Granite's massive form began moving, the cart creaking slightly as it rolled forward. The mythbeasts inside shifted and adjusted to the motion, some standing on their hind legs to peer over the sides at the passing landscape. The thunder-type eagle maintained its position near Kael's feet, walking with surprising stamina for such a small creature.
The road to Thornhaven stretched ahead of them, well-worn and relatively straight. In the distance, the fortress city's walls were visible, promising safety and the completion of their remarkably successful quest. Kael found himself relaxing slightly, enjoying the afternoon sun and the peaceful atmosphere.
That peace lasted approximately fifteen minutes.
Vera's head snapped up first, her crystalline patterns flaring brighter as her senses detected something ahead. Through their bond, Kael felt her sudden alertness transform into wariness.
"Kael," Lyssa murmured, reaching for her crossbow. "We're not alone."
Kael followed her gaze and spotted them—five figures emerging from the sides of the road ahead, positioning themselves to block their path. Each figure had a mythbeast with them, medium-sized creatures that prowled with predatory intent. Even from a distance, Kael could see the dark coloring of the beasts—shadowy fur, grey scales, coloration that suggested they were dark-types or at least favored hunting in low light.
"And behind us," Lyssa added, her voice tense.
Kael glanced back to see two more figures with similar dark-type mythbeasts moving to cut off their retreat. Seven opponents total, all positioned to surround them.
Bandits, Kael thought, his heart rate accelerating. Of course. A cart full of valuable mythbeasts on a relatively isolated road. We're an obvious target.
Through their bonds, he communicated quickly. Vera, Ember—trouble ahead. Bandits, I think. Be ready for a fight.
Vera's response was cold determination. She was already assessing the threats, her predator's mind cataloging weaknesses and potential strategies.
Ember, Kael sent specifically to the fire fairy, get near the cart. If we need to fight, see if you can coordinate the small mythbeasts—get them to use ranged attacks together. Forty-plus sets of abilities hitting at once could turn the tide.
Ember chimed acknowledgment and immediately flew back to hover near the cart, her flames brightening as she communicated with the cargo of small mythbeasts. Through his bond with her, Kael felt their curiosity and growing awareness that something dangerous was happening.
Vera was already analyzing the enemy mythbeasts with the practiced eye of an experienced fighter. Through their connection, Kael received her assessment: seven dark-type beasts, all medium-sized like her, none individually stronger than her or Ember. But their numbers were significant. In a straight fight, Vera and Ember could probably handle two or three each, but seven simultaneously would be challenging.
The forty-plus small mythbeasts in the cart would help, but they weren't combat-trained. Their ranged attacks would be more about overwhelming numbers than precision strikes. Still, it might be enough to even the odds.
The lead bandit—a scarred man riding what looked like a massive dark wolf slightly larger than the other beasts—stepped forward from the group ahead. His wolf's fur was so black it seemed to absorb light, and its eyes glowed a sickly yellow. The man himself wore mismatched armor and carried a sword that had seen extensive use.
"Well, well," the bandit leader called out, his voice rough and amused. "Looks like our scout gave us good information. A cart absolutely full of small mythbeasts, fresh from the forest." His grin was unpleasant. "That's quite a haul you've got there."
"These mythbeasts are spoken for," Lyssa said firmly, her crossbow now openly in her hands though not yet aimed. "They're going to the city for the bonding program. Turn around and leave us alone."
The bandit leader laughed, a sound echoed by his companions. "I don't think you understand your situation, girl. You're outnumbered, surrounded, and those mythbeasts are worth a fortune. So here's how this works—you've got two choices."
He held up one finger. "Choice one: You hand over all those cute little beasts in your cart, along with any valuables you're carrying, and we let you walk away. You lose the payday, but you keep your lives and your bonded beasts."
A second finger joined the first. "Choice two: You refuse, we fight, and when we win—and we will win—we take everything anyway. Plus, we take you two as prisoners back to our hideout. Young tamers like yourselves could be worth good money to the right buyers."
Kael felt cold anger settle into his chest. These weren't just thieves—they were slavers. The kind of people who saw other humans as commodities to be bought and sold.
Through his bond with Vera, he felt her matching fury. She'd been hunted, injured, and left for dead before Kael found her. She had no patience for predators who preyed on the vulnerable.
"So," the bandit leader said, his grin widening. "What's it going to be?"
Kael looked at Lyssa, who met his eyes with grim determination. No words needed to be spoken—they both knew they weren't handing over anything to these bastards.
"I think we'll take option three," Kael said, his voice colder than he'd ever heard it. "The one where you regret ever trying this."
The bandit leader's grin faded. "Have it your way. Boys—take them!"
Everything happened at once.
The seven dark-type mythbeasts charged, five from the front and two from behind. Kael's mind raced, coordinating through his bonds with Vera and Ember.
Vera—front line, go for legs and eyes. We work together—I'll shield us from ranged attacks, and you dismantle them systematically.
Ember—coordinate the cart! Mass ranged attack on the two in back!
Vera launched forward with explosive speed, her psychic powers already building around her like an invisible storm. Kael moved with her, his own telekinetic abilities extending outward to form a defensive barrier against incoming attacks.
The lead dark wolf tried to intercept Vera with a blast of shadow energy—a roiling ball of darkness that would have hit her square in the chest. Kael's psychic shield deflected it, sending it careening off to the side where it dissipated harmlessly.
Vera used the opening to strike. Her claws, enhanced by psychic force, raked across the dark wolf's front leg. The beast howled and stumbled, and Vera was already moving to her next target—a panther-like creature that tried to flank her. Her psychic force grabbed it mid-leap and slammed it into the ground with bone-rattling force.
Behind them, Ember had worked her magic. The cart suddenly erupted with a barrage of small-scale attacks—tiny fireballs, pebbles hurled with surprising force, gusts of wind, even a few electrical sparks from those mythbeasts with minor thunder abilities. Forty-plus small mythbeasts attacking in unison created a devastating wave of projectiles that hammered the two bandits and their beasts approaching from behind.
The two rear bandits tried to shield themselves, but the sheer volume of attacks was overwhelming. Their dark-type beasts—a large cat and something that looked like a hairless dog—were forced into defensive positions, unable to advance through the constant barrage.
In the front, Vera was a whirlwind of calculated violence. She'd already disabled the lead wolf with her first strike and moved on to systematically dismantle the other three mythbeasts. A dark-scaled serpent tried to bite her, but she caught it with psychic force and used it as a club to strike a bat-like creature that had been diving at her from above.
Kael maintained his defensive shield, deflecting shadow blasts and dark energy attacks that the bandits tried to launch. His telekinesis wasn't strong enough to directly affect the medium-sized beasts like Vera could, but he was more than capable of deflecting their ranged attacks and occasionally disrupting their positioning with well-timed pushes.
The thunder-type eagle, surprisingly, was joining the fight. It couldn't do much damage, but it was launching small electrical attacks at the bandits' mythbeasts—targeting eyes, noses, sensitive areas. The attacks were more annoying than dangerous, but they created openings that Vera exploited ruthlessly.
Through their bond, Kael felt the eagle's satisfaction at helping, at fighting alongside them against obviously evil opponents. The small bird was fierce despite its size, and it was clearly enjoying the opportunity to prove itself useful.
Within three minutes, Vera had disabled three of the front mythbeasts. The lead wolf lay whimpering with both front legs broken. The serpent was unconscious, having been slammed repeatedly into the ground. The bat creature had one wing shattered and was unable to fly.
The remaining two front mythbeasts—the panther and a badger-like creature—were backing away, their confidence shattered by Vera's brutal efficiency.
That's when Ember arrived to reinforce, her flames blazing bright as she launched compressed fireballs at the retreating beasts. The panther took one to the face and went down, yowling in pain. The badger tried to burrow underground to escape, but Vera's psychic force yanked it back to the surface, where Ember's next fireball ended its participation in the fight.
Behind them, the constant barrage from the cart had finally worn down the two rear bandits. Their beasts were battered and bleeding from dozens of small wounds, unable to maintain any offensive action. When Ember turned her attention to them, launching her larger, more powerful flames, they broke entirely—turning and fleeing back down the road with their riders.
The entire fight had lasted less than five minutes.
The bandits themselves—the humans—had tried to fight with their weapons, but Kael and Vera's psychic abilities made that largely futile. Whenever a bandit tried to attack, they found their sword arm pushed aside by invisible force, or their feet swept out from under them by telekinetic pressure.
Now the seven bandits stood or lay among their defeated mythbeasts, their expressions ranging from shock to fear to grudging respect.
"Vera," Kael said quietly, his anger still cold and sharp. "Their legs. Break them. All of them."
It was brutal, but necessary. These people had planned to enslave them, to steal everything they'd worked for. Kael felt no mercy for slavers.
Vera moved through the bandits with mechanical efficiency. Psychic force struck knees and shins, the sound of breaking bones punctuating the quiet afternoon. The bandits screamed, but Kael felt nothing but cold satisfaction. They'd chosen this path. They'd live with the consequences.
When it was done, none of the bandits could walk. Kael retrieved rope from Granite's supplies and began binding them, tying their hands securely. Then he bound their defeated mythbeasts as well—the creatures were too injured to fight but alive enough to be turned over to authorities.
"Lyssa," Kael called out. "Help me tie these to the back of the cart. We're dragging them to the city."
Lyssa moved to help, her expression a mix of relief at their victory and grim satisfaction at the bandits' fate. Together, they secured all seven bandits and their seven mythbeasts to the rear of the cart with long ropes, creating a literal chain gang.
"Granite," Lyssa said to her crystal ox, stroking his neck. "Are you okay with pulling this extra weight? I know it's a lot to ask."
Granite rumbled, and through Lyssa's connection with him, she translated for Kael. "He says he's more than happy to drag bandits who tried to capture me. He'll enjoy watching them stumble and suffer behind his cart."
Despite everything, Kael smiled slightly. The gentle giant had a vindictive streak when his tamer was threatened.
"What do we do with them in the city?" Kael asked as they finished securing the prisoners.
"We turn them over to the guards," Lyssa explained. "All of them and their beasts. The city guard handles banditry and attempted kidnapping. They'll be tried and sentenced—probably hard labor in the mines, given what they were attempting."
"Wait," Kael said, examining the lead bandit more closely. The man's scarred face seemed familiar somehow, like he'd seen it before. "Check if any of them have bounties. That one especially—" he pointed at the leader "—looks like someone who might be wanted."
Lyssa pulled out a small booklet from her pack—apparently a common item for adventurers to carry. It contained sketches and descriptions of wanted criminals with active bounties. She flipped through it, comparing the faces to those of the prisoners.
"Nothing, nothing, nothing—wait." She stopped on a page, her eyes widening. "Oh. Oh, that's him. Marcus 'Shadowfang' Vren. Wanted for banditry, attempted murder, and slave trading. Bounty of five hundred basilisks."
Kael felt a surge of satisfaction. Five hundred basilisks on top of the payment for the mythbeasts. This job had just become incredibly profitable.
They resumed their journey toward Thornhaven, now with a chain gang of captured bandits being dragged behind the cart. The bandits were being dragged while sitting because of their broken legs, but Granite maintained a steady pace that gave them no quarter.
The mythbeasts in the cart had calmed down after the fight, many of them chattering excitedly about their participation in the battle. Through Ember's bond, Kael felt their pride at having helped, at having proven they could be useful even if they weren't combat-trained.
The thunder-type eagle remained at Kael's side, and if anything, it seemed even more fixated on him now. It had fought alongside them, proven itself brave despite its small size, and clearly felt it had earned its place in their group.
As they approached the city gates, one of the guards spotted them immediately. His eyes widened at the sight of the cart full of mythbeasts and the line of bound prisoners being dragged behind.
"Halt!" he called out, signaling for them to stop. Several other guards joined him, hands on weapons, wary but not immediately hostile. "State your business and explain... that." He gestured to the prisoners.
"We're returning from a guild quest," Lyssa explained, keeping her voice calm and professional. "We were tasked with capturing small mythbeasts for the bonding program. On the way back, these seven bandits tried to ambush us—attempted to steal our cargo and take us prisoner to sell to slavers."
Kael added, "They told us they had a hideout somewhere. They seemed organized, not just random thieves."
The guard captain—identified by his more elaborate armor—moved forward to examine the prisoners. His eyes lingered on the lead bandit's face, and recognition flickered across his features.
"Marcus Vren," he said, his voice hard. "We've been looking for you for months. And you finally got caught by a couple of young tamers. How the mighty have fallen."
He turned to Kael and Lyssa. "Good work, both of you. Standard procedure: you turn over all the bandits and their mythbeasts to us, except for Vren and his beast. Those you'll take to the guard captain at the main garrison for bounty collection. We'll process the others here."
"Understood," Lyssa said.
Two guards moved to untie six of the bandits and their mythbeasts, leaving only Marcus Vren and his dark wolf still bound to the cart. The bandit leader glared at Kael with pure hatred, but with his broken legs and bound hands, he could do nothing but suffer in silence.
"Thank you for your help," Kael said to the guards.
"Thank you for taking out the trash," the guard captain replied. "The roads will be safer without Vren and his gang operating. Now get that bounty collected—you've earned it."
They passed through the gates into Thornhaven, the cart still loaded with forty-three small mythbeasts and now dragging a wanted criminal behind it. People stared as they moved through the streets, and Kael heard whispers following them.
"—caught Marcus Shadowfang—"
"—just kids, how did they—"
"—look at all those mythbeasts—"
The guild building loomed ahead, and Kael found himself torn between exhaustion and exhilaration. They'd completed their quest, defeated bandits, captured a wanted criminal, and earned enough money to be comfortable for quite a while.
But he also couldn't help thinking about how the day had gone. They'd set out for a simple collection quest and ended up in a fight with seven bandits and their mythbeasts. Was this going to be his life now? Constant danger, constant fighting, every peaceful moment just a prelude to the next crisis?
I hope not, Kael thought as they approached the guild entrance. I hope my life isn't going to turn into days filled with chaos. Some peace would be nice.
But even as he thought it, he knew the truth. He had Divine Restoration, Beast Resonance, and abilities that made him different and valuable. He was bonded to two incredibly powerful mythbeasts, with potentially more to come. Peace was probably not in his immediate future.
The guild doors stood before them, promising payment, recognition, and rest.
Whatever came next, they'd face it together.
But for now, there was paperwork to file, a bounty to collect, and forty-three small mythbeasts to deliver to their new lives.
Kael took a deep breath, steadied himself, and prepared to enter the guild.