Monday, February 08, 2016

Unriddling Clues: Day 7

Word Count: 42,005

Summary of Events:
Gavriila waited with Nikita for the arrival of the Czirtsak for his inspection of their camp and intercepted him beforehand to tell him of the Aissuresky fort and ambushes. Nikita brought the Czirtsak before the General — who didn't believe Nikita until the Czirtsak severely reprimanded the General, which caused the General to promptly keel over and die of fright. Gavriila pretended to watch the General's body be burned — the ultimate disgrace — and a Lieutenant-General be promoted to his place. Having broken camp for the first time in nearly two years, the soldiers set up camp in a new location; Nikita noticed Gavriila's tent wasn't set up — a skill she'd yet to learn — then he found she'd gone after a suspicious man watching them and hurt her arm; an Aissuresky soldier attacked him, but he got Gavriila off to safety on Breasha and duelled the soldier before finally killing him . . .

Excerpt of the Day:
"Nikita stood over the body for a few moments. Suddenly an arrow buried itself in the ground between his feet. Looking up, Nikita saw a soldier with a hefty bow drawing back another arrow.
Quickly Nikita turned to run. The arrow embedded itself in a tree not far from him; Nikita closed his eyes to keep flying bark bits from getting in.
His legs powered over the sloping landscape. He made sure to angle his feet so if they slid on the residual snow and damp old leaves from the year before they'd hit a tree before he lost his balance and landed on his face.
Several more arrow missed him as he ran. He slipped and reached for a tree. He heard a funny sound and nearly had his sword pulled from his hand as he reached. He caught the tree, then found that his sword was bent, a crack in it.
Muttering curses under his breath, Nikita quickly got himself to a stable position and sheathed his sword before he actually broke it.
More arrows landed dangerously close as he scrambled up the slippery slope for the break in the trees. If they dared come out after him from the trees the entire camp would be up in arms and root them out.
Finally he hit drier ground and had traction. Each thrust of his legs carried him further forward. Sharp pain stabbed deep under his shoulder and he toppled forward, sliding down the slope on his face slightly.
Nikita lay still for a few moments. He heard an arrow land nearby and forced himself to his feet, a difficult task being as he was angled downhill. He turned around and got up as more arrows landed nearby. The horses saw him running, and turned, fleeing. Nikita couldn't see Breasha, or Gavriila, or anything else other than the camp, still and lifeless.
Reaching the bottom of the hill, Nikita kept going across the flat as hard and as fast as he could go. The pain underneath his shoulder spiking as he swung his arm back and forth to give himself more momentum, but he worked to ignore it, even as it started to touch his brain.
Suddenly a stab of pain shot up and when Nikita opened his eyes he found he was down on the ground. Feet were all around him, someone was pulling. He recognised the coarse canvas of a stretcher under him, and he could hear distant shouts and battle-cries.
"You're safe Lieutenant, we'll root out those bastards and give them a good licking for you," someone said. The voice sounded vaguely familiar.
"Comaromkova," Nikita gasped.
"Major Comaromkov you mean?" the familiar person asked.
Nikita nodded.
"He's alright, he warned us of the attack and the doctor's with him right now," the familiar person replied.
Nikita cursed in his mind. He'd said Comaromkova instead of Comaromkov. If he didn't watch his own tongue he was going to get Gavriila found out and killed just as much as she might."

Czirtsak: zeertsack

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