; thorn nicks to my arms, a large weeping gash as well as a shit-load of scratches and bruises, making me feel stupid over my actions. Muttering obscenities under my breath, I try to dust off some earth and leaf debris and with a held breath and determination, I slowly push myself and rise to a seated position. .
What the hell?
Questions plague my mind as I observe that the forest that appeared dense before was somehow denser, and there was a strange, almost bioluminescent light creating a deep blue hue within the woodland. The glowing of the lights becomes stronger with the slow descent of the sun. The sheer wonderment of what I am witnessing, makes me momentarily forget my predicament. Waving my hand in front of my face seems to create a trail of soft lights. I decide to put my big girl pants on and try to get back to my friends. I stand and head in the direction I assume I have come from, past overgrown hedges and heavily foliaged trees, looking for any opening into a familiar view.
Haven’t I seen that tree before? Or not? A forest has lots of trees…No, no..i’m pretty sure that’s the same tree as before. I mean how many trees look like they have a dick.
I sigh in defeat and lean against the very male looking tree, barely containing the overwhelming feelings of embarrassment and despair of getting lost in a woods I was so familiar with. My momentary self reflection is interrupted by the sounds of chains, weights and heavy footsteps. A symphony of sounds that sends a chill down my spine for some reason, despite all reasonable explanations telling me that it must be a search party sent out for me. But I don’t move, my instincts telling me to stay still and quiet.
I cover my mouth, still leaning against the tree and attempt to hold my breath. The sounds become louder, and the distinct noise of wagons, carts and horses are soon evident.
Why can’t I turn around? It’s probably a company of rescuers who’ve heard of my disappearance, so why can’t I turn around?
Yet the feeling of dread remains, a feeling so threatening that my mind screams that if I move, I will perish…
As the sound of wagons get closer, the distinct smell of waste and gloom made by the movement of these mobile structures sweep towards me. I continue to hold my breath, hoping that my silence hasn''t given away my position to those only a few steps ahead of me. I listen as the sound becomes distant, I unconsciously let out a breath of relief as I feel the sense of danger evaporate.
As weird unrecognisable bird whistles ring out, a hand suddenly clasps over my mouth pulling from the safety of the trees and into an unknown person’s back.
"Keep Still. Move an inch and I''ll cut you down." A breathy threat snarls in my ear, accompanied by a sudden chilling feel of cold metal on my throat causing my body to freeze instantly, as if it knew this would be the moment I could die.
The hand of the unknown man grabs the scruff of my neck and pushes me forward to face the once noisy commotion of movement. I stare in shock at the long line of men on horses, wagons and on foot. The sight looked morbid. Grime, dirt and blood covered the men, as if they had just paved their way through a merciless war and was showered with the outcome. The view in its entirety was so bizarrely out of place that I couldn’t even attempt to utter a word of my presence or to even question what I was seeing. To me, there was no way for my 20st century mind to even comprehend the sight before me. The sheer stench of men unbathed due to travails and service was too strong to even compare to any smell I had come across in my life. Their looks of grief stained by combat and bloodshed was too surreal to even counter with a modern explanation.
There was no way these men had come from a movie set, some real life roleplay of fantasy characters or even a possible convention. No, these men had truly faced a the horrors of war and their 1000 mile stares or blank looks attested to that fact.
"It''s a woman." The man still holding me, bellows to the men on horses.
Keeping my mouth clamped shut, I watch as the men look between themselves as if to decide the proper course of action. A man wearing an outfit similar to a Teutonic knight comes forth leaping down from his horse, holding the hilt of his sword steady as if ready for an unexpected attack. He grabs my arms and looks at the scratches.
“Just a woman, she is of no use to us.” The knight speaks from his helmet as he looks at the man holding me, then proceeds to squint in thought. “Yet alone in the sacred forest. Strange…Bring her, the lord will need to question her whereabouts”.
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The man pushes me forward towards a filled wagon near the end of the troop of men. Grasping my waist he hoists me up onto the edge of the wagon, as if I weighed less than a bag of rice to him, and I’ll let you know I definitely weigh more than a bag of rice . He holds his hands out in a request for me to display my wrists, and in no position to protest, I put my wrists out to him and he quickly secures them with a coarse rope. Moving along the wagon, he ushers me to move down so that I am sat abreast to the tied up dubious men within. I slowly scooch myself into the wagon, being careful to avoid the crooked looking man beside me. The wagon is closed up, containing us all inside, seeing no escape from this situation I take to looking at the sky.
What just happened…?
I stare blankly at the dark night clouds, irritated by my lack of willpower to do literally anything other than just stand there, like a child who has been caught doing something mischievous or naughty. I awkwardly grab my head with my tethered hands. Why didn''t I say anything?!? I can’t believe I''ve just let myself be kidnapped so easily!
“Arak ka laverki na!” The man next to me laughs, causing the other men on the wagon to glance over to me and stifle a chuckle.
A large man in the corner of the wagon opposite me, tilts his head towards the shifty looking man beside me, adding his own comments, “Peveraki ka naveriki na.” He eerily sneers, looking at me. I follow his line of sight to discover he was looking at my exposed calves, I pull my skirt down over them and all of them laugh. A soldier on a horse riding next to us smacks the head of the creepy man next to me.
“Shut up you Eivan criminal. Or you’ll be walking the length to Arrton.” The assault causes the creep to sneer, turning his head to spit out of the wagon in disrespect to the soldier.
I hope this isn’t hell.
cxxx{}::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>
The droning silence among all the men in the troop persists, as they gaze upon the imposing scenery as we travel to our unknown destination. Unexpectedly,the silence was broken by the arrival of a chainmail clad soldier on an auburn horse causing the wagon train to halt. He rides up to the knight at the front of our travelling troop to deliver his message.
“Sir, we have set up camp a ways ahead on the great plains before Arrton. The marker for the camp is etched onto a large slanted stone.” The well dressed knight nods in acknowledgement, giving leave for the man to rejoin the troop. .
“Eiman, relay the message.” The knight bellows down the company of men.
“Yes Sir!” A soldier yells in compliance to the knight, and turns his horse away from the group and rides into the direction we came from.
There’s more of them? I query myself staring behind to see if I can catch a glimpse of other troops, but upon seeing nothing in the distance I turn to the sky and rest my eyes once more praying this long jolty journey will come to a swift end.
Upon opening my eyes again, I was hoping to be greeted by the sight of at least a humble camping setup of a few tents and at least a fire, but instead I was met with the incredulous image of…Nothing? A boundless landscape of sweeping long grass and blissful silence within the dark star lit night was all, my confusion building.
We shuffle past the aforementioned slanted stone. As we pass it, the men in the wagon jolt, seeming as though they all simultaneously received an electric shock. What a weird freakin’ place…My thoughts halt as I rub my eyes and do a second take, as the scene suddenly changes from emptiness to a bustling campsite where at least a thousand soldiers roamed.
I think I''m losing my mind...Did I blink? How could I miss this massive campsite?!
I close my unhinged jaw, when I see the nonchalant acceptance of the situation in the men, as if the sudden change was completely normal. I scan the large camp, noticing makeshift horse stables, black smiths, leather workers and rows of bell tents. Three large tents stick out, their colour is bold and their size dwarfs the others, obviously signifying importance within this place. If I am to have any hope or chance to negotiate my freedom or at least get some answers to this dystopian nightmare, it has to be in those tents…
“Sir Leiman, I will tell the lord of your arrival.” A young lad says to the well dressed knight in charge of our troop. The knight responds by taking off his helmet and handing it to the lad, scruffing his hair in appreciation. With his helmet off, I could finally see the profile of the knight in charge of the troop. He had blonde hair shaped into a french chop, a trimmed short beard and sharp features. He’s kind of cute, in a renaissance fair sort of way.
“No need, the reconnaissance mission was successful, I will present myself to the lord myself and update him with the intelligence we gathered.” He turns to look at the wagon with a scrutinising glare.
“Archer, collect them.” The familiar face of the man who grabbed me in the woods appears and unlatches the wagon, and ushers for me to come. Scooting to the end, he helps me off the cart by grabbing my waist and hoisting me to the floor, a move similar to when he stuck me on the damn thing. These people are way to handsy. I think to myself, but in a state of fear I dare not complain. I stand to the side and watch as the men on the wagon stand and jump off ,following the orders given to them by the archer and other soldiers. Once we are all milling around, the soldier ties us all together on a single long rope, berating and beating the men who do not comply quickly enough. Now I''m glad I didn’t complain…