"so, old man, you finally remember me, huh?", Rana said.
"You dare to come out prison, and cause more chaos, seems like you have forgotten our beating!", Aagam said.
"Well…"
"I remember every single thing, I have learnt from my mistakes, and this time I won't lose.", Rana said while gritting his teeth.
"looks like you need another lesson!", Aagam said as he stepped forward towards Rana.
Listening to this Rana indicated his comrades with his hand to move ahead. After getting permission one of the bandits rushed upon one of the guards. That guard, in his defense, punched that bandit in the abdomen, and delivered a swift roundabout kick, that bandit was tossed aside and tumbled on the ground. But unknown to him, an arrow came flying, it drilled into his wrist, sprayed blood out, and nailed his hand on a rock.
As he saw the heating moment, Rana laughed out and said, "I have had enough, before you waste any more time, just hand over all your stuff!"
"You seem to have overestimated yourself, thinking you can easily force us to surrender, I am sorry to say but you are very wrong!", the captain said who still had his focused eyes fixated on Rana.
"HAHAHAHA, Dharanesh! I can't stop myself from laughing on your jokes!"
"You know me!", Captain, who was Dharanesh stood there stiff.
"Not only you, but he knows everything about the Dhaara clan!", Aagam said.
"How can a normal bandit know everything about our clan?", Dharanesh's eyebrows furrowed.
"You talk too much!", Rana said as he spun his spear and began to walk towards Dharanesh.
Dharanesh got on alert as he put his sword in front of Rana, "Don't you dare to take a single step."
A slight chuckle appeared on Rana's face, "You think you can stop me?", Rana said, his voice calm but laced with a quiet intensity, "Prove it."
Rana immediately drove his spear ahead and delivered a deadly blow to Dharanesh, but Dharanesh already on alert swiftly avoided the attack, resulting in the spear to smash into the ground and blow the pieces of rock nearby. Responding to this Dharanesh gave a swift elbow cut on Rana's chest pushing him away, and slashed his huge sword at Rana.
Rana using his fast reflexes drew back his stuck spear from the ground and blocked the sword that came at him. Deflecting the attack, he delivered a kick on Dharanesh causing him to stagger back a few steps. Meanwhile hear the other bandit comrades of Rana had also ambushed on the others.
Here, Rudra till now just stood and saw everything silently, he was on the sidelines until one of the bandits attacked him and he had to act, moving aside avoiding the attack, he grabbed the hand that came forward to attack him and delivered an elbow blow to it. The bandit screamed in pain but the next moment he pushed Rudra away with his shoulder.
Rudra staggered back a few steps before regaining his balance, he saw that the bandit rushed to him with a sharp blade in his hands this time, Rudra too drew out his rusty blade which he used to block the blade which was swung at him. Rudra then deflected the blade to his left and drove his rusty dagger towards the bandit.
Before the bandit could react, Rudra's dagger had dug deeply into his stomach, reaping out a lot of blood, that stained his clothes, Rudra pulled his dagger out and leaving the bandit there, who had fallen on his knees, Rudra moved towards the other bandits. But before he could take anymore steps forward, an arrow came flying and flew right past his head, which would have penetrated his head if he hadn't sensed and tried to avoid it.
Rudra followed the direction that arrow had come from and found one of the bandits still on horse with his body and face covered with a cloak, holding a bow in his hands, and a bunch arrow hung on his back. He drew out another arrow and shot it towards Rudra. Rudra was again able to avoid the projectile, he looked around him, and his eyes fell on the blade the previous bandit held, that bandit already lay unconscious due to overflow of blood.
Rudra picked up that blade and threw it towards that bowman, seeing the blade that flew at him the bowman jumped down the horse as soon as possible, and shot another arrow towards Rudra. Avoiding the arrow Rudra ran towards the bowman. The bowman kept shooting arrows, but avoiding all of them Rudra was able to reach near the bow man in just a few moments.
To stop him from shooting another arrow, Rudra drove his hand ahead to deliver a blow to the bowman, but using his reflexes the bowman stepped back avoiding the hand. During this the cloak of the bowman fluttered in the wind and Rudra was able to size it's edge, as soon as he got his grasp on the cloak of the bowman, he immediately pulled it away.
The coarse fabric was torn free from its lose clasp, as it was pulled, the figure staggered back, the sudden exposure freezing them mid-motion, Rudra's expectations of seeing a grizzled marksman with a hardened gaze under the cloak was completely shattered, as he saw a young woman standing before him, her hair spilling out in dark waves, her eyes sharp as an arrowhead.
Her legs were protected by a leather covering on each whereas her torso was now being protected with a Armor, where as her slim and long hands with Delicate palm and long fingers were uncovered, which loaded the arrow on the bow. Rudra stood there completely stunned as he had not expected this revelation.
Coming to his senses Rudra focused his gaze on the bow woman, clenching his fist. Her stance was poised, and her sharp hawk eyes focused on Rudra. With a burst of energy within him, Rudra used his kundalini as his fist cut through their air. But she reacted faster, ducking down and avoiding his punch with the grace of a dancer.
In a blur, her bow swung upward, the wooden arc of the blow slicing through the space between them. The strike landed square on Rudra's ribs, a dull thud resonated as Rudra staggered back a few steps, an excruciating pain flared through his chest, still gritting his teeth he steadied himself.
With a swift motion, he took his rusty dagger, which was worn off and covered in rust, but had a razor-sharp edge. Driving it ahead, the edge streaked an arc filled with a dark hue across the air, Rudra aimed for the bow-woman's side, his movements sharp and unrelenting. The rusty blade dived down as it tried to seek the soft flesh above ribs.
The woman's eyes narrowed, just as the dagger descended, her bow moved with a fluid motion catching the rusty dagger in the sturdy wooden arc of the bow. The sharp clang of the metal and wood clash chimed through the air, Rudra's momentum was halted, as the bow and dagger were stuck in a fierce struggle.
Rudra pressed forward as he tried to overpower the bow-woman, the dagger scraped against the polished wood surface of the bow, but the bow-woman's lips curled into a confident smirk, seizing the opportunity as Rudra was distracted. She pivoted on one foot, and delivered a sharp, powerful kick. The impact knocked the breath out of Rudra's lungs and was sent tumbling backwards, the dagger slightly slipped from his hands, as his grasp was loosened.
She took a step back getting into a ready stance, her bow poised like a coiled serpent waiting to strike. Rudra hit the ground with a heavy thud, the world was spinning around him. His breath labored and shallow. He lay there for a moment his dagger still clutched weakly in his hands as he tried to process what had just happened.
As he realized, a mix of frustration and disbelief coursed through him, how could he have underestimated her so badly?