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It didn’t take long for him to reach the outskirts of the ambush site, where he sped up his pace. He didn't have the luxury of time, and there was little of that already; he’d better figure out if their target were even going to arrive as he smoothly dropped down to the thick foliage farther up the road to seek it out, his long bow gently placed beside him, ready to be used if required. The veil of night gently crept upon him, making it harder to find anything; his eyes were slowly adjusting to the change, and he was used to it anyway. Even though he knew better than relying only on his eyes, his other senses would aid him in his hunt. The Ranger slowly closed his eyes and let his body become one with the ground he lay upon. Many sounds of the forest could still be heard, the birds chirping their songs, the wind gently blowing upon the greenery, and everything else. He tuned out each one to find what he wanted to hear most. All became still, and all was consumed with a silence that would make anyone think they were dead, only to be suddenly broken by a faint disturbance only he could hear that brought him back to the world of living with urgency.
However, he was hoping for the sound of wagon wheels or horses. Instead, they were hooves breaking the silence, but it wasn’t that of a horse or even a deer since neither of them walked on their hind legs. The disturbance was coming no farther than four feet before him as the sound of grass and fallen leaves being stepped on kept his focus directly toward its origin. It did not seem to notice him as this unknown interloper casually went about its business, not even bothering to hide its presence. Unsurprisingly he knew what it was and that its very presence could put them all in danger if it spotted them.
But why it was here was something that he didn’t have time to find out at the moment as trouble could arrive if it cried out to alert the rest of its herd nearby. With the utmost care, he quietly unsheathed his hunting knife from his belt, ready to draw blood should they come any closer to him. It would be too difficult to draw his sword in his position or his bow in such a confined space. The knife would suffice for this stealthy incursion. It was often his first goal to avoid bloodshed; spirits knew he was bathing in enough of it, yet he was charged with lives to look after, and in the wilds only had one rule that all creatures followed, survival by any means. However the kill would be quick and painless, it was the least he could do for this unfortunate creature. It didn’t take long for the worst outcome to arrive as the interloper continued to casually walk closer to his hiding place without stopping as it was almost on top of him and a cloven hoof was a few inches near his face.
Slowly looking up, he could see amongst the shrubs a slightly obscure Satyr looking around wearing only a loincloth around its waist. What little light glimmered in the dying hour revealed long brown wild hairs that went in every direction on its body, oblivious of the danger hidden in front of it. In its left hand a worn wooden club that knew hardship over the years. It was just looking around as if looking for something or someone as it sniffed the aired to in Carne’s direction, which could be a problem as its sense of smell was that of any animal, especially when danger was near. However, it would be impossible to pick up his scent being masked with dirt and other odors that keep him hidden. His dark green camouflage cloak added to his concealment, blending in with the forest floor as he played the part of the lush and condensed ground around him. It was clear that this would be an easy kill to make. With a sudden burst of speed, he snatched one of its hooves and sprang from his hiding place, making the Satyr lose its balance as its leg was lifted up into the air, then tackled as it was forced to the ground like a predator upon prey. It was left disoriented from the suprise attack before realizing what was happening. Carne with his body pinned it to the ground covering its mouth with his hand to ensure it didn’t call for help. The Satyr instinctively began to struggle to escape Carne’s grip, unable to free itself from the overwhelming weight pinning it to the ground, instead reaching out with a free arm to grab the club it dropped in the fall being only inches out of reach, only to suddenly stop, fear overcoming it's senses as it stiffened at the knife’s cold metal against its throat ready to draw blood like any hunter going for the kill. Yet when the heat of the hunt end, hestation came to halt the instinct to kill at the sight at what he had captured.
Carne was met with surprise at what he saw, hesitating to slide the blade across its exposed throat. Looking past its goat-like facial features all he could see was a young child, or a kid in this case! Seeing the kid here by himself was strange as Beastmen kept their young close for protection. Yet it looked like it was prepared to go into battle, spiral war paint covering its fur and face. It appeared to be a young male who just reached puberty as his horns seemed to be growing, not yet reaching full size. He could see the fear in his goat-like eyes as he stared back with his own. He most certainly thought death was upon him at that moment, but Carne didn’t want to kill a child, he would never stooped to that level, let alone one barely of age even if it wasn’t Human. Letting him go was a problem; they would be exposed, a fight with a Satyr herd was not an option. While a single Satyr were not the most dangerous, they made up for it in their large numbers. He began calling back to his men in birdsong to at least warn them of the looming threat. A few moments later they responded the same, acknowledging the message, with silence returning. As he looked back to his captive, his ears began to hone as new sounds in the distance he was looking for, it was only that the situation was spiraling out of control as he heard the familiar sound of crunching horse hooves and grinding wagon wheels hitting the uneven road.
“Damn it all.” he cursed under his breath. The Satyr seemed to notice it too, his eyes began staring in the same direction as Carne’s. In a few moments, he could hear the wagons being pulled by two horses, each traveling up the road as they began to become louder and louder as they road over anything in their way. He then saw something on the moving side of them he was surprised to see: an armed escort of riders and foot soldiers marching alongside them, and a good amount of them at that as they kept a close marching formation. He didn’t expect to see this for a simple supply caravan that only needed a few guards, meaning that the empire was facing desperation or there was something of value they were not risking to lose. From their armor and weaponry, they were not from the legions, mercenaries perhaps; it didn’t matter who they were at the moment, only that it would be more challenging to get these wagons now.
He had to return to the others to prepare for the ambush quickly to deal with this sudden change. He raised his free hand and extended his index finger to his face to make the Satyr stay quiet as he removed the knife from his throat, letting the Saytr go, seeing that they would both be killed being now in the open if they stayed like this. It didn’t take a few moments for a goat-like cry to come out of the kid’s mouth, only to be stopped as quickly as it began as the hilt of Carne’s knife swiftly hit the temple of his head, leaving it out cold on the grassy ground. He figured the kid would try to call for help; the young often did stupid things like that. He catiously looked around to make sure no one heard it, everything remained still, and it seemed that the trap would still go according to plan. As he made his way back he grabbed his bow, dragged the Satyr with him as carefully as he could, and was placed in some tall grass away from the road so he wouldn’t be seen. If the Imperials discovered him it would not end well for him and they would be alerted of possible dangers ahead, he was fortunate that he found him instead of them. His herd would find him unharmed as soon as the fighting was over, but finding a Beastman out here still troubled him though. The Beastwood was quite the distance away, but it is not uncommon for them to migrate out of it when food was scarce, especially at times like these. But something still seemed off about it and paused for a moment to get his thoughts in order until he realized something that was off, the Satyr was armed!
Satyrs were known for their passive nature, preferring to avoid fighting most of the time, but when they had weapons on them, that could only mean one thing: they were on the warpath. The kid was a scout waiting for the same thing they were going after, the convoy! He knew the signs and hastily looked around him and kept moving faster to warn me. He was struck with stupidity to how visible they were around him, being too focused on the convoy to even realize it before, some trees covered with deep scratches from horns and hoof imprints scattered about the ground in several places, at least three different types from the size and how deep the indentations they made in the soft ground under him. Two ambushes that were utterly oblivious to one another attacking the same target and if ,he didn’t do something about it would end up as a bloodbath for them. There was no way to avoid a confrontation with the Beastmen, being caught in the crossfire didn’t mean anything to them seeing that they considered all Humans their enemies. He quickly began making another birdsong but with a sign of stress to it. Once it was heard, Rangers near him began to move from their concealed positon to move out, passing the singal down the line to their comrades of the danger. When it reached Landon and Twig, the old veteran reacted much quicker than the inexperinced pup and got an arrow out of his quiver to ready his short bow, as he repositioned himself to stand up, rebalancing himself on the branch he was once sitting on.
“What is it?” Asked Twig with a curious look. Lacking the understanding of why everyone was leaving their positions. “Trouble, that's what, and it's best we get out of here before we get caught in the middle,” Landon replied, grabbing a torn piece of blue cloth and tied it to the end of the arrow and, with a steady aim, fired it across fading light to the other side of the road where the others were positioned. The still treeline instantanoiusly came to life as movement could be seen acorss its lush greenery with Rangers hurriedly moved out of their hiding places. Landon was not too far behind as he climbed down the tree. “You wanted to see some action, boy; you asked for it, but not the stuff you wanted.” He said as he was climbing down hastily as if he was a young man again. Excitement and dread filled Twig’s stomach as if he had gotten cramps again from the bad meals he had to eat back at camp. He didn’t fully understand it, but if someone like Landon was booking it, it must mean they're in over their heads. Cursing under his breath, he began to follow him as best he could despite his legs not being fully awake, and he almost lost his grip while trying to climb down, instinctively latching onto the tree to regain his grip on the rough bark. Why was it always harder to get down from things instead of going up them, he thought to himself. By the time he reached the solid ground, Carne, Landon, and several other Rangers wearing various shaded cloaks of brown and green kneeling underneath the tree, talking urgently in their voices. With him rushing over to understand the severity of their situation.
“What’s going on?” He asked. “Beastmen, that's what.” Replied Landon. The excitement was gone, and now the dread overcame him, and he could see it in the others around him, even from Landon and Carne. “What do we do then?” he asked .“The ambush is off, but were not leaving empty handed,” said Carne. “There's a war party down the road from here, and we don’t have numbers right now.” “Anything that manages to break through belongs to us.” "What about the equipment?" said one of the other Rangers. “Take only things that won’t slow you down, the rest doesn’t matter.” He looked towards the men in front of him with seriousness as he prepared to task them for their survival, “Fen and Torven, head over to the back of the line, tell them the situation and prepare for retreval.” He said with haste in his voice.” A dark brown and light green cloaked Ranger hurried off as ordered, and both vanished like ghosts through the brush behind them. Carne looked toward Landon next for his experience was need to ensure that the men stayed in line, “Landon take Twig and Joff acorss the road to flank any stragglers the make it through, I’ll flank from this side for anything that comes this way.” It was a simple plan really, yet they really need was someone to break throught the ambush to collect what goods they could bring back with. Landon gave a brief nodded and took his men as both groups repositioned themselves across the empty dirt road to attack and hopefully execute their escape route. In any other situation they would have cut their losses and run, knowing all too well that the risk outweighed the reward, the only problem was that everything to them was risky, there was no way to avoid it. Scavenging off the carcass of this bounty was only thing between life and death now.
Darmek was anxious when he heard the sound of horses coming near him. The towering Minotaur was laying low to the ground behind some bushes on one knees with a few of his herd brothers to avoid being seen by their own hulkng sizes preparing to strike when the Humans were close enough to their position. At his sized was his over sized warhammer stationed on the ground as he held the handle tightly in his iron grip in anticipation for the battle ahead. When one of the Satyr herds asked them to join them in their war party, he was a bit skeptical of the whole thing. He had known a few of them over the years, considering them only grass grazers that preferred to dance and mate with one another every chance they got. They were even from the Long Horn herd of all things, most of them preferred to make friends with the other herds rather than fight them for grazing grounds. For them to actually go on the warpath seemed like something out of a ancient tale told by the elder Grey Horns.
They were drunkards most of the time on that wine they managed to make from wild berries. It was good stuff though too since they traded with his herd for food once in a while, a few pots worth could knock even a Minotaur off their feet if it was strong enough. But when he looked in their eyes, he could see anger and desperation mixed together, something that was rarely seen from their usually joyful mood. They spoke of how their people were beginning to starve, they had begun their seasonal migration in order to prepare for the cold season. However when they came to their ancestral grazing ground, much of it was picked clean. To their shock, Humans tresspassers had taken their food without hesitation of the consequences, killing anyone of the Saytrs even came close to them. Most of the hairless rodents knew better to take from the herds, but to kill without hesitation was unheard of, the forest dwellers stayed away from them as much as possible, same with the ones that live in the open lands outside of the forest.
Both groups never resulted to bloodshed unless the herds or the packs tresspassed on their lands. It was due this that both sides, stayed where they belong. However, for many seasons now, men clad in metal from the north beyond the forest boundaries began to migrate to the south, in far greater numbers than he had seen in his life. The Humans rarely travel this much through the forest this way and just did as they pleased during their travel, stripping everything clean from thw woodland that was of value and leaving nothing in return to bring new growth. Even his herd had fought some of these trespassers from time to time because of their arrogance. The Long Horns sought the strength of his herd, the Thunder Hooves to stand a chance against their metal-clad men, considering they only had clubs and threw rocks at them. None of them were scared enough to be chased away by their numbers and aggression and continued to move south.
Darmak did not know why this migration was continuing far longer than then it should, Many seasons before this, the northerners came by the thousands, all of them armed to the teeth as they went through it, only knowing that they were on their own warpath. He was not there to truly witness it all, but all he knew was that the Humans of the south clashed with them constantly. Even in this wild place, they called home they fought on as their blood covered the rich earth and their bodies feed the scavengers. Even in the time of the black sun they fought, with some of his herd to take some of their lives for tresspassing on their lands. He had his shares of battles with many, but never did he think that such death could be possible between those of their own kind. It was all the more reason to stay away from them so long as they keep their distance from his herd. Now those seasons have passed and the bloodshed has between the north and south seems to have ceased, yet their migration continues and their slights can no longer be ignored. They have spilled the blood of his kin and countless other herds, what was worse was most of the animals had been scared off because of it, even the Wulver packs were forced to move away from their hunting grounds in search of prey. As the leader of his herd, it was his duty to protect them and to do so was to join them in thier fight with these tresspassers. The Humans needed-, no had to be stopped, with the only language they knew, a show of strength. To be reminded why they never traveled through these wild lands. It did not matter how much blood was needed to be spilt, he would continue to do so until the only Humans he saw left were their bones scatter across the earth as a warning to all who came after. To ensure that this would come to pass, a dozen of his finest warriors would join him in the charge in this ambush to crush their foes into dust beneath their hooves. They, however, were not the only ones to join them, as he looked to gaze upon several Centaurs standing high on a hill away from them. How the Long Horns managed to convince them was beyond his reasoning, yet they were a welcomed sight, especially knowing that the Swift Winds Herd knew the dangers of their common enemy. Their archers would be of great aid in attacking them from a distance and their spearmen would ride down anyone in their path.
It had been ages since a war herd like this was seen together, and they would put it to good use with more than two hundred strong in total. “Be ready now my brothers, the time to strike is at hand,” he said to his brethren. Those around him were eager to strike as their foes began slowly passing by, unaware of their presence. When a Saytr pathfinder discovered a group of them coming by one of the abandoned pathways, they rallied together as soon as they could to strike at them. Their moving wooden huts were carried by dumb beasts and were filled with many useless trinkets, yet the possible food they held would be a great boon once it was divided to feed all herds present. It was fortunate for them that the Wulver were not invited, he never trusted those carnivorous savages at all, their hunger for meat would have just got in the way of everything. He wouldn't put it past them to eat some of them during the fighting or even take their fallen as payment. Not long before the warm season ended, they the Thunder Hooves’ grazing ground in the dead of night, only to be driven back into the darkness the emerged from, but not before claiming their prize in the form Darmek’s herdsmen with those slain being dragged away into the dark to be feasted their wolf like attackers. He vowed vengeance upon their attackers, however, that would be a debt to be paid later, as another was about to be repaid tenfold. All that was needed was the signal to . Strike down their foes as a Saytr scout up the road would begin their battle.
Yet many moments had passed with no signal given to beginas their enemies continued to travel on their way, not knowing their danger. “Come on, what taking them so long, they are right there in front of us.” said one of the Minotaurs next to him. “It is better to catch all of them than just some of them.” Darmak replied, “This will both be a show of force and a need for survival.” “ The Rats will learn to keep away from our lands and we will take what is rightfully ours as well, so be patient.” he said with a stirn look“ Your taste for blood will come soon enough. The other Minotaur nodded towards him and remained quite as he prepared for the signal to be given.. He could see many of the wooden huts go by with many of the metal-clad men alongside them. They did no seem much, yet they were armed to fight anything in their way, even with the Satyrs and the Centaurs beside them, There would be some losses on both sides, hopefully not too many of his herd brothers. The night’s arrival had helped them hide all the easier; while they would have trouble seeing in the dark, they had no trouble. Yet something seemed as if no signal was given, with every fleeting moment only ruining their plan the more they moved away. The ambush would fail to meet a decisive blow if they waited much longer. He didn’t put it behind him that some of them were drunk at the moment since they were not expecting to attack, but if that pathfinder were, he would make sure he paid for his incompetence by being crushed with his hammer. With every moment that passed, the caravan moved farther away with no change, which only made his anger grow with him just about to burst. He rose for his hiding spot, lifting his warhammer with both of his muscular arms, the time for waiting was over. “Damn those stupid goats,” he growled as he let out a mighty roar. His warriors followed his example, let out their battle cries, and charged down the hill together as they headed toward their goal. The Saytrs near Darmek were caught off guard by his actions, only to regain their bearings and begin to charge down, following the example of the Minotaurs. It did not take long for the entire hill to come alive as Beastmen started to spring out of the greenery as if they were a part of it. As they ran towards their destination with weapons drawn and cries of battle filling the once si down below, they were startled when they heard the roars and looked up at the Minotaurs coming down towards them. Some were stunned in place by the sudden appearance of the attackers, while others tried to run to their huts. It was futile as the first few to reach them were quickly cut down as they tried to raise their swords against them. As many of them tried to get into formation they soon heard yelling and what Many of the wagon’s drivers tried to get their startled horses under control and those who did began whipping their reins to urge them to forward as fast as they could. A group of the legionnaires managed to form a shield wall just as Darmak was about to reach them, hoping to hold him back. But then he raised his hammer, though made of stone and wood, it was as long as a full-grown man and the stone was larger than anything that any man could hold. With a vertical swing, the hammer shattered the legionary’s shield that was protecting their left flank and went crashing into him with a loud crack. The force sent him flying, along with a few of the men fighting next to him. The shield wall was all but gone and those remaining were dazed and trying to get back up. Darmak gave them no time as he raised his hammer high and brought it crashing down on one of them, who tried to use his rectangular shield to stop the blow. It only resulted in the shield shattering and blood and wood flying through the air as he let out another roar. The fighting around him soon covered much of the caravan.
Carne heard the fighting from down the road and prepared himself for anyone who managed to get out of that slaughter. Though they were not going to get as much as they were supposed to, it was better than nothing at least. In the way they have been living for the past few years, they might as well count their blessings when they got them. He and everyone with him were eager to get back home and the sooner they had ground between them and the Beastmen the better as they did not have the numbers or weaponry to face them. They were lucky enough that they weren’t spotted by them or things would have ended quite differently for them. The sound of several pairs of hooves and wheels coming their way, which surprised him a little, he figured one or two would escape the attack, but not this many. The Satyr that he encountered must have been in charge of starting the attack. He put that thought aside for now and readied himself for the grab, but he had to stop those horses first as they were going too fast to grab onto the wagons. As the first wagon drew near he let out a howl that almost matched the sound of a wolf and many of the other rangers joined him. The horses being already startled, once more stopped in their tracks stopping the wagons and all the ones behind it as they sprung from the bushes and descended upon them like a pack of wolves themselves.
The drivers were easy to dispatch as they were either thrown off before they realized what was happening or shot with arrows when they tried grabbing their weapons. Considering that the drivers were nothing more than hired support instead of the military made it all the easier to grab a hold of the wagons. But as Twig got into the back of one of the wagons, he was in for a surprise. As he entered he felt his legs fall from under him and hit the floor. “What in the hells?” he looked up to find himself surrounded by chained men and women that looked more frightened of him than he was of them. When he tried to get up, a young woman wrapped her arm shackles around his neck and began strangling him, while the others around him began grabbing at his weapons. He reacted by grabbing his danger and frantically trying to hold them back all the while struggling for air. Then Landon showed up with a few other rangers. They quickly drew their bows at them. “Let him go now or will start dropin ya.” He yelled at them. Everyone chained stopped what they were doing and the woman stopped giving Twig a moment to get out her stranglehold on him and began gasping for air.
Landon and the others pulled back their bows and drew their blades and got on. Though it was a little crowded for them, the wagon was large enough to fit at least twenty people and there were only twelve when they entered. Landon pulled Twig towards him to get away from them. “Thank you, sir,” he said with a rasp in his voice. In response to that, Landon just punched him in the head. “You idiot, you wait for us when clearing a vehicle or building, you should know that by now.” He was placed at the entrance of the cart rubbing his head. He then heard a twang near him and saw an arrow hitting a wooden beam of the wagon rather than the back of his head.
“Can we get the hells out of here, I don’t feel like dying right now.” He and Landon looked out to see a few Centaurs running at full speed at them and letting loose arrows at them. “Move out now,” Landon shouted and the wagon suddenly jolted as it moved with speed. Everyone else had seemed to have a head start on them while they were busy and were now trying to catch up with them. The Centaurs fired a few more shots at them but had given up chasing them as they got farther away from them. Instead, they began descending on the drivers that were still alive and mercilessly cutting them down as they fled. Twig just let out a sigh of relief when looked back out to see no one was chasing them, only seeing the woman who tried to strangle giving him a cold stare with her piercing blue eyes. Which made him awkwardly look away from her and look at Landon had a dagger to one of the chained men so he didn’t try to do anything funny with him. Things were tense throughout the wagon and no one seemed to be willing to talk.