Note: Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it took so long to update, I will eventually finish this story even if it kills me. Please excuse the problems this chapter seems to have and let me know what you think should happen between Kida, Dag and Tristan. Thanks for reading this far and have a nice day.

Battle

The Woads burst from the woods. The Romans scattered like dead leaves and ran for cover. Dag and Tristan stood side by side, prepared for a fight. Blue bodies filtered out of the shadows and hacked their way through the mass confusion. Lysander and his knights ran, leaving the regulars and Tristan and Dag to fight alone.

Kida watched the battle from the trees. There must be something she could do, but what could she do? They were outnumbered. There was no hope what so ever of survival no matter what they tried.

Lysander ran. He was not going to die, not now, not when he was so close to going home. Without a moment's thought, he deserted his men and rode as fast as he could in the opposite direction of the Woads.

Dag and Tristan noticed Lysander's flight but were not troubled by it. They had one goal and only one. They had to find Kida and get out of here. As one, they sliced, hacked, and chopped the Woads. But no matter how many they killed there were always ten more to take his place. They fought their way to their mounts and rode through the growing mass of Woads into the forest. They knew they could not help Kida if they were dead.

Kida saw Lysander riding away. That bastard! She slid through the shadows after him, she was not about to let him get away. Unfortunately, the Woads thought the same thing she did and intercepted Lysander. Kida stopped and hid as she watched the Woads cut Lysander down. As she watched him die she felt somewhat relieved, her greatest threat was dead.

She was so caught up in finding Lysander that she did not notice that she had been spotted and was now being surrounded. Kida drew her sword; her eyes darting from one figure to another. They were all painted blue and armed. She looked for a route of escape. There was none. She was trapped, out numbered, and dead.

Tristan rode one direction while Dag rode in the other. They had to find Kida and get out of there before it was too late.

Dag heard something ahead of him. Quickly he dismounted and crept towards the noise. He stopped short when he discovered Kida surrounded by Woads. What was he to do? Even with his help they would be outnumbered. He thought about going back for Tristan but then the Woads began to close in and he lost the ability of logical thought and let out a call. The Woads stopped and shot glances around them. Dag drew his blade and charged at them.

The Woads turned towards him and half of them charged at him. He swung his sword around him, hacking them apart. Kida joined him and work her way towards him. The Woads were quick and managed to get in a few good hits before Dag took them down. By the time Kida got to him, Dag had a long gash on his arm and a few other cuts. They backed up against each other to provide cover for each other.

"Run!" Dag cried.

"What?" Kida asked, confused.

"Run! I'll hold them off." Kida looked at him. There was no way he could hold them off alone.

"No, I won't desert you. You are hurt and can't hold them off alone."

"Go!" Kida stayed rooted at his side. What was he doing? Trying to play the noble knight but she wasn't going to let him. "Go, damn you!" Kida blinked she had never seen the gentle giant as one to use such language.

"I won't."

"Please go," Dag begged.

"I won't leave you to die."

"Leave now!"

Kida rolled her eyes and concentrated on the enemy. She was not going to run away from a fight.

Tristan did not find anything and backtracked and followed the path Dag took. He hoped that he had better luck in finding her.

Dag had stopped asking Kida to leave, it was clear that she wasn't going to leave him. They couldn't survive much longer it they didn't have any help. He prayed that Tristan would find them.

Tristan found Dag's horse wandering by herself. Where was Dag? He inspected the ground for the direction the horse came from and followed it. It was not long before he heard Dag's battle cry. He kicked his horse and moved swiftly towards the noise. He found Dag and Kida. They were surrounded by Woads. Without hesitation, he grabbed his bow and loaded it. He took aim and let loose a storm of arrows, each arrow taking down a Woad.

At the unexpected storm, the Woads pulled back and scanned the trees but they found nothing. Tristan kept the arrows going until he ran out and then he drew his sword and let out a great cry. The Woads were apprehensive and waited for him to show himself.

Tristan charged his horse and they burst from the trees. The Woads cried and charged. With swift strokes, Tristan took down all that stood in his way. Kida and Dag reengaged in the battle and the three of them pushed them back. The Woads finally let up when they discovered that the knights were not going to give up and retreated, for what was three knights, the already killed what they came for.

As the Woads withdrew, Kida looked at Tristan and then ad Dag. Where were they going? She didn't ponder on the Woads retreat for Dag's strength began to fail him and he collapsed. Kida knelt beside him and took note of his wounds. His tunic was soaked with blood. She was amazed that he kept fighting; most men would have fallen before now.

Tristan dismounted and helped her move Dag onto his back. She tore his shirt to find two wounds. With those two and the three on his legs and arms the blood loss was great. She looked at the pale Dag and began to tear her cape into bandages. She told Tristan to go get some water and she cleaned his wounds and bandaged them while Tristan kept watch.

Once she had Dag bandaged, Tristan went for Dag's horse and then gathered what horses had gotten away during the battle. The entire camp was destroyed and every man dead. Kida and Tristan placed Dag on his horse and tied him to her and then began to make their journey back to the center fort.

Tristan watched as Kida cared for Dag. Their journey was slow but they came to no other obstacles. Kida took care of Dag with a gentleness that Tristan had never seen before. She always seemed to be harsh and impenetrable, but as she took care of Dag, she softened a bit and was almost normal, almost.

They talked little during their journey, he didn't know why though. He tried to speak with her but she just brushed him off. She seemed mad at him but he didn't know why. He had saved them and she treated him worse than before this all happened. He was so confused.

Kida spent most of her time during the journey taking care of Dag. She ignored Tristan and it drove him mad. She was angry with his behavior towards her when Dag showed up. Tristan seemed to have come to think that she was his, but she wasn't. She was no one's.

She didn't know why Tristan acted so oddly about her. It was almost as if he was infatuated with her.

She admitted that she liked it when he kissed her, but she wasn't going to play upon the fact that he was a good kisser, not that she could judge good from bad for he was the only person she had ever kissed. There seemed to be an unsaid competition between Dag and Tristan that she could not understand. Was it just because they were male and that it was natural or was it that they actually liked her? She had no idea but if it was the latter, she would fear that she would end up breaking both of their hearts.

Arthur stood on the wall watching for some sign of his knights. He knew that it would be too soon for them to return if they came from the actual fort but he could not help himself for watching. He scanned the horizon and noticed two riders approaching. A hawk swooped around them and he knew it was Tristan. He ordered the gates opened and rode out the meet them.

"Tristan!" he cried as they met. Tristan nodded at him. Arthur looked at the other rider, it was Kida. He nodded at her and she nodded back. "Where's Dagonet?" he asked.

Kida moved her horse aside and he saw Dag lying across his mount. "Is he dead?" Arthur asked.

"No," Kida replied. "He'll live he just needs rest and a proper tending to."

Without another word they rode back to the fort where the other knights waited for them. The moment they rode in. They had Dag carried off to the infirmary and Tristan and Kida were taken inside to rest.

Once they were rested, they reassembled in the great hall where they reported on what happened. "Did anyone survive?" Arthur asked at the end of their tale.

"None, just us," Tristan replied.

Arthur shook his head. They all looked around at each other. This was indeed disturbing news. After the meeting, Liam took Kida aside and apologized. "I'm sorry."

Kida shook her head. "There's no need for an apology. It is all forgotten."

Liam smiled at her. "Well, at least you're safe." Kida looked at him but he didn't say any more. They sat in silence together. The next few years a blur, what laid ahead for them was a threat but one that they pushed back for the time being.