Unfortunately for Lanester, and also for Aisen’s horse, the wayward gyrating blade struck the rear of the leftward horse causing it to veer right pulling the carriage with it. The surface area that Lanester had to move on quickly diminished. Once again he released the sword he was carrying and reached out to grab the edge of the hood, but Titanias, seeing his opening, threw a barrier on the side of the coach. It smashed into the shoulder of Lanester as his body slung off the side of the hood. All the breath left his lungs as he flipped head over heels through the air and crashed to the ground. At the last moment before the carriage had raced completely out of sight, Lanester retracted the sword that had flung off to the side of the carriage, using it's trajectory to try to decapitate his escaping query.

    Titanias turned, more so to reach for the reins of the rampaging carriage before it crashed into the barricade of trees lining the road, than having sensed the incoming danger. He caught sight of the sword just in time to throw himself down into the Coachman's seat, but not in time to completely avoid the strike. He held his face instictively as blood welled up from the fresh wound on his chin.

     As Lanester watched the carriage fade into the distance, he yelled his frustration out through a mouth full of dirt and slammed his hands into the ground. By the time the rest of his squadron of bandits caught up he had already picked himself off the ground and was dusting debris from his expertly tailored suit.

    “Should we continue the chase, my lord?” The captain of the scouts asked.

    “No. They will have reached the edge of the forest by now. We must report our failure.”

    “The higher ups will not be happy.”

    “No… no they will not.” Lanester said accepting tea proffered by the butler that had appeared by his side.

    The line of carriages waiting to enter the castle of Hemlock county was impressive when considering the rural placement of it. Positioned in a valley at the base of “Jagged Tooth Mountains”, usually the only draw to a city so far from the safety of the Capitol was the mana crystals that were mined from tunnels dug deep into the mountain's belly, but with the celebration of the coming of age of the of Count Benedict’s eldest son many had gathered to pay their respects.

    Sun Hee Kuek was one such applicant. She sat, staring absentmindedly out the windows waiting for the inspection of the merchant carriage in front of her to finish. Her long red hair slipped down into her face as her eyes strolled over the carts of gifts and luggage that her master had ordered her to watch over. With her noble status from another kingdom she'd rarely ever had to wait in line and in fact could have easily bypassed this one entirely had not she been apprenticed to the single foremost jeweler in the kingdoms and he assigned her the task of safeguarding the many gifts brought for the count's son’s coming of age ceremony. A task she felt was beneath her considerable talent.  

    Her eyes were beginning to flutter closed when she heard a shout from behind her.

    “Runaway carriage! Get out of the way!” She didn't know who had shouted but the accompanying screams of astonishment lent the warning credit. Sun Hee Kuek jumped out of the carriage searching the horizon for signs of trouble and saw a cloud of dust traveling at immense speed down the side of the road. Carriages and carts were hastily pulled away as the cloud barreled past them.

    Barely any time had passed before the dust cloud was close enough for her to make out a monstrosity of a vehicle driven by a deranged man with wild eyes.

    “Get out of the way!” He screamed, panic evident in the falsetto of his voice. She turned and realized that even though her men were already scrambling about, picking up the scattered treasures they had displayed for the upcoming inspection there was no way they'd make it in time.

    “Fuck.” She cursed as she jumped out of the carriage.