When the first bandits dropped out of the trees, Tyaethe's surprise amount to a confused blink. After all, the bandits being [i]above[/i] them and not just flanking been abundantly obvious... well, she had to commend them for staying still and being missed by the majority, but it was obvious to [i]her[/i]. What was more surprising was, of course, that they had thought to drop down rather than pelting them from above with whatever heavy or pointy objects they could manage. They were [i]bandits[/i], splitting the Iron Roses up into as many single combats as they could manage was outright detrimental to their survival chances!

As was, of course, dropping uncontrolled out of the trees. When in free fall, there was nothing you could do to avoid, for instance, the lengthy sword positioned to skewer you on your own momentum, except hope that it was insufficiently braced by the spindly arms holding it. Unfortunately for Tyaethe's target, the spindly arms might as well have been anchored metal rods, barely dropping as the body ran to a halt on her blade.

This ambushing party was... pathetic. Improperly armoured, skill that was little more than flailing, and [i]utterly[/i] unable to time their ambush properly, having let the Iron Roses form a defensive position around the captain. Not only was their leader not here, she doubted any of the other veterans had been spared for this suicidal attempt. A scouting party that got delusions of grandeur?

The vampire's sword swung once, slicing deeper into the body before casting it off into some stunned-looking bandits, setting them up for the other knights, and she slipped back through the ranks with practised ease. If it was going to be like this... they didn't need to use [i]everything[/i] at their disposal. That is to say, the diminutive vampire reached up with a free hand to tap Alodia's shoulder.

"While we're in the forest, could you please avoid any fire spells?" It was a [i]small[/i] concern; the summer so far hadn't been unseasonably hot or dry... but it was still [i]summer,[/i] and Thaln was a warm country. The last thing they needed to risk was an overenthusiastic mage starting a forest fire while they were bandit hunting.

[@Rin]