The soldiers that had accompanied the dark elf had completely backed off for now and were out of sight. But after what had happened earlier, no one was going to rule out the chance of another attack.

The woman had killed almost a third of the soldiers that had been accompanying us. Now we had the unenviable job of loading their bodies into the carriage. We didn’t even have much time to let things settle before we needed to begin.

There was one other thing we needed to do. Our attention fell on the woman. It was Serin that said what we were all thinking. “We need to at least try and question her.”

Altria nodded. “You’re right, we should.”

Serin, Altria and I walked up to the woman. She was still unconscious. Even if she had been healed, she had received some serious wounds. As we got close, Serin leant over and slapped her face. I could tell by the sound it wasn’t light.

The woman didn’t bat an eyelid.

Serin looked to me. “You should try that technique.”

“I used it in the fight. It didn’t work.”

“Can you try again?”

“Okay.”

I stood over the woman and activated “Interrogate.” There was no response from her.

I looked up to Serin. “It still doesn’t seem to work.”

Altria knelt down and checked to woman. “She doesn’t look like she’s going to wake anytime soon. I know we want information, but she probably knows no more than those elf girls. We need to attend to the dead and get out of here.”

Serin checked the woman and looked across the field. She looked a little frustrated. “Okay, let’s get a move on. I don’t want to wait for her to wake.”

We had to gather up the bodies and leave this place as quickly as was possible.

It was grim work. Some of the bodies weren’t even in one piece. I had barely spoken to some of these women, but I was already half doubting my decision to leave the dark elf alive. One of the women we had to collect the pieces together before we loaded her into the carriage, and I was almost gagging as we worked.

The soldiers that knew them just looked on as we did so. We had volunteered for the task. It didn’t seem right to make their friends do it. As they watched on you could almost sense their anger towards the woman.

Finally, we were done, and despite none of us really having much of a break or lunch when we stopped, it was time to move on. Ontari and two of her subordinates came to us with three horses that had lost their masters in the fight.

She handed the reins of one to Altria. “Here, these are for you.”

I wondered if they were expecting me to take one as well. “Hold on, am I supposed to ride one?”

Serin looked at me, surprised. “Can’t you ride?”

I shook my head. “No… I’ve never been on a horse in my life.”

She looked as if I had said something strange. “But how did you get around in your old world, didn’t they have horses?”

“Yeah, we have horses, but most people don’t use them for transport anymore. I can drive a car though.”

“A car?”

“Well, just think of it like a horseless carriage.”

“Could you drive the carriage instead of Rosa?”

“No, they aren’t that similar and like I said, I don’t have any experience with horses.”  

“How does it move without horses, magic?”

“No, not magic… Urgh, it’s not like I could explain how it works. It’s powered by a complicated mechanism called an engine.”

“Interesting… Well, if you can’t ride, you’ll have to ride with one of us.”

Altria stepped up, reins in hand. “You can ride with me if you like?”

I hesitated to answer for a moment as I looked at the horses. I wasn’t particularly fond of the animals. It wasn’t that I disliked them or anything, but they always seemed a little skittish and unpredictable for my liking. I didn’t know that I wanted my first experience to be sat riding for hours and possibly under pressure, even if it did mean sitting up close with Altria or Serin…

It was Rosa that came to my aid. “Umm…” She murmured.

I turned to her. “What’s up Rosa?”

“If you like you can ride up front on the carriage with me.”

I was relieved to hear her offer. “Really?”

“Yes, of course!”

“Thanks! I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

She smiled. “No problem.”

I turned back to Altria. “Sorry Altria. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to ride with you. I just think it’ll be easier this way.”

Altria laughed. “That’s fine with me, but we really should have you learn how to ride.”

“I know.”

Seeing the transport issue was resolved, Serin turned her focus to Ontari. “Now that’s sorted, we should probably get back on the road. Ontari, are your men ready to move?”

Ontari nodded then turned her gaze to the tied up dark elf across the field. “Yes… Can I ask, are you intending to take that woman with us?”

“No. I don’t think that’s wise. We would have to constantly watch her and if she escaped…”

“We might have to watch my men too... What do you plan on doing then?”

“We’re going to leave her there. I expect those soldiers will return for her once we’ve left the area.”

Ontari grimaced. “Is that going to be safe?”

“I hope so… I don’t think we have much choice. We’ll be entering the old union territory in a few hours. We’ll be safer once we reach it, I hope. If I had to guess that would be why they attacked us here, before we became out of reach.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Serin looked to me and Altria. “That’s what we’ve decided isn’t it?”

I nodded.

“It is.” Answered Altria.

“Then I won’t question any further.” Replied Ontari.

Some of the nearby soldiers exchanged glances as she spoke, but none of them said a word. I could totally understand that they would want to bring her with us and make her face the repercussions of what she’d done, but Serin was right. It was just too dangerous for us to take her with us.

The soldiers did their best to hide their feelings and busied themselves by preparing to leave. I was half expecting one of them attempt to finish her off while we were here. It didn’t happen and within a few minutes we were ready to leave.

Rosa finished hitching her horses back to the carriage while Serin and Altria mounted their new steeds. Once Rosa was finished, she climbed into the driver’s seat before turning to me.

“You should climb aboard.” She said motioning to the spare place next to her.

I stepped towards the carriage. “Right.”

I shot one last glance to the tree at the side of the field where the dark elf was still restrained. As far as I could tell she was still unconscious. Then I climbed on and sat next to Rosa.

“Thanks for letting me ride next to you… To tell you the truth, I was a little nervous about riding a horse for the first time.” I told her.

She laughed and waved her hands in front of her. “Don’t worry about it. I could tell. I remember the first time I rode. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be a long trip like this, that’s why I offered.”

“I think I’ll be much more comfortable sat up here.”

Just then Altria rode alongside the carriage. “You’ll be more comfortable snuggled up to Rosa, eh?”

“I didn’t mean it like that!”

Altria burst out laughing. “I know. I just wanted to see your face when I said that.”

“Thanks…”

Altria stopped laughing as quickly as she had started. It was just a brief interlude to the grim mood around us. I’m not sure what Rosa made of Altria’s joke, but she acted as if nothing had happened and continued to prepare to leave.

Serin joined us at the other side of the carriage, it seemed we were ready to set off.

Altria had one last look around and then rode up to where Ontari was waiting. “Are you ready to leave?” She asked her.

Ontari gripped her reins and nodded. “Yes, we were waiting on you.”

“Then let’s head out.”

Ontari gave the signal to her men, and we set out. It was a little bumpy while we rode over the field, but once we joined the road again it was smooth enough. We were soon over the small bridge, and I took one last glance behind us before the fields passed into the distance.

I could just about make out the figure tied to the tree. There was no sign of the other soldiers returning yet, but I knew it was just a matter of time. I hoped we had done the right thing, and we would make it back to Dunshelm without running into her again.

Once we were out of sight, I decided to spark up a conversation with Rosa. “How long do you think it will take us to reach the city?”

“That depends on how often we stop. It’s just under a day and half ride non-stop. We’ll have to rest the horses at least once though.”

“I just want to get back there as quickly as possible, after everything that’s happened.”

“Me too.”

“I expect we’ll travel as far as we can before we rest and maybe stop for a few hours in the night. I think everyone wants to get there as quickly as possible.” Serin said in a reassuring tone as she rode alongside.

“Do you think we’ll make it unhindered?” I asked.

“The territory up ahead will be a lot friendlier to us. I don’t think we’ll encounter any problems.”

“I really hope so.”

We rode though the day for hours before we stopped and even when we did it was just a brief affair. Just long enough for us to feed the horses and stretch our legs. Unlike in the morning there was no attempt to rest, and everyone was on edge until we were on the way once again.

Fortunately for us, it was an uneventful stop, and we were soon on our way. We didn’t stop again until well after it was dark. By that time, we were much closer to Dunshelm, and I could tell by the reactions of the soldiers around us, that they all felt much safer here.

It was too dark for me to be able tell much about the place when we finally came to a halt for the evening. I tried to peer into the darkness and a get a grasp of our surroundings. At the best I could tell was that there was a large flat area at the side of the road with some trees some way back.

Rosa looked at me, she seemed to sense my unease. “Don’t worry, I know this place. It’s regularly used by travellers on the road. This area is pretty safe.”

“Thanks.”

“We’ll only have about six hours before we reach Dunshelm tomorrow.”

“That’s reassuring.”

After we stopped, we both climbed off the carriage. I left Rosa to tend to the horses and went to join Serin and Altria.