"Don’t do it," whispered a monotone voice behind them. "It’s a trap."
Elu and Zoya turned. Michael hovered a few feet behind them, his bronze skin lit by his sword of flame.
"They have cavalry mounted and ready. They hide on the other side of the fort."
"How many?" asked Elu.
"Thirty," said Michael.
Elu looked at Yan, then at Zoya. "Maybe we should go back to camp."
Zoya narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment. "There are more of us this time," she said. "Maybe we could kill a few of their horses before we have to run."
Elu thought for a moment. He looked at Yan.
Yan shrugged and said, "I’m game. We can at least let a few arrows loose before we disappear into the woods. They don’t seem to want to follow us there."
"Alright," said Elu. "Pass the word along to the others: new plan."
When all were told, the nineteen of them crept out of the trees towards the first line of torches. A patrol of soldiers walked the perimeter outside the stockade, looking nervous and alert. They spotted the raiders almost at once, shouted something to their comrades in camp, and drew their bows.
The forest folk crept steadily forward, as if they hadn’t noticed being noticed.
Thunderous hoofbeats filled the air. Cavalry rounded the southern edge of the stockade and rode hard at the raiders.
The forest folk stopped at the outside torch ring and drew their bows. They waited until the horsemen were just in range before they let fly; they then turned and sprinted for the forest. Arrows sank into the flesh of two horses.
The horsemen let loose a volley of arrows as they closed the gap. All went wild.
The raiders were halfway to the woods when the cavalry reached the outer ring of torches. The riders didn’t stop this time. Every fifth one held a torch aloft. The forest folk were almost to the treeline when the next volley came and took several of them down.
Elu, Zoya, and Yan made it to the forest and spun around. The riders were halfway there.
"Tosah got hit!" said Yan. "I have to get him!"
"Yan!" said Elu.
"No!" said Zoya.
Yan ran twenty feet outside the trees, grabbed Tosah, and helped him limp back into the wood. Arrows sank into them both. Tosah got hit in the leg again. Yan got hit in the lung. The riders kept coming.
Michael appeared between the riders and the trees, his diminutive stature expanded to twenty feet in height. He brandished his flaming sword, fire in his eyes, and waved his hand. All the riders' torches snuffed out, leaving them in blackness apart from the light given off by the terrifying being before them. He raised an open palm and called forth blinding blue-white light and a deafening boom that left the riders dazed and the horses reeling.
The cavalry turned and fled back to camp. After a time, the forest folk crept out and collected their dead.