Laker forced the horse to come to a stop. He couldn't go back anymore. If he did, there was a high chance that the bowmen would hit him or the horse with the arrow. From his distance, Laker could see the sharp iron tip of the arrow and how far the string was pulled back. Anyone getting hit without any armor would be critically injured.

Laker considered his options. The only thing that he could do now was to go out of the path and into the tree. But that had a major problem, the horse couldn't get through all the trees and bushes quickly. It would be faster to just run.

While Laker was looking around, trying to figure out a way to get out, the three men that had forced him to stop in the first place, started to move forward. They took small steps, making sure that they didn't create a gap within their formation. With the ax-wielding man in the middle, they approached Laker.

Laker noticed them and panic started to set in. The only thing that he could do was get out of the horse and run into the trees and hope that the arrow didn't hit him.

Laker's heart started to pound, making it even harder for him to think. Sweat started to form all over this body and made it harder for Laker to hold onto the reins.

Laker finally made up his mind. He would have to take the blame for losing a horse, but at least he would be still alive. Just when Laker was about to jump off of the horse and start to run into the trees, a small noise was heard from the back.

"Thump."

Laker fearing the worst turned to look. He half expected to see an arrow coming towards him, but what he saw surprised him. An arrow could be seen sticking throw the throat of the archer. The noise was caused by the arrow of the bowman hitting the path.

The body of the archer collapsed onto the ground, dead. The person with the shield noticed the gazes of the rest of the men and looked behind him. All five men there couldn't understand what had happened and all of them froze unable to move. All of them stared at the now dead body trying to figure out what had happened and where that arrow had come from.

Laker snapped back to reality and realized that this was a great chance. He tugged the reins hard towards the left and headed towards the distracted man with the shield.

"Sebastian, turn around and stop him. Don't let him pass you." As Laker's horse started to move, Laker could hear the voice from behind him. Currently, they all decided to think about the arrow problem later.

"Alright, boss," said the man as he turned around. He lifted up the large wooden shield and planted it more firmly into the ground. The shield was in the middle of the path and there wasn't enough space for Laker to maneuver around him.

Thoughts raced by Laker's mind. It was already too late to stop with the speed that the horse was going at right now. There wasn't enough space to either side and Laker could run the horse headfirst into a tree if he tried to dodge the shield.

Laker braced himself as the wooden shield got closer and closer. Just a mere second before impact, Laker saw something moving very quickly. Before he could figure out what it was, it had disappeared from his vision.

The horse charged through the shield with little resistance. The shield flew off to the side and the horse trampled through whatever was behind it. Laker could feel the different things that the horse stepped on as it ran. His stomach started to feel bad as he just imagined what the other person must look like after that.

Forcing himself to not look back, Laker let this horse move away. He looked around trying to find anyone that could have short the arrow from before. He felt nothing but gratitude towards them as had saved him. Roughly a quarter of a mile away, he could make out the rough shape of a man kneeling behind a tree.

Laker and the bandits could see him before because of how far he was away and also because most of his body was hidden from view. The only reason that Laker could see him now, was because he stood up.

Laker slowed his horse down to keep his distance from the person in front of him. Laker could clearly make out fine armor and what could be a horse a bit farther behind the man. Laker connected the dots and realized that this was the same person that had been following ever since he left Carthage.

For the second time, Laker felt like he was surrounded. His heart which hadn't calmed down from before started to beat faster. Laker pulled his short sword out of his bent and let it hand to its side.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The man had noticed that he had been found by Laker. He put his bow through his hand and went backward, towards his horse. When he reached it, he led it out of the tree and onto the path before he got onto it. He calmly approached Laker with a neutral expression.

Laker held his short sword tighter in his right hand. Laker forced himself to calm down. If the other person had wanted him dead, he could have just shot him or let the bandits have their way. He wouldn't have had a reason to help him.

"Sit tight here while I go clean up some scum," said the man as he passed Laker. He sped up as he passed Laker, heading towards the remaining bandits.

The three bandits had half-heartedly been chasing after Laker before they saw the man approaching them. They knew that they wouldn't get him as they could obviously not run faster than a horse. When they heard saw the horse charging at them at full speed, fear started to seep in.

He had a long sword held out from his right hand. The sword was very clearly sharp and aimed towards their throats. Very quickly, the three split up and two of them jumped to the man's left, avoiding the sword. The last one was not so fortunate and his head was cleanly separated from the rest of his body.

The man wasn't satisfied yet. He slowed his horse down and turned it around, preparing to do the same thing again. The two men had long realized they wouldn't survive on the path and heading into the trees. Seeing this, the man took the bow off of this back and took an arrow from the quill from this side. He carefully aimed and then let the arrow fly.

Whether it is due to good luck or bad luck, the arrow missed, hitting a tree instead. With that, the two bandits moved deeper into the forest until the man couldn't see them anymore. The man decided to let them go and went to where Laker was.

"Is the horse alright?" the man asked Laker.

"Ah... Yes, or I think it is. I can't tell from up here," said Laker. He was not expecting the man to ask about the health of the horse and it caught him completely off guard.

"Well, if you don't know, get off and check, you idiot. It's not like horses are easy to come by and it would be bad if you can't finish the rest of your journey," said the man. He put his bow away and got off of his horse. He then took out his bloody sword from its sheath.

Laker could not help but swallow as he saw the sword. He got off of his horse but still held the short sword in his hand which was slightly shaking. "Are you perhaps working for him?"

"Yes, we are working under the same person. If you can hurry up, I'll get back and keep doing what I'm supposed to doing, which is following you from a distance." Said the man as he wiped the blood off of his sword with a piece of cloth.

Laker hesitantly put his sword back into his belt and examined the front of his horse. He could see a few light scratches on the horse from the shield, but it was nothing major. It would stop bleeding without him doing anything and the horse's stamina wouldn't get affected.

"The horse is fine. But, why were you following me in the first place? Couldn't you have just come with me since I could hear your horse?" Laker asked the man.

The man replied to Laker as he started to get back onto his horse. "It's because it is more suspicious for a village to see two horses in a short time. I went around villages and I try to around people that were on the path. I kept you within hearing distance so that I could come in if anything came up, just like this time."

Laker got back onto his horse and took a few moments to collect himself. After that, he started to move, past the three dead bodies and to the next villages. The bodies would lay there until the next person came along and moved them off to the side of the path. The man started to head after Laker after he was far enough away.

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The trio had resumed their journey east. When they returned back to their previous camping spot, they found Stratus still in the same spot that they left him in. He had fallen asleep, but he didn't move so it could be considered that he followed what Xander had told.

Then they picked up the bag in which they carried their food and supplies and Sam was forced to carry it. Unlike before, they didn't have the horse to carry it and Xander was already busy carrying Stratus. Laina had offered to carry it, but Sam thought that he would rather keep his pride than be lazy.

Then they took the long way around the village. Sam was the one to force the other two to not go through the village and in honesty, Sam thought that maybe he was being too paranoid. But in the end, Sam didn't want to take the risk and they ended up having to go through the forest, out of the path. They had almost gotten lost when Xander took the lead and found the path leading out of the village.

Currently, they were walking along the path in silence when Sam asked something that he had been wondering about for a while.

"Laina, how come there are so many more young adults than there are middle-aged and older people?" asked Sam. In both of the villages that he had been to, there was a serious lack of older people since most of the people that he could see were all around the same age as if they had just become adults not too long ago.

"Oh ya, I found it weird as well," added Xander.

"Umm, what are you guys talking about? There are people of all ages in the villages. You obviously can't tell because people don't age as they get older. The old people that you saw were the people that were near the end of their lives as they went into the second aging period." Explained Laina. To her, this was common sense. It was a similar question as asking why things fell or why trees grew. They just did. It wasn't too clear the reason why but they were things that she had been around all of her life and she never questioned it.

"I don't get it," announced Xander. Sam didn't get it either.

"How about you explain it to us as if we were..." Sam was trying to say alines, but he couldn't come up with the translated word so he was forced to improvise. "As if we forgot everything and had no clue how anything works.