As the companions walked down the road, a loud voice called out, “Ho ho!” Suddenly, men poured onto the road from all directions. “We are Ralph’s Roughnecks, and I’m Ralp—agghh!” Ralph barely had time to finish his introduction before recognizing Prunhiline and Britina. In the next moment, Bob, the bear, plopped down on him.
Ralph’s Roughnecks didn’t know what to do. So they attacked. The thirty men found themselves facing off against Prunhiline, Britina, Randle, Prince Darren, and Brianna. The bandits were outmatched. After they were tossed about, knocked down, and humiliated, the bandits sat in a circle surrounded by their companions. Ralph was still under the bear, who had gotten bored and decided to nap.
“I’m gonna be honest; you guys are terrible at being bandits,” Prunhiline said, shaking her head in disappointment at how easily they were defeated again.
“Get me out of here!” Ralph yelled.
“Yo, Bob.” Randle whistled, and the bear rose, finally freeing Ralph.
“We don’t have time for this nonsense,” Brianna said firmly. “We need to warn the king.”
“Normally, I’d suggest taking these men to my father for punishment, but Brianna’s right; we need to move quickly,” Prince Darren added.
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Ralph stood up, rubbing his arms. “Why the hurry?” he asked.
“An ancient Lich Lord is raising a massive undead army. He’ll likely target the dwarven fortress first,” Britina explained.
“Fine, if you don’t want to tell me, at least don’t make stuff up,” Ralph said, only to be smacked in the back of the head by Prunhiline. “Hey, what was that for?”
“We’re not lying,” Brianna said firmly. “This monster is ancient and powerful.”
“Okay, fine. So it’s an undead army; they don’t move fast,” Ralph said. Then, as his eyes widened, he quickly added, “I mean, you should definitely hurry. Like, really fast. We won’t hold you up!”
“You know, he’s got a point. The zombies we spied on moved pretty slow,” Randle said thoughtfully.
Britina turned to Brianna. “How long will it take them to reach the fortress?”
“Honestly? Four or five days if they don’t stop. I’m guessing that Lawernce won’t have mandatory rest periods,” Brianna replied.
"Wait," Prunhiline interrupted, "why were we in such a rush?"
Prince Darren laughed. “I think we all got caught up in the excitement.”
“Still, four or five days isn’t great, but it’s not terrible either,” Britina said, her tone tinged with hope.
“What about them?” Darren asked, pointing at the bandits.
“I hate to say this, but leave them. They weren’t much of a challenge any of the three times we beat them,” Britina said.
“One of those times, I was naked,” Prunhiline added with a hint of pride. The group exchanged confused glances while Ralph and his men stared at the ground in shame.
“That’s a story for another time. We need to leave now,” Britina said, cutting off further discussion.
Once the companions were out of earshot, Ralph shouted, “Next time will be different!”
Prunhiline’s voice carried back, “Sure it will!”