The Lonely Pass.

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade:

Dusk had set in and the night would soon take its rightful place in the sky. It was a dark land even when the sun shown though. Few dared travel the lonely pass, and even fewer still once night fell. Those that did more oft than not had a way of dissapearing without a trace.

Nightblade knew well the dangers that lay upon this path, for he was the cause of them... Mostly... But she shrugged the unexplained as workings of fearful, ale coated tongues, and would continue to do so until he saw diferent.

Ten months ago he took claim of this path, extorting coin from any foolish enough to drive it in the dead of night. Him and his hand full of men...

A night ago one of his men had dissapeared and had yet to return. Nightblade sloughed it off as a deserter, but his men claimed diferent. Nightblade could only laugh at their ghost story of how the man had been lured off by a compeling orb of light... A will o' whisp... Joking that they should keep an eye on their drinking. Restating the fool must have deserted. Loyalty was the realm of noble men, those with the luxury to abide by a far too restricting code.

So the ones that had seen the deserter go off were on edge this night as they all hid in wait for a wagon, full and round with goods and coin. "Listen men, we are the ghosts of this pass... If any of you think otherwise than ye be fools! Now keep your eyes forward and sharp! Word has it that there will be a wagon along some time tonight..."

 

[Mistress]

Neci (Nee-C)

OOC: 5'5 Long dark brown hair, slightly curly. Pale skin, bright blue eyes. 19 years old, married to a man much older then her, who she would rather not be married to.
(Hope you dont mind me jumping in, I've been craving a new story to be in hehe )


IC:


Neci rubbed her blurry eyes as the wagon rocked along the uneven dirt road. Her husband, Galt, insisted on driving through the night. She sighed inwardly, reminding herself that as his wife, she had to obey. A twinge of pain flooded her heart as she thought about it. She had been forced to marry Galt Fellowes, when she was seventeen years old. Her father looking out for her financial future instead of her happiness.

Galt was, well, he was a gentleman. Well known by the community, and ran his own lumber business. He had been married twice before Neci, the first wife died in childbirth, the second of influenza. He had no children with either, or Neci at that matter. She knew he was annoyed that even having a young wife, he still had no children.

Neci though, in her mind, was glad of that. She did not love Galt, she never had. A child by him would be one of the saddess things to happen, she felt a child should come from two loving parents who loved each other. Not from two parents who did not love each other, she sighed again.

"Getting tired?" Galt's rough voice asked from next to her.

Neci nodded silently, she slightly jumped when she felt his hand on her leg. "Yes, I'm getting tired.” she said softly, afraid he would pull over and rest for the night. She knew if he did, he would try to bed her, and he had been drinking. He was rough when ever he'd drink, once he had even made her bleed, from hurting her.

She knew he bedded her so much because he wanted a son. Someone who could take over his lumber business, and strive. Neci, would make up as many excuses as she could to avoid him touching her. She did not enjoy their intimate times together, though she played as if she did.

Two years, two years she had been Mrs. Galt Fellowes. She sighed loudly this time, then glanced at Galt to see if he had heard her. His dark eyes shifted towards her and he stopped the wagon, placing his hand on her leg again. Neci instantly froze up, not meaning to, she coughed and said she did not feel to well.

At the mention of this Galt's eyes lit up, she knew what he was thinking. He was hoping she was with child, though she knew she wasn't. He stood and offered to help her into the back of the wagon so she could lie down and rest. Neci nodded and climbed into the back then covered herself up with a blanket. It wasn’t long until the wagon started to wobble down the road again. Neci said a silent prayer of thanks that Galt would not be touching her tonight, then closing her eyes she drifted to sleep.

[Edited by Mistress on 03-11-2001 at 08:26 PM]

 

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade:

As Nightblade had predicted, a good portion of his men were preocupied with there foolish superstitions and simply did not hear the wagon rumbling down the pass until it came into view. Thankfully his men were intelligent enough to have held their positions, in hiding.

As the carriage came into the circle of Nightblade's intended ambush, he stepped out onto the path, holding up a scimitar, catching a glint of light from the torch one of his men had just lit.

"Halt!" Nightblade barked as he leveled his blade toward the carriage driver. The man stopped the carriage abruptly, startled by the sharp command. The driver was of middle years and from the looks of it, drunk as well. "You will unload any and all things of value that you be carrying, or you will die." Nightblade stated simply, flatly, but with force and command.

His man with the torch shifted it about so that its light glinted off several arrow heads as they were leveled to bare in the tree lines. Nightblade stood, watching the carriage driver sharply, knowing his men had their sights on him. He would be a pin cushin in mear moments if he did not relent. Nightblade thought with a wicked turn of his lips.

 

[Angelus]

Stefan:

As I watched Nightblade I listened to every sound that was coming from the forest and wondered if there was any truth to the rumors of some strange, evil force taking people to their deaths. My hand gripped the hilt of my sword so hard that my knuckles went white. I then heard one of the group say something and turned to him, telling him to keep quiet and look out for guards.

I then looked at the carriage and saw that Nightblade had everything under control as there wasn't anything in the carriage that would cause Nightblade's death. He was one of the best around and the person that had been driving the carriage knew that if he tried anything stupid he would surely be dead.

 

[Morgoth]

Alex's horse suddenly cleared the bend, and he started at the sight of blade. "What the...?" he asked himself, then pulled free his blade and shield. He didn't know who was in the wagon. He didn't know who these robbers were. But he did know that something definitely not good was going on. His training as a knight would force him to fight if they decided to attack, kill or rob someone.

 

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade:

Nightblade's eyes locked onto the knight, with s disgusted hiss, he lunged forward, piercing the wagon drivers heart, the poor drunk sod was dead before he knew what hit him. Nightblade bellowed for the archers to target the nucence that had just presented itself. A volly of arrows rained down on the fool knight, giving Nightblade the time to sneek to his rear.

 

[Morgoth]

Alex opened his eyes wide in surprise at the arrow that was sticking out of his shoulder and put up his shield to block the other ones. He pulled the arrow out and saw Nightblade sneaking up on him. He charged at him, twirling his sword a few times. He put away the pain from the wound and lifted the blade for a dreadful bout.

 

[Angelus]

Stefan watched the knight as he rode towards Nightblade and grabbed his bow and arrow. He pulled back the bowstring and lined it up then let it go, the arrow flying through the air and hitting the horse in the side which caused it to rise up and sent the rider flying onto the ground with a thud. Stefan dropped his bow and pulled his sword out of his sheath, racing down the hill towards the carriage as he knew that Nightblade would have no problems with the rider.

 

[Mistress]

Neci

She woke with a sudden jolt of the wagon, and had to scramble out of the way of the cherry wood dresser. It came crashing down with a loud thud. Her eyes widen, she hoped Galt would not think it was her fault that it had fallen. Voices soon made their way to her sleepy ears and she realized that the wagon had been stopped.

Sitting, as silently as her pounding heart would allow her, she stared into the darkness of the wagon. A cry of surprise escaped Galt, and then she heard the sound of something heavy thump onto the ground. "Oh dear Lord,” she breathed then covered her mouth, afraid she had spoken too loud. Slowly she crawled up to the folds of the wagon to peek out.

Gently, she pulled the cloth back, careful to not bring attention to herself. Her eyes scanned the dark forms in front of the wagon; she could not make out whom they were. The glow from the small lantern that was kept on the bench of the wagon however let her see the crumpled body of her husband upon the ground. Without thinking, a scream forced its way out of her throat.

 

[Angelus]

Stefan turned at the scream and looked towards the wagon. He drew his sword and ran down towards the wagon to see who else was in there. As soon as he got to where the wagon was he heard the sounds that were coming from inside and walked slowly to the back, opened it up and the first thing he saw was the face of the woman as she turned to look at him. He brought his sword up and said, "Get out of there now."

When he saw the woman move further into the wagon to get away from him Stefan let out a breath, slid his sword into its sheath and got into the back of the wagon. He moved towards her and reached forward to grab her but before he could she lashed out with her foot, catching him in the chest. He took a step back and when he did she turned and was about to dive out the front of the wagon but Stefan grabbed her and said, "That would not be a wise thing to do because if you go out that way you will surely be killed."

 

[Mistress]

Neci

She froze at his words, and then allowed him to pull her out of the wagon. Trembling with fear she could barely walk on her shaking legs, as he pulled her over to the side of the dirt road. Sobbing, she could not bear to look around, she knew she would die.

And Galt, he was dead! The image of him burned in her mind. She did not love him, but he was all she had, and now, he was gone. The man held roughly to her arm as he drug her over near a tree. Then pushing her down he kept watch of her, making sure she did not run off again.

Finally, with shaking hands she tugged on the man's dirty pants. Once getting his attention she looked up at him with big blue eyes filled with fear, “Are you going to kill me? I...I don’t want to die."


[Edited by Mistress on 03-12-2001 at 08:51 PM]

 

[Angelus]

Stefan looked down at the woman and noticed the look of fear in her eyes. He knew how much she was scared of dying as she had seen that her husband or whoever he was to her was dead.
"I am not going to kill you but I can't say that for the rest of them as I do not have any say in the matter as Nightblade would have the last say about that but all I can say is that if you don't do anything really stupid then you will not be killed."

He then grabbed the rope that he always carried with him and knelt before the woman. He grabbed her arms and wrapped the rope around them in a way that she couldn't get out of them even if she tried.

"I'm sorry to do this but if I let you go then I will be killed and I personally like my life."

 

[Mistress]

Neci

Neci closed her eyes as he tightened the rope around her. Over and over she repeated in her head what he said, he himself would not kill her. For now she was safe, well, not dead. She looked up at him and nodded as he spoke to her. "Thank you, for not killing me yet." Her voice was almost a whisper.

Her vibrant eyes stared deep into his, and they reflected her fear. Quickly she turned her eyes away from him, not wanting to see him, thinking that eventually, she would be dead. She took in a long ragged breath and scanned the darkness around them.

"He was my husband." She said softly, looking up at the man. The man looked as if he was deep in thought, not wanting to disturb him she looked back down at the ground. The ropes dug into her soft fragile skin, cause whelps and some bleeding. She shifted her weight to try to make it less painful.

 

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade:

Standing between the knight and the bounty that was the wagon, Nightblade hissed. "This is not your concern... Leave... And you will live..." With a flick of Nightblade's hand, his men were already retrained on the knight. "Stay and I assure you, before too long you will be nothing more than a pin cushin..." He growled as he held his scimitar at the ready. his free hand in the air, ready to give the command for his men to unleash their next volly. "Knights... Disgustingly noble..." Nightblade thought bitterly to himself.

 

[Angelus]

Stefan looked down at the woman and saw that there was blood coming from her arms. He shook his head and knelt down, "If you do not stop doing that then you will injure yourself."

He wanted to loosen the ropes but he knew that if he did the woman would try to run off and the next thing that would is that she would be cut down before she got far enough away. He looked over at Nightblade and the knight and saw that he had everything under control and then looked back at the woman and saw that she was so scared that she would not try to get away.

He pulled a waterskin off his belt and ran some water over where the rope had rubbed away some of the woman's skin. He smiled at the look on her face and then put the waterskin away as he didn't want to seem too good to the woman or she would think that he would let her go and he knew that if he did that then he would be as dead as her if she tried to escape.

 

[Ravenloft]

OOC: Morgoth... Mistress... You two are up... Please don't let this thread die...

 

[Mistress]

Neci

OOC: Dont worry Sweet Cakes! Just gotta type with one hand since I hurt my wrist.


IC:

Nodding thanks to the man, she wondered why he was being nice, well not nice but a tad bit gentle. She knew that if any of the others, had seen what he had just done with the water; he would more then likely be in trouble. Sighing out loud out of habit whenever she thought, she quickly glanced up at him to see if he had heard her.

The man was intently watching his group; apparently he had not heard her sigh. Blinking blurry eyes she yawned, then realizing that she had just yawned in a crisis she cursed herself under her breath. Her wrists still raw but not as painful now, she was able to get in a comfortable position. She shivered from the cool air of the night, glancing back up at the man, she spoke softly,

"Excuse me, Mr.. Well I don’t know your name, but I guess it is best that I don't. I’m a bit chilled, would it be possible to get a blanket out of the back of the wagon for me? I may be captive right now, but I don't want to catch a cold." Her eyes widen after she heard herself speak those words, she bit down on her tongue.

"Your going to get yourself killed, if you don't learn to think before speaking!"She cursed herself again, blushing she looked down at where the wagon was. Trying to see what was going on...

 

[Angelus]

"I can't get you a blanket I'm sorry to say but if I go with you while you get one then I suppose that is possible."

Stefan grabbed the woman by the arm and pulled her up to her feet, watching her as she walked to the back of her wagon and got into it to find a blanket. As soon as she had one he led her back to the tree as she put the blanket over herself.

As soon as he was sure that she wouldn't try anything to get away Stefan stood there and wondered just what the hell was wrong with him as he was part of Nightblade's group and he was being too nice to this woman. He also knew that he couldn't treat her too badly as she was a woman and if he did then Nightblade would kill him.

He looked down at her, "Are you comfortable now or is there anything else that you would like me to get for you or do for you?"

 

[Roland Gilliad]

ooc; OK Ravenloft mah Man, Does the Offer to play the "Thing" In the forest still stand??? *Grin*
Tell me soon enough, Gotta go right now.

Peace.

 

[Ravenloft]

OOC: Go for it Roland. Morgoth... Your taking too long... I want this thread to live man! Live! Ghahaha! So...

Nightblade:

As Alex, the knight was distracted by the bowmen, Nightblade shot forward, crowning the poor fool with the hilt of his scimitar, he fell unconcious. With a dissapointed scoff Nightblade saw to ordering his men work quickly and gather all of value from the wagon and return to their hidden camp in the woods. In short order they were done and on the move back to camp. Nightblade had Stefan drag the woman along. "Your parents, girl, tell me of them?" He commanded coldly of Neci as he walked along side Stefan.

 

[Morgoth]

OOC: That's good. Okay, I'll wait. But do make it quick.

IC: Alex woke up after a while, and began to creep after Nightblade and his men.

 

[Angelus]

Stefan looked at Nightblade and said, "Ummm, sir. I don't mean to be saying anything to tell you otherwise but shouldn't you wait to ask her all this in the camp or otherwise she will start crying and slow us down and I do not wish to stay in these woods, especially with that dark thing out there."

 

[Ravenloft]

Nightblade:

Giving Stefan a sharp look before turning his eyes toward camp. He was right, the sooner they returned to camp the better. But as he continued on Nightblade fixed him with another cold stare. "Listen, and listen well... We are the ghosts of this forest... There is nothing out there to be concerned about! Do you understand? If I hear you mention such noncense again I will see that YOUR bounty be split between the rest of the men."

 

[Morgoth]

Alex followed them silently. He made sure there was no noise. He led his horse as well, and kept it deathly quiet.

 

[Angelus]

"Yes sir... I didn't mean anything like that. It is just that I have, well all of us have heard a lot of things about these woods and although I am not the superstitious type and hardly ever listen to things like that I have to admit that there is something weird with these woods and a lot of people have gone missing in here."