Chapter 13
As the shouts of men and the clash of steel-on-steel filled the air Ayron and his men were desperately trying to provide cover for Orenus and the soldiers. After recovering from the initial shock, the outlaws were now putting up a resistance that greatly surprised the attackers, and that resistance was putting them in a hard place. Already, many of Ayron's Rangers and the other men under his command had sustained several wounds. Even he himself was bleeding freely from wounds at various places on his body.
Dodging blades and deflecting the odd stroke, Ayron fought his way to Orenus's side. He tried to shout above the chaos to say that they should leave, but he wasn't sure if the centaur had heard him. Orenus nodded, however, indicating that he had heard the Ranger. He took a breath and, grabbing the horn slung at his side, blew the call to retreat.
The soldiers began to move back as a group, as best they could. The Rangers — in the thick of the fighting — backed out as well as they could, and once in the forest they scattered to make it harder for any possible pursuit to follow them.
Ordering his men to go on, Ayron broke from the five Chippingford men with him and circled back to the outlaw's camp. He wanted to make sure that everyone had made it out. Slowly, he crept around the trees and observed the ramshackle huts and patched tents that made up the camp. It was in complete chaos but, so far as he could see, none of their soldiers had been forgotten.
Satisfied, he ghosted his way back to the shelter of the trees and crept away. He and Orenus would need to craft a new plan.