***
Vince stepped back to watch as the fight took place.
"How many are there? 10, 11, 12... 15. That doesn't seem fair at all," He mumbled to himself and a normal person would genuinely have believed that Vince was crazy which he probably wouldn't deny.
"Attack!" The bandit at the front screamed when they were close enough.
"Men! Forward!" Don himself yelled and Vince watched them all fight as he rested against his horse, stroking it's black hair as the animal huffed, kicking its legs.
"I thought they were going for a surprise attack by camouflaging themselves?... I guess it didn't work out, why else would he scream 'Attack'?" Vince chuckled and pulled out his gun, shooting one of the men who came close to him right in the head and watched as he fell back, dead.
Guns were expensive and rare in this time and age. Very few people owned a gun since they were bad for the environment and therefore cost a lot of money. There couldn't have been more than 100 guns altogether in the world.
Vince chuckled to himself as he reloaded his gold handgun. The same handgun that Alpheus used decades ago to kill his uncle- His mother's twin brother.
He shot two more assassins in the head and watched as they went down.
"Don't die!" Vince shouted at his men and Don took a second to glare at his King and best friend before slicing his sword through a bandit's neck.
"You stay there and don't cause any trouble!" Don shouted while simultaneously snapping the neck of someone and Vincenzo winced at the action.
"When have I ever caused trouble?..." He mumbled innocently to himself before kicking a small rock and watched it skip away from him.
What he didn't expect was to see it fall through the sand and disappear.
Vincenzo blinked, confused for a moment and moved towards the spot where the stone was supposed to be but halted when he remembered his best friend's words. 'Stay there and don't cause any trouble!' He blinked once more before smirking and scoffed.
He continued on his way to the rock but yelped when one of the bandits lunged themselves at him. Growling, he pulled his swords out and stabbed it through the man's stomach.
"Tch. I don't want that sword anymore," He glared at the dead man before kicking his body away from him and walking towards his destination.
"Now... Where did you disappear to?" Vince mumbled to himself as he dusted the sand away but before he could go any further, he felt his feet slip.
"Damn it!" He cussed as both his feet gave away and he fell through the hole. "All this for a damn pebble!" He cussed to himself as he tumbled down the hole.
"My King!" He faintly heard Don shout in the distance.
"Ouch!" Vince landed on solid ground and hissed in pain as he looked around his surroundings. It was dark but the hole in which he had fallen from gave enough sunlight for him to be able to see around him.
"What? In the. Bloody. World... is this place?" He grumbled, walking into the darkness and looking around him with a curious look marring his features.
He ran his fingers through his black hair to get rid of as much sand as he could and coughed when a bit of it got near his face. "I need a bath," He mumbled to himself as he pulled a packet of lighters out of his pocket and lit one of the matches.
He threw the match onto the pile of sticks and smirked in satisfaction when the area became filled with light and he could truly see properly now.
Vince ran his fingers over the stone wall and walked down the small room as he waited for his men to come and fetch him from this place.
He heard the clang of metal and turned to look at the pile of burning sticks and raised a confused brow before cautiously walking towards it
"What now?" He grumbled, putting his hands in the pockets of his black pants before kicking the sticks away and the frown which was resting on his face disappeared. He crouched down and pulled the piece of metal out from under the pile of sticks and curiously stared at it.
"How. Beautiful," He tilted his head to the side as he took in the beauty of the sword which lay on the ground in front of his dominating presence.
"Now that I think about it... I do need a new sword since I gave my other one away to the bandit. So... finder's keepers," Vincenzo chuckled at himself as he crouched and smirked at the sword. It was truly a magnificent sword even though it was covered in dust.
With a long, silver blade that he was sure would be sparkly and a golden hilt, Vincenzo blew and watched as the small particles of dust flew away.
He ran his fingers up along the sword, from the bottom of the blade to the top of the hilt where he grabbed it and pulled it up along with him.
It was heavy but it went perfectly with him.
"I like it," Vincenzo smirked once more.
But his smirk didn't stay for long and fell when the sword began to glow.
Vincenzo watched bemused, gripping onto the hilt of the sword tightly as out of the sword emerged a young woman who didn't look much younger than him.
No. Way.
He had an idea of who she was and what she was but he would never have guessed himself to be true.
"It can't be," He whispered.
He blinked, shocked and didn't react anymore than that. He simply stared at the young, ethereal, beauty that stood in front of him as she opened her mouth and yawned loudly, outstretching her arms up above her and groaned, cracking the muscles on her neck.
When she eventually opened her eyes, he finally reacted and his jaw fell slack.
Gold, her eyes were gold.
No.
Vince shook his head with closed eyes before opening them again and staring at her and corrected himself.
Her eyes weren't gold, they were a burning orange, almost as if the sun itself was gazing at him through her eyes and for once in his life, Vincenzo gulped, taken aback by not a wild animal, nor an assassin, but a young and beautiful woman.
With shining golden hair, it travelled down behind her and rested on the ground due to its long length. With warm, fair skin that looked as soft as snow, he wanted to outstretch his hand and touch her but didn't.
She had a small, heart-shaped face with delicately structured cheekbones and the perfect jawline and large eyes with long lashes that cast a shadow over her cheek. A button nose and Vincenzo couldn't help but gulp when her tongue ran over her lips and she cocked her head to the side, watching him observe her intently.
Then finally, as if it had been calling his name, Vincenzo's eyes travelled down to her lips. They were a soft pink, not too bright and not too dark and with a soft cupid's bow.
"Hello," She nodded at him and that split second was all it took for Vincenzo to realise the situation he was in.