"Please help! They've got me! Siiiilver!!!" Crispin's voice was cut off as he began another cry for help.
"This is your fault," Silver mumbled to Ethyn as he turned his horse back toward Lakyle.
"Me!? Crispin is the fool who got himself caught!" The young knight followed the other's lead.
They raced off toward where the sound had been and stopped as soon as they spotted a short man being held between two soldiers. His lip was bloody and he was hunched over after spitting red liquid from his mouth.
"Don't scream again or it will be my sword that ends up in your gut instead of my fist in your face. Now where did you get this?" The knight held up Silver's communications in his hand.
The Guardian groaned inwardly as he came upon the scene. Not only was Crispin being held by five...no six men, the spy hadn't even had the decency to hide the paper where the soldiers could not easily find it.
"I don't know what that is. One of your men must have put it on me to keep themselves from getting caught." He raised his voice to a higher pitch. "I want to see my mother and my brother and my little pony named Siiiiilver," he whined like a child.
'Not sure whether to applaud or groan because of his acting,' Silver tried not to think to much about it.
The knight punched Crispin in the gut for his outburst. "You expect me to believe you named your pony after a famous Guardian?"
Silver's eyes flashed. Hopping off his horse, he sent the well trained Daisy into the fray.
"What are you doing?" Ethyn whispered.
"We are taking these men back with us. They are the ones who have been terrorizing the border." Silver said before disappearing into the shadows.
The Guardian had recognized the knight's voice even without seeing his face. This was the ring leader in the taxation scheme plaguing the Birilian border towns. If he could get him to the right authorities in Birle, then perhaps the problem would be solved. Assuming the king did not send a new group to agitate the locals.
'One problem at a time...' Which was funny to him even as he thought it, for he was really killing two birds with one stone. He would stop the plundering and keep these men from reporting to their superiors about Crispin being a spy.
"Of course my horse's name is Silver," Cripsin claimed in the same childish voice. He had even made himself smaller to enhance the effect. If not for his scraggly beard, he would have seemed infantile. "I fell off her and was going to ask for help from you before when I saw you! Then you scared me so bad, I ran away."
"You fell from a tree," the knight punched him again. "Now start telling the truth."
"You must believe me, I--" Cripsin spotted Daisy and his face lit up. "Look! There is Silver! I knew you would come back, old girl!"
Daisy sniffed at being called old, but nudged her way past the knight and to the short, beaten man. Her muzzle moved over Crispin's shoulder as if to pull him into an apologetic equine hug.
"Get out of here, you stupid mare!" the knight slapped the horse on the rear.
From above a short triple warble filled the air. Daisy's nostril's flared as she tensed. Before the knight could react, the strong mare sprung her back legs and slammed them into the knight's armored chest.
The pompous man went flying backwards, his ribs bruising even though he was protected by a sheet of metal.
Daisy bit at the soldier holding Crispin's left arm and simultaneously stomped on the other soldier's foot. Both men were frightened by the animal's attack. Without hesitation, they released their captive.
The horse urged the short spy onto her back and reared back to warn the other soldiers not to approach. The men seemed to heed her, avoiding her powerful hooves.
Crispin took the reins and guided his mount to the knight, who was scrambling to stand. "Give me!" He ripped the papers from the armored man's grasp and tucked them away. "Better luck next time, idiots!"
Steering Daisy westward, Crispin and his mount dashed off before the stunned soldiers were able to regroup.
"After him," the knight ordered when his anger overcame his shock.
"I want that horse back! You don't get to keep her!" A voice called from above the soldiers of Lakyle.
The men on the ground froze and looked up to spot a fearsome figure in a black cloak towering above them in a tree. In his hand was a menacing bow nocked with a feathered arrow.
"Oh," he said casually, "if it isn't obvious, don't move. I don't want to accidentally kill you. My aim is excellent normally, but the distance between maiming and death is very small. Now all of you toss your weapons to the side."
The soldiers threw down their weapons' belts and kicked them aside. The clanging lasted a moment before things settled back into a tense standoff.
"You're Silver!" the knight cried angrily.
"You remembered me! I'm touched. I don't remember yours, I'm afraid." The Guardian sounded aggrieved.
"Shame, shame. You should know your adversaries! Introduce yourself, please," Ethyn appeared on Courage's back with his sword drawn. He aimed it at the seething knight's neck.
"I am Sir Kent. And you are trespassing here in Lakyle. We are servants of His Majesty King Willric. Surrender now and I will see you have a trial." The armored man announced through gritted teeth.
"I noticed you didn't say it would be a fair trial, but even if it were I would have to decline. I haven't even done anything wrong here except let my friend go free." Silver shrugged. In his head, he was counting the seconds to mark the time. 'Just a little longer...'
"You have released a spy!" Kent scowled. He brought up his fist in the air but quickly lowered it as the other knight's blade touched his throat.
The Guardian cocked his head to one side, resembling a large owl. "What proof do you have?"
"He had papers on him of a sensitive nature." The soldiers nodded at Kent's words.
"Oh? Where are the papers? Show them to my friend here." Silver moved his arrow slightly to indicate Ethyn.
Sir Kent's face reddened. "The wretch stole them!"
"You mean the man you captured took back his own papers before leaving? The nerve of some people!" Silver's sarcasm was not lost on the man in armor. He balled his fists.
"Come down and fight me like a man. I don't believe in Guardians or Fates. I bet you bleed just like any normal man." Kent tried to bait the archer.
Silver chuckled softly. "Indeed I bleed, but my time here is finished. My ride is almost here. Have a good day, gentlemen!" With one long, loud whistle, Silver called his brilliant mare one final time.
Without Crispin on her back, the horse returned riderless to receive the awaiting Guardian. Silver leapt from his perch onto Daisy's back and shot away from the bewildered soldiers. Ethyn was not far behind.
"Where's Crispin?" Ethyn called to the Guardian.
"Daisy dumped him somewhere safe. Hopefully he got off willingly, but I doubt it." Silver noticed the nail marks across the front of his saddle where Crispin had likely tried to stay on.
"I don't understand, I thought you wanted to capture the men. Why are we running away?" Ethyn reined in Courage, who was threatening to fly away with speed.
"Work smarter, my friend. Don't work harder. I didn't want to have to transport them, so I'm letting them transport themselves." Silver's eyes flashed with mischief.
"What do you mean? How can they...."
Behind them, hooves of the Lykilian horses thundered against the ground. At the lead, Sir Kent was pushing them onward.