I heard the fighting well before I saw it, and already I was concerned about our chances. We were down two hunters in the first arrow volley, and they had only lost a few of their rank. The numbers were not looking good. The opposing force held the advantage for now, but soon, they would see why Cressfal would not be taken without a fight.

“Hunters, shift back, main street, go, go!” Ina’s voice was a solid beacon amongst the chaos of the yelling combatants. She slipped in between two men fighting, burying her sword in the gut of the bandit who had raised his axe to take another hunter by surprise. She moved swiftly, like fire and death, almost ethereal.

“Just few more meters,” I said as I watched from behind a barricade. I wanted to make sure someone was able to man the catapult if they made it that far, and I wasn’t handy with a blade. The hunters rallied around Ina as she bellowed loudly, the air vibrating and shimmering in a circle around her. The hunters that were within the radius of the strange phenomenon suddenly fought with renewed vigor, and their attacks were much more disciplined. I watched the icon for a countdown come to an end, and a series of arrows launched outwards from the murderholes within the first layer of chokepoints. Several bandits went down in the barrage, mostly dead. The hunters spread out behind the first bottleneck, and the bandits followed ignorantly. One of the front bandits tripped a series of spike traps. He was rewarded with a solid skewering, along with a few others who were in close proximity. Their bodies hung off the spikes as the spring and piston snapped from the weight. “Unexpected result, wood cannot hold up several bodies. Will make note.” I was talking to myself again, as though this fight wasn’t happening right before my eyes, but instead on a video screen, like an experiment gone horribly awry. It wasn’t necessarily a failed experiment, but a chance to experience new data in a semi-controlled environment.

“Move, move, move! Down!” Ina’s voice shattered the battle din just in time, as a second volley of arrows shot out of the murderholes, streaking into their targets with ease. I saw the bowmen withdraw from their positions and move further down the line. I didn’t want to seem too optimistic, but it looked like we were winning. The bandit’s attacking force was down to half, and we had only lost 4 men so far.

“What happen to pi-” My words were cut off as a small group of bandits, who thought they were clever trying to avoid the walls, stepped on the false floor I had created, and fell through. The sound of their agonized screams reached my ears in seconds. “Ah, there is pitfall.” A small smile had found its way onto my face. I didn’t want to admit I was enjoying it, but I was. Did that make me a terrible person? I don’t know, I made weapons and devices of destruction for a living. Maybe I’m on even ground now.

“Hunters, pincer!” Ina shouted the words so loud it could probably be heard in Val’Fore, if it were still standing. Several of our hunters had stayed out of sight, and were now backfilling the bottleneck, pushing the bandits further into the trap. A series of arrows peppered a bandit who was trying to climb the walls to escape. He fell and crushed two others on his way down. The heavy Thwang of an overly-tightened spring sounded from just a short distance away, heralding the second line of traps. I had managed to find some old honing oil that had started to turn, and used it to poison a few of the spike traps for those who survived the immediate impact or impaling. It was working marvelously, if the screams and tortured shouts of the bandits could be believed.

“Stop watching fight, go man catapult.” I had to tell myself to move, I wasn’t used to the experience of large-scale combat, and it was causing me to be half-entranced, and half-paralyzed. “Move ass, or everyone die.” I managed to kick myself into gear, and headed to the catapult. I had already loaded it with what I could find, mostly sharp rocks and pieces of wood. The payload would be more like a grapeshot than a rock, but that was okay, I was aiming for that effect. I threw my arm up, just as Ina had taken her eyes off the fight. She was covered in blood, her sword dripped gore. She was a mess, looking like the angel of death, my own personal creature of destruction. I jerked my arm down as quickly as I could, showing her the hunters needed to move to the sides.

“Walls! Now!” The hunters obeyed her command as one, a couple of them disengaging from bandits who looked confused. I jerked the catapult lever back, and the arm shot forward. The entire alleyway I had created turned into a storm of fragmentation as stones, wood, and nails flew through the air. Most of the bandits that were left, less than ¼ of their original fighting force, took simple flesh wounds, but a few of them took arterial lacerations, or were given a well-placed wooden plank through their body. One unlucky bandit took a large rock to the face, and moving as fast as it was, his face vanished in a fine, pink mist.

“Withdraw! You morons, withdraw!” there was a new voice on the battlefield, one I hadn’t heard before. My eyes darted across the field as quickly as they could to find the source. It had come from a tall, muscular man holding a very long sword. He was wearing the same hides and leathers as the other bandits, but his clothing was different. It was decorated with various baubles, almost like war trophies. His voice commanded with the same force as Ina’s, which probably meant he was also capable of the same kind of destruction.

“Conrad, you finally show yourself. It’s been too long, and my blade hungers for your heart.” There was so much fire in Ina’s voice, I was immediately intimidated.

“The obnoxious warrior woman, who has been keeping my freedom fighters at bay.” The man shoved at the back of a bandit who was running in the opposite direction. An arrow whipped past his face as he continued his approach. If he was concerned, he didn’t show it.

“Your reign of terror in these lands is over, Conrad. And I will be the one who brings vengeance to those you’ve slain.” They began a deadly dance, circling one another in the largest portion of the bottleneck.

“You’re too straight forward, you didn’t build these defenses. Who did this? Who is responsible for slaughtering my men?” He looked around the immediate area. The only sound was his own men groaning in agony. Not even leaves dared to rustle on the trees. Ina took the opportunity to attack while he was distracted, but Conrad was wickedly fast. He brought his blade up and caught her overhead swing with ease, shifting the weight of the blow, driving her to the ground. He kicked her in the shoulder as she landed on her knee. Ina rolled a half dozen meters before spitting in the dirt and standing.

“That was rude.” Ina wiped the dirt from her face as she switched her sword stance. She pulled a shortsword from her hip, and held it backwards, while holding her longsword forward in her other hand. This time it was Conrad’s turn to strike. He ate up the distance in the blink of an eye, his blade outstretched, intending to catch Ina with it, but she sidestepped and batted his blade away. She forced her shoulders down, and a glowing aura enveloped her. I couldn’t be too certain, I didn’t have any real measuring devices on me obviously, but it seemed like she moved faster.

“You’ve improved.” Conrad switched to a power-stance, holding his sword with both hands. He growled loudly and his clothes suddenly grew tighter, the muscles on his forearms bulged and grew in size, while the seams on the leather pants he was wearing split in places. What the hell was going on? Were these fighters directly augmenting their physical prowess with some kind of combat skills? He was on the offense again, swinging fiercely, his blows carving sparks from Ina’s blocks and parries. Conrad appeared to be stronger, but Ina was much faster. She spun in a tight circle after she redirected a blow, and caught Conrad in the lower leg with one of the swords. She moved to follow-up, but Conrad was ready. He pulled his blade up, and rammed it into Ina’s chest.

“NO!” I was moving before I even realized what I was doing. The next thing I recall was flying through the air at a ridiculous speed. I must have loaded myself into the catapult and launched myself down range. I tucked myself into as small a shape as I could, and braced for impact. I didn’t know what I was going to do once I got there, but I definitely didn’t expect to slam directly into Conrad.

“Oof!” Conrad’s body was like a wall. My entire body spasmed when I fell to the ground, I was wracked with pain, and was suffering from a new series of debuffs. They popped up in front of my eyes in a solid cascade, one after another.

>>>

Debuffs Added

Fractured Leg: You cannot use your right leg to move and your movement speed has been reduced by 80%; duration: 2 minutes.

Cracked Ribs: Your breathing is impaired and your cracked ribs are causing you pain; Stamina Regeneration reduced by 20%; duration: 2 minutes.

Lower Limbs, Minor Paralysis: Your lower limbs have been paralyzed from a minor spinal injury; unable to stand or walk; duration: 2 minutes.

Fractured Arm: You cannot use your right arm and cannot cast mage spells requiring hand gestures; duration: 2 minutes.

>>>

I dismissed them as quickly as they appeared, I needed to get moving. My health bar was flashing at 20%, but Ina was lying on the ground, her body shaking, heaving, her lungs trying to work.

“Ina, Ina!” I crawled to her side, my body hurt in so many ways I couldn’t think straight, but I knew I had a Healing Potion stashed away, a gift from one of the villagers who had made the trek to Cressfal. I popped the cork, and poured it into Ina’s mouth. I was lucky she was lying on her back, or it would have made getting the potion into her mouth a major challenge.

“You.” Conrad stood up, his body uncertain, his gait unsteady. He leaned on a sword he had picked up, pointing his other hand at me. “This is your doing! My men, dead, because of you.”

“That’s quite enough, son.” The village elder was suddenly standing there. He must have traversed the path while I was trying to get to Ina.

“Do not call me son, you threw me out, you abandoned me! I had to become this, this monster, to live. These fools, they took everyth-hssss” His voice cut off as the elder lifted a hand and fired a series of small bolts of energy from his finger tips. They slammed into Conrad’s chest, pushing him back, knocking the air out of him.

“No, you threw everything away. I gave you a chance to atone, I gave you a chance to be a better person. In the end, it is my fault you are this way. I gave you everything, to make you happy.” There was a sad look on the elder’s face, he suddenly looked very old.

“I ... just ... wanted …” Conrad stumbled about as he tried to stand again, the magic attack having knocked him to his knees. He tilted backwards and couldn’t stop his own momentum. His eyes went wide as he tumbled into the spiked pit. He didn’t even scream as he landed.

“My son, may you be at peace, finally.” The elder walked over to the pit and stared into it. I wasn’t sure, but I could have sworn a tear rolled down his cheek. It wasn’t long after that when everything faded slowly to a deep black. “Get them up,” I remember the elder saying. “They’ve saved us all.”