"There they are. About time for them to arrive. I was starting to get bored standing here with all this heat."
Drummen looked at Cliffhopper with a smile as he stood up and waited for the bandits to stop in front of him. He leaned against his staff and yawned as an armored horseman stood in front of him. He turned and looked at Cliffhopper and smiled as he crossed his arms sitting on a sand dune.
"Boys… It seems we have some crazy lad in front of us with a friend… What should we do with them?"
"Kill them… Beat them to a pulp…"
"Boys… They look like travelling monks from the dome. Not sure they have anything on them… So how about this. You move out of the way and we'll give you some coin for your trouble. What say you?"
"Hahahahahahaha…" He bent over laughing and looked at Cliffhopper. "He's going to pay us just to move. What say you brother?"
"I say let's see how much he'll give us. His pockets look big.��
Drummen looked at the bandit leader, stood up slowly with the help of the staff and sized him up. "Yeah you might be right. He does look like he has quite heavy pockets. Maybe we should help them relieve them of their burden."
"Hahahahahaha. The both of you want to take our coins? That's the funniest thing I've heard. See all these people that are surrounding you? I think they'll reach you and your friend here first before you even take a step."
Drummen leaned on his staff and smiled. "I don't need to take any steps at all. Watch this brother."
Drummen lowered his hand.
"Bang! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"
Drummen looked up in the sky and yawned towards the other bandits. "I'm sorry I didn't realize that he would fly that high in the sky… Let's wait until he comes back down, and then we'll talk again about relieving you of your coin."
"What did he do? I didn't even see him move, and it made the boss disappear. Where is the boss?"
Drummen took a step back and pointed in the sky. "There he is, that armor sure isn't helping him at all in the sky. I hope he lands without hurting himself to bad."
"Thud!"
Blood and body parts flew and landed on the bandits surrounding Drummen and Cliffhopper. Drummen wiped some blood off his robe and cursed. "You know how hard it is to get blood of this robe? Days… You all better pay up for my suffering."
"You! What did you do to our boss?"
Drummen yawned and slammed his staff into the sandy ground causing a blast of sand that pushed the bandits back. "Me nothing… As he said, I'm from the dome, just a very poor monk seeking some coin… Perhaps you all could provide some so we can continue on our journey?"
He stretched out his open hand towards the bandits. "If you give me, I'm sure the Creator will bless you… If not, then you may face the wrath of the Creator like your boss did."
"You did this. You're the one going to pay! Let's kill him and his friend and then burn his body in sacrifice to the Creator!"
"Yeahhhhhh! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Drummen looked at Cliffhopper with a smile. "Whoever kills the most gets the larger share?"
"You're on brother. I was getting bored of this shape." Drummen watched as Cliffhopper jumped and landed in his bear form.
Drummen looked at him and cursed. "Cheater…"
"Cheater? Says the person who can throw people high in the sky without even moving a muscle. I think you're the cheater here."
"Fine. Fine."
He waved his hand towards the approaching bandits. "Bye bye. That's what you get for trying to hurt a man of the cloth…" He smiled and watched as they were shot into the sky.
"Bang!"
He turned and watched as Cliffhopper jumped into the bandits biting and punching the bandits. He smiled. "Hey Brother… I'm going to win you know?" He waved his hand sending more bandits into the sky. He then picked up his staff and threw it towards a group of bandits before running in and jump kicking the bandit in the face. He turned and punched causing a bandit to fly away from him. He smiled and waved his hand causing a large group of bandits to fly up into the air. He stood still and yawned.
"Hey. I was going to take them down. You play dirty brother!"
"Thud! Thud! Thu-ddddddddd!"
Drummen smiled and jumped back as bodies fell back onto the sandy ground. He cursed as more blood landed on his robes.
"These bandits are really pushing my patience… Making me clean my robes." He turned around and looked for more bandits to fight. He looked at Cliffhopper in his bear form running around looking for more bandits to fight. "Where did they go?"
Drummen smiled and pointed up. "I think they're coming down now. Hey, I have a question. Coins are made of metal… Would I be able to sense them out you think?"
"Thudddddddddddddd..."
"Give it a go… I don't see why you can't. Also at least you saved the horses. I'm sure those travelers will enjoy the extra horses."
Drummen sat down with his feet in the sand and closed his eyes taking a deep breath. "Gold… Gold… Where are you? Come to me."
He felt a ticklish sensation in his feet and a rumbling.
"You're doing it. Open your eyes and see for yourself."
Drummen opened his eyes and his eyes lit up with excitement. "They're small streams of gold coming to me. This is awesome… What about their armor. I'm sure I can use their metal too in some way."
"One at a time… Gold first and then their armor."
Drummen nodded and closed his eyes. "Gold and metal come to me. Form a small bar for me to carry…"
He felt a ripple leave his body and go into the sand around him.
"Woah… That was weird."
He opened his eyes and his mouth fell open as the small streams of gold and metal formed into two small bars. He stood up and picked up the gold bar and then the metal bar. "They feel rather light."
"Let me feel it."
Drummen threw the gold towards Cliffhopper watching as he caught it. "What are you talking about. It has weight to it… Maybe since you made it, then it is not heavy for you."
Drummen caught the gold bar and put it in his side pouch smiling. "That means it'll be harder to steal from me. We should head back now and celebrate our victory with women and wine. If we give them the horses like you said. We should get some more coin."
"You've surprised me brother. I thought that you wouldn't be able to handle blood on your hands being a monk and all."
Drummen shrugged. "Not thinking about it�� They were planning to do wrong, and they were punished… Now can we head back and enjoy the festivities?"
"Fine. I won't ask about it again… How can we get the horses to follow us back?" Drummen looked at the horses. "Can you talk to them or something?"
Dliffhopper shook his head. "I can't, but if you can than they can follow us back. They seemed trained at least." Drummen walked up to a horse and patted it on the nose. "Do you want to come with us, and no longer have to worry about fighting or looking for food?"
He watched as the horse nodded it's head. "We are tired, they pushed us to hard." Drummen nodded and kept patting the horses head. "Cliffhopper, can your skill of skin changing work on these as well?"
"Yeah, I'll just give them wings, it won't last long but, it will get us back faster."
Drummen walked over to Cliffhopper and felt his skin tingle and become prickly as his body changed to a bird of prey. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this."
"In the future I'm sure you'll have your own way to move quickly. You just need to learn. Now watch this..." Drummen jumped into the air and flew circles around the horses watching as Cliffhopper touched a horse one by one and smiled as wings slowly grew out of their backs. "Flying horses, well I never."
Cliffhopper jumped into the air changing into a bird of prey and flapped his wings chasing after him. The horses followed running into the air flapping their wings and soaring into the sky. Drummen cursed and shook his head as he looked at the battle scene now covered in blood. He sighed and looked up at the sky muttering to himself.
"What are you saying? I can't hear you clearly in the wind. You'll have to speak up, the horses are loud... They're having to much fun."
Drummen shook his head and flapped his wings to get closer to Cliffhopper. "I didn't say anything, just me being me and thinking of the wine and women…"
He flew in silence ignoring Cliffhopper's singing. "Did I do the right thing? I'm supposed to be a monk for the Creator, and now I've destroyed the work of the creator." He sighed to himself and kept flying.
"There's the travelers. They aren't too far away. Soon we'll be drinking and enjoying life soon. Maybe they're also heading towards the pirate chains as well."
Drummen nodded and turned his head towards a cliff where he stopped and hovered in the air.
"What's wrong?"
Drummen shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. You take the horses and head towards the travelers. I'll join you soon. I want to go see something first."
"Okay, just remember to be back at the travelers, before sunset. I can only hold the skin change until then. If after sunset than you have to find your own way back."
Drummen nodded and turned towards the cliff landing on it and waited for Cliffhopper and the horses to fade from his view. "You can come out now."
He turned as he watched a curly black-haired woman walked into view. "Hello again. It seems your sharp eyes found me watching."
He watched as she sauntered over towards him and touch his head. "You look cuter when you're in your natural form… Skin changing does not suit you." He watched as she waved her hand and he returned to his normal form. He looked at her and cursed.
"How am I going to get down from her now? Cliffhopper is probably worrying about me."
"Don't worry about that hairy small brained muscle head. I'll take you back to the village my way… For now, come and sit with me so we can watch the sun together."
Drummen sighed and nodded sitting down next to her. "You look down. What's happened? Do you regret your choice?"
"No… I'm a monk yet today I killed many. A monk…"
"Ahh is that all? I watched, and I was surprised at how you handled them. That was very impressive, and clever thinking shooting them into the sky."
You saw me do that?"
"Yes. I've been keeping an eye on you and old hairy… Do you want to know what I do when I take the life of someone?"
Drummen looked at her and nodded. He sat in silence as she stood up and pulled out a small glass and a wine pouch. "This is my wine that I only drink when someone has died to my hand. I offer it in their memories."
He watched as she poured a drink and then tipped it over the cliff. "To your memory. A toast for your bravery."
"That's it?"
"Yes, that's it. That is how I send them on their way. You'll find your own way. You could offer them a prayer, but you have to know that this path you're on, is a path that is covered in blood. Many will die by your hands. You must be ready for that."
Drummen nodded lost in thought. "You're right. I'm not a killer, nor did I want their deaths to happen. I gave them a choice and they chose to attack, and not just give me their coin and turn around."
"See you're growing up already in my eyes. Now you should go and enjoy the celebrations, their wine is good. Just remember, those women may be beautiful and amazing, but not as amazing as me… Especially with the skills I know…"
Drummen looked at her in confusion. "How do I know you're that good? Especially since, I've never had a taste…"
"Hahahaha… You'll find out one day… Go I'm bored of this talk."
He stood up as she wove her hand at him. He turned around and saw that he was outside the traveler's camp. He scratched his head in confusion and walked into the camp smiling at the cheers and Cliffhopper surrounded by women.
"Brother you're back. About time. I was starting to get a little bored eating and drinking without you. Come eat, drink and share of your battle tale… These beautiful women are great at giving massages I've been told."
"Hahahaha… Now where do I begin?" He picked up a mug of wine and sat near the fire. "This big brute did nothing… It was me who took down the bandits."
"Really? You must be a very strong monk. Tell us what happened." He looked into the large eyes of the woman next to him and smiled. "It was like this…"