The patrol stopped to rest for a moment. The soldiers looked wearily at the forest to the east.
"You see any wolves, Zak?" asked Jeb.
"Sure don’t," said Zak.
"No birds? Bees? Flaming skulls?"
"Nope," said Zak. The men chuckled.
Arrows tore into the group. Jeb found himself with an arrowhead sticking out of his belly. Zak took one in the leg and one in the shoulder. Another got off with a glancing shot, but the other two got hit in major organs and fell.
The men looked outward, frantic. They saw a group of savage-looking men — and one dark woman — kneeling in the space within the first ring of torches. They had crawled forward through the tall grass to avoid detection. They raised their bows again.
The soldiers shouted the alarm and readied their own bows. They exchanged a volley with the others, to no effect. At the sound of activity within the camp, the raiders turned and fled to the woods. The soldiers fired a few rounds after them, but hit no one.
Upon entering the wood, the forest folk stopped and looked back. Horsemen with torches rode out of the stockade, but seemed shy about leaving their ring of light. None came within an arrow-flight of the forest.
Elu looked at Zoya. Zoya grinned. The seven of them melted back into the wood.