All the while, the dead bodies that they searched among continued to bother Lee’s conscience. The apprehension and misgivings that he felt mounted with each individual that he came across.
Even so, he could not help but continue to marvel at the nature of the fallen warriors’ equipment and appearances, as if they had stepped right out of the mists of time. His fascination was tempered by the stark reality of what had recently happened, as he found himself increasingly saddened by their terrible fates.
For the most part, Lee tried to keep the haunting feelings at bay, while going about his chosen task. He paused several times during the search, taking a moment to closely regard more than one of the individual men. He wondered what kind of men each of them were, and what kind of society they were a part of.
He wondered whether they were good men at heart, or whether he and his companions would have had something to fear from them. His thoughts lingered and dwelled with each new face that he came upon, and he felt a deep pang of regret as he knew that they would not be able to bury the men, or even burn their corpses.
Every one of the dead men had a mother, something that Lee pondered deeply as he thought of his own elderly mother. He thought of how traumatic something like this would be if it had happened to him, abandoned to rot out on some empty, windswept plain.
Lee bit back a swell of great frustration as he thought of the men’s family, friends, and others who would long wonder what had befallen the warriors that had been a regular part of their lives.
Lee wished dearly that he could do something for the men, but survival demanded cruel indifference. He accepted that he and his companions would be unable to attend to the men in any significant manner. It was unavoidable that their bodies would be left behind as simple fodder for carrion, and the drawn-out decay of the elements and time.
The utter helplessness of the situation pained Lee immensely, especially as he thought of everything in a much more personal sense, but there was really no choice. Each time the waves of sad regrets came over him, he clenched his jaws and went back to searching the bodies with a single-minded resolve.
The humans were not the only ones to cause him distress, as the bodies of the larger race of attackers proved to be another matter entirely.
Lee finally worked up enough nerve to examine a couple of the dead beast-men. He shuddered as he peered down at their inhuman visages. Up close, he saw that they had the broad, powerful jaws of a large canine, with huge, sharp teeth to match. Their pupils, staring lifelessly towards the sky above, were also similar to those of a dog or wolf.
Carefully, Lee removed one of the leather half-helms from one of the daunting creatures. He flinched in surprise as he saw that they had pointed ears, which were placed a little higher up on their heads, and oriented more forward, than were those on a human.
The removal of the half-helm also revealed the wide, high foreheads that the creatures had, with a hairline raised much higher than that of an average human. Their dense, thick locks of hair framed their faces and heads, looking much like a dark mane.
Yet as bestial as their intimidating forms were, so were they unmistakably human-like. Two arms culminating in massive, five-fingered hands, two legs, and several other aspects were akin to a human’s features.
Up close, Lee felt more than a little fear as he looked upon their bulging, corded muscularity. These were undoubtedly extremely strong creatures, an observation confirmed when Lee tried to heave up one of the intriguing long-hafted weapons with the equally lengthy blades.
Lee could lift the weapon up, but only slowly, and with great effort. He certainly could not wield it for its intended purpose.
It was no surprise that the weapons of these creatures were quite useless to Lee, or to anyone else within his party. Lee watched as Ryan came to a similar conclusion, as the young man had to use two hands just to heave up one of the beast-men’s sword-like weapons.
It took Lee only one attempt to realize that using one of their great bows would be impossible. He could not pull back the string more than a little, despite putting a tremendous effort into the endeavor. Ryan tried himself, and, though he strained immensely, could do little better than Lee.
All the while, Lynn had kept largely to herself. She had retained the initial sword that she had found. In addition, she had acquired a couple of the larger daggers with the broad, single-edged blades. Both daggers rested in well-crafted sheaths of leather and wood, reinforced with multiple bronze rings set near to their mouths, with bronze chapes capping the bottom.
One of the final things that Lee examined closely before departing the open ground was the pennon borne at the forefront of the contingent of horsemen. The haft that it was attached to had been severed through during the fighting, cleaved just below the curving pennon by one of the heavy blades of the attacking warriors.
Lee held the pennon gently in his hands, looking down at the tasseled fringe and the alternating blue and gold stripes of the ensign itself. As with the coins, he knew that the pennon held in its very hues and patterns some more information about the lands of the horse riders.
Setting down the pennon respectfully, Lee turned to look for the others and finish up their task.
Once all were laden down with their newfound items, and had satisfactorily concluded their exploration of the area, they returned together towards the safer harbor of the woods. Night was now falling over the forested hills and the rolling, grassy plains, twilight having settled in full upon the land as the sun sank beneath the western horizon. Lee looked about in the violet hues, and grimly realized that he and his companions probably would not be able to tell if any sky born threats were approaching.
While gaining the cover of the forest was imperative, Lee was simply glad to leave the grisly scene behind him. At the end of it all, he felt drained, and somewhat guilty. He loathed the great necessity of requisitioning the items off of the corpses of the valorous men, while leaving their bodies entirely exposed to the outer elements and hungry scavengers.
His mind told him otherwise, that there was no good choice, but that ultimately proved to be of little comfort in his very wearied state of emotional turmoil. Lee could only hope that in time he could fully reconcile with the dire needs of his group’s immediate situation, and that the troubling images bombarding him during the search would not often assault his dreams at night.
When they returned to the woods, and were under the thickly foliated boughs once again, Lee and the others found that Erin was still crouching right where they had left her. She was glaring at them, with a deep frown etched upon her face.
“Thanks for the help,” Ryan remarked sarcastically, as he drew near to her.
Lynn was evidently in no mood for Erin’s disposition either, as she glowered at her friend. Without saying a word, she slowly withdrew one of the large daggers that she had found out of its sheath, and shoved its hilt towards her stubborn friend.
“You might want this,” Lynn said curtly. “This should do a lot better than sticks if we run into more creatures, and can’t outrun them.”
Erin gingerly fingered the offered weapon. Surprisingly, she made a grimace as she took it in her hand and looked at it. She made no gesture of gratitude to Lynn for having thought of her in procuring the weapon, a response that instantly annoyed Lee.
“What, are you against this too?” Ryan inquired aggressively.
Erin shot him a hard look. Her tone was flippant. “So I don’t fool around with weapons much, or really care for them either.”