Sunlight pierced the forest mist and fell on the thick fur, quickly heating its rough surface. The man with the tangled beard began sweating heavily from the heat. Yet he did not dare take it off. The forest's damp, strange weather could easily make a person ill.
Besides, they had gone hungry for many days. He had once been known throughout the village for his strength, but now his legs kept going weak beneath him. Fierce hunger tormented him, wasting his powerful muscles until he looked as thin as he did now.
The longbow in his hands was made of fine yew, covered with a thick layer of milu deer sinew and wrapped in waterproof bark. It could send heavy arrows flying with great force. But in his weakened state, he could fire at most two more before he lost even the strength to fight back. Then he would be left sweating coldly, helpless to stop anyone from killing him.
He was indeed sweating heavily now, but not only because the temperature had suddenly risen. What they were doing terrified him... Look at those cavalrymen. Look at those men wrapped up so completely that only their eyes showed. Their armor was so bright and closely fitted. They were so tall and strong... He was certain that even if one of them stood still and let him shoot, he might not be able to kill the man with every last arrow in his quiver.
And there were more than four hundred of these terrifying, imposing cavalrymen. They filled the broad road, their closely packed iron armor gleaming coldly like rippling water. Their powerful warhorses and fine weapons filled the bandits with fear. None dared imagine how terrible it would be if these cavalrymen suddenly charged them. Yet they had still gathered here... With only their longbows and a few battered pieces of armor, they had blocked these men's way.
It sounded like a decision only a madman would make. But besides their terrible hunger, they had another reason for doing it. They had something to rely on...
He looked toward the small, thin figure at the very front... Everyone had dared to take this risk because that person had persuaded them. Besides, they had no way out anymore. Even the last insect in this part of the forest had been eaten... At this rate, they would have to start eating people!
Ancestors of Mengbas, protect your children!...
Praying silently with all his heart, the man tightened his grip on his bow. He was the best archer in the village, but now even staying alive was too much to hope for...
* * *
Strict discipline kept every cavalryman from taking a single step without orders, but they still exchanged strange looks. These ridiculous bandits had actually come to rob them!! Not even the Empire's best comic poet could come up with a joke like this. The difference in strength was enough to drive anyone to despair, yet these people still dared make such shameless boasts.
At first, they had thought the Hols had ambushed them. Then they saw those ragged figures... If their general had given the order, they would already have ridden forward and cut them all down without a second thought.
"I'm impressed by your reckless nerve." Tesolys could barely keep the smile off his face. He did not believe these people could fail to see how powerful his cavalrymen were. Starving and displaced though they were, they should still know whether hunger or death was worse. "You must know that what you're saying is a threat... And we will answer that threat. We're in a hurry, so if you surrender now, I'll spare your lives."
Tesolys's words caused a stir among the bandits, but the only answer he received was an arrow suddenly flying toward him. He casually knocked it to the ground with his shield, then gave a resigned order. "Break them! Make it quick!"
An officer immediately blew a horn. Like a school of fish suddenly scattering in a river, the cavalrymen spread out on their tall warhorses, waving their weapons as they rushed at the bandits. The big, strong horses leaped effortlessly onto the forest slopes. They dodged the thick trees with ease, carrying their riders toward the bandits' formation.
In that instant, the dust raised by their hooves almost covered the entire road. In another moment, the invincible armored cavalry would turn these reckless bandits into a field of corpses and bloody pulp.
A shrill whistle sounded. Before the cavalrymen even reached them, the bandits scattered without the slightest attempt to resist and plunged into the dense forest behind them. Their steps were so light and quick. The tangled bushes and branches did not slow them at all. Like cunning foxes, they slipped into the thick woodland.
The charging cavalrymen were inevitably stopped by the tall, thick growth. Some hurriedly swung their sabers at the bushes in front of them, but when they hacked through one clump, more appeared behind it. Trees filled the forest as far as the eye could see. It was a world of green.
Seeing those cowards escape in the blink of an eye, the cavalrymen shouted angrily. They swung their flails and urged their horses on, desperate to give chase, but the terrain held them back too much. Dense shrubs and deciduous trees formed one barrier after another, like walls of hedges. Without clearing it carefully, there would not even be a place to make camp.
The huge warhorses could barely move here. The bandits, on foot and unmounted, could use their agility to dart through the trees. They were astonishingly fast, even faster than a person running on level ground. By the time the last bandit disappeared from sight, the cavalrymen had little to show for their charge. They could only strike the nearby trunks with their weapons in anger, then reluctantly turn their horses and ride back.
"Bandits!"
Alka's angry roar suddenly came from one side. Only then did the cavalrymen notice several mud-covered human figures carrying sacks of grain from their wagons and racing into the nearby bushes. Though small and thin, they ran quickly under their heavy loads. They did not even care when they lost their shoes. They desperately pushed into the thorns and shrubs. Even if they fell, they would clutch their sacks and scramble back up.
Everyone had been watching the fleeing bandits. No one knew where these few had sprung from. While the others were distracted, they had suddenly raided the supply wagons and carried off several large sacks of grain.
Furious, Alka had already dismounted. Taking his shield and flail, he charged after them without a second thought. The dense bushes badly hindered his large frame, but he trusted his strong, closely fitted armor and ignored the sharp branches and thorns. He forced his way in, swinging his flail and sending broken brush flying. Some cavalrymen followed him, but they were still slower than the bandits, even with the heavy grain on the others' backs.
Seeing that they were all about to escape, Tesolys narrowed his eyes and unfastened the large bow he had taken as a trophy from his saddle. He pulled an arrow from a shield beside him. After a moment's thought, he broke off its head, then steadily drew the bow...
"Archery requirement: 95
Archery level: 332
Check passed."
An arrow without a head could not fly far, but his shot struck the last bandit's knee with perfect accuracy. The man screamed in pain and fell, his heavy load of grain dropping beside him. Panicking, he pressed his hands over the grain spilling from the sack's mouth and shouted to his companions. A heavily bearded bandit ran back without hesitation, but only to hoist the grain onto his own shoulder. Then he turned and hurried away...
When Alka brought his prisoner back, he found his general crouching beside a wagon with keen interest. Tesolys was thoughtfully studying a hole dug out beneath a large tree beside the road and the mud scattered around it. A strange smile rested on his face. He had casually laid the bow, as tall as a man, on the wagon beside him.
"These fellows really are rather interesting..."
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