Kain walks through the tunnel of white stone and out into a forest of towering red-barked trees, orange light leaks through the leaves, slowly retreating deeper and deeper into the distance as the sun sinks past the horizon.
"We will find bandits", Noah said it as if it were as certain as the sun rising the next morning.
"Always do", one of the three other knights who had joined them sighed as he spoke. He was a northern man with thick brown hair that reached his jaw.
The men walked for an hour before night truly fell and the darkness completely engulfed the forest. A pair of red-orange eyes stared down at the group from thirty feet in the air, where Kain assumed a branch had been when it was day, but it was only a void now.
"How old are you, lad?" The tallest of the guards looked down at Kain, his face covered in pox scars and what little hair he had was thin yet a beautiful shade of golden brown.
"Sixteen, I believe, He stood a foot shorter than the others, yet under his clothes, he was equally as muscular as they were, despite the men having twenty years on him.
"Surprising for a lad your size", the northern man brushes the thick brown mop of hair from his eyes.
The last man, a short man of unremarkable appearance, hands Kain a metal flask from his coat and the boy takes a swig from it. The wine was bitter and stronger than anything Kain had tried before.
"Is that your wife's wine?" The Northerner stares lustfully at the flask.
"Aye, but you'll have to trade me for it, you drank the whole thing last time" The plain man watches as Kain takes a large gulp from it.
The wine burned his throat as it swam down, leaving a trail of warmth that settled in his stomach as they marched forward. The night was dark and cold, and the road they followed wasn't travelled by animals often, but each time Kain looked to either side of the road, he felt as if something was watching.
'It better not be a bear, he itches at the bandage on his arm.
"Speaking of wives, how's the search for a wife going noah?" The northerner smiles up at the Tyressian.
"They're all far too pale", He shakes his head.
"What about you, lad? Any girl from that little village of yours?" The tall pox scarred Knight looks down at Kain with his wrist draped across the pommel of his sword.
A thick, viscous ache creeps up the back of his throat, clutching at his neck as if he were about to choke on his own words. Tears welled in his eyes as they did every time he thought of her. Thoughts of the island flooded with white flowers flashed in his mind, but when he thought of her, the face he saw was half-blurred, only her emerald eyes, her freckled face and her beautiful brown hair.
"I did" The words quiver as they leave his lips.
"Some lord took her from me whilst I was at Braemoor", he clears his throat, and the tears vanish from his eyes, leaving a vacant stare in their place.
Before anyone else could say a word, Noah froze in the middle of the road. An orange flame flickered between the trees, and two men sat about it, half asleep yet still on watch.
"Maybe bandit lad, prepare yourself", the poxed man pats him on the back as the others draw their weapons.
As they get closer, a man walks out from the opposite side of the camp, tying up his britches. A worn piece of leather wrapped around his waist, hanging from it was an old long sword that looked as if it would snap the belt if he so much as turned too quickly.
"Oi, wake up", the man kicks a person tied up with a thick burlap sack tied tightly around the neck.
"I want a second", he bends down and slaps them through the sack.
"That'll be enough" Noah steps out of the trees and into the glow of the fire as the others circle around the camp.
"She's ours, you can't have her", the bandit spat out a glob of brown towards Noah.
The men who slept on the floor began to wake. Before they could all stand, the guards sprang out from the tree line, taking one of the half-asleep bandits from behind. The northerner cleaved his head from his body when he pulled a sword that sat half hidden in a blanket.
The other bandits all drew their weapons, daggers and swords and maces of all kinds. One that had not risen grabbed onto Noah's foot, whilst another swung an axe into his own. A third ran behind him, trying to thrust a sword into the back of Noah's exposed neck.
The point of Kain's own sword slides through the man's eye socket and out the other side; his deflated eye was split in half by the point of his blade. Blood pooled down the fuller and dripped down the cross guard onto the floor.
'fuck' Kain gags at the sight as the man's remaining eye loses the light from it, and he falls deeper into the sword.
Dust and dirt kick up as Kain pushes the corpse off his blade. Before he could catch his breath, another bandit charged him. Noah had chopped the man on the floor in two from his waist and was busy fighting two more, and the others were just as occupied.
"Join him!" A jolt rushes up his spine and down his arms, standing what little body hair he had on end.
The bandit swung an axe down on what would have been Kain's skull if he had not blocked it. He grabbed hold of the haft and kicked the man between the legs. His eyes widened, and a shrill noise came from his mouth before Kain slit his throat, and the only noise he could manage was a gurgle. With one hand, he clutched his throat and the other between his legs.
A laugh breaks Kain's tunnel vision, a giant of a woman stood in the centre of the chaotic skirmish in ripped rags. She cut the bag from her head, and the second she laid eyes on the closest bandit, she took hold of him and ran the dagger across his face.
Red lines followed the knife's trail, and so did his screams of agony. She only laughed harder, showing teeth filed into points.
Her lips were split open and bleeding, both eyes were bruised, and the left was half swollen shut. Her giant body was battered, bloodied and covered almost completely in dirt. Her hair had once been a vibrant red but had turned maroon from the filth and grease.
Noah left his axe in the shoulder of the last remaining bandit. The others were wiping their blades and washing the blood from their faces.
"Are you alright, miss?" Noah walks cautiously towards the woman.
She had pretty hands, long and slender fingers, but now they ended in a red, raw pit of glistening flesh. Each knuckle was purple, and her arms were littered with small cuts and burns.
On her right bicep was some strange kind of creature, but Kain could not make out what it was from the scars and burn marks that broke up each line.
"Your name, miss?" Noah smiled and reached out his hand.
"Thank you, ser," her voice was weak.
Blood oozed from where her nails once were as her hand clutched Noah's. She took one step towards him and collapsed into his arms.
"Kain, take my axe and clean the blood from it" he hiked the woman up and began to walk to the road with her leaning on his shoulder.
The axe was lodged in the man's collarbone and took Kain standing on his chest and tanking as hard as he could to dislodge it. Blood flowed out of the wound and onto the floor like a little red river. He wiped the axe head on the corpse's clothes and slung it over his shoulder.
The group followed behind Noah back into the road, leaving the group of bodies alone to sit by their fire.
They walked for far too long, two men under each shoulder of the giant woman. She walked half awake and half asleep, being dragged along by Noah and the northerner.
Eventually, the white-walled city came into view. The golden glow radiated from inside the walls, and each time a guard walked along the wall, their own light followed them as they went.
Two guards manned the gate, one was sleeping and stood up leaning against his spear, the other looked up at Noah walking towards them and shouted up the wall to a guard on top. The gate slowly creaked open, and the guard walked over at the sight of the woman.
"Need a hand?" the guard lifts his visor.
"We just need to get her to Irin" Noah woke the sleeping guard as he spoke.
"Aye, ser", the guard returns to his post.
They all passed under the white tunnel that cuts through the wall and began the long walk towards the keep.
After climbing the hill, another set of guards met them and let the group into the courtyard.
"Fetch Irin, will you?" Noah turned to one of the guards.
They awkwardly pushed the inner keeps door open and stumbled into the hall as they came in the doctor who had treated Kain before appeared from a hallway.
"My word", he rubs the sleep from his eyes as he looks up at the imposing woman.
She grunts and brushes the mud-caked hair from her dark green eyes before pushing herself off of the men and onto her feet.
"Who might this be?" The young lord, still dressed in his armour and cloak, appeared behind the group.
Kain jumped out of his skin when the lord spoke. His cloak did not below, his armour and sword did not clink together, his boots did not make any sound when he walked, whether it was on cold stone, wood or gravel.
"A captive we found in a bandit camp" Noah placed a hand on her back as she staggered towards the infirmary.
"I see", Lord Karsten turns and walks three silent paces before stopping.
"Silver river for a pint?" The pox-scarred man smiles at the other men.
"Kain, I'll see you in my chambers," he continued up the stairs and disappeared through a doorway.
The boy follows, his boots scuffing against the grey stone as he travels deeper into the mountain stronghold, following behind the young lords trail.
Two bird-armoured guards stood like statues on either side of his double doors. They opened both doors as he approached, and inside lord Karsten stood behind his desk facing the window.