The wagon still creaked despite being emptied of at least half its load. The wheels rattled along the dry rocky ground, bouncing over the cracks in the mud, and sending up a trail of dust that limited Lyssa’s view of any pursuit.

She had to rely on those who had been left behind to send a signal if the bandits caught up too quickly. The contents of the wagon had been distributed among them and the two horses, so they could find an easier trail around the gorge.

Bouda tugged at the reins and tried to pick up the pace, but Lyssa kept the horse to a fast walk that she had to jog to keep up with. They needed to look like they were in a hurry, but not as if they knew of the pursuit. A few mercenaries followed the wagon to make it look like they were all still there.

Inside the wagon lay the tied up prisoner. Despite being bound and gagged he still managed to cause trouble, and after one too many escape attempts she had tied him tightly to the floor of the wagon. She could hear his groans of pain everytime they hit a particularly nasty rock.

The heat was already intense and sweat dripped from her forehead. She dreaded to think what it would be like at midday when the sun finally reached its peak.

They had left the shade of the trees behind as the ground rose and parted the forest. Soon the walls would be too high for them to escape to either side, and she’d be in their trap. Hopefully that would be enough time for everyone else to get far enough away that they could make it to Marrolun.

From there the supplies could be distributed to wherever they were needed most. Apparently Marrolun was at the center of a network of roads that led to all parts of Ghanda. The town couldn’t be cut off by one road being blocked, but also didn’t have the defensive features that Hulna did.

It was a good sign that the bandits weren’t so many in number that they could take a town by force.

Lyssa hoped that Abi’s need to help her people would be great enough to stop her coming back to help. Shira had promised to get her to safety, and Abi hadn’t protested at being sent away, but that didn’t mean the younger woman would stay away.

The walls grew higher, so she was unable to see the top, and provided some shade while the sun was still low in the sky.

Bouda slowed and stopped fighting the reins. Her ears twitched at noises only she could hear, and she danced in frustration as if she was getting ready for a fight.

Further down the gorge rocks were piled at knee height, and Lyssa had no doubt it was deliberate rather than rocks falling.

She pulled Bouda to a stop before they got anywhere near the blockade. Just because she was going to trigger the trap didn’t mean she had to make it easy for them.

Lyssa drew a dagger and made short work of the straps that hitched Bouda to the wagon.

A shout warned her the bandits following them had caught up. At the same time there was movement near the blockade. Many figures jumped the rocks and started running.

Lyssa slapped Bouda to get her moving and a sharp whistle to command her to keep going.

The horse picked up speed with a jump.

The warrior turned her back on the approaching bandits but was satisfied when she heard a scream.

At the back of the wagon the three mercenaries she’d brought with her had drawn their weapons. The number of bandits was over double their own, but they seemed to be hesitating over the small number of enemies they faced.

She couldn’t let them think about it for too long, or they would figure it out.

The warrior drew her sword in a shriek of metal. The light caught the edge where it rose out of the shadow of the cliff.

Lyssa gripped Andraste with both hands and charged at the bandits.

They weren’t expecting an outright attack and stumbled into position. One swing of Andraste broke two blades and caught a man in the shoulder.

The other bandits were quick to converge on her. Trying to overwhelm her defences.

Most were turned away easily, but one had a sword that refused to break against the named blade.

It didn’t look old enough to be Artisan made, but it also wasn’t a regular blade either. She’d never heard of anyone else working magic into metal like the Artisans had done.

The mercenaries joined her. They took some of the attention off her. Their unbroken swords had a longer reach than the shattered blades of the bandits.

Lyssa broke through their lines. Her opponent only just managed to hold his own against her. His face honest in his desperation to survive.

He stumbled back and tripped, landing hard on the ground.

She turned to find the mercenaries hadn’t made it through behind her, and they were now being attacked from both sides.

Before she could rejoin the fight more bandits came running from the entrance. This was too many even for her, but that wasn’t going to stop her from fighting them.

Lyssa traded blows with them, breaking their swords and receiving small wounds in return. The injury from last night broke open and joined the others in blood running down her arms.

A shout caught her attention and she glanced up to find two archers stood at the edge of the cliff. Their bows aimed at her.

Everything around her froze as she focused on the threat.

She could carry on fighting and be taken down by the archers. Andraste was too unwieldy a weapon to deflect arrows. There would be nothing she could do, and the only thing she had to do to set it in motion was to swing her sword at the closest bandit. Ignore the order to surrender.

The moment stretched on. Even though only seconds had passed it felt like she had been deciding her fate for a decade.

The last mercenary still fighting surrendered. Her back to the wall she dropped her sword and let the beating happen. The other two were dead on the ground. If Lyssa didn’t act the third would join them.

“I’ll surrender if you stop the attack.” Lyssa shouted.

“Why would we want you alive?” One of the archers shouted back.

Lyssa rolled her eyes. “Shoot me then.”

She lowered the sword point to rest on the ground, and spread her arms to give them a nice big target.

Both the archers shifted uncomfortably, and were trying not to look at whoever was out of view giving them orders.

“You will surrender and come back to our camp peacefully.”

“As long as she lives.” Lyssa said pointing to the slumped mercenary laid on the ground.

The bandits who had beaten her, had abandoned her in favour of raiding the wagon, and were quickly getting frustrated in their inability to find anything worth taking. She had no doubt that soon they would turn their attentions back to the passed out mercenary.

The only way to save the woman was to make her important, which would lead to its own problems further down the line, but at least she’d be alive.

The sounds of arguing drifted down to Lyssa, but there was no way to make out the words as the tone became increasingly agitated.

“Agreed. Put down your weapons and let yourself be bound.”

The warrior drove Andraste into the ground so the blade could stand on its own, then untied her belt and let it fall to the floor with the weapons still sheathed. Then she drew her smaller daggers hidden about her person and dropped them to the ground. She left a couple for them to find and hoped at least one would remain hidden.

She placed her hands behind her back as four bandits approached warily. She stared them down, and was tempted to scare them by making a move, but practicality won out over the reckless adrenaline surge.

The rope they used was rough and tied tightly. Her wrists squeezed together and already painful.

Something hard hit the back of her head dropping her to her knees. Her vision swam but it wasn’t enough to knock her out. The second hit was much harder and did its job. She went face first into the dirt.