The Battle Against the Henchmen.

Or so they thought. On a part of the road, they came across an overturned carriage as if it had crashed. Upon detecting it, Lyra knew that something was going wrong. "Hold on, guys. Marcus, do you detect any threat?" says Lyra in a low tone of voice. "To be honest, I only detect the smell coming from that carriage, it's an unpleasant smell that doesn't let me detect any threat..." says Marcus with sweat on his forehead.

"Yeah, same here," says Rogelio. Lyra couldn't perceive anything either until she realized that her sense of smell wasn't going to indicate that there was a threat, but rather her hearing was going to detect the intruders. As in the depths of the forest, laughter approached and branches broke from all sides.

Upon noticing this, the warriors took defensive combat positions, a way in which the five could cover their friend's back. Lyra ordered them to be very attentive because they had just fallen into the enemy's trap. The five did not know where the enemies would come from, the carriage blocked the way with the horses, so they could not escape. It was then that they realized they were not only in a trap but also in a disadvantage.

Lyra gripped her sword and at any moment she was going to transform, but she preferred not to do so as it would weaken her considerably after the transformation and have other consequences that she had not yet told anyone about.

It was then that a strange creature appeared in the air, blocking the moonlight, and then landed on the ground in front of the group. It raised its head and looked directly at them to say the following: "It's a complete wonder that you're on this dark path... we can finally have dinner," said the creature with glowing eyes.

Lyra felt a strong shiver run through her, a drop of sweat passing down her forehead as she realized she had an esbirro in front of her. These animals are quite aggressive, they are the scourge of the forest and are always looking for trouble. But that was not all, as they usually are not alone, they always travel in packs to have some advantage over their enemy, and that was what appeared behind them, other esbirros that looked quite hungry and savage.

"It can't be, some henchmen. This is definitely a problem," says Alexander, wielding his weapon as soon as he sees the situation.

"Ha! That sounds fun. I eat henchmen day and night, so come all at once and I'll eat them," says Marcus, who was about to transform into a werewolf, but Lyra stops him...

"Calm down, Marcus! Don't do anything yet. We must think carefully about what is happening," says Lyra, staring fixedly at the henchman.

The whole group was a little confused by what Lyra said, so Marcus stays still and obeys what she says.

"It's rare to see werewolves so far from the pack. They are so cowardly that they can't walk without being in large groups, but tonight, you will reinforce that attitude, as you will serve as an example of never leaving if not in a pack," says the henchman, starting to laugh uncontrollably.

"That's what you think! The truth is we are not alone. We have each other, so if I were you, I wouldn't mess with us. Consider it a warning," says Lyra, threatening the henchman with her sword.

"Ha! You don't know what it means to venture into this forest. You should know that everyone knows you are the warriors who defeated the vampire clan, so there is a reward for your heads, something we will undoubtedly get," says the henchman, laughing along with the others.

" A reward? That changes the situation. Shouldn't we consider going back and bringing more reinforcements, Lyra?" says Alexander. "First, we must make it out of here alive. Then we'll consider our options," Lyra tells the group. "Ha! You're going to die right now. You'll be easy prey," says the henchman before charging at the group. Lyra smiles upon seeing the frontal attack, as she knew they wouldn't have any advantage over them.

It was a situation they had well handled as long as they maintained their defensive position. Thus, upon seeing the henchmen rapidly approaching, the five warriors took their combat positions and remained alert, not intending to move. They were passive but attentive, and they felt angry at the threat they had been presented with. Everything seemed very clear, the henchmen were coming quickly towards them, so they just had to maintain their position to confront them.

However, what they didn't expect was that another henchman would emerge from within the forest, one they hadn't counted on. This one emerged with great speed, heading straight for Marcus. He became scared for a moment, feeling disoriented, but he quickly regained his composure and defended himself from the henchman's attack with his spear, coming face to face with him.

Everyone was surprised by that attack, but that wasn't the biggest problem. By leaving their defensive position, the group became weak to any attack, not weak enough to die, but their defenses were slightly lowered. "Marcus! Watch out!" says Lyra, who was going to draw her sword to cut down the henchman. She raised it with great force, intending to cut the henchman, but then suddenly... she received a kick in her right side that sent her flying off her horse to the ground. It was so strong that she ended up several meters away from the group.

It was an esbirro who took advantage of the distraction to hit her...

"What!? Lyra!" says Alexander, who tries to shoot the esbirro but without any success as he manages to slip away as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Marcus pushes back the esbirro so that they were face to face. "Miss Lyra, are you okay?" Marcus shouts worriedly. "Yes..." says Lyra, who spits out a bit of blood. She wanted to try to get up, but couldn't, she fell to the ground again. Everyone was worried to see that, but the reality was that they were getting distracted, and the esbirros, seeing that, were already taking advantage and getting closer and closer.