The Friends

He couldn't believe what he saw. His body dwelled frozen. His eyes stayed hollow.

He was forcefully dragged into this hellish scenery without any warning. The young brain of this boy couldn't comprehend the horror. His future, which he dreamed of, was not only lost but worsen.

Among the chaos, one of Merlin's friends attempted to get close to him.

"Merlin! We got to go!" Olaf grabbed his hand.

Merlin stared at his friend. He got up from the stage and began to follow Olaf.

While still grabbing Merlin's arm, Olaf tried to drag and lead Merlin into a safe spot. While running through the corridor in between the villager's houses, Merlin tried his best to understand the situation that is surrounding him.

"Hey, Olaf, what is happening right now?" He asked in a very dreary tone.

"Well, a lot of stuff is happening now my friend! For now, let's just get into safety shall we!" Olaf replied with haste.

While running, they found an old empty crooked house. It was long abandoned by the owner because he passed away. There were cracks on the wall, some parts of the house were already eaten by nature, and window glasses were shattered.

"Let's hide there!" Olaf said.

They decided to go inside that house because it seemed safe. There was no sign of bandits in its surrounding. They entered through one of the large cracks on the side of the house, and they sat on the corner, avoiding any possibility of being seen.

"Hey, is it okay if we stay here?" Merlin consulted his friend.

"Well..., it seems quiet here, so let's just wait here for quite a while okay!" Olaf peeked through the slanted window. "No one outside, I think we're safe here," he whispered to his friend.

"If we decided to stay here, then, what about your brother?"

"He's already dead."

"What?!"

Merlin was bewildered. He was confused and in denial. Another friend that he holds dear, has now gone.

An awkward silence then followed through.

Amidst the silence of mourning and caution, they could still hear the scream and agony of those who fought, those who ran, and those who begged for mercy.

Then, the ground rumbled. The sound of heavy footsteps can be heard from the outside of the house.

Hiding in the corner, the two desperate children saw a shadow of a man with a tall and skinny silhouette walking in front of the house.

The silhouette stopped. The bandit seemed to be leaning his head towards the house.

The two boys tried their best to not make any noise. They closed their mouth with their hands to not let out any voice. They stiffened their body to not cause any ruckus.

But alas, the curiosity of the man with the scrawny long hair ceased the wish of the village boys to be left alone.

The human bandit opened the squeaky door and he scanned the room.

"Well hello there!" He spoke towards the younglings.

Merlin stayed curled, while Olaf, the lad with short pointy ears, managed to get up, and readied himself to fight.

"Ooh! Quite feisty aren't ya!" The bandit was surprised.

"State your purpose!" Olaf shouted to warn the intruder.

"Well..., I'm just checking around..., and it seems...." The man slowly pulled a short blade that was sheathed on his waist.

Olaf raised both of his hands in front of his chest. He squeezed his hands tightly to prepare for a punch.

He looked straight at the bandit and decided to run and initiate the first attack.

The bandit also readied himself.

Olaf was running while closing his eyes. He screamed. He then threw his right hook on the bandit's stomach. Some sparks of fire were spiralling on his wrist and arm.

The bandit also tried to swing his knife to cut Olaf's neck. But, fortunately for Olaf, by the time the fist hits the bandit's stomach, an explosion suddenly burst out of nowhere.

It launched the bandit far far away and wrecked the wall behind him.

Confused as to what caused the blast sound, Olaf slowly opened his eyes.

"Woah!" He was amazed. He looked behind him to ask his friend for some confirmation.

What Olaf saw was Merlin who had his eyes widened and his mouth wide open.

"What was that?!" Olaf asked his dear friend.

"That was your magic right!?" Merlin replied in bewilderment.

"Woah!" Olaf stared at his clenched fist in astonishment.

The young village lads directed their attention towards the bandit that was blasted through the wall.

"Is he dead?" Merlin stood up and asked.

"I think so."

"Hey!" A sound of a man from afar. It seemed to be directed towards Olaf and Merlin.

By looking at his knackered leather armour and his foreign face, the two boys were able to conclude that he is part of the bandit group.

"Hey! Over here!" The bandit called for aid.

Olaf readied himself to fight. He tried to summon fire on his hand, but he couldn't. He slammed both of his fists together, and only managed to summon sparks. But, he paid no heed. His gaze was focused on the group of six bandits that gathered across the street.

Merlin, who was moved by his friend, grabbed the rubble stone nearby to prepare for fights.

When they saw two children who visibly lack fighting experience, the group of bandits laughed as a reaction.

The bandits, who festooned themselves with worn-out leather armour, pulled out their weapons. And thus, with their knives, swords, and spears, they ran toward the two young lads.

One bandit managed to get closer faster than the rest. He immediately thrust his long sword onto Olaf's neck.

Olaf blocked it with his palm. A circular flame wall appeared and it melted the sword.

The man stopped. He looked at his melted sword, but before he managed to fulfil his revenge, a stone quickly flew to his head and it rendered him unconscious.

It was Merlin who threw that.

Two bandits approached Olaf with a knife. One was approaching from the left while the other was from the opposite.

Olaf put up another wall of fire. Unfortunately, One of the bandits managed to block them with a wall of earth, while the other created a water shield.

Olaf was shocked that one of them could formulate water magic. He didn't realise that the bandit on his right jumped with his wall and tried to attack him from above.

But, Merlin was able to jump and tackled the bandit.

Olaf got distracted by Merlin.

"Watch out!!!" Merlin shout.

Olaf looked behind him. he saw a knife right in front of his eyes. He couldn't dodge fast enough. The knife bled Olaf's left eye.

He took a step back while covering his bleeding eyes with his hand.

Merlin now sat on top of the bandit. He managed to get a hold of the bandit's knife. He tried his best to push the knife through the bandit's chest, but the bandit resist.

Another bandit with a spear tried to aid by thrusting his spear towards Merlin.

Merlin saw it and he got up and managed to dodge the spear attack. Olaf aid him by trying to summon a larger wall of fire to cover both of them.

"You good?" Merlin was worried.

"Yeah..., I think I'm fine. Magic was easier than I thought." Olaf replied.

Merlin replied with a smirk.

Sweat was seen dripping from Olaf's pores, He looked exhausted from the magic. But, this was a matter of survival. They would do anything they can to survive.

The bandit with a knife managed to extinguish the wall of fire. The bandit who wields the earth managed to get up. The villagers were cornered.

The other three bandits were resting their weapons and they were seen laughing.

The two boys scanned their surroundings.

Though deflected, Olaf kept chanting fireball magic towards the water wielder.

Merlin grabbed a large stone nearby and threw it toward the spear wielder. He then ran towards the earth wielder to tackle him again.

The earth wielder managed to get a better stance. Hence, he didn't fall. While wrapping his arm on the bandit's body, Merlin looked up and saw him smiling.

The spear wielder managed to stab Merlin's left waist.

"Ach!"

Merlin backed away and he screamed in pain. He held his wound to stop the bleeding. Merlin quickly took a glance at Olaf.

Olaf seemed to be running out of breath. Sweat was seen drenching his head and clothes.

He had exhausted his magic. Trying to force more power, his mana core became unstable because he was untrained. As a result, he coughed up a large amount of blood.

"Olaf!" Merlin yelled.

Olaf then collapsed. His body was shaking on the floor. Then, his chest and stomach suddenly exploded. Bloods and Innards spread everywhere due to untrained mana vessels and unstable mana core. He died with his eyes wide open, in pain, and terror.

Merlin could only stand there in shock, while all six bandits were laughing out loud.