Ella rode deep into the woods before pulling Ranger to a halt. The weight of what was coming was finally hitting her. She was going to die. At the hands of the bandits who had killed her friends and family no less. Her heart was pounding, and she slid off of her horse. She sank to the ground at the base of a large tree and held her head in her hands. However, no tears fell from her eyes. She refused to walk into that fort tear-stained and shaking. She was going to walk in with her sword in hand, and she was going to get her mother out and kill as many of her kidnappers as possible. Her whole body was shaking though and she hoped that she was just getting it out now. She was going to be strong and sure when she saw their ugly faces. And they were going to get those smug smiles beaten off their faces. Ella's fearful shaking had turned into quivering rage. Feeling much more sure of her endeavor, she mounted Ranger once more and rode to the fort. She decided to proceed with caution leave Ranger out of their sight. If she should escape, she would need him to be available. She tied him to a tree and continued on foot the short distance to the fort. As she approached, two men stepped out to welcome her. She gave them a fearsome glare and proceeded inside. The sight that greeted her had a paralyzing effect. Her mother was held between two bandits, bound and gagged. Ella made a mental note to make sure that those two suffered greatly. Her sword was concealed under her cloak and none of the men seemed to have caught notice of it. The leader of the bandits rose from his seat at the back of the room.

"Eleanor." he greeted cheerfully. Ella fought the urge to pull out her sword and run him through right then and there.

"Cyrian." she said coldly.

"That's no way to greet me. You look much better than I last saw you. Still insisting on wearing trousers though. How will you ever find a man to marry you if you go around dressing like a boy?" Cyrian continued with his cheerful tone. The tone that drove Ella insane. How could he be so happy hurting people?

"I have no intention of finding a man." Ella continued her own cold tone. Some of the men around her let out whistles and mother's face showed the disappointment that often appeared when they had this discussion. Ella glared fiercely at them and they were silenced. They believed that she was unarmed but were wise enough to fear her wrath, armed or not.

"Well then." Cyrian was chuckling a bit too. "We have a deal to carry out."

"Yes we do." Ella's voice was low and dangerous. No threats had truly been issued, but she was already on edge.

"But you did not carry out you end. I should have heard news of Arthur's death. But what do I hear instead? That you saved his life? This must be a joke." his voice was laughing but his eyes showed their search for blood.

"The stories are true. However, I believe-" Ella was not allowed to continue as Cyrian interrupted. Frankly she was getting tired of men interrupting her.

"They are true! Well then I guess I'll just give you your mother and we can all pretend this whole thing never happened then eh?" Cyrian jeered. The two guards were obviously too thick to realize the joke and pushed Ella's mother over to her. Ella quickly grabbed her mother's hands and pulled the older woman behind herself against the door. She moved her cloak enough for her mother to feel the short blade in the exterior pocket. Ella felt her mother take the blade, and she returned her gazed to Cyrian.

"We could do that. But because I am generous, I will offer you this deal." Ella pulled out a black bag jangling with coins. "This bag of coins and you let us go. And never try to harm us or our friends again." Ella growled out the offer.

"That sounds fair." Cyrian's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I think it is quite fair since I am agreeing to spare your life and the lives of your men." Ella's threat hung for a minute. The men began whispering among themselves. They knew that this girl could fight and would not go down if some of them did not join her. Ella took the moment of slight chaos to whisper to her mother, whose hands were now free. "When I tell you to run, run. Go back towards the old village." It was an order and her mother knew.

"You truly are generous." Cyrian's voice had not lost the sarcasm.

"I'm offering you a chance to keep your life. Take it or leave it." Ella moved her hand slowly down towards her sword. She knew the deal would be rejected.

"I think I will leave it." Cyrian pretended to sound thoughtful.

"Have it your way then." Ella drew her sword. "Run!" she bellowed to her mother. Her mother needed no further urging and flew out the door. Ella glanced back to make sure she made it out the doors at least before turning to face her adversaries. Her blade began flashing, bringing down the first row of men to reach her. The remaining hesitated. Now they knew she was armed and angry. And for them, that would not end well. However, they had sheer numbers on her. She was doing well in the fight for a while all things considered but slowly began losing steam. The men were getting more hits on her and she could feel warm blood running from several wounds. Bodies of thieves were piling up around the fighters' feet, often causing the men to trip. Ella was already pinned against the door so the bodies were no constraint to her movement. For a moment, she thought she might be successful. Many men were brought down by the bodies and pools of blood that were forming. Unfortunately for her, their numbers were able to keep going. The weaker fighters had dropped back leaving her to face the more skilled members. Lots of blows were landed by both sides. One man struck the side of her face, leaving a nasty gash and a searing pain for Ella. Her mind was already going foggy but that was the breaking point. She ran her blade through the man's midsection before turning and scrambling out the door. Her mother had taken care of the guards outside. Ella smirked but the muscles of her face screamed out against it. She stumbled into the forest and back to Ranger. Her intention was to ride him back to Camelot but her wounds were too many and too great. She could not come close to mounting the large horse. "Teigh(Go). Camelot." she told the horse. He bobbed his head and cantered off towards the kingdom. Meanwhile, Ella managed to drag herself towards the hunting path away from the fort. Her progress was slow and painful but eventually she made it. She rested on the side of the path, laying on her stomach. Sitting up had become too painful and too much effort. Her mind was fading to black quickly now. The loss of blood was hurting her mental abilities deeply. But she needed to do one last thing. She picked up a small stone and scratched into the dirt in her final moments of consciousness. It was still in her hand as she let the dark take her.

(A/N) Little bit of an intense chapter there. Please leave a review and take a guess at what Ella wrote. Thanks.