I wasn’t sure how long I’d fallen asleep for. I was only woken when Serin started to move and sat up. It was still light when I opened my eyes, so I hadn’t slept through the entire day. I looked over to see Altria already wide awake and looking over at us. Rosa was still fast asleep on the other bench.

“You two finally awake then?” Altria asked quietly.

“Yes… What time is it?” I asked.

“I think it’s about noon. Time for lunch soon, I hope.”

“Have we been sleeping for long?”

“A few hours, I haven’t been awake for that long myself.”

“I assume there hasn’t been any trouble while we were out?” Asked Serin.

“I don’t think so. Ontari would have woken us if there were.”

I pulled the curtains just enough to see outside. I didn’t want to wake Rosa with the light. The soldiers were still guarding us at each side. The sight of them made me feel at ease, well almost. A part of me worried that with this kind of escort, it didn’t leave much doubt that it was carrying Altria and myself. This was Olentri’s gamble. That the elven king wouldn’t risk drawing in the catkin and all of their allies into a conflict or increasing the risk that they broke away from the alliance. Once we reached their traditional territory, she would be safe. I suppose sending this unit to find her and provide an escort was part of that of that calculation too.

I couldn’t help thinking that things hadn’t gone quite to plan before. Would she really have let Altria act, if she thought there was a risk of Lillia attacking her there and then like she did? It didn’t seem likely to me. Then there was the fact she was teleported out of the capital. That must have given her a fright when she went missing like that. It must have only been the actions of the king’s men in the capital and the lack of a body that let her know she was still alive. So, she put together this unit and sent them to find her, under the assumption she would head back to Dunshelm. I suppose she was right then, but what was the chance of something unexpected happening again? I really hoped that destroying the evidence wasn’t more important than keeping the humans and wolfkin in the alliance and separate from the catkin. The girls didn’t seem to think it was likely, so I didn’t dwell on it.

I let the curtain slip back over the window, but almost as soon as I did there was a tap on the glass. I pulled the curtain back again and noticing that Ontari was there riding alongside us, waving as if she wanted to talk, I cracked the window open.

“We’re going to stop in a moment. There’s a small river a short distance away. It’s the perfect spot to water the horses and stop for some lunch.” She said as soon as I opened it.

“Great, I was starting to get pretty hungry.” Answered Altria.

After telling us what was going on, Ontari road on ahead. It wasn’t long before we began to slow and then pulled off the main road onto the meadow that the river ran alongside. As soon as we stopped, I stepped out of the carriage to stretch my legs and have a look around. It was a picturesque place, a flower meadow that ran all the way down to the small river at the bottom. I almost started to forget that we were technically fleeing for our lives. It was a nice place to stop for a picnic.

Whilst I was outside checking out the surroundings, the girls were inside the carriage waking up Rosa. They had been umming and ahhing about whether to wake her or leave her to sleep. In the end they decided it would be worse to let her miss out on lunch, even if she did look fast asleep. After deciding, Serin gently rocked her.

“Oh, err… Have I overslept?” Rosa asked as soon as she realised where she was.

“No, not at all. We only just woke ourselves. We found somewhere to stop for lunch. We thought it best to wake you.” Serin told her.

“Right, thank you.”

“Come on let’s join the others outside.”

“Sure.”

The three girls all climbed out of the carriage and out onto the meadow with everyone else. By now the soldiers had already taken the horses down to the riverbank to drink. A few of the soldiers were keeping watch in turns, while the rest began preparing some food. Serin had taken a blanket with her from the carriage and laid it out on the grass. The girls all sat down and Serin called out to me.

“Come and join us Theo.”

I was still taking in our surroundings, but Serin’s call brought me back to my senses, so I walked over and joined them.

“Are you okay Theo?” Asked Serin.

“Yeah, I was just looking around.”

“You don’t need to be on edge now, nothing is going to happen.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“They’ve missed their chance to get you both now. There’s no way they could cover up something like this. The queen ordered this troop here and there’s too many people here.”

“I hope you’re right.”

I just had a feeling that we hadn’t made it yet.

“She’s right Theo. If we were attacked here, that would be it. The humans and the wolfkin would have all the evidence they needed that something was going on and to leave the alliance. We can’t even be sure why we were being followed, it might not even have anything to do with the relic or what we know. They might genuinely think we are terrorists.”

“You don’t really think that though, do you?”

“Well… No.”

One of the catkin soldiers had overheard us talking and decided to speak up.

“You should rest easy. What the princess says is true. The alliance troops would never attack our group carrying the royal princess. It would instantly spell the end of the alliance, not just a bit of strife like currently. No other group would be stupid enough to attack a unit of this size either.” She told me.

I had turned to face her as she spoke to us.

“Thanks.” I said and smiled sensing she was genuinely trying to put me at ease.

Then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a single dark figure some way off in the distance. They were stood on the road at the peak of a small rise the way we had come from. Where had they come from? I wondered. Out for a walk maybe…

“Huh?” I said out loud.

“Don’t worry about it…” The soldier said.

As I was trying to focus on the figure, I was thrown to the ground violently by Altria. I didn’t even have time to ask before the sound of the air being cut around us whooshed past, followed by the sound like a whip snapping only louder. My ears rang and I turned my face back to the girl that had been speaking only a moment before.

“That’s odd.” She said touching her face where a bead of blood had just appeared.

Then more spots of blood appeared across her face, until they connected in a thin line. The movement of her mouth and her touch had provided enough force to make the top of her head slowly slide along the hairline slice. I just watched on in horror as her expression froze and her head fell to the floor. I was so shocked I didn’t register what had happened for a second. Altria was still pressing me to the ground as I looked around. Across from us Serin had pulled Rosa out of harm’s way too. My eyes then followed the line of carnage back to where I’d seen the figure on the ridge a moment before.

There were several sliced bodies in the path, some were still alive and calling for help. Some of the horses had been caught in the attack as well. I still couldn’t believe my eyes. Only a moment before things had been calm and we were about to relax for lunch. Altria sat up and begun to shake me.

“Theo, this no time to space out.” She told me, her voice shaking.

“W-what’s happening?” I asked.

“We’re under attack. We need to move.” She said glancing across to Serin.

Serin nodded back to Altria and got to her feet, pulling up Rosa along with her. She started sprinting towards the carriage with Rosa in tow. Altria jumped up and pulled me in the direction of the carriage with her too. The four us slid on the floor behind the carriage. We were at least out of view of our assailant, but I wasn’t sure how much protection it would afford us against another attack like that.

“T-those people, are they all dead?” Rosa stuttered clearly in shock.

“Most of them.” Answered Altria.

“Shouldn’t we help them?”

“We can’t. If we step out there and start trying to drag the injured behind here with us, we’ll be sitting ducks. We have to do something about her first…” Answered Serin.

“Who is it? You sound like you know them.” I asked.

“We don’t know them, but everyone has heard a story about a powerful executioner. At least in our line of work. Rumours of a nameless assassin. I haven’t spoken to anyone that knows their actual name.”

“Executioner?”

“Yes, because if they’ve been sent after you...”

“What?”

“Rumour is that they were a top adventurer that was taken into the king’s personal service as an executioner. The kind that executes the ones that run away.”

“But we’ll be okay right? You two can handle them…”

Serin glanced over to Altria.

“Did you see that attack?” She asked her.

“I only saw it slice through one of the sentinels at the edge of the field. I couldn’t make out the weapon.”

“Damn… I hoped you’d at least caught a glimpse.”

Footsteps came from behind us, it was Ontari running to join us. She was still alive at least.

“Thank god you’re safe Altria!” She said as she tried to catch her breath.

“I’m not sure if safe is accurate.” Answered Altria.

“Maybe not… What was that?”

“The rumoured executioner, I think.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Is she alone?”

“I couldn’t see. We headed for cover as soon as I noticed her.”

I switched on “appraisal” and focused until I could see through the carriage and into the field the other side. A dark elf woman dressed entirely black had now reached the edge of the field and was looking over her handy work. She was looking over the bodies that lay there, she was obviously looking for someone specific. My guess was probably Altria. I doubt she would recognise me.

“Oh my, it seems I didn’t get her this time… No matter, the order is not to let anyone survive.” The woman said calmly.

As she spoke, the whip she had in her left had flung forward, so quickly I couldn’t follow where it went. I could only see the aftermath. The remaining injured but still alive soldiers on the field were all decapitated in a single movement. This woman was terrifying. Altria and Serin were elite fighters, but I couldn’t imagine how they begin to fight her.