"They found us."
The words had barely left her mouth when shadows began moving between the trees.
One after another.
The first was a broad man wrapped in patched leather armor, a heavy axe resting across his shoulder.
Beside him stood a lean swordsman draped in a faded black cloak, lazily twirling his blade.
Another carried a scarred spear almost twice his height, its iron tip stained a dull brown.
An archer climbed down from a low branch, adjusting the worn bow hanging from his shoulder.
The fifth wore a wolf pelt over one shoulder, twin hatchets crossing his back.
The sixth had a hooked blade hanging at his waist, his face hidden beneath a dark hood.
The last was built like a mountain, carrying nothing but a massive iron hammer that rested against his shoulder as though it weighed nothing.
None of them looked alike.
But every one of them carried scars.
Not the kind earned in training.
The kind earned by surviving.
Kael counted instinctively.
One...
Two...
Three...
Four...
Five...
Six...
Seven.
His brows knitted together.
"...I thought you said there were eight."
She never looked away from the men before them.
"...Don't lower your guard."
Her fingers tightened around the bow.
"There's still one more."
The scar-faced man slowly looked the pair over.
His gaze lingered on Kael.
Then he laughed.
"A rookie?"
The others joined in.
One shook his head.
Another spat onto the ground.
"Looks like the Guild's scraping the bottom of the barrel."
Their laughter spread through the clearing.
Kael slowly drew his sword.
Steel slid free with a sharp hiss.
The scar-faced man tilted his head.
"Kill the rookie."
A swordsman stepped forward.
He rolled his neck once before pointing his blade at Kael.
"I won't be long."
At the same moment, she moved.
Her bowstring sang.
THWIP!
An arrow buried itself in a bandit's shoulder.
The clearing erupted into chaos.
Steel clashed.
Shouts echoed through the trees.
She was already surrounded.
Kael never looked back.
The swordsman stopped a few steps away.
The two began to circle.
Neither spoke.
The bandit moved first.
Kael answered with a downward slash.
The bandit reacted instantly, throwing his sword up to block.
The strike never came.
Kael abandoned the swing halfway.
Steel sliced through empty air.
Before the bandit understood—
Click.
Kael's sword slipped back into its sheath.
Confusion flashed across the man's face.
Kael exploded forward.
Both knees crashed into the bandit's face.
CRACK!
The man's body staggered backward.
Kael landed.
His hand was already on the hilt.
SHING!
A single flash.
He walked past him.
The bandit remained standing.
One heartbeat.
Two.
A thin crimson line slowly opened across his neck.
His sword slipped from his fingers.
His knees gave way.
The body collapsed.
...
The clash of weapons faded.
The laughter vanished.
The remaining bandits stared at the fallen body.
Then...
Their eyes slowly shifted to Kael.
Silence.
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