On the walk back the two felt the breaths of the group that had been following them. Seeing as they were separated on either side of the path that the two used to enter, it was plain to see they had set up an ambush.
The two looked at each other with a hint of annoyance. Did they do something to this group to have them set up such a trap for them?
They gently placed down all the unnecessary baggage and moved towards the group quietly. Looking at their dispatch, there were two heavily armoured men sitting casually on either side of the path, definitely the brute strength of the group, but hidden in the surroundings were four more. Two hid in the trees, equipped with bows, arrows and a short dagger, acting as the range. The third had twin daggers like them, seemingly the speed and stealth of the group. The last one... was actually a magician! With a wand on his belt, the two couldn't guess what his role was, they had never faced someone that could use magic, which made them a little wary.
The overall makeup of the group was very balanced, and seeing their formation, Isla and Sila knew they had done this many times, otherwise there wouldn't be such a tacit fit between their respective roles.
The twins summed up their situation. They were outnumbered, outclassed, and had no understanding of the groups tactics or abilities.
Isla came to Sila's side and whispered, "Seeing that they've already set up, I doubt they're going to let us go. So we might as well use the benefit of surprise to break their team".
Sila didn't continue to stare, just in case it aroused the vigilance of one of the group, she responded, "Then who do we aim for? The magician?".
"I don't really want to waste the chance we have. If he's able to fend off the attack, it will leave us with more of a disadvantage" Isla disagreed.
Sila thought what she said was right. They didn't know what a magician was capable of, perhaps he had something to protect against their surprise attack, so after thinking she said, "Then, the archers. Get rid of the range and we only really need to worry about the magician and the one with the daggers".
Sila's thoughts corresponded to her own, so she quickly agreed, "Okay, get rid of the archers first, then the fast one. Don't let the magician see you long enough to cast the spells, we don't know what will happen if he does".
The two ignored the two heavily armoured warriors, as long as they kept a distance from them, then they'd only be a problem at the end when the twins had dealt with everyone else.
Isla and Sila circled around the group on either side, as they had with the horned rabbits, using their extensive skill when hunting to creep towards the two archers. With a nod to each other, they both drew out their blades, and jumped with ease to the hiding places of the archers and pierced through their throats, not even allowing the two men to register what happened before they died.
However the attack garnered the attention of the short man with the daggers, who yelled "they're here!"
But without waiting the twins rushed towards him, forcing him to draw his daggers to defend. Isla and Sila knew they couldn't stay out in the open, the warriors and the magician could contain them, which would only hinder their chance of winning, so they ruthlessly attacked the short man, using fast and vicious means, pushing him into the dense brush and out of the sight of the remaining three.
The warriors and the magician hadn't had time to come to the short man's rescue before hearing the screams of pain coming from the dense brush, then everything returned to silence.
"Fuck, how did those two girls deal with half of us so quickly?" one of the warriors spoke angrily.
"Calm down. It seems we underestimated them, but we still have the upper hand. As long as we get them in the open, they won't pose a problem" the magician said with the ease and arrogance that many magicians have.
Just at that moment, an arrow shot accurately towards the head of the magician, but when it reached about half a meter away, it shattered as if it had hit a wall.
The twins kept moving separately, firing arrows at the magician, never staying in one spot. They wanted to see if there were any weak spots to this invisible wall, but every part seemed to be covered tightly.
Isla and Sila weren't very happy after this attempt, arrows weren't strong enough to pierce through, so they'd have to try and attack it themselves, but the two warrior were standing at guard on either side, leaving them very little room for maneuvering.
The magician wasn't idle either, while the two were testing his barrier, he had already recited a spell, the wind surged around the three out in the open, and shot it many directions, slashing right through the surrounding brush.
Sila happened to run straight into the trajectory of one of the wind blades, and feeling her heart palpitate, quickly tried to backtrack out of the way. Unfortunately the edge of the wind blade still hit her side on, slicing through her leather chest armour and drawing a gash along her abdomen. She let out a painful groan as blood started dripping from the wound, but fled back into the dense brush.
Isla heard her sisters groan, knowing she was hurt, she became restless and infuriated. She rushed towards the group intending to attack the barrier. When her first strike hit, she could see fragmented cracks right in front of her, but the two warriors quickly attacked her, forcing her away.
The magician was more shocked than anyone, his barrier had been damaged by the girl in front of him. He had never had something like this happen, and he felt a little bit of fear for the first time after meeting these twins. However he quickly restored his calm and started chanting once again. He couldn't let these girls live, they would definitely become dangerous enemies if he did.