[ IP ] The Green Cloak .

3 
 
 Kirov knelt behind a tree, signaling his companions, Tyd and Zekk, to find cover also. The forest they had been searching was noisy with animals and insects. It was enough to cover their careful footsteps, but not enough to mask the voices nearby. The group crept silently through the brush until they got within sight of some fallen trees being used as benches for several men while others stood leaning against trees or pacing. They all wore raggedy clothes with mismatched leather armor. They carried dull looking short swords and a couple had crossbows. All together there appeared to be ten of them. They didn ’ t look like much of a challenge outside of the number advantage. Except for one near the middle of the group with a green cloak and a pair of sharp steel axes. This was their target. 
 
 
 They had been hunting this man for a week now. The town they were last in had a bounty for him. His gang had been responsible for an attack on a school in which they had murdered a teacher and two students. This group had been carrying out similar attacks on seemingly random people in the same region and nobody seemed to know why, only that the man with the green cloak was always spotted in the same area that the attacks occurred. 
 
 
 Kirov motioned for Tyd to circle around to the left of their current position, Zekk went with him. Kirov knew he could rely on Tyd to handle himself but Zekk was new to their group and inexperienced. Tyd had tried to teach him to shoot a bow but Zekk didn ’ t take to it very well. He did better with a sword but one day Tyd got the idea to give him a long slender tree branch that resembled the shape and weight of the broomstick he used to use at his last job. That seemed to work the best, so they ’ d crafted him a decent wooden staff and had been giving him lessons when possible. He hadn ’ t had any real fights yet, though, and a wooden staff wouldn ’ t hold up well against iron or steel, so for now he stuck with Tyd. 
 
 
 Ten versus three wasn ’ t the worst odds they ’ d faced, but they would have to worry about keeping an eye on Zekk and make sure their target didn ’ t slip away while they fought. Kirov also wasn ’ t entirely keen on killing the man just yet. He wanted to figure out what he could about the reasoning behind the attacks, as well as making sure he actually had the right guy. They had a drawing and he matched every description, but no one had actually seen this guy do anything wrong, just always happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 
 
 
 Kirov decided it would only be fair to attempt diplomacy first. So he drew his sword from its sheath and gripped it backhanded, pointing towards the ground in as non-threatening a manner as possible. Then he stood up and walked into view of the men. 
 
 
 It took a moment for them to realize he wasn ’ t one of them, but as soon as they did, most rose to their feet and grabbed their weapons. 
 
 
 “ Hi ”, Kirov greeted, holding up the bounty notice with Mr. Green Cloak ’ s drawn face on it, “ I ’ m here to discuss this bounty ”. 
 
 
 Most of them looked to Green Cloak, who simply stared at Kirov with a very neutral expression. Bored, almost. Then the two men closest to Kirov lifted their swords and started walking towards him in a rudely aggressive manner. As soon as they got within reach, the one on the left stabbed at Kirov ’ s chest, but Kirov dropped to a crouch, rotated and swept the man ’ s legs with his own, causing him to fall. Instead of stopping himself, Kirov used his momentum to continue his twirl while rising and dragging his sword across the second man ’ s stomach, where he lacked armor. The man hunched over and fell forward as Kirov still didn ’ t stop and continued his turn a full 360 degrees until he faced the man on the left again, still on the ground, and brought his sword straight down through his armor and into his chest. Then, Kirov put a foot on his chest as leverage and pulled his sword out. He looked up at the remaining eight men. 
 
 
 “ Next. ” 
 
 
 Green Cloak didn ’ t look bored anymore. He rose and began backing away as the rest of his men advanced on Kirov. One of them, wielding a crossbow, was hit by an arrow from the left as Tyd began to fire. Kirov used the distraction to run towards the men who were starting to get very confused. Four of them split off to go deal with the new threat while three remained. 
 
 
 Kirov reached the closest man before he was ready and knocked his blade aside, then used his shoulder to shove him backwards onto the ground. Kirov then began dueling with the two standing men, while trying to keep an eye on Tyd and Zekk. 
 
 
 Tyd got two more arrows off before they he had to drop his bow and draw both of his daggers from his belt. Unfortunately, his last shot was fired in haste and went wide, so there were still three enemies to deal with. As the first approached, he ducked under the predictable horizontal swing and came up shoving a dagger into the man ’ s stomach. Tyd then did a 180 and used his other dagger to block a vertical strike from the second attacker. Zekk was dancing around with the third enemy, just trying to avoid getting hit. 
 
 
 Kirov struck down one of his two attackers and was working on the remaining one when the one he had knocked down started to get back up. Kirov made a risky move, breaking off from his current fight, leaping over to the rising man, and striking his head with his boot, knocking him out. He turned back to his initial opponent only to find himself spun around again as he was hit with a bolt in the shoulder and fell to the ground. His opponent had grabbed the second crossbow off his dead buddy and had gotten a shot off. Kirov lifted his sword and chucked it blade-first at the man, striking him him in the leg and causing him to fall to his knees. Kirov got up and rushed to him, shoving him to the ground and throwing punches at his face until he stopped struggling. Then he retrieved his sword and looked back towards Tyd. 
 
 
 Tyd had finished off his two attackers but Zekk was still fending off his. The two seemed oblivious to everything else around them and as they fought, Tyd simply walked up behind Zekk ’ s opponent, grabbed him and slashed his throat open. Zekk stood breathing hard, just staring down at the man in shock, watching him die. Tyd grabbed Zekk and started pulling him over to Kirov. 
 
 
 Kirov continued scanning the area, but Green Cloak had fled. They began searching the dead men for anything information they could find. Eventually, Kirov remembered the one guy he knocked out that was still alive and wandered over to him. They managed to wake him up with a bit of force. 
 
 
 “ Hi, ” Kirov greeted the man, “ let ’ s try this again. I want to know where your leader is headed. ” 
 
 
 “ Fuck off. ” 
 
 
 “ Perhaps he just doesn ’ t understand the situation? ” Tyd offered. 
 
 
 The man was still lying down, with Kirov blocking his view, so he sat him up and let him look around. “ So where is he going? ” 
 
 
 “ I don ’ t know. Honestly, we were just hired for protection. I don ’ t even know the guy ’ s name, just that he ’ s been hiring other local crews for various jobs. We got protection detail. It was just a job. ” 
 
 
 Kirov looked up at Tyd for a long moment, then Tyd nodded back, “ I believe him. ” 
 
 
 “ Agreed. Very unfortunate for us. ” 
 
 
 “ So look, I ’ m not involved in whatever you guys have against that guy, it was just a job. I just needed the money. I wont tell anyone I even saw you guys. Just let me go, please. ” 
 
 
 Kirov sighed and held out his hand to Tyd. Tyd dropped one of his daggers into his palm. 
 
 
 “ No, no, no, please, I wont say anything I swear, pl -- ” 
 
 
 His voice cut out as Kirov plunged the dagger through his chest into his heart. 
 
 
 “ Very unfortunate. ” 

