Woo! Next update! I'm actually a few days ahead with my prepared updates, so I may slack off and fall behind.
The next morning, Ametha checked his diary for his next target: another bandit camp. He arrived at the camp, and walked past a tree to reveal a spearman, staring straight at him. His thrust was parried, the spearman raised a shout, and two more bandits charged in, one armed with a war hammer, the other with a mace. Not wanting to go toe-to-toe with three bandits, the elf turned to run.
He barely made his first step when he felt searing pain in his right leg. He collapsed, and raised his shield to deflect a flurry of blows from the bandits. He flung an arrow from his quiver, striking the hammerman in the leg with a burst of blood. He gasped in pain and collapsed. The second arrow struck the maceman in the arm, chipping the bone. He fell to his knees, and passed out from the pain. The spearman stepped back and raised her shield, backing away from the crippled, yet deadly, elf.
Ametha dragged himself over to the two fallen bandits, and with two quick thrusts, made sure they wouldn’t rise again. He turned to look for the surviving spearman to see a crossbow bolt slam into the hard, dry ground next to him. The crossbow’s bearer stood at the other side of the camp, loading another bolt.
Ametha’s mind was racing. He couldn’t stand, let alone run, the crossbowman would be able to fire at least two more shots before he would get to hand-to-hand combat, the spearman was somewhere in these hills, he had a quiver full of arrows…
He grabbed an arrow, and threw it at the crossbowman with all his strength. It sailed through the air, and its point drove deep into the bandit’s chest. He gasped, and tore it out. A torrent of blood gushed from the wound, and drenched his clothes. He collapsed, and the pool of blood continued to grow. Ametha sighed in relief, and began to search the chests and bags that were piled at the centre of the camp. They contained armour and weapons. The armour was too big to fit his elven frame, and he already had a decent weapon.
With nothing else to do, Ametha checked his map. The human castle of Iquiadi was not far away, and there would be doctors there to treat his leg. He leant on his pike and struggled to his feet, only to hear footsteps behind him.
He tried to turn, but lost his balance and fell. In front of him was the last bandit from this camp, the woman with the iron spear. She raised her above her head, and drove it down with terrifying force. Wood chips flew from Ametha’s shield, and he attempted a counterstrike. His thrust missed, and the bandit jumped backwards. Ametha flung an arrow, and it struck her wrist, and stayed there. The bandit collapsed from the pain, and Ametha made his hasty escape.