((Just an FYI, Markus, Trae, Name, and the three brainwashed bandits are all NPC's. Everyone has rights to them. So, let's move this scene and go on.
Hazard, if you like, you can grab a couple of those NPC's and move them, so you can participate in this scene. That's fine and dandy with me. Makes it easier on me too. :3 ))
"Hey!" The stranger caught both Vivian and the last bandit's attention, which was quite odd for her to understand for his tone of voice did not hold any authority above them. "Just- calm down. No magic-" he glanced at her with reserved patience, "-and no fighting." Again, taken back, Vivian was amazed that this man truly believed that a peaceful confrontation between the group was actually possible.
"No...what? This man just attacked my carriage, killed my driver and now my guard, and you expect me to..."
Obviously, Name didn't care about what anyone else was saying. Seeing an opportunity to strike while the stranger was preoccupied by the witch, he raised his sword and whipped it before the man, knocking the mace out of his weak hands and the pathetic helmet from his head. Now, his face was revealed - mature, but not weathered. Calm and collected, but not with years of death shrouding it with stress. This hero of the road was not a warrior, nor a swordsman. In fact, he didn't look like he's been in the sun long enough to tan.
Name chuckled harshly before Pieter, "This will be far too easy. Come on, mate! Where's the sport in it? If ya gonna die for the lady, why not put your back into it, so I'm not so bored!" Name raised his sword again and charged, aiming at Pieter's chest.
Vivian, still shocked in the reality of the man attempting to save both their hides, tried and tried with all her might to dig into their abductor's mind, to find something she could use against him. But, as he'd mentioned, this man held nothing within to torment him with; he held no fears. So, she did the only thing she knew she could do. Focusing on the three other bandits still balled up on the ground against their own personal demons, she pushed against their weak minds with a new confidence, an awakening of their egos and inner strengths. She was not a fighter, but they were. She held no weapons, but they did. She gave their monsters a new face - the face of Name. She gave them a renewed spirit of being a hero, a fighter worthy of honor, and a purpose to serve and protect the innocent ones facing the giant.
Without warning, one of the brainwashed bandits stood up strong and tall, pulling his blade from its home as he ran towards Name. With a maddening warcry, he jumped before the stranger and raised his sword to block the other. With a loud clash, Name was thrown back from the block, eyes wide with shock, "What in the hell do ya think ya doing, Monty? He's my fight, not yours!"
******
Markus ran down the road and stopped short when he heard Pieter's voice rise from the air. He tried to stop his friends and motioned for them to hide as well. "There's some sort of problem he's run into," he mumbled to the others as they all watched.
Trae immediately searched for anything on him he could use as a weapon, "We can't just sit here and watch this. We've got to help him."
"Ya, your right... We can be a distraction or something." Markus turned behind him to give the others his eyes. "If you have some fight in you, then let's get in there and do what we can to get Pieter and whoever else in need, out of there."