“Form a party now!” Exill ducked while reaching out with both hands to establish a party, just as they had practiced the day before.
The brel reared in panic at the sudden obstacle, and Koopra flattened himself, covering his head with both hands. Bandits were a rare occurrence this close to Ark, but provided you didn’t put up a fight, there was a good chance you would make it out alive.
Exill knew these were no simple outlaws and motioned Tsarra to channel an air gust while he summoned a flame wall to cover their rear. Exill peeked over the sideboard to see they were surrounded, with archers flanking both sides and two bandits cautiously approaching on foot.
Envy leapt off the cart, deflecting a strike with her buckler as she kicked the nearest man’s knee out under him, finishing it off with a gruesome thrust into the neck.
Tsarra was crouched while shooting ice bolts in between gusts of strong wind, unable to channel two magics at once. She concentrated on the archers to their left, while arrows thudded violently into the sides of the cart.
‘This is worse than I expected.’ Exill nocked an arrow and imprinted it lightly with mana to ensure it wouldn’t be affected by Tsarra’s gust of wind. He was on his knees, firing precise shots at archers flanking them on the other side.
“Ah!”
Hearing the shout of pain, Exill glanced over his shoulder to find Tsarra grimacing from an arrow stuck in her shoulder. He quickly lowered her head as projectiles continued to whistle past and snapped the shaft near her body.
“You’re doing fine, focus on channelling the wind.” Reassuring her, he pivoted to the other side of the cart. Exill had taken down three archers to the right and their counterfire had reduced significantly, whereas Tsarra had managed to wound one. He fired off another two arrows, each finding their mark.
“Leave the red haired one alive and kill the man!” A heavily armed bandit mounted on a horse leapt over the flame walls to the rear, knocking Envy down with his charge. The horse reared in pain from its singed underbelly, causing the bandit leader to fall from his saddle.
Exill released his last arrow, taking down the last of the archers then picked up his spear, coming to Envy’s aid. He leapt off the cart and dismissed the flame wall, firing two consecutive ice bolts at the bandit leader’s head.
The brutish armoured man lifted his heater shield in time to block the ice shards, however it had been a feint. The deception broke the bandit leader’s line of sight as he was forced to hold his shield aloft.
Taking this opportunity to strike at the knees, Exill tore the man’s hamstring when the cruelly barbed spear snagged against his tendons.
“Argh!” The bandit leader flailed, losing balance as he suddenly lost strength in one leg.
Another ice bolt embedded itself into the man’s thigh, effectively bringing him to his knees. Blinded by rage, Exill thrust the spear into his open mouth, shattering teeth in the process and instantly killing the bandit leader.
[Ping!]
Exill huffed while pulling out the spear, looking back and forth amidst the treeline, wary of archers. He helped Envy to her feet and observed the lone bandit blocking the road up ahead flee into the forest.
“Do you know how to ride?” Exill asked, grabbing the reigns of the horse.
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“No.” Nevertheless, she sheathed her sword and passed the buckler to him.
Exill helped her mount the frolicking mare who was snorting and still jittery from the burn. He waited anxiously as she gently soothed the horse, settling into the saddle before passing up her buckler.
Only when she rode away on the impatient mare to scout ahead did he find the wherewithal to look around at the site of ambush. It was a scene of carnage and blood; dead bodies lay around them and the cart was like a pincushion from all the arrow shafts embedded on the side.
‘I killed someone.’
The turbulent image of the spearhead shattering teeth was nothing like the impersonal death dealt through ranged combat. Killing monsters, even zombies in the Labyrinth couldn’t compare to taking someone’s life up close and personal.
“Uuergh…” he vomited up his breakfast while leaning against the cart.
Amidst the nausea, soft shallow breaths of pain could be heard up above, forcing Exill to quickly return to his senses. Tsarra needed treatment. Trying not to look too closely, he looted the shield from the bandit leader and threw it onboard.
“Koopra we need to leave now!” he shouted at the cowering Navigator while clambering on board.
Fumbling in his satchel for the enchanted scalpel, he shouted at the driver again to move, throwing worried glances at Tsarra’s pale face. She was bleeding badly. He tore her tunic near the arrow shaft and paralyzed the shoulder to provide some relief, then inspected the arrows embedded into the side of the cart to get an idea of arrow tip’s shape.
Thankfully they were all sharpened tips, and he grabbed the slippery shaft and grimaced as he pulled at it, crisp splinters digging into his palm. With a sucking sound, the tip was finally released, and he pinched closed the gaping wound while channelling all his remaining mana and vitality deep into the shoulder.
Gritting his teeth through the incredible migraine brought on by mana abuse, he wiped his hands on his tunic and brushed Tsarra’s dishevelled hair aside, cradling her head and pale cheeks.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“No… but I feel dizzy.” She whispered back faintly.
For a heart stopping moment, Exill feared she had been poisoned. He wasn’t an expert on venom or toxins but had been taught most of them had a bitter taste. Pulling two arrows out of the cart’s side, he tentatively sampled the tips and was relieved to taste only bare metal.
Spitting over the edge, he watched Envy ride ahead, growing accustomed to the feel of her horse. Small whimpers continued to escape from Koopra’s lips as he urged the reluctant feathered brel on to a slow trot.
Exill refilled his empty quiver, and only then did he allow himself to sit back and breathe deeply, keeping an eye on Tsarra who lay opposite him.
‘What should I do about her?’
The original plan was to drop by Perg’s Clinic, collect the 1500 Denar reward from the Guild and march straight to Diallo’s with the 5200 Denars to fully settle their debt. Now that Tsarra was weak and wounded, he couldn’t drag her around and he was loathe to leave her alone at an insecure location. Exill doubted this would be the end of the attack and in his weakened state, he wasn’t sure he would be able to fend off a similar assault. If he had been the one planning this offensive, there would be another ambush ahead, perhaps a gang of thieves instructed to steal his Denars.
‘I need help…’ he thought, gritting his jaw.
***
Several carts passed them by as they drew closer to Ark, and Exill tensed whenever one came into view. Thankfully, they were all merchant caravans, and had been vetted in advance by the mounted vampire. Envy had natural talent and had fully attuned herself to the horse, scratching the mare’s mane while patrolling ahead, alert for further attacks.
It was a bit after two o’clock that they passed through the western perimeter wall of Ark and Koopra breathed a sigh of relief, allowing the tired brel to slow down to its normal pace. He turned in to the dusty coach yard and pulled over to the side, allowing Exill and Tsarra to alight from the cart.
“Thank you for saving me life, you never know with bandits if they just steal or kill.” Koopra muttered while helping unload Exill’s belongings.
“Thank you for bringing us to Ark safely, I’ll seek you out if we head west again.” Exill hurriedly thanked the Navigator, then picked up his luggage and rushed to the still mounted Vampire with Tsarra in tow.
Unfortunately, you needed a permit to ride horses in the Inner City, so he sought out an idle stableboy, palming him ten Denars to look after it for a few days. Envy reluctantly dismounted and shared a few words with the boy, passing him a salve to apply to the singed underbelly.
“Let’s hurry.”
The trio were a grim blood-spattered sight as they beelined towards the nearest Inner City gate. The guards raised an eyebrow, but otherwise waved them through after checking their cards and resident tokens. Keeping a lookout, he clung to Tsarra and his coin pouch as they neared their destination.