Dame Sara Illou, Knight of the Land, sighed with relief as she caught sight of her destination ahead. It was a town, but most importantly it housed the local garrison. She had come to warn them of the gryphons that were attacking the region so that they could take action and protect the local villages. She had hurried here as fast as she could, all whilst trying to avoid being attacked by the gryphons herself.
All in all it had been a very stressful journey.
But at last she had arrived. The town was quite large and definitely the biggest she had seen for at least a week. It was clear to see why it was the seat of power in the local area.
She led her mare to the wooden walls where a guard eyed her nervously at the gate then waved her through. He kept looking up at the sky and she realised that the gryphons must already be known here.
This was further reinforced when she entered the town itself. It was full of soldiers, far more than a normal garrison. They must have been sent here to help deal with the gryphons.
A group of soldiers stood up ahead and she rode over. Leaning down from her horse, she spoke to them.
"Who is in charge here?" she asked.
The closest shoulder, a gruff-looking man in his forties, responded. "Lieutenant Indor, dame knight. You can find him in the town hall."
"Thank you", Sara responded before leading Snowglide to the town hall in the centre of the village.
She stopped outside and started to tether her horse to the nearest post. With another nervous look at the sky she changed her mind however. If the gryphons did attack she wanted her mare to be able to run away. She patted Snowglide on the head and then went inside.
The room was large and quite full, with lots of people scurrying around. Ahead were three soldiers huddled around a table across which was strewn a map and she guessed that one of them was the lieutenant. She strode up to the table.
"Lieutenant Indor?" she said as she approached.
He glanced at her a second, then back down at the table. "Who are you?" he snapped. "Another annoying Knight Errant who thinks she can do better than trained soldiers?"
Sara coughed with surprise. "Excuse me?" she said. "I am a Knight of the Land, sir."
His glanced up again, then his eyes went wide and he immediately straightened. He bowed hastily. "I'm very sorry, dame knight. I hope I did not offend you."
Sara smiled. "Nothing I won't get over."
She let her eyes wander up and down his body. He was in his early-thirties, clean-shaven with sandy blonde hair cut quite short and deep brown eyes. He was tall at about 6'3" and from what she could see of his figure he was was muscular without being overly so. All in all he was very handsome.
After a moment's silence she spoke again. "So, what's going on? I assume by the frantic activity around here that you know about the gryphons?"
He nodded. "Yes. That's why we're here. We didn't believe the reports at first..."
"But now you do."
He grimaced. "Yes. Now we do."
"How many soldiers do you have with you?"
"One hundred."
"Ninety-five, sir," corrected one of the soldiers, a stern-looking red-haired woman in her late-thirties.
He turned to her and nodded. "Of course, sergeant. Ninety-five." Then he caught Sara's horrified expression and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, we didn't lose anyone. I left five men stationed in a town on the way here to keep the locals safe."
Sara felt relief flood through her. "Thank the gods. But that is why I am here..."
The lieutenant sighed. "Of course you are. Everyone is here for the same reason, but I don't have enough men to spread around all the villages in the area."
"Yes you do," Sara pressed. "Two men per village is enough. I drove away the gryphons from a farmstead earlier today with only the help of a local man."
"Just two of you?" the lieutenant said incredulously.
"Yes, just two. The beasts weren't interested in fighting - as soon as we stood up to them they fled. You do not need a battle company in each settlement."
"Which is all very well, but what if next time the gryphons come they do want to fight? Two soldiers will not be enough."