Chapter 16 Bandits

  “Defensive formation, keep Sarah in the center, Alice you're up for defense too!”

  We form a square around Sarah as she prepares a fire spell. We look around as footsteps come from behind the trees on the road. Both my swords are drawn as I size up the bandits coming out from the tree-line. A quick Appraise reveals this.

  [Bandit lv 12 medium threat]

  Despite my low level they were still deemed only medium threats, we were pretty well trained compared to brigands I guess.

  “Hey there friends, seems like you've got a bit too much weight on your backs, mind if we help lighten the load?”

  Five more bandits come from the tree line, surrounding us as one very clearly eyeing my body.

  “Leave or die brigands.”

  I state clearly and loudly.

  “Well, we tried doing things the easy way… men! Leave the gold eyed one alive, she looks like fun!”

  The bandits began to move in, the leader pulling a shortbow as Sarah sent a small fireball at him, me and Jean parry and bury our blades into arms and legs, before I stab one in the neck with my tail blade. He falls down gurgling on his own blood. The leader screams as flames engulf him, he drops down and begins rolling, Jean is keeping two busy with his superior reach and Alice was beating the tar out of one of them. As we turned one had slipped past Derek, I jumped up once, twice then using gravity magic I doubled my weight and cleaved both his arms off, for a moment he looked horrified before Derek stabbed him clean through the chest. The remaining one ran on seeing his fellow get dismembered but Jean was faster, slashing his thigh he was brought low.

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  As he kneeled down, screaming in pain Jean took his head off with his blade. Alice finished her bandit off too, with a Crack his head snapped back with a powerful ax kick and he took his last breath as he slumped onto the ground.

  After a few moments we all got back in formation, looking around wildly for any more assailants. After we waited for what felt like eternity Alice kneeled down and threw up first. Everyone but me and Derek lost what we'd eaten for breakfast. Though we both gagged and nearly did.

  “Fuck me.”

  Alice said once she'd wiped her mouth off, the bandit leader was still smoking a few feet away.

  “Why… why didn't they run?”

  Jean wondered as he threw up again.

  Derek and I gagged at the smell of the crispy bandit. After a moment I spoke.

  “...we did the right thing. If they moved on to Nyft then they might've taken someone and done terrible things to them. We did good guys… though that was horrible… we'll probably have to kill again. Sarah, let's strip them of anything they wont need any more and make a small pyre and burn them. We don't want any undead to haunt the road.”

  Sarah holds up her hand and dry heaves a few more times.

  “Everyone else stays together and gathers some wood and digs a small grave using Derek's earth magic, once we've burned them to ash we'll bury what's left. Me and Alice will do the final rites.”

  After a few minutes everyone had collected themselves, Alice still sniffled from time to time but the task helped pull them back together. Me and Sarah took what coin they had, which was only enough to buy a few nights at an inn. Their armor was trash, little more than rags but one of them had a small ruby on them. We could sell it for a decent price. I pretended not to see a locket on the leader and left it on his body as Derek helped load them on the small pyre. We spent the afternoon burning them, and then burying them. I went through the movements of my beast flow arts as Alice read a page from scripture to allow them a decent afterlife. Once we finished we all spent a few minutes holding one another, me and Alice holding each other directly as the others simply held hands to try and hold each other steady.

  [Xp gained 1600]