CHAPTER 6 - BANDIT

"Why did you promise that?" Cody finally asked, after they'd put some distance between themselves and Summerville. Zack stared at his brother. "We're in no position to look into two missing people in a world we know nothing about. The missing magic users are none of our business."

"They just helped us. If I can help them, I will," Zack said. He wasn't in the mood to argue with Cody. Kara and Arka had just gone above and beyond for the two of them. Helping them out in return was the obvious.

"I just think we should be in agreement before we agree to help people with their problems," Cody said.

"You're unbelievable," Zack scoffed. He hoped that Cody's bad attitude was due to lack of sleep. He'd heard his brother moving around the night before. It was likely his sleep was constantly interrupted by various nightmares. The bags under his eyes were still pronounced. "Well, we can't help anyone until we get some weapons," Zack said before Cody could retort. "Let's find some monsters, get some gold, and get moving." Cody just nodded.

The path to Denmall was heavily wooded. It didn't take long for Zack and Cody to have a monster encounter. Two rats were eating underneath one of the trees. Cody saw them and halted his brother. The rats hadn't noticed the boys yet. Cody was relieved. It allowed the two of them time to formulate a good strategy for taking them out. Cody remembered their struggles with a single rat the previous day. He knew they'd had received upgrades in terms of their clothing, but they still lacked a proficient weapon for taking the rats out.

"Let's go get them," Zack said. There was a fire in his eyes as he longed to get at the rats.

"Easy, cowboy," Cody warned. "We need a strategy."

"Good point," Zack agreed. He took the knife and ran at the rats. They both saw him coming just as he plunged the knife into the head of the first rat. It immediately disappeared into a puff of smoke.

"Zack!" Cody called after him. This wasn't the strategy Cody had in mind. He was hoping that they'd be able to take both rats out at the same time. Zack had just succeeded in leaving himself open. The second rat screeched at Zack in an attempt to intimidate, which had no effect. Zack had the knife at the ready. Cody had joined his brother. It was two on one. The rat's fight or flight instincts kicked in. It took off into the more heavily wooded part of the forest. Zack went to give chase, but Cody held him back by the hood of his cloak.

"That's more gold, you're letting run away," Zack said incredulously.

"It ran away because you're an idiot," Cody said flatly. He picked up the two gold pieces off the ground and put them into his pocket. "If you'd waited, we could have come up with a way to take out both of them at the same time."

"Oh yeah?" Zack chided. "What exactly would you have used to take one of the rats out? Annoyance?" Zack chuckled at his own joke. Cody frowned. Zack was finally healthy and making up for lost time bragging about how strong he was. He twirled the knife in his hand. "I think we go into the forest, and finish that rat off. We have protection now. I got that rat in one shot!" Zack could barely contain his excitement.

"Look, I know you're excited, but we need to be smart about this. We don't know what's in that forest. There could be way stronger creatures than just a rat, and we'll need more than a knife to take them out. We'll also need strategy." Cody's attempts to remind his brother to pay attention fell on deaf ears. Zack made his way into the forest.

"My strategy is to kill them before they kill me. Then we'll be all set. If you're upset that you can't use the weapon as well as me, then stay here. I'll get all the gold and take care of us." Zack started pushing branches out of his way as he trudged into the forest. Cody sighed loudly and followed his brother. His irritation with Zack was growing again. How many times would the agree to work together, only for the very notion to be ignored within hours?

Zack managed to take out four rats in the forest, and the boys had a respectable pile of gold. Zack put the ten pieces he'd acquired in his cloak pocket. He had a big smile on his face. He'd done all the work, and Cody had simply watched him work.

"Let's not hang out in the forest too long," Cody said.

"Knock it off. It's the middle of the day," Zack reminded him. Cody sighed, he wasn't going to be able to get through to Zack about anything right now. He figured the best course was to just not say anything to him at all. Zack made his way deeper into the forest, whistling a tune to himself. Cody was on full alert. His eyes were darting in all directions, and he kept his head on a swivel. He didn't want any creature getting a jump on them from any direction. He figured the best way to ensure this was to keep moving, and keep looking. Cody heard a strange rumbling noise. It sounded like a growl. He stopped and tried to tune his hearing to the smallest sounds. He could hear Zack breaking twigs and leaves under his shoes. He heard the rumble again.

"Zack!" Cody aggressively whispered at his brother's back. Zack paused to roll his eyes and turn back to Cody. The rumble got louder, and Zack's smirk had disappeared. He'd heard the noise too. Cody motioned for Zack to join him, and he obeyed. The two stood back to back, not making a sound, or moving a muscle. The rumble sounded like a gurgling roar. It was close by. The twin's were on the defensive, ready for whatever creature burst from the trees.

They hadn't anticipated the creature to attack from above. From the tree branches above, humanoid creature leapt at Zack and Cody. It landed right on top of Cody knocking him to the ground. Cody was holding the snapping, snarling creature at bay. He was staring headlong into it's razor sharp fangs. It's green skin was putrid and full of boils. It reached its bony fingers for Cody's neck. Cody was struggling to hold it at bay. He let out a desperation kick, hitting the creature in the chest. It staggered backwards. Cody got to his feet and joined his stunned twin.

"What is that?" Zack asked. The green creature was drooling as it snapped its attention from Zack to Cody. "Is that a goblin?" It seemed to be. The creature's pointed ears twitched as the two boys talked amongst themselves.

"Whatever it is, it's strong," Cody put his hand near his neck. "It was tough just to get it off of me."

"That's you," Zack said. He had his knife out and made his way toward the goblin.

"Zack, wait! We need a different strategy!" As usual, Cody's attempt was futile. Zack ran at the goblin and ferociously swung the knife at the goblin's head. The agile creature was able to dodge the blow. It launched itself into Zack's stomach. Zack was doubled over, clutching his stomach. Cody could hear him gasping for air. The goblin didn't relent. It leapt at Zack's lowered chin, and hit him full force. Zack's head snapped back, and the force of the blow sent him to the ground. "Zack!" The goblin had leapt onto Zack's chest, and was ready to deal a killing blow. Cody dove at the goblin. His shoulder made contact, and the goblin was launched into the nearby tree. Shards of tree bark were scattered everywhere. The goblin fell face first to the ground, and disappeared into the familiar puff of smoke. A large chunk of gold was left in the monsters place. Cody picked the large piece of gold up and placed it in his pocket.

"Gold more important than me?" Zack called from the ground. He was weakly getting to his feet. Cody was seething. He'd just saved Zack's life, and he didn't even say thanks. Cody was done with Zack's attitude. It was time to get Zack's attention. Another near death experience had yet to sway his behavior. Cody calmly walked over to Zack and held his hand out. Zack accepted it and was helped to his feet. "Let's keep going," Zack said, not missing a beat. "We've got more gold to get!" He attempted to walk away, but Cody grabbed his shoulder. He aggressively turned Zack around. A dumbfounded expression was on Zack's face, and it made Cody even angrier. He couldn't contain his anger anymore. His fist made contact with Zack's cheek.

"Get yourself together and let's make our way to the river," Cody said through gritted teeth. He walked away. He wasn't interested in Zack's new pathetic, pity expression. He didn't want to hear any arguments. Zack needed to think about how he was acting, and Cody was tired of pleading his case. He made it out of the forest and was walking along the path. As Zack had done to him, he waited for his brother to catch up. It didn't take long for his brother to catch up. Cody said nothing. He just kept walking.

"Hey," Zack said.

"Not interested," Cody responded coldly.

"What do you want from me?" Zack asked.

"Really?" Cody stopped and turned to his twin. Zack looked honestly confused as to why he'd been punched, and why Cody was angry. "Zack…" Cody rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm tired of saying the same thing over and over. I'm all done. You do what you want. I'm not going to babysit you anymore." With that, he continued his walk.

"As if you're not frustrating!" Zack yelled at him. "You're passive aggressive with everyone who helps you, and then when you help someone, you want to be praised for it!" Cody got back in his brother's face. The tips of their noses were practically touching. "You're not perfect," Zack said.

"You say I'm passive aggressive after I punched you in the face? That's regular aggressive you stupid, stupid…" Cody thought of every insult he could lob his brother's way. Zack was breathing heavily, waiting for whatever pejorative Cody had in store. Cody took a deep breath and started laughing. "Of all people I had to be trapped in a strange place with, it had to be you." Zack's mouth fell open. He had been prepared for Cody to call him an idiot, or moron, or any other synonym. His actual insult hurt more than he'd expected. Zack looked away from his brother and backed off. He turned back to Cody, hoping that his demeanor had changed. Hoping that Cody felt bad for what he had said. Instead, Cody held his ground. He meant what he said.

"Aw, now that's not a nice thing to say!" The two boys were surprised by a high pitched voice nearby. Leaning against a post was a woman. She had long blonde hair, and wore a cranberry red jacket that went to her knees. She wore black leggings underneath it, and she was flanked by three similarly dressed people. "It's always sad to see family fight," she said to her comrades. They smiled at her comment.

"We don't want any trouble," Cody said. "We're just trying to get to Denmall."

"I know where that is," the girl said. "I can point the way, for a price."

"We know the way," Zack informed her.

"They know the way guys," she said to her companions. They continued to smile. "Let me rephrase. You need to cross the Shoal River to get to Denmall. There's a bridge, and there's a toll to cross that bridge."

"We're not paying you to cross a bridge," Zack said angrily.

"We don't have much to pay with anyway," Cody added.

"That's okay," she smiled. "I'm just going to take it anyway. Guys?"

With lightning speed, her three companions bolted toward Zack and Cody. A man in cranberry red, leather vest reached Cody. He swung with his forearm and hit Cody in the side of the head. This staggered him into the other man. He easily lifted Cody off the ground and slammed him onto the ground. Cody didn't have time to react and he was easily knocked out. The leader and the other girl sped towards Zack. He put his arms up to protect his face. He didn't see the leader get behind him and kick him behind his knee. He reached for the injured area, and was greeted with a combat boot to the cheek. He fell over, knocked out.

The girl and her group pilfered the twins pockets and backpacks. All of their gold, food, and their knife was taken.

"Sad," she said at their unconscious bodies. "Kids like this should really stay in Summerville."

She motioned for her followers to head back toward Denmall. Zack and Cody were left in the middle of the road. It took a few minutes for Cody to wake up. His vision was blurred, and his head was throbbing. He vaguely remembered a behemoth of a man lifting him into the air and slamming him into the ground. His head certainly hurt like that had happened. He shook the cobwebs loose, but it only aggravated his headache. He took in his surroundings and saw Zack, still knocked out. Thinking quickly, he reached for his backpack, but it was gone. He just realized that he'd been robbed.

He sighed as he shook Zack awake.

"Ow," was all Zack could muster.

"I know. I'm hurting too," Cody reassured him. He helped his brother to his feet. The two looked around.

"She robbed us," Zack said.

"She did," Cody confirmed.

"She beat the tar out of us."

"She did that too."

"What do we do?" Zack asked.

"I say we continue to Denmall. We can't go back to Summerville like this. We'll have let Arka and Kara down," Cody said as he brushed himself off.

"So you want to help them now?" Zack asked.

"I want to survive. I think we can do both," Cody admitted.

"We need to work together, I guess?" Zack scratched his head

"Let's leave that alone," Cody said, waving him off. "We're not going to see eye to eye on how to handle this. We just need to stay alive."

Zack nodded, and brushed dirt off of his cloak. They let out matching heavy sighs, and continued toward Denmall.