Chapter 32

The next morning we all gathered in the Inn’s dining room. We ate a quick breakfast and then it was time to set off for the first location. We now had a map with locations of the different raider camps in the area. There was a cave not too far from town where some of them were supposed to be staying. There weren’t supposed to be a lot there so it would be a good opportunity to try to capture one to interrogate for more information. We headed out of the town. We had a discussion about how to proceed once we got there. Some surprise would be nice but we may have to end up going for a frontal assault. We couldn’t afford for any of them to get away so we may need to get a little more aggressive. We would scout it out once we got closer. To figure out how many raiders were actually there. Once we had a better idea what we were up against we would be able to proceed with a plan. Either shock and awe or possibly something more stealthy. Time passed as we walked. There was nothing more to do except to get there and see what was going on. The plans would change depending on how many raiders were in the cave. We stopped a few hours before we reached the cave and ate a quick lunch. We didn’t want to waste time making food so we just ate some trail food. We only stopped for a few minutes before we were back on the road. We were getting into some deeper forest and eventually had to leave the road to make our way closer to the cave. As we got closer we slowed our pace. We didn’t want to reveal ourselves to them before it was time. We crept closer and eventually reached the point where the trees started to thin out. Soon we caught sight of the mouth of the cave. We couldn’t see inside the cave but one thing that was an immediate concern were the two guards standing at the entrance of the cave.

We would have to deal with them. There may be a way to take out both of them without causing too much of a fuss. We scouted it for a little longer to see if anyone else came out or if there was a change of the guard. We backed away from the cave and started a discussion as to how to proceed. Adrian was the first to speak up. “I say we go for a frontal assault. Charge straight at them and strike them down before they can react. This is the best strategy.” He seemed fairly confident in this plan until Charlotte spoke up. “No, I think we should try a more stealthy approach. I can take both guards out without alerting anyone and then we can snake inside and go from there.” Adrian snorted. “You are always wanting to sneak around. I want to have a straight up fight. Sneaking is for thieves in the night not for us adventurers.” Charlotte replied sharply. “Are you calling me a thief?” Adrian looked surprised by her response. “No, of course not. You are no thief. I didn’t mean to insult you. I just prefer to fight my enemies up close, you know that.” Charlotte seemed to deflate after he said that. “I’m sorry Adrian. I shouldn’t have jumped directly to you trying to insult me. We’ve been friends for so long I don’t know why I took it that way.” Adiran smiled and replied. “It’s fine Charlotte. I don’t take any offense but back to what we were discussing. What's the plan? Do we try to sneak in or do we try the frontal assault? You’re the leader Devin. You get to decide. Whichever you pick we will go along with.” It didn’t take long for Devin to respond. “I love a good fight as much as you do Adrian but I think the smarter and safer play is to wait for a guard change and then take them out from a distance. That requires the least risk and if anything goes wrong we can always rush in your way.” Adrian grinned “I can live with that. Now we wait for them to change guards and Charlotte can show us why she is the archer in the group.”

A few hours later the guards changed. We gave them a little time to settle in and get complacent. You could tell by the way they weren’t really paying attention to keeping watch that it was time to make a move. They were just chatting and not really watching the area around them. There wouldn’t be a better opportunity to strike. The guards were mid conversation when an arrow struck seemingly out of nowhere. It took the man on the left side through the eye. Only a second after another arrow followed right behind the first. And it took out the man on the right. Both men crumpled to the ground. I was hoping the noise of them falling wouldn’t alert the others but after a while no one came out to investigate so I figured we were safe. We moved out of the forest and closer to the caves entrance. From what we could see no one had made any attempt to check on the guards at the entrance. Once we got to the mouth of the cave. We got into a formation with Devin leading the way and Adrian at the back. We made our way into the cave and it turned out the cave had a long tunnel leading to the main chamber. That was lucky for us as it kept the noise from reaching the rest of the raiders. We made our way slowly in. We didn’t want to alert the rest of the raiders and ruin our element of surprise.

We came up to a door that was cut into the side of the cave. We slowly opened the door and found the two guards that had been standing outside earlier asleep in their beds.We made our way silently into the room and sent them peacefully into the afterlife. That was four guards down but we didn’t have an exact count as to how many of them were down here. We cleared the room and made sure no one else was inside before continuing. We made our way deeper into the cave. We had not come across anyone else yet but that didn’t mean they didn't have wandering guards. As we walked down the hall we came across two more rooms. Now this poses a difficult question for us. Did we go into one room at a time and risk the sound alerting others or go into both at the same time trying to not set off the others that may be here or finally just pass these rooms by and leave a potential enemy at our backs. The decision was made easily. Half of us went into one room as the others went into the other. Devin, Morigan and myself went into one room while the others went the other way. The room we went into was a small dining area and five bandits sat around the table in the middle of a meal. They reacted quickly. As men who have been in many battles do, but we had the jump on them. We had our weapons and spells at the ready before entering and we let loose as soon as we saw the bandits. Even still they managed to get their weapons out. Two of the five were dead in an instant. Morigans spell caught them as they were standing up. I charged to engage with one of the bandits and Devin took the last two. I managed to slash his arm pretty good before he could get his sword all the way out. This severely limited what the man could do but he gave it his best shot. He charged me and slashed as hard and fast as he could. Even injured as he was, he nearly overwhelmed me with his brute strength. I was able to keep him from dealing any damage and could tell he was waning. The blood loss must have gotten to him. He stumbled a bit and that was the only opening I needed. I slashed across his chest opening up his middle and then stabbed him through the chest. He was dead before he hit the ground. Devin was just finishing off the two he had been fighting. They hadn’t been difficult for him to take on. Soon he dealt the finishing blow and flicked the blood from the blade. We turned and made our way over to the other room across the hall. Three more bodies were laying on the floor. It looked like a break or recreation room. The men had been in the middle of a game of cards.

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With these rooms cleared of danger it was time to go farther in. Twelve men were already dead and I didn’t see how there could be that many more alive down here unless we had greatly underestimated their numbers. After a few more minutes we made it into the main chamber of the cave. It was vast and open. There was a fire in the middle of the room with a hole in the ceiling to let the smoke out. There were logs that were being used as seats sitting around the fire and a seat almost like a throne not far away. I guessed that must be for the leader of these bandits. I counted eleven bandits in this room. This was going to be more difficult than clearing a small room of a few bandits. We crept back a little so that we didn’t reveal ourselves. I was surprised the combat from earlier hadn’t alerted them. We talked it over and once again the two choices were to go in all at once or to try things the stealthy way. Adrian put his foot down. “We did things the stealthy way so far it is time for some shock and awe.” Devin didn’t even hesitate. “I agree. We all go in and unleash everything we have all at once.” Everyone agreed. That was part of being in a group with a designated leader. Once a decision was made there was no argument. Everyone readied themselves and then it was time to go in.

Morigan, Sora, and myself all summoned fire balls larger than normal. We aimed them at the group. Charlotte knocked two arrows at the same time and Adrian and Devin readied their swords. Devin counted down. Three ,two,one and go. We unleashed our magic and the arrows. The room went up in a blaze. A lot of the raiders were caught in the blaze but only a couple were outright killed. The two that were hit with the arrows slumped to the ground dead and another set of two were following right behind them. Many of them were singed. It wouldn’t keep them out of the fight but it should help with the fight as a whole. We released another barrage of fireballs as Devin and Adrian finally joined in the melee. Devin made his way for the leader as Adrian went for a small group of them. The combat was intense. The sounds of metal clashing together rang throughout the room. Spells and arrows were flying across the room. We were letting loose with everything we had. I ran into the fray. There were two men who looked like they had about had enough of this fight and were looking for a way to escape. Then men were so caught up in trying to escape that I caught them off guard. I sent a cut towards the first man and to my surprise I left a large slash across the man's middle. Before he could react all of the way I sent in a stab that pierced him through the eye. He was dead instantly. The other man given time to prepare was able to mount a better defense. He blocked my first strike and sent a strike of his own flying towards me. I barely managed to raise my own guard. That training seemed to be paying off. We went back and forth for a while sending out slashes and piercing strikes. Both of us were doing a pretty good job of not getting injured but it was inevitable that a few would slip through our blocks. Each of us was bleeding from shallow cuts. It didn’t affect our abilities but they still hurt. The man finally made the mistake I was looking for. He slipped on a loose stone and as he slipped I was able to slash his torso open. He fell to the ground unable to get back up. I pierced him through the heart and he was dead. I looked around and everyone was finishing up the battle. Devin had already killed the leader and was now helping Adrian finish off his group. The girls had already finished up their opponents and were just waiting for us to finish. They would have stepped in to help if it had looked like we needed it. With a final swing of his great sword the final raider was dealt with.

We regrouped in the center of the room. Devin said. “Everyone, good job with each of your fights. For now let's spread out and see if we can find any loot worth taking. Also check all of the men and make sure they all are dead. I know its grizzley work but take whatever we can use even off the bodies. We will pile them up outside and then head back to the town to let them know this group of raiders had been cleared out.” Everyone split up to start the task of searching the corpses and looking for loot. We went about our task efficiently. We started in the first room and made our way all the way to the main room once again. We found a small chest full of silver coins and even a little gold. As a group we decided that this would fund the rest of our journey so we wouldn’t need to furnish the funds independently. The raiders each had a few coppers apiece and we decided that we could also go to the team fund. It would be easier for one person to keep track of the funds. In our case Morigan who was also carrying the group's supplies in her storage device. With the business of the day done it was time to head out. The men were left outside so that the mayor could send someone to verify our words. Only after that would we be paid for dealing with that particular group.

We started back towards the town. Once we got back we were let in to talk to the mayor. We told him what we had seen and which location we had been to. He said he would have to send people out to verify our information and he hoped we weren't offended by that. We assured him that that was fine and we would await word at the Inn. We walked to the Inn and everyone wanted a bath to wash away the filth of battle. We each took turns and met in the dining room for dinner. After eating a nice meal and talking about the events of the day. It was time to turn it in for the night. Tomorrow the mayor would pay us for the work we had done today and then we would head out to find more raiders. I made my way to the room. The fights of today had worn me out and I was looking forward to a nice night of sleep. I laid down in bed thinking of what would happen tomorrow. More adventure was sure to come. For now I needed my rest. Not getting enough rest was a good way to find yourself dead. If you were getting drowsy in the middle of a fight it could get you killed. With that I drifted off to sleep.