Goodbye

Chu woke up prior to midday.

Since they left the farmer and his sons on the road, they had hurried along the grassland. Coming across the first tree on the open plain, the group halted the progress. They all needed that well deserved rest.

After a quick meal they continued without delay in following the trail. Out in the open grassland it would require a skilled tracker to trace this near nonexistent path. But with Lucy and a large canine accompanying him, it became like a stroll over the fields.

The scent was now faint for even Lucy. However those faded ribbons knotted together paved a path like a white line marked over the green grasslands.

In a time of little over an hour, they finally saw the outline of a clump of trees in the distance. Chu instinctively had the others turn their formerly leisurely stroll into a cautious approach. Not too long after, Lucy also confirmed his suspicions.

"The smell is getting stronger. This seems to be it."

"They would have expected the raiding party to return by now. Let's use the little mound over there as cover, I am sure they would have posted some sort of sentry."

He voiced his thoughts before taking action.

Chu led the others in stealthily moving closer to the small woodland. Under the high afternoon sun, this was a near impossible task. The only reason they avoided detection was that they now approached from the east under the cover from some undulating ground.

Using Lucy's keen eyesight and smell, they made their way to the edge of the woods, hiding under the cover of a large hedge. The girl soon spotted and pointed out the location of the sentry. A man reclined on a bough, not too far and not too high from them.

"Up there!"

She whispered.

The man dangled a leg as it swung slowly, the other perched along the branch. His back leaned against the tree trunk for support. At about ten or so feet from the ground, the bandit seemed drifting between sleep and wake.

More importantly he had a bow and a small quiver of arrows hanging on an easily reachable branch.

The man fixed himself as he scanned the grasslands before muttering his complaints to the world.

"When the hell will the boss return? I am dying for a woman here! That advisor is so stupid- having me sit sentry here, when I could be sleeping for tonight's raid."

Chu signaled Lucy to scan the nearby area. He and Ming prepared to crawl a little closer to feed the guy some well-aimed crossbolts. He froze in his tracks when the bandit continued mumbling loudly in his half sleep.

"Shit this life man! The boss's news better be right about that farm south of the village having lots of women. I feel like I can grind my hips all night after having this piece of wood stuck in my ass all morning!"

Chu indicated to Lucy calling her over with his hand signals. He knew Ming also picked up on the meaning of the mans words. The teen's calm face turning into one of unbridled fury.

"Can you tell how many are in the camp?"

"The smells are all jumbled up along with others. This place smells like a pigsty."

He nodded after the whispered reply.

Nothing less from a group of men who might have not had a bath for weeks or months.

"We'll kill him quietly, then sweep the camp. See if you can smell the horses, that's our next target."

They slowly approached the tree from the blind spot at the back. The three of them readied their crossbows, darting out from under the branch while fanning out in an arc. The drowsy man had no idea that death was already upon him from this sudden attack.

A click followed by a whizzing strange sound alerted him, but by then it was too late. Before his brain had the chance to comprehend what was happening, the crossbolts struck.

The first punctured his left arm. Or did the pain come from the new hole between his ribs on his right side?

He failed to process the situation. Just as the thought to scream, never materialized.

The last bolt-- or was it truly the first, penetrated his right eye making its way into his brain while crushing all forms of response.

The bandit fell from the tree, as dead as a doornail.

Chu and Ming moved towards the tree, hiding themselves looking at the body. Lucy reloaded her crossbow and dropped to one knee like a modern-day soldier surveying the surroundings, listening intently.

This was the result of Chu's training. Mr Thomas had all the experience in teaching them how to handle weapons of this world. But Chu had the experience of countless television dramas. Combining the two together resulted in the making of a veritable SWAT team.

Why else would this group of children move into close range combat while still holding a crossbow?

In this world such tactic made no sense, until witnessing it in action. By keeping the crossbows ready and aiming at the closest opponent, it provided this assault group with an already superior advantage.

A crossbow aimed at an opponent from a distance of ten or so feet allowed certain actions. First the opponent could only die, or dodge while receiving a serious injury. Secondly it gave the user enough time to launch a near unblockable attack while following up with the usual close combat sword or weapon.

In a group, this one shot weapon poised a serious threat against a single opponent or a batch of enemies. The success of this type of strike force was proven last night on the road.

"The horses are this way."

Lucy whispered as the two boys placed the dead man half hidden between the tree roots.

The group slowly made their way into the woods while the wolf left them on its own to hunt. The woodland was not very large or dense, so it did not take them long to stumble upon the hidden camp.

It was nothing to boast about, consisting of a few tents covered with animal skin. Three horses were tied in the far corner opposite them, busily munching on some cut grass. Most of the men were asleep near some smoking embers; the remains of last night campfire.

Two men were standing and talking loudly near one of those shoddy constructed shacks. As a previous slum resident, these buildings could undoubtedly make Chu feel proud of his first home. If left alone these men might save the garrison some trouble and kill themselves in the coming winter.

"The Boss should be arriving soon. I can't wait till tonight, I heard the boss tell Stiks yesterday that tonight's raid will be the last in this village and also the main prize."

"Damn right, I was there when the drunken man spilled his guts out to the boss. He said the farmer down there had been recruiting folks from the slums since last year. Because the drunk got snubbed by the woman in charge, he maintained a grudge against her since then.

He told us not only did the farmer hire three couples, but he saw them once riding into the village with a batch of girls. The boss also said that the farm had already sold all their harvest. We will gain women, grain and money on this trip. I can't even sleep, I should have gone with Tinkle's group on that scouting mission this morning."

The man drooled as he recounted his tale.

Chu glanced at the others signaling to fall back. From the sentry before to these guy's conversation it did not take him long to figure out who and what farm was on the agenda. It only took one look at the face of his companions to know they deduced the truth.

"Take some deep breaths. We cannot let anger cloud our judgment."

He said slowly. The vision of him coming across Amanda, Miki, Mrs Thomas and the others in the state he found the Hoyle's turned his eyes red in anger. He quickly forced down this vengeful feeling. If he could not control himself, how would he control two children?

"Ming, untie the horses. Get between them and lead them away in this direction. We will try to draw their attention this way. Lucy and I will ambush the ones coming to fetch them as quietly as we can."

While Ming went to fetch the horses, Chu and Lucy found a place behind a fallen tree. The half decaying log allowed a horse to climb over it without much difficulty, but provided the two children enough of a hiding spot. From there they could still make out the camp between the trees.

It did not take long for Ming to return, leading the horses by the reigns. Chu waved him over as a horse finally decided to neigh a little loudly.

"Shit, the horses have gotten loose. Quick you fools get them!"

A bandit jumped down from a tree branch near the other end of the camp. He hooked the crossbow behind his back as he ran towards the escaping horses. This man was much more well equipped than the others. Judging from his hiding place that was well camouflaged, he was no ordinary slum recruit.

If they had decided to force their way into the camp, this man would have certainly posed a dangerous threat. In a nest of smelly men, only Lucy had the possibility of finding him. By then it might have been too late for him or Ming.

"Hurry you idiots."

The man called as the other two rushed behind him. The other men on the ground had now began to stir from the noise. When the threesome left the camp, the silence returned. Nobody wanted to waste their sleep for tonight's expected banquet.

"Huh?"

The horses had just skipped over a log when the sentry squinted his eyes. He swore he made out the figure of a man in between the animals. Years of banditry made him cautious, but this time his actions were too slow.

His brain that was currently involved in the simple running function became bombarded with what Chu might refer to as 'a tingling of spid*y sense'. This sixth sense however failed him.

Before he had a chance to shout, or to confirm his observation, something remarkable happened.

A cloaked shadow seem to materialize instantaneously out of the ground not even a foot away. In the night this might have been horrifying, during the day- it was downright uncanny.

"Wha..."

Was all he muttered. He was rendered speechless by the face under the cloak.

The bolt ripped through the thin breast-plate covering his heart at near point-blank range. The iron that had protected his life from arrows in the past was now rendered useless.

The last thing his glazed eyes registered was another shadow rising up along side and launching a similar attack at the man beside him.

'What an ugly angel, least I died at the hands of a Valkyrie'

The last remaining bandit was no better off.

All the man knew was that they were chasing after some straying horses. In less time that it took for a deep breath his two companions ironically just breathed in their last. One had a bolt sticking out of his left eye, the other wore one on his chest.

Before they even fell to the ground the shadow in front raised its hands to its lips, indicating the universal action for silence. At the moment the only sound the bandit made came from his free-flowing bladder.

'I can't believe I was killed because I pissed so loud!'

The red line across the bandit's neck opened as blood spurted out. His killer had long re-sheathed her daggers and stepped out of range from the spraying blood.

At such a close range, these unsuspecting bandits had zero chance. Lucy's speed and accuracy now became coupled with the controlled vengeance against those plotting against her family. A group like this had one choice only.

It was to die.

Ming joined the two as they reloaded.

The rest of the camp remained silent as the stirring bandits returned to sleep after the brief noise. Moving to the edge of the camp, Lucy scanned the surroundings. Confirming there was no more surprises hidden around, they cautiously walked in.

There were four men snoozing around the fire.

Ming and Lucy promptly launched an assault. Chu kept his crossbow up and aiming as he scanned the campsite. He made his way to the shacks and began kicking open the ones that had some crude looking doors.

He found nothing as the surprised shouts of dead men punctured the silence near the fire. On dragging the pelt covering the door of the last shed he reeled back in shock. His hands unconsciously lowering the crossbow.

"F*ck!"

He exclaimed as the sight of a naked woman hanging from the roof near the door, swung out, surprising him. The blue-black skin and injuries showed the woman had undergone some brutal assault before succumbing to her injuries.

He did not have time to marvel at the strength of the flimsy roof to support the lady's weight.

"F*ck indeed!"

The unfamiliar, familiar voice replied.

Accompanying that low voice was a sword that pierced his cloak with unbelievable force and punctured his belly. He dropped the crossbow as his hands reflexively moved to grasp and remove the intrusion.

Chu groaned as a the cloaked man stepped out of the tent, while pushing him back slowly and keeping the sword buried in his gut.

"Being ambushed by three kids. How the hell can I face the Master."

The man muttered as he raised his other hand. Chu now noticed the crossbow in his hand.

"Let me show you how to really use a crossbow. You would have never had a future if a butchered little corpse can frighten you. I'll put you all out of your misery. First you then that big boy."

The man aimed at Ming who was engaged in a fight by the fire. He did not forget to keep up the pressure by twisting the sword into Chu's stomach.

Up to the present time both Lucy and him had their backs turned towards them subduing their opponents.

The habitual click, the whizzing sound.

The sound of the bolt ripping into flesh.

Chu could only picture the sight of Ming's head being punctured from the sound behind him.

He belched a mouthful of blood as he screamed.

"Nooooo!"