ONE POINT FIVE (1.5 in the Amnesia Archives)

Chapter 7

Aknon's POV

I regretted my decisions as soon as we left the wandering village. Mesh talked to every bug or animal that he saw, alongside humming and singing whenever there was silence. It was like being around both Acer and Sarphi, but just in one body. At least my siblings could sing rather well.

But I also couldn't have been venturing with a better companion when we faced our first group of bandits. Now, I'd faced bandits before, but my siblings and I had made countless plans in order to keep ourselves safe. I had completely forgotten their existence up until someone began shooting at us from the side of the road.

"Down," Mesh commanded me as he suddenly fell to the ground. He had immediately drawn his axe, rolling over so that he was further away from the archer. "Sword."

It took me a few seconds to realise that I had also found myself on the ground, trying to keep away from the arrows which were flying where my head and Mesh's chest had been. His words reminded me that I had a really cool sword, and that I wasn't talented at using it at all.

"No better time for training," I said to myself as I tightened my grip on the hilt. I sprung to my feet the moment I heard more footsteps approaching.

One thing about bandits is that they're not subtle at all, and they rely more on brute strength than they do speed. I gave a silent appreciation for the archer, as they showed they at least tried to be sneaky about it.

But that also happened to be Mesh's style too. He charged and roared, bringing his axe down on the second bandit's shield. The bandit's arm shook from the force of Mesh, which was very understandable. But the bandit backed away and took a swing for Mesh's legs with a sword.

The archer was still shooting at us as a third bandit came into the mix, her eyes locked on me. "Well, well, isn't this a glorious surprise?" Her face had a wicked grin on it as she stalked around me, my eyes never leaving hers as I turned, copying her movements. "I've never seen anything like you before."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I get that a lot." I made the first move, my sword slicing through the air, the black blade reflecting the sunlight and creating the illusion of black smoke. "Seriously, get a new remark book."

The lady just scowled at me and began attacking with her sword. I blocked most of the attacks, the exceptions being a scratch on my elbow and my cheek. But I was easily getting a hang of fighting with this wonderful sword, which seemed to listen and do exactly what I wanted it to do. I knew magic was involved, but I didn't know enough about forging magical weapons to identify the spells.

"I'll help," Mesh said, startling me so much I nearly dropped my sword.

I gasped and ducked as Mesh's axe narrowly missed my head and ran straight through the girl. When I first met him, I figured that he would've let a woman go unharmed, but I felt a little bit more respect for him as I watched the fight for a few more moments before addressing another issue which was steadily approaching.

A loud yell came from the road just ahead. A horse galloped into view, a bandit on its back who was holding a spear. The bandit looked bigger than the other three we had faced. It was annoying really, as bandits often travelled in threes. That was one of the main issues when we were travelling, as it often made people a lot more suspicious of us.

"Mesh look out!" I called towards him as I rushed towards the horse, my sword held outwards to the side as I narrowed my eyes on the figure. I felt like I was doing something brave and stupid. I didn't work well with horses, having never spent much time with them.