Itzli nodded in response to Lucien’s words, about to mention that leading men into battle didn’t involve taking unnecessary risks that would more than likely get him killed when several arrows pierced the canvas of the tent, the sound of steel clashing against steel following shortly afterwards. Lucien wasted no time in jumping to his feet and darting out of the tent, almost immediately engaging an enemy.

Though she felt that her skills would be better suited to helping defeat the enemy, Itzli decided to follow Lucien’s wishes. Turning to the balding physician, she said, “Stay here until I return. I’m going to gather some men and we’ll take everyone who can’t fight to safety. Don’t worry about men coming in here. I’ll curse the area to protect you.” And she did, taking a few moments to lay the spell over the area of the tent, creating a nasty curse that would disorient any enemy who crossed into the area. It wouldn’t have nearly as severe an effect as if she had used it on an individual, but it should be enough of a deterrent to keep people from trying, if the fact that it was a medical tent wasn’t enough to make it an unappealing target.

Once the slight protection was set up, Itzli ran out of the tent, heading in the direction of the civilian tents. Most of the fighting hadn’t yet made it past the outer ring of tents, which was rather surprising given the fact that they were ambushed while they were preparing to relax for the night. The civilian tents were inside the camp, but near the edge, so it was unlikely that they had been left entirely untouched, though most soldiers tended to ignore civilians.

Along the way, Itzli ran into a couple pockets of fighting. Her arrival, always a surprise, was enough to tip the tides of the fighting in their favor, and few of the rebels were injured on the way to their destination. As expected, there had been very little fighting taking place in the civilian area. Most of the civilians were still there, huddling in their tents until the fighting was over. The enemy troops had apparently checked the various tents for rebels, or, more than likely, Lucien himself, as the flaps that made their entrances were hacked through and out of the way.

The civilians, recognizing Itzli and the small force of six or seven men she had picked up along the way as allies, were eager to emerge from the tent and follow orders, which meant that it wasn’t difficult for her to explain that they were going to head back to the medical tent and before escaping. Once she was certain that everyone understood, she began leading the way back to the medical tent, taking the most direct path, as it passed through the interior of the camp where the fighting was the least intense.

Incidentally, they only ran into one small group of enemy soldiers that were heading towards where the fighting was the heaviest. Considering the enemy was outnumbered at least three to one, and that the rebels had caught them by surprise, it wasn’t shocking to see that they weren’t an obstacle for very long. Itzli herself had taken out the last man as he tried to run, darting forward with surprising speed and thrusting her sword through his back before yanking it out and wiping the blood off with the man’s cloak.

Regardless, it wasn’t long before they arrived at the medical tent where, fortunately, everyone was still safe and sound. “Ah! Lady Itzli, you’re back!” the physician exclaimed, clearly relieved to see someone he knew could protect them. “I don’t think that any of the enemy soldiers tried to get in here, but I’d rather not wait around to see if they do try.”

Itzli nodded before speaking. “Anybody who can help carry the sick or injured, line up over here,” she said, gesturing to the right side of the tent. The able-bodied men of the group, and even a few of the women, lined up dutifully, ready to help their fellow man escape the enemy. Part of Itzli wondered if it was the fact that they knew what lay in store for them if they were caught that prompted such behavior, though she wasn’t able to grasp it herself.

The process of assigning people to carry others was longer than most would expect. Some of the sick or injured were entirely unable to help support themselves, so it required a very strong man, like the blacksmith, or two men to carry. And then it had to be decided who would be best suited to carrying whom, which itself involved a lot of shuffling around. But eventually everyone was accounted for, and they were able to slip out the back and head towards the escape route. Hopefully, they wouldn’t run into a great deal of opposition. The fighting sounded to be mostly behind them, but there was always the chance that enemy soldiers were among the tents at the edge in front of the escape route.