[Novnarwen]

"I need some help over here!" Lostlondwen shouted.

They were supposed to be silent, after all, they were getting close to the bandit's lair. Elentari and Aravorn were the first members of the company who came to see what was wrong.

"It's Ewinda," Lostlondwen said in a desperate voice. "She fell, and..." she continued.

Aravorn interrupted her: "I feared we might be needing this." He unwound a rope and lowered it down. He turned to Lostlondwen, who had been struck by terror, and comanded her to take an end and start pulling.

"Someone has to go and fetch her horse," Elentari cried out. Two of the company's members went after it right away. Aravorn, laid himself by the edge of the pit and waited for Ewinda to reach his hand.

"Ewinda?" Lostlondwen cried while pulling the rope very slowly. There was no reply. "Do you think she is hurt?" she asked the ranger lying by the pit.

"It is hard to say," Aravorn muttered.

The company were all silent for a while. They listened to see if there was any sound from the deep pit.

"Oh..." A thin voice filled with pain reached them. Few of them looked up.

"Was that her?" Rowan asked and came over, while stirring down in the dark hole.

"It's getting heavier," Lostlondwen burst out in a kind of excited voice. Rowan and Callo both started eagerly to pull with her. From the deep there was only groans who reached up to the company, but they said enough. She was hurt. But how bad?

After seconds with intense pulling, Aravorn grabbed a hand, coming up from the pit. The dwarves went to get her up and Elentari came with water. "Are you okey?" all of them asked. Lostlondwen ran over to her, and grabbed her by her face and hugged her.

"Ouch," she groaned.

"Oh sorry," Loslondwen said, and took the bottle of water from Elentari's hand.

"Come on, drink. It will do you good." She handed over the bottle, much more careful this time, and looked at the others.

While Ewinda drank, Elentari gathered the company. They discussed what they should do. The woman had injured her back, which seemed to hurt a lot. They weren't sure if she would be able to ride a horse, not right now anyhow.

"Two of us are missing," Loslondwen said after counting the members twice.

"I sent them to fetch Ewinda's horse," Elentari muttered. "They will probably be back very soon," she added.

"Now, this is a situation we never thought we would be in. So the big question is: What are we supposed to do now?"

Lostlondwen looked at Ewinda, then at Elentari. The silent breeze seemed to grow much more loud, and she shuddered while thinking of bandits lurking around in the bushes. They had to get to them first. But now Ewinda seemed to be hurt, she might not be able to ride and to fight. They might lose their advantage of surprise and have to wait. She sat in the shadows wondering.

[ June 15, 2003: Message edited by: Novnarwen ]

[ June 15, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]