Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Raiding the Hideout

Praxis was up early the next morning, preparing himself for the day to come. He made good use of the sword that Zenais had loaned to him, running through an array of moves in anticipation of another hectic fight. Thankfully, most of his wounds had seemed to have healed since the fall of Argos, and he could count himself to be in good shape for the trial to follow.

And he wouldn’t be doing it alone either.

“You sure you don’t want me to give you a lesson on how to wield that thing?” teased Zenais as she grabbed her shield. “It’s not like the one between your legs, I can assure you that.”

“You say that like you have common knowledge of how to work what’s between my legs,” shot Praxis. “Maybe I should let you demonstrate?”

Zenais snorted. “Fat chance of that. But good try though.”

“Can’t fault me for it, right?”

“No, I don’t think I can.”

They finished getting ready for the raid and started to move while the sun was still coming up. They had to be extra careful this morning, seeing as they were still on the same mountain as the rest of the Band. Praxis wasn’t sure at what time the individual bands left to do their daily raiding but he didn’t want to run into them before they got a chance to get into position.

“Slow but surely,” whispered Zenais as they trudged along. “With any luck, we’ll stay hidden until it’s time to launch our attack.”

“Hopefully we can stay hidden even after that,” muttered Praxis. “We’re going to need all the help we can get with the odds against us.”

Zenais looked back at him. “I hope you’re not frightened. Do you need a hug?”

Praxis growled at her, which made her giggle.

“I quite enjoy getting you all riled up,” she replied. “I can see why Lysandra likes you.”

“So maybe there’s hope for you yet is what you’re saying?”

Zenais scoffed. “Keep dreaming.”

They made their way to the same position they used the prior evening, the one that overlooked the main camp of the Band. As it turned out, they arrived just in time.

“Look at that,” whispered Praxis. “The individual bands are preparing to go out for the day.”

They both watched as three separate bands formed up, gathered their weapons, and made for the singular causeway that led down the rest of the mountain. If Praxis hoped the hideout would be deserted after they departed, he was soon mistaken.

“I’m counting ten men that are left behind,” replied Zenais. “Including the king. It looks like two sentries near the causeway and seven others. None but the sentries look too concerned about anything right now.”

“I think we can give them a reason to be concerned, don’t you?”

Zenais grinned. “I think so too.”

“Let’s give the individual bands time to get far enough away though. I don’t want to launch our attack and have to worry about the noise carrying down the mountain to them.”

“Good idea,” replied Zenais. “Just a little bit longer then.”

“In the meantime, let’s make sure we’re set on our plan,” continued Praxis as he pointed to the two sentries near the causeway. “Our first priority is getting those two dispatched as quietly as possible. Otherwise, they’ll raise the alarm for everyone left behind.”

Zenais poked her head out to look at the terrain. “Not a lot of room to work with there, Praxis. We can’t exactly sneak up behind those two.”

“It’s the key to making all this work though,” he replied. “The terrain between our current position is too steep to allow us to drop in behind them. We have to go in through the front door. We just can’t be noisy.”

Zenais grunted. “You make it sound so easy.”

Praxis grinned at her. “I can give you a hug if you’re frightened.”

“Oh, piss off.”

“That’s what I thought.”

They spent another few minutes checking out their surroundings before Zenais had an idea.

“I know what we can do,” she said, pulling her armor off temporarily. “Come on, let’s head down to the causeway because I need you to find a position to hide.”

Praxis looked confused. “You need me to hide?”

Zenais grinned. “Oh, yeah!”

He didn’t figure out what she meant until they got down to the causeway. They were still a good distance from the sentries and Praxis found a spot against the wall that jutted out far enough to offer protection.

That was when he figured out Zenais’ plan.

Pulling her chiton off her shoulders, Zenais hid her weapons and started walking toward the sentries.

“Zenais, what the fuck are you doing?” hissed Praxis.

“Just be ready!” she retorted as she kept walking.

Praxis inched around the corner so he could watch what was going on. Soon enough, he watched the topless, buxom blonde begin to wave at the sentries. She then started to beckon them forward, all the while exposing more and more skin.

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They might have been sentries but they were still men. Men who were confronted by a very desirable woman. They came forward, following Zenais as she made her way back past Praxis’ position.

Now that he understood what she was doing, he waited until both sentries walked past him. He snuck up behind the rear one, covered his mouth and slit his throat quietly without the main one in the lead so much as noticing.

Dispatching the other man was almost too easy at that point. He went without a sound too.

Praxis almost found it comical. Zenais gave him a weird look as she was pulling up her chiton.

“What’s so funny?”

“At least these two died happy,” joked Praxis. “The last thing they saw in life were your tits. I can’t imagine going out a better way.”

Zenais smirked. “They’re not the first or the last to go out like that. These tits are just as much a weapon as my sword.”

“I don’t doubt it,” replied Praxis, sparing another glance at her chest. “Shall we then?”

“Lead the way, Achilles.”

With the sentries now gone, it was easy for them to sneak into the hideout without being noticed. Both of them huddled behind a giant rock that gave them cover from the others but it also put them within striking range of their next two targets.

These two bandits were sitting together, and they were passing around a cup of wine.

“You take one and I’ll take one?” whispered Praxis. “Are you good with that?”

Zenais scooped out the situation and nodded. “I’ll take the one with the beard.”

“Figured you’d say that. He’s the easier target,” growled Praxis.

That was true enough. The bearded man’s back was completely to them, making any approach stealthy. The other man was positioned on an angle, which meant that extra care would be needed to avoid being seen.

“Of course he’s the easier target,” said Zenais, smiling at him. “You got the easy task with the last two so now it’s my turn.”

“Easy task? I had to kill both of them!”

“Yeah, but you still got to see my tits in the process,” said a coy Zenais.

“Fair enough. Let’s move!”

They darted out of their hiding spots and approached the unsuspecting men. Even with the short distance between the two targets, they had to move in sync to ensure neither of them saw their attackers, which meant that Zenais had to hold back until Praxis was ready. Once he was there though, they both slit the throats of their bandits at the same moment, letting out a fountain of blood.

“Four down, six to go,” said Zenais, wiping her blade against the dirty chiton of one of the bandits. “Let’s keep moving.”

Before Praxis could say anything, an unsuspecting bandit stumbled on the position they were now in. He took a look at Praxis and Zenais and then to the dead bandits before drawing his sword.

“Horn of Hades, we have company!” he barked to the rest of the hideout.

“So much for a stealthy approach,” said Praxis as he squared off with the bandit. “I guess we have to do this the old-fashioned way!”

Zenais moved closer to the opening. “I always preferred it that way anyway!”

The unsuspecting bandit was soon joined by a few more of his friends until suddenly it was five on two. Two of the men went for Zenais while the other three lunged at Praxis, preventing him from striking. They tried to surround him as well, keeping him pressed on three sides while jabbing at him with their swords.

“Take them alive!” barked the king from behind his men. “Don’t kill them whatever you do!”

His yell had one unexpected result though. It distracted his men long enough for Praxis to kill one of the three bandits pressing him, plunging his sword into the man’s open side. The bandit crumbled to the ground as Praxis pulled his sword free.

Unfortunately for Praxis, his luck was Zenais’ misfortune. He heard a feminine cry erupt from her side, and one glance over in her direction told him all that he needed to know.

Zenais was still alive but completely disarmed and lying on the ground. One of the bandits kicked her sword away before robbing her of her shield.

“Looks like we’re going to have some fun tonight, men!” roared the king as another man switched over to Praxis. “Take this one alive too!”

Once again, it was three on one and Praxis was forced steadily back. There was no chance of reaching Zenais at this point. The last remaining man on her side was now using some rope to restrain her while she was pulled away, no doubt to join Lysandra.

Back to square one, Praxis couldn’t get the opening he needed. He waved and slashed his sword, never finding the right target before he had to bounce backward to protect himself.

Finally, the king seemed to realize Praxis’ weakness. He wasted no time in grabbing Zenais, holding up her semi-conscious form and pressing a small dagger against her throat.

“Your fight is over,” barked the king. “Drop your weapon now or I’ll cut her throat. If you keep fighting, I’ll not only kill her but the pretty redhead too. That’s what you’re really after, aren’t you? My men told me about you. You were the one traveling with both women. You don’t want to watch them die today, do you?”

That took a lot of the fight out of Praxis. The thought of losing Lysandra was unbearable and he didn’t want Zenais’ fate on his hands either. He stopped trying to attack and moved to just a defensive posture.

“Give it up and I’ll let them live,” continued the king. “What other choice do you have? Unless you want to watch them get passed around my entire Band, you better surrender now.”

That was the final straw for Praxis. With a heavy sigh, he dropped his sword, ready for whatever fate would give him now.

“That’s what I thought,” said the king triumphantly as he removed the blade from Zenais’ throat. “Tie him up too. Let’s make our new friends feel welcome.”

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