Life and Death Decision

Chapter 2

A tangle of plant life enveloped the surrounding area as the three of us approached the scene. A crashed cart was set ablaze, three corpses were laying nearby and the scent of their blood was fresh. The bandits that did this were entangled in the vines, leaving them wide open for Tyme to shoot at. The one that screamed was a young girl with olive-green hair, human by the looks of it and probably only seven or eight years old. She kept her hand pointed in the direction of the bandits, tightening the bandits' bindings.

"Alright, I'll shoot them down. You two take care of the girl." Knocking an arrow into her bow, Tyme steadied her aim as a rustling sound came from the other side of the road. Another set of bandits were lying in wait, jumping out at the girl from her blind spot.

"Get her!" They yelled before they found their bodies burnt by Baz's breath.

"Nice going Baz! Get her out of there!" I raised my hand to the heavens, a small ring of light forming around my wrists before I waved my arm over everyone to target them with my spell. Similar looking rings formed around Baz, Tyme, and the kid's wrists. "Kid! Over here! We're here to help!" I yelled, causing her to turn her head our way. Tyme and Baz's outfits weren't exactly all that welcoming, the former's being similar to the bandits and the latter's riddled with dents and covered in dried blood. But the moment she saw me, and the symbol of my goddess embossed on my chest piece, she began running at full speed toward us.

"Don't just stand there you idiots! Get them!" One of the bandits wrapped in the vines, the leader presumably since he dressed slightly differently, yelled at his men before one of Tyme's arrows lodged itself in his eye socket. More and more bandits came out of the woodwork, some emerging from the cart with multiple bags in their arms.

"Mom and dad's things! No!" She pointed her arm towards the group of bandits that held her family's belongings, the crackling sound of lightning coming from every movement of her fingers before a bolt of electricity shot through the air, frying them where they stood. Even with that group eradicated, there were still around ten bandits.

"We'll get them back!" Tyme fired another arrow, hitting a bandit in the foot before she let loose another at one that was holding a piece of the burning cart in his hand. "Baz, Sage, I can't take them on all at once." She reached for her quiver, glaring at the eight remaining thugs to pick her next target.

"On it!" Baz ran out towards the largest cluster of them, his large sword swinging through the air and rending the flesh of three in one decisive blow. Only five remained. I looked around at the survivors, scattered all over the field and all holding their crossbows in our direction. I thought about their position, finding the perfect spell to end this as soon as possible.

"In the name of her radiance, burn in the light of justice!" I clasped my hands together, my eyes were aglow with her holy light. The sun shone brighter as the temperature of the air rose with her divine influence. Then, as if to purge their vile lives, waves of heat ignited the field like a serpent devouring their prey. I burnt them all to a crisp just as the light returned to normal. I looked down at the girl, her injuries were severe, but her bleeding had stopped...that was quick...almost too quick. Her clothes were soaked, and she lost enough blood that made it seem like her body was completely empty. But she was still alive, so I was grateful for that.

"Mom! Dad! Sis!" She didn't give me any time to heal her wounds, running back to the wreckage and kneeling down by the corpses. The rest of us ran after her, finding her clutching a corpse that was similar to her own body, except that her hair had been singed off, her sister...her twin. "Mom! Dad! Sis! No! No!" She pulled her sister closer to her chest, wailing as Baz walked off to extinguish the fire.