Angela felt B'arthon shift a little as he woke up. His current position over her shoulder wasn't the most comfortable, but it was far from the worst discomfort he would likely experience before all was said and done. He seemed a little groggy as he looked around and sighed. "So I'm guessing we lost that little skirmish?"

The AI didn't particularly feel particularly charitable at the moment, as she answered. "Yes, you lost 'that little skirmish.' Though what you thought you could do only outnumbering us a little over two to one, I don't know."

The noble seemed to consign himself to his fate as he relaxed his position. "Well, I wasn't expecting you to have three tamed wolgen. A neat little trick that. You'll have to tell me how you managed it sometimes."

Angela didn't feel the need to respond, so they walked on in silence for a moment until B'arthon looked back at the case that used to house the younger AI. A moment later, he spoke up. "None of the lights on Vox'thon's case are lit up. Is she alright?"

The AI contemplated bluntly telling him that she was dead, but something in his voice sounded genuine enough that it brought up painful memories of her own. With her free hand, she tapped her chest plate. "She's not in that case right now. She's in here with me."

B'arthon stayed quiet before speaking again, this time his voice oddly emotionless. "Is she alright?"

Angela again contemplated throwing the results of what happened in his face but still couldn't bring herself to do it just yet, so she underplayed the situation somewhat. "She is very badly injured. I'll do what I can to piece her back together, but she may never be the same as she once was." It was true enough, in a way. Angela did have every intention of trying to take the remaining shreds of the girl and patching her back together into a whole AI again, but the resulting person would not be the same Vox'thon that had died, though she would share her memories.

B'arthon went quiet again as though he was measuring the truth of her words. Finally, he simply responded, "Take good care of her. Her only mistake was her naivete and finding something she thought was worth risking her life for."

This time, Angela's anger got the better of her, and she decided to be a bit more blunt. "Only you would consider loyalty to one's family a mistake. You should try seeing things through her eyes sometimes. You should try and find something worth dying for!"

For his part, B'arthon didn't answer. He merely rode on in silence.

-

S'haar and the armed and armored guards from the Dragon's outpost waited in a line well behind the backmost part of the center of the battle line. She knew every guard standing beside her was as impatient as she was to join the fight, well, almost as impatient, anyway. It was not like them to stand by while others fought for them, but Jack had been clear. Everything depended on A'ngles thinking the middle was their weakest point and committing the majority of his force to break through. By making it appear they thought the belly bows would be more effective than they would be, they baited the trap, but now it was finally time for S'haar and the guards to do their part.

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When the retreat started, she turned to To'brel. "Once the first worker reaches our position, raise the flag." If all the workers and hill people continued to flee past her line, it was likely even S'haar and the guards could be overpowered and broken. This part of the trap depended on them rallying behind S"haar and the fresh guards, if only to provide the mass to keep A'ngles' warriors from pushing through. The flag provided a crucial rallying point and let everyone know that it was S'haar personally leading the fight from this point on. Jack had argued that while anyone from the outpost might already well know S'haar would never abandon them, the hill people would have no such familiarity with her dedication, and a visual symbol of her presence would go a long way toward assuring them they hadn't just been abandoned to die in this crazy plan of theirs.

Once the first worker reached their line, To'brel did as commanded and raised the flag. At first, the route continued, but slowly they began forming up behind S'haar. When she noticed the most exhausted workers, the ones who had held the front line directly for most of the fight, struggling to escape from the pursuing warriors, S'har decided they'd pushed far enough. Drawing her swords and holding one high, she shouted to the waiting guards beside her. "Save the workers! Charge!"

S'haar might not have been the first to begin moving, but as she pushed forward, the warrior woman quickly took the lead of the countercharge. The sight of one of the workers tripping and falling motivated her to launch herself ahead without restraint, and she plowed into the suddenly very confused front line with abandon.

The first warrior she met was impaled before he realized what was happening. The second and third were cut down while trying to come to a halt and bring up their spears to block. A part of S'haars mind was telling her not to push forward too far, but she wouldn't stop until every still-living worker was safe behind the lines.

When she finally passed a retreating exhausted Lack'nul, who looked for all the world like he was about to fall over dead at any moment, S'haar stopped her advance. As the guard captain collapsed behind her, To'brel issued orders even while waving the flag he was carrying. "Get all the armored workers who were on the front lines to the back where they can get aid immediately! Anyone not helping a worker form up behind the guards. We just have to hold them here a little longer!"

Since he was managing the workers so well, S'haar directed her attention to the warriors before her. "YOU WHO FOUGHT SO BRAVELY AGAINST WORKERS STRUGGLING TO SAVE THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY, COME FORWARD AND FACE A REAL WARRIOR. COME FORTH AND DIE!"

Many of the warriors in question suddenly seemed hesitant to move forward, but the press of bodies behind them gave them little choice. As they came forward, the guards met them with grim resolve, and S'haar tore through them with blade and claw. Only one last part of the trap was needed. Everything now depended on Jack.

-

As Jack crested the hill, he could see that, for once, almost everything had gone as hoped. Nearly all the enemies forces had pushed forward into the "hole" in the middle of their formation, and S'haar had successfully halted the advance, but if they didn't close the last gap now, the enemy would simply start to pull back and surround their front line in the more traditional manner.

There was just one final complication. It looked Like Lord A'ngles still had a small reserve of a little over one hundred warriors. If he sent those down to charge the rear of the hunters, it might just be enough to break their lines and set his men free. Jack had to make a quick judgment call. "Lon'thul, pick a capable hunter to guard B'arthon, then lead the rest into closing the trap. Angela, the wolgen, and I will keep Lord A'ngles' reserve busy."

Lon'thul looked like he was about to argue. As dangerous as the wolgen, Angela, and Jack were, a hundred warriors was still a bit much for them to handle, but Jack cut him off. "Timing is everything now! You need to be in position before the enemy can pull back. If you're not, we all die! Now go!"

With that, Jack turned and began leading the wolgen toward Angles, with Angela following close behind. Em'brel looked back and forth a moment before following Jack.