Rider Displaced

Chapter 9

Ten days later...

"Tell me again why we're stalking out this lone caravan rather than hunting our target?"

"Because our target is constantly on the move and uses no consistent route or pattern, making pinpointing them damn near impossible. But what we do know is they attack caravans coming down this region with small raid parties. So once they show themselves and attack, we counterattack and get interrogate one of them for where the rest of their group is."

"I guess that makes sense. But that also means we're using innocents as literal bait and putting them in the crossfire."

"Didn't take you for being concerned about collateral. But yes, we're doing exactly that. I don't like doing this either, but I don't have any better ideas how we can find these guys. Just get ready to fly as fast as you can once they show up."

Ten days after having signed up as a new adventurers, Walker and Amber have been accepting at least one quest every day, making about 30–50 silver upon completion. They were actually making faster progress than most adventurers, given how they could get around faster than others, so distance was of no concern. Recently they cleared up another goblin incursion, recovered stolen goods from bandits, and raided an Order of Shadows hideout producing addictive drugs. A surprising encounter, but a welcome one since they were able to bloody the Order's operations after their failed attempt to kill him 10 days ago.

Now they were tasked with hunting down and killing off another group of bandits who've been causing all sorts of trouble in the region they were waiting in now. These guys were nomadic so pinpointing an exact base of operations these guys worked from was damn near impossible. Next best option, draw them in with bait and interrogate any survivors.

Fortunately a group of traders was passing through the region to one of the nearby villages, with protection consisting of another party of adventurers the merchants likely hired through the quest board. He usually avoided doing those quests, since they were time consuming and usually set at Adventurer rank. He was looking through his binoculars as he scouted out the caravan, spotting the bronze badges on each member. Two rangers, a knight, and a cleric. He was beginning to familiarize himself with each class, how to spot them, and what their strengths and weaknesses were. The main reason for that, was because most parties, especially the DRAGON SLAYERS, disliked him and hated Amber, so he wanted to be prepared incase someone got bold enough to try and kill either of them.

"Movement, 2 o'clock on the hill."

Walker adjusted to where Amber had called out and spotted several horseback riders in brown cloaks riding over a hill and descending down in a charge. The caravan and adventurers have yet to notice the incoming attackers, but that won't be for long.

"That's them girl. Let's go make ourselves known!" He put the binoculars away and climbed into the saddle, waiting for Amber to take off and make their attack run on the bandits. Another bonus to having Amber was how quickly these jobs were. With her ability to not only fly, but also shoot plasma, threats were of no concern and easily dealt with. Added with Amber's tankiness, ranged attacks would do no harm.

If a literal .50 caliber can't penetrate her scales, what chance do arrows or magic have?

By the time the adventurers and merchants noticed the incoming bandits, Walker and Amber were already commencing their attack, with the rider having his bow drawn and an arrow ready to release and the dragon charging up for a powerful shot.

The bandits had drawn weapons and shouted out a battle cry as they readied to plunder. Meanwhile the adventures stood ready to defend.

However the immediate fight was interrupted by the whistling of an incoming plasma dart. The the energized projectile conceived only through dragon breath impacted in the middle of the bandit formation, vaporizing all but the leader leading the charge. His stead was caught in the blast with it's rear vaporized. The horse let off a horse whinny before it fell over dead. The leader fell off in immense pain, not by hitting the ground, but by his left leg nothing more but a cauterized stump.