Adventures of the last Wild Dragon

Chapter 270: Bandit Benanza

Patrick stood atop the wooden walls of his small town and watched as the barriers of utter nothingness erased the incoming attacks that most assuredly would have shattered the walls that protected the citizens inside.

Naturally he was not the only one to notice the barriers, his fellow guardsmen looking at them with a mix of relief and fear at the unknown magics that had just saved them.

The bandits too noticed the protection, although their reaction was such simpler than the complex flurry of emotions of the defenders. They simply launched new attacks.

Yet for every attack that was launched a new plain of nothingness appeared before it, seemingly effortlessly erasing the magical attack before it could reach the town defenders or the wall they stood upon.

Patrick looked about in wonder, trying hard to identify the person responsible for protecting himself and his charges. Yet regardless of which direction he searched he was unable to locate anyone or anything that may be the cause of the protection.

That was until he looked up.

Then he saw a sight that would stay with him for the rest of his life. A woman, or a woman shaped being floated in the air some 30 meters up in the darkening sky, large violet wings gently flapped behind her keeping her aloft. A dress of white and blue covered her enchanting figure whilst her purple eyes glowed in the darkness as she gazed down upon the rabble that stood both figuratively and literally below her.

Patrick felt his face both flush and inexorably pale at the same time. As a frontier town he naturally knew of the beastkin enclaves that were spread through the Great Plains, yet their relationship with the human towns was strained at best. It was only their isolationist nature that allowed them to stay semi independent.

Still he had heard tales of the fate that befell any humans that transgressed against them, to see one such beastkin now flying above his small town could either be a blessing or a curse, Patrick was just unsure as to the nature of this encounter.

Before he could come to a decision about what to do here a loud and gruff voice rang out from within the bandits, clearly he was not the I oh one to spot the flying beauty above.

"Who are you to stand in the way of me and mine girl!"

Despite the relatively rude announcement the flying woman did not seem all too offended, instead she simply tilted her head in curiosity as she regarded the large frame of the bandit lord like a child would asses a bug that miraculously spoke to you.

A poignant silence fell over the field for a moment before a voice rang out. It was melodious in tone, spoken softly yet profound in the way that it was so effortlessly heard by all, regardless of distance from the woman.

"Who am I? Who are you to speak to me in such a way?"

The woman’s flippant answer seemed to enrage the bandit lord, muscles popping out on his exposed arms and forehead as he glared up at the woman flying above.

"I am Revax the Red, scourge of the land and Lord of all I see. Now answer me girl or I shall rip you apart limb from limb." As he spoke a presence burst forth from his figure, Patrick felt his knees buckle under the pressure, he barely managed to stay upright by gripping the palisade wall with all of his might. He was the only one amongst the townsfolk that managed to stay standing under the unrelenting force of the man’s presence.

His already pale face lost what little colour it had regained, he realised that he had truly stood no change against this man, if this bandit had wanted it his entire town could have been wiped out in but a moment with his presence alone.

Yet when Patrick managed to look up he felt his eyes open wide as he found that the flying woman seemed entirely unaffected by the overwhelming presence of the bandit lord. ’Was this woman a Lord as well? How else would she be able to withstand that force?’

"You? You shall rip me apart? How do you intend to achieve that when you are unable to even reach me?" Came the mocking tone of the woman, from Patrick’s perspective she even seemed quite amused by the bandits threat.

In response the bandit lord let out a shout of rage and unslung his club, with a mighty swing he sent a crescent wave of crimson flames flying up towards the winged woman. Yet before the wave of destruction could even cross halfway to her several of the hexagons of nothingness appeared in front of her that effortlessly erased the incoming attack.

"That was cute, now my turn." The woman said, then she vanished.

Patrick looked about in surprise as the woman disappeared, yet his keen eyesight noticed that she was now somehow standing right in front of the surprised bandit lord. Her small frame seeming so fragile in front of the mountain of a bandit.

Yet just as that thought crossed his mind a new presence blossomed. Unlike the previous one from the bandit Lord which was simplistic in its force, this was entirely different.

This presence did not simply explode outwards in a destructive wave like the bandits did. It simply was, as if the presence had already claimed this land as its own, only allowing the bandits to exist at its discretion.

As for the presence itself, it was terrifying. It held unquestionable power, a feeling of wild freedom that refused to be held back by anyone and a primal sense of utter dominance that caused all to feel an instinctive desire to kneel in reverence before the being that now stood before them.

Yet Patrick also noted that he and his fellow citizens felt no ill effects from the new presence, if anything they suddenly felt lighter as the bandit’s presence had been entirely erased. Looking up Patrick saw a sight that caused him to gulp, every single bandit was laying face down in the dirt, even the seemingly all powerful bandit lord was down on all fours, unable to even raise his head.

’This!’ Thought Patrick, ’this is true power!’ It was also at that point in time that he noticed a new figure, one standing right besides him where no one had been but a moment before.

It was another woman, taller and more powerfully built that the winged woman.she was clad in detailed leather armour that hugged her lithe form, she wielded no weapon yet her Patrick found himself shuddering slightly when he looked into her Arctic blue eyes that sent a chill down his spine.

Before he could form a coherent thought this new woman spoke, her voice was smooth yet held an indomitable authority. "What is the rule regarding bandits? Are they to be set free or killed?"

Her clipped tone sent another chill down Patrick’s back, yet he knew that he had to speak up, he was the guard captain, it was his duty to ensure that the lay was followed. And the law was clear regarding its stance on banditry.

"Death, death is the punishment for banditry." He rasped out, sweat dampening his tunic as he pronounced his declaration.

Still Patrick did not turn away from the sight of the prone bandits laying before his walls, wondering exactly how the next part would play out.

It did not go as he had thought.

A sea of magical bolts of nothingness appeared before the winged woman, their number in first the dozens, then hundreds. And before Patrick could even blink every single bolt shot forth with unbelievable speed and precision.

Each bandit receiving two bolts, one to the head and one to the chest.

The bandits jerked then went still. Not a single one surviving, not even the seemingly impossibly powerful bandit lord survived the execution dealt to him by the woman.

She tilted her head as the entire town went silent at her display of overwhelming power and ruthless attitude towards life, even knowing that it was Patrick who had decided the bandits fate, he found himself shivering at how she showed zero hesitation in slaughtering almost 50 people in a single go.

Patrick was jolted out of his morbid thoughts when the overwhelming presence that had been silently blanketing the town suddenly disappeared, along with the winged woman. Only for her to appear right besides the other woman a moment later, standing on the wall besides him.

He gulped instinctively as he gazed upon the two deadly beauties that had seemingly saved hos town, yet he wondered what the price for that salvation might be.

"They were all so weak! They didn’t even up up a propper fight." The purple haired winged woman complained in a sullen and almost childlike voice. The taller woman smiled wryly at her companion and let out a sigh.

"Well what did you expect? We knew that they were nearly all tier 2 and 3, how did you expect them to fight back?" She retorted in an amused tone, to that the winged woman only huffed and pouted in a way that Patrick could only saw was quite adorable.

She then stopped pouting and put a warm smile on her face as she turned to face Patrick. "Hello! I’m Violet, what’s your name?"

Patrick stood and stared at the woman before him, his emotions an absolute wreck as he tried to think of exactly how he was going to deal with these two women that had appeared from nowhere.