The Thorn (wlw)

7 - Stranger in the Night

It was a dark and stormy night, and Leonore despaired because the evening didn't start out as that. This far south, near the planet's equator, there wasn't even a winter and the nights were sweltering and doubly so without the wind rushing through the stillness.

It rained oppressively, and Leonore tossed and turned in her rough, temporary bed, missing her manor and its excess of windows.

Thunder cracked overhead, and she jumped. Cursing herself and leaning over her shoulder, she checked to see if Gabriel saw.

Gabriel was asleep, the blankets only up to her waist. She breathed deep and steady, her arms sprawled out on the sheets. Leonore envied her comfort.

More thunder, thumping in quick succession. Leonore's bed was up against a wall, and she felt it shake. And something hit the other side, and Leonore knew it wasn't the sky.

She slammed back at the wall, wailing, "What's happening?"

Gabriel was on her in an instant, bright eyed in the way a sharpened knife gleams in the moonlight. Ready to work. "What are you doing?"

"Someone's thumping on the wall. It woke me."

The knight looked as if she might be angry, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the muffled cry in the other room. "Help!"

Leonore slid into her boots and moved to slip out the door, but not before Gabriel grabbed her and threw them both down into a corner.

"Unhand me, you bitch," hissed Leonore, maneuvering to elbow her in the stomach.

"No," said Gabriel, with equal venom. "You stay still and be quiet. Do you understand that if you keep making noise, you're next?"

Leonore stilled, begrudgingly, even as her blood iced with the realization that whatever is happening in the other room could be a trap, or could escalate with her life on the line.

She lay on the floor behind Gabriel's bed, as the knight stretched and worked the sleep off her limbs, her armor and weapon both ready. They listened to the noises in the other room, more violent with each passing second.

A short yell, and a distant thud. The noises stopped. Gabriel rushed to the window, and so did she.

A figure hobbled away, limping as fast as it could. The knight pulled her away from the window.

They stared each other down, waiting for the other to speak. Leonore glared at her, because it was easier to hide how she felt behind a scowl, than an earnest face.

She was afraid, and grateful. Afraid for her life, and owed Gabriel that she still had it. Leonore had been ready to rush outside.

The voice from the other room spoke first. "Are you still there?"

She looked at Gabriel. The knight peered into her face and pulled out a knife. She pressed it into her hands and said, "Hold it here."

"Slash. Like this." She demonstrated. "Aim for bare skin."

Leonore took the knife, and Gabriel hefted her farming blade. They left the room and knocked at the one next door. The person inside let them in.

He was bleeding through his torn shirt, they could see as he leaned against a wall. "I must hurry to leave, friends. I have—"

"What was it? What attacked you?" Leonore blurted out, ready to hear more about the local werewolf.

Gabriel set herself between Leonore and the stranger, who said, "Rascal with a knife. Some thug. Had his face covered. He jumped out of the window."