The Ambush

The sun had fallen and the bandits had surrounded the small village the scout had discovered earlier that day. Thorn shifted uncomfortably on her horse and Lathan tossed her a look of disapproval which she completely ignored. It was hard to sit on the horse and hold her staff so that it didn't end up hurting the animal.

She waited with the other bandits in the group for the signal.

The tree that she stood below offered her a late night greeting, which she returned. It suggested that she ask her staff to keep its thorns from hurting the horse so that she could sit and hold the reins properly.

Thorn acknowledged the good advice and followed it. And to her surprise, the staff expressed an agreement to her request. She slowly lowered her staff so that it would light brush against the horse's back. And it did not pierce the horse's skin. Thorn sighed and relaxed, resettling herself more comfortably on the horse. She then thanked her staff and the tree.

The tree then expressed a curiosity as to what she was doing there, waiting underneath its leaves.

She sighed. ::You aren't going to like it, at all.:: she said.

The tree expressed its curiosity again.

::Well, it's --::

A hut within the village suddenly burst into flame, releasing a great roar of bursting fire and snapping wood. She felt the tree's fear at the sudden happening.

She sighed. ::Yes, exactly. It's fire.:: The signal.

Bandits quickly burst into the village and she was forced to follow, tossing a goodbye back toward the tree.

For a moment, everything was fine. Bandits were pulling swords and forcing down doors to get into homes and she was lost in the chaos of the roaring men, as she was at every raid. In a moment she was going to start scattering her seeds and growing destructive rose bushes which would help tear down huts and houses, adding to the chaos.

And then, out of nowhere, someone blew on a deafening horn. Her horse wheeled about nervously, and Thorn was just barely able to keep from losing her seat. It was a good thing that she had made that agreement with her staff about not hurting the horse, elsewise she never would have been able to hang on.

Sudden power filled the air and then there was a sudden whoosh, which was followed by utter darkness. The fire that had been set on a random hut as a beacon and signal to the rest of the bandits went out.

Thorn heard Lathan breathing heavily beside her. "Lathan…was that supposed to happen?"

He turned to her. "Go."

She blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Go!" He pointed toward the sky. "Ride! Run!"

Then she saw them. Arrows. Falling from the sky as if they were rain.

"What is wrong with you, girl? Are you deaf? I said go!" Lathan slapped her horse on the rump and her horse went off on a run so fast that she nearly lost her seat again.

"Damn, you're going to have to work on your riding if you want to make proper escapes." Lathan said as he rode beside her.

"You can say that again." She said as she gripped onto her reins as if her life depended on it. On second thought, her life did depend on it. "Where's Druce?" She asked.

"I don't know." He said. "Slow your horse down as we get into the woods again. You don't want your horse to trip."

She nodded and complied. And after awhile, she was glad that she did, because there were a lot of things that were littered on the ground on this part of the forest. As she squinted down at one of the things that her horse jumped over, she realized what they were. Bodies. Of bandits.

"Ambush. Ambush." Lathan gasped. "Ride!"

There was a swish of something heading toward them, and then it seemed as if an arrow seemed to suddenly sprout from Lathan's back.

"Lathan!" She watched helplessly as he toppled to the ground.

She heard another swish of an arrow coming toward her. It was the only warning she had before it hit.

Her horse reared from the pain that the arrow caused when the arrow pierced the horse's side. Thorn slid off of the horse's back and fell hard onto the dirt floor. Then her horse gave a last frightened whinny before collapsing to the ground. Thorn struggled to get out of the way, but one of her legs got caught underneath the bulk of the animal when it was still twisted sideways and she screamed as she felt her bone break. Her head fell back, toward the ground and hit a rock, which fortunately knocked her unconscious and unfeeling to the pain.

~~~~

A.N.: I don't know why, but I just like this chapter. I mean, Thorn gets hurt (ouch, wouldn't want that happening to me), but there's something about this chapter…

Well, I just wanted to thank everyone who responded to my question during the last chapter, so: Thanks! Your reviews keep me typing rapidly away on my computer. J

~Krizsta