They were not even near Aschen when the carriage came to a sudden halt. Elise barely managed to stay seated. The stop had been too abrupt. But, even though she had almost flown through the carriage, she couldn't help but wonder why they had stopped. There was nothing blocking the way, and she could hear no roaring monsters or whatever normally dared to attack a carriage in a forest.

"Elise," her mother whispered, "I don't know why we stopped, but please close your eyes and cover your ears."

Elise didn't know why she should do that. Was there something scary she shouldn't see? Heinz had told her many scary stories about his fights, and she doubted that much could scare her. But she was a good girl and did what her mother told her.

That wasn't for long, though. Her patience just wasn't that great.

After a few seconds she tried to catch a glimpse, but there was nothing of interest. Her mother was staring out of the window. Elise continued to cover her ears. She only noticed her mother saying something, but the sound was too muffled to make out anything.

"Captain," Fiona asked, having realised that Elise had at least fo now listened to her words, "why have we stopped?"

The man, whose face was now hidden behind a helmet, simply put his armoured index finger in front of where his mouth would have been, "Shh."

Fiona was not stupid and understood the gesture. So she stopped speaking and remained silent. Still, she couldn't help but feel nervous. Her eyes wandered to the trees surrounding the path, but there was nothing.

"Forget it," she heard a knight say, "there's nothin' 'ere."

The atmosphere was tense. A few moments passed in which nothing happened before one of the knights touched the ground followed by a swift flurry of motions. She hadn't heard any chanting, but the earth to the left of the carriage rose up. Fiona heard a loud noise akin to a small explosion. Then something hit the earth wall. Whatever had hit the wall, however, had not managed to penetrate it.

"Protect the carriage," ordered the captain. He knew the carriage could take a beating. Their armors also could. Dwarves were quite proud of what they built. He pointed to four of the knights, "You four, see if the attackers are still here."

Lucius stared at their mage who had turned part of the ground into a wall, "How many were there?"

"According to the earth, six. All carrying something heavy. But they are gone ... or at least out of reach," the young mage replied. "It might be wise to investigate what hit us."

"I agree," said Lucius, "Ferdinand?"

"Yes, sir?" replied a knight who was slightly shorter than the others.

"Ferdinand, search for anything that might reveal who or what they were!" Lucius said, "We shall find them."

"Understood, sir," the young man said, his voice that of someone who had just entered puberty.

Ferdinand felt uncomfortable, but he knew he was the only decent tracker they had.

Elise quickly took another look and saw a wall of earth that hadn't been there moments ago.

"Wow," she exclaimed. Her eyes widened in amazement and she asked, "Mum, what happened?"

Fiona looked back and saw that Elise was still covering her ears. She gently pulled Elise's hands away and said, "I don't know .... Nothing of consequence, I suppose."

But that was not the case. The knights had managed to eavesdrop on the conversation, but none of them wanted to say it.

Ferdinand stepped up to the wall and stared at the small crater within. There was something embedded in it, something that looked familiar. Slowly he began to dig through the earth with his fingers. He heard the sound of metal meeting metal and found a small ball embedded in the brown dirt. He grabbed it with his hand and sniffed. It smelled like dirt. But there was something else too.

"Gunpowder," he thought, before hastily retreating. He trusted that his armour could not be penetrated by such a weapon. His teachers had always told him that guns could not kill a knight. But caution would do no harm.

He quickly reached the other side of the wall and looked for his captain. After finding him, Ferdinand handed him the lead bullet and said, "It probably came from a rifle. An older model, I think, but simple bandits shouldn't own something like that."

"Mmmm," Lucius merely muttered before examining the lead bullet, "It appears to be crudely crafted, perhaps made by someone who desperately needed ammunition. A rogue transmutation mage perhaps. Have there been any reports of renegade mages, deserters or bandits lately?"

"Not that I know of, sir," Ferdinand said, "but we should inform the Margrave. The king has entrusted us with the security of these lands, and we have a duty to perform."

"Indeed," was all Lucius said before raising his voice, "they have gone, and our pause was long enough. Time to be on our way."

The carriage started moving again, much to the delight of those who had attacked it.

The display of magic they had seen, combined with the attire of the carriage's guards, spoke volumes. No matter what they tried, they could not rob them of their valuables. They wanted to use the other weapons that had been entrusted to them by their boss. Yet they did not dare to do so. These weapons were too valuable to use when their victory was not clear. Therefore, these unfortunate souls, dedicated to their sinful craft, retreated to inform their chief.

A few seconds had passed and the carriage had started moving. Unfortunately, this did not help Elise's patience. She could no longer contain her excitement.

"Was the earth wall made with magic?" she asked loudly.

The sudden stop of the carriage had been strange, but she had quickly forgotten about it. However, there was one thing she could not forget. Before she had closed her eyes there had been nothing, and after she had opened her eyes there had been a brown wall as high as the carriage.

"I think so," Fiona replied, "but you should ask the mage when it's time, not now."

"I understand, Mom, but ... Magic is amazing," Elise murmured, smiling. Mages were certainly amazing. She really needed to find out what her nodes did.

"You need to sleep," her mother stated, "We still have a long journey ahead of us."

Elise closed her eyes. She felt tired, and the journey had been mostly boring. Maybe sleep would make it feel shorter.