The Unlikely Hero

Chapter 8. The Bandits

The bandit camp was way deeper in the forest than I had initially thought. I mean, who the heck would choose to live so far from the civilization? Hiding from the society in some Gods-forsaken corner of a dark forest?.. Even robbers should have to draw a line somewhere, right? Anyhow, despite my most sincere hopes and unheard prayers, it took us four hours by horses and then one more on foot to get close to that infamous den of Trarton thieves and bandits.

Our fearless leader Elek was hoping to launch a surprise attack and for that purpose, we had stayed in the cover of the bushes. The archers were the first ones to attack as they had the task to take out any bandit scouts we were to come across. Therefore, it took us even more time to close in towards the camp. I was almost wishing for someone to spot us, cause even though generally I was a nature lover, those prickly bushes were finally starting to get on my nerves. Still, everything went on rather well until our cover was finally blown (oh, thank you, thank you, the almighty Gods and Goddesses) just next to the entrance of the bandit camp. Somehow, I expected a smaller gathering of thieves, but as the armored and armed men poured out of the gates yelling and waving their swords and maces, I suddenly realized our forces were way too small for this mission. I felt a gnawing urge to turn around and run as fast as my feet could carry me.

Curious, I glanced at Elek, wondering if he had that same uncanny sort of craving to get out of this place, but even though he had a rather grim and surprised expression on his face, his eyes were far too determined. Which was quite ill foreboding. So, with a slight intake of fresh air and feeling a huge headache coming up, I knew there was no turning back now. Our glorious leader gave me a curt nod as he yelled out the last orders to his men and the swordsmen prepared to meet the oncoming avalanche of the bandits.

I let out the sigh I was holding back as I realized I really had my work cut out for me this time. This was the real deal. And so, I closed my eyes, breathed in again and concentrated... Then, I opened my eyes and reached out my hand towards the running bandits. They still had to cover about twenty meters and that was enough space for me to create a huge wall of fire just at the front attacking row. The screams echoed into the sky and my fellow comrades all turned to look at me surprised. Well, what did they expect? That I will stand by and do nothing? Well, excuse me for being distrustful of your capabilities, dear colleagues, but I'd rather be safe and sound than squashed with an iron mace...

Putting my contemplations aside and coming back to the battle at hand, the bandits had just halted in front of the unexpected obstacle, trying to save their skins and so I gathered my concentration once again, directing the firewall to move in their direction. The view was incredible. The fire spread out encircling the humans as they screamed and ran, retreating backwards, as soon as they realized they were becoming entrapped by scorching flames. With a flick of my wrist I sent those flames at an immense speed at the forces of the bandits, burning them as the fire went through.

"Whoaaaa..." someone beside me exclaimed and I flashed a smile at the archer beside me.

The warriors laughed out gleefully and Elek smirked as he gave out new orders and now a swarm of arrows flew to the remaining alive bandits, finishing them off. Yet, their places were taken by new enemies and this time the warriors did not wait and charged forth bravely, letting me take a breather after my recent show-off. Weirdly enough, I did not feel as tired or depleted as I thought I would. My mana must have really increased lately. I felt as if I could launch two more firewalls like this before running empty on my magical energy. Which was really incredibly good. Really. No kidding.

Yet, I decided to save this for later and dashed down the slope after Elek and his warriors to help them out in a fight. Furthermore, somewhere in that camp there was a man with 500 gold coins over his head and I was set on making them mine.