The caravan that Terri, Aggy and Flem were taking to Valleros was run by a man named Dravid Carravello. He was a stocky, sun browned individual and greeted the three companions brusquely when they arrived at daybreak.

"Well, at least you know how to be on time," he said gruffly. "Throw your things in the back of that last wagon, we're leaving in five minutes. And remember, I'm the only one who knows that you're guild members so hide those amulets under your shirts. If we do end up running into any noblemen on the road, just do your best to make sure they think you're peasants."

That was as far as their introduction to the caravan went. The first few days were unremarkable and followed a repetitive pattern. The trio walked beside or behind the wagons during the day, and occasionally jumped on the back of one if they got sick of walking. As night fell the caravaners would draw their wagons into a circle to make a temporary corral for the oxen before making campfires and cooking the evening meal. The three companions joined in these campfires and slowly became familiar with the traders' lifestyle.

It seemed that Aggy's assessment of the state of the roads was accurate. All of the highways near Gravenhall were regarded as very safe, although there were short term exceptions such as the band of goblins the companions had encountered the week before. As they moved further afield the roads were protected by the soldiery of the lords whose lands they crossed. The traders had to pay tolls for this security but they were not excessive.

Caravans were prohibited from hiring their own armed guards by the lords of the lands they travelled through, which is why it was important that the three companions presented themselves as simple travellers if any noblemen came by. This restriction didn't stop the traders themselves from carrying weapons however, and Aggy noted that several of the covered wagons contained wicked looking crossbows. After realising that they weren't going to be a massive pain in the neck, Dravid slowly warmed to the three companions and by the end of the first week they were a regular fixture at his campfire. As they moved from fiefdom to fiefdom he proved to be an inexhaustible source of gossip about the lord who owned it, including their thoughts on Gravenhall.

"I won't lie to you, the lords aren't fans of the big grey castle in Providence. They think the guilds wield far too much power and now that the lands are safe they want Gravenhall shut down. The only reason they haven't moved against the guilds already is because they aren't sure whether they'd win or not. They're terrified of what a high level wizard could do to any army that threatens Gravenhall, although personally I think it's the rogues' guild they should be worried about. I once heard a story about a high level rogue who killed a man even though he was locked in a tower with no windows and fifty guards outside the door. They're sneaky bastards those rogues."

They all laughed, Flem most of all, but it was Aggy who replied. "Well those trumped up nobles don't have anything to worry about from us. We just want to get to Valleros unmolested and are more than happy to leave them to their machinations. Can you tell me how much further we have to go?"

Dravid was happy to answer. "We're not quite half way there yet, although we've been making good enough time. At this pace I'd say we've ten days travel ahead of us before the spires of Valleros come into view."

When they retired for the night Aggy pulled Flem and Terri aside and whispered to them, "A lot can happen in ten days kids so keep your eyes peeled. There might not be many bandits about these days but I've heard that some of the lords have taken to launching 'bandit raids' of their own if they feel their tolls aren't generating enough income. From what I’ve heard they don't mess around either. Everyone in the caravan gets killed and the wagons are never seen again, so don't let down your guard until we're safely within the borders of Valleros."

Terri and Flem nodded in agreement before rolling out their blankets underneath a night sky that was full of stars.

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The attack came two days later in the grey half light just before dawn. The three companions and the caravaners were sleeping by their smouldering campfires just outside the ring of wagons when the first arrow whistled overhead. A second arrow thudded into the side of one of the wagons and a third found a mark on one of the caravaneers who cried out in pain. After that all hell broke loose. More arrows flew out of the forest as the members of the caravan rushed to take shelter underneath their wagons. The oxen were bellowing and running in circles within their makeshift corral. Terri, Flem and Aggy huddled together under one of the wagons, trying desperately to get a sight of their attackers. This was not easy to do as dawn had not yet fully broken and there was a space of perhaps one hundred yards between the wagon circle and the forest where their attackers were concealed.

"Och, I can't see a damn thing," Aggy's voice was a mixture of frustration and anger. "Can either of you see where the arrows are coming from?"

Flem quickly replied, "There's at least one group of them behind that large fallen tree on the edge of the forest. It's off to the left of us, near the tree with the darker green leaves."

"Oh yes, I can see them now," Aggy answered, peering out from underneath the wagon. Seconds later a bolt of silvery energy shot from Aggy's hands towards the forest before exploding against the fallen log. Answering arrows thudded against the side of the wagon moments later.

"Well, you've found some of them," Terri said, "now what do we do?"

"I could try to make it across the open space and into the forest," Flem suggested. "Then I could flank around behind them, take them out one by one."

"Oh aye," Aggy responded dryly, "and I’m assuming you’re going to use your non-existent invisibility cloak to get across the gap? Because if you try to make it without one those bandits will fill you so full of arrows you'll look like a hedgehog by the time you're halfway to the forest."

Another arrow thudded into their wagon, and then off to their left a wagoneer cried out in pain.

"Whatever we're going to do, we'd better do it quick," Terri said, her voice tight with worry. "They're not going to be content just sitting there firing arrows at the wagons forever."

"Look, I've got a spell or two that might get us out of this but I can't cast them laying here on my belly," said Aggy. "I have to be standing up and I'll need some kind of distraction. If my concentration gets broken while I'm casting a spell it fails as well as disappearing from my memory."

The three companions wriggled around to a wagon on the right hand side of the circle and then stood up behind it.

"Alright then, "Aggy said. "This bugger takes a while to cast so I'll need one of you to step out from the other end of the wagon and draw their fire when I start casting it. It'll take me about ten seconds to cast the spell so be ready to duck back behind the wagon when you hear me stop talking."

Terri started to move but Flem held her back. "This is my job Terri. We need you alive to heal everyone who's been hurt in the attack." He crept up to the front of the wagon. "Just tell me when Aggs."

"Now!" Aggy said before stepping out from behind the wagon a moment later. Her hands twisted into esoteric shapes while she recited nine words of Jaclish. As soon as the last word left her lips a translucent sphere of energy formed between her hands and then began moving swiftly towards the forest. It was roughly the size of a generous watermelon and when it came into contact with the fallen tree trunk there was an explosion like thunder accompanied by the snapping and cracking of shattered wood. These noises were closely followed by cries of pain as the splintered shrapnel of the mighty tree trunk found many a mark among their foes. Aggy and Flem ducked back behind the wagon with their hearts racing.

"Right," said Aggy, "this next spell will hopefully cover our escape. I'm going to create a wall of fog between us and the forest. It will take a while to build up but once it's big enough to hide the wagons we'll need to tell the traders to get the oxen hitched up so that we can get the hell out of here."

When Flem was back in place beside the front of the wagon Aggy once again called out 'Now!' before stepping out to cast her spell. The bandits were better prepared this time however, and as soon as she stepped into view the arrows began to fly. Aggy had barely uttered the final word of the spell when she was struck in the thigh by one of the arrows. With a hoarse cry the dwarven mage collapsed onto the ground and then dragged herself under the wagon. Flem and Terri rushed to help but she waved them away.

"Get the wagoneers started and then you can come back and get this bloody thing out of me, I'm not going to die in the next five minutes."

About halfway between the wagons and the trees a dense fog began to gather together, as if it were coming out of the ground itself. As the seconds passed it became thicker and thicker until it completely hid the wagon circle from the forest. Arrows still appeared through the fog to strike the sides of the wagons or fly overhead but the bandits were unwilling to approach melee range with a mage of unknown capabilities among the caravan. As soon as Aggy's spell completely concealed the wagon circle, Terri and Flem raced to tell the traders to get their oxen hitched up.

While the wagoneers tried to calm and hitch up the frightened oxen, Terri returned to Aggy's side and was about to speak when the dwarf held up her hand. "If you're about to apologise for how much pulling the arrow out is going to hurt, you can save your breath lass. I know it has to be done and it's not the worst wound I've had by any stretch of the imagination. What I'm most upset about is that I've been wearing a coat of mail under my bloody furs for the entire trip and now I end up getting shot in the leg of all places. Bastards could at least have had the common decency to aim for my chest."

Terri smiled despite the situation and then grimly got to work. The arrow had passed right through the muscle of Aggy's thigh which made her life easier as she didn't have to push it through herself. Terri quickly snapped off the feathered end of the arrow, wincing at the grunt of pain Aggy made when she did so. The next step was to remove the rest of the shaft so she gently helped Aggy to roll over onto her belly before grabbing the protruding arrow with one hand and bracing the other against the back of Aggy’s thigh. Wrenching the arrow free brought another cry of pain from the stoic dwarf and once it was out Aggy said through gritted teeth, "You'd think that damn cleric guild would teach you some kind of pain relief spell for situations like this."

"They do," Terri replied with a grimace, "but only once you reach level two." She then placed her left hand on his amulet and the right onto the wound on the back of Aggy's thigh. By the time she had finished asking for Avandar to heal her friend, Aggy's wound was already closing and a look of relief washed over the dwarf’s face.

"That feels a heck of a lot better lass. If I make you bacon and egg breakfasts for the rest of the year I don't think I will have repaid you."

"No payment necessary," Terri said smiling. "We're a team after all. If you hadn't thrown up that wall of fog we'd probably all be dead by now."

"That reminds me," Aggy said, suddenly urgent, "tell Dravid to get everyone who isn't hitching up the oxen to load their crossbows and point them at the fog. We want to be ready if the bandits suddenly decide we're worth starting a melee over."