Warrior Training- Bandits

The sky was clear and bright as Aliyah soared through the thin wisps of clouds on the back of Eteri.

The ocean sparkled in the sunlight as they flew along the east coast, north of Aldlight. She had a

message to deliver to a trader in Lornesse about an order of wood for a custom furniture project

that an artisan was undertaking back in Aldlight. Aliyah sometimes took on odd jobs like this for the

extra shards, and it gave Eteri a good chance to stretch her wings.

The harbour was drawing closer beneath them so she gently guided Eteri into a shallow dive to bring

them closer to the land. The golden straw-roofed huts began to come into view, surrounded by

heathland and hardy greenery. She was getting close enough that she could make out the small

figures of woolynes, going about their daily business.

Something caught her eye. A gang of 3 woolynes were approaching an unattended warehouse,

dressed in dark clothes that obscured their faces and bodies.

They looked like bandits.

Aliyah had Eteri turn in a wide circle so that she could watch their next moves. The group circled the

warehouse, no doubt checking for bystanders that might get in their way . Once they had

determined that the coast was clear, one of them began picking the door lock, as the others

watched their back. They did not think to look up to the sky.

Eteri swooped in and plucked one of the bandits from their feet, as Aliyah leapt and rolled to the

ground and drew her sword. Eteri flew higher with the yelling woolyne as the remaining 2

unsheathed a variety of small daggers and blades and turned to face her.

The tallest one lunged for her, a battered shortsword in hand. Their blades clashed, and Aliyah

managed to deflect to the side, and then pinned him to the wall by his shirt with his own blade. She

whirled around, just in time to parry a swipe from a dagger. The small woolyne darted to the side

but underestimated the reach of Aliyah's sword and took a graze to the upper arm. They swore,

taking their focus off Aliyah for a split second, which allowed her to pin them up against the wall

with her sword at their neck. Aliyah bared her teeth.

“If you run away now and don't come back, the drakern will place your friend gently on the top of

that hill over there.’ She pointed with her free arm while never taking her eyes off her captive. ‘If

you don't, she might just drop them from the sky. It's your decision to make.”

The small woolyne nodded their head frantically, as they dropped their daggers and put their hands

up. ”We won't try again, promise!”

Aliyah stared at her hard. She didn't believe that, but at least they had been stopped this time. She

slowly took her sword away. The small woolyne quickly ran to the other bandit, who was struggling

to unpin himself from the wall, and yanked the sword out with impressive strength. Without looking

behind them, they scurried away towards the hill she had gestured to. Aliyah whistled to Eteri, and

she saw the drakern begin to slowly circle down towards the hill, coming in to a gentle landing for

the lucky bandit. She deposited them in the rough grass and then glided back over to pick Aliyah up.

Not how she was expecting this trip to go, but Aliyah isn’t one to turn down a little excitement, She

swung herself up into the saddle and Eteri took off again. She glanced behind her one last time to

ensure that the bandits had indeed left before continuing on her journey.