"It's bandits! And they are closing in fast, dammit it all!" Kelly screamed, as the rest of the Bright Sun party dismounted the wagon, already arming themselves, ready for a fight. Daniel grabbed his staff, Ray got his sword and shield, and Fred, he vanished off to somewhere.
"Shit, what are we supposed to do Ray?" Daniel asked, as he ran up to the front of the caravan, where the other dozen or so soldiers had converged. Lyra and Reina also calmly walked to the front, looking out over the expansive plains, and the 200 or so riders who were approaching rapidly.
"We don't have much of a choice! We're already out in the plains, and they got horses. We can't outrun them, nor can we really fight them in these numbers... so there is only one thing to do." Ray responded, teeth grit.
"Beg and plead for mercy?" Rowenna said, eyebrow raised, before continuing: "Might work out for you guys, but you know what bandits do to women, Ray..."
"That wasn't my plan either..." Ray said, sighing, as he drew his sword and looked back at Lyra and Reina, before speaking up once more:
"Lyra, Reina, get on the stagecoach and turn the caravan around. Head back to the village we passed through 2 hours ago. Bright Sun will make its stand here, and try to delay them as much as we can. With some luck, you might be able to reach the village..."
"Hold on... why are you telling -us- to escape?" Reina said in response, incredulous.
"Look, we understand you have your circumstances, but this is serious! The bandits will be here in less than 3 minutes, so you need to get away right now!" Ray shouted back, gesturing for the pair to move back.
"I knew this mission was scuffed from the get go... and now I'll have to die protecting two frauds, what a shitty way to go..." Kelly muttered as she walked past, nocking an arrow to her bow, testing the bow-strength.
"Please, Lyra, Reina, there is no shame in running away. We'll hold them off for as long as we can..." Daniel said, though his voice was shaking, as was his legs, and it was clear he was very afraid.
The High Elf had said nothing up to this point, but instead remained silent, her eyes fixed on the approaching riders. She glanced back behind her, in the direction of the stagecoach, then looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun using her hand. Reina stepped up beside her, and said:
"These idiots... master, let me handle the bandits. I can take them on by myself." but Lyra shook her head, before finally speaking:
-"No, I will do it myself." she said, and then proceeded to walk up beside the Ray and the other soldiers, and squeeze through their ranks. Ray however reached out, grabbing her by the wrist firmly:
"You can't! I get it, you need to protect your image, but you have to stop! Final warning, get back on the stagecoach and get going, or we will make you..."
Lyra tilted her head to the side as she turned to look back at Ray. The usually kind and gentle expression on her face was gone however, replaced by a cold and neutral expression. When she next spoke, her tone lacked that warm quality it otherwise had.
-"Who gave you permission to touch me? Who put you in charge of this mission? I am the mission lead. Now let go..."
The young adventurer looked conflicted, but then shook his head, as he spoke up: "I am sorry, Lady Lyra, but I cannot do that. My party is willing to lay down their lives so you and the cargo can escape, please do not make our dedication and sacrifice be in vain..."
Lyra looked at him in silence, for a few long seconds. Her bright blue eyes rested sharply on him, her gaze intense, and he felt as if she was even looking through him. But he could not relent. If he could at least save them, buy them some time, it would all be worth it-
A second later, he crashed into the nearest wagon, his head spinning. What had just happened!? How on Atlas had he been thrown all this way? He blinked, and watched as Lyra straightened herself out, and the gaping mouths of his party members and soldiers. Had she done this? Rowenna ran up his way, while Lyra turned and walk further out into the plains.
"W-what.. just happened?" Ray asked as Rowenna came to kneel beside him, checking him for injuries.
"I... I'm not sure. It looked like she just... shoved you." Rowenna whispered, shocked.
The party, soldiers and caravan tenders watched as Lyra walked further out into the grassland of the Great Plains, before stopping some 10 meters ahead of the make-shift defensive line. The bandits on horseback were closer now, maybe a kilometer away. It was too late now to try and turn the caravan around. Reina, the red-haired woman, did not seem worried in the slightest. She stood with her arms folded, smirking.
"What's so funny, exactly?" Kelly asked her.
"Oh I am just imagining your faces once you realize the glory of my master." she said proudly.
Meanwhile, out on the field, Lyra held her hand up towards the sky, as the winds began to pick up, circling her form, as more and more mana was drawn to her form. Every second, the bandits came closer and closer. 800 meters... then 600 meters... 400 meters. By now, everyone could hear their warcries, as they screamed at the top of their lungs, laughing, swords and axes brandished as they rode hard towards the group.
"We're doomed.." Daniel remark, while Rowenna offered a prayer. That's when Lyra lowered her hand, and looked directly at the incoming bandits.
-"Mighty Wind-Blade..."
She said, and threw her arm out in the direction of the bandits. Immediately there was a surge of wind, and a massive pulse of mana unleashed. From Lyra's hand, an extremely thin blade of highly compressed air shot out in a large arc in the direction of the bandits and their horses, blasting through the air. A second later, the Wind-Blade sliced into the first ranks of bandits, cutting through armor, skin, flesh, and bone as if it was butter. As the windblade traveled, it sliced through the entire bandit rank in less than two seconds, and the aftermath was immediate!
Horses and bodies came tumbling down into the grass, missing heads and upper bodies, blood sprouting everywhere. The entire cavalry charge came undone in but a few seconds, and the warcries of the bandits stopped abruptly all at once! 200 meters in front of them, the plains were now seemingly empty, as the dead horses and bodies had crashed down in the grass, now hidden beneath the large blades of grass.
The Bright Sun party watched with their mouths agape, unable to believe their eyes. This elf had just ended all the bandits with a single spell!? Could the rumors of her stopping the invasion by herself actually be the truth? If that was the case... what had they been doing for the past few days, looking down on these two adventurers?
Lyra turned, and slowly walked back towards the Caravan. The soldiers parted right away, while Reina came running up to her master.
"You truly are the best, master! Even I would have struggled taking them all out at once. Would have probably taken me at least 30 seconds to achieve the same result, which you did in just 3 seconds!" Reina said, which earned her a head-pat from Lyra, who just smiled back. Ray watched, dumbfounded. Who even were these people, to discuss killing 200 bandits on horseback so casually? When Lyra then turned to look his way, he stiffened. This changed everything.
-"There might be some alive at the furthest back. Take your party and go check..." she said. She was not asking him, she was telling him, and he gulped audibly.
"Y-yes ma'am..." he croaxed out, and got helped up to his feet by Rowenna.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 minutes later, the Bright Sun party was still going through the mass of bodies that littered the plains, the smell of blood and death clinging to the air, while they worked in silence. The first to eventually break the silence was Fred.
"So are we just not going to talk about this?" he said, as he checked another group of bodies buried underneath the corpse of a horse.
"...what is there even to say..." Rowenna said, sighing as she poked a body with her staff.
"I feel like such a massive idiot..." Ray responded, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"You are a massive idiot." Kelly interjected as she kept watch, bow and arrow ready, should anything come their way.
"Well, more than usual, okay?" Ray said with a grunt.
"You're hardly alone there... I'll have to tell my father later, once we return, that he should not listen to whoever way saying those things..." Daniel added, trying to take Ray's side.
"She's terrifying... to think I've been treating her as if she was a fraud this entire time... I'm dead, guys. It was nice to know you... fun while it lasted..." Rowenna said out loud, cursing at her past self for being so stupid.
"We've all been stupid, Row. To think I offered to teach her better magics that one time..." Daniel responded.
"We'll just have to make a joint apology as soon as we get back..." Ray said, nodding firmly.
"Seriously though, how could she just kill this many bandits like that? Are all elves like this?" Fred asked. Kelly shook her head.
"I've seen a few elves. Men, but still. None have been like this..." she responded.
The party chatted away, and eventually returned back to the Caravan another 20 minutes later. Then, the wagons begun moving again as the caravan wanted to get as far away from the battlefield before stopping for the night, in case the dead bodies attract unsavory things. They rode in near total silence for hours, before eventually stopping atop a hill where they'd make camp. As everyone dismounted, the five members of the Bright Sun party approached Lyra and Reina, their heads low.
"Lady Lyra, Miss Reina... we'd like to apologize. We... made bad assumptions based on rumors and speculations, and treated you wrongly. I hope you can forgive us..." Ray said, his voice sincere.
Reina huffed, seemingly not intent to forgive them whatsoever, but Lyra seemed to be less offended. She looked them over, before flashing a small smile. Faint, but it was there.
-"You assumed we were actually rather weak, correct? Because the things which are said about me cannot possibly be true, no?" Lyra asked.
"Yes..." Rowenna said, before adding: ".. Kelly and I have been horribly rude to you, because we assumed you were just fakes, pretending to be some great adventurers, and using that status to just... flirt around and get benefits. We are very sorry too, for how we've acted."
-"Naturally, I do take some offense to that. However, I think the fact that all of you were still willing to lay down your lives, so that Reina and I could escape with the Caravan, speaks in your favor. Even if we were fakes, you were still willing to protect us. To me, it tells me a lot about your character. So please, raise your heads." Lyra answered.
"Does that mean you forgive us?" Fred asked hopefully.
-"Yes. Lets have a fresh start~ We'll be traveling together for yet another while after all." Lyra said, and held out her hand.
One by one, the party members shook her hand, thankful and humbled, before they all got to work making camp. There was still another week left of traveling across the plains, so they'd have more time to set things straight and properly get to know one another...