Meanwhile, Ethyn circled around to the temporary barrier of the dam. He tried to move as quietly and smoothly as he could to avoid being seen, but every twig snap felt like a bugle call announcing his presence. Finally, he came even with the stones.

Two of the men were sprawled out relaxing just downstream from the first barrier. Neither were now facing him.

The ground between the boy and the closest peg which held the ropes was open and had only short grass. The four cords were tied to either end of the bank and holding back brush and debris to slow the flow of the river. Water still pushed over the top and through holes, but at a much lower rate. It was this barrier which the boy was determined to dislodge.

Ethyn fingered the short sharp knife that Silver had given him as he thought about what to do. He would have much preferred to use his sword, but even he had to admit his muscles were still too weak to wield the weapon with any sort of efficacy.

Mud streaked the boy's face as he looked toward his target. "We need to break up the shape of your face," Silver had said before he headed out. "It's hard to make out a shape when it has no definite edges." With this camouflage, the child was nearly invisible in the tree brush.

The relaxing men suddenly came to their feet. Ethyn could now see that something had roused the lazy ruffians. One of the men uttered a startled yell, and the boy could hear something about a demon beast. Ethyn chuckled silently as he began his low crouching walk toward the water's edge.

Before long he reached the peg, removed the knife and started sawing at the ropes. The men's original plan had been to remove the peg entirely, but they had no idea how deep it went. Ethyn could see now that it was very deep and digging it out would have taken too much time.

As it was, he quickly sawed through the first rope and moved onto the second out of four. For how easily the rope frayed, Ethyn guessed that they reused the same ropes and pegs over and over as they travelled.

As Silver spoke to Ingrid, the men closest to Ethyn began to back up toward him. The boy fought the urge to bolt and stayed still except for the small sawing motion. The bank was very wet and Ethyn could feel the water seeping through his boots. The unpleasant frigidity nearly caused Ethyn to cry out, but he clamped his mouth shut tight.

He was through the second rope and nearly through the third. The barrier began to bow. Then it happened. The man closest to Ethyn took another step backwards and tripped over the boy. The bandit fell into the water as a spectacular display of liquid washed up over the bank.

"What the..." the man said as he turned to look. The blood drained from his face. "Demon beast!"

The mud covered being now dripping with water roared. The man was stunned just long enough that Ethyn cut through the third rope.

"Behind you!" Silver yelled.

The boy rolled over away from the shore and out of the smashing force of a large club. The second man wheeled around quickly and went for another crushing blow. But his anger overcame his aim and the small target scurried out of the way as the club crashed down into the dirt a second time.

Like a viper, Ethyn shot out his knife at the man's leg. A small red gash appeared on his lower calf as the man jumped back in pain. In truth, it was merely a scratch, but the move had only been a trick to give the boy a moment to break for the trees.

With the man grabbing his leg and his companion clambering out of the water, Ethyn dashed into the trees searching for a spot to hide. The men were hot on his heels, but the boy ducked into the low brush and froze. The pursuers were coming up on him fast. Ethyn balled himself as small as he could and sat immobile in the shadow of a bush.

His face was buried in his knees, knowing that the whites of his eyes might give him away. His heart raced and his ribs ached immensely from the exertion, but the pain would be nothing compared to if he was caught. Ethyn held his breath. The footsteps were even with him. From between his knees, the boy could see a shadow fall across him.

"Come out. I can see you." A voice came from above him.

Ethyn nearly moved, but paused. If he had indeed seen him, why hadn't the man just grabbed him? Remaining still, the boy even held his breath.

After a moment the man curse and the sighed. It had been a bluff.

"Where the blazes is he?" a second man asked. Ethyn recognized the voice as the man who fell in the water.

"I don't know," the other replied. "Perhaps he was a demon beast after all," he added sarcastically.

"Hey! If you had…" he got no further. Their attention was drawn as a loud snap echoed off the boughs of the forest. They ran headlong back toward the riverbank.

Ethyn realized with satisfaction that the forth cord of the temporary dam had given way. The boy had berated himself silently that he had failed to complete his task, but he graciously acknowledged the water had finished the job for him. He let out the breath he'd been holding and relaxed his body. Now came the hardest part: waiting.

----------------------

Silver watched as the man backed up and tripped over Ethyn. 'The jig is up,' he thought.

Ingrid did not glance back to see the hubbub. She took a step toward Silver and made two quick strikes at him with her knife. The Guardian had anticipated her attack and stepped aside. As she lunged the second time, he stepped into her and rammed his elbow across her back, knocking her to the ground. He drew a sword from inside his cloak and brought it to her neck. "Nice try." He said with humor in his voice.

With a quick glance, the Guardian could see Ethyn was in trouble. "Behind you!" he called out. Before he could see the result of his waring, Silver was blindsided as a body tackled him to the ground.

The sword flew from his grip. The cloaked figure turned his head as another woman tried to pin him down. 'These ladies are tough,' he thought grimly. A wrestling match ensued as each tried to gain purchase on the muddy ground. Silver knew he was stronger, but as Ingrid brought her knife to his chin, he stopped the struggle. He barked a laugh. Looming over him, the two women were confused by his reaction.

"What?" Ingrid asked defiantly.

Silver inclined his hooded head toward the stream.

"That!" he called. On cue, the final rope snapped wildly across the stream as the barrier gave way under the built up pressure caused by the water. The normally lazy flow was momentarily a torrential flood that washed over the dam, scattering its contents.

Ingrid cried out in anger as the cold water doused her. She looked down at her adversary as he continued to chuckle. This man was infuriating.

The boss was not a killer, but she drew back her knife ready to plunge it into Silver's heart where he lay. "I wouldn't do that. They might object." Turning her gaze, Ingrid saw two men engaging one of her crew. She wasn't sure where they had come from, but their dripping clothes suggested they had crossed through the water before the dam gave way. And the other two men that had been with her were missing, having chased a child into the woods. With her resources spread so thin, the odds of her winning this fight were quickly dwindling.

Ingrid cursed loudly and turned to her comrade next to her. "Let's get out of here."

"You better hurry. Someone else is coming too." Silver's head jerked a different direction, and a chill ran down Ingrid's spine. She could hear horses' hooves thundering in the distance. Ingrid leapt back from Silver and took off toward the trees.

The Guardian reached out to grab her retreating foot, but was a fraction too late. Frustrated, he instead rolled his body and pinned the other woman to the ground. Working quickly, the Guardian produced two sets of cuffs from his cloak. As the horses neared, Silver called out to them. "She went that way!" He pointed after Ingrid. The sergeant in the front regarded the hooded figure and nodded before taking off with two other mounted riders. Silver secured his prisoner and stepped back. "Stay there," he told her. She grunted in response. He grabbed his sword and sheathed it.

Aiden and Conall were now fighting three men, the latter two having just emerged from the wood. Silver leapt into the fray and landed a devastating punch across the first man. His comrades watched horrified as the criminal crumpled to the ground. They quickly raised their hands in surrender.

"Secure them," Silver said as he headed off into the trees.

"Are you sure? I mean we could just let them skip off." Conall called after him, rolling his eyes. He turned to Aiden, "Honestly, sometimes I think he forgets who he's talking to."

"Oh I think he knows exactly who he's talking to…" Aiden rejoined with a smirk. Without the order, Conall would have happily made chase after the escapee, but there was other work to be done.

The mayor hummed his disappointment, but the emotion was fleeting. With a too innocent smile, he regarded the bandits and clapped his hands. "Now who wants a pair of new bracelets first?"