Ferodias POV / Ten Years Earlier
Ferodias stirred late in the night, something deep within him felt that something was wrong. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was a sensation in his heart that created a sense of unease. Controlling his breathing, he slowly got up, grabbed his shield and sword, and strapped the blade to his waist. He made his way over to Regan first, carefully placing a hand over his friend's mouth and shaking him, Regan stirred with a start but remained silent and curiously stared up at Ferodias. "/Something is wrong, wake the others, don't wake the ladies. Follow when you can./" He instructed in a whisper that was barely louder than a breath. Regan nodded as Ferodias pulled away, setting about his task as Ferodias made his way up to the door of the hall and stepped out into the cool night air.
Looking from side to side, he spotted the glow of flamelight concentrated by the gates, it seemed to be far too bright for the two torch sconces he saw on his way in. Straining his ears, he could hear chattering too, crude language, and... Labored breathing. Ferodias picked up his pace, moving quickly as he took advantage of his natural feline grace and agility, he came up to the village gates and stopped short, hiding around a corner as he scouted the situation as it unfolded.
What he saw were two different members of the militia within the gates instead of outside of them, one of them was a catkin man with an arrow having been shot straight through the left side of his chest, and a second arrow sticking out of his back as he laid on his side. The man was still alive, though the forming puddle of blood mud was cause for concern. The second militia guard was a human woman with an arrow in her calf. She had already tied a tourniquet to slow the bleeding, but she had now wedged herself against the weighted barricade to keep the gate shut.
Ferodias moved over, catching the attention of the militia guard, the relief almost palpable in her eyes as she grunted with strain. As he got closer, he could see her arm was jammed into some sort of mechanism of gears which controlled the weighted barricade. She desperately clutched a club that she had forced between the gears, though it was plain even to him that her arm was broken. There were people outside of the gate, he heard grunts of effort from a few of them trying to knock the gate over, while others chatted benignly about other ways to get inside or if they should just torch the place. "What's happening?" He asked in a hushed whisper, coming almost face to face with the guard as he looked over her arm but not daring to touch her yet.
She sucked in a pained breath but spoke softly as she looked up at Ferodias. "They just started shooting at us without any warning, I think they're taking their time since I wasn't able to raise the alarm..." She explained quickly, grunting and shuddering as they attempted to knock the gate over again with little success. "I heard one of them ask about what they were gonna do if the ones they're looking for aren't here." She mentioned, eyeing Ferodias knowingly as he nodded before looking around.
"Is there another way out of here?" He asked as he looked between her and the gate before looking down into her eyes.
He could see the hope leave her eyes as she gritted her teeth before sighing, seemingly accepting her fate as she sighed and looked to the ground. "Over in the fields... One of the cattle got a little anxious and knocked over a section of the wall... You should be able to escape with the ladies that way." She explained before grunting again as the gate creaked but held.
Ferodias looked confused for a moment before offering a smile as he patted the shoulder of her good arm. "We're not running away... We're going out and ambushing them from behind." He whispered as he pulled away. "A couple of my guys will be here in a moment; do your best to hold out." He said as he pulled away and hurried off back towards the community hall.
His party comes out to meet him halfway there, looking sleepy yet alert as Brasyl is first to notice all the flamelight by the gate. "What's going on, Rodi?" He asked, managing to have the tact to not shout or call out.
Ferodias took a breath, centering himself before giving out his orders. "We've got bandits at the gate, very likely the group that kidnapped the ladies." He explained before looking among them. "Brasyl, go to the village head's house and wake them, get them to mobilize their militia." He then looked over to Danica and Monty as Brasyl immediately got moving. "We've got injured, get a couple of potions from my pack and help stabilize the catkin guard, he's worse off, though keep an eye on the woman and see about closing her leg wound." He ordered Danica and Monty; Monty nodded as he made his way back inside the community hall while Danica headed off towards the gate. Ferodias then looked over to Regan and patted his shoulder. "How's your mana right now, think you can manage a few big spells?"
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Regan nodded resolutely as he gripped his staff. "Yeah, I'm fully recovered now."
Ferodias nodded back. "Good, follow me, we're gonna get the drop on these guys." He said as he turned and started heading towards the fields, Regan doing his best to stay close behind. It took an unbearably long few minutes, but he managed to find the broken section of the wall. It wasn't very wide, but between his natural flexibility and Regan's slight build, the duo was able to squeeze through well enough as they made their way beyond the village walls. Ferodias moved through the overgrown and wild grass along the wall, being mindful of his step to not make too much noise, all while Regan does his very best to step where Ferodias steps.
Before long, they're out in the open, still crouched low in the tall grass. Ferodias kept moving, heading for the nearby treeline another forty feet away. But even from where they were, they had a clear view of the bandits as they milled about around the gate. Once they were in place, standing as they took cover behind a couple of trees, Ferodias took a head count. All in all, they were badly outnumbered, there were at least twenty to twenty-five of those bastards there, and they looked to be shooting the shit, not even worried about any sort of possible resistance from a little nowhere village. A majority of them looked like small fry, though Ferodias could see that quite a few of them had decent-looking armor, and around three of them had what looked to be arcane focuses like a staff and a couple of wands. "Damn... It's no wonder they were able to kidnap three ladies on their way back from a banquet..." Ferodias considered quietly before looking over at Regan. "Think you can wipe most of them out? They have some magic users of their own." He asked, though after a moment he couldn't help but smirk as Regan scoffed.
"You talk as if some third-rate criminal spell-slingers are any sort of threat to someone like me." He mused as he narrowed his gaze, the end of his staff starting to glow red as he stepped out from behind the tree. Regan pointed his staff in the sky as Ferodias watched a swirl of mana launch from the end of Regan's staff and into the sky, stopping in the air as it formed into fiery red clouds. With his arms starting to tremble and shake, Regan slammed his staff into the ground as it started to rain down balls of fire into the group of bandits, the ground rumbling as flames billow out from the impacts; screams of fear and shock are cut short as people are flash fried. If the village wasn't alerted to what was going on by now, everyone was undoubtedly awake by now.
Regan wasn't done, raising his staff with both hands and swinging it in a horizontal slash. He swirled the billowing flames into a single ball of fire while checking to see who survived. Of the three mages, the one wielding a staff and one of the wand users managed to survive by throwing up a barrier of water, keeping a total of six other bandits alive after that fiery onslaught. After getting visual confirmation of who was left, he swung the staff down in a vertical slash, visibly straining as his arms shook from the effort; Ferodias witnessed his friend's might as the final ball of fire crashed down once more and erupted upon contact, shattering the wand user's barrier and broiling another six bandits.
With that done, Regan slumped back against the tree he had originally been hiding behind, panting hotly as a layer of sweat formed all over his skin as he started sliding down to the ground and sat on the tree roots. Ferodias came over, patting Regan's shoulder as he flashed a small smile. "Great work, you good?" He asked as he looked his friend over.
Regan nodded, taking slow, deep breaths before offering a half-hearted smile. "Y-yeah, I'm fine... Might've overdone it a bit." He mentioned as he leaned back against the tree.
Ferodias smirked as he looked over at the remaining mage and the especially well-armored bandit. "Well, I don't know if you've overdone it, but all those guys over there are pretty well-done." He mused grimly as he pulled away.
Regan groaned as he shook his head. "Don't even get started... I'll be back on my feet in a minute or so, I should have enough in the tank to heal that guard you mentioned and a few more tricks if needed." He explained breathlessly as he leaned back into the tree.
Ferodias nodded as he made his way from the tree line and stepped out into the open, shield up, and his sword drawn. "Surrender! You're outnumbered. If you wish to see the sunrise, you will throw down your arms." Ferodias called out.
The mage and the remaining bandit scowled, but they then looked at the charred remains of all their allies before looking back to Ferodias. "It didn't have to be this way... Just give us the Blackstone girl. That's all we need, and we'll leave in peace." The armored bandit said, remaining confident for some reason despite the wholesale slaughter of almost all his companions, all the while the mage slowly stepped behind the armored bandit as their staff tip started to glow.
Ferodias narrowed his gaze, raising his shield a little more as he pointed at the mage with the tip of his blade. "I said surrender!" Though the mage only sneered as he lifted his staff to cast a spell, but before he could, a deep 'thwum' sounded out as he was skewered and rag-dolled brutally into the dirt by an oversized arrow, the magic going wild as a ball of electrical sparks erupted in a blinding shower around them.
From within the bright display, he heard the armored bandit curse and turn to run, though as another 'thwum' sounded out, the armored bandit disappeared in a flash of light as the arrow embedded itself in the dirt. Ferodias sighed softly, lowering his blade before sheathing it as the man vanished. "Did I get him?" Brasyl called out from the walkway along the village wall.
Ferodias looked up at Brasyl as he shook his head, his nose twitching at the scent of charred flesh. "No, bastard used some kind of tool to teleport away or something." He said as he sighed, looking around at the corpses before him. "I've got a bad feeling about this." He murmured to nobody in particular.