What could go wrong

On a lonely road after midnight, three children were presently engaged in some wanton acts of violence. No matter the country back on earth, such brutality shown against the elders of society could never be tolerated. The law would have long hauled these hooligans off to jail.

"Damn Stiks! Why the heck does this illudon watcha ma callit feel so goddam real!"

A bandit shouted as he got pummeled in the head.

He currently lay on the ground powerless to block the steady stream of blows coming from the boy sitting on top of him.

"Crap Chu! This is a waste of time. Let's just kill them, this idea of knocking out a man with one blow to the head doesn't work that well."

Chu looked at Ming who was busy punching the man on his face. He similarly encountered the same problem. Back in the slums he did punch out a man in one strike, but the situation never repeated itself after that. But forget that, more importantly was that casual statement.

'Crap! What the hell have I been teaching these kids? Since when has it become so easy to take a man's life?'

Even though he had the mind of an adult his stomach still felt queezy after that first kill. Before he came into this world, these children should have experienced the horrors of this world, a child being killed and dragged off by a wolf, or someone killed for measly scraps.

After he arrived, it became much worse. For nearly two years they had been hunting, killing and butchering beast on a near daily basis. The saying was undoubtedly true, when you live in a certain environment you naturally become immune.

The voice of a girl close by shook him out of his reverie.

"Look Chu, I think I figured it out!"

Lucy called over from the side. She was keeping an eye on the remaining bandits. Those who staggered to their feet were quickly beaten down.

She demonstrated the action in slow motion to Chu. Of course Lucy's version of slow motion looked like a normal quick punch in his eyes.

Standing like a little boxer she clocked a tottering man with a round house punch to the jaw from one side. The recipient promptly fell like a stone.

Chu immediately grasped the concept by remembering some of those memorable boxing matches. He tested it out on his opponent, tightening his stance and pulling the power from his legs and hips as he delivered the blow to his opponent.

Of course he performed this reenactment while straddling on a man.

Although he fell over the man he was sitting on the positive result spoke volumes. Nothing gave him a greater sense of achievement at the moment as the unconscious bandit now sprawled under him. A shout of success on the side echoed Ming made him aware the boy completed the task.

'Wait, wait that feeling did not come out right. Especially the part with a man under him.'

He quickly jumped up and helped Lucy with the lucky ones.

Lucy dragged the men to their feet and locked their arms from behind. Chu or Ming depending on who was not busy securing the unconscious men at the time administered the knockout blow. These men could only be ranked among the fortunate ones when glancing at the first set of victims.

Nobody was around or sane enough to hence witness the little girl acting as a brutal bouncer.

Chu did a quick tally of the survivors now hauled and lined up on a bank. Here they were also safely out of sight from the road. He instructed Ming to gather the horses and tie them onto any large shrub nearby. Six horses were like a dream come true for him.

Four bandits from the first group survived, while sixteen lived from the poisoned reinforcements. The leader Jill was dead somehow and also the guy who attempted to milk the horse. The man who he struck over the head with the log survived.

Chu and Lucy made sure the men were lined up and separated by a couple of feet. This was obviously to to prevent any corroboration to escape when they became sober. Given the nature of the pellet they ingested, such happenings might take a long time.

They returned to the campsite to find Ming rummaging around the ground.

"Chu I knew it! That bastard Jill always hated me from the start. He swallowed my bead Chu. My BEAD!"

The cause of the mans death was finally revealed. One of the beads had fallen into the large pot. Poor Jill choked on it and died. Chu gave him a complicated look as he removed his map from his pouch. Could a world actually produce lucky people like this?

He unfurled his map near the fire so as to use the light.

"We are somewhere around here. Even if we send the wolf home, it would take us at least a half day for Elder to arrive."

He wrinkled his forehead as he continued.

"The bandits were planning on attacking the nearby farm here. I think they would have done that quickly and headed back to their hideout before dawn. If we can notify the farmer there, then we can move on to scout the camp. Gimme a second..."

Chu made his way towards the presently mummified bandits. He remove the gag from one of the first group he encountered.

"How many men did you leave in the camp?"

The man scowled but one glance at the shadow acting as the guard he replied.

"The advisor is there. He has about five bandits with him awaiting us after the next raid. From here I do not know what the plan is afterwards. We might either go south or continue north depending on the boss'es decision."

After some further questions Chu replaced the rag and returned. The large wolf slowly moved across from the men and sat down. In the moonlight the yellow eyes haughtily looked down on them instilling fear in the minds of both sober and poisoned men alike.

"I think we should not waste this opportunity. If we delay for too long, the remaining bandits at the camp would get suspicious. Unless we act quickly, they will disappear from the area. I think we should wipe them all out so as to prevent them from rebuilding."

"But Chu remember what the Elder said. Just find the camp and let the garrison do the rest. I think we should notify the barn."

Lucy spoke. She believed that they had already accomplished much for the night therefore they had no need to push themselves further. Her intuition also gave her a bad feeling.

"Don't worry, there is nothing we cannot handle. The bandit's in the camp only number about five or six. Together we can certainly take then on. We will do it like this, first we head over to the farmer close by and report the bandits.

The next move is to hand them over and get the farm to send a message at first light to the garrison and to Elder. While they are handling it, we will be free to tackle the bandit camp."

Ming interjected immediately after Chu spoke.

"Alright, it makes sense, but Chu what if the farmer decides to hog all the credit? He could just report to the garrison that he and his farmhands did all the work."

Chu nodded.

"Good point but you fail to remember something. Through Mrs Thomas kindness over the year, most of these farms are very familiar with our Elder. The also know he is a retired adventurer and mercenary.

All we have to report is that he has some friends tracking the bandits and we are simply acting the role of messengers. I am sure when the message reaches Elder, he will improvise somewhat."

Lucy reluctantly agreed. She did make another suggestion to Chu.

"Before we follow the trail to the camp, all I ask is that we take a rest. This would cut our drowsy feeling and prime us for a fight."

Chu agreed to her terms. Since yesterday they had been on the move. Once the bandits were taken care off, he planned to rest for a few hours before continuing. He figured they would still have adequate time before the remaining bandits became suspicious.

Furthermore, he felt confident in handling such a small number of bandits. By ridding this scourge, he could prevent this anomaly from existing in this already uncertain place.

He also had his own personal reasons. The quicker they accomplished this task the sooner it would be for him to sit down and meditate on his actions. He had now engaged in killing a man, and no matter the reason his mind was going to be in shambles.

Chu decided to do some soul searching and engage in some discussions with the rest of the barn residents after this operation. Clearing his conscious and making sure the others did not bottle some issues that might resurface later was a priority.

What the heck would he do if Lucy decided to drown her mind in booze? He could only shudder at the thought, especially if it happened when they moved to a city. Creating a loose cannon, not to mention a Sersen powered loose cannon certainly meant trouble.

He moved towards one of the horses secured on a small shrub nearby.

After patting the animal on the side and stroking its head, he returned to the others by the fire.

Slap, slap, slap!

"Ouch, what the heck was that for?"

Ming complained with a wronged face.

"You stupid fool! Why the heck didn't you remind me! None of us ever learned how to ride a horse, all we know is how to ride a damn wagon!"