A RANGER IS BORN

CHAPTER 6 - "How Long Have I Been Unconscious?"

Running as fast as he possibly could, he jumped the fence and bolted for the house. As he left Wilam's angle of fire, he could hear him swearing. Crentar drew his long sword and gritted his teeth at the pain flaring through his leg and arm. Damn good thing he didn't get my sword arm, he thought as he edged his way toward the corner of the house. He listened intently for the sounds of movement around the corner and was rewarded by the soft scrape of leather on pebbles.

It was all the warning Crentar needed. When Wilam jumped around the corner, it was to face a prepared and determined enemy. His first overhand swing was met by the angled blade of Crentar's sword and the blow went wide. On the backstroke, Crentar brought his sword across in a diagonal slash and nearly succeeded in gutting him. Only a hasty step back, which left his sword out of position, saved him.

Thesting in Crentar's leg had grown into a fire. He knew he must finish this fight quickly if he were to win. With savage force, he brought his swordaround in an overhand swing. Wilammanaged to block the powerful blow by bringing his sword up over his head. Crentar twisted to the right, bringing hisblade around under the other with him, and propelled his elbow into Wilam'sface.

Stunned by the blow, Wilam staggered back a step. His sword arm was flung impotently out to his side. Without a pause, Crentar brought his sword around in a flat arc at neck height. Wilam continued to stagger back for several seconds with a look of utter surprise on his face. With a gurgle, he sagged to the ground dead.

Crentar slid down the wall leaving a smear of blood. Through a haze of pain, he thought, I can't give up now. I've got to tend my wounds. Can't rest. Crentar dropped his sword on the bloodstained gravel walk and drew one of his daggers from its sheath. With a grunt, he levered himself up and limped over to the body of Wilam. There, he cut free a large strip of cloth from the corpses cloak and examined the wound on his leg. He decided it was less serious than it felt at the moment and went on to look at his arm.

Panting with effort, he cut free his shirt sleeve to look at the wound. Blood oozed slowly from around the broken shaft. It had pierced his arm just below the edge of the protecting mail. With a hiss of pain, he probed his arm. He had been lucky, the arrow had not hit bone. Gathering his courage, Crentar pushed the shaft through the other side. The resulting pain caused spots to float before his eyes and a scream echoed from the nearby wall. Squeezing tears of pain from his eyes, he quickly dressed the now freely bleeding wound to staunch the flow. Later, I'll have to clean it proper, he thought as he prepared himself for the next effort.

He urged his battered body to stand and enter the house. There, he found the farmer, his wife, and a boy, all bound and gagged. Staggering over to the farmer, Crentar cut him loose and released the dagger in favor of slumping to the floor. The farmer quickly freed his family and thanked Crentar. The room grew dark and blackness swept Crentar away like a leaf in high wind.

He awoke in a bed to the sound of rain beating on the roof. It was dark and warm. Somebody had removed his bloody clothes and armor. The farmers wife noticed his stirring as he sat up. "Oh, thank the gods your awake! We owe you everything." she said.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Crentar asked.

"About six hours. Will you be all right?"

"I'll be fine. I need some things from my pack. Did anyone find it by the road?"

"It's here," she said placing it on the bed. "Would you like some stew?"

"Yes, that would be great. I'll also need some warm water, and clean cloth," he replied.

When the woman had left the room, the farmer entered. "I'm Brador. You saved me and my family from death or worse. Anything I have is yours," he said sincerely.

"I need only rest and food for a night. Also, if my horse has run off, I'll need another. I must get to Telen as soon as possible. There is urgent news for Lord Taloc I carry," he said while removing oilskin wrapped packages from his pack.

"You may stay as long as you like. As for the horse, it didn't run far. But you might consider taking one of the horses the robbers had. Any of them're better than that old horse you have."

The farmers wife came in with a pot of steaming water and some cloth. Trailing her, was the young boy; carrying a bowl of stew, bread, and a cup of water. "Thank you," Crentar said when the pot of water was placed on the nightstand. The boy handed him the bowl of beef stew and hurried from the room.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?" asked the farmers wife

as she paused at the door.

"No, I'll be fine," he answered and began to devour the stew.

"If you need anything just hollar," said Brador as he closed the door on his way out.

The stew was good. He cleaned out the bowl with the bread and washed it all down with the glass of water. Carefully, he reached over and poured a small amount of the hot water into the bowl. Selecting a packet, he undid the ties and placed some dried leaves in the water. From several more, he obtained the other ingredients he needed. He mixed everything into the water, and while it was cooling, removed his bandages. He noted that the wounds had been cleaned thoroughly while he slept. Carefully, he applied a little of the cooling mixture to his arm. There was a sharp sting followed by a blissful numbing. That's much better, he thought as he applied more of the mixture to his now numb wound. He called in the farmers wife to help him tie off a good bandage and said "Thanks, that's all I needed. Goodnight. Wake me early if I oversleep, all right?"

--- Cont'd in Chapter 7 ---