"Whoa, Whoa!" the gruff voices of the men on horseback rang out, bringing their steeds to a halt a short distance from the carriage.

  Eleni gnervously at Cir, whispering, "What do you think they want?"

  Cir's brow furrowed as she replied in a hushed tone, "I'm not sure, but let's wait and see."

  Michalis had quietly slipped out of the carriage and taken cover in the nearby bushes, ready to ambush if the situation turned dire.

  Dimitra swiftly scaled a nearby tree, bow and quiver in hand, seg a high vantage point.

  The rest - Cir, Eleni, Nikoos, Vasiliki, and Vasileios - remained seated in the carriage, tense and alert, prepared to react to any developments.

  Thud!

  One of the men, a grizzled ahered individual, approached Dra his horse, dismounting in front of him.

  Draco eyed the man with a hint of displeasure, sensing the subtle disdain iranger's gaze.

  The man was medium armor, a neckce made of peared to be goblin-sized skulls ad his nebsp;

  He reeked of alcohol and piene, his accessories king as he moved.

  "Oi, brat, what business do you have here?" the man growled, his tone dripping with gruff pt.

  Drachtened his posture, meeting the man’s gaze unflingly.

  “We’re just travelers heading to the city oher side,” he replied, his tone calm and measured.

  It was difficult to dis whether these men were bandits or soldiers; their armor and equipment suggested the tter, yet their demeanor and as hi the former.

  The man turo his fellow horsemen, a wicked grin spreading across his weathered features.

  “Traveler’s, you say? A bunch of brats like you?” the man scoffed, the others joined in his ughter, their voices carrying a menag uone.

  Straightening, the man fixed Draco with a pierg gaze.

  “Well, if you want to pass through these parts, yoing to have to pay the toll. We trol these roads,” the man decred.

  Draco’s eyes narrowed. “So, you’re bandits then?” he asked in firmation.

  The man’s lips curled into a sinister grin as he stroked his scraggly beard. The man the out a booming ugh, his yellowed teeth on full dispy.

  “Haha, you cat fast, d. Say, you’re an odd-looking brat. Those horns and tail of yours, I bet they’d fetch a pretty penny,” the man said.

  His gaze soon shifting to the carriage, where Draco’s sisters sat, their beauty evident even from a distanbsp;

  Draarrowed his eyes at the man, his hand balled into a fist.

  He didn’t want to act yet until he firmed the exact level of strength the bandits possessed.

  His siblings in the carriage watched in disgust as the man’s turned his face, his gaze lingered on them, his expression twisting into one of lecherous i.

  The man’s eyes gleamed with a predatory hunger, and he leered at the girls, his voice dripping with vulgar suggestions.

  “Aye, those pretty sses of yours, they’d make fine additions to our, shall we say, ‘colle’. Why don’t you surrender peacefully, and we’ll make sure you all end up in good hands?” the man threatened, brandishing the sword on his waist.

  Draco’s blood boiled with rage at the man’s vulgar ents about his sisters.

  In a fsh, his arm transformed into a razor-sharp dragon’s cw, and with a speed that the bandits could barely follow, he sshed the man’s throat, sending him tumbling to the ground, his life’s blood spilling onto the snow-cround.

  The man’s eyes widened in disbelief as he clutched at the gaping wound, slowly choking on his own blood until his body y lifeless on the ground.

  The other bandits, stunned by the sudden and brutal dispy, reeled in shock, their ons drawn.

  His siblings watched in horror as their brother took a life, their faces etched with a mixture of fusion and disbelief.

  “What the- you killed him!” one of the bandits shouted, his voice trembling.

  The men immediately drew their ons and charged at Draco, their faces twisted with rage and fear.

  Draco’s eyes narrowed, and with a fluid motion, he unleashed a flurry of savage attacks, his cws tearing through flesh and boh reckless abandon.

  He met their attack with unbridled ferocity, his transformed limb sshing and tearing through his oppos with ease.

  The bandits’ cries of pain and terror echoed through the area as Draco dispatched them one by one, his movements a blur, his cws and talons cutting them down with merciless efficy.

  ‘This is the perfect ce to teach them what the world is truly like and what they should expe Orario,’ Draco thought, wiping some blood from his cws.

  “Just killing monsters in the forest for the past four years wasn’t enough,” he muttered, upon seeing the expression on his siblings.

  As the st bandit fell, Draco turned his gaze towards the fortified encampment in the distance, his expression hardening.

  “This is only the beginning,” he muttered.

  Snapping his siblings from their reverie, Drastructed them to follow him, their eyes widening in horror as they took in the sight of the lifeless bodies strewn around them.

  The reality of their situation had finally sunk in, the stark differeween the corpses of monsters and those of people a jarring realization.

  "We have more work to do," he said, his tone anding and firm.

  "We're going to ehat every st one of these bandits pays the ultimate price for their crimes," he added.

  Eleni and Cir's faces turned pale, their stomachs ing at the prospeore violenbsp;

  Nikoos, Dimitra, Vasiliki, Michalis and Vasileios exged worried gnces, unsure of how to react to their brother's sudden ruthlessness.

  heless, they followed Draco as he strode towards the bandit encampment, his aura radiating a sense of grim determination.

  As they reached the entrance of the bandit encampment, the siblings could feel the weight of the situation pressing down on them.

  The air was thick with tension, the sounds of their footsteps g in the snow only to be broken by the sound of shouting and the g of ons that echoed through the air, signaling that the bandits had beeed to their presenbsp;

  Draco's eyes narrowed, his fingers flexing as he prepared to break opees. He could see that some archers were climbing onto the scout tower.

  "Stay close to each other, and remember your training. These bandits won't show you any mercy, and you 't afford to hold back. Uood?" he instructed.

  The siblings, their faces pale and their hands trembling, nodded in agreement, their resolve hardening in the face of the impending frontation.

  Draco ched his fist, coating it with earth magic as he stared at the heavy wooden doors of the bandit encampment.

  Fwoosh!!!

  He rushed at the gates before the archer could make it to the top.

  Smash!!!

  With a rumbling groan, the sturdy entrance crumbled into rubble, opening a path for him and his siblings to ehe stronghold.

  "Only kill those who are armed. There may be prisoners we o help," he instructed.

  His siblings nodded, expressions grim but determined.

  Cir tightened her grip on her long spear, Michalis twirled his dual daggers, and Eleni uhed her longsword.

  Nikoos hoisted his massive two-handed hammer, Dimitra nocked an arrow on her longbow, and Vasileios raised his spiked shield.

  Vasiliki's fingers flexed, ice magic crag at her fiips.

  As they stepped over the colpsed doorway, the sound of shouting and the cmor of ons being drawn echoed through the fortress.

  Bandits poured out from the shadows both male and females, swords and axes raised.

  Cir was the first to strike, her spear shing out with blinding speed.

  The tip pierced a bandit's chest, and he crumpled to the ground with a gurgled scream.

  Instinctively she had gone for a critical an as she did when hunting monsters.

  Her eyes widened, a mix of horror and adrenaline, as she yahe spear free.

  Michalis darted between the bandits, his daggers fshing.

  With a fluid grace, he slit ohroat, blood spraying across his fabsp;

  He paused momentarily, expression unreadable, before ung himself at aarget.

  Elehe swing of a bandit's sword with her own, the csh of steel ringing out.

  She gritted her teeth, pushing back against her oppo, before driving her bde into his abdomen.

  As he fell, she averted her gaze, a look of shame crossing her features.

  Nikoos roared, his massive hammer crashing down on a bandit's skull, g it in with a siing bsp;

  Bone and brain matter spttered across his cloak, a out a shuddering breath, his hands trembling.

  Dimitra fired arrow after arrow, eae finding its mark.

  Bandits fell, clutg at the shafts protruding from their bodies.

  She swallowed hard, her stomach ing at the sight of their agonized expressions.

  Vasileios bashed his spiked shield into a bandit's face, the spikes tearing through flesh and bone.

  The woman's scream was cut short as Vasileios followed up with a ruthless ssh of his short sword.

  He grimaced, wiping the blood from his eyes.

  Vasiliki's hands glowed with her ice magid she unleashed a torrent of razor-sharp icicles.

  They impaled the bandits, freezing them in pce as they died.

  She shuddered, struggling to keep her expressioral.

  Draco stood back, watg his siblings fight with a stoic expression.

  He khat this was something that they o experieo survive.

  He could see that the weight of their as was evident in their faces, the reality of taking a life sinking in.

  He was fortuo have experiehis at the age of four, so he had gained some level of mental resistanbsp;

  "Look for the cells!" Draco shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos.

  "See if there are any prisoners!" he instructed, seeing as there were only a few bandits left.

  His siblings heir movements more focused and effit as they fought their way deeper into the fortress.

  Dimitra and Vasileios peeled off, searg for the cells while the others tio ehe bandits.

  Cir's spear found its mark again, the force of the blow sending a bandit flying. She stared at his lifeless body, her hands trembling.

  "I-I didn't mean to..." she whispered, her voice wavering.

  Michalis moved with deadly precision, his daggers dang as he dispatched one bandit after another.

  But beh his posed exterior, his eyes betrayed a deep well of emotion.

  Eleni's sword sang through the air, her strikes being more fident as she fought.

  Yet, each time she ran her bde through an enemy, a flicker ret passed across her features.

  Nikoos roared, his hammer pulverizing a bandit's ribcage.

  He stood over the body, chest heaving, his expression one of grim determination tinged with sorrow.

  The battle raged on, the siblings fighting with a mix of skill and anguish.

  As the st bandit fell, silence desded upon the fortress, broken only by the siblings' haggard breathing.

  Dimitra and Vasileios emerged from within the encampment, their faces looking grim.

  "We found where the cells are but…," Dimitra said, her voice barely above a whisper.

  “What?” Draco asked, he could see traces of vomit still lingering on the side of her lips.

  “You will have to see for yourself,” Dimitra replied, c her mouth with one hand.

  “I see, everyone follow me,” Draco said, his expression somber.

  From his iion with the bandit leader, he could already make assumptions on what kind of se they were about to witness.

  ‘They should all see this, it will help give them some mental justification for killing the bandits,’ Draco thought.