Vangaurd's Gamble

It was a dark and stormy night. Late in the evening, a caravan of villagers was heading back into town for the evening. The trees around them rustled in the breeze, swaying suspiciously as they moved between them, heading towards the clearing of the main city gate. The caravan leader pulled his cap low, looking around as he ushered his horse to move quicker. As they reached the edge of the woods, right before the clearing opened up, he heard a branch break nearby-

The bell went off clear as day, waking up the Vanguard headquarters. Ever at the ready, they were out the windows and leaping across building tops to reach the main gate with the other Enforcers, the city guards, who rang the bell. They all came across the same scene- the last villager from the caravan, running towards the gate, as a perfectly thrown ax landed on the back of his head, midway.

Fire lit in the eyes of the Vanguard leader. A clear sign of insult- these dogs. “How dare they disgrace our treaty and provoke us at our very gate!” The Enforcers all rallied the cry together, outraged at this sight. However, it was not the Enforcers to act first- A flurry of cloaks flew into the air as the Enforcers screamed out at the villagers’ death, almost in perfectly synchronized unison of thought- The Vanguard was out of the city gate.

The woods lit up with torches at the villagers’ death. Tens, then hundreds, then thousands of them in the distance. It was uncountable. The bandits and other forces of corruption cried out in a vicious tone as they charged forward, seeing the Vanguards’ movement. The Enforcers had no time to react as the entire team of Vanguards was like a quick slice of air.

Activating their movement gear, they were on top of the enemy before the bandits had a chance to react. Moving with a dance of flurry in their blades, they were mesmerizing to watch. Each Vanguard danced with the enemy’s blades, weaving and dodging, not allowing a single hit to connect, as they laid waste to hundreds of foes together. Their dance was radiant, and magnificent to behold, as enemies were slain almost as fast as they poured out of the forest. Almost… Then, it happened-

One was caught off guard by the sheer numbers, and he was gone with a volley of arrows- Then, another was tackled out of the air… and another as enemies poured on top of him… One by one they fell to the sheer number of enemies that continued to pour out of the forest like ocean waves on a sandy beach of blood and steel. One by one, they succumbed to the waves and were swept out to the forest sea.