[color=fff200] [h2] Collaboration Post [/h2] [/color] [color=00aeef]"Move it ya sorry welps! I want head on a pike by sun down!"[/color] yelled a Sargent that belonged to the group of guards Jason and his group had met up with. His name was Hector if he remembered correctly. The men groaned as they all trudged through the swamp, some barely keeping up thanks to their gear. Jason wiped some sweat from his face and looked to Samuel. [color=ed1c24]"So, what did the scouts report exactly?" [/color]he asked before stumbling forward from a hidden rock in the thick murky water. Samuel scoffed and swatted flies from his face. Samuel kept his eyes focussed on the uneven terrain and wet lanscape in front of him. [color=1a7b30]"The scout found them in a cave in some old ruins a few miles up the road. They are too close to leave alone so we will evicerate them and then go home." [/color] Jason sighed and gave a dry chuckle. [color=ed1c24]"I swear these guys decide to cause trouble just to piss me off,"[/color]he mumbled as he shook his head. Gregory, who was close by the two chuckled as he patted Jason on the shoulder. [color=0072bc]"Cheer up mate, think of this as a lovely stroll through the woods and at the end of our stroll lies plenty of training dummies with that women hitting Lord's face on them,"[/color] Jason smirked. [color=ed1c24]"Now that is appealing," [/color]the three chuckled and continued their march through the swamps. After and hour or so the guard leading the group held up a fist to halt the party. Jason and the men halted and tightened their grips on their weapons. The guard motioned for the party to come up quietly. The men crept silently up to a small hill that led out of the swamp and as they reached the top spotted the ruins the scouts had reported. [color=00aeef] "Alright then, this is where they were last seen. Now we just got to find their cave and-" [/color]the sergent was stopped as Gregory tapped his arm and pointed towards a bright light that shined a few yards away from the ruins. [color=0072bc]"Found 'em,"[/color] he grinned. The sergent cleared his throat and looked back to his men. [color=0072bc]"Alright men, this is the plan. I want Samuel and his men to follow me and a few other guards to take out the rats in their holes. The rest shall spread out in groups and ensure that any fleeing bandits are killed without mercy. We are killing scum here, not men," [/color]he finished and motioned for Samuel and his men to follow him. Jason and his group quickly and silently followed Hector and four of his men as they quickly crept towards the caves entrance. As they neared Hector raised his sword up and placed his finger onto his lips to hush them. He signaled for two of his guards to go in first as they all surrounded the entrance. The guards were quick with their entrance as they rushed in with raised weapons. Jason and the others were ready to hear shouts of alarm or anger, but instead they heard nothing. Soon one of the guards came back out and pointed to the cave with his spear, with a raised eyebrow. [color=00aeef]"Sir, there is no one here, just a fire," [/color]he informed him. [color=00aeef]"What, but that makes no-" [/color]he was cut off by a distant scream that echoed from the swamps. Jason looked to Samuel with wide eyes and gripped his spear tight. [color=ed1c24]"Shit," [/color]was all he managed to say as the guard at the entrance of the cave howled in pain from an arrow burying itself into his leg. [color=00a651]"It's a trap! Get down!" [/color]Samuel dove behind a crevice in the cave opening and he looked around and realized with the sun going down they were illuminated by the fire and the enemy had the advantage that way. He caught sight of movement in the trees not far off and he said a silent prayer and darted out as fast as he could to the treeline. It was safer than staying out in the open with a fire behind you. [color=00a651]"Come on boys!" [/color] Once in the darkening trees you didn't know who you were next to until they were on top of you so Samuel kept an eye on who was following him and who was still a sitting duck. They lost a couple within the first minutes and Samuel felt the rage burning in his chest for his guards and friends. As a group they could fight but on their own they were disadvantaged by the surroundings. [color=9e0b0f]Meanwhile, back at the mansion.... [/color] After putting her plan into action Brienna and the remaining guards were on high alert and it seemed all for naught until she heard some noises from the garden area. She caught sight of them through an upper window. All of the lower ones had been closed and locked tightly. She picked up the bow and arrow she had requested and carefully took aim as they were coming over the back wall. Her aim rang true as a scream was heard and the man fell to his death. [color=ed1c24]"Samuel! Samuel!"[/color] Jason shouted over the chaos of the battle that echoed through the night. The sound of metal clashing against metal and the screams of pure agony filled the air and made it impossible for Jason to make out Samuels voice. He grunted with frustration as he dragged the guard who was injured at the caves entrance to the ruins and placed him against an old wall. The guard winced in pain as he held his bleeding leg and broke the arrow. [color=f26522]"Damn all of these pig fuckers!" [/color]he roared with anger. Jason held onto his shoulder as he looked around their surroundings to make sure no enemy was after them. [color=ed1c24]"Listen buddy, just stay here and wait for the fight to be over. I will come back for you," [/color]he promised and left the man alone as rushed back out to join the fight. As he emerged from the ruins he was met with the sight of pure hell. Fire arrows flew through the sky and illuminated the open field to show several figures fighting tooth and nail aganist each other. Some dragged themselves across the field screaming for help or mercy while a few were overwhelmed by more than a few opponents. A few were even just using their fist or rocks to kill their enemy. Jason shook his head in disbelief before being brought back to reality by a war cry to his left. He quickly rested his spear on top of his sheild and was met by a bandit in all black charging toward him with a large axe. Jason gritted his teeth and raised his sheild as the bandit brought his axe down onto it. He pushed back and sent his spear shooting towards his gut, but was frustrated as the bandit quickly dodged the spear by a hair. Jason felt the bandits fist smash into the left side of his face and stumbled to the side. He lost his footing and fell to the ground. He cursed to himself and looked up with wide eyes to see the bandit raising his axe up, ready to end Jason's life. Sadly for him Jason was not ready to die as the young guard plunged his spear into his chest with a roar. The bandit gasped with shock and gripped the spear with gritted teeth as he fell over, groaning in pain as he began to bleed out. Jason scrambled to his feet while yanking his sword from its sheath and rushed to the downed bandit. He delivered the final blow as he slid his sword into his throat. The bandi'ts eyes dulled and his body went limp. Jason breathed heavily as he picked himself up and looked around the battle. The darkness made it near impossible to see who was who, but he could tell his side was nearly done for. As Jason scanned the battle a horn filled the air and he looked in its direction to see a bloodied Hector blowing a horn. It was the signal to retreat. Jason was about to run to Hector's aid since he looked injured, but stopped as he was overwhelmed by a group of bloodthirsty bandits. Jason watched as the guard fell and gritted his teeth in anger. [color=ed1c24]"Damn it," [/color]he growled before heading back to the ruins where he had left the guard. He came back to the spot and saw that the guard was already up while supporting himself with his spear. [color=f26522]"Was that the horn? We are retreating?"[/color] he asked with a mixture of disbelief and anger. Jason nodded and went to support the guard's left side. [color=ed1c24]"Yeah, we gotta get going buddy,"[/color] he said in a hurried voice. The two proceeded to make their way through the ruins and back into the swamps that were not filled with battle. As Jason and the guard trudged through the murky water he began to worry about his friend Samuel and gave one last glance back in the direction of the battle. [color=ed1c24]"Please be safe sir," [/color]he whispered before directing his attention back to helping the guard move through the swamp. After ducking into the forest it was dark enough for Samuel to stealthily sneak up on the attackers that were using the flaming arrows as they lit them. They went dark quickly enough when he stabbed them through the chest or head. Some of them he even got lucky enough to shoot the arrow at one of their own. The queen's guard was in serious trouble as there were more of them than the scout said by about fifteen. Hearing the horn Samuel looked around himself and realized that almost everyone that he could see was down or fighting the way he was. Only the most experienced guards seemed to be holding their own. Samuel realized something and took off at a dead run shouting to his men. [color=00a651]"They doubleteamed us! Get to the mansion!" [/color]He realized that they were setup. The real fight was likely going on at the mansion while half of the queen's men were on a goose chase and getting slaughtered. ........Brienna looked at the wall and so far the guards atop it were holding their own but she heard wood cracking and screams downstairs as the house was entered. There were guards fighting the invaders as were the kitchen staff. ...... [@Wick]