It was a nice, sunny day, an hour or two after the sun has passed zenit. The bandit in front of him, on the path between the trees, held Nelly in a tight grip in front of himself with a knife across her throat. She wasn't much of a shield, being a rather skinny woman in her late teens. Her mother stood behind him, as the rest of her family did. The bandit looked at him, trying to size him up, value him and his capacity to react to the situation. He wasn't scared. His awareness and focus were on the three bandits in front of him and the two of them behind his group, now being in the middle. Ten yards apart, front and back.
"Who are you and where are you heading", the bandit said.
"I am trail master Doyen and where we are going is not of your concern" Doyen said. He used his normal tone of voice, not talking louder, even the distance between him and the bandits. The one in the middle must be the leader, since he was the one holding Nelly as hostage and obviously did the talking. He was about at tall as the trail master, yet not as sturdy looking. The other bandits seemed unkept and, well, amateurs.
"Don't you play cute with me, you old grayhaired man" the bandit said, as he shuffled closer to Doyen, pushing Nelly in front of him.
"True statement", Doyen said, "My hair is grey, as my eyes, my short beard is grey too and my wrinkles are not of age, they are caused by withering weather." He still made sure his voice was barely reaching the bandits.
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"Talk louder" the bandit leader said.
He shrugg his shoulders.
"I don't care, old man" the bandit said, as they shuffled closer
"Who cares" Doyen said.
The bandit, to the left, raised his bow. Slowly, with pretended calm and arrogancy, he aimed towards Doyen and the family, whos safety he was in charge of.
"Please don't do that", Doyen said, "If you miss us, your arrow will hit one of your comrades behind us. Don't be that stupid"
"OK, just you shut up" the bandit leader in the middle said, as the one to the left lowered his bow. No one, besides the leader with his knife, seemed being armed. "Where is your scout?"
"She's way ahead, searching for shelter and fresh water for to night" Doyen said.
Nelly's eyes were big and her mouth cringed in a frozen scream. Her family whimped behind his back, Bandits where now five yards away. Those behind still distanced 10 yards.
"Give me your values, or I'll slit the throat on the girl" the bandit said.
The mother suddenly shook. He sensed the vibrations clearly. It was him who had allowed the girl to go behind a tree for a moment of solitude. Somehow he didn't sense that bandits were close. He was baffled that a group of thugs was able to hide, three before them, two behind. Some how the coincidence of them waiting the same spot, he picked to let the group rest, was difficult for him to understand. He also felt a shamed by the thought of the private moment n what Nelly was captured. Maybe he was getting too old. Maybe he was on the down ward slope now. Not being able to fulfill his role and responsibility. Was this the beginning to the end. That dreaded moment he had feared.