Sir Bowen of Maelor, knight of the realm and member of the Vatharian King's Guard, looked over what was left of his force, and yet felt that things were starting to go his way. The abductions had stopped with his men's heightened vigilance and the changes to the formation he'd ordered. The horses had calmed, and they were now riding fast, making good time.

He only worried if they could catch the traitor Rassler before they reached the monster village marked on his map, which he estimated was less than half an hour ahead. He didn't know the speed Rassler managed – he might have made it faster than Bowen's force and could already be at the village, or he might have faced equal harassment and would then soon be in range.

His orders had been to bring back the count dead or alive, but the king had seemed to have a slight preference for alive, as then they could then have a trial and properly disown Rassler before his execution. Bowen himself could be in line for some of Rassler’s lands – and those lands were huge.

Bowen reasoned that there was a good chance Rassler was already dead, killed by the same beasts that had been harassing his company as they advanced. The beasts seemed too scared to take on Bowen's force head on, but Rassler with just two men with him would be an easy target, one even those cowards could not resist.

If Rassler were not already dead, Bowen thought the most likely scenarios were that Rassler would either be denied entry to the monster's village or captured upon entering it. Bowen felt confident though that the villagers would ransom Rassler easily. Bowen had two hundred Vatharian gold sovereigns to offer. Failing that he was certain that the threat of violence from a company of the elite of the Vatharian Royal Army would be convincing if the village thought his gold insufficient.

The road they were on wound through a dense evergreen forest in a valley with hills on both sides. Many of the hills would have been climbable by men or even horses, but at certain points there were high rocky crags rising on one or both sides. They'd seen a handful of caves in the hills. A stream ran just to the right of the road. Winter was barely changing into Spring, so patches of snow still covered most of the ground. Much of what was left was muddy.

The formation rode around an outcropping to a part of the road that had steep crags rising on both sides, and a place where the road crossed the stream and needed to be forded.

Bowen said to Sir Hargest riding next to him. "Damn them. Why didn't the scouts report this? This terrain is perfect for an ambush. Let's order a halt."

"Bowen, you remember the scouts disappeared an hour ago, right?"

It all clicked with Bowen. "Halt, halt the formation! Ready, weapons out."

Bowen stopped his company at almost exactly the spot that Histel had predicted he would.

The sudden order to halt brought some disorder to the ranks, as they reigned back horses that had been in a fast trot up until that point. As the order got passed, the men started to draw their swords and looked back to Bowen to see why they’d stopped.

The men in the front two ranks yelled out as they noticed roots rising from the hard earth of the road, twining up around the hooves of their horses. A few vines reached down from the trees, swiping at the heads of the soldiers. The horses in the front ranks started backing, except for one that was well caught by the vines and another that bolted into the woods in panic, unseating his rider.

The second two ranks disappeared as trap doors opened in the road below them, and five men with their horses fell into a five-foot-deep pit. The ranks behind them backed quickly.

A buggebear and two massive wolves sprang from a hidden cave entrance, and moved to grab Mostyn, the company’s wizard. They’d emerged close to where the wizard had stopped, but it was still a number of strides to get to him, even for bounding giant wolves and a towering buggebear. As the first wolf sprung in an attempt to knock the wizard down off his horse, Mostyn let loose an array of shining magic bolts. They struck the beast straight on his chest, stopping his leap, sending him down and pushing him back some yards. The wolf rolled into a large brown wounded furry ball.

Mostyn turned to counter the magic animating the roots and vines, but never got a chance, as he was hit by the second wolf and knocked off his horse. As he crashed to the ground the buggebear’s paw wrapped around his head, covering his mouth. The monster’s other arm pinned Mostyn’s arms.

Bowen looked back and saw that eight other buggebears emerge from their hidden cave and fling nets over the soldiers near them in the middle or the formation.

Bowen and Hargest brought their horses about, swords drawn, and prepared to charge the buggebears. The men with them in the middle and back of the ranks who hadn’t been trapped in nets or pits readied their charge also, and the crossbow men in the back took aim.

Part way up the hill, a darkly-clad witch sat astride a giant gray wolf, both surrounded by a shimmering silver shield. The witch’s eyes lit with electric sparks, and the sparks spread across her body and arms. Electric bolts sprung from all her fingers toward the Vatharian soldiers. The electricity flowed primarily into the raised swords of the soldiers and into their metal helmets, shocking and stunning most of the company. Those who could dropped their swords and flung off their helmets.

The horses were now in a complete panic. Some were caught by the grasping roots, some stunned or angered by the electric shocks, and all were trying to escape. The soldiers who remained seated on their horses struggled as best they could to keep them under control.

That was when the dragon arrived.

Over their heads, the red dragon made a low pass, first with a long breath of fire over the company, and then with small, concentrated flame-strikes just to the right of Bowen. On her back rode another witch – a young woman with long brown hair with green-glowing eyes. The dragon landed on a rocky outcropping part way up the hill, near the electrical witch, and the dragon yelled out to the invading soldiers, in pleasantly-accented Common Vatharian:

"Um, hi everybody! We thank you for your visit. It was nice to see you all, but you really need to leave now. Please turn around and head back south at your earliest convenience!"

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That was rather a weird thing for a dragon to say, thought Bowen. Is the beast mocking us before its attack?

A couple of the crossbow men who’d been aiming at the buggebears did have the presence of mind to target the dragon. The first crossbow bolt hit the shimmering green magic shield that was protecting the dragon and her rider. The shield then disappeared. The second crossbow bolt glanced off the dragon’s scales, leaving a scratch. A third bolt was incinerated mid-flight by the dragon’s breath. The beast became annoyed.

"Okaaay, THAT WAS VERY RUDE!" spoke the dragon in an increasingly loud voice. The first words were barely above her normal speaking voice, but by the time she'd gotten to "rude," her voice had deepened and boomed through the hills. Even its echoes shook the ground. Her young rider gave her an encouraging pat on the back.

"I am Lady Scarlett Nohara! The gods are my witness. I gave you a chance. Everybody saw. NOW WILL YOU PLEASE LEAVE!” She breathed more fire into the sky as she turned to the crossbow men that had shot at her and said “Leave or be an appetizer. I am not going to ask again.”

The Royal Army’s crossbow men flung down their weapons and ran for it. They were joined by a dozen other soldiers, a few of which had managed to stay on their horses and were now ahead in the retreat.

Bowen quickly considered his options. Most of his men were fleeing or trapped. His wizard was nowhere to be seen. He’d lost his sword and helmet, his armor was still sparking and beginning to burn his skin. The ground at his feet had been scorched by dragon fire. His horse had bolted and was probably halfway back to Vathary. Up the hill were two witches, one on a fire-breathing dragon and one on a giant wolf. They were flanked by what looked like a wolf-human hybrid on one side and a large growling hyena on the other. Walking down the hill, weapons raised, were a dozen orcs and buggebears, yelling a war cry in their monstrous language4. Approaching from behind were four goblins mounted on wolves.

Sir Hargest was at Bowen’s back, facing the goblins. Hargest had also lost his sword and had picked up a stick he’d found on the ground and was holding it threateningly at the approaching monsters. Of their other men, only five remained standing beside him. A couple had daggers, one had retrieved his sword, and the other two had nothing but bare fists.

The dragon loudly asked the witches, “Is it okay for us to fry those last humans? You said we could if they fought back. They were really very impolite!”

The monsters took another few steps, closing the circle around Bowen and his remaining men. There was no doubt in Bowen’s mind that they were prepared to kill him if he tried to fight. His men had a frost fairy’s chance in the lowest of the hells of beating them. He saw no options but one.

Bowen held up his hands and dropped to his knees. He instructed the other men to follow him, and they dropped their weapons and also went to their knees.

The witch on the giant wolf approached him. He saw now that she appeared to be a young woman, and was beautiful. He was unable to imagine such a beauty having applied herself to the study of magic long enough to have mastered the forces used against him. Perhaps, he thought, she was in reality an old crone covered with a powerful glamor.

Still though, a woman, and from what Bowan thought of women, he figured flattery might work with this witch.

“Miss, I, I ask you for mercy for me and my men. I hope and trust that your wisdom and kindness are as great as your beauty.”

“You address me as ‘miss’ and say I’m beautiful. You should see me in a crown. I am Princess Wyndyn of the Kingdom of Pelsa. Tie him up and take him away.”

- - - -

As Bowen and many of the Vatharian soldiers were being bound by the orcs, and the remainder of the human soldiers fled south, an eagle arrived and circled the area.

Aida took in what she could of the scene. She was proud of her daughters but also really angry.

They had defeated their foes, driven the enemy soldiers before them, and she could hear the lamentations of the men even from two hundred feet above. All of that was As It Should Be. She thought the younger knight particularly whiny. These human soldiers had clearly never been tested before, yet somehow thought they were up to an incursion into a kingdom led by powerful magic-wielders and populated by an assortment of creatures that humans considered to be monsters. Idiots.

But why did the girls think they had permission to go off and lead an assault against two score invaders? She had never told them that was allowed. She’d been meaning to have “The Talk” with her girls about men and leading them into battle, but thought she had another year or so before it was necessary.

As she circled, she saw there were wounded, and not just among the humans. Two buggebears had been stabbed, and her puppy Fluffy lay curled up on the ground, as Luna and Myla huddled around him with bandages. Aida landed immediately, returned to her elven form, didn’t even take time to straighten her hair, and ran over to Myla and the group around Fluffy.

“Fluffy! Is Fluffy okay?”

“Oh, hi Mom,” said Myla. “Wyndy and I are fine if you were worried. We repelled an invasion.”

“Yes yes, I saw. Well done. Is Fluffy okay?” Aida was rushed to Fluffy’s side, and cradled his massive head in her arms.

Fluffy made low whining noises that roughly translated as “Oh, the agony! The pain! I may never walk again! My times frolicking in the meadows are over!”

Myla explained, “Fluffy seems stable, but he took a direct hit from two magic bolts. Maalik and Zilreth also have wounds, if you can look at them.”

"How did this happen? Why was our puppy involved in this? He is just supposed to be your mount. He isn't a battle wolf!"

“Well, he thinks he’s a battle wolf…. Fluffy was very brave, Mom. We knew we had to take the wizard out of action so that he couldn't dispel my roots grabbing them, or what Wyndy was planning on casting to electrify all the metal. Fluffy led the charge to take down their wizard. He was first out of the cave, and almost had him. He got hit, but the team succeeded. Which was good, as otherwise this battle could have gone a very different way.”

Aida knew she had perhaps too much of a special place for Fluffy in her heart. Aida had been the one to bring the giant wolves to the side of Pelsa, and they'd been great allies ever since. She’d known Fluffy's mother well, and had long run with her in the woods. Fluffy had been the runt of the litter, although Aida had never told that to anyone. Aida had looked into the eyes of that cute harmless little thing, barely fifty pounds, and thought it would make a fun companion for her young daughter. She was proud Fluffy had grown up so strong and brave.

“Oh, the light! The gods are calling me to the great hunting ground in the heavens! I see the bright-winged maidens!” Fluffy continued whining in Northern Pointed Canine, in which of course Aida was fluent. Indeed she had helped codify the language and co-wrote the textbooks for the wolf-pack schools. The hardest part had been when she’d had to mediate between the giant wolves and sly foxes over whether "Animals We Can Eat" should be its own grammatical gender.

Aida turned the wolf over to get a look at the seriousness of his wounds. They were not bad. Certainly they must hurt, but they were nothing threatening life nor limb.

She began to channel the healing power of nature, her eyes and hands glowing green, and focused the energy to heal Fluffy. It only took a moment. He had lost some hair on his chest, and the areas of the wounds would be red and tender for a week, but he was fine.

“You are a very brave wolf, Fluffy. And you will live. Try to take it easy for the next week,” Aida said as she patted him on the head and scritched behind his ears.

Aida left to tend the other wounded. Luna looked relieved and gave Fluffy a lick across the face before trotting off to help guard the prisoners with Shadow. Fluffy waited a minute to see if any further head licks or tummy rubs were coming. When it was clear they were over, got up and trotted after Luna.

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4 They were yelling, “Do not mess it up” in their language, High Goblin.