Realizing their plight was useless they bid their goodbyes to Tyro and left the jail, all the while plotting what they were going to do about his current predicament.
“We have to get him out somehow, you know.” said Rhuarc.
“Yeah I know, but how are we possibly going to get him out with all these guards around and almost an entire army residing in the city itself?” asked Lumis
“Well we are going to just have to get him out along the road then,” replied Rhuarc.
So they made their way along the road to Dusthelm trying to find the best location to launch their assault against the caravan knowing full well they would be outlawing themselves in the action. They made their camp and began their preparations for the fight to come.
“You know, this plan might just work, depending of course on how many guards they bring along,” commented Lumis
“Yeah, that is the big factor in all this,” said Rhuarc, “especially since- …” He cut off as he saw a strange looking fox at the edge of the fire-light, he got up and took a few steps towards it and it vanished.
“What, especially since what?” asked Lumis curiously.
“Did you just see that?” said Rhuarc.
“See what, I didn’t see anything here but you, me and the fire” replied Lumis
“Huh,” grunted Rhuarc, “maybe it was nothing; alright I’ll take first and last watch if you’ll take second.”
“I’m good with that” said Lumis while yawning.
A few moments later Lumis was snoring and Rhuarc’s thoughts wandered to many different places but always came back to that strange looking fox that he had seen earlier. Somehow he knew it was no ordinary fox but he couldn’t put a finger on why he thought such things. Putting it out of his mind completely he wrapped his new cloak around him and settled down next to the fire and examined the ring he had taken from the stash that Tyro had collected. Just the same as he knew the fox was strange he knew that he had to have this ring, at the thought of the ring it began to glow slightly. At first he thought it was just a trick of the light from the fire but then he realized that the glow was coming from the ring itself.
In the morning Rhuarc was getting the camp ready for a quick departure when he saw the fox again. This time the fox came right up to him and stared him in the face as if to say hello, then it bounded off with a flick of its tail and looked back at him as if telling him to follow. So he obliged and chased after the fox. Upon seeing that Rhuarc was pursuing the fox sped up taking random paths and changed directions at the worst possible times, but Rhuarc was able to keep up by the light blue magical trail that seemed to flow from the creature as it ran. Finally after what seemed like hours, he came to a field where the fox was sitting amidst large clusters of light blue flowers that gave off a certain aura. He approached the field and suddenly the fox spoke to him.
“You have passed the test, summoner.”
“Huh?” said a very confused Rhuarc, “YOU CAN TALK!”
“Of course I can talk,” said the fox “I am no normal fox, I am an eidolon.”
“Wait, you’re a summon creature?” asked Rhuarc.
“Yes,” replied the fox, “and my name is Carbuncle.” “I will now teach you what you need to know on how to summon me to aid you in your fights and teach you a skill with which you can know your enemies whoever they are.”
Carbuncle then proceeded to teach Rhuarc all the particulars on how to summon him and what skills he possessed as a summon. Rhuarc learned that Carbuncle is a passive summon, so he can only aid in the fight and not actually do any fighting, but the boons that he will aid will give Rhuarc and his team members a great advantage over any adversary they may face. Also Carbuncle taught Rhuarc how to use his new ring (which is what linked him and Carbuncle together in the first place) with the skill “Scan”. And with a final word that only Rhuarc can see him, due to Carbuncle being a passive summon, the blue fox ran towards Rhuarc and literally jumped into his chest becoming a part of him.
When Rhuarc finally returned to the camp Lumis had finished the preparations for the rescue mission it was almost lunch time.
“Hey, I’m glad your back, I did a little scouting and with the current rate the caravan is travelling they should be here about mid-day.” Said Lumis
“Ok, that should give us just the right amount of time to get everything into place and take up positions along the ridge” replied Rhuarc.
As mid-day approached Rhuarc and Lumis got themselves into position and waited for the caravan. Sure enough Lumis had been correct and the line of wagons became visible down the road. It was all becoming very real for the pair of warriors now that their prey rolled toward the trap they had prepared. It seemed like an eternity for the wagons to finally be in perfect position. Using his new scan ability Rhuarc found that there were not one, but three prisoner carts and four carriages that held about ten guards each.
Using his new gauntlet that increased the power to his fireballs he threw one at the head guard carriage and also one at the guard carriage bringing up the rear so the caravan could not escape either direction. Immediately the battle began. Lumis and Rhuarc charged down the hill towards the remaining two carts full of bored and angry soldiers. Eventually Rhuarc found himself face to face with the warden only to find that his magic was no match for the highly trained veteran, so he did what any sensible person in that situation would do, he turned and ran away from him.
“Let him go, he’s not important, but guard this cart with your lives” said the warden to the remaining guards as he jumped on a horse and galloped off.
Rhuarc circled back around freeing some of the prisoners as he went ultimately trying to get to the cart where Tyro was being kept. When he reached it there was a circle of guards around it. One was holding a crossbow pointed directly at Tyro’s face.
“Don’t take another step!” shouted the guard with the bow, “or I will shoot him where he sits.”
“Now, now there’s no reason to do anything rash let’s talk about this” said Rhuarc with his hands held out in front of him. After a few moments of trying to reason with the man, he set him on fire, which in turn made the man pull the trigger on the crossbow. Luckily the sudden act of being set on fire made the man stumble and instead of shooting Tyro he shot the man next to him.
Tyro watched as Rhuarc set the guard on fire thinking to himself, “yeah you go you little pipsqueak.” When the guard shot the man next to him and the guy fell into his lap he was a little annoyed that there was now blood on his lap until he realized that the arrow head of the bolt was within his reach he bent over and broke the wooden shaft just below the metal head and stuffed it between his teeth and his jaw. “That will come in handy later” he thought.
Lumis and Rhuarc soon became overwhelmed by the amount of guards they were now faced with and since the prisoners all fled when they were freed they decided that they would have to try this rescue at a later date.
Upon returning to camp they saw several of the prisoners, almost a third in fact, were there waiting for them and had already prepared a small meal for everyone to share.
“You two were pretty brave for taking on the royal guards like that” said one man
“Yeah, whatever you guys are planning next, we want in. I want a chance to get back at that warden” said another of the men
Thinking for a moment Rhuarc and Lumis looked at each other and immediately knew what the other was thinking.
“Ok” said Rhuarc, “Here’s what we are going to do.”