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MHO Chapter 34! Warning, lots of violent action in this one. It's one of the most combat-oriented chapters, after all.

-Llox

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The travel lodge was abuzz with activity the next morning. Lykou and Kuna were initially quite groggy due to having stayed up so late, only to have to get up early to help prepare for the caravan's departure. Fortunately, Moyra had given them each one of what Faergus had dubbed her 'wake-up' snacks. After a quick, light breakfast- with Lykou again opting to use his salted meat reserves- they each popped one into their mouth and munched it down. The konuul screwed up his face slightly at the taste, but Kuna didn't mind it. Soon enough, however, they both felt surprisingly awake and alert.

Once they were fed and awake, they began helping with the packing, discretely ensuring that weapons and bandages were easily accessible. The plan was a loose one, but they'd ultimately decided to trust Lykou's instincts. They'd decided they would play it normal until the caravan was well away from Kerney, then they'd reveal the plot to the caravan team and deal with Dougal. It was determined that the others were trustworthy- Moyra was good at 'people' after all- so that was the easy part. Moyra and Faergus would handle the traitors among the village's guards shortly after the team left, then send backup to the caravan when they'd been dealt with. The most difficult part would be for the boys to thoroughly prep the caravan for the ambush before the bandits struck. They knew they'd be outnumbered, so they'd discretely ensured that extra shields and weapons were squirreled away from the guards and slipped in among the trade goods overnight. To ensure that the caravan crew knew the boys were telling the truth, and to counteract any lies Dougal might try to concoct, Moyra left the boys with a special signet stone indicating her support- and the word of a village druna was the most solid endorsement one could ask for in those lands. Kuna made sure to have it within reach in the top of his bag, for when the time came. For extra measure, he donned the floral crown Moyra had made for him- partly for the added semblance of authority it might give him, but also partly because he genuinely liked the thing, and it was a nice gift from a new friend he'd made.

As the group finished packing up their carts outside the lodge, the boys grabbed their bags and joined them. Clara was going around bidding each of them farewell, and especially had a big hug for Kuna and Lykou, wishing them well on their journey. She seemed reluctant to see the two go. "Ye best find a way back 'ere someday ta finish tellin' us yer story, ya ken," she playfully chided them.

"Oh believe me, once we find our way back and spend some time at home, I plan to work out a way for our people to visit each other regularly," Lykou said, grinning. "So long spirit-chasing, hello trade caravans!"

Clara chuckled. "Aye, soonds crackin', wi'll look forward ta seein' ye again, then," she said, then turned to Kuna, who happily returned her embrace. "'n' ye better share the storytellin' load, shy lad. Yer better at it then ye giv yersel' credit fer," she said, patting his back. "T'was an honor meetin' ya both."

Kuna blushed and smiled. "Thanks. It's been great meeting you, too."

Raghnaid and chief Grey arrived behind Bhaltair, who had been visiting with them since early morning. Grey and Bhaltair embraced briefly before the latter turned to take up his position alongside Finlay at the front cart.

Grey and Raghnaid approached Lykou and Kuna as a crowd of villagers was starting to build up around the caravan to see them off. "Weel lads, ah hope ye enjoyed Kerney. Wis mighty pleased ta 'av ye here, 'n' on behalf of all of clan Greenrun, ah wish ye a safe and happy journey!" the chieftan said, clapping them both on the back. "Ah ken yer a lang way fra' hame, bit ah do hawp ye see us agin someday."

"I was just telling Clara that I hope I can arrange exactly that, somehow," Lykou eagerly replied. "Hopefully convince chief Ryvis and the elders to do more of this 'trade' stuff."

"Aye, tha'd be pure brilliant!" Grey said excitedly, then stepped back as the other caravaneers picked up their cart handles or bows, respectively. "Guid luck tae ye, lads! 'n' safe travels to the brave Dunnyhill traders, as weel!"

"So that's what you guys call yourselves," Lykou remarked, smiling over to Gavin, who he'd opted to take up position next to.

"Aye, 'n' we dinnae usually get quite this big a farewell," Gavin replied with a chuckle.

"We should bring ootsiders mair often," Ealar joked from the rear cart.

Rhagnaid patted Lykou on the back and tipped her head to him, then grabbed his hand in a tight hold. "May yer path be free o' any trouble ye cannae handle, and full o' any ye look fer," she said with a wink. "Safe huntin', Lykou."

The konuul chuckled and nodded. "Likewise, Ragh. It was great meeting you. I hope you can meet my sister some day, I think you'd like her."

"Aye? Ah look forward tae it, then," the guard replied, then turned to Kuna. At first, he shyly lifted his hand in anticipation, but she instead pulled him into a hug. "Na, ah ken whit yer aboot," she said with a chuckle, then patted his back as they parted.

Kuna smiled and folded his ears down as he returned the hug. "Thanks, hehe..."

Finally, after all the goodbyes wrapped up, the caravan began heading towards the village's exit, including Lykou and Kuna. Moyra appeared discretely at the edge of their crowd, with a faint smile, yet with a seriousness underlying her expression. She caught Kuna's eye and they both nodded to each other as he subtly patted his bag, then she turned and disappeared again behind some buildings.

Once the group was approaching the edge of the farm fields surrounding the town, Lykou and Kuna exchanged a look. Lykou loudly suggested to the lepne that he'd continue their story to help pass the time, which earned a round of approval and mild cheering. After getting someone to remind him where they'd left off, he picked up with their first night at the edge of the canyon, fascinating them with the description of Koki and how Kuna had secretly shaped his tree to serve as a shelter for the night. Once he thoroughly had their attention, the sereva slipped up beside Bhaltair and leaned down to whisper something in his ear.

At first, the trade leader looked surprised, then a bit annoyed. They whispered back and forth a few times, and it looked like the lepne was growing agitated, but then Kuna pulled something out of his bag and showed it to him. Bhaltair's expression shifted dramatically and he slowly nodded, then glanced over his shoulder a couple times. The two exchanged a few more hushed words, then Kuna stepped away and the trade leader held up a hand, bringing the caravan to a stop as he turned around to face the others.

"Ah'm afraid ah have some worryin' news, folks," he began as Lykou paused his story, doing his best to act surprised.

Meanwhile, Kuna carefully positioned himself to look as casual as possible, while surreptitiously hiding his hand under his poncho and conjuring up his life magic.

"Whit's th' problem, boss?" Ealar asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Aye, whit's th' hold-up?" Dougal agreed, already started to grow a little wary.

Bhaltair took a deep breath before announcing the news to the group. "Our friend Kuna 'ere has informed meh o' a plot tae ambush the caravan jest down th' road a spell. Apparently, 'e 'n' Lykou wirked wi' Moyra 'n' one o' Kerney's guards tae suss it oot."

"Ach, how dae ye ken he's tellin' th' truth?" Dougal demanded.

"Shet yer weesht, Dougal! Ef Bhaltair trusts 'em, th-" Effie began, before being cut off.

"C'mon, whit ef thir th' ones wirkin' wi' some bandits er somethin', tryin' tae delay us?? We jest met them!" Dougal insisted.

"Let's na jump tae conclusions!" Ealar interjected, clearly looking uncertain and a bit anxious as he turned back to Kuna. "Ah want tae believe ye, lad, bit hae ye got any proof?"

While the group's attention was turned back to the sereva, Dougal began subtly reaching down for the long knife sheathed at his side. Kuna lifted up the signet stone with his free hand, causing the lepne to murmur among one another.

"Och, es tha' Moyra's sign?" Gavin asked, wide-eyed.

Finlay nodded. "Aye, tha' settles it, then. Moyra dinnae gi' tha' tae jest anybody."

"To make matters worse, Dougal's part of the plot," Kuna said flatly, glaring at the lepne in question.

But just as Kuna said those words, the treacherous lepne grabbed ahold of Effie and pressed his knife to her throat. "Stay back, er she dies!" he threatened, scowling at Kuna as he started stepping away from the caravan, dragging her with him.

"Dougal, ye traitorous bastard!" Gavin spat out at him angrily. "Ah ken ye were a clatty bampot, bit workin' wi' bandits?!"

"Let 'er go!" Ealar pleaded. "Tis nae worth it, lad!"

"Howfer ye ginnae dae this, Dougal??" Bhaltair demanded. "Ye was part of the team..."

"Kerr's ginnae oon these lands soon enuff, 'n' anyone tha' stands in his way's a corpse a'ready," Dougal replied with a crooked grin, slowly backing away. "Outside halp or noo, yer too late. Ya cannae git away wi' the carts noo, ye might as weel drop e'erythin' an' run whil ye still can."

Effie glared back towards him with burning hatred. With the knife pressed against her throat, she didn't dare make any sudden moves, but she was far more angry than afraid.

Dougal narrowed his eyes as a few of the other lepne's expressions shifted and he noticed them looking behind him. As he was backing up a nearby hill, he suddenly bumped into something. In a flash, a collection of vines whipped down and ensnared him, pulling his knife-hand away from Effie. She let out a yelp as the knife lightly nicked her, but the vines were fast enough to prevent him from fully following through on his threat. Before he could cry out, one of them wrapped around his mouth, while another dragged him to the ground by the throat, half-choking him.

"Couldn't hear you, asshole. Can you speak up a bit?" Kuna snarked.

Now free of her hold, Effie whirled around and glared a hole into the restrained traitor. Suddenly, she began swearing up a storm beating him to a bloody pulp with a savagery that made even Lykou wince. He stepped over to pull her away, but before he could reach her, she finished off with a powerful kick to a spot that made all the males wince and avert their eyes. Dougal let out a faint, high-pitched sound before fainting from the pain.

"Ach, hawp he didnae plan tae be a father," Gavin remarked.

"Doubt the little shit had much there to begin with," Kuna said, walking over to join Effie by the unconscious lepne while Lykou turned to tell the others what they knew of the bandit plot. "Your neck okay?"

"Aye, jest a scratch," Effie grumbled, rubbing her neck. "Thank ye fer th' halp tho. Shoulda ken he wis upty somethin'. Mawkit shitebag..."

"Yeah, I didn't want to assume just from how he treated Lykou and I, but something seemed pretty off about him," Kuna agreed. "Want me to patch that up for you?"

"Na, ah'm guid. Save yer energy fer... whatever's comin'," she said, turning back to face the others. "Which is whit, by the way?"

Kuna quickly filled her in on the short version while Lykou finished explaining to the others.

"-so we realized the only way to fully stop them is to turn their own ambush into a trap," the konuul said. "Not going to lie, it'll be dangerous. But we slipped some extra shields and bandages into the trade stuff last night. If anyone isn't up to a tough fight, you can probably make it back to Kerney if you start back now. But stopping this plot now and capturing their leader would probably make these hills a lot safer for the near future."

"Ach, tis nae question, then," Gavin replied. "Ah'll stay 'n' fight."

"Same! Thae bandits need ta be taught a lesson!" Ealar agreed.

"Ah'm na fan o' violence, bit tha's a' th'more reason tae finish 'em once 'n' fer a'," Finlay chimed in.

The rest of the crew rumbled in agreement. "A'right, whit's th' plan then?" Bhaltair asked Lykou.

Lykou looked around for a moment, then nodded. "Right, we can't let them know we're onto them until the last moment. We'll have to continue like normal down the path-, er, road. But be ready to get your shields at a moment's notice," he said, then turned to Kuna. "Ku, do you think you can use your magic to help sense for them?"

The sereva thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. "I think so. It'll be tricky, but if I really concentrate, I think I'll be able to give us at least a little heads-up," he said, then glanced down at Dougal's unconscious form thoughtfully. "You know, Dougal here might be of some help if we wake him up. We could bind his hands and make him help pull one of the carts, freeing someone up to keep guard."

"Ah dinnae ken if he'll cooperate," Ealar said. "'n' howfer kin we trust 'im anyway?"

Kuna shared a look with Effie, and both grinned darkly as they looked down at the bound lepne. "Leave that to us. I think we might be pretty... persuasive."

"...aye?" Gavin said with a nervous grin.

"Right, you two work on, er... convincing him. Everyone else, make sure you've got your weapon and shield ready. If at all possible, Finlay, can you get your pridlin' thing out and get ready to play some music while we travel? If we can get Dougal to take your place on that cart, that would help them think our guard is down."

"Aye, ah kin dae tha'," the lepne said as he went to dig out his instrument.

Meanwhile, Kuna used his magic, along with Effie's less-than-gentle nudging to rouse their captive, after pulling the one vine off of his mouth. Dougal eventually opened his eyes and winced at the pain wracking his body. As he blinked the blurriness out of his eyes, Kuna knelt into his field of vision with a wicked smirk. "Hello, Dougal. Have a nice short nap?"

Dougal scowled and grumbled in response.

"Glad to hear it. It's a shame you turned out to be such an asshole, but you know, as a druna, I think it's my responsibility to offer you a chance to redeem yourself. How about it?"

"Ah'll na betray Kerr, sae save yer breath."

"Aww, that's a shame," the sereva replied, then made the vines squeeze down around him a bit. "You should reconsider."

Dougal winced, then spat at him, narrowly missing due to his mild dizziness. "Thir's nothin' ye, nor yer bone-chewin' buddy kin dae tae meh that'll change meh mind. Git fucked."

Kuna tsked at him and shook his head. "So rude. You know, Lykou and I actually tend to dislike violence. Me especially. But unfortunately for you, I have some head-demons that I feel coming back to bother me, and I've learned to channel them into anger instead of fear these days," Kuna said, lifting his glowing hand up to where the lepne could see it. "Did you know I can use this to heal? But that requires getting to know how peoples' bodies work a bit better. I think you'd make a good practice buddy." He briefly looked away and waved Effie over, then turned back to Dougal as both of them leered down at him. "And I'm sure your former companion here could offer some creative advice."

It was likely a bluff on his part, of course- he was pretty sure he couldn't bring himself to do such things to someone, especially someone bound and helpless. At least, not under normal circumstances. For some reason, he did feel oddly more aggressive than usual, though. In any case, he doubted Dougal would take the chance. Especially when Effie leaned in and grinned at the traitor with a look that would dominate his nightmares for a while to come, brandishing a knife in one hand. Kuna might have been bluffing, but as for the smaller lepne, there was honest malice in her eyes. "Aye, ah'm a'ready gettin' ideas."

Dougal's eyes widened as he began instinctively tugging against the vines in an effort to back away. The vines, in turn, tightened again and began developing large, sharp thorns that dug into his flesh. A couple slowly crept up his pant legs. Suddenly his trousers became slightly damp as fear overtook him. "A'right a'right! Ah gie', ah'll halp!" Dougal finally cried out desperately. "Git thaes two away fra me!"

Effie frowned. "Aw, ah wis hopin' ye'd last langer," she groused, briefly holding the knife up to his nose. "Yer a coward through 'n' through, Dougal." She lightly cut the tip of his nose before standing back up and stepping away.

Kuna just smirked and stood up as well, using his magic to bind his captive's hands, then release him from the rest of the vines. "Hmm, don't want to walk around with that smell lingering," he said, then had the vines tug off the lepne's pants. He then magically wove a crude grass skirt around him, then nodded to Effie, who severed both the skirt and the hand bindings from the plants they'd grown from.

Lykou stepped over and crossed his arms, glaring at their captive. "Right. Start talking. Where is the ambush supposed to happen?"

With some prodding, Dougal spilled as much as he could, with Effie standing nearby and pointedly playing with her knife, watching him. He revealed that the ambush was to take place up around a bend in the road under a single, tall oak tree growing atop one of the hills.

After he finished telling them what he knew, he was brought over to the cart, head hung, and tied up to one of the handles of the front cart. He was again gagged for good measure. Finlay began playing his instrument as the caravan resumed its traveling, albeit with their guard up. Kuna sipped some water from his jug and snacked on a carrot, just to make sure his energy reserves were good and full. Lykou smirked at him. "Didn't know you had that in you," he said in a quiet voice.

"Me either," Kuna replied with a sheepish expression. "Guess those 'demons' have their uses after all. Not that I could have gone through with it, though."

Lykou chuckled. "Didn't think you would, but I'm sure Effie would have made up for it," he said, hugging the sereva briefly. "Glad she's on our side."

The sereva nodded with a smirk. "A lot of fire in such a small person, who knew?" he commented, then frowned and nodded a the road ahead. "We better stay alert though."

"Right," the konuul agreed and resumed scanning the nearby hills as they walked. "You ready for this?"

"As I'll ever be," Kuna replied, then took a deep breath and started focusing on the life energy of everything around him. It took some serious concentration, but he managed to mentally mute out the grass covering the landscape in order to search for any other moving signs of life on the other side of the hills. The caravan carried on, acting as casual as possible as Finlay filled the air with music. Still, the others eyed their surroundings carefully as they went, without the usual idle chatter.

*****

Eventually, Kuna pointed out a large oak tree come into sight atop a hill not far away, and the group braced themselves. Effie and Gavin prepared their bows, and Lykou grabbed and equipped a shield. Finlay moved closer to the nearest cart, ready to swap his pridlin with another bow as soon as trouble arrived.

Suddenly, Kuna looked up at one of the hills nearby as they approached the one with the tree, then whispered, "They're here."

The caravan halted and the cart-pullers quickly armed themselves, with a few of them taking place with shields to protect Finlay and the archers. Lykou activated his bracers and picked up his spear from one of the carts. Kuna took a deep breath and felt around for the energy flowing through the grass atop the hills.

There was a moment of tense stillness as everyone watched and waited. Suddenly, several lepne crested the hill and shot a flurry of arrows down at the caravan. Luckily, the shields blocked any arrows that would have hit their bearers. Effie and Gavin retaliated quickly- the latter's shot went wide, but Effie nailed one assailant right in the eye, bringing him to his knees as he dropped his bow and clutched his face in pain.

Finlay quickly swapped out his pridlin for a bow of his own and launched a counter-attack as Lykou and Bhaltair charged up to meet their attackers. As the bandit archers prepared another shot, several were suddenly knocked to the ground by thick roots popping out of the ground and jerking their feet out from under them.

Several other bandits leaped over the hill armed with various melee weapons, but Lykou proved himself to be an especially dangerous foe with the bracers activated. He slammed his wooden fist into one attacker's face, sending blood and teeth flying into the grass as his target fell to the ground and dropped their axe in surprise. He spun around to meet another assailant's blade with his shield before similarly knocking the wind out of them with a savage blow to their gut. He grabbed a third's makeshift mace as it was swung down at him, then kicked the wielder onto the ground just as Bhaltair came down on them with his own better-made battle hammer.

With Kuna's magic making it difficult for the attackers to keep their footing and Lykou keeping many of them too occupied to focus on their intended targets, the caravan crew was starting to make quick work of the assailants. Effie and Gavin took out two more of them with their bows, and Finlay finally managed to nail one in the arm just before they could take a jab at Bhaltair's side.

Still, more bandits poured over the hill as the sounds of battle rang out in the air. Eventually Lykou's shield broke and he switched over to his knife, painting the grass with the blood of his enemies with renewed vigor. Kuna stayed well back and continued focusing on the life energies around them in order to stay grounded and calm.

Suddenly, though, he noticed some of the energy starting to resist his will. Some of the roots he'd been tripping the assailants with stopped doing so. It was as if he could feel someone else tugging in the opposite direction. Confused, he looked up just in time to narrowly avoid a large, spiny vine bursting from the ground and taking a swing at him. He jerked to the side and looked up to see a new stranger rounding the corner of a nearby hill.

The newcomer was different from the other attackers. Whereas they all were wearing a mish-mash of disheveled armor and messy clothing, he had a dark brown feathered cloak draped over a mostly clean, grey shirt and matching trousers. The shirt had a red hant-print painted on the front- Kuna didn't want to speculate what the paint might have been made from. He had several necklaces hanging around his neck, featuring teeth and small bone fragments hanging from it- Kuna suspected they belonged to lepne victims, from the look of them. Hanging from his belt were several flopped, dried things that the sereva realized with horror might be severed lepne ears. Long, dark hair draped around the stranger's head, blowing in the breeze as he fixed Kuna with a piercing stare. He looked extra large, for a lepne, and quite physically fit as well. A green glow surrounded both of his hands as he stalked forwards to meet the sereva.

"Druna, aye?" the stranger said simply, in a measured, steady voice, seemingly disinterested in the nearby battle raging, even as a stray arrow whisked passed him, narrowly avoiding his head.

Kuna narrowed his eyes and nodded slightly. "I guess you're Kerr?"

"Aye," the lepne replied simply. Suddenly, with a fast wave of his arm, a large, sharp-ended root shot out of the ground at Kuna.

The sereva just barely jumped out of the way in time to avoid being impaled. He tried retaliating, but almost immediately Kerr grabbed control of the same vine he was about to use to do so. He was about to try another direction, but quickly instead shifted to defensive mode as he countered another sharp root aimed at his side. With a sinking feeling, he knew he'd be too busy just trying to keep up with the rogue druna to continue helping the others. He may have had an innate knack for magic, but his opponent was clearly more experienced. He just hoped the caravan team and Lykou could handle the others without his help.

Meanwhile, Lykou and Bhaltair, working as a team, had already crippled or knocked out around a half dozen assailants on their own, while the others had taken out around the same number. Still, more continued to attack. No more archers seemed to be forthcoming, but without Kuna's help tripping up the bandits, their raw numbers were starting to overwhelm the caravan. Ealar let out a pained yelp as he was surprised by a nasty blow to the shoulder and found it impossible to lift his own long knife up to retaliate, so instead he focused on protecting himself and Effie with his shield. Another bandit charged Gavin and knocked him onto his back. He cried out in pain as his leg was broken by a heavy hammer strike, but luckily Lykou arrived and landed a rib-shattering kick into his assailant before he could do any more damage.

Without protection, Finlay took a sharp slash on his arm that made it difficult for him to aim his bow, so he ended up ducking down on the other side of the cart, only popping up occasionally to take pot shots at any enemy that got too close. Effie's bow was broken by an altogether too-close axe-swing. So she immediately took out the knife she had sheathed at her side and launched herself into the fray with an angry cry, rapidly stabbing and slicing at any unfortunate individual unwise enough to leave bits of their flesh exposed to attack.

Bhaltair's shield cracked as a particularly aggressive hatchet-swing struck it dead-on. He used the moment the weapon was stuck in its wooden side to jerk the attacker sideways and land a direct hit onto their torso, cracking several of their ribs. At the same time, another bandit charged in and sliced an angry red cut down his thigh, making him wince in pain before turning to dodge another swing.

Two attackers rushed Lykou from either side with knives drawn. He let them close in and take their swings, barely flinching as they scraped uselessly against the coarse bark covering his body. He grabbed them both and slammed their heads together with all his strength, then winced as a club met the back of his head. Small cracks briefly appeared at the strike spot, but soon began healing up again as he rapidly spun around to meet the sneak-attacker, who was already backing away- but not fast enough. He charged the club-bearer, grabbing the weapon as they tried to swing it at him again, then tugged them in and stabbed them right in shoulder with his knife. Before they could even cry out, he slashed harshly down their arm, sending a crimson flow of blood spraying across the ground. Hearing someone charging up behind him, he whipped around and blocked the incoming axe-strike with the club he'd taken from the last bandit, then kicked the newcomer onto their back before slamming it down on their head.

Kuna frowned at the growing number of pained cries, including some from familiar voices. But he could hardly dwell on them as he continued struggling to anticipate Kerr's attacks. Every time he tried to strike back, he found whatever plant he was trying to manipulate quickly torn back out of his mental grasp. The bandit leader barely seem phased by the effort, rarely moving more than a few feet even as Kuna tried darting around to throw him off.

"Yer losin', lad," Kerr taunted. "All o' ya. Yer friends willnae be breathin' much langer."

The sereva scowled at him and tried again to snag his ankle with some roots, but they were stopped halfway as usual.

"Too slow, ye wee scunner," the lepne said before managing to land a glancing smack with a large root aimed at the sereva's leg.

Kuna glared at him and tried again to retaliate. After a few more failed attempts, he backed up and took a moment to catch his breath, only focusing on defense.

"Surrender 'n' mibbie ah'll let ye choose one tae spare."

The sereva stopped trying to attack and instead focused on his surroundings. He'd been tormented by his own personal demons enough and he thought back to his initiation. He remembered how they'd tried to stop him from reaching the end. The relentless taunting from the ghosts of his past. The paranoid thoughts about Lykou. Even the terrifying confrontation with the ravager that killed his parents in front of him. He'd overcome all of them despite their best efforts, why should he let some shit-bag stranger get to him?

With a deep breath, he gradually managed to summon up the cool, collected mentality he remembered from that night as he dodged and weaved around the enemy's attacks. He tuned out the cacophony of pain and violence nearby, trusting Lykou and the others to keep one another safe. Instead of attacking directly, he first studied Kerr's behavior, trying to get a feel for his tendencies. While the bandit leader wasn't moving much, he was shuffling around- barely lifting his feet from the ground enough to do so.

Kuna got an idea. As he dashed and dodged around, rather than trying to attack, he began rapidly altering bits of grass bit by tiny bit, moving from one plant to another before the rogue druna could even begin countering his grasp. Gradually, he turned the area around Kerr into a hidden minefield of curved, hardened grass blades with the appearance of normal grass, but the stiffness and consistency of wood. He then activated his own braces and suddenly charged directly at his opponent.

Kerr threw up several roots to try and block or snag the agile sereva, but they each missed. Perplexed by the sudden apparent change to physical combat, he shifted backwards and brought his arms up in preparation to teach the younger magic-user a lesson in pain. But when he swung out to meet Kuna's face with his still-glowing fist, the sereva dipped around behind him and lightly smacked him in the back of the head before jumping back again. The bandit lord angrily spun around to charge and strike him in retaliation, but his feet immediately snagged on the unexpectedly stiff curved blades of grass and he tumbled over onto his face.

Kuna immediately seized on the opportunity to quickly wrap a large root around him and pin him down. He tried to bring a few more to bare, but already he felt Kerr's resistance. Much to his frustration, even pinned on his chest, the rogue druna was managing to defend himself from further attacks.

A loud yelp of pain from Lykou briefly distracted him long enough for Kerr to pry free from the root holding him down. Kuna barely jumped out of the way in time to avoid another root-strike.

"Yer a clever shite, ah'll gie' ye that," Kerr said with a chuckle. "Bit ah'm sure ye've noticed yer still losin'."

They both glanced over at the caravan and saw its team largely huddled together, struggling to fend off an encroaching ring of bandits. Lykou was separate from them, with some red cracks visible on his back and thigh. He was still holding his own, but slowly losing ground to his own ring of assailants. Things looked grim.

But just as several bandits charged the konuul at once, a blur bolted down from a nearby hill, crashing into one of the assailants hard enough to send them careening into several others. The blur turned out to be Faergus, and he immediately stabbed and slashed several other bandits in rapid succession. He let out an incoherent battle cry as he headbutted one of his victims just as they started to recover, knocking them back down.

Rhagnaid and several other guards from Kerney appeared at the top of the hill, led by none other than chief Grey himself, sporting a sloppy but thorough blue-dye job similar to the rest, and wielding a large axe made of solid bronze. "FER GREENRUN AND DUNNYHILL! NAE MERCY TAE BANDITRY!" he cried out as he charged at their enemies, with a burning fury in his eyes. He was hardly recognizable as the same jolly, amicable soul the boys had met back in the village.

The guards raced in and began savagely assaulting the bandits surrounding the caravan. They didn't hold back, either- they weren't interested in prisoners. Raghnaid outright decapitated one of them, and Faergus slit the throats of several bandits in a row. Many of the now-panicked rogues turned to flee. Grey's own axe caught one of them right down the middle of their head.

Reinvigorated by the presence of reinforcements, Lykou joined the guards in turning the tide of the battle. Up to that point, he'd been trying to hold his attacks just enough that the bandits could be taken captive after the fight. Seeing that such was no longer strictly necessary, he let his anger take over. Any bandit that still dared to attack him or any of his nearby allies were met with a blade solidly lodged in their throat or chest.

Having been temporarily distracted, Kuna quickly turned back to face Kerr, only to realize the bandit leader was gone. Shit! he thought. Asshole must have run off as soon as reinforcements got here.

He briefly considered hunting him down, but decided it was probably not a very wise thing to do on his own, so instead he ran back to the caravan to begin checking over peoples' injuries, as the last of the standing bandits were dealt with. By the time the fighting ended, only a handful of bandits were left alive, laying on the ground with their arms bound behind them and occasionally groaning in pain. The lepne from Kerney were going around, tending to the wounds of the caravan folk. Lykou deactivated his bracers and rubbed the red cuts and scrapes that'd managed to make it through the wood armor, tired out but otherwise in decent shape. Kuna disabled his own bracers and hurried over to him, then embraced him for a moment before turning to help check over their friends.

"Anyone bleeding bad?" he quickly asked as he checked over people.

"Na tae -ach- bad," Ealar said, rubbing his shoulder.

"They're werse aff, sa ah'm fine," Effie declared, glaring at some of the bodies littering the ground as Raghnaid bandaged her side.

Another guard was bandaging Finlay's arm. Gavin appeared to be the most injured, wincing in pain at his broken leg. Kuna knelt down to take a look, but the lepne waved him away. "Where's -ah!- th' mawkit bandit boss ye wis tusslin' wi'?"

Kuna frowned. "He ran off in the chaos, unfortunately."

"Damn!" Grey swore, hurling his axe into the ground. "Ah wis hopin' ta see ta him pers'nally."

The sereva thought for a moment, then conjured up the symbol on his hand. "I have a feeling I know where he ran off to, though," he announced, then shared a look with Lykou before pulling out a second pair of Moyra's wake-up snacks and smirked. "Want to go bring him in? I think I can handle him with your help."

Lykou grinned and took one of the small squares. "Sounds good to me."

"Count meh in as weel," Faergus chimed in. "Ah want a crack a' tha' bastard."

Grey sauntered up as well and smiled toothily. He was about to join in, but Raghnaid gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Sir, th' caravan wull need halp getting' back tae Kerney. We kin spare one, bit nae more. 'n' ye ken Faergus is th' fastest o' us."

The chief's face fell and he sighed. He wanted to argue, but he knew she was right. "A'right... bit bring 'im in alive if ya can, y'hear? I want tae show 'im justice in front of the village proper with my ain two hands."

"Out cold but not dead," Lykou said with a nod. "You got it."

The boys each popped their energy boosting snack into their mouths, then Kuna brought his hand up as he focused on the soul magic directing him back to the bandit camp. Once he had it locked in his mind, he led them up the hill and the three charged off in pursuit of the rogue druna.