Fragments Gallery
A Mission
The unceasing rain had turned the once hard packed road to mud hours ago, but still the single line of riders plunged onwards through the rough conditions. Water freely flowed down the oiled cloaks of the riders; it trickled across the flanks of the wearied horses before it splashed to the ground. Although the riders must have felt the cold they showed no sign of it. Their harshly chiselled faces were adorned with grim determination; their eyes glittered from beneath their broad brimmed hats. These were men on a mission.
As they crested a hill the lead rider lifted a gauntleted hand and the others came to a stop behind him. Their black cloaks flapped in the wind as they dismounted, each one patting their mounts and murmuring soothing words to their horses. Within moments the only sound to be heard was that of the rain as the riders settled down to wait, staring down the road in front of them. They didn’t have to wait long.
As several minutes passed the riders shifted impatiently but they held their silence. When a rider entered their field of view and galloped up the road in front of them none of the riders showed any shock. This was the one whom they had been waiting for. Coming to an abrupt halt the new rider, a scout, slid off of his horse and rushed over to speak with the leader of the group. The pair spoke in hurried whispers as the other riders either looked on or kept watch on the road. Either way their gazes remained impassive, their features carved from stone. Having finished his report the scout fell silent, and then nodded as the leader outlined his new instructions. Without another word the scout returned to his saddle and set off down the road, his black cloak flapping in the wind behind him. As the scout vanished from sight the leader called out orders and the hilltop was filled with a flurry of motion as the riders remounted and then set off down the road at a trot. There was a new sense of urgency to the leader’s words. It could only mean one thing.
They were drawing closer.