The battle had not gone as well as lord Zhuge Liang had hoped. For one this fire attack took them completely by surprise and the remains of Liu Bies forces were retreating. Galthmeir suddenly found himself following behind a fleeing Zhao Yun admist the strange rock formations of the maze. Whether or not that could hold Wu's advancing forces remained to be seen. Right now he mostly concerned with keeping the enemy at bay as long and as hard as he could able.

Drawing steel, Galthmeir parried an attack and slammed lip of his shield against his assailants' skull. With a sickening crunch the man fell to the ground and remained motionless. Resheathing his sword, the knight flaunted his incredible prowess with the bow as he drew Maeve and unleashed a volley of arrows, each one not missing their target. Backing away into the maze, Galthmeir continued to fire arrow after arrow, men falling like birds to the archer's incredible accuracy. He had to buy some time.

Suddenly he took note of a change in the air thus turning aim to see a different arrow that was not his own coming at him. With precision that made the one who fired flinch in amazement, Galthmeir shot out as both projectiles met each in mid-air, his own air piercing through stopping the deadly weapon in flight. Lowering his bow the knight took note of a young girl, bow in hand, staring at him with a gaze that almost made him laugh. Obviously she found his ability to shoot an arrow in flight to be rather surprising. She responded firing again. At this point Galthmeir responded by twisting about as the arrow wizzed passed his head and with pristine grace and reflex caught the shaft of the arrow, twirled around, and shot the same right back at her. He almost snickered as she yelped in surprise and dived out of the way barely saving herself. Getting to her feet she glared at him through seething eyes as the knight met her stare.

"I didn't think anyone was better than me with the bow except that old man," she said.

"The Holy Father works in mysterious ways," Galthmeir responded. She responded by dropping her weapon and drawing her odd round type weapons.

"We'll solve this another way then," she replied. Galthmeir agreed as he returned his longbow to his back and drew his bastard sword, shield at ready. Both charged as the two deadlocked. Galthmeir wasn't a muscular man, but he had the strength to break the lock. She was stunned however it was momentary as he took a low swing with the lip of his shield. Instead the knight saw stars as she nimbly dodged and landed a swift upper-cut to his chin. Knocked backward he used it's momentum to flip backwards and landed lightly on his feet. He didn't have time to recover as she observed her storm after him, strange weapons flowing in a dance of death. Responding by reflex alone he whirled as the twister of blades flew past, successfully landing the flat of his blade across her back. With a yelp the young girl went sprawling to the ground as the knight readied himself for another attack. With remarkable grace he observed her leap from the ground to her feet and faced him. She looked rather peeved when he thus realized it was not her back: he absent-mindedly landed the flat of his blade against her rump! Trying to stifle a laugh she roared after him with an intense fury. This turned to be her downfall. With an overhead crash she found her weapons knocked askew by his shield. He hesitated, he could kill her right now but it went against everything he was taught. Instead he dropped his weapon and tackled her, pinning her to the ground. It was now a stalemate as the two glared at each other through battle lust eyes.

"Get off of me you barbarian!" she seethed yet it did little to sway him. Galthmeir maintained his grip on her wrists, pinning them back along her shoulders, his meager weight holding along her waist.

"I'm afraid that would be counter-productive my lady," said he, "you want to kill me…I on the other hand want to stay alive. It's the lesser of two evils."

"All we want is Liu Bie," she fumed.

"Honor cannot simply let me let you do that either," Galthmeir replied. She scoffed at the notion.

"What honor could a foreigner have?!" she replied sarcastically.

"More than you know," he replied, "I'm not afraid to die, however I can't just yet. There are still things I have to do."

"The battle is lost," she said, "get off of me and surrender and Lord Sun Jian may show you lenience."

"Yes I'm sure that he is an honorable man," he returned in sarcasm, "killing a mans brother because he refused to serve him. It is better to die in battle than to live in shame."

"Guan Yu gave us no choice," she answered. He thus bent lower to her, their faces barely inches apart.

"There is always a choice," he replied, "death is meaningless…wasteful, life is forever. You call me the barbarian…why is it I value life more than you. Who is the barbarian now?" She didn't answer. Instead they stared at each other. The battles were cast out from her mind as she then took note of the handsome young warrior utop her. Not even Liu Bie made her feel like this. The hesitation in her lovely eyes gave away the self-doubt, the unknowing, that this foreign mans voice actually reached her. She didn't notice him back away slowly and got up from utop her. Offering a hand she looked at it in reluctance.

"I know what I do," he said, "I more than sure know that the moment you get to your feet you will land a blow to my head rendering me unconscious and thus take me as prisoner…how do I know this? Because my Lord, My God, lets me see that. There is no deception in the eyes of God, there is only the truth. And I have bought enough time."

She was confused by what he meant until she realized what happened. The maze closed itself and the passage to Liu Bie was gone. She turned to see torches coming in the distance up the path. Taking his hand she got to her feet and stood facing him. She contemplated forfilling his prophecy but instead she disarmed him of his shield and bow, thus backing away, her labored breathing noting that it wasn't fear that caused her to spare him the pain…no…lust.

"You surprise me," he replied, "I take back what I said about being barbaric." She remained silent as a familiar Gan Ning appeared along with an entourage of troops.

"Caught one huh?" the pirate said. She said nothing.

"Hey Sun you alright?" he asked. She continued to star at the knights' sad hazel eyes.

"I…I'm fine," she said, "Liu Bie got away."

"I can see that," said Gan Ning, "question is what is this foreigner doing here?"

"I don't know," she said breathless. Galthmeir said nothing as the general ordered some rope from his troops.

"Tie him up," said Gan Ning, "and watch him we have no idea what he might be up to. He might one of Zhuge Liangs spies."

Galthmeir put up no struggle as his hands were bound. As he was lead away Sun Shang Xiang continued to stare at him. She knew in her heart…those words hit home.