A rough ride ensued the following morning, uphill and downhill travel both presenting their own challenges to horse and rider alike. The bumpy terrain predictably doubled their travel time while fatiguing their mounts in half the normal time, forcing them to take frequent breaks that prolonged their journey even more. But they pressed on nonetheless.

By the time noon rolled around, the horses' hooves crunched on dry branches and fern leaves in the midst of a thicket just a short gallop southeast of the walled mining town. At the sight of an Innutukian horde sprawling across the grassy clearing surrounding the stone barrier, Tom's breath caught in his throat for a moment. He glanced at James.

"You were right all along. I'm sorry."

James visibly swallowed. "Apology accepted. But I don't think they'll be quite so forgiving."

"Likely not."

Tom sighed as he took a closer look and realized the Innutukians were now heavily armed with all the halberds, spears, and war hammers typically seen on their side of the battlefield. And they now sat atop horses covered in plates of thick metal. A few battering rams were being pulled in from the east.

Trevor dismounted his horse and tied him to a tree. The others followed suit. Then the four swordsmen crept nearer to the end of their thicket, peering through a leafy clearing.

"So, how do we tackle this?" Trevor asked.

Tom groaned apprehensively, teeth bared. "Well, we have two obstacles, at the very least. First, we have to somehow make a hole in their ranks to even get to the town in the first place. And then we have to breach the walls themselves."

"Let's back up from even that." Jay said, "We need to make sure we're focused here. We've come specifically to back up Alice Delquez if she runs into any trouble."

Trevor snorted. "And you don't consider this trouble?"

"Well, who said for certain that she's inside? She could be long gone, for all we know."

"At any rate," Tom said, "we have to get inside to find out, don't we?"

"You're right."

Tom opened his mouth to speak again, but then recoiled with a gasp when a crow swooped down out of thin air and perched on a branch right by his head. In its beak, it held a small segment of parchment clearly ripped from a larger sheet. The black bird opened its bill to squawk at the swordsmen, dropping the paper in the process.

Jay caught the sheet before it could float to the moist ground. He frowned at it for a moment. "Something's written on here, but it's too fancy for me to read."

"Let me see." Tom said, taking the paper from Jay's grasp. He glanced at it for a moment. "This is Alice's handwriting."

"Well, what's it say?"

"She says...she found the artifact she sought. And now, our 'old friend' is within the town, coaxing her to give it up. It's somewhere safe, and she says she's told the bastard nothing so far, but she knows even she has her limits."

Jay took a step forward impatiently. "Where is she?"

"She's...in the Black Tower." Tom said slowly before sweeping his gaze up to the octagonal town, with a circular tower jutting up in the middle. "Confined to her room in the top."

"That's...absolutely wonderful." Jay muttered bitterly. "How're we supposed to get in?"

"That's for us to figure out, I'd suppose. The last thing she wrote is, 'be assured Bernard will aid you'."

"Who's Bernard?" Trevor asked.

"I wish I knew."

The crow cawed loudly three times and spread out its wings in an attention-grabbing gesture.

Jay frowned. "You're Bernard?"

"Much help a little bird will be." Tom remarked with a hearty laugh. "Alice must merely be humoring us."

The crow spun around in the branch and sped off into the sky with an abruptness as if it'd been offended. After watching his flight for a moment, the swordsmen turned their attention back inward.

"Alright, we really need a plan." James said, "Standing here will do us no good."

Trevor cleared his throat. "What if we drew their attention over here in order to distract them?"

Tom frowned. "It'd be extremely difficult to convince them something over here warrants the attention of all their men."

"True, but that could be just the trick. What if they only sent, say...two, three, or four men? We could then take them on under cover of this vegetation and steal their uniforms."

Jay rolled his eyes. "Get out of fantasy land, brother. What are the odds we'd kill four men happening to fit our exact sizes?"

"Alright." Trevor, clearly attempting to veil annoyance, "Shoot down my every idea like a duck from the sky. At least I'm actually devising something."

Jay sighed. "I'm sorry. I just—"

"I've got it!" Tom blurted out, "Trevor was onto something, but it's not the men's armor we need to take. Their horses' armor, though...that will serve us well."

"That's a great idea!" Trevor said, "Because they don't fit the plates themselves perfectly to each horse, but merely have the straps adjusted to fit."

"True." Jay said thoughtfully, "But how do we make this distraction?"

Without a word, James strolled back over to their horses and unstrapped their single longbow from his own mount. After retrieving the quiver, he returned.

"None of us are true archers," he said, "but I think this could work."

Tom peered into the quiver. "Only three arrows, though. Could we really accomplish much with that little?"

"Killing them would be nice, yes, but even an arrow dinging against their armor should be a good incentive to investigate."

"That's true. So, who should fire, then?"

James laughed. "Clearly not me. I'm not even nearly strong enough."

"Don't even consider me." Trevor said, "I haven't shot an arrow in my life."

Tom slowly nodded and exchanged a look with Jay. "You're the strongest of us all. I think you should do it."

"True, but I've never practiced archery specifically. You used to hunt, didn't you?"

Tom shrugged. "I did, but that was years ago. And that was also before I became a cyclops."

"Even so, I have far more confidence in you than myself."

"If you insist. So I'll fire what I've got at them, hopefully drawing them into this thicket, where we can slay the riders and take the horses' armor?"

Jay nodded. "That was the plan."

Trevor grinned. "While you shoot, we'll find some hiding places to spring out from."

"Alright," Tom said with a nod, heartbeat spiking as he tugged at the bowstring a little bit, "Just signal me when you're all ready."

After affirming Tom, the other three swordsmen scrambled into the cover of various bushes and trees within the thicket. He waited patiently and removed an arrow from the quiver to examine it.

A few minutes later, Tom's comrades had ensconced themselves in their hiding places, and a whistle from Trevor served as their signal. With a sigh, he nocked his first arrow on the string and raised the longbow.

After offering a quick prayer, Tom pulled the bowstring back with a great deal of effort. He felt something in his shoulder pop, and the strain also crept into his arm, but he continued pulling until he'd reached maximum draw. Tom could only hold the arrow there for a couple seconds, causing him to release the arrow sooner than he'd anticipated.

The projectile hurtled through the air and across the open space with a whistle. It fell just short of his target's head, deflecting off the Innutukian's shoulder pad instead. Still, Tom heard the impact even from his distance, and the man did wince. He spun his horse about and began chattering to his comrades, pointing into the thicket with emphatic gesticulations. His comrades nodded and waved off a group of six horsemen on the edge of the formation.

The sextet broke off from the main group and galloped toward the thicket with spears pointed forward, javelins poised to be thrown, or long wooden clubs at the ready. Tom scrambled to a second shooting spot so he was out of the path of their charge, but still able to pick off two of them with his remaining arrows.

If they hit, that is.

Tom swiftly snatched his second arrow from the quiver and nocked it. With gritted teeth, he pulled the heavy bowstring back once more, weapon creaking under his fingers. Though his muscles protested vehemently, he held the tension for a moment longer than in his first shot, allowing himself to aim more accurately. He let the arrow fly.

And he missed. The projectile missed entirely, as Tom hadn't adequately accounted for his target's forward momentum. His window of time was closing, and he was down to one arrow. You have to hit at least one.

Tom placed his last arrow on the string and pulled it back again. After taking just a second to aim, he let go. With a scream, the man he'd targeted tumbled off his horse, arrow riveted between his eyes. In the process of falling, he dropped his javelin, only for it to impale his thigh upon landing.

Tom watched as the first horseman breached the thicket with a mighty shout and a dancing spear point. Jay lunged out from his hiding spot and took the Innutukian's head off with one slash. Then he dove out of the way before one of the man's comrades could trample him.

The remaining javelin-wielding horseman spotted Trevor and immediately tossed his weapon at him. A quick swipe of Trevor's longsword knocked the javelin to the ground and also put his blade in position to stab a gap in the horse's armor along its flank. Rearing and screaming out in pain, the horse bucked its rider off, giving Trevor free access to attack him directly.

In an instant, the fallen horseman's own sword was in his hand and parrying Trevor's blow. He kicked the Monteraynian back so he could rise to his own two feet. Then they engaged.

The Innutukian's one-handed weapon would have been far more nimble and effective if it hadn't been for the heavy slabs of crude metal he wore for armor, weighing him down and limiting his range of motion. Trevor's heavier longsword blade also added to the disadvantage the Innutukian suffered.

Tom snapped to attention when he spotted the remaining spearman coming about to stab Trevor from behind. He swiftly unsheathed his own longsword and dashed over, swinging at the rider to distract him. The spearman blocked, and the sheer force of his momentum through the weapons' connection threw Tom back.

He crunched down in the leaves and twigs of a dry bush, wincing at the ripping sound behind him and the prickling sensation in his back. Then his eye widened at the approaching thunder of a horse in full gallop. Tom threw himself into a roll to evade the trampling hooves, only to come to a stop in another horse's path. He threw himself into a clearing between two trees, crying out when his head hit one of the trunks in the process.

Tom clutched his throbbing head and glanced about, grinning at the impressive sight of James leaping out from cover and yanking the spearman off his horse by his weapon. The man grunted upon hitting the ground. He tossed a dagger up at James to buy himself some time, but a quick jerk of his sword batted the smaller blade to the ground, and then he rushed forward to stab through the man's exposed bicep.

After giving James a quick nod, Tom dashed out to assist Trevor, only to find he had already slain his opponent. Only the two club-wielding horsemen remained. Tom and Jay drew together to make a visible target for the riders to aim at while James and Trevor snuck off through shadowy sections of the thicket to ambush them.

In predictable fashion, the riders charged at Tom and Jay, swinging heavy blows of their clubs down. Both ground-bound swordsmen dodged and watched as the horsemen galloped on into the trap.

James lunged out from his hiding spot just after the horse had sped by, and with a well-aimed swipe of his sword, he tore up its hind legs just before he hit the ground and rolled. The stallion tripped with a cry of pain and tumbled to the ground atop its rider. The club fell from his limp hand.

Tom glanced up just in time to see Trevor stumbling away from his intended target with an agonized face and a hand on his ribs. The rider had a clear shot now to exit the thicket and give a report to his comrades, but it was clear the pride swelling in his heart prompted him to finish Trevor off first.

Tom dashed forward to help his friend out, but Jay ran much faster. Just before the blunt club head could hit his slow-moving brother, Jay tackled him, an evasive maneuver that proved effective, if not a bit uncomfortable for both men.

Now the horse barreled toward Tom. With a resolute face, he stood his ground until the last second. He side-stepped just in time, and the club whizzed by his head. Just before the rider exited range, Tom swung his longsword blade down and removed the hand holding the blunt implement. With a splash of blood and an earsplitting scream, the Innutukian let go of the reins, allowing the startled horse to go wherever he wished.

The horse, having no regard for its rider, sped right under a thick branch jutting into the path. The bleeding horseman's face hit the bough with all the force of a blacksmith's hammer, and he made an unwilling backflip out of the saddle. As if to spite him, the fall caused him to drop headfirst and snap his neck.

Tom shook his head at the gruesome sight before heading back over to the Martin brothers. Jay was helping Trevor up carefully with concerned eyes, while Trevor's features only conveyed pain.

"Are you alright, brother?" Jay asked.

Trevor nodded with a grimace. "Nothing that won't heal with time."

"Alright, well, let's round up that horse armor, then."

With that, the four swordsmen split up. Trevor stooped down to strip the one fallen horse of its armor while Tom, Jay, and James hopped onto their own mounts to hunt down the others that had escaped.