Scattered

by **Methrin** Mon Jun 04, 2012 8:31 pm

The cold wind started blowing harder. Krenwith clutched the inside of his fur-cloak tighter against his body as he went on through the woods. The mountain-side rising abruptly out of the ground a few dozen of yards to his left hand side provided much less shelter from the wind than he had expected.

At this point he reckoned it was an hour or so to midnight, but it was hard to tell. The long walk through the Alterac foothills had taken its toll on his old body, and he feared he'd lost his immediate sense of time.

As he passed through a small clearing he considered sitting down to rest. He quickly decided against it. The only supplies he had brought with him was a skin of water and he did not feel particularly thirsty - come to think of it he didn't feel particularly hungry either.

One of his followers had gone, Krenwith decided; the occasional shadow caught out of the cornors of his eyes had become much less frequent. Once again he considered calling out to them, and once again did he decide against it. Curiousity and fear of the unknown were staying their blades. If he revealed to them that he had been apathetically aware of their pressence for hours they might think he was a mage or necromancer and would surely flee.

Finally Krenwith could make out a cave ahead, in the side of the mountain. He went on with renewed energy. Little to his surprise he was confronted by two guards at the entrance. Common bandits, just as he had expected. They were wearing chain and leather armour - holed and in general in bad condition. One held a large woodcutter's axe while the other wielded an old dull-looking sword in his right hand and carried a torch in his left. As he was studying the guards he suddenly realised his followers had moved up and were standing yards behind him. "What do you want?" the one with the axe finally asked. There was no fear or uncertainty in his voice. Only frustration. Frustration at his own scouts for making such a big deal out of an old man in the woods, Krenwith thought. In response to the guard's question, Krenwith remained silent as he extended his left arm, displaying to the guard the ring that gleamed on his finger in the torchlight. The guard bowed his head almost nondetecably and then looked at Krenwith, avoiding his eyes. "I'll take you to him" the guard muttered before turning around and motioning for Krenwith to follow him into the cave.

Krenwith was seated by a small fire near the wall of a large cavern. A dozen or so figures were lying or sitting around a larger fire near the opposite wall. His freezing body found the warmth of the fire very welcoming. A few yards away from him sat the man who was supposedly the son of the late Lord Daenforth: A man in his early thirties, Krenwith judged by what he could make out in the dim light of the fire. Had he not been told this man was of noble descent he would've never guessed. Weeks-old stubble covered most of his face, his hair was long and unwashed, and his build was that of a soldier, though the sleeveless leather shirt he was wearing revealed that, unlike the guard and the bandits he'd passed on his way in through the cave, he had almost no scars.

'I'm Methrin', the man finally spoke, ommiting his family name and title. 'I'd offer you wine but we have nought but ale', he continued. 'I'll pass' Krenwith replied dryly. 'You sure? We have the finest pisswasser this side of the Thandol Span.'

Krenwith frowned, perhaps this had been a mistake.

Instead of getting up to get himself beer, the man adressed Krenwith once again 'To which matter do we owe the pleasure of your visit, my lord?' Krenwith sensed irony in the words, but it was not mocking or hostile. ' If I knew your father...' Krenwith answered '...and I like to think I knew him rather well - you already know why I have sought you out, Lord Daenforth'.
Methrin sat in silence for a few seconds before speaking. 'Yes-' he paused briefly 'I knew you'd come.. You knew my father well indeed, you also know that I will join you. I may be living a crude existance right now' Methrin gestured towards the bandits in the other side of the cave 'but my father brought me up a noble - even in exile.'