Greggan

The burning became more intense so he crept away, the men hadn't been watching him, he wasn't their focus. Devros had mentioned earlier in the night in a drunken stupor trying to impress some girls about his battle with the wraiths. He forgot to omit he had gone with his military company and that hadn't returned to his post. Eager ears belonging to the wrong person caught the tale as he passed by and sold the information to these men, bounty hunters who couldnt resist and easy payday. The head of a deserter was worth twenty silver which was a small fortune. They could sell the lad for another ten silver maybe more to a slavesmen in the city if they decided to even bother taking him.

Greggan could feel their power growing and decided to just leave all together. He scurried into the shadows off the edge of the camp towards the gates of AridTown hoping to be able to use the crowds and other camps as a way to hide.

Greggan felt a wave of cold air against his back and saw snow falling down around him. This was odd as this part of the country was lockef in a state of spring and summer. Snow never fell here ever which made it even more odd.

He felt a pair of ice cold hands grab at his cloak and scratch his shoulder, he felt it burn as he struggled to free himself from whatever it was. As he struggled he felt as if more hands had began to grab him, the burning could be felt on his back and arms and even the scruff of his neck. He looked behind him to see his captors, or rather the phantom blue flame of arcanic ice in the form of many hands rushed towards him. He let out a squeal and slipped off his cloak causing the hands to loose grip of him. He lunged forward and stumbled as he scurried away from the now following icy hands.

"I guess the blue eyed men noticed i was gone!" He said to himself as he breathed heavily from the sprint he was now making down the lines of tents and fires. Screams could be heard as the blue eyed men and their ice magic made quick chaos of the surrounding area. It would't be too long before the city sent out some men to stop the chaos which made them hunt more savagely for the boy who had decided he would have better luck with the guards at the gate than the three men who were currently murdering travelers like flies, leaving frozen bodies and icy pools of blood behind them.

Ice bolts were landing closer to him as he ran, the men were catching up and the cold they were invoking was beginning to to blanket the entirety of the now nightmarish sight of the kings road.

He could hear the yells from the gates as they creaked open to allow some of the army out to check the disturbance not knowing they were sending twenty men to face three sorcerers.

They were well armed, strong spears and armor, equipped with beautifully crafted long swords that hung on their hips. They rode great white steeds that seemed to tower over everything around them to Greggan. He had began to get close enough to see the men and make out their faces. He felt relief wash over him as he ran harder towards the knights and their men.

"Help! help! Over here!" He screamed trying to keep his sprinters pace, his little legs were burning from both exhaustion and the bitter cold the ice flames had produced.

"Over there! There's a boy!" A few of the men broke off from their formation and came marching towards the boy now running frantically towards them, their armor shone silver with the sigil of the house who ruled the city across their chests. They all were riding those brilliant white steeds whos purple woolen inlays matched their riders purple cloaks.

They gasped as they saw what had been chasing the boy in the distance. Blasts of arcane and ice came upon them sending a couple of them off their horses and the others to lose their helmets.

One of the men, a blonde man with a sharp chin and a thick mustache broke his leg on the impact causing him to release a shriek before he howled on the ground. The other man a black headed young man with a long crooked nose made his way to his feet while the rest of the men who had stayed at the gate rode towards the original five weapons draw. Greggan didn't slow down, he felt the blasts of the bolts nipping at his aching heels. He wasn't sure he would be able to make it to the gate, his chest screamed as his lungs desperately tried to pull air into them( which was cold making it even more torturous). He could feel his legs give out beneath him with every new step, slowing him down even further.

The knights surrounded the boy putting the asses of their horses in front of him attempting to protect him from whatever had thrown the bolts. Greggan collapsed to his knees as he gasped for breathe, tears had started to swell in his eyes and drip down his face.

"Look alive boyos! It seems we have a couple magic cunts disturbin the piece. Looks like they even killed a few people minding their own fucking business. These are our lands, our lords lands and i'll be fucked bloody before i let some magical twats do what they like on our lands!" An older broad knight said as he dismounted his horse, " our shields are protected from magic, made from titan wood and reinforced by elvish enchantments, keep them at your front and your swords at the ready for these devil bastards!" His men came down from

Their horses and removed their shields from the horses.

The cold has started to get more severe as the men grew closer, the blue glow from their tattoos were coming into focus, torches blew out and fires died and no voices could be heard from the camps anymore. It seems the mages had decided it better to just remove the non magical people from their lives. A wind had kicked up the snow and ice that it could and made the road impossible to see beyond a few yards in front of your face. Though the area around the gate and knights remained as summer, almost like there was a wall keeping the snow out that no one could see.

Greggan rolled onto his back and looked through the knights legs to try and see what was going on. The blockade of knights had obscured his view and he was too tired and weak to really move himself to a better position to see. There at the edge of the cold stood the three hooded men with skin like obsidian and eyes like water glowing a blue aura from their many tattoos. "We want that boy, he is part of the spoils from our hunt of the deserter Davos Patreas of the Aerios rangers. The boy is an orphan and was a ward of Davros whos life and properties belong to us by kings law."

All three men stood in a line as colds edge, and it was the middle one who spoke. " I am Luther Adax and these are my brothers, we only wish to take the boy and our deserter and leave." The knight looked behind him at the small boy in tears exhausted, he reminded him of his own son who had been killed during the plague years, " you killed many people to try and get this boy, none of which were try to stop you. By the kings law you are no longer hunting a bounty but committing crimes against the realm. The boy is under the protection of the house Magus, and you three are under arrest in the name of our King!"

Bounties were indeed lawfully able to be collected, killing or capturing the fugitive, you may take any personal items or slaves they may have at the time of capture. Killing those not aiding the fugitive was illegal and punishable by death. With the current state of relations between the magical and non both sides were looking for a reason to kill the other.

The knights pulled their swords from their sheaths, " you take the boy beyond the gates and send word to our Lord of whats transpired." He pointed to a younger knight, probably twenty or so. He grabbed Greggan and threw him over his shoulder and carried him beyond the bridge. "Oh great, slung over another mans back like a sac of carrots." He thought to himself as he stared at the three bald men he was now free from. He couldn't make out the words they were saying any longer but he could tell there was going to be a fight.

" you guys are gonna win right?" Greggan had always loved knights, they were the hero's in all his favorite stories. He wanted to grow up and be a great knight even if he knew it was highly unlikely a boy woth a bastards last name could ever aspire to be more than a foot soldier or a laborer. Maybe a kings fool if he was born an imp.

"Aye lad, don't you worry they'll be dead soon. What i would think about is what you're to do now that your orphaned."

Greggan had forgotten for a second he was not only a bastard but an orphaned bastard in a city that like to buy and sell humans like a farmer sells cattle.