The carriage rolled over multiple times, throwing the occupants all around.
Ojero felt his head hit something hard and he momentarily blacked out.
When he came to, everything was still, and his ears were ringing. Jason's arms had gone limp around him, and he pried himself out of them.
His head felt a little numb, and his vision was shaking.
Slowly, his hearing returned, and he heard the distant sounds of screaming followed by the sound of wood tearing and snapping.
Stumbling to his feet, he realized the bus was on its side, the window shutters blown off their hinges and the door stuck open.
Crawling through the open window, he saw Roger lying not too far away, dirt covering his face.
He shakily pulled himself to his feet and stumbled towards the body, falling beside it and shaking it awake.
'Oh gods, what if he is dead!? He can't be dead! Come on Roger, come on!'
Holding him by the front of his shirt, he put all his strength as he rocked the body back and forth, and with a choking cough, he saw Rogers's eyes snap open.
He seemed to need a moment to focus, but once he did he looked all around.
"Ojero? What's happening?"
Realizing he didn't know himself, he took in his surroundings.
Carriages were on their sides, blown off the road, and scattered around a clearing.
Students were aimlessly stumbling around, some more wounded than others.
Screaming could be heard, most of it sounding far too young. In the far distance, he saw a green glow burst, followed by a bright red wave.
Here and there, carriage drivers were seen, drawing whatever sword or dagger they had on them.
A few figures were coming out of the nearby treeline, their steel glinting in the bright sunlight.
Looking back towards the carriage, he saw Orpham and Anastasia getting up not too far from it.
While the young woman looked fine, Orpham was covered in cuts and bruises, his body having protected her from the worst.
The light emanating from his eyes had dimmed a little, and they looked disorientated.
Grabbing Roger by the arm, he pulled him to his feet and began stumbling towards his brother, his arm weakly pointing behind them towards the treeline.
"Orpham! We need to run, people are coming from the trees!"
His brother didn't seem to hear him, but Anastasia did. Turning her head, she took in the sight before roughly pulling Orpham behind her.
Jason also seemed to have grown conscious, as his large form stepped out through the window, blood dripping down his forehead.
The distance between them and the attackers was rapidly shrinking, and their disorientation was costing them crucial seconds.
Once they all reached each other, they began to flee towards the road, hoping to escape the fight.
Just as they reached the cobbled trail, three armed men stepped out from behind an overturned carriage. Red masks covered their faces, the same color as the blood dripping from their swords.
All three of them seemed to lock their eyes on Anastasia, before rushing towards them.
Jason and Orpham stepped in front of the girl to block her, and Roger somehow dashed to the side, his wounds not stopping him from being as agile as ever.
Ojero, however, found himself momentarily frozen with fear, his brain working overtime to figure out what to do.
Before the two sides clashed, thorned roots burst from the ground and entangled the masked men.
Cuts and tears began appearing on them quickly, and as the roots tightened, they screamed out in pain.
They did not scream for long.
Landing near them with a thud, they saw the Magos that had been guarding the caravan.
His eyes were glowing a light green, while his robe was torn in multiple areas.
"Flee to the trees on that side of the road! I will hold them off from here, and meet up with you later! Hurry!"
Not sparing another minute, he pushed off from the ground, the force of it leaving a small crater where his feet were.
The roots that covered their former attackers began to twist and snap, slowly taking the shape of multiple humanoid creatures.
They looked at the five of them for a minute before one of them pointed towards the treeline.
Not needing any more reason to run, they began to half run, half hobble.
The summoned defenders flanked their group at either side, sometimes moving to help a hurt or trapped student.
About halfway to their destination, they all felt a large wave of heat explode behind them, throwing them all to the ground.
Pushing himself up, Ojero looked behind him to see the smoldering wreckage of the carriages, red flames covering the entire area.
A few figures were trashing in the heat, the fire having spread to their clothes already.
Their screams were etched into Ojero's memory.
Fear fueling him, he reached down and grabbed the nearest person he could, which happened to be Orpham, and helped him to his feet. They each helped up the next two, and by then Roger was also standing again.
The group once again set off towards the ever-nearing trees, a few of the root creatures having already made it.
Pillars of brown and a canopy of green greeted the group as shade blocked the harsh brightness filling the field, the acrid smell of smoke following them like the shadow of death.
A sudden wind hit them, making them go from hot to cold rapidly, making Jason buckle and fall to his knees. With greeted teeth, the blonde giant rose again, the golden locks finally appearing under the thinning layer of coal dust.
They moved deeper into the forest, leaving the sounds of battle behind them when a snapping sound echoed to their left.
Pausing in the nick of time, an arrow flew through the air, narrowly missing Ojero and embedding itself into a nearby tree.
One of their guardians launched themselves in the direction the projectile came from, exploding into a shield of thorny vines, blocking the two arrows that followed.
Loud cursing could be heard, followed by the thud of multiple feet landing on the dirt.
Seconds later, three more masked figures with short swords approached from their left, their expressions hidden.
The two remaining root monsters ran to meet the assassins while the group turned to the right.
The sounds of battle echoed loudly behind them as they ran.
Ojero barely had a chance to catch his breath, his mind racing.
He didn't know what was going on, but it had to do with Anastasia. The first few attackers seemed to have recognized her, that had to mean something.
To make matters worse, it seemed as though the king had anticipated this, having assigned the Magos to guard their caravan for a situation just like this.
'What the hell is going on here!?'
He was hard-pressed to think of a worse thing having ever happened to him.
Multiple people trying to kill him was not something he often experienced.
Glancing to his right and left, he saw that the rest of the group seemed to be in a worse state than he was in.
Orpham was growing increasingly sluggish, his wounds no doubt bleeding profusely. Jason seemed to be holding up well, but his head wound had to be messing with his judgment.
Roger seemed to be moving as acutely as usual, but there was a jitter to his every step, as if he was questioning his movements.
Anastasia seemed to be doing well physically, but her face was stuck in a perpetual state of dread.
They managed to move through the vegetation quickly, Orpham leading them. He seemed to know every proper twist and turn, avoiding the places too dense to move through and grabbing group members before they tripped on a hidden root or vine.
After half an hour of running, they were all on the verge of collapse. Finally taking a moment to rest, they all fell to their knees in a clearing.
Ojero panted loudly, his lungs starved for oxygen.
They managed to steal a minute of recovery before Orpham turned to them and opened his mouth in warning.
Before he could speak a single word, a large burst of aid filled the center of the clearing, blasting each of them in a different direction.
For the second time that day, Ojero felt himself flying through the air before falling to the ground and rolling a few times. Slamming into a tree trunk painfully forced the air he had just managed to breathe in, out.
His limbs splayed out and his body burning in pain, Ojero only wasted a single second to collect his thoughts before scampering to his feet and running away from the clearing as fast as he could.
He felt the wind rush behind him multiple times, but each one felt less and less powerful.
He had to be getting away.
Without Orpham to guide him, his pace slowed, and he almost fell half a dozen times.
'I bet this is how he felt when blindfolded.'
He saw the canopy of shade end in a beautiful wall of sunlight a few hundred meters ahead of him and felt a ray of hope shine through.
Maybe he would make it out of here!
However, a seed of fear joined it.
'What about Orpham and the others?'
He felt himself begin to slow and then stop, just on the border of the light.
His mind was at war with itself, and he couldn't come to a sound conclusion.
About to finally trust his instincts and move forward, he felt the dirt rumble beneath him.
His eyes widened just before the ground gave way.
Ojero plummeted into the earth.