Chapter 2: Run them hands

Alex got his head splattered by a stone.

His body, reaching for a branch, instead missed it completely, doing a flip from the force of the headshot before slamming into a plant below, bouncing off and plummeting down, and ragdolling on whatever random object was in its path.

Ashley screamed.

Whether it was from the freak thing from earlier, the guilt of bringing the three of them there in the first place, or seeing her brother die, Ashley broke. She leapt down and landed superhero style before catching Alex’s body. She laid him down and wept as the bandits surrounded her.

Jordan, unable to comprehend the events of the last hour, kept climbing. Until a rock blew up his next grab, making him fall. Jordan looked down and saw death approaching rapidly. He did the sensible thing and used a nearby tree to vault himself away. With nowhere to jump to, and unable to do a superhero landing like Ashley, Jordan aimed for the water.

The bandits tried to snipe him out of the sky, but fortunately, Jordan could manipulate his mana to push himself around, throwing off their aim. Unfortunately, being shot at while tumbling in the air did not help with the clear mind associated with mana manipulation. As a result, Jordan received a few scratches and wounds as he fell.

Meanwhile, Ashley got up with a tear soaked face and engaged the bandits in melee. The band was overconfident, seeing how shaken she was. Ashley though, was a born-fighter, naturally gifted with superior speed and perception. At the village, she trained under the chief himself. Feinting a tackle, she drew back and delivered a flying kick to some poor fool’s face after he swung low. The man soared back with a dented skull, very dead.

Ashley landed and immediately spun backwards, dodging two strikes coming at her from the sides. She feinted a counter, instead rushing to another woman, bobbing under a horizontal slash and slamming a mana-enhanced palm into her jaw, obliterating her entire lower face. Ashley used her rising body like a punching bag and gave a one-two to her core, sending her flying into a few others.

Ashley spun again, getting scratched by a thrust from behind, and countering with a spinning elbow to the bandit’s temple. Caught in an awkward position, another bandit used his mace to strike downwards unto her, which she feebly blocked by crossing her arms.

Crack.

Ashley sensed an attack from behind, and gave the mace bandit a question mark kick, incapacitating him.

She flipped over the next attack coming at her back, then grabbing his weapon and securing the back of his neck as she headbutted him three times in quick succession. She kept her center of mass low as she bobbed and weaved out, as she got into a rhythm. Her forearms were broken, back was bleeding, but she still had adrenaline-induced mobility.

Jordan, soaking wet, marched out onto the sand. He initially ran to help, but was interrupted by what looked to be the bandit leader, holding his blade out to the side.

The Leader had an average build, about three inches taller than Jordan, and dark skin. He was wearing actual clothes, being sandals, loose fitting pants bound at the bottom, a chainmail shirt and a horned helmet. His sword was curved and thin, but sparsely decorated. Jordan was happy about that, because it meant he probably wasn’t successful enough as a bandit to afford a nice looking sword.

“Slow down, kid. You’ve got y’own problems to deal with.”

Jordan scowled, and glanced at Ashley. He saw her slam a bandit into two others, so he felt a little relieved. He returned his attention to the leader.

The leader smiled. An innocent one, with an endearing head tilt, but his eyes betrayed his manner. Two bandits stepped up to face Jordan.

Jordan steeled himself, and images of sparring with Alex came to mind. His eyes focused. His muscles coiled up. His hair bristled. His existence itself went on edge. Jordan appraised the two approaching him.

One seemed wary, his eyes appraising Jordan and his brow furrowing. The other seemed eager, smiling and brandishing his mace.

Jordan cloaked his fists with mana. The scene of Alex’s body appeared in his mind. The boy’s mana spiked as he charged the wary one.

Jordan didn’t bother feinting as he ran up, surprising the bandit with his speed. Jordan felt the squelch of tissue as his knee crushed the man’s nose, throwing him on his back. The other bandit threw a light attack, which Jordan sidestepped out of range for. Jordan circled to his right, dodging and deflecting blows as he baited the bandit into overextending. Jordan swept his leg and mounted him, gritting his teeth and slamming a hammerfist into his face.

Jordan’s rage boiled over, and a barrage of strikes absolutely obliterated his opponent’s face, and broke through his skull. Breathing heavily, Jordan got up. His robe was dirty and blooded. His eyes fogged with malice. Gray matter dripped from his hand.

Jordan’s mana spiked erratically, revealing his emotional turmoil. Jordan had hunted beasts and slaughtered livestock, but he had never killed someone before. Death was no stranger to him, but he never really understood what it meant.

“Woah, brutal,” the leader smirked. “You might do well in our company.”

‘Ugh. Right. That guy. Time to shake those thoughts away. Still gotta get out of this.’

He settled into a forward stance, and eyed the leader. His calm demeanor and relaxed stance indicated carelessness, but Jordan couldn’t feel any openings. In fact, Jordan’s senses were telling him to turn and get away as fast as he could.

His aura spiked again. Jordan took note of his surroundings once more.

The bandit he knocked down was still writhing on the floor. The leader didn’t seem to care about him. There was still a group surrounding Ashley. Good. That meant she was still fighting. Ragged looking people carrying bags and carts were watching from a short distance, mostly with empty expressions. Some looked on in pity, and a few were just ignoring them, continuing on down the shoreline. Next to them were the bandits with ranged weapons, probably guarding them. Jordan wasn’t sure why they weren’t shooting, but it was good for him. The leader spoke, startling him.

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“Alright. You ready? Let’s run it.” he said, sheathing his sword and taking off his helmet, revealing short, nappy hair. He stepped backwards into an orthrodox fighting stance. His right hand was raised to his chin and his left hung low, guarding his stomach.

‘Uh oh. Barehanded? Red flag.’ Jordan understood that he wasn’t being underestimated, and that the bandit leader was probably strong enough to lay him out, but decided to just go with it. Maybe he’d be able to flee easier.

The leader waved his hand, signaling Jordan to come at him. Jordan did not oblige, instead choosing to stare at his opponent.

“What’s wrong, scared?” the leader laughed. “Alright then, kid.”

The leader advanced on him, Jordan’s mana spiking in fear a bit, before he made his resolve. This was do or die. ‘Okay. Let’s feel him out first and fight defensively. Just gotta dodge.”

The leader’s left whipped out, snaking past his defenses and smacking Jordan right in the mouth. ‘Fuck.’ he thought, stumbling back and putting his guard higher. ‘He’s right there. Just watch his shoul-’

The leader angled himself to Jordan’s right, and threw another left. Another hit, this time on his cheek, throwing his head back. He used that opening to throw a body shot, and then another jab to the cheek.

“Hahaha! What’s wrong kid!?”

‘Oh god, turtle!’

Jordan put his chin down and his guard fully up. The leader threw combinations, aiming at gaps in Jordan’s defense. A jab up top, and a left hook below. Left, left, pull down his left guard, and… right hook. One jab pushed his hand aside slightly, and in the opening came a right uppercut, rattling his senses. Jordan tried to drop low, aiming for a tackle. The leader just pushed him away, keeping a hand on his head as he danced around him. Laughing, the bandit leader just beat him senseless.

If the leader had been using mana in his strikes, Jordan would be dead. As it was right now, he just felt like he was getting bullied.

Ashley wasn’t doing too hot either. The bandits were getting used to her speed, and managed to wound her a few more times. Still, at least she could count how many were left. Nine left, after defeating six previously. ‘Almost halfway done,’ she thought.

Excessive force and violence helped her cope with Alex’s death. Her mind cleared up, and she became painfully aware of her situation. She was wounded, and still in a dangerous spot. She sensed Jordan nearby, and a pang of guilt went through her for bringing him into this mess.

“Dave, let’s go! Aim for her head!” shouted a voice behind her.

Two bandits charged her, one behind and one in front. She jumped back, sweeping a leg and crushing his back with an axe kick. Another two charged from the sides. Ashley flipped out, ducking under another strike as she landed. An arrow sped towards her face as she panickingly caught it with her hand.

As in, she had an arrow sticking out of her hand.

‘Shit.’

She targeted a random bandit, dodging a strike by ducking right and throwing a side kick into their ribs. She ran to put a bandit between her and the bowman. Another bandit tried to sweep her legs, Ashley executing a butterfly kick into axe kick combo.

Panting, she watched the bandits circle her warily. She needed some distance and time to recover, so she loaded her mana into her legs and tried to jump away. She dodged arrows midair by contorting her body and pushing herself with mana. Unfortunately, the bandits just ran to where she was going to land.

She tried a direct breakthrough approach next, curling up and dropkicking a bandit. The bandit saw it coming and braced herself, forming a shield with mana. Still, she was blown back, and Ashley saw an opening. She ran for it, dodging rocks and arrows, and slipping past the stunned bandit.

Ashley’s first thought was to help Jordan, who was getting pummeled by the leader. She was interrupted when a man wearing similar clothes to the leader came crashing down like a comet onto her, forming a crater in the sand.

‘What the hell? Did he just jump off the mountain or something?’

Coughing, Ashley got back up, finding herself surrounded again. She looked back at the man who stopped her, identifying him as the most threatening. He seemed content to just stare back, and let his troops at her again.

Ashley bobbed and weaved through the bandits' attacks, not quite able to break free from the encirclement anymore. She yelped as one of the bandits got off a glancing blow to her shoulder. She bent his mace as her mana enhanced roundhouse kick threw him into the sand.

The world slowed, and Ashley sensed it coming, but her positioning was awkward from the way the bandit blocked her attack. An arrow pierced through her left calf, killing her mobility.

She took a knee as Jordan got sent flying, landing next to her. He was beaten, bruised, and bleeding. The bandits paused, a little confused at the crumpled boy. As he lay moaning in the sand, the bandit leader strolled up to the front.

“Haha! That boy takes punches better than a sandbag. And- Wait, where’s the rest of you?” The leader looked around, before following the point and gaze of one of the others.

“Damn! She fucked y’all up bad! Why didn’t y’start shootin’ sooner?”

“They got in the way, boss. Said it’d be good training.” A bowman said.

“Tch. Dumbasses got themselves killed. Welp. I’ll finish up here, go on ahead to the spot.”

The bandits nodded and began picking up their comrades. The leader turned to face Ashley and Jordan. He smiled.

“What are you… going to do… with us?” Ashley asked, breathing heavily as the blood loss took its toll on her. She began accumulating mana in her mouth.

“Heh. What will I do huh? Can’t just leave you here, can I? No. You’ll be coming with us. New hands will always be welcome at the Summit.”

“Where…? The Summit? No… You guys are-”

“Sol? Yep. That’s us. Well, me anyway. I just hired these guys as… laborers.” the leader remarked. “Anyways, sorry for killing one of you. Guess he just sucked.”

Ashley gritted her teeth. ‘Just a little more mana’…

Jordan’s aura flared up. He got up, wobbling, as he got into his fighting stance. His aura lacked mana, being slow and droopy compared to earlier. His eyes burned with hatred. The leader watched him, and nodded, dropping his smile. He drew his blade.

Ashley didn’t say anything. She knew what Jordan was going to do. The moment he charged, she was going to scream, enhanced by all the mana accumulated in her mouth. It would hopefully incapacitate both of them, then she would grab Jordan and try her hardest to climb away. Even with just one good leg, she could probably make it up the mountain and back to the village.

“Hmph. None of that.” said the leader, as he dashed to Ashley.

With a swift motion, Ashley went limp.

Jordan’s world faded and slowed, and all he could see was Ashley and the bastard he was going to kill.

He turned, throwing his final punch.

The leader unsheathed his sword from Ashley’s throat and delivered an upwards counter slice.

Jordan’s arm fell to the floor, cut from just under the shoulder.

He looked at his arm, at Ashley’s lifeless eyes, and finally, at the leader. The boy passed out.