Distress: Day 6

Word Count: 36,008

Summary of Events:

Inspired by the tale they were told, the men of Cynehærdwyn offered to launch a small attack to rescue the Prince of Sygæðelwulf's body from the fortress. Olwyn ended up being chosen as a member of the attacking party, which breached the wall of Wygþmynd and was able to get into the courtyard of the fortress of Sæbyrgealh, where the cavalry of Sæwinstiþ attacked them. Olwyn ended up falling off of her horse and tried to edge her way along the wall to escape the fortress and get back to the camp . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

Part of her wished that Cælan would ride by and she might be able to ride double behind his horse and help him as he fought with the enemies until they ended up being successful or returned to their camp.

Instead Olwyn found that most of the men riding past her engaged in duels or charging to the defence of one of their men in a duel were men of Sæwinstiþ with the snake emblem on their chest, and it was a small relief to Olwyn that they didn’t seem to notice her and plunge their sword into her.

Suddenly a horse sidestepped toward Olwyn, its rider engaged in a heated duel with another mounted rider and Olwyn was slammed hard against the wall, which didn’t sound altogether like it ought to sound, seeing as it was a stone fortress wall.

Before Olwyn realised what was happening the wall had given way behind her and she staggered into darkness.

As she turned slightly due to the force applied to her she ended up stumbling a bit before suddenly her foot dropped out from under her and she started sliding down a bumpy surface that she knew had to be a set of stairs.

They forced her around the curve of their own accord and Olwyn wasn’t able to stop herself until she reached the bottom feeling more than a little sore.

Slowly and gingerly she got to her feet before she heard a human sound. She listened earnestly for the sound to repeat. Again she heard it, a voice calling a name.

Panic rose immediately within her and Olwyn felt the wall for another door. Finding one she opened it and felt inside. It felt empty and small, like a storage room.

Immediately Olwyn slipped inside and shut the door before carefully feeling about the room until she had determined that there was some clothing to hide behind, and so she did, her heart pounding in her ears, its throbbing and the rapid flow of air through her lungs serving to make her sides hurt terribly.

The longer she stood where she was, the wearier Olwyn started to feel. She sagged against the wall and sheathed her sword carefully.

Her shield started weighing down her arm, so Olwyn gently let it slide to the floor and rest against the wall.

She then started to feel herself rather weary of standing and sagged to the floor, tilting her head against the wall. She didn’t know what time it’d been when Cælan had woken her, but she was of the mind at this particular moment that it had been rather late and she hadn’t slept enough yet to replenish her depleted energy stores from all the work she’d done at the camp over the course of the day.

Managing to settle herself comfortably against the wall, Olwyn closed her eyes and started to fall asleep in spite of herself, too weary to return up the stairs back to the fighting and escape to the camp as she’d initially meant to.