The Bizarre Adventures of a Half-Elf

6. Plan B

**Warning: Another small battle scene and a small mention of slavery. The beginning and ending of the chapter are fine, but feel free to skip the middle if you don't care for blood. 

At sunset, Charlotte found herself standing side by side with the mage at the meeting location. The others were hidden in the bushes around the area, standing by to charge in if his plan failed. 

Now that she had a moment to assess this Human, Charlotte had to keep a snort of annoyance to herself when she realized he was a little over six feet tall, which was a good three or four inches taller than she was. His skin was a darker olive-tone, and he had short, wavy black hair. He also seemed well in-shape for a magic user, as she was able to catch glimpses of lean muscle through his loose-fitting robes when he stretched.

Luckily, he didn't seem to notice her glances, but it was difficult to tell behind his bored, cynical visage.

Finally, the Half-Elf sighed and unsheathed one of the two short swords from her back, the dark and wickedly curved one she used for her main hand, before twirling it in boredom. "So, you never mentioned your name," she huffed, finally deciding to break the silence.

The mage glanced at her, and then said, "If you must know, my name is Timoré."

She just nodded at him, unsure of whether or not to continue the conversation. But it was decided for her, as the bandits made their appearance- five of them, including a redheaded woman who Charlotte had not seen previously. The leader in the armband had a girl who could only be Lola in his arms, his sword pressed against her neck.

The one with the axe approached the two, the rest keeping their distance, and Charlotte felt her muscles slowly tensing. The bandit held out his hand and grunted, "The gold."

"Isn't the original fifteen gold enough? I doubt she'd sell for much more than that, with how tiny she is," Timoré nodded to Lola, his voice suddenly all milk and honey.

The man looked at the Kishi, who was no more than five feet tall and very slender, with long black hair and small fox ears sticking out of her head. A bushy red fox tail appeared from behind her matching azure silk tunic and pants, and curled around her body in fear. After some contemplation, the bandit shook his head, "We'll just take the extra gold."

"Very well," Timoré agreed cheerfully, turning as if to reach into his pocket, "Give me one moment..." As he did so, he glanced at Charlotte with the tiniest of eyebrow raises.

The Half-Elf groaned in defeat, stomping her feet as she made to walk off. "I thought you said you could negotiate," she scoffed at the mage, turning her trajectory ever so slightly to get around the bandit.

The Black Skull grinned, none-the-wiser. "Everyone thinks they can negotiate with us, but the Black Skulls always get their-" He was cut off as Timoré whipped back around, a ball of electricity sparking from his palm. It struck the bandit with a large crackle of energy, pushing him back and allowing Charlotte to slice down his spine with her blade.

Turning around, she saw that the rest of the bandits appeared caught off-guard, unreactive and mouths agape. The rogue pulled out her other sword, running toward them to try and make the most out of her advantage. Arrows from Türin and Red rained over her, attempting to strike the leader before he could do anything to Lola.

The bandit nearest to her managed to get a sword up in time to block her strike, but she used her momentum to ram her shoulder into his sternum. Her opponent stumbled back, the wind knocked out of him. Before he could recover, Asmoth leaped out from where he was hiding, cutting into the man's shoulder. 

Charlotte looked to assess the scene again, and her stomach did a flip as she saw the Kishi girl laying on the ground, clutching at the scarlet line across her throat. The Half-Elf ran over, eyes scanning to make sure she wasn't putting herself in harm's way, while reaching into one of her belt pouches to take out a bandage roll.

Lola looked at her with wide brown eyes, her face growing paler by the second. "Hold still," Charlotte told her, gently cupping the back of the other girl's head as she messily wrapped the bandages around her neck. The blood quickly soaked the bandages, getting all over the rogue's hands, but it would hopefully be enough to prevent needing a resurrection. 

There were footsteps heading toward her, and Charlotte quickly looked up, reaching for a sword. But it was only Timoré, sliding in beside her. "Sloppy work, but it'll do," he nodded towards the bandages. Placing a hand over Lola's neck, his palm glowed a warm green for a moment, before he grimaced. "She's lost too much blood for my magic to be any help to her; she needs a cleric."

"Asmoth!" Charlotte called to the Kuesik, seeing that he was not currently engaged, "Take her back to the chapel!" 

The Desert-Folk wasted no time in coming to pick up the girl's slight frame, barely giving a nod, before running back toward the town. 

The thundering sound of a sword against a shield drew Charlotte's attention, and she saw the leader bearing down upon Elric with a longsword. The Nephilim was on his back, trapped on the ground under his own tower shield.