"Alright, Leyla, go get the women loaded and start heading south we will catch up."

Leyla says "Yes! Right away."

"Drog, go see how many and if there is a hero."

Drog runs off into the woods to the north. Ruby and Mericel stay with me and wait for him to return. While I wait for Drog I start gathering metal armor and weapons from the dead guards. Any money pouches I find go into the pouch as well, Ruby seeing what I am doing starts helping.

"Ruby, what secret does Drog know that will keep you from burning him to ashes?"

Ruby spins to face away from me, I swear just before she turned I saw her cheeks turning red. Mericel starts giggling behind me so I turn to face her.

"Mericel, do you know the secret?"

Mericel laughs and says "Of course I do!"

"Well, what is it?"

Mericel says "That secret is not mine to tell."

Ruby says "Look here comes the blabbermouth now!"

Drog runs up and after looking at Ruby he gives his wolfish grin.

Drog says "Fifty-one humans, all on horses. The leader is in full armor and has a lance, forty have melee weapons and shields, the last ten are armed with bows."

"Okay, I will take the leader, Drog you attack the soldiers from the front. Ruby, Mericel, you attack from the rear and kill the archers, then help Drog with the rest of the soldiers."

All three agree and we split up, Drog and I go hide near the slave wagons. Ruby and Mericel move into the trees to wait until the soldiers pass. We are in hiding for a couple of minutes before I hear the sound of hooves hitting the road.

Watching from behind the wagon I see the soldiers stop when they spot the bodies in the road. They spread out and the knight and a couple of others ride forward to take a look. As I step out of hiding all eyes turn to me, the knight wastes no time and kicks his horse into a charge straight at me.

I side step the horse and grab the lance that is aimed at my chest. With my strength I am able to stop the lance's momentum completely. The horse continues past me but the knight is thrown backwards and hits the ground with a loud clanging of metal.

The horse stops, turns, rears up, and tries to brain me with its hooves. It must be a trained warhorse, I feel bad doing it, but I flip the lance around and drive it through the horse's chest. As the horse collapses I turn back to face the knight who is struggling to his feet.

Drawing Blitz as I stride towards the knight I feel sorry for the horse who was only doing as it had been trained. The knight regains his feet, draws his sword, and executes a perfect parry. I am expecting Blitz to cut through his sword and armor, so when the clang of the parry hits my ears I am shocked.

Jumping back to avoid his counter I take a look with my demon eye, both his sword and armor glow slightly. So magic stops magic, good to know. I dodge another swing by the knight and punch him in the head as hard as I can.

My fist hitting his helmet sounds like a bell being rung, he drops to the ground like his bones dissolved. I ignore him, he is either dead or unconscious, and continue on to engage the soldiers. Within two minutes the last two living soldiers are galloping up the road.

A quick look around shows no more enemies so I sheath Blitz and walk back to where the knight fell. I reach down and remove his helm and get several surprises. The knight is alive, younger than expected, maybe sixteen or seventeen. Most surprising of all, he is a she, she has red hair and is very attractive.

Mericel says "Wait! Don't kill her! I know her."

"Who is she?"

Mericel says "She is Alannis Heath, her older sister was one of my mother's royal guards."

"Okay, watch her. We will decide what to do with her after I loot the dead."

With Mericel watching over the knight I go around looting the soldiers. For now I just put everything in my pouch to sort through later. When I return to Mericel she has a worried look on her face, a worried ghost is a strange sight indeed.

Mericel says "She is bleeding from her nose and ears and I can't wake her. We need to take her to Leyla for healing!"

"Why is this so important to you?"

Mericel says "As far as I know she is the last of the Heath family, I can not allow the family to die out if I can help it."

"What is so important about the Heath family?"

Mericel says "The Heath family has faithfully supported mine since the founding of the kingdom. They have married into the royal line a few times, she is basically my cousin."

"Okay, we will take her with us."

Stripping off her armor I get another surprise, the armor must have some disguise function, because her body is in no way boyish. I put her armor and her sword into my pouch and then roll her over and bind her hands behind her back.

Mericel says "Is that necessary?"

"Yes, when she wakes up we will still be her enemies."

Picking up Alannis in my arms, I carry her as gently as I can as I start jogging south along the road. Ruby returns to her rest in the amulet while Mericel floats along next to me to keep watch over Alannis. Drog is ranging back and forth keeping watch for any enemies.

Even jogging it only takes about ten minutes for me to catch up to the wagon. Mericel rushes ahead as soon as the wagon is in sight. The wagon stops and Leyla comes running back to meet me with Mericel right behind her.

Leyla doesn't even give me a chance to put Alannis down before she starts casting her healing spell on her. Leyla's hands glow white as she lays them on Alannis' head, Alannis does not respond so Leyla tries again.

Leyla says "This might be beyond my ability to heal!"

Mericel says "No! Please! You have to do something!"