Sir Snapper

Sir Snapper was a loyal knight and a chosen Greywarden for The Minstrel.

Part 1 - A Dream of Summer

The sun shone brightly in his eyes as he rounded the corner. In the distance he could hear her laughing and calling his name. Spurring his horse on, he turned towards her and gave chase once more. As they galloped through the forest, he started gaining on her. Her flame red hair streaming in the wind behind her, as her grey mare pounded along the valley floor. He laughed with pure joy and exhilaration as she screamed as he almost caught her.

"Whats the matter Sir Snapper? Are you so out of training that a woman can out-ride you" she laughed at him.

"I thought it was only fair and chivalrous if I gave you a head start milady" he called back.

"Come now husband, make a proper race of it!"

She spurred her horse even faster and turned towards the path up the steep mountainside.

"Rhosyn! Be careful!" Snapper called after her.

"Are you turning craven on me now husband? Perhaps marrying you was a mistake?!" she called over her shoulder as she maneuvered her horse over the rocky ground.

He turned his mount up the path and started picking his way up the rock-strewn ground, cursing his wife's folly. They continued like this for ten minutes, laughing and joking with each other, gradually getting higher. Snapper relished these snatched moments with his bride of less than twelve moons. While he enjoyed his duties as a newly knighted Greywarden, the honourable role guarding the safety of Fel'Arthia took him away from his beloved Rhosyn for long periods of time.

As they reached the plateau they dismounted and stood and gazed towards the city, taking in the glitter off the Shardstone that towered over it in the hills above. Dusk started to draw in, so they made their way back to the horses to start their long journey back home to the city. Suddenly, dark clouds of a summer storm began gathering, and the first drops of rain began falling, slowly at first until the pair were soaked through as it turned torrential. A small stream, swollen from the deluge burst its banks and flowed down the narrow path they were taking, washing the smaller stones and rocks into the horses legs.

"We should take shelter Snapper!" Rhosyn shouted over the downpour.

"Nonsense! We'll be down under the trees shortly" he called back.

A sudden crash of thunder sent the horses wickering and rolling their eyes in terror. Another huge crack, this time not of thunder, but of the mountainside above. Weakened by the sheer weight of water, sent it crashing down towards them. Huge rocks and tons of mud hurtled down, taking Rhosyn's horse from under her, neighing and screeching in pain, plummeting into the void below. Amazingly, Rhosyn managed to get a fingertip grip on the edge of the precipice.

"SNAPPER! HELP ME! I CAN'T HOLD ON!" She screamed.

Snapper leapt off his horse and stumbled across the cloying mud. Another huge slip threatened to take him over the edge but he managed to throw himself clear, pulling himself over to where she was hanging. He reached for her hand.

"Hurry!" she pleaded.

He took a grip on her wrist as a fresh torrent of icy water washed over him. The fresh slip of mud funneling the water over him.

"I'M SLIPPING!" Rhosyn screamed in panic.

Snapper's grip was loosening as the cold water numbed him and the mud got worse. He made a desperate effort to grab her other arm, but it was too late..

"RHOSYN!!! NOOOO!!"

Rhosyn plummeted, pinwheeling down like a ragdoll, crashing into rocks on the way down to finally lay still at the bottom...

To be continued....