Surely we would get lost when the only direction Mr Cedar told us was “west” but then again we got here safely. It had taken a day, not that that mattered. Beyond us now was a forest, and within dwelled the bandits.

Before we entered the treeline Mark and Mr Cedar asked me if I was going to bbe okay doing this. It was a stupid question. if I wasn’t going to commit I would have just punched the hobgoblin instead of coming out here.

“I Have hunted plenty of animals before, I should be fine.”

Mark took offense for some reason

“These aren’t animals they are humans, no matter what they have done, they are still like you and me.”

“It does not change the fact we have to deal with them.”

“You will see things that a child should never see, but you are a little old to see this compared to most. It is better to puke than to not react at all.”

Mr Cedar offered no advice.

After that conversation we advanced slowly into the forest. It was quiet, no one spoke a peep. It took a while, but we came across the bandit’s camp, a dishevelled collection of holes with different shabby cloths. There was one or two holes that had their entrance covered with wood, but there wasn’t a single proper residence.

Despite the shabby state of the of the camp we waited. It felt like an eternity and the light dimmed, but some of the bandits returned. They were carrying goods of unknown origin, they looked more akin to beggars than thieves.

With their return however mark got what he wanted, confirmation. The weapons and bloodstains paired nicely with our information.

Even so we didn’t attack.

When night had set in we attacked, it was another eternity of waiting, but they seemed to know what they were doing.

Mr Cedar broke off to go and begin the hunt. Mark on the other hand ordered me softly to take out one of the bandits that had set up on the outskirts.

There were a few men on guard, but most were just doing their own thing. I wondered if they were truly organised, or just a rabble that stuck together.

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I didn’t question the need for murder, but then again mark didn’t specify how, he just told me to take them down.

Deciding not to go for the morbid option I snuck behind the trees, approaching my prey. I didn’t mean to use it this way, but the dark cloak hid me from sight. My main opponent was the crunching of leaves, but the trees were plentiful enough that I could stand on their thick roots.

The man that I came up to was quietly making a basket, the way he weaved the branches was mesmerizing. Luckily for me he thought so too and didn’t notice when I got behind him.

The man was just close enough to the treeline that he could disappear without worry. I wrapped my hand around his mouth while my arm wrapped tightly around his throat. The man flailed, but soon he went limp, still I did not let go. It was only when Mark tapped my head that I let go, I knew that stopping them from breathing would knock them out, but I didn’t know how long I needed to do so.

Mark pulled out a small dagger and handed it to me. I accepted the dagger but looked up at him.

“Finish the job, we have eleven more of these camps to go through, we don’t have the time for prisoners.”

How Mark had come across such information eluded me, but I did so anyway.

I brought the knife to the unconscious man’s throat and cut into it. the skin was tough, but once I got into the muscle, I finally noticed that the man was already dead. I didn’t know how, but it seemed I had suffocated them to death rather than unconsciousness.

Strangely I felt nothing, a life had disappeared from the world at my hands and I didn’t care. I didn’t expect to care, but maybe I did a little.

Mark seemed a little dissatisfied and led me to another bandit.

Again I snuck up behind my victim, but this time they noticed. Before their plea could escape much further my dagger cut into their throat and my other hand was holding their mouth.

The ripping feeling of the flesh stuck with me, but I didn’t think that was bad. I kept searching for what I felt when I killed, I knew I was broken, but I didn’t want to be this kind of broken.

The man’s short plea attracted someone else, so my third victim was added to the list. As they fell to the ground, I finally decided what I felt, it was a mild wrongness. It was better than nothing, but more akin to doing something I would rather not than regret.

There was another man that Mark pointed to, but Mr Cedar appeared, and the man disappeared. When that happened Mark exclaimed.

“Have you gotten quicker, or have I gotten slower?”

“We have both gotten slower, but you haven’t even been running around.”

The two having a casual conversation made me turn my head towards the camp. There corpses were strewn about, not a single person was left standing. In my moment of realisation, I also noticed that I had been following Mark’s orders to kill as if it were normal.

I knew why, but it still unnerved me that habits from so long ago could affect me. When Mark used to train me, it was best to follow now, think later. It was mainly because I loved to think and never got anything done, but now Mark had a card I hoped he wouldn’t exploit.