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Old 09-08-2007, 08:52 AM   #88
littlemanpoet
Itinerant Songster
 
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,072
littlemanpoet is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.littlemanpoet is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.
The moment the thought took hold that Mellonin might possibly be inside the hut, Ravion took decisive action. He stepped forward and knocked on the door. There was no answer. The others waited with bated breath. Jorje, unable to bate his breath, panted eagerly, his ears back in anticipation.

Suddenly the door opened outward, knocking Ravion backward into the others. A blonde banshee came screaming out with a staff in both hands, flailing furiously in all directions. Jorje got out of the way and cried "Back! Back! Watch out! Back away!" but his focus changed to the madwoman and he cried, "Stop! Stop! Stop! Or I'll bite your legrrrrrr!!! Stop!"

"Surround her!" Ravion yelled. "And stay out of reach!"

The others caught on and soon Ravion, Liornung, Bella, Leafa, and Ędegard had made a circle around her. Jorje decided to help. He rushed in from behind and nipped at her heels, driving her from her hut. Soon she was breathing hard, her staff not moving slower, her eyes casting from one to the other balefully.

"You four keep her busy while I check the hut!"

The woman screamed and lurched toward Ravion's retreating form but Jorje and the others closed in and she was forced to defend against the likelihood of being wrestled down by four pairs of arms and one strong jaw, and went back to standing her ground.

Ravion went in the hut. The others waited, tension in the air between them.

"It's her! She's hurt!"

"Woman," growled Ędegard, "what did you do to her?"

"Stay away from me! Leave me and my mountain!" the woman cried in the Eorling tongue.

"She's Eorling!" cried Ędegard. He repeated his question in the Eorling speech, and she answered him. "She says that Mellonin was riding hard and reckless through the woods and fell off her horse. When she did not wake, she brought her into her hut."

Ravion came back out, his face pale. "She is not well. I fear for her life."

"This woman is no enemy," Ędegard said, "although she may not be altogether sane. I think she means no harm." It took much time and patience to convince the woman that they meant her no harm. The sun was setting by the time she laid down her quarterstaff and allowed them to relax their vigilance, and all six of them took a look - or a good smell - at Mellonin. Together they judged that she should not be moved, and should not be coaxed awake since she slept so deeply. They also decided that a few of them shold remain with Mellonin.

Ędegard and Leafa decided that it would be best if they stayed behind. This was a change in Ędegard's point of view, he admitted, having before said that his fate was with Mellondu. When asked what had changed, he had no ready answer until he raised his stump. "My call to be with Mellondu was when he had few others. Now he has many friends and allies. And I can be of little use to him. My fate is with Leafa now, I deem."

They also determined that someone must go to the others and tell them what had befallen. Who that should be could not be determined with ease, for they were all weary of the day, and they decided to make a choice of messenger in the morning.
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