Without any further comments, Sera returned to the carriage as the instructions were explained.
Tyr nodded once Nadev finished speaking and walked towards the left side of the carriage, his weaponry in tow. Taking the chain from his belt, he wrapped one end around the hilt of his sword and the other end through his belt, so that it could be a reusable projectile as well as a melee weapon. He tugged the belt end and threw a practice shot to see is the other end held up. As it landed he dragged it back and made slight adjustments to the looser end near the hilt. Finishing up, he turned to watch the woman walk to her position.

"How many do you expect will make it out to the carriage if the ambush is a success?" He asked, tossing the question out to both the driver and the woman.
____________________

"I am fine, sister." Avia remarked, plucking bits of garbage from her hair.
"It was my fault, I am so used to living outside of these civilizations that I forgot what the Elder told me."
She felt her upper chest for the fetish, and was relieved when she discovered it was still around her neck after the incident. Turning her head down the alley, she began to think about what she could recollect from her time being half conscious.

"I don't think he was bad inside. He had some bit of The Father's goodness inside as well." She held the fetish in a fist as she mentioned the giant. "He saved me, as if he were looking over me."

Qalim was beside the startled goat of a man before he even knew it. From the perch he could see their targets. He couldn't count the silhouettes due to the foliage but at least fifteen men sounded about right.

"You have better have a plan."

The first thing that came to mind was to of course, throw the explosives but the trees provided too much cover from the blast. They could of course, also try to mine the approach but that was trickier. Or they could do it the old fashion way, with cold steel and colder hearts but there was simply too many. What about the reverse pick-pocket? That was always fun but that required more luck than anything.

((Disregard that Gigantes is being chased by Bahaa and that whim sucks c***.))

"I do." Lucien slid down the gentle hill side, taking his time as to make no noise. As he reached the bottom he worked around his coat and acquired 6 circular bombs and two tube like bombs. As Qalim followed down he handed all of the circular bombs to him. "These pipe bombs contain powerful incendiary gels, they'll light a large portion of the forest on fire, when it happens use these grenades to cut off their routing path, scattering them about the chaos. In total I've counted 38 guerrillas, so stay low here and wait for me to prime the charges behind them." Lucien immediately took off into the forest after explaining the battle plans, keeping low as he planted both charges on opposite ends of the tree line running parallel to the pass.


______

The carriage had begun to move again as Tyr questioned the caravan driver, Alhashir and Eris. "The explosives those two have are extremely powerful, I'd say at the most 10 or 11." Alhashir answered as he they approached the pass. "and so it's up to us to make sure not a single one gets anywhere close.." Eris added as her citrine eyes focused on the over hanging dark wood trees of the pass they were now entering.

It was eerie inside the pass, the road was extremely uneven and the large interlaced trees blocked out all traces of light from the sky. Owls and other nocturnal fauna could be heard calling in the distance and a gentle mist along with sploches of gray, murky, still water covered the ground. On the left side of the road a gentle upward slope rested, this was the area where a large portion of the guerrillas had set themselves up. To the right there was nothing but wooded wasteland, the trees seemingly stood together, protecting an unseen land from any passers by. It grew silent as the carriage rolled through, the only sounds were the ones emitted from the horses and the carriage. Nadev gripped tightly at the reigns as he prepared, he counted in his head, a gentle mark of sweat coursed down his face, and in a sudden explosion it had begun. Not far off in the distance in front of the carriage both the charges had blown creating a massive, raging inferno behind the ambushers. Many of the men in the back were set ablaze immediately, those who were not broke apart, a large portion running towards Qalim as to position themselves on the flank of the carriage and another portion rushing to their allies near the road who had begun to charge down. Just as planned Nadev charged forth sword and shield in hand with Galaonis on his heels . Alhashir continued to urge the caravan onwards as arrows rained from above, gripping tightly to his cannon as a small detachment of attackers approached his flank. Above the fray Lucien had already moved out of his position and immediately made it his mission to cut down every archer, he took little time, slaughtering numerous men and in almost an instant he had changed direction to charge downwards to rendezvous with Nadev. The men who had previously run from the fire towards Qalim had come within a stones throw of his position, and from here their physical features were clear, all of the fighters wore long cut open robes with cheaply made armor beneath, their eyes flared up in a fiery yellow, and with them they carried spears, swords, farm equipment, and guns.

Gigantes ran down the alleyway and made a left at the next intersection of buildings. Grimwald was walking out of a store with a new knife in his hands. Gigantes, preoccupied with his plans of where to go next, did not notice the man in front of him. He tripped over Grimwald's boot and was impaled in the gut by his knife. Grimwald broke down and tried to pull the knife out and Gigantes was gutted in the process. He fell to the ground and bled to death.

Grimwald was enjoying his life. He had taken quick errands in order to pay for expenses to the next town. It was difficult at times, showing bravado to everyone . He felt that he could've been easily taken advantaged of by most people otherwise he thought. But no one bothered him aside from clients and he even had enough extra money for a new knife. This one had a wicked jagged edge on one side to saw through anything. In all, he felt happy.

That is, until he accidentally stabbed a man to death. It went by so quick. Focused on playing with his knife, Grimwald didn't even see the man until it was too late, and the knife easily went into his gut. Instinctively, Grim pulled out the knife, but panicking, he actually caused the wound to be worse by fumbling with it. Finally, after some resistance, he yanked out the blade, causing him to stumble back and fall.

The man fell and was not moving. Grimwald was simply dumbstruck at this mishap and stared. Was he unconscious? Dead? Should I get someone to help? A multitude of questions were going through his mind. After a couple seconds, he took a breath and stood up. He wiped the bloodied blade, and sheathed it. He stood and nodded, and knowing what to do, Grim made a sudden movement out of the scene. Forgetting that his path was in Gigantes, he tripped on the body, and quickly recovered through a roll as he fled.

((I'll just go and reread the entire story again. Maybe.))

Aranida resisted the urge to snort at the thought of a good bone in the mass of a scoundrel that Gigantes was.

She shrugged, "Well, I'm glad that you're safe. My men will finish clearing up this place and then we'll take the enslaved men and women to the officials to see what they can do. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were refugees from the north." She slung one of her pistols into the holster and nodded at Avia "Alright, let's head back to my home so that we may continue preparations for our departure." She began walking, keeping a close eye on Avia, not wanting to slip up again and lose the woman in the alleys.

Tyr's focus flashed towards the approaching radicals. Mentally targeting the very front most assailant, he drew his arm back and threw his sword at one of them, impaling him right through the shoddy armor they seemed to possess. Immediately afterward he tugged his end of the chain to dislodge the blade and by some stroke of luck he happened to wound another one right next to the first target. At this point he was dragging the sword back like a madman. He needed to re-equip himself if he could continue to slaughter the remaining radicals.

"How 'bout some cover while I readjust myself?" he cried over to the woman across the carriage.
__________________

"Thank you once again, sister. Hopefully we will be watched over on the journey," Avia replied, resting an arm on Aranida's shoulder and grinning at her as they walked. "I also pray you could pick up my slack, as this morning I neglected to tell you that The Father has deemed me to carry a passenger along the way. I should not end up in any more trouble, otherwise there might be some issues along the way."

Bahaa watched the killing of Gigantes by a master assassin from the roof top. Well, that was that. His sight followed the assassin for a bit longer, hoping to take in more recognisable features. No dice as the killer escaped fluidly with a forward roll and disappeared in to the crowd. He climbed down, at the very least he could get a name, and loot Gigantes. The name he got was Grimwald, a foreigner who did odd jobs. How fitting. Now, to loot the body and report back to scary miss Lady Aranida.

---

Qalim could see the men charge forward. From his hidden position he primed the grenades, somehow, and threw them at the bandits. He looked away as the explosion tore through them. His work was complete, as long as others were content in not attacking him as he slinked away from the battle line.

((Loot tables Whim?))

((f***, I knew I forgot something in that post.. I forgot to give Qalim Sulfur strike matches..))

The grenades exploded in a dazzling display, the hundreds of fragments it produced tore through the ranks of men killing many on the spot, leaving the rest wounded and disoriented. Amid the chaos a Guerilla carrying a spear charged towards Qalim, blood rushing from his arms, chest, and head he thought not of his own well being only of vengeance. "Go to God!" he screamed as he rushed onwards keeping his spear pointed far ahead of him.

Meanwhile back at the carriage Tyr had already begun to engage the attackers who had taken positions on the flanks, many of whom were taken by surprise, not expecting the defenders to move away from their precious cargo. Immediately Lear and Eris dismounted to assist him, protecting him as he attempted to move away from the brawl. "Whatever you're doing, do it quickly, more are coming." Eris shouted to Tyr as the fighters began to pile up against their defending line. Meanwhile, in front of the carriage a small group of three attackers had broken through and were now heading straight for Alhashir, who immediately let loose with a volley of grape shot from the compact cannon he had in the front seat. The rounds tore through the men with ease, but now Alhashir was defenseless, he had to hope the line would hold. Meanwhile far ahead of the carriage Lucien, Nadev, and Galaonis were slowly making progress, the line of 20 some men they had begun to fight was quickly thinning but something seemed off to Lucien, men were beginning to flee the battle, something this group of radicals were not known for, and with little warning it struck Lucien, he began to feel the energy around them moving about in a odd flux.

"The enemy has a Mage!" Lucien shouted as he turned to Nadev, "We need to move NOW!" Lucien had already broken away from the attacking group, charging onwards to where he felt the change in energy, in the opposite direction Nadev and Galaonis sprinted away in disbelief, attackers still feverishly following. "Get the messenger out of the carriage! it's not safe!" Nadev called to Alhashir who immediately ran for the back grabbing the young girl out of the carriage and tossing her aside into a near by dip in the ground. Eris and Lear both attempted to flee from the carriage flank but it was already too late, the air around them had grown extremely hot and within the blink of an eye a thin wave of vertical fire tore down the road incinerating trees, guerillas, and narrowly missing the carriage, Lear and Eris who had been counting their blessings in their heads. With little warning the fire vanished leaving only deep scorches and destruction.

Tyr flung himself aside as the fire blazed no more than 20 feet from him, nearly destroying everything they possessed. He lifted his upper body up with his arms and caught sight of Lear and the woman narrowly escaping.

"Goddammit!" he cried as his fist smashed into the ground. He pulled himself up in haste and picked up his sword, unlocking the chain and widening his movement range. As soon as he could, he headed towards the forest, the noticeable source of the fire. If he played his cards right, he would be able to move around until he found the mage. He had to contend with the possibility of a consistent barrage of spells, but inside the wooded area it would be riskier for the enemy to make a move that could trap himself within an inferno as well.

"A passenger?" asked Aranida curiously, she wondered if she would soon be meeting another one of Avia's kin. She found her to be very exciting, and meeting more of them, getting yet another taste of their culture made her feel, civilized, or something along those lines. "I suppose we shall be meeting them at my estate before we leave?"

His knife slid out with practiced ease. It's trajectory was the spearman's face, which, at that range, was rather hard to miss for a trained man such as him. It wouldn't stop the spearman, but at least it could slow him down enough for Qalim to deflect the attack. As the spear thrust harmlessly in to vacant air, Qalim embraced the man as he pulled out his knife.

"I shall and may the faraway Father forgive you."

More shouts were heard, it was his companions. He could hear them cry out that a mage was among the foes. Magic? Not impossible but so unlikely that this must have been a test from God himself. It had been an age ago that magic had disappeared but the techniques used to kill a magic user was not much difference from killing an armed man. All he had to do was be more sensitive to the changes in the air and stay out of sight until he could strike with overwhelming force. Perhaps he might need to use his other concealed weapon.

Qalim kept low in the ditch by the road, eyes and ears open for more attackers as he searched the line for the mage.

---

After quickly looting Gigantes' personal effects, Bahaa borrowed a blade from the weapon shop Grimwald was in to take Gigantes' head. He wrapped it up in Gigantes' shirt and set off to scary Miss Lady Aranida's residence.

He got there first, otherwise, the gate would have had more men at attention. He sat down at the curb until the scary Miss Lady Aranida came in to view in which he tried his best to imitate a soldier standing at attention.

The battlefield surrounding the carriage had become quiet, most of the attackers had either been killed or had taken cover to avoid being hit by their mage whom Lucien had begun to track feverishly, following what seemed like an invisible trail to a powerful source. As Lucien moved quickly he took notice of Tyr who had been moving on his own. "You idiot, get back you're not capable-" and then it struck him again, the same feeling as before, the flow of energy had changed once more and with little warning a smaller blast of fire raged down the tree line, striking Tyr's left side, incinerating his arm almost instantly. Lucien had already begun to rush for the mage now, he couldn't afford to tend to Tyr's wounds else he'd be targeted next. Rushing forth he entered a clearing where a frail, underweight, and exhausted man stood, his eyes filled with fear and anguish. "Anti-mages.. they do exist.." the man stuttered out as he slowly began to hobble forward, accepting his fate as Lucien's cold steel tore directly into his heart. Hoisting the corpse over his shoulder Lucien immediately turned back towards the carriage, his next priority was Tyr.
----

"It looks like we're done for now." Nadev muttered as he remounted his horse, looking down at Eris and Lear. "Don't just stand there, get the messenger back in the carriage, I'm going after Tyr, if Lucien hasn't killed that bastard yet he could be in serious trouble." Nadev immediately rode off down the road in search of Tyr. Eris immediately stood and moved to help the messenger out of the ditch Alhashir had thrown her in. "Are you okay?" she questioned kindly, lifting her to her feet. Meanwhile Lear watched the fires in the forest burn away as the gel ignition smoldered. "I wonder where the hell Qalim wander off to, or if he's still alive." Lucien grumbled to himself as he leisurely brushed off his cloak.

Tyr fell to the ground in shock. The fire cauterized the wound and killed the nerves, but he could still feel the pain. It was his fault, he didn't expect the mage to notice where he was from so far away, underestimating his ability. But, on the other hand, how was he supposed to know? He never fought anyone before who used magic from the past.

He couldn't contemplate his mistake further, slipping unconscious from the trauma. He crumpled to the ground like a rag doll, breath growing softer each minute he lay their.

"I'm fine, thanks" Sera briefly replied. She only had a few scrapes from the encounter, but was glad she was thrown out before the fire nearly killed her. She looked aroudn for Tyr and Qalim, but couldn't locate him close by. Even though they met one day earlier, she felt safer around them than with these strangers whom she knew even less.

"Where are Tyr and Qalim?" she asked in a worried tone, echoing her thoughts.
______________________________

"No, sister," Avia answered.
"The passenger inside."

It came off as cryptic, but she was trying to convey it as ambiguously as possible so that Aranida would realize it, but hopefully no one else would pick it up. She wanted it to be kept a secret, not even the elder knew she was with child. If the elder knew, Avia would have not been chosen as the ambassador and she would not have been able to see the city as she planned.

Aranida blinked, and then abruptly stopped once realizing what Avia was alluding to. She looked at Avia to reexamine her closer. She was never good with inherently female facts, though she had always heard from some of the older women that pregnant women tended to have some sort of glow. She glanced at Avia to see if she could spot this particular glow, but to no avail. She just wasn't good at feminine stuff. There was no other way to interpret the meaning of what she said. How odd, though? To let a pregnant woman go out on such a mission was quite dangerous for her and the child. She shrugged, who was she to judge another people's customs.

"Well, I don't think I've ever prayed before to this father before, but I hope he helps us as we go forward on this quest." she stated.

At the gates of her estate she saw the child who stood at attention as she and Avia approached."Excuse me," she asked facing the child "but what exactly are you doing here. This is a place for soldiers, not for children."