Welcome to Gaia! ::

Donovan nodded as he dismounted and followed suit making sure the reins were over its head. He then turned and joined Celebor, the cold feeling of metal sliding into his hand from underneath his sleeve.

Of course he wasn't going to leave Celebor alone for this.

There was one human and one dwarf walking together through the forest, deep in conversation, each of them with a child trailing after them. The children's hands were bound tightly with rope, so tightly that their hands were purple from lack of circulation, and the rope around their wrists were also tied to the slavers, so that any time they stumbled or walked too slowly, they were dragged along or yanked roughly to their feet.

One child was a little girl, about four years old, and she was sobbing as she stumbled along after the slavers. The other child, a boy perhaps a year or two older, was trying to help her along, but since his hands were so tightly bound he was having trouble even doing just that. He was speaking comforting words to her, but she didn't seem to hear him - she only just kept crying.

Celebor watched the slavers for a few short moments, getting used to their patterns of movement, then raised his bow and pulled his arrow back, taking careful aim. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he felt ... well, he wasn't quite certain, but he knew he had never felt this way before. It wasn't fear, or nervousness, or dread ... but ... a hesitance at the knowledge that he was about to take a life. A life that deserved to be taken, but a life nonetheless.

He glanced once more at the children, especially the small girl who was crying to fiercely, and his resolve strengthened. His will set, he aimed carefully for the back of the human's head, right at the base of the man's skull, judging the wind and distance all without really thinking about it. He brushed his thumb against one of the runes on the bow, then pulled back a bit further and released it.

The human and dwarf dropped like rocks, dead before they hit the ground.

The girl was crying too hard to even notice that her captors had been killed right in front of her, but the boy stopped in his tracks, staring wide-eyed in horror at the two of them. It wasn't until the girl tripped over the human she was tied to that she noticed, and she screamed and tried to run away, falling to her feet when the rope clotheslined her.

Donovan let Celebor go first, for no other reason than the fact he knew he would probably scare the children more. It wasn't even so much the fact he was terrible with children (though no where as good as other people he knew), but rather his presence scared them, which in turn he had no idea what to do. He couldn't handle scared children very well. Which was why he let Celebor go first, before following a bit behind.

"I sure am," Celebor grinned back at the children. He knelt next to them and unsheathed his sword so that he could cut their bonds.

"Now," he smiled warmly at them, deliberately not looking at the dead men behind them, "I am going to warn you ... there is also a human with me, but he is good. He is dedicating his life and his fortune to save children who are stolen, like you. He is a good man, a very good man."

The children nodded their understanding, but when Donovan actually appeared they shrunk back in fear. Neither of them spoke a word, but as they held their hands out for Celebor to cut their bonds, their eyes were on Donovan, making sure that he wasn't going to come too close to them.

"I'll catch up in a moment," Donovan told Celebor as he walked past them.

Hopefully it would also give Celebor time to settle them down a bit more. This might be a slightly longer trip, well not literary but it was probably going to feel like it once it was over.