It looks as if they are getting ready to move on. Alyssia relayed to Chance as he waited hiding in the illusion of a rock.

From what he could see the illusion that Alyssia had set up for him was of a rock that came to his waist but then there was an illusion above the rock as well of open air that hid him so that he did not have to crouch down and the rock was not large enough to be memorable in its presence. The illusion she had placed on the captain was similar but she had also placed a couple other small rocks in the area so to allow for it to blend in better.

Oh! How dare they! One of the guards just slapped Mrs. Wells. Now Phillip and the guard are arguing.

Is Mrs. Wells alright?

The slap knocked her down and another one of the guards is picking her up. He… he… he just grabbed her… her… her chest. She tried to knee him but he blocked it with his leg. He is laughing now and leading over to put her on the horse she was riding.

Which ones hit her and grabbed her? Chance asked. His blood was boiling that such a nice lady was being subjected to such humiliation and abuse. He wanted to make sure that he was the one that delivered punishment to those two.

It is the two guards that were in the officer’s quarters early on. I did not recognize them the other night but seeing them now in the daylight it is definitely them.

Alright. Let me know when they are at the bottom of the hill. I don’t want to move and accidentally give away my position.

Will do. The captain is in the center rock if you want to let him know that they are headed your way.

Chance was not sure how to go about doing that. He thought about shooting an arrow into a spot near the captain but that could be a risk if his aim was off so he discounted that. He thought to himself, “Well I can signal him with a flash of a magic light. Since that is about the only spell I know right now.”

Focusing his intent and thinking of the rune he had used previously, he pulled on his Ard and slowly eased into the rune that he pictured as being about halfway down the hill between him and the captain. He was rewarded with a soft glowing ball of light appearing in the air where he had pictured the rune. “I wonder if I should make it flash.” It was at this point he saw a small rock come flying out of thin air and land near him. “Alright, I think that means he saw it.” With that he cut off the flow of Ard and imagined releasing the rune. The glow faded slowly until it had disappeared entirely. He bent down and picked the rock that the captain had thrown at him for when he would need it later to signal that they were almost there.

Chance settled in to await word from Alyssia that they had reached the bottom of the hill. As he waited he went through the different runes he had learned. He knew that there were a couple that given enough time he could probably use but there were none that he felt he could use yet in combat. It was then that he remembered the enchanted gems on his belt. He knew that the diamond would do something with ice and the ruby was a fireball but he could not remember what the emerald, the brown stone, and the purple stone did.

Alyssia, do you happen to remember what the gems in my belt from the High Mage do? I remember the diamond and the ruby but I cannot remember the purpose of the other three gem colors.

Let me think about it. I will hopefully remember before the time you need to use them. From how close you feel I would say they are about half way to you.

Ok Little One. Let me know as soon as you can.

Settling in to wait once again, Chance began to try to memorize which gem was where so that he would be able to find the correct gem without having to look down.

He had the location of the ruby and diamond down and could place his draw hand on them easily instead of reaching for another arrow from the quiver on his hip.

Chance, I remembered what the other three gems do, emerald casts Vortex of Wind, topaz casts Earth Wall, and the amethyst casts Lightning.

Ok. I know which one is an emerald, but which one is a topaz and which one is an amethyst. With the differences in the spells, I definitely do not want to mix them up. Chance laughed.

An amethyst is a purple stone so the other one would be topaz.

Ok. That makes sense. The topaz is brownish in color like earth would be. I think I will leave the offensive spells alone since I have not tested them but I think I might be able to find a use for the Earth Wall spell.

Chance thought of the various ways he could use Earth Wall if needed and worked to be able to find the topaz gems without having to look down and find them on the belt as well.

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Chance, they are starting up the hill.

Ok.

Carefully Chance took the rock that the captain had thrown and pitched it down the hill towards the captain’s hiding spot. His signal was acknowledged by a single bird call. Chance laughed as once again the captain was teaching him another way to signal one another without anyone being the wiser.

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Glancing over his shoulder back down the hill he could see the men and women were about a third of the way up the hill. He could see that the all of the men, but one, were riding in the front. The last man was at the back of the group behind the women and Annie. The last man in the front group was leading the horses that the women rode and the rope was tied to each of the horses’ halters.

Seeing this he began to make a plan. Alyssia, do you think you could sever the lead rope going to the horse that the Mrs. Durbin is on? I can take out the rear bandit as he rides past. Then I can yell out to the women to turn their horses and ride back the way they just came. I want you to follow the women and make sure they stay safe. I know that I want you here beside me but I would hate for something to happen to them that we could have prevented.

I can do that Chance, I do not like leaving you in combat but I agree on the need to keep them safe. You might be ready to use the Earth Wall spell to block off pursuit once they take off.

Alright. Looks like it is almost time. Chance said as the last bandit crested the hill and began down the road.

As the lead bandit, who was busy looking at the tracks in the road, passed the captain’s hideout Chance could see the throwing knife appear in midair and lodge itself in the side of the man’s neck.

He gave out a gurgling cry as slumped the side and grasped at his throat in an attempt to stop the flow of blood from the now empty wound.

Chance caught himself watching the action below as the guards let out cries of shock and dismay. The horses and riders began to mill about as the men watched the tracker slide off of his horse into the dirt.

Shaking himself Chance lifted his bow and fired off his arrow into the back of the trailing guard, who cried out and reached back for the arrow before falling from his horse as well.

Now. Cut the lead rope. Chance cried out to Alyssia.

Done. Chance could see a silver blur pass through the area between the women and the guards and saw the lead rope separate.

“Mrs. Durbin, Mrs. Wells, Mrs. Cooper! Ride back the way you came!” Chance yelled as he drew another arrow. This time he targeted one of the two guards that had assaulted Mrs. Wells.

The women turned the horses as quickly as they could and retreated back up the hill.

It was difficult to aim as the riders were milling around trying to determine where the attack was coming from. As he finally drew a bead on his target he saw in his peripheral vison another guard topple from his horse. He let fly his arrow and it flew true embedding itself in the chest of the guard.

Finally, one of the three remaining guards noticed that the women were riding back up the hill. “The women are getting away!” he cried.

“Forget the women,” Phillip yelled and spurred his horse down the hill to get out of the ambush. The last two guards spurred their horses back up the hill after the women.

Leading them a little Chance decided to try to stop their pursuit as he knew he would only have time for one shot before they were cresting the hill and going downhill away from him, making the shot much more difficult. So, with a hand on the topaz he cast the incantation that was in the gem about two lengths in front of the two horses.

Chance was not sure if he had ever seen two horses stop so quickly. The two riders lost their seats and flew over their horses’ heads and into the earth wall that had sprouted from the ground. The sound of impact was not a sound Chance wanted to remember as the two bodies slid down the wall.

He glanced down the road in the direction Phillip was escaping and determined that it was too far a shot and he did not want to risk injuring the horse. They knew who Phillip was and what family he came from so they could find him later if it was determined it was needed.

The captain stepped out of his illusion and walked up to the downed bandits and checked to see if any were still alive. The four men that had been hit with throwing knives or arrows were all dead as well as one of the men that had hit the wall, it looked as if his neck had been broken when he hit the wall.

The last guard was unconscious and had a knot on his head but it looked as if he would live.

Chance let out a slow breath and tried to let the tension and anxiety of battle drain from his body.

“Nice shooting Chance and nice work with the earth wall. I was not expecting it and from the looks of it neither were they. Where is Alyssia?”

“I asked her to follow the women after she cut the rope to the bandit leading their horses. I wanted them to have some protection as they escaped.” Chance replied.

“Good idea. Let’s tie this one up and see if we can catch up to the all of ladies and their husbands.” Captain Herrera said with a grin.

They tied the man up and placed him over one of the bandit’s horse and leading the other six horses headed back to see if they could catch up to the fleeing women.

As they headed out Chance felt a moment of alarm and then determination through the bond.

Concerned, Chance asked, Alyssia, how far ahead of us are you? We are safe, have secured a prisoner, and are headed your way. Is everything ok?

One second.

He felt Alyssia use her Ard and his concern heightened and worry beginning to set in he turned to the captain. “Something is happening ahead. Alyssia is unable to respond and she is using her Ard. Let’s go!” With that he spurred Hero and took off at a gallop down the road dragging the other horses with them along with the .

Chance?

Alyssia! Is everything alright?

First let me tell you that I and the women are fine.

Chance let out a breath he had not realized he was holding and nodded to the captain as he slowed Hero down to a canter.

I was worried. What happened?

The women sort of ran into a small pack of wolves that thought horse sounded like a tasty treat. I hit them with a couple fireball incantations and they scattered but the horses were spooked and Mrs. Wells was thrown and her horse ran off. You should see us in a moment as you turn the next bend.

They caught up to the women about a quarter league down the road. As they approached they could see the women gathered around a small tree stump on the side of the road. He could see Annie bouncing on her toes in excitement.

The women’s heads all turned as one as they heard the sound of approaching horses. Chance could see their shoulders relax as they recognized him and the captain.

Mrs. Cooper spoke up, “Captain Herrera, it is wonderful to see you. I take it we have you two to thank for our rescue?”

The captain nodded in assent. “It was the least we could do; we apologize that you had to deal with those men.”

“Chance, I am guessing we have you to thank for our wonderful protection after our escape as well?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. With that the women parted and there on the stump was Alyssia sitting with her wings folded and Chance could feel a sense of pride coming through the bond.