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– God, there are hundreds of them, – said Arthur, looking up.

– This hollow will be our grave, – Edward said grimly, brushing a strand of blond hair from his sweaty brow.

– We will fight as long as we can raise our swords, – Raven ordered.

And then a horde of animals leaped from the peaks at the people. The clang of teeth, the clang of steel, and the neighing of horses rang out. The young warriors quickly became isolated and fought off the predators, unable to help each other. Robin managed to deal with a couple of wolves, stabbing one with a straight blow and cutting the other, but two more jumped on him immediately. The last of them knocked the sword out of his hand. The king dodged the beast, trying to reach for the weapon, but it was already clear that the second jump of the predator would be fatal for him. He was staring unblinkingly into the eyes of his death when something whizzed by a centimeter away, and the wolf vanished into thin air, as did the next five. The same fate befell the predators attacking the lords. The young men looked back and saw Anna, climbing up on a high boulder, shooting with a bow, hitting targets with incredible speed. The sight only disconcerted the king for three seconds, after which he grabbed the glittering sword and charged into battle. Heart-rending sounds came from the lowlands. The King's horse was torn apart by the beasts, and the fate of the others was sealed.

– Flame! – Anna suddenly shouted, still firing. – Protect!

Her stallion, obeying the order, jumped into the lowlands and did the impossible. With two blows of his front hooves, he destroyed the huge wolf. The second beast, which had rushed at him from behind, immediately fell from the powerful push of its hind hooves.

– Get them out of there, Flame! – Anna shouted again. – They'll follow you now!!!

The bay stallion heard her again and, trampling down the predators, found a path up. The two horses followed him. Meanwhile, the beasts were already approaching the archer. Seeing this, Arthur hurried to her aid. Anna had shot an arrow through one of the twilight-born in a leap. The faithful steed was already standing beside him again, along with the other two stallions.

– They're coming! – Edward shouted, trying to strike with his magic, which immediately turned into nothing, swallowed up by the rocks.

Anna looked for Robin and saw that the predators were pushing him toward the cliff.

– Flame! – she screamed again.

The horse whinnied.

– Get him out of there! Please!!!

The bay leader quickly took the race and, soaring over the seemingly insurmountable barrier of sharp rocks, in the blink of an eye was next to the Raven. With a single swing, the king cut off the predator's head and leapt into the saddle, and the mighty horse swiftly carried him away from the cliff. Anna put several arrows into the bow at once and fired. The shadows on the peaks reappeared. Seeing this, the girl spoke, and from nowhere, an echo picked up her words.

– Without asking, I call upon the dark lord!

The young men flinched for a moment at the sound of the voice, and the Countess, who was standing on the boulder, continued, lowering her bow.

– You can't handle my power, and you can't handle me!

Edward, who had taken a break, looked at Anna in surprise as she continued to speak.

– One blow will set the water in the stream on fire.

The stallion at the spring unexpectedly pierced the ice-cold water with a hoof, and it burst into a bright fire, incinerating the wolves who tried to cross to the shore.

– One gust of wind will dispel my misfortune!

A blizzard that appeared in a few seconds, as if alive, gathered its strength and, whirling the fire on the stream, whirled it in a huge tornado, sweeping away all the gloomy creatures.

A few minutes passed, and silence reigned over the gorge again. Edward was leaning wearily on his sword, Arthur was wiping the sweat from his brow, and Anna was leaning back against a rock, deep in thought.

– Let's go, – Robin ordered curtly as he rode up. – We can't stay here. We will make a stop near the cave, and we will return by a roundabout road. Without dismounting from the chestnut horse, which silently submitted to him, he leaned over and, easily picking up Anna, lifted her into the saddle. His friends mounted their horses and followed him.

Holding the shield artifact in his hands, Robin watched Anna talk to her horse and noted that he was over the moon.

– My good one, – she cooed. – My brave chief. Thank you for helping me again.

– Well, now is the time to eat and discuss what has happened, – Arthur said cheerfully to Edward.

To which the Falcon did not fail to reply:

– And what are you going to eat, my lord? Do you want to meal some snow? There is plenty of it here.

– Didn't you bring any provisions with you? – The Bear protested loudly.

– Why should I take anything? – We were going to be done in a few hours!

It is not known how long this exchange would have continued if the young people had not caught the sweet smell of hot lentil soup. The King was the first to approach Anna, who was setting the table in the snow. She took a plentiful meal out of her canvas bag. The sight that opened was worthy of admiring. A variety of vegetables and fruits, herbs, three hot dishes and ruddy pastries increased the already brutal appetite of the young people. The Countess looked up at Raven and smiled at him for the first time.

– I ask you, Your Majesty, and you, my lords, for dinner.

Arthur couldn't hide his pleasure as he picked up his spoon. They all ate in silence for a few minutes. The usual-looking dishes were many times superior in taste to those that the young men had tried before. Surprise and bliss appeared on their faces when the turn came to the fruit. The high nobles alternated between glances and glances at the Comtesse's pretty face, which still seemed oblivious.

– Did you get all this out of the magic bag, ma'am? They say it costs a fortune, " Arthur tried to keep up the conversation.

Anna smiled at him.

– They say, but I did not buy it, I could not afford it in the recent past. I had to sew a useful product myself.

– So you're making these bags?

– I tried, – the Countess replied mockingly. – But no one bought it from me either because of the high cost. So the trade didn't work out.

Everyone laughed.

– It's time to talk about who did this attack, – the Bear said seriously.

– No one in this country has that kind of magic, – Edward said, shaking his head.

– What do you think, Countess? – The king asked suddenly.

Anna ran a hand over her face, as if she didn't want to answer.

– The sorcerers of Piran have the ability to create conditionally living things out of nothing. I knew three people who could do this. Two of them are already dead. And the third one would never use his magic for evil. Unless he was forced to do it or…

– Or what? – Raven asked.

– Or he has a disciple who has betrayed him.

– Piran, then, – said the young king thoughtfully. – They sleep there and see how Adenia will be left without a head of state. In theory, Richard the First, under such circumstances, can claim the throne of Adenia himself…

– Where did you learn to shoot like that, ma'am? I've known the best male archers, but they don't have a tenth of your skills.

– My mother was good with the bow. I was still a little girl when I saw her doing this. At the time, shooting arrows at a target seemed fun to me.

– And then?

– It's a deadly weapon. My parents died early, and I had to learn how to defend myself, remember my skills, and improve them so that I could disable my enemies without killing them. The archers you've seen must hit opponents to death, which is why they've reached the ceiling in this art. And I needed to make the arrows obey and hit the target, even when the target was moving. This happens at the level of the senses.