One of the Looters slashed their sword at Barek's wooden plank makeshift shield and it cracked instantly. Another Looter lunged forward, seizing Aylin by the hair.
"Stupid little girl you'd sell for alot." the looters with a tangled auburn beard said grinning like a sick maniac.
Harkin had enough spectating. Harkin blitzed in. Harkin surged from the treeline in a blur. In an instant, he was above the man, eyes dead and unblinking. His fist drew back- charged with quiet, merciless intent- and then crashed down like a hammer.
The looter's skull burst apart with a sickening crack, spraying blood and bone across the underbrush. What remained dropped like a sack of meat.
Harkin stared at his own fist surprised by his own power. "I keep forgetting I'm marked now." he muttered under his breath. He reminisced how before getting marked his punches could just cause craters in trees now he was way past that.
Harkin turned and grinned at Aylin.
"You're safe now."
Aylin nodded she seemed frightened by the display of Harkins raw power.
"Oh yeah i have yo-" Harkin started.
As three of the looters rushed him with their swords and axe's drawn out. Harkin's senses felt heightened,he could practically tell where and how the looters where aiming to slash him.
One of the looters charged with a roar, swinging his axe straight at Harkin's head.
Harkin didn't flinch. He raised his arm and the axe shattered against his forearm like brittle wood against stone. The broken head clanging harmlessly to the dirt.
Harkin seized the looter by the ribs, muscles coiling with power. In one brutal motion, he spun the man in a wide arc and hurled him through the air.
The looter's scream faded as he sailed over the treetops vanishing from sight.
The other looters staggered back, eyes wide and weapons trembling. One of them- thin, patchy beard, shaking hands voiced what they were all thinking.
"What in the fuck…."
Another, gripping a chipped sword, hissed under his breath. "Is that…. a Marked bastard?"
Harkin took a slow step forward, blood spattered across his arm like paint, eyes devoid of anything human. His gaze swept over them like a predator sizing up prey.
"Encircle him." One of the larger looters barked the order, eyes narrowing, veins bulging along his neck like rope.Five men quickly obeyed, forming a jagged circle around Harkin.Weapons were drawn. Swords, axes, spears made from either metal or a beasts bone.
"Get ready to die you marked fuck!"
Two of the looters lunged first-one wielding a chipped longsword, the other brandishing a massive battle-axe. He swung the axe with as much might as he could, but Harkin barely had to move; it was too predictable.
"This is to easy." Harkin remarked.
Before they could recover, he darted forward, snatched the swordsman by the collar, and twisted his body weight. In a blur, Harkin's leg hooked around the man's ankle. He executed a brutal Sweep.The man landed on the ground with a loud thud and stopped breathing.
Axes and knives flew toward him now not thrown, but fired from crude crossbows mounted nearby. Harkin spun and twisted between them, his body weaving like a dancer's, metal flashing past his skin.One bolt nearly kissed his cheek-he snatched it mid-air with his teeth, bit it in half and started chewing on it.
He looked up. More looters were pouring from the treeline. A small crowd forming in the night.Shouts. Footsteps. The stench of fear masked behind adrenaline.
One of the looters who had tried to escape earlier stood at the edge of the forest. His trembling hand raised a small flare and he shot it into the sky. A massive spark of light shot up into the sky. Harkin turned to spot the looter who had fired, but out of nowhere, a hand grabbed the looter and snapped their neck in an instant. Harkin was shocked to see Barek suddenly joining the fray.
"Look ahead of you." Barek grumbled.
Harkin turned to see a looter charging at him with a longsword. He ducked effortlessly, the looter missing entirely and continuing forward straight toward Barek. "Aylin, dear, keep your eyes shut for this," Harkin said. Aylin obeyed. At that moment, Barek ripped off his shirt, clasped his hands together, and declared, "Time to get serious." With sheer force, he struck the looter's face. Before the blade could reach him, the looter collapsed to the ground instantly blood pouring through his eyes, mouth and nose.
Another looter tried to make a run for it. Harkin let out a sigh, then in a flash, he leaped forward, closing the massive distance in an instant. His knee connected with the looter's head, causing it to explode on impact.
Out of nowhere, a group suddenly appeared, seemingly drawn to the flare signal. They seemed to be part of the looter crew. Harkin suspected that the looters had split into small groups to rob innocent people traveling through the Tredus, but in reality, they were part of a small, organized illegal guild.
The new group came in with a creature on a chain. Hulking. Covered in matted fur and patches of exposed grey skin, its body stitched together like patchwork. Its head was too large for its hunched frame, jaw unhinged, rows of teeth like broken glass. It was drooling black saliva that hissed as it hit the forest floor.
"What in the fuc-" Harkin muttered that was not a beast he had ever seen before.
"Thats a Miremaw." Barek had spoke. "Nasty creatures easy for hoodlums like these to manipulate - scare tactics, mostly. They rarely fight unless ordered.
Aylin took a step back, instinctively grabbing the edge of Barek's coat. "Is it coming for us?"
Barek didn't answer right away. His eyes were calculating, watching how the looters stood frozen, waiting to see what the beast would do.
He turned to her suddenly, crouched down, and placed both hands on her shoulders. His voice dropped to a calm, grounding whisper.
"Aylin. Close your eyes. Count to ten. No peeking. Understand?"
She hesitated, her voice trembling. "W-What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry about me. Just count."
Aylin clenched her eyes shut, tears welling up. "One... two... three..."
Harkin watched in awe, realizing that all this time he had dismissed Barek as just an old traveller. He now understood he should have expected more when Bjorn mentioned that Barek used to be a shield bearer. Yet, Harkin could sense there was far more to Barek than met the eye.
In that instant, Barek surged forward like a cannon shot, his boots hammering against the dirt. The Miremaw shrieked, reacting with a flurry of wild, uneven swings - its grotesque arms flailing like broken branches. But Barek was faster. Sharper. He ducked the first swipe, spun under the second, and closed the gap between them in a blur.
The creature roared again, swiping downward with a claw the size of a large wheel but Barek was already mid-air.
With a grunt, he twisted his body and latched onto the beast's outstretched limb. His legs coiled around the Miremaw's joint like a constrictor snake, and in one savage jerk, he locked in a brutal armbar. The crunch of cartilage and splintered bone echoed through the woods like a snapped tree trunk.
The Miremaw shrieked in agony as it lashed out at Barek, tearing away his neck protection. The other looters caught sight of the strange blue shield and cross tattoo on his neck. "Wait, that's the mark of a Shield Bearer!" one of them exclaimed. In an instant, the looters scattered. Barek dodged another attack from the Miremaw, and Harkin swiftly unsheathed his sword, slicing the creature into pieces.
"Guess Bjorn wasn't lying you really where a Shield Bearer." Harkin said grinning.
"Oh only if you knew kid only if you knew." Barek muttered
Aylin finally opened her eyes. "What happened?"
"Oh, don't worry, dear." Barek answered her kissing her forehead.
Harkin then remembered why he even came.
"Oh yeah Aylin wasn't it you left your little brewing kit at the Guild post." Harkin said as he went to look for it in his satchel and to his shock it wasn't there anymore.
"I coulda sworn it was with me-" Harkin started.
He then noticed Aylin playing with a strange furball while holding the brewery kit.
"Is this what you mean?" she grinned childishly.
Harkin nodded. "How the fuc-"
And then Harkin noticed the grey-white fur. "You cheeky Lynxlet, did you follow me all the way here?" Harkin mused, tickling its fur.
"Dont tell me you gave it some food?" Barek spoke. "These devils will never leave you once you do that." Barek grinned.
"I guess someone should have warned me before." Harkin sighed.
"Coco, right?" Harkin asked, still fiddling with its stomach while it purred at the sound of the name.
"We need to keep moving. Those hoodlums might be gone for now, but trust me, they'll be back with reinforcements," Harkin said, clearly irritated.