As the carriage stopped, Jon could see the large structure that sat in front of them. It was a wooden building, but it was incredibly long. It reminded Jon of Dan’s storage area. It definitely looked like it could store a number of people.

Thalia was the first person to jump off, followed by Macy.

Everyone else in the wagon followed afterward, and so did Liz. The other spellcasters, however, stayed on their horses.

“...I’m sure there’s a number of them in there right now,” Liz said. “They seem to have several sweep patterns that they travel the land, but they’re so disorganized, they take a long time to cover our bases.”

“So we’ll go in there and kick their ass?” Macy asked.

“No. It’s a small space, and you’ll need to stay outside in case the other forces come,” Liz said. “Me and Lester should be able to take care of this.”

“So, it’s a date,” Macy responded.

Liz ignored her. “Lester?”

“Yeah?” Lester drew his sword.

“Keep the lacerations to a minimum?” she asked. “These guys don’t seem trained at all.”

“Well, then that’s gonna make this job a whole lot harder.”

“I’m serious,” Liz said. “A lot of these people are just trying to provide for their families-”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“Liston, you’re in charge, don’t screw up.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Liston said, saluting.

Liz rolled her eyes. With that, the two of them walked up to the door.

Lester kicked it open and they rushed in.

Jon had stayed with his gun ready. What would happen?

“Who are you?” There was an unrecognizable voice from the cabin.

Suddenly, the noise of a fight broke out. Fire flew out of one of the windows. Tables and other things could be heard being broken, as well as the occasional scream.

Eventually, there was silence.

Jon gripped his gun even harder, which he didn’t know was possible. Not knowing anything made him even more than any palpable danger.

Finally, the door swung open. It was Lester.

“Well, that was fun,” he said. Walking out.

Behind him, Jon expected Liz. Instead, it was a man and a woman wearing brown robes. They looked to be just a bit younger than Jon’s parents.

He felt something brush past his arm. Thalia ran into the arms of the people.

“Thalia!” The man yelled. He squeezed her. “Oh, my daughter!”

“Honey!” The woman yelled.

Ah. Jon understood. This was where Ray’s parents were.

“Is that… the Armistand family?” Liston scratched his head. “What are they doing here?”

The family stepped aside as Liz came out with a large brown bag.

“We’re done here,” Liz said. “Everything seems to make sense now.”

“Ray was right about his family,” Tallow said. “He knew they were captured. Is that suspicious?”

“No. Actually,” Liz held out her hand. “You should meet your clients. Mr. and Mrs. Amristand. Head of the Rare Artifacts Guild.”

“Wait- wait- wait,” Tallow said. “You asked for us?”

“No!” Mr. Armstand shook his head. “That must have been the work of the guild. We were taking a trip to find our son, who we heard lived in this area. We had just come off of a fantastic deal over it-”

“You traveled into unsupervised land without guards?” Macy asked. “You guys deserved to be kidnapped.”

“I’m with her,” Tallow added.

“We never thought our son would move somewhere so dangerous!” Mrs. Armistand said. “I mean, it’s been so long.”

“The routes have been more dangerous than usual, Mrs. Armsitand,” Liz said. “Please, we’ll bring you back to Valta. Please.”

She held her hand out to the wagon.

“Okay…” The family walked hand in hand to the wagon.

“Uh, sister!” Liston called. “We, uh, have company!”

In the distance, there was a row of horses.

“Oh, no…” Liz got on her horse. “Everyone, get ready! They’re back early!”

Lester held his hand out to Liz.

“No!” Liz said. “Take the carriage!”

“Wagon, but whatever!” Lester ran to the wagon.

“...Danger’s in that direction…” Liz whispered.

She galloped over to Jon and held her hand.

“Take a warrior!” she said.

Jon grabbed her hand and in one swoop, she pulled him onto the back of her horse.

“You’ll have my back?” she asked.

Jon felt that she already knew the answer before she even asked. “Yeah.”

“Come on, hah!” She yelled.

Her horse led the charge forward.

On the other horses, Jon could see Amalia, Macy, and Tallow hanging on. Tallow was riding behind Liston. She had drawn her Vindazi sword.

“We’re gonna break through!” Liz yelled. With one hand on the reins, she opened her book in the other.

A large fireball started forming in the air. Jon kept his gun pointed, ready to shoot whatever came their way.

The other spellcasters had fireballs gather above their head as well.

Suddenly, several fire projectiles were flying towards the line of bandits.

A screen appeared to protect the blockade from spells.

“...Magic?” Liz wondered out loud. “But… one said anything about magic…”

She held her fist up. “Stop!”

All of the horses and the wagon slowed down. The blockade of horses still waited for them.

“...Who’s your leader?” Liz asked. Her horse calmly stepped forward. Jon was nervous, but he tried to hide it, as not to distract Liz.

“Listen to my command, Jon,” Liz whispered.

Jon nodded.

“...yeah,” he said, once he realized Liz couldn’t have possibly heard what was said.

They walked up the combined groups of horse riders.

“I am.” A woman with smooth blond hair cut shorter than her ears also stepped forward on a horse. She held open a book as well, but she wore dark red armor, making her distinguished from the rag-tag group of bandits behind her.

Up closer, Jon could actually see more red armor mixed in with the crowd.

“Are you a mercenary?” Liz asked. The two horses began to circle around each other.

“Lady Janis Valda Kurt, at your service,” the blond woman said. “Valda to my associates, as well as my enemies... but my being a mercenary probably shouldn’t be at the top of this discussion.”

“You dare work for bandits?” Liz asked, determined to keep her course.

“Bandits? Who's to say we’re working for bandits?” Valda asked. “Who's to say that we’re not on lawless land and that I’m not helping a small time militia prevent the robbery of their small town by an elite group of… mercenaries?”

“We are not robbers,” Liz said. “You can have the rest of the gear, but my guild will be taking back what’s ours. And the family.”

“Not happening,” Valda responded.

“...Why for these guys, though?” Liz asked. “I’ve doubt they’ve had enough money to pay for your services.”

“Who needs money?” Valda asked, “when you can get a nice consolation prize.”

Liz’s eyes rested on the book. “Is that stolen too?”

“More like an advanced payment,” Valda added.

“Shame,” Liz remarked. “Seeing that it’s a book, and you have a sword at your side, you weren’t able to find the weapon you were looking for.”

“Alright, detective,” Valda responded. “See how long you can talk before I burn you and your boyfriend to a crisp.”

Liz laughed a laugh that scared Jon. He didn’t mind though. It was as if he had gotten tickets to a performance. He had never been to a performance before.

“Then…” Liz took a deep breath. “Can you please give us passage?” Jon wasn’t expecting such a gentle question from Liz after what he felt was verbal sparring. He was still trying to figure these things out.

Valda laughed. “Ah, so you want to make it official? You realize that the normal rules of engagement don’t apply in a lawless land like this.”

“It doesn’t?” Liz asked. “Fine. You’re stalling to make time for the others to catch up.”

“They’ll be here-”

“Jon, shoot her.”

Valda didn’t get to finish her statement before Jon fired his gun. Valda held out her hand, creating a blue shield around herself and the horse.

The shock was still enough to make her horse flat back onto its hind legs and for Valda to try not to fall off.

“Engage!” Liz yelled, already throwing open her book.

A ball of purple energy rose from its pages above Liz and Jon’s head as the horse began to charge.

“Ha!” Valda had opened her own book. Lighting flourished from her hands.

Liz held her arm up, projecting her own magical shield around her and Jon.

“I don’t have time for you!” Liz yelled. “Jon!”

Jon could barely see past the sparks, but he decided to just try to point towards the action and shoot.

There was a yell, and a black book landed on the ground away from them.

Valda quickly turned away and ran after the book.

Jon was going to shoot it again, but Liz had already charged forward.

“Keep your eyes forward!” Liz yelled. “The carriage is the most important part!”

Jon nodded. He could already see the line of horses closing on to them.

Thankfully, no one else seemed to have any books, although there were a ton of weapons in their hands.

That was when the ball of energy above Jon’s head started to spew its own lighting.

Instead of striking forward like others, it struck the ground with such force that grounds of dirt were kicked up.

One of the bandits had gotten close when the lighting stuck him in the chest knocking him off the horse.

Jon was going to shoot that one, so he changed his attention to the others.

He found it would be hard, as Liz’s group had finally caught up to them as well. Flashes of lightning were striking everywhere around them.

Jon knew that they were outnumbered, but the magic seemed to give them an advantage.

As he looked for more targets, he saw large groups of men being kicked off of their horses.

Off to the side, he could see Amalia throw a small red projectile, cutting a man across the face and veering him off course.

It came back into her hand, and suddenly, her large red staff extended from where she caught it, ramming into another man and pushing him off.

Oh. Did her weapon change?

Jon looked at his gun. Did it change?

“Jon, focus on the wagon!” Liz yelled.

Jon nodded. Liz had already changed course.

Lester was hopping in his seat. Jon could see him mouthing curses.

“Lester, go!” Liz yelled.

“I can’t!” Lester yelled. “Behind you!”

Both Liz and Jon turned and saw the three armored mercenaries being led by Valda.

Jon silently apologized to the horse in his head as he fired. He figured that since Valda would deflect it, he’d aim towards one of the other men.

Liz must have known Jon’s plan, as she pointed her finger at Valda and summoned more lighting.

Valda deflected it, but Jon’s blast got by her shield and flew into the legs of one of the horses.

The horse fell to a resting position as its rider was thrown off.

There were still three more riders left. Thankfully, a large gust of wind came by and divided the other two riders.

Lester slammed the reins and the horses to the wagon pulled away at full speed. Jon never knew that the horses could go so fast. They were nearly as speedy as the horses without carriages.

They belonged to the King’s Guard, didn’t they? Jon realized that he would probably need to get to know them more.

Liz’s horse followed by the wagon’s side as they cut through the mercenaries. Jon could hear Macy’s laughter as fire flicked behind him.

Macy really does have fun. Jon couldn’t bear to even be scared right now. He was just happy someone was having some semblance of control.

Suddenly, he felt something land on his shoulders.

It was Tallow, holding on to him.

“I can watch your back, hun!” Tallow yelled. “Focus on the horse!”

“Roger!” Jon realized that Tallow was talking to Liz based on her response.

Tallow raised her Vindazi sword in the air and began to spin it around. A small tornado gathered around its blade.

She brought it down. The tornado came down and swept away one of the other red armored mercenaries who had begun chasing them.

“We’re making our way out!” Liz said. “Someone get on the wagon!”

Already, Amalia’s horse was getting close. She extended her pole and put it onto the back of the wagon.

She pushed herself off the horse and landed in front of the family perfectly.

“That’s one way to do it!” Tallow yelled. She simply leapt upside down and landed next to Amalia.

“Jon, can you?” Liz asked.

Jon already knew. He let his body fall off the side of the horse before shooting at the ground.

He landed on the wagon shortly after.

“I think we’re out,” Tallow said. “Just gotta fend off this bugger!”

“What about Macy?” Amalia asked.

“That chick will be fine,” Tallow said. “And so will the others. We just gotta focus on-”

She stopped talking. “Oh…”

Jon saw it too. Another wave of horses was chasing after them behind the mercenaries. This wave was led by Raglace, whose large horse was accelerating faster than Jon had ever seen.

“Take the horse!” Lester yelled. “I can take him!”

He turned around. “Vindazi lady? You know how to drive carriages, right?”

“Why do you always… ugh. Whatever!”

Lester stood up. Tallow leaped to the front and took his seat, switching places with him.

“Alright, I’ve been waiting for this!” He turned to Jon.

“I’m gonna take out the leader,” he said. “You deal with the small fry.”

Jon nodded.

“You’ll be okay?” Amalia asked him?

“You’re asking the wrong person,” Lester asked, just before he pushed off the end of the wagon, causing it to shake.

Whoa. Lester soared over the heads of Valda and her two men.

He came down onto the line of horses, causing a large explosion.

“Oh, wow…” Amalia said. “Lester…”

“Idiot!” Liz yelled. Her horse had slowed down so that she could get to the back of the wagon.

Valda waved her hand at the ground.

A wave of energy came shot towards the floor and was rushing towards them.

Can I shoot that? Jon wondered.

He pointed his gun at the floor.

“Jon!” Amalia pushed against his chest and brought him to the floor.

A sword had narrowly missed his head. One of the mercenaries had gotten close enough to the side of the wagon.

‘Oh no!” Tallow yelled.

Jon turned around. There was a line of red mercenary knights in front of them.

“Shit, shit, shit…” Jon could hear the panic in Liz’s voice as she was busy deflecting the wagon from Valda’s attacks.

Amalia swung her staff at the nearby mercenary, who deflected it with his sword.

He swung again.

Amalia’s staff shrunk into a small shield that attached itself to her wrist and blocked the attack.

Jon used the opportunity to shoot his gun towards the man.

It hit him straight on, but both he and his horse held their ground.

Jon got ready to shoot again when a tornado pushed the man off of his horse.

Tallow was looking back, with her sword pointed towards them.

“I’m turning around!” Tallow yelled. “Hold on!”

“You can’t possibly turn a whole carriage like- whoa!!!!”

Amalia couldn’t finish her response as the wagon veered hard. Jon could feel the wind mana surrounding the wagon as it started to make an impossible turn.

The Armistand family held on to each other while Mr. Armsistand held on to the side of the wagon, all of them screaming for their lives.

Amalia also tried to hold on to the wagon, but eventually came to Jon and wrapped her arms around his body.

He wrapped one of his arms around her body to keep her close and grabbed the side of the wagon to hold on, the trigger of his blunderbuss wrapped around his thumb.

“Aaahhhh!” Amalia screamed, the momentum pushing her hard into Jon’s chest.

Jon couldn't scream. He had been in too many situations like this before to not think about just how to survive.

Understanding his role was in this situation, he let go of the wagon and put his other arm around Amalia’s back as well.

Now, he could aim his gun properly.

He grabbed it with both hands and fired.

The wagon pushed forward onto its course, having turned completely around. Now, Valda and her mercenary were heading straight towards them.

“Good thinking, Jon!” Tallow yelled.

“You’re crazy!” Liz yelled. Her horse had caught up to the front of the wagon again.

This time, as they neared Valda, Liz made a cutting motion across the front of her.

“Book!” Liz yelled.

Jon thought it was for him. Instead, after Valda had deflected whatever energy blast came from Liz, Tallow had pointed her finger at Valda.

The book flew from her hand again.

“Jon!”

Now it was his turn. He fired at an angle so that his blast both hit Valda and her follower off of their horses.

The wagon drove by the two while Jon could hear Valda’s cursing as she yelled at them.

He watched as long as he could before he turned back around.

The mercenary Jon had knocked off before was standing up, but Amalia quickly extended her staff down the side of the wagon and swung upwards, the force of the wagon and her swing bringing the bottom of her staff up into his chin, knocking him out cold this time.

“I think I can get used to this... “ Amalia said.

Suddenly, Jon started to feel the heat. There was another large fireball coming towards them.

It was too large for Jon. He looked back to the front of the carriage and saw that Liz had run up ahead to help Lester in the fight, who was tossing men around the field left and right.

Jon wanted to be impressed, but he had to figure out what to do with the fireball that he wouldn’t be able to completely dispel. Would he have to make enough space for the whole carriage?

He felt a figure leaped past him. He thought it was Tallow, but saw that it was Thalia with her dagger still in its sheath.

Amalia had already started swinging her weapon, which transformed into a red whip wrapping around Thalia’s waist.

She met the fireball head-on, hitting it with her sheathed dagger.

The fireball immediately jetted into the opposite direction, having transformed into a bolt of white energy. It fired straight back towards the grounded Valda and her group of the approaching mercenaries.

The blow from the white bolt when it hit the ground completely erased the view of the mercenaries.

Amalia had already pulled Thalia back into the wagon.

“That was crazy!” Amalia yelled.

Thalia grimaced and looked at Jon.

He grimaced too. He didn’t want to take sides. It was crazy and cool.