Howdy and welcome to the second installment of Wednesday Character Stories! When we left off last week, Lieutenant Liam had been knocked unconscious and Lynwood Keep had been taken. So without further ado– Part 2!

---

 

Waking brought no relief. Liam opened his eyes to see bloody cobblestones. He lurched upright, not knowing whose it was. A hand steadied him.

“Easy, Lieutenant,” someone said. He vaguely identified the voice as Bran’s. He sat up and held a hand to his throbbing head, feeling a mass of dried blood on his forehead. For the moment, any survivors had been forced to the center of the courtyard within sight of the ruined gates. There were more than Liam might have expected.

“What’s going on?” he asked Bran quietly.

“Not much. I don’t think you’ve been out for that long. As far as I can tell, they’re trying to decide what to do with us,” Bran said. He gave a quick nod to one of the Calorins. “That extraordinarily pompous one must be their leader. He’s been strutting around and getting a few cheers out of them for a while now.”

Liam almost gave a smile. Bran could be counted on to give a unique view of any situation. A faint moan distracted Liam. He turned to see that the wounded had been left with them as well. His healer instinct took over and he moved slowly to the nearest warrior, ignoring Bran’s faint hiss.

“Lieutenant, I don’t think you should…” the wounded man tried to say, but Liam pressed him down.

“Easy, Dan,” he said quietly. “I’m going to borrow some of your tunic so I can bandage your leg,” he said as he ripped a swath of cloth from Dan’s tunic. He did the same with others until one man stopped him by nodding past his head. Liam turned slowly to see that his movement had attracted the attention of their guard. The Calorin met his gaze and unexpectedly gave him a small nod and turned away again as if he had seen nothing. Liam quickly finished with the bandage on the man’s arm. But a few minutes later, his luck changed. He was using part of a cloak to try and staunch a gaping wound on a soldier’s chest. He heard Bran bark his name then another blow came. He was knocked forward and splattered with blood as the Calorins killed the man he’d been helping.

He rolled to the side, dodging another blow. This time he saw the spear and as it came down again, he grabbed it and yanked it from its owner. Springing to his feet, he quickly reversed the weapon and stabbed the Calorin. He killed two more before they backed away. A shout forced him to look. The Calorin commander had his sword to Bran’s chest. His intent was clear so Liam threw down the spear and was grabbed by two Calorins as the commander came to stand in front of him.

---

Eep!! Don’t forget to share and tell your friends if you liked it! Don’t forget to come around next Wednesday to find out what happens!

#wednesdaycharacterstories

 

*I’m claiming this story as my property. Please don’t steal it and force me to hire a ninja.