With her helmet atop her head, her vision was hampered, but at least her noggin was safe. With her sword and shield in hand she stood with the villagers and militia who had the courage to fight. She made one final check of her armour. Her gauntlets were tight fitting. Her boots were strapped on well enough. Her chest piece was fastend. She had tied her helmet down with only a single knot of rope. She may after all, need to remove it in a hurry. Her father had designed it to allow her the best visibilty he could, but there was still blind spots at both sides. Hopefully however, with a line of allies at each side, she needn't worry about her sides.<br/><br/>It started quickly. They came pouring down towards the village, almost seemingly in slow motion. The traps delivered crippling injuries and in a few cases death to the charging bandits. Hopefully such things would give the villagers hope, seeing these bandits were only men and could be killed just as easily as any men. There were many more than she expected however. She'd seen and lived through bandit raids before. But it was never anything larger than say, twenty men. This seemed like a horde, billowing down towards the village, almost as a river ready to sweep it away.<br/><br/>Doubt began to fill her mind. How could these simple peasants fend off such an attack? Her hand began to shake softly. She'd had these nerves before.<br/><br/><i>"Just remember, courage is not the absence of fear, is being able to act in the presence of fear."</i>Her fathers voice rang in her ears. She remembered the stories well.<br/><br/>A villager to her side saw her shaking hand, being a little dim he asked: "Something the matter lass?"<br/><br/>To which Alex responded with confidence: "No, just a bit chilly is all."<br/><br/>As the wave of bandits hit the quivering line of villagers, Alex brought up her shield. It was just as much a weapon as her sword was. She crouched, and, using the crouching position, swung upwards with her shield. It smashed the poor fellow that had charged her across the chest, likely shattering a dozen or so ribs. Her flew back a good foot or two before crashing into the ground wheezing in pain. The next man that came at her felt the sting of her long sword, as she brought it up to meet her shield, slicing diagonally across his stomach. The third chap was quicker than the others, forcing Alex to throw her weight down to avoid a sweeping horizontal strike to the head. As she went down, she brought the rim of her shield to meet the fiends stomach, needless to say, he was done.<br/><br/>Despite quickly dispatching three of the enemy number, the battle was looking iffy. Many others were not faring so well, the defensive line was failing quickly. She couldn't risk pushing forward to relieve the pressure, it was unlikely that any would come to join her and she'd be quickly surrounded and killed. Instead she held her ground, trying to assist those around her. She made herself a target of course. Being the 'best dressed' of the lot, many bandits singled her out. A few times she seemed to be in a spot of bother, when a pitch fork or a hammer would come to her aid, felling a bandit.<br/><br/>"For Greenvale! For our families!" she would occasionally yell. Of course her family was not here but she felt it might help!<br/><br/>"Fight with blood! Fight with steel! Die with honor never yield! Fearless hearts! Filled with pride! Into glory we shall ride!" She was sure she was recycling someone elses material, but she thought it sounded alright.<br/><br/>Regardless of her sometimes nonsensical bellowing, she tried to prioritize protecting the villagers.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>