Finally, the main camp where the group was ambushed previously was secured and they were rearmed. Loose arrows and any bows leftover were passed to all men. All they had to do was get lucky. Get lucky finding the camp and lucky that they find it undetected.
“Ready when you are.”
“Alright, on with it then.” Sarkon said. He was a tad wary of the coming fight. Were they really going to be able to do this?
Shaking that feeling, he gathered up his stuff, adjusted his makeshift bandage on his arm, and started off to the group. The men gathered up, a slight tension in the air. They all stopped and turned to Sarkon as he approached. Sarkon stood before his group, looked to them individually, nodding his approval and trying to put on an air of confidence. If he didn’t feel confident, the men wouldn’t either.
Sarkon led off, “The lights starting to fade now, we make off to the cabins. Remember, loose grouping and take it slow. We don’t know where the enemies scouts are, if they have any, or even their exact location. This may be a wild shot in the dark but it’s the best we got to make sure we keep the good people of this land safe. Now let’s get this done.”
With a low shout of approval, they marched off into the woods. The group spread out in loosely a skirmish formation, Sarkon and Darvin leading the front while the others scattered out at different intervals off to either side. They trudged on for an hour. Nothing in sight, no sounds of a foe.
Another hour passed, the distance they traveled now putting them in range to encounter scouting elements. Sarkon and Darvin signal to hold momentarily and motion for the men to ready their weapons. They quietly ready arrows and daggers, ready for a fight. Getting the all good from them, they started back.
The light of the sun was now nearly completely out, the moon now reaching up in the sky. As they walked on, a smell began to slowly reach the group… The smell of wood burning and a slight smell of cooked meat. They were getting close to something. Someone was out there.
They continue on before finally seeing a faint light through the thinning tree line. The whole group stopped at the line and looked out. The whole area was littered with men huddled around fires and tents and shacks. Shocked by the sight, they all paused and then awaited Sarkon. Sarkon drew his bow, his keen vision let him spot a man some distance out and next to a fire, motioning around in excitement. He looses the arrow. The whistle of the arrow stopped when it found its mark, the man’s left shoulder. He fell forward from the impact, landing in the fire and darkening the area around it. A few of the bandits that witnessed the act stopped dead in their tracks, the rest of the camp not noticing yet. A volley of arrows rained in following Sarkon’s strike. How fitting the brigands are repaid for their vicious assault from the early morning with one against them in the dark.
A few minutes now of the guardsmen firing into the camp, killing and wounding several, if not over a dozen, of the bandits passes before they start to muster some resistance. They begin to return fire generally towards where they think the arrows coming in are from. A few of the shots ring in close to Sarkon, barely missing. He then hears a few screams from nearby. A couple of minutes pass, exchanging shots back and forth. The arrows going out to bandits starts slowing down. Sarkon begins to think quickly. At least 3 of his men are now to be presumed dead or too injured to fight. They all only had enough arrows for a short, decisive engagement and this is drawing on too long. He shouts an order to halt firing. A few seconds of more arrows, and the woods go quiet.
“Back, head back!” Sarkon shouts. A bit confused but obedient, the group falls back into the woods a few yards. Now with some safety, he gathers the men. 6 men left. Damn.
“Alright, here it comes men. The plan now, spread out in pairs. You and you, from behind the cabin area. You 2, far side, quick. Darvin, on me. We go just off to the side to strike down the ones coming in close. Good? Go!” Sarkon was now ready to do the most dangerous thing he’d done in years and was now feeling alive in the cool forest air.
Sarkon and Darvin strode off together to their selected positions. This was now the final push.
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