Manuel pulled back on the reigns hard to avoid running the strange men over. "Que es tu problema? Estan loco?" He yelled at them.

Austin stuck his head out the window as soon as he felt the carriage stop, looking for trouble. When he saw the 7 guys surround the car he jumped out and ran to the driver seat were Manuel was. He got up there with him and said, "We gotta lose these guys. Move it, Manuel. Go!"

Manuel slapped the reigns and the horses took off. Their attackers did not give up so easily, the chased the vehicle before it reached full speed and grabbed on to the back, relying on their ridiculously strong upper body muscles to hoist them up. The boys in the front had also slashed at the harnesses that kept the horses in check. Two of the horses ran off without pulling the carriage with them and two were left. Two horses was not enough to pull 3 people, a princess-sized luggage bag and 5 burly men. Not for long.

"What's going on Austin?" Ally asked from the back but Austin didn't answer, he was a little busy fighting off one of the guys on the drivers seat. Manuel desperately tried keeping control of the vehicle but the horses were spooked by the intense situation and bolted off the beaten path into the forest. Manuel tried pulling back on the reigns to stop them, they slowed down significantly and would've actually stopped if he had a few more seconds, but Manuel's time was cut short by a quick thrust of steel into his stomach by a particularly short brunette man with thick arms. With a painful groan Manuel clutched his stomach and fell off the cart, his body lost to the wheels of the carriage and forest.

Austin kicked the guy he had been fighting with off the wooden drivers' bench and looked up. 3 bare chested guys, with the exception of a black cloth tied around various parts of their midsection, were standing on top of the carriage roof. The huge bag that was filled with the princess's luggage had been thrown off and they were now hacking their way through the roof with their swords. Austin had two choices, Let them continue for a few seconds more until I can stop the horses from catapulting us to our deaths, or get rid of these guys immediately and risk Ally and me getting catapulted to our deaths.

Inside the carriage Ally screamed, crouching low on the floor to avoid the wood splinters and steel raining down on her head. So despite his better judgment Austin pulled his machete out from the hook in his belt and launched himself from the front to the roof of the carriage. He slashed the first one's shoulder and shoved him off the roof. The second one was ready for him, he dodged Austin's first lunge to the right side of his torso and returned with a downward slash. Austin jumped back, almost losing his balance, but recovered quickly and rid himself of his present opponent by faking a leftward lunge to strike him with his knee in the solar plexus, then kicking him off the carriage.

The third and last enemy had already torn quite a hole in the roof and was already inside with Ally. Austin heard Ally scream again and grew angry. Very angry. He jumped down into the compartment with them and saw the muscle man pulling Ally close to him by her petite waist. Austin, forgetting his machete, punched the man directly in the face. The man let go of Ally a second too late to defend his face, then tried to return the punch to Austin. But because of his position in the compartment, he couldn't pull back and extend his arm into Austin's face with as much power as he would like. Austin ducked his weak punch and took him by the rather long hair on his head, pulled him close to his chest, then snapped his neck.

Austin looked to the horses who were still running, but slowing down as they grew tired of the weight. "Stay here." he told her, although it went without saying, and climbed back out of the carriage through the hole in the roof. He eased down to the driver seat to take the reigns, he pulled back gently and the horses stopped. HE jumped down and went back to Ally. "You alright?"

She nodded and took a few deep breaths "Yes. Umm, can you get him out of here?" She pointed to the dead man that was lying at her feet.

Austin obligingly grabbed the man by his shoulders and dragged him out, letting his body drop to the forest floor. "We need to get moving, there were about 2 or 3 more back there, I'd say." He went back up to the damaged drivers seat.

"What happened to Manuel?" She asked.

"He fell off." Austin answered, brusquely.

"We should get him! We can't leave him." Ally insisted, but she saw Austin's solemn face. "Oh."

Austin nodded, "Don't worry, we'll be in Damask soon enough." He slapped the reigns and got moving.

20 feet behind him were 2 remaining men from the group, who hadn't latched onto the carriage. They lurked in the shadows of the forest and watched their former companion attempt to steer the carriage back to the road.

"We should've grabbed him when we had the chance!" One of them whispered, the larger of the two.

"Shut up." The smaller one snapped. "No, I want to see where our boy is heading. Once I get the information I need, I might be a little lenient and let you have Sonata." He moved forward quickly, following the tracks of the disappearing carriage.

Back in Rathen, Captain Hart paced the roof of the east turret of the castle, intensely trying to figure out how Sonata could've escaped. The sky was turning orange as the sun began to set in the west over the village. No one saw anything, no one was there... He pondered. The stars became visible slowly, twinkling one by one into the sky. I've been searching for this man for half a year now, just to have him slip through my fingers... Hart clenched his fists. He looked up to the sky, took a deep breath to calm himself, and spoke aloud. "There, out in the darkness
A fugitive running
Fallen from God
Fallen from grace
God be my witness
I never shall yield
Till we come face to face
Till we come face to face"

"He knows his way in the dark
Mine is the way of the Lord
And those who follow the path of the righteous
Shall have their reward
And if they fall
As Lucifer fell
The flame
The sword!"

"Stars
In your multitudes
Scarce to be counted
Filling the darkness
With order and light
You are the sentinels
Silent and sure
Keeping watch in the night
Keeping watch in the night."

"You know your place in the sky
You hold your course and your aim
And each in your season
Returns and returns
And is always the same
And if you fall as Lucifer fell
You fall in flame!"

"And so it has been and so it is written
On the doorway to paradise
That those who falter and those who fall
Must pay the price!"

"Lord let me find him
That I may see him
Safe behind bars
I will never rest
Till then
This I swear
This I swear by the stars!"

Encouraged by his new conviction, Captain Hart dashed down the stairs, eager to begin his own search for the Sonata. It doesn't matter what Prince Julian would tell him about "staying at his post in a time of need", surely he would forgive his most diligent captain after he finds out that he had killed/captured the Sonata.