She Elf

Introduction

T'was midday, perhaps a half hour till dusk. A rustling could be heard in the woods. A pair of crystal blue eyes peered out of the shade of nearby brush. The woods becoming the darkest of the hour. As quickly as the eyes had appeared, they vanished.

A carriage made its robust appearance from around a heavy wooded bend, a dirt pass it was to the city of trade. A lot of carriages and caravans had seen this road today. More so today then any other time in the past since the recent rumors. But a busy wooded pass meant that bandits lurked about in the trees. And sure enough, not long had this carriage appeared that it was attacked by a squad of bandits.

The first bandit landed on the roof of the carriage and sliced the coachman's throat as blood dropped down the front of his vest. Surprised by the attack, the poor old coachman never saw the attack coming! He only had enough time to reach up and stare at his bloodied hand before toppling off the carriage and landing face down on the ground. Dead before he hit the floor.

The first bandit then took the coachman's place as he took control of the reins and began to bring the steeds to a halt. But then a second bandit jumped down from a tree and landed next to his friend in the coachman's seat almost nonchalantly. He slapped the back of his fellow's shoulder, "Boss, don't wanna wait. Just grab a horse!"

The second bandit then jumped onto the back of a horse. The first bandit followed then together they cut the reins which freed the horses but dropped the center hitch of the carriage, dragging it down into the ground bringing it to a rather quick halt. Two more bandits appeared on the scene with blades drawn. One of them appeared to be the leader. As the other two bandits rejoined their comrades, it became uncertain whether or not the passengers were conscious. The leader nodded to one of his men as the man walked over and slammed the door to the carriage open! There a mother and her son in his early teens sat there huddled together terrified in the opposite corner of the carriage. They were dressed as though they were rich, upper class. The mother had fine jewelry on her neck, ears, and fingers.

When the squad of bandits realized how easy they came up they all seemed to laugh, grin, and sneer. The leader had his men pull out the passengers. One bandit held the mother as the bandit leader bullied her son to his knees. The other two bandits were raiding the carriage for goods. The mother begged the bandit leader to leave her son be only to have the leader begin to make sexual advances on her as he eyed her provocatively. The bandit that restrained her only laughed and pulled the woman closer to his body. The boy yelled at them to stop but before he could finish his sentence the leader had already back handed him knocking him halfway across the road!

As the leader turned around he noticed he couldn't hear his men searching anymore. Instead he saw something that made his jaw drop! Both men were pinned to the carriage with elven arrows. Their faces chalk white and their veins protruding from their skin. They looked as though not only had they been shot by an arrow, which was obvious, but they were poisoned too. Just then a young, female wood elf appeared on the roof of the carriage with an arrow already positioned inside her bow. As soon as her worn, leather boots touched the roof she cocked her arm back and slipped the string right through her fingers. The arrow aimed perfectly as it whizzed passed the last bandit and took its mark right into the dropped jaw of the bandit leader into the back of his throat and out to pin him to the tree behind him.

"Whoah!" the last bandit coughed in surprise as he dropped the woman and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. Before he could withdraw his weapon, the she elf disappeared back up inside the forest's canopy.

"Do not be unwise, bandit! Bringing a blade against an archer is but a death wish! You've witnessed what I have done to your comrades! Lest you desire the same fate, raise your weapon now! If you wish to live another day, walk away!"