Calanthe

Chapter IX

Ranvir

Ranvir shook his hair in a bid to rid himself of the water that was dripping down his neck. "We have to get out of this storm!" He shouted to his party. Frode looked to him and nodded, his eyes were squinted against the harsh rain and wind.

They had traveled a further three days since meeting Caridad and her two sons. The journey wasn't directionless, Caridad had years of experience travelling and trading between villages so she knew that they should keep following the direction they were taking. They found that it was easier to travel with her and her sons. Because of the years of experience in the foreign country she had the best local knowledge and tips, her sons were perfect translators because they grew up with both languages.

She highly advised against raiding because of the poverty in the area and said that trade was a much better course of action to get the essentials to survive in this new land. This proved true because when they traded they were more likely to find more information about what they wanted before they got it. When Ranvir tried to trade for bread, the bakers daughter had to explain that they made different types of bread and gave him advise as to which would be best to take travelling, so Ranvir bought a loaf of sourdough. Although trivial, the advise helped. Zetta had gotten an Anadama loaf that had gone stale by the end of the day. She had to finish it before it got to the point of waste. Caridad showed them some of the different types of food sold in this country and explained the many cultural differences. Frode seemed particularly pleased with the new addition to the Norse group.

The wind pelted large drops at their faces. Zetta felt them sting at her skin and worried that her face would turn red. The party had sheltered underneath a large old oak tree. Unfortunately it gave little cover to the scattered group.

Up ahead there appeared to be a small farmstead. "Onora!" He shouted beckoning her towards him. The female warrior nodded and jogged towards him. "Scout out that farmstead ahead. We need to make sure we can shelter without any threats."

"Yessir." The bleached haired woman replied curtly before turning and striding towards Herleif. Through the rain Herleif, who had been tense and apprehensive since the storm started, visibly seemed to relax in the presence of the warrior woman. They exchanged some words before turning and jogging in the direction of the farmstead together. Soon the pair disappeared from sight as they went into the storm.

Bjorn elbowed Ranvir in mirth. "And they think we don't know!" He boomed, over the storm, referring to the pair that just left. Ranvir laughed and slapped his best friend on the back in reply.

Despite the humour, the group was visibly tense amoung their unfamiliar surroundings.

...

The storm was still thick when Onara and Herleif returned half an hour later. The violent rain drops left minuscule craters in the soft mud before other drops smashed the craters out of shape and made their own in place. The wind almost sounded human as it howled. At times Ranvir swore he could hear a woman's cries on the wind but he soon dismissed the idea as his imagination.

The pair of scouts had jogged back into view in a relaxed stance. Their body language seemed to send aa sign to the whole party and all the tension dissipated from Ranvir and his warriors. The pair came straight to the tall dripping leader to report.

"There are only simple farmers. Nothing of value is in these homes. We skirted around the edges but they appear to all be hidden from the storm inside their homes. There doesn't appear to be any weapons, but we can't be sure." Onara took in a deep breath. "We think we heard horses galloping but that might've just been the storm." She stopped talking and looked to Herleif to continue.

He took her hint and opened his mouth to give Ranvir the rest of the information "If you don't wish to disrupt the farmers we believe we found a barn. It looked like a storage place for farm tools or livestock feed so it will be empty of people. We should be uninterrupted, so we could wait out the rest of the storm there and sleep before we move on." Ranvir was taken aback for a moment for the amount of words that the usually quite man uttered.

Ranvir nodded to them both to dismiss them and then thought quietly to himself. Although his warriors were strong, he didn't want to risk an unneeded conflict. The farmers were just innocent people, unaware of all the world that surrounded them. Besides, he didn't want word to reach the large town they were headed to so that they hid their gold. Despite Caridad's warnings he felt that they had wasted enough time with trade. He wanted to go home richer and more powerful than when he left.

Ranvir thrust his large hand into the air and signalled to his posse to follow him.

"Lead on you two." Ranvir spoke with authority as he addressed Onara and Herleif.

The scouts led the group of warriors around the outskirts of the farmstead in the midst of the storm. Ranvir had instructed them all to stay quite, low and out of sight. Lightening flashed, illuminating the group. Bjorn's steps splashed behind Ranvir, flicking mud up his calves. Beside him he gripped Zetta's upper arm tightly. He was making sure he was close so she would not be threatened by any unanticipated danger, her powers made her so much more vulnerable to attack. Ranvir had always felt a strong sense of protection to his sister, but, with her powers developing he felt it much more keenly. He didn't know what her future would bring, it seemed she was destined for a different path than him. His sister was beautiful but men were always too scared of Ranvir's wrath to ask for her hand. He knew there was interest but his protective side pretended there wasn't. He pulled her more closely to him. Her embarrassment made her try and pull away from his grip.

They came to the large barn. It had large wooden doors that looked solid and heavy. It appeared to just be a storage barn, maybe it was only opened during the harvest and sewing months. A particularly muddy patch of ground was the only way Ranvir managed to spot it. As he slipped and tried to regain his balance his eyes were directed to the ground just in front of the large doors. There were deep scourge marks in the mud in front of the right solid door. Or there were, because the scourge marks had been filled with muddy rainwater. The splash of raindrops on those spots alerted him to the marks. Someone had opened those doors, during the storm. Ranvir wasn't sure whether it was opened to let someone or something out or let someone or something in. He raised his hands to stop his warriors. The group all noticed his signal and stopped immediately. Looking around at his warriors he knew they could not delay much longer. Even already had violent shivers running up and down his frame. They had to find shelter, now.

Still on high alert, Ranvir signalled for Onara and Herleif to open the right door. The left might have been jammed for all he knew but the right one could defiantly open as the scourge marks proved.

Slowly the two scouts pulled the heavy door open. Ranvir slipped through the gap with Bjorn following closely behind along with the rest of the party. Once inside his group spread out and the doors were shut behind them and the gust of cold wind and rain halted with it.

What Ranvir noticed first was not the pile of hay in one corner or the various farming tools surrounding them. Not the few candles scattered around the middle. Not the small gap between the back wall and the ground or the tell tale muddy footprints in front of him. What he saw first was a girl with tears streaming down her face and a red handprint blooming on her right cheek cowering against the far barn wall and a man his age standing over her with his arm outstretched. They were both staring straight at him.