Do angels need training? Part 2

[Roland "Wolf" Wymond]

Wolf and Leo were flying through the sky at a fairly quick pace. The rush of wind was pleasant relief to the scorching sun of the plains. At this time Wolf saw a wyvern fly off in the distance. "I wonder were that rider is off to in such a hurry?"

"Big bro, look! Bandits are down there, and they are going to attack those people!" Leo exclaimed from behind his brother.

"It looks like they plan on retreating," Wolf said as he noticed a mounted healer run away. "We might not be able to defeat them all, but we might be able to help them get away. Leo, Maelstrom, are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go help them!" Leo yelled, while Maelstrom the wyvern merely growled his affirmation.

Wolf than directed Maelstrom to fly down to the two knights. "Hey, you two wouldn't need help by any chance, would you?" Wolf asked when he neared the knights. "I was flying overhead when my brother noticed the bandits. If you're going to retreat, I can help. I noticed that your healer friend got a head start, so now that she has had time to get some distance, perhaps you two should fall back as well. I'll be right behind you, well actually right above you.

[Shard]

Shard drew his iron sword from the scabbard on his mount's side, and Jasper's ears fell flat at the anticipation of combat. To his left, Shard felt a -WHOOSH- of air as the wyvern and its rider lifted off, taking to the skies. For a moment, Shard thought that Amaria was going to engage all of the bandits directly, but he frowned a tiny frown as he saw her wheel away after striking one down. It didn't look like they would be meeting again any time soon, but at the very least, one less bandit to worry about. He thanked her silently for the small mercy, then turned his attention to the others.

As Oichi spoke, Shard nodded. If the bandits charged them, it would be because there were no reinforcements behind the hill. If, on the other hand, they tried to goad the pair into charging the hill themselves, it was probably a ruse to get them surrounded. As Sarria turned and began to ride away, Shard wheeled his horse in a circle, making sure Jasper was limber before combat. "If they start to charge us, we might only have to take a few of them out before the rest decide that it isn't worth the trouble. Once they see Sarria leaving, they might think her an easy target and charge us, hoping to drown us in numbers. We might have to move forward and engage before-" He was cut off by a war-cry from one of the bandits, an ugly brute with a mercenary air who waved a crude iron sword in a circle, then pointed down the hill. The ten or so remaining brigands on the hilltop echoed his cry, working themselves into a frenzy as they all plunged down the hill at the trio!

Shard lifted his blade to eye level, trying to stay calm and collected as his training took over. Don't think, feel. Don't act, react. His sister's words echoed through his mind, and he turned to Oichi as the enemy closed the distance to 50 yards. "I'll engage them first, I think I'm quick enough that they might not be able to surround me. Go for the sword wielders, kill a few then make a break for the village. I'll be fine, if I see that you're in trouble I'll help you out. Now," he snarled at the incoming enemies, "Come and test the edge of my blade!" With that, he kicked Jasper into motion, and they flew in a blur of motion towards the bandits.

Taking his blade and holding it in a standard cavalry position, Shard charged a hefty looking bandit who appeared to be some sort of lieutenant. Where the bandits had the advantage in speed, Shard had the advantage of formal training. When the highwayman lifted his axe to swipe at Shard, Jasper followed his own war-training and leaped 45 degrees to the northwest, bringing Shard out of harm's way, and the bandit into the sword's range. -THWACK!- A long gash appeared on the brigand's head as he bent over, wailing. Shard hoped the rest would be as amateur.

As soon as the blow had been struck, he saw the new wyvern rider approach, and heard his words. "With your help, we might be able to escape quicker! Thank you, help us pick off the fastest ones and discourage the rest!"

[Oichi]

It seemed Shard was taking over there defensive plan, and Oichi was glad for it. Sure she knew the basics of fighting, but she did not know too much about tactics and such. Though she really did not like his plan of how they would battle the enemy. She simply wanted to retreat and hold the line if any of the Bandits stuck out at them with mounted warriors. Shard however thought that the foot soldiers were just much a threat. Oichi was sure they could out run them, but what did she know. She had never taken a step onto a real battlefield. The close she came to that was the fight with the bandits she and her father got in. During that fight she was nearly killed three times.

"Alright", spoke Oichi as she turned and looked at Sarria retreating in the distance. She did not feel safe with Sarria moving on her own. She still figured the bandits had something up their sleeve. It was because of this feeling Oichi delayed their initial attack against the bandits once they came into position to be stuck. She kept her eye on the hills. There had to be something else going on. Why would the bandits simply charge a group of mounted people with nothing but ground fighters. They must truly know they could simply flee and gain ground. It was in that moment Oichi noticed what she thought was going on all along. From the far side of the bandit forces riders began to move around.

"Oh no", spoke Oichi as she turned Oda around. "She was not going to let them ambush Sarria. Sarria horse was not a warhorse. The poor thing would not stand a chance against the speed of the brigands steeds. Quickly Oichi turned her horse around and sent it into a full gallop. Oda crossed the plains like the wind aiming to catch up to her friend before the bandits did.

"I have you now", spoke one of the bandits as he attempted to ride up and cut the maiden. With the speed of tempest Oichi came from his side. With a clean blow from her iron lance Oichi struck the bandit in his side. The force from the blow and the momentum of Oda's speed knocked the man clean off his horse and sent his corpse flopping on the ground. The devistation of the blow was so great it caused the other bandits to pull on the reigns of there horses and pause for a moment.

"Don't touch my friend", spoke Oichi as she looked at them. In her mind Oichi was both excited and afraid. She was excited as the jousting lessons she learned from Miss Iadra had paid off. It was a perfect blow, the first time she had ever done it. at the same time however Oichi was scared out of her mind. Here she was standing before two other bandits. Not only was her life on the line, but the life of somebody else. If she messed up they both were dead. The only advantage Oichi had in this situation was her speed and that was nullified with her stopping at this moment.

[Sarria]

Sarria watched behind her closely, not paying attention to her sides. A new fighter flew down, ready to fight. Maybe Amaria left because this new person was coming to take her place, that would be better than if she had just abandoned them. The fellow, Shard, seemed to be holding his own just fine, but Sarria wasn't the most well-versed in how good fighters were. For all she knew, the bandits were terrible and he just knew how to swing a sword in their general direction. Although she guessed that the whoever won was the better fighter.

The wind felt great sitting with her back to the front, she didn't even care that she was in danger as the wind whipped through her light clothes. She really needed it after being out in the hot sun for so long.

Suddenly she heard the sounds of horses catching up with her, looking around to see a few bandits surrounding her. Safety no longer seemed close at all, and she screamed for her life. Just as she saw a bandit try to attack, Oichi came up and struck him down. "Oichi! Thank you so much!" She said, blushing a little. The girl looked noble and strong, rather than earlier when she appeared weak and shy. "I'm counting on you to protect me, okay?" Sarria felt like she was being the shy one now. This wasn't like her at all, it must have been the heat and the danger getting to her head.

[Oichi]

"Sarria to the east", shouted Oichi as she turned and looked toward the direction she opened up when she took out the first bandit. Oichi movement was gone so she no longer had the advantage. However the maiden still had her training, which she had been focusing on for so long. The first bandit galloped his horse toward Oichi, it was clear to her that he had put little to no thought into his training fighting on horse back as he moved forward with his sword held back to the side. The way he was riding it was almost as if he was planing to first pass her and then strike at her. The fool seemed to forget she had a lance.

"Oda", spoke Oichi as she sent her horse forward. She was moving at far less a speed than the bandit, but her longer reach of the spear covered that gap. The fool impaled himself on her lance before his sword ever reached. It was the result of somebody simply getting on a horse for travel and not spending any time fighting on it. Still Oichi had little time to celebrate or study the battle. The other rider rode in with his axe at the ready. He swung his axe at Oichi head rather than aim for her midsection. The maiden ducked dodging the blow and sent Oda into a gallop. She was lucky these bandits were amateurs. If she had fought anybody skilled on horseback she might have perished at that moment.

Quickly she galloped to the east hoping Sarria took the opportunity to get a head start. Oichi road to the east heading toward the town she mention earlier the maiden moved to link up with her friend.

[Oichi exits thread ]

[Sarria]

Sarria spared no time in turning her horse towards where Oichi summoned her, not wanting to be left behind. She hoped that the two left out there would be able to handle themselves, but at least Oichi was there with her. She turned to thank Oichi just before seeing the girl impale a bandit, causing Sarria to go pale and get a little queasy at the sight. Her eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see the blood of that poor bandit. She half wanted to turn around and patch him up so that he wouldn't be bleeding out anymore, but she just ignored her feelings and focused on escaping.

The start of a journey was always the hardest step, or so books about journeys she had read claimed. She didn't realize that the people who had written those books meant that she would have to run from bandits screaming for her life out of fear of losing blood to their sharp and pointy weapons. This was not really the life for her and she knew it, but she did not have another calling in her life. She wanted to at least journey until she found that, whatever it was.

With her heart heavy, Sarria rode to the east, towards the town that Oichi had mentioned before. She wanted to get to know the girl, and hopefully they could there. Whatever happened from here on, Sarria did not want to run anymore than she had to, even if Jewel was the one doing the running.

[Sarria Exit]

[Roland "Wolf" Wymond]

Upon hearing the knight's reply, Wolf had Maelstrom dive bomb into a group of bandits impaling one of them on his lance. As another bandit made a horizontal swipe with his ax, Maelstrom instinctively dodged, as Wolf thrust his lance through the bandit's chest. He noticed that as he fought, the main force was starting to arrive including a couple archers. "This is bad," Wolf mumbled to himself. He than noticed the female knight take off in the direction the healer went. 'Good,' he thought, 'we'll cover her than that other knight and us can make a break for it.'

"Brother, look, there are more bandits behind us!" Leo exclaimed. As Wolf glanced back, he saw mounted bandits going after the healer, and the Female knight charging them. Wolf then turned his attention back to his front. Maelstrom had just sunk his fangs into a bandit's neck. He impaled a foolish swordsman who had charged him. Now, Wolf was starting to fall back as he parried and countered blows. He hoped that he other knight would start to do the same.

More archers showed up and were notching their arrows. "There's too many archers, I have to fall back! Let's make a break for it Sir Knight!" Wolf yelled to the knight fighting a few feet a way from him. Hoping the knight took his advice, Wolf had Maelstrom speed off in the direction the female knight rode off to.

Seeing the mounted bandits giving chase to the healer and female knight, Wolf leveled his lance and quickly overtook the ground bound horses, stabbing one bandit in the back and throwing him off his horse. He knocked another rider off his horse and flew up high to continue flying after the previous two who had escaped. Wolf hoped that the male knight was right behind him and that he had a big enough opening to shoot past the bandits on horseback.

[Wolf Exit]

[Shard]

Shard saw that the others were retreating, and he knew that he would need o follow suit. It hadn't been wise for him to charge the bandits, and he couldn't help but think that this entire fiasco was somehow his fault. Turning and parrying an axe swing from one ambitious brigand, Shard kicked Jasper's sides with his spurs and sent him racing across the plains, in the opposite direction from the way that the other 3 had gone.

He reasoned that since he was closest to them, some of the bandits would follow him, and give up on pursuing the others. Regretfully, Shard sheathed his sword as the brigands behind him grew smaller... and smaller... and eventually after a half hour of riding hard, it was just him and Jasper, alone on the plains again. Wordlessly, Shard checked his compass and map. Where to next? Perhaps Etruria. Yes... Etruria it is. With a rub to Jasper's ears, Shard set his face toward his new destination, and set off. (Shard Exit)