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In Midnight Clad

Chapter 2: Days Gone By

Cas woke up with her little pink nose wiggling as it was welcomed to the smell of roasted meat. In addition, her acute feline ears could detect the sizzling sound of something cooking over a fire. Her green eyes slowly dragged themselves open and allowed her a full glimpse of her surroundings. They were unfamiliar, and she tried to remember the last thing that had happened. She figured that she must have fallen asleep on the knight's mount. But now she was here, in some sort of tent.

The pleated cloth walls were dyed a dark shade of green and looked thick enough to brave the harshest of elements. Curious, Cas looked around and saw that she had been placed onto a small and narrow comfortably padded mat. Atop her charcoal colored furred body, a thick brown woven woolen blanket had been draped across her form, sheltering her additionally from any cold that could have penetrated the already formidable tent. She was surprised to find that she was taken care of so well. As she looked around the tent, a thought pervaded her attention as she noticed a major detail.

It was too small to fit more than one person, unless they were...familiar. Did that mean that the man had slept in there with her? She found herself blushing heavily at the notion. The feline tried not to think about it as she sat up, letting the blanket slide of her pleasant and well maintained form as she readied to go outside to pinpoint the location of the delicious smells perfuming the air. The cat girl's stomach rumbled at the pervading aroma of the cooking food.

The tent's height did not exceed four feet, so standing was not a good option. Cas was forced to get up onto all fours if she wanted to leave. The head of the mat had been placed at the rear of the tent so she crawled over to the sealed flap. There was a small pin holding the cloth door down, so she grabbed it and pulled it out of the ground. With the door 'unlocked' she stuck her furred head out and almost ducked back in. It was freezing out there! She did her best to ignore the chilly air as her gaze wandered the area outside, ears flicking in the frigid air.

The tent was erected in a small clearing in a heavily forested location. The large piney trees were a few meters away, forming a ring of sorts around the immediate area. The ground was littered with twigs and needles, what must have been shedding and refuse from the arboreal environment. In the center of the clearing only a few feet from the tent, the hooded figure of the knight was sitting on a large decomposing log in front of a small campfire. The armored man had clasped his gauntlets together and was hunched down; bracing him from the severe cold that still lingered from the wintery night before. His position was at an angle from the tent, and his hood shifted from side to side as he surveyed his environment with a watchful eye. The knight's large ebony blade lay in his lap, unsheathed. It would seem that he had been guarding her as she slept, which could only mean that had he not only stayed awake all night, but he had also endured the unforgiving winter winds.

Cas felt a pang of guilt well up inside her. She had assumed that he had slept in the tent with her when he was, in actuality, suffering in order to ensure that she remained safe. And now that she thought about it, he had not eaten yesterday either, having given his meal to the hungry feline. She was baffled, what possessed this man to go to such great magnanimous lengths for her. He was human and she was not. He had no reason to do all that he had done for her so far, but he had, regardless of her race.

She must have made a noise, as the man unclasped his hands and sat up straight in order to hide his discomfort from her eyes. Then his hood shifted in her direction and he greeted her with his customary warmth. "Good marrow milady, I hope your rest was pleasant and untroubled." As he spoke he lifted a long branch with a charcoal tip from the ground to his right and immersed it in the fire, stirring the heated embers. Plunged into the ground next to the fire was a pair of sticks with one coney spitted on to each of them. The unfortunate rabbits had been gutted, skinned, and cleaned, and now were slowly turning a dark color as the fire roasted them. The sizzling sound was attributed to the drippings of fat that drizzled off and fell into the fire, causing it to splutter and crackle.

"I had a restful catnap, but what about you sir? Did you stay out here all night?" She inquired, curious as to what his answer would be.

"That I did." His hood bobbed lethargically in confirmation. "Someone had to maintain watch, and it is my solemn duty to see to your safety until we arrive at our destination." He explained as he shifted back to the fire and stoked it.

Her ears flattened in shame. It was true; he had been punished for his kindheartedness. "I cannot thank you enough Sir, but you did not have to do that." Her voice was meek and riddled with guilt.

The knight shook his hooded head. "You are wrong in that instance milady, it is my duty to uphold the principles of my order, and it was far from the hardest thing I have done. Besides, it gave me plenty of time to think." He chuckled softly, amused at her concern.

She began to feel a little ridiculous, still poking her head out of the flap, so she crawled out of the tent and stood up to her full, short, height. With a small yawn she stretched dropping her paws to her padded toes, tail out as far as it could go, giving a sigh of relief as the vertebra in her spine crackled. Once her back had been properly attended to, she padded over to where the knight was.

He moved to allow her a seat closer by the fire and prodded the coals once more. She gratefully took the proffered seat and placed her paws over the heat of the flames to warm them. They sat in silence for a long time. The knight found it nice, but she was a little flustered. This man was continuously putting her before himself, she suspected that most of it was due to his code, but she had never thought that a knight would follow them so dogmatically.

The feline turned her bright inquisitive emerald green eyes to study him. She could not make out his face, the deep cowl of the hood concealed it as it had every other time she looked, and his head was tilted down and to the right, further hampering her eyesight. She began to wonder why he kept his face from her, was he horribly disfigured?

She scolded herself for the rude thought, but she still remained interested. Cas really wanted to see the face under the hood, but was much too shy to ask him to pull back the cloak. All she knew for certain was that he had bright amber eyes that seemed to glow with equal parts contentment and sorrow. Finally she decided that she could at least know his name. "Sir Knight, I was wondering, is there a name I could perhaps call you?"

The knight marginally shifted his cowl in her direction and was silent for a minute. She began to feel that she had gone too far, but he spoke before she could put forth her apologies.

"I...do not give my name freely. Only those close to me have heard it uttered from my lips....and they are all dead and gone." The man's voice was heavy with grief and he looked away from her, focusing all of his attention on the flickering flames of the fire afore him, lost in bitter memories.

Cas mewled quietly, having not intended to bring any form of despair to him. She looked to her paws and fiddled with them uncertainly, unsure as to how to proceed. She stared at the pink pad of her palms and thumbed over them as she sat in silence. As she did, she eventually lifted her tail into her lap and began to stroke the length of glossy fur, something she often did to calm her or pass some time.

"But, if you wish, you can call me....Letholdus, which is my family's surname." He said suddenly, still not looking in her direction.

Cas smiled brightly at that small admission. She had finally attached a name to her new friend, even if it was not his actual one. "Okay Letholdus." After that she was content to sit in silence, a companionable one.

The early morning air began to become radiant as the sun crawled across the sky in a yellowish haze.

After some time had passed, Letholdus placed a gauntlet on one of the spit sticks and pulled it out of the ground, handing it over to the feline next to him. Cas eagerly grabbed it and brought the still hot rabbit to her muzzle where she began to tear into it ravenously, shredding it with her sharp fang-like teeth. It had been a very long time since she had a proper meal, and the one last night had done little for her aching belly. In the time it took for Letholdus to let his finish, she was already gnawing on the bones, her muzzle rimmed with a layer of shiny grease.

Letholdus stared at her quietly under his cowl before handing her his portion of the meal. Cas looked to the proffered food with a dubious expression. Once more he was willing to allow himself the denial of sustenance in order to cater to her. "I can't take this." She denied, trying to push it back to him.

The man's hood only shook ruefully and pushed it back with a firm uncompromising strength. "By now I thought you had a grasp over my orders tenants. Please I insist, take it, I still have some salted meat in my bags and I can always catch something later."

Cas frowned but hesitantly allowed him to give it to her before tearing into it with the same degree of hunger. After that he stood up from the log with the clatter of settling plates, sheathing the blade that had been resting in his lap for hours and moved to the left where she was just now noticing his horse.

The large animal had been snuffling around the forest floor with his bulbous nose, searching for grass among the pines and twigs with little success. Letholdus patted him consolingly on the head before pulling an apple out from the recesses of his cloak, allowing the horse to chomp into the fresh fruit happily.

With the horse munching away contentedly on his own meal, Letholdus went to the tent and spent a while packing it up. Once the inside had been emptied with the mat and blanket rolled and tied, he broke down the shelter and rolled it up as well. She was surprised to see that the tent could roll up into such a small size. It was easily stored atop the saddlebags that had been piled up at the foot of a tree within reach and sight of the fire.

By that time Cas had finished her second rabbit and her stomach was pleasantly full. Now she had to do her best to wipe away the grease smeared on her fuzzy black furred muzzle, it was much harder to do than she would have liked. That was one thing she thought human's had for them, cleaning was a much simpler chore without fur.

As she tried to find out a way to clean up without water, a large sack was lowered into her sight. It was a water bladder. She looked up to see Letholdus' hood staring down at her. With a thankful nod she took the container from his gauntlet and poured some of the clear as glass liquid into her pink padded palm. Then she washed her face carefully and swigged down some of the cool life giving liquid, letting it funnel down her throat. With that done she licked her paws clean in a very feline way, with her bathing done until she could find a suitable river or lake; she stood up from the log.

Letholdus was attaching all of his possessions to his horse and tightening their belts to make sure they would not fall off. With one last tug, he secured the last of his belongings and turned to look walk back over to wear she was. The knight began to kick dirt over the fire with his boot and shifted his hood to look in her direction. "I am sure you will be glad to hear that the capital is only a few days journey away. Before the week is done, you will be behind the walls of the greatest city on the face of Arlathan."

She smiled, but it was only half sincere. In truth, so far she was pretty happy with this as it was right now. But when they entered the city, they would eventually go their separate ways. He would go and return to his knightly duties, and she would be left with people she did not know. He may have still been a stranger to her, but he was also a good one.

The knight could not see the dissatisfaction brewing in her heart, so he cleaned up the campsite and climbed atop his horse. Once more he reached out a gauntlet and she was swept up to sit behind his back. She wrapped her arms around his chest for balance as Letholdus guided his mount outside of the clearing they had used for the night. In a few minutes, distance grew between the trees and a road was revealed. Letholdus turned his horse to the right and began the long journey to the capital.

The first couple of hours were spent in a deep silence, both people deep in thought on similar concerns. Cas was still thinking about her soon to be unwilling separation from her new and only friend and Letholdus was debating with himself about that very matter.

All last night while he had stayed awake to watch over the camp, he had tried to figure out what to do with his new found friend. Letholdus knew many of the _Polsiva_people; in fact his home employed quite a number as live-in workers, selecting them from the impoverished few that tried to make it in the human cities. Whenever he was in the capital, he played a part of the small but growing faction of individuals that were trying to garner support to make the current clans folk living in the city, full-fledged citizens, with all the rights that entailed. Many of the previous supporters had been fellow knights, but the order was dwindling. Soon he feared that they would die out, fading into historical ambiguity. Many of his fellow knights had been slain in the terrible endless war being waged in the north, keeping the monstrous horrors that dwelt there away from the innocents of the kingdom of Caderranyth, and even the clans.

He shook off those morbid and depressing thoughts, shifting his concentration back to the matter at hand, Cas. What was he going to do with her? At first he had dained to drop her off with a family he knew that owed him. But they were not exactly the richest group he knew, even with the money he gave them when they needed it. They did not need another mouth to feed. Then in a spark of inspiration he settled on the answer.

She could simply stay with him for the interim. He was certain that he would be able to find her some means of employment so that she would be well off without him. He would see this duty out until the end, knights did not abandon anything they put themselves to, no matter the difficulty or price.

He nodded to himself, content on his next course of action. Now that he had his solution, he could return his thoughts to the moment at hand. As his horse clopped along the dry dusty road, the knight could feel the pressure of the feline woman's paws on the sides of his armor, dull claws clutching onto the enchanted steel. He could not actually feel the paws themselves due to the thick plate, but he could feel their weight. She was holding onto him tightly, probably more than was necessary, but he let it go. After all, if it comforted her in any way, far be it from him to deprive her of it.

The duo spent the entire day in silence as they meandered down the road. Hours drew slowly by as Letholdus guided his mount, a duty that was not very hard considering the road only went in one direction.

Occasionally, another group of travelers would pass by, giving the feline on the back of the horse strange looks. The clans were not common so close to or outside the capital city. But a swift and stern gaze from under Letholdus' cowl was quick to send their wandering eyes somewhere else. Cas was thankful for that, she did not like to be stared at.

With only the occasional disruption from traveling peasants they made good time and were many miles away from the last place they set up camp when the sun began its final descent for the night. Seeing the sky darken, Letholdus looked for a place to set up for the evening. A few minutes down the road, he spied what appeared to be a path that led into the forest.

With a location discovered, he led his horse to it and ventured into the foliage. Soon a small clearing, a little different from the one before, was revealed through a break in the dense trees. He pulled the reigns at the center and climbed off, helping Cas down as well. "We will bed here for the night." He said as he began to unbuckle his saddlebags, relieving the horse of the weight he had been loyally carrying the entire day.

The horse spluttered in relief and almost immediately went searching for something to eat. Letholdus began the repetitive process of setting up the campsite; Cas saw him and offered to help. He was reluctant to accept but he realized that she wished to be useful, so he let her get the blanket and mat out of the bags and ready while he set up the cloth shelter. With her help it went by much faster, he thanked her for her assistance and shifted his focus to getting a fire ready for the night.

He selected fifteen relatively large river rocks and placed them in a circle were he planned the fire to be. Since he found the rocks, he could only assume that there was a river somewhere nearby. That was good, he could finally wash up, and so could Cas.

As he was about to get up to find wood to burn, a stack of the material was placed at his knees. Letholdus looked up from his kneeling position by the fire to see the shinning smile of Cas as she stood there tail swinging happily. It would seem that she took the initiative.

"Thank you, your help is very much appreciated." He said gratefully as he moved to stand up.

"No problem. I am just glad that I could do something." She said with a shrug.

Letholdus simply nodded at her response and took a small rectangular wooden tinderbox out from his cloak. With a few sparks and billowy breathes, a fire was lit. With the flames birthed, he grabbed a fallen branch and used it to oxygenate the glowing embers until they could sputter on their own.

There were no fallen logs around to use as quick furniture, so the Letholdus and Cas sat on the dirt, a safe distance from the fire.

It was good that they finished up when they did, the sky had been darkening while they set up camp and now night had fallen completely. The only light in the area came from their humble campfire and the mellow starry sky. Cas sat beside the silent knight and took a whiff of the air with her sensitive feline nose, it was filled with the thick heady aroma of burning wood and the natural smell of the forest wafting across in the gentle breeze.

With a sigh, Cas leaned back until she laid on the leafy ground looking up into the sky, gazing at the untold number of twinkling stars across the black and white speckled canvas of the heavens. She was enveloped in a feeling of absolute contentment. Out here, she was free of prying eyes prejudices, stress, and she had a wonderful companion. Cas leaned up slightly to see what Letholdus was doing.

The knight's hood was staring into the smoldering depths of the flame and his gauntlets lay in his lap lifelessly. It was at this point that she had the uncontrollable desire to see his face. "Letholdus, could you please remove your hood, I have longed to see the face of my savior." She asked him this out of the blue and his surprise showed in his reaction.

The man twitched for a second, jarred out of whatever it was that had consumed his attention. The cowl of his hood shifted in her direction and he spoke in a soft tone. "I prefer to keep it hidden."

"Surely it would not inconvenience you to show it to me?" She pleaded, giving him her most potent weapon, her feline eyes.

The shrouded man did not respond, but sometime later, when she was about to give up, he raised his gauntlets to his hood with painful slowness.

She watched with unblinking eyes as he pulled the hood down, and she let out a soft gasp.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with his face, besides that she thought he was incredibly handsome.

Letholdus had fair alabaster skin, deep in contrast with his stark obsidian black mane that ran down to just below his shoulders. His mop of hair looked roughly cut, as if by a serrated blade. The man also sported a thin layer of dark facial hair sprinkled about his features. The knight had a very robust jawline and proud cheekbones, giving him an aristocratic bearing. Despite his pleasing features, it was his eyes that truly moved her. The amber spheres were still haunting and held their customary warmth, although she was surprised at how young he looked. Letholdus could only be a year or so older than her at the most, if she could tell human age with any accuracy that is.

After a few minutes of silence she realized that she was staring and his lips were curled slightly in an awkward smile. She was clearly making him nervous. Quickly she had made her blushing apologies.

He nodded at them and waved his gauntlet in forgiveness. "It is alright milady; I am used to the stares. Most cannot believe that a knight of the order could be so young, so I do my best to hide this fact." He had no idea that she was staring not because of his youth, but because of his looks.

"If I may ask, how is a knight so young?" She inquired.

Dusk had arrived at its fullest now, all they could see were the trees at the edge of their little circle of light, any further and the rest was bathed in darkness. The flickering light of the fire gave life to the shadows and Cas found herself scooting closer to Letholdus who looked unconcerned by the low visibility and haunting shadows. She did take note however, that his right gauntlet never left the hilt of his sword.

"My father was a knight, and he was often revered as the strongest and noblest ever to attain knighthood. None could defeat him in battle, whether in single combat or against many foes. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps, so he raised me to be just like him. Since I could remember, he was my tutor both in war and in life. When I was thirteen, he and the rest of his cohort went up into the north on a routine quest to reduce the number of monsters so close to our fort in the pass. He never came back. He and his entire company were slaughtered in what became known as the crimson winter. The enemy attacked with such ferocity that our army stationed in the pass was forced to retreat all the way to last fortress at the very cusp of our lands. He and his comrades had made their stand in the valley so that the rest of our forces could regroup. I was told that he fought bravely." The knight shifted his gaze into the starry sky, deep in thought.

Cas scooched over to lean against him comfortingly, something that cats often did for each other when one was sad. He looked down from the sky when he felt her weight against his armor. She smiled up at him and draped a fuzzy paw around his waist.

He smiled at her attempt to comfort him and was glad that he had decided to let her stay with him for a while. Then the duo sat in silence for many hours. Both listening to the sounds of the forest and basking in pleasant company.

Cas' tail flopped in her lap gently as she relaxed, running her clawed paw through the silky fur, content in her current situation. Her life had drastically improved over the course of two days. Now she was happy, and she owed all of it to the man she was leaning against. Cas looked up into his face, now unveiled. Letholdus was smiling softly as he gazed up into the sky, whatever he is be thinking must pleasant.

Uncaring of what he would think, she snuggled up against his armored shoulder. The steel was somewhat uncomfortable to lean against, but the man underneath it all made up for the discomfort. Almost as soon as she leaned against his armored side, she began to let out a quit purr, the vibrations resonating inside of the man's plate.

Letholdus felt the purr and looked down to the feline snuggling against him. She had placed her muzzle on his shoulder, her angular snout was pointing towards the ground and her ears were twitching softly. It was blatant to the knight that she was happy, and that made him happy. As he sat with the girl leaning upon him, he had the oddest desire to take off his gauntlets and run his hands through her glossy black fur. He had not touched her so, having been encased in armor for the longest time.

He repressed the urge, it would be inappropriate for him to behave in such a fashion. But he supposed he could allow himself this much, to be near her in this way. Having found a method for himself to enjoy her closeness, he just basked in her presence. Letholdus had never really been around girls, of the clans or of the race of men. His mother died in childbirth and his father had him focus on his studies so meeting any of the opposite gender was exceedingly rare. So to have one this close to him now was both nice and flustering.

Letholdus must have been thinking for a long time, for when he turned to look back down at Cas, he discovered that she had fallen asleep and was curled up against him. With a soft warm chuckle, he slowly moved away, setting her down gently to the ground. She mewled and sent her paws out, searching for him.

He smiled at that and turned away, looking for his saddlebags. Seeing them, he opened the largest one and pulled out three pieces of wood and a long strengthened coil of string. He fiddled with them until he had a recurve bow in his lap. With the ranged weapon complete he strung it with the waxed twine and pulled on it a few times until he was satisfied. It gave off a melodious tune and he stopped. He reached back into the bag and pulled out a quiver of broad head arrows, checking their fletching and the tips. Once he was sure they were in good working order he slung the quiver on his back and grabbed the bow.

He wanted to find some food, but was hesitant to leave the cat all by herself. After some debate he figured out what to do. He drew his sword and mumbled a short incantation as he felt along the blade. It began to glow with a dark red light and he impaled it into the ground near the fire, placing his shield there as well considering he would not need it hunting. If anyone was to approach within four hundred paces, his dagger would begin to glow and vibrate, alerting him. Now that he could be sure of her safety he turned away from the light of the campsite and into the darkness of the forest.

Letholdus spent many an hour in the dark, searching for anything to add to his dwindling supplies. It may be true that they were close to the capital, but he always wanted to be prepared. As he stalked through the darkness, he spotted a light in the distance. Curious, he sought to head over there and investigate. It was uncommon for anyone to set up camp so deep into the wilderness.

Somewhat cautious, he slowed to a crawl and crept over to the light source. As he neared his nostrils picked up a most foul stench and perverse language assaulted his ears. He knew only one race as to be so uncouth and vile.

Goblins....

The despicable cretins hailed from the northern lands and were the only race of demons to sneak into the human lands. It was largely in part due to their numbers. While many were found and killed, many more slipped past the guardians. It was rare to encounter them, even more so, so close to the capital, it boded ill and he would have to warn the king as soon as possible.

But first he would have to deal with this filth.

Silently he closed in and prepped the bow he had originally planned to use for hunting. Once he was close enough to make their putrid countenance out amid the small light they had created, he found himself scowling in disgust.

There were seven of the miserable bastards; their contemptible green skin was draped in animal, and what he suspected to be human, bones. Standing at four feet and almost as thin as the bones they covered themselves in, goblins were cowardly at their black corroded hearts. The only threat they represented was in their numbers and the few shamans they had. Luckily there was no shaman among this group, Letholdus had encountered shamans before. They were easy to discern from the usual rabble, decorating themselves in greasy paint and tattered armor. No, this was just a group of regulars, wretched things. Even their weapons were pathetic, bone clubs and shivs. A few well-armed laborers could take on this bunch.

Four of them were sitting down by the fire, fighting over a leg of some poor beast, and the other three were performing a terrible excuse for guard duty. Letholdus spied one of them, extremely close to the tree line; he had a small rusty dagger and was facing towards the fire, an easy target.

As quietly as he could in full plate, he snuck over to that side of the forest. He stopped when he was a few paces from the smelly creature. With a quiet hiss, he drew his dirk from its home at his waist. The two foot blade was serrated and had the same runes as the rest of his gear. There was a notch on the back end of the blade, for catching the swords of opponents. Letholdus left his shield at camp, but it mattered little, he would be better off without it in this instance.

The knight creeped a little farther and then quickly rushed out, wrapping a gauntlet around the goblin's maw and pulling him back into the dark forest. He forced the creature to the floor and twisted his gauntlet brutally, severing its spine and plunging the serrated dirk into its throat for good measure. It died silently, gurgling in its own putrid blood. He set the deceased goblin to the floor quietly and cleaned his blade in the dirt.

Now there were six.

The others were too close together to pick off without giving himself away. So he would have to resort to his bow. Letholdus drew the weapon and centered his aim on the farthest goblin, standing at the edge of the fire's light. The knight slowed his breath and steadied his hands. Once he was sure, he released the shaft.

The arrow arced with a vibrant thrum, and soared all the way to embed itself in the unfortunate goblin's throat. The shaft sunk halfway in, the arrowhead sticking out of the back and severing the spine. It fell to the floor lifelessly, a scarlet pool manifesting around it.

The others jumped up in alarm and began to snarl to each other in their detestable language. But Letholdus would not give them the chance to regroup, with a roar, he charged into the light, dirk raised.

The goblins whipped their heads to look at the large ebony armored knight rushing at them. The first one turned to run, but the warrior smashed into him with as much force as he could muster, shattering its bones and sending it into its comrades, knocking over two of them.

Now there were four.

Letholdus left the two he had knocked over, heading towards the other pair eyeing him with obvious fear. The rashest of the duo ran towards the knight, screeching an irritating battle cry.

With contempt, he sent his unoccupied mailed fist crashing down into its face, cracking its skull and rendering the foolish fiend unconscious. The other looked about ready to bolt, but Letholdus closed in. The goblin sent its club in an arc aiming for his breastplate. The bone shattered on the mastercrafted and enchanted armor.

In retaliation, Letholdus plunged his serrated blade into its chest and slashed to the left, disemboweling it ruthlessly. The goblin collapsed in a pile of limbs and gave off one last howl of anguish.

Now there were three.

Waiting no time, the knight turned to the two he had temporarily disabled. They were just climbing back to their feet. Just as the first one regained its balance, it died. Letholdus had rushed over and placed his dirk in its throat.

Even as it bled out, Letholdus lashed a boot out, burying the spike into the other goblin's cranium and ending its miserable existence.

Now there was one.

Letholdus walked over to the one he had knocked with his fist, bringing his heel down on its throat and ending it while it was still comatose.

Now he was the only thing alive in the immediate area. Letholdus looked around the campsite, he found nothing of worth, just spoiled meat and a few sullied coins he would not take with him. The knight dragged the carcasses of the slain goblins to the fire and left them there to burn, purging their obscene existence in cleansing fire.

With his noble deed for the day complete, he cleaned his weapon and headed back into the forest, once more on the quest for food.

It did not take him long to find a few rabbits, they were plentiful this season. Using his bow, he snagged two of the large fluffy animals. With his newly found meal in tow, he headed back to the camp.

After the brief journey, he arrived at the site. Cas was still sleeping contently and the sword glowed in the same brilliance as before. With a tired sigh, Letholdus fell to the floor heavily; it had been some since he had rested, a few days to be precise. He dearly wished to sleep, but since there was no one else to take up the duty of guarding the camp, he would just have to grin and bear it. As much as he liked his new feline companion, he knew she was ill suited for such a task. Besides, he would never ask her to do something like that.

Rubbing the exhaustion from his tired amber eyes, he went about skinning the rabbits he caught, burying the offal in a small hole so as not to attract predators. Once he was done, he spitted them once more as before and placed them over the fire to cook.

After that, he went to his saddlebags and grabbed some of the cured meat he had packed away. Grabbing a large hunk, he quieted the grumblings from his stomach as he waited for his friend to wake up, fighting off sleep as hard as he could.

******

For the second time in a row, Cas woke up to the smell of cooking food. She uncurled from her position on the floor and yawned loudly, stretching her clawed toes and digits and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She looked around; it was still late into the night. Cas figured that she must not have been sleeping for long. Curious, she let her eyes wander around the campsite, looking for Letholdus.

The first living being she saw was the horse. The animal was sleeping down on the floor with his legs curled up. She also spied two rabbits hanging over the fire. She continued her search, and when she did see the knight, she smiled to herself.

Letholdus had fallen asleep, and he must have done so while eating. In his gauntlets rested a large chunk of salted meat. His hood was laid back, revealing his face, and his eyes were closed with the peace of sleep. She took this time to get a better look at his features while he slept, this way he would not feel uncomfortable.

Cas was still surprised at how young he was. He had seemed so much older; she wondered how he came to be like that. As she looked on at the human, she began to realize something. She may have been one of the clans, but she hardly remembered her life before she was taken into servitude by that horrible man. The last thing she did recall from her old life was the small village she had called home. The hamlet of wooden huts was pleasant and she faintly remembered her family. But there was something that happened that had separated her from them, she just did not recollect those events.

She got up from her place on the floor and dusted her old clothes off as she wandered around the perimeter of the firelight. She looked down at the barmaid uniform and scowled, she wished she had a better, descent, pair of clothes. She hated how Calen had made her wear that atrocious revealing outfit, the stared from the men at the bar sought to solidify her dislike of the inappropriate clothing. At least Letholdus had saved her from that place. She did not want to think about it, ever again if it was up to her.

Her reminiscence ended when she heard her knightly companion begin to stir. The feline looked back to the man and saw his eyes open. He appeared disoriented, and when his amber eyes lit up in realization, he froze and looked around. It seemed that he had not intended to fall asleep. Letholdus' expression was panicked, and only calmed when his eyes settled on Cas. His face eased off when he was certain that she was unharmed. The knight cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter, putting the meat back in the saddlebag. "I was worried for a minute there; I had thought you wandered off."

She smiled and her tail weaved a happy trail at the concern in his voice and appearance; it was nice to have someone that worried about you. "Thank you for your concern, but I haven't wandered off."

Letholdus smiled back at her. He liked her smile, it was beautiful.

They spent the rest of the night by the campfire, talking quietly. He gave her the rabbits he caught and that curbed her hunger. He never told her of the goblins that had camped close by, it would not due to cause her such unneeded anxiety.

A few hours later, he suggested that she go back to sleep, they were almost at the capital and it would be a good idea for her to be freshly rested.

The knight ordered her to sleep in the tent again, and she put up a little resistance, but he was stubborn when it came to matters of chivalry and would not back down. Once he was sure that she would listen, he moved to the sport he would be taking for the rest of the evening. Cas gave one last look at her protector before going into the warmth of the tent and drifting off to sleep.

For the next two days, this cycle repeated, traveling along the main road and stopping in the forest at night. Letholdus did not encounter any more goblins in that time, so he was hopeful that it was just a small raiding party and not a full blown incursion. He would still have to bring it up to the king though; it would be foolish to ignore any threat, even one posed by the weakest of the northern creatures.

On the third and final day, the weary duo laid eyes on the seat of humanities power, and the place that stood as a stalwart bulwark and ray of hope to the beleaguered warriors holding the line in the icy realm of the north.

Vilkhund...