rlin picked up on the faint scent of blood, a feeling of panic ran through his body, he suddenly stopped walking. The two bandits turned around, noticing that rlin had raised his guard and looked to be on edge.
"What’s the matter?" The younger bandit asked. The other bandit’s eyes narrowed, rlin noticed this but he wasn’t sure what thoughts were running through his head.
"I sll blood." rlin answered. He wasn’t sure what the bandit camp would be like, but it was sowhat common for the camps of more violent races to have corpses laying around. He wasn’t sure if this was the case with this particular bandit camp, or if the scent of blood was coming from sowhere else... or sothing else.
The young bandit started sniffing the air around him in an exaggerated manner before turning back to rlin and shrugging. The other bandit’s narrow glare softened, realising that rlin was probably just an overly cautious individual.
"It’s most likely animal blood, don’t worry it’s common around these parts, especially at night." The smarter bandit tried comforting rlin briefly, and then continued on his path towards the faint light in the distance. "We’re almost ho, just a couple more minutes to go."
rlin’s guard was still heightened, but he followed along. As he travelled through the forest the scent of blood grew stronger, he tried his best to block out the glaring warning signs in his brain telling him to escape.
The group continued on through the forest, finally reaching the camp’s location. As the group stepped through the treeline into a clearing, rlin’s view of the camp was blocked by what looked to be at least several hundred logs, stacked side by side forming a large log wall around the camp.
rlin was wondering how the camp hadn’t been wiped out by rcenaries or soldiers yet. If it was just helpless civilians who camped out in the forest, there was no chance they’d fight back against the constant harassnt. But as it turns out, they could survive because they built what was essentially a wood fort.
The light rlin saw in the distance a little while ago, the light the group had been walking towards, was a single lantern hanging over the wooden gate that served as the camp’s entrance.
The group walked towards the entrance, where an older looking ard guard peeked out from the outpost above, asking his group to identify themselves. The younger bandit quickly retorted with a one-liner about him being unable to recognise his own son, and the gate began sliding open monts after.
"You’ve been waiting to use that one for a while, haven’t you?" rlin noticed that the younger bandit seed rather pleased with himself, leading him to assu this was probably his first excursion out of the fortress, his general naivety was also a strong indicator.
The younger bandit let out a cheeky giggle in response, he seed happy that soone ntioned it.
As the group entered the camp, the smarter bandit tapped on rlin’s shoulder, only to point his attention in the direction of a canopy tent. Within the tent stood a buff man with a bald head, swinging a large cleaver at a skinned animal corpse. "Perhaps that’s the source of blood you were worried about?"
It did seem like a reasonable assumption to make, the scent of blood did get stronger as he entered the clearing, but sothing still didn’t feel right to rlin. Nevertheless, after obtaining a reasonable answer he lowered his guard sowhat, which allowed him to shrug off so of the thoughts that were weighing his mind down.
As rlin was led through the encampnt, he was surprised to see that the image he had of the camp prior to visiting it was the complete opposite of what it really was. There was no pools of blood everywhere, no kidnapped villagers being held hostage... from what he could see anyway, and no stereotypical evil bandits.
It just seed like any other village, a tight-knit community of people who just want to survive, each performing their role to help their village prosper. Within the safety of the wooden walls was a thriving community, not a violent band of thieves and murderers.
The villagers seed genuinely happy with their lives, there were even small children running around without a care in the world, it was surprisingly peaceful.
The camp was also well lit from inside, there were various torches and campfires littered all around, so he felt safe from the darkness. rlin threw his torch into one of the campfires he walked past, adding a little bit of firewood and ultimately saving him from having to carry around an almost extinguished torch any longer.
rlin received so strange looks from the locals as he was paraded through the village, it seed they were very hesitant to trust outsiders, this was understandable. The group weaved between the various tents and structures that the villagers inhabited. Until he was brought into a large tent a little bit past the residential area.
Within the tent was a young man currently looking over docunts and writing notes onto sheets of parchnt. rlin assud this to be soone in a managerial position, although his expectations were proven to be a little small, as shortly after the young man was introduced as the leader of the camp.
The man had turned to the two who brought rlin along, calling them over to his side. The two familiar bandits approached the leader and began speaking to him in whispers, shortly after they were sent out of the tent, leaving rlin alone with the man in charge.
The bandit leader stood up and approached rlin, as he ca closer a na appeared above his head, "Jackson Lychester".
rlin’s thoughts started racing, who was Jackson Lychester? He was young so he probably wasn’t the brother of Arwell Lychester. If he wasn’t the brother, then an estranged son perhaps? A rebellious nephew?
"So, my brothers say you helped them, killing three people in the process." rlin’s thought process was interrupted when Jackson began speaking to him. "You gave them quite the sob story, it seed very convincing... a little too convincing, you hit all the right notes to twist their hearts."
It seed the bandit leader was much smarter than the two bandits. He drew his sword and pointed it towards rlin’s neck before delivering the most cliche line imaginable. "Give one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you."
rlin panicked, he didn’t really have a plan of what to do when he got here, but at the very least he assud he wouldn’t be hostile with the bandit leader imdiately. It seed Jackson was running out of patience, as the blade hovered closer to his neck.
"Honestly, if you want the truth, I was sent here by your father to kill you." Probably one of his biggest blunders, but he thought that maybe the bandit leader would appreciate the honesty. Considering he wasn’t killed on the spot after saying those words it seed he gained enough ti to explain himself further.
"Why would you admit to that?" It seed Jackson was dumbfounded with rlin’s outburst, but he also seed a little humoured by it. "You’re perhaps the dumbest assassin he’s sent after so far."
"There is more context to that i’d gladly get in to, if you’d perhaps agree to not stab with the pointy stick for like two minutes." rlin tried injecting a little humour in his plea, he could probably take a single strike to the neck and survive with his current max health of forty, but he’d rather not fight, he genuinely wanted to help them at this point.
It seed Jackson was lost in thought, but answered with a stern voice. "Fine, two minutes, state your case."
"Alright, well first of all, please don’t punish the two bandits I fooled. They’re not traitors, just a little naive." rlin wanted to get that off his chest first, to absolve himself of guilt if the worst were to happen. "Anyways, as I said, I was sent here by your father, or it would be more accurate to say, I received a job through the rcenary guild that was posted by your father."
"I had originally intended to trick the two into leading to the camp, but along the way they explained what you all stood for, what you all went through, who you all were, it was completely different to what I was told by the rcenaries." rlin decided that complete honestly would be the way to go, if he couldn’t convince the leader, then so help it, he’d just be making thirty silver.
"So when given the choice between killing you, your peaceful village, those two who trusted , and betraying the rcenary guild, the corrupt nobles and your father. I’d much rather let you live in peace... No, i’d rather take down the corrupt nobles."
"And I didn’t completely lie, I really am going to die from a curse if I don’t get that holy water..." He decided to hedge his bets, pulling out his cursed hand and showing off the the curse had spread slightly further than what was ntioned prior, "...And your father truly is a pig headed fool with beady little eyes."
"Very well, I’m convinced." Jackson started chuckling after hearing all that. He pulled his blade away and sheathed it. "I don’t completely trust you, especially after hearing how you brutalised those three random travellers without reason."
"Oh, I actually have a history with those three." rlin awkwardly laughed, "They tried to ambush in the forest a day ago."
"How convenient." Jackson’s eyes narrowed, it seed that remark didn’t earn him any brownie points with the man. "What are your intentions now that you’ve--"
A strong burst of wind blew through the forest encampnt. The wind was almost screaming as it ripped through the village, Jackson was startled by this unexpected situation, so much so that he forgot what he was going to say.
rlin noticed that the light that barely seeped in through the tent’s fabric walls started vanishing, the wind was so violent that it was even extinguishing the various campfires, eventually very few light sources remained.
The wind picked up once more, blowing open the flap of Jackson’s tent, allowing a handful of rose petals and the sickening scent of blood to flow in.
Various screams could be heard from outside the tent, and monts later rlin received a notification.
「Bandits remaining: 19」
Reviews
All reviews (0)