The day of our departure arrived and we were waiting by the east gate of the city for our transportation. Something had been bothering me since the previous day however. “Do you get the feeling we’re being watched?” I whispered to Ann. “You just now noticed? We’ve been spied on for the last few days?” Lin responded nonchalantly. I was once again reminded how much worse my senses were than my girlfriends.

“Why didn’t anyone say anything?” I asked trying not to glance around. “It’s not like we can do anything about it.” Lin replied. “We didn’t want to worry you either.” Ann interjected, hugging my arm. There were only a couple reasons I could think of why someone would be interested in us. Either someone noticed Lux and the ancient coins, or someone knew about the expedition.

“Did anyone know about you going to the cursed city?” I asked, trying not to get distracted by the sensation of Ann rubbing up against me. “Well, it wasn’t exactly a secret, but we didn’t advertise it either.” Ann replied. “If they try anything, they’ll regret it.” Lin smiled evilly, playing with her dagger.

Lux grunted as our coach arrived. There was regular transportation between the cities of the island, but he had splurged and rented a private one just for us. It had an enclosed compartment with a couple windows to look out and was pulled by a horse like creature with six legs. I wasn’t that familiar with horses but thought this beast was probably twice the size of a regular horse. Ann called it a Gazax.

The interior was spacious with soft cushions to sit on. There was a bench on either side with the door to get in at the back. The driver sat on a shaded platform at the front. He looked to be a regular human in his 30’s. There was even an opening at the front to talk to the driver. None of the window openings had glass but they could be shut using sliding wood panels. Luggage could be secured to the top of the coach but since we didn’t have much thanks to the magical bags, we stored everything inside.

The girls sat on either side of me along one side while Lux sat on the other with our bags and gear. Shadow was snuggled up against Lux’s leg which I thought was amusing. I was still a little nervous about being watched but Lin was right that we couldn’t do much about it and didn’t even know what their intentions were. I had a bad feeling about the trip and just wanted to get to Ashen safely.

As we started off, I was surprised at the speed of the Gazax. The road was flat and well maintained but the wooden wheels of the coach still found all the bumps. The coach didn’t seem to have much for suspension which made for a rough ride. The padded seats helped but I wasn’t liking it already and saw a sore posterior in my future. I just hoped I didn’t get car sick or coach sick I guess.

I tried to relax and watch the trees speed past. The area on each side of the road had been cleared back to make a barrier between the jungle and the road. Ann pulled out her magical tome and continued studying the telekinesis spell. Lin looked like she was going to fall asleep while leaning on my shoulder. Lux sat with his arms crossed and stared straight ahead with a scowl on his face which was a little disconcerting.

We had started out in the morning and continued until nightfall with only a couple breaks during the day. As I thought, I was stiff and sore as I got out. We had stopped for the night at a popular rest spot which looked like a park. There was a large clearing with several circles of stone for campfires scattered around and even a few wooden picnic tables. We weren’t the first ones there as two other groups were already set up.

One group was a convoy of three wagons loaded with freight in wooden boxes and the other was a passenger carriage not quite as fancy as ours. We ignored them and started a fire going on the other side of the clearing while our driver took care of the Gazax. I helped the girls get a meal going while Lux kept a watchful eye on the other groups. Shadow scampered around, exploring the clearing.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

We would be sleeping in tents we had brought, one for Lux and a larger one for me and the girls. I wasn’t sure which Shadow would pick. It looked like the driver had his own small tent he was setting up. Food was shared with the driver who was appreciative and then we decided on who would be keeping watch. Lin volunteered to go first since she had napped most of the way.

The night was uneventful and we got an early start in the morning, beating the other groups. Ann thought we should arrive by noon which was good news. Around midmorning our luck changed. Shadow suddenly started hissing and the girls looked at Lux who started putting on his gear. The girls grabbed theirs as well. “Somethings wrong, we can smell it.” Ann explained. I couldn’t smell anything unusual but quickly put on my sword belt and other gear and got prepared. For what, I had no idea.

The coach suddenly lurched to the side and the driver started yelling. The coach shuddered again and started tipping over. Lux turtled up with Ann while I grabbed Lin and jumped out the back. Or that is what I would like to say but it was actually Lin that grabbed me and threw me out the back while she jumped after me. I didn’t know what was going on, but immediately put up an earth wall around Lin and I after we hit the ground.

I could hear several thumping sounds hitting the earth wall and realized we were being pelted by arrows. Lin stood up and returned fire. I peered over the wall and saw the wreckage of the coach blow outward as Lux stood up and freed himself and Ann. We were surrounded on two sides as enemies were firing at us from the treeline on either side of the road. I started firing stone arrows at the opposite side of the road from Lin to give Lux and Ann time to get to safety.

It looked like the Gazax had broken free and was running off down the road, trailing pieces of the wreckage that were still tied to it. I didn’t see the driver or Shadow anywhere but didn’t have time to worry about them at the moment. I shook my head to clear it and extended the wall closer to Ann and Lux who ducked behind it and came up to us. Ann used healing on everyone just in case while I continued shooting into the trees. I couldn’t tell if I hit anything or not but soon the arrows ceased firing at us. I glanced over and could see Lin had hit at least one of the bad guys and the arrows had ceased on her side as well.

Then laughing could be heard coming from Lin’s side which then started on my side as well as people started slowly coming out of the jungle. My first thought was these weren’t your typical bandits. Instead of the mismatched rusty armor that I envisioned bandits to wear, there were gleaming pieces of armor and high-quality weapons. They looked more like mercenaries than bandits which was probably the case.

I had expected the old tree across the road trick, but these guys weren’t messing around and had fully intended to kill us first then loot our dead bodies. I counted about five on each side but there could be more hiding in the jungle. “Well done. Now, throw down your weapons and valuables and we might let you live.” A large cat kin said from Lin’s side of the road. He wasn’t quite as large as Lux but still had plenty of muscles.

We stayed crouched behind the wall and I nodded to Ann who grinned and winked at me. She charged up her spell and gave our answer to the supposed leader of the mercenaries. She unleashed a powered up lightning spell at the cat kin who had no chance at dodging. The spell hit him straight in the chest and burned a hole straight through his body. The discharge also affected his friends that were standing on either side of him who were zapped and left stunned.

The mercenaries probably knew of everyone’s abilities except me but weren’t aware of Ann’s new spells. Lin quickly finished off the two mercs who had not been stunned by the lightning but were still staring with wide eyes and shocked expressions at their dead leader. She then moved on to kill the remaining two with an arrow to their heads while I released the wind blade spell I had been charging up.

Lux stood up with his shield to cover the rest of us as the ones on my side started firing arrows again. My wind blade spell hit two of them who had their legs cut off by the charged up spell. I shot stone arrows at the remaining three but they ran back into the jungle so I didn’t think I hit them. Then a concussive force hit the earth wall, destroying the wall and throwing Lin backward.

Ann crawled over and started healing her immediately. “That must be what hit the coach. Looks like they have a mage hiding in the trees.” Lux said calmly, covering Ann while she worked on Lin. I couldn’t tell where the shot had come from or what spell it might be. All I knew was that we were sitting ducks since my earth wall was no match for the force of the spell.