As the sun was setting, the caravan stopped for the night. The andventurer, Frank, talked to the other adventurers and the 2 guards from the nobles. Even though they agreed to be more caucious and expect an attack, there was still some uncertanty.
"Are you sure about this? I mean, you said, he's just a kid." One of the guards asked.
"I don't really know, but something about him, makes you want to believe what he says. I don't think he could tell a lie that straight forward." Frank answered.
"I agree. I think we should all stay alert tonight, and focus on the archers and the swordsmen. I don't know if we have anyone capable with dealing with the mages, since they have further range than anyone." This time it was the adventurer that had been with Frank when he talked to Luke earlier.
"Think the kid up and ran?"
"Nah. From the way he was acting, I'd say, he's out there right now. He's got his own plan, I just don't know what it is." Frank may have been putting to much faith in a kid he didn't even know, but somehow, he just felt it.
They setup camp the sameway they did the night before. This time, the sleeping shift just got into position as if they were going to sleep. However, they were armed and ready to go as soon as anything started. Frank happened to be a decent swords man, so he opted for the area behind them. He would do better, one on one with the swordsmen than he would anyone else.
Henry, his wife and kids, were tucked into the wagon. The anticipation was keeping them awake. He told them about Luke and his observations of the bandits, and also what Frank told him about Luke disappearing to possibly do something about the bandits.
"I'm worried about that boy. Shouldn't they have stopped him from going? You said he looked to be Reggie's age didn't you? Thats far too young to get involved with bandits." Frank's wife Emelda complained to him.
"It'll be ok, dear. Just stay calm and keep the kids calm, too." Frank responded.
Inside the noble's carriage, a man and woman discussing the situation as well.
"Do you think these adventurers will keeps us protected? We should have brought more of our own gaurds, like we normally do." The woman showed how nervous she was. "And Jeremiah said that it was a young boy who spotted the badits in the first place. And then he disappeared, to supposedly do something about them?"
"He said that the adventurer, Frank is putting a lot of faith in that kid. I don't know what he could possibly do, but as long as our guards and these adventurers take care of this, I don't really care." The man answered, but even he, had some concerns about a young boy being involved in this situation.
Another person was pretending to be asleep in the carriage, while listening to the two.
It was about 2 hours after everything went quiet in the camp. Some of the watchmen started to thing this whole thing was nothing but a kid playing with them. However, the arrow that embedded itself a few inches from one of the adventurers head, brought everyone's attention to their surroundings. The adventurer had been laying against the merchants wagon, he was one of the second shift that was pretending to be asleep. After jumping up and letting out a sharp whistle, which was they're signal that they were under attack, he moved behind some cover trying to find where the arrow came from. As a couple more arrows came in from the darkness, two of the other adventurers and himself, located their targets. At the same time, the 3 swordsmen came charging in from the opposite side of the camp, and one of them was heading straight towards Frank.
Frank had already drawn his sword and was now using it to parry the first attack. He shifted his body immediately after and brought his sword back towards his opponent, but was blocked by a sword. Then he had to side step to avoid a kick, but got lucky that the kick took the swordsman off balance, as he was expecting it to make contact. The butt of Frank's sword did make contact however, with the back of his head. After stumbling, the swordsman, quickly turned back to Frank, but he was too slow, as Frank brought his blade down across his shoulder.
Looking to his left, he seen another adventurer, standing over another swordsman. On the other side, the 3rd swordsman was losing his fight with one of the nobles guards as well.
-=BOOM=- a loud clapping sound and a flash of light echoed from the trees on the west side of the road. Quickly followed by some shouts and another couple of flashes of light. Then a fireball the size of a basketball, flew up into the air, angled towards the south side of camp, where the other adventurers were still dealing with the two remaining archers.
With the light of the fireball illuminating the area, the last 2 archers fell. One to a crossbow bolt and the other took a throwing knife to the throat.
The axeman had come out of the trees and crossed the road, right before the fireball had been sent into the air. He had been intercepted by the other noble guard, but he was pushing the guard back, as he did not have any experience against axemen. Luckily though, one of the adventurers managed to get to him before he was overwhelmed, and the two of them put an end to the axeman.
After everything had gone quiet again, nightwatch slowly regrouped back at the west side of the camp. Remaining quiet, they listened for signs of any other enemies that might still be around.
"There's the kid." One of the adventurers pointed.
The slim hooded figure made his way out of the trees and toward the camp. He waived his arms to show it was all clear on his end too.
Half the night was already over, but everyone was informed the trouble was over. The bodies were dragged a little way back up the road and after their belongings and identification cards were removed, they were burned with fire magic. It was common to keep the belongings of bandits when they were defeated, and if you turned in their cards, you could collect any bounties that they may have had.
It was decided by the noble and merchant, that they would get a later start in the morning to make up for the late night. It was not worth traveling with exhausted escorts if a few hours delay would solve the issue.
The two noble guards, Frank and the adventurer that was always with him, stood by the wagon where Luke was preparing his pallet.
"So, you handled the two mages on your own?" Frank asked what they all were thinking.
Luke nodded, "I figured they would be the biggest threat. It took me a while to get close enough to them to be able to be able to catch them off guard.
One of the guards shook his head, it was the one called Jeremiah, "I don't know if your an idiot or if you actually know what your doing, but thanks for your help anyway."
Frank patted Lukes shoulder, then said. "Get some rest if you can, we'll head out 2 hours late, but we will try to cover the same amount of ground."