His eyelids tightened with each movement of the galloping horse on which he rode. One hand held onto the reins, the other lightly touched the bandages which wrapped around his chest. He had not yet recovered from the beating he received at the hands of his master the day prior, but he knew sitting around in the guild for any longer would do him no good, and so the night prior, against Galli and Ginny’s urges, he told Ryle and Nyx that they would be leaving. Yet now that he had spent the past few hours on horseback he was starting to realise the folly in that decision. He couldn’t stop a groan from leaking from his mouth, the pain becoming too much to contain.

“This was your choice, Argo, stop complaining,” Nyx shouted at him from his side. She was bent down close to Winston's pitch black mane, her hair of the same shade waving behind her.

“Lay off him a bit Nyx, he did take quite the beating.”

“Yeah, about that. What on the gods did Tor do to you?” She asked as Argo looked towards her, a smile on his pained face disappearing as he locked eyes with her.

“We had a disagreement. But you are right, I’ll stop complaining.” Satisfied with his response, Nyx lightly kicked the underbelly of Winston, her speed increasing. Argo was forced to follow suit. However, the increased speed did not treat his still mending ribs kindly.

Ahead of them both ran Ryle, he leapt through the air, carrying forward at tremendous speeds whilst slowly drifting down as if he were but a leaf. The wind splayed his dirty blond hair back behind him, strands coating his face and falling into his mouth. A grin worn upon his face.

“You seem better at this,” Argo shouted towards Ryle, the wind fighting against the travelling of his voice, though not with enough force. 

“Yeah, travel has been good practice.” He landed on the ground, the wind catching him as he ran quickly along the floor before once again leaping into the air. Argo lightly whipped the reins of his horse, quickening its pace to come into a run next to Ryle. His legs bumped up against the horse, the insides chafing away at his skin, painting it bright red.

“Gods you're hopeless. Your thighs should be able to handle this by now Argo.” Nyx called from behind as she saw him wince, a smile sparkling on her face.

“Oh shut up Nyxie.” Her face flushed violet and she looked back down towards Winston's neck. Argo, assured that he won the argument turned to look forward. They were approaching a forest in the distance, it was a shortcut which would allow them to cross a large bend in the established road, although it wouldn’t be the safest place to go. Still, he was more then sure that they would be able to handle anything they came across. He took in a long breath as a stick slammed against his back. “Ow! What the hell Nyx!” He turned back towards her, staring daggers at her as she closed the gap.

“Ryle, please explain to our friend here why I did that.” She spoke in a calm matter of fact tone as she lifted her eyes off of Argo’s back and looked further towards the forest.

“Gladly Nyx.” He leapt into the air before turning to face Argo. “Well Argo, that is a name which Nyx does not look favourably upon. You calling her by it is quite rude and she will continue to attack you every time you use it.”

“Thank you, Ryle.” Argo rolled his eyes

“I hate both of you,” Argo grumbled under his breath as he looked down at the consistent flow of grass and dirt passing beneath his horse's strides. Laughter rolled out of both Nyx and Ryle, like music intertwining with the consistent beating of hooves along the ground. 

Quiet grew over them as they entered the forest, though Argo couldn’t discard the grin he wore on his face. The leaves above shifted in the wind which carried Ryle forward. Noises from nearby bushes sounded to them that there were rodents in the forest. 

“Remember to keep an eye out for any other people Ryle,” Nyx spoke in as quiet a voice as she could as they continued through the forest. Argo remained on guard, his eyes scanning the various trees and paths, looking for any sign that someone else had come through the area recently. He couldn’t find anything.

“Of course Nyx.” Ryle did much the same as Argo. His eyes and ears were enhanced by knowledge. He peered deep through trees, looking with depth into areas which would have otherwise remained unnoticed. “There is one group travelling ahead of us. Two people in all. They don’t seem like the type to be of much danger.”

“Good.” Nyx shot back as they continued forward. Argo’s hand wandered to the two blades at his hip. He had completed the setback in Riverfell, collecting the second of his father's two knives. They seemed to be safe, but one could never be too sure.

“We should veer to the side. We don’t want to run past them.” Argo commented, the other two nodded in agreement and they shifted to the left.

The sun slowly fell from the sky, patches of orange light peered through the gaps of the forest's canopy. It became clear that Ryle and the horses were starting to grow tired, as they passed through the monotonous landscape. As the hours passed by Ryle occasionally utilised his knowledge to make sure that no one was in the vicinity. It seemed that the forest was barren of people except for the first group who had long since left the area Ryle was able to scout.

“I think we should stop here and set up camp.” Argo cut through the silence as he took note of the sweat which was building up across Ryles brow.

“Smart idea.” He came to a halt almost immediately, taking in sharp long breaths. He moved to lean against a nearby tree as Nyx and Argo brought their horses to a stop. As the pair began to pull out and lay down their sleeping bags from their horse's packs Ryle wiped the sweat away which was rolling down, pooling at the base of his chin. 

“You two should go find a stream, get water and cool down a bit. I can finish setting up camp on my own.” Nyx nodded, tapping Argo on the shoulder twice as she went and collected the exhausted Ryle and set down into the forest. Argo moved through the shadows of the forest, feeding their horses with the hay they were travelling with and collecting sticks, branches and logs for a fire.

A cool breeze cut through the tall pine trees around him as Argo struck flint against a piece of steel. Sparks flew onto the tinder he had gathered as a fire burst into life. Slowly he stoked the flames, placing logs in while he waited for the others to return. The sky continued to dim, its oranges turning to dark blues as the moon came into view, casting the forests roof in a white light.

It took thirty minutes for Argo to realise something was wrong. The tension had been brewing in his gut ever since Nyx and Ryle set off. No, it had been growing since Ryle failed to locate another group travelling in the forest. They were close to population centres in the Eastern province, there should have been some people, even if they were just hunters. However, after that first group, the forest remained barren.

Wasting no time Argo launched to his feet and ran into the forest. It didn’t take long for him to pick up on Ryle’s tracks. He knew finding Nyx’s would be an impossible task, she had been trained by Ginny herself, she wouldn’t leave tracks so obvious that Argo would be able to find them. His mind raced as he passed through the forest. They had to be fine, they had to be. Nyx was an initiated member of the guild, she was a fighter at least on par with Verin and Ryle had said that no one was close to them. He had no tangible reason to worry, yet he knew it intrinsically. Something was wrong.

As he went deeper into the forest he began to hear the soft hum of running water. As it grew louder the sound of animals faded. Argo slowed, crouching down as he grew closer to the river. He peaked from behind a bush, seeing the riverbank where Ryle’s tracks continued towards. A shirt and an empty lute case lay on stones which the river ran past, Ryle was nowhere to be seen.

“Leave us alone!” Ryle screamed out. His voice was carried on the wind from the other side of the river. Argo pulled back, hiding behind the treeline, had he been visible? No, he should have been hidden. Ryle must have utilised his knowledge of sight and hearing to locate him. Though how had whoever their captors happened to be snuck up on him? Argo shook his head, clearing his mind of thoughts.

His fingers loosely wrapped around the hilt of the two knives on his hip. He paused for a moment, taking in a long, deep breath. He raised his head and stood up on the balls of his feet before rushing forward. He broke through the forest edge, arriving quickly at the riverbank. He didn’t stop moving, his feet slid across the damp stone, his momentum built and he launched off the edge with as much force as he could muster. He flew forward, the ground beneath him replaced with the fast running water of the stream. He started to fall, having reached the peak of the arc. He braced himself. His arms crossed over each other as he pulled in his legs. He landed on the other side in a roll, the impact sending waves of pain over his still injured body. His ribs screamed out, begging him to stop, yet adrenaline like worry coursed through his body, numbing his mind to his body's complaints.

His eyes scanned the forest on the other end, he quickly took note of a set of far more obvious tracks. Bushed had been entirely trampled over, clearly not by a human. They were on horseback. He didn’t care. They could have only gone so far if Ryle was able to scream loud enough for him to hear. 

His heart hammered against his chest as he leapt over a bush, ducked beneath a branch and climbed over a mound. The tracks seemed to become fresher and more plentiful as he went. These men would be dangerous, they had been able to capture Nyx and Ryle. Yet they clearly weren’t trained to limit their marks. Sweat cloaked Argo’s brow by the time he heard the group ahead. His senses were left dull and numb as his mind focussed on Nyx and Ryle. He heard the grunts of men and the slow trots of horses almost as if he were underwater. He wore blinders, he saw nothing except for the carriage, the two horses leading it forward and what seemed to be five men on or surrounding the structure.

He unconsciously began forward, only stopping himself after he took another few steps towards the carriage. They had managed to catch both Ryle and Nyx, he would not be able to approach this lightly. A head snapped in his direction. He swiftly swung his body behind the body of a tree, hoping to avoid their gaze. Had he not been injured, had he not been alone, had he not made a noise Argo would have been assured of his success in this encounter.