Hunted (Open join anyone)

[Barrick]

A matte of black, blood encrusted hair clung to the nape of his neck. His clothes in tatters barely clinging to his body, arching his back as the whip cracked down repeatedly, drawing a dark, red blood. The man let out a whimper as the whip flayed his back; ripping skin. Lifting his head, his black hair was plastered to his face, he faced his torturer, it was unrecognizable a blend of blue and purple bruises.
The only symbol of who he was was the golden ring around his middle finger. Engraved on this was a family shield with his family symbol the sign of Kroner or simply the Hunted. A sudden calm came over the prisoner; his eyes lost their colour the wolf on his
ring flaring white in the darkness.

The whip stopped and the prisoner fell to the floor, a mix of shredded flesh and muscle that now resembled his back. The torturer stepped out of the shadows; he was a big man, a good foot taller than the prisoner was. A vivid pink scar decorated his face running from his eye to his mouth, making him look more formidable than he already was. A black animal skin covered his body and his graying hair ran wildly down his back, ending at the empty scabbard that hung at his waist. From what the prisoner could tell he was from the edges of Dunland, one of the men that was still wild.

“Come Barrick, you do not deserve this. Just tell me where your men are hidden and I’ll let you walk free”
Barrick sat himself up, pain shooting up his back as if 100 spikes had been thrust into him at once. With the last of his energy, he pulled himself to his feet, filling his mouth with his own blood he stepped forward and spat the glob into his torturers face.
"You will get nothing out of me, my men will be long gone from this area you bastard."
Barrick knew that his men would be close by watching the area, but they were outnumbered at least 20 to 1 and would not risk trying to get him out of this camp.

Wiping the blood from his face, the man tightened his fist and punched Barrick in the face. A sickening crack echoed round the prison cell as Barrick struck the stone floor, unmoving. Another bruise added to the collection on his face.

Standing back up, the torturer wiped the blood from his hand. Grunting before he left the cell, he did not notice the small metal pin that had fallen from his scabbard. There it lay beside the unconscious Barrick.

Stars burst into Barricks’s eyes as the fist came out of nowhere; before he even hit the cold, stone floor, he was unconscious. Awaking to a pain in his finger, he unconsciously pulling whatever it was out, in his hands he held a small metal pin. With a nerve raking pain that lanced up his back, he pulled himself to his feet.

He faintly remembered the battle that had taken place a few days ago. Him and his men had been hired by a group of Rohirrim to aid in clearing this area of these wild-men. Unfortunate they had double the number of men and the battle had turned into a blood bath.
Barrick was knocked off his horse, his men had seen this and made a last attempt to gain the upper hand in the battle. At this point a fierce battle broke out between Barrick's group of men and the wilwild-menut unknown to them the Rohirrim had retreated. The last order Barrick had given was for his men to retreat, as he watched his men ride into the forest he was knocked out and awoke in the cell. He had been tortured for days as the wild-men wanted to hunt down the rest of Barrick's men for what they had done.

Barrick emptied his mind of both thought and pain. Finding the flame, he concentrated making it stronger and brighter. Calm settled over him, putting the pain to the back of his
mind Barrick let a long breath out and walked to wards the door. Putting his ear to the lock, he slowly worked the pin inside listening for the clicks as they thudded into place. The satisfying sound of the lock snapping open lead to the rusty door swinging open, rusty hinges making a nail biting sound that could of raised the dead. Still with an inhuman calm flowing through his veins Barrick ventured down the dark corridor.

A pale light emitted from his ring, his white eyes hovering in the dark. Barrick reached for something to guide him, his hand met the slimy surface of a wall, hearing voices in the distance he pushed his back up against the wall, the coolness soothing his aching back. The voices came closer; the smell of their breath smelt of ale the voices sounded an inch away from where Barrick stood, back pressed
against the weed-covered wall.

Barrick moved, his fluid motions leaving faint white lines hovering in the dark. Down onto his knees he kicked the guard’s legs from under him. Pulling the blade from the guards scabbard, he sliced his neck. Never staying still Barrick leapt about, his limbs cutting a continuous
pattern in the air with perfect unison.
Barrick whispered to the guard “Come catch me you repugnant bastard”
His voice came from the darkness everywhere and yet nowhere. Drawing his sword the guard started turning in circles looking for the source of the voice as Barrick continued to taunt him.

Spinning around again, the guard stopped. In front of him were, pulsating white eyes. Letting out a whimper the guard dropped his sword and fell to his knees, a blade was hilt deep in his stomach before he even saw where it had come from. Pulling the blade out of the guard he unbuckled his scabbard and tied it round his waist. Bending down Barrick grabbed the guards feet dragging his lifeless body into and empty cell.
Barrick proceeded to undress the guard. Pulling his breastplate, cloak and trousers off and laying them next to his feet. Slowly Barrick pulled the remainder of his clothes over his bleeding back and put on the guards clothes careful not to make any noise.

Finally he lifted the hood over his head and left the prison heading for the tree line. Darkness was everywhere, Barrick was feeling tired, hungry and thirsty. The wounds began to weep as he pushed his way through the foliage. Out of nowhere arms wrapped around his chest, his legs gave way. He had no more energy left to defend himself, now he would be dragged back to the prison where he would surely die.

"Well you took your time didn't you Barrick" A gruff familiar voice laughed in his ear.
Letting out a sigh of relief Barrick let himself be carried to a small clearing where a makeshift camp had been set up. These weren't the wildmen that had him, they were his men, tho there were few of them left and many were wounded. Barrick was laid down by the fire as he fell to sleep he felt someone cleaning and stitching his wounds.

[Rhedri]

Rhedri pulled the blade from his opponents chest and spun around to deal a swift blow to another oncoming Dunlander, making quick work of him. He reached up his sword arm, tho it bore no shield now as it had been hacked to pieces by a mad Dunlander. Wiping the sweat from his eyes he adjusted his helmet.
In the middle of the battlefield he saw Barrick fall from his horse organising the three men that were close to him they formed a square and began to hack their way to wards where they had seen Barrick fall.

Two men down Rhedri knew it was useless as they were heavily outnumbered. He heard Barrick order them to retreat, although he didn't want to he knew Barrick was right. After a few more minutes Rhedri managed to fight his way clear of the Dunlanders and retreated into the bush with what was left of the company.

As night came the survivors had met back at the previously set up camp and Rhedri set to stitching and bandaging wounds. The men grew restless, the men that had been sent to look for Barrick said his body wasn't at the battlefield. Which meant that he had been taken prisoner. "He'll find a way out until then set up a perimeter around the forest edge and report to me any sightings." Rhedri said, tho he wasn't in command of them they respected him for he had been in the mercenaries when Barrick had been exiled.

As Rhedri finished dealing with the last of the wounded soldiers no sightings of Barrick had been seen, which worried him a little. Late in the night the bushes parted and Rhedri breathed a sigh of relief as Barrick was carried in and layed down by a fire. Rhedri walked to his side ordering the nearest man to collect some water. Barrick fell unconscious , Rhedri slowly undressed him, cleaning wounds and dealing with the bigger ones first, reducing the blood loss. After bandaging him he covered him in a wolf-skin rug, first forcing him to drink some water.

Rhedri saw his eyes flutter for a moment. "Good to have you back Barrick" he said with a smile, not sure of Barrick had heard him or not.

[Barrick]

Barrick woke up near sunrise, he noticed his wounds were bandaged, although sore and some weeping he was able to move. The fire that he had slept by was nearly dead. Lifting some pieces of wood he added them to the fire before making his way to his tent that he had set up the previous day. Upon entering he let the wolf skin drop to the floor and made his way to his bag.
Barrick lifted out some clothes and began to put them on, grimacing as he felt some stitches wanting to rip his skin. Finally he pulled on a dark green jerkin and attached a sword to his side. By his bed, which was no more than a couple of fur rugs and his bag for a pillow he lifted a small sack filled with gold coins. Moving to his bag he put the bag at the bottom he woud split this between his men when they got to their next destination.

Letting out a deep breath Barrick pushed aside the tent flaps and was met with the cool air as he walked outside, to his left he saw Rhedri sitting by a fire, the rest of the company, solemnly walked around the camp taking down their tents. Barrick moved to Rhedri's side. "Good to see you survived that little skirmish" Barrick said taking a seat, "Nice job on the wounds. At least the Rhoirrim paid us before they ran like the cowards they are" He said trying to keep the anger from his voice.

Barrick had checked the gold in his tent when he got changed. Now they needed to find a town to get new gear and food. "I think we should head into Dunland, the main city their will be a good place to start looking for gear and maybe even a hire." Barrick said standing up. "Inform those of the men who still want to come we will leave after camp is packed." Barrick left Rhedri and headed to wards his tent to pack it down.

[Rhedri]

Rhedri pulled the billy off the fire with a long stick to avoid burning his hands. After tasting it with a small spoon he had carved from bark belonging to one of the trees that surrounded him, he was satisfied that it was cooked, adding some herbs that he had gathered he mixed them in and began to eat it with a loaf of crusted bread left over. Earlier he had packed up his tent and all his belongings, which was very little and attached them to his saddle.

Rhedri gave his stomach a pat after finishing the meal he leaned back on the branch that was his seat and looked into the dying flames. A rustle of leaves caught his attention as Barrick arrived at his side and sat down on another log. "It was one of the more close ones we've had wasn't it." Rhedri said looking up from the fire at Barrick. "No problem, they weren't too bad just needed a clean and stitched. I was not really expecting that from the Rohirrim, to leave in the midst of battle guess we were expendable to them. Money is good, we need some new gear and also some more elvish medicine if we can get our hands on any i only have a little of their plants left." Rhedri said while they were talking of money. Rhedri watched as Barrick stood up and told him of his plans to venture into Dunland for supplies. "Sure thing. I do not see any of these men leaving, they are good and loyal Barrick."

Rhedri washed his billy and spoon before adding it into his saddle bag, he then went around camp, helping the remaining men pack down their gear and informed them of their plans. As the sun reached noon, the men were saddled and ready to leave the camp. The fires were out leaving only charred spots on the grassy ground.