[center][b]Edessa Thorne & Emil Errant[/b][/center]

Edessa knew it was going to happen as soon as the first attack came in the forest and that was before the cover of fog gave the bandits an advantage they did not previously hold against the caravan. She hated that they had what should’ve been her home field advantage, one of the villages where she had grown up after her fleeing of Gorgon was not too far from here and she remembered fondly of the training that she experienced here all those years ago. Edessa [i]should[/i] have had the advantage due to the familiarity of the wood. 

Damn the fog.

That’s when the first casualty of this attempt at wiping them out came, as a man was tossed to the ground as the cold steel dived into the mercenary’s shoulder, of course this was to the rear flank of the archer so she only could hear the tumble of the strike. She had to make sure the front was safe for the caravan to follow through. The safety of the unarmed was an important precedent even though every nerve in her body screamed at her, trying to tell her to make a hasty retreat and call it done. The raven-haired girl frowned as she let loose her first arrow once the first person in her sights became visible—the raining field of arrows from the bandits not causing a careless reaction from her.

“Don’t choke.” She muttered under her breath. “Hit the target.” 

For a moment it was like she was transported back to when she was much younger, when her guardian had bestowed to her the first bow that she would hold and one she had given away a little before she met Emil. The day was as clouded as the present, as fog had settled in whilst Ser Edwic had set up a target beyond the fog that she could barely make out. 

[i]“It’s too far.[/i]” She had complained, [i]“It’s impossible to hit it.”[/i]

“With that mindset you won’t hit any target, especially when they are firing back at you.” He had lectured as he nocked an arrow in his own bow and released it—the target hitting with a resounding [b][i]thud. [/b][/i]

[i]“You must be resilient and doing so you will realize having a destination will remove all frustration by your short term failings. You have talent and genius in your affinity, do not abandon them because it seems hard—life will plague you with struggles and difficulty, and you will never succeed if you believe in absolute impossibility.”[/i]

She remembered the long-winded saying, and she remembered an old Gorgon phrase as the arrow crawled through the air: [i]‘Remove all doubt, as to succeed you first must release the arrow from thine bow.’[/i]

[indent][b][i]THUNK![/b][/i][/indent]

The arrow collided through the mass of fog into the first bandit—travelling through the man’s forehead as he dropped. The other bandits around him stopped for a moment as Edessa began to nock another arrow to release at another of their ilk. It was understandable that they were dumbfounded that this girl had pierced their fog and killed one of their best archers in their troupe and rightly so as of course, Edessa was no ordinary ranger—she was from a bloodline that produced some of the best archers in the world.

“What?! Impossible!” She could hear them shout through the fog. “How did that whore kill Ilias, how did she even—?!”

Edessa couldn’t help but smirk at their flabbergasted remarks. To succeed you first must release the arrow, indeed.

“Even though I walk in the shadow of death’s gaze, I will fear no soul as I embrace the raven’s burden.” She muttered as she released the second and dropped another bandit as arrows from the others rained down at her direction to which were sloppy given the immediacy they felt they needed to do.

“Gods damn us, Jhavek too?! You idiots go get her before she shoots again!”

Through the fog a group of bandits armed with axes and iron blades barreled down on the ranger, the girl had done much damage already to their flanking forces of archers—some of which were the best marksmen they had—though given their sloppiness and lack of battle intelligence they were likely not as skilled as they perceived themselves as. But they were still dangerous and an idiot could still murder a genius.

Edessa’s cold sapphire eyes kept firm and narrowed as she kicked off her mare as a crude sword swung inches above where her head was seconds prior—taking some hair along with it as the ranger’s feet planted in the ground as she slammed one of her hands against the horse’s body—sending it bucking forward into the forest. Edessa preferred being on her own two feet to on a horse, as odd as it was. Like many Gorgonites she felt in tune with the physical world and nature itself when she wasn’t hoisted above ground—but horses were faster than walking.

The group of bandits then began to surround the ranger as she put down her bow.

“You sure know how to make a lady feel welcome.”

Edessa gave them no fear even though she was actually quite taken back that she might die in the middle of this fog-entrenched wood. 

Moving her hand to her sword’s sheath she pulled out a steel long sword which she held in her left hand. In all honesty it had been awhile since she had been in melee combat, but that was the thing about Gorgonite swordplay—it was designed for multiple enemies and relied more on dexterity than sheer physical prowess, or at least the variant she was taught anyway which her guardian had told her was named ‘The Raven’.

“Gods guide me.”