Intimancer

The overladen cart rumbled through a lonely mountain pass.

Rick scanned the surroundings carefully from his spot in the driver's seat.  The only thing his senses picked up were the echoes of their cart’s wheels as the sound bounced back from somewhere in the mist that surrounded them on all sides.  How they were expected to find anyone way up in the clouds was anyone's guess.

Sade patted his shoulder gently.  She was far calmer than he was, but she didn’t really rely on weapons to defend herself as much as he did.  The two of them were dressed as a young farm couple.  Ones that are on their way back to the countryside after acquiring a whole wagon load of supplies from selling their unusually productive harvest.  Rick hoped that their quarry would fall for the simple ruse.

They were trying to lure out a gang of bandits who had marked this lonely stretch of road as their hunting grounds.  After the report from the chief of Gaviota came in, filled to the brim with gratitude and praise for the party’s efforts, their reputation with the hunters skyrocketed.  Both of their missions were considerably more difficult than originally estimated, and the fact they were able to still accomplish them with no fatalities to themselves or any civilians was nothing short of commendable.

After the shell of the giant king crab was analyzed by the garrison for study and authenticity, the party proudly hung the spiked carapace like a trophy in one of the rooms of their home in commemoration of a job well done.  It would hopefully be the first of many decorations to their home to showcase their skill and teamwork.

Rick was happy that Lilie was finally recognized for her efforts with the hunters.  Her luck with previous groups was so atrocious, it was almost comical.  While almost all of the various parties she partnered with eventually broke up and the individual members washed out before they could truly damage the reputation of the garrison, it unfortunately meant that they also dragged her name in the mud along with them, since they all almost universally blamed her for their own failings, which unfortunately made it hard for her to pair up with better groups or receive help.

All four of them were now considered prime rookies.  This meant they were now able to be given more difficult and lucrative jobs reserved for teams that had considerably more experience and proved themselves capable.  They were trusted a bit more, but mistakes would invoke stricter scrutiny.  They had finally risen above the chaff as it were.

Lilie walked alongside the cart as it made its way through the mist.  She was the only one in the group that could be seen wearing any form of arms or armor.  Her hood was up, obscuring her features, but Rick could see her scan the surroundings just as much as he was.  Her part to play in this little charade was as their hired guard.  Tyr was, unfortunately, too high profile as a forest elf to play that role.  So having the giant woman anywhere in sight would scare off their prey before they even got close.

“Halt!”

Rick looked around to find the source of the voice.  Up ahead stood a lone man in the middle of the road.  He was armored in mismatched plate and in his hands was a large, cruel looking axe.  As they drew closer, Rick saw two proud horns jutting out from his blond hair.

“That is far enough!”  He called out to them.

Before they even registered his last command, several figures leaped out and surrounded the cart, forcing Rick to pull back on the reins so they wouldn’t run over anyone.  He did a quick headcount, there were nine men and women, including the blond fellow with the axe, covering them from every angle with their weapons drawn.  It seems their ridiculous plan actually worked.  He owed Tyr a drink when this was all done.

Lilie had her sword out already, but before she could even think of using it, a dirty silver saber tapped lightly against her shoulder, its keen edge pointed towards her neck.

“Now, now.  Put that thing away before anyone gets hurt.  We are here for the goods, not your lives.”

Lilie scowled at the man from under her hood, but slowly angled her broadsword back into its sheath.  The handsome bandit just smiled roguishly and tucked a long lock of brown hair back behind one of his dark horns.  Looking around, Rick noticed that every one of the bandits was a shaytoni.  A curious, if irrelevant, detail.

“Very good sister.”  A female bandit said as she passed by Lilie and took note of the horns under the hood.  “We are sorry it had to come to this.  Be assured we won’t take everything.  We will try to leave enough for you.”  She apologized while moving towards the back of the cart.

She lowered the tailgate for easy access to what looked to be a large pile of goods.  “With all this we’ll be able to last until winter.”  She reached for the large tarp that both covered and secured their cargo and ripped it off with one smooth motion.

“Hey’o!”  Tyr said cheerfully from her seated position amongst the cargo.

The bandit’s eyes grew wide, but before she could react any further, a powerful kick sent her flying away.  Like a tiger pouncing on helpless prey, the forest elf leapt out from her hiding place and tore into the surrounding crowd with her bare hands.

The other three wasted no time capitalizing on the distraction carnifex that was their pointy eared friend and jumped into the fray.  Rick hit a skinny blond pretty boy with a flying elbow after leaping off the cart.  He took no small amount of pleasure in feeling the man’s jaw crunch against the hard bone of his forearm.  He quickly shifted to kick a small woman in the stomach before rounding on another shaytoni with similar dusky skin as Sade.

“I told ya it would work!”  Tyr laughed while holding two women in a headlock with each arm.  “Ya owe me a beer!”

“I am well aware of that fact, good job!”  Rick called out while ducking a sword swing from the woman he kicked.

“Will you two focus!”  Sade roared from her position high on the cart.  Blue arcs of electricity were shooting out of her fingertips, causing any bandit hit by her magic to start jerking like they were being tased before Lilie would round on the stunned bandit in a bid to finish them off.  Sade was unintentionally doing her best to look like a cross between a farmer and a sith lord, and he found it absolutely hilarious.  Rick would love to have sat back and watched the show if he wasn’t occupied with his own fight.

There was a feral screech from behind them.  Everyone turned to see the first bandit Tyr punted off the road back on her feet, looking none too happy about it.  Power coalesced around her, and several spears of ice formed in the air, their sharp points aimed right at the ensuing melee.

“Everybody duck!”  Rick screamed and hit the deck.

“Fuck!”  Tyr yelped.  She tossed aside the bandits she was suffocating with her tits and dove for her life.

The ice mage threw her arms forward and her ice spikes shot forward like they were fired from a machine gun.  Sharpened lances of ice slammed into the cart, sending items and wood splinters flying in all directions.  Hunter and bandit alike were all scrambling out of the line of fire, less they wanted to be turned into frozen pin cushions.

“Go fuck her up!”

“Yeah!  Turn that beast into an elf-sicle!”

The two women Tyr threw aside cheered on their comrade from their position on the ground while the mage continued to form and launch ice at Tyr’s position.  The elf dashed away from the fight, a trail of icy impacts on the hard ground following just behind her heels, and swiftly disappeared into the mist.  Sadly, that meant the rest of the hunting party was outnumbered three to one against the pissed off highwaymen, not quite the best odds if Rick was being honest.

Sade made a dash towards the ice mage.  If anyone could counter enemy magic, it would be her.  Her actions didn’t go unnoticed.  The big guy with the axe bellowed a warcry and charged after her.  With a simple flex of his powerful legs, he scaled the remains of the cart then leaped off, a somewhat sonorous yell escaping from his lips and a wicked weapon poised above his head.

Sade stopped her momentum with a stomp of her leg and twisted around to face her flying opponent.  In one smooth motion, her arms whipped around and the earth rose with her movement.  The large bandit slammed into the triangular wall of dirt that suddenly formed in his path and was deflected aside, his momentum causing him to tumble and roll harmlessly away from his initial target.

Rick sighed inwardly, that bandit was extremely lucky.  Sade could have easily formed a giant spike for him to impale himself on.  While terrifying and powerful, an aerial attack makes it extremely hard to dodge out of the way if things go wrong.  Sade activated her earth spell once more to form stone bindings over the bandits arms, legs, and torso to prevent him from getting back up and trying anything else for the rest of the fight.

Sade had just been taught about elemental manipulation spells the past week in one of her classes.  These were types of spells that allowed the caster to manipulate the element in question in all sorts of ways, as opposed to just performing a single task like most other spells Rick had been taught.  While their versatility was incomparable, one of the main reasons they were hardly ever used was because the spell formula to cast was ludicrously complicated.  Oh, and the mana cost to use a manipulation class spell for a few seconds was equal to Sade’s ‘thunder spear’.  So yeah… not something a typical mage would think of using in the middle of a brawl with bandits.

The ice wielding bandit focused her attention on Sade.  She had taken too long to deal with the axe guy and could now no longer close the gap fast enough to stop the enemy mage from casting again.  A triumphant grin spread across the bandit woman’s face as her spell took shape once more.

But she completely failed to notice the hulking form standing right behind her.

The poor mage’s body crashed into the wooden remains of the cart she destroyed in an explosion of wood chips and dust.  Tyr once more charged into the fray to cause maximum confusion.  Sade rushed to secure any and all opponents who were thrown to the ground by the wild juggernaut with her earthen shackles.  For some reason the two women who Tyr was previously fighting never got up from their prone positions.  They swiftly realized their mistake when the decision to get up and actually do something was forcefully taken from them a moment later.

Rick was still stuck in a three on one.  None of the bandits were skilled enough to pin him down, but every time he tried to attack one, the other two would rush in and force him to back off and stay on the defensive.  Thankfully around half their number was now incapacitated with no losses on his side.

Lilie was engaged in a duel with the handsome saber wielder.  They shuffled back and forth along the rocky ground, neither side truly gaining an advantage over the other.  This bandit was good.  Over the past week, all of them had been pooling together their fighting knowledge in preparation for their mission to take on the bandits.  Lilie had shown Rick all the finer points to swordsmanship, and despite being a healer, she was incredibly skilled with a blade in his humble opinion.

Metal rang through the air as their weapons clashed together over and over.  The bandit’s easy smile never wavered while Lilie’s was set in a hard line of concentration.  After she ducked under a horizontal swipe, she rushed in with her shield leading the way.  The solid barrier crashed against his torso, causing his breath to rush out of his mouth in a great burst.  He tumbled backward, falling down right next to the big blond guy, and Sade secured him with a simple flick of her wrist.

The final group of bandits surrounding Rick started to look scared.  Their advantage of numbers was now gone, and Tyr started to stalk toward them, her fangs glinting in the dim light.

A sudden rush of dark flames bloomed around the bandits, creating a burning wall to block the elf’s path.  A new voice cut through the roar of the flames like a knife, strong and deadly.

“Who dares attack my minions?!”