Freedom on the Road

The sun beat down on the scrubby trees that lined the road. My horse pushed onward, through a dense forest of twisted, gnarled branches, with the occasional bird or small mammal darting between. I dozed, my back against the worn leather saddlebags and pack tied to the saddle atop my mare. The sounds of birdsong and buzzing insects surrounded me.

My eyes popped open as I was startled by an angry voice I didn't recognize. It seemed to be coming from behind me. I twisted around in my seat, peering into the forest as much as possible. Shadows obscured most of my vision between the thick trunks, but I could see three men dressed in mail hauberks and helmets on horseback pass through a break in the trees farther back. Their armor glinted in the sun, and their swords were sheathed at their hips. They looked fierce, like warriors out of a storybook. As they passed by without noticing my presence, I did not wave to them or otherwise draw their attention - though it would have been nice to speak to them, I was unsure of where they had come from and what their intentions might be.

I turned forward again, in time to see two women emerge from between some trees ahead of me - they were also wearing mail hauberks, but they had no helmets on. Despite their similar clothing, these women appeared more approachable than those armored men had. Their hair was braided back behind their heads and covered by headscarves; one wore a tan scarf over her face and the other wore a green scarf that left only her eyes exposed. Both held wooden quarterstaves in gloved hands; each weapon was topped by a wickedly pointed spike that could pierce even steel armor if used properly. Both women carried round shields slung across their backs; there was something familiar looking about them...

"Stop!" one of them yelled suddenly. Her voice startled me again; she sounded like she was shouting through something that muffled her voice slightly - she had an accent that I could not place, but it did not sound familiar at all to me. She pointed her staff at my horse's hindquarters; it skidded to a stop so quickly that I nearly fell off its side before grabbing onto its mane for support. "Who are you?" she demanded as the other woman circled around behind me on her horse while keeping her distance from my own mount's flailing hooves as it tried to figure out how to stand still correctly after such sudden movement.

"I'm Jordan," I said cautiously as I turned around in my saddle slowly to keep both women in sight; this world seemed different than mine somehow, and until I knew better what worked here and what didn't work here... better play things safe until I learned otherwise! "Where am I? Who are you?"

The woman with the green scarf over her face chuckled softly behind me; it sounded like a mix between a whimper and a growl - almost inhuman! "So many questions," she said with an amused tone - or maybe a mocking tone? "We've met before."

I frowned at her words; I didn't remember meeting anyone like these two before! "Have we?" Neither woman looked familiar at all... just very different from women back home! Except for those odd clothes and weapons, they looked no different from any other woman here! How could they be implying we had met before?

"Yes," said the woman who had first approached me while studying me intently with her dark brown eyes - they were so dark they looked black! She glanced briefly at the other woman before returning her gaze to me as she continued speaking: "You've forgotten already." She sounded disappointed by that fact... why would she sound disappointed? What did she expect me to remember?

"I don't know who you are," I protested weakly, not wanting these two strangers near me any longer than necessary! When they ignored me, however, my anger rose quicker than it normally would have; this wasn't making sense! Why had those men who passed earlier ignored me too? They weren't attacking this pair of strange women either - why did everyone seem so afraid of them? Yet no one else seemed concerned about finding people like this pair attacking people openly on such a busy road! Was there some sort of war going on? "Get away from me!"