In the previous episode Chapter 1: Episode IX I Majority voted : fall, bring others down and flee
Stepping deftly to one side Silvae plunged his entire weight on his right foot and let himself free fall in a motion that resembled someone fainting on a hot summer’s day.
As he slipped down the side of the hillock the chain tugged heavily against the column and jagged it backward towards the edge of the pathway. Silvae, abruptly held fast by the chain, was hanging motionless over the edge of hillside while the struggling column of walkers above him frantically tried to hold the weight of his body against the increasing weight of the wooden beam pressing down upon their shoulders. Just as the guard of his troupe had noticed what was happening, the closest walker to Silvae, and one nearest to the edge of the hillock began to slip against the loose sand under his feet. In what seemed like slow motion, he too slipped and tumbled down to where Silvae hung, only this time there was no longer requisite force left above to the keep the beam intact and the whole column of walkers went over the edge dragging a helpless guard with them.
What happened next was a scene of utter chaos that would never be forgotten by those who were foul to it. Silvae’s column, tumbling in tandem down the side of the hillock, clipped the nearest procession of walkers sparking a giant avalanche of bodies that took out the entire hillside. Luckily for Silvae and his troupe, they were first to fall and fell in such a way that their wooden beam flipped in a circular motion above them before supplanting itself in front of the falling bodies. In this manner, they were dragged down by the beam and not entangled with it like some of the other walkers had been when their own columns fell. It was also fortuitous that in falling in this manner they were dragged eastward down the mountain side while the rest of the walkers fell hard west. Still, it was an unpleasant experience and when arriving at the bottom of the hill Silvae struggled to get to his feet.
Standing up and dusting himself off, he surveyed the land around him. Four weary walkers were heaped against the beam, alive but fragile in a state of some unease at falling down a mountain. The guard, who had initially been tangled in with the heap had fallen clear of the beam and tumbled down the mountain at a much faster pace than the beam and now lay strewn and moaning some 15 feet from their position.
“Quick” chimed Silvae, “we must get to that guard before he recovers his strength. Grab a hold of a section of the beam and let’s make our way over to him. We need to get these chains off”.
Groggily yet pliantly the troupe shifted to their feet and lifted the beam above their heads. Shuffling over towards the guard they moved up and to the side of his body and dropped the beam heavily at his feet. Silvae, slipping into action, jumped over the guards’ feet and onto his body. Holding him down with his weight he started to search his tunic for any keys that might unlock the chains. At this point, the guard, dazed and injured, began to come to and started to push back against Silvae. With one hand around the herbalists neck, he used the other to go for the dagger in his scabbard. Noticing this but also overpowered by the size of the guard beneath him, Silvae let out a cry for help.
“Help me, he’s got a knife” he said frantically.
The troupe next to him, still fearful of the guard did not move and Silvae shouted again
– “If he kills me you’re next!! Help me, you must help!!”
At this he evoked a response, and a quiet yet burly farmer from Ganter barrelled over to Silvae and knelt heavily on the guards arm that was going for the dagger. Together, they held and subdued the guard into a controlled position, while Silvae took the dagger and slipped it into his pocket as well as relieving the guard of a ring of keys around his belt. “Ok, keep him steady” said Silvae, “I’m going to start unlocking our chains”.
One by one the troupe shuffled over to SIlvae and he undid their locks. The first two he released immediately took flight and ran down the hill away from the beam. The third, sat and starred at Silvae while the burly farmer just gruffed and kept sitting on the guard. Finally, SIlvae started to undo his own lock when the three of them heard a commotion above. Two guards crested the hillock above them and were staring down at the scene unfolding. They yelled out inaudibly at the trio sparking the third member of their party to turn and flee down the hill. The burly farmer knowing that he was holding the guard in place looked worriedly at Silvae.
“we’ve got to go” he gruffed to which Silvae nodded and they made a dash.
The guard subdued but not out of action made a grab at the burley man’s leg. Pulling at it sharply, he felled the man but in doing so he had pulled him down on top of himself. The man, letting out a yell, slid to the side of the guard and struggled to get to his feet again. Above them the two guards were quickly making their way down the mountain and towards Silvae.
Silvae had a choice, should Silvae:
1.) Stab the guard and help the man to his feet and flee
2.) Throw the dagger to the man and flee
3.) Flee
4.) Go and fight the approaching guards
Vote here: