As Arlene stepped forward, Atnar began to groan. The purple steam of the Alchemy Bomb continued to rise off of his severely burnt skin.

"Your aim is true," Atnar said, managing a chuckle. "And your alchemical bombs are quite powerful." He played it as cool as he could, though he was writhing on the ground, gasping for breath.

The other bandits were backing up. They had just seen more than half their group get slaughtered by sword, bomb, arrow, and tusk.

One bandit stepped forward indignantly, looking at the rest of his companions. "Yer not gonna let them win, are ye!" he man called out. "Charge em!"

All at once, the remaining six bandits brandished their weapons; katanas, spears, and a mace; and charged the group.

Arlene quickly readied her bow and returned to the shadows, arrows flying from her position into the swarm of bandits.

Andy readied his greatsword. This was going to be the last push. If they could take down this group of enemies, either Atnar would surrender or he'd be vastly outpowered. So far, he had only used some kind of dimensional blinking feat, as well as some kind of charm that clouded the mind and induced obedience. Additionally, Atnar seemed to have an exceptionally keen sense of smell, but Andy couldn't tell whether that was a feat or if Atnar was just naturally gifted with superior olfactory senses. All in all, though, Atnar did not seem able to hold his own in combat without a group of lackeys.

Take out the bandits, then Atnar's toast… but can we get through this wave?

"How are we gonna take all of them?" Sven called nervously.

"Wait for my Command," Morwen said, holding up her fist.

The bandits overcame their hesitation and cleared the distance to them.

"Now!" Morwen said, her voice reverberating with almost supernatural courage and authority.

Something about Morwen's command gave Andy an extra boost of adrenaline and resolve. He spotted a bandit heading toward him, brandishing a katana.

The bandit raised his blade, hesitating for a moment before he began to swing.

Andy swung faster, without hesitation, and cut through the bandit's sword, breaking the blade in half, sending a piece flying into the woods. The bandit dropped the hilt as he tumbled backward.

"These are no ordinary nobles!" the bandit called as he rose to his feet and retreated, weaponless.

"I told you, we're not nobles!" Andy called, letting out an exasperated sigh at the obtuseness of their enemies.

Sven, who had little to no training in battle, thrust his spear into an approaching bandit's shoulder, finding purchase in the gap of the bandit's armor. Though the wound was not deep, it was significant enough to halt the bandit's charge.

"Damn!" the bandit called as he grasped the spear, pulling it out of his armor. Sven maintained his tight grip on the spear as the bandit wrestled him away from the shrine, leaving Kermit exposed to the battle.

Another woodsman approached Kermit, now able to bypass Sven.

"You'll make a pretty ransom," the bandit said, pulling some rope from his belt and pointing his katana at the child.

"Nope!" said Kermit as he raised his hand, employing Arcane Gesture to cause a blinding flash of light.

"Argh!" the bandit called as he threw his arm over his face to shield his eyes from the blinding flash.

Kermit reached down and found his frying pan, winding up and delivering a blow to the bandit. He smashed it right into bandit's nuts.

The bandit promptly doubled over..

"Sorry," said Kermit. "I know that hurts, but I had to."

The bandit rose back upright. "You fucking BRAT!" he yelled.

Sven returned to Kermit's side, holding a spear up between him and the assailant.

"I'll show you!" the bandit said, cradling his groin with one hand and raising his sword at the pig handler and the child with the other. Suddenly, he howled in pain. One of Arlene's arrows had shot from the forest, piercing through his wrist, causing him to drop his weapon. "Damn you!" he said.

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He scurried into the woods for cover.

"I got you," Arlene's voice came from the woods.

Morwen gathered running speed and jumped, pushing off of a tree to kick an enemy in the face and using her energy blade to cut another's mace in half. Both reacted by scrambling to their feet, running away with their backs toward Morwen.

"They're giving up!" yelled Kermit, innocently.

"As they should!" Morwen said, making sure to speak loudly enough that any remaining bandits could hear her.

The group had done well, killing or incapacitating several opponents and disarming even more.

The remaining bandits scattered.

"It's not worth it!" one called.

Their boss, Atnar, was on the ground. But he was far from dead.

"Maintain your line!" said Atnar weakly, still prone. "I don't pay you to run away!"

It was no use. The retreatants found shelter behind some trees in the distance, eager to see what would happen to their leader.

"Enough!" Atnar said, gathering some energy. He rose to his feet, recovering his voice, which reverberated forcefully, compelling obedience. "Lower your weapons!" he yelled.

This time, Atnar's words were more effective and forceful than before.

Andy couldn't help but obey. He struggled to maintain his sword's fighting position, but it was no use.

"No!" Morwen called, using her Command. "Keep your guard up!"

Her voice was powerful, and Andy wanted nothing more than to listen to her, but it was no use. Atnar's Charm had already taken hold.

"I said LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!" Atnar repeated, his voice booming with authority and fortified with magical resonance.

There was a moment of complete silence. There was not a single sound in the vicinity, not even birds or crickets.

Everyone, even Morwen, dropped their guard. PL stepped away from the trail, ceasing his bloody violence.

"Jesus, man, you're really spamming that feat, huh?" Arlene said, her Blend into Shadow deactivating. Her arms were shaking in unsuccessful resistance to Atnar's words. Finally, she dropped her bow.

"Enough," Atnar repeated more politely. He seemed to be easing himself as much as anyone else. "Now, we bandits of the mountain wood do lay claim to this pass, but I'm not prepared to let any more of my men die. It appears I've underestimated your group… especially your pig."

PL stood stoically, blood and gore dripping from both tusks.

"Now, I'll be taking this," Atnar said, gesturing for Andy's sword.

Andy felt himself giving his sword over to Atnar, unable to stop himself from following the bandit's words.

"Don't do it, Andy," Morwen said, though she, too, seemed frozen by Atnar's Charm.

Her words came too late. Andy had already passed the handle of his sword to Atnar, who now grasped it and attempted to hoist it over his shoulder.

"Wow, this really is a big boy weapon!" Atnar said, laughing and swinging it around clumsily. Even though his body was clearly injured from Arlene's Alchemy Bomb, he still found the energy to mock Andy.

Damn, I've really just given over my weapon. What is this man using to control our actions?

"Now, you're going to allow yourselves to be tied up," said Atnar in a more forceful tone. He planted the greatsword in the ground, leaning on it. "You're going to be punished for your complicity with the nobility, those lying, cowardly lowlifes!"

Andy, like the others, felt compelled to heed Atnar's words. He turned to face the woods, where several men emerged with ropes. Andy held his hands out as they bound him.

"Nice try," a bandit said as he pulled the rope impossibly tight. The rope was pressing so far into Andy's wrists that he was rapidly losing circulation in his hands.

"I didn't want to overuse Charm," Atnar said, "not right off the bat anyway. I don't like to give my secrets away. But you left me no choice."

Everything in Andy's mind bucked against what was happening, but he couldn't stop it. He couldn't move his arms. He was compelled to stand perfectly still and allow himself to be bound. And he had to obey.

What's worse, his friends, too, were being bound around him, and he was powerless to stop it from happening. For whatever reason, all of them were vulnerable to Atnar's mind-controlling Charm feat.

"That's right, just like that," Atnar said, encouraging their cooperation. "And because you've been such bad neighbors to me, I'm going to take your things." Atnar stood behind Arlene, taking a dagger to her back, pressing the blade gently against her shoulder.

She gasped.

Atnar did not plunge the blade into her, as Andy had feared he would. Instead, he pressed his dagger under the shoulder strap of her bag and cut it loose. He then did the same thing to the other shoulder strap. He tossed the bag to one of the bandits. "Go through this," he said. "Take what's valuable."

He then approached behind Andy, cutting his bag loose too and tossing it to the bandits.

"We don't have anything valuable," Andy said.

"I'll be the judge of that," said Atnar as his bandits emptied the contents of Andy's bag onto the ground. "Now, we're going to go through your things, but while we do, you can't be trusted. You're going to need to take a nap."

Kermit slouched, asleep almost instantly. Sven was not far behind.

"Don't do it," said Morwen, "Stay… awake…" It appeared that even she, the veteran fighter, was drowsily losing consciousness.

"You can go ahead and take a rest," said Atnar, his voice reverberating and echoing in Andy's mind. "Go ahead… take a little sleep…"

Andy felt his eyelids grow heavy. Then, darkness.