Battle in the Arid Mountains

Chapter One

"If we act like prey, they'll act like predators"

― Alyxandra Harvey

Artemis Brynne rode into the town exhausted and worn out. A long day of riding takes a lot out of a person and she was certainly no exception. She rode quietly like a wraith, her silver cloak swirling like an angry storm as the wind blew past her.

Even without the bow strung across her back, an experienced eye could identify her as a dangerous warrior not to be trifled with. As she demounted her black stallion she pulled back her hood revealing auburn hair neatly styled into a simple three stranded braid. Upon the crown of her head sat a beautiful crescent circlet, gleaming in the now dimming sun.

Silver eyes scanned the town, taking in all the details. A few townsfolk roamed the streets busy with one task or another.

A rather quiet place she thought. It may have appeared to be a rather empty street but — Artemis glanced at the sun's position again— right about now was the end of the workday so it would be expected that the common tradesman would be either at home or catching a drink with friends inside. Nothing unexpected. She clicked her tongue and led her horse forward.

Artemis quickly found a place to have her horse stabled and taken care of and began to look for a place that she herself could stay. Walking silently through the almost desolate streets she spotted a building labelled the Red Orange Inn and headed over, glad to have found a place to sleep.

She had been riding for five days so far, a journey beginning near the west coast of Alden. It was in the city of Redcliffe tracking down a group of criminals when she heard rumours of a long-forgotten location related to her old life. Next thing she knew she was on her way to the capital to consult the grand library of Dukeholm and seek out its curators.

Proceeding to open the door to the Red Orange inn Artemis plodded inside and was shocked with what greeted her.

Like she had deduced earlier, Artemis had arrived around what would be considered the end of a regular Monday in the growing season; most workers had made their way to the local inn or tavern. Here they would exchange drinks, laughs and stories before they went home to their families. This, however, was not what greeted her.

Panic and desperation seemed to hang in the air as Artemis ambled over to the bar. A vast quantity of confused thoughts passed through her mind as she ordered a small drink, leaning her bow on the countertop. The bartender wordlessly poured her order and handed it to her, avoiding eye contact. Artemis simply squinted her eyes at him and looked around intending to eavesdrop. Closeby a man was speaking loudly, clearly drunk and oblivious to the shadowed form silently watching him.

"—has given us no other option. The town will end up paying this... this stupid ransom! I'm telling you, Oris made it very clear that the safety of those kids is our top priority, what are we gonna do, ignore him?"

"I understand Terrence," His friend said reluctantly, attempting to get the man to sit. "It's a true tragedy. Yet I hope everyone can understand that it will leave the town without food and money. We'll end up starving."

Tragedy. Starvation. Ransom.

Not the kind of words you'd like to hear at a normal inn, to say the least. Yet the story sounded strangely familiar to Artemis.

Still confused she spent the next few minutes learning about this tragedy that had befallen the town. A weeping woman sitting with her husband at the bar sobbed as she recounted the story of how her six-year-old son disappeared mere minutes after she had sent him to bed. A bandaged farmer told his friend how he received a sword thrust to his arm after he picked up his pitchfork to defend his "precious little mildew" from being stolen by barbarians. Murmurs had gone by with more children being taken, which had allowed Artemis to estimate six kidnaps in total.