"Did you just hit him from here?" Hua Rong exclaimed in shock, surprised that Subutai hit his target from that distance, but had missed Song Jiang when he had retreated earlier.
"I did, the wind was perfect." Subutai replied, "I think it's time we made a move."
Dom looked towards the enemy lines and saw the other two Bandit Leaders, Zheng Tianshou and Yan Shun had headed towards their fallen comrade, who was currently unmoving at the bottom of his stationary horse. Song Jiang on the other hand was redirecting his small guard cavalry and pointing in the Riverside Bandit's general location.
"I agree!" Dom said in a serious voice. "Swift retreat, increase the pace but do not leave anyone behind."
"Match the pace of the slowest man!" Subutai commanded as they quickly retreated backwards, before a roar was heard in the distance followed by the noise of thunderous footsteps as the Song Jiang Bandits charged madly towards them.
Time quickly passed as they travelled through the valley at a fast pace, the Song Jiang Bandits gaining on them step by step as they moved at close to twice the speed of Riverside Bandits. They could have turned and ran, meaning they would leave the Valley sooner, but not all of the Bandits could run at the same pace due to various wounds in the initial clash, and if they turned their backs and were caught out of formation, they would be routed very quickly.
"How much further?" Subutai asked as he and Hua Rong fired arrows at the charging Bandits, hoping to reduce the eagerness to be at the front and slow the enemies pace down.
Dom turned and looked, seeing the openness appearing in the distance as they began to leave the Valley and the Reflection Peaks. Guo Sheng and Lu Fang had successfully got most of the Bandits, Wounded, Prisoners and Carts through, with only the Rear Guard, Dom, Subutai, Tomoe and Hua Rong left to leave.
"How do we get back?" Tomoe asked in frustration, "I hope we don't get a you will leave in five minutes notification."
"They will be on us by then if we do." Subutai agreed as he released another Arrow, the face of his victim gasping in shock as it caught him in the chest.
"We have almost left, do we have reinforcements coming?" Hua Rong asked, a bit of nervous showing on his sweat ridden face, as he had ran alongside the three riders who were on horseback, his own horse having disappeared with the retreating Song Jiang.
"We are out!" Dom declared as they now left the valley and were all on the main road on the other side of it.
"So am I!" Subutai commented, as he went to reach for an arrow and saw his last quiver was empty.
...
[Special Quest Map Completed]
The notification finally popped up in front of Dom, which made him feel a lot of relief. He looked around and saw the exhaustion on everyone's faces as Guo Sheng and Lu Fang had pulled the Bandits to a halt and started to fan out.
"Create a bottleneck!" Subutai shouted towards them.
[Player has fifteen minutes to complete any final tasks before being transported back to departure point. Please be aware that any followers or items taken with you or collected on your journey will be transported immediately.]
"Fifteen minute warning." Dom exclaimed reluctantly, the enemy were almost at them and he didn't know if they would win in fifteen minutes.
"Hurry up!" Subutai shouted, "Get the carts at the front, they'll have to climb over them!"
"Leave a gap in the centre!" Tomoe shouted as she headed through their Bandits that had waited for them. Guo Sheng and Lu Fang quickly approached.
"We are through, what happens now?" Guo Sheng asked, having not been involved in the earlier battle.
"We wait." Tomoe replied in frustration as she pulled her horse up and blocked the gap that had now been created by the carts.
The Carts of loot were now in a semi circle blocking the exit of the Valley. The Bandits were stood behind the Carts, with the spearmen at the front and the swordsmen behind them to step in and dispatch anyone that broke through. Tomoe blocked the centre gap, inviting the enemy to run through and be taken down by her, whilst Guo Sheng and Lu Fang stood beside her with their Halberds prepared.
Dom was stood further back with Subutai and Hua Rong who had now ran out of arrows and were both holding either a sword or a spear and ready to reinforce where ever they were needed.
"System, can we speed the fifteen minutes up?" Dom requested, hoping for some goods news. As he requested the first line of the Song Jiang Bandits hit the carts. The majority ran straight towards the centre as intended, with Tomoe slashing her Naginata down and decapitating the first through, before swinging it in the air, the blood flicking off it and then slashing down on to the next of the second. The third and fourth also ran through the centre, but were both stabbed by the Halberds of Guo Sheng and Lu Fang who were both fresh and enjoying the chance to fight alongside Tomoe.
Other Bandits decided to try to climb over the Carts, but were stabbed by the Bandit Spearman that were on the other side.
[Would Player like to leave the mission now, and not use more time in this Special Mission Map, once you leave, you will not be able to return.]
Another few Bandits pushed through the gap, and were decapitated by Tomoe again, who was now covered in the red of blood, along with her horse, as she took more and more heads of poorly prepared enemies. Guo Sheng and Lu Fang proved their name as the Halberd Twins well, as they seemed almost synchronised with each stab or slash of their Halberds on the Bandits, whose fallen bodies was causing more Bandits to push for the sides and to climb over the Carts, rather than push over their fallen comrades.
"Yes please!" Dom asked quickly, sweat dripping down his forehead as he watched the battles happening around him. This was the first time since playing World Conquest Online that Dom felt like his death may come to him, "Finish the Mission."
More and more Bandits climbed over the Carts, with most being impaled by stabbing Spears, but some avoided them and pushed through to the Spearmen. Most were taken down by the Swordsman that were their to support the Spearmen, but some made it through as the Bandits were not as good as a proper trained Military Unit. Some Spearmen were killed or injured, as were the Swordsmen. Subutai had moved to support and direct the Left Flank, whilst Hua Rong had taken the Right Flank. Subutai was stabbing his sword angrily from the back of his horse, where as Hua Rong was stabbing his Spear at an enemy that had just climbed over another Cart.
[Congratulations on completing the Special Quest Map. Portals will now appear and any further Mission Rewards will be unavailable.]
Suddenly Golden Portals appeared around the map, the shining lights around them causing everyone to freeze their fighting.
"The Heavens!" A Song Jiang Bandit shouted in shock as they ceased their attacking.
"Riverside Warriors, through the Portals!" Dom ordered loudly, as Subutai and Tomoe repeated the order as they all tiredly fell through them. Dom swiftly headed through his as it appeared in front of him, and the sight of the Military Camp appeared in front of him.
...
"Where have they gone?" Yan Shun the Multicoloured Tiger ordered his men, who were exhausted and blood stained. His large belly shaking as he angrily shouted at his men.
"Golden Rings of light appeared and the Reflection Peak Bandits and their Carts all disappeared through them!" One of the Bandits replied in a daze.
"It is impossible!" Zheng Tianshou the Fair Skinned Gentlemen argued back.
"The arrival of these strange Heroes from Riverside was strange enough, them then hiring the Halberd Twins instead of us is a test from the gods." Song Jiang declared in anger, "A test that we will overcome. How is Wang Ying?"
"I hope he will be ok, the Arrow struck him in his shoulder and the crash landing dazed him." Yan Shun said in frustration, "He is unconscious but we have left some good healers with him. Hopefully he'll follow on the Carts with the families soon."
"I promised him a wife, and instead have brought him death." Song Jiang lamented.
"You took his other wife opportunity as well." Yan Shun replied with a shrug, "He isn't dead yet though."
"We lost Qin Ming and Huang Xin though." Zheng Tianshou replied, "We went to a lot of effort to recruit them, Qin Ming's whole family were even executed for it, what a waste."
"A test." Song Jiang declared again, "They must not have been the Heroes we needed. Let's continue to Liangshan and inform our brothers there."
"We need to bury the dead first." Zheng Tianshou stated, "There are so many, such a waste."
"It means that we will join Liangshan from a lower position now." Yan Shun added.
"So be it, but we will get revenge on this Riverside in the future." Song Jiang agreed, "What ever it takes, I will not forgive this betrayal."
"Are you talking about Hua Rong?" Zheng Tianshou asked, "He was to good looking to be a Warrior anyway."
Yan Shun and some of the surrounding Bandits laughed, as they cleared up the field and planned to continue their journey to Liangshan Marsh.
....
Dom appeared in the tent that he had been meeting with Subutai, Xun You, Tomoe and Tomyris earlier. He stood their for a second in shock, before sitting down on the floor and breathing heavily. It was to close Dom realised, he had made the mistake in assuming it would be an easy Quest as it was for D Rank Heroes, but he had made a mistake somewhere.
He couldn't work out what that mistake was though, and decided he would speak with Xun You and Subutai about it when he had chance. He wanted to continue thinking, but could hear some shouts of warning from outside the Command Tent. He got back up and headed outside.
As he opened the Tent doors, he could see that it was still dark outside, the moon high in the sky. Only a couple of hours must have passed, which meant that if they could deal with the aftermath soon, they could get some sleep before the march the following day. Dom wasn't sure if he had it in him for another battle so soon, but knew that if he didn't, it would be a hard thing to come back from.
"Lord Lazarus!" Dom heard, as he turned and saw Subutai with a smile on his face approaching, "That was a close one!"
"Just a bit!" Dom replied, "Thankfully we left before we were overrun."
"I had back up plans, we would have gotten home regardless." Subutai said seriously, the grin disappearing, "The Leaders survive, but the pawns sometimes had to lay down their lives. It was a success regardless, so let's go see our rewards."
Subutai put his arm on Dom's shoulder, giving him the feeling of a father figure who was giving his son some moral support, he surprisingly appreciated it, and thought back to his own father whose face he couldn't see or imagine any more. The forget of his face being a pain of its own.
"General, a force of Bandits are outside with Carts." Gregorios stated as he appeared, "General Tomyris is with them as we were expecting your return."
"How many?" Dom asked, some positivity coming back to him.
"Enough!" Gregorios said, "With Carts full of food, weapons and gold! General Tomyris said to expect a couple of Heroes, not reinforcements!"