Know Who to Count On

Chapter 17: Hell Hath No Fury...

Alexis climbed atop the horse he was taking over, watching as Liara headed back to find Felix. They were going to be riding together, splitting off to sneak through the foliage on the sides of the road the moment the attack happened so they could start taking enemies out from behind. He'd normally like to have them scouting ahead, but was hoping this way they could come as a complete surprise to their foes.

They had traveled for a couple of hours with Alexis in the carriage, figuring that they had a bit of time before the ambush happened based on the sun being high in the sky in Melody's vision. Now, though, they felt they were entering the territory the ambush was most likely to take place. The road between here and Blackridge was heavily wooded up until the small town that was a couple hours outside of his city. The enemy wouldn't want to attack too close to a town, so somewhere in this wooded stretch made the most tactical sense. He'd also sent a letter to Kiver, alerting him to the danger, asking for troops to be sent their way. The only issue being that even if they left at full speed, they wouldn't meet up for at least four more hours.

Alexis was dressed in armor just like his soldiers, no added adornments or anything to make him stand out. All going well, the bandits would assume both count and countess were in the carriage. In her vision, the man who made it to her seemed intent on killing her right then. He would have thought it more profitable to kidnap her, but Helene's goal may simply be to see her sister dead. He wasn't sure what orders they would have regarding him, but all going well he would be able to question one or two.

They traveled on for another hour or so, Alexis riding beside the carriage and talking to Melody periodically. She was curled up by the window, arms wrapped around her knees and he knew she was frightened. He hated leaving her, but he felt he had to protect her. He may not be the best swordsman here, though he was close, but he was definitely their best fighter. He would burn every enemy without a second's hesitation if it meant keeping her safe.

"They're coming!" Melody said suddenly. He looked around, they were just about to reach a small hill which would mean the enemy would usually be able to get the drop on them. Not today. He patted his horse on the neck and stretched his shoulder, the signal to his men that they should be prepared for battle. Presumably Liara and Felix would now drop back and move to start their approach as the rest of the convoy waited for the enemies to reveal themselves.

The carriage crested the hill and was just starting its descent when Melody cried out in a scream so shrill he wasn't sure what she'd said, but somehow his body seemed to know. He flattened himself to his horse just as an arrow whistled overhead, the sound of several thuds resounding around him. Before he could even right himself, the carriage swerved to the side as battle cries filled the air. A dozen or more men came charging out of the forest and Alexis saw a couple hesitate. Another glance around revealed, as best he could see, that none of his men had been injured in the initial attack and likely the enemies rushing at them expected less resistance than they were facing.

Keeping himself just outside the door to the carriage, Alexis cut down three men before he slid off his horse. A few more arrows had been sent their way, most aiming for the horses now and Alexis felt he was better off letting the beast free. The rest of his troops seemed to have had the same idea as most were on foot, all of them in a protective circle. The first wave of enemies all lay dead and they waited to see what would come next. Alexis took the time to really look at the corpses and felt that they did indeed seem like bandits. This was slightly confusing as bandits weren't usually so organized to plan a heist like this, especially not with a coordinated arrow strike at the beginning.

The foliage began to rustle and soon twenty or so men emerged, their clothing and formation a striking contrast to the men on the ground. Mercenaries, Alexis thought. Good ones, by the look of it. Decent armor, well fed...they must have hired the bandits simply to soften us up. He glared at the tallest man who was opposite him, the size of the brute making him think this might be the man who had tried to strangle Melody in her vision.