For a moment, Lady Ellen wondered if she was hallucinating. She closed her eyes and then opened them again to confirm what she was seeing was real. An arrow had dug deep in the ground between her legs where she was seated tied to a pole.
Her next reaction was to scan the horizon, but given how pitch dark it was, she couldn't see a thing beyond the barred prison walls. Try as she might she couldn't penetrate beyond the murkiness, so she turned her attention back to the arrow.
It had dug pretty deep in the ground, showing that the shooter was no ordinary one. 'Could it be?' Lady Ellen wondered, not daring to even think it for fear of raising false hopes. She wanted to dismiss that idea, but the next moment, another arrow landed. This time, it had struck the pole she was tied to.
The arrows were coming from the left of her hence it shot through the ropes tying her to the pole. With a little tug, she was free of her bindings. She sprang into action, running to her people and cutting them free. She then instructed her people to cut others free. Just like that, the entire prison was freed.
Lady Ellen didn't know that right before Barda started shooting in her direction, he had made sure to drop any guard around who could see or hear the captives or himself as she shot.
Based on his analysis, he had a 34% chance of freeing the captives, and he couldn't guarantee the survival of more than half. After running the models, he judged the numbers to be acceptable and put his plans into action. He wasn't being callous or insensitive about life, this was war, and human life was meant to be expended.
This was a time-consuming process. They had to cut down the ropes of everyone present. To help, Barda had had to free some others himself, starting the whole chain reaction. They were deep in enemy's camp, they figured the more the escapees the more the targets to shoot at. It couldn't be helped, by the time they were done, it was already morning.
The sun rising brought a change of guards. The ones that had been watching, or were supposed to be watching should be turning in, while their replacements come over for the next shift. They couldn't on account of the arrow sticking through their brains. The day shift guards were appalled to find their counterparts dead, and all the prisoners free.
***
Daybreak brought Lady Maara and her delegation over to the Dark Flames Adventurer Team temporary residence. At the time, it was a motel located within the outer city. She had to admit that she had been looking for a reason to come out, but it would be unseemly for a princess to favor one adventurer team unduly.
Now she had an awesome reason. She was mesmerized by his ability to cause waves, but not overly shocked. Knowing who he was, she knew he would be up to no good in no time, making waves again. A genius could not be contained.
Seeing the beautiful princess, Nada could help but stare at her. The dignity and power she displayed were a hundred times more pronounced now that she was in her official capacity as a princess. Yes, she had done this intentionally, with a secret desire that would never be met. She wanted to intimidate someone, he had conveniently escaped.
Nonetheless, she derived pleasure to see her charm work on Nada, but he had been gawking at her since he met her.
"Your majesty," Nada said respectfully.
"Mister Nada," Lady Maara responded graciously.
Nada then proceeded to welcome them to the Motel's restaurant area, which served as the adventurer team's common area. There was already a table prepared once they heard the princess was coming, and they were ready for negotiation.
"Mister Nada, state your price," Lady Maara began, "I believe you are aware of the reason we came here."
"Yes, yes," Nada said graciously, "Barda and I discussed it at length, and agreed that our blacksmith will hand over the blueprint of the new steel as a sign of good faith. None of us have any sufficient clout to negotiate for it, so the negotiations will be held after the fact. We hope the good faith will be recognized during upcoming negotiations."
It was Barda who had trained Nada what to say. He knew once he left there would be negotiations. They had tried thinking of what their commander might require, but truthfully, neither one of them had a clue what was required. Nada was a blockhead, more action than thought, but Barda was entirely new to this world, he wouldn't know what to ask for. For this reason, they decided on this course of action, a way to give Tristan an advantage while still preserving their negotiations.
Barda wondered if Tristan would keep their word, but he knew that if Lady Maara had any say over the matter, they definitely would. If she showed up for the negotiations, Barda had told Nada that that was a good sign.
Lady Maara was taken aback. Did he trust her that much? She couldn't believe her heart when she heard what Nada said. The elation was even visible in her eyes as well. Looking like she had just won a lottery. From there onwards, formalities took over and the blueprint was handed over. By mid-afternoon, the Gazan training school and every certified blacksmith under Tristan had a copy, and by evening, over a thousand shields had been constructed.
Of course, Barda had no clue of this happening, for at that time he was busy running. They had run off the camp as 762 captives, but by now they were 143 of them remaining. By that time, they had crossed the treeline.
Under Barda's guidance, none of the Dark Flames Adventurer Team adventurers had fallen yet. As they ran, they could heat hounds coming fast. The damn beats barked as they led the pursuers after the hostages. There were sounds of horses and the crash of furious men rising after cornered prey.
Barda was having none of it. With his bow and arrow, he shot arrow after arrow, putting down any pursuers that got close with deadly precision. He never wasted an arrow, but soon he realized that he would be out.
Coming from Tristan, he had carried a quiver of ordinary arrows and another loaded with steel arrows. For his mission, he didn't need to use the good stuff, but he had packed them just in case, one could never be too careful. Because of that, he had had a bigger load to bear, but Barda was strong enough to handle that.
With the ordinary arrows, he had dominated the battlefield during the escape, taking down any guards that got close. As they ran, Barda had led them out of the forest, but not without taking heavy losses. As it stood, they were just glad to have escaped.
He had run out of ordinary arrows a couple of times, but given they were all over the place, he just needed to replenish. He never once fired the steel arrows since he was saving them for a special occasion.
Seeing his ordinary arrows depleted and still pursuers on their tail, Barda had no choice but to take them out. However, just before he did, he realized he had forgotten something.
"Where's your sword?" He asked Lady Ellen once he caught up with her.
"They took it," she replied. Barda could hear the hurt in her voice.
"We'll get it back, don't worry!" Barda said. The vow was meant for him as well. He was decidedly pissed off now. If he was looking for a chance to be in the game, this was it.
It was late night by the time the escaped prisoners of war got to the walls. Seeing the city, many jumped in ecstasy, squeezing whatever little energy they had left to push through till they were safe.
Everyone looked tired and haggered. All except one, the one who had rescued them. Barda led the adventurers and the commander to the residence and summoned a doctor to come and look after them. Nada and the other gathered and offered their assistance where they could.
When they arrived, Lady Maara had yet to leave the outer city. She figured that since she was here, she might as well stick around. She took the time to go and visit every dignitary in the area as the shields were being mass-produced, negotiating the price of arming them. As allies, she needed the adventurers under her also as well-equipped as her soldiers for the war to come.
It was then that she heard of Barda and the captives returning. unlike many who didn't know there were people taken hostage, as a princess, she has access to such information, and she knew just what a tall order it had been to get them free. To have them freed so easily, she could hardly believe it. She had to go see for herself.