Darin was incredibly alarmed when Talbot suddenly reared away from her one moment and then headbutted her in the next. She went flying towards the ground. She landed on her butt. As she was falling, she watched an arrow fly over her face. Sara had followed her. She landed and, quickly looked over her shoulder. It wasn’t Sara. It was another woman. She had her head shaved like Luke with similar tattoos. Darin had to wondered if that meant something.

She looked at the farmer, “Run! Get inside!” He seemed frozen so she shouted, “NOW!”

She needed to get back to Ridahne. That was the only chance she really had. The woman fired off another arrow. Darin dropped back to the ground. She managed to avoid the second arrow, but now she was stuck. She didn’t think that she would manage to get up before she was fired at again and there was nowhere to go. Darin started crawling to the fence while remaining flat on her stomach. Maybe if she got there she could hide behind the bale of hay. Than again, she didn’t want to make Talbot a target.

The woman shouted, “Just surrender boy. My companions are taking care of the Elf as we speak. I don’t want to kill or injure you. I will do both if I have too.”

While her boyishness irked her mother, her mouth was the bane of the village elders, “I’ve never had an arrow wound before. It would be a learning experience.”

The woman scoffed, “So be it.”

Darin held the wiz that meant she had loosed another arrow. Darin shut her eyes tight only to roll away. When she opened her eyes, she saw an arrow on the ground where her neck had been. She reached out with a hand to feel the fence. She hurriedly used it to get to a standing position. She looked to see that Talbot was watching her. He was too close to the action. Darin looked to see the framer was nowhere to be seen.

She yelled at Talbot, “Go home!”

Most horses knew that meant they were supposed to return to their stable. Darin was relieved to see that Talbot turned and took off towards the stable. She turned to face the woman. She did not look happy. Darin couldn’t blame her. Darin was clearly not a warrior, yet this woman already had to use three arrows on her. Darin for fairly positive that her luck was just about to run out.

The woman pointed an arrow straight at Darin’s face, “Mark says you have a connection to the Gardener. Tell me what you know, and this arrow goes back in the quiver.”

Darin let out a laugh, “Me? Connected to the Gardener? You must be joking.” She gestured at herself, “I mean look at me. The Tree, and by extension The Seed, is the most important part of Astra. I am so incompetent that it’s not even funny.”

The woman scoffed, “Then what are you doing with an Azurei warrior?”

Maybe honesty would be better than a lie at this point, “She found me stuck. I’m just on a journey for my mother. She’s the one who decided I was her apprentice.”

The woman screamed, “You lie!”

The arrow went flying. Darin prepared to fall. Her knees hit the ground. The arrow grazed her shoulder. She let out a shout of pain as her hand flew towards the injury. Darin looked up when she heard another sound of alarm. Talbot had jumped the fence and was currently racing towards the woman. He may not have been trained for battle, but he was still over 1000 pounds of muscle. Darin knew that if she saw veteran plow horse racing towards her would scream as well. The woman tried to fit another arrow to her bow, but she was too late. Talbot reared up. Then he came down. Only the woman’s quick instincts saved her skull. Like Darin she fell. Talbot’s hoofs hit her arm and her bow. Both had to be shattered. Talbot looked ready to rear again.

Darin moved quickly to throw her arms around his neck, “Talbot! That’s enough!”

The woman saw her chance, “You idiot.”

She had grabbed a knife with her good hand and lunged at Darin’s abdomen. Talbot reared again. Darin increase her grip. This time the horse’s goal was to get Darin out of the way. The momentum swung Darin on to his back. The woman missed and went failing towards the ground. She had to drop the knife so she could break her fall. Darin let go of Talbot’s neck to sit up straight. 

Darin was surprised at how cold her voice was, “I won’t stop him again.”

There was promise in that voice. The woman couldn’t use her broken bow with a broken arm. If she lunged for the knife Talbot would react. Darin could feel that. She wrapped her hands in her mane to avoid falling when he reared again. The woman looked at Darin’s eyes and Talbot’s stance. She scurried to her feet and hurried away. Darin watched her go. She couldn’t relax until she was sure she was gone.

She was unaware just how ridiculous she looked. She was sitting astride a horse that was much too big for her with her back ramrod straight. She was covered in dirt from her multiple falls. Her shoulder was still bleeding even though she couldn’t currently feel the pain. One hand was bloody from when she had reacted early. She was breathing hard from a mix of adrenaline and exertion. She may have looked ridiculous on the massive beast, but she also looked like, well, like a warrior’s apprentice that survived their first encounter.

That look ended when the woman was out of sight. Darin let out a breath as she fell backwards so her head landed on Talbot’s rump. She supposed that she should get down and find Ridahne. She didn’t think Mark and his crew and bested her, but Darin figured she best check. That could wait just a moment until her heart calmed down.

She patted the part of the horse she could reach, “Thank you Talbot. You saved my life.”