With the foliage density increasing and the increasing difficulty of traversing up the path, many of the knights in the column, including Narcissa, were getting ready to dismount. After that, according to the captain’s plan, they would split off the scouting party to search up ahead. That plan had been barely formalized when it was shattered; just before the group was going to dismount en masse, the wreckage of a small cart came into view, accompanied by a dead horse and a bloodied body alongside. Narcissa remained alert as she took the opportunity to dismount, but she wasn’t too concerned. If it was a man simply left for dead, they would just move on. If it was an ambush, they could easily fight it off. Either way, it was prudent to establish a small perimeter around the area before inspecting the wreckage, and Narcissa was about to open her mouth to give an order to that effect, the idea so obvious to her that she didn’t think the Knight Captain needed to deign herself with it.
That was, until the young captain literally jumped from her horse and sprinted up to the man, walking right into what was an obvious ambush after all. “Idiotic!” She muttered, watching as Fanilly barely dodge a volley of arrows and then a engage with a concealed bandit. The call to arms was sloppy, with no plan, but in a proper order like the Iron Rose, a well-trained group of knights didn’t need one to effectively respond and counter an ambush. Hastily adjusting her equipment as more bandits emerged from the forest, Narcissa quickly rushed forward with spear and shield to reform the van around the captain.
A man armed with sword and buckler got in her way before that objective could be achieved, but immediately sensing his disadvantage against the reach of Narcissa’s weapon, attempted to disengage. Not giving him the chance to run, she immediately jabbed for neck but was blocked by his shield. The bandit, forced back into an engagement, swiped with his sword, but bounced harmlessly off her kite-shield, and a second thrust downwards caught the bandit in his foot, causing him to stumble to the ground with a yell of pain. Not hesitating, she swung her spear down once more with another jab, delivering the coup de grace before charging in again.
One of the other noble knights, a Larette, had somehow made it ahead of her, rallying for a spear push. In a split-second decision, she agreed the decision was expedient, and pushed in towards her. “Larette. I’ll cover your rear.” Announcing her intentions, she engaged another bandit just off to her side, deflecting an axe before replying in kind with a skewer to the torso, only to be immediately engaged by another one immediately afterwards...
The battlefield was quickly getting messy, but Narcissa still remained fully confident of their superiority. She only had to take one look at the fear on their faces when they realized they were being engaged by knights.