The group sat on the hill, watching and waiting. Demorac and Garel were still not back yet and worry began to set in.
“Where are they? It's been hours,” Jennifer asked.
“Be patient. Those two are the best Rangers we got. They'll be back trust me,” Arkan replied.
Jennifer heard a rustling behind her. Her heart fluttered at the thought of a barbarian behind her. She spun around to find Garel and Demorac standing before her with smiles on their face. They had sneaked out of the village and flanked the group of adventurers without being noticed.
“We found the prisoners,” Garel said.
Jennifer felt a rush of joy. “Where are they?”
“Middle of the village.”
Jennifer stood up. “What are we waiting for? Let's go save my parents.”
Arkan grabbed her and pulled her back down to the grass. “Don't get so hasty.” He turned to Garel. “How many guards?”
“Heavily guarded. At least ten barbarians that we could see.”
Jennifer started counting the group and stopped midway. “We definitely don't have ten.”
“Damn. This might be harder than I thought. Even if we're able to kill the guards without being noticed, getting the prisoners out of the village without being noticed will be next to impossible,” Arkan said.
“But we can't just leave them,” Jennifer said.
Belim laughed. “We didn't come all the way here to just give up and go home.”
Arkan nodded. “Any ideas then?”
“Attacking the village head on would be suicide,” Farondil said.
“Is there a way to sneak the prisoners out without the guards knowing?” Demorac asked.
“There's too many guards,” Belim began, “It only takes one to notice a prisoner lagging behind for the whole mission to go south.”
Garel snapped his fingers. “I got it!”
“Well spit it out. We can't wait forever,”Jennifer said.
Garel sneered at Jennifer. “We need a distraction. Get the village focused on something else. That should make killing the guards and getting the prisoners out easier.”
“And what kind of distraction are you thinking of?” Arkan asked.
Demorac grew a devilish grin. “A fire.” He turned to the village and the rest of the group looked too. He pointed to some huts in the southwestern end. “We set fire to a corner of the village. Everyone comes to help and I'm willing to bet that some of the guards will leave their post too.”
Arkan looked to the rest of the Rangers. “That sounds better than anything I could come up.”
Farondil slapped Demorac on the back. “I bet you're volunteering.”
Demorac shrugged. “Of course.”
“As good as this plan is, how are you going to escape the whole village coming down on you? They'll be hot on your trail and there's no way you can take on all the barbarians by yourself.” Arkan asked.
Demorac shrugged. “I'll be able to disappear. They won't even know what hit them.”
Arkan knew that Demorac wasn't just being overconfident. Out of the Rangers of the Dark Forest, he was the one that might actually be able to pull this off.
“Okay then. We'll wait until the middle of the night when they least expect an attack. Everyone in agreement?”Arkan asked.
The Rangers nodded in agreement.
“I'm in too,” Jennifer said.
“No way,” Arkan replied.
“You'd be safer here,” Farondil added.
“You know better than to argue with me on this. The only way I'm staying here is if I'm already dead.”
Arkan knew he wouldn't be able to stop her. Jennifer was too determined. At least he could keep her safe if she was close to him.