Enslaved

Chapter 17: Bandits

Thane woke to the sounds of footsteps outside their house. Eyebrows furrowed, he looked out the window. Thane didn’t see anything at first except the empty street but as he focused closely, he finally saw them.

A rough looking group of armed bandits, creeping in the night. He grabbed his sword on the floor, ready to finish them off when arms tightened around him.

Nera was still asleep, unaware of what was happening. He hesitated from waking her. It was never good to wake the beast which was Nera. It’s gotten worse too after all the heavy work they’ve done for Tosa. Not wanting to leave her lest bandits come into their home and attack while she slept, Thane gently shook her.

A sleep rumpled Nera opened her eyes, her gaze as sharp as the daggers and knives she used. “What is it?”

“Bandits are attacking. Hurry.” He said in a low voice.

With the back of her hand, she scratched her eyes and nodded. Nera stretched like a cat before arming herself with knives she kept under the bed. “Where are they?”

“Follow behind me.” Thane confidently twirled the sword in his hand.

They crept quietly out the house, blades at the ready. The night was cold and the torches that were usually lit for better light have been extinguished. 

Thane heard something move on his left and as he faced towards it, five maybe seven bandits jumped from the roofs of the houses, raining down on them from above with their swords drawn. A war cry was shouted by them.

With his hand on Nera’s waist, Thane moves them out of their range. Something shiny whizzed past his ears, flying towards the bandit in front. Meeting its mark, a knife lodged into its neck, blood spewing everywhere before the bandit fell on the ground dead.

Nera had already pulled out another knife, aiming for the next closest thug. Thane didn’t wait for her and with expert ease, whirled towards the remaining bandits, his sword cutting through flesh like butter. He wrenched his blade through a thug’s chest and pulled it free, shoving the dead body on the ground.

It was easy to cleave through the tendon and bone as it was breathing for Thane. Relying much of ten years with his mastery of swords, it was as easy as breathing to him now. All throughout the fighting, he would steal backward glances at Nera, making sure she was all right. He couldn’t help himself. The need to keep her within view is almost as important to him as cutting down bandits coming towards him. 

Nera’s knives left her hands as fast as she could throw them, all of them meeting its target. One thug managed to get close to her and she kicked at his legs from under him, lashing out with her knife as he dropped.

The ground was awash with blood but more bandits still came, heading for the chapel where most of the town’s supplies were kept. Deprivation and hunger made the bandits raid the town, having observed it come alive after Thane and Nera’s arrival.  

“Thane! Look!” Nera shouted from the battle. 

Thane looked up from severing a head to see a pair of bandits pulling Michael out of the chapel, throwing the old priest roughly to the ground. Panicked, he pulls out one of Nera’s knives from her victims and throws it. He wasn’t much for knives or daggers but was efficient enough to throw it at this distance. 

Sloppily, it landed on the bandit’s knee, making the thug scream. He didn’t wait for him to recover and jumped over the corpses around him to make a break for Michael. 

“Where’s the food and water, Priest?” The bandit snarled, holding Michael by the neck. 

Michael opened his mouth to curse hellfire upon the bandit when a long sword went right through its neck, dousing his face in blood. A bloodied Thane appeared behind the lifeless body, shoving the now dead bandit aside to lend Michael a hand. He takes it.

Thane pulls him back up to his feet. “You all right?”

“I’m fine.” He points towards the doors. “There are still some bandits inside the chapel. They want our supplies.” 

Thane nodded, disappearing inside the chapel to find three really meaty bandits rummaging through cabinets. He launched himself at them, slashing, gutting and sometimes decapitating. He has always loved the feel of a sword in his hands. With a sword, he felt lethal and dangerous, like he could do anything. 

But despite his enthusiasm, he felt himself beginning to tire. There were so many of them in all directions. What’s worse is the constant worry that Nera wasn’t in his line of sight. As he minced one of the bandits who managed to graze his unarmored bicep, he saw one try to escape with a bag of potatoes.

Thane was just about to lose him when a knife cut through the air, burrowing into the escaping bandits skull, right between the eyes. A perfect bullseye.

Nera cheered, having thrown the knife and did a little jig at the entrance of the chapel. “One more for Nera!”

“I had that.” Thane grumbled, feigning anger as he straightened and wiped the blood from his sword. “You should find your own thugs to kill.” 

“I would but they’re all dead.” She proudly announced, balancing a knife on her pointer finger almost tauntingly. 

No matter how lightly Nera took their small victory, she was disheveled with her soft cotton tunic torn and bloodstained. She was tired and worn out from the fight. Thane no doubt looked the same as she did. 

“Where are these bandits coming from?” Thane asked Michael who picked up some supplies that fell on the floor. 

“They have set up a camp further north of here. Since I’ve arrived and most likely before as well, the bandits have been terrorizing the town every week.” Michael glanced at the blood soaked ground, looking thankful it wasn’t from the people of Tosa. “They steal and kill.” 

Thane’s lip thinned, deep in thought. “If Tosa has any chance of rebuilding itself, that bandit camp has to go.”

“How far north?” Nera asked, yanking her knives from her victims and placing them back in their hiding places. 

“Not too far. Close enough to walk.” Michael tells them. “It’s dangerous.” 

Nera waves his concern away with her hand. “We can pick them off one by one.” 

As they head back to the house they’ve been living at, curious and admiring stares follow them. They were quite a slight with their arms and clothes coated with dried blood. 

“I hope they stay forever.” A young child whispered to his mother. “When I grow up, I want to be able to protect you like that, mama.”

Thane kept those words buried in his mind. When he decided on his path to be a mercenary, he wanted to be someone that could also help the ones in need. Much like how Michael helped them but with more sword fighting involved. He’s tried to do that but it was only now did he hear such kind words. Mostly people thought of mercenaries as vile individuals who tethered close to becoming criminals. 

“I’m not so sure you should come.” Thane quietly tells Nera who was hiding a dagger in her boots.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him. “Where is this coming from? I thought I already proved myself in a fight.”

“It’s not about proving-“

Nera cut him off, frown deepening. “Thane, we’re going against Brutus in the next few weeks. Compared to him, these bandits are mosquitos.”

Thane stared at Nera for a long moment.

She met his unwavering gaze. “I deserve to fight and help these people.” 

“All right.” He finally said, slinging a bow behind his back. “We’ll leave the horses and stealth our way to the camp.”

Nera grinned making a show of twirling her daggers around expertly. “My specialty.”

They travel in the darkness, melting in the shadows. Admittedly, Nera was much better at it than he was with her agile and lithe body. She was much more graceful than he who was about twice her size and was decked out in heavy chain mail. Thane envied her leathers but knew that fighting close combat with bandits would require more armor than an attire built for speed.

Nera who walked in front of him stopped, pulling her hood up and covering her bright hair. She signaled for him to halt. He did what he was told to do and like the rogue that she was, Nera vanished into the darkness. 

Thane tried to find where she was going and saw a patrolling bandit up ahead. He watched, wide eyed as Nera soundlessly crept behind the bandit, dagger in hand. 

Almost too quick to see, Nera skillfully pierced her dagger into a vital organ. She disappeared again before the man hit the ground. Thane came around the fallen bandit bleeding profusely and pulled him away, hiding his body from any other patrols that may come his way.  

She did this a few more times, cleaning off all the patrols that circled the camp. The camp itself was large. It’s lit with bright torches and littered with tents. A couple dozen bandits were huddled around a fire, stolen goods surrounding them.

They were drinking heartily but also fighting amongst themselves. These rough bandits most likely travelled around outlying unprotected villages and stole what they could. 

Thane stood back as Nera picked off the thugs that strayed a little too far away from the fire but even then there were a dozen or so left. He looked around calculatingly. There was only one way to break off their numbers. He crept towards the camp, taking hold of a torch and slowly lowered it to the nearest tent.

It caught fire immediately with black smoke wafting into the air.

“Fire!” One of the bandits screamed, taking a bucket of water towards the blazing tent.

Thane emerged from the shadows, grinning wildly with his sword drawn. He slashed his blade as the man shouted. 

The fire only seemed to grow and spread throughout the entire camp, the smell of smoke thick. Men coughed, snorted and wheezed trying to get away but every time they neared escaped— Thane and Nera would be there to end them. 

“For Tosa.”