A Book Of Short Stories & Poems

Talon and the Bandits

Talon was a young adventurer. He was strong, brave, and handsome like any legendary adventurer. Although one thing differed Talon from other adventurers. It was a choice he had made. It was while he was riding one day, on the plains of Balbador, a land on the continent of Tivia, that he spotted an old man being harassed by some men of much larger size. As Talon dismounted his horse and went over to them, he could hear what was happening.

"Please, I have given you everything. What more do you want?" Talon heard the old man say. "You old fool. I know you have more gold. Where is it?" One of the Bandits said. As Talon drew his sword, the bandits turned their attention on him. Without any questions being asked, the bandits attacked Talon.

Now a normal hero would have turned and fled at the mere sight of the bandits. But not Talon. Talon fought. There were three bandits total, one with a spear, one with a sword, and one with a large war hammer.

The bandit with the spear stabbed at Talon, but missed. Talon took hold of the spear's shaft, and slit the bandits throat. The second bandit was now behind Talon, while the third bandit, the one with the hammer was in front of him.

Talon was a master swordsman. He used his blade to pin the hammer of the third bandit to the ground, while he side kicked the second bandit, who almost hacked his sword into Talon's head. Talon quickly turned that side kick into a roundhouse kick to the head of the hammer bandit.

With both bandits stunned, Talon beheaded the hammer bandit. The sword bandit attempted to flee as Talon ran him through from behind. Talon walked over to the old man, who was standing next to a tree.

"Are you alright sir?" Talon asked to old man. "Yes, I am fine. A little bruised but I'll manage." Talon mounted his horse and was about to ride off, when the old man called to him. "Excuse me sir, but this is for you. It is a map to the Jeweled City. The bandits came from that cave over there." The old man pointed toward a dark cave to the side of the road.

"If you eliminate them all and come back to the Jeweled City carrying their leaders head, you will be greatly rewarded." Talon thought for a moment. "Very well sir. I will take care of the bandits".

And so Talon went into the cave. The bandits had maintained quite a stronghold within. Talon walked through the stronghold, with sword and shield ready. There were only around six bandits in the entire cave. There was a total of nine. But Talon had already taken care of the other three. Talon made his way through the cave. After a while Talon encountered the first bandit. This bandit was carrying nothing but a small, yet wicked looking dagger.

Talon thought it was funny that this man dare face him with such a tiny weapon. However Talon quickly learned that the size of a blade had little to do with how it's wielder used it. The bandit made a fury of swipes and slashes at Talon. Talon blocked and dodged as much as possible. The bandit seemed a master of his own style in using the dagger.

You see the bandit did not just swing the dagger. He would swing and jab in a variety of places. If Talon dodged one of the bandits high attacks, the bandit would come down low. If that didn't work, he would come back up high. This continued until the bandit made a mistake and left himself open.

Talon made a quick stab at the bandits stomach, running his sword deep into the bandits body. Blood dripped from the bandits mouth as he went limp, and crumpled to the ground. Talon now too the time to inspect his injuries.

The bandit had only landed one blow on Talon. There was a scar under his right eye, where the dagger had cut deep into Talon's flesh. Talon continued into the cave. A table sat in the middle of the next section. Two bandits sat there laughing and counting the gold they had recently stolen from a traveling caravan.

It did not take them long to notice Talon. One of the bandits had an axe while the other wielded a claymore. The bandit with the claymore charged Talon. Talon quickly roled to one side and slashed at the bandits legs. The bandit dropped to his knees and dropped the greatsword. Talon the ran his blade through the neck of the bandit.

The second Bandit attacked Talon with his axe, cleaving downward heavily. Talon smacked the axe aside and quickly hacked his sword into the bandits skull.

Talon continued on into the cave. Finally he came to a room filled with chests full of gold and gems. In the middle stood a tall, steel clad man holding a large battleaxe in his left hand. Talon called out to the man.

"You there. You have murdered and pillaged for the last time!" The large man turned and smiled at Talon. "You want to die? Alright then."

The axe seemed larger when it was being swung at Talon. Talon dodged and rolled as much as he could. The large bandit leader would cleave and hack at Talon every chance he got. "You should not have challenged me" said the large man. "This axe has taken the lives of kings! Now it shall have your's".

Talon raised his shield as the great axe came down on him. The axe stuck into Talon's shield. The large bandit tore the shield away from Talon and threw it aside. Once again Talon dodged as much as he could. Finally he saw his chance.

There was a small hole in the steel plate that the bandit was wearing. The hole was located right where the bandits liver was, and was just big enough for Talon's sword to pierce. If the large bandit would just stay still long enough....

Finally the Large bandit knocked Talon aside with the side of his axe. Talon lay on the ground, dazed. As the large bandit raised his axe, Talon thrust his sword into the hole. The large bandit sank to his knees. Talon got up and swung his blade into the bandits neck. Talon simply watched as the large bandits head rolled away from him with a surprised look on it's face.

Talon carried the head all the way back to the Jeweled City. As Talon rode through the streets, his black horse neighing. The old man approached Talon, this time wearing noble robes. "I am the King of the jeweled city. I thank you again for helping me."

Talon was surprised. "Why did you not tell me who you were?" Talon asked.

"I wanted to test you're heart" said the king. "Very few people would help an old beggar, but everyone would try to help a king in the hopes of a reward".

And so the king rewarded Talon with gold and lots of it. Talon then returned home to Arrowwatch, this small town where he lived.