Elrithian still wore his proud face and his sister thought with disapproval that this was not a good time for him to be all stubborn, but the captain seemed to be giving him leave. He nodded and though out the appearance for a frightening monster they could appear to have summoned. He judged that would be as much, if not more attention grabbing than the previous plan.

Elrithian accepted Zalrinu’s amulet with some surprise, and his expression softened a bit what seemed to be an act of kindness. He quickly dropped that face again though with the next words from the S’ithra. He didn’t know what the lizard meant with two deaths, and he was sure he didn’t want to, but he had caused enough trouble already, and accepted the amulet with nod and a correct thanks.

Erahja followed the other two women up the stairs. The bandits seemed preoccupied and were looking the other way, making avoiding being seem by them considerably easier. She saw Rhaedin wave her forward from behind the counter in the tavern. She was more used to sneak over soft ground than on floors, but thought creeping around here was not that much different from hunting anyway, so keeping an eye on the bandits she followed, with little sound or worry. Well stationed with Rhaedin and Sevine, she waited for the signal to attack, which would probably start with seeing what her brother had come up with for distraction.

The thing that Elrithian had come up with as a distraction appeared first as a magic circle on the floor, soon followed by a monster materializing in it. A very handy way to craft an illusion, he though, as a creature being summoned did not have to be perfectly clear immediately, and the bandits were not supposed to look at it carefully at it anyway, before being attacked by the rest of the troop. The creature was one of myth, one he had seen illustrated in books but believed was extinct if it ever existed at all, that he had chosen to make a more real interpretation of. It was fourlegged and scaly, with its frontlegs rising clearly higher than its back and ending in talons. It was just taller than a human, and considerably wider, with a sharp beak for a mouth. He could even give it a bit of a screeching noise and thought that this was probably more unnerving than one detached head, at least he hoped so as he was not touching the damned thing. Naturally he had to use two different spells for it, and was grateful for the amulet, without it he would probably not be of much further use after this.

Kneeling behind the bar counter, Rhaedin peered around the corner of it, watching Elrithian cast a spell of illusion. She could feel the magic in the air, it felt heavy, tense, and full of electricity. A glowing circle appeared on the floor, causing the bandits heads to turn. Slowly the monster emerged out of the air. Quickly she looked to Sevine who was peeking over the bar, watching the bandits with scrutiny. Sevine sensed that familiar eyes had fallen upon her and she turned to look in Rhaedin's direction. With her eyes now on the captain, Rhaedin signalled for Sevine to ready herself.

Rhaedin then turned towards Erahja, and crept over to her. She touched Erahja's forearm, keeping her voice low, Rhaedin leaned in towards the Rakasha ranger and whispered, "Get ready. Wait for my signal. We're going to move behind them when their attention is focused on the illusion."

With that, Rhaedin returned to her station at the far end of the bar. From here, she could see the bandits without them taking notice of the women's presence behind the bar. A small clinking noise caught her attention and the elfess looked in Sevine's direction to only to discover that the witch had obtained a few bottles of uncorked wine, holding two in each hands. The red-haired witch met her gaze and offered her nothing more than a meek shrug as an explanation. Rhaedin made no comment for she returned her eyes to the bandits. The witch was an odd one at that, Rhaedin was certain.

It didn't take long before a lean and slender man noticed the glowing circle soon followed by the apparition. "What in Sarmon's name is…that?" The man was sitting on an overturned barrel by the entryway. His finger, trembling with fear, raised up, and pointed towards the illusion.

"Charun what are you blabberi-…What the..?!" He reached for his dagger at his side, his eyes were wide with fright. The terrified bandit failed to retrieve his dagger as it fell to the floor, clattering loudly. The next events occurred in an immediate succession. One bandit after another turned their gaze to look up at the apparition as well. In unison, they startled with shock and horror, and in a mad dash to hopefully defend themselves against this grotesque monster. One bandit who was a bowman, fired an arrow at the being, whether his aim was true he could not tell, his hand had trembled too much. He hoped that he would injure the thing in hopes of frightening it away, back down the cellar where it had come.

Rhaedin looked to Sevine and curled her hand into a fist, and pointed her index finger towards her. The witch nodded in acknowledgement, she was ready, wines bottles still in hand. Then her gaze skipped to Erahja. Instead of pointing just the one finger, Rhaedin pointed her index and middle finger at Erahja, that was her signal. Rhaedin turned about and crept to the edge of the bar. She pressed herself flat to the bar, she crawled with her toes pumped, she wanted to minimalize the sound of their movements. It was here when she saw the chaos began to unfold as the bandits reacted in horror to Elrithian's illusion.

She rose up into a crouch and sprinted across the room, sticking to the shadows which there were plenty of. The first bandit she came upon was distracted by Elrithian's magic. She snuck up behind him, approaching him where his gaze would not fall, on the edges of his peripheral vision. Rhaedin sprang on him, she grasped his head with her hands, and snapped his neck. The sound of the bone breaking was loud enough for her to hear, but not over the noise of the bandits yelling aloud in fear. The bandit dropped to the floor without another word.

Sevine did not have her stave on-hand, so she needed to have something to fight back with. Her choice? Four full bottles of wine. There were a couple of bar fights that she had witnessed in Yr'tahm before her departure to Kvechuk. Apparently, bottles were a force to be recognized as a viable weapon. They could drop a man cold where he once stood. Plus once the bottles broke, the sharp glass edges became an easier weapon to wield.

She followed Rhaedin's lead, watching in astonishment as the captain snapped a man's neck in two. Sevine tucked one wine bottle under her armpit, giving her the ability to swing the wine bottle freely. She crept past Rhaedin, moving along the walls. Her target was a heavier built bandit, obviously used as muscle in the circle of crime. If she could knock him out, Sevine could then begin to eliminate the ones surrounding the hostages.
The hostages held at the center of the bar, tied together with rope, sobbed in fear at the sight of the monster. They had no idea that it was merely an illusion, they were simple folk who did not trouble themselves with things they did not understand.

Sevine attacked the heavier bandit as he struggled to unsheathe his axe from its bindings, he took no note of her. She gave him no chance to react though, and attacked immediately, smashing the bottle of wine over his balding head. The bottle exploded, sending wine and shards of glass over the bandit. He looked at Sevine with a blank expression, it didn't faze him. She reached for the bottle under her armpit, and repeated the assault. The bandit wasn't ready for the next bottle, and this time, he dropped to the floor, knocking over the table and chair at which he had just sat.

Midnight, what a wonderful time. When the stars fully appeared to twinkle in the dark blanket that was the night sky. Orion felt most at peace now more than ever, listening the the crickets chirp and the leaves whistle in the wind. Beautiful was a word that could describe it, but it was something more...Something serene. Even his mountain horse Darvel enjoyed the fresh, yet chilled night air. The only sound breaking into the silence was the combination of hoofs breaking into soft tufts of earth, and the shallow breaths that came from both Orion and Darvel.

The two had been traveling for quite some time now, both in need of a good rest. The young half-blood gently patted his horse's neck, giving a slight appreciation for the horse's ability to go so far without a complaint. They would be nearing the inn soon, or so he thought. This road was a long, and lonely one, but it was one that was traveled just enough for an innkeeper to make a living off of it. Now that he was nearing possible contact, he reached up and lifted his intricately designed face mask, covering his mouth and jaw, hiding his elf-like appearance. Though, he had nothing to cover his fiery amber eyes. Unfortunately enough. He continued to trudge along the muddy road, his eyes focused and determined, casting fleeting glances at the sky. Orion loosened his grip on Darvel's reigns as he started to see the outline of what appeared to be the inn. His grip tightened when he heard a shout come from the direction of his destination.

Though it could have been another drunken brawl, Orion had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. One he had grown used to relying on in the few years he had been traveling alone. Hopefully, he was just being rather paranoid due to his need for sleep, but he was normally correct on these types of situations. "Careful Darvel.." He warned his steed, his elvish accent flowing strongly through his mask, he slowed their speed and cautiously continued onward. The horrid feeling still swirling around him, causing him to drop his hand near the hilt of his sword, sharpened and at the ready.
--
Unfortunate for his feet, De did not have the luxury of a horse and so his boots of iron did the work of carrying him to and fro. Truth be told, De had gotten a little lost and he figured that following jaded walk ways through the landscape would lead him to people or at least signs of them. Although he understood the basic consequences for just aimlessly looking for strangers, he didn't have too much of a choice. He was noisy in his trek and if it should bring trouble, De had the comfort that his training would keep him alive.

With a trail of wispy breath following behind his head he came across a mounted figure just a few feet ahead of him. He became wary and tried to decide if he could be friend or foe, but it was difficult to see what he was from the back. De watched him and he guessed that the stranger was watching the happenings inside an inn which to De, did not seem very merry. His attention was now turned to the tavern as it sounded more and more violent.
Still, De took one last glance at the stranger In front of him and decided to take a chance.
"Hail, friend.." He suddenly said, sticking to the side of the road as an attempt to a appear less threatening.
"Be you a friend...?" He said hopefully, approaching slowly even as he clinked and clanked as he did.
--
Hearing a voice from behind, Orion stopped his horse and cautiously looked behind him, his hooded face slowly finding the man that spoke. It was a wonder that Orion had passed him without realizing, he was most likely to deep in thought, as he always was. The greeting he received was to be expected, in fact, he was surprised it had been that friendly. Considering the man had armor about him as if the world would crash down onto him, and he'd still survive.

"Indeed, I'll not strike my sword unless you do so first." He gave a brief nod to the traveler, or knight as it appeared. Another shout came from the direction of the nearby inn, causing Orion to crane his neck in that direction once more, his hands tightening around the reigns so that his knuckles turned white.

Turning back to the stranger, he held out a hand, "I'm going over to that inn, and it sounds as if there might be trouble.." He paused, his amber eyes giving the man a final glance, he seemed like he could handle himself; it was settled. "I could give you a ride there if you'd like, but we'd probably have to settle an argument before rest would see us." He smiled, the act hidden by his mask, but his eyes glistened.

"What say you, will you accompany me?" He pushed his hand slightly farther towards the man, bracing himself to help him atop the horse should he accept the offer. He knew that time was thinning, they would have to go soon if they were to help in the inn.
--
It gave De relief to hear welcoming words from the mounted stranger and carelessly, he walked closer beside the horse. The height of the stranger on his horse made De feel like a child again having to tilt his head and look up to meet his eyes. But suddenly his attention was broken by unsavory shout that made De's eyes squint with a mixture of curiosity and the sense of a threat. Through his periphery De saw that the stranger held a hand out to him to hoist him onto his horse, promptly he said his intentions and asking if De would accompany him into a possible shoe scuffling. De nodded silently, his brows hugging the top lids of his eyes in a serious stare. Right now, they had no time for introductions and if lives were at risk then it is better to have someone to call ally.
De took the allied stranger's grip and wedged his left foot into the foot rest of the saddle to bring himself up over the horses back.
"Whats the plan?" He asked, charging himself up for anything.
"Do you think we can survey the situation through the windows? I Have a battle axe and a bow.."
--
Helping the man atop his horse and casting a glance back, Orion pursed his lips. "Unfortunately, I doubt we have the time, if we do indeed want to help, I suggest we go now, perhaps catching a glance through the windows along the way." As he was speaking, he tapped the sides of his horse with his heels, egging him forward into a run.

As the wind whipped at Orion's face, he gave the inn all of his attention, his heart pounding with anticipation. He was not one to fear battle, or death for that matter. He embraced the possibility everyday, not a regret in his heart. Or, at least not one that could catch up to him.
When the trio arrived at the inn, Orion stopped Davrel and looked to the outfitted man behind him. "From what I've seen, there seems to be quite the scuffle...And a mysterious creature.." He dismounted from Davrel, carefully avoiding hitting the man with his long legs. "I'm not entirely sure what the creature is..So be on guard."

That said, Orion unsheathed his amber sword and held the hilt tightly. Cautiously ducking under the windows, he crouched his way over to the door, giving one last look to the stranger, he nodded. "When you're in position, we'll breach the door." As much as he wanted to go in now, the shouting and chaos ensuing, he knew it would be downright suicidal. So, why not go in with another man willing to risk his life and limb to help. Orion focused his steely and serious gaze upon the man, and without much warning, began to speak. "If we are to die in this act...My name is Orion. It's nice to meet you" His voice was surprisingly lighthearted considering the circumstances, but his eyes spoke volumes. They needed to get inside, and quickly.
--
De sighed and nodded his head as the stranger spoke wisely. Some situations you just have to burst in there weapons drawn. When the neared closer to the inn the stranger alerted him that there was trouble and a creature. " A mysterious creature?" He echoed, most knights tended to be superstitious and fearful of the unknown beasts of the wilds and legend. "what kind of creature...?" he asked concerned that his training did not provide him to fight against monsters and great animals. When the stranger dismounted he frankly said that he wasn't sure what it was which put a dent in De's resolve, but still he took a deep breath and put on a brave face as he dismounted himself.

As he snuck around with his ally he brought his battle axe from his back and to the forefront of his body. The light that the stranger's sword gave off immediately called De's attention and he was in awe of the peculiar color of it as he's never seen it before. It was as if he made his sword out of honey. He wanted to ask what it was but again it wasn't of real importance now.
De dipped his head under the window as he passed by it and he carefully got himself on the other side of the door, adjacent to the stranger.
Before going in their eyes met with a moment of brief, righteous comradery.
De nodded, relaxing only slightly " They call me DE and it's good to die with someone rather than alone. I would have it no other way." A second later De turned to the door and with one lifted iron leg he kicked the door open with his foot. As they swung open De gave a yell to intimidate the obvious bandits who wore blue cloths and he begun to hack down the closest man he met.
--
The name he received was short, presumably a nickname. But an identity nonetheless. With his heart pounding a familiar and rhythmic tune of short and fast beats, pulsing fresh waves of adrenaline through him, Orion gave a nod to De, letting him know he was ready for whatever lay ahead. Perhaps it was foolish to rush in, but that seemed to be the only option available to them. So, Orion would gladly take it if it meant possibly helping someone, or just stopping the battle entirely.

Orion watched as De lifted his armor coated leg, bringing his foot directly into the door, the force sending the wood splintering and the door to fall. De charged in along with the door, sparing no time for the forces inside to regain their bearings. Amber sword in hand, Orion followed suit, his long legs moving fluidly, his pace focused. Calm. That was his image, his mouth was set into a straight line, the corners dipping up ever so slightly. Though that was covered by his mask, his fiery eyes weren't. They revealed his essence of pure determination.

Bandits cluttered around the inn, at least ten. Two already appeared to be on the ground, and there also appeared to be hostages. The monster was still ambling around, frightening as it was, it didn't really make much of a move against the bandits, other than intimidating them. Wait, were there...others?

Before he could focus in on the form he saw, he had to return to the task at hand, blocking a blade that swung at his ribs. Orion spun away from the attacker, his sword still entwined with the bandit's, it looked as if he were dancing with the man. Almost, but not quite. After spacing himself from the man, Orion charged as fast as he could, leaving no time for the bandit to recuperate from the sword lock. Taking his blade, Orion plunged it through the man's gut, in a gap between the man's armor, the blow was devastating.

Soon after, he removed his sword, cringing slightly at the heavy amount of blood that stained his sword. He hadn't taken a life in quite some time...It would take getting used to. Hearing a primal scream, he spun around, his unattended left hand reaching towards his chest. Before he could grasp what he was reaching for however, he was struck with something blunt to his stomach, the force sending him back a ways. His vision now slightly blurred, the young man reached into his chest sheath and pulled out a small throwing dagger, trying to aim at the form charging at him through the spots. Pulling back his wrist, Orion let the blade fly. He was used to this, he had done it all the time. Just not half blind.

The blade landed in the bandits upper shoulder, causing him to stop mid-charge and groan in pain. Orion had originally planned for that to hit the pulse within his neck, but as of now, he'd take a diversion. Twirling his sword to fling off some of the previously collected blood. Orion ran at his opponent, his sword glowing in the dim light, the same intense color as his eyes.

Narcia cursed herself for getting in a position like this. Danger wasn't abnormal for her. She was a lone travelling performer, after all. But she had definitely screwed up this time. At first she had struggled against the rope that bound her to the others, but she quickly realized that she wasn't going to come loose. She'd accounted for this when the commotion first started by discretely placing her dagger into the body of her lute. She figured the bandits would search her and find it deeming her possibly too dangerous. However, she wasn't counting on them taking the lute and putting it so far out of reach. In hindsight, of course they would, it was part of their spoils. But at the time, things weren't so clear.

A bandit approached her as she recounted how useless she'd been. He knelt down in front of with a sinister smile plastered on his face. "You," he said while poking her in the shoulder, "you we might just want to keep." He laughed as he moved himself even closer to her, "you know, you're very pretty, but what's with this cloak?" He pulled the hood away and with a better look at her face moved his head toward her neck. Narcia cringed just at the thought and without thinking thrust her forehead with full force crashing into his nose. The headbutt sent the man reeling backwards with surprise clutching his face, blood pouring through the fingers.

"Keep me, and you'll all be dead by the end of the month." Narcia retorted, not really thinking about the position she was in as the man drew the axe he had at his waist, a crazed look in his eyes.

"You bitch." The man started walking toward her, the fist around the hilt of his axe white with his rage. Narcia's pulse raised but she wouldn't give that away, glaring at him with the same stony expression she'd had from the start. "Who in the hell do you think you..."

The man's gaze drifted. Instead of looking toward Narcia, he looked behind her toward the bar counter, the anger in his eyes replaced with something that seemed more like fear. Narcia heard a dagger clatter on the ground and the sound of an arrow let loose, thankful that the bandit in front of her was provided a sufficient distraction. However, she had no idea what it was, considering her current position had her back to the commotion, and being tied to several other people severely limited her field of vision. She felt the man tied to her back attempt to push away from whatever was behind her to no avail. Narcia began struggling with the rope again when suddenly the door to the bar burst open in an explosion of sound. She looked wide-eyed as two men came rushing through the door, both brandishing weapons that they thankfully aimed at the bandits.

A rescue wasn't something she was counting on, but she certainly was happy with the timing. She took a moment to revel in her luck before she saw the bandit who she previously angered turn his attention toward the man clad in armor. Before he could move, Narcia remembered the bandit's oversight in tying the group together. Her legs were free. She swung her right leg as hard as she could towards the bandit's as he started to run. The sweep connected and the man toppled forward onto the ground and Narcia smirked. That was definitely going to bruise, but it was worth it.

Zal had never wanted to be in this village. All he had wanted to do was go on the quest and talk to the Cherods. Fairly simple, right? Well...throw in a village overran by bandits, an Ent, and sparrows crying, and they were suddenly being sidetracked to save the village because the sparrows were pulling on the heartstrings of an Ent. Obviously, things had not gone as planned, which was why they were sneaking from the basement. All this could have been avoided, the hostages, the headache he had right now, his amulet being given to the squeamish elf, if they had just said no to the talking tree. Zal muttered a few curses under his breath as he watched Rhaedin and Sevine begin dropping bandits after Elrithian created a, fairly terrifying he had to admit, Illusion. He glanced down to make sure his weapons were within easy reach and when he glanced back up....

Chaos. Chaos and confusion as apparently someone in the village decided to start a rescue mission. Soon after Rhaedin and Sevine had dropped their respective bandits, and were moving closer towards the hostages, two new people had arrived. It was, all in all, one gigantic mess. Could have just continued on our journey, but noo, had to go into the forest with the giant talking trees, whose friends tried to attack us. And then we had to go solve the tree's problems for it! Of course! Why not? Zal complained to himself before getting ready to enter the battle. "Well, I suppose there won't be any better distractions than this." Zal remarked to Tathein, before drawing his sword and joining the fray, the big Angardian next to him. Sid, for his part, decided to stay in the safety of the door way and occasionally bark out encouragement. The first leather clad bandit Zal came across just so happened to be the one of the ones who hit him with a club and kidnapped him in his sleep. Zal gave a rather nasty smile. "I remember you!" The bandit snarled something Zal didn't catch in the chaos of blades clashing, hostages screaming, the illusion of Elrithian screeching, but he assumed it was a curse of some kind.

Regardless, the bandit drew his axe and charged, swinging. Zal blocked the swing, and then kicked down at the man's kneecap. Leather armor is cheap and easy to produce and did nothing to stop Zal's foot from snapping the bandit's knee cap backwards until it was bent in the wrong direction at a sickening angle. The man went down screaming and Zal shoved his sword through the man's open mouth to shut him up. The scream was cut off rather suddenly as the tip of Zal's sword sprouted out of the back of his skull. "One down, half a dozen or so to go." Zal muttered, yanking his blade free to block another bandit's blade.

Sid continued to bark his occasional support from the safety of the doorway, assured that he was doing something helpful.

Erahja moved at the signal and approached a bandit who looked more surprised and confused than frightened by illusionary monster, as though he hadn’t yet evaluated the situation to come to the conclusion he should be afraid. While she made sure she was not seen and that her target and the other bandits were sufficiently distracted when she made her strike, she made no attempt to keep the attack itself unnoticed. The first strike was supposed to be a killing one, after all, and stealth would soon be useless. Rhaedin and Sevine had already taken out one pair when, from her crouching position, Erahja rammed her spear up under the ribs of the bandit she had picked out. His scream was partly drowned out by the door smashing down.

Erahja’s first instinct was that the bandits were being reinforced, and she nearly turned to attack the newcomers. She did not have time to take this action however, or realize that the strangers were not dressed as the bandits, before another actual enemy thrust a shortsword at her and took her attention. It also seemed like Zal and Tathein had joined the combat and things quickly went from a calculated attack to uncontrollable battle as usually was the case with these things. Her attacker drove her back, she noticed, closer to where the hostages were bound, she noticed. She kept him at a distance and waited for an opening. The one she got did not allow her to instantly kill the bandit, but he was forced to make a bad jump to the side, and he lost his balance and fell. Instead of moving to finish him off, Erahja took this time to draw her dagger in one hand and started cutting at the ropes around the hostages. They were thick but not that strong and the threads parted easily from the blade. When the bandit got back on his feet and attacked again she returned both hands to her spear, dropping the dagger on the floor.

Elrithian held the illusion for longer than he would have wanted, wishing that the fighting would have started sooner. The un-existing monster was not solid and he could not make it move far or attack so it seemed to him that someone would soon see straight through it. However, in his concentration time seemed slower and in chock people unused to magic don’t always consider to doubt their senses immediately, and it was not so many seconds until chaos broke out. Once the women in the front had made their attack and the door been broken down, most of the bandits seemed to turn their attention to the attackers that actually harmed them, and Elrithian let go of the spell. The red, scaly beast made one last shriek and leapt on someone as to attack, only to disappear into nothingness.

Despite his still somewhat recent poisoning, Elrithian still had some strength in him with the help of Zalrinus’ amulet. Once he no longer had to concentrate on the complex illusion, the mage instead used the rest of his strength to try to protect his allies from blows. From the relative safety of the doorway beside the S’ithra’s noisy dog he tried to cast weaved protections on those who stood still enough and was ready with a momentary force-shield if anyone looked like they might miss a block or were attacked from a direction they were not expecting. It was challenging to cast even a bad weaved armor on someone who moved around, and the momentary protection would only last an instant and had to be as well timed as a blocking sword to be useful, but he hoped he could make sure serious injuries were avoided despite this. It also seemed like they were being aided. Two strangers had appeared through the broken door, and they appear to be facing the bandits as well.

After Sevine had knocked the bandit unconscious with one of her bottles of wine, she looked to the tavern door at the sight of the door flinging open, in came two men, one concealed behind a cowl, and one clad in iron. She wasn't sure if they were bandits, but after looking them over, she could find no trace of a blue bandana. When they began to attack the other bandits, Sevine turned to look for Rhaedin. She found the elf captain finishing off the bandits she had attacked. Hurrying to her side amidst the chaos, Sevine called out gaily to her, "Well look at you Captain. Cleaning up my dirty work, eh?" She offered her a smile in gratitude and then pointed out Erahja.

"Come on." Rhaedin drew her sword from its scabbard and rushed over to aid their companion. Another two bandits had made their way over to Erahja as she battled with the one bandit at hand. Raising her blade, she swung in a downward "chopping" motion, the bandit she had targeted was actually a female. She had her kerchief tied about her neck with a short-sword in her hand at ready. Rhaedin had targeted the woman's weapon arm, but the woman had noticed Rhaedin's attack and deflected her blow by side-stepping. Rhaedin quickly recovered her balance and glared darkly at the woman. She wore her hair piled high upon her head, and far too much face make-up. Her age was easy to discover by the wrinkles on her face, she had to be in her mid-40s.

Suddenly, the woman darted forward, trying to run Rhaedin through. She shied away from the sword's edge, and attacked again. Swinging her sword flat, in an arcing motion, Rhaedin aimed to land a blow on the woman's back. However the woman slipped away once more, only to be snatched by Rhaedin. The elfess had grown tired of playing games with the ruffian. Grabbing the woman by her shoulder, she ran her silver blade through her midsection before shoving her onto the wooden floorboards.

Sevine had turned her attention to the other bandit, he was a tall and gangly fellow, wielding a short-sword as well. That's when Sevine realized that her plan might not have worked out as well as she hoped.
"I'll skin you alive wench!" He growled, advancing quickly.

"If that's what you believe!" Sevine yelled as loud as she could, chucking one of the bottles of wine left. It hurtled out of her hand like an arrow, the bottle soared across the room disappearing into the fray. Surprisingly, Sevine could hear the bottle breaking over the noise from the chaos. Not that it mattered.

"You've got a terrible aim there missy! Let me help you fix it, I'll start with that hand of yours!" Thrusting his blade at her, he cut through the air violently, only to duck another flying bottle of wine that also disappeared into the fray. "Why don't you just stand still for me, eh?!" Cried the bandit, enraged over Sevine's cleverness. From the way he approached her, Sevine was forced to blindly retreat backwards. She was left weaponless, without any means of defense.

Suddenly, Sevine felt herself falling backwards, landing hard on the floor. She had tripped over a chair that was knocked aside. Lying upon the floor, Sevine looked up into the crazed eyes of the bandit, he readied his sword for the killing blow. She covered her face in horror, this would be the last thing she remembered! Or...wait... Sevine opened her eyes and saw Rhaedin knocking the bandit to the floor with a quick pommel hit to the neck.

No bar fight in De's wildest dreams could be more disorienting, confusing and utterly destructive as this barrage was. Bodies mingling everywhere, weaving in and out of each other, breaking up the scene of the room. There was shouting in tongues as if he was at some demonic church, screaming and roaring their hymns to death himself. Naturally, beads of sweat flung off his face as he began swinging and forcefully moving large masses of bandits around, purposely causing them to bump into one another and break up any sort of attempt to organize. At this point any sort of leader or commander of the bandits either didn't exist or had already been regarded as a mindless sheep with the rest of the flock. He liked to imagine that. And in this moment of anarchy he liked to think of the group of bandits as sheep on a grassy plain that he must herd into the river to drown.

Although the sight of the tied up hostages reminded him of his true goal with Orion, the one who held the honey blade. Of course he was easy to spot because of it, but it took a little effort to figure where any other hostages were, who are obviously fighting back at this point due to the back and forthed heads of the bandits.
De locked eyes with one of them and for a second it looked as though she was about to attack out of instinct. De braced himself but she was suddenly taken from his gaze to deal with the true enemy. De decided to continue working the room, sweeping Bandits off their feet with his long battle axe but he still had to keep it's length in mind as to not hit any 'non bandits' for now. He did his best to set up the Bandits into the other fighters for easy targets especially for Orion in which he would disable their legs for him so that Orion could make kill moves. For just a moment De returned his eyes back to where the hostages had been and found that the woman who had previously gave him the stare down was on the ground parrying a bandit with her spear. Instinctively De switched his battle axe to his opposite hand and stomped over to the bandit to sweep his arm around the man's torso and essentially throwing him across the room, staggering backward a bit as he did.

Heart beating, head racing, and his spirit dancing, Orion held fast. All around him bandits were falling one by one to De, the fellow he had called a companion and charged in with; and to the others, whom he had no knowledge. Though, with a rising suspicion, he felt as if their paths entwined for a reason. Hopefully, that reason ended well. If not for him, then at least for De.

The sound of an axe ripping through flesh pulled him back into the now, the battle, and the bandits. They had been reduced down to a mere sliver of what they had been. It also appeared that the hostages had been freed as well, whether that was good to do so early, without knowing their intentions was good or not, Orion didn't exactly have the time about him to ask. Not that he would inquire such a thing anyway. His silk gaze fixed it's smooth stare at his last, and final opponent, who had been weakened for the kill by De.

This bandit had a gash along his left leg, his hide armor was coated with blood. Though, it looked as though it was dried, remnants of his past battles. Orion couldn't help but wonder how he was capable of such a thing, to live with the memory of those that you killed on you. It didn't settle well with him, not at all. Watching carefully as his opponents sword raised, Orion mirrored it, his own amber sword raising and shining against the tavern lighting. Both stared hard at each other, the noises around them seeming to fade. Twirling his sword, Orion faked forward, pulling his attacker towards him, and sidestepped around the oncoming force. With a strain on his arm, he swung his arm back, sharp blade slicing through the hide and skin of the bandits back, causing him to slink to the floor in pain.

Agility was something that Orion relied heavily on, as well as his ability to control himself. He not only relied on this technique, but he lived by it, shadows of his combat form in his everyday activities. As the bandit screamed in pain at the deep gash previously sliced into his back, Orion walked over to him, sword lightly dragging against the ground. "You've fought many battles my friend..." He raised his sword above his hooded head, his mask flattening and waving with each word.
"Herein lies your last." As soon as he ended the sentence, the screaming stopped. Replaced with the sound of a blade ripping through armor, and flesh. Orion grimaced lightly at the feel, again telling himself it wasn't like before, he was helping this time. That thought fresh in his mind, he tore his sword from the chest of the limp body, using his foot to help pull the blade from the loose, yet plentiful flesh.

He gave a quick glance around the tavern, locking his gaze on the bandit that had been knocked across the room. With a lopsided smirk dawning on his face, Orion twirled his sword once more before stepping over to the bar, making sure to keep a bit of distance between himself and the two women already there, though they had been the ones he had first seen to attack the bandits, he wasn't all that sure of their intentions. Which, he came to realize, they probably didn't know his or De's as well. That would most definitely have to be settled, lest he want to end up like that man on the ground near the pair.

Chaos erupted around Narcia as the guard she had tripped hit the ground. He looked at her again, anger pouring from his eyes, she smirked back and thankfully logic got the better of the bandit and he recovered. Instead of moving toward her, he chose to join the fray. Narcia struggled against the ropes again as sounds of metal against metal echoed throughout the inn. It certainly wasn't the best rope she had seen, but without anything to help her cut through it, she wasn't about to struggle her way out.

As she shifted, a Rakasha girl ran up to the group of hostages and began cutting at the rope with a dagger. Narcia pulled away from the man next to her, making sure that the rope pulled tighter to make it easier for the stranger to cut. Normally, Narcia would expect the process to take a while, but wither it was the quality of the dagger or the rope itself, the rope quickly began to fray and separate. As the rope began to feel more and more loose, the Rakasha woman was forced to stop as a bandit approached her with a short sword drawn. She dropped her dagger near Narcia's leg, and quickly brandished a spear against the assault.

Narcia moved quickly and kicked her foot backward, hitting the hilt of the dagger with her heel, causing it to slide toward her hand. She slammed her palm down on the hilt as it passed, the blade just barely pricking the man beside her in the leg causing him to shift away at the surprise more than he pain. He looked toward her completely frightened as if he thought that someone was attacking him, but quickly realized what had happened when Narcia lifted the blade and winked toward him.

"I need you to pull the rope away from me." She said, he nodded acknowledgment and pulled away from her. The other hostages seemed to take note and pushed against the rope, causing it to become fairly taut. Narcia uncomfortably flicked her wrist backward so the dagger was positioned at the frayed section of the rope and began cutting, The rope loosened slowly, and in a few seconds she and the rest of the hostages were free as the rope fell to the ground. "You guys might not want to move." She instructed as she stood up, dagger in hand, "if you can't fight, you might end up in the way of a stray blade."

She was one to talk, though, she thought to herself as she moved toward the corner where her lute leaned against the wall. Not that she didn't know her way around a fight, considering she was once constantly hounded by mercenary groups, but she'd certainly become much less prepared for one when she broke away from Lazerus' group. It was much harder to find a lone girl, and she hadn't needed to fight in what felt like forever. And daggers, well, they weren't exactly the best fighting weapon. She picked up her lute and retrieved her own dagger from the body, slinging it around her back. She spun around to face the bandit she'd knocked over earlier with his axe in hand.

"What, did you get lost in the fighting?" She taunted arrogantly, readying herself.

"Bitch." The man pushed the word through clenched teeth. If he gripped his axe any harder, Narcia would have sworn the thing would break. As he dashed toward her with a fury in his eyes, she smiled and an explosion of light burst out toward him. Narcia ducked down as he dashed blindly into it cleaving in front of himself. She moved past him and spun around thrusting both daggers into his back. The man fell forward into a slump in the corner, axe dropping out of his hand. She let out a sigh of relief. No matter how confident she presented herself, life and death situations definitely got her blood pumping faster than she would like. She retrieved the blades from the man's back and turned around to find the owner of the one she borrowed. The Rakasha would have to forgive the blood on it.

Zal glanced irritably at Sid(who was still barking) as he parried a clumsy sword thrust from a panicking bandit. He couldn't really blame the man. Everything was supposed to have been going well. They had conquered the village, and were reaping the rewards. The armed strangers had been taken, unarmed, bound, and outnumbered, to the basement where his boss was supposed to be dealing with them. The next thing the man knew, the armed strangers were attacking, more were breaking down the door, and his fellows were dying all around him. "You should have ran." Zal advised, sidestepping to avoid the next blow. The man didn't respond, but the wild and despairing look in his eyes told the S'ilthra all he needed to know. The man had given up any hope of escaping this battle alive. Sid was still barking, and it was beginning to get on the spellsword's nerves. With a growl of irritation, he blocked the next wild blow and caught the man's wrist, twisting it so that he could break the man's arm if he wanted to, and the bandit was incapacitated. "Let me go you bastard!" The bandit snarled, trying to break free. When the pommel of Zal's sword hit him in the head, he stopped that. "No, I don't think I will." Zal replied and began to turn his head. He stopped when he saw the grin of the bandit in his grasp, and a shadow fell over his hostage.

However, before things became rather nasty, a sword sprouted out of the bandit with an mace who had been trying to save his comrade. "Thank you Tathein!" Zal called. The warrior raised his sword in acknowledgement, before dashing off into the rapidly ending fray. Sid was still barking. "Sid!" Zal snapped. The dog stopped mid-bark. "Thank you! If you weren't going to do anything useful, at least try to stop being an irritant!" It may have been a trick of the light, but Zal thought he saw the dog looking suitably chastened. "He'd better be.." The spellsword muttered, before breaking his hostage's arm. A sickening snap sounded over the sounds of combat and the bandit fell to the ground screaming. "Shut up." With an additional word, Zal created a spectral dagger and eviscerated the bandit. The man's guts and blood and general gore spilled over the floor and Zal moved on. The bandit wasn't dead..not yet anyways.

Around Sevine and Rhaedin, they found that not a single bandit was left standing. Those not associated with the bandits were the hostages, the group Rhaedin led, and two strange newcomers that had burst in during the fighting. The carnage in the bar's parlour room could not be described. Blood pooled upon the wooden board, it was smeared across tabletops, along the wall, Rhaedin could even spot blood on the window pane. She turned towards the hostages and approached them. They hadn't gone far, although someone had cut them free during the fight.

"People of Ugparth, I beg my pardon for..." Here she gestured towards the aftermath, "this...I hope it can be forgiven." She bowed her head, awaiting their response.

"W-who are the lot of ye?" Asked an elderly man that was thin in stature with a white beard.

"We are travelers, our destination is Cherod." Rhaedin brought her gaze up to meet the elderly man's, she spoke with formality, yet empty of arrogance or pompousness.

The man gave a low whistle, one of disbelief, "Well, I can't say that's a very good idea. Who sent ye here, to aid us?"

Here Rhaedin smiled, though it was faint, almost without a trace, "Ah, as I said sir, we are but travelers." Her eyes seemed to indicate some sort of hidden secret that was only meant for the old man to see for he suddenly started to laugh loudly.

"Aha! I knew it! Olgrif wouldn't tolerate these bandits here for long. I know it, he sent ye didn't he?" His eyes sparkled with surprise and relief.

"I assume, Olgrif would be the forest guardian of Ugparth, the tree ent that lives in your woods over yonder, am I right?" Rhaedin asked with a pleased tone. She knew that the ent had singled them out for a reason. He was the guardian of this village's forest. Almost every forest in Angard and the within the Dark Forest, including Oradea, had tree ents that guarded the village's.

"Ah yes, so he's the one that sent you. Well I'll be damned....come round me now, I want to thank you all. And you two as well." He pointed to the two men that had come in through the door, and motioned them to join him and the elfess.

Rhaedin turned around to look at her group, and repeated the gesture, except when she looked at them, she couldn't help but to smile brightly at them. They did it! They all survived and not a single casualty. Sevine quickly darted to Rhaedin's side, ecstatic that none had perished. Now they could continue on.

Then the old man turned about and pointed to the woman had freed the group, finishing what the Rakasha had started. "Come here lass, you must be thanked as well." He addressed her with gentleness, like that of a grandfather. He turned his attention back to Rhaedin and said loud for all to hear, "I am Matthias Ugparth, I am the founder of this village, and you all have saved us from the terrible clutches of the Blue Wolves! Those bandits had enslaved us all, they took our women, slaughtered our men, and now we are but a broken people. Yet, I wish to thank all of you for your kind actions...with a reward. First, before I reward you, I ask one last favour." Matthias looked at Rhaedin, who nodded at him to proceed with his request.

"Help us remove these bodies before you venture on. And while you remove these bodies, I will fetch your reward." The old man smiled joyfully at the group slowly assembling, before retreating into the depths of the tavern, unexplored by the group, to retrieve their reward. Rhaedin then turned to look at the three that Matthias had said would also receive a reward for their efforts. A man clad in iron armor wielding an axe, and a man who hid his face behind an elaborate cowl, that carried a unique blade, one she had not seen in awhile. There was also a fragile woman who had strange violet-coloured eyes that Matthias had thanked as well.

Only after the battle had been announced as over did Orion sheathe his blade, his gaze sweeping over the dead, and the living. As he stood there, looking over the carnage, only when he had locked on the blood did he recognize the pain coursing through his chest. He had been brutally thwarted in the stomach, the hilt of the blade was sure to leave a mark. He winced lightly as his fingertips brushed against his leather armor, feeling out the area that had been affected, assuring himself there had been no internal damage. Which, thank the gods, there wasn't. He was sure he wouldn't be able to stand if that were the case.

Stepping over the corpse at his feet, Orion moved closer to De, still keeping a few feet of distance apart from the man, but making sure to remain close in case those they had fought alongside turned. Though, something in the way they seemed, relieved, almost relaxed now, made him question that. He watched as an elfess approached those who had previously been bound, and asked for forgiveness for what must have been hard to stomach. The way her voice was calm, and even kept, it reminded him vaguely of his mother, whom had once been a diplomat, before... Well, before he had come into the picture. Though, she had always kept her passionate way of speech.

Upon the mention of a tree ent, Orion raised a brow in curiosity. He had never before seen such a creature, though he had been told stories as a child. It was beyond fascinating to hear tell of one so close, though he doubted he would get the chance to become acquainted with Olgrif, as the man had called it. Perhaps that would be for the best. His thoughts were broken upon the sound of the old man, he had asked for both Orion and De to come closer and join in with the silver tongued elfess, and him. Wearily, but without hesitating too much to draw attention to himself, Orion stepped forward, stopping when he reached the two. He gave a respectful nod to the man, and turning his gaze to the elfess, he gave a curt bow. It had been a custom he was used to preforming among the elves, his betters. He locked his honey coloured eyes with her very distinct, fading dawn colored eyes.

When he straightened, he watched as a young woman ran over to the elfess, a wide smile plastered on her rosy face as she stood beside her friend. He listened as the man mentioned a Rakasha, the one whom had freed the hostages. His voice was extremely kind, suitably soft, and calming, especially after the clang of metal that had transpired earlier. Not too soon after had Matthias gone off, further into the tavern, not without leaving a request of them. It seemed fair enough, he had helped create this bloody mess after all. He fixed his mask, readying himself for the task at hand, though he felt strange, the feeling in the pit of your stomach when someone is watching you. A sense that only grows stronger after preforming in Orion's type of workforce.

Turning his silky eyes to match those of the elfess again, Orion locked them in place, focusing on her light eyes. A smirk dawned on his face, covered by his mothers mask, but still allowing his amber gaze to sparkle. "I suppose your curious as to who I am." His voice carried the accent that had followed him ever since early childhood, elf-tongue seeping through his words.

"I also suppose it would be rude of me not to tell you." He carefully proceeded to walk around the thick blood on the ground, over to the two bandits that lie dead next to one another. With a grunt, he lifted one at a time over each respected shoulder, the weight was a bit more than he had expected, but manageable. He turned his attention back to not only the elfess, but the group she traveled with.

"The name's Orion. Orion Duvain." With a gleam in his eye, he trudged out of the inn, smiling through his mask towards the group. He wouldnt mind waiting to get aquatinted with the group, he had a job to do, and he didn't take any task lightly. As he stepped through the door into the cold night air, Orion walked over to the trees nearest to the inn, dropping the two bandits at his feet. He pursed his lips, unsure whether they deserved to be buried, or left to be eaten by the predators within the woods. The thought made him a bit uneasy, to treat any of the dead in such a way, especially after they had put up a valiant fight. He shook his head suddenly, a snarl forming on his face. No, no bandits deserved that much. They didn't care whether or not his father had gotten an honorable grave, so why should he care about their final resting place? He didn't.

Erahja quickly pulled her spear out of a downed foe and spun around, expecting to face her next attacker and realizing there was none. The bandits were lying dead around them and the tavern had gone comparatively quiet. She took a deep breath and relaxed a bit, leaning slightly on her spear. Elrithian came up to her side. He had kept mostly out of sight during the, but she had noticed a few attacks directed at her that surprisingly and fortunately hadn’t hit, and she was sure that was his doing.

The young elf made sure to acknowledge the two strangers, one armored and one hooded man, that had suddenly barged in to help out, locking eyes with both and offering the kind of polite nod that could also be a slight bow. The Rakasha’s attention was on Rhaedin and what appeared to be the village elder. They both seemed grateful that everyone was alive and one of the strangers introduced himself but did not wait to be asked further questions or receive any names in return.

Erahja still felt suspicious a bit to the strangers, but decided to leave it and instead started moving the bodies around, which seemed to her a task fit for hireswords like herself. When she did speak to one of the new arrivals, she managed to do so without mistrust in her voice. They had helped, after all, and they surely didn’t seem hostile. Perhaps she should think of their sudden appearance in more of a gift-horse kind of way.

“So, how come the two of you ended up here, anyway?” She asked the other man that had barged in, the armored one, while she herself threw a dead man over her shoulder the same way as she would have done if it was the carcass of deer being brought back from a hunt.

Elrithian held Zalrinus’ amulet in his hand. Something the S’ithra had said earlier made him uneasy about it and he chose not to wear it now that it was no longer necessary. Instead of walking up to Zalrinus and giving immediately, however, he followed the one they just learned was named Orion, with the mask and bit of an elvish accent, out of the tavern. He would not have guessed the man was of any elven decent before hearing him speak, since he was built much like a human. Either way, Elrithian had seen him react slightly to pain, which could mean it was a small bruise, or a serious injury if the individual was especially stubborn and stoic. Judging there was a non-zero chance that Orion was this type of individual, Elrithian felt it safer to maker sure.

“Are you injured?” He asked directly once he was near enough for Orion to hear him speak in his soft and quiet voice. Orion seemed to be looking thoughtfully at the corpses he had dropped at his feet, though expressions were hard to decipher on someone whose face you could barely see.

Silence came from the tavern now. The sounds of chaotic struggles, shouts and swords clashes seemed to fall into utter quiet that had now edged to the forest beyond. As if signaled to all those around the battle had ended. Curiosity, subtle at first, had filled a young half elf hidden behind a stout, gnarled maple tree and forced her hooded head to turn.

Her clothing fit tightly to her figure, outlined it to a lithe, female appearance. The cloak, worn and weathered by the wilderness, draped over her face and hid most of her face from sight. Small wisps of her long red hair both flowed loosely and bound in a long braid, the later wrapped about her neck like a decorated choke. A gloved hand slipped under the ribbons and lifted. Underneath came a pair of feminine green eyes that darted towards the tavern direction. Still nothing, she frowned. Impatient, her crouched body crept farther around the thick trunk only to immediately stop in her tracks.

The door to the tavern had been pushed open. She stayed still, her body barely breathed, as she watched the cloaked man she had been originally stalking appear in the doorway. Over each of his shoulders were bodies. Two rough, grimy bandits hung limp in the man’s efforts, his boots clipped steadily towards her direction. Every muscle tensed to see him approach closer and closer. Her form thankfully hidden by darkness- at least she hoped- or he would’ve seen her. She had decided to follow him the moment she spotted him heading along the woodland road, the endless forest and road so worn she couldn’t find her way around. It didn’t help she had no sense of direction to really speak of.

Her brown stallion with a black back settled a small distance away, his nose gave a soft snort and bent down to graze some. Velvet lips reached for tender grass, slowly chewed while the ears flipped around, forward and back in search for predators. His rich body blended well in the dapple forest shadows much to the girl’s relief.

Slowly, she pushed back when she heard the bodies unceremoniously plopped onto the ground. Their figures casted away like sacks of flour, limps just poised wherever they fell and landed at his feet. The woman felt the hairs on her neck nape rise at the golden eyes spying on her as black and sharp talons dug into the overhead branch tensely. She knew the owner was a snow white owl, black barred design break along the mono colored feathers, more comfortable when his swiveled his head back to the figure. The first man was shortly joined by another that seemed to walk with caution, either light on his feet or afraid he would break. It was a elf with long, white hair and thin appearance who had approached the masked one. Contrast to the masked man’s road traveling gear, this one wore mage robes keep unnaturally clean in her opinion. He spoke gently to the first man but she couldn’t tell what was being said. Not that it mattered because another movement had caught her attention, her face slightly more hidden by the trunk’s presence now.

The large and slightly black striped dog, a massive beast, had emerged from the doorway. The animal slide into the open air and perked up his ears and his head turned towards where the girl was, cocked a bit in debate. Then with large, goofy strides it started to sniff at the ground and ambled forward. He seemed to seek something, his path drawn right for her! Her teeth bite her lips, gently scraped the bottom, while her lungs seemed to seize in her through the pitter-patter heart. Closer the dog wandered. Oh, no… No, go back, please don’t…not this way. she couldn’t help but beg silently. Something seemed to swell in her chest. Weak at first then stronger and stronger it became the more the gap between the dog and her shrink. She closed her eyes in hopes he wouldn’t find her.

Several moments passed. Time seemed uncertain for her as her eyes dared to peek, one then the other opened to see a sight she hadn’t expected: the dog’s panting face just inches from her own! His long tail whipped back and forth in excitement at discovering her. She had no choice and it hurt too much to think about it. Her hand reached to her belt, the fingers skimmed across her knife…

“PUPPY!!!!” Angel shouted, her loud and gleeful sound seemed to echo off the very forest itself. This was soon followed by happy tail thumps.

De had gotten done with shattering a skull under his boot and with adrenaline still flowing he turned around to see. Stillness. It was over and it took a few blinks and head swings for him to realize it. He put his hands to the sides of his helm and lifted it off so that he could breathe cleaner air despite their swamp of dead bodies. He wedged the helm under his arm and returned his long axe to his back. This took some effort to maneuver but it was safer for passerbys that way, including his proximity to Orion. His face was damp from the perspiration of his intense exercise and perhaps it looked a little different than one would guess. His armor was intimidating and heavy, but under the collar of the breast plate he seemed much smaller inside. In fact he was rather younger than expected with no stubble on his cheek or bushy sideburns to speak of. It was strange in that the way he moved during battle seemed that he would look the more gruffy, jaded stereotype.

An elvish woman (heck they practically were all elvish as far as he could tell) rose to the occasion and soothed the situation with the hostages. She even paid homage to Orion and himself in which De smiled slightly and nodded. As she went on De would only get more confused as the conversation of an Olgrif, a Tree ent had sent this platoon of people to free the hostages initially. He felt a little dumb by the fact that he had never seen a tree ent before seeing as these people are so fond of him, do all forests have tree ents to watch over them?

Waiting through the conversation the spry old man said that there would be a reward for the team including he and Orion on the condition that they clean up first. 'Seems fair enough' he thought and he began to bend over to haul bodies over his shoulder like hay bailing. In the process of lifting another body he noticed that one of the elvish girls had begun to try and satisfy her curiosity about them. She picked him first for his brains.
"Literally passing by.." He said simply. De carried two bodies over each shoulder and was able to balance himself until he had gotten to the pile outside and dumped them one by one. It was there that he flinched in suddenly hearing a high pitched squeal of a puppy.
"..............what."

Zal glanced around one final time to make sure there wasn't any stirring bandits, before he answered the summons of both Rhaedin and the old man. However, as he heard about how the Ent was the guardian of the village, his teeth gritted. Why, in the name of all that is worshiped in this land, didn't the fucking tree save the town himself! But of course, he didn't say this aloud. It wouldn't have been prudent, after all. Not with Rhaedin around and the fact that the townsfolk and others would have immediately leapt to the conclusion that he didn't want to save the village. It would have been a mess that would have required far to much effort to clean up. So, he kept his silence and his complaints to himself, before walking over to the nearest couple of bandit corpses and grabbing them by their limbs(wrist and ankle, to be precise.) and dragging them out. He'd get his amulet from Elrithian later.

Right now, get rid of the corpses, take whatever Matthias gave them, and then head on their way. And, likely, stop and help other villages who could have been helped by their friendly guardian who was a giant walking tree with lots of fairy friends. Because, that's what they do now. Obviously. Not, you know, help the Angardians stop another war between themselves and the Cherods. With a sigh, the S'ilthra muttered to himself, "I shouldn't have taken this offer. Bad idea all around, I could feel it at the time. But no..I had to take the promise of interesting events. Well, I certainly got those!"

He fell silent, dragging the corpses behind him. It wouldn't change anything to complain now, even if it did make him feel better. As he was dragging the corpses away from the tavern to be eaten by the local wildlife, he noticed Sid wandering past him. The dog seemed to be searching. Still dragging his morbid burden, Zal followed the path of the his dog while he did so. Maybe Sid would find something interesting. And hopefully far less lethal than a bunch of bandits. Or a monster. That would be the icing on the cake, wouldn't it? A monster, after all this. Zal's thoughts were broken by the sound of Sid's tail smacking bushes and foliage. Then, he saw the glint of a knife in the moonlight. Before he could do anything more than drop the corpses, however, a loud shout of 'puppy!' broke the silence.

The next thing Zal knew, Sid was on his back enjoying both a vigorous belly rub and a bit of jerky from the person he had found. Walking over and creating a ball of flames in his hand Zal asked, slightly exasperatedly, "And who might you be?" Sid looked up at him with a none-to-remorseful woof. Then the dog went back to groaning in pleasure.

Of the two men that had burst upon the tavern, the one with the cowl focused his attention on Rhaedin. And as he spoke to her, she listened to his words politely, and noticed his golden eyes. Ah, how strange. There was but one explanation, of course, the man held elven blood in his veins. To what degree, she knew not. He could be an elf, or a half-elf, or one-third of an elf... From there she fell silent, and disappeared into her thoughts for a long time before Sevine suddenly coughed.

One-by-one the bodies of the slain were carted out of the room until Rhaedin and Sevine were all but left. Casting her eyes upon her surroundings, Rhaedin saw that the only bodies left to remove were the ones she had slain, the woman and the man. "Come Captain, I will help you. Grab the man, while I grab this woman. She will be easier for me to carry, as you are accustomed to the burdens of war and death." Sevine stepped forward, and moved to the slain woman who lay in her own pool of blood. Pressing the tips of her fingers to her lips, Sevine shut her eyes and offered up a brief prayer to Lyrem, to guide the woman's soul past the vicious, hungry souls of the Hunt, she then passed her hand over the dead woman's eyes before lifting the limp body of the woman up from the floor and quietly made her way outside.

Rhaedin had watched the act of kindness with which Sevine performed. Although the bandit woman had been a threat to their livelihoods, Sevine still treated the deceased with respect. She allowed herself to smile warmly after Sevine had departed. She knelt over, and lifted the body of the man she had killed into her arms, and followed after Sevine. It did not take her long to catch up to the red-haired witch who walked with almost a stoic gait. The two women were the last ones to join the group, where they had lain all of the bodies upon the ground in a small grove of trees.

Upon arrival, Rhaedin found Orion, Zal looming over a woman with red braids drawn about her, a ball of fire in his hand, and with Elrithian and Erahja in accompaniment. Sevine laid the woman's body down beside the others, and out of habit, Sevine began to correct the positions of deceased, fixing their limbs in the proper rites of burial. The woman who had descended upon Sid, giving the dog a delightful belly-rub, had not interested her whatsoever. And it wasn't that Sevine didn't care about her presence, but rather the rites of the dead were more important to her.

As for Rhaedin, she set the man's body down with care next to the woman and left the work of the dead to Sevine. She stepped quietly away from the bodies and headed over to Zal, where she appeared at his side in silence, her eyes examining the woman with intensity. She had over heard Zal's question to the newcomer, so she chose not to say a word, but rather await a response. There was no need to reiterate a simple question by demand of authority. Zalrinus was intimidating enough as it were already, his staggering height in general was intimidating.

Angel was down on her knees, legs curled underneath and both hands still scratched into the beast’s underbelly with a small smile. Her figure rocked back and forth in the fashion a small child did when engrossed into her task, completely entertained by the simple task. Each time her fingers drew back, they crisscrossed and ran again over the rough fur leaving the puppy to lean his head back and let out a slightly pleasant moan from the half open maw. It only seemed to encourage Angel to quicken her pace. The jerky was gone almost as fast as she given to the large Dane, the dried and waxy texture meat disappeared down the pooch’s gob the moment he had gotten it. Another thing that delighted the girl endlessly even if that was the last of her meat. What made it even better was the fact he willingly came up to her and made it impossible to contain her building enthusiasm that it came out in her squeal of delight! Who wouldn’t after all be excited about that?

Angel’s mood was in such a high and ecstatic state that she didn’t notice the small band of killers had surrounded her until it was too late. Her mind had been easily occupied with the mindless task and fun she was having, she forgot how dangerous the situation was. She watched the ground around her darken as a shadow loomed over her, followed by a flame’s crackling and a male’s gruff question about herself. Angel blinked when the dog woofed at his owner then continued to enjoy his rub down. Oh no… she thought, mentally recount at how cross her brother was going to be with her. Little by little her movements had started to cease and soon grinded to a total halt, her body pulled upright and hand rested on her thighs.

This was very, very bad.

After a few moments to ensure she wasn’t going to be tempted to resume scratching the puppy’s tummy, Angel’s left hand gingerly lifted her hood away from her face and settled behind her. It would be clear to most of the group about what blood coarse through her veins. Traits from both eleven and Cherod intertwined together as her fingers brushed a few loose strands behind her half pointed ears, her bright eyes fixed upon the original speaker. Her fingers fiddled with the bracelet at her wrist a bit out of nervous habit, rolling a tie’s end between her fingers. Meanwhile her eyes took in the now gathered crowd her outburst had created before she answered to the S'ilthra.

“I’m Angel. I guess I should’ve asked your permission before started to pet your puppy, shouldn’t I? I got a little excited cause you don’t see many of them in the Dark Forest, even on the edges where I lived.” Her voice was cheerful, including a wide smile, despite the large S’ilthra who towered over her. “I hope you’re not planning on roasting me because…that won’t end well for either of us. While I might not mind being burnt, I don’t think my guardian would feel the same to be honest.”

She didn’t make an attempt to rise, instead remained completely still in her sitting position. Angel had a feeling, a lesson learned with wild animals, any sudden movement would had easily provoked him and it was easier to think of the large S'ilthra as some large, oversized lizard then something too complex. Especially since she had little idea where Merthias was or when he would appear. She didn’t see the scene unfold, unlike him, from high above in a nearby tree branch. Silently he took off into the air and edged closer, his wings thrashed out and tail duck under while he lightly landed upon the next branch. Each time his golden eyes reflected off the moonlight that weaved in and out of the thick tree tops and betrayed his position for a brief moment. Finally he reached a branch above the S'ilthra and company that seemed drawn to his step sister, his eyes fixed upon most aggressive. The bird’s talons sank into soft bark, filled with anxiety, braced to fly off the branch and right into the S'ilthra’s ugly mug! He only hoped in his intended distraction Angel would’ve been intelligent to escape on horseback.

Sid gave a reproachful whine as Angel stopped rubbing his belly, staring hopefully at her from his position on the ground. Before eventually rolling over onto his feet onto his feet when it became clear she wasn't going to continue giving him food or rubbing his belly. The good times were over, apparently. Laying down his head on his paws, the dog rapidly closed his eyes and went to sleep. He cared little for the smell of owl, or the fact that the people around him were all talking. As soon as the belly rubbing had stopped, he lost interest in the proceedings. Zal, on the other hand, noted with some interest Angel's mix of both Cherod and Elven features. That was unusual. As Sid proceeded to do what Sid did best, he only gave a small sigh. He hadn't been lying when he had said the dog could sleep anywhere. Sid could, and usually did. It was a talent that Zal would have found admirable, if it wasn't for the fact that the dog slept at the most inappropriate moments. Regardless, he regarded Angel after her response. Apparently, there was a guardian about. Then again, that could also have been a bluff to make them more wary of trying to kill her. But, to be perfectly honest at this point, he didn't really care enough to try and kill her. "Look, I don't care where you're from, or who your guardian is. As long as you're not here to try and kill us, rob us, or similarly harm us or the inn, I'm fine. After being manipulated into doing a tree's dirty work, being clubbed on the head and kidnapped, and then killing a bunch of bandits in the inn, all I really want to do is go to sleep."

Maybe the headache from overusing his magic and getting hit on the head with a club would go away when he woke up. Maybe not. As it was, Zal was just tired. Extinguishing the flame in his hand, "Do what you will. I myself, am going to go find my bed again, and hopefully not be awoken by someone hitting me in the head with a club. If you wake him up to keep petting him and giving him food, Sid will be your best friend for a while." The bodies were all buried in one way or another, the village was saved, and no one in their party had died. As far as Zal was concerned, mission accomplished. Time to go to sleep and then get out of the village and away from the tree ent before it decided it had another task for them that it could have done itself. Turning to Elrithian, he said, "Are you done with my amulet?" He almost considered telling the Elf just exactly where the power came from, if for nothing else than the reaction. But no, that would just result in the fool refusing to use the amulet when he needed to next time, and that was a situation that was best avoided.

Sid began snoring.