The little girl got on her knees and cried. Grud sat back on his chair and sighed. Only then did he realise Melody, Suri and Renata stood at the door observing the situation with shock in their eyes. He realised that people were going to die, some of them would be adventurers. It wasn’t a small decision to be made.

“Rothman, can you commit any troops to this?”

Rothman looked at the crying girl still on her knees.

“We’re already down to the bare bones of our reserves but perhaps I can spare a few ribs.”

“Good. What type of people are we if adventurers forget who we serve? Melody, send out an emergency quest to all available teams. These bandits have pushed us too far, we are going to subjugate some bandits.”

Annie’s face lit up through streaks of tears.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

She kept repeating. Grud admitted that seeing Annie changed his mind, if he could make a girl as nice as her smile, then everything they did in the guild was worth it. As the guild master requested, the guild issued a subjugation request, one of the largest quests since the last beast incursion over a hundred years ago.

“Now who is asking a lot from their men?”

Rothman chuckled.

Nobody rested that day. Teams from all around Hafeld gathered to the hall. When word got out, even retired adventurers cleaned their weapons and joined the group. So many people turned up that Grud instructed that only the team leaders could go into the hall, the others congregated in the adjacent sparring hall attached to the main building.

With all the leaders there, Grud nutted out a daring plan to rescue the captured people. It was simple, time remained the essence, the faster people got to the people heading east the better.

A large area map lay on a table in the middle of the hall around which Grud and a few notable adventurers stood. Everyone else watched from around them and some even stood on the mezzanine floor looking down at them. Grud addressed them with a speech typical of his nature that would be famously repeated well into the future.

“Men. You know why you are here. You are well trained and experienced. The bandits are about to discover that their retirement benefits suck. Have no mercy on them and do anything you can for those captured. We have a reputation to uphold.”

A short and bold hurrah erupted once from the men.

“Where are the scouts?”

“Here. I’m Harrisman.”

Said a tall, lean looking man with a fine jawline. He formed part of an ad hoc group of about thirty men formed from all the scouts from other adventurer teams. With his black hair, he looked like the protagonist in a romantic novel. Grud nodded in approval.

“Good, you will leave within the hour. Your role is to find the captured people and to regularly bring news back to us as to where they are. You are not to engage the bandits unless you are at a clear advantage, retreat if you must. I want you to stick to them like an azella briar.”

Azella briars, the curse word of many adventurers unfortunate enough to run into patches of them. Generally found on the plains, and difficult to see in the grass until waist deep in them. Once a briar attached itself to clothing or a horse, it became an extreme irritant and near impossible to remove. Entire brigades of men were halted because of them. It’s rumoured that the only reason eastern bandits never fully invaded the north was due to the presence of the briars. Although that rumour probably stretched the truth far too thin.

The scouts didn’t tarry. The immediately left the hall and prepared to leave.

“Okay, as for the rest of us, we are going to break into three groups. The first advance group will be those capable of moving quickly with access to weapons and horses. I’m looking for teams with mid to advanced level battle experience to be in that group. I will be leading that group and we will harass the bandits, forcing them to slow down and spend time trying to chase us. We are going to treat them like a floor boss, our teams will coordinate to keep their distance from the bandits while constantly refreshing tired teams. Got that?”

A murmur of confirmation rolled through the adventurers.

“The next group will be the support group which will be split into two. The first will be the rest of the armed adventurers travelling in wagons. I need you to be rested and ready for battle when you catch up with the advanced team. You will take over the attacking role from the advance group and form the mainstay of the offensive. Hopefully, and by that time, the bandits will be tired out from the constant harassment of our advanced group.

Finally, the last group will be the most important when the battle is done. These will be our supplies, and the support to the captured people. This is a campaign. Expect to be gone for at least a month. The first team travelling with me will travel light and carry lots of arrows. We leave tomorrow at first light. The bandits have at least a five-day head start but they are far from their base. We know the terrain and will not allow our honour to be wrecked by those…hooligans.”

When the hubbub of the teams quietened down a little, Grud spoke to Melody in his office.

“Are you okay with directing the support teams?”

“I’ll be fine. It has been a while since we did anything this exciting.”

“I hope we’re doing the right thing. Some of those adventurers down there will not return with us.”

“They know that. They’ve been in this business long enough to deal with it too. But I don’t think any of them would give up this opportunity to go, especially with the amount of gold bars on offer.”

“I think our beloved mayor is about to get a serious knock to his budget.”

“The people will love him for it.”

“Personally, I think it’s the only reason he’s doing it.”

Grud marvelled at the number of adventurers able to travel in the first group. At the first night’s camp they made good distance. There was still no word from the scouting team, which meant they were at minimum, a day’s travel from them. Grud guessed more than three days judging by how quickly scouts managed to travel.

He looked around the campfires, noticing the large number of men able to follow the first group.

“Hey Silverman.”

Grud called to his second in command sharing the fire with his team. Silverman, a half elf, and a top-rated adventurer could shoot an arrow over a hundred meters away with unerring accuracy. Only Silverman scared Grud to the point he wished he never needed to personally test that accuracy.

“How did so many adventurers manage to sequester that many horses?”

“It remains an enigma.”

Was Silverman’s enigmatic reply. Somehow, Grud had the feeling there would be some enquiries about questionable behaviour from some of the team. I bet there are more than one traumatised horse trader in the city.

“I’m leaving you to deal with the aftermath.”

Silverman huffed a non-committal reply.

“How are the men coping?”

“Overall, its going well. We only had two men retire. One’s horse slipped a shoe, another horse became lame, although we think it wasn’t good to start with and the last adventurer decided horse riding wasn’t for him.”

“You mean the adventurer never rode a horse in his life?”

“Yes.”

For as long as Grud knew Silverman, he never expended more oratory effort than absolutely necessary. He may have been an excellent fighter, but his interpersonal skills sucked. Probably one of the main reasons he didn’t receive a guild master position.

“Goodness, the men are determined. I hope you didn’t send his horse back with him?”

“Nope. We dropped him off. He can camp until the support group catches up with him and he can hitch a ride with them. We replaced his horse with the lame one.”

Grud admired Silverman’s organisational ability. It certainly helped keeping things moving.

The following day a messenger from the scouting team intersected their group. The scout left early that morning, riding hard until he found them.

“Guild master. The scouting team haven’t discovered the bandits yet, but we found their tracks and they are still heading east.”

“Good news. That’s within expectations.”

“We also discovered two fresh water sources, but the hooligans tainted the water.”

“That’s going to make it more difficult. Very well, what are your plans now?”

“I’m going to camp for a short while then return if I can.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“I suggest you catch up with us then, you’ll kill two birds with one stone.”

“I think I’ll do that.”

They then left the scout to rest on his own and continued chasing after the bandits after adjusting their direction. Luckily the bandits were only as quick as their slowest wagon so it wouldn’t take too long to catch up with them.

“What’s with calling the bandits hooligans? It seems your buzzword stuck with them.”

Silverman couldn’t help commenting.

On the third day, they finally caught up with the bandits, although they first caught up with Harrisman’s scouting team. Thanks to follow-up scouting messages, the advanced team were able to adjust their approach to intersect their route more accurately. However, the lack of water meant the advance team still needed to divert to other sources of water for their horses which added to the delay.

Harrisman gave them an update of their experiences.

“Yesterday, we encountered the bandits for the first time and have been following them since. They launched an offensive against us, and we started to withdraw and stayed out of the range of their archers so none of our team are injured.”

“It’s a pity we lost the element of surprise. They’ll know we’re coming now and will be prepared.”

Commented Silverman.

“They have already done that. They split up the captured people between the wagons. It will be difficult to fire on the bandits without hitting civilians.”

“Human shields. Those bandits are merciless.”

Grud spat into the ground in disgust but recovered his dignity.

“Let’s aim to be as accurate as possible. Let us use hit and run tactics with them and slowly tire them out. We’ll attack first thing tomorrow morning. Everyone agreed and started to set up camp.”

Somewhere during the night while contemplating the upcoming battle in front of the camp fire, Grud’s keen sensors noted a familiar face that shouldn’t have been there.

“Hey Keegan come here!”

A diminutive Keegan walked into the firelight.

“Hello Guild Master, fancy meeting you in a place like this.”

“Fancy my arse. What are you doing here?”

Grud fully understood the reasons for Keegan’s mysterious appearance, he was just curious on how many people were in on that deal.

“Ah well, I’m taking part in the subjugation.”

“Really? Then you know I gave clear instructions for only teams average and above to be part of this quest.”

“Funny you should say that. I’m part of Rabbit Blues team.”

Grud scratched his head in frustration.

“Sometimes you’re really stupid, did I ever tell you that?”

“Very well, then you can tell Corva that tomorrow she will act as the cut-off for any bandits looking to escape. I don’t want to them involved in the full battle, and that includes you. If I find you there and you survive, you’ll be lucky if you get a job in Northport.”

Keegan looked more relieved than Grud liked and realise there was more to the story.

“You’re way too happy. Spit it out what aren’t you telling me.”

Keegan sheepishly told him the party hadn’t divulged.

“Josh, William, and Macie are with me.”

Grud didn’t know if he should be glad or particularly unhappy. At least Sunkiss were together again.

“How did you guys even get horses?”

Josh’s father lent them to us.

“Did he now? And I suppose I’m not going to find an irate father waiting for me at the guild when I return. Correct?”

“Ha, ha, ha. No sir.”

“Very well, I didn’t see any of you. The same goes for all of you guys you’d like to be involved in the main battle tomorrow.”

A horrid idea suddenly popped into Grud’s mind.

“You didn’t bring Tommy with you, did you?”

“No sir I would never do that.”

“I see.”

Grud sighed in abject relief.

“He’s coming with the supplies…”

The next morning, a surprise awaited the adventurers.

“Report.”

Said credit to the scout.

“Guild Master. Sometime during the night, the bandits shifted camp.”

That wasn’t good news. A smart move though. It wasn’t the end of the world but it did disrupt their plans.

“Which direction were they headed?

“North sir.”

Why would they head north he thought himself. Only the northern forest lay there, and that was full of beasts. Then he understood their plans. The plains offered a free reign of attack for the adventurers, but as defenders the bandits knew they would lose in the end. The open plains allowed manoeuvrability to an attacker, but defenders had nothing to hide behind except grass which didn’t make for good tactics. However, in the forests the roles reversed or at least equalled out. Horses became a liability and foot soldiers more capable. Also, the forest offered good protection from arrows.

“Silverman!”

“Yes guild master.”

“We need to cut off the bandits before they make it to the forest. Take a contingent of capable men and double efforts to slow them down. Use the scouts to reconnoitre the land ahead so that you know what’s coming and how much time you have.”

“Very well.”

All in all, life as a bandit wasn’t that bad when things were going well. Scurry couldn’t say they were in that situation now, not with the entire adventurer guild behind them. Scurry only became a bandit through pure necessity. Come to think of it, half the men around him held similar circumstances. Few people chose banditry as a profession, only the wealthy who could afford all the bells and whistles to protect themselves. And most of those didn’t dare use their real names in case their families found out. I well-worn joke amongst the men was that half of the noble families had brothers or sisters in bandit groups. Heck, there might be entire families.

But that wasn’t Scurry’s problem, those adventurers were. A few days ago, their lookouts picked up adventurers’ scouts following their trail. It didn’t take a genius to figure out it was a full scaled rescue attempt. Scurry hoped that his request to be included with defending the wagons would get him home sooner and safer. Unfortunately, it seemed he walked out of the pan into the fire.

Molly would be sad if he didn’t come home. He didn’t try to talk about it once, but she asked him not to. He guessed she didn’t want to talk about it. He laughed at his thoughts. Knowing Molly it wouldn’t take her long to find another two-bit bandit like him, after all she was good-looking and had a good mind on her. That’s what he liked about her.

The problem with bandits was that their loyalties were directly relative to the amount of money involved. Many times, deciding to fight or not depended on which sponsor waited for you at home and if they knew where you lived. In this case, it was made clear that if they ran there would be no place in or around Blackrock to hide. No doubt the reasons behind their recent foray into the northern territories were laced with political intrigue, the type that involved distinguished nobles. He realised those missions were the worst.

The bandits pulled a few fast ones themselves. They poisoned the wells to stop any pursuers. Then they strung up hostages next to each of the carts in which armed bandits sat with impunity. From there they could fire arrows at the adventurers without them being able to fire back. It was a move of pure genius although Scurry realised the adventurers would not easily forget that.

The last stunt they pulled, leaving late at night seemed to have bought them some time. Apparently, the commander intended heading into the northern forests. Scurry hadn’t been there before, but from the stories he heard it wouldn’t be easy. The beasts there were far more ferocious than on the plains, and they were sure to lose a few people.

Despite all their nefarious efforts, the adventurers seem determined to meet their fate. From his horse scurry watched as the adventurers harassed the rear-guard. Doubtlessly, the bandits’ greater number of men caused the adventurers to take a more hands-off approach, not looking to fully engage. But each time the bandits tried to attack; the adventurers melted back into the plains. Even Scurry tried to attack a few times but found himself running after air. What was worse, if the bandits push too far the adventurers created a pinching manoeuvre, cutting off the bandits retreat and then systematically eliminating them one by one. He nearly got caught like that the first time but luckily, he managed to escape and didn't make the same mistake twice. Bandits learned quickly, that was a strong point.

They could say a lot of things about adventurers, but their ability to work as a team were renown. Even bandits feared adventurers when they got together. Heck, bandits would also be as good if they had that much training. As it was, a bandit either learned quickly on the fly or they died, it was that simple.

It carried on that way the entire day and the northern forests lay at least a day away. What was worse, news reached them of a secondary force on the heels of the first. Wagon loads of adventurers followed up. No bandit doubted they were in serious trouble. There was no rescue, and chances were they wouldn’t reach the forest in time. Some of them and even talked about abandoning their mission, but Scurry wasn’t convinced. Dying on the battlefield sounded far more romantic than on the end of an assassin’s poisoned knife, because that’s what waited for those who ran from this mission. That didn't stop some bandits from escaping into the night. Who knew, perhaps they would survive.

That night the bandits received no respite from the adventurers. With uncanny accuracy the adventurers picked off the bandit watchman one by one. Whoever the sharpshooter was, they were fantastic. The bandits never even got to see who it was. Every time the bandits ducked for cover, adventurers on horseback attacked. They lost twenty-five men that night. But far worse, every man felt frazzled the next morning. If that wasn't enough the wagon loads of adventurers arrived killing any chance of escape. Soon they were surrounded. It was either surrender or die, and judging by the adventurers countenances they preferred the latter.

The bandits dropped their weapons and surrendered. Living life as a labour slave beat dying any day. Who knew whether they could be freed if they behaved themselves. Apparently, as they later discovered, those that tried to escape ran straight into a trap set by the adventurers who expected some bandits to run. He found out because the first job scurry completed as a captive was to bury people he knew into unmarked graves.

“What are you thinking, are you happy that you issued a quest?”

Asked Melody after their triumphant return. Grud knew Melody didn't ask dumb questions, but he couldn't figure out why she asked that one so he decided to give her a straight answer.

“Yes, I do. We still lost ten men and wounded thirty, but I'd like to think it was worth it, despite the cost.”

The success of the quest and the return to Hafeld of most of the adventurers did wonders for the men's morale and the city's economy.

A knock at the door interrupted their candor and Annie's bright countenance brightened their day further.

“Hello guild master. We wanted to say hello. I want you to meet my parents.”

Without waiting for approval, She made way into the office to allow three people to enter. The office felt a bit full all of a sudden. An elderly man in his late thirties and finely dressed walked in holding the hand of a woman slightly younger than him. Her greyish hair spoke of a difficult trip, possibly one of the worst she ever had. But if Annie was anything like she were anything like her then she would bounce back just fine. Lastly an older girl entered, Grud assumed her to be Annie’s elder sister Mary. The looked very similar to each other and the synergy between the two of them was obvious.

After the courteous introductions, Grud broke the silence by asking a question.

“How are you doing Annie?”

“I’m well thank you guild master. I wanted to thank you for helping me and my family. If you hadn’t I don’t know what…”

She didn’t finish a sentence because she broke out in tears only to get hugs from the family. I guess that made the whole quest worth it. The sound of sniffles from the door exposed the usual snooping receptionist duo. He didn’t stop them; they were just as much a part of all of that.

Unfortunately, those who suffered before didn’t get the same opportunity. Grud had a plan for that as well.

“It’s my pleasure. But I want you to know that everybody participated in this and it wasn’t just for you or your family, so don’t feel that you owe us anything. It’s what these adventurers do everyday and they like it.”

“If we may ask a favour?”

Annie’s father spoke up. Granted nodded, he wondered what they could still want.

“Both Mary and Annie have asked to join the guild, would you consider allowing them to?”

“You mean as adventurers?”

“Yes. They were so impressed by your actions and those of the guild that you have made an indomitable impression on them, and they wish to devote their lives to bettering those of others.”

Grud hadn’t expected that request. If he didn’t grab them Suryman would.

“What do you say Annie do you want to do this?”

She nodded with a big smile on her face.

“Yes, guild master I really do.”

Heck she was already calling guild master. She knew how to suck up already. No doubt some others put her to it.

“And you Mary? I haven’t met you before, what can you offer the guild.”

“I can read and write, and I can ride horses. I like to learn and want to help out.”

Like Annie, she seemed determined. He couldn’t fault her on that.

“Very well. I can see that both of you are willing to learn. Since your parents have already given you the blessing, I suggest you start in a week’s time as apprentice adventurers. Speak to those two snotty nosed receptionists about how to do that, I’m sure you’ve already spoken with them.”

The duo suddenly looked very guilty as if been caught out for something.

“Oh and by the way, when you’re done something Mary and Annie, feel free to pop around and speak to me. I’m curious to know why Tommy ended up in the support group.”

Judging by the green look on their faces, Suri and Renata didn’t look forward to that meeting.