An eventful ride

The weather was pleasant indeed. The sun was shining but there were enough clouds and also a pleasant breeze, so it wasn’t too hot. The three siblings trotted their horses along, happily chatting and laughing as they went. The road they were on today was not the one that led to Seph’s cave, they had traveled that path often enough of late. No, this one would lead to Townton, the nearest large settlement and where Dina and Lord Luthor were currently headed, if one went east. But the three of them were headed westward, having no interest in heading into town or in bumping into the aforementioned duo. In that direction the road led to nothing much for quite a while, but there was a smaller riding track leading away from the main road about two hours away, and that would lead to a truly picturesque little lake. One that was quite sheltered too, where a man could go bathing naked with his sisters without being overly worried about interruption.

Those plans were derailed though. About an hour before they would have even reached the little track, as they approached a bend in the road, the horses heard something. Vel could tell from their reactions as well as his link with Veldred. The other two horses moved their ears forward, and Celina even tossed her head a little. Veldred had showed no outward reaction, but Vel picked up on a bit of agitation in the large destrier’s mind. It made sense, he was made of sterner stuff than the mounts of his sisters, being a literal warhorse. Vel held up a hand and the party came to a halt.

“The horses have picked up on something ahead of us, I am not sure what.” Neither sister questioned him on that, but Lynn briefly frowned as she craned her neck. “I think I can hear something from up ahead, can’t you two?” The twins both shook their heads. “Perhaps your hearing is a bit sharper than ours, Lynn. What does it sound like?” The beautiful brunette shrugged at her brother. “I can barely make anything out, but I think someone is shouting and… There’s clanking. A bit like when the guards do sword drills.”

Vel immediately grasped the implications of her words, but it seemed to take Lynn a second to realize what her own words meant. When she did, her eyebrows flew up. “Wait, Vel, you don’t think-?” He cut her off. “It is possible there’s some kind of confrontation going on up ahead. It has to be pretty far away though, I figure I am safe to ride around the bend to look. Maybe I can see something from there. If memory serves, the road slopes downhillafter the bend anyway.” Adeline snorted. “If you think we’ll wait for you here you’re sorely mistaken, Brother.” Lynn nodded emphatically. Vel supposed there wasn’t any real risk to letting them come that far with him, for the same reasons he had just listed. “Very well then, let’s go.” He urged Veldred forward, and his sisters followed.