Somewhere in his instincts, Lyle knew he should be staying far away from Castle Town. It didn't take a genius to know that something terrible was happening, something that had gotten out of control fast, and it was more than just a fire. If the royal guards couldn't handle it, how could he hope to? He could defend himself, but he'd never been much of a fighter. 

He wasn't quite using his head, as he felt it going numb, refusing to think or comprehend, when he climbed up into Blue's saddle and urged her into a canter- then a full gallop. They were racing across the miles of field toward the smoke. 

Halfway there, the clouds gave in and it started to rain. He didn't notice the cold soaking into his clothes, only feeling the tiniest, barely existent sense of relief, knowing that at least the fires were unlikely to make it through the heavier rains to come.

Blue, a somewhat lazy and sometimes stubborn horse by nature, made no complaint, sensing the unusual state of urgency from her trusted rider. However, she was nervous and growing more so the closer they got to the source of chaos. 

It was far off, but when Lyle saw the huge dark horse and its rider make their egress from the distant front gates and gallop off, he was finally brought back to his senses enough to realize he had no idea what he planned to do. Drawing closer still, he saw the state of the draw bridge. He couldn't really see the street level of the town behind the wall, but the pressure in his chest he felt increasing with every thundering beat of hooves was telling him he didn't want to.

Nearly there, a crack of lightning broke directly overhead, the thunder rumbling down, and Blue came to an immediate halt with a sound like a scream, launching Lyle forward with the momentum, sending him crashing hard to the ground and sliding through the mud. He felt the shock of pain from the impact shoot through his entire body, knocking the wind out of him. All he could do was lie there and try to force his chest to let him breathe again. It took several long moments before he could manage to inhale and push himself upright. He gasped, taking a moment to let himself breathe before he forced himself to his feet, the shoulder he'd landed on screeching with pain in protest. 

"[color=1a7b30]Blue![/color]" he coughed, calling for the horse that was now sprinting in blind fear towards the wall, perhaps not aware of the moat. "[color=1a7b30]Blue![/color]" He whistled loudly. Either she heard him, or she saw the moat, because she reared up on her hind legs, whinnying loudly before stamping back down and beginning to pace quickly and anxiously at the edge, as if in too much of a panic to know where to go to get away from the open field and lightning. 

He hurried towards her with a limp, hating to see her suffer such fear. Why did he even come here? His instincts screamed at him not to try to enter the town, however much he wanted to help. The broken bridge and the spine chilling sounds of screams and shouts and unmistakably monsters were discouraging enough.

He finally reached her. She was pacing and panicking, looking like she was seriously considering jumping down into the water. 

"[color=1a7b30]Blue![/color]" he called again, making sure she was aware of his presence before he tried to get too close. Approaching the edge of the moat himself, he finally saw what she saw: a boy, weakly clinging to the steep rocky side and beginning to slip under the surface of the dark water.

He acted quickly, but not without thinking. Blue was cooperative enough to allow him to grab the rope kept handy in her saddle bag. It already had a loop on one end. He hurriedly got it around Blue's neck and tossed the rest into the water before jumping in after it himself, ignoring just how much colder the moat was than the rain. He surfaced and managed to get the boy's arms around his neck. He was weak, but still conscious. "[color=1a7b30]Hold on! You're gonna be okay! I've got you![/color]" Lyle said, making sure the lad was secure enough on his back before taking the rope. He called up to his still panicking horse. "[color=1a7b30]Blue! Back! Back, Blue![/color]"

She looked confused, and almost didn't seem to want to leave him down there, but she did heed him and begin to back up. When the rope pulled tight, she seemed to suddenly understand, because she grabbed it in her teeth and began to pull on it hard as she continued to back up. Lyle held on tightly to both the rope and the boy, and soon they were pulled up over the ledge and onto the grass. 

[@Crystal Amalgam]