The Darkness Behind the Light

Chapter 9

"I'm starting to lose faith in this plan," Riley said, surveying the quarry around us. "We've been wandering for over an hour."

"They'll come for us," I informed hopefully. "And it hasn't been that long."

"Feels like eternity," she whined.

I wouldn't admit that things had been taken longer than I thought but the plan was still solid. If we wanted to get into the camp, we needed to be escorted in by the bandits. If we were going to be escorted in, we needed to be taken prisoner. And if we were going to be taken prisoner, we needed to find an ambush party.

I had picked up the minds of several bandits in the area but it was hard to tell which group they belonged too so we had to stay clear without looking like we weren't walking in circles. A harder task than anything I had done. Finally, I felt a group of minds moving towards us.

"They're coming," I said relieved.

Cathy drew her sword. "Let's hope they are the right group."

"Natalie said to look for a dark red wrap on the arm," I reminded. The group of incoming bandits kept their distance and split up, circling around us and approaching slowly. "Interesting. Riley, surround us with a barrier should they try to shoot us with arrows."

"Can't do it yourself?" she countered.

"You agree that with the three of us, two should focus on aggression while one supports and remains on the defensive," I explained. "Cathy clearly is on the aggression and if you wanted to attack the bandits than I would happily hold up a barrier to protect us. Otherwise, put up a barrier and protect us."

Riley scrunched up her face at me then raised her hand like she wanted a high five and closed her eye. The crackle of magical energy surrounded us as a purplish barrier formed a dome around us. It was different than the last barrier she created and I studied the odd colour. After a couple of seconds, a wave of arrows hit the barrier to test it. The arrows hit the barrier and turned to dust as they passed through.

"Fight to stalemate, right?" Cathy asked.

"Yes," I answered. "We need to make them think they are controlling the situation."

"It's going to be weird to hold back."

"Tell me about it."

The bandits approached hesitantly from all sides. Cathy had her shield and sword ready but didn't move while I stood in a relaxed manner, trying to play it off like the whole thing was a minor inconvenience. The bandits stopped close to the barrier and gave me a chance to count them. At eight, they weren't the largest group and it almost felt embarrassing to be taken prisoner by them. The dark red wrap on their arm meant we had the right group at least.

The oldest bandit in the group took a step forward and poked the barrier with his sword. The blade tip turned to dust. He pulled the rest of the sword out before it could be completely destroyed and stared at it in amusement. "Well, now isn't this something."

"Can I help you?" I asked in mock annoyance.

The old bandit sheathed the remainder of his sword. "You walk in the territory of the Butcher freely but with such power...we wouldn't stand a chance against you, wouldn't we?"

I shook my head. "We'd drop you before you could get another wave of arrows off."

The bandit nodded slowly. "That's what I thought. So who are you? What do you want here?"

"I'm the King's Advisor," I said proudly. "I go where I please."

"Maybe investigating the Light because of their attacks on magic users?"