I was sure I heard it, though I'm not sure. The wagon was still moving when I heard it.
"...I work for a Sa-Sa-Saber named Blackthorn!"
I'm sure I heard it now, the name of the cursed Saber who betrayed me, spoken by that rotten bandit. I knew we should've stopped the cart. That was almost six hours ago.
The rain is beginning to pour heavily now. We've been traveling for about 30 minutes since Renald fell asleep and the storm started, and there doesn't look to be an end in sight.
Glimmer is back asleep, even though it's technically his turn to be on watch. It's hard for me to blame him. While Ironvine steers the cart, everyone else might as well sleep.
I scoot closer to the cart edge and pull some dreamleaf from my pouch. I roll it inside a luminara leaf and light it. Nobody cares if I smoke but Ironvine. I don't want to hear him complain, so I blow my smoke out of the back of the cart. It's still dark outside, with the moon high in the sky. I think back to that night, the night Blackthorn betrayed me.
Images of us running down the palace halls, away from the wardens, flash through my mind. I feel my head throb with pain, and more images of Blackthorn's evil grin begin to flood.
That filthy traitor! When I get my hands on him, I'll slit his throat... My eyes wander over Renald's sleeping form. Why didn't he say anything to us? Is he working with him? No, he can't be. I push the thoughts out of my mind and shake Renald awake.
As soon as my paw grazes his shoulder, he jumps up, reaching for his saber and shield.
"Woah, you're ok, it's just me, Whisperclaw," I calmly try to tame the situation before it gets out of hand.
"Oh, it's just you," Renald sighs in relief. "What do you need? Is it my turn to steer the cart?"
"No, nothing like that. I just wanted to know what you and that bandit talked about." I say, a little shy about it now that I'm asking him.
"That's why you woke me up?" He sounds agitated. "I asked them who they work for, and he told me about some saber named Blackthorn who has a camp at the waterfall near the boss room."
"Oh," I'm too stunned to speak. Renald told me everything without hesitation.
"Can I get back to sleep now?" He's sounding even more irritated than before.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I was wondering why you didn't say anything about it earlier." I turn away.
"I can handle it. Besides, nobody asked me." Renald plops down beside me, "You got another one of those?"
"I can roll another one, give me a second." I reach into my pouch and roll another dreamleaf, handing it to Renald and passing him a match.
"Why are you so interested in what that bandit said?" He asks, lighting the match. It gets blown out by a wind gust almost immediately.
"I…" Before I can answer Renald's question, an arrow whizzes past my ear and lands in front of Glimmer's sleeping form.
"What the..." Glimmer stammers, jumping awake and scrambling backwards.
Two more arrows fly past my thigh, thudding into the cart. The cart jolts and shudders, rocking from side to side. I hear Glimmer play on his flute, a subtle mist closing in around us.
"Eek! We're under attack again?" He mutters in between notes.
The mix of mist, darkness, and rain has me nearly blinded.
"Take cover! We don't know what they are yet!" I shout.
"It's those stupid bandits again!" Renald yells, bracing himself against the side of the cart, "Both of them!"
The cart jolts again. Ironvine shouts something inaudible, wood cracks, and the bison moans. Then I'm up in the air, floating, before I slam into the dirt trail below me, stumbling from momentum. I feel something snap, and my head bangs against something sharp. My ears ring, and I feel something warm leak down my face. I'm finally still. I can hear feet shuffling and steel clashing against steel. Through my blurred vision, I can see shapes moving around. A huge form shuffles over, holding something in front of me.
"Whisperclaw! Hang in there!" I can hear Ironvine's familiar voice shouting at me.
The form shoves two small objects that feel like pills down my throat, and without thinking, I swallow to avoid choking. I feel a warm sensation throughout my entire body. My vision clears, and the ringing ceases. The pain in my body also disappears. I can see Ironvine standing in front of me with a huge grin on his face.
To my left, I can see our cart slammed into a makeshift barricade of thorn vines. Our bison is caught in the vines, moaning in agony. The cart is completely wrecked, and our supplies are scattered around the trail, some in crates, even in the forest. Two men with bows and quivers full of arrows, each wearing makeshift armor, walk towards us slowly. Their bows are loaded. Another man walks towards Glimmer, who is crawling away, with a broadsword. A familiar-looking man, also wielding a broadsword, is moving towards Renald, who is standing with his saber and shield at the ready. I can tell that this man is the bandit from before.
I hurry towards the man walking towards Glimmer, lashing out with my claws. They slash across his side, cutting through his makeshift armor and exposing his skin and bones, causing him to drop to one knee.
"Glimmer, run!" I shout, before breaking out into a hysterical laugh. This is a tactic I learned from my Wardog days to scare enemies. The man in front of me looks up with terror in his eyes, scrambling back onto both feet and away from me as quickly as he can.
I turn and see the bandit from yesterday step back from Renald, eyeing me. A smirk creeps onto my face before it fades when an arrow shoots into the ground near my left foot. I see another arrow coming towards me and slash it out of the sky with my claws before it finds its mark.
"Hold them off while I clear the barricade!" Ironvine shouts.
I hear Glimmer's flute play again. Within the music, my laughter multiplies.
"Tsk. Damnit." I hear the bandit cursing Renald and see him looking around, into the forest, wide-eyed.
Renald rushes forward, knocking the bandit's sword away and slashing back across his chest in two fluid motions with his saber. Blood pours out of the bandit's chest wound.
"You've lost again." Renald aims his blade at the bandit's throat.
I drop to all fours and bound across the ground, attempting to pounce on top of the man I had slashed. I land on his back, grappling him to the ground and restraining him.
"Call off your archers, or I'll break your neck!" I say, getting him in a rear-naked choke.
"Never...never!" The man wheezes, breaking free of my choke and elbowing me in the face in the process. I see stars for a moment and have to recover. I feel warm liquid gushing out of my nose.
I stumble to my feet as a sharp pain shoots into my side. I see an arrow stuck inside, blood staining the fur around it.
"I did it! I hit the beast!" I hear one of the other bandits say, probably the one who just shot me.
Another arrow hits me in the spine, causing me to fall on one knee. I try to breathe, but blood swells in my lungs. I cough it out and onto the grass beneath me.
"We've got them! Press the attack!" The other bandits exclaim.
I hear Glimmer change the tune of his flute, and a massive blue Owlbear materializes. I feel my legs finally collapse. Glimmer's small figure slides under me to keep me from hitting the ground.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no! Please be ok!" He says, looking down at me. My vision is about to go out, a black fog wrapping around my peripherals.
I barely see the man I slashed creeping up on Glimmer with his sword held high. The blade carves its way into Glimmer's collarbone. Glimmer screams high-pitched, blood pouring from his shoulder wound as two more arrows streak by. They fly wide and slam into two different trees.
"Don't worry about them." Glimmer says to me, smiling. As he speaks, I see a wisp of smoke coming from his mouth. This smoke covers the forest around us with massive blue beings with wings on their backs.
I see the man behind Glimmer looking around with complete terror in his eyes. I push myself to my feet with Glimmer's help. I shove him behind me and brandish my dagger in front, preparing for whatever attack the bandits might try now. My eyes dart around the battle-torn forest quickly, spotting Ironvine, far behind the man, first, tearing his way through the barricade towards our bison. I see Renald taking a wide swing with his saber, which the bandit in front of him ducks under.
I spot two bandits with bows behind me. They look around at the army of winged beings and drop their bows, turning and disappearing into the treeline. My eyes snap towards the man in front of me and Glimmer, who runs into the forest with his teammates.
"Damn it all! You'll pay! I promise you that!" Glimmer and I look at each other before turning around to face the bandit from yesterday as he shouts.
He attempts to turn and run, but Renald kicks the back of his foot, causing the bandit to slide face-first onto the dirt trail.
A loud snap and the sounds of branches getting trampled on cause us all, bandits included, to look towards the barricade.
"Hey guys, I got Bella free! I think she's all right!" Ironvine waves at us with one arm wrapped around our bison's neck, keeping it from running off.
"Where do you think you're going?" Renald asks. I see him tackle the bandit who tried to run while we weren't looking.
The bandit slips out from underneath Renald, kicking him in the face with his boot before scrambling to his feet.
I take the dagger in my hand and plunge it straight into the bandit's calf. This makes his leg give out and causes him to trip over himself and hit his head on a tree trunk. It knocks him out cold.