Darreta rus through the bushes and came into a small open area in the woods. She look around for signs of other people and once it seems like no one was around, she starts to take care of business. Just as she finish and was read to return back to Al, she heard rustling from the other side of the open space.

"Who's there?" Darreta shouted.

A group of four people came out. They were a suspicious group. All of them had hoods that hides their faces. One of them spoke

"What's a girl doing out in the woods by herself?" Bandit A said, smirking to himself.

"Don't you know it's dangerous out here in the woods?" Bandit B added. "There's lots of bandits around here Missy, how about you come with us and we'll keep you safe."

"No thanks." Darreta replied. "And I'm not alone."

Darreta puts her hand on her swords, getting ready for a fight, since she had a bad feeling about the group. Bandit A glared at Darreta for a moment before turning to look at one of the others. He pointed towards the direction of where Al was, and one of the Bandit took off running in the direction.

"Hey, wait!" Darreta shouted, taking a step towards the running bandit.

But in a flash, Bandit A was in front of her blocking her path. He slashed out with a hidden dagger at Darreta. She came to a halt, and leans back, barely managing to dodge the sudden attack. She kept back to gain some distance between them.

"Pretty quick for a bandit." Darreta taunted.

"Don't mistake us for common bandits missy." Bandit A replied.

Darreta eyes the person in front of her closely. Bandit A stood up straight in a fairly dignified way. He had little to no openings in his stance, even though he look as if he stood full of openings. She glances over to the remaining two bandits, and they stood in pretty much the same stance.

"I see. Deserters" Darreta commented.

"We prefer the term, Free mens." Bandit A replied. "Not that it matters. You'll die here."

"You think a group of deserters like you pose a threat? You all lost the favors of the Divine after such a cowardly act." Darretta replied back, drawing her sword, confident she can win even against these three opponents. However, she was concerned about Al, since he hasn't fully recover, and wasn't really a fighter in the first place. And his opponent, although lacking the favors of the divines, was still a trained soldier.

"You look like you are concerned about the others who were with you." Bandit A called out. "But you should be concerned about yourself."

Darretta then noticed that the other two were gone. She quickly glanced around the area, but there were too many trees and bushes around. She then shifted her attention back to the first bandit. He was now charging at her. Darretta drew only one of her sword, feeling that the both were not needed at this moment, and took a low guard stance. She had the weapon reach advantage.

Bandit A was within Darretta's reach, so she quickly swing her sword sideways at him. He uses his dagger to guide the sword above and over his head, and then to the other side of his body, leaving Darretta open for a quick swipe from his dagger. She ducks her head to dodge the attack, spun and attack with a downward strike in one swift motion. Again, the bandit uses his dagger to guide the sword off to the side. He then gave a quick kick, knocking her back a few feet.

Darretta quickly got into a kneeling stance with her sword ready in a guard in front of her. She then heard rustling sounds from bot her sides. The other two bandit jumped out to attack her while she was still in a kneeling stance. Feeling pressured, she then drew her other sword. Her right sword struck downward, while her left struck upward. The bandit on her left was too slow in reacting and was cut down, but the one on the right was quick enough to parried the attack with his short sword, but was knocked back into he bush from the impact.

"One down." Darretta taunted. "Who's next?"

Darreta gets back on her feet, with her swords in front of her in an aggressive stance.

"Why have you stopped?" Darreta taunted. "Scared now that one of you go killed so easily?"

"Don't get cocky missy." Bandit A replied.

The bandit's eye glared her down, and his tone had shifted from a nonchalant tone into an aggressive one. Darreta feels a strong bloodless and killing intent from him now. He charges forth, faster than before. He thrust his dagger forward at Darretta, and she dodges to the side, trying to counterattack, but the bandit had stop midway of his attack, spun and did a high kick aiming at her head. Darretta was forced to duck from the sudden change in attack. But the bandit continued a relentless attack, switching between dagger swings and kicks in an unpredictable patterned, giving her very little time to react.

Every now and then Bandit A would jump back, and the bandit that was hidden would jump out to attack Darretta. She would barely be able to deflect the sneak attack, but before she could counter, the bandit would jump back into the woods, and bandit A would re-engaged her with his relentless attack. This would eventually wear Darretta down, and her reaction slowed down.

Bandit A's attack started to land on the wore down Darretta, making light cuts here and there. He jumped back to let the hidden bandit make another sneak attck while he focus his next attck, planning to finish the fight now. The hidden bandit jumped out again, and manages to stab Darretta's side. She grabs his hand before he was able to do anything else.

"Finally caught you!" Darretta exclaimed. She quickly cut him down before he was able to move. The hidden bandit slumped down to the ground. She glace back to bandit A and smile. "Two down. Only one left."

"Don't put me on the same level as those two. Although they were soldiers, they are nothing more than ordinary citizens with some fighting experience now that they no longer have the blessings of the Divines." Bandit A replied, seemingly as if he still had the upper hand against her.

"Aren't you the same then?" Darretta asked.

"Me? No..." Bandit A replied again. I was a captain, with years of fighting experience on the border between the Northern and Western Kingdom. If you surrender now, I may yet let you and your companions live."

"I could say the same to you." Darretta answered back. "Although they are already dead, at least you can still be alive... while you rot in Trissdia prison."

Bandit A smiled. He did not reply back to Darretta, instead charging in once again. Darretta brace herself, but Bandit A threw his dagger at her. She knocked it down, and faced towards him again. Instead of going for her, he opted for the nearby dead bandit. He picked up the short sword of the dead bandit.

Bandit A started a new relentless attack, although a little slower, it now has greater range and efficiency than before. Darretta, who was wore down, and now injured, was having a hard time keeping up. There was little to no opening in Bandit A's attack. She had no time to start her skills for a counter attck.

Darretta could not help but think about how powerful the bandit was back when he was still in the army. Back when he still had the blessings of the divines. She was struggling to even defend herself from his relentless attacks. She then recall what happened earlier with the other bandit. Maybe if she takes a hit, she would be able to counter in that moment.

Bandit A eventually got through Darretta's defense, and thrust his sword into her left shoulder. At that moment, Darretta counterattack with a downward strike from her right hand. Bandit A raised his left him to try and block the attack. Her sword managed to cut into the bandit's left shoulder as well, but didn't go in too deeply due to the bandit's hand blocking the sword. But that had also caused the bandit to suffer a deep cut on his hand as well.

Bandit A jumps back away from Darretta, covering his wound with his uninjured hand. Darretta looked at him mockingly. This angered Bandit A, but now that he is injured as well, he wasn't too sure if he could still win. The two eyed each other but not moving. Just then, they both heard shouting coming from the woods.

"Darretta!!" The voice called.

Darretta looked towards the direction of the shouting and called back.

"Al? Over here." Darretta yelled back. She turns to look at the bandit again, but he was gone. Al popped out of the woods.

"What took you so long?" Darreta said with a smile, and sheath her swords.