"Sirs, do you want to know what this necklace is?"
"Brothers, don't listen to him... He just wanted us to slice each other's throats."
Julian was leading them far away from the cave. That was not a secret. While he had achieved that goal, he debated whether to proceed to his next step. From what he could see, he had a little more use of the bandits.
"Are you two not curious as to why he wrapped the pendant in this black clay?" Julian asked, dangling the necklace on his neck.
On that necklace, hung a pendant wrapped and covered with clay that resembled the ash mud. It was wrapped around tightly and thickly, so much so that all that could be seen was a ball of clay. Not even the original shape of the pendant could be made out.
"Kid, you've done running your mouth," Emphry exclaimed impatiently, stepping toward the young boy.
"Tell us, boy," the bald bandit spoke.
"Jring! Are you seriously going to fall for a child's word?"
"We promise we will let you live if you do," Jring said, ignoring his brother, who was pointing a sword at him.
"I will let your eyes see it for themselves."
Julian gazed at Emphry, who was heading his way. From his steps, he was certain the other two bandits had no relation to the necklace. Scoffing, Juliian ripped open the clay, revealing a metal sculptor. A peculiar-looking one.
"...No," uttered Jring, eyes widened.
"Brother, do not fall for his tricks!"
Jring was the first to realise what it was. He stared at that glowing carving in disbelief. His mind could not comprehend what he should do next. Even if the hues around that carving were not present, his eyes would never miss that disgusting creature.
"Emphry... you bastard...," Grinz spoke through his gritted teeth.
"It's a lie, brothers," Emphry spoke calmly. Letting out a soft chuckling, he continued, "He must have swapped my necklace with that one... Obviously just a petty trick."
"Shut up! I know you are despicable, but a traitor of humans...?" Grinz, face contorted with pain.
Letting go of his shoulder, Grinz pulled out his short sword.
"You... Grinz, do you realise what you are doing?' Emphry said in disbelief. Head snapping to the side, he faced Jring and said, "Brother, you are smarter than all of us. You understand it's all but a trick, right? Right?!"
"Jring, it's for our clan," Grinz spoke, giving no mind to Emphry.
"... I know."
Jring's sword was lifted. That sword had been accompanying him for years, yet it was the first time it was directed at his brother. It was the first time he was prepared to cut his brother down.
"You fools..."
Now surrounded by no allies, Emphry held his sword up. His face was troubled, accepting that his words had no more meaning.
Kting.
'He's good.'
In that ruckus, and with Emphry's back turned away, Julian fired away his arrow without hesitation.
However, Emphry still managed to block his arrow.
Twang.
Julian fired another arrow, which was again easily avoided by Emphry. Just as his hand was about to reach for his quiver, Empry charged towards him. The bandit's step was light, moving in a jagged path with a sword leading his charge.
Another arrow was let loose. Emphry was only a couple of steps away from the bow. It was a distance that his arrow would only need a fraction of a second to cross and pierce Emphry. But with just a slightly turning his waist, the arrow flew passed the bandit.
"Deceiver!"
Thud.
Julian tried to roll away from the approaching hand, yet the clenched fist still managed to find its way right into his stomach. Julian flew back, staggering several steps, only to be struck again at the same place.
"Your words, sly. How dare you try to deceive my brothers!"
The second strike flung Julian onto the earth. His back rolled onto the wet soil uncontrollably, only to stop when his head smashed into a tree trunk.
"Let me tell you something, kid...," Emphry said, clearly not yet done with Julian. His steps calm, he spoke, "We are bound by blood. Your words could never cut our ties!"
Squirming in pain, Julian had no strength to respond to the constant blabbering. He stayed stuck on the ground for a second, then moved and tried to push himself up amidst the approaching bandit.
"Oh, that's the spirit, kid."
Julian faced the bandit, arrow already clocked in his bow. Though he managed to stand, his legs were trembling. It looked as if even the faintest of winds could knock him down. Though he made no sound and showed no pain, it was clear to everyone that he was hurting.
"Kid, lying is a sin. Did your elders not tell you as such? Come, tell them that you swapped away my necklace..." Emphry uttered, expression and movement relaxed.
Julian glared at the approaching bandit. He already knew that he could not take three of them directly. What he did not know was that he was also incapable of even taking down one of them. He realised there that he may have been overestimating himself.
But Julian was not without allies in that fight.
THUD!
"Argh!"
With body curled like a ball, Grinz slammed Emphry onto the ground. Grinz's upper body had turned into stone, pinning and slowly flattening his brother under his weight.
Cruck.
A chilling sound echoes between those thick and lush trees. It was as if something was being ground under Grinz's weight. For what it was, the painful wail of Emphyr was enough of a tell.
"...Jr-Jrin...g, I'm... brot..her..."
"Grinz, don't let him bleed," Jring said, turning his face away from someone who should have never been his enemy.
Grinz, hands trembling, clasped the face of Emphry. Slowly, all of his skin and what was lying under turned into stone.
KTAK.
With one snapping sound, the entire clearing went silent. It was as if the curtain was suddenly drawn amidst a play.
Grinz rolled away from the corpse of his brother. He dared not even look at the state of that dead body. All he knew was that he had snapped the spine of his brother, killing him on the spot.
"Shit..."
It was something that he had done countless times, yet there he was, crying like a child losing their candies.
"It's fine. We did the right thing, Grinz... You did the right thing."
Jring stood blankly before his two brothers. He wanted to go down and be with them, but he did not know if he should hold the one alive or the dead one.
"Boy, let's end this day and forget everything that happened here," Jring said through gritted teeth.
Jring was visibly irritated. He finally moved, crouching down beside Emphry. His hand extended and retracted, confused about what he should do next. In the end, he found himself continuously hitting his bald head on the pommel of his sword.
[+40 Fate.]
Staring into the bandit card that had turned into just a line of text, Julian felt relieved. However, that relief was only momentary. He knew that the matters were not yet settled. Thus, he picked his bow back up.
"I am sorry for your loss," Julian spoke calmly.
"There is nothing to be sorry for. He was a traitor to the empire, that much is clear."
"Even if he was, your loss was not made lighter."
"Tch, speak no more of him... Jring said as he took the personal belongings of Emphry. Cursing under his breath, he continued, "Sigh, we are heading back now. You may follow us if you want..."
"...."
"Don't worry, we are not going to go for you two anymore," Jring continued.
"I know what you are thinking, bandits."
"I am aware you do," sighed Jring, pushing himself up with a great struggle.
Jring pointed his sword at Julian.
"But what can you do about it? What can we do about it? We can't just return. Not after this brother of ours... as dumb as he was...," Jring muttered, his voice cracked toward the end.
"What can I do about it? Countless. Have you not realised? Your brother is dead. Your eyes are blind."
Julian stared at the forehead of Emphry. Eye of Owl, that was the Gift of Emphry. It was also the one helping them thread the forest. While Julian knew that the two remaining bandits had trained their eyes to accustom themselves to the dark, the loss of the navigator would still undoubtedly put them at a disadvantage.
If he kept chipping away at them, Julian was confident that he could take them down.
"Keep running then. You have used your Gift too many times already... Nothing will change."
"True. But am I not in a better position compared to the one who can't even use his Gift?"
That fairly long sentence seemed to trigger something within Jring. The lanku bandit went quiet for a few seconds, before breaking his silence with a forced chuckle.
"You... you know us."
"Just enough."
"I see. So, was it all a lie? Hah, no, it works better this way."
He looked at the corpse of his brother, dead without shedding even a drop of blood.
"Your brother's relationship with them was not a lie. That much, I can guarantee."
"Sigh, that's enough talking, boy. I am already tired... Grinz, grab that boy."
Julian stepped back from the two, an arrow already nocked in his bow. Seeing that those two took his bow as a threat, a light flickered in his eyes. He took advantage of their hesitancy and started trotting away.
"..."
However, those two did not seem to entertain the chase game any longer.
"Boy, you really want to make this difficult, don't you? Grinz, you return first. Head to the cave we passed earlier. Our real target is there."
Swift.
Ting.
"Hah, aren't you going to run the other way?"