Odd job gone wrong(Eridanus, Zenai)

[Eridanus]

Eridanus vaguely saw Zenai tangling with a fallen pikeman and Anthony in a duel with a long swordsman. He knew that Zenai could handle close quarters combat on his own and he trusted his friend to be able to deal with an already severely injured bandit, and he returned his gaze to Anthony. The situation was not exactly dire, but it looked like the bandit was giving Anthony the fight of his life, no doubt the superior reach of the bandit's weapon giving him an edge over the gladius-wielding archer, which was sort of would happen if a short sword and a dagger mated together and produced a child. He decided to aid the archer, and he ran in a round-about manner, making the detour so as to strategically position himself such that he and Anthony could overwhelm the bandit with a pincer attack. As he approached the two, the archer's commanding voice boomed, "Take one alive! Then throw the bodies and weapons back into the stronghold of wagons. Leave nothing for any other enemy to use!", as he feinted towards the swordsman. The bandit remained unfazed and he simply dodged the feint, then brought his blade up to parry against Anthony's follow-up attack. As he ran, he willed the djed streams in his body to re-balance itself, using the imagery of the fluid trickling of a moderate-sized waterfall. The soothing visual analogy helped his mind to process his intent better, and he soon felt the effects as his legs regained its usual, but fatigued feelings. The Vantha neared the bandit, and he yelled on purpose, causing the bandit to dodge an imagined attack on reflex, his panicked eyes quickly glancing forward to process a new factor in the equation. If the man had needed simple disposing of, Eri would have just ran his blade through his flesh and no one would be the wiser. Instead, Anthony wanted to capture one alive, whether as a hostage, for interrogation or for some other reason he would not know. However, now was the time for action, and all that thinking would come later. His distraction gave Anthony some breathing room to set-up whatever plan he had, and he engaged his fellow long sword wielder in combat. Eri alternated the swings of his swords, expecting and indeed being repelled by the bandit who almost seemed surprise at the Vantha's lack of enthusiasm. The encouraged bandit used this as a sign that the Vantha was weakening, and he edged towards the Vantha, occasionally glancing behind to make sure that Anthony was not sneaking up on him and to guard his back should the need arose. Now, though, dealing with Eri was the main concern and the bandit pushed forward, forcing him to retreat. An idea came to his head, and Eri yelled "Now" to the bandit's back. Whether it was to Anthony or to no one in particular he did not care, for the bandit did that sidestep again and spun around to face nothing but thin air. Realizing he had been tricked, he spun around again just in time to meet a high-powered slash that Eri bore down on him, his tensed muscles bracing against the impact. However, the eventual impact never came, for the initial blow was more of a distraction as Eri immediately released his long sword that was locked together with the bandit's own weapon, and he nimbly dashed forward to punch the man in the face, disorienting him. The bandit stumbled, but did not let go of his weapon, wildly swinging it in Eri's direction, and he narrowly escaped being cut into two by parrying it with his non-master hand which still held on a weapon. Whatever Anthony's gonna do, he better do it now or I'll have to risk killing the bandit to avoid meeting Lhex myself.

[Antar]

The clashing sounds of blade on blade rang out loudly in Antar's ears as he and the last bandit exchanged blow after blow. For a moment, it had been just him and the bandit. His entire world narrowed upon the play of steel in his hands. Twice he had to dodge back or raise a gauntlet to block an incoming swipe of the bandit's longsword, and the other man's skill was readily apparent to him. Soon enough, he was beginning to be pushed back on the defensive when Eridanus joined in to take over.

The momentary respite gave him enough time to fade back a moment to begin to muster his djed. It sparked like liquid fire in his veins as the power boiled up from his stomach through his shoulders and down into his arms as the Res began to weep from his left palm. It streamed from the back of his gauntlets, gathering to hover above his hand in accordance with his will as it began to grow. It didn’t seem enough for his purposes, so more began to flow, adding to the mix. When it reached the size of a thousand pound pumpkin, he thrust its left arm forwards to guide it. Streams of translucent surged around Eridanus from all sides before coming together to make contact with and around the bandits outstretched sword arm as the other mercenary and the bandit continued their deadly dance.

With his mind at the limits of his area of control, the sphere he commanded the substance to stretch downwards across the bandits other arm and part of it separated to envelop the man’s legs as the pair fought each other with all the attentiveness of an eagle swooping down on another bird’s prey.
It was time.

Forcing his will upon the Res, he began to transmute it fully as a flash of scintillating blue energies began to crackle on the bandits skin as the fluid flash hardened into form, becoming compressed strong bluish colored stone. The sheer weight of the Arcanic contrivance forcing the bandits sword arm down wildly into the stone from the sudden extra weight and formations of rock arrested the bandit’s movement like a set of hardened manacles and brought his attempt to fight back, or even stand to a dead halt.
The bandit fell backwards to the ground and Noth rushed past Eridanus to deliver a scathing blow to the man’s hand with the flat of his blade to make him drop his weapon, and finished the fight by giving the opponent a staggering kick to the side of the head. He reached down to grab the longsword off the ground, and turn it hilt first towards Eridanus. The others view of the incident had been blocked by the Ethfael’s body and Noth’s eyes, a little bloodshot around the edges looked coldly in warning into his. Whether Eridanus was curious or not, Noth’s tone would brook no arguments. Only warning and caution. ”Not one word of that to anybody. Ever, Eridanus. Not in public at least. Take the prisoner back to the barricade and sweep the east for their archer’s equipment, get another to cover you if you can, I’ll sweep the west side for the four. There’s probably one or two still alive, even if they are injured. You and zenai should tend to any injured as best you canGo deal with the injured guard who lost a leg for some medicine . I’ll have antar cauterize the wound later XD., I’ll see what I can do later if there’s anything beyond your ability to treat. I’ll trust you to ensure Zenai and the drivers do the same. It there’s others out there we don’t have much time so Go!” The last word held a tinge of command as Noth turned towards the west and began to jog the short distance towards the fallen archers on that side. His eyes scanning for more threats.

He had to dispatch an injured crossbow wielding bandit with his blade, after poorly shot bolt imbedded itself in the ground ten feet away from him. It wasn’t easy though, he had to dash forwards to step on the bandits arm to prevent him from drawing a dagger before he could get a clear chop down at the throat to behead the man. But soon enough after about three chimes of running around. Four bodies, with all their weapons, and armor, and more importantly their unspent ammunition had been tossed back across into the barricade before the rogue scampered back into the shallow protection it yielded.

Unbeknownst to him, up in the hills five more pairs of eyes were watching the engagement with a bit of respect, and caution. One set turned to the others and mumbled. “Only five of them left who can fight. Damn though… they did a lot of damage to the poor bastards. What should we do?”
One spoke up at that, “Wouldn’t it be easier if we just let them run away and take it all after they left?”

The apparent leader grumbled a bit and nodded as he thought a moment. ”They just killed our boys. I think it’s only fitting if we end their lives in return. Shoot at anyone who tries to take another step out of that barricade.” The man turned towards the sun that was sinking low in the sky, “We have a bell or two till sunset. We’ll wait till nightfall to kill them all.”

The siege it seemed, had started…

oocA little break in the action now to shore up defenses, treat the wounded, and get an inventory of the resources would be good. If one of you wants to play having an arrow hit near you as you bring the last of the bodies in, then be my guest XD.

[Zenai]

“Shyke!” The arrow hit just before Zenai as he peeked over to scout out any dangers that may be coming but all he sees was arrows from the northern hill. They are indeed more of them out there but how many exactly. They already dispatched quite a number of them but the bandits seem persistent to stay on and killing the rest of the caravan escorts. Either they had more troops on their side on spare or they’re bent on killing all of them. Still, why is this merchant caravan so petching important to them that they continue on with the onslaught. Retreat seems to be an unlikely option, seeing how the bandit had a superior to shoot them down if they make a break for Sunberth or even the forest south of the barricades. Looks like they have to stay within the safety of this poorly constructed fort until the bandits show all of their cards or help of some sort arrives. The latter is more unlikely than the former. Zenai also wondered if this was the most abandoned road in all of Mizahar. Surely someone would come by both helping Zenai’s lot and being ambushed by the rest of the bandits; or would worsen the situation by attacking them when they’re the most vulnerable. Zenai didn’t like their probabilities of their situation. Too many uncertainties for Zenai’s liking. It’s only a matter of time until before the inevitable.

While Zenai guarded their defenses along with the two drivers, Eridanus and Anthony were finishing off the guard and brought him back alive to be later question by Anthony most likely. Some intelligence would be good right about now and that bandit holds it. Zenai would let Anthony interrogate the bandit while the rest would keep their eyes open for trouble. Other than the occasional arrow raining upon their barricades, the situation was mostly quiet. The calm before the storm as they say. The drivers took the time to ease their nerves and tend to the wounded guard. Zenai went over when Anthony asked him to tend to the injuries. Most of them are alright but the guard just had his legs cut off. Zenai doesn’t have any medical training but he will do his best. Zenai had to draw on what he saw and heard about healing injuries. Zenai looked around for anything to clean and cover the wound. He found a water-skin and tore off some clothing material from one of the dead bandits, making sure the cloth itself was clean enough. He rolled over to the injured guard, minding that they’re still arrows flying about. He examined the guard; he was pale in the face which means he lost quite a lot of blood. He was lying down which is good. “Alright, help me lift his legs.” He ordered one of the drivers. This would make his blood flow back into his head and less blood pouring out of his massive wound. “Okay, let him bite on this ‘cause this is going to hurt.” Zenai handed the driver holding the guard’s head a piece of wood. The driver put it inside his mouth so the guard could bite it when Zenai poured water on his wound. He immediately shuts down his teeth at the stinging pain of water being poured onto his wound. He struggled and screamed but Zenai told the driver to hold him down least the injured guard kicked him in the face. Now that the injury was cleaned, Zenai fold a piece of cloth and use it to pad the wound so it would absorb and stop the bleeding. The guard jolted but Zenai held a firm grip to make his point about staying still. He then got a long strip of cloth to tie the thick-padded cloth to his stump so it wouldn’t fall of. Zenai made sure it’s tight so to put pressure on the wound to stem further bleeding. Satisfied that the wound is padded and tightly tied, Zenai made sure the guard lay down but with his legs positioned higher than the head. They dragged the guard under the tarp so he would be lying down next to the injured merchant and his son. He checked on the rest of the injured and they seem fine for the moment but they need serious medical attention and expertise so they wouldn’t die from their wounds.

Zenai heard something coming over the wall, he quickly turned to face the source of the disturbance and only half drawn his talon swords when he realized it was just Anthony and Eridanus coming back from killing the injured bandits and taking their bows and crossbows. “You scared me there, comrades.” They brought back an assortment of weapons and armor. Zenai would have liked it if they have brought back something more useful. Maybe like an army but that’s too much to wish for. Zenai helped himself to a couple of pieces of armor to fortify the northern walls. Once again, he rolled over to that face to avoid being targeted and hit by arrow-fire. He bumped into the wall and got up crouching behind it. He stuffed it into weakened sections and made a few more adjustments to make it stronger. Happy with his work, he got out his composite short bow and nocked an arrow into its bowstring then peek out to keep watch on the northern hill. While keeping an eye out and without turning back, he asked the rest, “So, are we just going to stay here until the bandits come out? I mean we killed a lot of them but they can bring more of themselves to bear. Retreat is my preferable strategy but those petching bandits have a superior terrain and could pretty much shoot us down at their leisure. Too many unknowns as well so you may want beat or whatever other methods to use to extract the information out of the one you just caught. Also, another suggestion; have the lesser-injured come out and use one of the crossbows. We’ve lost quite a lot and we need anyone able to wield a crossbow to help with the defense.”

[Eridanus]

Eri's eyes widened in surprise as a sort of blue crystal formed on the bandit's hand, followed by Anthony rushing forward to deal the blow that would make the man unconscious. Before he could say anything, however, Anthony warned him not to pursue it further, confirming that the effect was related to him. It was undoubtedly a form of magic, for there was no other explanation for this supernatural effect, and he felt both relief and suspicion. Relief for having a wizard on their side would be a much greater boon than one can think of, but suspicion for wizards tended to have their own goals and were prone to bouts of craziness than normal people, and he wondered if this situation was related to Anthony's involvement. Still, the key word was 'not in public at least', signifying that he was willing to talk about it later if they survived this, and Eridanus shelved off his curiosity to tackle more pressing matters at hand. With the magician's commanding order, Eridanus complied and he sheathed his blades first. Then he bent down to grab the bandit up, balancing his weight and slinging the unconscious figure on his shoulder, slowly standing up and using the weight in his knees to do so to avoid injuring his back. Panting as the heavy weight of the unconscious figure taxed his body, Eri jogged back to the barricade as he saw Zenai doing some first-aid on the maimed guard. His friend's proactive spirit probably saved the man from further bleeding and he saved Eri the need to convey Anthony's orders. He reached the barricade and he dropped the man at the middle, the limp body otherwise not making a sound, and he helped his friend to fortify the barricade, using the fresh bodies they created from the first wave of bandits that attacked and whatever armour pieces they could scavenge to increase and reinforce the integrity of their make-shift fortress. He began to talk, but suddenly out of the corner of his eyes he saw a blur of movement and he instinctively ducked, an arrow sticking into the crate of wood behind him where there was no arrow earlier. Eridanus swore, and it was with apprehension that he realized their ordeal was not over. This was turning from a bandit ambush into a prolonged siege, and he did not like sieges. A small whisper questioned his thoughts and reminded him that maybe a century ago he enjoyed prolonged bloodbaths, but he silenced that thought immediately. This was no time to mope in his consciousness. Now was the time for action, and by Leth he would make sure he would see himself and his friends through this accursed incident. When Anthony returned, he motioned towards their unconscious prisoner, "Fella's here. Do whatever you wish, but apparently- ", he pointed at the arrow that narrowly missed him, "there are others still out there." He unslung his crossbow from its secured position behind him, and released the safety lever on the trigger, for a bolt was already loaded into it earlier. Staying low, he addressed Anthony, "What's the plan? We can't stay here forever." It was strange how on this well-travelled merchant route they found themselves the only souls out there trapped with the bandits. It was as if the other caravans all simultaneously decided to take a different route or something.

[Antar]

'Did he petching look like he had a plan?' Antar thought as he glared at the other men who were hunkering down. 'Was it always going to be his job to come up with these things?

For a second's time he muttered something, "For now stick to the immediate needs, collect the weapons, distribute ammunition. Take a sip of water and break open that barrel of peaches to pass them around. Eat to keep your strength up and your heads down!" From the rustling under the direction of the tarp with the wounded a boy's head peeked up out of the area.

"Shyke, we're all going to die, aren't we? Aren't we?" The lad seemed to be in a state of panic, and it was showing. For a bit the other two drivers who were still capable of wielding crossbows seemed a little skittish at the boys words and their eyes drifted towards the forests. Noth sighed heavily before looking at Eridanus to pitch his words low. "Deal with the boy first..." Turning towards the others Noth cleared his throat loudly and began. "Alright listen up. Nightfall is both the blessing and the curse of the situation here, it'll be the time they might decide to attack and come in to clear us out, or a time we can slip away south into the forests."

"But, no! Pa's still injured."

Noth glared at the boy coldly a moment before blithely continuing on. "We may have to abandon this position so we'll either need to creat some makeshift stretchers for the wounded, I'll work the details out with Zenai and Eridanus The others, keep watch and keep things civil. Boy! I'll be expecting you to tell me how the wounded are. Go to them now!"

"By the gods we're all gonna die!"

"Boy! Go Now, and shut your mouth before I tear out your tongue! Everyone else, get to work." He turned a glance towards Eridanuse, reaffirming the need to go deal with the boy before he turned towards Zenai, "If you can get a few of the wounded into position with crossbows, do it. Then I want both of you to come see me. I'll be keeping watch as the two drivers get out the rations and pass them out. Get everyone a bit of feed and water and we'll sort this out one step at a time. I want to see if I can get any of the bandits out there to jump a little."

Without another word, Antar brought out an arrow from his pack, one that he had spent a time carving small sigils and runes into the shaft with with glyphing as well as a small bit of parchment he had tapered to the end as the two drivers and the other two were distracted by their task of getting everyone water or food. He began to take aim at a spot on the hills to the north where a few of the arrows seemed to have come from. Letting the arrow fly he ducked back into cover as the return volley plunked heavily into the cover above where he had popped out.

But that didn't mean the bandits didn't recieve a surprise of their own either. When the arrow he had fired arced out of sight to hit the ground nearby a wash of fire ejected from the focus of the glyph spraying the surrounding rock with heat and blaze that passed over the two archers who were there under the bandit leader's watch. It didn't kill them, but one was badly burned in the face and the blackened skin seemed to cover an eye.

There was a loud cry of pain as the main clutched his face before the leader of the bandtis came to hit him to shut him up. The man's noise descended into a low whimper as the bandit leader hissed orders as the other men. "Spread out. Damn mage in there's a tricky one. Just our petching luck. Keep them occupied till dark, then we attack!"

Back in the fortified position, Noth was handed a peach from one of the drivers and he took to it gladly as he maintained his watch. Biting into the soft flesh , the rogue waited for Eridanus and Zenai to return from their tasks. It was time to talk whether or not the three of them would want to do one of four things that he was thinking of.

The first; to leave the others here to die and strike out for their own survival into the south woods. The second possibility was for them to do the same thing, yet head west to double back into the hills to try to get a drop on the bandits. Come back for the wounded later, and demand a small ransom from the merchants for their services today.

The third suggestion was to simply wait for the bandits next attack, they had food, and water, and the position had enough cover unless the bandits thought to set the overturned wagons on fire. That could get ugly, but it seemed they wanted the goods.

But the last possibility he was vaguely considering was a simple one: if the bandits were beaten... would it be more profitable just demand from the merchant that they could take whatever they wanted from the caravan and go? If he didn't care to let that happen there was always the possibility that the merchant, and the rest of the wounded might just end up dead. But where would that leave the two remaining drivers? He looked towards the men in question... thinking they'd probably fight anyone who tried to kill their fellows. So... that last possibility wasn't really an option unless they were taken care of too.

Whatever the case, he'd float the question to them to see what they wanted to do. Maybe they'd even thought of the same possibilities he had, but what would they have considered. When the two returned he briefly laid out the first three options, paraphrasing his thoughts to them both but left the fourth option out... unless one of the two was willing to suggest it, it wouldn't even come up.

Friendly and Enemy Units :

Reserve:
Bandit leader (longsword 40, Unarmed 15)
Bandit Archer(Wounded) (longbow 30)
Bandit Archer ( longbow 20)
Bandit Brawler( Teethed Gauntlets 40, Unarmed 26)
Bandit Swordsman( 30 gladius)

Friendly : No changes in status yet XD)

[Zenai]

It became night and their stomachs began to growl with hunger. Zenai took out his talon sword and cut at the barrel being used as part of the barricade since everything and anything was used to build their “fort” and they can’t just pull one out just like that. Zenai managed to cut open a hole big enough to slipped his hand inside and take a fruit. He took out just enough for them all to satisfy their hunger before distributing them out. Some he tossed especially those who are a bit of a distance away while some he just handed to them like those under the tarp and not in a condition to catch thrown fruit. He also found a couple water-skins with varying amounts of water but more than enough to last them through the night if they have to. He propped up the injured guard who had his leg cut off. He was still dazed and coming in and out of consciousness. Zenai slapped the guard a little. “Hey, meal time.” The injured guard snapped out of it but he was still weak from his injury. Zenai put the water-skin up to the guard’s lip and tilted it so the water would flow into the guard’s mouth. Some of it spilled but at least, the guard was drinking. That was to be all as he was not a position to eat anything. He needed his rest.

After they ate, Zenai started to distribute the weapons to the wounded and whoever else not so battle-worthy, Zenai gave the crossbows and some bolts to the merchant, the merchant’s son and the driver with the broken arm. It should be easy for them to use either being inexperienced or only having one arm to work with. He could shoot at least one bolt before they were unable to load the crossbow on their own. He also gave the pike to the driver with injured arm and a short sword to the merchant and his son each. He also suggested to the able-bodied drivers to take a long sword each. The drivers nodded and took the long swords from the pile as well as a few extra bolts. Hopefully, the drivers would have practiced or seen enough swordplay to know how to use those without injuring themselves. The injured driver would just need one arm to hold the pike out. He wouldn’t need to charge out and just need to prop the pike so he got some stability when using it. He trusted the young lad and merchant with the short sword out of desperation. Again, hopefully they know enough how to use it. It was almost time so Zenai dragged the injured to a better firing and defensive position. Groans and protests came but Zenai ignored it. Better the pain now than death later.

There wasn’t much they can do, not unless they abandoned the wounded and injured to the bandits. That wasn’t an option for Zenai for two reasons; first would be that he is an Alexanderian, a son of a family that has descended from a long line of Syliran Knights. Though he failed to become a knight himself, he still had some honor left not to leave these poor souls to the predations of the bandit. Secondly, it wouldn’t look too good on your resume if you’re known to abandon a client halfway through a job. Zenai was still new to Sunberth as well as being one of Old Leg’s Taggers. He had a reputation to keep, what little has at the moment anyway. Zenai would rather wait it out until help arrives or the bandits ran out bandits to throw at them. However, Zenai is not above using the wounded as bait while the rest of them, preferably consisting of Anthony, Eridanus and Zenai himself, would wait in ambush or even go around to where the bandits are and kill them there and then. If the situation permits, he would go with the latter.

From the corner of his eye and while he was chewing on his fruit, Zenai saw Anthony getting ready to shoot an arrow as if he was going to hit anything over the hill. Zenai knew his was a very good archer but then a master would have a problem hitting anything he can’t see and in addition, of the supposed “target” hiding behind the hill. Zenai watched as the arrow was released from the stretched and tensioned bowstring of Anthony’s long bow. There was something strange about the arrow and Zenai’s eyes must have been playing tricks on his mind as he saw the arrow glowing quite a bit. Not outright but just enough to arouse suspicion. The arrow flew and flew until it went over the hill. Zenai had half-expected a scream at least but Zenai got more what he asked for when he saw a burst of light and a barely-heard scream from the horizon of the hill. Petch! I gotta ask where he get his stuff from. Zenai was half-amazed and half-scared of Anthony.

OOCI'm in for using the rest as bait while we go for the bandits, either waiting in ambush or going after them on the hill.

[Eridanus]

It was growing dark, and Eridanus could feel a slight tingling in his body that acted as a sort of biological reminder that his physical form was about to change to a shadow of what he was in the celestial realm. He reminded himself to let Anthony know before he transformed for he did not want end up as a frog or find himself on fire if the man was paranoid enough. Zenai already knew both of his forms and he would definitely be a good man to vouch for him. A boy's head peeked out of the main wagon housing the merchant and his aides, and he hysterically cried for attention even as Anthony issued orders. "Deal with the boy first", Anthony told Eridanus with a low tone, and he immediately walked towards the wagon. As the archer finally finished giving his orders for the party to basically check and distribute food and ammo, and to strategically place themselves as much as they could in preparation of another assault, the boy was still frantically shrieking, probably hysterical at the amount of danger they seemed to be in. Eridanus reached the wagon, and the boy avoided his eyes as he unceremoniously grabbed the lad by his collar and forced him to make eye contact. "Listen to me boy. Listen", the boy struggled but Eri did not release his grasp, forcing the boy to stare into his hypnotizing color-changing eyes that were characteristic of Morwen's people. "You trusted us, right? Your father entrusted us with your safety, and as men of honour we will make sure you come out of this alive." The boy began to protest, but Eri shushed him and continued, "Your father is badly injured, so he needs you now more than ever. He needs your strength. Can you do this lad? Can you show a brave front for your father?" Perhaps it was the mention of his injured parent, or perhaps it could be stress of the situation, but the lad began to tear and his frame visibly shook as he tried to suppress his uncontrolled sniffing. "Atta boy. Be strong for your dad, that's all I need from you. This is your job and all you're responsible for. Look at me boy, look at me. Do you trust me?" He raised the boy's downcast face to look at him again, the the kid nodded imperceptibly. "Then don't worry about whatever that happens outside the wagon okay? Stay inside, keep your father company and soothe him through the night. We will handle everything outside, and by Priskil I will destroy the bad guys. Leave everything outside the wagon to us, and just stay inside and comfort your father. Can you do that for me?" The boy nodded again, and his head disappeared back inside the wagon. There was a sort of pressure on the Vantha, for he did not truly believed his words. Whatever he said, he only told the boy what he wanted to hear, and to soothe him. Could they abandon the rest and escape in the night? He supposed that he might be able to, but after this incident he cannot in good conscience do so, for he would be haunted by that boy's trusting gaze for the many nights to come should he do so. It was not as if their situation was that desperate, for they had survived the first rush, and he trusted in his friend Zenai's skill as well, not to mention the presence of the skilled archer who happened to be a mage as well. There were too many unpredictable variables in the equation and it was too early to dismiss their chances of pulling through all of this. While he was reassuring the boy, Zenai had taken to distributing the food and ammo around, and as he returned to the group as gratefully accepted a peach from Zenai who had helped to reserve a fruit for him. The three of them convened, and Anthony raised a few options that they could take. He considered their tactical options, and the first was definitely out of the question. Like he had decided earlier, he did not want to be haunted by his conscience and he intended to see this through one way or another. Priskil would approve. The second and third options were interesting in their variety. They did not what exactly the bandits had in their reserve and what kind of tactics they may employ, but they still had more than just the three of them and Zenai had propped even the wounded into strategic firing positions to provide ranged support. Waiting for the rush may not end up as well as the first time, for they had already done it and no doubt the bandits would have expected them to do so, preparing some sort of counter-offensive to their strategy. No, with the coming night they had to do something wildly unexpected, something that the bandits would not expect them to do. They would either sneak away from the fortress, failing which they should pretend at least they were fleeing from the wagons. This would give them a hidden ace in their hand and to lull the bandits into a false sense of security. If they intended to rush their make-shift fortifications, they would at least be slowed down by the other guards, and while they were being caught in the cross-fire the group which sneaked out earlier would be able to flank or back-stab the assault group, catching them in a pincer attack. Eridanus voiced out his thoughts to the three, and waited for their consensus. Before they reached a decision together, though, he decided that now was probably the only time to breach the topic of him changing forms during the night, and he shared his thoughts with the group slowly and clearly to avoid antagonizing the mage should he be somewhat paranoid about the idea of shape-shifting, while throwing Zenai glances for support in his explanation.

DecisionSame as Zenai. We either sneak/pretend to run away and kick their lawless behinds

[Antar]

Noth sighed a moment as he listened to the others decisions, weighing their input like any good mercenary would while considering whether or not they were trustworth."Alright, plan two it is then. We'll have to get the crossbowmen to draw their fire for a distraction for us to sprint to the south woods, then we'll go west and cross up into the hills to begin to flank them. Makes me kinda wish I hadn't fired that last arrow I had, damn things cost me twenty gold mizas a piece and I don't have time to go track down the one that makes 'em. Let me check things over a bit while you question the captive to see if we can get any details. Find out how many that are left and hopefully what they might be armed with. I'll give the wounded one last look over. Take a final moment to grab any water flask you can, once we're in the hills it might take us a half a bell to creep up on them. That terrain looks rough from here. Anything else but water, your weapons, and your armor leave here for us to pick up later. No need to have any extra weight slowing you down."

With those words Antar nodded to them both and moved towards the tarp over the wounded but he stopped as Eridanus' began to explain the changing of his shape. "So long as you identify with me as soon as it happens you're yourself , I won't be shooting an arrow at you. Any other questions can be answered later on down the line." The boy and the merchant were still there, as well as the moved guard with the That part about buying the arrow was a little bit of a lie, but then again in such situations lies seemed to hold out longer during stress. The bigger the lie you told, the more likely it would be believed. It was better for the guard to rationalize that you could buy such things rather then the rogue could make them, if you knew the right people that is.

Inside the wounded tarp he saw the tourniquet Zenai had affixed around the wounded guards leg and the man looked at him. He was holding a crossbow and staring out, just watching over the merchant as his eyes scanned the area warily. The merchant himself seemed to be regaining consciousness, and Noth started to speak to him a few moments about what they were going to do and the merchant's eyes went a little wide and gripped his arm as the delirious man bade them to stay with the rest.

Noth removed his grip from his arm and coldly spoke about tactics, they were going up into the hills to kill the bandits, and the remaining defenders would have to hold as they flanked. Otherwise the chances were slim that he or his son would get out of this alive but when they got back the man would definitely be owing them some more then what was promised. For some reason the thought that the three would be coming back for their money consoled him a little, and he quieted down into a few words with his Without another word, Antar left him alone before turning to have a brief discussion with the amputee guard. "After things are said and done we'll cauterize the wound for you and get you to the doctors, you might be having a peg leg though after this unless you head to Mura. You just have to worry about keeping the employer safe."

The other guard looked at him and nodded once before he cocked the crossbow and placed his sword across his lap. The man knew just little chance he had of making it through this if the bandits breached the defenses before the three who were leaving gained an advantage over their attackers. When he returned outside, Antar readied himself with the other two for the run across the track of land to the south wounds as the crossbowmen readied their bolts to lay down covering fire.

When the first popped out of cover to snap off a round into the hill's direction, he vaulted the barricade and began his run for the treeline...

[Zenai]

“Come on, Eridanus. We’re going have a word or two with our bandit-friend over there.” Zenai thumbing to the unconscious form of their prisoner. Zenai, having found and scavenging some rope from here and there, tied the captive-bandit’s hands and feet together so there would be no way he could interrupt the defenders while they defend against the other bandits on the hill. Satisfied that the knot is strong and uncomfortable for the bandit, Zenai drew out his sword. Fear was a good motivator and he intends to make full use of it on this bandit so he would talk. He slapped the bandit on his cheeks. “Hey. Hey! HEY! Wake up, you scum. Awake, I say!” Zenai shook him awake and the bandit slowly came into consciousness.

The bandit opened his eyes a little bit, then half opened, then full opened then widened as far as it could at the sight of Zenai with his talon sword in his right hand. The bandit attempted to strike out at Zenai but having his hands and feet tied together have made it difficult to do so. “Quit your struggling. No use breaking out of your bonds and even if you do, I will kill you but for the moment, you are useful to me and my comrades. So if you want to live through this somehow, I suggest you start talking.” The bandit spat into Zenai’s eye. “Petch you! We’re going to kill you all when my mates get here.” Zenai laughed as he wiped the spit in his eye. “If you hadn’t noticed, we ain’t no regular guards. We took out your first wave easily and we’re prepared to slaughter the next.” Zenai wasn’t like this all the time, only when people deserved it. There are dark sides to things even Zenai. It was boosted by the fact that his time in the Syliran Knight that Zenai learnt that some people truly deserves a fate far worse than death and sometimes, things must be forced upon to truly have an ordered world. Zenai gave him a maniacal look, a face that Zenai formed on his way when his thoughts went dark and mad.

Zenai pressed the blade of this talon sword against the neck of the bandit. “You know they say once a blade has been drawn, it can’t be sheaved unless it tasted blood. Some of bloodthirsty blades would even demand to drink a whole cauldron of blood to be satisfied. I think my blade is one of them or maybe it’s just me.” There was a tinged of fear in the bandit’s eye and in turn, Zenai also feared what has come out of his mouth. “But I’m a reasonable and pragmatic person; you have information I need and I can give you options like for example, not dying here and now so which will it be?” The bandit kept silent as if he doesn’t know what to say or thinking on his options; he gave his answer, “Bah! Petch, you shykers! I’m no squealer!” Zenai sighed and started to pummel the bandit with the pommel of his talon sword; one time across the cheeks, another time across the cheek and one more against his nose. The bandit screamed and squealed in pain but Zenai shut him up by bashing his teeth in. The bandit coughed as blood and teeth choked up his throat. Zenai brought him up in a better sitting position so he could swallow his teeth and blood better. Zenai could see tears of pain rolling down the bandit’s bloodied and bruised cheeks but bandit kept his stubbornness.

“If you ain’t no squealer, explain your latest outburst.” Zenai asked sarcastically.
Zenai heard what it seemed to be “Gods spit on your petching soul!” if it wasn’t for the bandit’s broken nose and teeth.
Zenai sighed again. “Look either you tell me now or I’m just going to kill you here and now. You’re being a liability and like any merchant, always get rid of your liabilities.”
The bandit half-laughed and half-choked. “You wouldn’t dare! My buddies are gonna come for me and kill the rest of you lot. Then we’re going to loot your corpse and feed them to the Kelvics.”
Zenai raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? What are the chances they’re going to let you live and share the loot with you? You failed just to raid one simple merchant caravan and you lost a lot of friends, my friend. Do you think they would help you out? What’s to stop them from just leaving you here to freeze up out in this cold for the ravens to peck at your eyeballs? Thief’s honor? Ha! That’s so laughable I think the gods would have laughed too. Hmm? What say you know?”
The bandit kept silent. More brooding it seems. The bandit’s silence was more than enough of a reason for Zenai to continue on with the beatings. The bandit squealed and screamed in pain some more. His audible pain seemingly lessen with each strike across the face as the bandit’s voice box almost gave out due to the excessive screaming and squealing. Zenai stopped for awhile to see whether the bandit changed his mind.

The bandit spat out blood and teeth as if he was spitting at Zenai thus Zenai responded by raising his talon sword again for either decapitation of the bandit or another series of pummeling. “Wait, wait, wait! WAIT! I’ll talk! For the love of Tyveth, I’ll talk! I’LL TALK!” The bandit frantically said though his broken nose and teeth. Finally, Zenai got what he wanted; details on the other bandits. There seems to be five other bandits including their leader. Great! Now, they just need to kill just this five and they’re good to go. However, it’s three against five so going against them directly would be foolish. Zenai would suggest that one by one is taken down rather than having them all going against Zenai, Eridanus and Anthony all at the same time. Zenai turned to Eridanus, “Anything else you want to know from this bandit. Oh, your turn to beat the information out of him. I’m getting more blood on myself than I want to.” Zenai handed the “reins” to Eridanus if the Ethaefal wanted to know anything else. For now, Zenai is satisfied with the information he has acquired.

Having decided on their course of action and waited on the others to provide a distraction, Zenai got ready to jump and get out of their fort so they could make their way south to the forest then doubling back to get around the hill and go for the bandits who have been besieging since time immemorial. Zenai got himself a water-skin so he can rehydrate himself for when they would double-time towards the woods before doubling back double-timing it as well so they could attack the bandits where they thought they would be safe. Other than that, Zenai had whatever a guard would need to do guarding: weapons, armor and the water flask Anthony suggested bringing along. He waited it seems like an eternity for those staying in the fort to get into a position to retaliate against the bandits on the hill. He hated when time slowed down just when you want to get it over with. Maybe he needed to say a prayer to Tanroa, Goddess of Time to get things going faster. Zenai got more what he bargained for as he watched a flurry of bolts firing from their side towards the hill then seeing Anthony rushed off into the woods. Not be outdone, Zenai climbed over the wall and make a run for the tress.

Zenai ran as fast as he could before the bandits could notice three figures making a break for the southern forest. The night hid them from the prying eyes of the bandits and the distance itself would make it difficult to discern them from the darkness. Still, Zenai made a full run towards the forest anyway just in case one of the bandits actually has good observation skills. He also made sure he doesn’t make excessive noise that would alert those on the hill. Many wouldn’t have done this without some sort of training in heavy armor but Zenai was the exception. Zenai, having being trained a Syliran Knight, was quite used to having heavy armor worn for long periods of time and doing regular activities with it; he could run and fight without being hindered by his own armor much. Also, there are ways to lessen the noise of clanging armor while you move. Minor techniques taught to him by his instructors in Syliras. It wasn’t much to be honest but it was enough to get into position or staying quiet for an ambush. Ambushes were not so much knightly thing but some saw the merit of surprising your opponent especially if they had more advantages over the rest. This was one of those situations where a surprise attack would be best. Zenai also wouldn’t be tired so much from the runs he needs to do to flank the bandits as, again, he was trained in the ways almost most of his life.

OOCHope I didn't go too far with the interrogation and intimidation.

[Eridanus]

“Come on, Eridanus. We’re going have a word or two with our bandit-friend over there", Zenai said to the Ethaefal, and he nodded walking to their prisoner together. His friend tied the bandit securely, and began to wake him up quite violently by introducing him to the sight of his voice. For now, Eri was content to observe in the background and noted with interest how his friend began to grow more sadistic as the bandit continued to oppose his attempts to extract information. Zenai began to pummel the bandit, causing great physical pain to the man and yet the failed knight, who was supposed to uphold certain morals and codes of honour, did not stop, seemingly deriving some sort of dark enjoyment from assaulting a helpless captive. He taunted the bandit, deriding their own code of ethics and Eridanus chuckled inwardly, noting the dark irony that was taking place here. Zenai had seemingly grown tired of beating the man, and he paused for a moment, and that was when Eri touched his friend on the shoulder to let him take over. It was the beginning of night, and Eri's form had changed fully to embrace his celestial nature. He approached the bandit, and the man gazed at him, awed by his ethereal nature and surreal beauty, gawking with amazement. Eri knew that this disorientation was an advantage for him and he quickly seized the initiative, kneeling down to face the man at eye level. As he did so, the bandit recoiled inwardly, as if his instincts was responding to avoid this unearthly creature. "I'm sorry my... associate went a little overboard with his questioning. He gets over-enthusiastic sometimes", Eri told the man gently, reaching out a finger to the man's bleeding lips. The bandit flinched, as if expecting the Ethaefal to throw a punch, but he gently placed his fingers on the man's cut lips, briefly closing his eyes and uttering a short prayer to Leth, channelling His divine strength temporarily through his mortal body. The man's lips aged a day, and the bleeding wound closed a little, with enough scabs forming to stop the bleeding. "Better?" He enquired, and the man continued gawking. The bandit licked his lips, felt the one-day growth of scabs and he quivered, "What... what are you?". It seemed that despite being a highwayman, he was afraid of the unknown just as most mortals tended to be. Eri had aged his lips by a day, for split skin there tended to be the most uncomfortable and painful but shallow wounds would heal the fastest there, and so one would be able to feel the difference as compared to other parts of the body. "I am... more than anyone you or your friends can hope to best", Eri replied simply, putting in as much mystery as he could into his already steady and measured voice (that usually came with the transformation). "We are but simple people travelling, and we do not like bloodshed. Well, I suppose my associate there probably enjoyed it, and no doubt he'll enjoy squeezing more blood out of you", he paused, allowing that implied threat to sink in, before continuing, "but I try not to take mortal lives such as yours if I don't have to. Mortals are already fleeting on this plane, it would be grievous to hasten that blink of existence." With his short speech Eri implied his own immortality and created an aura of mystery around the rest of his companions, causing the bandit to begin doubting his companions' abilities to deal with this unearthly creature. "I hope you will make the right decision, mortal", Eri ended with a sigh, patting the prisoner's shoulder lightly before standing up and walking back, gesturing for Zenai to take over. His friend went forward and thought for a moment, before raising his talon sword as if to decapitate the man. It was then that their prisoner finally broke, and gave the information that they required. Zenai then left to settle whatever business he had before beginning the dash, leaving Eri to the prisoner again. "Wise decision, mortal. I will see to it that you are not harmed. I can't say the same for your fleshling companions, I'm afraid", he told the bandit, purposefully substituting certain words that he normally would not use to further illustrate the difference between him and the human. Leaving the bandit who openly sighed in relief at apparently escaping a terrible fate, Eri walked off to restock his water supply, knowing that the upcoming battle would be much more difficult than he fooled their prisoner into thinking. He took several gulps of water, and tightened the straps that secured his swords' and the crossbow's leather sheaths to his body so that they would not bounce around while he was running. Finally, he retied the quiver of bolts to his legs so that it would not move around unnecessarily and hinder his legs, and he walked up to Antar and Zenai. Somehow, Anthony took that as a sign to begin and he vaulted over the barricade, speeding up into a run. Zenai had followed closely behind, leaving Eri still inside in the barricade, cursing. As he began with a slow job, he chanted to himself the same incantation that he used to direct strength to his lower body, and he visibly felt his upper body weaken. He was getting better at directing the djed streams more efficiently and he felt his legs pumping with power and purpose. By then he had already begun accelerating, and he vaulted over the barricade easily, his legs landing on the grass beyond and he sped up, moving unnaturally fast like a humanoid gazelle. The large head-start the two of them had combined with the time he took to cast the spell caused the initial distance between them and Eri to be quite large, but his supernaturally enhanced speed helped him to close the distance quite quickly, and by the time the two of them reached the edge of the woods he would also catch up with them a few seconds later, breathing heavily from the sudden exertion. When he reached them, he would turn around briefly so that they could not see his hand actions on the pretext of recovering from the sprint, and use certain gestures to help him dissipate the djed in his legs to resume normal djed distribution throughout his body, for he was panting too heavily to say anything that would make sense to even himself.