Protect the Carriage.

"I fired an arrow at the one attacking our flank but so did every elf and centaur in our troop. They stuck in his skin doing no more damage then a thorn.

"Vites firmiter impediant velocius herba augmentum." I said as vines grey out of the ground quickly entangling his leg, causing it to trip and go down on one knew as he caught himself. He ripped the vines from his leg.

"Hey ugly over here." A voice said and I looked to see Ava waving him down to get his attention. I rode toward her as fast as the horse would take off. "Oblito lux mico." She said throwing her hand up and a flash of light shot forth. I shielded my eyes though it seemed to be focused mostly on the troll. I dropped my bow and jumped off and onto her as the troll fired.

"Terra obice murus." A voice yelled. I looked up to see a large rock wall had came up out of the ground between us and Troll. I looked the other way to see the arch magus with her arm out of the carriage door. "Terra celer harenae." The arch magus cast another spell and his feet sunk into the ground as the dirt beneath him became quicksand. Not enough to sink him but it kept him in one place as he struggled to get out.

I rolled off of Ava and pulled my stone pouch off of my hip and clutched two hand fulls of coals. "Supernatet lux apparatum parvus ignis incendium tantum funda iecit." I said firing both handfuls at the beast. He roared as he swung around blindly and ripped off part of his clothes that were on fire though it didn't seem to have burned him.

"His skin is to thick. Our arrows and spears aren't making a dent in him." One of the female centaurs said. A really bad idea came to me and I remounted my horse. "Spear." I held out my hand as and she threw her spear to me. I charged at the beast and jumped up onto the saddle and planted my feet. The troll drew a long sword which looked small in his hands. I jumped off and over his blade and drove the spear through his eye into its brain. He fell backwards and I hit the ground hard as I rolled off of him. The beast twitched slightly but looked dead or dying. I drew my sword and put it into his other eye to be sure.

I looked to see the one in the front seemed to dead as well as Willow stood over it. The one in the back was fleeing with two of his two compatriots dead. My body ached from the tumble I had taken. I went over and saw Ava pick up my bow holding it out toward me.

"Thank you." She frowned. I nodded and went to the carriage as she went to help the wounded if there were any.

"Everyone okay in here?"

"Yes. Thank you." The arch magus smiled. While Ava seemed to be willing to fight the other mages where no fighters. They had stayed hidden in the wagon. I had a feeling the arch magus was holding back having only giving us a sample of her powers.

"You seemed to be able to handle yourself." I nodded at her. "You good Aurora?"

"Yes."

"Good, stay in here for now." I said. We still had one troll out there somewhere." I called my horse back and mounted up riding toward Willow who stood on top of the trolls chest. Her sword drove into the trolls mouth. She put her foot on his face and had to tug several times to get it to come out.

"Great minds think alike." I grinned. She had found a weak spot of her own. I saw they had used a rope to trip him up by tangling up his legs. "I didn't think trolls came down this far south."

"It could be because of the war. They tend to go to where the food is and battle field would be a feast to them. We will need to get moving in case the one that got away comes back with more." Willow said. "Ava. I need you to follow that one but keep well the fuck away from him."

"Right." Ava nodded and took off into the air with ease as she headed back east.

We head out as a few stayed behind with the fallen while everyone else rode hard up into the late afternoon. Willow had us make a detour to the south and make a stop for the night at a small village which I was surprised to see was inhabited by all centaurs. The centaurs bowed at Willow while some of the younger ones rode up beside her as she got off hugging a few. After we passed the town we headed toward a small fort on a hill. It would be a little hard to spot from a distance as it was over grown with vines and other vegetation.

"Who's place is this?"

"Mine." Willow smiled. "The centaurs live in the village below and guard the border from dark elves. My dad gave it to me to put me in a place were I was in a position of importance to the his people."

"His people?"

"You just meet my people. Here I am out of sight of the elves with the exception of those who ride with me. I will send out a messenger to the nearest elven outpost and scouts to track the beast. We can restock our arrows and whatever else we might need." She smiled looking back. We reached the small castle that looked man made but no one had tended to it in years and nature had been reclaiming the land it was built on.

"Okay everyone. Were camping here tonight for your safety to the mages. Find a place to sleep and be ready to head out at after breakfast." Willow said as the mages came out. I got Aurora settled in a room and headed back down. I caught Willow on her way back out to talk to the parents of some of the centaurs we had lost. She made it a point to only choose her troop out of those who had not yet started a family of their own but it didn't make the job any easier.