Darin let out a yelp as Ridahne suddenly moved. The human was not surprised when she wound up on her backside. That didn’t change the fact that she was quickly on her feet as Ridahne continued to move. Darin didn’t know much about treating wounds like the type the warrior had, but she was pretty sure that the injured person shouldn’t move around like that. That just seemed like common sense. Soon the Elf staggered, and Darin quickly reacted to catch her friend before she hit the ground. Darin was also sure that head trauma would not help in the slightest. The human staggered for a moment under the weight of the Elf, but soon had her footing.

Darin chided, “Enough of that! You shouldn’t be stressing yourself!” She sighed, “The archer has been dealt with for now. I finish dealing with him when I get you on Tsura.” Darin looked over at the Azurei horse, “I’m going to need your help Tsura. I can’t do this on my own.”

For a moment Darin thought about dragging Ridahne to Talbot, because she knew Talbot would cooperate with her, but then that moment passed as Tsura came over to the two girls and bent his knees. It wasn’t easy, but Darin managed to get the injured member of their hodge podge group on her mount. It took a little bit of searching, but soon she had the roped necessary to tie Ridahne to the saddle. Darin didn’t want to tie the knots too tightly, but she also didn’t want the Elf slipping. In the end Darin wound up tying want was probably a bunch of useless knots, but she was fairly certain that Ridahne wouldn’t be slipping off the saddle anytime soon. That was all that mattered right now. Darin would worry about getting Ridahne off once they got to the village.

Darin looked at the hunting cat, “Mitaja, I need you to lead the way back to Talbot. Can you do that?” The cat made a sound Darin hoped was agreement and darted off. Darin called out, “Hey! Wait for us!”

The Seed-Bearer quickly grabbed Tsura’s reins before following Mitaja. Darin was almost out of the glade before cursing herself and turning to grab Ridahne’s blades. Darin didn’t want to know what the Elf would do it the human left those. The cat set a decent pace, and the human found herself walking briskly to keep up. It was probably a good thing the they were because they quickly returned to where the archer was still tied up. Darin took one look at the scene and realized that he must have tried to escape at one point or another. His foot was now a bloody mess and Talbot look mighty pleased with himself. Darin couldn’t fault him. They couldn’t afford to let him escape.

The archer grinned at him, “It looks like your acquaintance has seen better days.”

Darin was breathing heavy with the thought of what she had to do, “Better than you.”

The archer’s smile vanished quickly, “What do you mean? You were going to question me!”

Darin’s laugh was devoid of any mirth, “I don’t know how. And I can’t have you running home to whoever sent you.”

The Eluri struggled against the bonds, “You can’t kill someone tied up! It wouldn’t be right! You’re the Seed-Bearer! You have to be right!”

Darin’s hands were shaking as she put Ridahne’s knifes down and drew her sickle, “I am a farmer. Do you know how many times I have killed animals I helped raise that did nothing to me? Do you know what those animals did to me?”

The enemy slumped, “Nothing but love you.”

The human was surprised by her smile, “You do know.” Darin placed the point of her sickle to the man’s neck, “It may not be right, but Astra vs the life of one man who wants to destroy Astra is hardly a choice.”

The Eluri seemed resigned to his fate and raised his chin high. Darin pulled back to make the swing. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Darin swung only to falter. She tried again only to fail once more. Darin grabbed her shaky wrist with her other hand and swung back once more. With a yell the Seed-Bearer swung one final time. The archer closed his eyes and was surprised when he opened them. With eyes shocked wide he turned to look beside him were his arm was clean off on the ground beside him. Darin couldn’t do it. She knew he would die tied to the tree with an arm missing, but there was a chance. It wasn’t much of one, but a slim chance was better than no chance.

Darin looked at the ground, “That is my mercy. You will not receive it again.” She bent down to retrieve the knifes and managed to put them into Ridhane’s sheaths, “Let’s go Talbot.” 

Talbot bent his knees so she could get on without climbing. Darin knew that she needed to go south so she looked for the Star Ravi to follow that. Once she had it, she grabbed at Tsura’s reins. They didn’t have time to linger here any longer. They needed to get to the village of Ridahne was going to have any hope at all. A soft thank you form the Eluri cause her to pause for only a minute. Then Darin tapped her heal against Talbot’s flank and the odd little group was off. Darin could only pray to The Tree that they made it in time. Darin knew she couldn’t do this alone.