The 7 thieves rushed towards the caravan, very sure of their imminent success. The squires and the merchants had done their part and were prepared. Amelia and one of the squires charged into battle riding their horses.
Amelia charged to the left flank and the squire to the right. Amelia's charge was successful as she managed to dismounted the rider on the far left. The same could not be said about the squire, who not only failed to dismount the thief, but managed to fall from his horse on the charge.
Amelia quickly engaged the fallen thief. She reared her horse while assuming the best position for her to overpower the attacker.The mace of the thin man hit the horse with force, much to Stargazer's anger. But both Solamnics stayed on top of the situation. Amelia swung her sword and hit the man on the head with the flat side of it. The man fell unconscious to the ground.
Quickly she turned to check the squire that had fallen of his horse. He was managing a difficult battle versus two thieves. She charged once more towards them and engaged one of them while the squire succeeded in a more manageable fight versus one. After these two thieves were knocked out, they Amelia and the squire rejoined the caravan where the battle was still ongoing.
The rest of the thieves had circled the caravan shooting with crossbows of their own. Frustrated about not being able to pull at least one of the carts out, they destroyed some of the wheels of two of the caravans, making it impossible for the convoy to move forwards in a while. This was a sign that if they left, they could come back with reinforcements and finish the job, at least that's what the Solamnics expected.
Uleg had hidden himself in between the cargo of his carts and managed to stay away from the main fight. The squires had put up a great fight, although the squire Armand was injured badly. He was the youngest of the squires and had proven to be very brave, but somewhat reckless.
Amelia and the other squire arrived at the caravan scene to find the cart's wheels being torn out by a thief while the other 3 circled around the convoy. One of the thieves was engaged in combat with one of the squires, while the other 2 terrorized the old man and his remaining workers. One of the workers had been killed.
Amelia stroke down the thief that was taking the wheels. The other 3 gave some final kicks to the squire Gelek while he was on the ground, and then took off stealing the horses which they managed to break free from the harnesses of the caravans.
The assessment of the damages was intense. Armand had been badly injured and even with Amelia's healing spells they were unable to stabilize, his fate would be sealed if they didn't get proper medical assistance soon. Gelek was hurt and bruised but was still standing on his own, same for the other squire. One of Uleg's workers was killed and 2 of them knocked out. At least Uleg was unharmed.
With only one horse with them, moving the caravans and the wounded out of harm's way would be impossible. There was only one course of action that Amelia could take. That was to find the closest city or village and get help, with the hopes that the thieves would not return before she did.
Preparations were made to leave the caravan as defensible as possible in her absence and rode away. Gelek had seen a small village not so far behind and it was the best bet they had, perhaps one hour away, or less if she took a route through the plains.
So she left, hoping for the best but fearing the worst...
... to be continued in Break my heart Tarsis - Part 3
