imagined fiction in my head. welcome to my fiction writing blog.

Estin awoke with the air tense and chill. The horses were quiet but becoming restless and the forest sounds seemed hushed and still. The moon had gone down the horizon and the only light left to see by was the dying embers of their camp fire. Jorran had neglected his watch, fallen asleep, and neglected to wake him as well.

He slowly unsheathed his sword as he made his way to his younger brother’s sleeping form. He cupped his hands on his brother’s mouth with his free hand. A startled sound escaped Jorran’s mouth before recognition dawned on his face. Estin grimaced. They would have been heard easily. Suddenly, a large shadow flew towards him and he was quickly pinned to the ground, the air pushed forcibly out of his lungs and the embers that were behind him and to his right sizzled as his side fell on it. Large furry jaws snapped at him, but they could not reach him. His reaction was quick enough that he was able to put his blade between himself and the creature. Soon, the creature’s growls and snaps abated and Estin was drenched in its blood that oozed and sizzled, drowning the last remaining embers of their fire underneath him.

Estin spat out a curse in the dark at his brother’s carelessness, but quickly stopped himself and fought panic as he realized his brother’s silence. He struggled to rise, but the dead creature on top of him held him firmly in place. Panting, he searched around him for some kind of leverage, but found none.

He heard flint striking stone and suddenly a bright lantern loomed in front of his face. Squinting in the bright light he grunted, “Jorran?”

“No,” a soft, feminine voice reached his ears.

She placed the light somewhere behind his head and when his vision cleared enough, Estin was faced with an enormous feline jaw, larger than his head snarling at him even from its side of death.

He looked to his left to find a tall and slender form cloaked and dressed in trousers bracing herself against the creature that pinned him to the ground. He also found a large paw as large as his head lying close to his face. Estin swallowed with his suddenly dry throat.

“When I say so, push with all your might,” she ordered, adjusting her quiver and a bow almost as tall as her on her shoulders. “Ready?”

“Sure,” Estin fought to keep more air from being squeezed out of his lungs. The cat with mottled fur was easily twice his size and weight and yet after a few attempts of him pushing up while the woman pushed from one side, he was free. The cat fell unceremoniously to the side and Estin braced himself to put more effort into rising. He got up with a groan and pulled his sword out of the cat and used it as a cane to limp over to where he found his brother lying still on the ground. Another feline with an arrow struck into its left eye lay near Jorran.

Estin knelt beside his brother. He was breathing, but unconscious. Checking for injuries, he found some blood on the back of his brother’s head. A rock by his head was covered in red. “Jorry,” he said quietly as he firmly patted his brothers face. “Jorry!” He hissed, but only got a groan in response.

The woman came with her lamp to stand behind Estin and spoke softly. “They were only children,” she said. “The horses are spooked, but they are still tethered and unharmed. I have a cottage not too far. We should go before we are found.”

Estin nodded numbly and began the struggle to lift his brother while the stranger went to fetch the horses. He could hear her speaking softly to them and the horses nickering in answer.

They arrived surprisingly calm. Not at all ready to bolt even with the stench of blood in the air and the woman helped load Jorran on one of the horses. She did so seemingly without effort and then proceeded to help Estin onto his. Estin struggled a little, noticing for the first time his burnt side.

Before he could, the woman took Estin’s reigns and mounted behind Jorran. On one hand she held their reins while with the other she extinguished and put away her lamp before using it to steady his younger brother. Just before the light went out, he glimpsed snow white hair from under her hood.

“We must travel in the dark,” she said. “I can see well enough and know my way well. You must trust me to lead your horse.”

Estin nodded, held on to the horn of his saddle, and shivered in the cold. He had forgotten. The creature’s blood on his skin and clothes had lost their warmth and were now trying to steal his.

<><><>

It was the most frightening ride of his life with dark shadows of branches flying overhead and the forest full of predatory growls and barks. More than once, an overhanging branch seemed to swoop in over his head until Estin finally decided to hunch over his horse. Even then tree limbs still seemed to come too close and he flinched every time one came close to his head. He struggled to keep himself from falling, clenching his knuckles white on his saddle’s horn. He could imagine losing his strength, falling off, and having to fight off creatures much more powerful than he. But with their careless pace, they soon outran the eyes that shone eerily in the night and the noise that filled the forest. Suddenly, the forest was quiet once again but for their horses’ hooves, their heavy breathing, and Estin’s heart trying to break out of his chest. Still, the woman kept their hard pace until they reached their destination.

By the time they stopped, their horses were near exhaustion. Estin would have similarly liked to lie down and let the darkness of sleep take him, but the ride left him tense and strung out. It may be a while before he could get some rest.

He stumbled off his horse and looked around him. There was not much to see in the dark, but they had stopped in front of a small cabin. He could only make out its outline and what looked like a door on one side. The woman confirmed his suspicions by entering the cabin and coming back soon after for his still unconscious brother.

As she pulled him off of the horse and Estin turned toward her she broke their silence. “I will take care of your brother, the horses need your help or you may have to walk from here.”

Estin, much concerned for his brother but too tired and numb to think or argue, set himself to tying the horses to a brach of a nearby tree. In the sudden silence, his ears had begun to ring and he wondered what other punishment his Captain would devise if they ever got back to the Watch station in one piece.