It has been days since Earwulfa fled from Langhold and saw her beloved town turned into fire wood. And now she saw the towers and with the pennants and banners of the greatest city of the Eastemnet on the horizon. Snowbourn. She recognised the white grain on a field of red. Since she was suppose to marry a noble warrior from the Norcofts, she was able to recognise nearly all the banners of the Riddermark. She gazed upon the banners when she got closer to the city and wondered if she would one day wore the grain on red as proud as she wore the yellow bow on green. While that thought entered her mind she looked to Belifend's caparison. It was torn by the reeds of the Wold's bogs and covered in mud and dust from the plains of the Norcrofts and the fields of the Sutcrofts. The yellow bow was barely visible. "Not only am I a refugee now, I look like one too" Earwulfa thought. She saw a line of people wanting to enter the city and got in the que. "Next in line!" shouted one of Snowbourn's gate keepers. The line progressed slowly and for every refugee led into the city. At least two entered the line.
While Earwulfa waited to be let in the city, she had time to let the sight of Snowbourn sink in. It was like not city she has ever seen. Compared to Harwick, the capital of the Wold looked like a peasant's village. The walls were made of old Gondorian masonry and stone! "If only Langhold had such magnificent defenses!" Earwulfa thought. But then again, they wouldn't be high enough to keep a flying Nazgul out. She shivered at the thought and Belifend seemed to share her thought as the horse moved from the left to the right. The thought of the Nazgul alone filled Earwulfa with dread. The line progressed further and after Earwulfa stated her name and business in Snowbourn she was allowed to enter Snowbourn. Earwulfa had visited Cliving in the Norcrofts twice and though that that was the most magnificent city she ever saw. But Snowbourn now topped her list. The houses were in fine condition and the fountain was breath taking. But when she had overcome her amasement, she noticed that the city lost some of its magnificence. The city was overcrowded and smelled. She brought Belifend to the stables and paid the eoscealc, she noticed that the other horse in the stable looked underfed and some even looked sickly. "What has become of these people if they neglect their steeds like that?" Earwulfa wondered. "Things must be bad here."
She searched for the market and the closer she got, the more disappointed she grew with the city. People bumped into her all the time and more than once she stepped into something filthy she did not even dare to guess what it was. When she finally found her way to the market. She was hungry and very annoyed with the loud voices of all the people here. Wherever you were, their voices seemed to follow you. So unlike Harwick or even Cliving. She saw a butcher stand ans asked the butcher for some sheep meat and was presented with a scrawny rck of lamb. "That'll be 2 gold pieces." the butcher said. 'Two gold pieces for that!?" Earwulfa cried. "You must be kidding me! I don't have 2 gold pieces with me! And beside that, I can shoot rabbits with more meat on them." The butcher grinned and raised his shoulders, "demand is high and supply is low. So my prices are high and if you want to eat my lamb, you have to pay or shoot a rabbit like you said.Now get a move on! You filthy beggars scare away my real customers." Earwulfa continued to a vendor who seemed to have some bread. But the bread was also over priced. Hungry and disappointed she strolled through the city. And she saw the Mead Hall, a great structure but heavily guarded and the doors were closed. The Reeve was out hunting orcs. Earwulfa continued and started to openly dislike the city when someone bumped into her for the dozenth time in a minute. Suddenly she tripped over the most skinny cat ever and she landed in some filth. Earwulfa produced some words that would make an orc blush. She realised that she did not want to wear the colours of Snowbourn and went to the stable to get Belifend.
With elbows and the manners of an orc she got to the stable. When she saw Belifend her mood brightened up somewhat and Belifend seemed to be happy to see her as well. Apparently, the horse disliked his time in the stable as much as Earwulfa hated Snowbourn. She mounted her steed, thanked the eoscealc and rushed out of the city. Belifend rushed through the fields and Earwulfa halted the horse. The earth seemed like a group of riders had come through. Curiosity got the better of her and she followed the trail. And she founded what the riders were after. A pile of horrifically mutilated orc corpses lied scattered on a scorched croft. Earwulfa shivered. The situation in the Sutcrofts seemed worse than that in the Wold, and even the ravaged Norcrofts seemed to be in better shape. Because from this point, Earwulfa could see that all farming fields were turn to ashes.Some fields smouldered a bit and others were still burning. No crop would grow here and all the crofters had fled elsewhere or were slaughtered. Earwulfa suddenly felt stupid. She shouldn't have traded the safety of Snowbourn in for scorched earth and no cover. She looked up at the sky and noticed that it grew darker. She was to far of from Snowbourn to safely return but she saw a forest in the est. She figured that she could make it there before she was surrounded by darkness. She hurried Belifend towards it and hoped there would be a little bit of light left so she can follow the rude butcher's advice and shoot a rabbit.
The forest was further away than she had guessed it would be and it was pitch dark when she reached the outskirts. She navigated Belifend through the woods and found a suitable spot. The trees were dense so she could hear it more easily when something would approach her but not as dense that Belifend would not be able to rush trough it when needed. Belifend was glad he could rest a bit and searched for some grass so he could have dinner. Earwulfa picked up her bow and arrows and moved though the woods like a ghost.
When she was a child, she wanted to train with a sword like her brother. But her parents forbade her that. When she had pleaded once again to her father to train her, and he refused again she cried and ran angry into the bogs. She knew the paths and made it to the little island in the bog where she could calm down. Earwulfa sat for hours on her favourite rock when she heard someone approach. She wondered who would ever enter the bogs and listened closely who was coming. "So this is your little refuge when you don't want to do chores." Earwulfa's brother Earcliff said when he made his way through the bogs. A sudden thought had entered Earwulfa's head. "Can you learn me how to fight with a sword? Father would not. He thinks it is a man's weapon and not fit for girl." Earcliff sat next to her and said: "father is right." Earwulfa felt she grew angry again. "You are just as stupid as father! Go and leave me alone!". Earcliff was unmoved. "No." And he sat silently on the rock.That had surprised Earwulfa and she forgot to respond angry. "What do you mean no? Go away!" Earcliff replied: "I'm not going, and I'm not going to learn you how to fight with a sword. You know, tomorrow I'll be made a rider and I will leave for the Norcrofts. Promise me that you will be at this island at noon." Earwulfa promised him to be there and they went back home. The next morning, when her brother had saddled up and rode away leaving their mother in tears and their father with a look of pride on his face, Earwulfa went straight to the bog and waited there for hours. Finally she heard hooves approach and minutes later her brother arrived. "I thought you would never come!" She said while hugging her brother, now an official rider of the Mark. "What do you have there?" Earcliff handed her the pack he was carrying over. "It is a gift, come on, open it!" Earwulfa obliged and she held up a bow. "What is this?" Earcliff responded: "It is a bow, a swords is no tool for girls, father said so. But he said nothing about a bow. Promise me that you will learn to use it and that you will train every day." Earwulfa looked happily at her bow and replied "I promise!". Earcliff hugged her once again and turned away. "Earcliff, would you promise me one thing?" Earcliff stopped. anything." "You must promise me that you will return!". "I promise". And long after he had left Earwulfa trained till dark. She left her bow on the island (she figured her father might not appreciate it when she would bring it back home). And the next day she trained again and she repeated it for years.
When she was 16 summers old, her skill was unmatched in all the Wold and she would daresay she was the best archer in all of the Eastemnet and maybe even the best of the entire Mark! Her skill got recognised and people often mockingly called "bogamaegden", at first she hated the name, but now she proudly said she was the Bogamaegden of Langhold.
She listened for sound, it was pitch dark around her. But she was had learned to not only trust her eyes but her ears as well when hunting. Suddenly she heard twigs breaking. Earwulfa nocked an arrow and aimed at the point she thought she heard something. She listened more closely and she was ure that there was a rabbit. Her eyes were accustomed to the dark and she could see the glimmer of an eye. She held her breath and released her arrow. From the sounds of it she had hit her target and she went searching for her prey. She found her kill. It was a a small brown rabbit and the arrow had went straight through its eye. Earwulfa picked up the rabbit and her arrow and mumbled a short prayer to thank Bema the Hunter and went back to her campsite. She made a fire with twigs she had collected prior to her hunting and skinned the rabbit in the light of the flickering flames. After the rabbit was cooked and eaten she doused the flames and went to sleep.
The sounds of birds woke Earwulfa up. Belifend was already awake and he founds some tall grass for breakfast. Earwulfa packed her belongings and saddled Belifend. When they exited the woods she saw that they camped near a town, or to put it more correctly, the remains of it. The walls were burned and from the towers remained nothing but the carcasses. The great water mill probably was of great importance, but now it was utterly destroyed. She entered the town. There were no banners from which she could read the sigil but she assumed that she must be in Hytbold if she remembered the maps correctly. "The maps should be redrawn after the war I fear. Hytbold can be erased from it." Earwulfa thought. And she realised that it was probably not so different from Langhold. She repressed the thought and continued. She saw what must have been the Mead Hall. The great structure still stood, although heavily damaged. She dismounted and opened the doors. Inside was nothing but ruble and burned woodwork. But It would provide a great shelter. She decided to be in the deserted town for a while to gather rest and to allow herself time to figure out a plan for what she was to do now.