8

It had been two days since Corc left his father Tidwield’s fort. He had to forget about his father’s battle for now. He was about to approach the bandit’s hideout where they were keeping his sister, princess Siofra. He rode along with fifty horsemen, all had barely slept in the past few days. His eyes were heavy, his body fatigued.

Their horses felt sluggish, their breathing was heavy as their hooves dug at the mountain gravel. The biggest horse carried two coffers full of gold and silver for the ransom. It ran besides Corc, where he could keep an eye on it at all times.

As they turned a mountain with trees they could finally see the bandit hideout. The bandits had built a wooden fort near the base of a steep mountain. The fort looked crude, perhaps rushed. Its walls were crooked, its spike height on top uneven. The wood looked badly cut. They had gaps and cracks all over. Some movement could be seen in the gaps, like the movement of many people. There was smoke floating up.

The path to the bandit fort was a little steep, uneven, many rocks were sticking out, large and small. It was not good terrain for horses. Corc decided to leave the horses and proceed on foot. He ordered some men to carry along the two coffers of gold.

It was about noon when Corc walked the path to the fort. As he got closer his fatigue numbed and his anger grew. Each rock he had to balance on and step over made him even more angry.

He got to the gate. He could hear men busily talking. “I am prince Corc of the kingdom of Genogem. I am here for princess Siofra” Corc yelled as he stood tall right outside the gate with his army of fifty right behind him. Moments went by without answer. There was only increased talking from inside and visible movement seen in the gaps. “I got the two coffers of gold” Corc yelled.

The wooden gate creaked open. First to come out was stocky bandit. He had fitted leather armor with thick steel plates on his chest, knees and left shoulder as reinforcement. He had no helmet nor any protection on his right arm only a long shaft axe with a massive head. His forehead was like a stone block that shaded his eyes while he stared at Corc. He had a light, arrogant smirk.

He was followed by two men who stood at his side, then around two hundred men who stood behind them.

Corc’s army was heavily outnumbered. They stepped back, Corc guiding them to a defensive position. They put their shields in front, resting on their thighs.

“What, Tidwield didn’t come? I was hoping to challenge him to a duel, so I could chop his head off” the stocky bandit said in an arrogant raspy tone. His band of bandits crudely laughed and chanted his name “Kelso, Kelso, Kelso”. “You said you got my Gold and silver, boy? Let me see it” Kelso commanded, standing with his arms crossed, smirking. “First let me see Siofra” Corc demanded.

“What’s wrong, why don’t you want to show it to me, its not like you’re giving it to me yet. I just want to see so I know there’s no trickery” Kelso said, acting innocent. Corc made an angry sight, then he gave a signal for two of his soldiers. The soldiers carried the two wooden coffers to the front. Corc then unlocked them with his key. As he opened the covers, the sun shined into the smooth surface of the gold bars, reflecting on the faces on the bandits as their eyes grew wide open. Corc grabbed two handfuls of the gold bars, lifted them and dropped them back into the coffers. A soft tinging sound resonated on each bump of the gold. The bandit’s mouth were wide open, some were drooling at the sight.

“There is your gold and silver, now show me Siofra” Corc said.

Kelso had two man next to him, they took turns whispering to him in his ears. One looked like a veteran, worn, and aged from battles. He was tall and slender, wore had no armor. He was covered in a tunic that was torn above the elbows and mid belly. His trousers were ripped just above the knee, he had no shoes. He had a long neck, narrow jaw and sharp cheek bones and only one tooth that stuck out. The other man had crude unfitted armor. But what drew attention was his deceitful eyes, blank smile and how unusual it was to see that his lower legs were wrapped. “Right, let’s stop wasting time. Bring the coffers to the middle. I’ll have someone go collect it, then we’ll give you the girl” Kelso said in a loud commanding voice, pointing and gesturing with his axe.

“Do you take me for a fool, Kelso? You won’t get any gold until I see Siofra” Corc yelled defiantly. “And who are you to make commands, you’re no prince of mine. This isn’t the royal palace. We’re free men here!.” Kelso quickly shouted, pointing his axe at Corc. “Do you know what will happen to the little princess if you don’t give us the gold, huh?”

Corc didn’t answer, he just stood tall, with a stern, annoyed face. Tempted as he was by his heart, for Siofra’s safety, he knew it would be a grave mistake to give the gold at that point. He had to hold strong.

Both men on Kelso’s side whispered in his ear again. The deceitful looking one kept on pointing to Corc’s army, then to the ground, and then to Corc with a light, ominous smile. Meanwhile the man on the other side of Kelso kept shaking his head no, and waving his palms in front of Kelso desperately.

“Alright…alright…” Kelso yelled, as he showed his hand palm in the air, and glimpsed towards the gate with a soft smile. “Bring out princess Siofra!” he yelled towards the gate.

Kelso’s men split in half near the gate, making a gap that revealed a person who was completely covered in a dark cloak. “The princess!” yelled Kelso before a quick kneel. Corc quickly took a few steps forward trying to get a better look. “Siofra?!” he yelled, his voice echoed in the distant mountains. But the person didn’t respond.

“Don’t blame her, she went through a lot. Go on there, girl. Time to go with your brother” Kelso said out loud, pushing the cloaked person in the back with his axe. The cloaked person started to walk towards Corc with kelso right behind. “You bring the gold coffers, I’ll take the girl, we’ll meet in the middle” Kelso yelled out to Corc.

Corc stared at the cloaked person, he couldn’t make out any features. He needed a closer look. He sighted under his breath, and signaled for other soldiers to help him with the coffers. He lifted one side of a coffer and started walking towards the cloaked person, leading the way for the other coffer.

As kelso walked towards Corc, he had an intense look in his face, little drops of sweat on the side of his temple shinned in the sun. He kept looking at the coffers then at Corc with a blank intense stare. It all made Corc nervous. He was on his guard trying to pick up every detail.

As Corc neared the cloaked person, he saw it, unrecognizable finger toes peeking out from under the dark cloak. They were rough skinned with razor scars. The the toe nails were yellow, chipped, cracked.

He immediately stopped “take the gold back!” He quickly yelled as he reached for his sword. Kelso had noticed Corc’s eye catch something, he had readied his footing. Tightening his grip on his axe, he set his hostile eyes on Corc and rushed at him.

Yet the first one to notice Corc’s eyes was the cloaked person. He lunged out of his cloak with great speed at Corc, almost like he was floating. He had a dagger with a long, curved blade overhand, ready to deliver a dreadful blow downwards. Corc stepped back, but it was too late. The dagger’s blade went down, the sharp tip easily piercing the light leather armor and going into the flesh of Corc’s chest.

“Assassin!” yelled Corc’s army as they charged in. Kelso’s bandit Brigade followed. Both Corc’s army and Kelso’s bandit brigade knew they had to charge into the fight, the gold was right between them.