"Help!" One of the eight children, with rosy, dark-red hair and desperate Amber eyes, bellowed with utmost urgency. "More bandits here!" From afar, upon hearing the children's call for help, the Paladin and the Hunter rushed toward the children for rescue, leaving the Warrior and the Spellcaster behind to defend against the bandits at the narrow trail. However, with the bandits charging on horseback, the children were about to be caught first – before the Adventurers could reach them.
"There's a path here!" the eldest child among the eight, a young teenager with dark purple hair, yelled, pointing to a narrow trail leading up the mountain.
In a split-second decision, the children sprinted into the trail with a mix of trepidation and desperation. The trail was overgrown with a tangle of prickly vines and dense shrubs, and was dotted with wildflowers. As the children ran, thorny branches and leaves with sharp edges slashed at them, forcing them to raise their arms to shield their faces. The purple-haired eldest boy, leading the pack, swiftly invoked "Divine Spell: Reinforced Blade," hacking a clear path through the dense undergrowth. The second eldest boy, with rosy, dark-red hair, followed closely behind, invoking the same spell to further clear the path for the rest of the group. Nathan trailed behind Arielle, with Ashley clinging tightly to his back, his eyes fixed warily on the forest floor, narrowing due to the thorns and sharp branches. Behind them, emboldened by the protection of Divine Spell: Stoneskin, the bandits swiftly abandoned their steeds and stormed into the hidden forest trail, hot on the children's heels. Five minutes into the pursuit, the children heard the dreadful rustling of shrubs from the bandits growing louder, as if grasping them in its claw.
"Will, take Rey and keep running," Nathan called out to Arielle, who was running right in front of him, as he set Ashley down to run on her own.
"But what are you planning to do?" Arielle asked, her voice laced with deep concern, as she clutched Ashley's hand tightly.
Nathan's expression turned grave, and in an urgent tone, he implored, "Will, please, get Rey to safety – get him out of here, no matter what!" His voice was low and urgent, as he sidestepped Arielle's question.
"Okay!" Arielle said as the siblings continued their frantic dash. Ashley, after a short break on Nathan's back, was now able to keep up her pace with everyone.
While he continued to run, Nathan swiftly retrieved the small leather shield from his back and secured it to his left forearm with a practiced motion. Then, after taking a deep breath, Nathan swiftly invoked "Divine Spell: Sink", creating two pitfall traps that blended seamlessly into the surroundings, the fallen leaves and root branches remaining undisturbed on the surface. However, creating just two traps drained Nathan from most of his Divine Power. He started breathing heavily as he sprinted to rejoin the others.
A fleeting glimmer of relief crossed Nathan's face, only to be quickly replaced by a deepening furrow as he thought, "That should buy us some time, but it doesn't get us out of the situation."
Nathan started to strategize. He knew that the Paladin and the Hunter were at the opening to the trail, engaging the bandits. Even if reinforcements arrived, they'd be stuck fighting the bandits, without being able to come and help them immediately. As Nathan collected his thoughts, several ideas came to mind.
1) The children combine their strength to defeat the bandits.
"No, this is not possible." Nathan thought.
2) The children find someone in front of them who could help and stop the bandits.
"This mountain trail had been abandoned long enough to be this overgrown. No one would be in front of us," Nathan concluded.
3) The children hide themselves well enough for someone to come and help.
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"No, help is not coming. Why do I keep thinking about getting help?" Nathan shook his head as he pondered upon his limited options.
Unable to come up with a better idea, Nathan took out his whistle and started blowing into it; he repeated the three long blows, followed by three short blows, a signal he hoped would be heard, as he continued to run.
Nathan heard a bandit's panicked "Woah!" as one of them tumbled into a pitfall trap.
"Ah, my ankle... Watch out for the pitfalls; they're pretty deep," one bandit groaned in pain.
"Move carefully, the children are not going anywhere," another bandit said as they slowed down their pace to watch for traps.
"Stop blowing the whistle! They'd know we're here!" The eldest boy in the front shouted to the back.
"They can trace our footsteps anyway. We need to call for help!" Nathan shouted back and continued blowing.
After five more minutes of running uphill, the children's pace significantly dropped as they exhausted their stamina. Upon knowing that there were no more pitfall traps, the bandits slowly picked up speed once again.
The eldest boy swiftly invoked "Divine Spell: Sink", casting another pitfall trap to slow down their pursuers.
About a minute later, another bandit fell into the trap, which slowed them down again as they helped their friend up from the pit.
"There’s a house ahead!" the eldest teenager in the front called out. The children surged forward, dashing into the open area, past a serene front yard with a pond, and toward the house. The wooden cottage appeared well-maintained, suggesting that someone lived there; however, the door was locked, and no one was home.
"Keep running, there's another path there," a child with black hair pointed at the back of the house and said. However, the children were exhausted. Gasping for breath, they blankly looked at each other. A young child with short blonde hair, who was about the same age as Ashley, dropped to the ground and said in a drained voice, "I can't run anymore."
This could not go on forever.
"Come on, I'll carry you," the purple-haired eldest teenager crouched down and said, "Help is coming, we just need to keep running for a bit more!"
Without a word, the black haired boy ran into the trail, leading the group, and the rest of the children followed in desperation.
Except Nathan.
Nathan unsheathed his sword and moved back to the opening of the return trail, where the bandits could emerge at any second. The trail behind the house was cleverly concealed, blending seamlessly into the surroundings. Unless someone explicitly revealed its location, the bandits might overlook it.
Nathan thought, "If fate permits, they might be able to reach someone for help or stay hidden until the bandits give up. All I can do is increase that chance a little bit more." A resolute smile still on his face, Nathan turned to survey the area, scanning for the perfect spots to set more traps as his sisters disappeared into the distance.
"Wil, no, stop!" Ashley exclaimed, her voice trembling as she caught sight of Nathan's absence. She tugged at Arielle's hand with her tiny fists, trying to halt her sister's frantic pace.
Arielle was sprinting frantically in panic, holding tightly onto Ashley's hand and refusing to let go.
"Wil! Stop running. No!" Ashley struggled and tried to shake off Arielle’s hand as she yelled.
"Nathan is not following us, Wil!" Ashley kept shouting.
"We need to keep running, Nathan is going to stop the bandits for us." Arielle answered, "I promised him I will get you to safety."
Ashley's voice cracked as she blurted out, "We need to keep an eye on Nathan. Otherwise, he'll be gone, just like Mom and Grandma." She stopped in her tracks, her words hanging in the air like a painful truth.
As soon as Mom and Grandma were mentioned, Arielle felt a heavy blow inside her chest as she pondered, "Isn't this exactly the same as what happened that night? The two of us are getting protected again, without being able to do anything?"
After a swift pause, Arielle's momentary hesitation gave way to a steely resolve. In one fluid motion, Arielle unsheathed her sword. Without a word, she pivoted and sprinted back toward Nathan. Ashley then followed her older sister; the younger girl’s own sword at the ready.
The rest of the children, overhearing "Wil" and "Rey", stopped running, looking back at the two "brothers" who ran back. The word "Mom" echoed strongly amongst them.
As soon as the sisters returned to Nathan, their older brother's face contorted into a mixture of frustration and worry. "What are you doing?!" he exclaimed, his voice low and urgent. "Run, get back there!" He jabbed a finger toward the house, his eyes darting between his sisters and the approaching bandits.
"No! If I don't keep an eye on you, you will be gone!" Ashley shouted back, her voice trembling.
"Right, I won't let you go away again!" Arielle answered firmly.
Amidst the children's high pitched voices, a grown man's low, deep voice chimed in, near the children. "You appear to be in a bit of a bind."
The three siblings spun around, their eyes wide with panic, as they exclaimed in unison, "Huh?!" Nathan looked up at the tree, meeting the man's gaze. "A bandit?" he growled, his hand instinctively gripping tighter onto his sword.