bandit cries out in pain as he hits the ground. James looks to where the crossbow bolt originated and sees Miko throwing down the crossbow. Drawing his knife, Miko comes and stands before James.
The other bandit, seeing who it was who shot his partner says, “I’m going to gut you boy. You’re going to die slow and painful.”
Miko stands ready and doesn’t back down. James can see that the boy’s legs are shaking. He’s scared to death, but still holds his ground.
A fast-moving shadow emerges from the pouring rain and slams into the man approaching Miko, knocking him to the ground. Rylin quickly regains his feet and slashes down, catching the bandit in the neck, practically severing his head from his shoulders.
Roaring in rage, the leader rushes Rylin and launches into a series of blows, causing him to retreat in the face of such an onslaught. Rylin successfully blocks the leader’s attacks but seems to be doing all he can just to hold his own.
Hack! Hack! Slash!
It is soon obvious that Rylin is outclassed, the leader is by far the better swordsman and he’s protected by armor.
Miko approaches the battle in an attempt to help Rylin, but only receives a back handed cut for his efforts that slashes open his upper left arm. Out of commission, he backs away from the fight. He tears a strip of cloth off his shirt and uses it to stem the flow of blood coming from his arm, tying it as tightly as he can.
James watches as Rylin blocks blow after blow, never once being able to go on the offensive. The two combatants move around the camp, the leader seemingly able to have Rylin go in any direction he wants simply with the pattern of his blows.
“James what are we going to do?” Miko asks as he comes over, blood still leaking from under his makeshift bandage.
“I’ve no strength left in me,” he replies.
Miko extends his right hand toward James and asks, “Can you use mine?”
Looking at Miko through the rain, James says, “I don’t know what that would do to you. It may kill you.”
Miko glances over at Rylin then says, “He’s not going to last much longer. If we don’t do something soon we’ll all be dead.” He reaches over and takes James’ hand, “Just do it!”
Nodding, James concentrates, envisioning the power flowing from Miko into him and then through him. He looks over at the battle where Rylin who’s obviously exhausted, is having greater difficulty in blocking the leader’s blows.
Suddenly, Rylin cries out as the leader scores along his side opening a shallow cut. The leader shouts in triumph, “Aha!” when he sees the blood beginning to well from Rylin’s wound. Blow after blow the leader rains down upon him, continuously pushing him backward.
The leader maneuvers Rylin back close to the man Miko shot with the crossbow who is still lying on the ground. The man, though in pain, reaches out and grabs Rylin’s ankle causing him to lose his balance and stumble to the ground. The leader sees his chance and raises his sword to finish it.
Feeling the power flowing from Miko to him, James releases it and feels it being sucked out of his friend at an alarming rate. Miko cries out before slumping to the ground unconscious. James keeps a tight hold of his hand so the contact won’t be broken. He directs the power to the upraised sword of the leader, increasing the disparity of polarities between the sword and the clouds above.
Flash! Boom!
A giant bolt of lightning flashes from the sky to strike the end of the sword. The resulting explosion blasts the leader into the air. The bandit on the ground is charred as both he and Rylin are lifted into the air and tossed several feet away.
The leader, when he hits the ground, no longer moves. Wisps of smoke drift upward from his body and a hissing sound can be heard from where the rain comes in contact with the heated metal of his armor.
James checks Miko and is relieved to find that he’s still alive and breathing. He then makes his way over to Rylin.
“What was that?” Rylin asks, a little shaky.
“Lightning,” James replies, a bit shaky himself. “Are you okay?” he asks, looking closely at him.
Rylin looks down at himself and nods, “I think so, is it over?” He presses his hand over the cut in his side to stem the flow of blood.
“I don’t see anyone else but us moving, so I think it is,” he replies.
Helping Rylin to his feet, James says, “My friend is over there,” pointing to where the boy lies in the grass. “He’s out, but alive.”
“Thank goodness,” Rylin sighs, leaning on James for support. “Now, let’s find the women.”
They return to the collapsed tent where the battle started. There they find a lump under the canvas, and it isn’t moving. Thinking the worst, they pull back the tent and uncover a bandit. The man’s neck is bent at a wrong angle, obviously broken, and his pants are down around his ankles.
Rylin quickly scans the camp through the rain but sees nothing other than the dead bandits. “Sheila!” he cries into the rain. “It’s Rylin! It’s safe, they are all dead.”
James looks around as well and soon spies two silhouettes appearing out of the rain, coming toward the camp.
“Sheila!” Rylin cries and runs over to them, James following.
The women, though shaken and upset, seem to be alright. Sheila is wrapped in a blanket and her mother has her arms around her. She has a lost look about her.
Rylin turns to her mother and asks, “Is she okay?”
“One of the bandits was just about to have his way with her,” she explains. “He had stripped her and was about to…,” overcome with emotion, she stopped. Getting hold of herself, she continued. “Then something hit the side of the tent, knocking it over.”
Rylin puts his arm around her and begins to offer comfort when her eyes suddenly widen at something behind him and she looks as though she’s ready to bolt. Seeing her reaction, Rylin turns around expecting an attack but only finds James walking toward them.
“It’s okay,” Rylin assures her. “This is James, he helped rescue you.”
Relaxing somewhat, she says, “Thank you for helping us.”
“You are welcome,” he replies. “I hope you and your daughter will be okay?”
“I think we will,” she says. “It may take some time for my daughter to get over this, but she will. She’s a strong girl.”
“Maybe we should put the tent up again,” James suggests, “so the ladies can have shelter?”
“No,” the mother says adamantly. “We will not stay in that tent. Besides, we need to see about our caravan.”
“How?” Rylin asks. “The horses are gone.”
Shaking her head, she says, “Our horses were taken by several of the bandits to the south while this group continued this way. If we can get them back, then maybe we can bring in our caravan to Trademeet and salvage something from all this.”
Seeing the doubt in Rylin’s eyes, she continues, “With my husband dead, we need the money from those goods to survive.”
“James!” Miko’s cry interrupts the conversation.
“Over here!” James hollers back. Shortly they are able to see him approaching through the rain.
“Oh, you’re hurt!” Sheila cries out when she finally becomes aware of Rylin’s blood soaked shirt, pressed to his side. “Let me help you.” Taking him by the hand she leads him over to the tent and rummages around, coming up with several strips of cloth. Removing his shirt, she inspects the cut and decides it’s not too deep. She then proceeds to wrap the cloth around his side tightly, finally securing it with a knot.
“Thanks, ma’am,” Rylin says when she’s finished.
“That should do for a while,” she says. “Just be careful from now on, okay?”
“Alright, ma’am, I will,” he assures her.
Sheila finds her clothes in the tent and with her mother’s help, gets dressed while everyone else looks the other way.
