Bound To; The Wish of the Witch

II

The mid-day air was still cool and crisp as it brushed past the cloaked rider's nose. The rider, slowly moving through the grove at a relaxed pace. The sun light peaked through the leaves and branches overhead, casting rays into the ground, visible in the remnants of the thin morning mist. The rider took a deep breath of fresh air and exhaled, letting out a small cloud of steam before turning the bend in the dirt road. Looking ahead, the rider noticed a young, white haired boy, laying on the side of the road gripping his right leg by the shin and breathing irregularly. The rider quickly jumped from their horse and ran to the injured boy, their plate armor clanking against itself as they moved. The rider knelt next to the boy and lifted their cowl, presenting a beautiful young woman's face with dark auburn hair and golden brown eyes. The boy kept his face pointing down at the ground as she spoke.

"Hey, are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?" She asked.

She spoke softly to comfort the boy, however the boy remained silent and continued looking at the ground for a moment before looking back up at her. Expecting the cringing face of a crying boy, she was caught off guard by the sight of a devilish smile as the boy suddenly turned and lunged at her with a dagger in his right hand.

Out of pure instinct, she swiftly batted the dagger out his hand with her left hand, protected within a full iron gauntlet and jumped to her feet. The boy, fearfully looking up at the armored woman towering over him, real tears welling in his eyes now. The woman quickly turned around, only to see a ragged looking man jumping onto her horse's saddle and taking off in the other direction while hysterically laughing. Before she could start chasing him, two other men burst from the brush to block her path, one threatening her with a serrated dagger and the other with a low quality straight sword.

"All right missy, go ahead and drop that fancy armor you got on and you'll be free to go." The bandit with the dagger said as he took a step closer. "Well, and maybe after a few other things too." He added with a lustful look in his eyes as he licked his blade, attempting to frighten her.

 She stood still, her iron clad feet planted firmly in the dirt, her fists clenched tightly. The bandit took another step closer.

"Hey! C'mon bitch, we ain't got all da-" his words turning into a painful shriek as his foot was being crushed under the young woman's heavy boot.

His shriek was interrupted when her elbow found its way into his throat, after which, he was thrown into the other bandit. Stumbling over each other, the two men couldn't react fast enough to avoid being run through by the woman's broadsword, one through the neck and one through the gut.

She pushed the two men off of her blade with her foot before turning to see a third man sprinting at her with a hatchet held over his head. She quickly planted her front foot and brought her sword to a lowered, ready position in both hands. Just as the man began to bring his axe down, she took a powerful step forward and thrusted her sword upward, catching the bandit in his abdomen and lifting him off the ground. The man dropped his hatchet and let out a gargling gasp while being suspended by her blade. She forcefully swung the man back downward and slammed him into the dirt, leaving him flat on his back, staring up at the grove's canopy with an expression of shock as he bled out.

The woman stood scanning the brush for any more adversaries. Seeing no one left, she swiftly swung her sword downward to remove any excess gore before pulling a white rag from under her cuirass and cleaning it. After finishing, she sheathed the sword and turned her attention back to the boy, still sitting on the ground paralyzed with fear from what he had just witnessed. She walked closer with heavy footsteps and stopped, towering over him again with an angry face. Her face loosened, the anger in her eyes gone, as she squatted in front of him, resting her elbows on her knees. She looked him in the eye.