The Fall of Dewan

Chapter 14 Bad Things Happen... Again

The trips into town had been, for the most part, uneventful until one unfortunate trip in the late winter of 351 A.S.. Genevieve had been traveling with the group for just under a year and they had made about a dozen successful trips into villages and towns. Perhaps they had grown careless after all of their success or perhaps it was just bad luck. Whatever it was effects the course of the rest of our story going forward. Had this trip in particular not gone so bad, so quick, perhaps Genevieve could have lived out the rest of the days on the road with her newfound band of bandits; it would not have been a bad life, she likely would have found true happiness eventually. But alas, that is not how this story goes.

Genevieve and the six entered into a town as the sun set on a particularly cold Saturday evening. Now mind you, this was in the northern Etherain kingdom nearing the Gaulde border so it wasn't too cold, especially by giants standards. None the less it was enough to send a chill down Genevieve's spine. After arriving in town they attempted to escape the cold by going into a nearby pub- it wasn't overwhelmingly crowded but there was plenty of elves in there with a bard playing music on the stage. Archibald and Ohamed had gone to get drinks for the group from the bar while the other four had gone and settled into a table in the far corner.

They sat at the table for a number of hours- chatting, playing card, and just enjoying being surrounded by others. All but Genevieve (who was still 'too young' according to Alice) over indulged on drinks that night- perhaps that was why they did not notice the group of five Almorian soliders walk into the pub.

The five Almorian soldiers did not enter the bar looking specifically for Genevieve but once they caught sight of her she had their full attention. They watched from afar for a matter of minutes, discussing amongst themselves if it was truly her. Genevieve had taken her hood off her head, and had her hair pulled back so it would not fall in her face during the game of cards she was playing. It also didn't help that in Archibald's drunken state he was yelling her name across the table to try to get her attention so she could weigh in on some unimportant conversation he and Leona had been having. Eventually the Almorian soldiers decided they had seen, and heard, enough to convince them it was truly her. They took out their swords and began to approach the table.

It was Ohamed who noticed them first, he had been talking to Alice when mid-sentence he said, "Oh bloody hell". Hearing the shock and fear in his voice they all immediately turned their attention to where he was looking. Once spotting the approaching Almorians they all quickly stood, heading for the backdoor as quickly as possible.

Had it only been those five Almorian soliders, the group possibly would have been able to escape that night. They beat the soldiers to the back door and rushed out of the building in the direction of the horses, Alice keeping a tight grasp on Genevieve's wrist as they ran. The issue was that there was another twenty soldiers outside the pub. They were all apart of a small battalion heading back towards Almoria. They had only stopped in the town for a nights rest. They'd sent the five soliders into the pub to get them some ale and perhaps inquire about a nearby inn. They were not specifically looking for Genevieve, and had the other soldiers not ran out of the pub seconds after screaming "Get them, it's the princess!", they likely would have never given her a second glance. Once they all realized who she was though, a fight broke out.

There was no where for the group to run, they were surrounded by a total of twenty five Almorian solider- all with swords in hand. So they did the only thing they could, they drew their weapons as well and began to fight. Their only bit of luck that night was that they were all armed.

Prior to that evening Genevieve had only ever seen them friendly spar around the camp site, so she didn't realize the level of skill they possessed. She had grown so close to them that she had forgotten that some of them were murderers and all had spent much time in the front lines of dangerous battlefields. She watched in shock as Alice killed three Almorians with her sword in a matter of seconds. Archibald's weapon of choice was a large hammer and Ohamed's was a staff, both weapons that could have easily been seen as harmless but they quickly proved to be the opposite- each of them killing a solider with a single harsh strike to the head. Agnes held a small dagger in each of her hands and jumped at the soldiers like a rabid animal, stabbing at them until they moved no more. Bartholomew and Leona both held swords in their hands as they dueled soliders in heavy armor.

Genevieve held her bow and arrow in her hand but could not seem to get herself to let an arrow fly. She had killed many different breeds of animals but the thought of killing another person paralyzed her.

So she stood in the center of the fight, whirling her bow left and right but never shooting an arrow. The group started off strong, killing nearly half of the soldiers quickly but then seemed to lose some of their steam. Leona was battling two soldiers at once before they managed to knock her sword from her hands. Before she had the chance to call for help one of the soldiers plunged their sword through her chest. Batholomew rushed to her side, calling for Alice's attention, but was whacked in the back of the head by the butt of one of the soldiers swords. He fell to the ground, head bleeding. He began to rise, readying to fight, but was knocking down from behind. He fell to the ground with a sharp pain in his back. When he reached his hand behind his back to find the source of the pain he felt a knife's handle sticking out of it. He laid on the ground, struggling to move and breath, as he stared at Leona's dead body feet away.

A solider stood over Bartholomew's body about to deliver a lethal blow when they were hit in the chest with an arrow. Genevieve had finally shot, and with it killed her first person. She screamed for Alice, Archibald, Ohamed, and Agnes's attention, once she had it she pointed towards their two friends that lay dying or dead on the ground. Alice rushed to her sisters side and let out a pain filled shriek as she cried into her chest. This ignited a new rage in rest of them. Agnes, Archibald and Ohamed killed the rest of the Almorian soldiers in a quick, but likely very painful fashion before joining Genevieve and Alice at the bodies.

Ohamed leaned over Bartholomew to inspect the wound. Bartholomew let out a faint pained groan when he touched the knife. "I . . . I don't feel so good. . . . I can't feel my legs . . is . . . is . . . is Leona dead?" He said in a quiet voice as he lay motionless on the ground.

"You don't worry about her right now, worry about yourself okay? Lets try to get you up and to the horse so we can get you back to camp and patch you up" Ohamed said in a desperate tone.

Bartholomew let out another faint groan in pain when Ohamed went to move him. "No . . . don't . . . Ohamed . . . I can't . . . I don't feel rig. . . . ." He never finished the words. Ohamed watched as the life left his eyes.

"No! Damn it, no!" Ohamed yelled in frustration trying to shake Bartholomew awake.

Archibald went and grabbed Ohamed by the shoulders, "Ohamed we need to go. They are gone. I need your help with Alice. We need to go now!"

"No! We can't just leave them" Ohamed yelled with tears in his eyes, holding on to Bartholomew.

"I know, I know. I don't want to either but we don't know if there's more soldiers. There could have been more that heard the commotion and are headed this way now" he paused for a moment, "Ohamed that's not a fight we would win. We need to get Genevieve out of here."

Ohamed turned and looked at Archibald, some of his words had apparently made sense to him. "Ah! God damn it! Fine let's go!"

"I need your help getting Alice, Agnes and I couldn't get her off of Leona!" Archibald responded.

"Okay, okay! I'll get her! You, Agnes and Genevieve go and get the horses!" He turned to look at Genevieve who was standing frozen watching the scene in front of her unfold with an empty look in her eyes. "Genevieve did you hear me?" No response. "Genevieve!" Still nothing. He went over and shook her shoulders, "Genevieve please! I need you to not fall apart right now! Please!" He pleaded desperately.

Finally Genevieve came alive again and nodded, as a single tear fell down her face and she followed Archibald and Agnes in the direction of the horses.

Ohamed ran to Alice, "Alice we need to go!" He yelled as he crouched down in front of her. "Alice, we have to go!" He yelled again, but she didn't acknowledge him in the slightest, just continued clinging to Leona, wailing into her chest.

He stared at her for a long second, then made his decision. He forcefully lifted her, throwing her over his shoulder as she hit and kicked him wildly. "No! NO! I will not leave her! No!" She screamed.

Archibald, Agnes and Genevieve had returned with the horses. Ohamed lifted Alice onto his horse, holding her tight as she fought against him. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. But they are gone. And we can't stay here, more solider might be coming. We need to go, we don't have time." He said to her as they began to ride away. Alice's yells weren't words as they rode, they were just screams- filled with agony, loss, and sadness.