Lykan

Chapter 4 - Bandits

Surprise! I'm not dead! Sorry for the long wait I've been super busy and some shit happened that I had to deal with. But it's all good now!

Back to the story! I may end up doing some time-skips cuz I'm hella lazy lol.

Also there may be slight gore. Just a small warning.

We had stopped for the night and were sitting around a small fire. Juno and Zara were on lookout. I was sitting next to Scout who was drawing in the dirt with a stick.

Darrow and Dove sat across from us. Dove was leaning on Darrow, fast asleep. Meanwhile, Darrow was cleaning his knives, moving careful as to not wake Dove.

As he worked he looked up and saw me staring. He glared back at me. I looked away quickly. Scout noticed the exchange and chuckled under his breath.

"What's his problem?" I inquired. Scout shook his head slightly, "Darrow's just like that. He has a problem with everyone who hasn't proven themselves to him."

I scoffed but dropped the conversation. Instead, I pulled out my blanket from my pack and made myself comfortable on the mossy ground.

The lumpy soil and prickly pine needles made me feel like sleep was impossible. But soon I managed to drift off into a light sleep.

~ ~ ~

     I woke up to the Zara shaking me awake. "Wake up, hurry." She said urgently. I sat up quickly. Confused a glanced around the campsite.

    It was still dark out and I could barely make out the shapes of the group. But using the weak glow from the fires smouldering embers I could see Scout and Juno standing at the edge of the clearing.

      I stood and shoved my blanket into my bag. "What's going on?" I asked Zara. 

"Bandits." Came her quick reply.

      I froze in fear. My village used bandits as a way to scare children from straying into the woods. We had been told they were ruthless and bloodthirsty. That they were to be feared. Some even said that they were lethal enough to scare even werewolves.

    Zara laid her hand on my shoulder, and looked me in the eyes. "I know you're scared but you need to stay calm."

    I nodded firmly. She was right. Panicking was the worst thing to do right now.

     Zara turned to Scout and Juno, bow in hand.
"Okay Dove is covering the west side and Darrow is working his way behind them. Chances are they will try surround us so we'll just have to surround them. Scout go in from east and I'll take them head on. Juno and Kai, you're with me."

    I felt my eyes widen. I had bet expected for us to fight back head on. Zara turned to me and tossed me a knife. I caught it glanced at her confused. "I can't fight well." I said bluntly.

    Zara smirked "But they don't know that."

     Scout split off and headed into the woods, silently weaving between the trees. I followed Zara cautiously.

My heart was racing and my hands were slippery with sweat. I jumped at every sound I heard. Juno was waking beside me seemingly calm and I envied him.

     Zara motioned at is to stop and crouched down. I did so as well, making myself hidden in the tall grass.

   "I see them." Zara said, pointing out five rugged looking people standing a stones throw away.

     Zara moved closer to Juno. They debated the next course of action in hushed tones and I surveyed the bandits.

    They all looked rough around the edges. From what I could make was three larger bandits walking towards us, while the two smallest looking ones followed behind them, using the trees to remain mostly unseen.

     
    I gripped the knife tighter and moved closer to Zara. Her powerful presence making me feels slightly protected.

     Juno leaned in close to me, "We gotta ambush them." He said, his words barely a whisper. "The others should follow our lead."

     I sat back on my heels and sat back as Zara slunk towards the bandits. Juno stayed back with me.

     It didn't take long for the field before me to burst into action. As soon as Zara had sprung forward, the others followed lead.

     The bandits immediately went into full defence, moving into a tight circle to block attacks from all sides.

I knew that Zara and the others were fighters, but I had no idea they were this fierce.

I watched horrified as Zara shot an arrow into a bandits head, killing him before he had even hit the ground.

Dove lashed out her sword whip and successfully latched it around a bandits arm. She ripped it back towards her and I quickly averted my eyes to avoid seeing the gore.

I could hear the bandits scream and out of the corner of my my eye I could see Darrow slit a bandits throat with frightening precision while Scout loped off a fleeing bandits head in one clean swipe.

   Finally, it was all over. Silence filled the clearing and I stood. My legs were shaking with adrenaline and my hand painfully clenched the small blade.

      Juno grinned at me and then trotted over to the others. I shuddered and then joined them.

The ground was littered with gore and I pressed my hand against my mouth to stop the nausea filling me.

I looked up at the group. They were wiping down their weapons.

Dove had blood splattered her hair and face. She wore a big grin on her face as she cleaned her whip.

I was suddenly scared. These people were ruthless and violent. They had no empathy for others. The only reason I was here was because I was an asset. But I feared what would happen when my value ran out.

Zara walked towards me, blood contrasting sharply against her dark skin. She reached down and sharply jerked a arrow from one bandits body. Then she walked past me without further comment.

The rest followed her, except for Scout who placed a callused hand on my shoulder. He didn't say anything but his amethyst coloured eyes spoke levels.

I turned and allowed Scout to lead me after the group. Continuing our journey.

I straightened my shoulders and pushed the bloody images of the last few moments to the back of my mind.

I had to stay strong. For Arcanum, for my village. For the safely of this group.

I focused my gazed forward and caught up to the group. We trekked forward. Each step bring us closer to Lykan

So this was originally going to be a short story but now I realize that it may end up being longer. So yeah that's that.