Fog Bound

Chapter 1

"Shit, shit, shit!!" Verri screamed out, the reins in her hand jerked wildly as the horses pulled in different directions in a panic. Charging at an incredible pace, the stagecoach jerked and bounced wildly. Behind them hoots and hollers could be heard as flaming arrows zipped by into the forest.

The young blacksmith had encountered a group of bandits specifically targeting travelers that seemed to pass by this forest. Her stagecoach made her one hell of a target as they quickly ambushed her soon after she started the trail. Not wanting to give up her precious belongings she whipped the horses, causing a chase to ensue.

"These damn bandits are persistent..." She growled as she turned back to see how many were still following. Upon doing so she noticed a red plume eating at the wood of the stagecoach. They actually caught it on fire!

In her panic she accidentally jerked the reins causing the horses to veer off the path and into a particularly rough stoop. The horses quickly lost their footing as the wheel disconnected from the body of the stagecoach, causing an intense lean as the heavy equipment was thrown to one side.

Verri was ejected from the box by the sudden crash landing roughly against a tree not far from the stagecoach as the bandits surrounded it.

The bandits inspected the coach while brandishing their blades and sifting through the rubble for valuables. The squeal of broken-legged horses was deafening, catching the attention of a traveler on foot who had managed to hide from the chaos in the forest as they passed him by.

The traveler cautiously approached the scene of the crash off the side of the path in the steep trench below where he spotted the troop of thieves. Misfortune always finds the unfortunate...

Two snake-like creatures, one larger and one much smaller, coiled around the traveler's arm and neck. If they could manage to chase off the bandits, there might be some food or loot that they might be able to salvage for themselves. The traveler felt at his waist where three corked bottles of liquid hung from a band. "Hmm..." He thought to himself, "Not quite sure I have enough of these for all of them, Mildred." He said, looking down to the larger snake creature which had little to say in response.

He simply shrugged. He had little to lose when he already had next to nothing. He grabbed onto one of the bottles around his waist and carefully slid down the side of the stoop. The rustling of dead leaves and sticks beneath his feet alerted one of the bandit scouts who shouted in a deep, hoarse voice to call for reinforcements.

The traveler leapt into the air before he slid to the forest floor and threw the bottle into the bandit's face. Aside from the shattered glass now lodged in his eyes and nose, the contents of the bottle began to quickly eat away at his skin and cartilage while he could only scream and retreat to his entourage. Once his other bandit companions discovered his malformed face, they were utterly horrified by the sight. While they were in shock, the snake man rushed them with a poison-tipped knife. He slashed at the torso of one of the remaining bandits who screamed and thrashed in response. He swung his blade wildly at the snake man as his torso was stained and burned with the mysterious poison.

Armed with another bottle in hand, the bandits were close enough together that the bottle shattered and drops of the liquid sizzled onto their flesh. This was the final straw as one fearful bandit called for retreat as this mission was not worth all their lives. They had only made off with the bare minimum from the coach and fled the sight. It was a good thing they didn't know that he was on his last bottle, otherwise the tables might have turned in their favor...

The snake man perched atop the toppled coach and peaked inside for any passengers. "'Lo? Hellooooooo?" He called into the stagecoach with no answer. "Well, they've died or fled so the rest is mine." He hopped off the coach and grabbed onto the side of it to hopefully get the coach to right itself but it seemed like it was little use as the damn thing was too heavy. He tried a different approach and jumped back on top of it and crawled inside to scavenge for the goods inside although most of it was useless gear and clothes. However, he did manage to find small rations of bread but it was better than nothing. He crawled his way out of the coach and sat on top of it and chowed down on the bread, his reward for his valiant battle with the bandits.