Liberation

Panting from exertion and loss of mana, I watched as the majority of the remaining bandits balked and fled, the injured slowly picking themselves up and limping after their comrades. Their leader, the mousy man called Tirel, gritted his teeth and glared in my direction, somehow still standing despite taking a direct hit from a lightning bolt. There were still dozens of men, however, that opted to stand with him rather than flee. If nothing else, I had to admit they had guts.

Behind me, Rill and the others finally entered the scene, Lassan gaping at the destruction I had wrought across the entrance plaza. The ground rose and fell in waves, the stones marred from lightning and fire. Thankfully, I had managed to avoid hitting any of the nearby buildings in my attack. His face grim, the man breathed, “I knew you could use magic. I’ve seen it myself a few times, now…but I had no idea you were capable of unleashing this level of devastation.”

Rill simply whistled and gave me a thumbs-up. “Good work, Leo! Why don’t you let us take it from here?”

As she shouldered her sword and grinned contentiously towards the opposing group, their leader exclaimed, “Don’t go acting all smug! I’ll admit that I underestimated you, but I also know that no one can keep up casting spells that strong for very long. I’d wager you’ve already exhausted yourself after all that, am I right? And the rest of your party doesn’t seem to share your magical aptitude. So now you’re still outnumbered, and without your greatest advantage. But enough talk. Kill them!”

The men around him surged forward at his command, and my friends readied their weapons and stood to face them. Dammit, he’s right! My body feels heavy, and slow. I definitely went overboard. The others might be skilled, but we're still horribly outnumbered! I clenched my fists as I realized, I acted on impulse, and allowed my anger to guide me. We should have thought this through. It was foolish to think I could take on an entire town filled with enemies on my own!

Before the tide could collide with Rill and Lassan, a shower of stones suddenly rained down upon the horde, and I looked up to see the people of Layhaven covering the rooftops, each and every one of them bearing a determined look upon their faces. They knew this might be their only chance of salvation, to be free of the bandits, and it seemed that they were willing to risk everything for it.

The bandits shielded themselves from the unforeseen attack, the occasional fist-sized stone still managing to get through and knock them to the dirt. Rill and Tark launched into action, wood and steel flashing through the ranks as Lassan and even Nora backed them up. More townspeople filed into the lobby, wielding pitchforks, shovels, and whatever other improvised weapons they had managed to acquire, effectively pincering the bandit force between us.

I heaved a sigh of relief and joined in myself, exhausted but still able to swing my sword. Maybe we can do this, after all!

***

Rill plowed through the men standing before her, flowing through their ranks like a fish through water. Her wooden blade wormed straight through every available opening, connecting hard enough with whatever it hit to incapacitate each target. She was aiming for their leader, the man in the green coat. Gran always said, if you want to make the bullies stand down, you gotta find the meanest one and clobber him into the ground!

Behind her, Tark grunted as he struggled to keep up with her pace, his regimented training and forms not lending themselves very well to the free-for-all he found himself in. Still, he was managing, and soon enough Rill burst through the crowd into a small hollow, coming face-to-face with her target. He grimaced at her and held his hand-axe out threateningly as Tark broke through the ranks behind her.

“Damn you,” he growled, “Marik will hear of what happened here today. You won’t get away with this!”

“You don’t scare me,” Tark spat back at him. A man of few words, he immediately launched into an attack.

Tirel effortlessly blocked the strike and spun, delivering a solid kick into Tark’s flank hard enough to knock him off his feet. Rill slid into the opening, but the man was quicker than she anticipated, gracefully twisting his center of gravity to deliver an upward strike at her chin with his axe.

She managed to block it, but the impact lifted her up into the air, and sent her staggering backwards to bump into the back of another of his cohorts. The surprised man thankfully stopped her fall, and before he could turn around, she spun on her heel, driving the pummel of her sword into his temple to knock him unconscious. The movement also served to disperse her momentum, and she quickly dropped back into a low stance.

This guy is strong, maybe even stronger than that Nervin I fought in Lakeside. He even took one of Leo’s lightning bolts directly, and he’s not only still standing, but able to fight at this level. “Tark,” she yelled, and the man spared her a glance, “we have to attack him together! Follow my lead!”

He nodded, and they both closed in on Tirel, who fought desperately against their combined onslaught. They definitely outmatched him in terms of raw skill, but he had the upper hand in his physical strength, which he used to great effect. Each time he deflected one of their attacks, he did so with enough power to make them stagger, giving him time to counter the next. But even so, it was a two-on-one fight, and he was already fatigued. It was only a matter of time before he screwed up, and he knew it. Rill watched as his eyes darted across the battlefield, now noticeably lacking bandits who were still able to put up a fight. The outcome was clear; they had lost this battle.

The man tsked, and suddenly leapt backwards, sailing above the heads of the nearby combatants and landing in front of the destroyed town gate. Holding his head high, he declared, “Very well, I will admit defeat. You win this battle, but mark my words. We will return, and there will be a reckoning! Come, men! We will take our leave.”

“Wait,” Rill began, and took a half-step forward before Tark grabbed her shoulder. She glanced at him, and he shook his head. He’s right, she thought, we have no choice but to let him go. I’m honestly not sure we could have defeated him without Leo’s help, anyway.

All around her, the remaining bandit forces turned and bolted, following their leader as he fled through the ruined gateway. In moments, silence settled over the battlefield, apart from several low moans from injured townsfolk and bandits who had yet to regain their footing and flee. The rest of the people stood still, their improvised weapons held half-ready, gazes distant as though they could not believe what had just happened. Then, a cacophony of cheers broke out from the crowd, a deafening roar that rattled Rill’s teeth.

***

Things happened quickly after the defeat of the bandits. The people ran out any enemies that remained while our group met with a hastily put together council consisting of the town elders and respected members of the community, the very same individuals who had orchestrated the people’s revolt. As it turned out, the mastermind behind it all was actually the wife of the old man we had saved at the start, who was enthusiastically grateful for our help.

In a voice shaky from age, she told us, “You have done us a great service this day. For many long years we’ve suffered beneath the heel of those dogs of the Bandit King, beaten down and terrorized, too afraid to stand up for ourselves. We thought we were powerless to stop them, that there was nothing we could do. But when we saw you stand up to them, it opened our eyes to what was really possible.”

Lassan laughed politely at her sincere words, and replied, “Well, I’m just glad that we were able to help.”

“But did we really do the right thing?” I wondered, and the others lowered their eyes, all likely thinking the same thing, remembering Tirel’s promise to return and deliver a reckoning.

Rill chimed in, “That man mentioned he was Marik’s…Auxiliary, right? Do you know what he might have meant by that? The way he said it made it sound important. Plus…he was strong.”

The old woman, who had given her name as Anrie, shared a glance with her husband and the others gathered around us in the common room of the inn we had been led to, and sighed before explaining, “It is true, that man is a very high-ranking member of the Bandit King’s forces. As I understand it, there are only three individuals at his level across the entirety of their territory. I’m afraid that Tirel’s threat is a very real one.”

“Then we should begin making preparations,” Lassan suggested pragmatically, “First, the wall needs repaired, and our defenses bolstered. When he returns, we’re going to be in for a rough fight.”

“You’re staying?” Anrie asked incredulously, looking at each of us in turn. I met Rill’s gaze, who grinned and nodded confidently. Tark scowled at the thought of what was coming, and Nora wore an entirely unreadable expression, but I knew them well enough to know that they were thinking the exact same thing that I was, the crimson skull insignia from Darna flashing in my mind’s eye once more. There’s no doubt they’ll be back, and they’ll bring an army with them. They’ll do everything in their power to trample this place to the ground. Even if I have to give up my secret and transform to beat them, I’ll do everything in my power to fight them!

We all exchanged a look and nodded at Lassan, who sighed heavily and told her, “Looks like we’re all in agreement. Besides, it’s not like we can just run away. It’s our fault that things have turned out like this, and now it’s our responsibility to see things through to the end…whatever that might entail.”

Perhaps it was inevitable from the start, I thought, and spared a glance at Rill, her face set in determination. Whatever happens, my number one priority is keeping her safe. I’ll need to be more careful next time to not exhaust myself so quickly.

“We would be most grateful for your assistance,” the woman mused, adding, “And I can assure you with the utmost confidence that there is not a single individual here who would rather you hadn’t intervened. We will relish these fleeting moments of freedom and reprieve, and welcome whatever might come. For many, death is preferable to the treatment they have shown us. You have the aid of every able-bodied man, woman, and child in Layhaven! We’ll fight at your side, and if nothing else, we’ll make sure that damned Marik never forgets us!”

Over the course of the next few days, Lassan organized the hurried reconstruction of the town gates, while the rest of us spent our time recovering our strength and making what preparations we could for the surely incoming attack. But slowly, those days turned into weeks, we began to wonder if it was ever going to come at all. The townspeople’s fervor waned, turning into confusion as they began to question if maybe Tirel’s threat had been a hollow one, after all.

As the third week meandered to a close, I laid in my bed in the inn, also beginning to wonder if maybe, just maybe, they had indeed given up on returning to Layhaven. Or, perhaps they were waiting for us to leave, specifically? There was no doubt that the town would be easier to attack without us around, whether their intent was to recapture it, or otherwise. My worries faded into dreams as I closed my eyes and nodded off.

What felt like mere minutes later, I awakened to the heavy smell of smoke, and groaned as I slowly opened my eyes. Sitting up, I stared at the flickering red glow that filtered in around the curtains beside me, and I rose, flinging them aside to reveal a horrific sight, a hellscape straight out of my worst nightmares.

Layhaven was engulfed in flames, and bandits ran through the smoky gloom below, cutting down any townsfolk they could find.

The day we had all been waiting for had finally arrived, and it looked like our defenses had already been breached.