Running, just running, nothing more was in the mind of Mikael.
The book sprung up and down, the bag sliding across his side, and sweat ran down all over his body.
The screams from their temporary hamlet got farther away by the second, and shouts from more arriving bandits filled the environment.
He didn't look back, but could estimate the number by the voices, so he guessed at least 8 persons on horseback attacked them.
This may seems few, but that didn't count the ones back on foot, guarding the other captured villagers or just did something else.
'Hopefully they go after the others.'
He saw no one in his surrounding, all alone running towards the entrance by the trees.
'Just a bit more!' he thought.
His lungs protested violently, and his leg began hurting unbearably. The hit he got from Nina still made problems, much to his demise.
'Dammit, that this would hinder me still...' he lamented. He tried to endure, but when his foot fell into a little dent in the ground, his muscles refused to listen and made him fall.
The pain rendered him unconscious for a short time, and he passed out, covered by tall grass and some bushes.
Due to his small stature, he was hidden behind all this green, being the greatest stroke of luck he never could appreciate.
Because right that moment, when he fell, some of the Attackers looked towards the fleeing people, some of them already vanishing into the woods.
Their gazes wandered, but Mikael got away unnoticed.
"Hey, Boss." A tall, blond man with a wide scar on his arm called out, holding a recurve bow in his hand, watching the backs of the fleeing humans.
"A bunch of them escaped to the woods. We have to make sure to decimate them, right?"
Another Guy, wearing clean metal mail and chain mail underneath trotted towards him. He sat straight on his horse, giving of a disciplined vibe. He had a clean shaved beard and short, black hair, as well as a hawk like nose.
"Of course. Our command said to make sure no one of this eyesore of a village is kept alive. Take some men, as well as a tracker. They should be quite weak, and no problem to capture or kill."
He left his man then alone, on his horse riding around the hamlet, looking left and right into the houses. On the search of survivors, he saw the mass grave, but without a second look he ordered:
"Hey, you! Squire! Set this hole on fire, and everything in it!"
A boy of maybe 17, looked up flustered. He was still green, taken on this quest to gain experience.
So he still had some hesitation to execute the task.
"But Sir, if I would do that, their souls would not be able to..." He did not manage to finish, as the booming voice of his superior commanded:" That was an order, lad!"
Gulping, the squire nodded, taking a torch and filling the hole with some burnable materials. The following stench of burning flesh and rotting intensities filled the air, making the commander almost regretting his own order.
'Never mind.' He rode up further, stopping before a recently dug grave, as the earth stil showed no signs of sprouting grass. The shovel, likely used to dig it, showed the small bloody hand prints of the person using it.
The Boss thought for a moment, but turned around, leaving it there untouched.
"Finish up! We still have to make it look like a plunder!"
No one was in the vicinity, other than his man and the dead, so he spoke unhindered.
Meanwhile, Mikael slowly regained consciousness, holding his head and getting on his knees.
For a moment, he forgot what he did, or wanted to do. But the next one, he remembered, panicky looking left and right.
He saw some horses galloping towards his far left, approaching the entrance the others used. No one was on his way.
"Why tho?' he wondered, but not for long. He began crawling fast paced, step by step towards the woods. Part of the time he held his breath, not daring to breath or make suspicious sounds.
The shadows of the towering trees, fallen leafs around his hands and bushes scratching against his skin granted him a bit of relief, of security.
Tall trees with many branches, tall grass and lots of stones and rocks filled his view. Birds chirped loudly, insects made other noises and small animals were seen sometimes.
Mikael then stood up, a bit into this jungle like, foreign environment.
He looked back, the entrance bright like the exit to the outer world. But he knew, behind that exit the only thing welcoming him was the weapon of the enemy.
He hesitated, thinking just a second to turn back, searching for Nina, who he did not saw among the fleeing. But he was also aware, to help her, he had to be alive, or at least free.
'I will look for you,Nina! I try my best to safe you.' he thought. Nina was a healthy young girl, not ugly at all, with the right food even turning out to be a beautiful flower.
So if these bandits have an eye for slaves out, her chances to get out alive were pretty good.
'For now, escaping is my first priority. To get away as far as possible.'
He took step by step, his sense of direction quickly vanishing as the trees covered the sun quite well, and in this dim light getting lost was easy.
After an unknown distance traveled, he took a dive towards a tree, the branches thick enough to support his weight, the leafs dense enough to cover his body.
His senses were straining, most his hearing. So he discovered very early the sounds of talking persons, two man to be exact.
Their strides were fast, but relaxed and even. The voices showed they were not afraid, quite the opposite.
So his first reaction, when he first had the impression someone got nearer, was to hide. If it turned out to be allies, he still could show himself.
He gathered his power, climbing up the branches with the least amount of wriggling.
His heart thumped hard, making him wonder if it could be heard by the approaching ones.
From his vantage point he soon saw the two persons, walking a bit apart from each other.
Their talking masked his climbing, and by walking past his position a bit farther away, he made it up unnoticed.
But it was not perfect.
"Fin, I think I saw something over there!" he pointed towards the general direction Mikael was in.
"Could be wrong tho, just like a flash, could have been a hare."
Fin, a lean man with a scarf around his neck and mouth, said:" Don't call me by my name, idiot!"
A slap later, he looked over towards the suspicious position.
Waving at his comrade, he motioned him to follow.
Mikael, still up high in the tree, holding on to the branchlet, just thick enough to carry him, was deadly afraid.
He silently hoped, wishing that these two would keep walking by, ignoring his sloppy getaway.
But his hope was betrayed, as the two walked over, slashing randomly with arming swords into nearby bushes.
'Thank the almighty I didn't hide in there.' he thought relieved, as before deciding to climb, he wanted to jump in one of these bushes.
The two continued their search, bending grass here and there, toppling over old, dead logs and seeking clues.
After another shrub was brushed away, the entrance of a hole was laid open.
"Here is the lair of a hare, maybe that was it." Fin said, sheathing disappointed his sword.
"Sorry. I just saw a quick glimpse of something." The other guy said, looking indifferently at the hole.
If their eyes wandered up the nearby trees, they may would have discovered Mikael, as from their current spot his body was visible.
But his luck was still there, so they moved on.
He still didn't want to relax, but he dared to breath again. The rustling steps got farther away, replaced by an eerie silence.
A hare came out from the recent dug up hole, quickly scuttling away.
Mikael remained up the tree for some time, waiting for his cramped up legs and arms to relax.
When the sun wandered quite a bit and the shadows grew, he climbed down, carefully and watching around.
He made his way into the woods, as the thought of returning or remaining both equally terrified him.
'Where to go? What should I do? How many people are searching for us?'
With no answer in sight, his body showed the first, but painful signs of hunger and thirst.
Being Chased and using his body so much took its toll.
"Water... Food...." he said silently, only barely making a sound.
His muscles hurt from not having enough water, and his head began sending the signals, too.
He began to wander aimlessly, to far away from the entrance to be able to return.
His steps were inconsistent, and his sight blurred every so often.
"When a monster doesn't show up soon, I may as well die from not drinking."
He spoke to himself, albeit faintly. It kept him sane, less lonely.
The minutes flowed into hours, and the shadows began to fuse with the light.
His feet barely left the ground now.
'Just some water.'
He wanted to lie down, sleeping through the night. But without any shelter, that was just another possible death sentence.
So he also began looking for a cave, a hole, anything at this point.
But the next moment, his ears received the pleasant sound of water. The splashing of the currents against rocks.
He became livelier, almost tripping by walking towards the stream.
Sweeping away some leafs, the stream of water before him, flowing downwards at a moderate pace, filled his view.
"Water!" his raspy voice said, almost immediately pushing his head down, gulping down mouthful after another, nearly forgetting to surface again.