Prepare for a long one!

Also, I can't believer that I just now noticed the button that makes a horizontal line. *facepalm* This is who you're following, a guy who doesn't even know about some basic features of the site. XD

Due to a good point (from "TheZubatMan") I'll give you guys appearances for my characters.

Kilo:

Class: Death Knight (Basically, a great knight that can use any weapon. Although, he prefers the bow.)

He has long black hair. Not one to restrain his appearance, he lets it flow loose. He has green eyes. His armor is completely black and is plated most of the way. (Think of Frederick's armor but black.) His horse is a white stallion that has white armor. He is also 6 feet tall. He is 41 years old.

Rass AKA Lite:

Class: Lord

Rass has a black cape on the back of his armor. His armor is also black. While it is heavy all around, the plating is most thick on the breastplate part. He also has large shoulder pads. His right one has a back-up dagger attached to it for emergencies. His horse has black armor as well. Also, although he doesn't use it often, he has a typical knight helmet that is also black. He has short, somewhat spiky, red hair. His eyes are a strange color, orange. 4" 11'. 21 years old.


CHAPTER 3: THE RAID OF BANDIT PEAK (PART 1)


Although Bandit Peak was visible on the horizon, there was still a long walk ahead of the trio. Once Lite realized this he realized just how large Bandit Peak was. It was so far away, but Bandit peak still looked huge to them. This realization startled Lite quite a bit. How was Gabriel so confident?It seemed like it would be impossible for them to climb the massive mountain without getting killed. Lite now agreed with Kilo, this was suicide. Lite decided to talk with Gabriel about this.

"Hey, Gabe?" Lite asked. When he said "Gabe" Gabriel seemed to stop suddenly and shake. It was like Gabriel was angry.

"Listen, i'm not one for nicknames. I prefer Gabriel," Gabriel said. Lite chuckled a bit then continued.

"Right, sorry about that. Anyways, I was wondering if i could ask you a question." Gabriel gave Lite a motion for him to continue. "How are you so confident in our ability to take down Bandit Peak? The size of the mountain kind of frightens me," Lite finished. he got a laugh as a response from Gabriel.

"Lite, although the mountain is huge, the Bandits only use a very small portion of it. The Tra may be large, but they are spread out through the entire world. Bandit Peak isn't even their largest city. If you want to get technical, Carin is." Lite was shocked to hear this. Carin was under control of the Tra? How could that be? Although the hunters aren't a real nation, they are pretty close. In fact, a few years ago they attempted to become a nation. For some reason, they pulled back. Now, Lite knew why, the Tra forced them to. Either way, it was still a shock, Carin has a very renown defense force. Some say it tops even the Valio border guard.

"Well, that hurts my plan. I had planned to use Carin to recruit mercenaries to my cause," Lite said.

"Yea, that is quite the worry. Don't worry though, one way or another, everything on the plains will lead you to a mercenary," Gabriel said while chuckling. Lite had to admit, Gabriel was probably right. With so many bandits leaving clans, there must be thousands of sell swords. However, Lite wanted the true heroes. Not any random sell sword could take down an ethereal. It took real heroes to do that. If someone was to weak, he'd most likely not hire them. Then, he realized something, Gabriel was one of those heroes. Only a truly skilled warrior could have that much courage. Perhaps after their raid on Bandit Peak Lite could get Gabriel to join them.

Lite noticed Kilo off to the side, tending to both of the horses as they walked. Even Lite's special horse had gotten tired from all of the walking they were doing. So, Kilo decided that the horses had earned a break. It certainly seemed like the horses were enjoying their break. They made noises toward each other. In fact, it looked like they were talking to each other. Lite laughed at the thought, there was no way that was possible. Horses didn't seem smart enough to be capable of communication. Although, he hadn't spent to long around them. he wondered if Kilo had ever thought the same thing. Lite3 decided to ask Kilo that.

"Hey, Kilo, do you ever get the feeling that horses talk to each other?" Lite asked. Kilo, startled since he didn't see Lite approach him, looking over at Lite. he took a moment to consider the question before answering it.

"Yes, I see them communicating all the time. I mean, why would you think that they don't?" Kilo asked.

"Well, it just seems like communication is a bit of a complex thing. Are horses really smart enough to be able to communicate?" After he said that, he heard two loud neighs. When he looked over to the horses, they seemed to be giving him an angry stare. That was a bit unsettling for Lite. Apparently, horses were a lot smarter than he thought.

"Well, does that answer it for you? Good old Nari here isn't some dumb old woman. She can understand everything we say. Isn't that right, Nari?" Kilo asked his horse. To Lite's surprise, the horse gave a head shake 'yes" then went back to eating its food.

"I can't believe it. All this time, i thought horses were just dumb animals we trained to follow our orders. This makes me just how smart they are," Lite said. Getting a laugh from Kilo.

"They're pretty smart. Heck, one time I got injured in a battle and Nari finished the dastard off. Can you believe that? My horse picked up my slack without me asking it to." Wow, Lite could not believe what he was hearing. horses were smart and could fight pretty well? Then again, those back legs could certainly kick, couldn't they? Just one kick could probably kill an ill-armored man. Lite thanked his lucky stars that Nari was on his side. After this, it was getting late, so lite decided now would be a good time for them to set up camp.

-A couple days later-

They had finally reached the base of Bandit Peak. In front of them lay the ruins of an old town with the peak towering over them. It was a truly intimidating sight. Kilo and Lite mounted their horses, while Gabriel crouched into the tall grass. As the trio approached, they saw a troop of Bandits come down the mountain. They were mostly axe bearers, however, their leader looked pretty intimidating. He had a helmet on so you could not see his face. his armor was a blood red. He carried a unnecessarily huge broadsword as his weapon. Despite the sword's size, he moved it around with ease with one hand.

"You should give up. No one has ever beaten me in a battle. I'll give you one chance to leave. If you don't, I'll command my men to charge," Their leader said. Kilo, knowing that they wouldn't be retreating, decided to take the first strike. he loaded up his bow and shot it at one of he bandits. Cuaght by surprise, the bandit had no time to block the attack. The arrow hit its mark, right in the bandit's heart. Curiosly, instead of the bandit falling over, his body merely shined brightly before the bandit died. What the heck was going on?

"Ah, you play dirty. If your decision is death, so be it. Charge!" At his word, the bandits charged forward. Lite noticed two of the bandits were charging for him. Gabriel was still nowhere to be seen and Kilo had two after him. Seemed like Lite would have to do this alone. He set off on his horse towards one of the bandits. The bandit rose its axe up, ready to strike Lite when he passed. Lite noticed that and made a change of plans. When he got close to the bandit he signaled his horse to jump. The horse jumped and Lite pointed his sword downward. During the jump, his sword killed the bandit. Once again, the bandit shone brightly before fading.

Meanwhile, Gabriel was still stalking through the grass. He had managed to not be spotted and was slowly moving toward the leader. Thankfully, the leader hadn't seen Gabriel yet so he was in the clear. Although, Gabriel knew that one wrong move could severely hinder his progress. He prayed that neither of his allies would give him away. Gabriel huddled his body close to the ground when a couple bandits ran by.. Apparently, the battle had started. Seeing what appeared to be a path, Gabriel got an idea.

He dug into the path with one his daggers and set in the ground. It was barely visible, but the dagger would still hurt if you stepped on it. With his trap set, Gabriel continued towards the leader. Due to him getting closer, he began to move at a snail's pace. He only moved when he was absolutey sure it was safe. A scream from the path told him that the trap had worked. However, his trap also backfired. The leader went to see what had happened since there was no one near the harmed bandit. When he got over there he saw the dagger stuck in the ground. Then, he noticed the grass that was pushed down. So, there was a third trespasser? The leader began to walk down the path.

"Listen, fool, I know you are here, you may as well show yourself." Gabriel, knowing that it was his best option, stood up. As he did, he grabbed one of his daggers. Kilo, meanwhile, saw this situation. He got an arrow ready, waiting for the right moment. "Drop your weapon, you're no match for me. As I am the legendary Neru," Neru said, revealing his rather large ego. Kilo, seeing a good chance, let his arrow fly. Neru dodged to the side quickly. "Hah, thin-" Neru stopped speaking as a dagger planted itself on the side of his chest.

"Looks like you got caught monologing," Gabriel said. Gabriel was confident Neru was beat, however, he was wrong. Neru merely pulled the dagger out and glared at it. While it did hurt, he was not quite done yet. No small dagger would be killing him. Hearing a horse approach him and the theif doing the same, Neru spun in a circle. He missed both Gabriel and Lite, but the wind created by the massive sword knocked Gabriel over. Neru swung his sword in Lite's direction. However, his sword was not swift enough. Lite passed by him, delivering a sword slash. Right after the pass, a well placed arrow hit its mark.

Somehow, Neru wasn't done yet. He fell down onto one knee. He wasn't dead, but there was no way that he was going to be fighting anymore. Instead of killing him, Lite spoke. "Do you surrender?" He asked Neru. Neru was caught off guard by Lite's question. Why didn't he just kill him?

"Yes, although, it doesn't matter. You'll kill me either way," Neru said. Lite laughed at Neru's assumption.

"Gabriel, Kilo, let's go," Lite said. With that, they continued towards the mountain. They left a completely shocked Neru behind. They had spared him? It was unbelievable, no one ever did that. Neru stood up and looked at the mountain. No way he could return there. The higher up leaders would make him suffer a fate worse than death for his failure. He dropped his sword. It hit the ground with a loud thud and sent a bit of wind out. Slowly, Neru turned around and began to limp in the other direction. He now realized what his opponent had given him: a second chance at life. Neru intended to use it to the fullest.

Meanwhile, the trio of Gabriel, Kilo, and Lite continued up a path. Strangely, they had come across no guards yet. Gabriel decided that now would be a great time to ask his question he had for Lite. "Lite, why did you spare Neru?" Gabriel asked.

Not taking anytime to think, Lite responded. "Neru didn't deserve to die. No one deserves to die." Gabriel was quite surprised with Lite's answer. He did, in fact, know who Lite was. Lite didn't even think the ethereals deserve to die? Or did they just somehow slip his mind during that moment? Either way, it was a foolish philosophy to live by on the plains.

"You'll want to change that," Kilo and Gabriel said at the same time. Gabriel was caught off guard, what did Kilo know about the plains? He assumed that Kilo was just some kind of guard hired by Lite.

"Hmm... perhaps I do want to change my way of thinking. The plains seem very different than what I'm used to," Lite said. With that, the other two nodded. They looked back forward, now they were close to the Tra's encampment. Strangely, it looked very small despite how large the Tra are. "You'd think that a gang this big would have a larger base," Lite commented.

"Do you remember nothing?" Gabriel asked. At first Lite was confused. Then, he remembered his earlier conversation with Gabriel.

"Oh, right, sorry I can quite forgetful. Sorry about that." Lite chuckled. Kilo joined in as well. Even Gabriel, who to this point had been showing almost no emotion, smirked. Then, the trio moved on. Soon, they reached a door. The door was massive. Apparently, there was also a magic barrier up. This was supposedly to stop Pegasus knights from bypassing the door entirely. Now that Lite really looked for it, he noticed that the barrier surrounded the entire mountain. Whoever had made this magic was extremely talented. As, Lite finished looking around, something caught his eyes, a note on the door. Lite walked towards it and began to read the note.

Welcome to Bandit Peak. What lies through here is what we've dubbed the gauntlet. A series of 5 trials awaits you ahead. At the end of each trial room lies a door, to open that door you must complete the trial we give you. Do not fear, if you fail our gauntlet, we will not kill you. One of the overseers will simply teleport you back to this door. When you are ready, tap a blade on the door. Any blade will do.

"Shall I?" Gabriel asked. Lite nodded to the thief. Gabriel then tapped the door with one of his daggers. I an instant the door lifted up. In front of them was something astounding. For a moment, time seemed to stop. Then, as if out of nowhere, the blank area in front of them changed its form. There were now bandits patrolling around one tower in the middle. Lite looked ahead, there it was, at the end of the "room" was a door. Lite assumed that the objective in this trial was merely to defeat all of the bandits.

"It appears they have been given orders to only attack once we strike. By that logic, it would seem that we will get the first strike," Kilo said. He pulled out an arrow from his quiver and readied his bow. "Which one seems to be the most repeating?" Lite and Gabriel looked around for a second. Honestly, there wasn't to many bandits here. However, each of them seemed to be powerful. One of them caught his eye. This particular bandit had somewhat long ears and had a stone int he center of its breastplate. Lite recognized what that bandit was right away, a taguel.

"That one by the door for sure," Lite said, pointing out where the taguel was. Gabriel nodded and Kilo aimed his bow. He let the arrow fly, however, the taguel saw the arrow coming and transformed into its beast form. They had just lost their advantage. With the taguels different size, the arrow flew straight over it. Then, it let out a roar to call the other bandits to attention. The others looked towards the door. One bandit three his tomahawk at Gabriel. However, Gabriel quickly dodged and planted two daggers in the bandit's chest. Once again, rather than falling over, the bandit merely burst into light.

While Gabriel was distracted by the bandit, another one made a move. The myrmidon rushed Gabriel with it's killing edge. There was very little time to respond. Without even giving his own safety a second thought, Lite rushed forward and blocked the sword with his own blade. While the myrmidon was distracted, Kilo used this split-second to plant an arrow in its head. Suddenly, two mercenary class bandit rushed to them. Gabriel was now unoccupied, but Lite had a better idea. He picked up the myrmidons remaining killing edge. With the way the two were approaching... yes, it would work. When they got close enough, Lite held out both his arms out to his sides. He ended up on the other side of them, with two bright lights shining behind him. However, there was no time to brag. The taguel had finally charged them.

The taguel knocked Lite over and was above him. The taguel seemed to be ready to bite his face off! Thinking quickly, Lite reached for his backup dagger. Quickly, before the taguel could react, he planted it in the taguel's chest. This made the taguel recoil in pain and dash off of Lite. However, as he did so, he did hurt Lite a bit. With the taguel now vulnerable, Gabriel charged and struck the taguel with both of his daggers. The taguel dashed back again, trying to get away. Then, someone spoke.

"We must clear the way!" Kilo yelled. Then, he threw up the tomahawk the other bandit had missed with. The taguel did not expect a giant axe to come from an archer. The tomahawk hit taguel square in the chest. It blew into the light and was gone. A rumble was heard and the door ahead opened, signifying that the trial was indeed done.

Only four more to go.

-End of Chapter-

As always, feedback is appreciated.