Chance was awakened by something shaking his foot. He started to talk as he was waking up, but a hand quickly covered his mouth. His eyes popped open and he started to struggle until his eyes focused on the face of the captain leaning over him.

“Quiet.” The captain whispered.

As Chance arose he noticed that it still seemed to be the middle of the night. “I thought the plan was to leave at first light?” he whispered.

The whispered back, “The guards said they just saw the one watching the camp slip away back to his camp and that they did not see anyone take his place. So leave the bedding here and pile this stuff up under the blanket to make it look like you are still here. The Wells’ have been kind enough to trade bedding with us, their bedding is already packed and sitting beside the horses. So get moving and maybe we can slip away and get a couple of hours’ head start on them.”

Nodding and he looked around for Alyssia, he could not find her so he called out through their bond.

Alyssia, where are you?

I am watching their camp. The one that was in the tree just returned. He was quite upset that no one replaced him all night.

We are going to try to slip away early while they are not watching the camp. We are going to leave our beds made up to look like we are still asleep.

Chance relayed to the captain where Alyssia was at currently. The captain’s eyes lit up, “Have her stay and watch and let us know if someone leaves to come watch the camp. That way we can know how much time we have. She can catch up to us once they discover we are not still in camp.”

Chance could feel her listening through the bond so he asked, did you hear that Little One?

Yes. I would be happy to stay and let you know when they discover they have been tricked. She giggled.

Well, be careful. Make sure that they don’t see you. Chance admonished then proceeded to set up his bedding and gather up his things.

They took time and thanked the families for their hospitality. The men grumbled that they should be helping them but conceded that they needed to keep the women and young children safe.

Mrs. Wells approached Chance as he was packing his saddle, “Sir, I wanted to thank you for letting Annie see your pet and for being so kind to her. She does get awful lonely out here on the road with no one her age to play with. I probably should not ask, but would you be willing to sell your pet?”

Shocked, Chance stared at her for a second, luckily he was not one to blurt out the first thing that came to his mind otherwise his response might have been quite harsh.

“Annie is a sweet girl, ma’am. Sadly, I cannot sell Alyssia. She and I are quite close and I do not think she would understand having a new owner.” He responded as nicely as he could.

“My husband did not think you would, but I had to ask you know. Seeing her interact with Alyssia last night, she was the Annie we know when we are at home. Can you tell me where you got her so I can look into getting one for her?” she asked.

Chance paused as he tried to think of a logically explanation for how he “bought” Alyssia.

“I actually found her in the woods when she was newly born. Her mother had died and she was all alone.”

Her hand came up and covered her mouth and tears welled up in her eyes as she quietly said, “Oh my, the poor thing.”

She placed her hand on Chance’s shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze. “You are good young man. If I had known your story I would not have asked about buying her from you. I apologize for being so insensitive.”

Chance now felt bad for making up a story that made her feel bad for trying to help her daughter. He struggled to find the words to say that would lighten the situation.

Luckily, the captain came by and asked if he was about ready to go.

Taking the opportunity to escape from the uncomfortable situation, he nodded and then turned back to Mrs. Wells. “Tell Annie that Alyssia and I said good bye.” Then he mounted up and turned Hero to join Noble and Captain Herrera as they rode out of camp.

Alyssia, we are riding out of camp now. Any new information?

No. The one that was watching our camp woke someone then went to find his bed and is already asleep. The one he woke got up and got ready to go then sat down and fell asleep with a little help.

A little help? Chance asked.

I sort of cast a sleep incantation on him when he sat down by the fire to wait on the coffee to heat up.

Great thinking. Hopefully that will give us even more time. Let me check with the captain and we might have you head back to us.

Chance told the captain what had occurred in the guards’ camp and asked him if he thought that there was still a need for Alyssia to watch the camp or if she could head their way and rejoin them for some sleep before scouting again.

“That is a good idea. Have her head this way.” Captain Herrera told him.

Did you hear the captain?

On my way Chance. Get that cloak pocket warmed up for me.

They set off at a walk to warm the horses up and then after about half an hour they moved to a canter in an attempt to put distance between them and the men following them before it was found that they were no longer in the camp.

“Is there a reason we are not riding harder Captain?” Chance asked as they moved into a canter.

“Well on a good day a healthy horse can travel around thirty miles with stops for water and maintaining a trot. If we were to take off galloping the initial distance between us and our pursuers would be greater but the horses could not maintain the pace nearly as long as if we were to maintain a slower speed. A gallop will tire Noble and Hero more and cause us to have to take a break more frequently and walk with them for longer periods causing our daily distance to be reduced.”

“Should we not have borrowed some of the caravan’s extra horses then so that we can swap and keep ours fresh?” He asked as they moved swiftly down the road.

“A good thought Chance.” The captain said as he grinned. “Good but wrong. Say we were to bring additional horses along with us. They are having to canter or gallop along with us but are not having to carry a rider so they will be tired as well when we switch to them but not as tired as Hero and Noble. Then we get on the new horses and start galloping with them and pulling a tired Hero and Noble along.”

“Oh, so we would be only as fast as the horse that was the most tired.” Chance said as understanding dawned on him.

“That is correct. I have been told that far in the past when Ard users did not exist to send messages, the King had waystations set up at what would become the Respites to keep horses for messengers to exchange their horse for a fresh one. There are stories of messages making it from Grensmar to Hargest, normally a twelve-day trip in a little over three days. Of course that was swapping riders too about halfway through to keep the rider fresh and alert as well.”

“I had not heard of that. Was that when you were a boy?” Chance said with a cheeky grin.

“Ha ha. Very funny. No it was several centuries ago after Ard was split and before bonding was discovered.” The captain responded.

After that they both settled into the motion of the horses and focused on posting, so that they would not be jarred by gait of their horses.

Chance.

Yes, Love.

I am approaching from behind and to the right side. I was about to come in for a landing but did not want to make you squeal like a little girl again. Alyssia said with a giggle.

Shaking his head, he responded indignantly, I did not squeal like a little girl. You merely gave me a start and it was a cry of warning to the camp.

Yeah right. Alyssia answered and Chance could almost feel her rolling her eyes at him.

Did you just roll your eyes at me? How does one send a mental eye roll? That was amazing. Chance laughed.

About that time Alyssia landed on Chance’s right shoulder.

He reached up and, as carefully as he could while riding at a canter, ran his hand down Alyssia neck and side.

I missed waking up to you on my chest this morning, Little One.

I missed sleeping on your chest, Chance. She responded as she gently pushed her head into his palm. Now it is time for me to sleep so open your cloak please.

Chance pulled open the left side of his cloak and the little demi-dragon crawled from his shoulder, across his chest, and into the inside pocket of his cloak.

Sleep well Alyssia. Good job.

Thank you Chance.

They slowed down and walked the horses several times over the course of the next few hours. Then around the time the sun was coming up they stopped the horses at a stream that was running parallel to the road currently.

“We need to stop for a bit and let the horses rest. We will take off their saddles and move over off the road and let them eat a little bit too.” The captain said as they slowed down and then finally stopped.

The captain asked, “Alyssia, could you fly back and see if you can spot the men and let us know what sort of lead we have?”

Using her audible illusion spell she responded, “That is a good idea. Then we would know how hard we needed to push to keep ahead of them. I will let Chance know as soon as I spot them”

With that she took off into the air and back down the road they had recently traveled.

They dismounted and walked their horses in a circle for a bit to let them catch their wind and cool down. Then eventually they removed the saddles and blankets, they did not use a bit as they were trained to respond to leg pressure and weight shifts. Chance also took the opportunity to check their shoes and to clean out the accumulated mud and leaves that had been compressed into the sole of the hoof. Taking them by their bridle and leading them to the stream to get a drink.

He made sure not to let them drink too much. He moved them back and forth from the grass to the water for the next thirty minutes until it seemed that they were sated. During that time, they took the opportunity to stretch their tired legs and to take some time to eat some travel rations for breakfast.

Chance, there is a problem.

What is it?

It looks like they attacked the caravan. They are currently about half the distance back to our camp from last night, but they have the wives and Annie tied to horses that belonged to the wagons.

Chance’s stomach dropped and he felt ill. He turned to the captain. “They have the wives of the caravan and Annie with them. They are about half way back from us. There is no sign of the men.”

“Damn! I was hoping that they would chase after us. Can Alyssia go back and see about the men and if possible make it back to us before they get to us?”

“I don’t know. Let me ask.”

Alyssia, do you think you can make it back to the caravan camp to check on the men and then make it back to us before they get here?”

I think so. I am going into the wind currently and will have a tail wind on the way back to the return will be much quicker. I am heading that way now. I will let you know what I find.

Alright. Be safe.

You as well.

“She thinks she can make it. She said she will be going with the wind on the way back and that will make it faster.”

“Alright then, we need to find a better place to set up an ambush. I did not think to ask. How many men are still with the guards?”

Alyssia, how many men were there still in the group after us? Chance asked as he relayed the captain’s question.

All of them are there, so seven although it looks as if one of them is wounded somewhat as he had bloody bandage on his arm.

“All of them are still coming this way.” Chance answered the captain’s question.

“Alright, they must have caught the camp unaware then as I think the two guards could have at least take one in each in combat and the other men would have fought.” The captain said as they mounted up and moved out down the road.

“Keep your eyes out for a spot where the forest comes closer to the road or there are bushes nearby or maybe a blind turn in the road. We need a way to cut the numbers down before we engage them. Seven on three is not the ratio that tends to favor the three winning so we need to reduce that some.” The captain explained as the continued. “The King tries to remove the conditions we are looking for as they can be used by bandit’s as well so we might not find anything.”

They rode on for a bit longer before they found a bit of turn in the road where the road dipped down then crested a small hill as it turned. It was not a good spot to try to stop a wagon, as it could take off and gain speed going downhill, but for their situation with men on horseback it was probably the best they were going to get.

Chance, I found the men. They are following on foot in two groups. The two of the guards are wounded and the Joseph has a bandage around his head. They look like they scrounged up some clubs from the forest but other than that they are not armed.

Alright, head back this way as quick as you can. We are setting up an ambush and we need you here to help even the odds. By the way, how far back are they from the guards? Why are they in two groups?

It looks like the two uninjured guards, Frank, and Obadiah are in pretty good shape. They look to be catching up on the soldiers somehow and the second group is walking and is much farther behind.

As they began looking over the terrain, Chance relayed to the captain what Alyssia had told him about the two groups of men trailing the guards.

“How are they catching them?” Chance asked.

“Well, I would guess that the men are pacing themselves to a speed that they can keep up for long distances. It is a known fact that men that are properly trained can cover more distance on foot faster than most animals. For they can keep going constantly and drink and eat on the run as needed and can set a pace that can be maintained.” He told Chance.

Chance removed his bow and his quiver from his enchanted pouch. He stuck several broadhead arrows into the ground beside him and within easy reach. He ran the motions of drawing and firing and reaching down to grab another arrow until he could do it without having to look down to find the next arrow. He was far enough back from the crest of the hill that he could probably fire two or three arrows before they were able to ride close enough that he would need to discard his bow and draw his sword.

The captain lamented the fact that he had left his bow back in Mern thinking that he would not have need of it on the trip.

“I know you can use a throwing knife Captain. Why don’t you take this one and make use of it?” Chance said as he handed the captain his enchanted dragon-headed throwing knife.

“One knife is not going to make a lot of difference Chance.” The captain responded taking the knife.

“Throw it at that tree and then tell me the same thing Captain.” Chance responded with a grin.

The captain drew the knife and with a flick of his wrist sent the knife spinning towards the nearby tree. They heard the knife strike the tree solidly and then the captain made a startled exclamation. “What in the world!”

Chance knowing what had happened responded. “It is enchanted to return to the sheath upon impact.”

The captain’s head snapped around to look at Chance. “Begging your pardon?”

“You heard me. It is enchanted. From what I understand it belonged the man that was the first High Mage and bonded to Alyssia’s Dam.”

Shaking his head, he attached the knife to his belt and practiced drawing and throwing it a few times to get used to the balance and weight of the knife.

I am just passing over the guards. They have stopped where we stopped last to water the horses. It looks like they are going to do the same.

“They are at the place we stopped last and are watering their horses as well.” Chance told the captain.

“Alright. Then depending on how long they stop we have around twenty minutes from the time the leave until they arrive here.”

Chance, if you all are setting up an ambush would like me to create some illusions for you both to hide in to allow them to come closer without you being seen?

Excellent idea, Love.

“Alyssia asked if we wanted illusions to hide in for the ambush.”

With a wicked gleam in his eyes and scary chuckle, the captain nodded. “That would be great. Chance I want you in an illusion at the crest of the hill. Don’t open fire until you see me attack. I will be farther down the hill and will wait for them to be in range of the throwing knife. That will put you behind them and shooting downhill so make sure to take that into account. It will also mean they need to ride back up hill to get to you giving you more time to shoot them.”

They set up as the captain outlined and had Alyssia cast an illusion of a rock over both of them. Then she headed back shadow them so they would know exactly where they were and when they would arrive at the ambush site.

They were all set and now all they had to do was wait.