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Dependable Blades

by DocDelray

Chapter 5: Finishing the Job

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A collection of five cutthroats trudged their way through the thick wilderness. Each one armed to the relative teeth with any number of cheap and rusted weapons that he could carry. They moved with about as much grace and subtlety of angry bulls, blindly clomping about and pushing through the forest.

“Why do we gots ta go lookin’ fer ‘em though?” a squat, round, bandit complained from the back of the line.

“Maybe ‘cause they been gone for way too long,” the brigand at the head of the formation snarled back at him, “or maybe, it’s ‘cause the boss said we had to!”

“Just don’t see why we ‘ad ta leave the trail ta do this,” the stockiest of the group continued to complain.

“So’s we c’n get the drop on whoever might’a gotten ‘em,” their leader explained. “Now cut your belly achin’, Spoons, or so help me-” His threat was cut short when a powerful wind swept through, nearly toppling them all. “What in th’ ‘ells was that?” Looking back over his shoulder he noticed something off about his team. “The hell did Spoons go?”

The entire group began looking around calling out for their suddenly missing comrade. “Spoons, I swear if you’re hidin’ in one’a these bushes, I’m gonna crush yer skull with m’ bare hands!”

Seemingly from thin air, a high-pitched yell sounded from above them, quickly followed by a loud crash. Something round and heavy smashed its way through the canopy and every branch that got in its way before the ground violently stopped it. The four of them slowly approached the fallen object and froze dead in their tracks at what they saw.

“By the gods, Spoons,” one of them muttered fearfully. “What ‘appened t’ ‘im?”

Sure enough, the bandit they all knew as Spoons laid there in upon a pile of debris from his return to solid ground. “S-something grabbed me from behind,” he muttered out through the pain.

“Forest sprites,” another breathed out. “I told you lot, I told all of you, these lands’re cursed.”

Cursed might not be the right word for it,” a feminine voice chuckled from overhead. All eyes looked up to find the strangest creature any of them had ever seen, a small horse with large bat wings and a wide fanged grin. “But I’d say your luck has certainly run out.”

“Its one’a the sprites!” gasped one of the bandits.

A malicious grin came across Amber’s snout. “That’s right, I’m one of the spirits that watches over this forest!” she hissed at them, taking more than a little pleasure in how they all flinched in terror. “If you want to leave my woods alive, you’ll throw down your weapons and get out!”

Bowing their heads in fear, there was a loud clanking and clanging as they discarded their equipment and weapons into a rusty pile. A few of them stopped long enough to grab Spoons off the ground before they started to scramble towards the main road.

“And don’t ever come back!” she roared at them as they disappeared. Through all her laughing and snorting, Amber was barely able to land with any kind of dignity. Landing beside her compatriots on the other side of the tree line, she flashed them a wide, happy grin. “Wow, I can’t believe that actually worked!”

“That’s certainly one way to deal with their patrol,” Larisa said with a giggle.

“If what our friend from the clearing said was true, we should be nearing their camp,” Alistair added.

“Good, I’m very much looking forward to going home and having a tall glass of Cassinary wine,” Elwick grumbled before trudging onward. “I’ll be happy to get out of this damnable forest.”

Pleeeeeeeeease, this place is nothing,” Amber snorted as she fell in line. “Back home, there’s this place called the Everfree Forest. It’s practically one of the most dangerous places in all of Equestria.”

“And what makes this place you speak of so dangerous?” Volf asked her.

“It’s probably a place full of irate teddy bears,” Elwick quipped.

The batmare shot him a glare before she continued her story, “If it was, then they’ve probably all been run off or eaten by the monsters and wild animals that live in there.”

“Monsters?” Clearly she had garnered the hunter’s attention.

“Oh yeah,” Amber replied nodding sagely. “There are all kinds of freaky creatures living in there: living plant monsters called Timber Wolves that’ll run you down and tear you apart, big nasty Hydras that chomp down on anything they can get their jaws on, cockatrices that’ll turn you to stone before you know what’s going on. Heck, I’ve even heard rumors of weird bipedal things wandering out of there and trying to make off with mares from the local village.”

“Interesting,” Volf commented with a gleam in his eye. “I would very much like to see this Everfree someday.”

“You guys find a way to send me home and it’ll be the first place we visit,” Amber assured him. “But that’s not even the weirdest part about the forest.”

“Multi-headed death lizards aren’t bad enough?” Larisa asked.

“Not even,” Amber said in a hushed tone. “See, there’s something wrong with the forest as a whole, some kind of weird freaky magic that’s at work and makes it not act like the rest of Equestria.”

“All right, you’ve got my interest now,” Elwick admitted. “What eldritch magic is at work in your dreaded Everfree Forest.”

“Well, for starters, the clouds all move on their own,” Amber said in a fearful tone. “And that’s only half of it. They say that nopony changes the seasons or weather, they just happen on their own,” It was then that she noticed the looks of confusion on the faces of all of her companions. “I know right, freakiest thing you’ve ever heard isn’t it, weather changing on its own without any help from the pegasus ponies.”

Everyone had expected Ewlick to be the one to break the silence, perhaps with some sort of heartless quip or snarky retort. Alistair being a close second with some slight form of kind word to point out the obvious about her new surroundings. Unfortunately instead of either of them, it was…

“Wow, for talky horse monster, you really stupid,” Winky flatly pointed out.


After some traveling and a long discussion on how the weather system is supposed to work naturally, the adventurers of Dependable Blades found exactly what they were looking for. In a large cleared out section of the forest sat the scrabbled-together war camp of the bandits they had been dealing with.

The encampment was a collection of various tents all in various stages of misuse or disrepair. All around the camp, small cooking fires had been lit and silhouetted the numerous trophies that had been strapped to tall wooden stakes. Tattered banners and even freshly peeled skulls were hung as reminders of the victories they had won and made it look all the more foreboding. Surrounding the camp as a whole were sharpened wooden poles with sheets of battered canvass filling the gaps in the fence.

Amber could feel a cold lump punch its way from her gut to her chest as she looked over the bandit encampment in the dying light. Her eyesight keened by the waning sun, she could clearly count the majority of the brigands. “Not to admit being scared or nothing, but, how are we going to take on that many bandits?”

“She is right,” Volf said with a heavy sigh. “Even with the patrols we’ve killed or chased off, they are still many and we are only six.”

Elwick leaned upon his staff as he examined the situation in silence. His brow furrowed while his mind picked every angle and idea apart piece by piece. The gnome muttered to himself calculations, plots and plans regardless of whether or not his companions took notice or felt any kind of alarm for the odd behavior. Running a hand through his thick green curls, his eyes lit up with an excited grin. “I have a plan!”


“Why always Winky’s job?” the little goblin complained in a harsh whisper.

As quietly as he could, he slinked his way through the shadows and tall grass, slowly making his way towards the canvass wall of the camp. With the aid of one of the many metallic shards strapped to his bandolier, he carefully began cutting a hole just large enough for him. Using every bit of his cunning, he slipped inside the camp and made for an unoccupied corner.

His eyes darted about while his ears scanned for anyone or anything that might be lurking nearby. Reaching into a belt pouch, he pulled out a piece of glass and held it near his maw. “Is Winky, am inside now,” he quietly said.

“Excellent,” Elwick’s voice said from the shard. “Miss Shine should be overhead now and ready for fast extraction if needed.” Casting his gaze upwards, Winky could barely the gleam of her barding against the rising moon. “We already know they have goblins in their troupe, meaning you should be able to wander about freely for the most part. You remember the next part of the plan.”

“Yup yup,” Winky chirped. “Find where weapons are then set up boom balls.”

Carefully, Winky slipped out from his hiding spot and began wandering about the camp. To his surprise, none of the humanoid races paid him any heed beyond acting as though he was a vermin underfoot, some even trying to kick him while shouting curses. Scurrying about, he was able to start counting how many they were dealing with. Sadly, he could only count to ten, a rather high number for a goblin to count to. But he did get to ten four times; four wasn’t a big number but he was sure getting there four times was really high.

Slipping inside one of the largest tents, within it was wall-to-wall boxes and crates filled with weapons. Winky quietly reached into one of his many pouches and pulled out a clay orb nearly the size of his head with a length of wick jutting from the top. With a delighted grin, he proceeded to subtly place the bomb in what he deemed the best hiding spot. He then proceeded to place another and another with a happy giggle.

“No can fight when weapons explode,” he quietly sang to himself.

As he slipped out of the tent, Winky had bumped headlong into something solid and green, “What puny gob do’in in stabby tent?”

Hesitantly, his gaze shifted upwards and found the glaring eyes of a much larger goblin. Standing at least a head taller than Winky, its surprisingly buffed and built form caused the normally violent green-skin to reconsider his first thought of drawing a weapon. Furthermore, just beyond his antagonist’s broad shoulders was a collection of sneering goblins.

With little to no warning, the “hulking” goblinoid cracked Winky across the face; the force of the blow sent him to the ground. A loud wave of snickering and jeering went from the collection of goblins behind the brute.

“Stupid gob, you get us in troubles with metal boss,” he grumbled with his fist raised over his head.

In the blink of an eye, Amber dropped from the sky right behind Winky. Her wings spread wide from her sides as she glared daggers at the frightened group of goblins. Bearing her fangs with a loud hiss she grabbed her companion by his collar and yanked him into the night sky.

Every goblin present stood dumbfounded for a moment until finally, “Wingie horse monsters!” one finally screamed in terror. “The prophecy has come true!” At this revelation, absolute chaos was unleashed through the local goblin community.


Amber could barely suppress her laughter as she pulled the squirming little green form high into the night sky. With a quick, well-practiced maneuver she tossed the goblin onto the open air before swiftly catching him on her back. She could feel him scramble to find a good grip around her neck. Her ears were filled with the glorious sound of rushing wind and the fearful shouts from Winky.

“That makes two you owe me!” she happily called back to him.

“Not asking for helps!” Winky snarled back.

Suuuuuuuuure, you had the whole thing under control.”

Winky began grumbling something under his breath in a language that Amber couldn’t even begin to place. Taking the glass shard from his pocket he began to frantically tap the surface of it, sending ripples across the surface, “You just keeps flyings above dummy bandit camp, when sparkly gnome give signal is when fun really starts.”

“Nopony’s told me yet what this signal is,” she complained while trying to keep a holding pattern above their target. “What exactly are we looking for?”

The moment the words left her mouth a loud roar echoed across the forest and sent a shiver through her entire body. She knew what made a noise like that and it sent fear through her entire body.


“Ain’t this’a fine mess,” he grumbled as he kicked yet another panicking goblin out of his path. He was quite clearly a human, the lines and scars on his face spoke loudly about his advancing age. Long, thinning raven hair was pulled back into a ponytail making it easier for his dark brown eyes to glare at the tiny greenskins that ran about screaming. He stood at an average height and clad in leather armor over his patched together clothing and his solid athletic build. At his sides hung both a rapier and a dagger while the tattered remains of a red strip of cloth bearing the emblem of a black bird holding a crown in its talons was tucked into his belt.

“M’lord, we ‘ave a problem!” he shouted as he came to the front of large ornate looking tent.

Through the tent flaps strode a tall man that stood heads above the rest. His powerful, broad-shouldered body was clad completely in dark armor. Even his face had been hidden behind a full helmet that offered little no weaknesses beyond the eye slits. “This had better be important, Roberts,” his voice boomed from behind the metal shell.

“Aye, sir,” Roberts said and motioned to the scurrying and fleeing goblins. “Well, as ye can see, we’ve gots a bit of’a mutiny on our ‘ands. Some’in spooked the goblins, now they’s run’in abouts, scream’in about some damned prophecy or some such.”

“I swear to Asmodeus that if one of your men tried to give them books again,” the armor-clad man snarled at Roberts.

“No sir, ain’t one’a my boys, not after the examples ye made last time. But sum’in has ‘em mighty spooked. Do we just let’em go or do ye want us to wrangle them in?”

“Let the greenskins run back to their dens and nests,” his leader replied. “They were nothing but cannon fodder and will be easily replaced. Has there been any word from your cleanup crew or the patrol you sent to find them?”

“No sir, nary a word from any of them. Sum’in’s clearly ‘appened t’ them.” As a loud roar split the night and rose above the sounds of goblin screams, Robert turned his gaze upwards. He then added, “Probably like that.”


Amber Shine could scarcely believe what she was seeing. A pair of massive leathery wings extended out from the foliage rose into the air blocking out the moon and stars. Eyes of fiery coals the size of houses burned with unparalleled rage and fury. Solid red scales shimmered and long sharpened teeth glinted in the light of the full moon. When it had finally risen up to its full height, she knew without a doubt what this monster was.

“Dragon…” she barely managed to breath out.

She could scarcely hear the sound of Winky’s voice over the throbbing and pounding of her own heart. A cold sweat began to soak her fur and the inside of her armor as she stared into the eyes of the monster emerging from the forest. Her natural instinct told her to fly away and to do so as fast as she could. Despite this pleading, all she could do was hover in place, staring in frightful wonder. If it hadn’t been for at least some small part of her mind keeping the need for self preservation going, her wings might have seized up along with the rest of her body.

The next moment it opened its mouth, a ball of roiling fire hurtled forth and struck near the center of the camp. Heat and screams filled the air when the fireball hit the centermost tent and a massive explosion was set off. Short, panicked breaths kept her lungs constricted as she stared in disbelief at the creature illuminated by the flames.

Fear began to quickly lose ground to a swelling fire deep within her gut when her mind traveled back to that particular section of the woodlands. The other members of her team had been right where that monster had emerged. Her gaze narrowed to a razor’s edge as she glared at the roaring beast beginning to take flight. That thing had more than likely just killed the only friends she had thus far in this messed up reality.

“How dare you,” she hissed out in a low rumble.

“What horsey monster say,” Winky inquired.

“How dare you!” she cried out at the top of her lungs before taking off at full speed, straight for the dragon. The rush of wind and her own blinding rage made it hard for her to hear Winky’s shouting.


An explosion from the center of the camp sent Roberts reeling and tumbling behind a thick barrel. He could hear the sounds of tiny impacts hitting the sturdy wooden planks that made up his cover over the sounds of men screaming in terror and pain. Venturing a look, he could see scores of their forces running and screaming in terror, many knocking one another to the ground in hopes of a better escape. More than a few of his fellow bandits laid bleeding and some even screaming while burning shards of metal jutted from cauterizing wounds. What truly grabbed his attention though was the smoldering pile before him.

“Bloody hells, the damned thing hit the weapons tent!” he roared before turning his attention back to his employer. “What do we do m’lord? We’ve no weapons an’ the bulk of our rabble’s run off!”

“Idiots and cowards,” his master bellowed over the chaos. “Gather what men are left and prepare for a counterattack!”

“Beggin’ your pardon m’lord, but you want us to fight a dragon?”

A heavy, metal-clad hand clasped tightly around his shirt collar and yanked Roberts in the air until he was eye level with the helmet’s visor. “You are as big a fool as those useless whoresons if you truly believe that dragon to be real!”


With a loud war-cry, Amber Shine flew straight towards the soaring dragon. In her mind she tried to talk herself out of this - she knew it was suicide! One pony couldn’t stand up to a dragon in any way shape or form, and even if Winky turned out to be some kind of legendary goblin warrior, she had her doubts that the little green monster could hold his own against this thing either. Despite the fear, rage demanded and pushed her to do the clearly impossible.

She braced herself for impact as she zeroed in on the monster’s snout. Perhaps she could do enough damage to send it off course. But it never came, in fact the moment she touched the dragon she felt absolutely nothing. She stared wide eyed in surprise as she passed straight through completely unharmed. It wasn’t until she caught the sound of familiar giggling coming from her companion that she started to come back to her senses.

“You have ten seconds to explain what just happened before I buck you off,” she snarled at the laughing goblin on her back.

“Was illusion magics,” Winky told her through his fits of laughter. “Sparkle gnome said not tell you, want see how you react to huge big thing.”

“It was a what?” Amber asked in a low growl.


“And you complained when I bought this scroll,” Elwick laughed happily.

In the gnome’s hand was a length of parchment that he held stretched out between both arms. Strange runic symbols adorned the scroll and gave off a dull violet glow of magical energy.

“I still say we could have spent that money on more supplies,” Larisa huffed as she tapped her hoof on the ground.

Beside her, Alistair swished and flicked a thin wooden rod in his hand. From the tip a bright orange flash produced a large swirling ball of flame. The burning projectile hurtled through the air in an arc that placed it well within the camp. “Fireball wand is spent,” he informed his companions.

“The bulk of their numbers have fled,” Volf announced from his vantage point on a thick tree branch. “We should move in and find the leader of this horde.”

“That does sound like a novel idea to m-,” Elwick was cut short when a blur of gold and blue slammed into him.

Amber stood over top of the gnome, her hoof pressed into his chest as she glared down at him. “A dragon, you threw a freaking dragon at me!”

“It was just an illusion,” Elwick coughed out through the building pressure she was putting on his chest. “There was never any real danger.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that was part of the plan?!” she shouted at him. “I just tried to pick a fight with that thing when I thought you were all dead!”

“You were about to charge headlong towards your own death, over us?” Elwick sounded absolutely surprised by this.

Taking a steadying breath, Amber lifted her hoof off the gnome’s chest. “Friendship is very important to Equestrians,” she explained to them all. “You guys so far have been the only ones to show me any kind of kindness. You’re pretty much the only friends I have right now. So you’re freaking right I was about to start a fight with a dragon for you guys, even a little jerk like you!”

“That’s very touching,” Elwick replied dryly. “However, we still have a camp of brigands to fully disperse or else this entire trip will have been for nothing.”


“To me, ye damnedable cowards,” Roberts roared over the chaos and screaming. “Stop runnin’ an’ hold yer ground!”

“Against a dragon?” one of the frightened cutthroats asked in disbelief. “We won’t last ten seconds against that monster!”

“No gold’s worth this!” another screamed to his comrades. “We need to get away from here!”

Losing his temper, Roberts drew his rapier and struck the nearest man with the pommel of the weapon. “I said hold yer bloody ground!” he bellowed. “Yer runnin’ from a damned shadow, look!” All eyes turned to the sky just as the visage of the circling red scaled beast began to shimmer and fade away. “Now draw yer damned swords before the real attack hits us!”

Out of the hundreds that had been in the camp, he managed to rally twelve; smaller than the force he’d prefer against an unknown number of enemies but he’d done more with less before. With only his handful of fighters, he rallied them towards the center of the camp, weapons at the ready for whatever may come.

What they hadn’t expected was for the first attack to come from the air.

Through the thick black smoke, Amber Shine came swooping down from the sky and slammed her forehooves first into the chest of a cutthroat. After a loud crack from the blow, he toppled backwards in a heap before she rocketed skyward again.

“The bloody hell was that thing?” one of them screamed out.

“Our latest recruit of course,” Larisa happily announced as she fired an acid blast from her wrist launcher and struck a particularly unlucky bandit in the chest. From over her shoulder a pair of arrows struck their targets true sending another two highwaymen to the ground.

Volf strode forth as he nocked another arrow and drew back the string. “Your camp is in flames and forces retreating. It would be wise to surrender.”

It wasn’t long before the remaining nine bandits found that they were now surrounded. On one side were Larisa and Volf, both clearly ready to let loose another volley of their projectiles. From the rear was Winky, his already blood-stained kukri in hand and a murderous glint in his eyes. Alistair stood at the ready from another angle, his sword in one hand while magical energy leapt about the other. Swooping down, Amber cut off yet another avenue of escape with a confident smirk on her muzzle.

“For the love of Nethys, must we go through these dramatics?” Elwick huffed as he entered the standoff. With a word and a wave of his staff, a soft blue light drifted forth and draped over the remaining bandits. Every man that was touched by the spell suddenly dropped his weapon and fell to the ground snoring loudly.

“Well, that was rather anticlimactic,” Amber said with no shortage of disappointment.

“Wizards, they love to ruin fun,” Larisa told her.

“I’m sorry that the rest of you can’t be as efficient as me,” Elwick boasted with a prideful grin. “After all, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to become a master spellcaster like yours truly.”

“I wouldn’t celebrate too soon,” Alistair cautioned before pointing towards the last man standing. “You missed one, Master Spellcaster.”

“Check again boy, ‘cause I ain’t the only one the peck missed,” Roberts chided him with a smirk.

Attentions began to shift towards the sounds of heavy footfalls and the clank of metal. Through a wall of flame strode the tall broad form of the metal clad warrior, a massive great sword resting on his shoulder. His dark empty visor scanned the collection of warriors that stood before him. “These are the fools that burnt my camp and scattered my men?”

“You bet we did,” Amber proudly announced with a grin. “What’re ya gonna do about it, Tin Can?”

To answer her question, the dark knight hoisted his heavy blade high into the air and then brought it down in Amber’s direction. The batmare was stunned by heavily armored human’s speed and found she barely had time to dodge. The weapon struck the earth with such force it shattered the ground, sending chunks of rock and dirt into the air. Amber tumbled head over flank as she was hit with the shockwave and debris of the attack.

“You just had to antagonize him didn’t you,” Larisa quipped.

“Well I thought it was funny,” Amber replied with a cheeky grin.

“Stay focused,” Elwick ordered. “We have them outnumbered three to one. We can make this fast and decisive.”

“Two’a us is more than enough for you lot, peck,” Roberts sneered as he drew his dagger with his free hand.

“We do not have time for games,” snarled the dark knight. “Roberts, take our prize as planned. I will buy you time.”

The highwayman hesitated a moment before reluctantly sheathing his dagger, “Aye m’lord.”

Before he could take a step however, Alistair interrupted the exchange, his eyes fixed on strip of cloth Roberts paraded on his belt, “Hold a moment: That standard on your belt, where did you get it?”

“Same place I get most my trophies” off a dead man,” Roberts replied with a teasing grin.

Rage filled the face of the young spellsword as he tried to close the gap between him and the brigand. Before he could get close however, another shockwave of earth and debris tore a small trench through the ground right in his path. Stumbling away from his prey, Alistair had only a glimpse of Roberts before he tossed a small pellet to the ground. In a loud bang, thick grey smoke filled the air and hid his retreat from the party of adventurers.

Coughing a cursing, Alistair barely noticed the hulking shape the split the fog in front of him with a swing of his heavy sword. With another curse and quick spell, the dim energy of his shield spell was thrown up just in the nick of time. The impossibly huge sword struck the field of magical energy and sent a ripple through the air. Through the spell, Alistair could still feel a portion of the impact as it cascaded through his body and sent him to his knees.

“Alistair!” Amber cried out as she took the sky in hopes of saving her friend. With a quick flap of her wings she went into a steep dive and zeroed in on the metal clad warrior. Her hooves struck his breast plate with all the power her muscles and gravity could afford. Yet despite past victories, all this attack managed was to cause him to take half a step backwards from the pony.

A twinge of fear ran through Amber’s spine as she locked eyes with the black empty visor of her opponent. In a painful flash, her vision became blurry and the world around her toppled crown over flank with a loud metal clang. When she finally came to stop, she could taste the coppery flavor of blood in her mouth while a dull hurt started to grow along with the welt left behind by the metal backhand she had taken.

In response to the brutal display all other members of the team launched into their own assaults. Volf let fly a pair of arrows that clanked uselessly against the metal shell, both missing just shy of the eye slit. Winky darted between his thick legs and landed several ineffectual slashes into the chain and plate. Larisa loaded a fresh vial into her gauntlet launcher before sending another blast of acid down range that splashed against the foe. This too simply rolled off the deep ebony material.

“I’m calling it,” Larisa spoke up. “That stuff’s gotta be adamantine.”

“Right, changing tactics then,” Alistair replied as he squared off with the enemy. With a swift motion he ducked and danced out of the way of the heavy blade’s swings. His sword was slid back into its sheath and with a striking motion he drew a metal topped cudgel from his belt. The air was filled with a dull metal thunk as it struck the side of the knight’s helmet followed by a roar of anger from the dark knight.

Shaking her head clear, Amber forced herself to stand back up and willed the world to stop spinning around. She watched Alistair slip around and dodge the furious blows of the much larger knight. His mace scored several hits upon the heavy armor but left nary a dent or even a scratch in the thick plates.

“Good, you’re up,” Elwick stated before helping to dust her off. “Now, before you rush off into the jaws of certain death again, I have something that might help you.”

The gnome took her by the forehooves and spoke his strange arcane words. A dull glow of crackling energy formed around her hooves and made her fur stand on end. Amber quickly caught on and couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear as the spell filled her with a strong sense of self-belief. With a flap of her wings, she launched herself high into the air once more.

Through the chaos of the exchange, Volf’s keen eyes caught sight of the fleeing brigand that the knight had sent off. Over his shoulder was slung a heavy leather sack, weighed down by the mysterious contents. Drawing back on his bow and whispering a prayer to his gods, he let fly a shaft that pierced the air and struck his target without fail. The arrowhead drove through the material of the bag and pinned it to a tree. He had already nocked another arrow as Roberts locked eyes with the hunter. The pair shared a silent standoff for a moment before Roberts let out a stream of curses and vanished into the woods, leaving his treasure behind.

Alistair had the dark knight beaten in terms of speed but he was on the losing end as far as strength and power were concerned. His movements had to be well-timed and perfect in order to stay ahead of the surprisingly swift blade of the man he fought. This could not last forever and of course it did not. His foot landed upon a loose rock and he toppled backwards to the ashy dirt. His vision was filled with the heavy greatsword of the dark knight as it came crashing down on him.

Under his breath, Alistair prayed that his shield spell would hold up against the coming assault, but hope was quickly restored to him. Over his attacker’s shoulder he could see the sparking meteor of gold-and-blue crashing towards the knight’s exposed back. As Amber’s hooves crashed into the back of her opponent, there was a flash of energy as the spell released a burst of electricity. Bolts of energy leapt about the heavy ebony plate armor and crackled loudly, drowning out the pained scream of the man beneath the shell. Not wanting to let this initiative slip away, Alistair charged the same spell into his mace and cracked it across the helmet of the knight.

As bolt after bolt of conjured electricity leapt from one end of the armor to the next, the hulking knight finally dropped his sword and fell to his knees. His shoulders slumped and smoke rose from the eye slit of his helmet. They all eyed him with a great deal of apprehension, expecting him to rise up again. With a touch of bravery, Alistair nudged the helmet with his mace, only to have it topple off the knight’s shoulders. To their surprise, they all beheld an empty suit of armor that still smoldered and smoked.

Next Chapter: Little Talks Estimated time remaining: 43 Minutes
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