Short Sword And A Hand Ax

In a smooth motion, you pushed your hand ax out of the loop in your belt, holding the end of the wooden handle firmly. You rested your free hand on the handle of your sword on your back, leaving it still sheathed for the moment, "Listen, it'd be in everyone's best interest if we all just walked away. No blood needs to be shed, enough was shed in the war," You stated, keeping your eyes trained on the main in the center. He didn't seem to an Alto soldier, in fact, all the men wore pelt and leather without any marking.

"Wasn't much of a war," The man laughed back, "You soldiers barely put up a fight, Alto may have walked right in and taken the throne," Kent gritted his teeth and slowly raised his sword, "Easy there boy, I wasn't meaning any disrespect, Reness didn't have a chance in hell."

"Maybe if men like you chose to join the army instead of hiding from the conscription, we would've had a chance!" Kent barked back; you looked over to your friend in some concern. Kent had lost his father early in the war against Alto, and it made talking about the war a very sensitive subject for the man.

"Stay calm, Kent, we did everything we could but he's right, the odds were stacked against us," You calmly said causing Kent to shut his eyes for a moment and slowly breath out,

"Of course, John...you're right," Kent nodded back,

"What are you men doing out here," You finally asked while looking back to the group,

"Hunting," A blonde headed man grinned,

"I know most, if not every hunter in this area," Jenessa interjected, "I've never once seen your group before, what do you hunt?"

The leader's lips slowly curled into a smile, "Something of an endangered species...Reness survivors," Instantly the group drew their weapons, two of them armed with swords, one with a bow, another with a spear and the leader pulled a large mallet off his back, "And they pay real good in the Alto army,"

"What are you talking about," Kent growled back,

"You're thick," One man sneered,

"Headhunters," You clarified for your friend,

"Exactly, and twenty gold a head means you're the best option for any man or woman looking to make some easy money." The leader nodded,

"How can you do this to your own people!?" Jennessa spat out in pure disgust before quickly aiming her bow up, locking eyes with the rival archer, "Put your weapons down!"

"We aren't from Reness you dumb bitch; we're from Jucharus!" The Bowman laughed before looking at one of his friends, "Guess it's true, Reness whores are dumb as stones. Thinks were Reness headhunting while being from Reness ourselves," The men shared a short laugh while Jenessa narrowed her eyes,

"Enough of this, tell your men to stand down, and leave," You interjected while taking a few steps forward before smirking, "Or start fighting, I'm sick of hearing all of your mouths,"

The leader narrowed his eyes and after a moment of glaring he lifting his mallet up, "Get them!" He yelled out only to be silenced as you tossed your ax, sticking it right into his neck. Jennessa and the rival archer both let go of their arrows. While Jenessa quickly turned to her side, smirking as the man's arrow went wide, missing her by about a foot. Jenessa's arrow, however, hit her target directly, lodging in the man's heart, sending him right to the ground.

Kent ran forward and swung his sword, clashing with one swordsman while the second circled around him. Your redhaired friend quickly switched into a defensive stance, parrying the incoming strikes, unable to find an opening between their relentless strikes. Knowing that Kent could handle himself, you focused on the man coming towards you, unsheathing the sword from your back, the lance man charged forward, ready to skewer you.

"Shit," You hissed out while diving out of the way, landing on the ground and rolling out of the way, "Heh, don't suppose you could switch weapons and make this easier?" You sarcastically asked while quickly picking your sword out of the dirt. The man let out a yell and ran forward again, you tried to time things out, swinging your sword down, trying to break the tip of the lance off. The man seemed to sense your intentions and redirected his attack, moving it away from your center, to your side. With a small grunting yell, you jumped away for a second this time, however, this time the speak sliced through your side.

Your sword clattered to the ground a few feet to your left, leaving you defenseless as the lance man turned around with a smile, "Reness's dog, time for you to die!" The headhunter snarled while marching towards you. While holding your eyes on the man, you began to crawl away, moving towards the freshly killed leader. Just as you reached the man, the soldier stood above you, he lifted his lance and slammed it down. With just a few seconds to spare you rolled over the leader's corpse, ripping your ax from his neck as you went. With your weapon returned, you sat up and chucked it back into the lance man's leg.

Kent let out a short yell and jammed his sword into one of the swordsmen stomach, burying it in to its hilt. The man let out a gurgling scream and fell to his knees, just a few feet behind him, Jenessa was sliding her small dagger into the second man's neck, letting his lifeforce pour out of him onto the ground. Kent put his foot on the nearly dead man's chest, kicking him off his sword with a small yell, "John!" He exclaimed while looking back towards you,

You crawled towards the lance man, grabbing your ax handle and pulling it free from his writhing leg. The battle was finally finished when you landed the killing blow into the man's head when he turned in a last-ditch attempt to fight you off. "Are you okay?" Jenessa quickly asked as you took some slow breaths and carefully got to your feet,

"John?" Kent asked as he helped you to your feet,

"I'm fine, just got a small cut on...on my ribs," You winced before taking a small breath, "It's fine, right, didn't we always say we wanted scars? To impress the girls, remember?" You joked with Kent,

"It's only impressive if you live for it to become a scar," Kent laughed back,

"Call me impressed," Jenessa added on with an awkward smile to the both of you,

As you retrieved your weapons and began to clean them off, Kent made sure each of the men were expired. "It's mad, twenty gold a head?"

"No better way to entice people than gold," You grunted back while reaching into a small pack on your belt, retrieving a roll of bandages to wrap around your chest,

Jenessa took a small step towards you, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"It's fine, I've gotten worse in training," You grinned back,

"Gods, it'd be best if we got to Falcone territory as soon as possible," Kent interjected while returning to your side, "Can you walk?"

"I can run," You assured him while you both began to walk along the trail once again,

"Wait! You aren't going to leave me here, are you?!" Jenessa quickly called out,

"Huh?" Kent hummed back while the both of you glanced back,

"You heard them, twenty gold for any Reness survivor! It'd be safer for me to go with you, then stay here and risk being caught by another headhunter group...please, take me with you," Jenessa pleaded while taking a few scampering steps towards you.