"Get up." A harsh whisper woke Zion from his slumber on the solid forest floor. His eyes snapped opening quickly to find Xiana looking around them with a sharp look in her eyes. They seemed to constantly move around, scanning around them. The sun had still not risen yet and the forest was coated in a dark blue hue. Zion rubbed his eyes trying to get a better view of everything around him.

"What?" Zion asked sharply but kept his voice in a whisper.

"They've caught up. They must have kept moving while we camped." Xiana said causing Zion's heart to drop. He quickly began to gather his things before looking to Xiana.

"Leave it, just take the important stuff. We must move quickly." Xiana said to him before waking the others up. Within seconds they were mounting their horses leaving bedding and cooking stuff behind. Xiana turned her horse to face the others as they finished mounting. "Drago, take the lead. You know what to do should they catch up." Drago nodded in understanding before leading off the convoy. 

"There they are!" A deep voice shouted from behind them. "Get them!" 

"Move!" Xiana yelled out to the front, causing Drago to push faster through the trees. "Keep moving! Don't stop!" Xiana called out as she eyes a tree zooming towards her. She carefully stood up on her saddle and kept her balance before jumping upwards and swinging on the branch. She silently blended into the trees hiding away from the approaching mean.

She waited for them to ride by, there was seven in total. Xiana waited until the last man was about to pass under her before she dropped from the branch and landed on top of him. Xiana grabbed a hold of his head and twisted it, snapping his neck. She pushed him aside and off the horse. She reached down the saddle and grabbed an arrow from the quiver. On the other side of the saddle, a bow was strapped. Xiana grabbed the bow and placed the arrow onto the arrow rest. She pulled the string and arrow back before aiming down the arrow shaft. Within two seconds, she released the arrow. Allowing it to fly through the air heading directly for the rider at the front. 

"What the?!" A rider cried as he pulled his horse to a skidding stop. The rest of the four remaining men copied his actions. They turned around to look at Xiana who smirked, she keeps her horse racing towards them and jumped, tackling one to the ground off his own horse. The rolled for a bit before separating and rolling apart. 

"She's a Dragon's soul!" One still on their horse called.

"If we capture her the Dark one will give us a very generous reward!" Another called out quickly. They all slipped from their horses and unsheathed their swords. They chuckled with sickly grins and Xiana stood to her feet. 

"This will be fun." Xiana chuckled as she unsheathed her own sword. Xiana played around with the men before deciding it was time to catch up with the others. She made light work of the first four, killing them off within moments of each other. But the fifth was resilient, he was a lot more skilled than the others.

"Who are you?" Xiana asked him knowing full well he is no ordinary soldier. 

"My name is Crow and I am the sixth knight of the Dark One." He grinned to her. 

"Oh yes, I heard about those knights. There are eight in total is there not? So because you are number six does that mean the other five are stronger?" Xiana said trying to wind him up a little. This way his movement would be sloppier giving her an easier battle. 

"How dare you! I will cut you down and then take you back to the Dark One." He growled swinging his broadsword towards her. She dodged it easier as swung her own towards him. Crow deflected it with his sword, the metal clashed against each other echoing through the forest surrounding. They continued to throw swings at each other for another five minutes before Xiana finally saw her opening. She took a step back to prepare herself for her final blow. As Xiana went to take a step forward she found her foot would not move. She looked down to find one of the guys she thought she had dealt with, holding to the ankle, preventing her from taking a step. 

"I've got you now!" Crow called running towards Xiana ready to strike. She lifted her left foot and kicked the man on the ground in the face causing him to lose consciousness. Xiana then jumped out of the way of Crow's swing, but it wasn't fast enough. Crow's sword caught Xiana's lower stomach on her left side, cutting deep into her skin. But Xiana did not let that faze her as she twisted on her feet and shifted slightly to were she not stood next to Crow.

"I got you," Xiana whispered deeply and drove her sword through his back. Crow went silent before Xiana removed her sword and he dropped to the ground lifeless. Xiana looked down to her side and reached up with her free hand to touch it. 

"Shit." She hissed it painfully as her fingers were now coating in a layer of fresh blood. She looked up to find a horse wondering about not too far away. It was obviously one of the soldiers she had just taken care of. She stumbled over to the horse and mounted it with difficulty. 

"Come on." She whispered carefully and she moved the horse into a slow walk. The sun now began to rise up as she made her way through the forest. It took Xiana what felt like hours to get only halfway to her destination. She looked down at her wound to see it had begun to blacken in colour, the only reason that would happen was if Crow's sword was coated with poison. 

"Damn it, That's all I need." She muttered breathlessly as she continued on her way to the others. hoping she could hold on long enough to make it in one piece.