Dosim observed the lone, sleek black carriage as it meandered down the empty mountain pass, its narrow frame allowing it to easily navigate Its many sharp turns. Most carriages would have struggled on this risky route, especially merchant carriages with their bulky wagons and heavy cargo. However, merchants rarely ventured through this remote mountain border route unless they carried something the border authorities wouldn't legally permit in the neighboring kingdom of Veinbor.
What troubled Dosim was the appearance of the carriage itself. It exuded opulence and wealth far beyond what a simple merchant would possess. It bore a crest, a red rose with a gold and black sword stabbed through it. It was a mark of nobility, perhaps even royalty, in its extravagant design and costly adornments. Even the horses pulling it appeared majestic, boasting robust frames and powerful muscles that effortlessly conquered the rugged terrain. As a seasoned bandit, Dosim knew that a carriage of this caliber should have been accompanied by a sizable entourage of guards, but for some reason, it wasn't.
This puzzled Dosim after the broker sold him the information about the carriage’s passage for half their usual price. The peculiar circumstances intrigued Dosim, but what mattered most to him was the promise of riches this carriage held. Regardless of why it traveled unguarded, Dosim was certain that its wealthy occupants were about to make him a very, very happy man. If they didn’t have the gold he sought, then they would become the bargaining chips he’d use to get it, even if he might have to kill one or two of its passengers. Of course, he’ll be hunted down for that, but he was willing to pay the price.
"Ross, will you stop scratching your fucking balls already?! You reek of goblin piss, you wretched bastard!" shouted an oily-haired woman, her voice dripping with disdain as she hastily covered her nose.
"I can't help it, Taza. I think one of those bloody whores gave me something," replied a burly man, who continued to scratch himself despite his companion's protests.
"If you'd stop shagging every new slave we get, you wouldn't have caught anything in the first place. You've probably spoiled the lot," Taza scolded, shaking her head at the bald man. She never liked him, always indulging himself, even against the boss's orders. It never made sense to her why he always got away with it. Sure, Ross was strong. He was among the strongest in their gang, but so was Taza. She knew her way around blades, better even than the other leaders, but she always got scolded when she had too much fun sometimes.
“Don’t worry, Taza. Before we left, I heard the boss was going out to get more,” Ross said, taking his hand out from his pants to bite his nails as he giggled creepily. “I hope he gets some young ones this time, I haven’t had one of those in a while.” Ross continued spitting out a chewed dirty nail onto the ground.
“Of course, a slag-brained horny fucker like you would say that,” she said in clear disgust of the man. She didn’t much care about the slaves or what happened to them. She preferred to let the men have their fun behind closed doors while she had hers. Most knew this about her, but the man before her was of a special sort who didn’t care about what anyone thought of him. “Anyway, If the boss is joining the raid, it means that knife-eared bitch is back,” Taza spat, tracing a deep scar on her face that ran from the right side of her eyebrow to the left side of her jaw. Taza was a realist. She knew she wasn’t a beautiful woman, hell, she didn’t much care about her looks to begin with, not as much as she liked the shine of gold anyway. Even so, she didn’t like being made any uglier than she already was, “The boss had better keep his word and give that woman to me when he's done with her," she hissed angrily.
"No fair, Taza. Whenever you play with them, they always end up dead. Can I have a go at her before you? I promise I'll give her back once I'm done," Ross asked pleadingly.
"No, you rat bastard, she'll be a lifeless husk by the time you're through with her," Taza spat back at the insatiable man.
"Shut your traps," said Dosim, facing away from the two as they chatted leisurely. "The carriage is almost at the ambush point," he continued, putting his spyglass away into a satchel that hung loosely from a rock. "Gelard, make sure you and the others are ready." Dosim signaled with hand signs their boss created for ambushes like this to his other companions on the cliff face adjacent to his.
When the carriage pulled into position, Dosim gave the signal to Gelard's man to fire. The archer nocked, drew, and fired an arrow that streaked through the air in an arc and struck the lone coachman, killing him instantly. Unsurprisingly, the highly trained horses didn't whine in fright or bolt uncontrollably. Instead, they gradually went from a trot to a controlled stop in the middle of the mountain pass. On cue, Gelard and his crew of five quickly descended the cliff and surrounded the carriage.
"Get your fancy asses out now," Gelard said, kicking the carriage door in a bored tone steeped in the melodic rhythm of routine. "If you play nice and give us what we want, we'll let you go, but that’s of course after we've had our fun with the women aboard," Gelard added with a chuckle, his crew following his lead.
Dosim and his two companions didn't follow Gelard down the cliff; instead, they waited above, nestled among the lush shrubs and concealed beneath the dense tree canopy, hidden from prying eyes below. From there, they watched the spectacle unfold. Dosim was a cautious man, preferring to let others do the hard work while he patiently waited for the right moment to reap all the rewards for himself. It was for this very reason that he had enlisted Gelard for this particular job. Dosim had known that Gelard was a greedy man, always skimming off the top of whatever he brought back to the gang. But unlike Dosim, Gelard made no effort to conceal his selfishness, so it took little effort on Dosim's part to convince Gelard he needed help for this job, even if he had to give Gelard a majority of the loot.
The fact that Gelard was a dumbass also made him the perfect choice for this job. Dosim was confident that Gelard wouldn't be aware of the new carriages, like the one he now stood in front of, which had rune-treated traps embedded within their outer paneling. These enchantments were designed to unleash a devastating burst of lightning thaumaturgy upon anyone who got too close without the proper permissions, effectively cooking them from the inside out.
The broker gave Dosim this crucial piece of information after selling him the details about the carriage's route. Dosim had no issue, primarily because the initial cost of the information had been so cheap.
Dosim had never seen the effects of the trap; he had only heard tail of it from a passing acquaintance who described it as "bloody explosive."
First, upon contact with the thaumaturgical runes, the victim would experience instantaneous paralysis, their body immobile as lightning arcana coursed through them, causing them to seize with maddening pain while unable to scream.
Second, a torrent of blood would erupt from every orifice, drenching the victim and their surroundings in a grotesque crimson cascade. Their flesh would then begin to sear and sizzle as it cooked from the inside out, enveloping them in a shroud of rising steam from their own blood and cooking flesh.
And finally, as if to deliver the coup de gras in a culmination that seemed designed to inflict the ultimate punishment on those foolish enough to rob or attack a noble's carriage, the victim's head would explode, delivering a deluge of blood, brain matter, and shattered skull fragments shooting at anyone nearby. Dosim didn't know who created the horrific thaumaturgical trap, and nor did he ever want to cross them, but he looked forward to seeing what they made in action.
Dosim licked his lips as they curled into a smile while he eagerly waited for the fool to touch the door. Gelard reached out with his huge hand, ready to force the door open, when it emitted an audible click out of the blue, collectively surprising the gang. Some even pulled their weapons out of caution for whoever was coming out. With bated breath, they watched as the carriage's door swung open, revealing two pale-skinned, impeccably dressed children. Dark-haired and poised, the children stepped forth from the dim interior of the carriage - a boy and a girl, no older than a mere thirteen years of age. With careful steps, they elegantly descended the short ladder and stood before the utterly bewildered Gelard.
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"Parents offering you kiddos up, eh?" Gelard remarked, only slightly surprised, having already seen this before. "Well, don't be too hard on them. This sort of thing happens from time to time," he added, gesturing with his thumb toward a spot behind him. "Go stand over there. My business isn't finished until dear mommy and daddy give me what I want. You're not even half the payment for crossing our mountain route," Gelard stated, his gaze fixed on the carriage's interior.
"D-Dosim, do you see that? They gave up the kids! Let me have the boy after we kill Gelard! I promise I'll follow your lead for a whole month, deal?!" exclaimed a visibly excited Ross, who couldn't contain his enthusiasm and bounced on his heels.
"Sure, whatever, just shut your trap," Dosim replied dismissively, ignoring the sick man. While having Ross do whatever he wanted for a whole month would be useful, Dosim knew the man was lying through his teeth. Dosim leaned over the cliff, his attention drawn to the increasingly frayed temper of Gelard.
"Look, lads, these fine folks are acting as if we don't know they're hiding in there," Gelard remarked, sharing a chuckle with his crew. "Alright, you've had your fun. I can see your legs within the carriage, so come out before I let my men have their fun with your kiddies right here," Gelard declared, his tone shifting from amusement to a cold voice brimming with a dark promise.
A few seconds passed before a soft, melodic voice, laced with the allure of a seductress, resounded from within the carriage. "My darlings, you may indulge but do be cautious not to soil your attire with any blood. Now, hurry along," the sweet voice instructed with weary grace, addressing not Gelard, the intimidating crew leader, but someone else.
It was then that the first scream of agonizing pain pierced the air from behind Gelard, quickly followed by another. Gelard's reaction was lightning-fast; he spun around so swiftly that he seemed to blur, hoisting his axe defensively. A familiar tingling sensation prickled at the back of his neck, a sensation that always accompanied imminent danger. He brought his axe up, using the flat side to cover his flank just as a powerful impact sent him hurtling to the side. Gelard skidded across the ground like a tossed stone before swiftly picking himself up. His thoughts raced, attempting to comprehend what could have struck him with such force. He only knew of one person who had possessed such monstrous strength, and that was his boss.
As Gelard regained his footing, he watched in horror as he witnessed his men be brutally savaged. Only two of his remaining crew had managed to distance themselves in time, rejoining Gelard a dozen and a half feet away.
The young girl captured and pinned the third member of their crew, a man twice her size. She clearly overpowered him as she began to contort his arms and legs, forcing them into unnatural angles that produced bone-chilling snaps, each sound echoing through the mountain pass. The snapping of his ligaments only served to underscore the man's agonized screams, which rang out drowned by the harrowing cacophony. Yet, the girl wasn't satiated after she snapped his last leg, folding it backward.
With a disturbing lack of mercy, she leaped onto the broken man's back, her tiny hands encircling his neck. Digging her heels into the small of his back, she pulled, not appearing to struggle, yielding another, even more horrific snap that silenced the man's screams but didn't kill him.
The boy proved to be no less monstrous than the girl as he twisted the limbs of the second crew member with apparent indifference, treating them like mere playthings beside the lifeless body of the first crew member. Though agonizing, the second man's screams seemed to pierce the air even louder than the third's, though Gelard couldn't be entirely sure. In contrast to the relentless cruelty of the girl, the boy appeared content after twisting each of the man's limbs around a few times, eliciting a horrid grinding noise followed by the sound of snapping bands that were stretched too thin, leaving him to whimper in agony on the gritty road.
Casually, the boy picked up the swords belonging to the first and second crew members and nonchalantly tossed one to the girl. She caught it with a wicked smile as they both turned to face Gelard and his two remaining members.
"Dosim, you fucking bastard! What in Rok'Thar's name have you dragged me into?" Gelard erupted in a fit of rage, his eyes locked onto the cliffside where he knew the cunning scoundrel was hiding. "Get down here and lend a hand!" He bellowed up at the cliff, his anger boiling over. Gelard had no intention of letting Dosim escape from the mess he had concocted. He would ensure that these two monstrous fiends were aware of the lurking bastard above, leaving them to deal with Dosim. If, of course, they managed to kill him, Gelard thought with a nasty grin.
"Come at me, you monstrous kiddies, so I can tear you apart!" Gelard thundered, heedlessly charging headlong at the two diminutive children. His axe burst into wild and untamed flames as he hoisted it high above his head, bringing it down with ferocious speed and power upon the girl. Gelard felt the resounding impact as the axe slammed into the rocky ground, causing stones to scatter in every direction and leaving a sizable crater behind. Yet, there was no familiar sensation of the axe head meeting the shattered and mangled flesh he was used to, which he'd have to wrench free from his weapon occasionally.
Swiftly recovering, Gelard sidestepped with agility, narrowly avoiding a glancing thrust from the girl that left a stinging nick on his right hand. She could have easily targeted his neck, but instead, she went for his hand. Gelard realized that had the attack been directed at his neck, he would likely be gushing blood from a gaping wound. Instead, her intent had been to disarm him.
"You little bitch! You dare toy with me, me?!" Gelard snarled angrily at the girl. "I'm Gelard the Butcher! I would flay the flesh from your body and feast on your still-beating heart!” he thundered, his fury pouring into his axe as it once again ignited into wrathful flames. He charged toward the girl with unnatural speed, his axe arced from the side with the intent to cleave her in two. Yet, the small girl had uncanny agility at her disposal, ducking nimbly under the axe's trajectory and executing a low backward flip as she pushed off the ground, propelling herself away from Gelard in a graceful leap.
She landed and regained her stance, a sly smirk played on her lips, followed by an innocent giggle that further fueled Gelard's seething anger. He prepared to charge once more but stumbled abruptly, his face contorted with a mixture of fury and surprise, as something sank into the back of his knee, biting deep into his flesh between the leather protection of his armor.
Gelard spun in surprise, his eyes widening as he discovered an arrow embedded in his leg. Looking up, he locked eyes with the boy, who stood wielding the bow of his fallen crew member. The boy was positioned next to their groaning, bloodied bodies, each one marked by multiple shallow cuts with deeper ones aimed at their various tendons. Similar to the infuriating girl, the boy sported a smug expression as he notched and released another arrow aimed straight at Gelard's face.
Reacting swiftly, Gelard used his axe to swat the arrow aside. But then, a fresh, biting pain bit deeper than the arrow as it sank into the back of his other knee. He grunted in furious agony, attempting to maintain his balance as he swung his axe around to decapitate the girl. However, his posture was awry, causing him to swing just above her head as she agilely dodged out of the way.
Gelard dropped to one knee, furiously swinging his axe with blinding speed at the girl, who evaded his relentless assault with uncanny agility. She seemed to dance around him as she delivered shallow cuts all over his body. Beyond annoyed, his axe burst into flames yet again as he was ready to use his strongest attack. However, he abruptly lost his grip on the intimidating weapon, sending it hurtling to the side, where it buried itself within the cliff face. A sense of bewilderment washed over Gelard as he glanced down at the arrow that had taken the place of his axe, now firmly lodged in his right hand.
However, his immediate distress shifted when a sharp pain in his left forearm drew his attention. A deep gash had been made, which severed his tendon, making his arm go limp to his side.
Gelard's gaze remained fixed on his own blood as it flowed down his arm and dripped onto the dirt ground beneath him, where it was quickly absorbed. He raised his eyes to meet the still-smiling girl, now accompanied by the boy. He brimmed with anger, the rage in him not abiding even a little, "You damned monsters," Gelard muttered with disdain as he stared into their ruby colored eyes.
Dosim was the last to withdraw from the cliff's edge as Ross and Taza had already sensed the looming danger posed by the ruthless children and retreated into the forest that flanked them. For Dosim and his two companions, the plan was always to kill Gelard, so they harbored no qualms about leaving him to his death at the hands of the impish monsters. Despite his instincts telling him to run, Dosim was utterly mesmerized by the sheer brutality displayed by the two children.
"Hoa's sun," he muttered under his breath, "the little devils are strong, probably as strong as the boss," he muttered as he observed Gelard be skillfully forced to his knees. Dosim swiftly and silently slinked away from the cliff's edge, unwilling to push his luck after Gelard revealed his position to the children. Activating his prized rune-treated bracelet, he felt the potent endowed enhancement thaumaturgy surge through his body. With newfound swiftness, he expertly navigated the dense forest as he sprinted through it, moving at twice his normal speed, all while the torturous screams of Gelard began to echo up from the mountain pass behind him.