Chapter 7: Flint and Fire

They left at sunrise after resupplying to the path towards the next town; Brindel.

Five hours past as their horse slowly trotted, only stopping for light meals, drinks, and toilet breaks.

During the travel they had noted the bandit bounty poster had the same symbol of the one back near Pirium and are noted to be one of the deadlier bands for they wielded enchanted arms and armor looted from caravans, who goes to the western fishing city of Fortuna, where Kurgren was born, to buy the oysters they fished to trade, and, from tavern rumors, has it that they recently stolen some guns and ammo from a caravan train.

By the time of sundown, they vaguely know they were nearing the skulls camp and set up camp with rotating sentry starting with Ardent and ending with Louise.

And during his watch Kurgren swore that someone was watching them.

The next day they moved again, only for Kurgren to smell something acrid, like burnt wood.

"I don't smell anything. Either it's your orcish sense of smell or you're imagining thing." Erhardt responded when Kurgren asked.

Kurgren then sniffed again, it can't be a trick of his mind, then saw Louise staring at a falling leaf, that somehow landed stalk down, before shaking him in a panic.

"We have to move fast. NOW!"

"What are you-"

Then an explosion shattered the silence.

And, just as quick, Evelynn galloped to Ardent command, causing Erhardt to cuss in Vordkrif as he nearly fell, before Kurgren follows, as smoke slowly rosed up in their direction. Before reaching the source.

There laid a destroyed caravan and bandits, carrying a sack, quickly running back into the woods.

And with a thunder of hooves Ardent charged, with Erhardt in tow, and slashed at the nearest bandit.

Kurgren then stopped and pulled his bow and aimed at a running bandit and loosed which struck into a tree. Unfortunately, he wasn't used to running targets.

Then, with a loud pop, the bandit threw a firecracker onto ground in front of Evelynn. Causing Erhardt to fall off as the mare to rear back and Ardent quickly tries to control her.

Kurgren quickly dismounts and gives chase and nearly reached one when he heard Louise.

"STOP! THERES A-"

Kurgren the hears the rustle of leaves before a bandit jumped out beside him and swung. Too close for him to block.

Then a bang rang out.

The bandit wheezed, as a bullet suddenly struck him, then fainted.

Kurgren looked back, where he heard the shot rang, and, for a second, saw a green cloaked figure, face shadowed with only strands of blonde hair poking out, before they disappeared.

Kurgren saw Ardent, now dismounted, quickly ran to a merchant to heal him. Only for his magic to detect no pulse. Before healing and tying the injured bandits

Kurgren then looked around the caravan wreck, finding five corpses bearing the caravan guard symbol, alongside eight bandit corpses, then the merchant corpse. And two dead horses pointing towards Loken.

Sadly, all of the corpses items were taken, stripped to only their clothes, with only a few coppers in their pockets. Then looked to the remnant of the caravan.

The top and most of the items were gone with only burnt wood, vegetables, and destroyed barrels and crates remain. The cargo being mainly food and weapons but also, from the looks of the explosions, blackpowder. Though it can also be alchemist grenade or other substance with a weaker blast.

He then looked to the remnants and scraped a piece of the blackened mess and taste it. Wanting to see if it was blackpowder, recalling Friga guiding him on identifying substances. Then gagged. It is blackpowder.

"But why would the bandits steal such an item of little use? Unless-" Kurgren shakes his head, them having guns is just a rumor, nothing else.

Afterwards he salvaged what he could. Getting just a few coppers and a few, mostly intact, gambesons the horses can carry to sell, and butchers a dead horse for today and tomorrow, leaving the second to the carrions. While Ardent, with Louise and Erhardt help, buried the bodies, with Kindred sickle carved from a branch to signify it was in respect.

And as they set up camp Louise sighed in relief.

"It's a good thing that person followed you from Pirium."

Kurgren then gaped, before recalling smelling someone near them.

"You knew there was a someone stalking us!"

"Well it's a yes and a no. I foretold that we were likely going to be followed by someone. And weren't for that the bandit ambushing you had a fifty percent chance of either suffering a major wound or dying, weren't it for them."

Kurgren glares at her.

"Then why didn't you tell us we were followed! And can you at least tell me if our stalker is friend of foe or what their identity is!"

Louise shakes her head.

"I can't tell you who or what they are. For the futures that I saw of telling you always led to disasters. The future isn't set in stone Kurgren. Even a single word, truth or lie, can change the path of destiny, for good or ill like a flap of a butterflies wing, even if you can't see it now. I can't tell you everything I foresee for I know if they can lead to disasters."

Kurgren grunts before working on the tent, knowing Louise would likely keep that secret, as they make dinner and went to bed. And left upon dawn towards the bandit camp.

They had managed to find the hideout location and guard patrol routes through interrogating the bandits and when they use was done, they had executed them as they were too far from Loken and Brindel was near the bandits hideout. But before they planned Louise had told them of today's event.

"If one of them escapes and six enters the scene. Run to the forest and duck. Hopefully Kurgren saviour comes or we'll be brown bread."

And so, they made the plan.

Once the camp was in sight Louise will blind the bandits with a spell, then they'll swiftly execute them and take down any remainders. Hopefully before the patrol realised what happened.

They move to the bandit hideout as quietly as they can, dismounting their horses and hiding them in a small alcove.

By afternoon they had reach the camp and saw six men around it armed with crossbows and hand axes and, from what the bandits said, there are six more patrolling through the forest in pairs and guess the other five are resting in their tents.

Kurgren nocks an arrow as Louise stand up and quickly waves her wand into a sign "Fleur sona grenta!"

A orb of light flies out of her wand and hits the camp center in an explosion of light and sound.

Kurgren immediately pops out of his cover and loose an arrow, taking a bandit down, then charge out and smashed the head of another one.

Ardent, Erhardt and Louise quickly kills the other three as the sixth recovered and quickly runs to warn the patrol and the five remaining elites come out of their tent.

Unlike the other bandits they had faced, who wore only unenchanted gambesons and sometimes a leather jerkin, they wore iron chainmail hauberks with their gambesons and wields swords and wooden round shields, all of it having basic enchantments.

Kurgren quickly nocks another arrow to strike the runner. When a broad-shouldered man knocked him down then swung. Kurgren rolled away from the attack then counters with his staff.

A crack rang as Kurgren struck the bandits knee, bending it inward, then smashed his head in when he fell.

In a short distance he sees Erhardt engaging another one where in a fluid motion parries the man strike, locking his arm and counters with a gut punch. And struck his head with a hammer punch with his spike and throws the corpse toward two other bandit, knocking them down and briefly trapping them.

Victory was near until he heard noises coming towards them and see the six other bandits holding staffs and the one that escaped.

Kurgren eyes widen in horror as he sees the six bandits raise their weapons and realized what those staffs are.

He quickly yelled to the rest to get down before diving as he saw sparks briefly flew from the staves. Followed by a thunderous boom that echoed. His hunch was true.

The bandits had stolen muskets.

He then gets up and immediately brace himself as a bandit charge.

He quickly parries her strike followed by a groin shot and headbutt.

Two bandits then finished loading and aims at him. Kurgren quickly dives as another crackle of explosion rang.

He gets up and see that Erhardt had knocked down another bandit and used her body as a shield against the bullets coming at him. And Ardent raised his shield and blocks two bullets aimed towards him, the runes on his shield glows bright as the bullets bounced away, before yelling.

"TO THE FOREST!" Then blocking a sword strike and slash across the bandit face and runs back to the trees.

Kurgren and the rest quickly follows suit.

But the trees are too far as he hears the muskets cocking.

He then sees Louise turn around and put her hands up "ODAGIO GLODEN!"

A green dome of air then coalesced around them as the six bullets strikes, bouncing away from them as the air cracks and then breaks where she is blown backwards, like someone had punted her, with Erhardt carrying her as they ran to the trees.

He then moved behind a tree as he see the bullets whizzed by and calms himself.

He looks forward and see the bandits pulling out their paper cartridges to reload at the center of the camp. And he heard distant gunshots and faint yelling which sounded like Erhardt, and then have an idea.

He pulls out one of his flash-disc and, taking a deep breath, quickly move out of his cover and readies to throw when he hears the guns crackle and a sudden surge of intense pain.

He falls to the ground, yelling in pain, and grabs his left shoulder.

He feels blood oozing through his gambeson and his arm refusing to move, the bones shattered.

He then hears footfalls nearing him and saw Ardent running to him before putting his hand above his wound and cast.

"INGRIFF VA-!"

A loud ding suddenly rang out as the bullet struck his head, bouncing off his helmet, and he faints.

He then saw a bandit had snuck up on them. Who then advance towards him and raise the butt of his musket above his head.

Kurgren shuts his eyes and quietly prays that Louise is right.

When another gunshot rang.