Bloody Bandits...

The heavy iron sword hits the human woman once more, slicing through her flesh like butter as the attacking bandit pushes her to the forest floor. Lucy was a kind woman known in the small local village. But she was no fighter, just a simple farmer who was carrying home some of her edible harvest in her basket. Sadly, the bandit camp nearby was running low on food. She cries out in pain, having lost a large amount of blood, all because she refused to hand over what little she had.
“Please! Y- You can take everything- just- please!... l- let me live,” Lucy pleads weakly, grasping her side where another large gash was made by the blade. The bandit stands before her, lifting his sword so the tip rests under her chin, forcing her to look up. A raven takes off from the tree above her, squawking as it does so.
“You will be an example. An example to all of the others in your petty little town,” the low-ranking bandit begins to monologue, as they often do, thinking it makes them seem powerful. “An example of who really controls this place. Not you. Not your town. Us. And you are just the start.” The wicked being grins as he presses the weapon harder up into her chin, breaking the skin.

In another part of the forest, about half a mile away, James is having a peaceful walk among the trees. Unlike the other two, James is not human. He’s a halfling, and a very small one at that, only standing at 2’6. His hair is a soft blonde, and he has pointed ears with exceptional hearing akin to an elf. His attire is most interesting, being a pleasantly deep green cloak, almost like the stereotypical cloak of a mage. It flows in the breeze behind him as he walks. Partway through stepping over a branch, his ear twitches as he hears something familiar. The raven from before squawks again, landing on a branch near James.
“Remmy! There you are,” the man calls, stopping and looking at them. “I was wondering where you got to. Is everything alright? You seem panicked.” There is a long moment of silence as the Raven, suitably called Remmy, answers telepathically. It’s James’s familiar, meaning the two can talk telepathically as long as they can see each other. Speaking of James, his expression changes to a much more serious one.
“Is she alive?” The bird nods. James reaches under his cloak, taking the dagger he carries from its hilt. “Let’s go.”

Lucy hisses as the blade causes her to bleed even more, tears streaming down her face from both fear and pain. She can feel herself succumbing to blood loss. There’s no chance she could make it back to the village even if the bandit backed off. Realising this, she accepts her fate as she looks down at the bloodied grass, defeated.
“No last words?” The bandit mocks with an evil smirk. “So be it-”
“Hey!” A harsh voice calls from behind, cutting him off. The bandit stands fully, turning around to see James glaring up at him from a little ways away; Remmy sits on his shoulder. James narrows his gaze before speaking in a low and threatening tone. “Leave. Now. Or face the consequences.”
“What?” The bandit questions, laughing at James. From his perspective, James might as well be a child, a very young one due to his size. “And exactly what is a child like you going to do?” James feels an intense anger in his chest, and it gets exponentially stronger at that comment. The small man steps forward.
“So be it.” James takes his free hand, pointing an open palm to the ground as his eyes start to glow. A small, translucent blue barrier, circular in area, quickly forms, trapping everyone who’s within. Remmy flies from his shoulder, landing in the grass next to Lucy, who is just watching, speechless and very close to passing out. Looking around, the bandit stands his ground, not phased. “Let us dance.”

The bandit is the first to strike, lunging forward and swinging his sword at James’s neck. James quickly rolled forward and to the left slightly, rolling under the blade and behind the attacker, standing up and turning to face him. He puts a tense hand to the side, lifting it up as a couple of small pebbles rise from the ground, combining and very quickly growing in size. As the bandit turns, James thrusts his hand forward, throwing the large stone at him and at the same time jumping towards him. The other quickly reacts, deflecting the stone with his sword, but he’s not fast enough to move out of the halfling’s way as he gets stabbed in the shin. James tests his luck, sending a strong electric current through his hand and into the blade of his dagger, causing the bandit to scream from pain momentarily before he kicks forward, knocking James away. However, the kick made the dagger being held in his leg exit violently, causing massive damage to the limb.

James tumbles to the ground, winded for a second, blood splattered on his face. Getting kicked isn’t fun.
“That all you got?!” The bandit taunts, dashing over, lifting his sword above his head and gripping it with both hands. He yells as he throws the weapon down. James quickly puts a foot on the ground, throwing himself to the side, but the sword catches one of his legs, creating a deep cut in it before it digs into the grass below where he lay. He winces from the pain as he looks over, seeing the large blade stuck in the ground. Before the other can pull it out, James stretches a hand towards it, causing grass and vines to grow quickly, wrapping around and trapping the sword. The bandit drops it as the flora climbs up the handle, and the weapon is soon completely covered by thick vines holding it to the ground. James takes advantage of the other being distracted as he forces himself to a stand, limping and damaged from the hard kick. He rolls forward, standing behind and to the left of the bandit. He raises his hand, casting a spell of some kind.

Seeing his trusty sword get trapped by flora that would take too long to cut through, the bandit looks to his right, seeing James standing there, looking directly at him.
“Fucking mage. Your kind are a disgrace!” he shouts, running over and going to kick the mage in the side, much harder than last time. James doesn't react, simply looking directly at him. The attacker lifts his foot, putting all his weight on his other leg. As his foot contacts James, though, it just phases through, showing the man to be an illusion! Before he can react, however, the real James runs from behind him, taking his dagger and running a strong electric current through it, plunging it into the back of the man’s supporting knee, hitting the back of the kneecap and destroying everything behind it. The bandit screams in pain as he collapses to the ground, landing on his side with the dagger still in his knee. James left it there.

The halfling quickly calls nature to his aid once more, summoning thicker vines from the ground and commanding them to wrap around the downed bandit. Three vines appear, one snaking around his legs and the other two around his waist. He starts fighting, but the vines keep a tight hold for now. James pants in quite a lot of pain as he limps forward, standing in front of the bandit.
“Vermin. That’s all you are, nothing more.” he hisses, raising his hands as he charges a larger spell. Traces of fire form between his hands, with small electric sparks inside them. This soon grows into a sparking fireball, getting larger the longer James holds it. The man also starts to float, slowly rising from his feet and a few inches above the ground. “Any last words?”
"Your mother is a fucking witch." The bandit coughs.
“Was.” James corrects before releasing the ball of lightning and flames. As he throws it at the man, James gets pushed back and up, outside of the blast range as he floats higher in the sky. The ball hits the ground between the man’s chin and chest, exploding and releasing a shockwave of electricity and fire, both hitting the man and draining any indication of life left in him. The shockwave impacts the barrier James made at the beginning, destroying it but not being strong enough to pass through.

James lowers himself to the ground, stumbling as his leg fails to take his weight. His torso hurts like hell from being kicked, and his leg’s cut is bleeding. But he couldn’t care less right now as he goes over to Lucy and Remmy, who are both somehow still conscious, though Lucy is hanging on by a thread, looking down.
“Hey! Hey- can you hear me?” James asks in a tone of urgency, going to stand in front of her. The two are roughly the same height, with Lucy being sat down against a tree and James standing. The woman looks up, struggling to focus on him.
“P- Please… don’t h- hurt me…” she pleads, seeing the mage as a threat.
“I’m not going to! You’ll be alright. Just hold still for me.” The halfling takes Lucy’s hand, closing his eyes as he starts speaking quietly in a language unrecognisable. His hand starts to glow white, and Lucy can feel her energy returning. Her wounds start to heal as white streaks of magic clean and replenish her blood, and her body rapidly closes the open wounds. After a few minutes, James opens his eyes again, letting go of her hand. “There. How do you feel?”
“I… I- I’m… a- alive? I’m alive! Thank the gods, I didn’t think I’d ever live. I- I can’t thank you enough!” James just smiles at the woman, looking at the bird as it flies back to his shoulder.
“You should thank Remmy here. He found you,” he says softly, casting a much weaker healing spell on himself, stopping his leg from bleeding. “I’m James. James Clark. This little bugger is my familiar, Remmy.” The woman seems a little confused as she thinks.

“James Clark? A- As in… The wicked elven druid J- James?” She sounds scared, like the man’s name is known. Though in response, James just rolls his eyes.
“For gods’ sake- I’m not an elf!” He calls, “And those stories are all from one author. An author I annoyed and who decided to get payback by making everyone else betray me by writing those damned books!” James sighs, shaking his head. “But yes, by purely name alone, I am that James.” His tone is venomous and angry. Not at lucy, just in general. Lucy is just silent, her fear replaced by empathy.
“I’m sorry I… I had no idea. I only knew you from those stories. But… you don’t seem so bad. You saved my life, putting your own at risk. Thank you,” Lucy says honestly. The mage can’t help but smile, nodding.
“It was nothing. Go, before anyone else comes. I’m sure the villagers are worried about you.” Lucy nods, standing up and going to pick up her basket and its contents from the ground.
“A- are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“Oh I’ll be fine,” James says dismissively, enjoying the momentary friendly contact, not that he’d say that. “Run along”
“Alright,” Lucy says, going to walk off, basket in hand. She looks back, smiling. “Thank you again, James.”
“You’re welcome.” And with that Lucy walks off, leaving James and Remmy alone in the forest once more.