<div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/9b/80/989b802fc7d36ab6eb434cca729b5bd2.jpg)</div><br/>“Very well,” Ares said, “that’s what we’ll do then. Leofwine and I will protect the animals and I’ll cast Light on my shield to guide my path and literally form a bull’s eye for them to hit. As soon as shit goes down, we’ll protect the animals and draw all the attention towards ourselves, leaving their backs exposed to the counter-attack of you three. As Leofwine suggested, we take them all out save for one. Heck, we can knock all of them unconscious and I cast a quick Healing Word on one of them to get him back in the land of the living.”<br/><br/><em>There is even something to say for shackling them all and using them as slave labor, however, with just five of us we’d spread our resources too thin. Nay, it’d be better to just cut off their heads and gather them in the bags I bought. Doing so in front of the survivor makes him probably more willing to talk as well.</em><br/><br/>Ares freed the donkey from the cart and tied it to a tree with ten feet free rope to let it move freely, giving it enough rations and water so that it could eat, drink, and rest in peace. Like the others, Ares ate some of his rations and complimented his meal with the fruit that Vara had gathered. He kicked off his boots after his meal and leaned with his back against the wheel of the cart to get some sleep, knowing that he had a long night ahead of himself.<br/><br/>Before he dozed off, however, he said, “Anyone care to keep the first watch? I can take the last watch for the final two hours. Just shake me awake when it’s my turn. It should be very dark by the time we head out again. Who knows, maybe we won’t even be ambushed. Even bandits need to sleep at some point.”<br/><br/>With those words, Ares drifted off to a fitful sleep. He had his rapier and shield close-by in case there was any trouble, but somehow he doubted the bandits would bother coming all the way out here.<br/>