It wasn't long before the scenery around you began to look familiar again - a sure sign that you were getting closer to the castle now. Simon retook his place by your other side, riding at the front of the group with you and Eret. You kept glancing at him out of the corner of your eye, marking the clench of his jaw and the strain in his shoulders - even though you had done your best to soothe his worries, he was still nervous.

Hopefully once you fully arrived and got settled in, he would relax. You wouldn't want him stressing for the entire time he was there after all.

"We must be getting close now." Eret said, eyes scanning over the slowly thinning trees.

"Surely." Simon agreed. "Hopefully, they'll have a nice hot meal waiting for us when we arrive - I could do with a hearty lunch, I-" He paused, nose wrinkling suddenly. "What's that smell?"

You tipped your head back slightly to take a whiff of the air around you, and sure enough, there was a light stench lingering around you - thick and deep like a heavy smoke. Your eyes immediately darted towards the sky, looking for any clouds of smoke or dust, but you saw none. If something was burning, you weren't able to tell where it was coming from.

"You don't think there's a forest fire, do you?" You said. It was uncommon - but not impossible - for something to catch flame on a sunny day like today.

"I hope not." Eret mused. "That would be a terrible omen for our arrival to the kingdom - and quite the problem for this forest. Perhaps we can find the source." He turned in his saddle slightly, signaling to his captains to follow him as he guided his horse up a grassy knoll nearby. You changed the course of your horse as well to follow, slightly worried now as the smell got thicker the farther you went up the hill.

Eret reached the top of the hill first, his eyebrows rising above the frames of his glasses as he brought his horse to a stop, just looking down into the valley below. The shock was obvious just in the way that he stopped so abruptly, and it only served to stir the growing nerves in your gut even more.

"What is it?" You asked, bringing your horse up to the top of the hill beside Eret. Your eyes drifted first to the castle in the distance, sitting on top of a hill on the opposite side of the field below you, blue flags fluttering in the wind. What drew your attention more though, was the moving mass of pillagers laying siege to it's walls, launching flaming catapults in an attempt to break inside.

"Oh my god." Simon said, coming to stop his horse beside you. "What..?"

Shouts echoed across the plains and up to your ears, and you could hear the clang of metal as the two armies exchanged blows. It seemed as though there might have been more pillagers than human soldiers, and they were gaining ground as you watched.

"Eret." You said, eyes snapping to him.

His mouth was set into a firm line as he turned his horse around to face the men still fanned out behind him. "It looks like we might be diving into battle sooner than we thought." He announced. "Battle ready, men!"

There was a flurry of motion as the soldiers switched from their traveling formations into their battle stance, switching from carrying camping gear to weaponry and ammunition. You only heard the commotion though, eyes still fixated on the siege happening before you.

When had this begun and how long had the castle been under attack? How many soldiers had you lost already? Had there been a breach in the walls yet? Was anyone inside the castle dead? Any members of the court? The twins? The king himself?

"Y/N, you should stay out of sight until we can clear a way into the castle." Simon said, bringing you back to the moment at the present. "I don't want you getting hurt during the battle-"

A loud crack interrupted his sentence, and you watched as one of the pillager's catapult lurched, the arm swinging backwards instead of forwards and launching one of their flaming projectiles towards the forest where you were gathered instead of the castle walls. The ball landed harmlessly in the dirt below the hill you were standing on, shaking the ground a bit. No one was hurt, but it was enough to send your horse into a spook.

It took off, sprinting down the hill and towards the battle, nearly throwing you from the saddle as you gripped on for dear life. You shouted as you gripped onto the reins and dug your heels in, trying to stop the animal with no luck. Your head whipped backwards, watching as you got farther and farther away from the safety of the forest.

"Y/N!" Simon's shout echoed out over the field and he took off after you, urging his horse into a sprint. He was already paces behind you though, and you could hear the sounds of battle getting closer and closer as your horse sprinted.

Your eyes snapped forward again, zeroing in on the clash of the two armies outside the castle walls. The ground zipped by underneath you, and the sounds of arrows whizzing and metal clashing rang in your ears. You could feel your heart pounding in your chest as pure panic turned into adrenaline, and you gripped onto the edge of the saddle with a white knuckled grip.

You had gotten close enough that you could see the pillagers eyes now, and they could see you.

You watched as a man caught sight of you and snarled, knocking an arrow in his crossbow. He aimed and you pried your fingers off of the edge of the saddle, waiting until he loosed the arrow to let yourself fall off the horse. The arrow whizzed by overhead as you hit the ground, landing on your back.

The pillager knocked another arrow, and you closed your eyes.