It's rare that one finds themselves with four brutes hurtling towards them.

It was certainly Aila's first time.

Her heart was hammering in her chest, but her training skills kicked in and within seconds, her rucksack was on the floor and the hilt of her sword was in her hand. Her right leg was in front of her left, bent in a fighting stance.

Though she had never been in a proper fight, she had been trained for something like this since birth.

She was aware of Kaiden to her left, also holding a sword before him, with awareness and a predatory glint in his ocean blue eyes. As if he craved the fight, as if he needed the outlet.

As the four bandits surrounded her, she brought her attention back to her own battle. It was clear that the majority had charged towards Aila after having come to the conclusion that she was the weakest link.

Determination coursed in her blood to prove them wrong.

She did a slow three hundred and sixty degree turn with her blade in front of her, assessing her opponents, waiting for their first move. They were armed with weapons that ranged from cutlasses to scythes, all covered in dirt and blood.

As one finally swung his blade, Aila ducked, allowing it to fly into another bandit's face, sending him to the ground screaming in pain as he was blinded by his own blood. Another of them grabbed her from behind, but she dropped her weight and elbowed him in the stomach, whirling on her feet and slicing into him with her sword. He fell to his knees, despite the fact that she had not sent the blade in deep.

One of the remaining two raised a scythe, which met her blade in a clash, as they each sought to disarm the other. Aila registered the two other men behind her closing in, and in a rehearsed move, she dropped to the floor and rolled at the last possible second, sending the man with the raised dagger careening into his friends. They both slammed into the ground, leaving only one left standing.

As Aila prepared to face the remaining one, she cried out as a searing pain spread through her right arm. Her blade fell to the floor and she dropped to her knees, hissing through her teeth and clutching her bleeding arm.

She hadn't turned her back on any of her opponents. It was the man Castor was dealing with that had fired that arrow.

Pain clouded her mind, preventing any coherent thoughts from forming. Through the tears pooling in her eyes, she could just about see one of the bandits getting to his feet beside his standing friend, both of them approaching her with glee in their eyes. Her mind was screaming, and she winced as the harsh cacophony of sounds grew around her.

Aila vaguely registered Kaiden's voice yelling her name from far away, to get up, to fight.

Perhaps that's what helped her to ground herself, to get to her feet and pick up her sword with her left hand. Perhaps it was also fear at the thought of what those men would do with her if they managed to overpower her.

She twirled the blade, testing the sensation in her arm. As one of the bandits approached, she clenched her jaw and stabbed, sinking her blade into his side.

As she raised her sword again, her mind tipped as she felt the world tilt. One second, she was on her feet and the next, she was landing on her back whilst her sword skittered away, out of reach. A punch collided with her gut and she wheezed, having had the breath knocked out of her lungs. She watched in fear as the man who had knocked her back with a blow approached, his sword raised high above his head, poised to strike. His friend advanced by his side, no doubt intending to watch the display of barbarity.

Before she knew what had happened, the first man suddenly screamed in pain and dropped his blade. Aila saw the silver of a blade protruding from his chest and as the brute fell, he revealed Kaiden standing there behind him, his sword in his hand and a lethal expression in his gaze.

Before the second man could process what had occurred, Kaiden gave him an uppercut to the nose, sending him sprawling to the ground. As he cried out in pain, clutching his broken nose, Kaiden offered a hand to Aila and pulled her to her feet.

They approached the two men together, side by side.

"Leave." Kaiden growled.

"Take your men with you," Aila added roughly, swallowing the blood that had risen up her throat and grimacing at the metallic tang it left behind.

The two bandits glanced at each other and got to their feet. One of them made to attack Aila again, but Kaiden merely held his blade in front of her and sent him a glare, daring him to try.

The brute's expression quickly changed and he complied, grabbing his fallen gang and helping them hobble off into the trees.

Aila turned slowly, searching for her friend. She frowned at the sight of Castor sitting on a rock beginning to eat his dinner.

He shrugged. "What? I took care of that one," he indicated to a man lying face down in the leaves, a sword stabbed through his back. "I didn't realise we were leaving them alive."

His gaze darkened as he looked at Aila's injury. "I didn't think it made contact," he whispered in shock. He jumped to his feet and took her arm gently into his grasp, mumbling something about cleaning and dressing the wound.

Aila was too tired to admonish him for killing the rogue and even more fatigued at the thought of dealing with the arrow. She brushed him off, having more urgent thoughts at the forefront of her mind.

She turned to Perador's heir with an apology waiting at the tip of her tongue.

"Kaiden, I'm-"

"I'm going to sleep now," he interrupted. "There's a spot with nice coverage and relatively flat ground just through there where Kallias is. Wake me up for the watch."

He turned on his heel and began to stalk off through the trees. Just before he disappeared between them, he turned back and met Aila's eyes with a kind of steely resolve in his own.

"Consider the life debt paid."

Oof that ending was brutal.

Any thoughts? Feelings? Random ideas?

I'm going to be completely honest and admit that I'm not very confident writing combat scenes. I definitely enjoyed this one, and I can imagine everything in my head but it's hard getting it down on a page. If any of you guys have any feedback or constructive criticism, I would greatly appreciate it! :)

Thank you for reading!

~ MaddyWilson 💙