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There were screams around him, deafening him as he watched on in horror as the bandits began to raid their village. Women were screaming, children were crying. Fear took over him. Why was this happening? They barely had anything, let alone anything that was worth raiding! Why were they attacking them…?
The few remaining men slowly began to fall one by one. In the distance, he could see his father’s corpse, his eyes wide in horror, unmoving, unblinking, dead. A small whimper escaped him as one of the bandits began to move towards him. But he was unable to move, half dead with terror.
But as the bandit lifted up his axe to end his pitiful life, the man froze, his expression caught in something akin to confusion and fear. He did not halt out of his own free volition. The boy stared at the bandit, seeing small vines slowly inching up his body, ensnaring him, strangling him.
His eyes widened and he looked around, trying to locate whoever was doing this. Only to notice the boulders flying about, trees and bushes present when before, there weren’t any. That’s when he heard the horse hooves on the ground, the crunching of bones as the steed carelessly stepped over corpses and bandits alike. The boy screamed, but was cut off as an arrow whizzed past his face, lodging into something behind him that fell with a thud. Another bandit.
Slowly, the trio who were responsible for the stopped attack emerged from the shadows. A tall blond man who was seated on top of a large war steed was flanked by two foot soldiers – one white haired with a bow and another blond with a tome. One of the bandits that sighted the trio began to yell at his friend who was busying himself with a woman and her home. “It’s the Prince!”
The blonde’s face looked cold as he flicked his hand and the two men were ensnared as well within vines. But this time, the vines seemed to be curling closer and closer around the men’s bodies, red streaks that ran down their arms and legs appearing. The bandits began to beg for mercy. No one of the trio reacted in any way, if anything, the archer even seemed amused by the whole ordeal.
“Where is your leader?” One of them nodded towards the man who was still captivated in front of the boy, his eyes shining with fear. The man on the steed nodded to the archer before dismounting. The horse was blocking the sight of what was happening, but the following screams were explanation enough on what was happening.
As the armored man approached him, the boy whimpered, but he was spared no second glance as the leader of the bandits held all of the blonde’s attention. “Hm, so you are the weakling who has been terrorizing others?” The leader was unable to speak, his face stricken with fear. The blond let out a low ‘Tch’ before pulling out a purple and black book – a tome?
Immediately, the leader began to beg for mercy as well, begging to be spared because he was only trying to provide for his children and wife. “God has abandoned us, so who will have mercy on your pitiful soul?” The mage in front of him began to emit a purple smoke or glow as the bandit began to trash, his begging increasing in volume. “You will see no mercy from me. Nothing will satisfy me but your death.” And then… silence.