Hunter and Prey

Sana was walking along the road on the fourth 'day' of their journey. Next to watching the forest she also sent glances to her mother occasionally.

Aria had been deep in thought in front of the fire the last 'day'. But when Sana asked, she simply brushed her off. Still, even now, her mother was frowning while watching her surroundings. She had been ever since they started walking.

Eventually, Sana couldn't help but ask, "What is it? Something has been bothering you for a while now." Her mother looked startled in her direction and continued staring with a blank expression a few seconds longer.

She answered with a sigh, "Nothing important. It looks like I've been overthinking some things. I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything. I didn't want to worry you over nothing."

Before Sana could respond, her mother stopped walking and held up her hand. Aria cocked her head as if to listen to something though Sana couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. A smile slowly crept up on her mother's face, and she simply motioned for Sana to follow her.

They sped to the front of the caravan, and about halfway there, the wagons stopped after a shout from the caravan leader from the front. The Martial Squires quickly followed their example and went along with them.

When they arrived in front of the first wagon, Sana noticed a group of people standing on the road, blocking the way forward. There were more than a dozen people dressed in rough hides. Three people were standing in front, dressed markedly better than the others.

The leader was dark-skinned and dressed in well-tailored leather armor. He was carrying a single-edged blade that he was twirling lazily and had a cocky smirk on his face. His smirk grew into a full smile when he saw her mother.

"Well, well... what do we have here. A bunch of weaklings, thinking the world belongs to them." He pointed the blade at them.

When her mother appeared, the caravan leader stepped back but kept his gaze on the bandits. The bandit leader's gaze landed on Aria, who stepped to the front.

He scoffed, "You actually listen to her? How about you follow me and I'll show you a good time. I promise I won't kill you if you do a good job." His laugh was echoed by his men.

Aria's smirk, which appeared when she saw the bandits, never wavered. She even chuckled with their laughter. Hearing her chuckle, the bandits stopped, and their leader started frowning in anger. "Looks like the bitch can't accept a good offer when it's given to her."

Before he could continue, her mother started strolling leisurely towards them. A few meters from the bandit leader, she suddenly leaped forward with her spear extended. The two bandits accompanying the leader stepped forward and slashed at her mother with their blades.

The spear in her mother's hands seemed to blur and suddenly the two men were flying away. The bandit leader hurriedly blocked the spear aimed at his heart but he was still sent flying backwards, colliding with the men standing behind him, toppling them over.

The bandit leader scrambled up and, with a face distorted in a grimace, charged her mother, who parried his attack easily. The other two men flanked her from either side, but she dealt with all three attacking at the same time with the same ease as the leader.

After being sent flying again, the bandit leader shouted, "What are you waiting for? We'll keep her busy; deal with the rest!" The other bandits, who were watching the fight with shock, gathered themselves, turned to the guards, and charged.

The guards, in the meanwhile, stood in a protective formation out of habit. They were also watching the fight in amazement. From the speed and force of their blows they could guess all three men were Martial Knights but Aria was fighting them alone without breaking a sweat, sometimes even flinging them away with a single swing of her spear.

They turned to the approaching bandits and prepared themselves for combat. Unfortunately, they realized too late that Sana was standing outside their defensive formation. So they could only watch as the closest bandit charged at her.

Sana, who had been watching her mother's moves with a bit of confusion, quickly focused on the bandit coming at her from the front.

The bandit was severely underestimating Sana and simply tried to kick her head. Sana simply dodged towards the bandit, around his leg, raised her sword, and cut his leg off at the knee with barely any resistance.

He simply stared at his stump, spurting blood, with shock. He didn't think a 'little girl', as their new boss called her, could ever fight back against him. He didn't have to think long, however, since Sana aimed for his throat next. She slashed his throat and cut his front open from collarbone to the jaw, shattering it in the process.

Blood rained on Sana, coloring her clothing and skin. The blood in her hair dyed it a darker shade than her usual fire red. The bandit's corpse toppled over, making the blood-drenched form of Sana visible to the other bandits. But what caused their steps to falter was the ecstatic grin on her face, spotted with blood.

The guards couldn't see her face since she was standing in front of them, so the only one, other than the approaching bandits, who could see her smile was her mother. Aria's face was an expressionless mask as she stared at her daughter's expression. She blocked the attacks of the three men without even looking at them.

The bandits faltered for just a moment before continuing to approach the guards, slower than before. One of the guards dashed out of the formation and dragged Sana behind them. They were surprised that she could kill one of the bandits so easily, but they couldn't allow a member of Clan Tekiel to get hurt on their watch.

Just before the bandits could clash with the guards, a blur shot into the center of them. It was Aria who twirled her spear above her head, causing the heads of the five bandits closest to her to go flying. The bandits saw that scene and immediately ran away towards the woods.

Aria held her spear backhanded and stabbed it into the ground. A few moments later, the ground under the fleeing bandits burst open, and holes appeared in their heads as if invisible spears were thrust out of the ground to impale them. All of them immediately dropped dead.

Two of the three men fighting her before were lying beheaded on the ground. The leader was lying on his front, holding himself up in his right arm, looking around in disbelief. His legs and left arm were broken, and blood was dripping from his mouth.

"Impossible... impossible... " he kept muttering until Aria marched up to him. She simply stared at him for a moment before flourishing her spear and stabbing it straight through his eye, into his brain, finally killing him.