Let those who worship evil's might

[Borgus]

"Everyone stay calm and move out in a orderly fashion", spoke a guardsman as he tried to move the civilians out the back way.

"This is crazy", spoke another guard. "Bandits have never attacked this way before."

"I know what you mean", spoke the guardsman. "Bandits are usually a stupid lot. They don't normally apply tactics like this. Most of them simply charge forward swinging there ax....", spoke the man as suddenly a spear tip pierced through his chest. The guardsman looked back to see his fellow guard stabbing through his back.

"Why", he spoke as he passed on from this world. The guardsman gave off a murderous smile and removed his helmet.

"Because I am not a bandit you fool", spoke the fake guard. His action and presence caused a panic amongst the civilians. "Alright boys take them out", he shouted. The other guards stared on with a puzzled expression as they did not see any of the axe wielders anywhere. Suddenly civilians from the crowd rushed forward with swords and axes stabbing and hacking into the guard. In a instant the city itself seemed to explode with violence as the disguised bandit troops threw away there disguises and began to attack the guards.

"I am going to have to agree with you on that one Min", spoke Borgus as he looked at the mage. He looked with pride as the Flash Bandits rushed in in force and stormed there way through the city "The coffers seem like the best place to strike, plus we won't have to go through the process of trying to sell the loot to a fence."

"Man you guys work like magic", spoke a voice from behind Borgus as the leader of the Flash Bandits walked in. Unlike most bandits who wore simple leather armor and easily punctured metal plates Flash, the leader of their gang wore a suit of solid steel crimson armor. It was twice as thick as any knights and the color matched his hair and eyes.

"Flash", spoke Borgus as he turned and looked at the man. Borgus was sure he heard what he and Min were talking about, but in truth he could care less. "Well since you are here I will leave everything else to you", spoke Borgus. "We and Min have a date at in the town coffers we don't really want to be disturbed."

"Nah nah I got you", spoke Flash as he put on his crimson helmet. "You boys have done your part real good. What is in the coffers is yours to keep." With those words flash walked in the mist of his gang of rough riders and began to march down the middle of the street. "Alright lets give them hell", he shouted as he stuck his battle axe out and marched forward.

"That idiot is probably going to get himself killed", spoke Borgus once the man was out of ear shock. Borgus did not have any faith in the brigand. In fact Borgus normally would not have dealt with his type if it was not for the gold. Flash was the type of bandit that burned hot and bright, but Borgus knew what that was going to lead too. Flash was going to burn out quick and die a horrible death. Borgus wanted something more. Something beyond a few years of good raids. He wanted the slow burn. Sure he and Flash would one day have the same end, but Borgus was going to at least enjoy his spoils.

[Duma]

A civilian approached the band of warriors and relayed some vital information, to one of the Sacaean vigilantes. The man civilian ran off towards the safety of the rear, hoping to escape with the other villagers.

"It seems that the bandits attacking the village are the flash bandits." The Sacaean spoke to Duma.

"Has the village had any experience with them?" Duma replied as he kicked a pile of debris allowing for a cat to escape it's burning home.

"Yes. They are common brighangs around these parts. But this is the first time they have been so well organized. Normally they just try to muscle their way through the gates or pillage merchant caravans on the trails. Their leader wears red armor, some call him the 'Crimson Flash'."

Duma thought for a moment. Hmm, so this sort of thing is outside their usual methods. The fires, the chaos... ah yes I get it. Fortunately no one has tried to stab me in the back yet among this group. But I still need to be cautious.

"That means they had some of their own scattered among the civilians in disguise for a while. They could also be masquerading around as some of the guards. Seeing as how none of you lot have killed me yet, I assume you aren't with the bandits." His calm demeanor shifted into shock when he came to a sudden realization. THE REAR!

"Change of plans, get going to the rear gate. We need to secure a path for them."

"Sir?" The other Sacaean didn't seem to understand. Since the small group of warriors sent a few of their men to guard the rear.

"If the enemy is in disguise as civilians." He spoke in a serious tone. The guard suddenly understood what he meant and quickly relayed out the orders to the rest of the troop. Soon the small gang of warriors began pulling back to the rear. They were too late, their was chaos, panic, and death spread out among the escape route.

"Assist the survivors." Duma ordered to the man he considered to be second in command now. "Remember bandits are masquerading around as civilians! Keep your wit's about you!"

A large man in red armor caught his attention, who was riding out towards them. There was a twisted grin etched on Duma's face. Duma felt a surge of warm emotion. A strange mix of rage and elation. Nothing would please him more then killing the leader of all this chaos and calamity.

He moved quickly as two lackeys tried to rush him. Duma ducked and weaved then delivered to quick strikes with his sword. The two fell down dead. He made sure to do this in plain view of the leader drawing in his attention. The swordsman raised his hand out at him and made the universal "come at me" hand gesture.

[Minerva]

Well, well, well. The two magicians were moving towards the coffers, Minerva leading the way. They'd be rich! This would be a great boon to their little scheme. Hah, the attack had gone much better than she could have ever hoped. Now, to get rich and get out, leaving the town in ruins. All of the Flash gang could deal with mopping up the survivors. She and Borgus were just here to piggyback on the spoils. That was all. Nothing fancy.

Wait.

"Borgus, look at that guy. The one with the sword. See him? The guy who thinks he's some bigshot, cutting people up like he's some fancy chef? Let's get him. Blast him real good with magic. On my word, let's hit him with a double-whammy!"

Raising her arms, Minerva smiled and summoned a large ball of fire, watching as the blue flames flickered and crackled in front of her. The power was surging through her. She was ready for anything. The flames hummed, she smiled, and everything seemed to slow as she focused her power and attention at the swordsman, just as he beckoned to Flash with his hand in a cocky gesture.

"Now!"

Releasing the blast of flame, the mage gave a cackle as the fire blast roared away like a meteor of destruction. With Borgus's light magic coming alongside it, it would be a deadly double strike. That idiot prancing about like some sort of dandy would get roasted and blasted simultaneously. Served him right for being such an idiot.

[Borgus]

Dang nabbit, thought Borgus as Min prepared her attack. Borgus wanted to simply go around the guy get his loot and get out of there. There was no point in risking themselves against a man of such skill. It was obvious he far outmatch the two of them. Then again it may have been obvious only to Borgus. Borgus had been fighting for a long time and before he started wielding magic he fought with an axe. He can pick a skilled swordsman out of a pile of novices with ease. They had a feeling about them, a feeling of death. This man radiated that feeling. Borgus could feel it in his every breath, taste it on his toung, and smell it with his nose. It was not a wise decision to get involved. Flash should be enough for him thoght Borgus, but Minerva seemed to think other wise. The maiden had already began to charge her magic and her actions forced Borgus to do the same.

Borgus only choice was to participate. If he let her attack alone she would surely fail and he would turn his attention upon them. If that was to happen then they both would be quickly cut down. Borgus began to move his hand preparing a powerful bolt of light magic. He knew his magic did not have as much kick as min's, but it was faster. If he timed it right he could hit the swordmaster with his attack throwing him off balance and then let min attack hit him. Hopefully it will kill him in once shot, thought Borgus doubted it. At the very least he prayed they could wound him to the point that he would retreat.

"Now", shouted Min as she released her attack. Borgus did the same and as he suspected his attack was faster. It came in first and aimed to hit the man low, just below the waist line.

[Duma]

Duma sensed something heading his way. A quick glance and he was able to determine that both a fire and a light spell were heading his way. He moved quickly, dodging both spells coming at him. He silently thanked the many years of impromptu target practice he shared with his sister for the ability to dodge most magic. Sneaky bastards. He made a hand motion which alerted the archers who were on the rooftops to distract them. A few shots were made over to the mages. The second in command Sacaean, who saw the attack, proceeded to investigate the area where the blasts came from. If he gets killed i'm killing those two myself.

Duma refocused his attention the the man in crimson in front of him. The general had closed the distance between them while Duma was dodging the magic. He was now charging at him with his war axe. Damn it! Armored foes were a problem. He knew how to beat them. And that was to exploit the chinks in their armor, but there was only so much he could do with a simple iron sword. An armor-slayer or a magic sword would be amazing right about now.

Duma was able to dodge the generals attacks with relative ease, but made sure to keep an eye out for any more magic out of the corner of his eyes. He was breathing heavily. Between all the running around, protecting the people, killing bandits, and now this the limits of his body were starting to catch up to him. No matter, he would take a minor rest after he dealt with "Flash".

He studied the man's axe swings, and noticed several armored spots. Pitts, neck, and back of the knees. I can work with this. A small grin re-emerged onto his face as began planning his counter attack.

[Minerva]

Oh, look. A myrmidon. Who looked very uncomfortable with the fact that he was walking into what appeared to be a nest of mages. Well, he was half right. It wasn't a nest. Not even a breeding pair. But there were two magic users, and one had a nice, blue fireball just for him!

Smiling fiendishly, Minerva hurled it at the man, cursing under her breath as he dodged it and came running towards her. Well, at least the attack was still flying in the direction of that dandy swordsman. Hah, that could be useful.

A flash of silver alerted her to the sword slicing towards her. Leaning back abruptly, the mage did a backflip away from the blade, landing with her hands raised, ready to move again. Indeed, the myrmidon was swinging downwards at her, so she cartwheeled to the side, grabbing a sword from the ground and chucking it at the myrmidon. While the attack was completely ineffectual, it allowed her to distract the man long enough to charge up another fireball, and as he came in, slicing at her, she shifted her weight, wincing as the stroke glanced her hip, slicing a neat swath of red through the black of her dress, and then released the flames head-on into the poor chap.

"Roasted savage, anyone? Whatever. Let's go, Borgus. Empty the coffers and then if we need to, we can deal with the dancing guy with the sword. We harassed him and bought some time for reinforcements. Good enough for me."

[Borgus]

"We should have avoided them all together", spoke Borgus now that he had a chance to speak. The acolyte unlike Min was not sure of her kill. Borgus walked up to the man's body and then blew the head off with a blast of brilliant light. Better to be safe than sorry Borgus always thought. The acolyte then turned to Minerva and began to head to the coffers. "We really should have not gotten involved with that swordsman", spoke Borgus as they moved. "He aint normal like the other flies around here. I have a bad feeling that it might come back to bit us. If he does come after us we should try to avoid direct combat with him".

Borgus remained calm on the outside, but on the inside he was pretty ticked. Why in the world did she pull them into that fight. All they had to do was take the side road hit the coffers and get out of here. Borgus watched the way he dodged his and min's attack. That was not the speed of a normal sacaen. He was a sword master without a doubt. Borgus was not sure if they could take on a man like that. His skill and speed would be the death of them. Still he needed to make a contingency plan if they did. He did not trust Min to take him on. She was skilled in her use of magic and her power exceeded his own, but anime magic was not as tactical as light magic. Light magic could do things she could never do.

"Hey if that swordmaster comes for us let me handle it", spoke Borgus. "Before you get any ideas this has nothing to do with you being a woman and the amount of curves on your body", spoke the brigand as they arrived at the building they sought. "It is a matter of tactics", he spoke as he blew the locks off the door.

[Duma]

The general came at him with his axe, Duma dodged the swing. He swung and attacked the underarm of the general. He felt the hard clang of his iron sword onto Flash's armor. A dull pain shot into his wrist but he did not let go of his sword. He was too experienced for that sort of rookie mistake. Then jumped out of the way to avoid his counter hit. He landed on his feet a bit of a distance away. No magic coming at me. Either they ran or they are dead. I will have to check later.

His strike didn't do much to the general though. Damn it. A cocky laugh came from Flash. He knew the swordsman couldn't do much to his armor. But he couldn't really hit Duma either, for now.

Duma took to the offensive, he charged at Flash. Flash went to strike him Duma blocked him with his blade. Duma moved quickly to the left enough to off balance Flash. He made two quick slashes at the back of Flash's knees. His blade was successful in cutting through the gap in between his armor, drawing blood. He heard Flash cry out in pain as he buckled onto the ground.

Duma took advantage of this and quickly cut at another of the gaps. This strike was very quick, almost invisible. He hit was the underarm of his axe arm, crippling it. Flash managed to pull himself and attempt one more strike. But Duma dodged, he took advantage of Flash's forward momentum and plunged his blade into his exposed face. Flash fell to the floor dead.

The swordmaster chest was burning, those strikes took the wind out of him. Duma pulled his blade out from Flash's bleeding face. He fell back against the nearby wall breathing heavily. This wasn't good he was a sitting duck like this. He tried to make the best of it though. As best as it could be in a village being ransacked by bandits and destroyed by fire.

He tried to calm his mind. The village might be a lost cause. His breathing started to calm back down to a normal pace. The adrenaline running through his body started to face. He'd be fine after a few more moments.Alright Duma think, what would be the logical thing to do. Check on the survivors escaping or keep chasing down bandits?

[Borgus]

"Like candy from a baby", spoke Borgus as he exited the building holding the city coffers. He and min had swooped in and stole the gold while the city was lost in chaos. To his surpise however there was a mass cry of panic in the street as the bandit forces fled in all directions. Flash is dead they shouted. Flash is dead. The sound did not surprise Borgus. No he knew it was going to happen. Flash was brash, foolish, and stupid. He could only guess it was that sword master that min had aroused. That was the only man Borgus could guess who had the skill to take down that armored clad fool. Still the city was practically fallen, but the bandits were fleeing like cowards. It was as Borgus always said. Most bandits were cowards. Too lazy to work hard for a living and to cowardly to take for themselves. They only follow behind the strong and clench to their courage. The moment their leader falls they scatter like the roaches they are. Such cowards, that is the reason Borgus always keeps his organization small. He did not want such men around him. He only wanted people who could stand on their own.

Sure Borgus did have to worry about them backstabbing him if he let his guard down, but at the very least he could count on them if things went bad. These lot are as useful as a dish rag. "Min I think it is about time we pulled out", spoke Borgus. The cowards are going to flee and only the brave will be left behind. With the victory over Flash the remaining guardsman and civilians will probably rally and moved to press the flash gang back. It is best to get out while the getting is good", spoke Borgus as he began to move toward the wall. He did not even bother to try and leave through the gates. That is where the death would be its highest.

Hoping over the gate Borgus left the city with their hard earned tax money. It was a good score, but his main objective was not fully complete. With Flash death he could not tell others about Borgus legitimacy, but then again maybe some of his fleeing goons could. Either way he was going to have to find another way to pull in those skeptical bandits.

[Borgus leaves thread]

[Duma]

Duma got up. He checked on the myrmidon he sent after the mages. He found his corpse half burned from the enemy's fire spell. Damn. He gave a silent prayer for the man. It isn't wise for me to chase after them for revenge. I need to look at the greater picture. The village is lost to the fire. That much is obvious. His sides were hurting. Ugh.. too much exertion.

He walked over to Flash's corpse. I could use this. He kicked off Flash's helmet and exposed his head. He used the man's own axe to behead him. He found a long stick to use as a pike. Then proceeded to put Flash's head on the pike. He then refastened the helmet to the head. Something about bandits rubbed Duma the wrong way. This might be why he felt no particular guilt about killing them. As a matter of fact he usually felt joy in killing them.

He made his way back up towards the main entrance area and set the pike into the ground. To serve as an example to the other of Flash's gang. He heard through the chaos bandits shouting their leader had fallen. Well... if they knew that already, I could have done with out this gruesome head display!

He continued to help the local guards in routing what was left of the bandits. They were starting to rally together and push back the bandits. Other neighboring tribes were starting to join in the fray. The bandits were retreating en mass. He figured the coffers of the village were already looted. He wasn't about to run back and check. Once the dust has settled and the fires die down Duma would probably spend the rest of his time helping the survivors tend to the dead. Once that was said and done, Duma would leave the ruined village and be on his way again.

(Thread is now closed)