Stephanie steeled herself as she peered out the back of her cart from the front, crossbow in hand. The way their formation worked out, the only ones likely to get hurt were Vert and the vet, and Stephanie wasn't even sure Vert [i]got[/i] hurt. As for the old man, well, he was just as terrifying as the Dullahan in battle.

Before she could really take a shot, however, their wizard buffeted the opposition with powerful spells, and Vert let out a bone-chilling laugh that almost made her drop the crossbow right there. When their combined efforts seemed to amount to nothing, however, and it looked as if they would be captured for certain, the wizard advised them all to plug their ears. She did, and the opponent was almost completely obliterated. The vet savagely murdered the stragglers, mostly mages, and Vert grabbed him and shot out the gate. The old man snatched Stephanie's crossbow, which still hadn't been fired, and took a pot shot.

All of this swirled and mixed together in Stephanie's head, and she couldn't tell if it was all real or a nightmare. She wanted to hide. She hadn't asked for this. She thought she was prepared, but this was on a different level than anything she had experienced before. Was this war? How does someone come back OK from that?

Then they were in a forest. Slowly her cognition returned, and with it the old man saying something about sticking three bodies on a pike as a warning.

"They're looking for the princess, aren't they?" Stephanie asked, rubbing her throbbing forehead, "Well, we aren't her. And anyone who got close enough to us to see our faces in the dark is dead. Nobody is going to bother with us. Although... the wizard did confirm his identity to that Wledic guy. He stood too far off to see the rest of us, but by now everyone must know that old Thunderspells is working against the kingdom. As long as we hide him well, we should be able to leave safely. The problem is having our cart inspected. It's probably going to be thorough now. Maybe disguises?"

Stephanie sighed and lay back in her seat, imagining that it was yet another carefree day of trade where her life wasn't in constant danger.