The Long and Winding Road (cont.)

[Gwydion Nefarine]

Eilonway, Jess, and the others in the caravan were traveling down the main road from Argad to Alodale. They had left Argad behind a few hours ago and were now not very far from Alodale. Eilonway walked beside Jess, and they had exchanged conversation the last few minutes. "Jess, I'm impressed with the way you've managed the last few days. Traveling so far everyday isn't easy." She pulled her cloak more tightly around her, trying to ward off the last of the winter. "You probably did very well for yourself in the city, too. You're a natural at this, moreso than I am."

As they talked and walked along, Eilonway heard something. It wasn't just a bird or squirrel, but a human. In fact, she could tell that there were more than a few of them and they were hiding in the trees up ahead. These humans could only be ninja clowns with a vengeance bandits. Her mind raced, trying to figure out what to do. Finally, she made up her mind. She ran up in front of the caravan and motioned for them to stop. "Wait a minute. I think I saw something up ahead," she said in a voice that all of the caravan would hear and the bandits wouldn't. "A few others and I will scout ahead, make sure that everything's alright, while the rest of you start off in the direction that we came. I'm not sure if anyone's there, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

The caravan agreed to this and Eilonway picked about seven people out of the caravan, who were druidoks, of course, to go with her. She fingered the hilt of her sword under her cloak, an old habit. She looked at Jess. "Jess, go with them. We'll catch up to you later." She glanced at the trees ahead, anticipating a small battle. The druidok guards would help. After all that's what they were there for. But she hoped that the humans' number was not too great.

[anasa]

"Why?" Jess asked nervously, "What's wrong?"

[Gwydion Nefarine]

"I just have a bad feeling," she lied. "That's all. Quickly, go with the rest." Eilonway was starting to get nervous. She heard the bandits moving towards them from the trees, afraid of losing their prey. The druidoks really couldn't attack them until the rest of the caravan was out of sight. Right now, they were in a mad rush and soon would be, but Jess needed to go with them, too, before the druidoks could fight effectively. They were all trained with human weapons, but the majority of them were more comfortable as animals: wolves, wildcats, and the like.

[anasa]

"O-okay..." Jess said nervously, detecting the uneasiness in her new friend's voice. She turned and began following the others, stopped, looked back over her shoulders once, and ran to catch up with the caravan once again.

[Gwydion Nefarine]

An arrow shrieked through the air, aimed right at Eilonway, but she neatly sidestepped and it buried itself in the ground next to her. The bandits had lost the advantage of suprise and were now going to go full force on them.

Eilonway glanced behind her and realized that if they changed form now, a few from the caravan might be able to see them. She unsheathed her hidden sword and the seven other druidoks did the same. Five burly bandits were coming towards them along with a small volley of arrows.

The eight druidoks quickly found cover from the arrows as a few of the druidoks guards took care of the approaching bandits with an arrow to each head. Now that they were off the road and the last of the caravan was practically out of sight, Eilonway changed into a golden-furred wolf, one of her favorite forms. The others did the same, changing into various forms of animals, and moved through the wooded area beside the road to get to the remaining bandits.

The guards had taken care of almost half of them already. The few remaining didn't stand a chance and quickly fell dead to the teeth, claw, and beaks of the fierce druidoks, all except for one whom Eilonway had captured. She didn't yet know if this had anything to do with the rebellion or if it was a random robbery, but she was going to find out.

"Ma'am!" shouted one of the druidok guards. "It was a diversion! There's another lot of them headed towards the caravan." Eilonway didn't waste a moment,a as she turned back into a human only long enough to give her orders. "Watch him!" she told another guard, indicating the bandit they had captured. "The rest of you, come with me." They ran (and flew) and fast as possible back towards the caravan through the trees, where they would hopefully stay unseen while taking care of the remainder of the bandits.

The druidoks were going as fast as they could, but the bandits had gotten a head start and were almost upon the caravan. How could I have missed them? Eilonway thought.

Now, she noticed that they had left behind about a fifth of their number, obviously not knowing who they were dealing with. They had probably figured that there were few, if any, who could oppose them in the caravan. They were wrong.

But now, there were four times the amount of bandits they had dealt with before, and the eight druidoks would have to take them all on in human form, because they would be fighting to close to the caravan to fight in animal form. And even that would be hard to explain to the caravan. What kind of lie was Eilonway supposed to make up that they would believe? Another set of rumours would spread throughout the caravan as always happened. They would have to answer to these. This was becoming a huge pain, and Eilonway was beginning to feel like she could take on the whole bandit gang herself.

Luckily, the bandits hadn't noticed the druidoks behind them yet. They now surrounded the caravan and came into view of the people. "Alright then, me buckoes," one of them shouted, as he passed out a few large bags. "Put all your valuables in there, or your all dead." His gang all had daggers, swords, axes, and bows and arrows out, and looked as if they were very capable of killing the lot of them. Eilonway and the other remained in hiding and waited for the oppurtune moment.

[anasa]

Jess backed away in shock. Bandits! She heard a child beside her burst into tears as its mother tried to comfort it. None of the travellers dared to make any effort to either revolt against the men or comply to their demands.

"How about you, laddie?" said one ruffly grabbing ahold of a young boy who, although he was years younger then Jess, was a few inches taller then her, "That's a mighty fine charm you're wearing there."

The boy's eyes grew in terror and he covered the silver charm that hung around his neck protectively with his hands.

"Please don't," he whispered in fear. The man merely laughed loudly, knocked the poor boy against the head, and yanked the necklace so hard that the string snapped, coming away in the bandit's calloused hand.

This display gave his companions the signal to begin doing the same thing-aggressively taking from the travellers anything that seemed to be of value. One woman's fine, colorful clothing was even ripped from her body. As Jess saw this, a new emotion that she had never felt before awoke within her: pure, bitter hatred.

However, she was not given adequate time to muse on this new feeling, for she was soon accosted herself.

"Give me your gold," the man said, his alcohol-laden breath reaching her nose and making her noxious.

"I don't have anything," Jess said weakly.

"Liar!" He punched her in the stomach, causing her to double over in pain. "I can hear the gold pieces jingling in your rich little pockets. Now hand it over to me NOW."

Jess sighed resignedly. She had encountered robbers several times before. She knew that they would not simply stop with the gold. She'd have to find an escape route.

[Gwydion Nefarine]

((you mean "Jess" in the first sentence, right?))

Eilonway quickly beckoned the head of the guard over to her and told him of her plan. He nodded and gathered his guard together in anticipation. Eilonway and the seven druidoks she had chosen to go with her from the caravan spread out around the thugs.

Suddenly, they sprang out of hiding and attacked the bandits. Eilonway dropped two within the first five seconds with swift strikes from her sword. She hadn't spotted Jess, but trusted that the druidoks from the caravan would look after her. She went on, fighting as hard as she could.

Eventually, she realized that if they went on like this, they would lose and probably die. That's when the guard came in, in the form of mercenaries. A few of them killed a some of the thugs with arrows as the main force swept in the midst of confusion.

Eilonway glanced around for anyone in the caravan that was in immediate danger, and spotted a young man about to have his throat cut. She ran through the chaos of battle and decapitated his captor just in time. "I owe you my life....." as he turned around he gasped. He obviously hadn't expected his rescuer to be a woman no older than he was.

"O! Fair maiden..." he began. "Save it," Eilonway hissed. Humans! she thought. She ran to someone else she saw in peril, but before she got there, one of the thieves put a dagger to her neck. "Call them off, or you're dead," a deep voice whispered in her ear. Whoever had the dagger to her was dragging her towards the cover of the trees so he couldn't be seen by the "mercenaries".

[anasa]

Jess let out a sigh of relief when the other members returned. Taking advantage of her aggressor's distraction, she scurried off into the trees where she hoped to hide for the remainder of the fight. She hoped that the caravan would be safe, but didn't want to take any chances.

That was when she saw Elionway being led into the trees. A lump formed in her throat. Elionway! She couldn't just leave her, but what could she do?! Jess was completely incompetent when it came to fighting! To rush in at the bandit would be making two dead bodies instead of one. She looked on in terror, praying that Elionway could get away on her own.

[Gwydion Nefarine]

Eilonway was too occupied to notice Jess not far away from her. She noticed that all the druidoks were involved in the fight and weren't going to help her. "You heard me!" the bandit harshly whispered in her ear. "Call them off. Now!" Eilonway was about to change forms, but wanted to clear something up first. "What makes you think I command them?" she asked, a hint of genuine curiosity in her voice. Did this have something to do with the voice she had heard before?

"Don't try to stall. We saw you commanding your little group before." He didn't know who Eilonway really was. She could tell. She quickly changed into a small mouse, slipping out of his grasp and landed on the ground. Before he could get over his shock, she changed back into a human and, without the slightest sign of emotion, stabbed him through the stomach and then beheaded him with a swift swing of her sword. Her transformations had left her a little weary, but she started back towards the battle, where the druidoks were starting to drive the bandits back.

[anasa]

Jess drew in a sharp gasp, clasping her now white hands over her mouth. That couldn't have just happened! Her eyes must've been playing tricks. Elionway couldn't have turned into a mouse unless she was...unless she was...

A druidok. The realization slowly graped ahold of her. Elionway was a druidok. Suddenly, all of the stories of druidoks Jess had heard from her childhood resurfaced in her mind. She staggered to a nearby tree where she tried to steady herself. She had been travelling with druidok? She had become friends with a druidok?! Why hadn't she tried to eat her yet?! Was she just waiting to make a meal out of her?

[Gwydion Nefarine]

Eilonway went back into the heat of battle, what was left of it anyway. There weren't many bandits left. Some had run and were being pursued by the "mercenaries". She and what was left of the druidoks in the caravan fought the remainder of them.

Finally, all the bandits were either dead or driven away and would soon fall to their druidok pursuers. Eilonway surveyed the scene. It wasn't good. There were a few deaths in the caravan: men, women, and children. The druidoks had been fortunate for the most part. The bandits had been taken by suprise and, though there were many wounded, a few badly, none of them had died... yet.

Children weeped for their parents. Women weeped for their husbands and children. Men weeped for their families. Blood stained the path and the dead and dying were everywhere. It was a very grim scene indeed, and the stench of death was overwhelming. A human came up to Eilonway, who herself was bleeding from many cuts. "Where do we start, ma'am?"

Eilonway looked at the young man. He was the one she had saved earlier. His voice was shakey. He obviously hadn't been in a battle before. "Tend to the badly wounded first. We need to get to the town as soon as possible," she said to the whole caravan. "We'll carry our dead and bury them in town." She didn't know if there were any more bandits groups around or not, but she didn't want to take a chance. She also really wanted to speak to Cambion now. Eilonway had wanted a battle, and she had gotten it.

[anasa]

((Crudsicles! I don't know how to respond!))

[Gwydion Nefarine]

((ok, I'll try to add a bit...))

Most of the caravan was able to pull together quickly and take care of the wounded and at least get them able to be transported to Alodale, where they could be treated by a professional healer. The people that were treating the wounded were almost finished and everyone was about ready to go when Eilonway noticed that Jess wasn't there. She looked around for her, but couldn't find her, and she wasn't among the dead or wounded, as far as she knew. She searched in the nearby woods. "Jess! Jess! Where are you?"

[anasa]

Jess let out a sharp gasp. Elionway! She tried to think fast. What should she do? Should she go up to her new friend or hide from her? Druidoks were said to hate humanity and live by themselves their entire lives, but Elionway didn't seem to be like that.

If that much isn't true, Jess thought to herself, Maybe the story of druidoks eating humans aren't true, either. Thus, she took a large gulp, summoned up all of her courage, and stepped out from behind the tree.

"Over here!" she called.

[Gwydion Nefarine]

Eilonway breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I was starting to get worried." Her look became one of sadness. "We're going to go to Alodale, so we can get our wounded healed and we can bury the dead. Are you hurt?" Eilonway had already dressed her own minor wounds as the others had already been taken. The caravan was already to make the slow journey to Alodale, which was only about a mile away.