by Gerard Bond
Wollfen shook his head as he realized the seriousness of it all, the Nightclans could be lost totally.
“Do you think you can call upon anyone to help? Maybe if the clans banded together into greater numbers that might fix the problem?” Ironside shook his head,
“No the clan leaders all agreed this would not solve the problem, we still couldn’t put greater numbers of people out to patrol in relation to who stays behind. Mind you it isn’t an issue yet, this new development wont start having an affect for a couple of years but we recognize it is coming and we will have to do something about it. A lot of serious thinking and heavy decisions are going to have to be made.”
Wollfen sat there staring off into space as he contemplated the situation. What could they do? Was there anywhere the clans could go? He couldn’t think of anything right . Finally he turned to Ironside,
“I will give this serious thought and see if I can come up with something, we can't just sit around and wait for this to happen can we?” Ironside shook his head,
“No and I will be grateful for any assistance you can come up with.”
Wollfen and Raven left the man to continue eating and they went back to the guest tent. Sitting back down on his cot he sighed in contemplation. Raven sat beside him believing he now understood some of what she had been feeling. Finally he looked up at Raven and spoke,
“You know I always liked being out here amongst the clans because I saw it as an idyllic lifestyle where you had freedom and self determination. But that’s not so is it? Everyone works for the common good just to survive, there is no choice to do your own thing.” Raven silently nodded in agreement.
Wollfen finally stood up and asked Raven what she would be doing for the day, she was expected to go out on patrol starting at midday.
“Would you like some company on your ride today?” Raven smiled at the thought, patrol was almost always done on your own,
“I would love that thanks, let's get you another horse, you need to pick one you like and we will clean up your saddle too .”
Wollfen nodded, his horse wouldn’t be easy to replace, he had it for a couple of years and was used to its personality, now he would have to start all over again. They left the tent and walked over to the corral, there were quite a few horses here and they were well taken care of. A number of them were the personal mounts of the more important members of the clans but the rest were simply part of a pool from which people could pick and choose from day to day.
As they stood at the gate to the corral Raven pointed out some likely prospects,
“I think the brown one there is a good horse, calm temperament and steady in battle but has no aggression at all.” Wollfen nodded listening, “That one over there, the mottled brown and white mare is a bit harder to deal with. She can be a bit temperamental but she is fast and has good stamina.”
“I like the sound of that one, are there any others to pick from?” Raven shook her head,
“There are a few horses here but these are definitely the best two.” Wollfen respected her advice, she was a very good rider and had been around horses since before she could walk. He was leaning towards the mottled horse for his own ride.
“If that horse works out do you think Ironside would mind me making it my own personal ride?” Raven didn’t think that would be a problem, even though it was a good horse many of the riders picked other horses first because of the mottled one's temperamental ways.
“Good let's go grab my saddle and try her out, I would like some time with her first before we go on patrol.”
They sauntered over to Ravens tent where his saddle had been left the day before and looked it over, other than some scuff marks from when his horse had taken a tumble it appeared no worse for wear. Raven went inside to change and within minutes she reappeared outside with her boots in hand. Wollfen looked her up and down, she was wearing tight fitting riding clothes in all black and she cut a striking figure. He nodded his approval at her and she smiled,
“You like eh? We will look good riding along both wearing black don’t you think?” He chuckled,
“Yes it's important to make a fashion statement.” He got a light slap on the shoulder for that.
They went back to the corral and got the saddle mounted on the mottled mare. Wollfen lifted himself up into position, he started pulling on the reins a little and squeezing his heels feeling for the horses reactions. The horse reacted well to both styles of commands and he let the reins go. Wollfen pressed his heels in unison and the horse moved forward, he then pressed his left heel and the horse moved to that side, he started liking her straight away. Turning the horse to face Raven he watched her shoving her boots into her side pack.
“Aren’t you going to put them on?” She shook her head as she pulled herself up into her saddle,
“No I have blisters on both heels, the boots are new and ill fitting, I won't put them on unless necessary.”
“You must have tough feet to handle moving through the brush.” She laughed,
“When have you ever known me to wear boots normally anyway? They are tougher than an orc's skin.” She poked her tongue as she moved out of the corral, Wollfen following.
They rode around the perimeter of the encampment for awhile so Wollfen could get used to the horse's personality and he was immediately finding that they worked well together, the real test though would come when they faced a combat situation.
“Shall we move off to your patrol area hon?” She nodded in agreement and they left.
About ten minutes into the ride Raven tensed and looked around, Wollfen too was on alert,
“No noises, it's too quiet.”
She looked around at the immediate area sniffing the air, if there were orcs nearby they may smell them, orcs usually reeked. Wollfen got a whiff of something but he couldn’t be sure. He squeezed Raven's thigh and pointed, she understood and moved off away from him a bit and they started searching the area. They were getting close to the patrol zone and they should be coming up on the current ranger soon. They were about fifty yards apart covering a wider area and moving much slower. Each of them scanning the underbrush as far as they could see and hear. There was still nothing and Wollfen figured they wouldn’t find anything before coming across the ranger.
Then he heard a whistle like a bird, it was Raven catching his attention and when he looked he saw her waving him over. He moved across and pulled up beside the still seated woman. She pointed over to the other side into the underbrush and whispered,
“That’s Bradan's horse laying there.”
He saw the body of it partially covered with branches and dismounted then moved over to it, Raven followed suit. They pulled some of the branches away and saw some arrows sticking out of the carcass, they were orc arrows. Wollfen looked to Raven and he could see she had a worried look on her face, he looked the animal over more carefully and saw a splash of blood on top of the saddle. He whispered to her,
“He is at least injured we need to fan out and look for him.”
Without any further words they both started their search looking far more carefully through the brush all the while listening for sounds and sniffing the air. They kept looking for about thirty minutes when Wollfen spotted boots sticking out from behind a large tree, his heart sank as he approached carefully still looking about. Then as he came around the tree he saw the body, his shoulders slumped. Wollfen whistled a little loudly knowing Raven would come and he bent down to inspect him. He was face down and as he turned Bradan over Wollfen was shocked. Raven came up beside him and he commented,
“He is just a boy?”
“Yes, all of sixteen years old he only started his ranger duties a few weeks ago and he was loving it. So sad.”
Wollfen looked up at her studying her face, she didn’t seem too upset by it all. He knew why, this sort of thing was a regular occurrence for the clans. He stood up sniffing the air, he still couldn’t tell for sure what he was smelling and gave Raven a questioning look. S
he in turn looked around and sniffed the air too, she started whispering again,
“I don’t hear anything but I keep getting a tiny whiff of something.” Wollfen nodded,
“Lets mount up and be ready.”
They got on their horses and slowly moved off scanning the surroundings, after a minute Raven whispered once more,
“It's getting stronger, we are moving in the right direction, how many do you think there are?” Wollfen couldn’t say, they knew they were smelling orcs but how many? There was no sign of any yet. He leaned close to hear ear,
“We should charge and run into them at the gallop, it will not give them time to react with any sort of reasonable defense.” Raven agreed and they geed their horses on.
Galloping along it wasn’t long before they came across three orcs out in the open and with a shout the two of them fell upon the orcs, swords swinging. Raven swung low and wide as she passed one on her right flank, it screamed as it was cut down trying to raise its crossbow but to no avail. Wollfen was swinging and parrying with another orc which had its sword raised but he was faster and managed to smack away the orc's driving sword before plunging his own into its chest. The third orc seeing the demise of his two companions took off and Raven gave pursuit, Wollfen chose to follow but just then another four orcs broke from the underbrush and charged him. He tried to gee the horse to escape but it didn’t respond at all to his commands, it turned and faced the orcs.
“Dammit!”
Wollfen thought the horse had froze as he pulled on the reins trying to turn her around to no effect. Then all of a sudden without encouragement the horse charged the orcs as they approached and he could do no more than accept the situation swinging his sword. As soon as they came together the horse stopped and turned, the two outer orcs moving around the front and back. Wollfen was swinging and clashing with the two middle orcs by his side.
All of a sudden the horse kicked out to the rear and the orc behind flew through the air, its head dashed against a tree the creature falling limp to the ground. Now the mare reared on its hind legs and was biting at the orc in front, the second orc didn’t stand a chance as the horse stomped it into the ground all the while snorting and neighing. Wollfen for his part had cut into the arm of one of the orcs beside him which backed off and he managed to finish by running the last orc through. Then the mare turned to the wounded orc that was trying to flee and she stomped this one into the ground from behind. It place went silent again, the mare giving a final snort and shake of her head. He turned the horse around to look for Raven and saw her approach.
Raven surveyed the immediate area looking at the handiwork and couldn’t help but comment,
“So did you enjoy the ride?” She winked with a knowing smile.
He looked at her realizing she knew how the mare would react,
“You knew and didn’t say anything?” Raven laughed.
“Oh Wolfy, where's the fun in life if you always know what's coming?” Right at that moment the mare chose to raise her head and let out a loud neigh as she bared her teeth. Wollfen patted her neck in appreciation and chuckled.
“It's never going to be dull being with you is it?” Raven shook her head,
“We need to get back to the encampment and pick up some people to return here, we have to collect Bradan's body and stuff.” He nodded in agreement and they both moved off.
Back at the encampment they made their report to Ironside and he sent out a recovery party, he turned back to the two of them,
“It saddens me to hear that another of our proud boys has fallen, he will be given a proper send off tonight at a ceremony.” He paused and looked to Wollfen, “ This is something that outsiders are normally barred from seeing but I would like to have you there my friend, I consider you family.”
Wollfen felt very touched by the invitation, no outsiders were ever allowed to see any of the funeral or religious ceremonies of the Nightclans.
“I would be honored to attend Ironside, you may count me in.” He bowed his head at the leader who smiled and slapped him on the shoulder. Then he turned away and left without another word.
Wollfen looked around and saw Raven sitting inspecting the bottom of her foot.
“Are you hurt?” She shook her head, picking at something on her sole.
“No it's just a thorn I picked up out there somewhere, the tip is broken off and I can't quite get it.”
“Tougher that an orc's hide huh?” He chuckled, “Here let me.”
He bent down close and could see the offending barb, Raven leaned back watching on as he started picking at the thorn finally removing it. He gave her foot a squeeze and a rub before standing up.
“Aw don’t stop, I was enjoying the foot massage.” He grinned and took her hand.
“Let's get something to eat shall we?”
They retired for the afternoon with food in hand by the water nearby. They sat at the waters edge, both of them had their feet in it and were sloshing about.
“Are you sad about the loss of Bradan?” He watched on as she replied,
“Yes of course, but I am somewhat dulled to the shock of it all, I have seen so many fall while on duty, it's almost normal now. That's one of the reasons why I want to leave this place with you. I want to start anew somewhere else, I have realized this life is sucking at my emotions and leaving me dead inside. I don’t like it.”
He nodded quietly after she spoke, he wasn’t sure he could add to the subject. They both stared off across the water feeling the light breeze and hearing the rustle of the leaves overhead.
“Hey let's go skinny dipping.”
Without another word Raven got up and started stripping, he followed suit and they both stepped into the water, it was slightly cool but nice. The sun was warm too with only a few clouds. Finally they immersed themselves fully and paddled about for a while. It was so nice to be able to relax and enjoy. Wollfen sat at the waters edge with his upper body out of the water leaning back, Raven came up between his legs turning around and laying her back on his belly. He stroked her hair a bit looking down at her bare breasts in the sun. They were still very nice at her age, not too big for an athletic woman either. He reached down and gave her a squeeze and she batted him away.
“Don't start getting me frisky, there are too many people close by.”
He chuckled, leaned down and gave her a peck on the cheek. She turned her head and kissed him back then pushed off swimming away into the water.
He watched on as she swam about enjoying herself then she swum around the corner out of view. Wollfen lay his head back looking up at the clouds, lost in thought. How did he feel about her? Nightclan ways were certainly different to what he was used to but up to now he hadn’t had any problems with it, then again he hadn’t lived it either. He heard some splashing about nearby and decided to go look at what Raven was doing.
As he moved around the corner he saw Raven sitting out of the water on the embankment looking on as two naked young men were obviously showing off for her, one of them was on the other side sitting on the embankment leaning back and smiling as he massaged his organ into an erection. Wollfen pulled himself up beside Raven and gave her a questioning look. She realized Wollfen may be put out,
“You don’t mind me seeing other men naked do you?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer, the young man on the other side continued to display himself smiling at her. Wollfen wasn’t feeling right about it that was for sure. She looked at him and could see the emotions playing across his face,
“You know it's pretty normal for the men of the clan to put themselves on display for the women, they enjoy the attention and as you know they get to have their fill on a regular basis.” Wollfen shook his head watching Raven looking on with a little smile,
“Are you contemplating fucking that man?” He had decided to be blunt with her. She tilted her head back a bit as she laughed out loud,
“Oh Wolfy, don’t be such a prude. I am enjoying the show he is putting
on nothing more, but you know I am a woman in her forties. I am not that attractive anymore and yes I am pleased by the attention.” She leaned across and spoke into his ear, “But I am only interested in you and yours okay?”
He felt a little bit better hearing that but he still had questions,
“So what was it like when you were younger? I mean, oh I don’t know, did you bed a lot of men then?” She looked at him seeing his concern and took it more seriously .
Looking him in the eyes she focused on him ignoring the frolicking men.
“You know how the Nightclans live, the women need to be pregnant as much as they can for the survival of the clan.”
“But don’t the women stay loyal to one man even if that man may have multiple wives?” Raven chuckled as if he was some naive teenager.
“Let me tell you about how it was for me so that you can understand. When I reached the age of maturity and could start bearing children I had just turned sixteen. I only had eyes for one strapping young lad by the name of Sloane. He was twenty three years of age and was not only an experienced ranger but good in bed too, he already had three wives and he was a virile thing. Most of the women wanted him but he and I had something special. We came together within two weeks and married a couple of weeks later. I fell pregnant with our first son a month later and bore him while I was still sixteen.
Unfortunately Sloane fell while on duty a few months after our son was born. I was heartbroken for over a year. I then matched up with another young man of eighteen, his name was Brown Bear and we fell in love too. I bore him two daughters over a space of three years and then he too fell. I was twenty one at the time and still young. I could have any man I wanted but I put it off for another year in mourning. Then I took another man but I didn’t marry him, I also didn’t fall pregnant. Over the course of the next year I was with oh maybe five other men and still nothing.
You see we didn’t know it but I was no longer able to bear children and I bedded a lot of men over the next few years to no avail.”
“Did you feel used? I mean was it like you were passed around?” Raven shook her head,
