Wildling

Chapter 2

Estelwen smiled to herself as the horse lazily ambled through the hilly plain.
The past few days had been suspiciously peaceful.

She gently rubbed the horse neck while observing the path in front of them.

Although it was a wide open space, she could see a hint of forest in the distance.

She dismounted the horse and began to walk next to it with a hand resting on its shoulder.

The mare nickered gently and paused a moment to graze. Estelwen pulled out her water skin and began drinking before pouring some into her hand and offering it to the horse.

The mare drank gratefully before the two continued on their way.

The mare was slightly skittish today, which worried Estelwen.

Horses were intelligent creatures, and she trusted their judgment. Although whatever was concerning the mare might not seem a big deal to a man, a piece of fabric blowing past for example, the horse has years of instincts engrained into its mind where anything could be a predator. And sometimes the predator was indeed a real threat not only to the horse but to the rider as well. The horse trusts the rider to take care of it, and the rider trusts the horse to carry them out of dangerous lands.

So Estelwen kept an open eye out while traveling, looking for the source of any noises she heard and constantly observing her surroundings.

Due to the horse and her own vigilance, Estelwen was able to spot the small orc pack before it spotted her.

She cursed softly, and the horse lurched to a stop

They remained perfectly still watching them for a minute.

Most of the orcs were gone from the world. They were only found in small groups now.

Small groups that Estelwen slaughtered through any means necessary.

She raised her bow and aimed.

She watched the arrow streak lazily through the air as she drew another one.

The astonished grunt of the orcs were heard even from where she was.

As she went to release the second arrow, they spotted her.

The second arrow found its mark and another orc fell.

The orcs were rushing towards her as she raised the third arrow.

Something slammed into her and her horse from behind, and they hit the ground hard.

Estelwen sprang to her feet and clutched her sword.

A warg had tackled them, and she wasted no time driving her sword through its skull as it lunged towards the horse.

The horse made it back to its feet, and Estelwen mounted only seconds before the pack caught up.

She turned the mare and nudged her away from the pack.

The orcs chased her eagerly, probably thinking she would be easy to catch and kill.

Estelwen frowned as the horse galloped on.

The orcs seemed unusually slow. Almost like they wanted her to run.

Fast enough that she had to push her horse to stay ahead but not fast enough to catch her .

All of a sudden, the mare threw on the breaks skidding to stop as a warg leaped through the space she would have been.

The mare spun and ran in a different direction, and the chase continued.

There was a forest up ahead, tall and imposing trees that were thick enough to hide what was within.

A second ward leaped at them, and the horse reared panicked. Estelwen stabbed it, and the horse startled backward as more wargs appeared in front of them.

The ones from behind caught up, and they were soon in the center of a large circle of wargs, some with orc riders.

The mare stamped and squealed furiously at the wargs as Estelwen tried to keep an eye on every single one of them at once.

A sword swung towards her from the left, and she was forced to tumble off the horse in order to dodge it.

Her stiff shoulder protested when she hit the ground, and Estelwen groaned before leaping to her feet.

The horse whinnied and reared, and Estelwen lunged towards it in an attempt to settle it.

However, as Estelwen moved a warg lunged towards her, the brown hair bristled on its back, and its jaws were open wide, sharp teeth dripping with saliva.

The war never reached Estelwen, though, and the reason why was truly astonishing.

The mare had lunged forward and slammed her hooves into its skull. Effectively killing the warg.

Estelwen winced slightly, looking at the split skull of the warg, and ran to the mares side.

She mounted again and searched for a way out of the circle.

The mare proceeded to take matters into her own hands, lurching forward, leaving Estelwen scrabbling for a hold to maintain her balance.

Estelwen gasped as the mare leaped up and through the circle before bolting towards the forest. The orcs fallowed with angry screams but fell to a halt once the two, horse and girl, reached the edge of the forest.
Estelwen turned to look back in confusion at the shifting pack before the bushes and trees obscured her view.
She let the horse run for some distance until they were deep in the forest. She then was certain they would hear anything approaching them, and the orcs hadn't seemed to want to enter the forest anyways, so hopefully, they were safe. She pulled the mare to a halt before dismounting and approaching the mares head.

"You saved me." Estelwen murmured while stroking the mares head. "I owe you my life, such a brave act from you, I believe, earns you the right to a name. And perhaps a permanent home with me."

The horse nickered softly watching estelwen with large gentle eyes

"Feamáre. Good soul. It suits you, I believe."

Estelwen smiled and continued to stroke Feamáre gently until a large shape fell from the trees slamming into Feamáre from above and knocking her to the ground. Large spindly legs protruded from what had to be the largest spider Estelwen had ever seen. Feamáre squealed and kicked her legs in panic before a bite to the neck caused her to fall still. Estelwen yelled in shock before stabbing at the spider frantically until it scurried back into the brush to nurse its bleeding body.

Estelwen dropped beside Feamáre trying to calm the mare. Feamáre's rasping strangled breathing was all Estelwen could hear as she soothed the horse. She didn't deserve this. Poor poor horse.

Estelwen remained with Feamáre long after her heart had stopped and the body had gone cold. She just couldn't bring herself to leave the noble horse there like that. The blood had dried around the bite on Feamáre's neck, and her eyes were dull and sightless. But it was still Feamáre. And Feamáre didn't deserve to die.

"A good soul. Such a good soul." Estelwen whispered softly before her attention was drawn to the sound of something large shoving through the bushes. Several somethings large. Four large black spiders popped out of the surrounding forest and advanced on Estelwen.

Estelwen realized they were probably after Feamáre's dead body, and she promptly set about to defend it. She would not let those foul creatures defile her horse any more than they already had. So she drew her sword and advanced.

~~~~~~~

Sooooooo

How's the story so far?

Should I regret killing Feamáre?

Mk bye bye now dearest readers!

Until the next character thats important to Estelwen dies!

Don't you think Estelwen makes a lovely glow stick? Gotta break that glowstick so she can glow!

Peace, fern.