43. Ambush

"Stop," Rika almost whispered in her ears before she made a bird-like cry.

Thyra had planned to use whistles on the battlefield to send orders to soldiers who were out of her sight. She even ordered every soldier to carry a few whistles and learn signal commands.

"Wouldn't a whistle in the middle of an empty forest make the enemies more cautious?"

Thyra felt Rika's logic did make sense. So, for now, Rika was using a specific bird call to communicate with her barbarian companion, who was scouting ahead and communicating with the soldiers following them.

"What happened?"

Instead of answering, Rika pointed at the ground, then upward. Thyra looked at the ground, not seeing anything other than some dry leaves. When she looked up similarly, she could only see the cloudy grey sky through the trees.

"For once, these types of trees shade leaves only once. And it isn't the time yet." Rika grabbed a tree from the ground and showed it to Thyra, saying, "These leaves do not match the leaves of these trees."

"Oh!" Thyra quickly checked again, and it was true. The dry leaves were different from the green leaves around them. And it could mean only one thing. "Someone had brought it here. But why?"

"To set traps." But Rika quickly denied such a case, saying, "It's better to use leaves from the surrounding area. Either they are trying to hide something, or…"

It was the same bird that cried in the distance. Rika looked up, shouting, "They are running away." And Rika started to run as she let out a bird's cry.

If Thyra remembered it correctly, it was the signal for the soldiers to follow them. The bird's call came from the front again.

"There are three of them." Rika kept running, saying, "I think this place is one of the checkpoints. They might have left those crunchy dry leaves here as unsuspecting people will step on them, notifying those hiding in the trees."

"Didn't it snow last night?" Thyra frowned, feeling something was not right. "Rika, tell her to return. And tell the soldiers to be ready to fight."

Rika frowned but did as she was told. But as they were waiting for the barbarian scouts to return. The bushes around them started to shake.

"Wolves," Rika said as red-coloured energy emerged from her body.

The wolf pack quickly encircled them. There were only five of the soldiers who had joined Thyra and Rika. Although Thyra couldn't see it, she was sure the others were attacked too.

Thyra split the group of twenty into four smaller groups before heading into the woods. But now Thyra felt that it might go against them.

"Stop, don't attack. Shield up." Thyra shouted. "I will take care of them." As soon as Thyra said those words, the serpent-like lighting spread from her feet, and she vanished.

*Thunder* *Thunder*

All Rika and the soldiers could see were sparks in the forest as thunderous booms shook the ground. When this stopped, Thyra reappeared at the same spot while holding a bloody blade.

"We need to regroup first." From her voice, Rika was sure Thyra was very angry. "That bitch dares to..."

As they were talking, a body fell from the tree. It was Rika's barbarian companion.

"What happened to you?"

"They had set up an ambush." The girl said triumphantly, "I have taken care of the beast tamers," as she held up her right hand with her left.

"How many were there?" Thyra clenched her fist as she asked.

"Five. Three were hiding in the tree, and two beast tamers hid in the front."

"Did you see anyone you have seen in the city before?"

She thought for a moment before answering, "No."

"Use the potion to heal," Thyra said. As she was talking, the rest of the group returned. One of them reported that the wolves and wild boars attacked them but suddenly dispersed on their own.

"What should we do, captain?" Selda asked.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Thyra was a little confused. Her anger led her to believe that Bella had helped the bandit plan to kill her.

However, now that she had calmed down, she could think of other possibilities. It is possible that the bandits have spies among the Viscount's guard. They might have leaked about her action.

Still, such an action didn't make sense. The task would still be too laborious even if the bandits gathered dry leaves and spread them on the ground to sense their arrival. It would be less complicated to just launch a full-scale ambush against them.

"Thyra."

"Captain."

Rika and Selda called her at the same time.

"What is your order?"

"The ambush means we are on the right track. But that also means they were aware of us. So, we should…"

Suddenly the wind blew from the deep forest, bringing warmth with it. Soon they can smell and see it too.

"Fire," Selda said and *bang*

Something hit Sleda's shield, and the sound of rain grew. Soon, everyone realised it wasn't raining water but stones. "Shield up," Selda shouted.

The soldiers were like well-trained machines. They pulled out their shields and gathered together to form a turtle formation while hiding Thyra and Rika.

However, that was all. They could not escape to safety, even if they wished to do so. The circle of dry leaves that had formed a fire circle around them was something they had not noticed at first.

They were like captured beasts inside the fire circle while the bandits pelted stones and rocks at them. A few arrows also rained down from time to time.

Even if they were holding the formation perfectly, the stones were still hitting them occasionally, especially those at the edge of the formation.

"Hold the formation." Selda was shouting orders from time to time, trying to keep their morale up.

When he thought things could not get any worse, the ground beneath his feet began to shake. He looked around, trying to understand from which direction it was coming.

"Split up," Thyra shouted.

The soldiers hesitated for a second before raising their shields over their heads and retreating. However, it was a little too late.

One of the soldiers was hit by a massive ball of fire that seemingly came out of nowhere. The force of the impact launched the soldier into the air as the fireball dissipated into the trees.

And it was just the beginning. Many more fireballs came flying out of the forest. Flying wasn't the right word. Instead, the fireballs were running on the ground.

"Fire boar." Rika shouted, "They have set the boars on fire."

Thyra had read about it in the book that Hure had given her. It was a tactic used in war. However, it was surprising that the bandits used it inside the forest.

Thyra realised the gravity of the situation when she thought, 'It looks like they want to kill us even if they have to burn the forest down.'

*Bang*

The impact sent another soldier flying as Thyra yelled, "Do not fight them. Dodge the boars!"

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