The hideout of the thieves was surprisingly easy to find. They did not hide in dark caves or on top of conquered castles. Instead, they and a camp not far from the village. It was an open camp, consisting out of a few dozen tents and ruins that seemed to be the remains of the elven folk.

Morvran suggested that diplomacy was a good first attempt to settle things. You, on the other hand, knew that it would have been a waste of time. The thieves would have killed both of you as soon as your feet would have touched their territory.

So instead, you were now hiding in some bushes, not far away from the hideout and spied on the thieves.

Letting your eyes wander through the tents, you noticed some important things.

One, most of the tents seemed to be empty. That must have meant that there were important things stored that were not supposed to get wet. Plus, the number of thieves was smaller than you had expected at first glance.

Two, the thieves seemed to be unskilled in many things. Most of them did not carry sharp weapons, just wooden sticks. They must have been runaways or people that had been crippled.

Three, the best of all parts, was that there were many useful objects laying around. At the edge of the camp, on a wooden chest, lay a bow and a full set of arrows. You could have just crawled over there, protected by the high grass and stolen it. Even better, there were things that would have been deadly in your hands.

"Surprisingly well organised for a bunch of homeless.", Morvran cursed.

Amused, you giggled.

"A bunch of homeless? Have you never seen thieves before? They have tents and ruins to live in. They are hit homeless. Plus, judging by the many chests they have staying around? Man, they must live a luxurious lifestyle. So much food fits in there.", you rolled your eyes as the thought of juicy bacon and fried eggs crossed your mind.

Your reaction made him smile a little.

"Hungry?", he asked and offered you half a bread.

With a mocking grin, you took it. To be fair, after daydreaming about some good bacon, eating bread wasn't the best thing to do. It made the bread taste bad, no matter how good it was. But it filled your stomach for the moment, so it would be enough.

"So?", you asked with half your mouth full. "What's the plan, general?"

Smiling, he rolled his eyes.

"I don't know yet. It would be smart to kill the leader."

"Just like the old man said."

"Hm. But we need to find out who it is. And I don't think that killing one person will be enough. We need to get rid of at least half of them. The other half might flee."

"How about killing them from a distance?", you asked and took a big bite from the bread.

Questioning, he looked at you.

"How do you want to do that?", he asked, a little fascinated by your thinking.

"See the many fireplaces? If we find something explosive, we can shot the fire at night, when the people are drinking. Everything will burn. Alcohol and people included."

For a long, very long, moment he just stared at you, baffled. Then, an unsure smile appeared on his face. It was a mixture between proudness and worry.

"That is a good plan but where do you want to get the explosives from?", he asked, still not believing how easy you and found a solution. "I assume you already know that too."

Grinning, you nodded and pointed at a bunch of red barrels.

"See these? Those are used to empty mines. They have a lot of black powder in them. Big kaboom when they explode."

"How big?"

"If all of them explode at the same time it should be big enough to destroy half the camp."

Unsatisfied with the answer he but his lip.

"That would destroy the supplies too. We need to save as much food and weapons as we can.", he said, letting his eyes jump over the tents. "But it seems like a good plan B. We should find out who the leader is. If we can get our hands on him it will be easier."

A broad smile appeared on your face.

"Let me shoot him, if we find out who it is.", you begged.

"What?", he asked. "You don't even have bow and arrow."

Smiling even broader, you pointed towards the bow and arrow that was still laying at the wooden chest, patiently waiting for being used.

"It's not stealing if you steal from thieves.", you said as he looked at you with narrow eyes. "Come on, it will be fine. We will take everything back anyways."

"Fine, I will get it.", he wanted to get up but you pulled him back down.

"Oh no, sir. I will go.", you insisted. "I'm smaller than you."

With those words, you began to crawl through the grass. The grass was growing so high, it almost covered you entirely. Only the tip of your head was visible but when you lowered it to the ground it was as if you were invisible. Feeling safe, you crawled through the wet dirt. Your eyes jumped through the air, making sure that no one had noticed you yet. The bow was a mere stones throw away, you could already touch it with the tip of your fingers as a sharp pain suddenly drowned your mind.

A long, high pitched scream escaped your lips. The feeling of bursting flesh and something warm running down your side crawled over your skin.

With tears in your eyes, you wanted to jump up and run but a hand reached out and managed to grabbed you by the hair.

"Stay!", a harsh voice demanded.

Getting pulled back, you were unable to move. Loosing balance, you stumbled back. From the corner of your eyes you were able to see Morvran's worried face that was looking at you. He wanted to jump up and help but you just shook your head.

"No!", you screamed, pretending it would be meant for the man that had caught you.

With a loud laugh, he dragged you away from the edge of the camp, further into the middle. His grip was like steal in your hair.