Chapter 7: Bandits II

After the warning issued out by Helen, I heard the chanting of a spell.

"Submit, O' wind and follow my will. I command and gather you around in protection. Wind Barrier!"

Instantly I feel a gust of wind forming a tornado around Mother, Angela, Arthur, and I. Then the gust bent into a sphere around us.

Angela was holding out her wand, concentrating on keeping the barrier active while arrows constantly bombarded the barrier, only to get redirected to a different direction.

My mother had swiftly pulled me and Arthur tightly into her embrace, trying to shield us by using her body from whatever might get through. Thankfully, her efforts didn't seem to be necessary as the barrier held strong.

In a matter of seconds, the tarp covering the carriage was torn to shreds and I managed to get a better view of the situation at hand.

We were completely surrounded by bandits. From my quick observation, there seemed to be around 30 of them. They all held various weapons.

On the mountainside to our right, there were archers positioned atop a cliff, their bows aimed at us, while only the steep edge of the mountain with the looming fog beckoned to our left.

From the previous bombardment of arrows, only Helen seemed to be injured evident from an arrow that jutted from her right calf.

A bald man with multiple scars deforming his face and a body of a bear carrying a giant battle axe spoke out. "Look what we have here. Pretty good catch boys. Leave only the girls and the kids alive. Try not to scar them too much. Damaged goods will only sell for less," he snorted with a smirk that revealed a nearly toothless mouth.

My emotions reacted very negatively to that man's words, my bloodlust nearly seaping out of my body, before I quickly composed myself. My 4 years of a peaceful life had made me forget about the filth that contaminates a world that inhabits life. It wasn't good to be rash in such a situation, especially considering we were quite outnumbered and my body was still of a child. I had confidence in taking care of an average adult, but a mage... unless I catch them off guard, my chances weren't great. And, There were a few augmenters I noticed. My eyes after the awakening had become more sharper, allowing me to see mana easier, so I could detect mages like father from their mana fluctuations.

I glanced at my mother who seemed to be extremely nervous, which I found a little strange. Shouldn't she be more composed, she had been an adventurer with father for some time afterall. Though, perhaps she was just worried for me and Arthur's safety. 

I then looked at Arthur who seemed to be extremely angry. An expression of pure rage. I understood where it came from, considering I was rather agitated by his words too. As I was about to stop Arthur from doing anything hasty, I heard my father's voice.

"There are only 4 mages and none of them seem to be conjurers! The rest are normal warriors!"

From a book I had read, faint mana fluctuations around a person's body made mages distinguishable compared to normal humans, only apparent if studied closely. As for whether they were an augmenter or conjurer, making an inference based on physical structure and the weapon they were holding could help.

My father had taken action promptly, a result of his past as an adventurer and him having led Twin Horns previously. He issued out an order which caused everyone to take formation.

Adam quickly arrived behind us as he faced the back of the road, spear pointed, while Jasmine and Helen came to our left with both of their weapons unsheathed, facing ahead. My father and Durden faced the mountainside, positioning themselves to protect us from the archers overhead. Meanwhile, Angela maintained her position, preparing another spell as she kept her wind barrier active.

I then heard a chant before the ground rumbled as a four-meter earthen wall transmuted up from the ground curving up in front of Durden.

Using that moment, my father burst forward, raising his gauntlets in a guard position against the arrows towards the enemy archers.

Moments later, Angela finished her spell and unleashed a torrent of wind blades, aimed at the front and back of the path. That was apparently the cue as Adam and Jasmine shadowed behind the wind spell, arriving in front of our distraught enemies that were covering their vitals against the flurry of blades. Helen remained, her arrow nocked and bow drawn, imbuing the tip with mana that shined in a faint blue light.

"Warrior coming your way, Helen!" Adam shouted as he dodged the swing of a mace, delivering a precise swipe to the jugular of the unfortunate bandit. His eyes widened as he dropped his weapon, desperately trying to seal the fatal wound with his trembling hands as blood spurted out through the gaps between his fingers.

I stared with indifference at the scene, before I felt my mother try to block my vision with her right hand. She didn't do a great job though as she was trying to do it to both me and Arthur. I still had a decent view on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, a scruff, middle-aged man wielding a machete lunged towards Angela, hoping to disrupt the spell. Although the wind blade spell didn't seem all too powerful, it provided a painful distraction that was keeping us on equal footing, despite our lack in numbers.

I noticed Helen draw her bow as she fired at the bandit, her arrow being reinforced by mana. Helen's shot had carried a force powerful enough to pierce through the armored chest of the machete-wielding bandit and launched him back a half-dozen meters, nailing him into the ground.

I was contemplating whether to get out of my mother's embrace and try and take out a bandit or two. With my small stature and me having the appearance of a child, many would not notice my presence or underestimate me which would definitely give me the initiative. However, as I looked at my mother's paranoid expression, I quickly got rid of that idea.

As the battle continued, the ground being littered with dead bandits and flowing streams of blood, a thundering crash shifted my attention away from my thoughts. My father had been knocked down against the debris of what was now left of the [Earth Wall] spell–casted by Durden–and was struggling to pick himself up as blood dribbled down from the side of his lips.

My eyes dilated before I instinctively called out.

"Dad!" Me and Arthur shouted in unison.

Nother was also worried about father's wellbeing: her expression one of shock and unease.

I followed after Arthur as he ran out of the wind barrier, with mother quickly coming after.

As we arrived next to him, he spoke, "Cough! Alice, listen to me. Don't worry about me. If you use a healing spell right now, they'll realise what you are and try that much harder to capture you. They'll be willing to sacrifice a lot more if they know!" he stressed, his voice in a low whisper.

After a brief, trembling hesitation, my mother took out her wand and began chanting. Her chanting was stammered, it felt like she was almost... afraid of using her magic.

Father turned to me and Art after giving up trying to persuade his wife.

"Tori, Art, listen carefully. After the healing spell activates, they're going to try to capture your mother at all costs. After I'm healed enough, I'm going to engage the leader and try to buy more time. I think I can beat him, but not if I have to worry about protecting you guys. Tori, Art, take your mother back down the road and don't stop; Adam will open up a path for you."

"Yes!" I replied, however Arthur seemed to want to help dad. It was understandable, but we couldn't provide much support as we were children, even if we were mages. Plus, I'm nore concerned about mother's safety, she seemed out of it currently.

"No dad! I'm staying with you. I can fight! You saw me! I can help!" Arthur spoke.

He was a good kid, not wanting to leave behind his family whom he had grown to love and friends who he had bonded with so much this past week and a half. 

"LISTEN TO ME, ARTHUR LEYWIN!" Father agonisingly roared. This was the first time I heard his voice like this; the kind of voice that one would only use for desperate measures.

"I know you can fight! That's why I'm entrusting your mother to you and Tori. Protect her and protect the baby inside her. I'll catch up to you after this is over."

!!!

A baby!? Mother was pregnant?

I see now, that's why mother looked so worried. Not only was she trying to protect her two sons, she was also trying to keep the baby inside her safe. All of her actions and behaviour now made sense.

"I was planning on telling you two when we arrived in Xyrus, but..." Not finishing his sentence, father just looked at us sheepishly; still pale from the blow he received from the bald, axe-wielding boss.

"Okay, I'll protect Mom."

"Atta boy. That's my son."

He then directed his gaze to me before speaking, "Tori, you're the oldest, so make sure to protect your brother and your Mom, alright?" 

"Mm, you have my word."

My mother finished her chant at this time and both she and my father glowed in a bright golden-white light.

"Sonova— One of them's a healer! Don't let her get away!" the leader roared.

Art quickly grabbed my mother's arm with both hands and tugged at her to move while reinforcing himself with mana. I took out the dagger that I had been given by Jasmine as I followed closely behind them.

We reached the area where Adam and the dual-wielder were battling a dozen meters down the road.

"Hurry down, I got him!" Adam barked as he kept his opponent at bay.

We hurried down the slope when I heard a faint *wizz* sound that was directed at Arthur and Mother. Acting on instinct, I jumped, bringing my short knife up and reinforcing my whole body and the knife to withstand the blow of the incoming arrow.

With a calculated block–the knife being slanted slightly–the arrow had been redirected with a *Clang* sound.

"What the— Ugh!"

...Was all I heard from the assailant before he was promptly impaled by an arrow fired by Helen.

My wrist slightly burned from the impact, but I remained uninjured as it wasn't reinforced by mana.

Seeing my brother staring at me eyes wide open, I spoke, "Keep moving Art, I'll keep watch!"

"Mm, Thanks Tori!" He replied, continuing down the path with mother.

However, it was at this moment that I heard a voice from one of the bandits.

"Damien! Forget the plan, don't let them live!" The leader barked out.

Who was he commanding? My eyes scanned the entirety of the battlefield, before I noticed him.

"... respond to my call and wash all to oblivion!" a faint voice finished chanting.

[Water Cannon]

From the mountainside, one of the scattered "archers" had his hands brought together, aimed at Arthur and mother. He had camouflaged himself during the chaos. He wasn't an archer or even an augmenter. He was a conjurer!

Dammit! 

The spell was directed at Art and mother, and I was a few feet away to be able to push them out of the spell in time

However, I reinforced my legs with as much mana as possible anyways, before leaping to them, trying to cover as much distance as possible. But, it was too late...

Arthur had pushed mother out of the way and bore the brunt of the attack, before the spell dissipated shortly after. I could hear a subtle *crunch* sound as the impact launched his body off the cliff.

"Arthur!" I shouted.

However, at this moment, I suddenly felt that my ankle was tightly snatched by something. My entire body was dragged by its momentum as I nearly flew off the cliff.

As I hung off the ledge, and was about to kick the person that grabbed my left leg, I noticed that Arthur was being held by some kind of mana string, attached to the man. He was currently unconcious from the severe injuries he received from the spell.

You can't be serious...

The man, holding onto my left leg, was clinging to me for his dear life. The knife stabbed deeply inside him seem to be sapping away his energy so his resistance wasn't too great. A simple kick, even for a 4 year old would do the trick, sending him to his death, however that wasn't the issue. Arthur's life was also reliant on the man, if I did that, I would indirectly be killing him!

Reinforcing my arms, fingers and nails, I hung onto the ledge, using every fibre of my being to not fall off. Holding the weight of an adult and an unconcious child was quite the difficult task, considering I was a 4 year old! Nevertheless, I clung. My fingers bled as my nails broke, blood gushing out, yet I still clung to the cliff. I slowly lifted my body up, feeling my bones almost shatter as I finally got my head up. However, my hope of getting out alive with my brother was completely crushed as I heard a sound.

*Crumble*

Ah!?

I suddenly felt my grip of the ledge disappear, as I descended to certain death.

...

Am I really going to die again? Is my fate really that terrible? I don't want to die, not yet. I didn't want Arthur to die, he was only a child.

I wanted to see mother, father and the baby of the two...

I wanted to finally have a life worth living.

Why does fate always seem to play a cruel joke on me?

This was the first time I had become so greedy for something. Even in my previous life, I had accepted death quite easily, however now, I really didn't want this outcome. At least, let my brother live! Why take him too? He's only a child, unlike me that had already lived once...

As my descent drew nearer to the ground, promising immediate death, I suddenly felt some kind of energy surrounding me before I quickly lost my consciousness.

...