It had been about a half hour or so before the old man and his daughter were seated in there small wooden wagon and pulling out. A lantern rested on a hook near the front seat they both sat in. The woods around them were dark and quiet. "Father, do you think it's possible? For him to kill them all?", the girl asked. The old man chuckled a bit in response, "He's good for sure. And Courageous to boot. But he is a fool... No one can take on that many opponents all at once and survive... I hate to say it but he will probably be dead before the guards do anything about it. There's nothing we can do about it though. I can't move like I used to, and you haven't lived a hard enough life to handle yourself in combat."

  As the two talked back and forth, the girl watched every little shadow in the woods, "I don't know..", she spoke softly keeping the knife Grimmskall had given to her close at hand as the wagon slowly rolled onwards. By this point in the trip it had been about forty five minutes when the wagon slowed to a stop. The old man gritted his teeth looking troubledly ahead. His daughter reached over and nervously held his hand as they saw a group of ten or so men in dark leathers blocking the road. There were a few bodies scattered on the ground, "Damn it... Those men were town guards...", the old man muttered referring to the bodies on the ground, which caused his daughter to tighten her grip on his hand.

  By this point the wagon had slowed to a stop as the men noticed the wagon. The old man shook his head, "Get in the back and get down.", He spoke lowly to his daughter so the bandits wouldn't hear him. Nodding she quickly climbed in the back before the old man suddenly whipped the reigns. The horses took off, charging right for the group of men. One of the men managed to raise his crossbow and fired a bolt before being knocked out of the way by the charging wagon. The rest of the men scattered out of the way as the stray bolt found its way into the old mans shoulder. "Father! We broke through!", his daughter exclaimed with excitement before turning to see his now bloodstained tunic. She was about to say something before she hoof beats from behind accompanied by shouting. "Father they're chasing us!", She shouted becoming gradually more panicked. The old man whipped the reigns again despite the pain in his shoulder, in an effort to gain more speed. "Quickly! My hunting bows in the back!", The old man shouted to his daughter in reply.

  Nodding she went through one of the various cases in the wagon before finally pulling out the bow and a quiver of twenty arrows. Placing the arrow's on her back she pulled the first one, "The trick is to predict the arc of the arrows flight path! Use the wagon for cover if you need it!", The old man shouted in explanation. The woman nodded taking aim at the first approaching horseman. She released the arrow barely missing him as he closed in on the wagon. "Focus Beth!", The old man called out encouragingly to his daughter. Beth took a deep breath aiming once again, trying to steady herself as best she could on the speeding wagon. Releasing the arrow this time, it found it's mark, piercing through the right eye of the incoming horseman.

Instantly he slumped, falling from his horse as two more horsemen took his place, "That bitch is shooting at us! Crossbows!", the one shouted to the other. "Beth, get down!", The old man shouted hearing this. As the two incoming horsemen opened fire, Beth ducked down behind the lip of the wagon. Two bolt's hitting the back end. Beth peeked over the edge before quickly ducking back down avoiding another two shot's. "Father! How are they reloading so fast!?", she shouted confused. "Damn it! They must be modified to hold more shot's some how! Stay down!", The confused pair stayed low as the approaching horsemen took turns continuously firing on the wagon to keep them pinned. Beth laid flat on her back knocking an arrow and keeping the bow side ways. She focused on the approaching hoof beats, and readied her aim quickly releasing the arrow as soon as the horsemen's head poked into view. The arrow pierced through the mans throat causing blood to bubble out of his mouth as he fell back hitting the ground in violent roll as his horse slowed to a stop. "Shit!", The final horseman shouted accidentally trampling his partners body. "Hold on! I'm taking a short cut!", The old man shouted taking a wide left turn. The wagon jerked almost sideways at the sudden turn but all in all remained sturdy. The path was narrow and rigorous to the point Beth questioned as to how her father had become so skilled at evasive maneuvers. Shrugging it off she quickly knocked another arrow rising to a crouch firing at the crossbowman as he was joined by two more swordsmen, and an archer. "They just keep coming!", Beth shouted as the crossbowman's horse toppled over, after being hit by her arrow. "Then keep shooting at them!", Her father shouted keeping his eye's on the narrow path, "They can only come one at a time now! Get that archer first!", He commanded sounding almost like a drill sergeant. Beth had never seen this side of her father before but again shrugged it off quickly taking aim at the archer in the back who was lighting his arrow on fire, while the swordsmen closed the distance, rushing for the rear of the wagon.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Beth fired her shot narrowly missing the other archer, who fired back with his flaming arrow. The flaming arrow stuck into the back of the wagon as she knocked another arrow cursing beneath her breath before suddenly taking aim at the first swordsman closing in. She was about to release the arrow when suddenly a loud boom echoed through the valley. Even the bandits looked shocked and confused as they slowed for a moment but continued to give chase quickly catching back up. "Father what was that!?", Beth shouted to her father taking aim once more at the archer in the back. The old man shrugged somewhat, "Who cares! It distracted them too! Keep shooting!", he shouted whipping the reigns to the horses again. Beth nodded raising her bow again in time to see the other archer already aiming at her with what looked like a lit fuse on the end of his arrow.

  Beth's eye's grew wide and she was about to shout to her father when the other archers arrow wizzed pass her head. The arrow landed on the ground ahead of the wagon before violently exploding. Shellshock ensued as Beth was suddenly on the ground. The horses attached to the wagon laid dead on the ground and the wagon itself was now rolled over and on fire. Everything was muffled to Beth as she saw her father trying to crawl on his belly towards her. She could hear muffled shouts from behind but couldn't make out what they were saying before she was suddenly flipped over onto her back. "So, your the two my men have been chasing...", A grizzled voice eventually sounded out as a man in dark leather armor stood over her.

Beth froze in fear as her and her father were quickly surrounded. Her father reached for her, "Leave her alone you bastards!", He shouted only to be kicked in his face. He rolled over as two of the bandits pinned him to the ground. The ring leader by Beth pulled out a dagger, "You two killed a few of my men... Certain repercussions must be carried out now.", He spoke lowly. Beth tried to crawl backwards away but was soon stopped as two other men grabbed her by her arm's hoisting her to her feet. Blood ran down her face already, having hit her head in the wagon crash. As she was lifted up she quickly pulled the knife Grimmskall had given her stabbing one of the men in there hand before suddenly being punched in the face a knocked back to the ground. Her eye's teared up stunning her for a moment as she held her face.

  Shortly after, the man who had been stabbed removed the knife from his hand before suddenly doubling over. First he fell into convulsions before finally vomiting up a pool of blood and dying. The ring leader laughed, "Oh feisty... Whats a girl like you doing with a poisoned blade?", he questioned as he forced her onto her back. Crouching down he straddled her hips as one of the other bandit's held her hands down, pinning her to the ground. The old man now struggled violently in an attempt to get free, "GET OFF OF HER!", He screamed knowing to well what was about to happen. "Shut it old man..", one of the bandits responded before punching him hard in the gut. The leader ran his knife along Beth's abdomen up to her chest, cutting the string that fastened the top part of her tunic before violently ripping it down the middle exposing her chest as she gagged on tears and blood. "Hmm.. Not bad girly... If it weren't for all the blood and dirt you'd be...", he was cut off by hoof beats from behind.

"Captain Walder, you and your men are needed back at base.", a commanding voice rang out. The captain turned jumping to his feet almost instantly. "Whatever is going on here, drop it... The base is under attack."

  The captain looked between Beth on the ground and to the new arrival on horseback before spitting on the ground, "Damn, this was just about to get fun...", he muttered as the man on horseback waited impatiently. "Well my dear. Let me give you something to remember me by..." He went on walking over to her father who was still being held down. "P.. Please...", Beth muttered causing the man to grin before he suddenly dragged the blade of his knife across her fathers neck. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!," She screamed at the top of her lungs jumping to her feet she caught the old man as the rest of the bandits simply left her there. She sobbed cradling her father who looked up at her as she pulled her tunic over, covering her chest once more. Blood spilled all over her as she tried desperately to hold the wound closed. "Beth...", he managed to say as he reached up resting a blood soaked hand on her face, "Be strong...", he muttered knowing these were his last words to her before his arm suddenly went limp falling back to the ground. "FATHER!!!!", She screamed in a shrill sob as her head flooded with all the memories they had shared as the bandits simply left leaving the girl covered in mud and blood as cradled her now dead father.