What seemed to be days, was really only an hour at the most, judging from the position of the sun, hardly any movement from the beginning of the engagement. Aonghais looks around, surveying the carnage around the base of the hill they had fought around.

There were some thirty, at least, lain unmoving in the short scrubby grass, turned red with spilled blood. Of his own force, fully half had been killed, and at first glance, there were many with wounds that he could see from where he was. How many of those would die it was too early to tell.

Of the enemy, a small band had broken off towards the end of the fight, some three or four, he couldn't tell, but they had ridden off and topped the hill, disappearing over the top. Unfortunately, there were no men mounted, and the survivors were tired beyond belief, so no pursuit was sent. The fight had been savage, brutal, the effort involved in holding a charge while massed at the bottom of the hill, was enormous,and he was proud of his men that they had withstood, and finally beaten off the raiders. Failure could have been a disaster for the Tribe, to lose the Queen, her guard, and the WarChief in one minor skirmish would have been sheer idiocy.

Aonghais turned and headed for the wagon where Miranda and Ariel had moved. Both women looked bloody, whether it was their own or another's was yet to be seen. A warrior clambered into his saddle and headed off back down the road, probably to get the wagons, and those able enough to stitch any wounds that needed it. Lancelos was there, belatedly, and he looked white faced. Perhaps Miranda was berating him for leaving her when he was supposed to have been at her side...

As Aonghais limped towards them, determined to speak sharply with the huge warrior, Lancelos stiffened, looking confused, then, his eyes rolled up into his head, and he toppled over, crashing to the ground.

Miranda and Ariel dropped from the wagon, and Aonghais reached the giant's side. He was breathing still, that was something, at least. All three of them examined him, looking for stab wounds, but they found only minor cuts on his torso, certainly nothing to suggest a deep wound. More obvious was the huge gash, only now apparent because of their proximity to him. His dark hair was stained red behind his right ear, and after moving his hair, there was a large cut there. From the look of it, and the shape of the marks, he had taken a blow from a sword hilt. Evidently, he had been lucky, the Goddess was certainly smiling on him,so far. But, of course, that was assuming he was going to wake...