Two days after the battle they arrived at their destination as they had skipped several small villages to avoid the patrols that would look for whoever had stolen the crystal forged swords.

The village they had come to was as unremarkable as most of the others they had seen in Toa Mirr. It was dirty and the smell of human and animal excrement was everywhere.

They walked into a particularly run-down part of the village. There was a dangerous-looking group of men that looked to be full of drunks and other unsavory kinds of men. In reality, these men were others sent to Toa Mirr from Flaern and it was they that would take the swords from them.

"Do you want to get hurt?" One man said, his speech slurred.

Calren and Dario looked at each other nervously as the man shambled over to them.

"No, but there are others I would not mind getting hurt," Pali said.

"Oh? You come 'ere lookin' for someone to knock someone off?"

"A lot of people," Pali glanced at the guard post that held the village’s contingent of soldiers.

"A lot? A lot will not be cheap. What kind of lucre are you offerin'?" The man had seen Pali's glance but said nothing about it.

Pali gestured to the two carts behind him. Calren and Dario were each standing in front of a cart, "I recently have gotten my hands on some special "tools.” I think you will like them.”

"What makes you think I will not jus' take 'em from ya?"

"Because I will pay you more if you do your job."

The man shambled over to Dario's cart. Dario stepped back and looked at the man with disgust but said nothing.

"Yes, this will do nicely. You 'ave a deal!" The man said after he rummaged through the contents of the cart.

Pali nodded.

"Come on, boys! We 'ave some loot take care of!" The man shouted.

The rest of the men came over and took care of the carts.

"I will send the boss my regards." The man said and then left with the others.

"Are you sure those were the right people?" Dario said as soon as the men were out of sight. "We could have just given a bunch of drunks some weapons."

"If it were not them, we would have probably been attacked outright," Pali said. "And even if they were the wrong men, at least the weapons are not in the hands of the Toa Mirr army."

Dario didn’t look convinced.

“Come on,” Pali waved at the boys to follow him, “Let’s go back to the inn.”

Dario looked to Calren and sighed before following Pali.

Calren shrugged and followed as well.

***

"I am back Dearest," Pali said as he entered the room at the inn they were staying at.

Meric nodded at him.

"Any change with Ferra?" He looked at the sleeping girl on one of the two beds in the room.

"None, but it should not be long."

Pali sat down on a stool. It was one of the dirtiest inns he had stayed in and he worried that it would be bad for Ferra's recovery but the inn was the only one in the village and he did not want to make her travel anymore.

"How are your wounds?" Pali said to Meric.

"The same as when you asked this morning," Meric sounded a little annoyed. "How did the meeting go?"

"Very well, though it is a shame you did not get to see the looks on Calren and Dario's faces."

"Hey!" The two boys said in unison.

"Ferra would have loved it," Pali chuckled.

"Have you contacted General Hani again?" Meric said.

Pali wished the woman had a better sense of humor. He and Ferra were trying to give her one, but it was not proving an easy task.

"No, the last I talked to him he said we should rest for a few days." Pali finally replied. He had already told her about his conversation with the general, but the Meric seemed to not like sitting around and was getting restless, even with her injury.

Meric nodded.

"I am going to go back and retrieve the things we left in Heru. It will be much easier moving Ferra around while she recovers if we get a new wagon too." Pali said.

"You should take Calren with you. It will put me much at ease if you have someone that can fight." Meric said.

"I should take Dario too. It will be less stressful for Ferra if he is not here." Pali gave Dario a smirk.

"Hey! I resent that!" Dario said. "It is not my fault that she…"

"Enough," Meric said. She then turned to Pali. "Please take him."

Dario looked like he wanted to say more but Meric stared him down and he said nothing.

"You need to teach me how to do that, Dearest," Pali said seriously.

Dario gave the two adults an angry look each and then left the room. Calren shrugged and followed Dario.

"Could you please tell me again why you brought him along?" Meric said.

"I thought he could help. I just hope he comes around and does not prove me wrong."

Meric nodded. "Or he will die if he does not cause our death first."

Meric stretched her legs and shifted on the chair she was sitting on. It was further proof that not being able to move around much because of her injuries was getting to her.

"There is still much time left in the day," Pali grabbed the crude crutch Meric had made for herself. "Let us not spend the rest of the day cooped up in here."

Meric took the crutch and Pali helped her to her feet. "There is not much to see but we can discuss our plans."

Pali was excited. He had never spent much time alone with Meric since at least one of their "children" was always around and he had been hoping to get to know her better. He was not good at courting women, but as he spent more time with Meric, he began to feel it was worth the effort.

Early the next morning Pali and the two boys left. Since they were taking a carriage to their destination, they would only be gone for about three days. This left Meric and Ferra to fend for themselves but with Toa Mirr's army moving around so much because of the war the village was mostly safe.

Meric was less certain about the safety of Pali. While they would be safe for the carriage ride, they would carry all of their goods on the way back and considering bandits had attacked them two times in the three weeks they had been in Toa Mirr worried her.

She also worried that if they were attacked that Calren's magic use would be discovered as it was illegal for common citizens to learn it. The only reason she had told Pali to take him was because he could only hope to fight off someone untrained with the sword at this point, though he was quickly becoming proficient with the bow.

"Mama." Meric heard Ferra mumble.

Meric smiled one of her rare smiles at this. It would not be long until the girl woke up. Unlike that useless boy Dario, Ferra had grown on her despite being more energetic and noisy than she preferred in her associates.

Meric stood up from larger of the two beds she and Helnion had been sharing. Her leg was healing well, but despite the stitching she had done to help hold her wound closed, she had to be careful not to open it. She also knew that she needed some exercise lest she lose her strength.

When she had done some stretches and exercises, she grabbed her crutch and left the room. She had seen a good spot hidden from the view of anyone in the village or the roads when they had hidden their weapons before entering the village.

Not long after Meric had left the inn, a group of soldiers approached her.

"How did you get that injury?" One soldier said.

One quick look at the soldier showed him to be a lieutenant. He was not the most impressive looking man Meric had seen, but she knew that he could probably have easily taken both Pali and Dario in a fight even if both attacked him together.

Meric bowed her head to show respect for the soldiers. "My husband and I are traveling merchants. We were attacked by bandits."

"Where is your husband now? He is not dead, is he?"

"We lost our wagon and goods in the attack. He is visiting a friend in hopes to get a new wagon and goods."

"Must be a good friend if he is giving you those things."

"He is kind enough to loan them to us."

"How long ago did this happen and where?"

"It happened four days ago on the road from Millis."

The lieutenant turned back to the other soldiers and began talking with them. Meric made no move to leave because it was not unheard of for soldiers to cut down peasants that did not show respect to them.

"You are lucky. Bandits kill their targets, after raping the women. Could you tell us how you kept your life?"

"We ran as soon as we saw them. They seemed more interested in our belongings than chasing us although not before injuring my daughter and me."

"Your daughter? Where is she now?"

"Her injuries were many, and she is resting now."

The lieutenant nodded. "I see. When will your husband return?"

"He just left this morning so not for a few days."

"I see. I will want to speak with your husband when he returns. The bandits that attacked you might be the same ones that attacked a shipment. It is in your best interest to help us."

The lieutenant waved Meric away.

"Thank you Sir." She said and left.

Meric tried to shake off the dirty feeling she had made by being polite to enemy soldiers, but the feeling would not go away. Maybe a little archery would help her.

It was not long until Meric reached the spot they had hidden their weapons. Since the spot was relatively undisturbed, she was fairly confident that no one had found it.

Meric found the edge of the oiled canvas they had used to cover everything and as they had covered the canvas itself with a heavy layer of dirt and rocks only someone who knew something was there was certain to find it without stepping right on it.

Meric carefully removed her bow and quiver, doing her best to not disturb the camouflage. She then looked around carefully to make sure no one had followed her. She had also been careful to watch for pursuers on the way here so unless someone had already been waiting here she was safe.

Now that Meric was certain she was alone, she began shooting at a nearby tree.

Meric had been shooting for a while when she heard them. She immediately thought about the soldiers and hurried into the large collection of tall bushes and shrubs that had made this area so hard to see from the village.

"Are you sure she came this way?" She heard a male voice say.

"Not much better place to come and hide in the area." She heard another say.

Meric finally saw some people through the gaps in the foliage. They were not military but she could see the occasional glint of metal.

"Look at that." A third voice said. "She forgot to take her arrows out of the tree before she hid."

"The bushes," The second voice said, "Be careful, if she still has her bow she will be dangerous.

Meric heard the men talking quietly amongst themselves. They then moved apart and began to surround the bushes.

"Come out woman. You are worth more alive than dead." Said the first.

"I keep telling you a woman would not have been able to take out a military shipment." A fourth said.

"If she is one of those Flaern whores she might." The second said.

"We can find out later." The first said.

Meric readied her bow. She would take no pleasure in killing these men, but she could not let them tip off the soldiers in the village.

"Come out, Flaern whore." The second said. "We promise to give you a good time before we give you to the soldiers."

Meric could not see the men well from her position, but they were close enough that she should not have trouble hitting them.

She fired and immediately heard a scream. She then turned to the next man she could see and fired again. He merely grunted, and she heard him fall to the ground.

It was then that Meric rushed out of the bushes. The two remaining men were already near her in the bushes, but she could not quite see them well enough to fire upon them, and since she did not have a sword on her, she would be in trouble if they got too close.

Meric burst out of the bushes. She saw no one waiting outside but it would only be moments until the remaining two men came out from the bushes behind her and as there was no way for her to outrun them, not that she would anyway, she had to face them.

Just before the closest of the men came out of the bushes, Meric spun on her heels and readied her bow. As soon as he burst out of the bushes she loosed the arrow, which pierced his heart, killing him instantly. The last man burst out of the bushes less than a second later. She did not have enough time to ready another arrow and instead had to drop the bow as the man lept at her, a small dagger in his hand.

"Filthy whore!" He yelled as he slashed at her.

The man swung wildly at Meric. He appeared to have no training, and she easily dodged all of his attacks. She then grabbed his wrist, spun him around, and broke his arm making him drop his dagger.

The man screamed in pain and fell to his knees. Meric picked up her bow and walked in front of the man.

"Please! Please!" The man said, sobbing. "Do not kill me! I just wanted the money."

The man's death was quick.

Meric had finally made it back to the inn. She had hidden the bodies as best she could in the bushes but chances were that others had known what they had left to do and it would not be long until someone got suspicious. She just had to hope it would be long enough for her to get herself and Ferra outside the village.

Ferra was not yet awake. Meric hoped she would wake up soon because it would be easier to move her if she was. Meric was sure she would wake up within the next day if she had not already in the hour or so she had been gone.

"Ferra," Meric shook Ferra.

Ferra mumbled. "Mama?"

"Yes, it is Mama. I need you to wake up."

Ferra mumbled more but did not wake up.

Meric decided to try again later and walked to the closest of the small windows. She looked through the wooden slats at what was going on outside and saw nothing suspicious.

An hour later Meric tried waking Ferra again but only got the same results. Meric thought about some ways that might be more effective at waking someone up. She decided on one and left the room.

Not much later, Meric returned to the room holding a pitcher of water.

"Wake up Ferra," Meric said, shaking her one last time.

Meric saw that she would have to resort to the water. She had no intention of being gentle with the water and dumped the entire contents onto Ferra.

"Ahh!" Ferra screamed. "Cold!"

The girl nearly sat straight up but stopped and grabbed her side, her face contorted in pain.

"What? Why?" Ferra said confused.

"You have been sleeping for nearly four days straight," Meric said.

"I have?"

"You lost a lot of blood."

“It feels like it. My head feels light.“ Ferra looked herself over.

"How bad are they?"

"Nothing serious. You should fully recover in a few weeks."

"Where is everyone else? Are they all fine?"

"They are all fine. They are getting a new cart and retrieving the goods we left behind."

Ferra nodded slowly. "When will they be back?"

"We should see them soon."

Ferra tried sitting up again, but it was not long until her head fell back onto her wet pillow.

Ferra's eyes narrowed, and she felt around her wet bedding with her hands. "Why did you dump water on me?"

Meric explained the situation to Ferra. It was too risky to stay in the village longer than necessary and Meric wanted to leave sometime that night, if things had not turned sour before then.

"We have to warn Papa," Ferra said.

"I plan on intercepting them. The only problem is moving you." Meric said.

"Maybe you could hide me outside the village? I should be fine if you leave me with food and water."

Meric shook her head. "In your state wild animals could easily kill and consume you."

"Then what? You cannot carry me."

"I will take care of it," Meric said. "For now, we need to see how well you can move."

***

It had been a few hours since the sun had gone down. Meric was now watching the small outpost where the five soldiers assigned to this town were stationed. The lights had just gone out inside and only two of the soldiers were awake.

The two soldiers were slowly patrolling the village streets, their torches making them easy to spot and track. It was near the far edge of their patrol route that Meric was waiting for them with her bow. Here it was unlikely that any of the other soldiers could hear any cries for help they made.

She attacked. The surprise of her attack and the swiftness of it had given them no time to react, so her concern about them raising an alarm had been unwarranted.

Now with the two patrolling soldiers gone, Meric had finished the easy part of her plan. The next part was risky but would hopefully be quick.

Meric picked up the two jars of lamp oil, which she had purchased earlier in the day, after hiding the bodies of the soldiers and taking one of their torches. She then headed quickly to the barracks.

Upon Meric's arrival, she saw that no light was coming from inside. She did not want to risk being wrong and hid her torch behind a nearby building before creeping up to one window of the barracks. She looked inside and saw that not only was none of them awake but had all fallen unconscious because of heavy drink as evidenced by the flasks and bottles littering the tables. Only one soldier had made it to a bed.

Meric decided that she could risk foregoing the fire and take care of each man herself. This would give her all night to leave if so needed as there would be no fire to wake the villagers.

Meric opened the door slowly and crept inside. The floor squeaked as she walked, but none of the soldiers showed any signs of noticing.

She reached the soldier closest to the door. She picked his head up, covered his mouth and slit his throat with one of the daggers she had taken from the men who had attacked her earlier. She repeated this two more times.

Now that the soldiers were out of the way, Meric made her way to the stables behind the barracks. There was only a small carriage and a single horse, but it was all she needed.

Meric readied the carriage as quickly as she could and not much later she was pulling away from the barracks. Her next goal was to return to the soldiers she had first killed. The carriage she had just stolen had the markings of the Toa Mirr army and it would be suspicious if someone not wearing armor, especially a woman, were driving it so she needed to get some but since she was in a hurry, she merely loaded the two bodies into the carriage instead of stripping them there.

Next she got Ferra. Meric had carried her just outside of town just after twilight and as she had not been far from Meric's ambush point it only took a minute to reach the spot.

"You did it!" Ferra said excitedly.

Meric jumped down from the driver's seat on the front of the carriage and picked the girl up.

"Do not mind the bodies. I will dispose of them soon." Meric said just before she opened the door to the carriage.

Ferra did not look happy. "Okay."

Meric placed Ferra on one of the benches inside and then returned to the driver's seat. She then drove to the spot she had been earlier in the day. Not only did she want to retrieve the weapons that had been left there, but it would also be a good place to leave the bodies of the two soldiers.

Meric stripped one soldier of his armor. It disgusted her, but it needed to be done. She did not look forward to wearing it either.

She then loaded all the weapons but a sword and her bow into the storage compartment on the carriage.

All that was left to do was hide the bodies.

***

Pali and the two boys had been traveling for half a day back towards where they had left Meric and Ferra. They had gotten their new wagon and donkey and were eager to get back.

Pali had just driven off the side of the road to let an oncoming army carriage by. He and the boys were doing the usual by facing the carriage and bowing their heads, hoping they would be ignored.

Instead, the carriage stopped directly in front of them. He and the boys gave each other nervous looks.

"Raise your heads." A feminine voice said.

Pali looked up and saw Meric staring down at him.

Pali and neither of the boys said anything and merely gaped at her.

"Stop staring and unload the carriage." She said, almost looking amused.

"Is Ferra inside?" Pali said.

"Yes, and our weapons are in the storage compartment."

Pali looked both ways down the road. He could see no one.

"Come on," Pali said to the boys.

While Pali was unloading, Meric updated him on what had happened and why they had to leave.

When Meric had finished, Pali remembered why they had been so eager to get back.

"Our friend gave us some information that might be about Salis," Pali said.

"Really!" Ferra said excitedly.

Pali retrieved a sheet of paper from the wagon. "Unfortunately, it is like this."

"A wanted poster?" Meric slowly examined the paper.

"Salis is worth three thousand gold," Dario said reverently.

"Yes, it even gives a general location for her whereabouts," Pali said, ignoring Dario's comment.

"Where?" Ferra said.

"A canyon on the other side of Lake Eto."

"How did she get over there?" Meric said.

"I do not know but the poster is a few weeks old, so it is not likely she is still there," Pali said.

"Where do you think we should look?" Meric said.

"Eto. I imagine if they have captured her she would be taken there. If not, we can ask around and see if there are any rumors or information. The only problem is that it specifically says it wants her dead so we need to hurry."

Meric nodded.

"I think she played one too many pranks on a noble," Dario said.

"The sad thing is…" Pali said. "I would not be surprised if that was true."

Calren nodded in agreement.

"We should hurry," Meric said. "The girl is resourceful, but knowing her the wanted poster will not be her only problem."

Everyone nodded.

"To Eto!" Ferra yelled.