The Clan Wars Pt. 05

"Oh, I dunno, I reckon I'd be a lot safer if I kept my sword and my gold," retorted Mila, "and my warg here has taken a liking to the horse. I'd pay you for some information, though, if you're really looking to help."

"Yeah?" the bandit leader said, looking conflicted at her demand being turned down and replaced with an offer for information. She knew she'd still have to get these irksome traveller's valuables, but curiosity momentarily got the better of her. "What kind of info are you looking for?"

Mila watched the orc bandit carefully as she posed her question, "I'm looking for the Redtooth tribe. You know anything about them?"

The bandit leader threw a furtive glance over her shoulder at her orc comrade, who looked sheepishly down at his boots, before turning back to Mila, saying, "We may know a thing or two about that tribe of greenies, but it'll cost you."

"Let me guess; half our coin, my sword and my companion's horse?"

"Yep," said the bandit, laughing.

"No deal. We'll seek them out ourselves," said Mila, "We'll just be moving on now."

"Ha! I don't think so!" bellowed the barbarian before rapping the haft of her axe on the stone of the bridge - clearly some sort of signal to the hidden goblins.

Mila scratched Alagar's ruff with one hand, loosening her buckler from her belt with her other hand. The bandit leader looked confused as a distinct lack of arrows came flying from the forest.

"Um. Was something supposed to happen?" asked Mila, smiling broadly.

"Kill these fuckers!" shouted the bandit leader in response, hefting her axe with both hands.

Alagar lurched forward as Mila drew her bastard sword from her baldric, glancing to his right when he noticed Kalliya surging past him on the back of her own mount. A strange nimbus of hazy orange light was growing to envelop both the mage and the horse as she galloped past. Mila almost called out to her to get back, but the words stuck in her throat when she saw the edge of the mage's spell collide with the bandit leader. The impact caused a cascade of sparks and sent the huge bandit reeling backwards. Kalliya galloped onward, smashing into the scrawny bandit that was charging right behind his leader. Once again the orange field burst with sparks and the smaller bandit flew to the side, his hip colliding with the low wall of the side of the bridge, the impact making him cartwheel head over heels into the gorge below the bridge. His panicked scream chased his progress downwards.

Following the path the charging mage had made, Mila swept her sword downwards as Alagar carried her past the bandit leader. The huge cutthroat only just managed to parry the heavy swing with the haft of her weapon, but was unable to respond before the warg-rider was flying past, headed straight for the next bandit. Warg and rider crashed into the next cutpurse in line, sending him sprawling on his back, arms upraised. Roaring ferociously, Alagar's jaws clamped down on the hapless man's forearm and he began shaking his limb filled maw back and forth. The man's scream drowned out the horrible cracking of bone as his arm was crushed and torn.

Leaving the warg to his current task, Mila vaulted from his back. Ahead of her, Kalliya and her force field had pushed the orc bandit up against one of the posts on the far side of the bridge. The orc was ineffectively swinging his mace at the mage, each attack producing another cascade of sparks as his weapon halted abruptly a foot away from his seemingly unarmoured target. Mila turned on her heel to face the two unengaged bandits, both of whom were rushing toward her. She caught one in the throat with her sword and turned the other's axe stroke with the iron rimmed edge of her buckler. She knew the bandit leader was rushing up behind her and so she pushed forwards under her opponent's axe to smash the iron hub of her shield into the highwayman's nose, staggering him backwards.

The barbarian's roar betrayed her proximity, permitting Mila to duck and sidestep as the big lady's fearsome axe whirled scant inches over the orc's head. From her low crouch, Mila lashed out in a wide horizontal sweep with her blade, forcing the fur-clad robber to step backwards. Using the momentary respite to her own advantage, Mila shuffled backwards as well, putting both bandits in front of her. The bandit with the broken nose clumsily swung his hand-axe down at the battle-hardened orc, but the ill-timed blow was easily evaded and Mila repaid him for his failure with a flick of her wrist that sent her sword sliding along the man's wrist, leaving a vicious, gaping wound. To her right she heard another sickening crunch and a strangled gurgle as Alagar's teeth found the throat of the bandit he had pounced.

The bandit leader was experienced enough not to get distracted by the sounds of a messy death, however, and swung her axe low at Mila's calf, forcing the orc to dance backwards again. Beside the imposing barbarian, her badly wounded companion attacked once more, holding his own axe in both hands as he tried to drive it down on Mila's head. The orc raised both buckler and sword to parry the heavy swing, her defence catching the descending weapon just below the curving axehead. While she held her opponent's weapon upright with her shield, she slid her sword down the man's upraised arms, cutting him terribly across the chest from armpit to armpit as she drew her sword back before she thrust the point deep into his stomach.

Unfortunately, the attack left Mila's right flank completely exposed. The bandit leader saw her opportunity as the orc struggled to untangle herself from her deceased opponent and swung her bearded axe back over her left shoulder, winding up to deliver a devastating blow. The strike never landed. From the middle of the large human's chest, a finely tapered point suddenly protruded as Pointer, who had been approaching noiselessly from behind, ran her through with his estoc.

As elf and orc both pulled their weapons free from their dead enemies, Mila gave the black clad thief a nod. She had seen the elf's approach and never would have made such a gamble of an attack if reinforcements hadn't been so close, but the elf had demonstrated that her trust in his abilities had not been misplaced. The two then turned to see the orc bandit, who had been struggling in vain against the magic shielded mage, throw his mace to the ground and put his hands up in surrender.

As the glowing mage, black clad thief, heavily armed orc and blood spattered warg surrounded him, he spoke, "Uh... If you let me live, I can tell you where to find the Redtooth tribe."