CANSTVER 13TH YEAR 548 ASMERIAN CALENDAR.
Jackson kept to where he could defend the girls if he had to but also kept his distance from the three guards. The crying and screaming put the soldiers on edge and they even lashed out at Alice and Ruby but each time Jackson stood in their way. They were hesitant to attack Jackson after watching him kill several other soldiers. As Jackson kept guard over the girls and also kept watch on the hill for any reinforcements; he tried to wrap his mind around how he was going to get Alice out of there alive.
One of the soldiers tried his luck and ran for the girls. Jackson quickly jumped up onto the cart and stood over the man. He had separated himself twenty feet from his comrades and Jackson pounced on top of the man. The black peiron sliced straight through the man's armor with ease. The gambeson stood no chance of protecting the soldier. He fell where he stood, the others also charged in and this time Jackson couldn't distance himself from them. "You fucker, come here," They barked.
Then all that Jackson could hear was the screams of the soldiers as a cloaked man charged in with another peiron sword. He stood over the two dead and mangled soldiers as blood dripped from the tip of his sword. Jackson was startled, he backed up into the cart and pointed his sword at the man. The man was rather tall, well above average and the brown cloak concealed most of his physical traits. The man turned and examined Veronica's corpse. "What a shame," He said as he put his sword in its scabbard.
The man stood up and whistled in a very high pitch, and a brown horse came running over the hill. He then turned to Jackson. "Hello kid, ya alright over there?" Jackson was still startled, so he gave no response. "Ruby, I thought that was you, get down from there." He said as he came closer to the cart.
"How do you know her name?"
"Well, because I've met her before, kid. I'm Erik Hughes, a Ritter of Gregoria."
Jackson let out a sigh of relief and dropped his sword. It didn't take long for the realization of his parents' deaths to overtake him. Erik patted him on the shoulder, and he pulled the hood of his cloak back to properly reveal his face. It was filled with understanding and compassion. "There's nothing more you nor I could have done here."
"I should've made them surrender."
"Then you all would be hanged a day later."
Erik looked around the cart, he'd only ever seen so much blood on the battlefield. Gran whose corpse laid in front of the cart was still spewing out blood from his neck. Connor and Veronica's wounds were also still letting out a stream of red liquid. The Soldiers' pristine gambesons were no longer the king's colors. They were now painted in the shade of death. Ruby glanced out onto the ground and became sick at the sight of everyone.
"Well, I was hoping that your horse would still be alive. I can't quickly transport all of ya with just my horse and a cart either."
"What are we going to do?"
"Well, I could try to hitch my horse up to your cart here, but if the Asmerian Guard at Farmville already know you're coming they'd stop me and the same would happen as it did here."
"Can you take the girls across with you and pick me up later?" Jackson asked as he rested against the wheel of the cart.
"Well, I could, but I'd have to walk alongside Cilva all of the way. He's a fast horse but he's too small in size to carry three people at a time."
The day grew shorter and shorter as Erik tried to figure out what to do. He felt uneasy about the entire situation. Soldiers often patrolled the roads around Farmville and the Gregorian border. Farmville was the town that laid on the Asmerian side of the bridge to Concord and was a Gregorian town. Several bases were built around Farmville by the Asmerian Army when the king took back power and the seventh Asmerian Legion was responsible for securing the border and policing all roads leading to Gregoria.
"Here's what I can do," He said as he took the lead of his horse. "I can take Ruby back to Gregoria and return with another horse so that I can take the two of ya back with me."
"Why not just ride back and return with another horse? I can't trust you to not leave us here."
"You have my word as a Ritter of Gregoria kid, I won't abandon you."
"I still can't trust you. If you leave us, we could still be easily captured."
"You both have legs to run, I'm sure that you could take refuge in the forest," Erik said as he mounted his horse.
"I'm the only one how can run, my sister, is a cripple."
"What do ya mean boy?"
"I can't walk," Alice said just barely loud enough to be heard.
Erik froze, he didn't know what to do anymore. If he left Alice and Jackson alone to fend for themselves, they'd more than likely be caught by the following day. "Then again, I'd take the same risk leaving Ruby here as well." He thought. There was no other way, Alice was certainly smaller than Ruby and could easily be passed off as his daughter due to them both having blond hair. He moved Cilva to the edge of the cart and took a good look at Alice. "Hop on lass," He said as he reached out a hand to pull her up.
"So, what are you going to do?" Jackson asked as he stood up to get out of the way of Erik.
"I'll take your sister to Gregoria first and try to find Miller, then I'll return with another horse to pick your two up," Erik said as he pulled Alice on to Cilva and started for Gregoria.
"Hey, wait a second," Jackson barked.
"What is it?"
"Take Mister Miller's Delrock with you," Jackson said as he dug through the luggage in the cart. He stood back up with the Delrock in hand.
"Thank ya, now get somewhere safe where the soldiers won't find ya."
"Brother, do I have to go?" Alice cried out as tears ran down her eyes.
"Yes, Alice, if we get caught we'll all be killed." Jackson handed the Delrock to Erik and they rode off over the hill. It was just him and Ruby, along with all of the bodies that lay on the ground. "What are we going to do now Jack?" Ruby asked.
"We'll head towards the forest. Then we can hide from everyone else." Jackson grabbed his clothes and the sword passed down to him by his father. He also grabbed the black cloak that he used during the swordsmanship competition.
As he took one last look at the cart he was able to see the full extent of the consequences of his father's actions. He feared death, just like any other fourteen year old would. His mother, once a beautiful woman who made any man lust after her. Now had her face submerged in mud and clothes drenched blood.
He walked alongside Ruby to the woods a few hundred meters away. They watched as a family came across the cart. The father ran around to everyone seeing if there was anyone still alive while the mother and children looked on in horror. The father's attempts to find any survivors were in vain, they continued down the road a bit until another patrol crested the hill. Jackson held Ruby tightly as the soldiers took away his parent's corpses and loaded them onto the cart.
Soon the family that found the wreckage was allowed to pass by and an Asmerian Knight arrived. The soldiers took orders from the knight to clean up the area. They also headed out into the fields and patrolled around the cart.
They dared not say a word as the men patrolled around the cart. Two men came closer as they started to turn their attention to the forest. They watched as they walked closer and closer, unable to move for fear of being seen. Their hearts were racing and Ruby started to panic. When the men came within ten meters of the treeline, right in front of Jackson and Ruby, the knight rode up on his horse.
"What do you two think you're doing?" The knight barked harshly.
"We were just looking at the forests edge my lord." The taller soldier responded as they snapped to attention.
"Didn't I fucking tell you to stay away from the forest. The elves consider this forest as their own. I doubt his majesty would want a confrontation with them over some dead traitors."
"We apologize Sir Wentworth. We'll make our way back to the rest of our platoon now my lord."
"Hurry up and get moving you two." Sir Wentworth said as he turned and rode back to the rest of the soldiers.
Jackson slowed his breath and released his grip on Ruby. He instinctively wrapped his arms around Ruby, pulling her tight and under his cloak. She felt uneasy when he released her and quickly pulled herself close. He paid no mind to this, his eyes were glued on Sir Wentworth. He commanded the platoon of soldiers with ease and he was certainly trying his best to catch them.
Soon night came and the soldiers made a small camp for the forty men and Sir Wentworth. They couldn't stay in the forest any longer. "Come on Ruby, wake up." He whispered. Ruby woke up but she had tears running down her face. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it was just a nightmare."
"I'm sorry."
"Thank you for waking me up Jack, but why did you?"
"We need to get out of here."
"And go where Mister Erik was supposed to pick us up here tomorrow."
"Do you think that he'll be able to anymore?"
"But we have to stay here, how will we make it to Gregoria without him?"
"We can walk, it's only five miles from here to Farmville."
"I don't want to go, Jack," Ruby said as she turned away.
"I'm not leaving you here, now come on Ruby." He grabbed her arm and started to pull her.
Ruby finally stood up and looked Jackson in the eye. "What will you do if we're caught? Or if Erik passes us and never comes for us?"
"I'll take responsibility, and I'll keep you safe."
They headed deeper into the forest but not far enough to lose sight of the road. They continued slowly through the night, being as cautious as they possibly could be. Jackson was exhausted, he hadn���t slept since the skirmish. And dragging Ruby through the dense forest wasn't much of a help. Everything felt different now, his mind raced as he tried to reason with himself about what happened. His father, mother, sister, and for all he knew, his entire family were now gone or in danger. He paused and started to weep.
"Are you okay Jack?" Ruby asked.
"No, I want my mother and father back. I wish Alice was here with me and that we were still in Greendale. I wish that this never happened."
Ruby wrapped her arms around him and did her best to comfort him. "Let's go to sleep." She said softly.
"I'm fine."
Ruby took a step back and watched as he pushed on through the woods as the moonlight showed through the dense canopy. He eventually stopped and turned back to see that Ruby was still standing in the clearing.
"Come on!" He barked.
She stamped her foot on the ground and crossed her arms. "I'm tired Jack, please, let's stop."
"So am I, but you don't see me pouting about it. So get over it and just follow me already!" Jackson snapped back. Ruby stumbled backward, the expression of rage, fear, and sorrow was the most frightening face she'd ever seen. "Now just shut up Ruby, and follow me!" he walked deeper into the woods and Ruby there until she heard voices and saw torch lights in the distance. "I heard shouting over here my lord." One of the voices shouted back. "Let's go, they can't be far!" Shouted another man.
Ruby didn't take long to catch up to Jackson. "They're getting closer Jack, what are we going to do?"
"Be quiet, and follow me." He whispered.
They crawled through the dense bush and kept quiet the best they could. "Over here!" A man shouted not far off. "I found tracks!" Jackson quickened his pace and Ruby struggled to keep up. They headed deeper and deeper into the forest and the torches and voices followed no matter how far they went in. They eventually came across a deep ravine. Jackson looked up and down the ravine but found nothing but the endless crevasse.
He threw down a rock and listened for it to hit bottom. However, after a few seconds of waiting and not hearing the crack of a rock hitting the bottom he soon turned to Ruby. "We have to hide, come on," He said as he started to run alongside the ravine. Only the moonlight lit the way and he nearly stumbled several times before he made it to a steep slope. It led down into the ravine and he could hear the sound of rushing water at the bottom. The men hunting them found their way to the edge of the ravine.
Jackson panicked and pulled Ruby down to the ground. Ruby was startled and let out a scream. The men who were now in view, started to hoot and holler as they rushed forward to them. Jackson turned to look down the ravine once again but couldn't muster the courage to slide down into the abyss. He looked for another way to go but the soldiers were now only fifty meters away. There was nowhere to turn to and no one to save them. Ruby started to cry and clung onto Jackson, she was now panicking and unable to control herself.
The fear she felt was the worst she ever had felt in her life. The men found them laying together, Sir Wentworth was the first to approach. "Jackson Scottkey, you're under arrest for treason and the murder of thirteen of his majesty's soldiers. Now lay down your arms and surrender peacefully." Demanded Sir Wentworth.
Jackson didn't say a word, he just threw his sword on the ground and stood up. Wentworth couldn't help but laugh at Jackson. "Look at how the great Scottkey so easily surrenders. Maybe now the order will see you not as a prodigy but a piece of shit not worth the time of day."