"It's over there." Marcus pointed with a turn of his nose to a new area where the trees parted and the grass saw daylight.
The clearing he led them to had six low quality tents placed haphazardly around a crude central bonfire. The tents were stitched together with mixed patches of burlap, cloth, and fur, in an assortment of anything that could be obtained from travelers through the forest.
A large wooden crate was positioned by the nicest looking tent. A few shoddy spears, swords, and axes were shoved in it. The container looked flimsy and ready to crack at the slightest touch, and the rusted metal weapons were proof that they were not care for nor protected from the elements.
Both Raed and Leif sensed something wrong as soon as they reached the clearing.
"Where's the guard?" Raed asked with a puzzled and cautious look on his face.
"Where's Tiryui?" Leif asked with a wrathful face full of contempt directed at Marcus.
There was no one present at the camp. No bandits, no captive. Although a faint smell of smoke gave away evidence that there was recent activity.
"Ha." Marcus coughed out a laugh.
"I warned you, demon," Raed cautioned, "if you try anything against me, then you will suffer."
"Ha ha ha!" The demon continued to laugh, oblivious to Raed's warning.
The twang of a bowstring and the whistling of an arrow alerted both smith and alchemist to the attack.
A primitive arrow with a simple arrowhead made of chipped bone and fletched with small sparrow tail feathers flew with an inaccurate trajectory toward Raed's collarbone. Although the rough projectile of questionable craftsmanship was not fit for accurate flight, by some providence it was accurate enough and headed straight for the area above Raed's right lung.
*Plink*!
A hefty wooden shaft deflected the arrow, sending it careening off its flight path. It flipped end-over-end through the air without direction, until gravity reclaimed it. The low quality projectile embedded itself harmlessly into the soft soil.
Leif had come between the arrow and Raed. The young man moved with astonishing speed that a veteran adventurer like Raed had to admit was impressive. Plus, Raed recognized that the young man did just save him from injury.
Lowering into a wider stance, Leif held the sharpened wooden stick one-handed like a spear while his right arm continued to carry the two lead boxes.
"Thanks for the save, Leif," Raed said with sincere gratitude.
The demon Marcus stopped his hysterical cackling when he saw the failed surprise attack. "Kch!" He spat out in frustration. "If you didn't have your meatshield to hide behind you would've been down and out, old alchemist!"
"You're right that I'm a bit slower now than I used to be," Raed admitted, "but my capable partner here is no meatshield."
"Ha!" Marcus laughed. "You might be able to deal with one arrow but how about three!"
Before any more projectiles were fired, Raed threw two bottles together on the ground in front of them.
Thick plumes of white fog billowed out like masses of contained clouds. Within seconds the area in front of Raed was obscured by an opaque veil.
"Did you have anyone set up behind us?" Raed asked. "I doubt it, otherwise we would have encountered them on the way here."
Marcus growled in frustration. "Get in here you idiots!" He yelled across the mist.
Disorganized and disoriented shouts came through the other side of the fog. Soon there were three shadows that passed through the fog.
Three human bandits, each in similar but unique patchwork leather armor walked out, their bows drawn and trained on Raed and Leif. Two of them aimed at Leif while one aimed at Raed.
"A neat trick, alchemist, but now what? They can see you now!" Marcus laughed.
In a flash, all three bows snapped, and one of the three bandits closest to Leif saw too late that a spear had gone through his chest.
"They're also too close," Raed observed.
The remaining two bandits threw away their useless broken bows and drew long knives. They took cautious steps as they flanked Leif.
"You know I can just kill you for causing all this trouble," Raed told Marcus.
The demon gulped. "Y-you wouldn't dare! You still need me! That's right! Without me you'll never find your precious lady demon!"
Raed frowned. He wished Marcus was not correct about that. It was also possible to kill Marcus, complete the quest, and move on. If they found Tiryui in the process, then that would be fortunate for her. If not, then so bet it. But somehow Raed knew that if he chose that path then he would lose more than Leif's trust.
"Forget the Northman boy! Get the alchemist! They can't hurt me!" Marcus shouted his orders. "All of you get over here now!"
Two more bandits wielding rusty axes and wearing heavier armor emerged from the dissipating fog.
The four human bandits encircled Raed and Leif, but none of them was willing to make a move. The lifeless body of one of their number served as a clear deterrent.
"What are you waiting for?" Marcus screamed. "Kill them already!"
Raed kicked the back of Marcus's knees and threw the demon to the ground. He grabbed one of the few remaining bottles he had. It was a numbing potion that would at best cause temporary clumsiness in one of the four adversaries. That left the other three.
"Leif, take the two already on you. I'll handled the big ones," Raed said. He wasn't sure he could handle the large bandits in heavy armor though.
But he had to try. Raed wound back and prepared to throw his one final combat-ready potion.
That's when Leif did something unexpected.
With two lead boxes in one arm, he tapped the improvised spear against the metal, letting the wooden shaft make contact with the black metal containers. The lead started to melt and crawl up the wooden stick like black tendrils. It wrapped around and slipped into microscopic crevices all the way through the entire length. After it completed its journey to one end it made its round-trip return to the other end, where the sharp tip amassed a growing collection of dense metal.
The four bandits stared in a daze at the process, too enraptured by the mysterious sight to even consider attacking and interrupting.
Leif did not take long to finish anyway. In the six seconds it took Leif to complete his new weapon, the lead boxes had disappeared and the wooden spear had been replaced by a one-and-a-half meter long amalgamation of lead and wood. A broad-bladed thirty centimeters spearhead added to the length, where before there was only the sharpened tip.
The four bandits stood with indecision, none ready to engage the warrior with that black spear in combat.
They didn't have to decide, for a second later one of the light-armored bandits found that black spear through his throat. He collapsed while gurgling his own blood in his final moments.
Three left.
"I thought you were a smith, not a fighter," Raed remarked.
"Master Valter told me that I needed to know how to use the equipment myself before charging others for it," Leif replied without breaking his concentration on the remaining bandits.
The other three spread out in a semi-circle around Leif, backing off to pay respect to the longer reach of his spear. By that point the fog was gone, and Raed saw that several other human bandits were among the trees, bows held at the ready, arrows nocked.
Leif saw it too. He gripped his spear tight and prepared a defensive stance. He counted ten archers. If all ten of them fired on him at once, then he would stand no chance.
Raed kicked Marcus in the back and squatted behind him, pulling up the demon's head by the back of his cervical spine.
"Call them off," Raed told Marcus, "or I will kill you!"
"Keh, I would if I knew who they were," Marcus coughed out.
"What?" Raed dropped Marcus back on the ground. He stood and took a better look at the archers. Their armor was intact and made of a higher quality leather than those of Marcus's ragged group.
In all the commotion there would have been a lot of noise. That noise would attract attention. And or course Marcus's band of brigands would not have been the only group of bandits in the Poran Forest. Raed mentally scolded himself for being careless.
"Leif stand down!" Raed shouted.
The young man, understanding the situation, backed away from the three bandits in Marcus's band until he was in front of Raed.
"What's going on, Raed?" Leif asked, confusion in his voice.
"I'm as lost as you," Raed admitted.
The archers in the trees had arrows nocked, but their bows were not drawn.
Raed wanted to call out 'What are you waiting for?' but upon further review thought better of it. Even if they were not on the same side as Marcus's bandits, they could still be another group of bandits and just as willing to take advantage of the chaos.
The three Marcus bandits, as Raed classified them to distinguish them from the new bandits, moved as a unit with their heads alternating between keeping watch on Leif and the new bandits. They stopped their repositioning once they were sufficiently away from Leif's spear range and close enough to the treeline to take cover from arrows.
After that, no one moved. The Marcus bandits stared down Raed and Leif. Raed and Leif stared down the unidentified archers. The archers stared down Marcus. And Marcus groaned. The pain was returning.
"Are you boys done fighting here?" A melodic feminine voice rang out across the forest clearing.
The human bandits stared slackjawed at the speaker. Her cerulean garments flowed across her porcelain-smooth flawless skin. They could think of nothing but the blood rushing through their veins.
This newcomer was familiar to Raed, who identified at once the thin blue garments and the iridescent feathers that adorned the wearer's collar and knees.
Marcus rolled over to see who was talking. When he saw the flaming purple energy at the demon's back, his eyes widened and he shrieked, "Y-you!"
He shuddered in fright, his lips trembled, and he could say no more words.
"Oh, if it isn't that disgusting priest," the female demon said in a threatening sing-song voice. She walked closer, stopping a few steps short of the scared demon Marcus, and gave Raed a quick nod in greeting.
"Hi, Stupid Alchemist! I got your message but it looks like you could not, in fact, handle everything," the blue-clothed demoness said.
"Hello Kaiti," Raed replied. "I did bring you a former member of the Cult, didn't I?" He pointed at the cowering mass that was Marcus.
"Hm, yes, that's true," Kaiti said. She tilted her head to the right, at the unidentified archers among the trees. "Those friends of yours, or friends of the Cult?"
"Honestly, I don't know who they are," Raed said.
"And the Northman?" Kaiti pointed to Leif.
"That's Leif, my traveling partner and a capable fighter."
Leif looked at Kaiti but could not last two seconds before his face flushed bright red and he looked away.
"Aw, what a cute kid," Kaiti said with mirth.
Finally, she looked forward and across the clearing at the three Marcus bandits. "Who do those belong to?"
"Those would be Marcus, the Cultist's, posse," Raed said. He added, "Same as the two dead guys."
Kaiti smiled and licked her lips. Her purple demonic aura flared up and thick streams lashed out behind her back like tails. "I'll have to partake of them after I'm done with the main course."
She glanced at the unidentified archers. "I do hope they leave soon, I so detest having unwelcome eyes watch me feed."
Despite that, she did not show any apparent concern over the unidentified archers, nor did she acknowledge them any further. Instead, she turned her attention to Marcus.
Towering over him, she looked down at the pathetic demon who was in fetal position and moaning in pain once the anesthetic wore off.
"You filthy, narcissistic, devious serpent," Kaiti said each word with a smooth harmonious voice laced with underlying venom while she described Marcus. She slipped the toe of her boot under Marcus's head and turned his face upward, forcing him to make eye contact with her.
The burning cyan pupils in Kaiti's eyes tore into Marcus's mind and infiltrated his soul. In that void of dissociation, Marcus forgot the physical pain ravaging his body and the burning torment in his gut. The torturous flames Kaiti subjected to his very core superseded any damage to his physical body.
"You call yourself Marcus now? What a silly human name for a pet of the Three Infernal Wheels. Did you think changing your name would hide you?" Kaiti said. Her echoing voice sent a separate message directly into Marcus's very existence.
Marcus's bandits dared not move to help their leader. The powerful demoness's aura could be felt even by non-magical humans. While Kaiti was busy boring into Marcus's soul, and the Marcus demons were enthralled by fear and desire, Raed noticed the mystery archers had shifted position and were no longer facing them. Instead, they formed two sides that faced each other, with a gap in the middle of the formation. Although they were still slightly crouched with arrows nocked, the formation reminded Raed of soldiers standing at attention.
"Well now, if this isn't an interesting assortment of rejects," a sonorous male voice announced. From out of the thick treeline, a tall, blond-haired man in polished chainmail stepped out, flanked by two of the archers.