Angel did not sleep long, nor well, her brief dreams were filled with flames and darkness. This was not the first time she's had this dream, though they did not come often. Never a story or a message, only heat to endure.

  The fiery nightmare was abruptly interrupted by a sharp painful crack across her forehead. She awoke to an early dawn sunrise in the woods, with a rough looking man standing over her.

  He had torn up dark leather clothes, ragged hair and an even dirtier beard. She looked to his hands and realized the stinging pain in her skull was from her new gift.

  "This’ a pretty nice stick, girl, I like it." He chuckled quietly, giving her a nasty grin. She started to rise, but the thug shoved her back down with the staff. "Uh-uh, you don't want to hurt your friends, do ya? " he nodded behind him.

  She saw both Dante and Kaiya asleep. With two more thugs aiming crossbows at them.

  A third one was aiming at her from a few feet away. Angel gave a sharp snarl towards the one above her.

  "You die." She snarled, then turned to the bowman. "Then you."

  She spun around and put all of her weight, muscle, and rage into a punch straight to the thug's kneecap, shattering it and bending his leg backwards.

  He let out a loud agonizing scream that startled everyone there. She then quickly sprang up with all her strength, barreling her shoulder into his chin, knocking him backwards into the embers of the dead firepit.

  As he fell, she snatched her staff from his hands. She spun, swinging it wide and letting it slide from her grip.

  It sailed straight into the bolt the nearest bandit launched at her. smashing them both back into the shooter's face, sending him falling to the ground as well.

  An amazed grin filled her face, before returning to rage. She then leaped towards the thug who woke her, who was trying to crawl away. She dropped her full weight onto his ribs, leading with her elbow. There were a series of sickening crunches as she impacted, ending his screaming before falling unconscious.

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  By now, the two men who were aiming towards Kaiya and Dante, had already pulled their triggers. The bolt that would have hit Dante in the forehead missed, sticking into the tree he was resting on with a vibrating thud.

  He had vanished, and in an instant, he stood between Kaiya and the shooter. Barely conscious, with a bloody bolt jutting from his stomach. The bleeding tip protruded out of his back, trembling inches from Kaiya's face.

  Dante collapsed to his knees, clutching at his stomach In excruciating pain. Unsure of how he got there. His mind ringing and his vision white as he tried to breath.

  He heard a few rapid clicks and a lot of shouting. Before his brief return to consciousness went back away, he saw a man frantically reloading a crossbow.

  As he went to aim his face dropped into surprise and then panic as a massive bull leapt over Dante and crashed into the assailant, piercing him with its horn on the way into the ground. Then Dante returned to the void.

  Kaiya yelled out, worried for Dante’s life, before turning to the last bowman. Who had realized how quickly he had been outmatched, and ran.

  Only to turn around, straight into a blade in his throat. He dropped to the dirt, lifeless. Standing in front of him was Valerik cleaning off his dagger.

  "And where the hell were you two minutes ago?" Angel asked, still furious.

  "Taking care of the other four." He replied in a melancholy tone. "They brought us a cart. Seems we were not the first they met tonight."

  He reached down and rifled through the corpse's belongings. Pulling out a small bag of coin

  and some old food, which he tossed away before walking back into the woods he came from.

  "Make sure we are alone dear, please." Kaiya asked her bull, who was still fully waking up. Xander gave an affirmative snort before trotting off. She dropped to her knees next to Dante and began to assess the wound.

  After picking him up into her lap, she found the bolt sticking from his back, and laid her hand on it, gripping the wood gently.

  "I wouldn't pull that out just yet sis." Angel remarked as she came to assist.

  "I know, “ Kaiya replied, “He would bleed out in minutes." She then brought her hand back up, holding the tip of the bolt, the wood having corroded from her magic.

  Angel noticed and became very worried. "Did they coat the arrows? Sick bastards.."

  "No, I didn't want to snap it off and hurt him more." Kaiya replied, still investigating his wound.

  "He will live, I hope. But this needs to be treated soon. I only know one person even close enough to help." She looked off into the woods towards the Norren mountains, judging the distance. “I just hope she's still alive.”

  Valerik came back saying " So, we will need something to pull the cart.." his eyes landed on Xander who was still patrolling. He then looked at Kaiya.

  "How good is he with carts?"

  Kaiya replied only by laughing.

  "Well then who's carrying him?" He inquired, mildly nodding towards Dante's body on the floor.

  She stopped laughing just as swiftly as she began. Kaiya stopped for a moment and called out to Xander. He came trotting back with a small branch of bright red apples in his grinning mouth.

  Kaiya chuckled, "He only likes red apples. Hey, help us carry him for a bit dear?" Xander snorted and lifted his head in the air deniably. The apples and leaves shaking on the branch in his mouth.

  Kaiya sighed, "There's more apples for you if you do." She said sweetly. Xander stomped his hooves and huffed for a moment before slowly walking closer, accepting the deal.

  With some help from Angel, the girls lifted Dante’s unconscious body onto the bulls' back. Fastening him the best they could with rope from the cart . Dante groaned with every few bumps.

  They quickly packed as much essentials as they could carry from the cart into bags. Then began their way north through the forest. The first cracks of light peeking over the mountains range to the north-east.