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first arrow fly.
    The Dark Rider camp came alive with the first man’s scream and men started grabbing for weapons. Their swords were useless against the incoming arrows and a few of them lifted shields. Unfortunately for the Dark Riders, their shields only protected them from one direction and their backs were vulnerable to another Ranger. As the Dark Riders continued to fall, their Commander eagerly sought a solution. He attempted to rally his dwindling number of men to make a rush in one direction. When Alex saw what the leader planned he stood erect and let himself be seen.
    Predictably, the Dark Rider Commander chose that direction to attack. Alex unsheathed his sword and leaned it against his leg so that he would be able to keep shooting right up until the time that they reached him. The other Rangers continued to rain arrows into the Dark Riders and by the time the enemy reached Alex there were only three left. Alex dropped his bow and brought his sword upward, slashing the first Dark Rider from his abdomen to his chin. Twisting to his left, Alex brought the high sword down on the second evil killer, removing his head from the rest of his body. Even as his sword was slicing through the second man, Alex dropped to his right knee and swiveled, thrusting his sword over his left shoulder to pierce the chest of the third, and final, Dark Rider.
    Alex pulled his sword free and let the man topple to the ground. “Rangers,” Alex called, “let me hear you and get a body count quickly. Be careful.”
    The three other Rangers shouted their good health and Alex wiped his sword off on one of the fallen men. He walked into their campsite and met with the rest of the Rangers. “Are they all dead?” Alex asked.
    “They are now,” Tanya supplied. “Same number of bodies as horses. A few of them needed a helping hand to make it to the next life, but they are safely there now.”
    “Okay,” approved Alex, “gather whatever supplies make sense and leave the rest. All arrows will be taken. I have a feeling we are going to need every arrow we can find before we get over the mountains.”
    The Rangers pillaged whatever they could and made their way back to their own campsite. Alex let Fredrik and Tanya go back to sleep, then turned in himself after issuing orders to wake him an hour before sunrise.
    When Alex was awakened, the whole camp was cleaned up and the Rangers were ready to leave. “We figured you would not want to stay here a second night,” chuckled Tedi.
    “That’s quite true,” agreed Alex groggily. “The problem is, where do we go? There must be more to that band we met last night than what we saw. The passes are blocked and more Dark Riders will be coming soon. They mean to contain us here until they can be sure of wiping us out.”
    “I heard you took some of the boys out to murder travelers last night,” accused Niki.
    Tanya started to verbally lash out at Niki, but Alex cut her off. “It might be time for the Rangers to learn about mountain climbing. We have only two choices, as I see it. We can continue paralleling the mountains until we reach the north coast and we can get around the mountains there. Or we must go over the mountains where the Dark Riders don’t expect us to.”
    “Maybe we can talk to them,” insisted Niki. “At least, if we talk to them before they find out you killed twenty of them, they might let us through the pass.”
    Taking his cue from Alex, Arik ignored Niki’s comments. “What do we do for horses on the other side of the mountains if we decide to climb over?” inquired Arik.
    “What if we only climb half way over the mountains?” suggested Tedi. “You said you were able to look down upon the forces in the pass. Couldn’t we attack them from above and clear the pass out?”
    “Oh, great!” exclaimed Niki. “Now you all have the blood lust and can’t wait to kill some more innocent people.”
    “That is not a bad idea, Tedi,” acknowledged Alex, “but they