"It's hard to say. Bernon and Polla both mentioned that this area gets hurricanes pretty often–at least enough that the villagers decided to live on the lake instead of bothering to rebuild after every storm. So it does seem likely that the bandits would know how to deal with them too." He took another bite. "Hopefully their strategy, whatever it is, involves taking a break from terrorizing people for a while….but I still think we should take turns keeping watch tonight, just in case. I'll go first if that's okay, since you spent extra energy on your magic back there."
"Are you sure? I'm sure I could go first but thanks, I appreciate it. Don't let me rest for too long, though, you need to sleep as well." She raised a brow and took another bite of bread.
(I gotta go to bed, seeya!)
Mike gave her a brief smile. "It's okay, you go ahead. And don't worry, I'll wake you in an hour or two. I need to wait for my bedroll to dry out anyway."
(Bye bye :) ^^)
She hummed her agreement, finishing off the last of the bread, “I suppose that’s true.” She sighed and laid back, finding a comfortable position.
"Sleep well," Mike said, turning his gaze to the forest outside and settling in for the long, dark night ahead.
(btw, I've been thinking of introducing some bandits (of course, as if they haven't had enough trouble already XD) but I'm not sure whether to bring them in during the night or wait for the next day. Any preferences on your end?)
(singing we can't give our children a break can weeeee?? Um, but maybe night, more chance of an injury when you can't see very well ;) wink wonk)
Tanrial was asleep not long after that, though it was light and uncomfortable, it was sleep nonetheless.
(ahaha my thoughts exactly XDD)
About two hours later, Mike gently shook her shoulder. "Your turn."
Tanrial nodded, sitting up right and rubbing her eyes, "Got it. Get some sleep."
(Oof I gotta run to supper but I'll try to be back soon)
He yawned and went over to his bedroll. "Will do. Wake me in a couple hours."
By now the sounds of water dripping from the trees and trickling down the hillside had nearly stopped, and the night insects were tentatively beginning to sing again. Other than that, it was very quiet, and also dark since there were still clouds covering the moon. Beyond the small circle of light from the fire, the forest was almost pitch black.
(All good, I have to shower and walk the dog anyway)
Again, she nodded, turning her attention onto the forest. At least it hadn't rained again.
The first hour was uneventful, even a bit dull. But halfway into the second hour, there came a new sound from the darkness–a very faint rustle, almost too quiet to hear.
(I'm actually off to bed now, seeya tomorrow ^^)
(Seeya, sorry I had to go out ^^)
Luckily, with Tanrial’s Evyn ears and her heightened hearing, she heard it, just, though. She frowned and stood up slowly, through didn’t go to investigate, yet.
The noise didn't repeat itself, and for a minute it seemed as if it might have simply been some night animal going about its business. Then, out of nowhere, an arrow arced through the air and crashed directly into the fire. Hot sparks and embers flew everywhere, and the cave was suddenly plunged into darkness.
Tanrial cursed softly, moving around the fire to kick Mike in the side, "Mike! Get your fat ass up, somethings out there and I don't think it's friendly."
Luckily Mike was a light sleeper as well and got up quickly, reaching out for her arm in the total darkness. "What happened?" he hissed.
She held it out and grabbed his own, "There was a noise, I though it might have been a bird or something but then an arrow flew out and landed right in the fire, putting it out.
Mike growled. "I guess I jinxed us when I mentioned bandits. We need to get out of the cave or they'll corner us. Let's–"
There was the zip of another arrow from the trees, then a stifled cry as Mike suddenly fell sideways. More arrows followed, along with a loud crashing as the bandits finally broke cover to charge the cave.
Tanrial cursed, her magic sending uprooted branches and rocks towards the bandits. It was hard to aim as she could barely see, but it looked like she hit at least one or two.
Several bandits made it to the cave and ganged up on Tanrial, some wildly throwing punches and some swinging long knives. In the darkness, this made for a dangerous combo, and it was almost impossible to dodge them all. There came the sound of another fight breaking out from the spot where Mike had fallen.
She managed to dodge a couple of the punches, though one knocked the air clean out of her and in return, she pulled the air right out of him. Tanrial was more concerned for Mike then herself, though, as it had sounded like he'd been hit with an arrow.
A second later the other bandits crowded into the cave and one of them lit up a torch, temporarily blinding everyone. The scene that revealed itself did not look promising. There were twenty bandits in all, brandishing nasty home-made weapons and completely blocking the cave entrance. Some of them had thoroughly pinned down Mike, who now had a large gash on the side of his head as well as an arrow sticking out of his shoulder.
The man with the torch slowly stepped forward, looking Tanrial up and down. He seemed to be the leader, as his clothes were the nicest of anyone's and his weapon was a finely-crafted axe. His face was so scarred that he looked like he'd gotten thrown headfirst into a blender at some point.
"Names," he said simply, leveling his axe at Tanrial's throat.
Tanrial slowly raised her hands in surrender, sparing a worried glance at Mike before back to the man with the axe, "I'm Tanrial, that's Mike."
He nodded once. "Mike…Tanrial….right. Tell me, Tanrial. Are you two useful for anything? Anything at all? Or would it be a better use of my time to just kill you both now?" He tilted his head, his ruined face seemingly incapable of expression. The other bandits inched closer, as if they were eager to continue the fight.
"Well uh, I'm going at crafting potions, got some magic up my sleeve, too so that's useful in many situations. Mike's pretty good at fighting, strong too but ya know, he'd be stronger if he didn't have a flipping arrow in his shoulder but hey, I can fix that so he's more useful." She shrugged, swallowing.
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