The driver of their caravan, keeping his crossbow trained on the bandits, began to reach under the seat. The man in the lead of the small gaggle of two bit warriors held a hand up, stopping the driver in his tracks. This caused him to pause, keeping him from reaching under the seat for one of the few pouches of copper he kept for just such occasions- sometimes, paying them off worked wonders.
"We're not here to rob you."
Looking at the five men, they didn't even have their weapons hefted or drawn, nor were their bows lifted and aimed at them. The driver, who's name was Tuddi, knit his brow together a little in confusion but didn't lower his bow.
"Yeah....? Whaddya want then?"
The bandit leader cleared his throat.
"My name is Kyle. Me and my friends here just recently left the VSG- Vale Side Gang. Our leader was...shall we say, usurped by someone else. Someone who doesn't mind killing rather than taking payments. So...we left. If I were you, I'd turn back. He's got crooks flooding these woods for people like you. Slave labor is the least of your worries, especially with the women and the children."
He started slowly backing away, as did the others.
"Take it for what you will. We're getting out of here."
Were Kael not in the body of a small child, he would have stepped out to speak up on their behalf...perhaps see about hiring these poor fools to protect them through the forest. But, as it was, the bandits were gone and Tuddi glanced back at his passengers. Rather than ask the obvious question he simply picked up the reigns and sent them onward. Tuddi was a good man. He had a four men who followed behind on horseback and would often bring the villagers news from the outside world while protecting the cargo. Kael didn't want to see them dead, let alone risk his parents. He looked at his father and tried his best to seem worried.
"Dad I...think I'm gonna just lie down, for a while."
His father, who had a rather old sword across his back, gave a nod. It was probably for the best. If things did go the worse route, he didn't want his son to get involved. Once at the back of the cart, Kael laid down and glanced at his father, who was scanning the trees from the rear. Kale then touched two fingers from each hand together and began to whisper. Though nobody around him would hear it, his voice carried on a string of Aether, off and into the distance.
They continued into the slowly darkening woods for several hours, until the sun had finally hit the top of the distant tree-line.
"We make camp." Tuddi said, pulling the cart over to the side of the road. There was a small clearing off the path, often used by travelers and traders with the blessings of the mountain tribes. Tuddi was explaining the watch schedule to the mercenaries, while Kael (who had quite accidentally fallen asleep after his spell) sat up and stretched. Father was already gone, off the back of the cart and into the clearing with Mother. He was putting in stakes and ropes for their tent. Kael took his own, setting it up closer to the trees with the opening away from his parents' tent. Jackson watched with a rather amused expression as his son set up the tent on his own. They had gone camping a few times, so he knew his boy was familiar but still. What a particularly good job he was doing.
"Well done, my boy."
Two guards would be on watch at a time, with six total people able to watch over them- four guards, Tuddi and his father. They'd take the shift in twos each. One inside the small encampment and the other patrolling the border. After eating a small meal of beans and flat bread, Kael would yawn and indicate he was tired. Giving both his parents a hug and heading off to bed. Once in the tent, he lie down and wrapped up, listening as his father and mother gave soft chuckles and talked about how quickly he was growing. A faint smile passed across his lips listening to them- it was the thing he missed most in that world. Just listening to the love his parents had for one another.
"Aww isn't that sweet?"
Kael growled under his breath, annoyed that Malakar was peeking in. The daemon king said nothing further, and Kael waited patiently for the tent to fall into quiet slumber about an hour later. Exiting his sleeping place, he slowly closed the front flap and left a small pair of boots sticking out to make it appear that he was asleep. Then, wearing his moccasins that wrapped snug near his ankles, took off silent into the first, hefting a long dagger on his hip. Malakar continued to remain silent, also quite pleased they were finally off to do something he was good at- hunting.
While they had set up camp, Kael could feel the forest coming to life around them. The bandits, wherever they were, usually kept the most often used roads clear of the beasts that roamed nearby. But since they were preoccupied with their own civil war, Kael would need to make sure his family was protected himself. He was well practiced in all forms of magic- his master, being an archmage, a skilled dark mage, had perfect his use of black magic. Kael, however, had an affinity for all forms of magic and so was quite skilled in every single one. Using what little moonlight there was, he simply curved the light around his body to make himself seem like another shadow in the wood. It was one of the easiest spells, even he could keep it up for hours.
"AOUUOOOOOO"-
Wolves.
Coming up over a small ridge, he could see the pack closing in on a girl who was hefting a knife. She was about his age, maybe a little younger. There was a boy behind her, not five years old. She wore rags and was caked with dirt- either someone homeless seeking refuge in the trees or an escaped slave. Either way, she lucked out. Kael grunted as he jumped from the ridgeline. It wasn't far, maybe ten feet. There were three wolves, snarling as they slowly closed in on her. He landed right in front of them, causing the lead dog to splay his legs as the others jumped. Their hackles went up as they started snarling at this new form.
Kael stopped bending light around his body, and only did so around his face as he looked back at the girl, who's eyes were wide-eyed and face was pale. He faced forward again and let out a growl of his own, indicating he wasn't letting them near her. He didn't have a savior complex or anything, he just didn't like to watch little kids get eaten alive. Anyone would have jumped in to save them.
The lead wolf, not intimidated in the slightest by this new child, jumped forward and opened his jaw to take a large bite out of the kids face and...suddenly lost its balance, crashing into the wood floor while its legs kicked out at awkward angles. It's head was twisted upside down and it felt the creaking clatter of its own broken spine against itself. Kael, when the wolf had leaped forward, had created a wind tunnel around its neck in a spiral and tied it to an opposide angled spike. When the wolf jumped, the trap latched around its head and its own forward momentum caused it to twist, snapping the canines neck.
The other two leaped forward as well only to yelp- their eyes had been crushed inside their sockets with sickening squirts. Blood shot from them as they backed up quickly, giving more power to the two earth-made spikes that stabbed up out of the ground and through their bodies. They both gurgled and kicked and mewled but even so, died relatively quickly. Kael turned back to the girl, who was up against the wall with her body covering the boy. He let out a little breath and asked-
"Where are your parents?"