Predator becomes Prey, a Bandits short perspective (contest writing)

The winter had been harsher than ever, more so in the arctic of Pyrria. When you have to survive you do what you can, when food is gone and your starving you look to your friend and they look to you and immediately instincts kick in, "Food!" And then the killer has grief that he ate his only friend.

It was like that for the lot of you, surviving in a dingy frozen cave away from city guards, bounty hunters and worst of all, those damn beasts that appeared out of nowhere. Yourself, for one was not scared but angry, angry at the fact our camp was tore up from the ground, angry at the fact you had been so careful as to pick which caravans to ambush, angry because everything you did was in vain. You couldn't help but punch the cave wall next to me, you could hear the knuckles in your fist crack against it. How could you have let this happen? How could you have lead my group to their deaths? Simple, it just happened.

Nearly a month before all this trouble had started, you and your group were living well, and by living well it mean you were all so a few coins from cleaning your names from the bounties we had. You commanded a small band of raiders and bandits, but you was picky. You didn't just pick anyone, people who were smart, clever, durable and strong were picked, you never went for those idiots or petty thieves in the slums of a city. If they had come to ypu they would need to prove that they were capable of handling themselves and in groups.

The group were a clan so to say, divided into five other bands that inhabited a part of the land. Every month they would gather your bands gold and the five leaders would combine said gold and distribute it equally to each member. Your groups bitter rivalries and problems dissolved into companionship, you all had built camps for your own, and every other day you would ambush a group of settlers, a caravan, or even a merchant but never a patrol of soldiers or guards along the roads. That would certainly be a death wish, not that the band can't take them, but the fact if they disappear there would be many more searching in that area, you're area.

It was all lost when those monsters had hit the camp, a pair of large one-eyed creatures that were uglier than a decaying donkey. You killed one, the other thry had injured but not without most of the band of raiders dying. Out of the fourteen there were only five of you left, and those five were about to be three. You took the remaining group fled to a cave further north of the arctic, a colder and harsher environment, but better to die of the cold than get ripped apart, you thought at least.

"Skjore," A man called, pulling the attention from your thoughts to the situation at hand, "Furdan's fever has gone up drastically and Bristle's bleeding has not stopped. I've tried everything but I cannot stop his fever."

That was Graim, he was an expert doctor who we picked up long ago. He, and the other three, were the only survivors alive in that attack. Bristle was one of tue finest scouts but had a blade slice her arm deep from an accidental slash during that fight, cutting multiple veins in the process. Furdan was the animal expert, he knew every thing about all animals and was good with nature stuff, however he got sick after infesting a bit of that creatures saliva, mistaking it for water. There was Kohlvan, an untrustworthy bastard who was also our muscle, he fled the moment he saw those things.

"Where's Kohlvan? Wasn't he supposed to be with you?" You asked firmly to which the doctor twitched a little, either out of the cold or out of frustration.

"No, he said he was going to watch the entrance," He said bringing a torch down to Bristles side and trying to stitch her up, "He has been gone for maybe hours now, that blizzard has only gotten worse."

Bristle nearly flinched her arm but Graim grabbed it just as he put a stitch through her skin. She was in pain, her eyes were untrained and her head kept falling back. That could have been from the blood loss or simple she was tired. Graim then snapped his fingers, as if an idea had struck and you watched as he lifted the torch.

"I'll need you to hold her down for me, I'm going to cauterize her wound, try to close it up that way." Graim said to you.

You simply nodded and laid Bristle down on the cold floor, her eyes lazily looking up at me as you held her right arm down to the floor, your left knee trapping her left arm. She had a confused look then turned her head to see Graim holding a torch above her arm. Bristles eyes had shot wide and she struggled to break free, but she was too weak and tired to do so.

"Ready?" The doctor asked, to which you nodded. He quickly pressed the torch to Bristle's arm and you immediately went deaf with an ear piercing scream from the woman. You struggled to keep her in place, the pain seemingly causing her to use the last strength she had.

Bristle had stopped moving, ypu could still see her breathing but it looked like she was out cold. Ironic, considering the weather we were in. Cloudy with a chance of frostbite, sounds quite lovely. You stood up and looked to Graim who gave a small grin, inspecting the wound further, he began to wrap it in a old blood stained shirt. He then looked up as said to, "With that armor she has on plus the rags she slipped under in that town she'll be fine. As for Furdan... I don't know. That fever is kicking him in the groin right now, I don't have any medicines and the only thing keeping him from heating up more is this weather."

You and Graim looked over to the red haired man under a sheep-skin blanket, "Honestly he is going to die, maybe soon, perhaps later. If he dies it would be in his sleep most likely."

"Better than freezing to death, or bleeding out." You replied gesturing to your situation.

There was a massive crash at the entrance, something that sounded like a clad of armor falling through a glass window. You and Graim both whipped your heads around in attention, just in time for you to duck as a warhammer swung right above my head. If you weren't any quicker it would have smashed my head. You swiftly tackled a robed man to the ground, and digging in a pocket for a knife he took a swing at me from the ground, you simply caught his left arm in my own and trapped his right under your knee.

Ypu twisted with all my force and bent his arm backwards, hearing a small snap. That lasted for a split second before getting your face kicked by a steel boot, causing me to fall off the man and roll back to gain distance. You felt searing pain in my nose and also could feel your left brow beginning to swell already, you could feel your anger give rise, pulling out your broad sword and the dagger you wanted before.

Two men stood, the large bulky one wielding a mace with one hand while the other hung limp and another with a parma paired with a long sword. Both charged but the one with the sword dropped everything to hold onto one side of his neck. There was a throwing knife stuck in his neck, the hilt touching his skin, this caused the bulky man to turn and charge at Graim who stayed along the frozen wall. The man swung for Graims side to which the doctor rolled out of the way, ice an rock chips flying. You rushed him and stabbed your broad sword into his side, pressing the hilt to his body, forcing the blade deeper until it couldn't go anymore.

The adversary gave a slight gasp before slumping down against the wall, you pulled my sword from his body and produced sickening noise, like peeling a potato but it sounded much wetter. It disgusted you, but, it happens. Taking human life, its not something your very proud of at all but again it just happens. You looked over to Graim who was looking over Furdan, shaking his head as he moved the blanket up over the sick mans head.

Graim looked to Bristle who was still unconscious, and shook his head again. He turned his attention to you, now wrapping his left forearm in a dingy rag. Graim looked tired, he didn't care for the cloaked men we just killed, he seemed distraught about the whole situation with the sick and injured. You walked over and uncovered the bulky mans hood, revealing a dirty old coot, now dead with his eyes still open in shock. It was as if he had been frozen, his expression wasn't pained but simply that, shocked. They had been a hazel green, his hair being a darker shade of brown with a few scars and wrinkles here and there. He was aged for sure.

"Furdan was killed," Graim finally spoke as he watched you move to the next corpse, "I guess the smaller one stabbed him. Would make sense I guess, kill the sleeping before they can wake up."

You pulled back the hood of the second man who had his eyes opened as well, the knife stuck in his neck. He looked the exact same as the first, brothers perhaps? You didn't even bother checking for valuables or even medicine by chance however you would most likely give that goal to Graim.

"May his soul rest in peace," You say, "For now, loot these bodies, of we can harvest their clothes and such we can keep warm, possibly find food and even an herb or too... I'm going to take a quick nap."

"With these bodies?! Are you sure?!" Graim was appalled to say the least.

"Yes, you and Kohlvan can drag them outside when he gets back, or you can do it... I'm too tired. You can leave them here for now." You pressed against the rocky and frozen wall, sliding down it. It was getting harder to just stay awake, several days of no sleep can do that to you, even an hours rest isn't enough, "Wake me up when something happens."

You simply saw Graim nod, the sound of equipment changing around as he began to remove the belongings of the bodies. You simply shut my eyes as the noise continued, and soon that drowned out. You was cold, colder than you had ever been. You pictured a bed in your mind, a warm fireplace with blankets on me. A warm room, toasty and perfect, you pictured that until you dozed off. Hopefully today's worries would lessen tomorrow, and perhaps all of you would make it out safely.

Enjoyment/Fun: 70
Quality: 68
Originality: 79

Subtotal: 217
Contest award: 300
Final total: 517 awarded to Attor

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