Collisa (Outsider Book 1), page 24
Without waiting for a response he picked Zuri up and began dodging through the woods, keeping underbrush and trees between him and the camp. He did his best to avoid making noise, aided by his Hunter abilities. But honestly with the frequent haunting screams and the harsh guffaws of the bandits, he probably could've been snapping sticks with every step and not drawn attention.
He finally reached a spot where they'd be approaching the bandits from behind as they faced the tent, and there was a clear shot to the camp of almost twenty yards for his arrows. Dare took up position there and motioned for Zuri to stand beside him.
“Dare shoot starting from the left,” he whispered, motioning to the leftmost bandits and shaking his bow. “Zuri “Zap!” starting from the right.” He gestured to the rightmost enemies.
“Zap,” she agreed, face pale but determined.
Dare sighted in on his first target, nocked an arrow and drew the fletchings to his cheek, and . . .
Brennal chose that moment to rush into the camp, roaring to alert the bandits to his approach of course, and slammed the nearest ruffian with his cudgel.
Motherf-
Dare loosed his arrow, transfixing his target as the bandits all scrambled to react to the Brawler's attack. Then he activated Rapid Shot and brought four arrows to the hand holding his bow, swiftly loosing them at every target of opportunity he had a clear shot at.
Which was made a bit more difficult with Brennal running around like an idiot as if deliberately trying to foul his shots.
He saw a dark green bolt shoot towards the camp as Zuri joined in, casting Mana Thorn at bandits as quickly as she could. Her sharp features were set in fierce determination.
The Brawler stumbled back, beset by four bandits at once, although none were higher than Level 8. They were still managing to chunk away his health as one slashed at him with a short sword and the others jabbed at him with spears.
Just as the farmer was starting to regain his footing, the flaps to the tent burst open and a brawny man wearing only undershorts stormed out, bearing a wicked-looking black greatsword.
The bandit leader had leveled up to 11 at some point since Dare last saw him. Beyond that his size and physique must've given him good stats, because he was more powerful than he should've been for his level. His attacks included Charge, Maim, Overpower, and Fury.
Dare saw the man and immediately focused on him, loosing an arrow at his chest.
The shaft hit the bandit leader in the thigh, but the man barely reacted to it, his Fury ability making him go nuts as he made a beeline for Brennal.
The farmer, for his part, took one look at the bandit leader and fled, although it was futile since the man's Charge quickly closed the distance.
Dare hit the huge bandit with an arrow to the leg, applying a small Snare effect, while one of Zuri's Zaps hit him in the chest, slicing deep across the flesh of one bulging pectoral. The bandit leader took one more step and slashed at Brennal's back.
The Brawler used some sort of evasion ability and spun away from the attack, barely avoiding the razor-sharp tip. Then he darted in and slammed his cudgel into the big man's gut, doubling the bandit over in spite of his solid abs.
The bandit released his wildly swinging sword with one hand and backhanded Brennal across the face, sending him flying backwards a few feet, momentarily stunned. Dare's next arrow buried in the leader's upper chest, a Critical hit, and Zuri's next Mana Thorn hit the man in the side of the head, shaving a wide strip of his hair off and leaving a deep wound in his scalp that bled profusely.
The huge boss ignored the attacks and raised his sword over the Brawler. As if that wasn't bad enough, Dare noticed the other bandits were ignoring that fight and rushing through the trees to either side of the open space to get to him and Zuri.
Damnit. Brennal had made his bed jumping right into the hornet's nest like that. “Zuri, in the trees!” he shouted, pointing with an arrow before nocking it and shooting at the closest bandit.
His improved reflexes gave him just enough time to twist aside as a bandit in the woods to the other side of the open space hurled a throwing axe at his head. Or maybe it was just a hatchet. Either way the haft slammed into his temple, dazing him, and he fumbled and dropped his next arrow.
Zuri pelted the bandit who'd thrown the axe with a Zap, making the man stumble clutching an eviscerated belly. Then she turned and bolted as three more of the ragged men came within ten feet of them, closing the distance fast.
Good girl; she knew from long experience hunting with Dare that he could handle himself, and she should prioritize her safety.
Dare had time to loose one last arrow, hitting the nearest bandit in the head, then used Roll and Shoot to hit another in the side. As soon as he loosed the arrow he dropped his bow and drew his stone knives as the last man, twirling a spear in an aggressive attack pattern, lunged at him.
The Level 7 might as well have been moving in slow motion as Dare sidestepped the blow and dropped low, slashing both blades across the man's belly. One snapped halfway through the slash, but the other cleanly sliced through the bandit's thick shirt and deep into his flesh, hitting vitals.
Dare spun away before his enemy could counterattack, if he even could with that wound, and went after the bandit he'd hit in the side, who was soldiering through the pain to come after him with a dagger in one hand and a short sword in the other.
It turned out that dual wielding might've been a bit advanced for the man, since he couldn't handle either weapon properly while trying to use them both. Dare kicked aside the sword and ducked beneath a clumsy swing of the dagger, getting behind his assailant and using Hamstring on both his legs.
Humans and other intelligent creatures didn't recover from crippling wounds the way monsters did; with a nasty arrow wound in his side and both legs useless, he was effectively dead.
That just left the spearman. Who was on his knees, face ashen as he held his ruined midsection. “I surrender,” he groaned through gritted teeth. “Healer, please.”
Dare wiped his knife on the man's shirt as he walked past to retrieve his bow. “I'll check on you after I save the women you were raping. Although your fate's ultimately in the hands of the villagers, so even if you survive I don't like your chances.”
A roar from the camp drew his eyes, and he watched the bandit leader swing his greatsword at a prone target with a powerful downward slash. Brennal cried out, and the sword rose bloody.
With another roar, the big ruffian whirled away from the farmer and locked furious eyes with Dare.
Shit.
Dare raised his bow and loosed an arrow that hit the bandit leader in the eye: Critical hit, the man's health chunked down to 40% and he got a perception and defense debuff. Although what should've been a fatal or at least incapacitating injury barely gave the bandit pause under the effects of Fury.
From off to one side, deep in the trees, a dark green bolt emerged to slam into the big thug's crotch, which also barely seemed to faze him even though he started bleeding heavily from his groin.
With a snarl the bandit broke into an out and out sprint towards Dare, sword raised overhead. He was coming fast, and still had enough health to close the distance before dying.
Dare's Rapid Shot cooldown ended, and he activated it and buried the four arrows in the bandit leader's torso. That was about all the time he had before the big man reached him, sword whistling.
He started to activate Roll and Shoot to one side, but on some instinct rolled backwards the full distance instead. A good thing, because the bandit leader's overhead slash became an entirely different move, slashing low to the ground in a circle right where Dare would've been.
Maim?
Dare came up with an arrow nocked thanks to the ability and drew and loosed, burying the shaft in the bandit's gut. Then he turned and fled.
His Eye confirmed that his enemy had no DoTs on him, just a slew of debuffs that his Fury ability was mitigating in exchange for reduced defense. He still had about 10% health left, and given his dangerous skill with that massive sword of his Dare wasn't going anywhere near him to try to slash him with his stone knives.
The bandit leader snarled and swung, his greatsword somehow managing to close the distance between them like magic; either Dare had misjudged how far behind him the man was, the bandit had put on a burst of speed, or the sword's blade was just that long.
He desperately dodged, then tripped on a root and stumbled. His enemy roared in triumph and brought his weapon around for another swing.
One Dare wouldn't be able to dodge in time as he struggled to keep his balance.
In an even more desperate move he went limp and dropped to the ground, the blade hissing as it cut the air just above his head. But now he was out of moves; he couldn't roll away from a sweeping attack from that long blade, and this bandit was no fool; he'd take advantage of an enemy's weakness.
Dare lifted his bow and knife and braced himself to try to stop the coming attack, knowing it was as useless as trying to stop an avalanche.
Then the bandit leader abruptly jerked and spasmed with a cry of pain, going stiff as a board and dropping hard to the ground beside Dare.
The paralysis proc from Zuri's Nature's Curse ability; she must've managed to get her hands on some of the man's blood.
Never one to ignore an opportunity, Dare immediately rolled to slash at the back of the bandit leader's nearest leg. His stone knife broke halfway through the attack, doing slight damage but not applying Hamstring's Snare effect, and Dare cursed.
He didn't have time to grab his other knife from his pouch, so he did a kip-up (a move he could never get close to doing on Earth but was able to manage easily here), coming to his feet smoothly and shooting the bandit leader in the back from point blank range as the big man lay prone.
Then the 3 second timer on the paralysis ran down.
The bandit leader roared and rushed to his feet, throwing a surprisingly fast punch his way. Just before the blow connected Dare used Roll and Shoot to go straight backwards, shooting another arrow at the big man as he came up. Then he turned and ran again.
The bandit leader didn't have a hope of catching him now that he was slowed by 25% and infrequently getting paralyzed. And all the while Zuri was pelting him with her Mana Thorns.
When the paralysis effect triggered again Dare was ready to spin and shoot, then paused when he saw that the brute was down to a sliver of health.
So he lowered his bow and let his goblin lover take the last hit and the experience bonus; she'd more than earned it.
A final Mana Thorn sliced in, right across the bandit leader's throat in a Critical Hit, and with a shudder the big man escaped the paralysis effect just in time to go limp in death.
Chapter Twelve
Hero's Reward
Dare breathed a huge sigh of relief when Zuri scuttled out of the trees to join him, rushing to meet her and dropping to his knees to wrap her in his arms. “Are you okay?” he asked, checking her over.
“Zuri okay,” she replied, similarly searching for wounds. “Dare okay?”
He rested a hand on her silky hair. “I'm fine thanks to you,” he told her. “You saved my ass.”
“Ass?” She looked at him in concern and began running her hands over his rump, in a way that he thought was out of place hanky panky until he realized she was checking him for injuries. “Dare ass hurt?”
Dare laughed sheepishly; right, he'd used that word a few times during lovemaking, so she knew it. “Not hurt. It's an expression.” He motioned for the camp. “Brennal's hurt though.”
“Brennal, yes,” she said, starting for where they'd last seen the man at a run. Dare kept up with her, looking around warily in case more bandits had been out in the trees as patrols or sentries.
If so they must've run away, because he didn't see any enemies as they reached the large clearing the camp was situated in.
Brennal was sprawled on the ground a stone's throw from the big tent the captured women were in, blood sheeting across his chest. Dare and Zuri hurried over to the farmer, although considering the ugly wound he feared the worst.
But just before they reached Brennal the man unexpectedly sucked in a ragged breath and his eyes flew open.
“Still alive?” Dare asked, crouching beside the man.
“Fuck you,” the Brawler growled. He started to sit up, then grit his teeth around a cry of pain and fell back, panting. “Healer,” he said through gritted teeth.
“You mean the woman you tried to kick in the head because it's fun to punt goblins?” Dare asked savagely. But he was already motioning for Zuri to help the man.
She grabbed his and Brennal's waterskins and dumped them out on the man's chest, then began chanting as the water swirled around the wounds. It took a long time, longer than he'd ever seen for the healing spell, and he watched her mana swiftly drain as she healed the serious wound.
Finally, though, the farmer was left with just a long, jagged scar across his chest and abdomen. He had a weakness debuff from blood loss and the severity of the wound, which even after healing would take days to recover from, but other than that he was much improved.
Brennal dragged himself to his feet, then swayed and grabbed his head as if dizzy. “Thanks for leaving me to singlehandedly face that big bastard while you stood around holding your dick,” he growled balefully while glaring at Dare through his fingers.
Dare snorted. “I fought two bandits hand to hand because I let them get close while trying to focus on their leader to help you. If you didn't want to face the entire camp alone, maybe you shouldn't have run into the middle of it yelling to let them know you were coming.”
The farmer flushed. “Fuck you,” he said again, turning to scowl at the scene of carnage around them. “So, you get them all?”
Dare did his best not to look too closely at the bodies around them; he thought he'd be desensitized to this sort of thing after watching violent shows since he was a kid, but in real life it was far more horrifying. Especially since now that the fight was over he had to face the knowledge that he'd killed real people.
Scum who murdered and raped innocent villagers, but still people. And most likely it wasn't going to be the last time he'd be forced to this recourse.
This had been justified, and had saved two young women from unspeakable abuse, slavery, and possibly death. But the bloody scene among the tents would still haunt his nightmares.
He kept his focus on Brennal to avoid seeing more than he had to. “Unless there were any patrols or people who ran, I think so. But I'm keeping an eye out just in case.” He glanced over to where he'd been forced to fight hand to hand. “Oh, and two seriously wounded who are out of the fight and surrendered.”
The Brawler looked at him incredulously. “So?”
“So I'm not in the habit of killing injured, defenseless people after the fight is over. I'm a Hunter, not an executioner.”
Brennal snorted contemptuously. “Bandits are kill on sight in Haraldar. Nobody would fault you for it . . . in fact, they'd give you a reward.”
Dare didn't back down. “The bandits are dealt with. I'll leave it to the people of Lone Ox to decide what to do with those two.”
“Fine, then on behalf of the village . . .” the big man leaned down and hauled up the bandit leader's wicked black greatsword, dragging the tip on the ground behind him as he strode towards the injured men.
Dare didn't stop him; the man's points were valid, and even if Dare himself didn't want to kill those men, he wouldn't go out of his way for bandit scum whose deaths the kingdom had authorized.
Besides, Brennal might've been focused on his butchery, but there was a more important consideration.
“Come on,” Dare told Zuri, starting for the big tent at the center of the camp. Inside he could hear moaning and quiet sobs, and his stomach churned at the vile acts people were capable of.
His unseen benefactor had warned him that this world could be brutal. Although honestly this horror happened on Earth as well. An evil as old as time.
In the distance he heard a bandit's scream suddenly cut short, and barely flinched at it.
“Telliny, Yena?” he called gently. Inside the tent the women went abruptly quiet. “I'm Dare, a Hunter who lives nearby. I'm here with Brennal. We've killed the bandits and you're safe now. When you're ready we'll lead you back to the village.”
A pained voice answered. “Thank the gods. Can you, um, help us? Those monsters kept us bound while they-” she cut off with a broken sound.
Dare turned to Zuri, wanting to preserve the dignity of the poor girls. “Could you . . .” he motioned to the tent. “Help humans?”
She nodded her understanding. “Zuri help.” She motioned to the nearby stream. “Dare watuur.”
Right, the poor women would need healing. Dare hurried to gather two buckets from beside the fire and went to fill them.
When he got back Brennal was at the tent entrance, speaking to his friends inside through the cloth. Dare wouldn't have thought the big Brawler could sound so gentle, but the man surprised him.
“I have water, Zuri,” he called.
The little goblin quickly ducked out to laboriously haul in one bucket, then the other. The tent began to glow a whitish green as she healed them, and then she raised her voice so he could hear her. “Zuri help humans.”
“Telliny, Yena, you feel up to the hike back to the village?” Brennal called.
In answer the flap opened and the two women emerged, Zuri trailing them. One looked to be in her late teens, around Dare's age, the other a few years older. They wore torn clothing with soiled blankets wrapped around their shoulders, and while they showed no visible injury they walked with hunched shoulders and hesitant steps.
A sign that healing the outward injuries could do nothing for the mental and emotional trauma they'd suffered.
At the sight of their empty, hollow expressions and haunted eyes, Dare felt a new surge of fury at lawless thugs who would do this to innocent people.
