The Right Woman In the Right Place

Thordon lay collapsed on the ground, his hit points drained to nothing as Maggie looked on in horror. Four bandits remained, but her little wand did little to deter them without any proper offensive spells. Her only hope now was Koumei who had taken his own share of hits, roughly down to a fifth of his hit points. He was panting and in pain, but continued to fight fiercely. As Maggie prepared herself to take another painful hit, the bandit suddenly dropped dead before her, an arrow buried in his head. Magie turned to see Lian perched on the cliff, her hit points low but her arrow still nocked. She drew back again and struck another bandit in the leg. Maggie would need to be quick. With the sudden danger from overhead, the remaining bandits had their attention split between Koumei and Lian. Maggie quickly began to channel the most potent healing power at her disposal, taking a good few seconds to prepare it. By the time the bandits caught on to what was happening, it was too late as Maggie pressed her hands to the lifeless body of Thordon. With a bright glow, a small amount of hit points were restored to the dragon soul. Determined to stop Thordon from getting back up, one of the remaining bandits turned around, only for Lian to strike him down with an arrow. Back in the fight, Thordon rose up and readied his weapon, a quick blast of healing from Maggie ensuring that he could take a few hits again. With so few opponents remaining, and both of them damaged, Thordon had little problem finishing them off with a slash or two, especially with Koumei’s help.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the camp, Ruori continued to dodge attack after attack. Her hit points had dwindled slightly thanks to a calculated shield bash from Roger who caught her as she attempted to close in for another stab. Still, she remained in decent fighting shape, dodging another heavy swing from Kregor. As he was beginning to correct his stance once more however, an arrow suddenly flew in, sticking him near the neck, taking off a bit more health. The beast of a goliath stopped for a moment and slowly turned around, reaching up to grab the arrow before plucking it out and lazily tossing it aside as he looked to Lian on the cliff. Another arrow flew towards him but he managed to deflect it with his axe.

Behind him stood his boss, the two of them back to back as Roger stared down Ruori, both of them waiting for the other to make their move. Another dagger fling forced Roger to awkwardly guard, giving Ruori another chance to dash in and sneak a hit. However, Roger had no intention of dealing with it this time. Nudging the goliath behind him, Ruori was suddenly taken off guard as the two bandits spun around in unison, Roger raising his shield and catching an arrow from Lian into it. Kregor on the other hand spun around with his axe, already extended outward in a swing. It was too late, Ruori was already taken off guard by the sudden swap, and now there was no way she would be able to dodge the wide blade of that axe. Taking a chop to the side, Ruori was sent careening off to the right. Had her body obeyed the laws of physics of the real world, she would have doubtlessly just been bisected by that axe. Instead, her hit points immediately dropped to a third as she rolled across the ground, the pain absolutely excruciating.

Seemingly satisfied with finally landing a hit on the nimble elf, both Kregor and Roger were taken off guard as a large spike of ice suddenly tore from the ground between them, digging deep into Roger while knocking them both to the ground. Out from a gap between the tents then stepped Thordon, body aglow and ice blade prepared in hand. Behind him came Maggie and Koumei, their hit points now filled nearly to maximum. Though the other two continued fighting their respective groups, they were still holding their own, leaving Roger and Kregor to deal with the new threats. As the bandit leaders turned to face Thordon, Ruori began to push herself up from the ground. Fighting through the pain, she smirked with immense satisfaction at the current turn of events, seeing her backup finally arrive. Drawing a throwing knife, Ruori began to dash forward. Seeing this, Kregor and Roger immediately took up position with their backs to one another as Roger prepared for the attack. Ruori however was too quick, throwing a knife directly into his side before suddenly vanishing.

Disoriented, Roger began to look around for any signs of the rogue, preparing for a strike at any moment. Unfortunately, it was difficult to protect yourself from what couldn’t be seen and a sudden sharp pain in the ribs of his left side made that reality very clear as more poison entered his system. He swung his shield immediately in an effort to get a hit on Ruori, but she was already on the move. Thordon meanwhile reared his head back and proceeded to blast the both of them with a surge of corrosive acid with his dragon breath. Lowering himself into a tackle, Kregor began to charge at Thordon at alarming speed before taking an arrow to the ribs. Thordon meanwhile simply let go of his sword, leaving it floating where he once stood as he dashed to the right. With a swing of his hand, Thordon’s ice blade cut into Kregor, the reduced effectiveness of his armor showing as his health was taken below a quarter from total damage. Maggie meanwhile put some distance between herself and the goliath as Koumei dodged around him.

With the sudden piercing shriek of a whistle, Koumei suddenly began to glow. Moments later, he threw back his head and let out the mightiest roar his little body could muster. Suddenly, everyone within earshot began to glow with a faint golden aura as a barrier had formed around them. Ruori was the first to experience its effects as another shield bash from Roger dealt no damage. Rolling around the attack, she took the opportunity to stick a dagger into his back before rolling away to create some distance and flinging a knife into his thigh. His hit points were now down by a bit over a third. He and his bodyguard were still standing relatively strong, but things were not looking good for them, especially seeing as the bandits who had been keeping Ember and Moze in check were steadily dwindling in number. Another arrow came down for Roger, but he managed to block this one as well. Still, they could both see where the winds were blowing.

The two leaders now stood side by side, their eyes on the intruders who had managed to beat the odds. They glanced around the camp at their dwindling numbers, however, before they could sound the retreat, a sudden thunderous bang could be heard radiating from the front gate. The first strike was soon followed by another, and another, each one splintering it further and further. Some of the bandits stopped to see what it was, but Moze and Ember used this opportunity to make them regret their curiosity. With another ground shaking thud, the front gate splintered open, revealing a hefty battering ram on the other side and a small legion of lizardmen troops who immediately stormed in. Seeing this, the remaining bandits, leaders included, suddenly turned tail, attempting to flee whichever way they could. While some made a break for the ramp to the cliff, the leaders made their way to the back of the compound itself.

“Hee hee, good thing you didn’t have your men patch that hole back there, huh?” Ruori taunted.

The fleeing leaders had no interest in indulging those taunts, as they sprinted away. A handful of the remaining bandits, mostly consisting of the ones who had been fighting Moze, soon followed behind with hoplites in close pursuit.