[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/DmHThHw.png[/img][/center]

[color=6ecff6]"Yes, we might be walking right into the heart of their territory,"[/color] Ethelred replied to Elnith as they walked up to the woods.  [color=6ecff6]"With a little freezing, however, [i]their [/i]home territory should become [i]my [/i]home territory.  I'll err, try to not freeze either of you."[/color]

It was good that Elnith was on board with the risky proposition of marching into the woods to take the fight to the Unseelie.

[color=6ecff6]"As for your questionn, I've fought them before,"[/color] he claimed.  [color=6ecff6]"Long ago, I thwarted the odd petty scheme by the Unseelie every now and then.  Then there was when I slew the one that turned me into...this."[/color]  Ethelred trailed off, worrying that he had cast a shadow over this conversation.  [color=6ecff6]"Since Sorcha freed me, I've crossed paths with them or their proxies on occasion."[/color]

Ethelred didn't normally bring up his curse in conversation.  His feelings on it were mixed- despite the physical sensations that it denied him through his imprisonment within his icy armor, he couldn't deny that his new form granted considerable boons, giving this once-inconsequential hedge knight the power to serve as one of Sorcha's knights alongside the scions of heroes like Luna and Elias.  It couldn't have been what that Unseelie had planned for him- it must have gone wrong somehow, perhaps when the creator of the curse perished at Ethelred's hand.

---

Later in the day, after hours of no sign of the Unseelie, the trio heard a shout.  Ethelred followed the cry, expecting the others to be right behind him.  He would need to remain cautious- it was already established that the Unseelie were luring the people away with singing, so it wouldn't be too far-fetched for them to feign a cry for help.

When he came to where the cry came from, he saw several vile plant creatures, a common Unseelie proxy from what he knew, toying with a human, mumbling something about a game.  

[color=6ecff6]"We need to save that man!"[/color] Ethelred spoke to the others.

Could it be a trap?  Yes.  Was it their duty to intervene regardless?  Yes.  With that in mind, Ethelred dismounted (not wanting to risk getting thrown from his horse by a maliciously placed root, which wasn't impossible given who they were up against) and charged the monsters, aiming to skewer one or two of them.

[@Rune_Alchemist]