I’ve decided to post the first draft of my first ever full manuscript I completed back in January. As it was the first thing I’ve ever seriously written and a first draft it may have some errors. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

This story is where the universe and idea for the short stories I have been posting come from.

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Chapter 1

 **When transporting cargo, you need to plan a safe and effective route, that was where we made our first mistake. Our second mistake was not being prepared for a fight.

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My day started as it usually did when we travelled, I woke up at sunrise to the sounds of the leaders singing and tried to roll over and go back to sleep. I was out of luck however as my friends Kat and Raine started to get up and dressed dragging me out of bed in the process. I threw my belongings back into my pack and shoved it outside while we cleaned up our sleeping area.  

It didn’t take long for us to clean just roll up our blankets and make sure theres no belongings left. Raine took a while to clean up his mess of toys and trinkets. Kat had piles of notes and books she needed to organise which I helped with. I had memorised her system it was separated into three types medical, plants and herbs, and everything else and a lot of the time the first two would overlap.

By the time we got outside we had made bets on who would finish putting down a tent first. Raine bet a pack of cards, Kat offered a bag of marbles, and I threw a set of dice id bought in the last town we’d stopped at.

When we agreed on the terms the race was on the tents were easy enough to get down usually. What I didn’t expect was how much harder they were to get down alone. I soon realised I needed to hold the tension of the poles while untying them which was no easy feat due to their tendency to collapse on themselves. Kat seemed to be having the same problem as me when one of the wooden poles landed on her head.

By the time I had managed to get half the poles untied Raine had completely taken down his first tent and was helping Kat with hers. He laughed as another one of the metal poles fell loudly to the ground making Kat jump. The tent was down in no time at all and soon enough I had mine down as well and was handing over the set of dice I had promised him. I knew never to bet anything valuable with these two especially not when it was something they were good at.

Raine was the better of the three of us at anything physical he could run faster, was so much stronger, always did the best in combat classes. He took after his mother; she was the head guard of the caravan and a terrifying woman. The day we met he made it clear that he was going to be the next head guard of the caravan, and no one would ever beat him. He looked more like the doctor though with his dark hair and eyes.

 Kat on the other hand took the trophy for the smart sibling, she took after the doctor more than Raine, if you had a question, she had an answer especially if it was related to medicine or plants. She wasn’t the calmest of people though and would often make bad decisions in fits of anger. A couple years ago after a bad argument with her mum, she dyed her hair pink with fabric dye. Lauren wasn’t impressed when she got back and saw the mess we had made.

When everything was packed away, we headed over to the campfire where food was being made. The wood crackled as it slowly burnt away the stench filling the air around us. I stood close to Kat and Raine the heat from the fire keeping us warm as we waited to be given something to eat.

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“Are you sure this is, okay?” Kat asked as we climbed into a small cart at the back of the caravan, “What if mum finds out?”

“She won’t,” Raine reassured her not looking very confident as he did.

I wasn’t too worried about being caught it’s not like we were technically breaking any rules. They had never told us we couldn’t hide in the luggage carts to get out of walking with the guard. So that’s what we did, throwing our bags in the corner and hiding behind some crates while we waited to set off.

Kat was going to get off when she heard people approach but as she went to stand up the wood of the cart creaked loudly, and she was thrown back. I heard people yelling orders at the horse as we began to move slowly the cart jolting with every dip in the road. She didn’t look too impressed as she leant back against the wood wall. Her annoyance didn’t last long though because Raine pulled out his cards and offered us a game.

The wood cart shook and creaked loudly as we travelled across the old dirt roads. Horses’ hooves beat against the ground loudly echoing throughout the forest drowning out the sounds of people yelling. Raine scrambled to grab a couple of his cards that slid towards the curtain when we hit a rock.

Just as Raine sat back down slipping the pack of cards back into his jacket pocket I heard a scream. I looked at Kat and Raine to see if they’d heard it too both just nodded silently. The clang of metal sounded out through the forest. People were yelling and screaming the cart had come to a stop. I slowly crept towards the opening of the cart to see if I could find out what was happening holding my hand up to the others.

My hands shook as I pulled back the curtain to get a better view. The ground was stained with blood a trail of bodies led past the cart. I heard a yell as the cart shook violently something crashing into the side of it. Metal crashed against each other to my left as people fought.

I froze as a cry sounded out at the other side of me. Lauren was stood surrounded by a group of gruff looking men. Blood was dripping down her body as she fended off the men an arrow lodged in her left leg. She held a long bronze sword in one hand; her other producing a small orange flame. She dodged out of the way of one of the men shoving her sword into his torso her other hand flying out to hit him in the face.

As the fighting continued one of the men started to make his way toward me. He grinned at me as he approached clicking his tongue. Without thinking I jumped out of the cart pulling my dagger out. My body moving on its own as I led him away from the cart.

The man made his way towards me a grin on his face as he lifted his sword to strike me. I tried to remember my training Lauren had prepared me for this, but my mind was going blank. I dodged forward avoiding his swing but failing to stab him as he used his free hand to throw me away.

My arm stung as I skidded across the dirt, I clutched my dagger tightly as I forced myself up. The air was heavy in my lungs as I dodged out the way of another attack the edge of the sword just slicing my arm. My body ached blood dripping from my fingertips as I threw myself out the way of his attacks.

He caught my other arm squeezing my wrist until my dagger clattered to the ground. His sword swung into my side my breath becoming shallow as warmth started to spread down my stomach. I tore my arm free my wrist throbbing, blood slowly poured from my side.  On his next swing he aimed higher and I ducked. I tackled him to the ground his sword dropping to the ground as his head hit the rock behind him.

The yelling got louder as I let out the breath, I didn’t know I’d been holding. Kat was running toward me Raine not far behind. I tried to stand up but my legs buckled beneath me and I plummeted towards the ground. A darkness enveloped me as I fell the yelling becoming louder and louder the last thing, I heard was Kat scream “Ripley!”

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I was jolted awake as the cart I laid in hit a rock. The sun was setting over the horizon a collage of reds and oranges covered the sky. Tall dark trees flew past in the side of my vision as I laid there staring at the sky the smell of pine and oak filling my nose. People around me were talking in hushed tones the only louder sounds were those crying.

My body felt like lead as I forced myself to sit up my side screaming in pain. There was a small gasp beside me then I was surrounded in warmth. Kat let out small sobs as she held me. “You idiot,” She whispered as she sobbed, squeezing me so hard I thought my ribs might break.     

She was eventually pulled away from me by Dr. Allen who shooed her away despite her complaining. “How are you feeling?” he asked as he pulled some bandages out of his bag.

“Alright just a bit sore,” I replied rubbing my ribs, “What happened anyway last thing I remember I was fighting that guy… Is Lauren, okay?”

He smiled as he took one of my arms undoing the bandages and beginning to clean the wounds. “Lauren is fine she wasn’t injured badly.” He wiped away the dried blood on my arm showing dozens of cuts in various stages of healing, “You’re lucky Kat was there I don’t think we would have been able to save you if you’d lost more blood.”

Raine and Kat came to get me when the cart came to a stop, we were setting up camp deep in the forest. We were now a day behind schedule due to the attack and it wasn’t clear if we would be able to travel for the coming days. Despite having no death everyone had been injured. Even the doctor had a limp and was taking longer to do his work.

Everyone was tense when we started to put up the tents. People kept glancing around staring into the forest, Lauren sent a group out to make sure we hadn’t been followed. I feared another attack when we stopped but it never came. Kat wouldn’t let me help with anything making me sit to the side instead as her and Raine put up our tent and went to get our food.

Raine never left my side his sword clutched at his side all night. When we stopped to eat, he kept glancing around in the forest as if something would jump out. At one point Kat stepped on a branch and he froze a look of fear on his face. It took a while for him to calm down Kat apologised profusely for scaring him.

Lauren came to see us later in the night she clutched a long stick using it to help her walk as she limped across the rocky grass. She had bandages wrapped around her thigh where she had been shot. Her eyes were surrounded by a darkness, and she looked exhausted when she sat down with us. As we talked, she sat carving wood from her walking stick with a small knife she kept in her pocket.

Eventually the topic got onto my fight and Lauren didn’t seem too impressed, “What were you thinking running out like that?” She yelled at me.

I put my head down staring at a stone near my feet, “I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking,” I replied my voice breaking slightly. I twisted my fingers silently my eyes trained on the ground.

“That’s right you didn’t think –“ She put the stick down sighing – “Ripley you can do better than that. I expect better from you.”  

“I know I’m so sorry I’ll do better I promise.” I looked up at her playing with my fingers.

She pushed herself up using her stick to help her balance, “I know you will, now get some rest the lot of you.” She limped away her walking stick clacking against the ground.