He stepped in front of her to face the approaching men. He drew a long sword from within the folds of his cloak. He held it out in front of his body, his hands gripping the hilt with the grace of a master swordsman.

The tallest of the cloaked men spoke a quiet command to the others, establishing himself as their leader. The others quickly formed a circle around Sebastian.

"Lower your sword, Frosttouch," the man said. "There's more of us than you. You know you can't resist - not without people getting injured."

Sebastian lowered his sword after a moment's hesitation and turned the hilt towards the man. He took it and signaled to the others to lead Sebastian outside. Sebastian glanced around and his eyes caught Ellanna watching from the back with a worried expression. He felt the cold touch of iron as a sword was pressed to his back and was marched towards the door and out of view of Ellanna's gaze.

Outside, the men forced Sebastian to his knees and put a sword to his throat.

"Not so tough now, are you Frost?" sneered the man holding the sword. The other two laughed.

Their leader emerged from the inn. Behind him the last man dragged Ellanna out by her auburn hair. Sebastian's eyes flashed with anger.

"Let her go," he growled.

The leader laughed. "Now why should we do that? Clearly the girl is important to you and your cause, what with you protecting her so. I couldn't possibly imagine why, though. Such a weak and cowardly creature. Could be a fun plaything for my men, eh boys?" They all laughed and hollered their agreement.

Sebastian glowered at them. "Let. Her. Go," he spat through clenched teeth. His hands curled into fists.

When they didn't let her go, he lashed out at the man in front of him and ducked to avoid the blade that swung at his head. Ellanna watched in awe as he whirled around the men, dodging and disarming as they attacked. A whirlwind of snow rose up around the men making it difficult for them to see. The man restraining her let go as he and the leader joined in the fray. Ellanna glanced around and saw Sebastian's sword laying on the ground a few feet away. She stumbled over and picked it up. It was lighter than she had expected, though it was still difficult to lift.

She had never fought a day in her life, and had no idea how to wield a sword, but she could see that Sebastian was starting to struggle, and she knew she had to help him.

Sebastian took down the last of the first three attackers and turned to face the newest two threats. They were tougher than the others and they wore him down quickly. The leader struck at him, and dodging too slow, Sebastian was knocked to the ground. Lying prone, he kicked the shorter of the two. The man stumbled, his eyes rolling back as frost crept up his body, and collapsed. Sebastian rolled to avoid the sword that slammed into the ground a hairsbreadth from his head. The soldier pulled back the sword to strike again when a loud clang sounded, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Sebastian looked up to see Ellanna standing there holding his sword.

"Needa hand up?" She offered him her hand and helped him to his feet.

He brushed the snow off himself and held out his hand for his sword. "Thank you," he said, "I'd like to say that I had that under control, but that wasn't the case."

She handed him back his sword which he then sheathed. "What are we doing with them?" She gestured to the unconscious men lying scattered on the ground.

"Leave them. When they wake they'll report back to their commander, so we best be off as quickly as we can." He led her around the side of the inn where a large grey dappled stallion was tethered, along with two slightly smaller bays. "Do you ride?" he questioned.

She shook her head. "Never had a horse."

"You can ride with me then. We can switch horses to keep them from tiring too quickly. Can you get into the saddle? Or do you need help?"

"I think I can..." She stared at the horse and the saddle. "How do I?..."

"Put your left foot in the stirrup and pull yourself up." She tried, but couldn't get her leg over. 

"Here, I'll give you a boost." He helped her into the saddle and untied the horses, then deftly mounted up in front of her.

"Just hold on tight to me, and you won't fall." He nudged the horse with his heels and they started off towards the northern edge of town. Once they were out of the village he urged the horses into a gallop and they cut quickly across the long grass fields and into the low, rolling hills.

They were silent as they rode; Ellanna was concentrating on keeping her grip and not giving in to the nausea she felt. Sebastian stopped the horses when the sun was low on the horizon.

"We can make camp here, it's a decent spot and the horses could use a break." He dismounted and helped Ellanna down. She took a step and wobbled. Sebastian caught her before she fell. "I guess you could use a break too." He laughed softly.

She smiled. "I suppose I could."

Sebastian started a campfire then set up camp with the supplies from the horses while Ellanna made a stew with some vegetables and dried meat. They chatted while they worked, and got to know each other more. Sebastian told her more about the Kallima's role in fighting The Iron Fist's tyranny. That they had several communities spread across the kingdom,and what it was like for him growing up in the mountains - where his branch of the Kallima was located. She told him about her childhood with her parents, and what it was like after she lost them.

"Did your mother never teach you magic?" Sebastian queried when she finished a story about her and her mother when she was little.

"Magic?"

"Your mother had substantial power, or so I've heard. You probably inherited that power. Once we get to the mountains, you could work with some of our mages. They could teach you a thing or two."

Ellanna stared up at him, her mouth open in a small 'o'. He chuckled and sat down across the fire. She blushed, closed her mouth, and checked the stew.

"Stew's ready." She served the stew, and they ate in a relaxed silence.

Beneath the orange glow of the flickering firelight, Ellanna noticed Sebastian's face growing pale and tired.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You look awfully pale."

He nodded. "It's nothing." 

She gave him an admonishing look.

"It's just a small wound on my shoulder. It's sore, that's all."

"Let me have a look at it." She stood up and walked around the fire to kneel beide him. "It might be more serious than you think. Besides, I know a bit of healing."

He sighed, but relented and unclasped his cloak. She pulled down the collar of his tunic, revealing a small gash on his left shoulder.

"You're right, it doesn't look too serious." She gently prodded the skin around the wound; he winced. "There isn't even much blood. I don't get why you're so pale. Still, I'll get some bandages on it - better to not risk an infection."

He told her where in the packs to find a medkit and she gently cleaned and bandaged his shoulder. When she was finished he stood and held out his hand to pull her up.

"I'm fine, really. It's only exhaustion, I'll be better after some rest, you don't need to worry."

"Fine, but I'm keeping my eye on it."

He smiled and picked up his cloak from the ground. He shook the snow off it and gently wrapped it around her shoulders. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"It's going to get very cold tonight and I don't want you to catch achill."

"What about you?"

He shrugged. "I already told you. The cold doesn't bother me. I'll be fine without it."

She smiled and accepted his cloak, then bid him goodnight before crawling into a tent to sleep. He stayed out to bank the fire before heading into his own tent for the night.