A Bitter Harvest (open)

[Butorega]

Pathetic that was the only word given to Butorega as he and the remaining four returned to Bern. Of their squad of eighteen men only four returned. They had lost eighty eight percent of their invading force and returned with no major loot to show. The loot they did receive was small in comparison to what they desired. Butorega argued that their mission was not to pillage, but rather remove the village from Illian supply runs. On those grounds their units did accomplish their goal, but the four fangs were not going to hear it. They had to report back to the black hand of their failings and did not like the idea of losing so many troops and gaining such a small reward.

In the end however Butorega did not receive any punishment as his squad made up most of the surviving members, and he was the person who led the remaining forces when the Illians had caught up with them. However the fangs still thought he deserved some kind of punishment. Failure was not an option and though they did not fail winning by such a low margin was not something they wanted others to immolate. In the end they decided that Butorega would have to be the one to tell Draco about his daughter’s death under his command. A punishment that was quite possibly worse than death.

Yawn however was severely punished. He failed to heed Butorega warning and essentially lost control of his own troops. The mission was under his command and their losses were unacceptable. Yawn ended up losing his command position, but still kept his rank. He was still there best assassin, but they determined he did not have the aptitude to lead men.

Butorega however was saved from telling Draco by the fact that his Tiffany showed back up alive. He still however was not off the hook. Draco had placed his daughter’s life in his hands and the fact that she nearly died was enough to get Butorega in trouble. Butorega was suspended from Coalition missions and banned from their safe houses for three months.

Butorega let out a loud roar that seemed to echo through the forest. Frustration was beginning to build up inside the brigand. His trusty companions Faith and Bones were not with him as his suspension prevented them from joining up with him for three months. Butorega was alone, not that it really bothered him. The frustration part was more on the situation rather than the actual ban.

“Well it is best I find something to do”, spoke Butorega to himself. He began to swing his arm in a circular motion. As the words left Butorega mouth the image of a town came into sight. The town was of medium size. Not big enough to be called a city, but not small enough to call a village. The buildings were made from wood, but had a stone base that came up to the door. It was actually quite strange to Butorega for the houses to be designed such. Normally they were all one type of material, but these people seemed to favor splitting their houses into two different materials. Maybe they decided it looked better that way, or maybe the buildings were originally made of stone but erosion and time washed it away. None the less the village had a tavern and Butorega was keen to find something to do.

[Butorega]

Boldly Butorega walked into the village. He was in Bern now and there was no need to hide who he was. The best part about working with the coalition is the invisibility of being just a soldier of a group. It was not like working alone, or with few other people. People could then memorize your face and black list you for an area. With the coalition you strike a area only once and move to a much farther place. Sure maybe one or two people might remember your face, but the next group of brigands helps them to soon forget.

“Halt”, spoke a guard as Butorega entered the gate.

“Yes”, spoke the brigands as calm as ever.

“What is your business here”, asked the guard.

“Just looking to resupply”, spoke Butorega. “I just returned from a long trip to Illia and I need to restock on food and medical supplies.”

“Illia”, spoke the guard with a bit of surprise. “I have heard there has been lots of trouble down that way.”

“You have no idea”, spoke Butorega as he began to walk forward again.

“Whatever”, spoke the guard? “Keep your nose clean and stay out of trouble.”

“Will do”, spoke Butorega as he walked toward the market. “He was keen to restock on his preserved food.

[Butorega]

“Lets see what they have”, spoke Butorega as he began to look upon the goods. However his food shopping was cut short by the sound of death and screams. The once peaceful street soon turned into a mass of chaos. Villagers rushed from the market to their homes, or ducked into nearby allies. In the mist of this chaos one word hovered above all others, Bandit. It was a word Butorega knew too well, and for the first time in about four years Butorega was beginning to dread the sound of it.

“Kill them all. Leave none alive”, screamed a burly man as he barked out orders to what Butorega could tell were his minions. A bandit attack, it was quite ironic. The brigand had just left Illia after launching a raid of his own only to return to Bern and be in the mist of another bandit attack. However this time it was not him leading the brigands. He was playing the part of the helpless civilian who had poor enough luck to be in the city when it was under attack by bandits. But in truth the helpless part was far from wrong. Butorega still had his axe.

[Butorega]

“A bandit attack”, spoke Butorega with surprise as he turned around from the stall. It was a bit ironic and Butorega could not help but laugh at the situation. As people screamed and hollered Butorega sat there simply laughing, the sight was so bizarre that one man stopped fleeing to question the brigands actions.

“Boy are you crazy”, spoke the man as he stared at Butorega. “The town is being burned down and raided by men intended to take our lives and all you can do is laugh.” The brigand was unfazed by the man’s question. He instead finished his laughter and walked toward the man.

“Sorry”, spoke Butorega as he placed his hand on the man’s shoulder. “It is just so… ironic”, with those words Butorega rushed into the smoke. From his point of view there was no point in running. The brigands probably had the whole town surrounded. His best bet of getting out of this one alive was to team up with the local guards and assault the brigands.

As Butorega rushed through the smoke he was met with the sight of an iron axe. He ducked dodging the blow by a hair. The axe smashed into the wall leaving the brigand that swung it wide open. “Damn it”, he spoke as he let go of the axe. It was a wise decision, but a little too late. As Butorega ducked he began to press his body forward. His shoulder rammed into the now weaponless brigand causing the man to take a step backwards. As the man pulled back Butorega axe came down. He iron axe head found itself cleaving through the man’s collar bone and digging into his torso.

“Hall”, shouted another brigand as the bandits turned their attention toward Butorega. The orange hair man stood like a giant. His eyes only for a moment seemed to shine with an crimson light. A great wave of fear rolled over the brigands as Butorega let out a blood chilling roar. Even the guard, who were in utter chaos because of the sudden attack, even turned their gaze at Butorega. They were not sure of who side he was, but one thing was clear the man was dangerous.

[Butorega]

“Who the hell is that”, spoke one of the guards as Butorega stared at the battle field. The guards were unsure of what to make out of his sudden appearance. One thing was certain he was not on the side of the brigands.

“What are you waiting for”, shouted the guard captain as he held his sword outward. “Attack”, he shouted as the guards began to rush the brigands. The brigands however were caught off guard. All their attention was turned on Butorega, and they had very little time to switch their attention back towards the guards.

The first two bandits fell quickly as the soldiers stabbed them in unison. From that point on however the fight returned to its earlier flow. The advantage was still in the hands of the brigands as they moved in to attack the guards from three sides. However the moral had shifted from Butorega’s attack. The guards had rallied and were beginning to push the bandits back some.

Butorega, though he just gave a shocking entrance, did not rush into the battle. He was bloodthirsty and brash, but he was no fool. The guards were surrounded on three sides. It was clear that the brigands had a well designed plan for this to happen. What the guards though as them winning was clearly a ploy. The brigands were baiting them to move forward and remove the building from their back. At that point they would probably give a signal for another unites of brigands to come out of hiding and strike the guards from the read, the double envelopment. If that happened the pressure on the inside will be so strong that the guards will not even be able to lift their arms.

“Stand your ground”, shouted Butorega to the guards. “Don’t push forward. They are luring you into a trap.”

“What”, spoke one of the soldiers. “Don’t listen to him”, spoke another. “We have the advantage. Keep pushing the brigands back.”

“Forward”, shouted the captain as his men pushed into the bandits lines. The bandits were giving up ground, but made it seem as if the soldiers had taken it. It was clear now to Butorega that his hypothesis was true. He had to do something if he was going to stop their ploy.

“Damn it all”, shouted Butorega as he rushed into the left flank of the brigands. He did not take them by surprise as his yelling alerted several of them to his position. Two of the brigands broke off to take him on. The first was an axe user like himself, and the second wielded a sword. From what Butorega could tell the man with the sword was a mercenary and the one wielding the axe was a fighter.

[Butorega]

Butorega’s Axe clashed with the swordsman’s blade. Butorega however had the advantage of power and was able to throw the swordsman’s blade back. Unfortunately he was unable to follow up on his move as the fighter rushed in swinging his axe. Butorega barely had time to dodge, but lucky avoided taking a major blow. The axe head however did manage to rip through his leather jacket before slamming into the dirt. “My jacket”, shouted Butorega as he retaliated with a left hook to the man’s jaw. The swordsman however did not let this opportunity pass and rushed in to take another slice at the brigand.

“Die”, he spoke as he swung at the burly man with a horizontal swing. As the sword cut through the air Butorega turned his body. The blade sliced through his jacket and made slash below Butorega ribs, but thanks to his quick movement he only suffered a minor wound. However the duo assault was not over.

“Don’t give him time to breath”, shouted the fighter as he rushed in with another swing of his axe. Butorega however had enough with simply defending himself. As the axe man rushed in with an over head swing Butorega ducked his body and dashed in. He slammed into the axe man mid swing knocking the burly man off his feet. The swordsman moved to attack Butorega from behind, but the brigand had heard him coming. Butorega swung his axe horizontally forcing the swordsman to jump backwards to dodge, and as Butorega predicted the mercenary immediately rushed back in to attack with his sword. As Butorega arm finished the swing the brigand let go of his axe. As the swordsman rushed in Butorega was able to roll out of the way to his left and lunge at the man’s legs.

“Got you”, spoke Butorega as he tackled the swordsman to the ground. For a moment the two struggled for dominance. Butorega was far bigger than the man, but the swordsman’s blade made him wary. Eventually however Butorega got the advantage. He pinned the blade to the ground and was about to deliver another punch to the man’s face, but the sound of sudden deep breathing warned him of trouble from behind. Butorega immediately abandon his hold on the swordsman and rolled like a log to his right. Just as he moved the axe of the fighter came down and found itself in the swordsman’s chest.

“crap”, spoke the man, but Butorega was not giving him an opportunity to strike again. As the axe man struggled to pull his weapon free of his partner’s chest Butorega rushed forward and slugged him in the jaw. Immediately the man fell over and with all his might Butorega ripped the fighter’s axe out of his friend’s chest and planted it into the man’s neck.

“You forgot your axe”, spoke Butorega as he walked back over to where his axe had flown. He turned and looked at the guards defending the village, and like he predicted they had been encircled by the bandit’s forces and were being slaughtered in mass. It was nothing more Butorega could do. Soon the guards would be killed off and the bandits would turn to him and the town. Without another word Butorega left the village praying that the bandits did not have a good patrol.

End Thread