[center][h3][color=F4B10C]Joram[/color] & [color=00A86B]Jayde[/color][/h3][/center]

A few minutes before the howling began and the sky lit up, Joram rolled onto his side and opened his eyes. A single candle lit the inside of their tent, sitting on the ground next to his sister’s bedding. Jayde, however, was sitting up, reading over a piece of parchment. A few other pages were scattered across her lap.

[color=F4B10C]“Jamor.”[/color] He pushed himself up on one arm and yawned. [color=F4B10C]“Have you been awake all night?”[/color]

[color=00A86B]“Couldn’t sleep after a while.”[/color] She shrugged, eyes stuck on the page before her. [color=00A86B]“I had a dream that the Old Speech was dancing around me.”[/color]

Joram sat up and leaned over toward one of the pages. [color=F4B10C]“Still no luck reading all of it?”[/color] He looked back at his sister. [color=F4B10C]“We’re leaving in the morning. You should’ve tried to sleep again.”[/color]

Jayde finally raised her eyes and an eyebrow. [color=00A86B]“You shouldn’t have gone to sleep all dressed.”[/color]

[color=F4B10C]“It’s too soon to trust anyone here,”[/color] he said, huffing. [color=F4B10C]“’Sides, you’re calling the kettle bla—”[/color]

A howl split the silence shrouding the camp, and the siblings’ eyes met. Joram threw back his bedding and lunged for his bows and quiver; they sat next to where he’d slept, with the Bronze Bow unstrung and sitting inside the quiver. Jayde quickly swept the tome pages back together and into their scroll case. As another, deeper howl followed, she shoved the case back inside her pack, then grabbed both her and Joram’s packs. She walked out of the tent as a wave of light rippled across the sky, which almost immediately shattered beneath the force of battle cries.

[color=F4B10C]“Have your stone?”[/color] Killer Bow in hand and quiver on back, Joram hurried out of the tent.

In the same moment, Jayde said, [color=00A86B]“I knew we were too close to the edge of camp. Do I have to—”[/color]

[color=F4B10C]“Want to stay alive?”[/color] Joram asked, interrupting his sister as they stopped next to Epona and Anope. Their horses, tethered next to their tent, were both pulling at their reins even as the harsh sounds of battle crept closer. Anope in particular was trying desperately to break loose. This kind of situation was all too familiar to the former mercenaries.

[color=00A86B]“Fine. Heading for the caravans?”[/color] Jayde slung both packs onto Epona’s back. Turning to Anope, she groaned before pulling his reins loose. The stallion snorted and began galloping away from the edge of camp.

Joram loosed Epona’s reins and pulled himself up onto the horse, who had only a blanket on his back. [color=F4B10C]“Yes. But we can’t abandon any—”[/color]

A yowl cut him off. He twisted his back, putting an arrow to his bow. A large Cat had taken Jayde’s place; it drew back its claws and slashed again at the bandit who’d tried to swing his axe at them. He stumbled back a step, fresh scratches on his arm and leg, then grunted as an arrow thudded into his chest. Joram drew back another arrow, but the bandit fell to the ground, dead or dying.

He glanced at the Cat, noting that its shoulder was still wrapped in bandaging. [color=F4B10C]“Right. Jamor, let’s go.”[/color]

She turned and narrowed her eyes at him, giving a small hiss.

[color=F4B10C]“You know me, all right? Keep a hold of yourself and stick with me.”[/color] Joram left his arrow in his bow-hand as he pulled on Epona’s reins. They needed to get closer to the caravans and find other people who were fighting back against this ambush. Hopefully they could save someone along the way.