<div class="floatright">(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/9b/80/989b802fc7d36ab6eb434cca729b5bd2.jpg)</div><br/>“Alright,” Ares confirmed with a nod of his head, “with Vara and Leofwine ahead and call signs in case of trouble, we should have our front covered. You two can keep an ambush busy long enough for us to catch up. I’d advise against going much further than three-hundred feet from us. Unless you just passed a bend in the road, we can keep a line of sight with you two at all times and reach you relatively fast.”<br/><br/>The cleric turned his attention to the high elf wizard, and chuckled, “Don’t worry about my safety, Miss. I’ll only be a half a dozen feet behind you at most. It’s more like if something does approach us from behind, I’ll be likely to notice it in time and hopefully react before even taking a hit. You can be sure that I’ll let you know when I’m under attack. If you’d be so kind to assist me, then Selise can keep our donkey from getting spooked and running off with our supplies. Just like Vara and Leofwine, we should be able to hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Who knows, there might not even be anything left for them.”<br/><br/>He gave the ladies other words some thought before making up his mind about them. “Mm, you’re right. The bandit leader could literally be anyone. We don’t have the faintest clue who he is. Before we kill any of those scoundrels, we might want to make sure that we don’t accidentally kill the wrong one and lower our reward with two-hundred gold pieces. That’d be a real shame. We should see about capturing one of those bastards first and interrogate him to find out more about their leader. Maybe he has a specific call sign, like a facial tattoo or flaming red hair, something that we can easily recognize him by.”<br/><br/>Ares pulled his holy symbol for all to see from his shirt. It hung around his neck with a chain and if there was any doubt about his status as a cleric, then that would take it away. He lifted up his shield in his right arm, preferring to wield his rapier with his left hand instead of his right. It was just one of those oddities that made him the man he was.<br/><br/>“I think we’ve taken care of all necessities,” the old man grumbled. “Shall we get going? Leofwine and Vara, feel free to take point whenever you’re ready. I’ll accompany the ladies and the donkey. We should try to cover as much distance as possible before darkness falls. With some luck, we’ll reach the first bandits sometime tomorrow. Remember, no killing until we got to interrogate them and find out who their leader is and what he<em>or she</em>looks like. They wouldn’t pay us a lot of money if this was easy, so watch each other’s back and pay attention to your surroundings. Being taken off guard gets you killed faster than a rat below a cat’s paw. Err, sorry Squeakers, no offense intended.”<br/><br/>Ares casted Light on his holy symbol, making it shine with a brilliant golden light.<br/><br/>He cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and spread his arms wide, as he said, “Tempus protect us! May You keep us safe in battles to come and conflicts to fight. May we act as the edge of Your battle axe to exterminate the vermin that threatens our families and the citizens of this fair town. May we show mercy to those who deserve it and a quick death to those who don’t, for You are the God of War and I am Your disciple.”<br/><br/>Ares undid the light on his holy symbol with a quick word and lowered his arms again. “Alright, that’s enough praying for now. Let’s get this show on the road.”<br/><br/>Ares was ready to head out and feeling pretty good about this mission. He was mostly just glad to have something to do other than getting his ass thrown out of church while he preached about Tempus. He had never been much of a preacher anyway. Even though he had calmed down in the last three years, killing came far more natural, almost as a second nature. Luckily enough for his opponents, however, he was no longer blinded with rage like he had been years ago on the battlefield. Instead, he found no more joy in the act of taking somebody’s life and had learned to show mercy when it was just.<br/>