The battle-commander, the advisor, and the caravan-master all gathered a bit away from the rest. The night was a chilly one, winter was almost here.

  "What is it Gor?" Farelen inquired.

  "I want you to believe every word that I say without the question, as to how I got the information." Harwin, the caravan-master, replied.

  The other two looked at each other with slight confusion, but they had already tested the man several times. Each time, he had proved himself worthy of their trust, so Farelen and Efrion nodded in sync.

  "We will get ambushed by a great number of enemies in this week. I do not know exactly at which time it will happen, and I do not know the exact number, but they will be well-equipped."

  The confusion only grew, yet they had already assented to the condition set by Harwin. Farelen asked:

  "Are you sure of it?"

  "Not completely, but the risk is far too great to ignore."

  "I presume that is the reason for your troubled expression for the entire journey back." Efrion commented.

  "It is not important right now, Efrion. We must devise what to do if this lad's prediction or whatever it is — is indeed correct." Farelen replied in Harwin's stead.

  "I have a plan." Efrion reaffirmed.

  The other two heard intentively to what their companion had to say. In the end, all of them were nervous yet prepared.

  It was at dawn-break that they began to travel again. This time even more early than usual, the forest became more and more visible even from so far away. Their pace also increased little by little like that of a person returning home after a tough day at work.

  Everyone was quite pleased and excited. Well except for the leadership trio.

  The day went without a hitch, even the next and the day after it, was peaceful. This made Harwin a little relaxed, as he thought that the evil-mage had played a prank on him once again.

  The caravan became a little less cautious as well, as they did not inspect their surrounding as much as they usually were in a habit to do. The bunch felt a sense of security even though the orders from the captains stated otherwise.

  That was a mistake, of-course, a sudden barrage of arrows headed their way, however, something like this had already been taken into account by the caravan advisor—

  The first carriage to take all the damage only had a single person on it — Farelen, the giant, whose thick skin covered with incredibly tough armor made it impossible for the arrows to penetrate.

  Efrion shouted:

  "AMBUSH! GATHER IN THE FORMATION INSTRUCTED TO YOU EARLIER!"

  As if already prepared for the situation, the wagons and the carriages closed in together to form a square. The sacks of flour provided an extra layer of protection for them.

  The arrows continued to find their target, yet there was not a single causality.

  Now everyone was well-covered, even the horses had been lured in to sit take cover behind the carriages and wagons alike.

  They now quickly gathered around Farelen to discuss their next strategy. They did not make the same mistake twice of not being aware of their surroundings, thus Landel and two more younglings were given the task of keeping eye on any movements in the vicinity.

  The commands were to be given quickly as they did not have much time to spare. It was decided that Farelen will charge towards the enemy with his trusty large shield which was almost impenetrable against any archer’s attack. He had already judged the archer's ability, so he was confident that he will be able to block any barrage what so ever. After the first, solo charge, the rest would follow which was a rather simple, brutish plan.

  Harwin did not disagree, or correct Farelen at all as they simply did not have any time.

  The most surprising statement came from Alisa. She confidently gave the plan of casting an advance level fire spell — it was a great fireball that could cause destruction in a sizable area, and could be thrown at the enemy from a great distance.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Of-course for that to happen their own forces must remain back a considerable distance. She could only use the spell once before almost running out of magika.

  There was much uncertainty about the number, and type of opponent they were facing thus this idea was put to hold until Farelen himself gave the signal as a last resort. If it was indeed pursued, Alisa were to cast it immediately once instructed even if any of their own forces were nearby. Such a spell could easily take down, or neutralize a force of hundred or even more, but the risk was also immense.

  While they were busy making a plan, Efrion was amiss from amongst them. It was only after a youngling pointed out that their captain was absent that everyone became aware of this strange, and dangerous development, but it did not take long before he returned.

  Efrion speciality was that of a spy, but if one were to describe it in a more fitting manner than he would be considered an assassin. He had slayed many enemies during the great human-elfin war — all in the darkness of night so naturally Graftel hired him immediately after becoming aware of his talent. His small stature gave him an advantage in this line of work.

  As for where he had been the whole time while everyone was formulating a plan, well, he was busy gathering information regarding their enemies, and he was incredibly successful.

  The number of enemies were more than one hundred. Also, the force was well-equipped with steel swords, and highest quality of armor that a soldier could be given which was all mentioned by Harwin already.

  It was an open plain with slightly uneven terrain which gave shapes to small hills of sort. Also, due to the absence of any objects to take cover behind, the enemy forces were left quite open except for the shields equipped by the front-liners.

  Of-course, this was a shield wall protecting the archers from any incoming attack, but their formation disabled them to do much scouting of their enemies. Thanks to the brilliant archery skills of Landel — a master in this skill-set as well — no enemy could come in the proximity of their caravan.

  What was most problematic was the presence of two strange demons comparable, or even taller than Farelen. They appeared to be quite skilled — on par with the demon Fitz had fought with; Efrion was present in that fight, so he was able to determine it easily.

  Their strategy changed a bit now, they would be showering their enemies with arrows as well —cutting down their numbers as much as possible before making the final charge which will obviously make the enemy attack as well. Once the enemy takes the bait, the elfin forces will retreat, and only at that moment Alisa will cast the spell.

  The basic plan had already been devised by Efrion earlier whilst the leadership of the caravan had gathered, yet the final amendments only came after the inspection of the forces.

  Everyone was ready, and satisfied with the strategy of captain Efrion. Alisa was a bit nervous of the sudden responsibility she had to bear, but Farelen tried his best to make her more confident, as he knew the success of the plan depended on her.

  They begun to fire away their arrows. The enemy returned shots as well, but the elves had enough cover to render the counter attacks useless. Also, the precision of the wood-elves with bows was unmatched which crushed the enemy's morale further.

  Once the enemy saw that they were not able to take down a single man, they begun charging towards the caravan which was a bit off plan from what Efrion had anticipated, but none the less, amendments were quickly made. Alisa and Farelen headed out of the protection of formation.

  Alisa was well protected by the shield of Farelen while she made the preparation to cast the spell. It took some time, but the distance of the enemies from the caravan was large enough to not worry much about the delay:

  "O lord of light, I ask for thy help. Do not forsaken your loyal follower. Thy might shall set ablaze my enemies. Turn the ones against thy servant into ash, from where they shall never rise again!"

  Alisa's focus was incredibly impressive. She channled magika through her hand, and soon few sparks appeared, then a small orb of fire formed which swelled into a massive ball of fire. Sensing the intense heat, Farelen for the slightest of moments got out of her way.

  The enemies only realized after it had occured as a massive blazing sphere of death headed their way, as if an arrow shot from a bow.

  On impact the fireball burst into an explosion which would have hardly left anyone alive. However, Landel and other archers did not stop, and still kept on firing barrage after barrage of arrows. Alisa rushed back to safety while her escort stood their with his shield protecting her from any incoming attack.

  Unfortunately, the fireball had not taken down all the men. The leaders and at least fifty men were still rushing towards them but going down one by one due to the brilliant archery of the wood-elves. What was surprising was that none of them ran from the battle.

  Soon the arrow supply was extinguished. The caravan fighters including Harwin took out their swords and charged towards the enemy as well. The forces of enemies, still severely outnumbered them, but nothing could be done except to engage.

  Farelen ordered Harwin to stay behind, and protect Alisa at all costs, so he stood his ground instead of continuing the charge.

  Farelen wielding his massive war-axe, jumped high up in the air even with his massive frame, and came down on the enemy with such brute force that he took down five soldiers with his attack's impact alone but—

  He was engaged by a great demon who surprisingly pushed him back from the rest of the battle to fight one-on-one.

  Landel tried to help take down the hell-spawn that had stopped Farelen, but he was quickly engaged by another demon who was riding a massive boar.

  Efrion led the others against the common-soldiers. He was taking down one man after the other, cutting through their lines with ease. The younglings were at a bit of disadvantage due to the difference in the quality of equipment, and also the savagery of their enemies.

  Five of the fifteen younglings were killed in the first few moments of engagement, whilst taking down only the same number of opposition.

  Two enemy soldier tried to make their way to Alisa — having escaped from the clutches of the monster that was Efrion on the battlefield.

  The soldiers tried to take her down only to be stopped by Harwin, who stood like a wall in between them. He had found himself in an incredibly difficult situation this time, but he would die before letting the scoundrels reach Alisa.