The Mistakes Of Misfits

      We traveled for three days on the road.  The first night Kerrigan refused to train with us and was swiftly put in his place by Otah in the same fashion he had done to Sumi. Kerrigan quickly joined the normal training routines Otah had set up. 

     Our training had become more vigorous, and Otah himself even made us fight him in pairs at the end of our own training to give him a workout himself. Clearly the prospect of going up against the cult leader again weighed pretty heavily on the old orcs shoulders. Something told me it had been a while since he lost a fight. 

       We traveled with all five of us on the outside of the cart. It felt almost wrong to sit alone in the cart when we switched shifts, we pretty much only used it on days where the sun or rain became too much for us. Sumi Kasious and I sat on top of the cart while Kerrigan and Otah sat in the two seats by the reins. 

     Sumi was the first to speak. She sat up to face us. “Kerrigan, how did you get involved with the cult?” She asked. “You know a lot about them and I have no doubt this is a personal mission for you.”

      Kerrigan raised an eyebrow at the blunt approach of the orc. The rest of us tried to work around him and not piss him off, Sumi never went after him directly… but she wouldn't change a thing for the sake of an orc she didn't care for. Kerrigan seemed surprisingly okay with the line of questioning. “They destroyed my village, killed my people years ago. They weren't the city conquering menaces they are now but they reduced my home to rubble. I want revenge.” 

      I leaned toward the conversation. “How did you survive?” I asked. I had no love for the orc but that kind of loss was… it was impossible to forget. 

      “We lived on the Sirican border. Even the cult knew not to screw with them for too long. They were sloppy, completely missed me hiding in the church as a child. But the cult murdered the priests, the villagers, and my mother.” He went silent for a long moment. “I spent every moment of every day waiting and training for the moment I could drive a blade through their leader's heart.”

       Kasious sat up. “You know the man leading the cult?’’ He asked. 

     Kerrigan nodded. “His name is Sebastian Riven, and no matter how hard I try I cannot find anything about him before he joined the cult of the depraved. Every step he's taken since has been documented but it seems as if he just popped up out of the blue and started leading the cult.” 

     I raised an eyebrow. “None of the spies in Durik know who he is?” I asked then turned to Otah. “Or in the order of Surin?” This guy couldn't have just appeared, it wasn't possible. 

      They both shook their heads but Otah was the first to speak. “The cult leader was a mystery to us. All we knew about him was that he appeared about fifteen years ago. Kerrigan surprisingly has more info on this than we did at the monastery.” 

     Kerrigan did a small bow. “Kinda my life purpose, I know a lot.” He said sarcastically. “I have a lot of people to avenge… and not too many to care if I go.” I almost felt sorry for the orc. Raised in such an environment, it made sense why he was such an asshole. It didn't mean I liked him. 

      “Help!” Screamed a female voice in front of us. Otah swerved the cart, trying his best to move the wolves out of the path. We narrowly missed a woman who stood in the middle of the road. Otah stopped the cart on the side of the road and the woman ran up to us. “Oh thank God!” She screamed. 

      She was a mess. Human, long dark hair, short and lean in her build, most likely in her early twenties. She wore a white dress that was drenched in mud and splattered with a few specks of blood. The woman seemed distraught as she looked up at us. 

      Kasious was the first to jump down. He gripped his arms around the woman's shoulders. “Are you alright?” He asked. 

      The woman started to cry as she shook her head. “He's going to… he's going to find me.” She grabbed her chest. “My sister…” 

      Kasious knelt down to the woman. “No one is going to hurt you.” He reassured her. “Just slow down and tell me what's going on.” His voice was soft and caring as he tended to the woman. 

        She looked up at him. “Me and my sister's we were… we were taken by an awful man he…” She choked on her words. “He did things to me I had to escape.” At that moment I realized not everything was fitting together. The woman was covered in dirt and mud but her hair was perfectly clean. She also implied she was a victim, I had dealt with enough in my time to know they took months to let any man touch them, yet Kasious held her in his hands like any other person. 

         I looked at the woman's hip. There pressed up against her backside, was a knife under her dress. Any traveling merchants or even lower rank warriors might not notice, but we did. I turned to the others to confirm my suspicions. Sumi and Kerrigan both looked at me with a knowing glance. Otah simply stared at Kasious. This was a trap, this lady was going to lead us into an ambush. 

      She looked at Kasious's armor. “You're a templar! Please, you have to help me save my sister!” as if on cue. I now knew for sure what we were dealing with. Kasious started to ask questions about the man who took them. I leaned back out of view of the woman and whispered a few words I had rehearsed in the academy as I crossed my arms in the customary pose. 

       I felt our minds link. I included every member of our little team, even Kerrigan. “Can everybody hear me?” I asked through the mind link. 

     Kerrigan turned to me in anger. “I did not give you permission to enter my head mage!” He had the good sense to at least send the messages down the link. 

     I put up my hands. “The link only lets me see or hear what you send me. I can't look at anything you don't want me to see. This will give us a way to talk without alerting the ambushers.” Kerrigan gritted his teeth but did back down. 

      Sumi looked between both of us, a look of curiosity taking over her features. “So anything we say in here goes out to the whole group?” she asked. 

     I shrugged. “If you focus you can send a message to one person in particular. It just naturally goes to everyone who's linked.” I saw a mischievous grin cross Sumi's face as she closed her eyes and focused. 

     “Like this?” She asked. Before I could figure out what she was doing a sultry image of the orc completely naked with her legs spread was sent into my head. She ran one hand over her sensitive areas and one across her breast. I went wide eyed and my jaw dropped. I shamelessly kept the image in my head for a moment before whipping it away. 

       I looked at Sumi. “Dirty move.” I told her. She gave me a playful dirty grin. I decided I could play this game too and sent an image of me going down on her straight into her brain. I saw the orc quiver a bit at the image and she looked at me once more with those flirtatious Violet eyes. 

     “Is that an offer?” She asked in as sultry of a voice as she could manage. We kept our eyes locked for a moment and it took every bit of self restraint not to throw her into that cart and have my way with her in front of everyone. 

       Kerrigan somehow sighed through the mind link. “I don't know what you two are saying but from the fuck me eyes you guys are giving each other I think I get the idea.” He stepped between us. “Did you forget we had a woman attempting to ambush us? Focus on the mission!” Sumi gave me a wink before we all turned to Kasious. 

       I tried to speak as gently as possible through the link. “Kasious… I don't think that woman is what she seems.” The prince really seemed like he wanted to help. This was going to crush him.  

     I heard Kasious through the link even though he never turned to me. “Oh I know.” He responded. “She's leading us into a trap.” I was stunned. He looked so concerned for the woman. That was all an act? I didn't give the prince enough credit. He couldn't smirk through a mind bond but I swear he tried to. “Either we kill a sick trafficker or we murder the shit out of some bandits. I see this as a win-win.” 

      Otah smiled at the prince. “Clever. So, what's your plan to deal with this?” He asked through the bond to the prince. He seemed to be more quizzing the prince than genuinely asking him. 

    Kasious turned to us. “We need to help her. I say Varrin, Sumi and myself go take out this son of a bitch while Otah and Kerrigan watch the cart.” He spoke this part out loud so the woman could hear it. He looked up at Kerrigan. “Follow from a distance. We'll ambush them instead.” 

     Sumi and I hopped off of the cart and the woman nodded. “I'll take you to him… for my sister.” She led us into the woods

       I looked at Otah as we walked. “Both of you follow us. The cart doesn't need protection.” He gave me a nod but Kasious was less than convinced. 

     “Why doesn't it need protection?” He asked. “These people are clearly going to try and steal our stuff in there.” He looked between me and the woman leading us, making sure she wasn't going to try anything yet. 

     I shrugged. “I warded that cart after the first night. No one but those I choose can get into there.” Kasious gave me an impressed smirk. 

    Sumi let out a laugh. “Remind me not to piss you off.” She joked. We followed the woman through the forest, she was very nimble considering the story she was trying to play off. Sumi looked at the womans movement, studying her. “How did you and your brother get captured by this man?” She asked. 

        The woman looked over her shoulder but didn't break her stride. “Oh… we were out hunting for our family, my father is very sick and couldn't hunt himself. We went out and…” She stopped and turned to each of us, realizing her mistake. Sumi had played her completely. Any suspicions had been confirmed. 

     “That was for my peace of mind.” Sumi said through the link. “Now I can kill her later without a second thought.” I was impressed by the orc's intelligence, she had this woman completely figured out.

      The woman studied us, looking to see if we noticed her mistake. None of us moved from the concerned neutrality we had made our masks for this mission. Kasious cocked his head. “Is everything alright mam?” He asked in a soft, still concerned voice. 

       She nodded slowly. “Of… of course, just got turned around us all.” She managed to say through her nervous stutters. “We're close… follow me.” 

      The second she turned around I saw Kasious smirk. “Nice job Sumi, you've got her all flustered.” He complimented through the bond. 

      Sumi shrugged but kept her face still. “Making people uncomfortable is what I do best.” She sent a small wink my way. I tried to keep my face straight but by the satisfied look on Sumi's face, I assumed I failed. 

      The woman stopped and pointed forward. “There it is.” She said, We looked to see a large building in complete shambles. The entire west side of the house was practically rubble. The woman shuttered. “Are you going to go in there?” She asked.

         Kasious threw his sword over his shoulder and strode toward the building. It was almost laughable seeing him play the stoic soldier knowing how carefree he usually was. The woman stayed a good distance behind us as we entered the building. 

       The house was just as bad on the inside. The wood on the floors had been ripped apart by some kind of large beast leaving holes in the flooring. There was a small fire that had just recently been put out. I looked around for entrances. There was a door to my left, a staircase to my right, and a large hole that looked like it led to some kind of bedroom on the second floor. 

      We all took positions around the room. I leaned on a wall close to the smoldering fire. Sumi stationed herself by the door. Kasious still played his role and stood with the woman in the middle of the room. I focused on our link and I could still feel Otah and Kerrigan. “You two close by?” I asked. 

      Otah was the first to answer. “Running a bit behind. We ran into a few visitors at the cart before we could leave.” His voice went silent for a moment. “They have been dealt with.” 

       The woman stepped toward the stairway as a loud clapping started to sound. “Well, look what you've brought me Vanessa.” Said a well groomed warrior who slowly made his way down the stairs. “You've given me so many new friends.” He ran one hand through his short jet black hair. He was a very average man in almost every way. He brought up his hand and his mercenaries went into action. 

     The woman who led us here Vanessa, brought out the knife that she had hidden on her back. “Of course Clive, they wanted to come play with us.” Three men with crossbows jumped down from the hole in the ceiling. Two more came into the doorway beside Sumi with great swords and a final two enemies behind Clive himself on the stairs. 

      I heard movement from the second floor s second before Otah's voice. “Stall them, we're getting in position.” He ordered. 

         I looked over at Kasious, trying to be as casual and as bored as possible. “You go talk to the nice man.” I didn't even bother using the bond. I wanted them to hear this part. 

       Kasious shrugged. “I guess I'm the charismatic one huh?” He joked. He turned to Clive. “Now, we don't need to end this in violence. How about we talk about this?” 

     Clive smiled like a lion looking at his next prey. “What could you possibly offer me templar?” He asked. I noticed a large amount of spite in that last word. Maybe putting Kasious as the talker was a mistake. 

      Kasious leaned forward and gave him a charismatic smile. “I could give you a powerful friend in Durik. I'm sure a favor in the capital is worth sparing some measly travelers.” He started to do a small bow but the leader Clive met Kasious's chin with the tip of his blade. 

      The bandits face had become pure disdain. “You and all your templar buddies are the reason we're in this mess! You don't care about anyone but yourselves! I want nothing to do with you or that damned city!” Kasious seemed a bit disturbed by the words but it only showed in the slight shake of his hand. 

         Otah spoke up in our minds. “We're in position, on your mark.” Kasious's body straightened. And he looked up at Clive. “Would you like to know the mistakes you made?” He asked the bandit sarcastically. 

       The bandit leader scowled down at Kasious. “What mistakes?” He asked in anger. 

     Kasious took a step back and before anyone had time to react he drew his sword and smacked Clive's blade to the side. “First, you paid no attention to who exactly you were robbing.” The bandit jumped back and put his sword forward. I smirked at the absolutely awful stance of the bandit. Then I noticed a lot of the other bandits were holding their weapons like amateurs. Kasious squared up to the leader. “Second, you let go of the element of surprise.” He slapped Clive's sword to the side.

       Kasious was playing with him like a predator. I looked at Sumi. “Be ready.” I said down the mind link. I moved my hand down to my staff, ready to attack. 

     Kasious grinned like a child. “Third… you didn't keep eyes on all or your targets.” With that cue our comrades stepped into action. Kerrigan jumped down from the hole in the ceiling and ran one of his scimitars through the neck of a crossbow wielding bandit. Otah ran down the stairs and snapped the neck of the first bandit on the stairs. The second tried to attack him with a sword but he blocked it with one of his bracers. 

         One of the crossbow bandits shot a bolt at me as the battle started. I could have put up a ward shield, but I was feeling particularly flashy to these amateurs. I put up my hand and a wall of fire formed. The bolt disintegrated. I smirked as I walked through the fire completely unharmed. The look on the bandits face was priceless. He stumbled back as I made fire dance across my hands. “Are you afraid, thief?” I asked in as menacing of a voice as I could muster. “This is how every one of your victims felt.” The man fell to his knees. 

     “Oh my God! Please spare us!” The voice didn't come from the bandit I was facing. It came from Clive. I looked over to see Sumi had decapitated one of the other bandits and Clive was on his back begging for his life to Kasious. 

      Kasious looked annoyed by the display as he held his arms out. “Everybody stop!” He screamed. To my surprise, the fighters on both sides stopped to look at the prince. Kasious gritted his teeth. “What was your plan? Because this is fucking pathetic.” 

     Clive sat upward. “We had no choice! The king cast us out of our homes! We needed money to survive!” His voice cracked and his eyes were full of fear. 

        Kasious looked down at the man emotionless. “What did you say? What did the king do?” His face did not move but his eyes started to soften a bit. What was he doing? These people tried to kill us, we should return the favor. 

      The large bandit who had survived Sumi's onslaught earlier walked toward Kasious. “Fuck this templar! I say we cut off hi-” as soon as he came in range Kasious slammed the butt of his sword into the bandit’s nose. Then with a swift kick to the knee the bandit toppled to the ground. 

      Kasious knelt down to Clive's level. “Let me make this perfectly clear. If I wanted you dead… I could have easily done it by now. Now, what did the king do exactly?” His voice was like ice, much different from the jovial prince I had become accustomed to. 

     The two of them stared the other down for a long moment. Eventually Clive moved to his feet and the prince followed him up. The bandit looked almost ashamed as he finally 

spoke. “The king took those robed monsters into his castle, he exiled the templar's to the lower city. The templar's took homes, jobs, and lives from us normal folk. We were forced out to the streets of Durik. I used the only skills that I had.” 

      Kasious couldn't hold back the hurt in his face. “So you kill and rob random people on the road?” He said angrily. 

     Clive puffed his chest. “We haven't killed anyone! We usually knock them out and dump them by the road after we take what we need!” He stepped toward Kasious. “Go ahead Templar, just end it already so I can see my family.” His face had become stone as he stood tall in front of the prince. 

      The prince took a long moment thinking before he made his next move. Kasious sighed. He pulled out a small pouch of gold and threw it to the bandit. Clive looked confused but Kasious stopped him before he could speak. “That should last you about a week. After that the king won't be a problem. Take your people and go.” 

      Clive stood for a moment stunned. “You're… you're not going to kill us?” He asked. The other bandits had already made their way out of the door as soon as the words left the prince's lips. Clive stayed, hands shaking with fear but still curious about Kasious's mercy. 

     Kasious shrugged. “No need to, sentries will be sent out to monitor these lands… make sure I never see you out here. You all really suck at this.” His voice was cold but I could hear the shake in it as he looked away from the bandit. 

     Clive cocked his head. “Who are you?” He asked. Clive put the gold on his belt and tried to study his face. 

     Kasious sheathed his sword. “I'm the sorry fucker who's problem this is.” He answered. “Now get out of here before I change my mind.” Clive wordlessly made his way to the door but he kept his eyes on Kasious. I didn't know if he recognized the prince but he smirked and nodded. 

     “If you're going to kill that sorry bastard… good luck to you.” With that he ran into the forest to find his comrades. We all slowly gathered around the prince. 

       Kasious looked up at us. “I know I was too soft on them.” He said while willing away a tear. I should have taught them a lesson… I just… couldn't.” His voice trailed off and he looked to the floor.  The rest of us took a moment before responding. Every single one of us had a look of reverment, not of disdain, even Sumi seemed to look at the prince with understanding. She walked forward and faced him. 

    “I think it was quite honorable.” She said as she wrapped him in a hug. Seeing Sumi console anyone was almost strange. Kasious seemed surprised by it as well but he wrapped his arms around her as well as he broke, letting a few tears fall finally. Sumi nodded. “We'll make things right.” She promised him as she held her friend tight.