Leena didn't think that her arms could hurt more when the army had stopped for a quick dinner, but when she picked up the stretcher again after the break she found out she was wrong. Her arms, having known freedom for that wonderful short time were now rebelling. Griting her teeth she mentally scolded her sore muscles and told them there would be no more respites till the village was in sight.
The trek through the forest wasn't happy. It was very slow going and now the scout that they had sent out at the end of dinner hadn't come back yet. Leena took that as a good sign, saying that he had perhaps reached the village and was getting some help from Laurel or Herebrand. Others, most particularly Settac who was whining at least every quarter of an hour, said he had died by the wild men.
If we didn't have so many wounded right now I'd knock him into his own stretcher. Looking back she could make him out carrying a very light pack.
As she was turning her head back to watch where she was going, Leena saw a soldier suddenly pitch forward onto the man in front of him. Calling out a warning to the other carrier of the stretcher, the priestess hastily put the stretcher down and set off toward the newly fallen.
Suddenly voices erupted in alarm and clashing swords could be heard. Unsheathing her own blade Leena's arms had new strength flow into them as she focused for battle.
New voices were ringing, ordering the men to take form and stand firm. The three leaders were holding the men together. Several strange calls seemed to be coming from up ahead of the army, but the priestess had no time to ponder on these.
Right before she reached the fights, Leena's arm was wrenched to the side and she had to stop herself from slicing the offender when she saw it to be one of the Rohirrim.
"You have done this to us!" Settac spat at her.
Feeling that he was taking her away from the battle and that he was the worst person she had met in awhile, Leena almost decided against retaliation. Almost - reaching back with her free arm she palm puched him in the face. He wasn't expecting this and fell back abruptly letting her go.
The scene came up in front of her, mostly hidden by the forest greenery. There seemed to be about ten wild men killing any Rohirrim wounded or standing. Many of the soldiers were already dead.
She took out a dart and threw it into a wild man about to impale a soldier who was on a stretcher now lying on the ground. As she went to engage another wild man a soldier fell sideways, the victim of a dart, and hit her leg on the way down. Struggling to fend off her opponent and get her footing back under she received a stinging wound in her side. Looking down quickly she saw it to only be a shallow sword slice.
Trying as she might, Leena couldn't get her footing stable with the uneven ground and fallen men blocking her. Not many of the Rohirrim were fighting, having been ordered to form perimeters around the wounded. Fear flashed in her mind as she saw a strike she couldn't defend properly against. Right before it struck, the wild man suddenly stopped, his eyes turned wide. As he fell over dead, Leena turned to see who saved her.
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