Earth and light alternated amidst swooshing sounds as Marco felt several parts of his body slam against the ground. When he finally came to a stop, everything hurt.
However, when he actually got to his feet, nothing seemed to be broken or even dislocated.
Was resilience another power of the Everlasting Flame? Or maybe he was just lucky.
Now that he thought about it, he wasn't forced into a kneel anymore either. Every other time it took Reina's command to break the spell, but it looked like distance worked too.
He was in the middle of the shady area where the brigands had stopped them. His sword lay a few feet away, and his buckler not too far from it, so he stumbled over to them as he found his footing.
Drawing his sword, he thought about his next move. On either side of him were woods that ran deep. He saw the brigands go into them. It would be foolish to follow, which left him with only one choice.
He had to get them to come to him.
"Hey you stupid bandits!" he yelled. "I know you're still around, I can smell your stink from here."
A quick response came in the form of the rustling of leaves. The five brigands emerged from the trees and bushes to his left.
Leading the pack was the same man who held an axe. As he marched over to Marco, his strong stench filled the young Hero's nose.
"I thought you left," said the brigand leader.
"Change of plans," Marco replied, pointing his sword at them. "You're all under arrest."
The man just stared back at him blankly. "How're you gonna do that?"
"By defeating you of course!"
"No, but like," said a younger brigand with a high-pitched voice, "how are you going to arrest us?"
"Yeah," chimed in another. "You gonna carry us all to the dungeon yourself?"
Marco's eyes darted from them to the leader, and to the other two who hadn't spoken.
"I will deal with that...after we fight."
The leader chuckled. "Alright then. Boys?"
On his command, the guy with the high-pitched voice drew two knives from his belt, twirling them around rapidly. Another brigand took a hammer and shield off of his back, banging them together. The other two drew longswords.
"You wanna go first?" asked the leader as he hefted his large two-headed axe.
Marco gulped. "Why don't you start?"
"Heh."
The leader moved one finger, the slightest of gestures, but it was enough to tell the high-pitched lad to spring into action. He ran at Marco, spinning his knives in unpredictable ways.
Marco leapt back to create distance, and ended up moving more than ten feet away in a single bound.
"What the–?" the high-pitched man exclaimed.
"The flame still works!" Marco said to himself.
He was scared, he had to admit. He had gotten in way over his head. But it seemed that the flame still gave him power even when he was afraid.
He smiled. "Looks like it's time to bring some justice."
He leaned forward and put his strength into his legs. Shooting forward, he arrived in front of the young brigand within moments. Before the lad could react, Marco swiped his knives away with his sword and punched him in the face with the buckler.
The lad crumpled to the ground holding his face with both hands. "Gaah! What is he?"
"He really is a Hero…"
The brigand leader shook his head bitterly. Then he pointed at Marco.
"Go! He can't take us all!"
"You sure about that?"
Emboldened, Marco took the initiative to rush in and attack them. He went for the leader first.
Clang!
His slash was blocked by the leader's axe. Before he could deliver a follow-up strike with his buckler, the man shoved him away using the long part of the axe.
Marco stabilized himself and got into an attack stance, but the two longsword guys were on him. He deflected one's slash with his buckler and dodged the other. The hammer guy was right in front of him. He sidestepped a hammer strike, and delivered a shoulder charge to the wielder's stomach.
But just as he broke their ranks, he was met with a foot to his chest.
Oof!
The leader's kick sent him falling backwards. He jumped to his feet, only to find the two sword guys on either side and the hammer-wielder in front.
He was surrounded.
"Wha?"
The leader stood behind the hammer-wielder, smiling a mocking smile. "I fought a Hero once, back when I was a sellsword. I killed him. You got your fancy magic powers, but it don't mean nothin' if you don't know how to fight."
"Or if I got enough men," he added with a chuckle.
Rather than panic, Marco focused. He tried to think about how evil the man in front of him was. All the people he would hurt if he was allowed to continue his devilry. The flame did burn inside him, but not with the intensity it did when he fought Leo. That perfect strategy memory, as helpful as it would be, was not coming.
"Kill him."
"Marco jump!"
Without hesitation, he obeyed the command. The flame-given strength sent him high into the air, and as he reached the peak of his jump he saw the carriage appear below him.
Reina was sitting next to the driver, urging him to plow straight into the gang of brigands. The men hurriedly jumped out of the way. She, meanwhile, nimbly leapt down off the carriage before it came to a stop. Grabbing the hair of the closest man, one of the sword-wielders, she smashed his head into the ground. After three hits he was out cold.
This happened before Marco landed on the carriage's roof.
"I thought you weren't dallying," he said slyly.
"Quiet you!" she shouted before she knocked out the other sword-wielder with a swift kick.
That left the hammer guy and the leader. The hammer guy was scrambling to find his hammer, the leader was stomping towards the carriage.
"About that training you promised me…" Marco said as he turned to Reina.
She looked at him with disgust. "You can't beat a simple brigand?"
"He's fought Heroes before. It's like he can see my moves as soon as I make them."
"Try to be unpredictable," she said.
"That's it?"
"We don't have time for anything else!"
Without elaborating, she lifted up her skirt and ran towards the enemy. The leader looked nonplussed, but then smiled. He brought his axe down, but she easily moved to the side without slowing her pace. He seemed to account for this, however, and brought his knee up to strike her.
With precision and fluidity, Reina dropped into a roll and went under him. Her target was the hammer guy. The poor guy was still searching the weapon he dropped when he jumped away from the carriage, unaware of Reina's kick until it was entirely too late.
The leader was now all alone.
But instead of show fear, he looked at Marco with a grin. "You sure you're the Hero and not her?"
Marco turned red. He hopped off the carriage to face the brigand.
"I'm not done yet."
"Actually you are."
Reina said that quite conclusively. Both Marco and the leader turned to find her holding her knife and advancing on them.
"Where were you keeping that?" Marco couldn't help but ask.
"Silence! You're surrounded, brigand. Come peacefully or I'll kill you and your men. I don't really care either way so make a quick decision."
"I could still break through your lad here and escape," said the leader.
"Could you do it before I sliced your throat? Or before he shoots you?"
As if on command, a click sounded out. Everyone looked to its source to find the carriage driver loading an arrow into a crossbow.
"Damn!" The brigand leader threw down his axe. "Fine, I give."
"Good," Reina said but didn't seem enthusiastic. "Marco, there's rope in the carriage. Bind these men and find a way to transport them, since you want them captured so badly."
Then she got into the carriage and opened her book.