[coronatiger]

Thoughts on October 13th (continued)

With the others back from their little ambush expedition and able to keep watch, I thought I could have some more playtime with Olivia. I couldn’t help but give her a mischievous grin when Leopold said we should all try to get some sleep during the day, so we’d be alert when it was time for the attack on the bandit camp, and Va’lyndra offered to take the first watch.

Olivia made half-hearted attempts at claiming work needed to be done, but neither of us really thought it was that urgent, so we stayed inside our tent. Play first, then chores. Or perhaps more play. While we were resting between bouts, or rather while Olivia rested while I gave her another massage for her swollen feet, we heard Ilzo take over the watch from Va’lyndra.

Several hours later, and I’ll admit that I completely lost track of time, Leopold came to inform us that we had visitors, so I dressed and got out to see who had showed up. It soon became clear that Ilzo, Va’lyndra and Leopold had spotted movement in the distance, and had ambushed two men leading oxen with provisions for the bandits. I was at first upset that I hadn’t been invited to join the fun, but then I realized that I’d rather be with Olivia. It was so good to have her back! Although… I’d feel really bad if the others ran into something they couldn’t handle without my awesomeness and got themselves killed.

One of the men was a bandit himself, but the other one was a villager. The provisions were payment to the bandits so they wouldn’t harm the village. Va’lyndra gave first aid to the bandit while Leopold led Ilzo and me to unload the oxen so they’d get some rest. Va’lyndra decided to dance in front of the villager when she was done with the bandit. The bandit was unconscious, but he’d wake soon, I guessed, so it would be wise to tie him up. I got permission from Leopold, and set about it.

Someone had cast a spell on the villager, Va’lyndra revealed, and she and Leopold questioned him about it. It had apparently happened without the villager’s knowledge, for he claimed that only demons performed magic. Va’lyndra slapped him and ordered him to sit down. Did she take umbrage at the villager’s statement?

Leopold chatted with the villager while Va’lyndra analyzed the spell. He didn’t know what we might find inside the palisade, for while he had delivered supplies before, the oxen had been unloaded outside the palisade. He did tell us that the bandits had taken two young women from the village, so we should expect there to be hostages inside. Each of the six villages had a bandit living there, probably to keep an eye on things. Our quest didn’t mention them, only the palisaded encampment, and Leopold thought we could simply inform the villages that we had taken care of the bandit camp, and they’d deal with their single criminal on their own, without fear of reprisal.

Va’lyndra discovered that the spell allowed the caster to command the villager; anything the caster ordered would be hard to refuse. Va’lyndra warned us that one or more of the bandits were mages, which might make the attack difficult. Leopold asked her if killing the mage who had cast the spell on the villager would make the magic go away. Va’lyndra thought so. It might take an hour or two, but if the magic didn’t disappear, we’d know we hadn’t killed the mage yet.

Ilzo discovered that the oxen had carried ale, and we discussed having a drink. It wasn’t ours – it belonged to the village – so we asked the villager for permission to have a taste. Va’lyndra was skeptical about the whole thing for some reason, and I decided to heed her. In the end, only Ilzo drank, and only a small taste. It wasn’t that good, he reported, so I didn’t feel a big loss for abstaining. Ilzo asked our guest if they had a wise woman in their village, and wanted to look her up to acquire sleeping draught to put in the ale before sending it to the bandits. He also proposed stuffing me and Leopold inside the barrels, so we could pop out and attack the bandits when they came to claim their provisions. As usual, Leopold and Va’lyndra explained to Ilzo why his ideas were so bad, and told him that we should stick to our original plan.

Leopold proposed to move the camp farther away from the trail where they had ambushed the bandit and the villager. Ilzo said that if the bandits sent a search party for them, they wouldn’t find our camp if we moved. Since we wanted any opportunity to cut down on the bandits’ numbers before the attack tonight, we conceded that this idea of Ilzo’s wasn’t actually that bad.

Leopold warned the villager that we would tie him up. As we didn’t know who the mage was – it could be the unconscious bandit, or someone crafty enough to sneak up on our camp – we wanted to be sure he wouldn’t cause trouble. We gagged the bandit, just in case. I asked the villager if it was all right with him that we tied him up, and he accepted, resigned to the fact that he couldn’t resist.

The villager asked where our reinforcements were. The bandits were more than twenty, and counted professional soldiers among them. Ilzo told him that we could take at least five each, so that wouldn’t be a problem.

Va’lyndra was still struggling with her insomnia and said she could keep watch while the rest of us got some sleep. Since it was still early, Olivia and I decided to have some fun before sleepy-time. By now, Olivia has gotten used to the Sulla statuette staring at us while we do our thing. We often spend some time talking after sex, but tonight we chose to go right to sleep.

Va’lyndra took the round waking people when she noticed something moving nearby in the darkness. I strung my bow while Olivia wrapped the belt with my knife and my quiver around my waist. I couldn’t see her, not without a light, but I could feel the displeasure oozing off her at me going outside naked again. I don’t know if it was worse that Ilzo got to see my stuff, or the visitors, but I suspected Ilzo.

Ilzo and Va’lyndra started to sneak off towards whatever Va’lyndra had seen. Leopold and I remained in the camp. When he spotted something in the dark, Leopold began to aim with his lightning wand while moving slowly towards it. I had no chance to see his target, so I remained where I was, guarding the entrance to Olivia’s tent.

Suddenly, Leopold fired off a lightning bolt, and then he sauntered out into the woods. He must have shot it down. It turned out it had been some kind of monster, a snake-like being with arms and a peculiar head. At least that was how Ilzo described it when they came back; they didn’t bring the carcass. Va’lyndra told us it had magical powers, but luckily, it hadn’t been able to use them against us.

This was the fourth fight today that I wasn’t needed for, and I was beginning to feel left out. Maybe the others didn’t need me anymore? Maybe I should just remain with Olivia and let the others raid the palisade without me. I talked it over with Olivia, and while she would prefer having me close, she didn’t think the others could take care of the bandits without an archer of my caliber. Her confidence perked me right up, and was about to throw myself at her when Va’lyndra interrupted.

Since we were all awake and it wasn’t that long until we had planned to leave, we should pack down the camp and prepare for the raid. We decided to leave the oxen and the provisions behind. The villager could retrieve his belongings when we let him go, after we dealt with the bandit camp.

When we were about a hundred meters from the edge of the clearing, I tied the bandit and the villager to a tree and checked on their gags. I found a rock and gave it to Olivia, telling her to smack them over the head if they began to make trouble. Olivia accepted the rock and put it down. Her body language said she wasn’t going to pick it up again. We tied all the horses together in a long string and then I helped Olivia mount Marvin. She’d rather flee if things started to look ugly, than partake in violence. She asked me how long we would be gone. I thought we should be done in a quarter of an hour, and promised to come and get her when it was safe.

Ilzo, Va’lyndra, Leopold and I sneaked towards the palisade. Something glowed in the central tower. Leopold exclaimed excitedly that the bandits had lit up the steam cannon. Maybe he could use it against them? We pulled back inside the trees. “Last chance to talk,” I said, and asked who should carry Leopold. We agreed to alter our plans slightly, so that Ilzo and I would take out the tower guards. That meant Va’lyndra had to carry Leopold.