“All of you, get back to camp and stay there with Volmar!” Without another word, he sprinted into the trees before the kids could ask questions. All prior plans for the day had been thrown out the window. Time and speed were essential now. Out of sight of his students, he started moving much faster than he should have been able to.

That explosion had come from where Lilianna and Nadrina had been foraging.

~~~

NADRINA WAS TRYING to remember how they got themselves in this situation. Everything had happened so fast.

They had been out gathering supplies like normal when the yelling had started. The sounds of what could only be a large group of people fighting followed soon after, inter-cut by the screams of horses. Hoofbeats followed soon after, and they both heard something crashing through the foliage towards them.

She and Lilianna had gone to ground and hidden as soon as they heard the chaos start, everything they’d gathered forgotten on the forest floor. Unfortunately, the chaos had come to them. A horse-drawn carriage had come barreling out of the tree line, nearly toppling over from the speed it was moving. Dozens of arrows were buried into the wood, and one wheel appeared to be broken beyond repair.

At least a dozen riders followed the carriage, their horses all in various states of injured or dying. They all dismounted and circled up around the carriage protectively. The carriage driver climbed down from the driver’s seat and entered the carriage, and Nadrina noticed with horror the copious amount of blood drenching his clothes. The other riders, who were dressed like knights, looked little better, but they had weapons out and looks of fiery determination.

“Matley, raise a barrier. Donavan, help me punch a hole in their ranks for the carriage to escape. Everyone else, circle and defend for as long as you can. For duty!”

“For duty!” the rest of the men chorused, their voices steely and determined.

More sounds of horses, many more this time, were coming from the tree line these men had just escaped from. It was enough to make the ground vibrate. From their hiding spot in some nearby bushes, Nadrina’s mind conjured images of an entire mounted army coming to kill them all.

“We need to get out of here,” Lilianna spoke into Nadrina’s ear, causing her to nearly leap up in fright. “Several of them are wounded, and that carriage looks like it could belong to a noble or rich merchant. This looks like a bandit attack.”

As if speaking of them aloud had summoned them, dozens of loud, dirty, and violent looking men and women came screaming out of the trees, some on horses and some on foot. The riders charged the carriage with war cries that sent Nadrina’s whole body shivering in terror. The knights answered with battle shouts of their own, mana stirring among them as they readied spells.