The Secrets of the Forest

We finally reached the Daylight Darkness forest... The name it received was very well-deserved. It was almost midday, yet the light was nowhere to be seen inside the woods of the forest, under the giant green leaves of each of the trees. We were forced to make a torch to venture into the darkness and search for the rumored temple... But after all the hours we spent so far searching, we found nothing and we were not even sure if we were lost or not anymore...

"This forest... It seems to be a giant maze...", Jeffrey commented.

"Yes... And it seems like we were walking in circles for hours, but I can't say for sure if that tree is the same one from some minutes before...", I commented, pointing to the said tree.

"I wonder if we will die here...", he added and the fox was the first one to object, jumping to get attention and shaking his head to deny that claim.

"Yeah, Beech is right. We aren't going to die here. But how much time we will spend here, that's another question", I said, sighing a little.

"Hours, days, months... Maybe even a ye-".

"Wait, stay quiet...", I interrupted Jeffrey midsentence when I heard a strange noise coming from the left... We didn't know if we were hearing salvage animals ready to attack, or maybe other humans... There was only one way to have sure of that, approaching dangerously.

As we approached the place where the noise came from, the orange fiery light appeared in the distance... It seemed like someone else was there and, just like us, was using a torch to guide him or herself out of the forest. But eventually, we noticed there wasn't only one torch, one light, but many of them... We were probably walking toward a group of people.

"We got them all, sir. The convoy and its goods have been seized and are ready to be taken to our fortress", a voice said. I crouched to hide in the bushes of the forest and sneakily, I approached to get a better look at the situation, with Jeffrey and Beech just beside me.

"Good... Make sure to punish the prisoners well for what they did", he said smiling devilishly while looking at the people who were tied on the floor. With no respect, he stepped on of those people. "Well, you really thought you could fool us? Avoid paying the taxes?"

"Of course! You're stupid criminals, you shouldn't force us to pay taxes in the first place!", one of the tied men answered.

"Yeah, yeah. We're criminals, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't pay our taxes... Isn't our right to have some money after we protected your little convoy through your journey?"

"We didn't ask for protection in the first place, and you barely watch the convoys to properly protect it!"

"How rude... Well, I hope this remembers you of what happens with people who don't pay the taxes!", he said, stomping on the poor man over and over again, mercilessly.

Holding a tight grip against the leaves of the bush, I felt anger... I heard a lot about these criminals when I worked for the Coventry Kingdom... Sometimes we would be in charge of driving them away from specific routes and harassing our convoys. This is the first time I actually saw them going after a convoy out of the usual routes, however, and I felt the need to intervene.

But the criminals were numerous... We would be easily outnumbered and defeated... If we wanted to properly fight, we needed the tied people to help us, and with that, I worked on a plan. When ready, I looked at Beech and Jeffrey and gestured for them to search for people who can easily be freed.

Meanwhile, I watched their leader... The one who just attacked the innocent man... He attacked a little bit more for a few seconds and then walked away to check out the other prisoners, leaving the people of this part guarded by just two criminals... I needed to be strategic when attacking them, the sound of combat would attract other criminals otherwise.

Careful, I broke a branch of the bush, making a noise, and then I quickly moved to hide in another, a little farther away.

"Did you hear that?", one of them asked. The other nodded... Holding their spears, the two then decided to approach the bush I was previously hiding in. Taking the opportunity, I rushed past them, unnoticed, and with a quick slash of my sword on the handcuffs, I freed the five people that were at that part. They quickly rushed to hide nearby and I did the same.

"Wait... Where are the prisoners?", the guards asked when they returned to their positions. Quickly, we attacked... I did a sweep quick from behind one of them and then forced him against the floor while the other just looked at me before he was attacked from behind by the prisoners. After blacking out both of them, one of the prisoners started to speak, almost whispering for nearby criminals to not notice us:

"Thank you very much... But I think you can let us handle this, we're more properly made to fight than you". He was smiling a little bit... I just saved him, but it seemed like it didn't matter to him.

"I am here to help, I am not gonna just stop midway", I answered him.

"Sure, just don't come crying after you have been severely wounded", he said and charged into the darkness with his friends, wielding just the two spears of the criminals we just defeated. With no time to lose, I headed in the other direction and went to help more of the prisoners of those criminals...

It took some time, but it seemed like I, Jeffrey, and Beech had freed most of the people already... And given how many criminals had been defeated so far, we should be outnumbering them by now... Or that's what I thought until I heard a noise and went to hide in a nearby bush.

During my times as knightess, I learned to never underestimate an enemy whether they have the advantage or not, so I hid to observe and surprise attack the enemy, with Beech and Jeffrey following my actions. The prisoners, however, were quite confident, even though they had just been captured by the very same criminals, and decided to ignore whatever it was that noise.

The figure of the criminal's leader appeared, his blade and clothes covered in blood, but no signs of wounds over his body... He was probably a very skilled fighter and that blood was from his victims...

"You managed to escape as well... I don't know how, but if you will be kind to tell me, I might spare your little lives", he said to the prisoners that stood in front of him, the other criminals silently going around, surrounding the prisoners.

"We don't fear you! We have the skills to win this when you don't have the numbers and the surprise advantage!", one of them said and charged against the leader while all the prisoners jumped against the other criminals, but it was very futile...

One or another criminal fell, but most of them managed to deal with the numbers, disarmed the prisoners, and killed some. In less than minutes, they were forced to surrender.

"I... I...", the man who charged against the leader said, retreating a little and then raising his hands in surrender.

"You should never have defied me in the first place", the leader said and prepared his sword to slash the man. I couldn't let that guy just die, it was time to intervene again, even if the odds were against us now. In terms of strategy, we just needed their leader, if he fell, the other criminals would just step away...

"Those prisoners are under my protection, you will not touch them!", I shouted and stood up from where I was hiding. Surprised, the criminals stared at me while Jeffrey and Beech did the same as me, but without saying anything.

"Under your protection? You're the one who freed them?", he asked, angrily... But then he stopped and examined me. "A sword... A woman... Ah, I see, you... You aren't anyone, right? You must be the same person who mocked my men at that small town, Dagger Everblade."

"That's... That's right...", I said, a bit surprised with the fact he knew me. "I challenge you to a duel! If I win, you free those people and return their belongings"

"Oh, and what if I win?"

"I... I surrender myself together with them, and you get to have the bounty on my head...". That was a very daring move. I was putting my life on the line there... But I don't see any other way to convince him to fight a duel... And so, he considered my offer.