Chapter Twenty Five: Two Suits of Armour

Jason and Stella sat on the carriage for a long time. They had left Port Anna behind them and had travelled through the whole day. Jason didn’t realise the carriage driver had made a detour and was now heading towards a bandit camp.

Jason and Stella were confused as they arrived at a heavily fortified outpost in the middle of the forest. There were bandit archers on log walls. There was a series of interconnected treehouses, as well as tents visible to Jason. There must have been forty-five bandits on the walls watching the carriage approach.

A voice called out to Jason.

“You just made a bad mistake, kid.” Batuuk the orc shouted from the battlements above them. “Come inside, we will talk soon.”

“Run, Stella!” Jason said, and he grabbed Stella’s hand. They jumped off the carriage and sprinted towards the trees. The bandits cursed but didn’t waste any arrows. The carriage driver and four of the bandits on the ground near the entrance started sprinting after them.

Jason and Stella were running through the trees looking behind them. Jason didn’t see the bandit portal and tripped over a tree trunk. He fell right in and let go of Stella’s hand. The portal closed and Jason could hear Stella scream out his name. The portal closed and cut off her shout.

Jason looked around him, he was kneeling in the middle of a circle of Bandits. Too many to count. Batuuk sat in a high-backed chair eating an apple. His chair was sitting on top of a pile of gold coins and gold crowns. There were gold vases and some rubies, sapphires and emeralds as well as large chunks of quartz and amethyst. Batuuk looked at Jason and didnt say anything. He looked bored, and impatient.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

A portal opened above Jason and Stella fell to the ground quite hard. She looked around, saw Jason, and then grabbed him for safety. Batuuk snarled.

“Normally I would kill you, but I need more soldiers.” Batuuk spoke. “I have seen something ominous. We must all work together now. I understand it now.”

“The dragon.” A bandit shouted. This sent chills down Jason’s spine. The surrounding bandits murmured.

“Will you let us live if we join you?” Jason asked.

“We will train you to become a soldier, and then you must rob and steal for me. I have to buy weapons and armour for my men. I need to hire more wizards. I have to find a way to kill this infernal beast. The dragon. I, Batuuk, Son of Gorb, will be the first warrior to kill a dragon. This will make me the most feared man in the land.” He stood up from his chair and offered Jason a hand. He helped Jason up and patted him on the back.

“I guess we don’t have a choice.” Jason said. He looked up at Batuuk. Batuuk stood two feet taller and had a massive jaw and incredibly dense muscle formation. He was a pillar of muscle.

Batuuk walked Jason away from the space to show him the sleeping tents. Some female bandits approached Stella and walked away with her.

“What skills do you have, fishing, farming?” Batuuk asked Jason.

“I’m a blacksmith by trade.” Jason spoke.

“A blacksmith, good!” Batuuk shouted and then laughed. “This might be fun after all, come, let me teach you the ways of Orcish blacksmithing. Come, friend, come.”

“O-Okay sure.” Jason said, not really having a choice in the matter.