In my entire life I never once thought I would be fighting 4 bandits just to protect a girl.
A very pretty elf girl but still.
If she was a old man or something would I still go through with this?
Honestly probably not but whatever. She'll pay me back somehow, I could use a trustworthy companion while I make build my influence.
"Boodly Wela!!!" One bandit shouted before he thrusted his spear towards me.
I blocked the thrust and threw a thrust of my own that was easily dodged. I hid behind my shield once again and tried my best to keep them all at bay.
I kept my shield close and threw very quick thrusts at any of the bandits that came too close. Nothing that could seriously harm them but just enough to keep them at bay. I had to keep them off me while I looked for gaps in their defenses. The easiest target I saw was a man who wore an open face helmet and only a mail shirt. No cuirass!!
"Hm!" With a quick thrust I threw towards the lesser armored bandit to which he easily blocked my half ass thrust. That wasn't my goal though. I redirected the tip of his spear away from me and quickly stepped in and tried my best to slice his hand closest to me.
"Argh fuck!!!" The mans fingers were deeply cut by my spear, not chopped off like how I wanted but I guess it made sense considering my lousy equipment.
Twang!!
Shit!!
As soon as I landed that cut another bandit thrusted his spear into my side, luckily armor was there to stop it. I quickly used the back of my spear to hit the open face helmet he wore. My strike hit and he backed away.
That was a close one.
All 4 bandits were still battle ready. The man who's fingers I cut was holding his spear in one hand while trying his best to stop the bleeding in his hand with the other.
The rest of the bandits circled me menacingly.
Thump!!
"Aw fuck!!" One of the sword wielding bandits suddenly was hit by an arrow to his head. The helmet he wore however protected him and the arrow only left a small dent on the side.
Sorry bro but I have to live.
I steeled myself for what came next.
I felt bad but this was survival afterall, and they jumped me!! So they weren't fair from the start and they are bandits so really they deserve this.
Stop gaslighting yourselff.
"I'm sorry"
With the bandit temporarily distracted I lunged in and….
Yeah.
I stabbed him in the balls.
"Aghhhhh!!!!"
"What!!!??"
"The balls what are you a monster!!?"
"That does seem a little far, Reynard…"
Those words fell to deaf ears as I continued fighting with one less bandit in the group.
Im sorry bro…
I promised to myself that I would only use this technique in life or death situations from now on.
"You fucking- what? You-YOU!!! You monster, in the balls really? " one bandit said while circling me.
It seemed like this was sort of frowned upon technique. I can see why but it doesn't matter. Surviving does.
"Reynard!!" Nephiah finally came to my side with her longsword drawn.
I felt better now. With one bandit down along with the archers, I think at least, 3 on 2 was much more doable.
"I'll take care of those two!!" I said before I rushed in and pushed two bandits back with some quick thrusts.
My breathing was ragged and hard, everytime I breathed a puff of white hot air came out. The cold air seemed to freeze my sweat but did nothing to calm me down. It was both cold and unbearably hot.
Armor sucked.
But it kept me Alive.
Two bandits, the leader and a spearman. I came up with a plan in my head to kill both of them.
The bandit with a sword made a quick thrust with his huge sword. It was obviously big but it was way faster than you would think. It seemed like he was trained at least a little. I easily blocked his strike however and delivered a thrust to his unarmored foot.
"You bastard whats wrong with you!!" The bandit leader said before he fell on his back, clutching his foot in pain.
I paid him little mind as I then faced the other bandit immediately after.
"F-fuck this you guys don't pay me enough to die for you!!" The man said before turning his back and running away.
Right… People cared about their lives and didn't want to die for something like this.
It was a thing see very often historically. People ran away all the time.
At least they did in Total War….
I mean if I saw someone do what I just did I wouldn't want to fight him either. But I didn't have the luxury to run.
"You cowa-gAH!!" The bandit leader tried to scream but I stabbed him through his head with my spear.
His face was horriblly disfigured from the large spear head stuck in the middle of his face. It was disgusting to see the inside of a man's head. I tried to look away but I couldn't.
It was not a pretty sight at all.
Nephiah was still fighting the other spear wielding bandit and seemed to have trouble getting in close enough to strike with her sword. The man looked like he was having a tough time keeping up with her as he was breathing pretty heavily.
I ran towards the man and stabbed him through the gaps in his armor. The spear went all the way through him passed his ribs and straight into his heart.
I removed the spear with some difficulty before I then quickly looked at my surroundings.
Nothing.
"Stay on edge, there could be more coming." I said in between short breaths.
Holy fuck I'm tired.
"Gah!" I groaned as I sat on the floor of the forest. I was much too tired to stand.
Im all scratched up.
I scanned my body for injuries and found a few small cuts and scratches that had covered my hands and arms. I needed to get more armor. The wounds weren't that deep but in a world like this I'm sure infection spread quickly and I dont want to find out what weird dragon aids I would get from having an open wound.
"Reynard, are you okay!?" Nephiah said before rushing to my side.
Shes not even tired?
I was doing most the work anyways.
"I'm fine just tired." I said truthfully.
She looked at me then my wounds before down at rhe ground. She looked both sad and worried.
"I promise I'll tell you why this happened, but we need to get to a town or city first. Until then, don't leave me please." Nephiah said. She didn't have tears in her eyes or anything but it was obvious that she was a little sad. Or worried, or both.
"Fine, as long as you keep your promise earlier." I said to her. She seemed a bit surprised at my answer.
"You did mean it didn't you?" I questioned.
"Yes of course." Nephiah said in her usual tone.
"I'm not sure why you would help a troublesome drow like myself, but I assure you that everything you've done is appreciated. You could've left me for dead many times now but you haven't. I'm not sure what you would do this for but… I am grateful." Nephiah said now standing up.
There is a lot more to this dark elf than she lets on. It just makes me more curious about her..