11 The journey begins

That night around the flames, Arthor had told the other two about his plan to head West.

Ronell simply listened feeding Spakr, who was resting on his shoulder with a piece of meat. Lothor on the other hand was the opposite of his younger brother as Arthor could simply feel the excitement radiating of him when he told him of the enemies they were sure to face on the way.

They all went to bed early that night deciding to begin the journey the next day.

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Letting the early cold winds brush up against his face, Arthor turned to his siblings who had grabbed everything they needed and stood behind him ready to make the journey.

The made their journey through the sparse woods, hearing naught but the howling winds and caws of Ravens who flew ahead, Arthor stood in the midst of his brothers with Ronell who was warging on his back.

Before him was Benjen and behind Arthor was Lothor, the three continued their journey for ten days making their way down the mountains the Rocky mountains taking note of the white that seemed to stretch on for as far as they could see. They were forced to take breaks at certain points when the winds grew harsh but they still persisted in their journey.

They came to a sudden halt though when Ronell on Arthor's back awoke and called for they all to stop, "what is it, Ronell?" Arthor turned to question his brother with the other two paying attention to their conversation.

"I saw a village up ahead surrounded by a wooden wall with spikes and everything." Ronell began causing all the brothers to tense up, "did you see any of them close to us" Arthor asked.

Ronell shook his head in response which allowed for Arthor to let out a breath of relief as at least it was not all bad just yet. "How many people did you see?"

"There were seventy men in the village with twelve men outside with weapons, patrolling."

"What now?" Benjen cut in, his sword at the ready, "we avoid them" Arthor spoke after a minute. "We can't deal with a village which has stood for a year for our first fight, Ronell get your Ravens and have them map out a path for us.

"And be careful, they might have Wargs of their own", Arthor cautioned Ronell as he placed him on the floor with the three brothers standing guard over his body.

Ronell's mind slipped from his body splitting amongst the ravens who silently took to the sky. Flying high in the sky with the snow and clouds as cover, Ronell made sure to avoid not just human eyes but the eyes of any creature as he carefully mapped out a route.

Half an hour later, Ronell had awoken telling his brothers about the route he had marked out, "Alright remember we have to pass through this place without being detected, we can't afford to fight a village just yet."

"Why not we trained for this didn't we?" Lothor who grasped his axes tightly, asked. "We did but you're not ready, none of us are ready to fight an entire village on our own." Arthor turned to Lothor before leading them away.

The four made their way through the path mapped out by Ronell avoiding the village making their way further down the mountain when they all hear a twig snap.

The four quickly snapped their head towards the sound and noticed a giant man with blue face paint decorating his bald head with runes, rushing towards them with a Warhammer.

Wasting no time, Lothor let loose one his axes which buried its self deep into the man's skull. Before the man's body could hit the ground, Benjen run with his sword through another man who was following after the first man, heart.

"thought you said this route was clear!" Lothor turned to Ronell after pulling out his axe from the other man's skull. "It is... or was"Ronell answered his voice turning to a whisper at the end.

"Enough!" Arthor shouted over the boys stopping them before this turned into an argument.

"This is simple the patrol guards don't have a fixed pattern. So whatever the Ravens mapped out isn't reliable, we need to get out of here before we are discovered by-" *thwak* Ronell let loose an arrow cutting of Arthor and killing another guard.

The four wasting no time in conversation made a full sprint to escape. They had abandoned all hope of not being discovered, the angry shouts from behind which grew in number with each passing second told them of just how many men were chasing after them.

"Damn it!" Arthor cursed as he pulled out his sword and axe taking cover behind a rock alongside his brothers. "safe you said" Benjen looked to him with eyes narrowed.

"Can't we talk about this later, when we are not being hunted by an entire village", saying so the made a run for it once more through the winding paths, avoiding the weapons thrown at them.

Lothor was on Benjen's back with Ronell on Arthor's back, eyes completely white. His pupils returned as Spakr returned to his side, "there is a cave not far ahead!" Ronell shouted to them once he returned to his body.

"Alright, Benjen!"

Benjen gave a simple sword before relentlessly smashing his fist into the side of the mountain, the continuous attacks caused cracks alongside side rocks which began to fall towards them.

The brothers managed to make it to the cave slipping in just as a rock slide began stopping their pursuers and obscuring the entrance to the cave allowing the brothers to catch their breath.

The little experience allowed for Arthor to realize he might have been over his head when he decided to head west, but why... why could he feel his blood pumping, Arthor thought to himself with a smile forming.