Zorro stopped and looked at Emera, who also stopped. "Emera, please go back." He pleaded. "No, I'm not going back. You can't make me. I'm as stubborn as an ass." Emera replied. Zorro just shook his head once and continued on. Emera followed. "Fine." Zorro replied, "But please be careful." Emera nodded, "I will." She assured him. Soon they were hurrying down the road, with Tornado constantly slowing down so Emera could catch up. "Their camp is just up there." Zorro said, indicating a small hill nearby. Emera nodded, "Ready." Both of them dismounted and started towards the camp. Soon the glow of the campfire was less than three meters away. "There are two guards," Zorro whispered. "One is over on the other side of the camp and another is about ten feet to your right. I'll take care of the one on the far side of the camp." Zorro slipped away, melting easily into the darkness. Emera looked around, searching for her target. She saw him leaning against a boulder, almost asleep. She snuck up on him and, using a small rock, rendered him unconscious. She took the pistol from his sash and stuffed it into her belt. Looking around again, she found herself next to Zorro. "Are you ready?" He asked. Emera looked at the camp again, and the men who inhabited it, before nodding. Zorro made the first move, slipping out of the shadows and into the camp. "Senores, perhaps you could help me." He said, drawing his sabre and a pistol. "First, you could tell me what happen to the de la Vega servant, and second, you could kindly give me all the gold and gems you've stolen so I can return the money to it's owners." The man Zorro recognized as Sam stood up. "It would do you no good to try and force it out of us. You couldn't win alone." He said. "Zorro's not alone." Emera said, stepping out of the darkness and standing next to Zorro. "You!" Sam exclaimed, drawing a pistol and pointing it at her. Zorro stepped in front of Emera. "Let's make it a fair fight, eh, Senor?" He asked. Sam glared at him for a moment, before accepting the sabre that one of his men offered him. "Agreed." He said. Emera stepped back as Zorro shrugged off his cape and stood to face Sam. She suddenly found herself in her own predicament as two men tried to take her hostage. Thinking quickly, and remembering the incident on the road, Emera pulled out the pistol and sabre. Both of her would-be attackers backed off. They also remembered the road. "What's this?" Emera taunted, grinning, "Did the little girl scare the big, hairy men?" Suddenly, she felt something very hard hit her head and she fell, senseless, to the ground.
Zorro kept his mind on the fight, although what he wanted to do was check on Emera. He could tell that Sam wasn't an amateur fencer. He wasn't the best, but he was definitely not the worst. For every lunge, Sam had a comeback. Sam's gang stood, transfixed, starring at the fight, giving nothing else any heed. Neither man paid any attention to the men around them, not noticing that one by one, they were being knocked out. Zorro was also surprised that the Americano was using no dirty tricks, either. Zorro assumed it would be a fair fight. Until Sam jumped over the little fire and pointed his sabre at Emera. Zorro slowly moved around the fire and faced Sam again. "Drop any weapons you have or this pretty thing dies." Sam warned. "Do not harm her!" Zorro demanded. "Drop them or I will kill her!" Zorro looked at Emera before throwing his sabre down. Sam's sword was at Zorro's neck in an instant. Through the look in Sam's eyes, Zorro conjectured that this was it. He closed his eyes, and found that he was calm. Was this what it always felt like when you died, Zorro wondered. Zorro heard Emera gasp, and sensed Sam pull back the weapon, preparing to end Zorro's masquerade, and life. Just as Zorro was expecting to feel the piercing pain of a sabre entering his skin, he heard a loud thud, and then someone hit the ground. Zorro opened his eyes and was surprised to see who his rescuer was.