Post by Jadrien de Morvilien (I) on Dec 24, 2006 23:00:02 GMT -5
It was a beautiful day that dawned on the morning of my brother's and my hunting day, and I rose early that morn just to be able to treasure it all the more.
The sun had been in the sky only an hour or so by the time we were ready to start our journey and I eagerly watched as the grooms finished readying our horsed for the journey.
Father had requested that three of our retainers, along with the family huntsmaster and his assistant to accompany us on our trip as he wouldn't be able to join us. But the both of us were in high spirits as we set out on our way.
We had planned a three day outing into the surrounding mountains and hills and were delighted to have such wonderful weather conditions for the start of our journey.
However, by the second day our luck had run out and we were endured a light rain and cloudy skies for the remainder of our trip. All of which would add to the disaster that would befall us the following day.
We had gone through the hills catching rabbits and fowl that we each skinned and packed with salt awaiting our return to the estate. And by the time we had traversed the hills our packs were all looking rather full, but we had thought to hunt for deer in the valley on the other side of the hills, and that is where we ran into trouble.
With the rain that hadn't let up the entire night the paths were slick with mud and loose rock, just waiting for a wrong step or a misguided turn to muck up our journey. Thus we ended up on a hillside in just these conditions that we were trying to navigate with caution.
The banter we had enjoyed had quieted as each of us concentrated on our footing and only the steady plodding of our horses broke the silence.
We came across a narrow valley that dipped between two hills and crossed the way easily enough only to get stuck on the opposing side. Dismounting we led our mounts along the steep sloped hill hoping to make things easier.
Then one of our retainers slipped, catching himself on his horses saddle. After we he had reassured us that he was well we continued, the rain still pelting us with a warm shower. But the somewhat amiable rain shower quickly turned to a summer storm and we were quickly caught in a howling gale with biting rain and winds.
Our horses confidently stepped along the trail after we had found an open space to remount, with a wider trail, but we were still searching for a place to make camp when Disaster occurred.
The wind had been pressing on the trees and somewhere above us a rock fall started, crashing down the hill and nearly missing our trail by only a few feet. But with the noise of the rocks falling ahead of us we were unable to hear the rest of the decending debri headed directly for us.
As the rock fall thundered by us there came a scream and a shout from behind me, telling me to watch for it. I turned my horse around only to see a shower of boulders hit my brother's horse and topple them over the edge of the cliff side trail.
I stood there in shock as the noise subsided, not believing what had befallen Aleron. The Huntsmaster started shouting orders and eventually a rope was thrown down the side of the cliff for one of the men to climb down to assess the damage and locate my brother.
Time only found us even more drenched from the storm and even less sure of where Aleron had fallen, and not knowing that he was alive or injured or dead wheighed heavily on all our minds.
It was only an hour after the incident that we were able to find the remainder of the rock fall and word passed up quickly that they had sighted my brother. The weather seemed to be clearing up but I didn't seem to be so lucky.
Another hour and a quarter left us with the assertion that Aleron had met his death at the bottom of the cliff. The recovery of his body and belongings took another handfull of hours as we made our way back down the cliffside to where he lay.
My retainers took care to bring Aleron back home, but the happy memories we had made on our trip seemed to pale in the stark reality of our loss. Suffice it to say our journey over the hills was quicker but all together devoid of laughter and storytelling and I was still disbelieving of our misfortune even as we made our way down the last hill, reaching the estate's inner grounds and home.
However unreal the loss of my brother was I decided at an early time to hold on to my happier memories of Aleron and the times we had shared together. And that was the only comfort I was able to cling to as my family mourned the passing of my brother and looked hopfully to the conformation of my new place in the household, heir to the house of Morvilien.
The sun had been in the sky only an hour or so by the time we were ready to start our journey and I eagerly watched as the grooms finished readying our horsed for the journey.
Father had requested that three of our retainers, along with the family huntsmaster and his assistant to accompany us on our trip as he wouldn't be able to join us. But the both of us were in high spirits as we set out on our way.
We had planned a three day outing into the surrounding mountains and hills and were delighted to have such wonderful weather conditions for the start of our journey.
However, by the second day our luck had run out and we were endured a light rain and cloudy skies for the remainder of our trip. All of which would add to the disaster that would befall us the following day.
We had gone through the hills catching rabbits and fowl that we each skinned and packed with salt awaiting our return to the estate. And by the time we had traversed the hills our packs were all looking rather full, but we had thought to hunt for deer in the valley on the other side of the hills, and that is where we ran into trouble.
With the rain that hadn't let up the entire night the paths were slick with mud and loose rock, just waiting for a wrong step or a misguided turn to muck up our journey. Thus we ended up on a hillside in just these conditions that we were trying to navigate with caution.
The banter we had enjoyed had quieted as each of us concentrated on our footing and only the steady plodding of our horses broke the silence.
We came across a narrow valley that dipped between two hills and crossed the way easily enough only to get stuck on the opposing side. Dismounting we led our mounts along the steep sloped hill hoping to make things easier.
Then one of our retainers slipped, catching himself on his horses saddle. After we he had reassured us that he was well we continued, the rain still pelting us with a warm shower. But the somewhat amiable rain shower quickly turned to a summer storm and we were quickly caught in a howling gale with biting rain and winds.
Our horses confidently stepped along the trail after we had found an open space to remount, with a wider trail, but we were still searching for a place to make camp when Disaster occurred.
The wind had been pressing on the trees and somewhere above us a rock fall started, crashing down the hill and nearly missing our trail by only a few feet. But with the noise of the rocks falling ahead of us we were unable to hear the rest of the decending debri headed directly for us.
As the rock fall thundered by us there came a scream and a shout from behind me, telling me to watch for it. I turned my horse around only to see a shower of boulders hit my brother's horse and topple them over the edge of the cliff side trail.
I stood there in shock as the noise subsided, not believing what had befallen Aleron. The Huntsmaster started shouting orders and eventually a rope was thrown down the side of the cliff for one of the men to climb down to assess the damage and locate my brother.
Time only found us even more drenched from the storm and even less sure of where Aleron had fallen, and not knowing that he was alive or injured or dead wheighed heavily on all our minds.
It was only an hour after the incident that we were able to find the remainder of the rock fall and word passed up quickly that they had sighted my brother. The weather seemed to be clearing up but I didn't seem to be so lucky.
Another hour and a quarter left us with the assertion that Aleron had met his death at the bottom of the cliff. The recovery of his body and belongings took another handfull of hours as we made our way back down the cliffside to where he lay.
My retainers took care to bring Aleron back home, but the happy memories we had made on our trip seemed to pale in the stark reality of our loss. Suffice it to say our journey over the hills was quicker but all together devoid of laughter and storytelling and I was still disbelieving of our misfortune even as we made our way down the last hill, reaching the estate's inner grounds and home.
However unreal the loss of my brother was I decided at an early time to hold on to my happier memories of Aleron and the times we had shared together. And that was the only comfort I was able to cling to as my family mourned the passing of my brother and looked hopfully to the conformation of my new place in the household, heir to the house of Morvilien.