12 Years Ago - Part 8

"Samantha, stay inside!" My mother yelled, slamming the carriage door.

The horn continued to blow in blasts of three. Guards who had been on the right side of the carriage had now moved to the left. They evenly spread themselves out along length of the convey, spears drawn. There were others who dismounted, mostly young men, who stood by their carriages or carts with sword or dagger at the ready.

The whooping grew closer.

I peaked outside of the window. My mother and Valk stood on either side of the carriage door, facing into the forest that lined the left side of the road. My mother had her short sword withdrawn and Valk had readied his longsword and shield.

A sudden *thump* and I heard a scream come from further up the line of carriages. The whooping grew louder, and sounded celebratory.

"HOLD!" I heard someone shout.

"Why aren't there any archers?" I heard Valk mumble under his breath.

"Trained archers are expensive," my mother whispered in reply.

*Thunk* *Thunk* *Thunk* The sound was now coming in at a consistent rate, like a very slow, but very heavy rain shower.

"MY LEG!" I heard a voice shout. This time it sounded like it came from the wagons that were further down the line behind us.

"HOLD!"

Valk suddenly thrust is shield arm out. There was a loud metallic *CLANG* as he knocked aside an incoming spear.

"Come on you bastards, lets do this!" Valk barked towards the forest.

Valk got his wish. Moments after, a sea of squat green bodies burst forth from the forest.

My mother flew into action, stepping aside from a thrusting spear, she brought the short sword down into the head of one of the creatures. There was a sickening crunch and a spattering of blood,.

Using his shield, Valk bashed aside a creature that had leaped at him. He kicked another on the chin and sent it tumbling into its fellows.

"GOBLINS!" I heard someone shout.

I heard the horn blast again, before suddenly being cut off.

There was a loud *THUNK* as a spear lodged itself into the side of the carriage, its shaft quivering from the impact.

The sight of violence and the sudden impact was too much for my four-year-old brain to process. I crawled back as far as I could to the other side of the carriage. I tried to cover myself with pillows, as if that would further protect me somehow.

I closed my eyes tightly. All I could hear were the sounds of metal on bone, shouting, cries of pain, and the continued whooping of the goblin troupe.

Suddenly, I heard the door to the carriage open.

"Oh no you don't you little bastard!" I heard Valk say. The next sound was a sickening crunch, and the door was closed again.

The battle continued for some time. I stayed as scrunched up as much as I could, trying to block out what was going on all around me. The sight of my mother slamming the sword down into the head of a goblin was playing over and over in my head. Then I pictured a goblin doing the same to my mother. Then to Valk. Then to me.

I heard the horn sound again. Two long blasts this time.

"They're running!" I heard Valk shout.

The sound of combat slowly faded, as did the hollering and whooping of the goblins. A few moments of silence passed before I heard the door to the carriage open.

I pulled myself tighter into a ball. I held the pillows against me as tight as I could in a death grip.

"Honey," I heard my mother's voice say soothingly. "It's OK. They're all gone."

Trembling, I pulled a pillow down from my face. I could see the silhouette of my mother framed in the doorway of the carriage.

The carriage bounced slightly as my mother climbed aboard.

I screamed when she reached out for me with a bloody hand.

***

"I don't know if I can do this anymore," I heard my mother say from outside. "I don't know if SHE can do this anymore."

I lay huddled on carriage bench, still clutching the pillow.

"It's a hard circumstance for anyone to be under milady." Valk replied.

"What was I thinking? I just wanted to comfort my daughter, but I was so shortsighted that I didn't even CONSIDER how scary it would be for a four-year-old to see her mother covered in blood."

"I'm sure many would have done the same milady. You were caught up in the thought of checking to see if your daughter was OK. Pure instinct."

"Great instinct then!" my mother said in a sarcastic tone.

There were a few moments of silence.

"I'm going to see what if there is anything I can do to help the wounded," said Valk. "With your permission milady."

"Go on, I get the feeling it might be a while until we get moving again."

I heard Valk's boots crunch on the ground as he made his way up the line of carriages.

After a few moments the carriage door opened and my mother got inside.

She sat in the bench across from me and rested her two arms on her knees, hanging her head down.

"Mommy?"

She looked up. She had cleaned away most of the blood, but there were still splotches here and there. She looked so very, very tired.

"Yes, honey?"

"Are you OK?"

"Mommy's fine. It will take more than a few goblins to hurt me." She smiled, but it seemed forced.

"Was anybody hurt?"

"Yes honey. A few people got hurt."

"Oh."

My mother stood up and sat on the bench next to me. She started stroking my hair. "I know that must have been very scary."

"Yeah..."

"Its fine to be scared."

I sat up and looked at her. "Were you scared Mommy?"

"Yes," she said. She pulled me into a hug. "I was very scared of losing you."

She hugged me for a long time.