15 Chapter 15 - Bandits
"That's a good one," Kevin said.
"Of course I did, I'm the best" I said sarcastically.
"Come on, we have a long way to go" I said as I trotted along with the horse.
After a few hours of distance we stopped at the edge of Wolfswood.
"What now my Lord, what are our next steps?" Eldric asked.
"Well, first we will go bandit hunting in the Wolfswood, Eldric leave the horse with Sigurd and go ahead, if you find anything, come and let us know."
Shaking his head at me Eldric got off his horse and handed it to Sigurd, after that he walked towards the entrance of the woods, but after a few steps inside, his body disappeared out of nowhere, as if the shadows of the trees had swallowed him.
"I'll never get used to that, he's too sinister" spoke Kevin.
"They say that the Cranogmans are descendants of the children of the forest, maybe he inherited something from them" spoke Rhoslyn.
"Indeed, Cranogmans have a great affinity with nature, it must be because of the blood of the forest children, but not all of them have these certain abilities" I said.
"Bizarre, if he has the blood of the children of the forest, Sigurd here has the blood of the giants, look at the size of this son of a bitch." Spoke Kevin
"Please Kevin, look at the cussing" said Perseus.
"I forgot we have a knight among us, forgive me, Ser Perseus, Hahahaha" spoke Kevin laughing.
'Idiots, shut up' spoke Astrid with a scowl.
'Shit, I think I'm going crazy.
After a few hours of waiting, Eldric comes out of the woods.
"Sir, further into the woods there is a camp." Perseus spoke.
"Bandits?"
"Yes, about 10 men, all armed, had some people tied up, most were women and children, some scouts are scattered in the woods" explained Eldric.
"Okay, Eldric, get me one of those scouts here, I have questions to ask, and the rest get ready." I ordered.
"Yes, sir" replied everyone, Eldric headed into the woods again.
After a few minutes of waiting, Eldric appeared with a knocked out man, the man was about 5'7" and had a very thin body, dirty clothes and appearance.
"Bring him here, and wake him up."
After receiving my order, Eldric pulled the sleeping man to my feet and slapped him in the face.
*SLAPT*
"What,, Who are you?" Panicked man asked.
"No matter who we are, tell me, who are you and what are you doing in the woods?" I asked.
"What the fuck is this? Children? Do you know who the fuck I am?
"Oh, tell me sir, who are you?" I asked with a smile, as I pulled a knife from the sheath attached to my leg.
"I belong to a brotherhood, we are outlaws, deserters from the Night's Watch, we kill and pillage, and if you don't let me go now I will gut you and fuck you with your corpse, and of every one here, especially those two over there, there must be a delicious puss--"
*GULP*
Before he finished his sentence, I passed the blade across his throat.
"Tsk, the fish dies by the mouth, and the man by the tongue..."
"Come on, it's time for the hunt." I spoke...
After tying up the horses, we headed for the entrance to the forest.
"Eldric and Kevin, go ahead, take out all the scouts, then come back to regroup."
"Everyone, keep your senses sharp, don't rush, act cautiously and coolly, and most importantly don't hesitate." I spoke.
After following into the woods, Eldric and Kevin returned.
"All scouts are eliminated" Kevin spoke.
"Okay, stay back, cover, Eldric where is the camp?"
"A few miles in that direction" said Eldric pointing in a specific direction.
"Okay, go and do what you do best."
"Yes sir" after answering, Eldric disappeared.
"Kevin, cover us, but don't expose yourself"
"Right"
Wolfswood was filled with Oaks, evergreen pines, many stones scattered on the ground, the smell is intoxicating, smell of wet wood.
Following in the direction Eldric pointed us, we came to a camp, some men were drinking, others harassing the bound women.
"This is it, eliminate as quickly as possible, don't hesitate, Kevin, help anyone who needs it, and don't let anyone escape, Rhoslyn, be careful, your weapons are close range, Perseus, Sigurd, be careful" I instructed.
"Right" replied everyone.
"Let's go"
Going towards the bandits, one of them saw me and spoke:
"We have company" shouted one of them.
"It's just some fucking kids, they must be lost from their mothers teat, Hahahahahahahah" said another.
"What do you want, kid, are you here to die?" He asked.
Without answering his question, I made a gesture that I was taking an arrow from the quiver and putting it in the bow.
"The kid is retarded."
After he finished his speech, I released the arrow.
The moment I let go, an arrow lodged in the middle of his head.
The forest was silent, the only audible noise was the bandits' bodies falling to the ground, when the bandits came back from their stupor, I was already in front of one of them, with a bastard sword in hand, opening a tear in his intestine, blood and guts fell to the ground.
After my attack, Sigurd went after one of them, separating its head from its body.
Astrid, with her shield and sword in hand, shoved the sword through the bandit's mouth who could see the blade continuing from the other side.
Perseus, with all the grace of a knight, severed the arm of a guy who was touching a woman, and with a twist, cut off his head.
Rhoslyn, with his blades pierced a guy's chest with almost imperceptible speed, the knife went in and out so many times that his body looked like a sieve, his last movement, penetrated the man's jugular.
What once were 10 men, now remained only 4 men, 3 in fact, because an arrow had just lodged itself in the eye of one of them.
Sigurd with his maniacal smile started to attack the other with his huge axe, the bandit didn't have time to react, because his body split in two, waist and torso, all his intestine fell on the floor, blood and shit started to come out from everywhere, but the man still remained alive, only until Sigurd's axe crushed his head.
The last two bandits began to flee into the forest, but an arrow penetrated the leg of one of them.
"Aaaargggggggg, you monsters!!!" shouted the man.
Walking towards the man with sword in hand, I decapitated him.
'Sigurd has the same smile as Jack' I thought looking at the smile stuck on the face if Sigurd.
"Arthur, one of them escaped" spoke Astrid.
"No he didn't" I said.
Soon, Eldric appears coming out of the woods, from the direction the other ran, in his hand a head was present.
"Good job guys, all enemies defeated and no one suffered a scratch, that was better than I thought." I spoke with a smile, as I wiped the blood from the sword on the headless man's back.
"That was refreshing, Hahahahahaha" spoke Sigurd.
"Of course it was for you, you psycho" spoke Kevin, appearing in the camp.
"Hahahahahaha"
After cleaning the sword I went towards Perseus, who was helping the women.
"Hi, are you guys okay?" I asked.
"Thank you very much my lord, you saved our lives." Said a woman with her clothes all torn up.
"I did what anyone with a little honor would do." I spoke.
"Where are you from?" I asked.
"We live in a village near Wolfswood, these bandits attacked the village, killed the men and kidnapped us." Said the woman, now crying.
"I am sorry for your losses, I will take you back to your village"
"Thank you my lord"
"For nothing, here, take this, it was the bandits'" I handed the woman a bag of coins, which the bandits had dropped.
"Astrid, Rhoslyn and Perseus, take them to the forest flora, we will clean up this mess". I spoke.
"Okay, ladies, if you can follow me," spoke Perseus.
All the women followed Perseus out of the forest.
"How are we going to clean up this mess, sir?" Eldric asked.
"We will not, cut off their heads and put them on stakes, I want all the bandits that ravage the northern lands to know, winter is coming."
