Once the litter was made and the young student's body safely secured, they began to make their way back to the city as quickly as possible, given their group size and the extra burden they were carrying.
The tracks that they were following weren't headed for the road, which would bring them closer to a chance to be rescued. They were headed straight back for the city walls. It was more direct, but the only real reason to do that was if you were afraid of luring something dangerous to the road.
Going through the forest was shorter, but not in any way faster.
"We are getting closer. The grass here is still working to spring up after being stepped on. I would say that they're no more than five minutes ahead of us now. If we shouted, they would probably hear us." The Ranger whispered.
Dominic sighed. "Or if they shouted, we would hear them. Which means they're likely not in combat anymore. If they were, we would be able to hear it by now. Can we pick up any more speed? It would be best to catch up with them before anything happens to either group.
There is safety in numbers, and of the students who didn't run to the road, there are still two separate groups of us."
The Scribes nodded and shouldered the litter between them so they could move faster through the woods than dragging it would allow.
Elanor looked around the group to be sure they were all prepared, then gestured forward with her mace.
"Alex, take the Sorcerer and watch our backs. Everyone else, I want at least a jog until we have the others in sight." The young Princess ordered.
The order did make some sense; they were the two most agile out of the group, and the Rogue could defend Dominic if anything got close, while he was their only ranged member who could reliably attack without stopping.
Using a bow accurately while on the run took a lot of skill, so the Ranger wasn't a good choice for fast-moving combat at this age.
But the thought of being the first line of defence against an attack and not having any more armour on than the threadbare outfit that was under his long coat was still unnerving.
In the villages, he had always been able to count on having a guard somewhere nearby if he had to venture out of the walls to do errands or day labour on the farms, and they came fully equipped, not in worn leather pants and a tunic that he had salvaged from a charity drive. It was made of durable cotton, but it was not much better than wearing nothing if he got attacked.
The pair kept a careful watch for any sign of the Goblins as they jogged along behind the group, but there was nothing to be seen other than the trees and their own footsteps turning up the soft dirt of the forest floor.
If anything was following them, it wouldn't have a hard time of it, and it would know that they were running, as the footprints were distinct even to Dominic's untrained eye.
"I hear battle up ahead." Princess Elanor shouted, picking up the pace until the pair of scribes carrying the dead mage's body began to fall behind.
Dominic did his best not to give any sign of annoyance that a full out run for these young students was little more than a jog, even for a young man like him. They were getting there as fast as they could, and they had already proven that they were willing to fight for their lives when needed.
The sounds of shouting and horse hooves grew louder by the second, until they burst into the open fields around the city walls, where a large training exercise was going on.
There were over a hundred soldiers and Royal Guard candidates gathered around a half dozen terrified students and one muscular young barbarian Noble with blood all over his leather armour.
"False alarm, it's the Royal Training Grounds outside the walls. Somehow, we ended up on the other side of the city." The Princess sighed.
They had been following the tracks of the other group, though, so they should all be here somewhere and hopefully rescued without any further casualties.
"Princess, it is good to see you safe. Your classmates told us that an outing to gain experience went horribly wrong, and they weren't sure that any others had survived." A guard Captain announced, as he rode over to where they were catching their breath near the treeline.
"I believe that most of them escaped with minor injuries at worst, though there might have been other losses that we didn't see. We personally watched most of them run for the road, but we were engaged with a group of Goblins while we helped rescue Alex, who had been injured while providing cover for other classmates." Elanor explained.
"Let me guess, the Nala twins? I told you those girls would be the death of you, but I didn't mean for you to take that literally." The Captain laughed while their Rogue blushed.
"Alright, let's get this unfortunate one cleaned up, and I will send for his parents. The royal guard will deploy another team from here since I have your tracks to follow, and there is a guard detachment headed out from the main gates as well to make sure that all the Noble Children who managed to wheedle their way out of the Academy for the day are safe.
I don't recognize this one, though. Who might you be?"
The Captain was clearly looking at him, so Dominic straightened his back and gave him a polite fist to chest salute, suitable for the man's status as a Knight.
"My name is Dominic, and I am new to the city. I needed a bit of coin, and I was hoping to get it off the Goblins, so I went with the students when we met at the staging grounds." He explained.
"And here I thought they had the good sense to bring a senior with them on their trip. No offence. It looks like you did alright, though. I don't see any wounds on you, and you aren't showing any signs of mana exhaustion."
The Captain's look held a fair bit of approval, and Dominic did his best not to give in to the temptation to brag about his skills.
A team of Royal Guards came up and surrounded the Princess, separating her from the group, while another team was headed for the treeline, accompanied by a group of dogs and one man in a strange outfit with four layers of glowing goggles on his helmet.
The fashion here in the city was strange, to say the least, all in dull browns and blacks with a thing for using gears as decorations, but no matter what it looked like to his more flashy sensibilities, they did still have the skills to blend magic with technology to accomplish what they needed to.
On the city wall above the training ground, a slender figure in elaborately engraved armour bearing the insignia of the Royal Family turned away from the scene. Her sister was back safely, and she had many questions that needed answers.