Drumwe Isles

chapter twenty

Having gathered a generous amount of supplies from the Silverpelt enterprise, with promises to return after his mission for Dillac's royalty, the trio had managed to make pretty great progress in their journey. By nightfall of the next day, they'd reached the very outermost edge of Fallburne's forest. They began scanning the grounds for an opportune place to settle that night when Kieran detected the faintest hint of smoke about them.

"Do you smell that?"

"Smell what? Did you forget to wash your arse?"

Kieran elbowed Cael in the stomach earning an oomph from the man.

"It smells like smoke, something burning?"

Enid added, eyes scanning for the source of such a smell. Cael began eyeing their surroundings too and thought he saw a fog a bit deeper into the forest. He tapped Kieran lightly and tilted the blonde's head with his hand so it was facing the correct direction. Kieran's eyes lit up and the group of them began moving towards the haze cautiously.

As they drew closer, the remnants of a bandit camp came into view. The smell of half dried blood and burnt hair became overwhelming as they neared the spot of the dwindling campfire. They tread carefully about the cold corpses and lightly dug through the supplies which had survived. There was hardly enough food to sustain them for a day, let alone the whole trip.

Cael heard a clinking sound off to the side and began creeping towards its source, with weapons at the ready. Kieran and Enid were digging through the remnants of the largest tent somewhere behind him. Cael saw that the base of one of the trees was wrapped in thick metal chains and he looked on in half curiosity, half scepticism. When the clinking sound came again he stepped closer to the tree and began to make out the shape of a person. Upon noting the slow drags of their chest, Cael realised the woman was still alive. His eyes lit up in recognition and he shouted in his companions direction.

"Enid! Come here."

The woman chained to the tree snapped to a state of alert and her eyes glared at him with a burning hatred. She looked outright feral and Cael suspected it had been her companions who were slaughtered at the campsite.

In a flash, Enid was at his side, scanning the woman for wounds. Kieran had made his way over too, with a look of complete mistrust evident on his face. Enid stepped forward to the woman with her hands up in a very surrendering manner.

"My name is Enid, I'd like to check you for wounds."

The hatred in the feral woman's eyes didn't stall even slightly, but she made no movement or sound of protest either.

Enid took her lack of protest as acceptance and stepped closer to the woman. She lightly moved the hair from her shoulders and neck, then taking the gag binding her mouth shut and tugging it away. The woman rotated her jaw and a cracking noise sounded. Kieran's discontent with the situation was growing and Cael could feel it radiating off of him.

"She's malnourished. We ought to get some food for her."

Cael was hesitant. Enid obviously meant to help the woman, whereas Kieran might have sought to kill her where she stood.

"We don't know whether or not she's a threat to us. Why help her?"

Enid's eyes snapped at Kieran, scanning his face for a moment before turning back to the woman. She pulled her waterskin pouch from her side and stepped forward, offering the woman watered. Though her brows were furrowed a bit angrily and she hardly looked grateful, she sipped from the pouch all the same. Cael pondered how long she'd been stuck to the tree exactly.

Next Enid swiftly swings at the chains once.

"Enid."

She swings down again, putting more effort into it, but being careful not to hit the woman.