Arc 1 - The Worst Of Humanity
Time is a fickle and harsh mistress. The flow seems different for every human being no matter how closely related their lives and lifestyles may be. In the flash of an instant, things can go from good to bad. From bad to good. From good to amazing. Or from bad to the worst it could possibly be.
And in this moment, for all present in Atlum, time suddenly seemed so irrelevant.
"THE BANDITS HAVE RETURNED!!" Came a unified shout from down the South Road.
Dozens of people ran through the streets screaming about the bandits returning to the village. And behind them, just around the corner, the bandits appeared on horseback brandishing all manner of weapons and hooting and hollering at the villagers who were being trampled in their path.
At first Linde was shocked, but part of her was also glad to see them. Glad for the chance to pay them back for what they'd done. But as more and more bandits appeared both on horseback and on foot, she started realizing why it was that the village had been half burned to the ground and why so many people had been injured and killed.
... There were dozens upon dozens of them. Just down the South Road alone from what she could see there were at least fifty or sixty of them.
And from the North Road, another forty to fifty appeared.
"What in the name of-"
Linde couldn't finish her sentence before she beheld one of the bandits decapitating a fleeing woman holding an infant with a poleaxe. The infant fell to the ground into the street and was subsequently trampled by the horses en route with their murderous riders. Linde's heart and jaw hit the floor, and her eyes widened in terror.
"How could they...?" She whispered.
Linde's arm was suddenly grabbed, and she turned to see the one with the brown hooded cloak.
"Kyero. Is that you?"
The figure nodded.
"Can we stop them?"
Kyero shook his head, and Linde's heart sank even further.
"B-but we can at least repel some of them right? Give the people the chance to flee?"
Kyero looked up from under his hood, exposing his glowing red eyes to her.
"No, Linde. There's far too many of them. To remain is to die."
"But the village-"
"Is dead... There's nothing we can do for them now."
He gently released her arm, and her eyes began welling with tears as she looked back to the throngs of people who were being slaughtered in the wake of the oncoming rush of bandits.
"Linde. No amount of warrior's pride is worth your life. You know these are impossible odds. We can't fight them like this. Not out in the open."
She looked back to him with pleading eyes as she gripped his cloak.
"You said 'not like this.' That means you must know of a way to put a stop to the massacre at least! Please, Kyero!"
Kyero glanced to the crowds of people fleeing, then to those being slaughtered and trampled, and then to the bandits themselves as they rushed in with a crazed and eager look in their eyes. He looked back to Linde and gave her a solid nod of his head, walking out into the middle of the street with his hood drawn and down to hide his eyes. He withdrew two small black balls from either side of a pouch hidden beneath his cloak at his lower back, and held them to the sides for a moment before throwing them out at both the North and South bandit leaders at the vanguard of each attack point.
The balls flew through the air and struck the ground in front of their horses, creating a massive plume of black smoke that overtook the entirety of the street at both the North and South ends behind the crowds and stopped the onrush dead in its tracks.
He looked to Linde, and she nodded furiously as she rushed into the streets.
"Everyone! Flee to the alleyways! Their horses cannot follow those narrow passages!! GO NOW!!!"
The people began following her request, leaving the open streets and fleeing towards the alleyways which were too narrow for horses to pass through. Those who were left and able of the village soldier regiment took up positions near the alley entry points, and Linde remained in the streets behind Kyero as he drew a pair of gleaming translucent green daggers with a solid black interior reminiscent of liquid flowing out in thin branch-like strands to the tip of the blade.
... They were made of Orichalcum, a legendary metal which was nigh indestructible.
Linde took her place beside him, preparing herself for a fight by shedding her doctor's coat and taking a fighting stance. Kyero too took a stance, standing almost perfectly upright with his body bladed sideways. His left dagger was held out in a Heaven grip just above his left knee, and his right was held in an Earth grip tucked by his waist just behind him.
"Kyero... Thank you."
"We still can't fight this many in the open, especially with many of them on horseback."
"What do you propose?"
"We need to get rid of the horses somehow. They're too great of a movement and speed advantage. But I only have one of those smoke bombs left and nothing else that could do the job."
"Don't worry. We'll find a way."
As soon as Linde said that, the smoke began to clear and the bandits slowly began walking their horses towards Linde and Kyero. Clearly they weren't as crazed as they had appeared earlier... There was a quiet intelligence behind the eyes of the one who led them. And it was clear he had a warrior's mentality as he seemed intent on getting close enough to speak to Linde and the man in the cloak.