It was almost sunset, a young shepherd was in hurry, trying to round his sheep before night came, because he was inside the Ghost Meadow. He had discovered by accident, that during the day the ghost meadow was a safe and quiet place for herding, since no one, not even bandits dare to go near the place.
The ghost meadow was one of the entrances to the Ruan desert, one wich nobody used. The shepherd had once been herding near the meadow, when he was caught inside a dust storm. As he tried to find shelter, he somehow ended inside the haunted fabled meadow. The place was said to be haunted with ghosts, and it was as he dicovered, it just so happens that they appeared only during the night right after the sun came down. He had learned this, the hard way. After the storm had passed and once he realized where he was, and that not one ghost was on sight, he decided to spent the night, thinking he would be safe from danger as everyone avoided the place. The ghost meadow however is not a place to be during the night, just as thesun went down, the temperature dropped fast, his sheep were going mad and scattered everywhere.
Not a minute had passed since he began searching for them inside the meadow, and the first ghost appeared. An orc was standing in front of him, he had a massive mace on his right hand, and twisted fangs coming out from his lower mouth. He was certain it was a ghost because the orc had a silver outline and seemed translucent, the air around the shepherd had gone cold in a second.
They were facing each other, and he was trembling, he did not know what to do at that moment, but then the orc spoke to him "This place is for the death, do not linger here unless you want to joins us" The orc laughed at him as he finished. The Shepherd was pale, still not knowing how to react, but then another voice came from his sides "Leave, leave this place, it is our home". More and more orcs began to appear on the distance. It seemed as if they were an army, covering the meadow as far as he could see. The shepherd did not need to be told twice, he turned and ran.
He stopped halfway back home, beacuse he could not return withouth the sheep, but could not muster the courage to return during the night. He looked for them at the next day, luckily he found them all on the border of the ghost meadow. Ever since, he took his herd from time to time to the ghost meadow, but never again would he stay after the sunset.
When he realized it was time to leave, he began couting the sheep and prepared to leave, when he heard a voice calling to him "Daya, Daya", he turned around and saw on the distance the silhouette of a man, it made all his hair stand on end. He turned to look towards the horizon, and saw that the sun was about to set. He began herding his sheep outside the meadow as fast as he could and away from that silhouette.
However in response to his actions, the voice kept calling him "Daya, Daya, Daya" it was getting louder, he turned and saw that the silhouette was running towards him, at an alamning pace "SH*T, SH*T,SH*T" he took out a whip from his shoulder sack, and began lashing at the ground, startling the sheeps and making them go faster. The time he encountered the ghosts, he had stopped seeing them as soon as he reached the end of the meadow. He was almost running with his sheep, and was missing just a few more lers(meters), to reach the end of the meadow. Behind him, he could hear the voice getting closer "DAYA, FURA, DAYA" the words sounded somehow familiar but he was not going to stop, until he was out of the meadow, and kept urging the sheep to advance.
He passed the end of the meadow by a few more lers (m) just to be safe, before he decided to turn. However the silhouette had now become clear as it was really close, a figure covered in a half heavy armor and a sword inside its sheath on its hand, it had almost reached the end of the meadow. As it noticed the shepherd looking at it, it began waving one hand and calling again "DAYA FURA". The shepherd was pale, the orc for last time had not chased him like this, it had only warned him, and yet he had gone inside the meadow again. "I AM SORRY MASTER GHOST, PLEASE I SWEAR TO YOU, I WONT GO INSIDE THE MEADOW AGAIN" the shepherd had kneeled down and was on the verge of tears, the figure was at the end of the meadow and then it stopped.
"You speak laer elvish kid?" The shepherd had closed his eyes, and was about to beging praying to his ancestors for help, when he heard the voice again. He looked at the figure it had stopped just at the end of meadow, that somehow managed to calm him down a bit. "Yes master Ghost, but please, please, please I promise you, I won't go back again, the orc from last time warned me, but I did not listen, I will not go inside, please don't turn me into a ghost as well".
"Kid, I am sorry if I startled you, it was not my intention, but of what ghosts are you talking about?" The figure asked him in a gentle voice, the shepherd was confused as to why would a ghost ask about other ghosts, but that was until he noticed, that the figure was not silver and transluscent as the orc, it's armor was grey and covered in dust, and it was clearly breathing. "You, you are not a ghost sir?".
"Kid, again, I am sorry for scaring you, I am kind of lost, so when I saw you, I tried to call on you, but you began running, as if was a hungry scanvilian" The shepherd was dumbfound "You were lost INSIDE the Ghost Meadow, are you f*cking kidding me?".
"I came from the desert, I had wandered for a few days, and ended there, I did not know it was haunted, I was thrilled at leaving the desert, and to my surprise after a day, I saw you. I truly am sorry kid". The armored figure made a half body bow towards the shepherd. "I truly am lost, and need some assistance, would you be willing to help me"
The shepherd who had been kneeling stood up slowly. His sheep were some lers behind him, he looked at the armored figure who was still at the border of the meadow, and then at the horizon again, the sun had reach is lowest point. "I do not want to remain in this place any longer sir, If you remove your helmet, and promise me you wont try to rob..." What could he rob from him, he had a clearly expensive armor that surely was worth more than his sheep. "All right kid, I swear, I do not mean nor would cause you any harm" The armored figure put an opened hand on its chest as it said that, he had a deep voice. "I will come close to you and remove my helmet so you can see me, if it is fine with you" The armored figured was waiting for the shepherd response, who nodded.
The armored figure, slowly walked towards the shepherd. The armored one was relatively tal,l around 1.8 lers, as it draw near the shepherd he realized he had another sword, it was short and was secured on his back at the wasit level. The amor was different from what the shepherd had seen before, the armguards, shoulders and greaves seemed thicker than the other parts. The helmet was simple, but it covered the whole face, leaving only a short space to look trough. The whole armor was grey, and had weird symbols everywhere.
The shepherd was nervous as the armored figured stopped a few steps form him. It slowly put down the sword on its hand on the ground, and then removed its helmet. The shepherd calmed down, as he saw there was a living being underneath the helmet, the armored man was younger than what the shepherd tought. The armored man, put the helmet on the ground next to his sword.
"My name is Ariden, again I apologize, from startling you. May I know your name young man" The armored man, Ariden, had a gentle face, it had simple features making his grey eyes stand out. He had jet black hair, wich was all messed up when he took the helmet off.
"My name is Vran" The shepherd replied with a high pitched voice, he was still wary of the stranger in armor in front of him. "Nice to be you acqueintance, young Vran" The armored man had extended his hand towards the shepherd with a gentle smile on his face, after a moment of hesitation Vran responded with a shake of hands.
"What were you doing that led you to be lost inside the Ghost Meadow?" Vran asked a little bit more relaxed after the presentation. "I am a sellsword Vran, I was working as an escort inside the desert, but after a sandstorm, I was lost. We were close to the west edge of the desert, so I figured, I would keep going west, as I had almost no supplys, lucky for me I had just been 2 days since that, and I still have some water" He pointed at a water skin on his waist, "And before night fall, I found you, I was thrilled when I saw you, but when I began calling well... you just ran". The shepherd was a bit ashamed after those words.
"I told you, I do not want to stay here much longer, I know of a good place to set camp, I was gonna spend the night there, we can talk there" the shepherd was looking behind Ariden towards the meadow, the sun had already disappeared. "Alright young Vran, is it ok if I come with you?", the shepherd nodded.
They began walking with Vran's herd, and away form the ghost meadow, they were headed towards a forest. From time to time, Vran took a quick glance at his armored companion, worried that he might pounce on him. Ariden noticed this, so he walked a few steps away from Vran, trying to give him some peace of mind, he smiled to the shepherd each time he caught him, looking in his direction. This continued for about an hour, when they had reached the forest.
"There is a spot just a bit further, we could set up a camp there" The shepherd told his companion. They advanced for a few more minutes, until the reach a clear spot inside the forest. The sheep clearly knew this place, as they walked faster and cuddle together as if they knew they would sleep there.
The shepherd pointed towards some stones, put together for a camp fire, next to where the sheeps had gathered. "I left some wood hidden on that tree, so that I could make camp fast" The shepherd went to the tree he mentioned, underneet its big roots he collected some pieces of wood wich were hidden on the roots, and place them to start a camp fire. "Can I help you with someting" Ariden asked the shepherd. "It's all right sir, you do seem nice, give me a moment and I will prepare the fire, I have some jerky with me if you want". It took around 10 minutos for the shepherd to light the campfire with flint and steel, he had taken from his shoulder sack.
The shepherd sat close to his sheeps near the camp fire, he took out some jerky from his sack, and offered it to Ariden, who sat infront of him. "Thank you, young Vran. Why are you generous with a stanger, who is armed at that" Ariden had recieved the jerky from the shepherd and was looking at him. "Where I am from, we are taught that helping someone in need will bring you luck, and honor to your family" The shepherd laughed "I never thought I would one day help someone who got lost inside the Ghost Meadow, did you really not encountered ghosts while you were there?"
"I am thankful to say that I did not, I only spent one night in that meadow, but not one ghost nor anything to eat appeared" The shepherd was sizing his companion response. He could not be certain if Ariden was lying, given what he himself had seen, perhaps Ariden was just lucky. "Maybe it is just a legend, told to keep people away from that place perhaps" Ariden told as he began chewing on the jerky.
"Well I myself have seen the ghosts". It was Ariden turn to be surprised. "Last year, I had finally the courage to take my herd there, and everything was fine during the day, I thought what you just said, but when the night came, I saw and orc". Ariden was waiting for the young shepherd to keep going.
"He had a massive mace, and told me to leave that place, or that I would be turned into a ghost as well, and after a moment more and more orcs began appearing, I did not think twice and ran".
"That explains why you ran from me then" the shepherd nodded to Ariden "Well, I guess I am really lucky, wich is rare, my luck used to be bad. I guess whatever comes around goes around" Ariden laughed and chewed on the jerky. "What were you shouting at me at the beginning, dayum, or something, I think, I heard it somewhere before". The shepherd asked curiosly.
"It is Dyrish, when I looked at your ears, and saw you were a Maedyr, well I supposed you spoke Dyrish" Ariden had already finished the jerky. The shepherd unconsciously touched his left ear, wich was similar to a wolf's ear, it was covered in the same brown hair as his head. "You know old dyrish?, man I knew, I heard it before. Nowadays only the old clans and tribes from the Wailing plains used it. There are some old ones at my village wich still know it, but must of us speak laer elvish, at least in the Maedyr Union"
Ariden was taken aback, he seemed confused about the places the shepherd had just mentioned. "So your village belongs to the Maedyr Union" Ariden asked with curiosity to the now more relaxed young shepherd, who was devouring his jerky. "Yes, I am from Medy, we have been inside the union almost since its formation, or so the elder says" He was tearing the jerky apart with his fangs.
"Is it a big, I haven't heard of it"
"Well it is a really small town, we are mostly farmers and herders, as myself" The young shepherd was proud about it "There is a small forge as well, the blacksmith came from the big city of Hedy, saying he wanted a more quiet place, and everyone was happy to have him, he is a good guy and a fine smith. Sometimes people visit the village looking especially for him". Ariden was suddendly more at ease, when he heard the name of Hedy, it was a place he knew.
Suddendly Ariden made a sign for Vran to be quiet, he picked up the sword on its sheath that was to his side and standed up. "Vran, were you waiting for some, or is there anyone who knows about this place" Vran had been startled by Ariden sudden movement, but reacted quickly. "No no one, and nobodody knows about this place" after a second he added "but theres been some bandits robbing the other herders, they even injured one of neighbors ".
Vran stood up as Ariden had done, and was focusing all his attention to his ears, trying to listen to something. "Listen Vran, theres 3 or 4 people coming for us" as he heard this Vran was again nervous "Sh*t I knew today was not my day" he was deciding wether to run and leave his sheeps or .... "Easy Vran, I am too from a place where we are thought how to repay kindness, I told you, I'm a sellsword, let me handle these, just stay behind and close to me, do NOT ran away, otherwise I won't be able to protect you, is that clear" Ariden was looking at tha Vran straight in the eyes with a calmed face. Vran nodded slowly. Ariden turned and place himself infront of Vran, facing towards a dark place in the forest, from where footsetps could now be heard.
4 Dark figures came from that place. The one in front had an axe on his hand, to his left his companion carried a big dagger. Behind them was a slender one with a crossbow ready and pointing at Ariden. The last one, and the biggest had a pickaxe, and a stupid face.
"Well, well, well, we have been trying to catch you kid for a while now, but you are dumb enough to go near that damned haunted meadow, so we decided to wait for you here, and what do we get as a reward from our patience?, you brought with you a nice looking armor for us to sell" He laughed and his companions as well, the one with the axe the leader was missing a few teeth. "Listen, my friend Boba here" he pinted at the one with the crossbow "has really twitchy nerves, we do not want anyone getting hurt because they make a sudden movement, so please if you would be so kind as to hand over all your belongings, that would be all" He grinned.
The shepherd was petrified, even tough Ariden was infront of him, that crossbow was big, the arrow would probably go trough the armor.
"I am sorry good sir, but my benefactor behind me, seems to find your presence unnerving, to wich I agree. You see, you have not so pleasant faces to look at while eating dinner, so I would kindly advice you to lower your weapons before you get hurt, and particulary suggest that your friend Boba, quit chewing red salt, wich might be the reason his nerves are on edge" Ariden said and replied with a grin as well.
"We have a buffon in an armor, ha ha ha" the leader face turned serious "Listen you sh*t, We rather not kill you, but we will do so if you really choose to fight us, and we will get the kid as well if you dont do as I said, now" The one with the dagger and pick axe were now at the left side of their leader.
Vran was about to cry, they have had a chance to live, and this f*cker had throw it away. "You have been robbing my friend neighbors, so there is no way, I will let you go, but I am giving you a chance to surrender and get a trail on his village, or, well try your luck with me, wich I do not recommend, as it seems I am on a hot streak of good luck, and that is rare, so what do you good sirs decide?"
"Boba" As the leader said his name, Boba, released the arrow from the crossbow, it was a small distance away, so it only took a second for it to reach Ariden, however it did not meet with his armor, but rather was deflected by his sword. It was a few melers (centimeters) shorter than a proper bastard sword, but it was broader and thicker, and its corssguard only covered the width of the blade.
It had been a second but Ariden unsheathed his sword to deflect the arrow, and he use the movement to gain momentum, and advance towards the bandits. He had crossed half the distance between them. Boba began to prepare the crossbow for another shot. The big one charged to meet Ariden, the one with the dagger move to his companion side thinking on flanking his enemy as his companion was gonna clash with him. However nothing was as he expected.
The big and stupid one had his pickaxe above his head prepared to deliver an attack with all his might, but Ariden sped up again, hitting the bandit with the fuller part of his sword breaking his ribs. He then pivoted on his right feet towards the one with the dagger, and before he could react, Ariden's left elbow had slammed itself with the bandits face, spatting blood everywhere. He then charged at Boba, who was about to finish setting the crossbow, but as he was leveling up to fire, Ariden's sword cut his hands holding the crossbow.
The leader had stopped moving once he saw how easy Ariden took on his companions, he dropped his axe to the ground. Bobas screams had startled the sheeps, and from the other two, low complaints could be heard, as they were on the ground easing their pain.
"I knew you were a man of reason" Ariden smiled at the leader as he sheathed his sword again "I do not feel is right to kill you, since you were so kind to offer us the same, and you haven't killed anyone from my frien village, so I will return your offer" Ariden paused "Leave everything you have here, your weapons, money, and supplys, and I will let you leave with the only thing that is truly yours. Your life" Ariden had walked closer to the leader who was backing away from him. "Do you agree"
"YES!!!, we will leave from where we came from" The leader took the pouch he had on his waist and tossed towards Ariden, he then went next to the big one and help him get up. "Come Billy, leave your stuff there, and help Boba, I will help Loni". Billy has holding his chest tightly but with the help of the leader managed to stand up, he had a sack wich he left where his leader had tossed the pouch and went to try and calmed Boba, who had both his arms pressed against himself. He had stopped screaming and saliva was running from his mouth, he was on the verge of fainting.
The leader went towards Loni, whose face wass a mess, there was a lot of blood coming form his broken nose and brow. He leaned on his leader and started walking towards the forest.
"I guess there is no point in saying this, but do not come back here, again" Ariden told them, as they were limping away with grunts and moans, from where they came. "Kindness is payed with kindness, and blood with blood, that is way things are done where I come from" Ariden smiled to the numb Vran, who had witnessed it all.