The day started well. Everyone was ready to leave early and after they had settled their bill, they were able to get their purchases from the day before speedily. They left the village with their destination determined and with a clear route along the track that passed through several villages before reaching the town of Halford, which was their next destination.

The route was clearly used a lot and they met a few wagons going towards the village as they headed out. There hadn’t been any traders heading the same way as them that day but that was fine as they didn’t want to spend their funds on carts and mounts when the village didn’t have enough spares for them anyway and none of them was used to driving a cart anyway. Only Emily had any real experience as a rider, and she had stated that the trade off of having a cart versus walking wasn’t really worth it.

The sun was shining brightly but there was a cooling breeze, so the group were enjoying the walk. They were still spread out a bit as Jo and Emily with Julius took turns at scouting ahead as Mark was cautious and untrusting and knew that they were a potential target although being clearly armed they were less desirable than a merchant.

Even with this bit of caution the group was fairly relaxed and Charlie walked next to Kajal whilst Jo when she wasn’t scouting was walking with Mike and having a cheerful conversation that Mark didn’t really want to interrupt. Instead, he ploughed along, wrapped in his own thoughts, and trying to get a better sense of the forces around them. The abundance of tree and plant growth almost drowned out everything else and so he was struggling to notice much else.

It took the group a while to notice that Emily had been gone longer than she should. In fact, it was them turning a corner and noticing a large tree across the road that got their attention and only after that did, they notice her absence. When Julius burst from the undergrowth near the tree and rushed towards them, they all drew their weapons. An arrow tried to stop the kitten, but he eluded it.

A voice rang out from the side of the road.

“I suggest you stop right there and drop your bags and weapons, and nobody will get hurt.”

Mark knew that whoever had set this trap was unlikely to want witnesses to their robbery and them dropping their weapons was stupid. He did shrug off his bag whilst whispering to Jo. “See if you can get Emily.”

Jo nodded and somehow faded from view despite the bright sunlight. Mark made a point of making big movements as he took of his bag and slowly started to gather heat energy, trying to ensure no flame until he had a target.

“Where’s our companion?” he shouted.

“She’s nice and safe and will be returned to you when you leave. Or maybe a little bit later.”

Mark knew then that whomever they were dealing with had no intention of releasing Emily and that they didn’t have nice plans for her. He tried to put himself into a state of mind where he could attack people. His natural inclination was to try and talk his way out of a situation but that was clearly impossible.

“Hurry up, put your weapons down!” the voice commanded. An arrow was shot from near where the voice was and landed near their feet. Mark saw from the fletching that it was one of Emily’s arrows and wondered if the bandits had another bow. If they didn’t then his small group had a good chance of surviving.

Reacting quickly, he created a fireball that shot off towards the hidden archer. The screams and smell of burning flesh that followed were nauseating and Mark had to hold himself together as he rushed in the direction of the speaker.

“Damn, they have a wizard! Attack!” the voice commanded and from either side of the track people rushed from the woods carrying axes and swords. There was eight of them and none had any armour, but they all looked like they could handle their weapons.

Mike rushed towards the group of four that were on the opposite side of the road to Mark. He angled his attack so that only one of the group could reach him. He was taller and had a longer reach than his first opponent and had the most experienced amongst the group at conflict. When he swung his axe, you could tell that the fight was uneven.

Mike’s first swing crashed into the shoulder of his opponent. He’d been aiming for his head, but the bandit had ducked at the last minute. Either way it made little difference as the axe smashed bones and the bandit fell to the floor, getting in the way of his colleagues.

Mark in the meantime had created another fire ball and sent it towards the other bunch of bandits. They had all conveniently bunched in a group as they attacked, and the heat and flames melted the skin and eyeballs of the three bandits who were just in front of a slightly sheltered fourth. He immediately stopped and ran back into the woods as he saw his friends horrendously injured so quickly.

Charlie joined Mike and they stood side to side and fought two of the three remaining bandits. Axe against axe made for a dangerous fight but it wasn’t fair as Mike had a weapon meant for war and the bandits’ axes were meant for trees. The bandits couldn’t easily switch the direction of their swings and the handles were getting chipped as they tried to defend themselves against axe and sword.

The final visible bandit, unable to reach Mike and Charlie saw Kajal standing in the open, on his own and with his eyes shut. He was constantly muttering prayers but otherwise totally disengaged with what was happening. The bandit drew his knife and threw it accurately towards Kajal’s head. Mark as he turned to face the bandits saw this but could do nothing.

The knife turned in the air and Mark could see that the wicked looking blade had a sharp point that would probably kill Kajal as it hit. He could only stand and watch as the knife got closer. When the blade was less than a foot from Kajal there was a flash of gold and the knife clunked as if hitting a barrier and fell to the floor. Neither Mark nor the bandit could believe their eyes, but it was Mark who reacted first. He immediately drew heat into the space enclosed by the bandit’s skull and literally fried the bandit’s brain. He died screaming in anguish.

The noise behind them distracted the two remaining bandits. When you are fighting it isn’t a good idea to look behind you but that is exactly what Charlie’s opponent did. The bandit turned back to get a sword poked into their face and that effectively ended their involvement. With three opponents for the remaining bandit, he turned to run but only managed one step before Mike’s axe smashed into his spine. He collapsed and Mike stopped his screams by swinging the axe through his throat.

With the immediate danger nullified the trio of fighters looked around. Three dying bandits were screaming from the burns inflicted by Mark, four lay dead in various states at their feet. One bandit had fled but that didn’t mean they were safe. There was still the person who had shouted out, possibly an archer and who knew what else. Before they had time to talk themselves into thinking about consequences they rushed into the woods where the arrow had come from, leaving Kajal to open his eyes and survey the resultant carnage.

They didn’t have far to go. Within the woods they quickly found another bandit suffering major burns. His screams quickly drew them to him, and they could see the results of Mike’s first fireball. The man had no hair and very little facial skin left and the burnt remains of Emily’s bow lay nearby.

Mike put the bandit out of his misery and the relative quiet allowed them to hear the sounds of struggle deeper in the forest. The trio raced towards the noise to find a bandit dragging a bound Emily through the trees. Her feet were free, but she had a few bruises on her face and the rope holding her arms behind the back pulled on them painfully as the bandit used the rope to force her along. Despite the pain, she had obviously been resisting as they had made little progress.

As the trio got closer, the bandit obviously heard them and grabbing a knife from his belt he grabbed Emily and held the blade to her throat.

“Keep away or she gets hurt.” He shouted. His voice confirming that he was the person that had been shouting before. The three slowed their rush and tried to calm the bandit, involuntarily raising their hands to sign for him to calm down.

The bandit was having none of their calming and sounded panicked. He dragged Emily backwards, knife, slightly cutting into her skin. “Stop, right there!” he demanded. Mark. Mike and Charlie immediately halted. However, they were not the only ones around and Julius launched himself at the bandit, jaws trying to bite through the bandit’s ankle.

Stupidly the bandit reacted to this. He took the hand holding the knife away from Emily’s throat as he sought to remove the kitten. He tried to launch Julius away from him by kicking violently with his leg and that did indeed send the kitten soaring through the air, but the kitten landed easily on his feet and headed straight back.

However, the valiant kitten was no longer needed. The distraction he had provided had been enough and as the bandit moved his hand Jo stepped out from the shadows directly behind the bandit and stabbed him repeatedly in the back. At least one of these stabs was effective as the bandit slumped to the ground and with a gurgle died.

Jo immediately turned and threw herself at Mike who wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as she sobbed in his arms. Mark went straight over to Emily and cut her bonds from her. He tried to give her a hug, but she shrank away from him and instead accepted a hug from Charlie. Having nothing more to do Mark stopped and took a huge breath as the adrenaline coursed through his body and he started shaking.

Mark forced himself to check the bandit for what he carried and was rewarded with a purse containing only a few silvers. The weapons the bandit carried were no better than the ones that they had sold in the village and were probably worse. They ended up leaving the bandit leader lying uncovered on the floor with flies starting to buzz around the cooling body.

When the five walked back to the road they found that the remaining bandits had been put out of their misery by Kajal. The small man was crying as he explained that he could do nothing to help the bandits and so could only take away their pain permanently.

When Kajal saw Emily, he gave a horrified look at the state of the bruises on her face and started muttering and praying. As he did this, he suddenly became much calmer and stood straight. A golden glow encompassed him and when he moved and touched Emily’s face her bruises started to visibly shrink. When they were gone the small man slumped to the ground.

Mark checked all the other bodies and again found only small amounts of money on them. The bandits’ weapons were poor, but their axes were generally in better shape. Even so, Mark knew that nobody would want to travel far with the axes and so they were left with the bodies that they stacked in a pile at the side of the road. They used some of the tree branches to cover the bodies, but they weren’t prepared to dig graves.

Mark got Charlie and Mike to help him move the tree blocking the track and the troop continued their trek in a very different mood to how they started the day. They all travelled much closer together.