The Winter kingdom

Version 2.0

Lyanna is quick to react, and even though she is still on the ground, she stabs at the bandit boss. The bandit boss, reacted quickly, rolling out of the way. While they are fighting, Edric quickly stands up, helping Lyanna, to her feet. Together, they attack, and in the quick scuffle, Lyanna manages to cut the arm of the bandit boss.

"You bitch," he says, retreating away from them, moving towards his group of bandits who are getting closer to them. With him retreating far enough away, it gives them the chance to disengage from him and run up the street.

"Don't just stand there, you mugs, after them, I want them dead," he shouts.

As they run up the street, they can hear the running of feet quickly followed by arrows swishing over their heads.

"Can't you aim, ye dick?" they hear from behind, followed by the sound of Lyanna grunting as an arrow cuts into her upper arm.

"How's that for aiming, ye dick?" one of the bandits responds.

While they sprint further up the street, a barrage of arrows rains down on them, with one grazing Edric's leg, though he barely notices it with adrenaline pumping through his veins. Anticipating more danger, they turn down a narrow side street, escaping the relentless onslaught of arrows. As they navigate the labyrinthine streets, it becomes evident that they are heading towards the river.

The houses along this street are elevated on rock stilts, leaving just enough space underneath for a person to squeeze through. The area beneath the houses serves as storage, with piles of nets, spare net floats, and additional wood. Spotting an opportunity, they waste no time and swiftly dive under one of the houses. Fortunately, the snow from the previous night is still fresh and loose, allowing them to conceal their footprints quickly blending it back into the normal snow-covered landscape.

Beneath the house, they huddle closely behind stacks of wood, holding their breath as the bandits' feet rush onto the path.

"Fuck's sake, man," one of them pants out.

"Into the houses, they must have gone into them," another suggests.

As the bandits rush off into houses and farther down the street, they take a slight breather for themselves. Edric glances over at Lyanna, focusing on her arm, which is bleeding quite badly.

"Your arm needs to be covered; otherwise, you're going to bleed out," he whispers.

She looks down, but before she can respond, Edric carefully removes his bag, reaching into it to pull out spare woollen sheets. Swiftly, he wraps it around her arm, tightening it to staunch the flow of blood.

"That's all we can do for now," he says before putting his backpack back on and peering out onto the path, where the bandits are still moving about.

"Thanks," Lyanna whispers back before looking down and noticing the cut on his leg. "Stay still," she says while doing the same for him as he did for her. He smiles and thanks her.

Remaining huddled beneath the house, they patiently wait for the bandits to pass or for an opportunity to present itself.

/

At the campfire, where they are telling this story, their wounds are treated and cleaned through that is not what Jon and Brandon are focused on as instead, they are looking at each other wiggling their eyebrows and tiling their heads at Edric, smirking.

"What are you two smirking about?" Edric asks.

"Oh, nothing my dear Edric, nothing at all," Jon says taking the bowls of empty food away from Edric and Lyanna.

"You were under the house?" Jocelyn asks as she tugs on her sister's sleeve.

"Right," Lyanna says picking back up the story.

/

Under the house, they patiently plan their next move.

"I think our best bet is the river; there should be fewer bandits that way," Lyanna whispers.

"Let's do it then," he says, observing that the bandits are slowly moving further down the street. "Come on; this is our best chance before they decide to come back."

They quickly crawl out from under the house pushing past the wood stacks and choose another street, away from the charging bandits, towards the river.

While running down the street, they hear something. "Pst, over here, loves." They turn towards one of the houses and see a familiar face poking out from one of the windows. Alda, the kind older woman who directed them to the market before.

They make it to her house. "Are ye alright, dears?" she says, checking them over.

Lyanna grabs Alda's arm, "You shouldn't have done that, Alda; we could have been bandits."

"Oh, don't ye worry about me; I can see te bandit ways off, my bodies old but mi eyes work just fine," she says, smiling at them offering them some water to drink.

"Come on, we need to get out of here,"

"And leave mi family, I think nout. You two rest up here and take this water, then get out of here."

"Older people and sacrificing themselves," Lyanna whispers to herself. "If you change your mind, you're best heading towards the river; there should be fewer bandits that way."

"Oh, if yer heading that way from here, then next to the river, there are a couple of old blubbery bushes tat cover a slab of wood leads you right through the wall. Used to love going out tat way when I was a wee littlen," she pushed the cups back to them. "Now drink up and get out of here."

As they are out the door, they exchange a final grateful glance with Alda, who just looks out onto the street. Offering their thanks, they swiftly move down the street toward the river, fortunately encountering only a sparse presence of previous bandits. Reaching the river, they head for the palisade, their eyes searching for the sign of the old blueberry bushes.

In no time, they locate the bushes, diving into the foliage to discover a slightly askew wooden plank. Moving it aside, they slip through the opening, making sure to cover their tracks in case Alda sends others in the same direction.

Emerging from the village, they are greeted by the undulating hills of the lonely landscape. Briefly navigating along the river, they proceed northward, following the river stream.

Before long they can see, a group of villagers, men, women, and children who seem to have recently escaped, down by the river in an alcove where they quickly hid themselves.

Deciding not to disturb them, they attempt to continue their journey, but before they can, they hear footsteps behind them. Turning around, they see another group of villagers emerging from the same hatch they used, led by Alda and accompanied by individuals bearing a striking resemblance to her.

They all rush through the opening with the last person turning around and wedging the wooden plank at an odd angle into the palisade, ensuring it gets stuck. They quickly distance themselves from the palisade as they can hear curses and shouts echoing behind them. That does not deter them as they soon start hacking at the palisade wall.

It doesn't take the group long to catch up with them as they make their way up the river.

"Well, fancy seeing you out here," Alda says, smiling.

Lyanna folded her arms, "What happened to not leaving the village?"

"I said leaving my family, not the village, dear," Alda taps her shoulder. "We were chased by bandits, so we best leave."

Edric halts them.

"Down there in the alcove are some other villagers. Join them; you should stay hidden from those bandits there. We can lead the bandits away. You helped us, so we help you," he says with a smile, as a piece of the wooden palisade flies off.

Alda appears momentarily stunned before smiling back at him and shaking her head. "' older people and sacrificing themselves.' My ass, don't die out there, laddie; you seem like a good one."

"Thanks, Alda. Now, get out of here,"

As Alda and her family head toward the alcove, the group waits for a moment before noticing that the bandits have breached the palisade and spotted them. Without hesitation, they sprint away from the bandits, steering clear of the river's direction.