Mercenary Little Death Bringer Read Online Free PDF Page A

forward just as Favian drew
his sword from its sheath and slowed Ice. “Riders, six of them, are
moving fast this way.”
    Another elf perk I envied, extremely good
hearing. I kept my sword sheathed to appear as a delicate female
human being escorted by an elf. It was surprising how well that
tactic worked on dumb men. The riders appeared on the horizon line,
still barely visible to me, but in perfect sight for Favian. “Human
bandits. Be ready.”
    I nodded my head at him and then draped my
right leg over my horn so that I was essentially riding side saddle
instead of regular. Even though I was wearing pants, that wouldn’t
deter most men since putting women in pants was a common tactic to
make them appear less helpless, which helped us make me look more
helpless in the current situation.
    The bandits spotted us finally and charged
the horses forward to encircle us. They were all very hairy with
facial hair so thick that I couldn’t see any of their mouths. They
all wore dirty leather outfits that needed a soaking and then a
washing. I was sure they wouldn’t smell very good either, but I
didn’t try to find out, beginning to breathe through my nose as
they moved closer.
    The leader moved his horse closer to me and I
pulled on Fire’s reins to move her closer to Ice and Favian,
tucking my head down and widening my eyes as though I were scared
of him. Luckily my cloak hid my sword so he couldn’t see it on my
belt to realize I wasn’t scared of him or his hairiness.
    “Don’t be frightened pretty lady. We won’t
hurt you,” he said as he circled us. I thought he might be smiling,
but it was hard to tell if his mustache had moved upwards or
not.
    “Leave us be,” Favian said, “Or I shall be
forced to defend myself and the lady.”
    “One elf isn’t enough to take on six men,”
the leader said, “especially not a young elf such as you.”
    That was where they were wrong. I knew
Favian’s true strength and it frightened me sometimes. Never get on
an elf’s bad side or you won’t live to regret it.
    “Last warning,” Favian said and then
smiled.
    “We’re going to wipe that smile right off
your face,” another of the bandits said angrily. Was that a frown
or was his beard just particularly droopy?
    The leader reached out towards me to try to
grab me from my saddle and as soon as his arm was within reach I
grabbed it and jerked him towards me, pulling him from his saddle.
I shrieked as though shocked and scared at what had happened and
then the fight began. Favian killed two men instantly with his
throwing knives in their throats before they could even draw their
swords and then he moved towards the other three.
    The leader pulled his sword just as I pulled
mine and then he came at me. He must have realized I wasn’t
completely defenseless or he wouldn’t be attacking me. I parried
his blow and then stabbed him with one of my knives. “Not all of us
are damsels in distress,” I whispered before yanking my knife
out.
    He raised his sword to strike me and I
plunged mine into his belly. He gargled in pain and then fell to
the ground dead. I was right, they did stink. I turned just in time
to duck a punch by one of the other bandits and caught a whiff of
his stench which made me gag a moment before swinging at his face
with my fist. Favian finished with the bandit he was fighting and
turned to me. “Need help?” he asked.
    I punched the bandit in his face and then
blocked his return punch. “No, I’m fine,” I said as I hit him in
the throat with my hand. He stumbled backwards gasping for air and
then pulled a knife from his belt. I moved to pull mine, but Favian
had already thrown one of his into the man’s throat, ending his
life. I turned and frowned at him. “I was fine.”
    He ignored me, hopping off of Ice’s back to
retrieve his knives. “You were moving too slow. He could have
stabbed you before you got your knife out.”
    “If you don’t let me protect myself I won’t
learn,” I