Following the road made everything seem a little more 'right'.
It was a literal pathway in a place unknown to both of them - and all roads lead to something, right?
A place to go. A destination!
Much to Rhen's surprise though, it only took them a few minutes to run into other people.
After a bend in the road, she spotted a group of men walking along the road, in the opposite direction.
The group was made up of four uniformed soldiers, all wearing thick, warm gambesons and pot helmets made of steel.
Each soldier wore a longsword by the hip, and a great, grey cloak around the shoulders.
As they appeared, the foremost soldier looked directly to Victor, then to Rhen, raised a hand toward them, and shouted a single command: "Halt!"
Rhen stopped in her tracks, watched her brother do the same, and then looked curiously to the soldiers, who continued towards them.
"You two!" said the one who had shouted the command,
"From where did you come?"
Victor raised a hand in greeting to the man, and spoke: "We are but humble travelers in search of the nearest settlement. I fear we have gotten a little lost in these lands."
Rhen let her gaze wander from soldier to soldier, noticing that the three of them were muttering amongst themselves, casting glances at... her?
"Oh, I believe that." said the leader with a surprisingly hostile grin,
"If you are armed, lay down your weapons. The two of you are coming with us."
Rhen blinked at that, surprised.
"What?" she said, focusing her gaze on the leader,
"We mean no harm, sir. As my brother says, we are-"
"Quiet, wench!" the leader's eyes met hers, and he smirked.
"Orientals should never speak unless they are directly commanded to, or asked a question. Now place your hands behind your heads, and let my men search you."
The word 'orientals' did not escape her, and Rhen frowned somewhat.
What was the meaning of this? Yes, she was oriental in appearance, but surely there was no place in the country where her kind was frowned upon.
They really must be far away from home.
"Rhen. Do as they say. Let us not cause any trouble." said Victor, and raised his own hands, placing them behind his head before addressing the leading soldier again.
"My sister hurt her arm in the woods. She cannot raise it - and surely, you fine men won't force a young woman to do something painful, am I right?"
"Sister, huh?" the soldier glanced at him, then locked his gaze onto her.
"You two don't look alike at all. She's half then, and you got the lucky genes?"
Victor made no comment, and Rhen kept her gaze on the leading soldier, feeling her anger well up within.
What in the hells was wrong with this man?
"Ah, no matter. Search them." said the leader, which made two of the other soldiers move; one went over to Victor, and one to Rhen.
This guy, like the others, was taller than her, and she raised her chin some to meet his gaze.
"Don't look at me, filth." he snarled as he began patting her down.
"At least you aren't ugly." he commented, which naturally made her even more uncomfortable - and quietly angry.
"Unarmed!" he said, glancing to his leader.
"Also unarmed!" said the other soldier, who had been searching Victor.
"Good," replied the leader,
"Shackle them," he said, before adding with a cruel smile: "And beat the girl to within an inch of her life. Let her know what we think of her kind here. You can just drag her back to Korr Dalga."
Already on guard, these words still surprised her - but not enough that she couldn't act in time;
The scum who had searched her smiled, and swung a gloved fist towards her face, which she quickly dodged and paid back with a straight punch to the man's side.
The gambeson protected him somewhat though, and he only let out a small grunt.
"You little..."
As he reached out to try and grab her, Rhen scooted backwards, managing to avoid him - and then, another soldier screamed.
The sound of electricity crackled in the air, and the soldier who had searched Victor fell to his knees, then face-first onto the ground as smoke rose from him.
"Mage!" shouted the leader, drawing his longsword.
"Kill him, quickly!"
Victor moved backwards, away from the slain soldier, and faced the others with both hands held out in front of him.
"Come then." he said, as the rest of the soldiers drew their weapons and ran towards him, Rhen's tormentor included.
This gave her an opportunity, and she bolted towards the fallen soldier, quickly reaching him and kneeling down.
The sound of shouting and cursing reached her, as the three soldiers tried to reach her brother, only to be forced back by a flame flung through the air towards them.
Rhen cursed under her breath, and drew the fallen soldier's longsword, gripping it with her good hand.
It was heavy, but not more than what she usually wielded.
More importantly, she knew that no matter how talented he may be, her brother would not be able to handle three armed soldiers at the same time.
"Hey!" she shouted and rose to her feet,
"Leave him alone!"
What was it with this place anyway? First the wolf-beast, and now humans too?
The only good thing was that this time, she was armed.
And that made all the difference in a fight.
"You two, kill the mage! I'll handle the girl." said the commander, and stepped away from the others, before he turned to face her.
"Come now, wench. I'll spill those guts for you."
"Yeah? Good luck with that." she said, her voice pretty cold.
The soldier grinned, and lurched forward, swinging his sword at her, a downward slash.
She sidestepped and raised her weapon, catching the slash and letting it slide off of her blade.
"You're going to have to do better than that..." she scoffed, angrily, and struck back: a quick, upward slash that he dodged, followed by a step forward while using the sword's upward movement to whip it around and strike at him from the side.
The soldier blocked with his own blade, and muttered under his breath.
He swung again, an angry move as if the thought of her actually challenging him was more than his pride could take.
The result was a reckless attack, which Rhen dodged with ease.
The moment she moved, she also let out a yell, and swung, this time slamming the flat of the sword into the soldier's face.
She heard his nose break, followed by a pained scream as he stumbled backwards, placing a hand on his face.
Blood gushed from the broken nose, and Rhen knew that this small moment would disorient him.
She stepped forward, and swung again, this time slamming the flat of the blade against the side of his head.
The soldier fell then, sprawling onto the ground, sword dropped. Unconscious.
Rhen turned towards the other fight, and found that both remaining opponents had been dropped by her brother.
The two of them were on the ground, not moving as smoke calmly rose from their lifeless bodies.
"Are you okay?" she asked, eyeing Victor as she lowered her looted sword.
"I will be fine," he answered, though he looked somewhat pale.
"Casting so many spells in a row is tiring."
They did not get a chance to say anything else, before a sharp whistle caught their attention.
Rhen turned her gaze towards the sound, raising her blade once more.
Sitting on a large boulder by the side of the road, was a small man.
As in, half Rhen's height. A member of the halfling race, from the looks of it.
His slender body was covered in dark clothes, a leather breastplate with metal rings sewn into it for added protection, and a pair of boiled leather pauldrons.
A metal sallet helm covered his head and face, and a pair of short swords hung in his belt.
"Easy there, warrior!" said the halfling,
"I'm not with the Greycloaks." he gestured to the defeated soldiers, before jumping down from the boulder.
Rhen pointed the blade at him as he landed, and he raised his hands lazily.
"Don't stab the halfer! I'm here to help you, Darkened Ones. Not to fight you."