I listened to Tavion’s guidance attentively. He spoke with whispers, which was more than understandable. No humans showed as he led us towards a dirt road that crossed the forest.

A trail of hardened dirt and no trees in its direct vicinity was all that marked the road. To the sides were elevations in the terrain that would be excellent for ambushes as they would hide troops until the very last possible moment.

We silently crossed the road and made our way partly into the forest beyond it. At some point, I saw figures show up on my thermal vision and I poked Cellestra with a leg, which I then held up to her lips. It seemed she got the idea as she shushed Tavion to be quiet.

I made sure to go the opposite direction of where I saw the red shapes, and soon enough everything around us was back to black. It seemed the bandits were patrolling this side of the road still, which, in hindsight, was understandable. For a proper ambush to work, they would need to strike from all directions.

The forest road seemed to lead through low ground. We were close enough to the road that I’d be able to spot any activity near it easily with my superior sight. Cellestra suggested staying in the forest until first light. At that point, we could slowly and steadily move west.

We would need to get sight of our target to know when they were about to strike. It was potentially the riskiest part of this endeavor, and we would need to be extremely careful to not get spotted. There was some vegetation a bit away from the road, but I was too large to stay completely hidden.

I moved towards said vegetation and laid as low as I could and waited…

I prayed to Elysa that today was going to be the day of the bandits’ strike. Lingering here for another day would only increase the chance of being spotted.

After a quiet hour or so, the first light broke through the forest. It was our signal to start to move. I stayed in the wide collection of undergrowth plants, leaving a trail in my wake as I forced my way through it. Things had not turned out as I had expected so far, but then again, when did it ever in conflicts?

After plowing forward for a good five minutes or so, I saw signs of movement near the hill that overlooked the road. Several men were carrying a tree trunk and laid it against the hill. There was no doubt what that was for.

I remained in the vegetation and observed together with the two people on my rear. After laying down the trunk out of view of the road, they waited next to it. I counted six men in total, all wearing the same kind of armor that the other bandits had. After a minute or two, one of them walked off into the forest. It was likely there were more of them waiting there.

These people were going to obstruct the road. As far as I could tell, they were waiting until the caravan was close enough to rush this trunk down to block the way. Having a tree trunk lay in the middle of the road when there were no trees nearby was… suspicious at best. It would immediately warn the elves of an incoming attack.

Considering we seemed to be safe here, it would be a good idea for those men to spring into action.

“I assume we are waiting for them to make the first move?” Cellestra whispered as quietly as she could.

“Yes,” Tavion replied, also whispering. “They block the road, retreat, then send in the slaves.”

“So that’s when we strike.”

It seemed Cellestra had the same idea as me.

I used two of my legs to tear away the silk that bound Tavion to my back. Both he and Cellestra stepped off and crouched in the undergrowth.

“I’m assuming this means the attack is today,” The elf continued as she crouched next to me.

“I would assume so,” The human replied.

It didn’t take long for the human to come running back out of the forest to the five men that sat next to the massive log. He seemed to inform them of a few things before he moved to the top of the hill and laid himself down, overlooking the road, no doubt.

I waited anxiously while trying to figure out what the best course of action would be once more. It seemed like I’d been going over this specific battle more than any in my life. We had so many things worked out already, but battles never went as one expected.

We wanted to separate the slaves from the scoundrels. Then, we wanted the elves to recognize that Cellestra, Tavion, and I were allies. Hopefully, they would try to not kill the slaves while I worked to immobilize them.

However, the first part of the battle was probably the most important one. One giant-sized spider with a wide array of magic spells would have a huge impact on the bandits’ morale. As such, I intended to throw several devastating attacks at them from range. The more I could focus on that instead of saving the slaves, the earlier they’d break.

I just knew they would break.

And yet, I didn’t know their strength. What I’d seen so far was but a fraction of their forces. Who knew what they still had in reserve?

I cast my multi-barrier spell, and Cellestra, who watched me do it, did the same.

I remembered Cellestra’s words about how I could only do so much, which caused some of my worries to subside. Battle was harsh and things didn’t always go as expected. Did I expect too much of myself now that I had so much more power than I’d never had before?

I felt like that was the case. I ignored all thoughts and paid attention to the humans next to the hill. I focused on them intently, not wanting to screw this up. I waited… and waited.

Hours passed without much happening. Even though nothing happened, I was more than anxious to be discovered. Part of my abdomen couldn’t be hidden properly. I guessed we were just far enough away. Maybe they had spotted me at some point and thought it was nothing more than a white rock? I couldn’t be sure, but I stayed as still as possible, hopefully reinforcing that belief.

For some reason, the colors swirling around in my rear had disappeared, making it look as if I was completely white. That odd fact made me wonder if there was some way for me to control it.

Not that I was going to try to experiment with that now…

One of the humans near the log walked off into the forest and returned at some point, all while the person on the lookout remained there. Finally, after hours of waiting, something seemed to be happening.

The human on top of the hill waved down and ran off to them. He quickly said a few words before he ran off into the forest. The five remaining humans lifted the massive log and slowly walked up the hill until the person at the front could look over it.

Soon enough, the human that had run off came running back, with many more men, and even a few savage-looking women, following behind him. Things started to speed up and, while I still paid attention to the men with the log that seemed to be waiting, I also made sure to take notice of what I was up against.

Besides a multitude of bandits with the same kind of armor and weapons that I’d seen before, there seemed to be several spellcasters as well. They were marked by light clothing, and an object used to add to their magic, usually a staff or tome. Of course, those weren’t exactly necessary to cast magic, but they helped most people cast better or stronger spells. I thought I saw an older man with light clothing without any kind of focus. It made him look more experienced than the others. I’d have to take him into account.

Between the bandits were several slaves that were easy to make out, due to their ragged and low-quality clothes and weapons. As if that wasn’t enough yet, to add insult to injury, there were the slave collars.

I tried to count and got to nine or ten slaves. I assumed that on the other side of the road, they’d have about the same number, bringing the total to Tavion’s estimate. There wasn’t much time for me to look closely, but I noticed slaves of races other than humans. I was certain I saw at least two elven women in there as well.

They were all led to the hill that separated the road from the forest where they were lined up with their crude weapons in hand. One of the slave elves started shedding tears and was promptly hit with the pommel of a sword to the back by one of the bandits.

Oh, how I longed for justice.

Cellestra saw it as well, and I could see a fire burning in her eyes. It was something I hadn’t seen before, nor did I expect to ever see it. She seemed ready to sprint into action. She would have to move together with me towards the caravan. I would try to cover her advance as much as I could by sowing confusion as soon as the signal was given.

The human on top of the hill waved his hand and took proper hold of the log again. He and the others carrying it then stormed forward, disappearing out of sight as they ran down the hill on the other side.

They soon returned on top of the hill which, apparently, was the signal for the slaves to run forward up the hill.

When they were separated from the bandits, and running up the hill, I jumped into action.