She could see them looking around, as if expecting the very trap Jaelin had set for them. Mila forced herself still. She and Jaelin were too far away to get noticed.

Ashlyn’s group stopped, suddenly looking nervous.

Emboldened by the prospect of a fight with good odds, the outlaws organised themselves to face the two Alinko warriors, the woman, and the gnome. They lacked shields, but all eight of them held spears, and Mila worried that would negate the defensive line her three crew members offered.

‘Crap,’ Jaelin hissed, pointing.

Two more outlaws held back, in the shadow of the giant tree. They both held short bows.

Mila’s confidence faded. ‘We need to help them.’

‘Yes,’ Jaelin agreed.

But they had run out of time.

ACTION ROUND

Outlaws

Human

Outlaw

Action Stats

EXP Level

2

Action Points

3

Hit Points

14

Restricted to action rounds, Jaelin and Mila would struggle to correct their poor starting position. But they did have the advantage of going first.

Jaelin took his bow in hand and ran towards the tree. It took him two action points to get into a good enough position to use it. Then he targeted the nearest outlaw archer. Taking them out of the main fight was the first priority.

Mila decided to be kind and call his first effort a sighter. His second arrow struck his target, however. It took nine points of damage, leaving the archer with five left and only one action point.

Mila ran, stopping next to Jaelin. With one action point left, and no bow to shoot, she felt useless. She didn’t even have a shield to protect him. All she could do was stand there, dagger in hand.

Ashlyn, Usa, and Izil formed their shieldwall, spears at the ready to interrupt the outlaws' attack.

Next came The Bowman, not much closer to the action than Jaelin and Mila had been. It also took him two action points to reach a good spot, by which point he only had one chance to hit. His arrow thunked into the mallorn’s trunk.

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Auntie joined him. She compensated too far in the other direction, her shot going wide.

It was now the outlaws’ turn, and Mila knew her squad was in trouble.

The first archer took his one shot at Jaelin. Mila was relieved to see it hit the dirt before it reached them.

The second, still with all his action points, took aim at The Bowman. The arrow struck him so powerfully in the chest it floored him. The head sliced through his padded armour, dealing ten damage.

With Christoph on the ground, the archer targeted Auntie. His second arrow struck her in the thigh, taking her down to 17 hit points.

The remaining eight outlaws closed on the Apples’ shieldwall.

The first thrust slipped through Usa’s defences, taking two hit points. Ashlyn failed to stop the second, taking the same damage. Izil lost four. Usa managed to take the fourth strike on his shield. Ashlyn avoided the fifth. Izil was caught on the hand and lost another hit point. A long gash up Usa’s leg took him down to fourteen. Ashlyn’s leather armour took most of the final blow, taking her down to eighteen.

The three of them had taken the initial blows from the outlaws and held the line. It gave them each an interrupt hit—a golden chance to strike back.

Usa made his count, ramming his spear through his opponent’s hide armour, causing nine damage. Ashlyn fumbled her strike, the spear thrust jarring her arm, causing her to drop the weapon. Izil’s opponent blocked the younger brother’s thrust.

Seven of the outlaws still had a final action. Usa took a blow to the head, losing six hit points. Ashlyn defended with her shield. Izil blocked with his spear. Usa produced a vital shield block. Ashlyn missed a low blow which dealt three damage. Izil took a spear blade to the guts, doubling over in pain. The final blow on Usa’s shoulder sent him sprawling to the ground. With four hit points left, he was barely conscious.

The shieldwall was broken, and the outlaws had come close to killing them.

Mila knew they would finish the job in the next round. She ran for the wounded archer, knowing it was unlikely she would be able to land a blow. But if she could occupy him, she would free her crewmates to deal with the greater threat.

It took her two action points to reach him. She stabbed him. He tried to block with his bow stave, but she reached underneath, and her blade sank home. He lost four hit points and collapsed, unconscious.

Jaelin needed to use his first action point to make up ground on the line of outlaw spearmen. His proficiency with the bow gave him a shot for each of his three remaining actions. Two arrows hit, enough for one kill.

Christoph was badly hurt, but he managed to get to his knees and fire off one shot. It landed nowhere near the target.

His aunt got off two shots. The first whistled past the outlaw archer’s ear. The second took him in the shoulder, dropping him down to six hit points.

Ashlyn still had three action points. With one fluid motion she drew Greenblade and let fly. She only connected with the sword once, but it was an outright kill. In the tight space of the melee, her shield proved just as effective. Two heavy strikes knocked another outlaw unconscious.

Both Usa and Izil had sustained injuries that restricted them to one action. They missed with their spear thrusts, but like Ashlyn used their shields well. Two of the outlaws were taken down to 11 hit points.

Twerk, protected behind the shieldwall in the first round, slid between Ashlyn and Izil, his axes whirring. The outlaws simply couldn’t stop him. After three actions, three outlaws lay dead. His eighth strike was the first to miss, but his seventh had already accounted for a fourth outlaw. Only one spearman was left—the heavily wounded outlaw who had taken a spear blow from Usa. Twerk struck again, and a limb went flying into the air.

For a moment, time stood still, as all eyes were on the devastation Wilson had caused. Of the spearmen, seven were dead, one was unconscious. Of the archers, the first was unconscious, the second had six hit points left.

He turned and ran. But with only one action point left, he didn’t get very far.

Jaelin’s first shot took him in the back, and the fight was over.

The Explorer walked away.

Mila didn’t know why at first.

Then the gnome dispatched the two outlaws who still clung to life, before beheading the corpses.

MISSION COMPLETE

SUCCESS: The outlaw gang was killed

Some of your mercs improved their stats:

Usa:

Skill with shields: proficient

Mila:

Grit +1

Hit Points +1

The Explorer:

Intellect +1

No mercs levelled up