They encroached in on the bandit camp. Hiding in the bushes, they surrounded the cave entrance. It was quite a walk away from the town, in an area abundant with vegetation so it was well-hidden.How the guards discovered this, placed only more suspicion on them but then again, it wouldn't be too hard and Ivan had no idea of how long the bandits had been infesting this land.

He gave a hand gesture ordering everyone to move closer, still maintaining their level of stealth. Ivan whispered to a man beside him to go around and for him, or someone else, to kill the man standing guard at the entrance.

As they were all in wait for the man to die, they all heard another man approach from behind them.

"Hey! How long we gotta stand around doin' nothin'!"

"You done taking a piss then?"

"Yeah."

Crap, if we're discovered then one of them may alert the rest of the camp. My aim was to do this stealthily, thought Ivan.

However, his allies knew instinctively what to do. In near unison the men were stabbed to death, hands covering their mouths to prevent them from screaming. Ivan took a sigh of relief as he and everyone else removed themselves from the bushes and got ready to cleanse the cave of bandit scum.

"All right, onward."

The cave funnelled a light breeze through it, lanterns adorned the walls and the occasional bandit could be found shirking their guard duty and resting. They were easy to remove, and the group moved further up. Ivan kept a tally of the enemies killed. 6 thus far. Eventually they reached a split in the path and now was when Ivan's initiative took over.

"We should obviously split into 2 groups. I assume the group I am not with will be able to conduct themselves properly through stealth but if the situation takes a turn for the worse then you are allowed to engage at will. My greatest concern however is that this is a trap, the town guard captain will most likely have informed the bandits about our arrival and desire to see them removed. Thus, they would be presented with 2 options. Increase their security at the entrance or set a trap for us. The latter seems the smartest so, just as a warning, be vigilant."

"It also says quite a bit about their strength," inputted Fenston, "If they set a trap for us then they do see us a threat and do not have overwhelming numbers, instead relying on the element of surprise to defeat us."

Ivan was amazed at the merchant's intelligence but if that was his trade then it made sense.

"Agreed, press on men."

Ivan thought to himself, splitting up could be dangerous but it was their only option.

The cave grew danker and drearier, a nervous atmosphere began building up around the men. Adolphus appeared to begin sobering up. The bandits could strike at any moment, at any given time they could appear out of the shadows and use whatever they had stored for them. Would they attack head on? Use a booby trap? That would be the smartest option for them but were they that clever? Dammit, when will they strike? Ivan asked himself continuously. The cave grew darker further on, only a few poorly lit lamps gave an outline of the path. The men started to feel uncomfortable as their armpits became sweaty.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The pit pat of footsteps was all that could be heard.

I wonder how the other group is doing? Thought Ivan.

Water dripped from the ceiling as they carefully walked.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Where, where, where, where Goddamit? Ivan kept thinking.

Crunch!

The sound of bones shattering in front of Ivan startled him to the point he fell over and every fibre of his body was sent into high alert. Screams broke the maddening silence as the commoners from the town were murdered by something. Pools of blood appeared at Ivan's feet, he barely had time to react.

More screams came but it was accompanied with threats such as "Kill them all!". Ivan hastily tried to stand himself upright only to have a sharp pain appear in his shoulder. His head turned right to see a sword thrust into his flesh.

"Aaaaarrrggh!"

The metal tore through his muscle and cracked his collarbone. Ivan's right arm felt completely numb yet burnt at the same time. Ivan looked up to gaze upon the one who had stabbed him. A man whose face was concealed by cloth. He raised the bloody sword again, readying for a second strike but halted when he heard.

"Stop it you fool!"

A man many inches taller than him grabbed the sword bearer by the left shoulder, span him around and sent a fist straight into his face.

"White hair idiot, white fucking hair! How many times have I said it?!" Bellowed the man, "that's the goddamn prince!"

"Sorry boss, I couldn't see in the dark."

"Don't use that as an excuse you boarbrain!"

"S... sorry boss."

"Oh well, go kill the rest. I'll deal with the prince."

Several townsfolk stood terrified and then there was Adolphus slowly sobering up next to them, making sense of the situation.

The giant towering over Ivan held his head high and cracked his neck. His smile revealed his crooked black teeth and unhealthily red gums. The flexing of his cheek muscles made his pores all the more visible as the man also began scratching at them with his yellow nails. His arm which more muscle mass than all of Ivan's limbs combined raised an axe that, from the blood stains and dents, had seen its fair share of skull smashing.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, I'm gonna die, screamed Ivan's mind. Ivan's fear consumed him to the point he forgot he was immortal. As the axe came down it cut something next to Ivan's face, missing him by a hair. It was vines? In a cave? But then Ivan realised what it was.

"Adolphus!" He shouted, looking back at the dwarf.

Ivan had collected his thoughts and swallowed his fear. He had a mage, one chosen by God himself. The brute had no chance.

"Ah so you're one of those filthy fucking degenerate inhumans. I hate your kind, you all brag about how you're so much greater than us normal people. I don't give a rat's arse if the church says you're all chosen by God or something, having a share of his power or whatever. No God of mine would ever proclaim inequality like that. Your kind are just... just," the man’s muscles contracted revealing his network of veins, clearly he was getting frustrated, "Just the absolute worst of humanity!"

What the hell is this oath blabbering on about? Thought Ivan. The Church and teachings of the wisemen teach how God gifts part of his power to select humans who are destined to do great things. Ivan was never much a devout follower, but he did believe God existed. Yet his ideology was that God made him this way, so he saw no reason to repent for who he was.

"Maybe," Adolphus finally spoke up, "maybe I am inhuman, but the fact is that I was born with magic, born with a rare ability, an ability which can manifest destruction and creation. All men are not born equal, that is the reality I have faced for most of my life, equality is a facade. So, hate me all you want, I don't care, I have lived my life hating everything, even myself, so I feel nothing but sympathy for you."