A Hero may not take on more than one hire at a time

   -Hero’s Guild Book of Rules

   Rule # 30

  
   Will wasn’t sure about this. Feral told him he was confident everything would be fine, but, well, that was Feral talking. Will had learned quickly over his past week of training under Feral that his views on what was fine and what wasn’t didn’t always match up with Will’s perspective. The length of wood in his hands was, fortunately, already a familiar weight and he was glad Skemm had insisted they add a layer of padding.

     Skemm caught his eye and smiled briefly to reassure him while she tested out the weight and balance of her own padded stick.

   Feral marked a wide circle around Will and Skemm with small stones and then stepped up to the two of them.

   “Okay,” Feral said, “let’s see how well Will’s improved with me as his teacher.”

   Will thought back to Feral’s training and he locked eyes with Skemm while falling into stance and setting his grip on his weapon. Skemm took up her position as well but Will could see the uncertainty in her face.

   “Alright,” Skemm began to say, “but—

   “Begin!” Feral shouted.

   Will struck at once with the first thrust Feral had taught him and was amazed when he made contact right where he had been aiming. Skemm fell back at once, dropping her stick and clutching her throat, a look of shock on her face.

     “I am so sorry!” Will said at once but before he could go to her, Feral was by his side.

   “Winner,” Feral said with a broad grin.

   Will didn’t have time for Feral at the moment though and he hurried over to Skemm.

   “Are you okay?” He asked.

   Skemm had mostly recovered and nodded, still rubbing her throat.

   “You did very well,” Skemm said with some resentment and aimed a scowl at Feral. “Shall we go again?”

   “Sure,” Feral said at once and he placed a firm hand on Will’s shoulder to steer him back to his place in the sparring circle.

   Will readied himself again. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest in anticipation of the sparring match. Feral had told him he would need to learn to use that energy to help him in fighting, but that it would take time, and so the best thing to do now was to just try not to let it overwhelm him.

   “Just focus on what I taught you,” Feral whispered to him and Will suddenly realized he must have been standing there frozen. Precisely the thing Feral wanted him to avoid doing.

   “Begin!” Feral called out and Will began his attack.

   Will knew not to lead with the same strike twice. Feral had drilled that into him. The second thrust Feral had taught him was not as lethal but it was nonetheless effective. The strike began much in the same way as the previous one but would suddenly dip down and, rather than aiming for the throat, would strike the leg just above the knee. Not only was that a weak point in the body but there was often a gap in any armor the opponent would be wearing.

   The strike was a feint and Skemm fell for it, guarding her throat while leaving her leg exposed. Will’s aim, however, was off and he missed. Skemm recovered quickly and in a flash she brought her stick down on Will’s, knocking it out of his grip. His hands stung from the blow but he did not stop fighting. That was another thing Feral had drilled into him; you only stop fighting when you’re either dead or safely away.

   Will sprang forward, passing one hand over Skemm’s stick to keep her from being able to bring it up and strike him effectively. His other hand reached out and clapped her hard on her ear to further distract her. His momentum carried him into her midsection and he wrapped a leg behind her own trying to trip her. Skemm was certainly surprised by this but she caught herself and began to pivot away from him. Her stick was already free of Will’s guarding hand and he knew she would strike at any moment.

   He knew he had lost the fight but he also knew Feral wouldn’t accept it if Will just gave up. And so Will pulled the short piece of wood he’d tucked into his belt before the fight and as Skemm brought her stick down on Will, he slammed the piece of wood sideways into Skemm’s chest just beneath her shoulder.

   Both Skemm and Will cried out as their respective blows landed. Will had just barely managed to impose his off hand between himself and Skemm’s strike and a large red welt was already rising on his arm. He massaged it firmly to work out the pain as quickly as possible.

   “Winner, again,” Feral said with a broad smile.

   “That was a tie,” Will said at once, “We hit each other at the same time.”

   “No,” Skemm said, still wincing from Will’s strike, the third and final one Feral had taught him. “You guarded my attack with your arm. If this had been a real fight you might still bleed out and die, but if you could get your arm properly bound and bandaged you’d have a chance to survive. I, on the other hand, would be dead in moments.”

   “Alright,” Feral crowed, “next we’ll—

   Riven rushed into camp and Feral stopped talking at once. She’d clearly been running for some time but she didn’t slow down as she began grabbing and strapping on her weapons and armor.

   “There’s a group of about two dozen soldiers moving this way,” she said in hushed but urgent tones. “They have a prisoner’s cart with them.”

   Feral and Riven shared a look and then Feral began strapping on his armor and weapons as well.

   “We don’t have time to waste rescuing prisoners!” Skemm protested but Feral and Skemm ignored her.

   “Are they still out of earshot of camp?” Feral asked Riven.

   “As long as no one starts shouting,” she replied and glanced briefly over to Skemm.

   Skemm sighed, giving up on trying to argue, and she too began to prepare for the fight ahead. She signaled for Will to do the same. He didn’t have any armor but Skemm had given him a sword and Feral had outfitted one of Will’s vests with a decent layer of padding and it only took him a few moments to put them on.

   “I thought you said they wouldn’t come this way,” Will said to Feral. One of the most powerful things Feral had taught Will was just how much he didn’t know and he was feeling particularly unprepared for a real fight.

   “I said they wouldn’t be guarding against this direction,” Feral said, “But prisoners would certainly be sent along this way since there’s no armies beside their own that would be coming from this side. The only prisoners they would be sending this way would be valuable prisoners they wanted to use for ransom. Captured generals or nobles most likely.”

   With that, Riven led the way out of camp and down into the valley. It didn’t take long for them to reach the banks of the winding stream that cut through the valley floor. A natural floodplain made the land beside the stream fairly level and clear of brush. The stream itself wasn’t terribly deep, perhaps up to Will’s neck at the deepest points, but it was wide and the shores were sporadically clogged by fallen branches and other debris.

   “They’ll be coming along this way any moment,” Riven said.

   Feral nodded and then turned to face Skemm and Will.

   “You two get up into those trees,” Feral said, pointing to the grove not too far from where they stood. “Be our archers to pick off any stragglers who try to escape. The last thing we want is for the main army to realize their prisoners have been freed.”

   Skemm had brought her own bow and quiver of arrows and Riven handed Will her set to use.

   “What about you two?” Skemm whispered.

   “We’re going to block the road,” Feral replied.

   As he and Skemm made for the trees, Will glanced back over his shoulder and saw Feral and Riven hurriedly pulling the longer pieces of driftwood out of the stream and throwing them across the floodplain.

   “Get down over here,” Skemm whispered and pulled him down into a low thicket of willows.

   Once inside, Will was surprised at how well they could still see out of the willows. They had appeared impenetrable to his eyes when he’d first seen them.

   It was only a few minutes before they could hear the approaching soldiers, marching along the hardened ground. As they drew nearer, Will’s heart pounded harder and faster in his chest. Feral had warned him that this would happen, and that there wouldn’t be much he could do about it besides just not letting it overwhelm him. He began breathing as Feral had shown him to help keep him calm; in through the nose, out through the mouth. Each breath was slow and controlled and Will felt the shaking in his arms and legs calm down as he focused on his breathing.

   “He taught you well,” Skemm murmured suddenly and she gave him a little pat on the back. “We’ll be alright.”

   Feral and Riven had just finished blocking the way when they began to, slowly, clear the path.

   “Why’d they—   “Shh!” Skemm silence Will at once and he immediately understood why. The Western Realm soldiers had just come into view.

   Feral and Riven turned to face the soldiers, their hands going to their weapons, but rather than drawing them, they relaxed. The soldiers were startled to find anyone on this path and they drew their weapons at once.

   Feral called out to them but what he said Will couldn’t be sure since it was a language he didn’t recognize. The soldiers looked even more surprised and many of them began lowering their weapons. As Feral spoke, Skemm began to translate as best she could.

   “He’s saying he was sent by the general,” Skemm whispered. “Something about scouts…they spotted the blocked path and sent them to clear it.”

   A soldier came forward, clearly the one in charge, and he spoke, though too quietly for Skemm to hear well enough to translate. Whatever he said made Feral laugh and he pulled something out from his hip pouch. Whatever that exchange was about it seemed to convince the soldier because he waved to some of his men and they began assisting Feral and Riven in clearing the path.

   “Get ready,” Skemm whispered and she nocked an arrow.

   Will followed suit.

   The soldiers were all around Feral and Riven now and seemingly without any signal from one to the other, they both drew their swords and began cutting down the soldiers. Skemm fired her arrow and struck the commanding soldier in the leg and he dropped, clutching at the wound. Will saw a soldier turn and begin to run back the way they’d come and he loosed his own arrow, aiming for the narrow strip of exposed skin on his neck. The arrow struck it’s mark and the man fell without ever crying out.

   “You killed him!” Skemm gasped.

   “I’m sorry!” Will said at once, still in a bit of shock. “I thought that’s what we were suppose to do. I can aim for their legs instead.”

   His panic was threatening to get the better of him and the last thing he wanted to do was to upset Skemm by failing in his first real combat. He nocked a second arrow and shot a soldier through the ankle and pinning his foot to the ground. His momentum carried him forward and he fell hard onto his face. The crack of bone rang out over the din of Feral and Riven’s fighting and the soldier didn’t rise.

   “I’m so sorry!” Will said again, looking away from the battle to plead for Skemm’s forgiveness. He’d really been trying not to kill that one.

   “No, no, you’re fine!” Skemm assured him quickly before firing off an arrow of her own. The shaft glanced off of the soldier’s chest plate and he called out to the others, pointing into the willows with his sword.

   Will quickly fired an arrow at him and, like the first man Will had fired at, he dropped with an arrow in his throat.

   “You killed him too!” Skemm said in surprise.

   “I thought you said it was okay!” Will cried out. He knew he was getting overwhelmed and starting to panic but he couldn’t seem to remember anything Feral had taught him anymore. He was faintly aware of the tears he had running down his face but he wasn’t able to give them much attention.

   “Did Feral teach you to shoot like this?”

   “No,” Will said, breathing more slowly and calming down enough to wipe his eyes. “He’s terrible with a bow. But he did show me where to aim for.”

   “Then how…?” Skemm trailed off as her attention was brought back to the fighting and she fired another arrow, killing a soldier who had been trying to flank Riven.

   “Archery was the only sport I was ever really good at,” Will shrugged. “The innkeeper use to make bets with visitors to see if they could out shoot me. If I won he’d give me an extra helping of dinner. They even gave me time to practice once a week. Watch this,” Will added and he nocked two arrows.

   He had to take his time with the shot, waiting for the soldiers to move into position, and then he released the arrows. Both men dropped with arrows piercing their chain mail.

   “That’s the last of them,” Skemm said after she’d recovered from her surprise and she motioned for Will to follow her back out of the willows.

   Feral and Riven were picking their way through the fallen soldiers. Riven had several additional coin pouched tied to her belt than was usual.

   “I don’t give many compliments,” Feral said when he saw them approaching, “but that was some exceptional archery.”

   “It was mostly Will,” Skemm admitted.

   “Huh,” Feral said and Will wasn’t sure if it was surprise or not he heard in his voice.

     “Now let’s free whoever these prisoners are get them on their way,” Skemm stated and it was clear she was eager to be done with this side quest Riven and Feral had dragged them into.

   The prisoner’s wagon was heavily constructed and had no windows. The only way in or out was through the small door at the back of the cart. Riven took a rock from the stream, used it to bash the lock, and then swung the door open.

   Skemm, Feral, and Riven all stood, unmoving, for several seconds. Looks of disbelief on their faces. Will was standing off to the side of the cart since he wasn’t sure how to behave in front of nobles or generals and so wanted to stay out of the way. As a result, he had no idea what it was that the others were seeing inside the cart.

   “Oh, you’re joking!” Skemm finally murmured.

   “You’re suppose to bow first,” a little girls voice replied from within, a little upset but mostly good natured.

   Feral and Riven both suddenly smiled as though they were trying not to laugh and then dipped into a bow.

   “Our apologies,” Riven said softly, “We weren’t expecting to find you here, Your Highness.”

   Will finally stepped around the cart and peered in. A little girl, a few years younger than himself and arrayed in the fanciest dress he had ever seen, stood in the dark cart.