Vol. II Chapter VII: Ambush in the Marshes

“See? The torture paid off, they actually came!”

A voice rang out, filled with gleeful excitement.

“Along with the other goods, they’ll fetch us a handsome sum, hehehe,” someone else added.

Then a voice boomed, echoing off the cavern walls:

“Shut your mouths!”

Silence fell for a moment.

“You’re surrounded. Come out slowly with your hands raised, and we’ll make this quick and painless.”

Lucius glanced at the rest of the group, his heart racing.

“What do we do now?” he whispered.

Melissa’s eyes had already narrowed into sulfur-yellow slits, and her claws extended.

“We fight. What else?” she answered without hesitation.

But Tagunel shook his head firmly.

“A frontal attack would be suicide, no matter how fast you are!”

“Got a better idea?” she snapped back, glaring.

The halfling rubbed his smooth chin, lost in thought.

Suddenly, a flaming arrow shot into the cave, whizzing past Liviana’s right ear and grazing one of her earrings before striking the cavern wall. Liviana let out a startled hiss.

The voice outside spoke again, colder and more menacing than before:

“Seems you didn’t quite understand me, so let me make it simpler. I’m going to count to ten. If I don’t see hands by then, there’ll be no mercy.”

A few seconds of tense silence followed, before the counting began.

“One…”

The group stood frozen in the cave. Tagunel frowned deeply, Melissa stared tensely toward the cave entrance. Liviana leaned against the stone wall, panting and clenching her teeth.

“Two…”

Lucius closed his eyes, fingers brushing over the vials strapped to his belt.

“Three… Four…”

There has to be a way out! he thought desperately.

His eyes flicked upward. A narrow crack in the ceiling let in a faint glimmer of starlight. It was small, but just large enough for someone to squeeze through. The problem was, it was too high up. Not even Melissa or Liviana could reach it, despite their agility.

“Five…”

He pulled one of the small glass vials from his belt, studying it in the dim light. Suddenly, his eyes went wide and clear, and a spark of hope lit inside him.

“Six…”

“I have an idea!” Lucius burst out, pulling the others close to whisper quickly.

“Seven…”

“Eight…”

“Nine…”

A brief pause. Then, in a cold, deadly voice, the bandit leader finished the countdown:

“Ten…”

Silence reigned inside the cave. A faint trickling of water echoed off the stone, and a cool breeze stirred the air. The sound of bowstrings being drawn.

But before the arrows could fly, the bandit leader noticed soft footsteps approaching the cave mouth. With a sharp hand signal, he ordered his men to hold.

And with lowered gazes and hands raised, the group stepped out from the shadows of the cave.

“About time,” the leader sneered.

He was of average height, slimly built, with black hair twisted into narrow, spiky braids interwoven with shimmering gemstones of various colors. 

His dark, angular face was cool and calculating, a mocking smile playing at his thin lips.

He wore a long, flowing robe of layered fabrics in dark sapphire blue and rust red, with dull metallic scales glinting between the folds. 

His men wore similar robes in different colors and patterns, with long curved sabers hanging from their belts.

“Tie them up,” he ordered curtly.

Instantly, several men lowered their bows and moved forward with ropes and chains.

“The halfling’s hands are too small! The shackles keep slipping off…” one of them complained.

“Then use a rope, you idiot!” the bandit leader barked back.

Another bandit grabbed Melissa and Liviana by the chin, scrutinizing them with a greedy glint in his eyes. Melissa barely managed to restrain herself from biting his hand.

“Why the angry face, little Selvarin?” he taunted.

“If you won’t give me a smile, we’ll have to sell you as damaged goods. Hehehe.”

Another bandit interrupted sharply.

“Cut the crap. The Selvarin are worth the most! If we don’t sell them, we’re stuck with just the worthless halfling and the human.”

“What human?” one of the men remarked, trying to secure Tagunel’s hands with rope.

Suddenly, everyone froze.

“Wait… where’s...”

The leader snapped his head up, eyes wide with realization, but it was already too late.

“IGNAR SUAIN INCENDIA!”

A roaring inferno crashed down at the cave entrance, instantly reducing most of the bandits to ash. 

Rock melted and dripped like molten metal, while the scorched earth turned pitch black. 

Those who stood farther away dropped to the ground, gasping for breath as the fire consumed the air.

Tagunel swallowed the magical essence he’d been hiding in his mouth just in time. 

Melissa and Liviana broke free from their captors, grabbing the halfling and pulling him close as he chanted:

“Scutodraiocht!”

A shimmering barrier flared around them, straining to contain the blast’s savage power. 

Heat washed over them, sweat streaming down their faces. 

When the flames finally subsided, they collapsed to the ground, trembling and exhausted.

“Such incredible power…” Tagunel whispered in awe, staring up at Lucius, who stood atop the cave, his hands still glowing and crackling with residual energy.

“Well done, my little wizard!” Melissa called up to him with a grin, transforming into her beast form and bursting her chains apart. 

She turned to face the remaining bandits, many of whom were burned and staggering.

But as those few survivors slowly regained their footing, they took one look at her and fled without hesitation.

When Lucius finally climbed down from the cave’s roof, Liviana clapped him on the shoulder.

“Who’d have thought you had that kind of power in you? Incredible!”

Tagunel nodded solemnly.

“That was a brilliant use of Ventha.”

Lucius gave a modest smile.

Aelmir’s words echoed in his mind:

“One of the most important weapons in the use of magic is creativity. There’s always more than one way to cast a spell!”

That was how he’d come up with the idea of using Ventha as a blast of propulsion. 

He’d used the gust of wind to launch himself upward until he slammed against the cave ceiling and squeezed out through the narrow crack to escape.

After catching their breath, the group began searching the area and rummaging through the bandits’ belongings.

“I think I’ve found our contact,” Melissa called out.

A few meters north of the cave, they discovered a cart hidden among the undergrowth. 

The two-legged pack animal beside it was calmly grazing by the roadside, seemingly unfazed by all the chaos. 

Their contact was slumped against a nearby tree, bound, tortured, mutilated and dead.

Lucius swallowed hard, as he wasn’t used to sights like this from his old life.

Liviana noticed his discomfort and said gently:

“Don’t worry. You get used to it…eventually.”

The goods and disguises were still in the crates on the cart, though it looked like the bandits had rifled through them.

They buried the man and Liviana murmured a prayer in a language Lucius and Melissa couldn’t understand. 

Then they brought the cart, the creature, and the crates back into the cave for safety.

“We stick to the plan,” Liviana said firmly. “Let’s try to get some sleep.”

“I’ll take the first watch,” Lucius volunteered. “I doubt I’ll be getting much sleep tonight anyway.”

Later, as the others slept, Lucius sat atop the cave, gazing out across the dark plains of Yashar. 

The rhythmic clatter of hooves reached his ears.

“Who’s there?” he whispered tensely.

“Relax. Or do you think there are other satyrs around here besides me?”

“You never know,” he shot back as Melissa dropped down beside him on the rock, folding her arms behind her head and staring up at the sky.

“I wonder if this world has blood moons too?” she mused. 

Lucius snorted softly.

“Let’s hope not. Otherwise Dionysus might show up and find us.”

Melissa shrugged.

“Doesn’t bother me. I’m not afraid anymore.”

Then she turned toward Lucius, starlight glittering in her amber eyes as the wind tugged at her tousled hair.

“Funny, isn’t it? Even though we’re all dancing to Marcthain’s tune now, I somehow feel… free. More than I ever felt before. Strange, huh?”

Lucius stared into the distance, thoughtful. 

Finally, he said:

“I think I know what you mean. This world… it’s so different from our old ones. Full of possibilities, mysteries and…”

He hesitated for a moment as he watched Yashar in the distance.

“…Dangers.”

Melissa grinned.

“Don’t worry. We’ll just keep watching each other’s backs, deal?”

“Deal,” said Lucius, reaching out to clasp her hand.

Insects chirped in the humid night air, mingling with the scent of moss and scorched stone. 

The cold rock beneath them brought a welcome chill.

“Still,” Melissa said with a wry smile, “I wouldn’t say no to a goblet of Silenos’s finest wine right about now.”