The Sword Maiden

Escape

"Redwar!" I screamed.  

He had not followed Derrek and I, but rather was pushing through the bandit camp towards the corral of horses.  

I could instantly see what his plan was:  if the bandits didn't have horses, or had to catch horses, they couldn't follow us.  However, I couldn't help but wish he hadn't thought of that plan. 

I lingered at the base of the rocks, trying to decide whether to climb after my brother or go help him.  

"Ravine!"  I yanked my head up to see my brother glaring down at me.  

"Ravine, if you don't come up here, I'm going to come down there."  

"Don't you dare come down here, Derrek!"  I scowled up at him.  "I won't have you in this mess!"

I unsheathed my blade as I spotted a man lurching his way towards me.  

"Come up here, right now!  I won't be separated from you again, Ravine!"  To make his point, Derrek began to step down.  

I growled and sheathed my blade as I leapt for the rocks.  First Redwar and now Derrek.  I seemed to have no choice in anything.  

As I dashed between rocks and scurried over boulders, I looked down at Redwar.  He was nearly to the corral now.  He didn't stop to fight anyone, but rather blocked their blows and used his Ravagerian speed to slip by them.  

The bandits realized what he was trying to do, and were starting to converge in on him.  I couldn't climb anymore, I had to see what was going on.  

Redwar was so close, but three bandits were standing in his path.  Megidil was shouting something to them as he ran to close in on Redwar from behind.  

I had to do something, anything!  Redwar would not die for me today.  

My hand reached down and grasped a stone.  I calculated, then leaned back and threw.  

The man to the left gasped out in pain as my stone hit him solidly on his back.  Redwar used this momentary distraction to leap forward, force his sword down, and crack him solidly on the head.   

I gasped as the next guy rushed him with an upraised blade.  Redwar blocked but stumbled over the bandit who's head he'd hit.  He scrambled for footing, but couldn't get his balance back.  

He fell, and the bandit's blade followed him down.  He still had the bandit's sword blocked, but could he keep him off him? 

Redwar used his last bit of footing to push himself left.  The bandit, caught off guard and off balance, face planted into the ground.

Redwar pulled his sword out from under him and sprang up .  The third bandit had been coming to help his friend, and was unprepared for when Redwar came at him like a summer storm.  He crashed into him with an upraised blade and shoved him backwards several feet. 

Instead of continuing to drive him backwards, Redwar let off and turned.  He raised his sharp blade and brought it down, with a shout, on the ropes that were the fence for the make-shift corral.  

The horses were agitated from all the noise, the flying arrows before, and the rocks.  When Redwar's blade cleaved apart the ropes like a knife through butter, they surged out like a dam breaking.  

My momentary elation was cut short when Redwar disappeared in the chaos of the fleeing horses.  "Redwar!  Redwar!"  I searched frantically.  Where was he?  I couldn't see him!  I heard Valeria calling his name as well.  

Suddenly he popped up, in the middle of the corral as it emptied of horses.  He actually looked injury free and sprinted across to the rocks, once again using his sword to break through the rope fence.