Bandits On The Road

-Alexis Lycan, 18 years old-

Alexis walks with Jessica towards the outskirts of Starfall village. There in a large area, cleared of all vegetation, is the lumber felled by the villagers. Said clearing was their destination. Jessica still has her official duties to see to whilst in the Lycan domain after all.

"I am impressed you were able to get this operation under way so quickly." Jessica says while eyeing the bustling people around her. They are carrying axes, ropes and various other tools with big grins on their faces.

Alexis chuckles before replying. "As you can see, my people are extremely motivated." he says while gesturing towards the excited village folk.

"I see." She giggles. "And how much have you managed to store up so far?" she asks in regard to the lumber.

"It will be better for you to see for yourself, we are almost there."

Alexis wears a slight smirk as he leads her towards the clearing. After a short walk filled with mild conversation, they finally arrive.

Jessica gasps softly when she sees the clearing. A great many logs are gathered, stacked neatly into rather impressive piles. The amount gathered shocks her. There is over double the number of logs she had been initially expecting. She steps forward to examine them as her shock settles down. As she takes a closer look, half of the trees were seemingly cut by an extremely sharp blade in one sweeping motion. She quickly flicks her eyes to Alexis, but opts not to question it, for it would be rude to do so she decides.

In truth, Alexis had been secretly practicing his blade work on the trees in the forest. Afterwards, he had been dragging them here to hide the evidence of his morning routine. It was a convenient way to practice, though doing so had always covered him in sweat and dirt. He shudders when he remembers the lectures Sabrina had given him. She could be a truly scary woman when riled up.

"So many..." Jessica finally mutters, still in awe at the sheer number that been gathered in just a short amount of time.

"Like I said, my people have been very motivated." Alexis says while smiling at her.

Jessica nods a few times before fixing her expression. "Ahem. Anyways, how soon until they're able to be transferred?" She asks.

He grins slightly. "Whenever you are ready.

-

Alexis watches the carriage carrying Jessica Anaxia depart from the village. She is an interesting woman, and he is pleased that he can now count her among his too few allies. He needs to shore up as many competent people as he can.

Before she departed, he had received a Note of Transfer from her in exchange for the lumber.

In the Dragonair Empire, large transactions were handled through the state-owned bank. As such every noble was required to have an account by the time they inherited their lands. This way, any due taxes could be drafted directly from the bank by an Imperial official. Now, there was no reason for a tax collector to travel all throughout the Empire.

A Note of Transfer is a writ that is used to notify the bank of a transfer request of gold from one account to another. Nobles no longer have to cart around large chests of gold with them wherever they went.

The amount that was given to Alexis is no small sum. He can now easily afford to pay the villagers for their hard work as well as begin working on other projects he has his mind on. In regard to paying out the gold due, various administrators in the village have been keeping track of how many trees an individual had felled. Though he would now have to go to a city to withdraw the gold, as most commoners did not have an account with the bank.

-

Alexis is on the road leading towards the closest city with a bank, Neverand. He himself had personally undertaken this trip for he wanted Ryan to stay in Starfall to defend the area. Now that a profitable deal had been signed between the Lycan and Anaxia families, Starfall village is almost an irresistible target to bandits and brigands. At present, the Lycan domain only has Ryan and the six men at arms underneath him to defend the whole domain. Alexis wants to withdraw additional money from the bank to expand his forces on top of paying his citizenry.

He continues on the winding road for a while before he suddenly gets the faint feeling that he is being watched. The hair on his arms stands up and his neck tingles. He casually looks behind him and sees a lone rider in a dark cloak behind him. Alexis tightens his grip on the reins and glances at the sword on his hip. He has a strong feeling he will have to draw it soon.

A bulky man, followed by six others saunter out of the trees surrounding the road. They are all armed and wearing vulgar grins.

"Now let's stop right there mister." The man in the lead says arrogantly. He is pointing a chipped and poorly taken care of sword at Alexis.

Alexis pulls on the reins in response and stops his horse a good distance away from the man, the leader, he presumes.

"How can I help you, fine sirs?" Alexis says good naturedly, feigning an ignorant personality.

The leaders grin spreads even wider across his face and steps a bit closer. "Well... I was thinking that I want that fine horse you're riding." the man says slowly. The bandits positioned behind the man snicker loudly.

"My horse?" Alexis asks stupidly, still acting ignorant. He takes his time in eyeing the men as they aren't on guard, clearly thinking that he is an easy mark. The weapons and armor they are wearing are in terrible condition and falling apart. His eyes survey his surroundings, looking for other surprises that may be waiting. After a quick pass, he spots two young girls tied to a tree in the woods that the men had stepped out of. Their clothes are badly torn, and their breasts are clearly visible through the shredded cloth. Tears are flowing down their faces as they huddle together. It is clear what had been done to them.

The sight causes the blood in his veins to boil as he remembers the way his father had constantly raped his mother, and how the bandits in his employ did the same to his villagers. Fury flashes in his eyes and his shadow wavers underneath him in response. He casually grips his sword and leans forward slightly.

"Yes, your horse, you dumb motherfucker! I want it so get off rig-" The bandit leader begins but is violently interrupted when Alexis suddenly appears in front of the man and shoves his sword through his throat. Red hot blood splatters all over the other men and their mouths hang open in surprise. They didn't even see Alexis move, one second, he was on his horse, the next he was butchering their leader.

"Son of a bitch!" A bandit yells as he hastily readies his spear to strike, but Alexis is already standing behind the man and proceeds to cleave him in two. The two halves of the man fall to the ground with a wet, meaty thwack.

"What the fuck is goi-" Another man screeches but is silenced before he could finish his sentence.

The other four bandits are brutally slaughtered before they could even swing their weapon at the young Duke. Alexis then turns towards the last remaining man, the one that was following him on the horse, and grins.

The man swears loudly before wheeling his horse around and galloping away. He is badly shaken and has pissed himself in fright. The man spurs his ragged horse, kicking it in the ribs to coax more speed out of the animal. He thinks he is in the clear when Alexis suddenly appears, standing lightly on the pommel of the brigand's saddle, and beheads the fleeing man.

For this slaughter, Alexis was using a shadow technique called blink. It allows him to instantly teleport by traveling through shadows and popping out of any other shadow in the area. It is an overwhelming power.

After confirming that everyone is dead, he then turns towards the woods.

Alexis walks slowly towards the two women in the woods, who are still clinging to each other and shaking. They are clearly terrified of what just happened and probably believe that they are next.

Alexis cautiously approaches them with his hands out to show he means no harm. After getting close enough to touch, he calmly takes off his still pristine cloak and drapes it over them.

"It's okay now. You're safe." He says softly to the trembling girls.