Proceed at the van, but cautiously; keep your defenses up.

You nod. "I'll take a small team forward. We need to move quickly - if this is an escape tunnel, the leader may already be far from here."

Felix nods. "Praxis! Gentus! Form up here and accompany Lentillus. We'll follow in squads of four."

You move cautiously into the passageway, {if Gladius Held=True}sword{else}spear{endif} held tightly and ready for action. The two infantrymen follow close behind you. It's a narrow, crooked passageway, and it winds deeper into the rock. As you move forward your heartbeat quickens with excitement, but you **** yourself to move slowly and carefully, watchful for traps. This is it - it's leading to something, you can feel it. There's a great prize to be won soon if you're just cunning enough to claim it!

The passageway suddenly opens out into a small but wondrous chamber, an underground grotto of sorts. A hole in the rocky ceiling lets in sunlight, and a small, twisted pine tree is growing in the shaft of day. The tree stands on a small, rocky mound surrounded by a pool of clear water. No wonder the bandits have been able to hide out here - they have a source of fresh water within their encampment itself!

Just as you take all this in, there's a blur of motion from your right. You're on guard enough that you manage to twist away and avoid the worst of the blow - your armor coat deflects it, though the sheer **** behind it sends you staggering back a step. The attacker, a tall, muscular blonde woman, snarls in rage. She might be a Germani - she's clad in strange-looking leather armor, painted with wolf's head motifs, and is wielding two massive bearded axes. At least there's no questioning who she is...

"The one they call the She-Wolf, I assume," you say, trying to make your voice sound less panicky. The two soldiers beside you spread out slowly, spears and shields up, as you keep her focus. The barbarian spits on the ground.

"Roman swine. I'll kill many of you before you take me," she growls in thickly accented Latin.

"You don't want to surrender now?" you ask. "It could avoid a lot of unpleasantness..."

She scowls. "Surrender boots me nothing. The Empire will kill me either way."

Well, given all she's done, she has a point there. She's a common bandit, not some foreign queen.

One of the soldiers darts forward, thrusting his spear at her with a yell. She dodges, hacks the spear in half with a single blow, and spins toward the attacker. Catching the edge of his shield with one ax, she yanks it down and swings the other into his neck. As he topples, though, his partner and you lunge forward. The legionnaire wounds her in the side with his spear, getting her attention long enough for you to leap in and bring your sword down on her forearm. You don't do much actual damage, but one ax clatters from her nerveless fingers. She lets out a howl of anger and swings the other at your face - you barely manage to dodge out of the way, feeling the wind of it as it whistles past you.

The She-Wolf retreats, leaping across the small channel onto the rocky isle. You and the soldier (you're pretty sure this is Praxis) follow as she turns to get her back against the tree and prevent you from surrounding her. She swings the ax with both hands now, keeping you at bay for a few moments - until you lunge desperately forward, deciding to risk it all. As the ax comes down you drop your sword and duck inside the blow, managing to get within her reach and have the ax harmlessly glance off your shoulder. You push your shoulder into her armpit with a shout, and manage to wrest the ax from her.

You're pinning her against the tree, and for a moment you find yourself face-to-face with the She-Wolf. You feel her hot breath on your face as you gaze into her wild, angry eyes. "Surrender," you growl.

Her lip curls. "Never." And she headbutts you in the face.

You stagger backwards, but Praxis has his spear ready and lunges forward, pointing it at the She-Wolf's throat. As you blink the pain away and clutch your nose - is it broken?! - you see that the She-Wolf is standing still, gazing coldly down at Praxis as he holds her at the end of his spear. You hear cheers and whistles as well, and turn to see the rest of the Legion has begun to arrive. They surround the isle as you grab the dropped ax and realize that you've done it. Your nose may be bleeding and you're in pain, but you've defeated the bandit who was plaguing your land.