Henry rolled out of the way as a mace came barreling down at his head. He jumped to his feet and looked around there were five men all around him, all of them armed with various weapons that could end him with a single strong or precise swing. He picked up his short sword and circled his enemies, trying to figure out a tactic to escape, as taking all the men on at once wasn’t an option.
He eyed the smallest of the five. He wore a thin tattered shirt and ragged pants that stopped just below his knees, armed with only a small dagger. Henry wasn't interested in the boy, but behind him was his best means of escape, his horse Dragon, whom stayed calm even after having his rider knocked off of him.
Take out the kid and make a break for Dragon should be easy enough, he thought to himself. He lunged at the ginger haired boy taking large strides and before he could even yell out to his friends, the boy’s body rested on Henry’s shoulder limp and lifeless, he removed his sword and began running again but before he could get to his horse a large mace once again made its way into Henry’s vision knocking him to the side and leaving an aching pain throughout his chest. He allowed himself to continue rolling off the path and into the brush, out of sight from the bandits escaping what seemed more and more like certain death.
That’s right Henry, you showed them, he thought while laying himself up the back of a tree trunk to catch his breath. He knew he shouldn’t try to get comfortable as he was well aware of what sort of creatures sat in wait of their next meal but his years of living as a soldier of fortune also taught him the essentials to survival. Finding shelter was always a good place to start and Henry remembered there was an inn somewhere along the road.
He got up and began his tread through the dark night, keeping an ear open for anything that might want to make a meal out of him. He knew the bandits wouldn’t dare follow him off the main path of the forest, as far as they knew Henry was as good as dead but even still, he would have to wait to return to the main road to keep out of sight as he didn’t know where the bandits were based and they would be just as likely to want to put some walls between the wild and themselves as he did.
Trying to push his way through the thick bushes and tree vines made Henry reminisce on his days traveling with his old company during the war with the elves in Lygrasha Mua back before the remnants of that group went their separate ways. If I still had those fools with me, we’d have killed 'em all off with ease. Making his way through the darkness Henry thought he heard many creatures creeping their way towards him but he knew better to let his nerves get the best of him, worrying would cause him to make mistakes and mistakes would get him killed.
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After what felt like an eternity in the forest's darkness, he could make out the shape of the inn. He crept down and approached the inn. Better to be safe than sorry, he thought to himself as he rounded the rear of the inn, looking for anything that looked out of the ordinary. He heard nothing, but that wasn’t too surprising; after all it was late, but when he passed the stables; he saw only a single old gray nag. There must be no one staying here tonight. He resolved. I should have assumed that I guess, this road did have a terrible bandit problem after all. A sly grin overtook the mercenary's face as he began plotting his next job. He stood up tall, patted himself off, and sauntered up towards the front of the inn, up the stairs and into the building.
Henry walked around the large room looking for the innkeeper, but all he found were broken chairs and mugs thrown across the room. Henry assumed the bandits who attacked him were the ones responsible for the mess. Feeling parched, Henry took it upon himself to quench his thirst and made his way around to the bar as he reached for the mug a sharp pain spread from his hand to his forearm.
“Shit!” Henry said and in one fluid motion pulled his dagger and his attacker to the wall behind him, expecting to be face to face with a young boy instead there was an older man with a wild look in his eye. Henry pulled the knife out of his hand and took a step back, examining the old man. He was balding and the hair that remained was now grey, his eyes wild bouncing around his head not focused at all. Henry noticed that his grey tunic had some splotches of blood on it and took a step closer to see better in the darkness, but as he approached, faint mumbling could be heard coming from him and he seemed to tremble.
“Whoa there, old timer you’re more likely to injure yourself than you are me if you keep shaking around like that.” Henry coughed up a fake laugh to calm the man to no effect. “I’m not here to hurt you. I saw you and the rest of the neighboring community might have a slight bandit problem and came to offer my help.” Whether the man could even understand Henry, he did not know, but what he knew was that he didn’t want anyone near him.
Once again, Henry reached for the mug, aiming to get the man to come to his senses. He peeked back at the man and made his way to the stables, and hoped there was some water in the trough. Henry looked into the trough and thought back to his own horse he had to leave with those bandits. I hope those kids at least had the sense to take a horse as fine as Dragon with them. Better taken care of by bandits than out in a forest with no one to protect you, he thought to himself. Pushing those thoughts out of his head, Henry dunked the mug into the troughs and filled it to the brim and smiled.