The Fated Three

Bandits And Bad Timing

 On the way to the bandit camp Rose became uneasy "I'm not gonna lie Del, this plan is risky. Going into a bandit camp with basically no knowledge of its in's and out's could be catastrophic. And I don't know what you have planned in that head of yours but 'dying' damn sure wasn't on my list of things to do today" Rose admitted. There was a short silence. "Let's do this quietly. I want you to get as high up on that ridge over there, and I'll stay on the ground and take them out from below." Delgan demanded. Rose shook off her uneasiness and nodded "I've fought plenty of unpredictable undead before, I can fight some idiotic bandits." Delgan chuckles "ha, always cocky. I love it".

The two split and headed to their positions. Delgan walks up to the entrance and sees two bandits standing guard. He slowly makes his way towards the camp, staying in the trees to hide his approach. As he nears the edge of the trees, he sees the two bandits standing sentry. Meanwhile, Rose stealthy makes her way to the ledge of the nearby cliff. She quickly assessed the area. There were two guys guarding the entrance. Three guys around a fire we're laughing and resting. Everyone else seemed to be either in their homes or away from the camp. The campfire grew bright as the sun began to set. Past the fire pit was a big tent with one other guard. After a stretch the guard yawned and retreated inside the tent. "that must be where the leader is".

Rose looked for Delgan to relay the message. After locating him, she jotted down the Intel she gathered, wrapped a note around the arrow, and shot it in between Delgan's boots. Delgan picks up the arrow and reads the Intel he looks up at Rose and nods. He isn't surprised, Rose has always been good at surveying an area. Now they know what they're up against. Delgan sneaks up to one of the sentries. He stabs him through the nape of his neck, penetrating it instantly, killing him. While the other sentry is in shock Rose notched an arrow and released the arrow in between his eyes. After clearing the first two guards Delgan was able to sneak inside the camp. Just like Rose said in the note there were 3 guys at the campfire. Rose waited for Delgan to get close enough before she retrieved two arrows and opened fire. The arrows pierced the two guards precisely at the moment Delgan sliced the third guy's throat. "Just one left" Delgan signals Rose to regroup with him. "It looks like we got the boring part over with," Delgan says as he fetches the arrows from the corpses and hands them back to Rose. "You can say that again. And here I thought they would give us a challenge. I saw one guard go in here. I think the leader is also in there" Rose whispers. ''That tent over there right?" Delgan questions. "No, the cottage over there with the pretty pink flowers in the front, yes the tent!" Rose chuckles quietly. "GUARDS! GET IN HE-!" An angry voice breaks the quiet. Startled by the sudden outburst, the two rush inside the tent, adrenaline and excitement already coursing through their veins.

What they saw was unexpected. Rose could have sworn that what stood before her was just a lost young girl. But as she stood hovering over her recent kill, Rose couldn't be so naive. The woman breathed in deeply as she tried to compose herself. Rose tried to picture what could have happened just a moment ago. The room was covered in vines and the man that sat in the tall throne, the bandit leader Rose deduced, laid dead. He was covered in blood, but it wasn't like Rose had ever seen before. His blood was dark purple, streams of it flowed down deep cuts all over his arms and face, but that wouldn't even be the worst of it. What was once his throat was now shreds of bloody tissue and muscle. Rose would wonder how the head was still intact if it wasn't for the clear bone sticking out holding it in place. It was a gory sight. His skin had shriveled and turned pale. The only hint of color left was the tint of bright green that oozed out the dark cuts. 'Poisoned'. Rose thought to herself. No, this was no lost little girl.

Delgan looked at the scene completely shocked. Also running into the tent from another entrance is the earlier guard. He rubs his tired eyes and watches in horror. The woman takes a step away from everyone with her hands on her battle-ax. She looks at the dead leader, then at the two hunters, then at the lone guard, and back at the leader. "Is this supposed to be your backup?" The woman chuckled. The Guard starts shaking, his eyes moving back and forth between the three intruders. Nervously he raises his sword at the space between them "who are you? Why are you here?" The guard shakily asked. The woman walks closer towards Delgan with her battle-ax in one hand and readied daggers in the other. "I've never missed a shot so if I were you I'd start talking" She smiled evilly while aiming at Delgan. Rose smirks at the feral woman before her and quickly aims her arrow-straight for her head. "Neither do I. so unless you lower your weapon from his direction, we're gonna see exactly who's the fastest. me or you". Delgan takes a defensive stance. "Lower your weapons!" Delgan yells while holding up his sword. "As if I'd listen to you! I don't take orders from worthless imbeciles" the woman yells angrily, not backing down. The guard took a few deep breaths trying to calm his nerves. He gripped his sword tighter to stop the trembles. They all begin to circle one another Stealthily, Delgan circles the woman, Rose moves to stand behind Delgan, and the guard moves to stand right behind Rose.