The two people who were watching them in front of the log cabin straightened up immediately when they heard Suspicious's voice.
Their hands are naturally placed on the handle of their weapons and Dust, watching them, wonders if they know how to throw their axes to hit a moving target.
Little by little, like mice sticking their muzzles out of their hole to make sure no cat is waiting for them Purple-belly, Pony, and even Two in the other house point their head out.
Suspicious shows them the two men downstairs. What's quite comical is that the red-haired man speaks in a loud voice that carries far away while the others in the group answer him almost in a whisper.
The boy understands them well. He almost wants to ask his companion of misfortune to lower his voice for fear of attracting back the barbarians who have left. But it's already hard enough to understand what is said between several cabins so let's not add another difficulty.
They decide together to go down. Under the recommendations of Suspicious some quickly pack up what they have found in their shelters and then they all stand in front of the edge of their respective terraces. The big question arises: who goes down first? For Dust and Suspicious there is no dialogue.
The older of the two places himself in front of the rope ladder rolled up on the platform under the grateful eyes of the younger.
He's happy that Suspicious is the brave type because Dust is sure he's not that courageous to go first. For others, the choice seems more difficult. Pony butts heads with Potatoes over who jumps to reach the nearby terrace, empty of any occupants.
From the broken voices reaching him the large man is not inclined to let the girl put herself in danger. This opinion is joined by Old man and Purple belly. But Pony does not budge. For her Potatoes is too massive to start such a wide leap. Dust watches them, arms folded across his chest in a futile attempt to keep out the cold. He admits that he wouldn't want to be in their shoes; it takes a leap of more or less 3 meters to go from one promontory to another.
Purple-belly presses his two lips which turn purple before offering a vote. The girl in the ponytail decides to act before even one person raise their hand to vote. She starts a mini-sprint passing in front of Charismatic who seems to be lost in what line of conduct she has to adopt and jumps. She lands awkwardly just inches away from the edge and then stabilizes under all eyes.
She was quick to pull out her dagger and wrap the ladder up in rope before those watching them could think of climbing. She cuts the ties that unite the ladder to the terrace as the rain beats against her broad shoulders.
When the whole thing is detached she stuffs the ladder into her own leather bag. Pony regains momentum and jumps again to return to the terrace where all the others are waiting for her. Old man in particular gives her a disapproving look at her temerity.
Her foot touches the slippery wooden planks in the rain and the girl nearly sprawls.
3 or 4 pairs of hands reach out and hold her. The new ladder thus acquired is put in the place of the one that was cut by Charismatic.
Two ends of ropes half torn under the frenetic movements of the fallen barbarian are still tied to the rusty iron rings that pierce the wood.
And it is with its two ends that the new ladder is linked by means of knots. Old pieces of fabric are used to reinforce everything. A moment of silence later and a comment later "If it doesn't break under my weight it won't break for anyone else."
Potatoes goes to the front to go down and the others form a line behind him. When at Princess's group there is a kind of consensus that takes place.
A consensus taken without the agreement of Two if we judge his forced appearance. In the end, it is he who is in front of the ladder to go down first.
Once everyone is in place, the austere voice of the old man resounds in a dry order.
-Come down!
Under the eyes of Dust Suspicious unfolds the ladder and throws it over the terrace. A second later he comes down. He goes so fast it feels like he is sliding down along the ropes more than anything. Squeezed by an adrenaline boost Dust follows him closely and no longer pays any attention to the others. All he knows is that the two barbarians have decided that between them all those who they had to attack it is Suspicious and him who are the best target.
Until now these men had kept their distance while watching them from afar but as soon as the group started to prepare on their terraces they had slowly approached. When his red haired companion started to descend they began to run, weapon in hand.
Dust's companion is already beginning the run of his life towards the forest.
Suspicious wasn't lying at all when he said he wouldn't protect his back...
The two assailants are only two meters away from the ladder, the whole thing only took a few seconds.
The boy, out of pure panic, decides to let go of the rope to go faster when he is only 2 meters above the ground. The mud splashes on him and his eyes close by reflex. His feet take all the impact and his knees bend.
in fear of a blow he begins to blindly roll.The boy pull himself together just in time, opening both of his eyes as wide as he can as he suck a jerky gulp of air.
A drop of icy water hits his pupil which reflects the gray sky and everything is suddenly blurred.
But it's not blurry enough to miss the ax slicing through the air to split his skull.
He still rolls around like a dog covering his fur with mud.
He tries to get up as his arms shake with emotion.
He nearly sprawls because of the slippery ground and the boy feels like he's just a step away from death.
Strangely, he understands what his two attackers are saying, even though he's sure they don't speak the same language as him. something between; "hit, quick" "Another head" comes to his ear in his panic.
Dust gets up in a second but that second is one of the longest of his life.
He feels his heart beating in his eardrums. He is running
. He runs in a zigzag.
Maybe he is influenced by the attack style of the monster in the mine but he thinks that any moment he will get an ax thrown right in the middle of his shoulder blades. He doesn't look either where are the others. Their previous teamwork seems to be an illusion, the group disperses.
Without the tunnels of the mine which constrains them to remain grouped, without the narrow space of a cabin all aspire to disappear in the vegetation and it doesn't matter what happens to others.
Because they have the choice. It's morbid because with a little hindsight they only have two enemies when they are 11. But all of them are afraid of seeing reinforcements arrive and of being beheaded. Dust runs in the direction Suspicious went and that's all he knows.
He runs with each long stride sinking into the earth. He is a good runner.
The fear and the open terrain allow him to create sufficient distance to lose his pursuers in the forest. But he finds himself alone.