29 Bandits

Ronan stood back-to-back with Evanna, their swords out ready; he was not sure to what degree her skill level was at sword fighting. Even if she did have two blades, he was not about to leave her unguarded. Their odds were looking dire, he was capable of fighting monsters more significant, but he counted at least twelve men who were slowly surrounding them.   

"You know, if you just give us the girl, we will leave you unharmed", A man spoke from in front of Axel and Ger's position. A blade was thrown from behind Evanna, skimming the side of the man's face and leaving a cut on his cheek. She looked back to see Cilv had thrown her own dagger at his head, a man already fallen at her feet.

"I will take that as a no" He smirked before slithering back into hiding.

Ronan jumped in front of Evanna, swiping his sword about, warning the men who hurried towards them to back away. But he could not hinder the men who were now behind her. Before he gained any chances of protecting her from that side, the men came forwards again, smirks lifting on their faces. 

A sword came forwards, and Ronan blocked it, pushing it back powerfully before stabbing the man's now open chest in front of him. He glanced quickly behind him after hearing a small grunt coming from Evanna.  She stumbled slightly backwards from a mighty blow of a sword that swung down at her. Narrowing her eyes, she knew the big man in front of her was all strength and no speed.

Evanna lunged forwards, jabbing her sword out to deflect another blow from him. As he went to raise his sword again, she stabbed him with her other blade quickly and neatly. His breath left harshly as he stumbled to the floor. Just as quickly as she came, she twisted out of reach from another man's sword, who stumbled forwards. She swiped her own across his unguarded back before quickly dodging another man.

Ronan finished off the last two men from his side; he glanced across his surroundings to make sure there was nobody else before turning around to check on Evanna. His mouth gaped open at the sight before him. Three men were lying on the floor, and the fourth sweating profusely as he kept defending himself against the princess. As one sword was deflected, the other swiftly took its place. 

"Want to help out over here, Roach?!" Ger shouted across from him. He snapped out of his daze and ran to the front, where five more men were charging towards them. Four bodies were already fallen on the ground by his friends.

"This feels like deja vu", Axel grunted as they charged towards the oncoming figures. Three of them went towards Axel, hoping to take down the biggest first.

"It wasn't that long-" CLANG "ago-" SMACK "since" CLANG "we last done this!" Ger spoke whilst defending himself against one of the attackers, ending with his sword through the man's stomach. He turned to help Axel, who was fending three men off with his axe and shield.

Axel smacked the end of his shield into a smaller man's face, knocking him unconscious. He tutted at the fellow before swinging his axe wide and chopping it into the side of the next man's neck, cutting into the flesh and hitting part of the bone. Axel kicked his foot out to remove the man from his axe. 

His aim was terrible, he meant to hit the man in the head, but he moved too quickly and well; his death was made a lot longer as he bled out slowly on the floor. Turning, he also found the third man on the ground with Ger breathing heavily by his side.

"We should do this more often. Ger, your stamina is terrible!" Ronan roared with laughter as he pulled his sword out from the man kneeling on the ground and walked towards them.

WHOOSH!

Ronan turned back around to see the man he just finished, standing behind him with his sword raised, a dagger now sticking out of his right eye. Ronan watched wide-eyed as he fell down. Ronan turned around quickly to see Cilv sauntering her way towards them, hips swaying, as she went to recollect her dagger. He gulped as he watched her smirk.

Axel and Ger turned to check on Evanna, who now sidestepped the countless bodies surrounding her on the floor, defending herself against two more attackers. Ger and Ronan started to make their way towards her before Cilv stopped them in their tracks by walking ahead of them and raising her hand to halt them. 

The surrounding area seemed a lot calmer now. There did not appear to be any more bandits; however, Axel wanted a sweep of the area before he could relax. He signalled for Ronan and Ger to check the surroundings while Cilv made her way back to the princess.

Cilv did not intervene. She decided to watch the princess in her lethal dance with the two men. Evanna gritted her teeth, seeing Cilv crouched on the ground watching; instead of helping, it made her seethe with anger. She continued to dodge and attack, the man on her left quickly fell, after her stamina outdone his own, his movements were slow and sluggish, hence, ending him quickly.

Her attention was now entirely on the last man. If she could call him that, he looked almost the same age, if not younger than her. He still had a baby face, with dimples and no facial hair; his light blue eyes still shone with some innocence. Although he may have been younger, he was a lot quicker than his fallen comrades and kept blocking her swift blows. He kept up with her well, his stamina similar to hers.

Soon their dance became one of skilfully sussing the other out, waiting for their moment to strike at a weak moment. This came quickly as a loss of footing on the guy's side made him stumble ever so slightly, which gave Evanna enough time to swipe his sword out of his hands. 

As she went to swing her other sword down, she halted mid-air; his eyes shone with unshed tears, panic written over his face as he held his hands up, cowering. She stopped abruptly and brought her sword back, causing him to look up, startled by her action. Evanna pointed her sword at his throat.

"Do you surrender?" She asked cooly. He nodded his head quickly, his eyes bulging in shock, "What is your name?"

"Ash," He answered her, his eyes still wide.

Cilv briskly walked over to them, head tilting to the side at the teenage boy, cowering before them, "What are you doing, Raven?"

"He surrendered."

"After attacking you.." Cilv spoke slowly as though the princess was dim-witted.

"Cilv.." 

"Raven.." Cilv mimicked the princess's voice.

Cilv shook her head at Evanna. As she opened her mouth to say more, the men came back into view. Ger walked ahead as the other two dragged a bloodied and beaten man by the arms, his knees scraping the ground beneath them. They slung him on the dirt by Cilv's feet, revealing him to be the man who spoke to them initially.

"What do we have here?" Ger directed his question to Evanna, his face full of dirt, sweat and other men's blood. Cilv crouched down on her feet as she assessed the man, who lay there groaning. 

"He's just a kid," Evanna said as she returned her swords to her scabbards behind her back. The boy scoffed at her words but shut his mouth after the look Ronan gave him; he then looked down at the bloodied figure on the ground.

"Father!" He scrambled over to him.

Ger gave Evanna a stern look, but she did not move her eyes away from his, challenging him silently. He closed his eyes briefly, sucking a deep breath in before releasing it and opening his eyes once again, dismissing the battle of their eyes.

Ger spoke up so all of them could hear him clearly, "They watched us from the campsite this morning. He said they normally ambush people earlier on the road, but they needed to make sure of something before attacking us." 

"And what was that, dear Ger?" Cilv asked, her eyes not moving from the man on the floor. She started to spin her dagger again on her hand while the teenager eyed her carefully. 

"To see if Raven matches the description of the missing princess," Ronan said, his arms were across his chest, his biceps bulging under the tightened shirt. He watched Evanna as she removed her eyes away from his arms and to his face at his words. He hid a smirk, now he knew she was not completely immune to his looks. She just hid it better than most.

"Did you get everything you need out of him?" Cilv enquired, her voice and eyes cold. 

"Yes," Ger said, knowing already he sentenced the man to his fate.

Cilv hovered above the man in a matter of seconds and stabbed him in the chest.

"NO!" The guy named Ash screamed, he held his father's face in between his hands, but his body went slack.

Cilv pulled her dagger out and stood back from the spectacle in front of them. The three men started to make their way to their horses, readying them to continue with the journey. Axel rubbed at the back of his head as he turned to look back at the grieving kid on the ground.

"What do we do with him?" Ronan whispered as they huddled near Ger's horse, where Nesrin was now sitting.

"He can't come with us," Axel replied, shaking his head at the situation.

Evanna slowly approached Ash, kneeling near him, showing her hands to not show he was in danger. His eyes glared at her and the red-haired female behind her, who kept a small distance from them.

"I am sorry, Ash", Evanna said, her voice sincere as she watched his anguished face. 

"Get lost," He spat back.

Evanna stood back up and turned to face Cilv. Her face was full of guilt as she watched Cilv's calculating one. Evanna took a step forward but suddenly felt the air knock out from her lungs as she felt a hard punch go into the back of her ribs. Cilv brushed past her in a flash, making her turn abruptly as she heard something drop to the floor.

Evanna's eyes widened in shock as Ash stood close to her, his expression matching hers.

"You should be-"

A dagger slid harshly across his neck in a swift motion, causing a gaping wound that was cut from ear to ear. Blood spurted out, splashing across Evanna's face before it seeped heavily down his chest, his eyes still wide, staring at her before he crumbled to the floor. Cilv stood there facing Evanna, her eyes dead and emotionless.

"Never. Hesitate. Again."