Meli's voice cut through the rage. [b]"Cad! No! Turn around! It's a trap!"[/b]

But I was already too close to stop. The bandit batted my sword away again and kept running, letting out a shrill whistle. [b]"Oi! I got trouble here! A little help here?!"[/b]

Then I saw them.

Bandits. Dozens of them. Way too many for just me and Meli to fight. And worse, so much worse, I saw the carts. Cages on wheels with iron bars. Inside them, the Moonpetal Gathering. Meli's family. Her community. All of them chained in rusty iron manacles, wrists and ankles bound like animals.

My stomach dropped.

I immediately dropped low, hitting the ground and signaling frantically for Meli to do the same. My heart was pounding, but not from rage anymore. From fear. From the sick realization of what we'd stumbled into.

This wasn't just four bandits trying to grab Meli. This was organized. Planned. They'd taken the entire gathering.

How were we supposed to save them? There were too many. Way too many. Even with my training, even with Meli's magic, we couldn't fight that many bandits at once.

I pressed myself lower to the ground, trying to think. Trying to figure out what the hell we were supposed to do now.

[hider=OOC]Can I estimate how many bandits there are?[/hider]