Fire Emblem: A Quest for Glory

A blast of wind came from the tower, and Alexander sprang up in its wake. He sprinted for the stand of trees, his sword held low. He could make out dark shapes in the cover, at least one sprawling in the aftermath of the mages attack. Those standing were facing the towerAlexander headed for the nearest one.

These men were clearly not soldiers. Most loosed arrows at the tower, despite the distance, cover, and darkness making the odds of killing the mage quite low.

Alexander's target recognized him far too late. The man tried to drop his bow and draw a knife, a poor decision considering Alexander was barely two steps away. He hacked into the mans neck just as he hand reached the handle of his blade.

As that archer collapsed Alexander set his sights on the next one, a few paces away and currently fumbling with an arrow. Cut down another man or two, and they would break and flee, Alexander was sure. Alexander spun to face the unprepared bandit, when he caught eyes with another, cloaked man with shifty eyes and a smug grin on his face. And a notched bow pointed at his chest from 20 yards away.

Their boss, Alexander thought to himself as he desperately tried to twist away. Disciplined enough to remember the myrmidon rushing their position and not waste his time firing at an opponent too far away. Alexander reflected that perhaps he should have listened to the consistent warnings of his past bosses that his overconfidence would be the death of him as he felt the arrow slam into his shoulder blade. Not fatal at least. He collapsed to his hands and knees, and began half crawling, half dragging himself to the nearest tree. It was futile, he knew.

The bandits leader slowly walked after him, drawing another arrow from his quiver.

Alexander could see the tree. Large roots. Get around it. Get back to his feet.

The arrow was notched.

Then he'd turn and finish these archers.

The bow was drawn back.

Just then a powerful gust of wind knocked the bandit off his feet with a curse. Lucas's continued bombardment bought Alexander a few moments, which he used to get a tree between himself and the archers, and begin trying to painfully drag himself to his feet. He worked his way up, grabbing roots and then low branches to try and pull himself upright. Alexander didn't have much time. The archers that were still standing were beginning to gather their wits, and the mage couldn't throw spells forever. The one saving grace was that between the barrage of spells and Alexanders sudden intrusion, the archers were no longer watching the skies and the wyvern and manakete both would have free range.