Luminous

5 - Ambush

The small entourage of ten guards and two horse-drawn carriages—one ornately decorated belonging to the Lady and her closest servants and a larger, plainer one for supplies—traveled on narrow roads paved through dense pine forests and vast grasslands.

From what little Meya knew of her country, there were quite a few manors dotting the long road from Crosset to Hadrian. Far at the horizon, she'd sometimes spot castles with villages and wheat fields surrounding their walls. However, the head guard avoided all these settlements, sticking to the dreary wilderness and the wisdom of the river. They stopped only to refill water, ask for directions at inns, and when daylight receded, making the journey swift but excruciatingly dull.

The sun was setting on the sixth day of their journey as they ventured on foot through a patch of forest between Manors Clardarth and Hadrian. The guards wanted to breach the woods and cross into Hadrian before setting up camp for the night. Everyone hurried along on tired feet.

Meya stopped. Sounds of movement came from the forest on both sides of the road. Meya had taken enough trips into the woods to feed her piglets or hunt for honey. That wasn't wind or animal hoof on leaves—it was human feet.

"Get moving, lass! We need to get through this before sundown!"

The guard helming the supplies carriage hollered. Meya opened her mouth to warn him, but all hell broke loose. 

Black masses shot forth from the wall of trees like boulders from a catapult. Gleams of silver pierced the dimming light with reverberating clangs. The guards had unsheathed their swords to fend off enemy blades, forming a ragged circle around Lady Arinel's carriage.

The maids were left to fend for themselves. Some froze and screamed. Others fought for safety in the supplies carriage, which was too filled with supplies to fit them all.

Fortunate for once, Meya was standing behind the carriage. With one vicious, practiced tug, she unclasped the collar from her neck and tossed it aside. The fog in her brain lifted. Strength returned to her muscles. She dove for the space between the wheels and flattened her belly on the cold earth.

The air echoed with the sickening sound of metal splitting flesh, usually limited to the vicinity of Brodel's butcher stall. Blood sprayed and spattered on the ground, calling more shrieks.

Meya's heartbeat thundered in her ears as she panted hard for breath. Cold fear coursed through her veins, threatening to freeze her limbs. On one side of the carriage was the forest. Her best chance of survival was to make a break for it while they were busy fighting, run the rest of the way into Hadrian or double back to Clardarth. With luck, she'd stumble upon a patrol guard or fellow peasant who'd lead her to safety.

Two pairs of feet danced between the wheels, blocking her passage. Meya gritted her teeth in desperation. She peered through the other side. Through the gap between the wagon wheels, she counted roughly twenty bandits. Two guards were spread-eagled on the ground, dead. Some bandits were dragging screaming maids out of the carriage. 

Meya turned back. The supplies guard and his bandit were still blocking her way out. If only one of them would die or something already, she could finally get out of there.

Meya turned to the battle on the left, then back to the forest on the right, to the left, then back again. She stuffed her fist in her mouth to stifle a scream. As if to grant her wish, the lone guard dropped dead, his blood-spattered face obstructing her view. His lifeless eyes bore into hers, unseeing. Meya scrambled back, then froze at the merciless voice thundering from the midst of the bloodbath.

"Surrender now. Or we kill you all."

The ultimatum came from a bandit who seemed to be the largest and the most scarred of them all. The five remaining guards stood united around Lady Arinel's carriage, panting, bloodstained swords raised. Five of their friends were dead on the ground. The bandits dragged over the nine maids to join them, swords and knives held at their necks.