Karl looked at the wagon that Thor had pulled this far across the wilderness. Then he turned to the oldest of the Royal Rank Minotaurs who had come to the defence of the farm.
“Jacob, I bequeath my wagon to you. I know yours got destroyed, it was smashed when I got to your house. We are going to have to move faster than the wagon will allow, so you may have mine as a replacement to help bring the supplies your neighbours will need.”
The Minotaur patted him on the shoulder. “Are you sure? Humans on foot are not faster than a wagon.”
Karl chuckled. “I have a harness for them to ride on Thor. His might won’t be challenged by a few dainty ladies.”
The Minotaurs laughed while Dana stuck out her tongue at him and Tessa rolled her eyes.
Karl and Ophelia were both fast on foot, but Karl was planning to swap out after the first few hours, once they weren’t being as closely scrutinized. The other farmers wouldn’t know or care about the beasts as long as they didn’t approach the farms, and his secret was already out, so he didn’t have to worry about the Council finding out who he was anymore.
[I will take my Dana as an artillery accessory.] Rae agreed.
That would free up a seat for Ophelia on Thor’s back, so she was well rested when they ran into trouble. But she would likely want to remain on foot once they got into the more dangerous areas.
But with the Lamia and Naga Warriors flanking Thor, they had plenty of ground forces already.
[I will take Remi.] Cara insisted.
Having the Naga Queen in Spirit Snake form was a great compliment to her skills while flying, and if she wanted to fight on the ground, Remi could transform and bring out her final bodyguard.
The Bodyguards were Monarch Rank now, strong enough to defend against anything that they were likely to find out here, while Cara found a way to disassemble it.
The beasts came out as soon as they were out of sight of the farm, so they didn’t leave a strange impression with the farmers they had been secretly protecting for the last two days.
For the first half hour, it was easy travels to head north toward the edge of the incident. All of the nearby farmers had gathered in one spot, and the monsters had followed, or had been hunted by Karl’s team.
But no good thing lasts forever, and after that first half hour of cleared monsters, they were into the area that hadn’t been cleared yet.
[Turn a bit east. That path will be faster. There are a few farms ahead on that route, but they’ve taken care of most of the monsters.]
That worked well enough for Karl, and the route between fields was either clear or the fences had been taken down by the Giant Boars.
[Many small farmers in that house.] Rae informed them as they passed by a damaged farmhouse.
Karl turned to see what Rae was looking at, and found that the house had collapsed, but the floor seemed intact, and there was a basement or a cellar under it.
He ran over and rapped his knuckles on the wood.
“We’ve cleared most of the attackers from the area. Do you need medical help? I have a cleric with me.” He called.
“Dad said to stay until he came for us.” A small voice called back up.
“He had to leave the farm. Do you want us to lead you to safety?” Karl asked.
There was a defended farm only half a kilometre away. If they knew about these kids, they should have come to get them already. So, it was likely that nobody told them the kids were here.
A few metres from the rubble of the house, a small trap door pushed up a pile of straw, and a young Minotaur and a Satyr stuck their heads up at the same time.
The yard was completely destroyed, very little could be salvaged. But when they saw Karl, they sighed in relief.
“You said you have a cleric? Some of the others are hurt. They came from the neighbours farms because we had the best cellar.” The Satyr girl replied.
Karl whistled and gestured for the others to come over, which brought Lotus running. Tessa wasn’t far behind her, but Lotus was obviously the more enthusiastic of the pair, and she had area healing instead of just direct healing spells.
There turned out to be far more children than Karl had seen through the rubble. Over fifty of them had gathered there, and Karl began to wonder what the farmers were doing. Perhaps they had chosen to defend a house with no basement?
[Hawk, go check that out.]
Hawk circled around to check the actual content of the farm, and not just that there were people moving at it.
[No enemies right now, but only five Commander Rank Minotaurs and a juvenile Troll. They all look like they’re half dead.]
Thor snorted unhappily. [So, they didn’t come for the children because they don’t expect to survive the day and hiding is safer than out in the open.]
Karl pulled Tessa to the side. “The last few adult survivors in the area are on their last legs. They’re not going to last the day, or possibly even one more attack, if there is a Royal Rank Cyclops. Did you want to search for a way to carry the kids and bring them with us? Or did you want to ask them to hide until a rescue team can come for them? I’m sure someone will be searching for survivors as they clear the area.”
Tessa sighed and looked at the rubble. “I will have Lotus make a sled. There is no food in that pantry, it was empty when they got in. They’re not going to last long hiding here with no food or water.”
There was a wagon in the yard, but it was smashed beyond repair, and they would do better to just have Lotus use her magic to make them a sled to have Thor pull across the grass.
Tessa went to the basement and traded with Lotus, who came up to inspect the rubble, looking for something that could be repurposed to transport a large group of children.
Fifty kids weren’t going to be easy to move with any standard wagon, but if they strung a couple together, or made something like the sled Karl had in mind, they could at least have enough room for them all to sit.
It would just be a very rough ride.
“Oh, this can work. Rae, darling, you sweet girl, could you please help me make a large cloth floor with side ropes? It would take forever to grow the wood for it, but we can make a really long wagon out of these two axle assemblies and that fallen tree. Then I will make hangars for the bench seats out of cloth, and everyone can just ride down the sides.” Lotus suggested.
She drew it out on a piece of paper, and Rae realized that all she needed was two long pieces of cloth.
So, instead of making anything, she just handed over the tarp they had been using to cover their camp.
“Oh, yes this works as well. Karl, can you bring me that tree? No way can I lift that.”