<span style="font-family:Raleway">The sudden appearance of flames not only startled the bandits, but it managed to startle Emberline as well, throwing off her swordplay for a single second and earning her a scratch down the side of her torso as well. A scream echoed from her lungs although it was likely hard to hear over the screams of the men as they suddenly found daggers buried within their bodies as well. It took nearly all of her energy to remain on her feet and she barely managed to open her eyes in time to see the man directly in front of her crumple to the ground. <br/>
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At first, it was hard for Emberline to discern where the knives had come from, or where the flames had come from either, because there was simply too much else in front of her eyes for her mind to process. Three of the four bandits were heavily injured - and two quite possibly wouldn’t make it - although the one she’d knocked backwards first was definitely just shaken up quite heavily and still trying to gather his bearings. <br/>
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It seemed, though, that this was a group that didn’t know how to give up because even though they still had knives buried in their bodies, two shifted gears to charge a newcomer. It was actually the first time Emberline became aware of a newcomer at all and she watched him intently, unsure of whether his motives were good or bad for her own efforts here against the bandits. Quickly discovering that he was not only the source of the knives, but the source of the fire as well, Emberline found herself stepping a bit out of the way. The very way that he used magic wasn’t familiar to her at all and she thought she’d seen it all. <br/>
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Apparently she was wrong in that respect. <br/>
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There wasn’t much time for that to matter, though, because within a matter of seconds, nearly everyone was frozen, all staring at someone else involved in what had become quite a brawl. “They’re not stealing from me,” Emberline managed to say to him, correcting an error that really wasn’t all that important. Her arm reached forward and she gestured to the man who had been sitting at the front of the wagon. A stick had punctured his body somewhere within the tumble and he no longer seemed living. “They were stealing from him.” <br/>
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His death almost made it worse, though. <br/>
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The bandits - all four of them - looked as though they’d reached the end of whatever attempt they were making because two of them were struggling to breathe and a third was still recovering from the panic of being on fire. The fourth was the one who approached with both hands in the air. “Excuse me,” he shouted out to get the attention of both Emberline and Psy. “Apparently our move was a wrong one. We won’t take the books. Please let me collect them and go.” <br/>
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A huff of breath escaped Emberline’s throat. She really didn’t think it appropriate to let murderers go and he seemed to be making things far too easy for her to lack suspicion. <br/>
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“No.” Embeline objected firmly. “You murdered a man and two horses! You threatened our lives! You think that’s something we can just ignore!? No. You’re going to answer for your crimes!” The ferocity in her resolve was unmistakable. Emberline believed in justice. <br/>
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The minute she said it, though, marked their downfall. The four men suddenly melted… their bodies quite literally melted onto the dirt beneath their feet, and their lives didn’t exist anymore. Emberline was taken aback by the shock of something so sudden and she hesitantly took a step forward towards one of the now puddles of what was once a person. Right away, she knew it had to be a very powerful magic, but she didn’t want to believe it; Emberline was at a loss for words.</span>