With Gregory in the lead, they push the horses as hard as they dare. He takes the lead while Lady Rosalee and Joshua ride in the middle, and Max guards the rear.

  Gregory's pace is dangerous; if they are not careful, they could easily lame a horse. Max is the only one who has a weapon out. With an arrow notched, he holds his bow and two arrows in his left hand while he controls the horse with his right.

  This pace is too frantic. I know he is trying to put some room between us and the giants but this is too much. We won't be able to see if there are any bandits or anything without barreling into them.

  We are out of immediate danger; this is just foolish. He is going too fast, though, and I can't get to him to tell him to slow down. At this rate, it isn't if something bad might happen, only when.

  Max doesn't have to wait long before his premonition comes true. A surge of magic builds within the nearby woods. Max has felt this three times now and knows what it means.

  "Get down!" Not waiting to see if the others hear him, Max dives from his horse and rolls away.

  Lady Rosalee turns in her saddle and sees him rolling. “Max fell! We have to-”

  Before she can finish her sentence, a spell crashes into Max’s horse, obliterating it. The force of the explosion throws her and Joshua from their saddles and causes their horses to roll.

  Gregory feels the heat from the blast. He tries to gain control over his startled horse, but before he can, a man appears beside his horse and takes its life with his greatsword.

  Joshua and Lady Rosalee are stunned and have trouble getting to their feet. It feels like the whole world is suddenly underwater.

  Looking to where the blast came from, they see a man with a scythe stalking toward them. From underneath his hood, all they can see is his smile.

  Max comes out of the blast better than he would have if he had still been on his horse. Patting out some of the flames that still lick at him, he fires three arrows at the first man he sees approaching.

  Max watches as he blocks two of the arrows with the large, unwieldy hammer that seems impossible to lift. The third arrow hits the man in the leg, making him fall to his knee and grunt before he pulls it out like it is nothing.

  Not good. Shit, two more as well. Two figures dart forward, past the man, one on either side. The one on the left has two weird-looking gauntlets that have energy wrapping around them, while the other carries a rapier.

  This is a trap. They lured us away from the others with the stone giants, and this is the main ambush. Backpedaling and firing arrows at the two who approach him, he glances at the others.

  One is handling Gregory; he won’t be able to help. They only spared one to deal with both Rosalee and Joshua, which means they probably don’t know who she is, or she isn’t the main objective.

  Three for me. Looks like I’m the one they are after. Shit. I only came along to protect her, but now I’m the one bringing the enemies. If they want me, they will chase; it will give them the best shot, even if those two stay.

  With that in mind, Max turns and runs off the road and down the rocky incline towards the forest in the distance. If I make the trees, they will have a hard time locating me.

  Just because they want to fight doesn’t mean I have to. They have a clear advantage in both numbers and in staging this.

  While slower than the other two, the hammer man chases after Max as well. The woman curses under her breath, looking at the man with gauntlets beside her. He is running. Damnit.

  Connor’s intel said that the boy was aggressive and fearless, that he sought out fighting. Why in the hells is he running then? Creed and Rufus need to handle those three quickly and join us.

  We might have to sweep the whole of these woods if he makes it that far. Shit. That's his plan; he will pick us off in the woods. He isn’t planning on straight-up fighting, but ambushing us and dwindling our numbers. Smart kid. Even knowing his plan, she and the man beside her seem unable to catch the fleeing boy in front of them.

  ? ? ?

  Barely managing to get free from the dying horse, Gregory draws his sword. Dammit to hell. They just had to attack us now? Sir Darvill won’t be able to assist for some time; this fight will be long over by the time she arrives.

  He looks over at Lady Rosalee and the squire; a man with a scythe closes in on them while they draw weapons and back away carefully. He notices a man with a hammer crossing the road. Unable to follow his movements without losing track of the man in front of him, he simply turns back to the swordsman and gets ready to fight.

  I don’t know where Max went, damn that boy. If he didn’t vanish, he could help the two of them, but at least he is leading one of them away. They will just have to hold on until I finish whoever this is.

  Not waiting any longer, Rufus charges at Gregory without a care. He swings his greatsword aggressively. Gregory meets his charge and, using both hands, tries to block the greatsword.

  The swords collide, and Gregory is clearly pushed back and stumbles. Rufus presses his attack, swiping at Gregory’s knees. Off balance, Gregory grits his teeth and tries to deflect the blow lower.

  He fails, only causing the flat of the blade to smack into his sword and legs. Tumbling to the ground, he scrambles away from the man and to his feet. Cursing, Gregory manages just in time to try to deflect an overhead chop from the greatsword.

  Shit. He is far stronger and faster than me. At this rate, saving the kids is a dream. Just surviving this onslaught will take all my skill and luck.

  ? ? ?

  Creed eyes the kids in front of him, smiling, while he menaces them with his scythe. Joshua stays slightly in front and to the side of Lady Rosalee; he is shaking but keeping his form. Lady Rosalee scowls from under her helm and has both her sword and buckler out.

  Who are these people? Are they Eschaton? Why attack now? I thought they were attacking the main group with the stone giants!

  I saw Max run off with three of them chasing him. Is he their target? Do they know I am here, or has my disguise worked? Shit, will that even matter?

  Remembering her teachings, she pushes the distracting thoughts aside and focuses on the man before her. He has a scythe, not exactly the best weapon to fight with. He will mostly attack from the sides with slashes and its tip.

  Joshua looks shaken; he might not be much help. I don’t know how much actual combat he has experienced, probably like me, only having trained.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Jumping forward, Creed slashes with his scythe at the shaking boy in front of him. The boy tries his best to block his slash and is pushed to the side, turning with the impact. Not good enough, boy.

  Jabbing forward and slashing back the way it just came from the outside edge of the scythe, cuts through the boy’s surcoat and sparks against his chain shirt. Off balance and trembling, Joshua falls to his butt. He turns and tries to crawl away, leaving his sword where he fell.

  Pathetic, and you wanted to be a knight. Creed chops down with the scythe, intending to skewer the boy upon it. Lady Rosalee rushes forward and leaps over Joshua, striking the side of the scythe blade and moving it away from him. The blade gouges into the ground, and Creed smiles wider.

  “Unlike that cur, you seem to have some fight in you. Let's see how long you’ll play with me.” Raising his hand, not holding the stuck scythe, he jabs it forward, palm out with his fingers curled while muttering something indecipherable.

  Magic pours out and smashes into the buckler. Lady Rosalee barely gets up in time. The blow spins her, flinging her over the still crawling Joshua. She lands hard but follows the momentum and rolls to her feet.

  Looking at the buckler, there doesn’t seem to be any damage. A damn mage. Joshua has given up; he will be absolutely no help. No wonder he is just using a scythe. He is just toying with us. She grits her teeth and charges past Joshua at the man, who struggles to free his scythe.

  ? ? ?

  Gregory pants hard as if he had just run several miles. The fight had only just started, but he was being pushed to his limits. His vision blurs slightly as he tries to deflect another powerful blow. The large gash across his chest aches.

  Dammit! This guy is too good. I let my guard down for a second, and he cleaved straight through my gambeson. He only cut through a little, but still, the blow hurts.

  The swords collide, and Gregory lowers one arm, allowing the heavier greatsword to slide harmlessly by; his arms shake from the force. Trying to counterattack, Gregory slashes horizontally at the expressionless Rufus. He watches as Rufus simply steps back outside of his range while spinning. Using the momentum of the failed chop to raise the sword again, Rufus brings it down quickly on him.

  Having to quickly block another blow, Gregory deflects it the wrong way, and the blade slams into his crossguard, twisting his wrist and almost flinging his sword out of his hands. How can he move that huge blade about so easily!

  Gregory openly disengages and retreats back from Rufus. He turns the fight so he can check on the kids, but what he sees only serves to distract him. Seeing the opening, Rufus brings the greatsword in like a baseball bat, aimed at Gregory’s side.

  Gritting through the pain, Gregory angles his sword, his arm over his chest, so that it covers his entire side. Using his shoulder to support the blade, he takes the hit while jumping toward the blade. Effectively rolling over the sword, Gregory crashes to the ground.

  Coughing, he looks up to see Rufus turn the slash into a spinning overhead slash at where he now lies on the ground. Sighing, Gregory rolls out of the way in time. As he gets to his feet, he lunges forward and slightly cuts Rufus’ side as he tries to dodge away.

  The greatsword is stuck in the ground, and Gregory does not waste the chance, pressing his advantage for all it is worth. To his surprise, Rufus dances away from the blade, one hand always on the stuck greatsword.

  Soon, they have almost circled the greatsword when Rufus, using much effort, pulls the greatsword out and onto his shoulder. For the first time, he smiles before launching into another series of attacks, pushing Gregory back once more.

  ? ? ?

  Making the tree line, Max turns and fires two arrows at his pursuers. He doesn’t fire at the man with the hammer, slightly further back. He had seen the way he blocked with that monstrous weapon earlier, instead choosing to aim at the rapier and gauntlet wielders.

  The rapier slashes the arrow out of the way with ease while the man with the gauntlets seemingly panics, coming to a stop and trying to block with both forearms. The arrow deflects off the gauntlets. He breathes a sigh of relief before continuing to give chase.

  While the one holding the rapier gains a little ground, Max sees how they both respond and shakes his head before darting deeper into the woods.

  The person with the rapier is almost fearless. Their skill shows that they are dangerous, the way they can cut the arrow out of mid-air. Of the three of them, I think they are by far the one I have to look out for the most.

  The guy with the hammer is slower, and while he might be able to effectively use that thing as a shield. He won’t be able to keep up with my speed if I use my tomahawks.

  The guy with the gauntlets is more of a mystery. They seem to have some sort of energy around them, but it didn’t affect the arrow. Maybe it is only used when he attacks, not blocks.

  He panicked and showed fear of my arrow, the only one of the group. I might be able to take him out at range, but that will let the most dangerous one approach me. I don’t think that is a very wise trade.

  I need them to lose sight of me, and then I can launch an ambush on him. Once he falls dead or injured, it will be only the two of them chasing me, greatly increasing my odds of survival.

  Using anything he can as cover, Max darts past briars and leaps over brambles, anything he can use to slow them down and pull away. He can’t help but smile as he moves as fluidly and erratically as a scared rabbit.

  Cursing the rapier user has to slow down and choose less troublesome paths to pursue after watching her companion. He lets out yelps and screams after he chooses to try to go through a particularly well-hidden bramble bush.

  The boy sure knows how to run. If this keeps up, we are sure to lose him. An arrow comes out of nowhere and pins her hood to a tree after scratching her cheek. She raises her rapier as a guard, but can’t even see where the boy shot her from.

  A loud shout comes from the man with the gauntlets. She looks at where he still tries to get out of the bramble bush, only now an arrow is stuck in his shoulder. He falls ungracefully out of the bush and scrambles behind a tree.

  “Little bastard got me good! I didn’t even see where he fired from. Leading me into a damn thorn bush! Who the hell does he think he is!?”

  Ignoring him, she pulls the arrow out of her hood and peeks over the bramble bush to try to see where he is. The second her face rounds the tree, an arrow whizzes past, forcing her to jump back behind the cover or lose an eye.

  “He is obnoxiously good with that bow. Where is Johnathan?” She looks behind them the way they came, trying to see the man with the hammer and failing.

  “I saw him stop for a breath a while back. I think we might have lost him. Hell with lugging that hammer around, he might have had to stop for another break already. He will be of no use in this running battle.”

  The gauntleted man pulls the arrow out of his shoulder and holds the wound with a serious expression. “What the hell are we going to do now? He can keep us pinned here or might have already taken off again. At this rate, we are the ones being hunted, not him!”

  The woman darts out past the bramble bush and leaps behind the tree her ally is against. An arrow flies over the bush and another through it. The lower arrow catches her in her thigh, making her curse again. “He won’t leave, this is too good of a position. Connor was right, the boy has fight in him. He isn’t trying to get away from us, only trying to turn the situation to his favor.”

  “Well, I’ll say he’s done that!” The man curses as she checks his wound and stuffs something into it from a pouch on her side.

  “You’ll live, now we just have to find a way to distract him long enough to split up. He can only fire at one of us, and the other will be able to get him out of wherever he has set himself up at. I’d rather chase him than keep getting fired upon.”

  “Hey! What the hell are you two doing down there?” The man with the hammer, Johnathan, finally arrives.

  “Get down, you—” before she can even finish, an arrow finds his leg once more, dropping him back to his knees. The man groans in pain, but before he can find cover or block with his hammer, another arrow hits him in his shoulder.

  He falls forward, using the hammer to keep himself upright. The woman pulls the arrow out of her leg and darts back past the bush as more arrows fly by. One grazes Johnathan’s cheek as he tries to stand with wide eyes.

  The gauntlet man dashes away from the woman and moves away from the bramble bush, trying to circle around Max. Johnathan manages to block another with his hammer, but a third sneaks by and gets him in the side. Finally, he makes it behind a tree as an arrow clips the edge of it.

  Max smiles widely and checks his quiver. Eleven shots left. He readies the arrows as he always does, two in his bow hand, one in his teeth, and another arrow notched on the bow.

  They are spreading out. That oaf with the hammer was too good of a target to give up, just to try and keep them pinned. Max moves through the woods at a quick pace. He no longer sprints because he knows that they will be carefully approaching now.

  Those bushes worked wonders at slowing them down. If they had brought the mage that attacked my horse, I would have been in trouble, but with only melee fighters, as long as my arrows hold out, I will be fine. That hammer dude will take some time before he rejoins the hunt, that leaves the guy with the gauntlets and that woman.

  Never letting his guard down or forgetting that there are other dangers in the woods, Max continues fleeing but makes sure to leave a clear trail. He would not want them to not be able to follow him. It isn’t long until Max comes to a stop, grinning like a kid on Christmas. Oh yea, this is perfect. Now I just need to find a good place to watch.