Felling Bandits!

Adam was broken out of his thoughts by the shouting of his concerned friends. It was only then that he realized he had been holding his breath since he watched the villager die! With a gasp, Adam resumed his breathing.

Being assaulted with a series of ‘are you alright!?’ questions, Adam waived them off with by saying: “I’m fine. It was just… seeing someone die like that is different from killing game.”

Hansen nodded: “That’s why we’re here. Seeing death on the battlefield will be worse!”

Hansen’s chilling words quieted everyone. As they were in their own thoughts, a few Silver Saviors came around with dry rations. Due to the fire, they had all skipped out on dinner. No one was energetic enough to actually prepare a decent meal, so this was all anyone was getting that night. After eating, everyone started preparing to sleep. A few Silver Saviors were given watch duty to look out for any bandits that might come back as well as ensuring the fire didn’t restart.

Adam lied down to sleep but found that he couldn’t. His mind was full of questions on the mote of light that escaped the villager’s soul when he died. He also couldn’t shake how disturbing it was to watch someone die. The way Death Essence seemed to snuff out a person’s life. Adam was only able to get a few hours of sleep in the early morning as exhaustion forced his mind to rest.

Adam awoke the next morning absolutely sore! Not only from the chafing of his armor, but from the physical labor of pulling water from the well for a few hours! Groaning as he got up, Adam found the Silver Saviors already abuzz with activity. Alfred seemed to be eating breakfast nearby. Adam asked: “What time is it?”

“It’s already mid-morning. Isley and Hansen let us sleep in. I’ve got some extra food, come eat.”

As Adam joined Alfred, he looked around for the others. It looked like he was one of the last to wake up! Only Kadara was still sound asleep. When she woke up and found out she was the last one awake, she was bound to be devastated! She always hated being last place.

Around noon, the Silver Saviors marched out of Hagden Village. They all needed a rest, but the longer they waited the more likely it was for the bandits to find out they were in the area.

As they marched, everyone stayed quiet as they kept an eye and an ear out for bandits. They were in enemy territory now and while it was unlikely the bandits would have any patrols, they likely would have scouts. How else would they know if a trade caravan found itself on their roads?

Adam quietly asked: “I didn’t hear before we left, where are we headed?”

Isley responded: “We picked up a lead from Hagden. They had abducted local carpenters from all of the villagers around here to build themselves a defensible compound off the road. It’s not on any map. All we know is about a day’s travel along the road. We’re going to stop a few hours from where we believe they are and camp off the road for the night. Tomorrow morning, we will attack just as they’re waking up!”

Alfred and the others had been listening intently as Isley talked. When he said the battle was going to be tomorrow morning, all their stomach’s flopped in anxiety. They all shared the same thought: ‘Isn’t that a little soon?’

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The sun hadn’t even risen yet and the Silver Saviors found themselves stalking through the wilderness alongside the road. The trees and bushes helped to hide them as they approached the bandits compound.

They were all astounded that they had yet to meet any scouts! Either the bandits were severely incompetent or their scouts were so good they had already seen the Silver Saviors coming and left to prepare for them. If the scouts were that good, though, they could have easily found employment in a mercenary band or the army.

The sun was just about ready to peak over the horizon when the Silver Saviors finally located the bandit compound. it was a series of houses that had a wooden palisade wall made of tree logs that were staked in the ground built around it. They also finally saw the first bandit scouts located atop a few lookout towers. However, they were merely looking at the road and not paying attention to the forest at all! These bandits were clearly amateurs.

Isley and Hansen held Adam and the others at the back of the group. Orders where quickly whispered around as a quick battle plan was made: Heinrich would first give the bandits a chance to surrender. If they didn’t, he would open up a hole in the palisade that they could then take advantage of.

As everyone began moving into position, Adam’s anxiety began to peak. Hansen pulled a few leaves of a green plant on the ground. He passed a leaf around to everyone: “Chew on these. It’ll help.”

Adam didn’t question it as he put the leaf in his mouth and began to chew. He was surprised as a strong spicy cool taste suffused his mouth!

Hansen said: “It’s mint. I’ve found it to help me calm my nerves before battle.”

He then put a leaf in his own mouth and began chewing. And, he was right! The spicy mint in their mouth managed to distract them from what was to come.

Then, Heinrich’s boom voice could be heard: “We have your compound surrounded! Surrender and you will be spared!”

The scouts atop the tower looked spooked as they scrambled to blow on their warning horns. As they trumpeted out, the compound was already abuzz as the lazy bandits were woken from their sleep. Out of the largest house, a big man strode confidently out: “Everyone get yer asses ready! Even if they got ladders, they’ll have to drop off the top of the wall to the ground! Let’s show 'em that we’re not to be tussled with!”

Adam tensed as he heard the bandit’s shout. Hansen spoke: “Eyes forward! Make sure you watch the battle. Keep an eye out for any archers. Learn the flow of battle. If you get swept up by it, your as good as dead!”

They all looked ahead, surprised by how quickly things were developing. With his Spirit Sight, Adam spared a glance at Heinrich. As he watched, Heinrich pulled a humongous ax free from his back. After he readied his weapon, a large amount of Earth Essence swelled from the very ground into Heinrich’s body! The ground beneath his feet crumbled as he suddenly exploded with a burst of speed! In but a moment, Heinrich was next to the palisade, swinging his giant ax! With a simple swing, the logs were sent flying back into the compound they were protecting! Heinrich quickly moved, swinging over and over with his ax sending these logs as giant projectiles into the compound before they could even prepare!

The sound of splintering wood, followed by screams of pain and fright, drifted out from the compound. The screams were met with the Silver Saviors’ war cries as they charged into the gap Heinrich had opened into the defenses!

The compound quickly fell into chaos! The bandits were an unorganized mess and they were felled left and right by the Silver Saviors. The bandit's screams changed. They became agonized and desperate. Above them all, the screams of those dying were the worst!

Under his Spirit Sight, Adam watched the Silver Savors’ weapons slice and hack their way through the bandits. As they fell, Death Essence claimed the bodies of the fallen. Between the sight of humans being hacked apart and all the accumulated Death Essence, Adam became nauseous. Hansen clapped Adam on the shoulder: “Don’t concentrate on their deaths. Pay attention to the battle itself.”

Adam gave a small nod and tried to ignore the dead and dying. Taking a deep minty breath, Adam tried to calm. It helped, if only a little.

The flow of battle was definitely in the Silver Saviors’ favor. They had caught the bandits unaware and were far more disciplined in their fighting. It wasn’t long before bandits started throwing their weapons down and begged for mercy.

Hansen nodded: “Once they’ve secured the bandits, we’ll move in to help clean up the battlefield.”

As they watched, a few of the Silver Saviors pulled out lengths of leather cord and bound the bandits’ hands and feet. Other’s kept a strict eye on the bandits while they were being tied, watching out for anyone trying to pull a fast move.

After the bandits had been either restrained or dispatched, Hansen and Isley led Adam and the others forward. Adam had already seen the carnage up close with his Spirit Sight. As for Alfred, Bruno, Clyde, Derek, Kadara, and Franklin, they hadn’t been able to get a good look at what was actually happening within the battle. Now that they were up close, hacked limbs and bloody bodies could be seen strewn across the ground. The heavy scent of blood permeated the air. Somehow, the knowledge of it being human blood made it smell worse than when they butchered game. It became so dense, that every one of them became sick and threw up on the ground!

Isley and Hansen watched over them as they kept a constant vigil. Neither of them let their hands leave the hilt of their sheathed swords as there was no telling if a loose bandit was hiding somewhere among the dead bodies.

When Adam and the others finally collected themselves, Hansen spoke: “This is one battle! War is even worse than this!”

Isley nodded: “Compared to a war, this is nothing but a small skirmish. Can you now see why the Silver Saviors don’t participate in the war between Heider and Luxom?”

They solemnly nodded their heads. Hansen gave a nod of his head: “Good. Now, you’re going to help clean the battlefield up!”

Everyone paled as they heard this. Isley spoke: “We’re not going to make you pick up the bodies. You will be helping to dig a mass grave, though. We don’t want to leave their bodies alone. They could attract predators or cause pestilence and disease.”

It took a good many hours and more than a few Silver Saviors to dig the grave. Adam and the others then had the pleasure of watching the Silver Saviors dump the bodies of the dead bandits into the grave. The lifeless flopping of the limbs and the sickening smacking as the bodies were stacked atop one another was altogether… disturbing. Adam was certain he wouldn’t be able to sleep well that night, if at all.

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With the bandits strung up into marching lines, the Silver Saviors started the journey back to Hessler. There, they would turn in the bandits to the kingdom and let them decide their punishment. Everyone was tasked with keeping an eye on them so that none of the bandits would have a chance to escape.

Adam found it a little interesting to watch the bandits. When comparing their Auras to those of the Silver Saviors, he could tell many differences. Many of their Auras appeared dim. These bandits were facing varying degrees of despair and depression, having given up any hope of escaping the Silver Saviors and the punishment they would receive from the kingdom.

Among them, though, were the rare few who were defiant! They were constantly looking for ways to escape. While brighter than the others, these bandits’ Aura had a weird dirty feeling to it. As though the crimes they had committed had mired their soul.

With Adam pointing these bandits out to the Silver Saviors, it was rather easy for them to prevent any escape attempts. This made the journey back to Hessler rather uneventful.

The night before they would finally make it back, Adam stayed up with the others. Derek said: “We’re finally going to be home again! All this travel is kinda boring.”

“I just want to relax and forget about everything for a while.” Adam said.

After continuing to talk for a few minutes, Adam decided to stretch his legs before heading to bed. As he walked to the edge of their little camp, he noticed something odd: a pair of men were walking between their camp and the next one over. That itself wasn’t odd, but was odd was that they were crouched in a way as though they were trying to sneak past them!

Adam called out: “Who's there?” It was then that he noticed the men’s dingy Aura! They were escaping bandits!

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Jarrick was seriously pissed! All the other fuckers in his gang had just given up! He had no choice but to surrender with the others! He tried playing the timid game to get those Silver Savior cunts to lower their guard, but no they had to listen to that blindfolded punk kid and pay special attention to him! It was only now, when they were so close to Hessler, that the Silver Saviors finally lowered their guard against him! He managed to steal a fork while they weren’t looking! ‘A fork?’ You might say? Well, those stupid cunts were on the lookout for missing knives. They didn’t think much about a missing fork! Using the prongs, he had slowly and carefully untied his bindings!

Unfortunately, another one of his bandit ‘buddies’ saw him working at it. The damned fellow made Jarrick help him break out too! It was either that, or his ‘buddy’ would spill the beans to the Silver fucking Saviors!

After night had settled, they escaped into the dark! Now, they were making his way between camps to complete their getaway! Along the way, Jarrick had even managed to score a dagger that had been left out!

As he was getting to the outer edge of the dotted campfires the Silver Saviors were using, Jarrick couldn’t help gloating to himself: ‘Just you wait. When I finally make a name for myself, I’ll take my gang and make sure your band can’t save anyone again! Hehehe.”

Just as they were going to move past two more campfires, someone stood up and started walking their way! Jarrick immediately stopped, hoping he wouldn’t be spotted. Mentally, he started shouting: ‘Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!’

The person stopped at the edge of their camped and looked his way! That was when he noticed it: ‘It’s that damned punk kid!’

Jarrick didn’t know how he could see with the blindfold on, but he somehow could. Proving his point, the kid asked: “Who’s there?”

That was when Jarrick quickly formed a new plan: ‘Capture the kid and use him as a hostage to get away! Then I’ll kill the little fucker for giving me a hard time!’

His decision quickly made, Jarrick drew his stolen dagger and lunged for the kid!

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Adam saw one of the bandits’ Aura intensify with anger. Before he could warn the others, the bandit began to lunge with a dagger! Adam’s heart plummeted. The bandit was attacking him! He did the only thing he could think of at the time: drawing his sword in an attack! It was so dark, the bandit didn’t even seem to realize the danger as he continued his advance! Adam had just meant to scare the bandit off, but his sword’s angle was just right to sweep across the front of the bandit’s throat!

Disbelief suffused the bandit’s soul as he gripped his throat! With a gurgling noise, he fell while choking on his own blood! The other bandit stood stock still, shock and uncertainty pouring through his Aura. Adam fell backward in his own disbelief. He shouted: “B… Bandits!”

The camps quickly stirred at the shout. Hansen had already started moving toward Adam when he heard him call out ‘Who’s there?’ Even as Adam yelled, Hansen was barreling to his side with a drawn sword! Seeing the dark silhouette of the other bandit, Hansen gave out a vicious war cry

As Hansen lunged, the bandit put his hands up saying: “I surrender!”

It was too late! Hansen skewered the man’s chest with his sword. The man gave out a pained cry as Hansen shoulder rammed the man off his sword. Standing over the fallen dying man, Hansen gave a swift stab down at the man’s throat. The sword tip went all the way through and severed the man’s spine!

Hansen didn’t even bat an eye as he did this. He merely scanned the darkness, waiting for the next foe to appear. Luckily, there were none.

Adam could only blankly look on. Hansen had quickly and coldly dispatched the other bandit before his Sight. Hansen’s Aura hardly fluctuated beyond the seething anger that exploded the moment he realized what was happening.

It was at this point that the other bandit stopped gurgling as he died. Adam watched in horror as Death Essence claimed the man’s body. His mind was consumed by one thought: ‘I killed him!’

While Adam watched on in horror, he saw a similar scene as when the villager had died in Hagden. A mote of light seemed to slip away from the man’s soul and quickly disappeared after flitting about for just a moment. Despite Adam’s initial interest in the phenomenon when he saw it in Hagden, he currently did not have the mental capacity to question just what the mote of light was.

Alfred and the others quickly came to Adam’s side, asking if he was okay. Once he knew there were no more bandits around, Hansen quickly turned to Adam and began inspecting him as well: “You’re not wounded, are you?”

Adam flinched at Hansen’s touch. Hansen sighed: “I didn’t want you to go through this so soon. But, now you know what may be required of you to defend yourself, your family, and your friends! Don’t let his life burden you. He would have killed you!”

That was all Hansen could muster in the way of inspiring words. Inwardly, he cursed himself for being unable to properly protect Adam like he was supposed to. He turned to the others: “Help Adam back and try to get some rest. I will stand watch tonight.”

If nothing else, he would make sure no other escaped bandits would approach that night.