"So Joshua, what will you do with your share of the money from this job?"
Joshua tipped his hat down forward, pushing some of his red hair into his eyes, using his other hand to lift his sword, gesturing to it with his eyes. "I may see if I can find a smith to fix this old thing"
Caellach chuckled a little. "You've had that beaten up sword since the day I met you, why haven't you fixed it or gotten rid of it?"
"It's…a family heirloom Caellach; you don't just throw them away. You are right in that I should take better care of it though…", Joshua left the sentence hanging, thinking about the sword. He had stolen it away from the armory of Jehanna Hall the night he ran away from his old life. "Anyway, I am not like you Caellach, you spend every gold piece you get on drink and weapons. Weapons you do not even use, I might add. You haven't touched that giant sword of yours since you bought that axe."
"You have to admit this axe was a good purchase though.", Caellach said with a wide grin.
"I suppose. You seem a good fit for axes. Strong, not very subtle, vicious and wicked sometimes."
"Very funny, friend, just you wait. So where is this bandit hideout? Did any of those hapless cavaliers give you any directions?, Caellach called ahead to Joshua, who was now waiting atop a hill up ahead.
"I do believe I found the place! They said we couldn't miss it!", Joshua yelled back, waving his sword in the air as Caellach jogged up the hill. Nestled at the bottom of the hill was a rundown fort, likely an abandoned Rausten outpost.
"Well let's go kick down the door and say hello, crack some skulls, and earn a King's ransom!", the merc said as he hefted his axe over one shoulder.
"I'm no tactician, but that sounds like a terrible plan.", the red haired swordsman said, flipping his coin idly.
"You have a better plan then? Enlighten me."
"Here, I'll play you for it. One flip, you call it. You win, we run in like savage idiots. I win, we lure some out, play it a little smarter." As he finished, Joshua flipped the coin high in the air.
"Heads!" Caellach called out as the coin fell, Joshua deftly caught it, showing it was indeed heads up. "Looks like I win! Look out bandits here we come!" he roared, charging down the hill and up to the front door, and kicking it hard, shattering it into dozens of pieces. Joshua winced as he saw the door explode, sighing as he ran off after his friend.
As he loped up to and through the door, he arrived just in time to see Caellach slash a man open with his axe, then kick him square in the wounded chest, sending him to the ground. Joshua looked past his friend, deeper into the ruined fort. The opening hall seemed to lead deep into the heart of the fort, splitting off to the sides to cover the perimeter defenses.
"Caellach, I think this hall leads directly to the center of the base. What do you think?
"Maybe. What say we ask him?", he responded, picking up a bandit that had been passed out, nursing a bottle of what smelled like rotgut alcohol. Caellach slapped the man hard, waking the bandit, who let out a foul string of curses, followed by wide eyed silence looking at the man holding him up with one hand.
"Where is your boss, tell us and I'll make sure my friend here lets you live." Joshua said with a cold and level voice.
The bandit trembled visibly, pointing down the entrance hallway, toward the center of the fort.
Caellach grinned, dropping the man to the floor and delivering a savage kick to his jaw as he hit the ground. Joshua grimaced as some of the bandit's teeth flew out and hit the wall, then clattered to the floor.
"You heard the man, let's get moving.", Caellach said, walking down the hall, axe at his side. Joshua jogged a few paces to catch up, walking as he got in front of Caellach.
"I think we should set up in this intersection up ahead, we can block that four way hallway and bring the bandits to us, what do you think?" Just as Joshua finished, he took a step into the intersection. In that split second, his ear picked up a faint whistling sound, and Joshua ducked his head just in time to avoid an axe head that buried itself in the wall, narrowly missing the neck of the myrmidon. Joshua's eyes darted up , seeing a huge bandit trying to wrest his axe from the wall's grip. The bandit saw Joshua looking up at him and swung his fist at the red haired swordsman. Joshua weaved out of the way, letting the fist smash into the wall hard. The sound of breaking bone rang out in the hall. Without missing a beat, Joshua stood up and spun left with a kick, connecting with the bandit's elbow, which shattered with a sick crunch. In one fluid motion, Joshua kept turning, grabbing the bandit's head, slamming it against the wall. The bandit's head crunched against the stone and bounced back as he collapsed in a heap on the ground.
Caellach walked up, looking over the crumpled heap of bandit. Joshua was breathing heavily, trying to compose himself. "That was pretty brutal. Be a long time before that man can eat properly, much less wield a weapon.", the taller merc said, running a hand over his slicked back hair.
"He'll live, which is probably better than he deserves. Get ready, seems that one has some friends coming.", the myrmidon said, taking a deep breath as he held his sword down in his ready stance. Caellach got the message and settled into his own stance, holding his axe out in front of himself with one hand, the other at the ready. The friends turned to face different directions, standing back to back for a moment as the sound of feet hitting stone grew louder and louder.
Not much more than half a minute later, three groups of bandits came from the three hallways the pair of heroes had not traveled Each group had roughly five men, totaling some fifteen opponents against the two friends. All three groups rushed their two opponents are around the same time. Caellach was the first to strike, swinging his axe to one side and lashing out with a fist, taking out two opponents at once. As he swung left, he turned for a split second, giving one bandit all the leave he needed to give Caellach a slash across the chest with a long blade. Caellach roared in pain, cutting the bandit deep in the neck with his massive axe. His victim's neck spurted a torrent of red blood as the axe was withdrawn and used upon yet another bandit.
As Caellach was dispatching his fourth attacker, Joshua was weaving his way through his fifth attack. Joshua fought and moved like water, flowing past attacks and blades, making swift strikes at all who overextended even slightly. Within a few seconds two of his opponents were hamstrung, one was two fingers shy of a good hand, and another was nursing a broken jaw courtesy of his curved blade's pommel. Joshua then spun like a top, slashing each opponent in turn, catching three across the chest, one in the face, and the other across his once "good" arm. The man with the arm wound was the only one left standing, looking in horror at his severed fingers and ruined right arm. Joshua finished him quickly, shattering his knee with a sharp kick and putting him out cold on the ground with a blow from the flat of his sword.
Caellach and Joshua both turned to see the approaching five from the center of the fort at the same time, having finished off two groups. Without a word they set on the third group in perfect harmony. Joshua went low, taking out the front man with a leg sweep and finishing him with a downward stab to the gut. Caellach threw his axe just as the man started to fall, the heavy axe tumbling end over end where the man used to be, finding purchase in the chest of the taller man behind him. The man looked thunderstruck for a moment until Caellach leapt of the fallen first man and punched the second in the face, riding his body to the ground. As he bent over to free his axe, Joshua stepped on his back with one foot, using it to launch himself in the air, only to push off from the wall and slash the next bandit across the throat. Caellach, abandoning his axe, covered the distance between himself and the last bandit in one pace, kicking him hard in the gut. As the large axe wielding bandit doubled over, Caellach seized his head in a lock under his arm and broke his neck cleanly, letting the body drop to the floor. The last living bandit turned to run down the hall, hoping to escape, or perhaps warn his leader of the two warriors. Joshua tore off after him, and it was a matter of seconds before the smaller myrmidon leapt on the large brigand and drove him to the ground, sword held in front of his neck. The big bandit fell, neck sliced cleanly by the force of the fall driving his neck onto the blade.
The two friends caught their breath, taking a moment to search the bodies for documents and cash. They found little of either. Caellach stood up from the last body, wincing in pain. "Hey Joshua, where's that satchel the knight gave you? I got slashed pretty good." Joshua took a vulnary from the bag and tossed it to his friend. Caellach drank down the healing liquid, wincing as it knitted the flesh and dulled the pain a little. He stretched, satisfied with the healing. "Ah, like magic. Almost wish we had the cute church healer with us about now eh?", he said, laughing. Joshua had a soft spot for holy women that was by now, well explored in humor with the friends.
"Very funny. Are you well enough to fight?", Joshua asked, a small hint of concern in his voice as he headed down the hall toward the center of the fort. Caellach followed at a slower pace.
"I'll be fine; will have a nice scar to show for it. You know how the ladies love scars", he said with a smile. He continued walking, finally approaching Joshua, who had stopped in front of a door of heavy wood. "From the look on your face, I don't suppose you found a key for this door?" Joshua shook his head. "Alright, stand aside", Caellach said, pushing Joshua back. The big merc hefted his axe in both hands, taking two heavy swings at the door. The wood stood up to the first swing, although deeply gouged. The second swing cut a big hole in the door, which Caellach reached through and unlocked the door, pushing it open.
Joshua clapped lightly in approval. "You are quite skilled with that axe, given that you picked it up a week or so ago. At this rate you might become the hero of heroes.", the crimson haired swordsman said. "I doubted at first, but you are a quick study."
"I would prefer to be the king of kings. Maybe I could settle for being a Hero King eh?", Caellach shot back, wearing a wide grin.
The room beyond the door was massive, more than likely the main hall for the fort. The hall was shockingly bare, with not much but a few tables and a large throne. Upon the throne sat a massive man, a large green metal axe propped up at his side. The man stood as the pair entered. "It would seem you killed my men! A pity really. Still, might be nice to not divide the spoils any longer. But I suppose none of that matters to you fools. Best to kill you now, and send a message to anyone who would dare cross me again. I do hope you understand. A bandit king taken down by two filthy sellswords just doesn't sit right with me."
Caellach rested his axe on his shoulder. "A king? You talk fancy enough to be one, but you ain't a king.", he said as he slowly walked forward. "See, I know something about kings. And if I'm not one, you sure as hell aren't!" Caellach surged forward, raising his axe above his head in a dead sprint. He covered the length of the hall with impressive speed, while his opponent stayed deadly still. Caellach bolted up the stairs and made a powerful downward swing. The bandit leader simply sidestepped as the axe bit into the wooden throne. He then kicked Caellach hard in the gut as he picked up his own axe. He raised his knee and hit the merc again, driving him back from the throne and his axe. As Caellach stumbled back, the bandit brought up his axe and hit him in the side, driving him back down the stairs, where he landed and didn't move. Joshua rushed to his side and shook him twice, but his friend didn't respond. He was still breathing, which was all he could hope for right now.
"I sincerely hope you are a better combatant than your friend. This is too easy.", the bandit said from the throne
"I assure you I will make this fight worth it. You can bet on it", Joshua shot back, climbing halfway up the stairs and holding his sword back in his beginning stance.
The bandit came down two steps, swinging down hard with his axe from overhead. Joshua pulled his sword up and across his body, parrying the blow to his left. The bandit pulled back up and swung again from the same position. Joshua swung back across his body, knocking the axe away to his right, causing the bandit to over extend and stumble. In a flash, Joshua made two deep cuts across the bandit's bare chest. His target yelled out, bringing his axe in a wide sideways arc, level with Joshua's head. The speedy myrmidon saw it coming and back flipped, landing one stair down as the bandit swung wide. Seizing the advantage again. Joshua stepped up and kicked the bandit in the side of the knee as he turned with his swing. With a nasty crunch, the joint bent inward, and the bandit fought to stay upright. Joshua followed with a deep slash up his side and a leg sweep, sending the bandit down onto the stairs. As he crashed against the hard stone stairs, the bandit's neck landed on the edge of the stair, snapping loudly.
For a moment Joshua stood at the ready, but it soon passed. Readjusting his hat to the center of his head, he brushed the hair from his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. His relief was short lived, remembering Caellach in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Rushing over, Joshua fished out an elixir and poured it down Caellach's throat. After a minute that seemed to last forever, the mercenary stirred, coughing up a little of the liquid.
"God that stuff is wretched. Worse than a vulnary", Caellach coughed out after a while. "Thanks for the save Joshua, I mean it." Joshua smiled roguishly and offered his hand, pulling Caellach to his feet. "I assume we won?", he asked as he clutched his stomach and side.
Joshua nodded, turning to walk up to the body. He looked it over, trying to figure out what to do with it. They would need proof they had done the deed, but he didn't fancy carrying around a head in a loaned satchel. His eye caught a fine amulet around the bandit's neck. Perfect. Joshua pulled the amulet off the corpse, breaking the string it was on and stowing it n his satchel. Satisfied, Joshua picked up the man's axe and turned to face his friend. "Catch!"
Caellach reached up and caught the axe by the handle in one hand. "Seems a little morbid to carry an axe that has spilled your own blood. Still, it is a fine thing…", he said, stowing it over his back "Anyway, job finished, how do you suppose we get to Castle Rausten?"
"Joshua took out his favorite coin, running his fingers over it. "I saw some hay and oats and feed on the way in. maybe these bandits have some horses."
"Interesting. Does either of us know how to ride?", Caellach asked with a smile.
"I guess we are about to find out", Joshua said with a smile, flipping his coin and snatching it out of the air as he headed for the door.