Ambush

Calen's eyes widened, as he flimsily waved his sword in front of him, attempting to block the dagger pointed at his neck, but he was slow, his sword coming up to his chest, but not in time to block the dagger. His mind accelerated, fueled by the adrenaline that flowed through his body, as he watched the tip of the steel come closer to him.

.

(Oh… Damn… I guess… I wasn't ready after all.) He thought. (I'm sorry.)

.

A loud crack sounded through the forest as a bolt lodged itself in the back of Calen's assailant, their mana shield pierced by the massive bolt, their dagger dropping limply from the bandit's hand. Calen stared wide-eyed at the corpse in front of him.

.

"Move!" A voice shouted from the forest.

.

Calen turned, shocked, searching for the source of the voice. He could vaguely make out the silhouette of someone in the trees, with pointed little ears on top of their head. He tried to walk towards Aisha, but from the rest of the forest, he could see many dark shapes, approaching menacingly and surrounding him, the sounds of crunching leaves and bootfalls echoing around him.

.

His eyes widened. He could hear again! That meant-

He looked behind him at his stirring party members, illuminated by the faint glow of his sword.

.

"HEY!!!" He screamed, fanatically. "GET UP!!! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!"

.

That fully woke up the party. Jorral snapped awake, grabbing his axe, but unfortunately not having time to put on his armor, while Elza and Thassiel quickly rose, barefooted, but weapons nearby. Calen sighed a sigh of relief - they still had to fight off the bandits, but at least... at least they wouldn't be all murdered in their sleep.

.

The full forest was illuminated by a bright shine of Thassiel's staff, revealing a group of almost a dozen bandits charging towards the party with daggers in hand, in light cloth armor and hoods.

.

Three of the bandits looked at their fallen comrade, the bolt buried in his back, and then at the tree line, where Aisha sat, looking mildly annoyed, shielding her eyes from the bright light of the healer's staff. She jumped from the trees, retreating into the forest and leaving her crossbow on the ground, as the light dimmed, but three bandits followed her through the forest, giving chase.

.

Jorral attempted to follow her into the forest, but Calen held him back.

"What are you doing!?" He struggled, his deep timbre breaking. "She needs help!"

"Don't you think we need help a bit more!?" Calen said panickedly, motioning to the big group of bandits.

"There's no way she can take three-on-one!" The big man said. "Calen-"

"We can help her later!" Calen insisted. "We're surrounded!"

.

The tall boy furrowed his eyebrows at Calen, but regardless, he turned to face the bandits, as there was no time to argue. With the three bandits chasing Aisha, that left… five bandits. One for each member of the party… Someone would have to take two. He had no time to divvy up the bandits however, as a bandit rushed forward, swinging his dagger at Calen and putting a crack into his mana shield.

.

Calen swung back, but his sword was met with the bandit's dagger and a twist, the sword falling out of his inexperienced hands. The bandit tackled Calen, holding his dagger in both hands and forcing it down, hard, struggling as Calen struggled back, hands around the bandit's wrists.

.

(I can't... hold on for long! He's got his entire weight behind that thing... I need to do something!)

.

Calen used a leg to attempt to trip the bandit, but he only managed to mildly annoy the man, his body shifting slightly. That was enough, however, for Calen to dive to the side, hastily fumbling around for his sword. Miraculously, in the dark, he found the blade of the sword, cutting up his bare hands, as he attempted to find the handle, but he found it and lit up the blade with a red glow. He hastily moved back, putting distance between him and the bandit.

.

(Uhhhh! Uhhh! Techniques! Use them Calen! Use your magic!)

.

He made a slashing motion with his sword, sending a large, crescent shaped wave of magic at the bandit. He tried to dodge it, but he was too slow, and his shield was clipped and cracked by Calen's magic.

.

(I'm stronger than him! My magic is more powerful!)

.

Calen ran at the bandit, this time moving closer to fire off his magic at close range. This time, he was able to land the magic head on, creating a larger, more visible crack in the shield. The bandit, alarmed, turned around and began to run into the forest. Calen gave chase, firing waves of magic at the bandit, and eventually shattering his mana shield, sending him to the ground. He put a foot on the bandit's back, panting.

.

"Got you… ha... " He panted out, as the pounding rush in his head gave way to clearness. He thought about something clever to say, but the sound of clashing steel and magic brought his thoughts elsewhere.

.

(Oh shit! The rest!)

.

Calen hurriedly rushed off, leaving the bandit to go help his friends. He could vaguely hear the explosions of Elza's magic and Thassiel's screams. He heard a scream of "get away!" followed by the sound of a hollow pole hitting flesh, and a deep grunt.

.

(Good one, Thassy!)

.

Calen ran over and grabbed a bandit by the hood, swinging the side of his blade as hard as he could into the side of the bandit's head, knocking them unconscious.

The adrenaline began to leave his body, and his heart began to beat at a normal pace again. They could beat the bandits! They weren't that strong!

.

.

.

Calen, no longer hearing the sounds of battle, climbed into the back of the wagon and found the combustion plate, throwing it onto the ground, and lighting up the forest. He looked around, among unconscious bandits, and searched for his party. Thassiel clutched Elza's side at the wagon, both women sweating nervously. At the sight of Calen, they relaxed, and rushed to him with relief.

.

"Calen! Thank the gods! Where's Aisha and Jorral?" Elza asked.

"I don't know. Three of them chased Aisha into the forest. Jorral…" Calen paled. "I-I don't see him. But he couldn't have gone far. He was right here with me when the fighting started.

.

"Jorral!" Calen shouted into the forest.

.

No response. Calen opened the back of the wagon, to see Yharon, in a panicked state, who relaxed at the sight of a familiar face, but Calen jumped out immediately, dusting his pants off.

.

"He's not in there."

"Why would he be in there?" Elza asked.

"Um… I don't know."

.

Calen was beginning to worry. Where the hell was he? It had been really dark, but there was no way he had gone that far...

.

He heard a rustling from the trees. Jorr-

.

A bloody and cut Aisha emerged from the trees, dragging a dead bandit body behind her.

.

"Whoa. You're bloody."

"Yes."

"Have you seen Jorral?"

.

Aisha took a look at the three people currently standing before her. racking her brain for a name.

"The dead guy, or the client?" She asked.

"Th-what?" Calen paled. "What did you just say!?"

"The dead guy, or-"

.

Yharon exit the wagon, relieved that he didn't hear the sound of magic and clashing steel anymore. Aisha's eyes locked onto the man, realization coming to her face.

"I guess his name was Jorral."

"What are you talking about??? How do you know he's dead?!" Calen demanded.

.

Aisha motioned her head in the direction of the forest. Calen rushed into the forest, panicked. Elza and Thassiel soon followed him, running as fast as they could, Elza stumbling in her heels.

.

Aisha wiped some blood off her hands onto her pants before turning to Yharon, who held his hands up defensively.

.

"Look! I didn't know there would be so many bandits! There's usually only one or two! I swear!"

"Sounds about right." She muttered.

"Sounds about right? What do you mean?"

"I thought it was likely that we would run into a large group of bandits." Aisha muttered.

"How?"

"We ran into one on another contract." Aisha explained. "But the fool wanted to let her go. So we did. And she probably told her den that they could raid us."

"Wait… you knew? Why didn't you tell your party?"

"I have no reason to help them."

"What do you mean? They're your party!"

"All they've done is slown me down."

"...Aren't they your friends?"

"No."

.

Yharon stared into the cold abyss in Aisha's eyes. He saw nothing but contempt, and a cold, calculating gaze.

"Great Zaris, girl... "

.

.

.

Yharon shifted uncomfortably under Aisha's gaze, lit by the light of the fire, waiting for the adventurers to come back.

It had been quite a while by now, and Aisha had finished looting the corpses of the bandits, rummaging through their coat pockets and finding a few pendants and rings.

.

He decided that he would go offer his condolences to the party. Aisha's eyes followed his back as he trudged deeper into the forest.

.

.

.

As Yharon ventured deeper into the forest, he could hear the faint sound of sobbing... He saw a faint light come from a gap in between the trees, and made his way closer, feeling around the trees around him to find his footing.

.

He stepped into the clearing, to see the three alive members of the party, huddled around Jorral's body. Thassiel was slumped over his un-armored chest, staining his shirt with tears.

Yharon leaned his hand on a tree, feeling a massive gash in the wood, and then looked at the knife wound in Jorral's neck.

.

(Poor guy. He couldn't swing his axe in such dense woodland. And against fast bandits... He was just unlucky....)

.

"I'm sorry."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What was he like?" Yharon asked.

Thassiel spoke up, sobbing, her words coming out painfully.

"H-h-he was such a kind person… he went adventuring because w-we all wanted to… even though all he wanted was to take care of his family... He learned how to.. to use an axe because he wanted to protect us... A-and he was always there for us when we needed him."

.

Elza pat Thassiel on the back and pulled her into an embrace, Thassiel's sobs muffled by Elza's chest. The expression on the mage's face was also downtrodden and serious, a stark contrast to her usual lazy smile.

.

Yharon didn't get a good look at Calen's face. He was unmoving, staring at the ground, his face shadowed by the darkness of night.

.

"We have to leave." Came a voice from behind Yharon. He turned his head to see Aisha, leaning against a tree, her shadow large on the trees behind her.

"Give us some more time… to mourn Jorral." Elza said, softly. "Please."

"That's not a good idea."

"What do you mean??" Thassiel demanded.

"There are probably going to be more coming." Aisha said. "And unless you want to lose more-"

"Don't you have a heart? Just leave us alone!" Thassiel cried.

.

"No." Calen spoke up, his voice barely a whisper.

"No? Calen, w-we have to at least bury him!" Elza said.

"No." He repeated. "Aisha's right."

"What's gotten into you, Calen!?"

"I'm not going to get another one of you killed."

.

There was a long pause, as Calen's words disappeared into the forest.

.

"Calen… It wasn't your fault."

"Let's just go." Calen said, darkly. He began to walk away. Yharon and Aisha followed him.

"...Calen?" Elza called at his back.

.

The mage stared at Calen's back with a worried expression, sitting next to her friend's cold, lifeless body as she stroked Thassiel's back. She looked at the corpse bitterly. She always thought that after they stopped adventuring, that she would...

.

"It's time to go, dear." She muttered into the blond girl's hair. "We shouldn't hold them up."

"B-but Jorral!" She sobbed.

"I know. But we can't stay here forever."

.

Thassiel continued to cry, but nonetheless, when Elza helped her up on shaky legs, she left the body, moving back towards the camp. The large woman stroked her back the entire way, but as she walked back, she noticed a long steel object, stuck in the ground next to the body.

(Calen left his sword behind..?)

.

.

.

Aisha frowned, as Elza hopped onto the back of the wagon, still hugging Thassiel. The girl had stopped crying, but every few seconds, she would let out a small sniffle.

.

(What a baby.)

.

She looked at the front of the wagon, where Yharon was attaching up the harness to his horse. It hadn't run away during the chaos? A sleep spell, maybe?

.

The wagon started to move.

She would have to walk. Damn.

.

Aisha looked at Calen, who was unusually quiet, but she welcomed the change.

.

.

.

The rest of the journey continued without any problems. They continued to the town in silence, through the night, Thassiel using her staff to light their way. They made their way to the town without a hitch, where Yharon dropped off his goods, picking up a few gold coins. The journey back also shared the same deafening silence.

.

.

.

Yharon dropped a bag of coins into Calen's hand.

.

"Alright, here's your payment. If you ever feel like it again… I'll always welcome you." Yharon offered weakly.

.

In Yharon's heart, he knew that if he ever made a trade run again, it would not be accompanying this particular party.

He walked away, preparing to put up another contract.

.

"I'm going to give my share to Jorral's family. It's the least I can do." Calen said, quietly.

"Me too." Thassiel said.

"I will, as well." Elza said.

"..."

.

They turned to Aisha, who was silent, but held out her hand expectantly.

Calen sighed, and gave her a few gold coins, not even counting them. She looked down at them, counting them in her head. He had given her an extra coin. Oh well. She put them into her coin pouch and left.

.

(She didn't know him that well.) Elza thought.

.

.

.

"Aisha! You're back! How did your first gold contract go?" Miiha asked, with a smile.

"It went pretty well." Aisha replied.

"Well, I'm glad it did! I knew you could do it! Just remember to be careful! You know, I really didn't think that Calen would take another gold contract, after his party..."

.

.

"Hey, where's the rest of your party?"

"They're probably not going to be here for a while. They're... taking a break."

.

Miiha frowned. Calen had been really excited about the contract when he had brought it to her! And he was always really eager to take new contracts.

.

"That's strange. I thought he would be really excited! Must be the rest of his party, who want to rest."

.

Aisha almost laughed, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly. She placed a gold-dotted contract on Miiha's desk.

.

"Nevermind that."