Aramora

Chapter 2: No Man's Land

The woman looks at her sideways. "You are a bit dense dere, aren't you? What are you, anyway? You look like no Dev or Sor I've ever seen."

Naomi raises a finger. "Um, I'm a Naomi. And what are you...? Is this a normal greeting here?" she extends her hand out to the woman, but Malachi grabs her wrist and pulls her back.

"Keep back, kid. These people are Latyrs," he says and lets her go, trying to keep an eye on all of them at once.

"The fuck does that mean?" the girl asks.

Malachi sighs. "Bandits." He counts at least eleven, but there could be more hiding amongst the trees and bushes, and if there are, they are likely archers.

The bandit woman cackles. "Now den, enough chatter. I'll say dis only once; hand over all de numis you've got on yah, or we'll pick it from yer corpses," she draws her broadsword.

Malachi frowns. "Sorry to disappoint, but we don't have any numis on us. Afraid you'll have to look elsewhere," he says.

The woman shakes her head. "Yer not foolin' anyone. You two don't look like no Su to me," she narrows her eyes and stands with the blade pointed at them.

Naomi glances around anxiously. "Are we fucked?" she asks quietly.

Malachi sighs. "No, now shut it. Maybe I can reason with them." He stares at the woman. Before he can open his mouth to try bargaining, there is a valiant cry sounding through the trees, and the fast stomping of hooves crashing through, growing louder.

The woman turns to look towards the source, and is instantly toppled over and stabbed through the back of her skull by a silver greatsword.

Naomi studies their savior curiously. Standing atop the woman's body is a well-sculpted brown horse, but as her eyes trail further up, the torso of a woman takes the place where the horse's head should be. She looks to be about nineteen to twenty, with her face a beautiful mixture of feminine and masculine, well-chiseled like the rest of her. Her arms look strong, and on one she has a black shield strapped to her forearm, bearing a golden horse emblem. The woman has long, curly brown hair and light hazel eyes. Her skin is pink and fair, and the silver and gold armor covering her top does not seem to cover much at all, at least as far as combat gear goes.

Atop her horse back is a boy, maybe sixteen or seventeen years old, with shaggy white hair and golden eyes, and beneath his right eye is a deep gash, healed over time leaving a silver crack in his fair skin, and his ears are long and pointed. He's set with dark brown leather armor and a white long-sleeve shirt beneath. He's cloaked with a black hood and cape and fastened with leather bandoliers and pouches, as well as knives. He has a bow, with a notched arrow that he lets fly into the throat of a Latyr that began charging at Naomi.

As the Latyr drops dead, the boy laughs and the horse woman lifts her greatsword, charging at the next Latyr that starts advancing on the two. The woman swings the blade down and strikes down two Latyrs in one go, and the boy huffs, loosing an arrow at another. "Damn, Nesosa! Save some for me!" His voice is smooth and carried with a soft Irish accent.

He carefully balances as he rises to his feet, standing atop her back. He draws another arrow, releasing it at a Latyr who was heading towards them. The arrow flies straight through the Latyr's chest and hits the one behind him, taking them both down.

The centaur woman, Nesosa, rolls her eyes and grins, charging forward as fast as possible which throws the boy off and making him land flat on his ass. A Latyr sprints for Naomi and she tries to duck behind Malachi, but he steps out of the way and pulls her to the side as Nesosa barrels through, trampling the Latyr and flattening him into the ground. Raising a hoof, she slams it down and crushes the Latyr's skull with a satisfied gleam in her eyes.