(Ellin)

“Bring him to me!” I yelled to Namrick. He glanced at me and deflected an arrow with his shield, then dragged the injured soldier toward the caravan I was on. “Quick!” I pulled the bleeding man inside.

“Don’t push yourself too hard, Ellin,” Namrick said, sparing me a brief glance before rejoining the defensive line. I nodded in return.

The injured soldier was bleeding from an artery, I pushed my hands against the wound and closed it with Healing. I felt tired. I was using too much mana too fast. I had been treating the wounded from since we had joined the evacuees.

“T-Thank you.” The soldier said before passing out. I eased him down among the others.

We had left the major conflict trying to escort two of the caravans packed full with wounded people, until the moment the bandits had caught up with us and we were forced to stop and defend.

I slowed my breathing and resumed the meditative breathing to replenish my mana. My spirit felt dizzy. No good.

I peeked outside the caravan. Namrick, Grastel, and Yusdrolir were fighting alongside the soldiers. We had the numerical advantage, but most of the soldiers were tired or wounded and, with the newest injured, there were ten people who were too hurt to keep fighting. Grastel was bleeding from his left arm.

These weren’t normal bandits, they were well equipped and combat trained. Half of them wore full armor and helmets. There was some kind of sparkling black paint smeared over their armor.

“Arrows!” Someone shouted and I saw an arrow fly an inch from my face. I stumbled back. “A-Aahh!” My heart was beating wildly.

I ground my teeth. I couldn’t stay hiding here, I had to help my friends!

I took a deep breath and cast a deflection field around me. “I’m coming!” I yelled, jumping out of the caravan.

“Careful!” Namrick shouted, briefly glancing at me while he kicked back one of the bandits.

Damn, why were they attacking us? Shouldn’t we all band together to fight against the demons? Why? Why?!

I rushed to Grastel’s side. “I’m here, let me treat the wound,” I said while grabbing his injured arm.

“It’s just a scratch,” He said, but his blood was still dripping through the clothes. I closed the wound, my mana dropping again and the dizziness making me almost stumble down. “Hey!” He grabbed my arm, steadying me. “Are you fine, Ellin?!” Grastel looked at me with concern.

“Yes, just give… me a moment to recover some mana,” I steadied myself. “I’m good.”

“Get behind, archer guy!” Yusdrolir shouted shoving Grastel a step back while he intercepted the blow from one of the bandits and head-butted him in the groin. “Blasted scoundrels all of ye!”

“Why?!” I shouted. “Why are you attacking us? We’re only escorting the injured to safety!” I gestured at the caravans. “There are no valuables here!” I said, amplifying my voice with a touch of mana.

One of the mounted bandits raised his helmet visor revealing an eye-patch, dark blond hair and a haggard face smiling cruelly at me.

“Oh?! Then you don’t mind laying down your equipment and letting us take a good look, do you?” He said with a booming voice. “Perhaps we’ll even let you live, what do you say?”

The combat slowed down for a few seconds, while the bandits assumed defensive postures and waited to hear our response. The one-eyed man had to be one of their leaders.

“I want to have fun with the girl!” One of the bandits leered.

“Yeah, she looks pretty!” Disgusting laughs rose among their ranks.

Their boss grinned. “Of course, my men have urges. How can I deny them?” He shrugged unapologetically.

“N-no!” I half stepped back. Namrick moved in front of me.

“I won’t let you touch her!” He shouted with defiance.

Thank you. Namrick was always ready to come to my aid. Sometimes I wondered how my life would have turned out if I never met him.

“We won’t surrender to you scum!” The soldiers shouted.

“So be it!” The bandit leader laughed. “Kill them all but keep the pretty girl alive!” He shouted to his men.

The clanging of weapons resumed at full volume, everyone dancing on the battlefield in frenzied movements.

Preying upon injured people and innocents… These people had already lost their home and yet the bandits wanted to take away what little they had left! I screwed my face up in anger. “Curse you!” I yelled.

One of the other adventures shouted something while throwing a fireball against the bandits.

“Look out, a mage!” They rose their shield to meet the flaming ball.

Which lost strength on impact merely spreading the flames around, which were quickly extinguished by the bandits.

I frowned, it was as I feared.

“Cursed obsidian lacquer!” The adventurer mage yelled.

They had applied powdered obsidian on their armor with a lacquer to fix it in place, a common practice when having to refit normal equipment against magic. It wouldn’t protect them from the stronger magicians, but it would greatly diminish the effect of all direct magics.

“Haha! Did you think we’d come unprepared?” The bandit leader crowed, moving his horse closer in an attempt to stab Namrick with his halberd.

He entered my casting range.

Let’s see how you deal with this!

I cast Confusion on his unprotected horse, which buckled down bringing its rider down with it and pushing his nearest allies off balance.

“Ghaaarg! Blasted horse!” He yelled, rolling on the ground.

“Stel!” Namrick shouted moving forward to seize the opportunity. Grastel moved in unison, parring a sword blow from his right with a short sword one hand and counterattacking by stabbing the man on the visor with the dagger on his other. The bandit screamed and scrambled away holding a hand against the visor.

Meanwhile, Namrick swung his sword down against one of the unbalanced foes, cutting down the arm.

Seeing human blood fly so freely made me uneasy. One thing was fighting against monsters, but against people… it just felt wrong.

Someone coming from behind another bandit launched himself against Namrick with unnatural speed. “Careful Nam–!” I warned.

Namrick reacted just in time to parry the blow with his own sword.

*CLANG!*

The force pushed Namrick back a step. It was the bandit leader! Grastel turned to face the opponent but received a kick on the stomach that sent him flying backward a few paces.

“Grastel!” I shouted, a bandit not wearing a helmet was about to hit him with a mace, I cast Burn at the foe’s face who was then hammered down by Yusdrolir’s blows. I knelt down to help Grastel up.

Namrick sidestepped in front of us and stared down at the bandit leader who grinned in return.

“Leave this one to me!” The one-eyed man bellowed and then continued with a lower voice. “I’ll teach you a lesson, boy.” His smile held a dark promise. He closed his visor and assumed an attack stance.

“Namrick…” I said with concern. That man had moved very fast just a moment ago, he wasn’t your average bandit.

“It’s okay! Stay back while I keep him b–” But he was cut short as the man danced forward and started assaulting him with a flurry of swings. Namrick’s attention was fully absorbed in the sword dancing.

“A little help here!?” Yusdrolir shouted from our right.

Grastel grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Let’s help with holding the line!” He said, moving toward the gap where another of our allies had fallen down, he was holding his bleeding leg while desperately defending himself with his shield.

More blood. I thought feeling an increasing sense of dread.

I stomped a foot hard on the ground.

No! Don’t back down! Fight!

Grastel loosed an arrow and hit the attacker right into the eye. The bandit let his pike fall and slumped down unmoving.

“’Bout time!” The dwarf yelled grinning at us behind his helmet.

“Arrows!” A soldier shouted.

I renewed my deflection field and put myself between Yusdrolir and Grastel. Two arrows flew just above our heads spinning harmlessly out of the way. I breathed a sigh of relief trying to calm my racing heart.

A shout behind us caught my attention. I turned in time to see another of our soldiers crumbling down, his helmet punctured by a war-hammer. Crimson liquid blossomed from the hole. It was a fatal blow.

“No!” A whimper of desperation escaped my lips. The assailant gestured his allies to rush through the newly opened gap.

But in that instant, something happened.

From the dead soldier’s helmet, a dozen bloody hands sprouted grasping for the bandit. The dozen became hundreds and kept extending, elongating unnaturally.

“Wa-aah-aaaaAHHH!” The closest bandit broke in a panicked run, confusion spreading between both the bandits and our allies who were near the still stretching limbs. The sight sent shivers down my spine.

What’s going on?

*CLANG!*

Namrick grunted I glanced back at him. The bandit leader was pushing him back but he was still holding. I looked again at the bloody hands, now extending several paces outside our defensive line.

Someone rushed uncaring against the limbs. They didn’t seem to hamper him the least.

Wait… Illusions? Could it be… My eyes widened with realization.

“Allen?!” I shouted toward the running man who looked at me and waved a hand.

“It’s a skraggin illusion you fools! Breach that damn gap!” Shouted the bandit leader

Both friends and foes rushed to the hole. Thankfully the adventurers and soldier managed to stop them in time.

“Guys! Why didn’t you wait for me!” Allen rushed toward us. “I brought reinfo–” He looked behind confused. “Uh… Where did she go?” He turned back to me and tossed me a pouch. “Take this!”

I caught the pouch and looked inside. There were a dozen assorted potions. Healing and mana ones. With these, we had a fighting chance. And… also three rings, our enchanted rings.

“Thank you!” I said, giving him a quick hug. He hesitated a breath, then patted my shoulder as he looked around.

“Namrick, Grastel!” He called out but they were too busy fighting. “… And Yusdrolir too.” The dwarf grunted in reply.

I gulped down a mana potion and returned my attention to Namrick’s battle. The one-eyed man was strong, he wasn’t letting him catch his breath. Namrick’s movements were slowing down and the injuries piling up. The constant fighting was taking its toll.

Please stay strong!

I wanted to help him, but he was moving too fast. I was afraid of hampering of distracting him in a crucial moment. If only we weren’t spread so thin!

“Sloppy footwork.” A calm female voice said in our direction.

Namrick grunted, meeting the enemy’s blade mid-swing and pushing forward, putting his shoulder weight behind the shield while the blade was locked against the foe.

I frowned and looked around seeking the source of the remark, but I couldn’t see anyone.

“Uh? My magic has no effect on them?” Allen exclaimed next to me, staring at the bandits with a puzzled expression.

“It’s the obsidian powder lacquer!” I said, watching his expression turning into a scowl.

He sighed. “The mace it is.” He said joining the leftmost defensive line. He summoned another of his creepy illusions behind the bandits to distract them a little while he swung his mace around.

“Crude spellwork but effective.”

That voice again! I ignored it and rushed to the nearest wounded ally. “Here take this,” I gave him one of the healing potions.

“Lacking magical support.” The voice spoke again. I winced, feeling like that one was addressed at me.

I pushed down my irritation and continued delivering Allen’s supplies to the injured and the other adventurers inside our defensive position. I kept a few for us just in case.

“Thanks!”

“We can do this!”

Thanks to the potions and my Healing magic, four more people were able to rejoin the combat. We were holding fast!

I returned to my party. Allen was fitting right in with the other soldiers’ combat pace, Yusdrolir and Grastel were doing their best fighting along the members of the other parties and the few soldiers mixed between. Namrick… Namrick needed help! I ran toward him.

“Argh!” Namrick yelled, stumbling back after receiving a pommel blow on the side of the face. The one-eyed man spun around impossibly fast, going for a decapitating blow!

“No!” I shouted, pouring all my magic on a force field.

*CLANG!*

The blade, that had lost most part of the lacquer during the intense fight, stopped an inch from Namrick’s throat. But the enemy did not falter and followed with a powerful kick, sending Namrick rolling back on the ground.

“Nam!” Grastel shouted, too distant to intervene.

I didn’t move away in time.

An unyielding arm closed around my neck, pulling me against him as a sharp blade appeared at my throat.

“Ellin!” Both Namrick and Grastel shouted.

“N-No! No!” I struggled helplessly, my heart racing fast.

I’m done for!

“Move and your friend is dead! Drop your weapons. NOW!” The bandit bellowed, his rank breath making me wince.

“D-Don’t!” I wanted to shout, but it came out as a whimper. “Don’t g-give up!”

AnHelm have mercy!

“Wasteful. Should have prevented the momentum from building.” The female voice grated on me.

A horn was blown in the vicinity. The bandit leader chuckled and let out a loud whistle. “Playtime’s over!” He said and laughed.

Another score of twenty or more bandits reinforced the enemy lines. Why? Why now? I thought we had some hope… My eyes watered, the sudden realization of what the fate had in store for us hitting me.

We… lost. A tear streaked my face as I watched Namrick’s terrified expression, froze in the act of standing up.

“Don’t you fucking dare, you piece of shit!” Allen shouted something in his foreign language.

Suddenly, as the last vestige of hope was fading away, a figure materialized three paces ahead of me. A woman.

Not just any woman.

“Vi-Vi-Vi…” I stammered, disbelieving. Violet?!

A voice so loud to make everyone stop and wince filled the air. “BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE KINGDOM, I DEMAND YOUR IMMEDIATE SURRENDER. LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND YOUR LIFE WILL BE SPARED.”

Violet stared calmly at the one-eyed bandit and his minions.

“HA… HAHAHA!” The bandit leader bellowed looking from left to right, pressing his blade on my throat.

“H-Hiii!” I cried out, feeling the cold blade slide against my flesh. I closed my eyes.

“Another magician trick! Don’t let her f–” He stopped mid-sentence, then I felt a wetness flowing against my neck and a gurgling noise, then dull thuds hitting the ground.

The grip on me slackened. I reopened my eyes, turned my head and…

“Eeeek!” I cried out, horrified. I was looking at the headless throat of the bandit leader, still sputtering blood.

“Aaaah!” I pushed it away and fell down on my back, distancing myself with frenzied panic. I looked at my shaking hands. They were full of blood. “A-a-ah!”

It wasn’t just the bandit leader… all the others had been decapitated as well! I stared speechless at the macabre scene.

“Gods!” The soldiers and adventurers walked back a step, surprise painted on their faces.

I took deep breaths trying to calm myself. I’m alive… I’m alive!

A number of arrows suddenly flew above me, aimed at Violet. I tracked their flight with my eyes.

They passed through her with no effect.

An illusion?!

The illusory Violet smiled coldly.

“Thank you for showing me your locations.” She said, her disappearing figure was followed by more thuds in the near distance. Some of them fell from the trees.

A hand closed on my right shoulder. I turned, startled.

“Ellin… are you fine?” Namrick asked, the side of his face bloody and swelling. His face screwed. “Sorry, because of me you almost…” He pressed his lips in a thin line and looked away.

“I-I’m fine,” I said, cleaning my tears with the part of my dress that wasn’t smeared in blood.

Allen, Grastel and Yusdrolir were beside us in moments.

“Let me… let me heal yo–” My head swam and I almost fell down if not for Grastel and Namrick keeping me steady.

“No. You should rest, you’ve used too much magic too fast, haven’t you?” Allen said, shaking his head. “Let’s get you inside that caravan.”

I noticed Violet staring at us, her back leaned on the caravan’s side.

“I have a few questions…” She said out loud and asked everyone present which direction were the other groups of evacuees and what numbers of bandits we had faced. We didn’t know how the others were faring, I could only hope they were still alive. Most of the Noirdant’s soldiers had remained behind with the main groups, so there was a good chance they had repelled the attacks.

“I see. I must hurry along…” She said looking at the distance. She turned and walked away.

“L-Lady Violet!” I called out to her.

She stopped, turning her head a fraction to glance at me.

“Thank you,” I bowed.

“Yes, thank you, ma’am!”

“You saved us!”

“May the Gods bless you!”

The survivors exploded in a cheer, thanking their savior.

Violet looked around with her piercing blue eyes and impassive expression, then gave us a quick nod and climbed on her black mare, that as if on cue, had surfaced from behind the trees. She trotted away at full speed without looking back.

“Men literally lose their heads for her, don’t they?” Allen said, grinning.

We stared at him flatly in silence.

“What?” He said.

He wasn’t funny. He wasn’t funny at all.

I did my best to avoid looking at the headless men and fighting down a shiver. I almost got killed… I wouldn’t be forgetting this episode anytime soon.

Namrick planted a fist against Allen’s shoulder but buckled down due to his tired legs. Allen caught him and remarked. “You look like shit, man.” Namrick could only smile in return.

I looked at my still shaking hands. I had felt useless. Who were those bandits? They had fought like trained soldiers.

I had at least managed to Confuse and hurt the ones not wearing helmets, but how was I supposed to deal against their anti-magic defenses?

Archmage Violet had made it look so trivial. Just how wide a gap was there between us?

“Are you well, young lady?” Yusdrolir asked, taking off his helmet to wipe away the sweat.

“Yes,” I said with a nod, forcing a smile on my lips.

“Grastel…could you help me track down my horse. I had parked it behind those trees,” Allen said, scratching his head. “It’s gone now…”

Grastel grinned and patted his shoulder. “Sure, we have also to get our own back. We let them wander ahead before we were surrounded.” He looked around. “We can also take the ones from the bandits to replace the ones we lost.”

Allen and Grastel moved out, soon followed by others in the search for the horses.

I remained behind to care for the wounded. There was only another healer besides me so we had to do our best to split the work between the two of us.

During the battle, we had lost four combatants. Two adventurers and two soldiers. I knew one of them, a guy with an easy smile and chestnut hair. We had chatted a few times back at the Guild. I felt a pang of guilt for not having been able to save him.

I didn't even see how it happened. I thought sadly.

We prioritized the urgent cases that required the use of Healing magic and patched up the others with non-magical aids. Magic wasn’t always the best option, not if there were so many people to heal.

A good healer knew when to use magic and when not to.

After the last patient, I laid down on the caravan's hardwood and closed my eyes, succumbing to the fatigue.