Chapter 12: Unclouded Eyes Part 3
In the dead of night, a fortress lies in the mountains of Bern. In the mountains of the Sacae-Bern border, lies the Taliver Mountains in which the bandits named themselves and call their home. It was supposed to be a good night after a good haul, until they heard a scream. Their stronghold suddenly alert from the loud noise.
A group of fellow bandits rushed over to the direction of the scream, their comrade on the ground pointing and shaking at a body. It was one of their comrades pelted against the tree with three arrows. Where did the arrows come from?
"Get the others! We're being atta-!"
Suddenly, shots were fired, piercing the man's throat with an arrow. The man fell before he could finish. Suddenly, a bottle was thrown into the entrance of the fortress. The sound of jars breaking and spilling the contents into the openings of the fortress. Flapping of wings could be heard above. The remaining bandits outside scrambling looked up into the sky, a pegasus mounted by a purple-haired girl, who kept throwing small jars of oil into the opening of the fort.
"Get that pegasus knight! Shoot her down!" One bandit called out.
Some of the bandit archers grouped together and quickly attempted to aim with their bow, only to hear the galloping of horses. A javelin went through one of the archers, felling them in one single pierce, causing panic amongst the group. Soon, another archer fell, with an arrow to the back. The sounds of galloping grew closer, with two cavalry and what appeared to be a Sacaen nomad rushing to attack.
"Knights and a Sacaen! Get all men from the fortress!" One of the leader's called out. However, upon their attempted rally, one arrow hit the entrance of the stronghold. The entrance filled with flames, despite being a stone structure. Throwing jars of oil truly worked wonders. The arrows that had cloth attached were lit ablaze and used to ignite the oil. One after the other, all the openings in the fortress caught in flames.
It became worse as more men were pelted with arrows, leaving no one to be spared. Three men on foot began to join the fray, two sword fighters, one of them Sacaen braided brat, and the other a spiky blue haired lad, the last being a red haired fighter. Making quick work of the bandits in their path.
Just as one of the bandits tried to counterattack with their axe, a flash of light appeared before them, hitting them, killing them instantly. They turned to see who hit them, only to see one mage or cleric invoking spells, a beautiful one at that. Flashes of light hitting more bandits and alongside with the spellcaster was a red-haired young man wielding a sword and cutting down more bandits.
"Damn it all!" One bandit cried out. Quickly running out of their base, with some following after him.
With the bandits losing all formation and element of surprise, they were lambs to the slaughter. Nothing more than prey, just like their victims...
Just as the bandits who escaped their fortress, they heard loud clanking along their path. Suddenly, one of their fellow bandits fell backwards. His chest having received a handaxe buried into it.
"My, My... it seems like I've been left behind," an armored man voiced out in front of them.
He held a lance in hand and a javelin in the other, he chuckled. The bandits becoming unnerved with how the armored knight found the situation funny.
"W-who are you!?" One bandit cried out.
"Just a knight who's lost his way..." He spoke, raising his javelin up.
And the lives of all the bandits who have escaped their stronghold have ended. No mercy to be shown like they have to tribes and villagers.
Almost each and every bandit were either being slaughtered by these mercenaries or running away. They were panicking over the preemptive strike and unorthodox tactics that knights wouldn't normally employ. Flanked and shot by archers hiding in the forest, it was like their own tactics used against them.
Soon, the bandit leader fell back, his comrades being slain and he remained pushing himself back in fear, holding up his hands hoping for mercy. Soon, one girl with emerald eyes and green hair tied back in a ponytail. Her green dress reminiscent of a Sacaen garb. In her hand was a green single-edged blade, coming towards him. She was Sacaen... this girl was...
"Y-you're..." The bandit leader cried out. He recognized almost a year ago of the bandit attack on one of the tribes. The Lorca. Amongst the few survivors of the attack, one girl they noticed to have rode off with a horse, possibly the chieftain's daughter. It was a shame they did not end her life they thought. Now it's coming back to haunt them.
"Please, have mercy!" He cried out. Before he knew it, all of his men were dead or escaped. All the mercenaries who have finished off majority of the bandits looked at him. Almost astonished or dumbfounded at his pathetic display.
"We nomads of the plains look out for our own, we only hunted you down because you attacked our fellow tribes!" Guy called out. Rath in turn spoke, "For the Lorca... may you never feel the embrace of Mother Earth..."
"You, the Taliver Bandits who have killed and pillaged without mercy to villagers and tribes alike? What makes you think you deserve any better?" Lyn muttered out. Her expressing scalding upon hearing the begging from the leader. She remembered who was leading them. She heard this man command the bandits that fateful day. She will never forget those vicious cold eyes from those who chased down her and her father's horse. That's why he was left alive. He was watched before they struck at them, singling him out before this raid began.
"I-I'm sorry, please, you can take whatever you want from our base, just please don't kill me!" He pleaded.
Her eyes narrowed, and sheathed her blade into its scabbard. She turned around, leaving the bandit leader in his position. Just as he was looking up with an expression of relief, the next words dashed away his hope.
"Wil...do it." She murmured.
A man with short brown hair nodded, and twirled his arrow, launched it up into the air, only for the archer jump to grab it in midair and take aim, releasing the arrow from the bow into the bandit's shoulder.
Deadeye
'Did the archer miss?' he thought. It certainly hurt the bandit, just as he hoped to escape, his eyelids began to feel heavy. Falling unconscious, the next time he awakens may spell his doom.
The bandit leader fell unconscious, asleep from Wil's skill. It certainly was a mystical technique from another land. Guy quickly tied the bandit leader up with rope and placed him onto Rath's horse. They will take their prisoner to a nearby town and hand him over to the villagers. They will likely recognize him as the leader of the Talivers.
"Lyn..." Ike called out. His cerulean eyes looking into her emerald ones. Her eyes were welling with tears as she came closer to him. She had a smile, albeit a sad one as she approached him.
"You can take him alive to a nearby village in Bern and turn him in. Y-you might be able to get alot of m-money for him, Ike..." Lyn's voice cracked, with stuttering evident in her voice. She could barely control herself, only but a few feet away from Ike. He stood still for a moment, before coming close to her.
Laying a single hand behind her head, he pulled her head onto his chest. Lyn could feel his heartbeat. Ike was slightly taller than Lyn, but it didn't feel awkward.
"Didn't I tell you? The more tears we shed, the more blessings the dead received hereafter... All the more reason, your parents are blessed to have you, your grandfather, to shed tears for them." Ike spoke softly, Lyn listened to every word while laying her head onto him, hoping to engrave his words into her heart. "That's why... it's OK to cry. You did great, Lyn."
Lyn's smile rose as she continued to shed tears. Sniffling yet weeping happily. All the more reason for her feel joy, joy at having met her beloved friend that day. Thanking Father Sky and Mother Earth for allowing her to find him that day. Who risked his life to let her have family again. The one who sung to her which rose her spirits. The very boy who listened to her sorrows and gave her happiness once more.
She was the happiest girl on that very night.
Everyone watched with a smile as they saw this display. Wallace finally arrived, surprisingly quietly, watching from a distance. He was glad to see the daughter of Madelyn and Hassar understand happiness, her eyes remaining unclouded. Yet he saw a shadow. A shadow of Madelyn reflect onto her daughter. The boy was from another continent. Hoping to find home from a far away land. Her heart may be very well be devoted to the boy.
"Will history repeat itself?" He muttered.
All the while another shadowy figure saw this set of events unknown to Wallace.
Dawn came after that fateful night. Within the village where the group found Wil, Wil and Ike saw villagers rebuilding. One of them noticed the pair arriving, their eyes widening in joy.
"Hey, it's Wil and that mercenary!" One villager spoke out. Everyone looked in the direction of their arrival. Some leaving behind their work to reunite with Wil. Children, elderly, the crowded around Wil.
"Why are you here, Wil? You went off with this mercenary lad months ago." One of them pointed out. "And you've gained muscle and a bigger bow!"
Indeed he did. Having promoted to a sniper and gone through Wallace's training, he was much stronger than he used to be. Wil was shaping up to be one of the best archers alongside Rath.
"I just got into Caelin after being recommended by the knights who came to this town." Wil explained.
"We defeated the Taliver Bandits, they're no more." The villagers eyes widened. "We came to tell you that, along with this."
Some bags of gold went to the villagers. It was worth about 10,000. The money that was stored within the fortress of the bandits was taken in as spoils of war. Amounting to about 50,000 in total after selling off the leftover weapons. But Ike had other plans.
"One of you gave several thousand to us awhile back," Ike spoke out. Smiling as he gave the gold. "It's to help rebuild the village and repay you for assisting us that day. We, the Greil Mercenaries, took care of the bandits that plagued the mountain."
The villagers were speechless, they didn't think this lad would repay further by getting rid of the Taliver Bandits after they dealt with the Ganelon Bandits. To think they'd go this far in which this village where no marquess held power, they were saved. Saved from the bandits that plagued them.
"No wonder there was smoke that night." One elder voiced out. "Thank you... Greil Mercenaries..."
Ike and Wil smiled and nodded. All in a day's work.
Unbeknownst to them, a man with a dark attire and matching trench coat was watching them from a distance. His face considered rather handsome, with stubble on his chin with short blonde hair. Wearing an ear cuff on the side of the left earlobe, and wielding a single-edged sheathed blade at the ready on his side.
"I wonder..." Lloyd pondered. "Why would such a boy impede on our missions?"
Lloyd traveled to the North of Bern where the Bern-Sacae mountain border was. Hearing the distress of the villagers who suffered from the Ganelon and Taliver Bandits, he could easily dispatch them while he was not currently on a mission. His father was about to remarry and their family will even have a little sister. In fact, looking at the adolescent, he barely looked above the age of Nino, who was 13.
In the end, the young one and his group dealt with the ruffians first. Having saw the smoke in the mountains, he saw the aftermath and quietly saw a touching display of a crying girl on the boy. On top of that, distributing some of the money back to villagers impacted by the bandits. However, those who escaped and reported to Ursula (unknown to Lloyd, they were killed for just failure by Ursula) noted the blue spiky-haired boy as a cruel one who killed their members, eager for money. The Greil Mercenaries were just sellswords hired for the right price. But their actions just now contradict what was told by Ursula after she came back.
Their group consisted of several knights, Sacaens like Uhai (and that one girl who clearly seemed to like the boy), a pegasus knight, several mercenary fighters, a cleric (?), and a pretty good archer. Sacaens, he could understand, since the bandits also attacked nearby tribes along with the mercenaries fighting the ruffians. However, those knights seemed to be likely under the service of Caelin. Territory in Lycia. And the archer displayed some rather strange skill, causing his target to sleep. The arrow wasn't likely laced, given that some of the bandits who were shot by him would have displayed similar ends as the leader.
They lost their target and men because of them a while back. Now the boy seemed to have a potential aim on his head. Was there perhaps an altercation gone wrong? Just awhile ago, the group turned over the Taliver Bandit's leader alongside some money to another slightly more protected nearby town and decided to go back to this village out of gratitude.
"This is a conundrum... isn't it?" Lloyd quietly spoke.
He'll report this issue to his father and brother. Ursula would rather be a posse with Sonia, his new stepmother. He'll keep an eye, just in case, on this new group of mercenaries.