It was early in the morning when Fiontann woke up and after washing and getting ready he strolled around Trestlebridge. He was looking for a guard or the Captain of the guards, under the guise of a bounty hunter he’d get to learn some things maybe. Luckily, Pren got into the role of being his helper quite good and was already in a fight with a man. Fion let the two continue their fight and approached the Captain on the guards who happened to come out of his office, ready to disperse the fight between the men. The old man answered Fiontann’s questions and opened his mouth to order the guards to stop the two men. Pren had punched the man and dropped him to the ground and start punching his face; it seemed that he was going to kill him. With a hand on the Captain’s shoulder Fion stopped him and hurried down the stairs, after exchanging one or two words Pren got up and the two men talked about their next move.
Their walk in the middle of the village showed them that the man that Pren had beaten up had friends, not the villages that hunt outsiders with pitchforks… But others, those that know how to kill and have no remorse after it. The two men lead them to the bridge, where the size of the two men would give them the advantage, it was a close space, not allowing the men to surround them, and the fight started. The brigands fell one by one and when two remained one caught Fion by surprise and the point of his spear found its way into Fion’s left leg, which enraged him and made Fion to stick him to the edge of the bridge and lift him up with his left hand to throw him down. The echoes of the man’s screams were heard until he met the ground and silenced forever. Pren caught the last man alive, with a toll, his face met the man’s blade, leaving him with a wound, but that didn’t stop the wild man. He repeatedly hit and threatened the brigand while interrogating him and in the end killed him.
The brigand spoke about Evendim and Fiontann and Pren got on their horses and made their way to the Northwest. On their way to Evendim Fion gave Pren the eyepatch he used when appearing as a bounty hunter, to cover his injured eye after the wild man leapt on the man on the bridge and injured his face and eye. The sky was getting darker and darker the more they were approaching the foul land of Fornost. Soon, their horses got uneasy and seemed to not want to go ahead, Fion jumped of its back and let it go, saying the word home. The horse galloped away and Pren came near Fion, saying that his horse had died. The road became harder and soon it started raining, the rain became hail and then two men continued onwards, wrapping themselves into their clothes tighter. Suddenly they saw a man in the dark, dressed in red, he was in a hot land with sand and approached them quickly, the moment they got face to face with him both men felt their foreheads ache and fell to their knees with a grunt or two, both men pushed themselves up to continue, the hail was falling heavily on them and the sky was dark. Every now and then they could see that man in the distances again, laughing or just looking at them, other times he was approaching and they felt their heads ache. But they went on and on…
When they got on the lowest spot, surrounded by many hills the man had said something and many orcs appeared around them, barring their way. Pren and Fion attempted to grab their weapons but their hands were heavy. The man whispered something, it seemed like death to them and the orcs took aim with their bows and javelins. The two men got ready to fight and held their ground, a moment before attempting to charge. The strange man in red appeared again in the hot land with the sand, they saw him for just one moment before seeing the orcs again, aiming them in the rain, then they saw the man. The orcs released their arrows and javelins and the man charged at them, they could see the man coming and the arrows approaching, the man and the arrows, then the man and then the arrows again. Both men felt a strong ache on their foreheads when the man got closer to them and they saw the arrows and javelins a breath away. Fion felt multiple arrows pierce him and fell to his knees. He felt the pain of them hitting him one after the other until he fell to the ground and closed his eyes, his right hand moved to his forehead to wipe the blood that he felt there, the moment he touched it he lost his strength, feeling the pain of the blows…
Moments later he opened his eyes, the hills were empty and the hail became rain again, his hands moved along his body but there was no wound on him, with a grunt he pushed himself up and turned to Pren, he wasn’t injured either, it was all a strange hallucination in those wretched lands. They hastened to get as far as they could and camped far from Fornost, into the lands of Evendim, dried their clothes and slept a little to regain their strength. They didn’t get much sleep, it was already late at night when they lied down, but it was enough for their clothes to get dried. Pren spoke about the spirits of his homeland, saying that a spirit made them see what they saw and felt there, much needed sleep came instantly and the two men awoke when the sun came up, early in the morning. Now it was their turn to attack and lure that man out of his hiding place…
The plan was simple and enjoyable for both of them; attack brigands until they find someone in charge or make the man in red hunt them himself. After finding high ground and spotting a ruin full of tomb-robbers they attacked and killed all but one, they let him live and gave him a message for their leaders. After doing that Fion asked Pren to track his friend, he had learned some days ago that some brigands spoke of a man that was thrown into the water from a cliff. Fion didn’t believe that Amrath was dead, so he asked of Pren to track him down. The search proved fruitful and the wild man found the spot where he was thrown off, he also found a spot with signs of someone crawling out of the water, Fion was right, Amrath was alive. Night had come again and the two men were near the water, on a low ground and prepared to leave when an odd feeling struck them, the leaves nearby rustled in an odd manner, making them suspicious of an ambush but everything ceased… Once they got up the path many men surrounded them, lead by a man in red, the brigands attacked and Pren and Fion fought back as hard as they could, they managed to drop dead some of them. But they kept coming and the man’s stern voice made the rest come at waves, Fion felt a blow to the back of his head and everything went black…
