Owin #31 — A night on the beach

“Gwen, let’s bed down over there,” Owin said, pointing a bit of the way up the rise on their far right. The dancing flames of the fire behind him did little to illuminate where Owin intended to sleep.

“That far from the fire?”

Owin picked up blankets Captain Arn had provided them. “Yeah, the smoke bothers my head.”  He said for the sailors benefit.  When they had walked far enough away that he doubted they would hear him over the lapping of the waves upon the beach, he leaned closer to Gwen. “If something happens, I want us away from the fire.  We don’t need to make it easy for people to see us.” Searching around in the dark, he looked for somewhere that had more sand than rock, but that was hard to find. “If something does happen, I want you to move a short distance away and then drop and freeze. Don’t try to run, people can see movement, even in the dark. Don’t try to help me. Just stay low and don’t come out. If things are real bad, you wait until just before dawn and then slip away before it’s light enough for them to see you.”

“Owin, I won’t leave you.”

He turned toward her. “You will if it is necessary.” He took her left shoulder in his hand. “Look, if something happens and they have you, I won’t be able to fight my way through to the end and then we’d both be dead. If they don’t have leverage over me, I can fight on and perhaps come out the other end.”

“Owin–”

“Don’t. The rules are that you do what I say and in this, there is no choice.” He sighed. “You are not without skill, but anyone who sees you is going to consider you the weakest threat and try to eliminate you first to get you out of the way. I don’t want that.”

Gwen bit her lower lip. “Anything else I need to do?”

“Get some sleep. They will keep a watch, but I can’t trust they won’t try to kill me when I’m asleep. Tomorrow, on the ship, you’ll stay up and watch while I sleep. Tonight, I watch while you sleep. One of us has to remain awake at all times.”

She nodded her head as Owin spread one blanket out on the ground. He looked up and smiled at her. “We’ll be fine. But I always want to take as many precautions as necessary.”

 

Owin rolled over onto a sharp rock that jabbed his side. The pain radiated across his ribs, but he did not move.  The pain helped. He knew he was struggling to stay awake and keeping his eyes open was getting harder and harder.

He glanced toward where the sailors had camped next to the fire.  He knew Arn was sleeping on The Needle after taking the first watch. Calvin’s and Den’ah’s watches were over as well. Owin had seen Tyron move up the ridge earlier, but had not seen the First Mate return yet.

Slowly he rolled off the rock and onto his back.  The dark sky said a long time still remained before dawn and it had been a while since he kept a long watch. I could really use some of those pills to keep me going, he thought to himself. They were brutal when they wore off, but it would have made the night pass much easier. As it was, his body had begun to ache with exhaustion.  With stray thoughts that it should be safe by now to fall asleep eating away his resolve, he knew the challenge of making it to morning might exceed him.

He let his gaze move to Gwen and her slow breathing told him she had finally fallen asleep. While he hated to have her in danger with him, he had to admit he preferred that to her being in danger without him.

The sliding of loose ground down the ridge pushed open his eyes. He looked up the slope and frowned. Instead of seeing one silhouette against the sky, he saw several. Counting them as they crested the ridge, he estimated at least eight men. Damn it.

He rolled over.  Putting his hand on Gwen’s mouth, he shook her awake. Her eyes grew wide, but her limited movement gave Owin hope in her long-term survival. He inclined his head toward the approaching men and then removed his hands from Gwen.

He rose quickly into a squatting position and stayed low as he moved toward the sailors and the fire that had burned itself down to a handful of coals. When he judged himself far enough from Gwen, he shouted. “Alarm! Men on the ridge!”

He continued toward the sailors as curses came from the men advancing on them. Drawing his sword and long dagger, he crossed the beach between the fire and the ship. “On your feet! Men approaching!”

Cutting sharply toward the ridge, Owin saw the movement of a man a dozen feet away and coming in fast. The man’s long sword glinted slightly in the limited moonlight. Moving quickly over he broken ground, Owin did not hesitate, as no one sneaking down a ridge at night with weapons had any positive plans for those sleeping at the bottom of it.

The man Owin engaged thrust his sword forward, but Owin had already moved to the left. With his own sword, Owin pushed aside the man’s blade and then stepped in close, driving his dagger into the man’s gut.  His weapon slicing easily through the leather armor. A scream of pain came after Owin had pulled his blade free.

Hearing boots on rocks and catching the movement from his peripheral vision, Owin ducked low and turned away from the man he stabbed to engage another one who had tried to come up from behind him. Owin had moved fast, but not fast enough to avoid the blade that had traveled lower than he expected. Grunting from the sting of the blade against his thigh, Owin pushed aside the sword with his dagger and continued to move toward the man’s left, putting his injured leg toward the man he had already stabbed.

The sounds of fighting had broken out across the camp and Arn’s voice range out from where he stood on The Needle. Owin could not spare the time to hope Gwen would remain safe and out of sight. Jumping back, he barely recovered from tripping over a large rock. The movement hurt his leg, but the pain was minimal enough that he knew the cut could not be that deep.

Taking a swing with his sword, Owin drew a block from the man before him.  Trying to take advantage the situation, Owin grimaced as his leg failed to respond quickly enough.  Conceding the failed attempt, Owin held back and waited for the man to advance on him.

After trading a couple more blows without drawing blood, Owin’s respect for the bearded man grew. Even on the rough terrain, the man refused to give up his advantage. However, Owin felt the man did not have the skill to beat me. But, he plans to wear me down from blood loss.

Feeling the effects of the long night, Owin was about to push his attack again when the sound of a crossbow discharging filled the air. The man before him wincing and contorted his back.  After a moment of hesitation, he rushed forward. With an easy block, Owin tied up the man’s sword with his own as he drove his dagger into the man’s chest.

Pushing the dying man away, Owin turned and looked for more targets. Seeing Calvin standing beside the fire pit with his hands on his knees, Owin glanced back toward the ship. Arn stood at the prow with a crossbow in his hands. Owin nodded his head toward The Captain.

“Get some light out there,” Arn commanded. “Don’t leave any to crawl away in the dark.”

Continue to next episode.