The Five [EDITING]

Chapter Seven: Dangers

Authors Note:
So I just found out that some of my chapters are not showing up in notifications, so be sure to go back and be sure you haven't missed any chapters! If you were reading and found that suddenly, nothing makes sense, go back because you missed a part!
And please, people, comment. Let me know where I'm messing up so I can fix it, or what I'm doing right so I can keep doing it! Thanks everyone, new chapter in a couple of days, promise!
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-J Bowring

GEACOB

   "Geacob." Loryn hissed again. "Geacob, I... I demand that you stop this nonsense." When I only kept walking, she let out a frustrated sound. "Now whom is being childish?"
   "Says the girl who took a temper tantrum and threw a weeks worth of met away."
   "A weeks worth? My father could have eaten that for an appetizer!"
   "Your father was fat enough to feed a whole city if there was a food shortage and things got a bit desperate."
   There was a gasp. "How dare you!" She exclaimed. "How dare you speak of my father in that way! Have you no respect for the dead?"
   "Not when the living daughter is nipping at my heals like a particularly annoying puppy." I reply calmly. "Especially when said puppy refuses food then complains that she is hungry."
   "Well I didn't know we'd have to walk if we came this way!" She napped. "I thought you said the mountain pass was a shortcut?"
   "It is. It cuts two weeks of riding off our trip by walking this way. Good thing, too, seeing as you threw... hm, how much again? Right, a weeks worth of food away." I hopped up on the rocks and moved across the narrow path there rather than trying to balance on the path strewn of largely random shaped rocks a bit below. I heard her struggling behind me and smirked.
   "Uh! You can at least slow down." She complained, then, "Geacob!"
   I would have gladly kept going, but something in her tone made me stop and glance around, thinking she'd seen a bear below or a group of Rangers in the distance. I had to follow her gaze down the slope to see what she had seen, then snorted but went back to where she struggled, picking her up and setting her on her feet.
   Forgetting that she hated me for a moment, she clutched at my wool shirt tightly. "It's watching us! It thinks we're food."
   "It's only a mountain lion, Loryn."
   "Only." She huffed a little breathlessly. "It's looking hungry. Is it hungry?"
   "This high up? Probably." I said with a shrug. "They can run uphill faster than we can fall down one." I told her. "No, we just need to intimidate it and it will find some easier prey somewhere else, that's all." I forced her fingers to loosen and picked up some rocks, then met the cats eyes and shouted loudly, throwing the rocks in its direction as I did.
   "What are you doing? You're going to make it angry!" She tried to slap the rocks from my hand and I raised my arm up so she couldn't. "Put your eyes down! Don't meet it's gaze!"
   "It's not a brown bear, Loryn, it's a mountain lion."
   "I know what it is!" She snapped again.
   I grinned, then shouted again, continuing to throw the rocks. None of them went close enough to hit the lion, but it was enough to make it give up the hunt to search for easier prey like goat or a lonely bear cub. I kept shouting a few more minutes while it slinked gracefully away.
   "It worked!" Loryn gasped in surprise.
   "It's not my first time through these mountains." I said with a shrug. "Now lets go. Stay close."
   For once, she didn't argue with me and kept at my heals from then on.

VENNY

   We were making good time since leaving the docks at Squidden, travelling through small villages to restock our supplies but otherwise keeping off the roads which had proven dangerous for travellers. With Harks' excellent sense of direction, we headed due-west all day and partially into the nights as well.
   But quietly, I was worried; neither of us knew how to hunt and other than gutting knives, we had no weapons. As the youngest son of the king, it was assumed that I would one day become a knight or a kingsmen and so I had been trained since I could walk on how to wield a sword, but I was still small in size and didn't have a sword of any kind with me in any case.
   For now, we had coin, but when that ran out, what would we do? We weren't even out of Tark yet and I had a feeling there would be a lot more travelling than we had coin for.
   Worse yet, I wasn't sure which way we'd turn once we hit Beach Road. I had planed on stopping at The T, but there was talk in the villages that it had been overrun with Outsiders. So much talk of it that it was hard to pass off as simple gossip any longer.
   "I'm starved." Hark said. "And the bladder's empty. Want ta stop into Salmon to clean up and fill up?"
   "We're near Salmon already?"
   "I think so." He said and dug in his pack, daring to let go of the back of my coat so he could flatten the map against it. "Aye, it's just a bit aways. There's a road a bit north of us and it'll curve north-east into Salmon." He handed me the map. "If I'm right, we're right close to Beach Road."
   "You're always right when it comes to directions." I reminded him but took the map and held it loosely in one hand, holding the reigns in the other. We were very close. Two, three days at the most. From there, we'd head north-west until we hit Cove Road.
   From there though, I would need to choose which direction we'd take. Would we head east toward The T? Maybe pass it and go toward Averton? Or would we head north and try to avoid Dargolyn as much as possible? This seemed like a great idea considering Dargolyn was home to the very dragons that destroyed five castles and put five kingdoms into the state of confusion and worry... but then again, Nascia was awful cold, even on a summer day, and winter was closing quickly --- this proven by the light dusting of snow on the trail we followed now.
   But that decision would wait for now. I turned the horse toward the small village of Salmon.
   Salmon was close enough to the main road that it was rich is gossip and information, but far enough away that it remained small and strangers were noticed. Though we were all Tarkians, we were strangers in this town and so the small market swarmed around us with the most terrible bargains. It became quickly difficult to find cheep prices until an old giddy decided to help us so long as we kept up a trail of gossip for her to pass around.
   This was Harks' responsibility. I was as good a storyteller as the next Tarkian, but there was always a small chance that my face would be recognize. More, I didn't want to talk about my home burning or my family dying, so I listened instead to Harks, exaggerated take as I bought some much-cheaper dried fruits.
   With our tale told and food for a few days bought, she gifted us with her own gossip in her west-tarkian accent which was so thick and gurgled even I myself had difficulty understanding.
   "I hear'd them dragons got all the kinds I did. Even up Nascia n' th'White City." She rubbed a wrinkled eye as she nodded at us seriously. "An' dem Ootsiders are startin' at raidin' vill'ges now they is. 'Specially 'ere in Tark. Doozens of 'em joinin' t'gether an' emptyin' the markets right in broad day, aye."
   "Where?" I asked with worry. 
   "That little one 'cross the Beach Road f'r one." She said. "Right where it joins wit' Cove Road."
   "I know the one." I said with a deep frown. "Near Coventon, you means? Juss down the river?"
   "Aye. T'whole village emptied ooot i'tis. Near fifty gone t'begin, the ress dead, aye." She leaned in. "If yous is headin' up the Cove, stay on th'north side, eh? They says the Ootsiders is circlin' Coventon, lookin f'r weaknesses."
   "But Coventon is nearly a city itself!" Hark said in surprise.
   She shrugged her boney shoulders. "Tis juss what we hear'd tis all."
   "You hear anything about The T?"
   Her eyes widened. "Donna go nowhere nears that end'a the Cove Road, boys. Th'woods are swarmed wit'em. Down south on the Beach Road too right on the boarders of Florn. Tis bad, what's it."
   I dug in my purse a moment, then handed the old giddy a coin for her help and we walked away. At least it was decided then that we would head north.
   Half an hour later, we were leaving the village, saddlebag packed as well as another horse which Hark rode nervously. "So, we're headin' north?" He guessed.
   I nodded. "That's the best plan I think. Maybe stop for the night soon on the other side of the road then start early and make some good time. With both of us on separate horses, we can travel farther and faster. Maybe even reach the White Road in two weeks, maybe less if we're lucky. Sound good?"
   "Aye." Hark shrugged. "But why the hurry? Not like we knows where we're goin'."
   "I'm... not sure." I admitted. "But I feel a sense of urgency in me."
   "Like ye had with the vision?"
   "Hard to tell. It's not so demanding. Still, ye knows what your da always says about instincts."
   Harks voice deepened in an eerie impression of his fathers. "Ye gotta follow y'r instincts unless ye sees the remains of a scattered ship. That's when y'r common sense gotta kick in or ye be nothin' but a dead fool, boy."
   We both chuckled. "Exactly." I said. "And I don't see any shipwrecks north as of yet, so north to Nascia it is!"
   He grinned at me but then just as suddenly frowned as he looked ahead. "I think I sees a shipwreck down the road though I does."
   I looked where he did and down a ways was a log running straight across the road. Even with the horses, we could easily go into the trees a little ways and go around it, but though there was not a person in sight, I smelled an ambush.
   I stopped the horse. "We should head back. Find a spot through the trees and make a wide circle around it."
   "Sounds like a good plan." Came a voice that was not Harks. I recognized the Florn accent, but knew it was not a Florner behind us but an Outsider, even before I turned and saw the black cloaked man holding an arrow back by a black gloved hand.
   "All we got is a bit of meat and a bedroll." I told the man with a calm I did not feel. "But we'd be willin' ta give ya both if you juss let us pass west."
   The Outsider snorted. "I have six men surrounding you, kiddy, and I'm afraid it's not meat we need but two beautiful horses and the coin in your purse." He grinned. "I'll let you keep the meat and the bedroll."
   "How kind of you." I said, but all the while, my eyes were searching the trees. I only counted three but assumed a fourth was behind us somewhere. I saw no sign of others and expected the man had not six men but only four. Still, four armed Outsiders against two lads was not a good risk to take. "How about a trade?" I asked, but it was only to delay what seemed to be the inevitable. I already knew the answer.
   He snorted. "Don't be a fool, kiddy. I'd rather not kill you, but if I have to..." He shrugged. "What's two more in a line of dozens?"
   "Well," I said carefully, thinking a plan even as I spoke. "It's more like a Riggy tactic." I said. "I'd rather be the rig than the stoney."
   I knew this made absolutely no sense to the Outsider, but it did to Hark, seeing as it was one of his favorite stories to tell.
   Like most of his stories, it was about some adventure or another of his fathers. This one was a long tale about being swept out to sea by a storm and surrounded by pirates, the captain of which was named Stonie. They'd went on a great chance and battled as well. A wonderful tale that I enjoyed hearing as much as Hark enjoyed telling.
   However, at the end of the story, they'd had to work together to escape a terrible sea monster who wanted a single sacrifice. With neither captain willing to give up one of their men, they worked together and tricked the monster. They did this by telling the monster to come between the ships where Captain Riggy himself could walk the plank like a proper shipsmen. The monster agreed, which gave Stonie the room to turn his sails and escape... right when Riggy ran off the plank and jumped, grasping a rope that Stonie threw out as they began to sail away. In anger, the monster followed Stonies ship, leaving Riggy's crew be. Riggy and Stonie worked together to eventually outrun the monster.
   So when I said I'd be Riggy, Hark shifted back in his saddle carefully, leaving me room ahead of him.
   The Outsider pretended to understand and snorted. "Off the horses, kiddies." He said again.
   "I need help, then." I said and patted my leg with my knuckles. "Lame leg."
   Irritated, the Outsider motioned impatiently with his head for one to come and drag me down. I shifted to throw my leg over as if getting ready to slip off into the arms of an Outsider, but really, I was getting ready to jump.
   "Here, boy." The newcomer said as he approached. He had put his bow away to raise his arms, leaving one less arrow pointed at us.
   It worked splendidly. Hark kicked the horse hard, right when I jumped over the Outsider and slammed into the saddle. The surprise gave us only a moment to get out of there, but the fresh stallion, startled as he was, was already ducking into the trees, scraping my face on brush as he went.
   "Get them!" I heard shout as I hung onto the saddle for dear life.
   "They have horses?" Hark shouted.
   "At least two!"
   "Why in the watery gods are we running then?"
   "Our horses are fresh and---" I winced as a branch slapped my cheek, splitting it open. "And we have less weight on this one, even with the both of us. No saddle bags! They wont be able to keep up!"
   "Uh, are ye sure?"
   His tone made me look behind us just in time to see an Outsider release an arrow. I let out a yelp and ducked as much as I could but it's not like I had much room to do that. Still, the arrow didn't hit us so that was a good sign.
   "Hark!" I shouted. "Kick your heals in and give the horse his head!"
   "I don't know what that means!" He squeaked.
   "Let the horse lead! Stop trying to control him!"
   "But we'll hit a tree!" He let out a gasp and jumped. "He shot me! He actually shot me!"
   "What?" I shouted in alarm, unable to turn enough to see.
   "Well, almost. Nicked m'arm tis al, but still--- ah!"
   "Kick your darn heals in dammit!"
   "I hate horses!" He screamed it like a war call but then went faster and I felt him ducking over me to keep his head from getting chopped off by a hanging branch. "Whoo!" He yelled and laughed. "By all the watery gods, this is better'n sailin'!"
   "You just said you hated horses!"
   He only laughed in response.
   After a while of being bounced along roughly and holding on for dear life, the horse started to slow in exhaustion and Hark sat up, gaining control enough to pull the horse to a stop. Hark slipped off the horse almost expertly, but his legs were so weak from gripping the saddle that they collapsed under him and he landed face-first into the icy mud.
   I laughed as I clamored off myself, only to find my own feet slipping and I landed on my arse with a splat.
   The two of us were silent a moment, looking at each other between the legs of the horse, then broke out in laughter, still high on the adrenaline after such a race.
   When we finally calmed, I rubbed my aching ribs and stood carefully, taking hold of the stallion and leading him toward the sound of a babbling brook. "Where are we, you think?"
   "You got the map?"
   I checked my cloaked and grinned as I pulled it out. "My coin, too."
   He wiped himself off best he could and took the map from me. He studied it for only a moment then pointed. "We're right here."
   I didn't bother to ask if he was sure; no one knew directions better than Hark, on land or at sea. "Well, we made good time." I said. "Nearly a days travels in only a couple of hours." Poor horse. Good it was fresh of he would have collapsed under us long ago. "We'll make camp here, I need to check on the horse and clean him off. D'you still have some of the food stuck in your cloak?"
   He checked his wool and grinned. "I do. Not much, mind, but better than nothin'. And m'coin and bladder, too, luh!"
   Other than that, we had nothing else. Still, we were alive and... "You were shot?" I remembered.
   He blinked. "I forgot!" He said in surprise, his hand going to his arm. He looked even more surprised when his hand came away red. "Was just a scrape, I thinks."
   "Take off your cloak and shirt."
   He did so, revealing his scrawny, pale chest and smeared blood across his arm. I check the wound and it wasn't that bad, but I had nothing to wrap it with. In the end, I ripped off a piece of my filthy shirt since I had no other choice and rinsed it with water from the stream before wrapping it tightly. It would have to do.
   But the fact did make me realize how much trouble we were in. We were out of food, low on coin, and we were miles away from any village except ones we were warned to stay away from. We couldn't even light a fire because we had no flint --- all our supplies were n the saddlebag on the other horse, now property of the Outsiders.
   I had a feeling it was going to be a lot harder from now on.

LORYN

   I was almost regretting not leaving when I had the chance. My body aches, my feet pained, I missed my family, I hated Geacob and his black cloak, and I was cold.
   But a small part of me realized that I was getting stronger. My body ached just a little less every day as if it were becoming used to the ups and downs of the rough terrain, my feet still pained me, but it was a deep ache, one I somehow knew would never truly leave me. My family, I knew, were dead no matter where I was, and even though I still hated the Outsider boy, I no longer feared that he would harm me.
   The cold though, that became worse every day as winter drew a little closer. I wore Geacob's cloak, leaving him in only a wool shirt, but even so, I shook and shivered while he seemed to barely notice that it wasn't summer, mumbling only the occasional comment about southerners.
   I was always on alert, however. Mostly due to the face that whenever there were tracks in the dirt or dust, they were usually very large tracks that had me thinking we were surrounded by giant bears. Geacob said this was actually a good thing because it meant we were nearing Mountain Road where there were several villages along with in which we could rest up and get a good, healthy, filling meal.
   The very thought made me walk faster --- we'd been living off berries and nuts for three days and I was starving.
   Apparently, we weren't the only ones starving.
   The bear that stepped into our path wasn't a giant brownbear, but a large blackbear. The second Geacob saw it, he yanked me roughly behind him and kept a tight hold of my scarred wrist. "Do. Not. Run." He said evenly. "He is faster than you and he will catch you if you run."
   "What are we supposed to do?" I squeaked. "Play dead?"
   "It's not a brownbear, Loryn. Back up nice and slow." He said and I hated that his voice was so calm and even. "Slowly."
   We'd only taken two steps when the bear stood up on his hind legs and let out a roar. I felt my blood run cold --- it was bigger than I thought. "What do we do no?"
   "Just stay still." He said but didn't listen to his own advice. He let go of me and threw up his arms and shouted.
   "What are you doing? You're suppose to play dead!"
   "That's brownbears!" He shouted. "Blackbears will walk away."
   He let out a shout and stepped forward. The bear roared back.
   "Are you sure?" I asked when the bear got down on his four paws and came at him quickly. Geacob picked up a heavy stick and stood again just in time to dodge a giant paw.
   "I'm sure!" He replied as he dodged another attack, then yelled out a roar of his own and hit the bear with the stick.
   It didn't seem to hurt the bear, but it did go up on his hind legs again.
   "Now you've made it angry!" I shouted and stepped away.
   "Don't you dare run, Loryn." He said firmly and roared back again, throwing up his arms as if to make himself bigger. He did it over again and took a step closer to the bear.
   The bear swiped at him, hitting him in the arm hard enough to knock him over. I let out a scream, sure he was dead, but he scrambled to his feet and shouted again at the bear, getting closer once more.
   "I think you just enjoy scaring away predatory animals!"
   "Yes!" He said with sarcasm, dodging another paw. "I enjoy shitting my feking pants. That makes a lot of sense, Loryn!"
   "You shouldn't talk that way. It's rude."
   "I'm being attacked---" he leaped to the side, rolled, and came up, getting the bear in the back with the stick which broke loudly, "by a bear and you're worried about my language?"
   "You're the one who started the fight with a bear!"
   "Better than leaving you to die! Because I can darn well be sure that I can run away faster than you can!" He stopped in his shouting to raise both arms and let out another roar sound. 
   The bear circled slowly a moment before it let out some grunting noises and walked into the trees.
   I stared at the place it had gone, gaping. "It... it worked."
   "Thank whatever gods that listen." He said, gasping in breaths. He touched his arm and glared at the blood as if his own body insulted him by bleeding. "Lets get moving. I want to get out of these trees and get a fire around us or the scent of this blood is bound to attract wolves."
   "Great." I said without so much as a flicker of enthusiasm, despite the thought of fire. "That's just great." I followed closely behind him.

ALIENA

   I was not moving south fast enough for it to be getting warmer as I walked, however, it definitely was beginning to feel more like autumn than winter and my fur coat was simply too hot during the day, as were my mitts which I mostly kept stuffed in my pockets. I wished I had a place in my bag for my snowbear cloak, but I simply did not have the room for it so I left it undone instead, draped over my shoulders as I walked along the road.
   Back in Nascia, I had been at a cossroads between going south-east and south-west. South-east meant Tark, south-west meant Dargolyn. I didn't want to go anywhere near the dragons, but I debated because, though I did not wish to see them seeing as how the kingdoms all fell to them, would that not be where I was supposed to be going? 
   But that thought frightened me, so I stood there at the fork, looking between the two roads, debating with myself when I heard the distant sound of horses. They were moving quickly, but not as if rushed so I had time to find a place to hide but chose not to, knowing that the next village in either direction was days away and I needed to know the general state of the land. Was it dangerous to stay on the roads? Or was it dangerous to leave it? I had come across no one so far and knew not when I would come across another, so I took my chances and stayed put. Still, I loaded my crossbow and kept my bow handy in case I needed a quick draw for multiple targets.
   There was a slight curve in both roads, just enough so I didn't see which way they were coming from until there was only about fifty hands between us. They came up the White Road. Six on horseback.
   And they were Rangers.
   I felt a zing of fear go through me but held steady and calm. At the very least, I had my answer to one question: the road ahead was definitely dangerous.
   The six of them didn't seem to pause as they saw me, they simply moved around me so they had me surrounded, moving without hesitation to their positions. There were five men and one female and it was the female that stopped before me, I could tell simply by the way she held herself that she was the leader of this group.
   I spoke to them before they could threaten me. "I'm wondering what the state of the lands are." I told them, looking right at the woman. "I come from Nascia and so haven't had much word since the castles were burned."
   The woman spoke. "Perhaps you should worry about the danger in front of you first, girl." She said, a Tarkian accent, faint but there. Clearly she'd been a Ranger for a long time, long enough to have lost a great lot of her accent.
   I smirked. "Yes, Rangers can be quite dangerous, but I have no coin and no horse. Other than my fur and weapons, I have nothing of interest to you. Neither of which you will receive without first killing me, which I doubt you'll do unless you wish to break the First Law."
   She snorted. "I follow no laws you foolish girl."
   I smiled knowingly. "The rest of the Rangers will be happy to know that, I'm sure."
   The woman narrowed her eyes at me while another laughed. "Darci, I thinks the girl's tryin' ta say she's a Ranger!"
   The woman, Darci apparently, smirked and gave a very subtle nod.
   Subtle, yes, but I caught it, and as fast as the Ranger to my left could raise his bow, I had my crossbow, previously hidden in the folds of my cloak, pointing at his chest. "Ah, ah, ah." I said without looking away from the woman, shaking my head slightly. "I would not advise that."
   "You are no Ranger, girl." Said the woman.
   "Perhaps I am, perhaps I am not." I said with absolute calm. "It really doesn't matter. Either way, you will not be getting my coat or weapons from me by force."
   She had no idea what to think of me. She spluttered. "You think we can't kill you and take it ourselves? Boys." She said simply and four more arrows were pointed at me.
   But I didn't even flinch. "I do not have a single doubt that you can kill me. With a single nod of your head, you could have me dead." I took a step forward in a show of bravery. "But do you honestly believe that I will not take one of your men with me? Tell me," I said, my eyes steady, "is the fur I wear and the weapons I wield worth more than the life of a Ranger you are supposed to protect?"
   I had caught her. I had always been fascinated with Outsiders, who call themselves Rangers. I knew their laws and though none of those laws were to protect your fellow Ranger, the three laws they held spoke of loyalty among them. If she chose to risk killing me, she'd loose the respect of those who follow her and may not hold a position of leader much long after. Even less than a man would because of her gender.
   Judging by the mixture of irritation in her eye and the mildly impressed smile, she knew exactly what I had just done.
   She gave me a single not that hinted at respect, then waved her hand at the men. They lowered their bows and so I lowered my own, though kept it in hand just in case.
   "How about a trade then, girl?" Darci asked.
   "I'm listening."
   "That fur on your back for one of these horses."
   I debated. The fur was worth all six horses and no doubt she knew it, but I did need something else, and I could always make another ur.
   "How about this fur for a horse, some information, and one of those throwing knives your hand has been resting on since you told your men to lower their bows?"
   One of them, the same one who'd spoken before, laughed loudly. "I like this one, Darci."
   Darci remained silent a moment as she debated and then nodded. "Very well, what information to you wish?"
   "What are the more dangerous places in the land so far as you are aware?"
   She snorted. "Tark, The T, Florn, Dargolyn, Coventon, Pikers Pass, Averton, and Nascia. In that order." She said easily. "Now, hand me that fur."
   "Do you take me for a fool?" I asked. "Tell me if your words are true. Vow it on the cloak in which you wear so proudly."
   "As a Ranger, I swears I speak the truth." She said, looking even more impressed, if reluctantly so. "Lenny, give her your horse, you'll ride with me a ways."
   When Lenny handed me the reigns, I handed him the fur and looked at Darci who tossed me a throwing knife none to gently. I caught it easily with my left hand and saw her notice my missing finger, still sore and healing, but she said nothing about it. When Lenny was sitting behind her, bags transferred to another, she gave me one long look, then clucked her horse into a gallop and six of them headed down Dragon's Path without another word.
   That decided me --- no way was I risking overriding them somewhere down the same road. I checked the horses' hooves, adjusted the saddle, pocketed the knife, removed the bolt from my crossbow, and mounted the horse.
   Then I headed down the White Road, towards Tark.