She unslung her bow, ready to help. "Who are they?" she asked Mrs. Warren.

A barrel of fish arced over Tia's head, splattering the house behind her. Her throwing knives flew into her hands, glinting dangerously.

Mrs. Warren was frozen in place. "God almighty!" she cried. "It's the Haunters!"

"Haunters?" Esther yelled over the chaos.

"A band of outlaws that often terrorize cities! They must be after something!" Mrs. Warren shouted, hiding under her stand.

She leapt up onto a stand, knocking her bow. Below her, she saw the others running into the fray, armed with swords ready.

She turned her attention back on the Haunters, who were slicing through torchposts, sending the fires crashing down on the merchants. She aimed carefully, her arrow directed at one of the Haunter's sword hand, and released the bowstring.

The arrow soared through the air toward its target, but the Haunter noticed and knocked it away with his sword.

Wow. I have never seen anyone do that before, she gaped. How am I going to defeat them if they knock away my arrows?

Her eyes searched for something to do, finally landing on a stand full of

oil that had spilled at the horses' feet, and an idea struck her. She grabbed some twine from a nearby stand and wrapped it around one of her arrows. Then, she used a torch to light the twine and quickly knocked it, trying not to burn her hands, and aimed at the spilled oil.

The arrow soared through the air, striking the oil and setting it on fire. The fire spread along the spill, burning the horses' feet so that they reared, bucking their riders off. The Haunters flew backwards, smashing against the stands and crumpling as they hit the ground.

Feeling victorious, Sierra leapt off the stand roof and darted through the now empty stands, easily spotting her friends by the unconscious Haunters.

"There you are!" Esther exclaimed as she neared. "Where were you?"

"On top of a stand," she said, slinging her bow over her back.

"You were the one that shot the flaming arrow, right?" Diana said, eyeing Sierra. "Brilliant, really, but I was just about to slice one of the Haunter's arms off."

"Well, let's be glad you didn't do that," Sierra sighed. "The others would have gone after you."

"Can we cut the chit- chat and get going? We should really leave before the Haunters wake up," Tia pointed out.

She nodded, and they all started jogging back down to the field where the horses were.

Night came quickly, absorbing the color out of the sky. Once again, it became cooler, and Sierra pulled her cloak around her body as they rode. This time, they decided they would camp just outside of Corona at dawn, then enter the city around midday.

I only hope that we'll be able to find the Sun Sword at Corona. If we don't, all hope is lost.

If we don't... we die.