Jayhawk+ by Nick Venom (short novels in english txt) 📕

Only one more task before they fulfill their training. A simple task...

TBC…

“The intel says they’re near here,” Rahim said as he rubbed the wood of his bow. Which was strapped to his shoulder. He glanced at his teammates - Kodi, Maysa, and Alita. They stood behind him on the side of the main road, several tens of miles away from the capital. They had disembarked in the morning, and now it was reaching afternoon time,

Maysa stared at the snowflakes that passed by her. “Beautiful,” She whispered.

“I wouldn’t call snow beautiful. It’s a plague that happens once a year. And it’s cold, so I already hate it.” Kodi joked, smiling. Maysa turned towards him with a big smile.

“I love snow. It’s so white and pure-” She cut herself off. “Uh, it’s so white and fluffy. How could you hate fluffy snow?” She asked.

“Because it’s cold. I can’t stand the cold.”

“What do you mean?” Alita chimed in. “How long have you been living in Holy Legend? It’s always cold in the winter.”

Kodi shook his head. “I recently moved here last winter and-” He exaggerated his shivering. “-man, it’s cold!”

“It gets worse,” Rahim muttered, staring in front of them and paying little attention to his teammates. He wanted the job done quickly but spared a few comments along the way. “We’re in the beginning stages.”

“So where did you live before Holy Legend? The Isles of Southaven?” Alita guessed.

“My perception of you will drop harder than a fish in an empty barrel if her guess is right,” Rahim said.

“Well, fortunately, I don’t upset our team leader because I was born in Paradise.” Kodi declared. “Something happened and I moved here.”

“Paradise?” Rahim looked at Kodi. “That’s where the legendary bow hero is? Avin, isn’t it? My father was stationed there at one point.”

“Your father was? He was Andy Marshall, right? I most likely saw him before, but I just… I can’t remember anything in that town.”

“Is Paradise a.. paradise?” Maysa chimed in. 

Kodi shook his head. “Well... it used to be. After Avin left, everything went downhill. The people assigned to protect us weren't able to stop the town from going down. My family and I left long before anything too massive happened, so I have no idea the state of the town.”

“Why-” Alita started but was cut off by Rahim, who covered her mouth with his hand. He pointed everybody’s attention to a few men hiding in bushes ahead of them. Rahim dove into the bushes with the others following suit.

“What do we do?” Kodi whispered. “I see… maybe four people.”

Rahim nodded, paying more attention to the bandits than Kodi. He noticed that the people didn’t see them as they were too far away to be detected.

Now Group 1 hid in bushes, waiting for their team leader to direct them around.

“Alita, I’ll cause a distraction, I want you to get up and go into the trees. Flank them. Take them by surprise and eliminate them. We’ll meet you there.” He instructed. Alita nodded, gripping her dagger tightly. Rahim nodded back before turning to face the street. He grabbed an empty glass bottle from his hip pouch, something that he equipped himself with and not as a piece of official government equipment. He threw the bottle as far as he could, hitting the other side of the road where it clashed with the bushes. The side of the road dipped at a steep incline with bushes lining both sides.

The bandits heard the sound, hesitating to move. After a few seconds, they dispatched one of their older men to check it out. The older bandit stood up and sprinted towards the sound with a sword in hand.

Meanwhile, Alita dashed into the sea of trees, quickly masking her appearance. She ran through the trees to reach the bandits, flanking them. The bandits, whose eyes were glued to the Old Bandit, didn’t notice Alita’s arrival. She dove into the bushes with them, sticking the dagger in one bandit’s neck before ripping it out and sticking it in a second bandit. The final bandit turned to face her, receiving a boot in the face. The bandit spilled out of the bushes, losing his sword in the process. He fell on his face but quickly recovered. He jumped up and turned to face Alita. She ripped her dagger out of the second bandit’s throat and faced Third Bandit.

By this time, Old Bandit turned around, hearing the commotion. Rahim sprinted towards him, sword in hand. He stabbed Old Bandit in his gut, placing his empty left hand on the guy’s shoulder, pushing the sword deeper into his stomach before twisting it. It tore through him.

Third Bandit noticed Old Bandit’s quick departure, focusing on Alita. He dashed towards her, hoping to catch her off-guard. However, she was expecting his Hail Mary attempt, flinging the bloody dagger towards him. It perfectly hit him in the forehead, killing him instantly. His body fell and hit the gravel with a loud ‘thud’ sound.

Rahim approached Third Bandit and Alita. He looked down at the mess that the bandit was now. “Good job. It’s what I expect from Haven’s daughter.”

Alita scowled at him. “Good leadership, it’s what I expect from Marshall’s son.” Venom ran alongside her words.

Rahim shot a short glare before turning away, correcting his attitude. His mission wasn’t completed as a party of bandits was waiting to be killed. The time limit was three hours, back and forth. He had no time wasting it on petty conversations.

“Move the bodies to the bushes. Make sure they’re hard to find.” He ordered, walking around and grabbing Third Bandit’s legs, raising them into the air. Alita helped him, grabbing his head. They moved the corpse and threw him with the other two, nonchalantly discarding him.

Meanwhile, Kodi and Maysa dealt with Old Bandit, leaving him in the bushes.

With everything dealt with, Rahim led them through the forest towards Seven Wind’s hideout. They came across it, twenty minutes into the forest, and saw the camp. A rugged makeshift camp with short three-foot fences protecting it. A crudely made watchtower was put in the middle, overlooking the clearing that the camp settled in. 

Rahim saw no more than ten bandits in the camp, an easy task for experienced guards to deal with, even while severely outnumbered.

“Alita, you will flank the camp. Aim for the Bandit Leader. Once he’s dead, the camp will be in shambles without a leader. Kodi and Maysa will charge forward and distract them while I’ll deal with the bandit in the tower. I’ll assist Kodi and Maysa afterward.” He instructed them. They nodded, moving into place. Alita sprinted around the clearing, searching for the leader. She quickly found him - a large six-foot bandit with a red helmet, making his status apparent throughout the party of brown-helmet men.

Kodi and Maysa got closer to the clearing but ducked to avoid being detected by the bandit in the watchtower. 

Behind them, Rahim took out his bow. He stared at the polish wood, remarking, “it’s been a while, old friend.” He drew the bow, calculating the distance in his mind. 

“Ready?” Kodi asked.

Maysa looked at him and nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” 

Kodi smiled before turning to face the clearing, the smile disappearing. He waited for Rahim’s first arrow to fly before sprinting in.

Rahim fiddled with the bow before having it ready. He slowed his breathing as he pulled the arrow back. He waited a moment before releasing it. It quickly got stuck in the trees. Rahim shook his head disapprovingly; he miscalculated.

He drew the bow again, happy that the Watchtower Bandit didn’t see his failed first attempt. He pulled the arrow back further, steadying his breathing. He released the arrow, drawing another arrow quickly. However, the third arrow wasn’t necessary as the second one plunged itself into the Watchtower Bandit’s head. He fell backward, hitting the floor with a large ‘thud’ sound. The bandits near him looked around in surprise, looking for the origin of the sound. None of them looked at the watchtower but towards the forest. 

With the signal set, Kodi and Maysa charged forward. They quickly clashed with the guarding bandits, slashing them with ease. Kodi sliced downward on a bandit, slicing him into two pieces while Maysa bashed the bandit into pieces, the bo-staff having the force of a sledgehammer.

Meanwhile, Alita located the leader and carefully took her time towards him. The Watchtower Bandit was killed and she heard swords clashing. The remaining seven bandits had their attention focused on the foes in front of them and not the one on their back.

Alita reached the Bandit Leader, a few feet from him now. He didn’t notice her, brandishing his weapon for the foes in front of him. “Slaughter them!” He shouted to boost his men’s morale, not noticing the snake wrapping its tail around him.

Alita pressed the dagger’s blade to his throat. He stammered as he felt the cold blade tickle his throat. “W-What do you want? Money? Drugs? Weapons? Power?” He quickly asked her.

A red glint appeared in Alita’s eyes but quickly disappeared. “Your death,” She coldly responded, slitting his throat. He grabbed at his throat, turning his body to see his murderer but she disappeared. She was taught to disappear and never get caught by her father. She put that training to use.

The Bandit Leader collapsed, the sound of his body hitting the ground alerting his men. They watched in shock as their titan leader was killed by a mere mortal.

With the bandits in disarray without a leader, Maysa and Kodi pushed forward to deal with them. Alita popped out from corners, slitting throats, before disappearing back into the darkness.

Rahim strapped the bow to his shoulder before joining Maysa and Kodi, brandishing his sword. He slashed one bandit’s arms off before kicking him to the ground. Now armless, Rahim plunged his sword into the bandit’s jaw, twisting the sword. It tore the bandit’s jaw off but didn’t kill him. The next sword strike to the dome did.

Within five minutes, the camp had been cleared of bandits. The bodies were put into a pile and lit on fire to prevent a large stampede of animals attracted to the blood, massacring each other within a decent distance from the main road leading to the capital. 

After ten minutes of clearing up, they headed back to the main road. Their task was completed, now it was time to return. Return and see if Group 2 completed its mission.

***

Group 2 took their time. Unlike Rahim, none of Group 2’s members had the drive to complete the mission quickly. They were barely let out during the three months of training, treating their final task as a small vacation.

Group 2 were deep in the Slums, passing by multiple street rats and ‘sleeping’ people; nobody knew if they were alive or not. Even so, they continued forward, chatting as if they were best friends going to a restaurant or shopping.

“Slum Ripper? What kind of name is that? Especially since he doesn’t attack any adults, so shouldn’t he go by the name of ‘Coward Killer’?” AJ Asked.

“Coward Killer sounds like he kills cowards and not that he’s a coward,” Saim retorted. “An accurate