"Why dost ya tarry so? What befalls?" The sting of a slap upon my head jolted me from reverie.
"What did you expect, leavin' me stranded with this mess?" I whirled to face Dougal, and gestured towards the untouched carcasses blanketed in autumn's foliage.
"By the Shadows packs," he muttered low, "should we not make haste ere twilight's fall, our fate is sealed. 'Tis prudent we abandon these woods with swift feet."
He rummaged through his knapsack, drawing forth a blade fit for the task, and settled beside me with a nudge of his boot against my shoulder.
"What say ye, to Ale or the crone's brew after?" he mused.
"Hold your tongue and lend a hand!" I snapped back. His incessant prattle grated on me, yet I knew it was his shield against the dread of lurking Shadows. So he prattled on, and I, begrudgingly, bore it.
How I came to such a state, I cannot fathom, but my patience seemed as boundless as the moors. As I mulled over trivialities, Dougal had already set to work, stuffing the spoils into sacks and heaving them onto the cart.
"Fetch ya arse so we be off!" he barked. "I shall linger not in this accursed place a breath more!"
With a weary sigh, I rose, checked the reins, and mounted the cart.
"Aye, gather me, the old rogue, and let us make haste from this place!" I retorted, outpacing him, only to be met with a thwack to my back by a sack of venison. "Seems we'll forgo the ale tonight! Yer antics earn ye no favors!"
"Shadow on ya!" His curse was but a distant echo as I seized the reins, halting his tirade of oat. "Hark, comrade, abandon me not!"
That plea was all it took to stay my hand.
"Aye, ye're a right scoundrel, but such is the way of men." With those words, he vaulted into the cart.
"Ya knowest," he pressed on, and I rued my prior mercy, "ya bearest the mien of those lofty lords ensconced behind ramparts, snout aloft, as though thou art loftier than common folk such as I!"
For once, I found common ground with his words. He was right, not just in part, but wholly. And indeed, I was superior to him in every measure.