Perspective Shift: Alice; The Bandits

“Flora! Lift her legs,” I said, gently bringing the injured Sofia inside the wagon. Whatever caused her spell to backfire, it had caused quite a bit of damage to her. Her clothes were all but fully burned off, and she was heavily burned across her entire body. My work was cut out for me.

“Are you gonna be able to heal her?” asked Flora, panicking.

“I will, but I’ll need time. And I’ll need your assistance. Now help me get the rest of her clothes off,” I said, carefully removing the burnt fabric from Sofia. Flora did the same, mumbling apologies under her breath.

“Oh divine protector, lend me a fraction of your might...holy aura,” I chanted, my hands glowing with a soft golden light as the healing spell activated. I held my hands over her body, the spell slowly repairing Sofia’s injured flesh. As my work progressed, I could feel my mana slowly draining.

“Aah! Lucy!” exclaimed Flora, breaking my concentration. I turned to the back of the cart to see Lucille. Her arms were bound behind her back, her right arm clearly broken once more. She was ****, but still breathing.

“Keh heh heh,” laughed the bandit that tossed her inside the wagon. “I’m gonna enjoy my turn later. Oi! Bring the ropes over here already!”

“What happened to Flynn!?” demanded Flora.

“The boy? He ran off like a little bitch after Guzno kicked his ass,” the bandit cackled.

“Wha? That’s...not...” said Flora, despairing at the predicament we found ourself in. Another bandit showed up at the back, bleeding from his side while carrying a bundle of ropes.

“G-guzno? Damn! Did that runt get you? I didn’t even notice,” said the first bandit, taking the ropes from the larger, wounded bandit. “Oi! Elf bitch! Use those magic hands of yours to heal Guzno!”

“I’d much rather watch him die,” I scoffed, returning to my work with Sofia.

“Damn bitch! I’ll show you,” yelled the bandit, climbing into the wagon to take a swing at me. Guzno grabbed him by the shoulder.

“**** will not convince one who is convinced they will die soon anyway,” said Guzno, clutching his bleeding side. “I cannot promise you anything, but if you heal me, I will put in a word with the boss for you.”

“I have more pressing concerns than scum like you at the moment. Leave,” I said bitterly, trying to concentrate on Sofia’s wounds.

“Then how about this. Heal me, and we leave you untied so you can help your friends. Otherwise, they will suffer until they die,” said Guzno.

“You bastard,” I growled. “Fine, get over here already.” I quickly healed over his side. Before turning back to Sofia’s treatment.

“You still get bound,” said the other bandit, tying Flora’s arms behind her back. The two bandits wandered off and I took the opportunity to move Lucille into a better position to heal her in.

“Hey...what do you think is gonna happen to us?” asked Flora.

“They’re going to take us back to their hideout, most likely. What awaits us there, I do not know, but it will not be anything good,” I said, healing Lucille’s broken arm, taking care to ensure it healed properly. The bandits loaded some of their dead into the back of the wagon with us.

“What the hell is this thing’s issue! Fuckin move!” yelled a bandit from outside the wagon.

“Just kick the ass in the ass!” laughed another bandit. Flora poked her head out the front of the wagon.

“Stop that! He won’t listen to you no matter what, so leave Hershel alone!” she yelled.

“Oh, so that means it’ll listen to you?” observed the first bandit.

“Tie her hands in front of her and have her drive the wagon,” said the leader. “Guzno. Ride the wagon next to her. Rest up and make sure she doesn’t try anything.”

“Yes boss,” said Guzno, climbing aboard the front of the wagon and pulling Flora out. I was left the only conscious person in the back of the wagon, and after a minute, the wagon began moving. Trying to ignore the building sense of dread, I went back to treating Sofia’s burns. After a while, my work was done and she woke up.

“W-what happened,” she muttered weakly.

“Hey, don’t try to sit up,” I said, passing her a cloak to cover herself with. “The bandits won, and Flynn abandoned us.”

“Huh? No way,” said Sofia.

“I did not think Flynn the cowardly type either,” I said sadly.

“He’s not!” she said. “He’s definitely on his way to save us!”

“We were utterly defeated while working together. No one is fool enough to take on the same odds alone,” I said, having accepted my fate.

“Flynn’s more than fool enough!” she declared, coughing. That got a chuckle out of me. “He’s definitely coming!”

“Why do you have such faith in him?” I asked.

“Why do you have faith in your goddess?” She retorted. “The idea there’s somebody out there that cares for us and is trying to help us out gives us hope. Flynn was the first person to not abandon me after a single quest. He may be a fool, but he’s a smart and brave fool. He’s the fool that’s gonna save us.”

“That makes no sense,” I sighed. “But perhaps I’ll place my faith in him as well. It surely beats giving up.”

“Hey, look. He left his stuff in here...” Sofia muttered, a look of realization coming across her face. “Hey, find that plant. If he doesn’t have it, he can’t get any backup.”

“Huh? This?” I asked, grabbing the red herb from the meager pile of Flynn’s things.

“That’s it...” she said. “Get it out of the wagon.”

“But there are bandits behind us. They’d see,” I said.

“Get creative. He’s gonna need that,” she said.

“Why? What is it for?” I asked.

“Burn it, and it’ll have red smoke. That’s the signal for the witch to come help us,” she said.

“Since when!?” I asked, astonished.

“Since we went to her place earlier. While you were playing with the cyclops, I was paying attention!” She said, looking almost proud.

Thinking up a plan, I pushed one of the dead bodies to the edge of the wagon. With one big push, I slipped the herb under the body, and pushed both out. The herb landed under the corpse.

“What the hell!?” exclaimed a bandit outside. He groaned, and after a few seconds, the body was put back into the wagon. “Watch them from now on and make sure they don’t fall out! Idiot!”

“S-sorry,” I said. The bandit rolled his eyes, walking off. I sighed in relief, as they didn’t notice the herb.

“Good job,” Sofia coughed. “Now we wait.”

After what felt like an hour of sitting in the back of the wagon, it came to an abrupt halt. A bandit opened the curtain at back of the wagon.

“Get out. We’re here,” he said with a toothy smile. I climbed out of the wagon, helping Sofia out as I did. Guzno carried the still **** Lucille. With my healing work done, a bandit bound my arms behind me.

“Hurry up and get those graves filled!” bellowed the bandit leader. “Gotta make this shithole look somewhat presentable. Our business partner is visiting today!”

The bandit stronghold was a mountain. At the base of it, a wooden gate was built to block the open mouth of a cave. Guards stood atop the gate and were stationed periodically around the mountain.

“Get the prisoners to the cells, Guzno,” said the leader, tossing the large bandit a keyring. He grunted, leading us inside the cave, through a small door in the gate.