The roc reached lower, her neck stretched and beak wide open. She expected an easy treat, just like the last ground walker, ready to snatch up her prey easily. What she didn’t expect was the sudden pain from Arc’s bite. His teeth bit into the soft down feathers and into the flesh underneath, drawing a little bit of her blood and staining the skull’s teeth. She jerked and pulled back, the pain rippled through her mind causing her to let out a deafening screech. The sound ruptured through the open area, filling and vibrating off the air, killing her attacker’s hearing.

Her wings kicked forward, scattering dirt against the vampire, while hoping backward to buck the skull off. The Roc’s head thrashed and flipped back to reach for the skull still latched onto her back. Attention taken by Arc’s antics, the Roc never saw Eural and Annabeth burst from the woods on wagon. Eural’s hands gripped the reins, snapping them to keep the frantic and willful Samson in his full out run. The horse’s mouth was wide in panic on seeing the giant bird still trying to toss Arc off.

Schwaff!

Annabeth shot off the arrow right as the roc managed to twist herself about, flinging the skull across the air. Arc went flying once more as his head, in some divine or higher power, managed to land into the wagon. It smacked into several white bones, clothing and a familiar cane…

Meanwhile, the arrow splits at last moment and the vine rope spread across the roc’s neck. It twisted about her neck as it entangles her wings and pins them to her body, crippling her ability to fly. The animal screeches in fury and her head jerked to the side, spotting the still rattling wagon rumbling in a dead gallop away. She hiss. Wasting little time, her claws dug into the earth as she bolted after the wagon. While the roc wasn’t adapt for ground running, she was no slouch in her speed. Barely keeping up, the roc’s head strained against the tangled rope and smacked against the wagon side.

Eural shouted, his body almost tossed from his perch. Both Annabeth and Colette, as well as Arc, would feel the impact, sending them to the wagon’s other side. “Someone better kill that thing before she kills us!” The guide cried, his arms struggled to jerk Samson to rebalance the cart.

Annabeth Gulch

Snatching Colette away from the clutches of the Roc Annabeth put a protective arm around the vampire. It was a bumpy ride and while Eural was doing his best to get away from the roc, there was only so much he could do with two spooked horses. "Hang on tight Colette!" Letting go of the vampire Annabeth tried to load another bolt into the balista. however the roc was way too fast, even on foot; right as she was about to crank the bolt into position the roc slammed against the wagon and sent the bolt out of the balista, and nearly knocking over the wagon. Annabeth was knocked to her feet but luckily managed to stay on the wagon. "Damn! I can't reload if that roc is on our tail!" Briefly, Annabeth thought about taking her sword out and stabbing the creature. But she stopped herself right as she hand her hand on the hilt. Even if she had stable footing that roc could very well snap her sword right out of her hand, leaving her defenseless. And even if she was quick enough not to be disarmed, she doubt her blade could pierce the naturally tough hide of a roc. She'd have to stab it in it's eye, which wasn't the easiest target to hit right now.

But that's when Annabeth realized that she didn't need to hit the eye; she just needed to make sure it was looking at her. "Colette, call your demon back and close your eyes! Things are about to get bright." Positioning herself so that her body was between Colette and the Roc, Annabeth unsheathed her war axe and hurled it at the roc. It bounced off it's head without any notable harm, but it did get it's attention at least. Taking a deep breath Annabeth focused the archanite flowing through her body. A practiced spell, one that she used with Ssarak and Satori all the time. She used it in the midst of sparing and even against Satori's illusions. But those were just training; it was safe. Here there was real danger. Annabeth was scared. If she messed up this spell not only could she die, but Colette and Eural too. But that was all the more reason why she couldn't fail now. Before, training with Satori and Ssarak, Annabeth held back because she didn't want to risk hurting herself. But now she had to go all the way to make sure that no one else was hurt. Annabeth was scared, but she couldn't be a coward right now. Looking the roc directly in it's eye she raised her hand at it.

"Let there be LIGHT!"

Then from the palm of Annabeth's hand, a blinding light emerged and shined right into the face of the Roc. Annabeth focused a measurable amount of her mage blood into this simply flash spell in order to get the most out of it. She needed to blind the roc, stun it, to give them time to reload the balista and get ready for round two. "Eural, see if we can lead the Roc into the forest. We have to cut down it's mobility!"

Caravan Mission

The only thing the bandits had going for them was archery to counteract Alaira's savagery. The big bandit was going to rely on their range support to trap Alaira while he gets his men back in line for battle. But things quickly went badly for him when, out from the skies, a dragon swooped down. Actually it was Ssarak, but as if the bandit was expecting an eysire of all things to show up. First Alaira arrived as a humanoid thunderbolt, and now a dragon man came in and just killed one of the crossbowmen. The big bandit turned to look at the one in the tower, only to see him cut down by a Yarosmere swordsman.

"Fuck."

The bandits (Or at least the ones who didn't get brained by Alaira at this point) were finally in a state of mind ready to fight, but were in for even more of a shock when they saw the big bandit make a run for it, throwing his weapons away to lessen his burden. With more than half of their forces gone in less than a minute the big bandit knew better than to stay and fight. Even if the last two bandits could survive just five more minutes, the big bandit had no doubt that Ssarak and Alaira were going to double team him, and once he goes down the other bandits were going to be cleaned up. So he cut his loses and ran for his life. The other bandits followed suit.

The camp was now filled with dead, dying, or pretending to be dead but very hurt bandits. The surface camp had little of interest aside from food supplies and sleeping gear. It seemed like whatever cargo they had stolen from caravans in the past has been moved on. The weapons from the bandits were fairly mundane, however there was a glowing rune on the axe of the big bandit. It's purpose was questionable, it may even just be ornamental. Either way however it wasn't over for the caravan group. They had succeeded in defeating one of the robed men and the bandits covering the surface, but now they had to enter the Ravine entrance and fine out what was hidden in the darkness.

Even from the entrance of the hole the students would only see darkness. A sharp ear would hear breathing, but it was raspy and dry. There was four, perhaps even five deep below. While it would be large enough to house Ssarak just fine, the ceiling of the underground cave was just a few feet above his head; there was very little room to maneuver in such tight spaces.

Aramir

Aramir winced as she scrambled up the mountain, at first at the sounds one of her companions were making behind her. She desperately wanted to look back and tell whoever it was to be quiet, but couldn’t lest she start making the same mistakes. Then the Roc started screeching and presumably attacking. Aramir didn’t dare look back as she finally stopped concentrating on moving as fast as possible as quietly as possible, and just ran up the mountain side, and prayed that there wouldn’t be the flap of powerful wings indicating that very sharp, freshly bloodstained, claws were about to come down and slash into her. Auriel and Liam, with their longer legs and surefootedness, easily outstripped her to the carts. Aramir had to scramble up the plateau, more than a little out of breath. As it turns out, running full tilt for your life up a mountain is tiring. She only vaguely registered the flash of light behind her, lifting her head up to scan the area. To her surprise, there were actual live animals in the nest. They were corralled by torn up earth, away from where the carts were. They were surprisingly calm, given the situation. Bones, unsurprisingly, were scattered here and there.

Before Aramir could even begin to wonder how they were going to get the carts undamaged off the plateau, she spotted someone else among them. “Hello? We’re here to get the carts you’re hiding behind! Care to help us and not become bird lunch at the same time?” She called to the person.

Althalus and Grey vs Eternal hunger

The elf watched Leith leave and run away, before turning her wrapped head towards Grey. "Good. Now I don't have to bother stopping Althalus, at least I assume that's the man with the toy over there, from running. It's always more fun to have two meals that fight back rather than two that do and one that doesn't." Her voice, while muffled by the rags, was surprisingly young. "Come on you big ox. Arm yourself and prepare for battle. I'll even let you have the first move." She twirled in a small circle, giggling. "Afterall it's not nice to-"

Crack!

The sound of the crossbow firing interrupted her. However, the bolt just missed her, nearly brushing her clothing as it whistled by. Althalus stood staring in surprise, Leith's instructions memorized and rune put safely away. That shot should have been straight through her stomach. I've made longer shots under worse circumstances with ease...how did I miss? He frowned, remembering Lucilia's brief description of the mages. "Be careful Grey. She has something up her sleeve. I should have killed her right then and there. I'm all for just leaving her to dance and giggle all by her lonesome, but turning our back on her so we can deal with them," Althalus jerked his head towards the group behind them, not daring to take his eyes off the girl, "seems like a lethally bad idea. Go get her, I'll shoot her again while she's distracted. The girl continued twirling and giggling.

Althalus desperately wanted to look behind him when he heard yelling and fireballs, but resisted the temptation. Remember: Taking your eyes off your target is a good way to lose them or to get killed. Sometimes both. His old mentor's voice echoed in his head as he loaded the crossbow one more time, muttering the phrase that had started all his new problems. "I hate mages."

Colette

Colette watched stock still as the female roc came right at her before she suddenly let out a defeaning screech that make her cover her ears as tight as she could. Before she could do anything else, she was suddenly snatched off her feet and she clung to the person that caught her looking up to see it was Annabeth which made her relax a little knowing she was out of danger until she felt whatever she was on suddenly get crashed into by the injured roc and she gave a cry out of fear.

Through the chaos around her she heard what Annabeth said and all she could was nod before she recalled her dmeon back to the world it came from and she closed her eyes just in time as light filled the area which made her wince as the light felt like fire on her sensitive skin but it was only a little uncomfortable.

She curled up holding tightly to the wagon as she tried to take deoe breaths and relax, but her mind wouldn't allow it as she could feel her blood racing in her veins.

"Annabeth i is there anything I can do to help" she cried out knwoing she needed to do something to help her team through this

Alaira Taenn

Alaira wrenched her mace from pulped bandit skull, a predatory smile creeping across her face as the other bandits all ran off... Clearly, they were smart enough to realize they were outclassed, but not smart enough to keep their weapons, seeing as how they all threw 'em down... She laughed, a horrible, mocking noise... "Aha! That's right scum! Flee! Flee for your lives!" She called with manic glee, overcome with laughter... What a fucking joke these guys were. She caught sight of the larger one's discarded weapon... She approached it, noting the glowing rune... Obviously, something like this was bad news, even she could see that. Still, to the victor go the spoils, and considering the fact she killed more men it was obviously hers by right. So, she'd take it back to the college and see if it was safe, or worth anything.

She had taken a poke around the camp, and an especially keen one might notice that she seemed to tense when she approached the cave... She held her weapon a little tighter as her breathing quickened. She strained her ears, but she could hear... breathing in there. She swallowed, breaking out into a cold sweat, just a bit. "H-hey! S-something's in... Th-there..." She called to the others, pointing her weapon down towards the entrance... Uncertainty and nervousness was plain in her voice, which would be quite jarring to one that had spent any time around her at all. Though it was probably unwise to make mention of it. "I c-can hear 'em breathe... Th-there's gotta be at least three... P-probably more..."

Grey Onyx

Grey definitely objected to Leith's course of action, actually turning after him, which of course meant he had made the critical mistake of turning his back to the enemy. "A-Are you mad?! Get back here!" He called, ready to sprint after him... Hydromancy mattered little, it's not like it was a hard counter to Pyromancy. And it's especially true that this crazed lunatic was far more experienced in his art than any of them were in there's... Athalus was a ranged combatant, and Leith was not. And while Athalus would be a boon in fighting the elf, he didn't especially need it as much as the others did. Which means that all three of them over there were close quarters fighters, easy prey for a Pyromancer.

And on top of all that, all that heat meant there was not going to be much water... why had Leith charged off?... Grey was faculty, technically, he had rank, which was especially true given that he was their protector. And... And now he was trying to reason with them... He could think of but one way to salvage this situation. He... also knew Athalus would not go along with it. So he would have to hope his self-preservation instinct would help. "No." Grey declared, ignoring his suggestions. "I'm regrouping. You should do the same, if you plan on living." With that, he took off running, keeping his shield up as he charged for the others... he'd have to hope he was faster than the elf. And also that Athalus would follow.

Ssarak had expected that his and Alaira's violent display would strike fear into the hearts of the bandits, but he had not anticipated it being as effective as it was. Even the largest, and seemingly most capable of the bandits abandoned his arms and fled. All around them, the confused and intoxicated bandits dropped their weapons and ran into the forest. Ssarak made a show of giving chase in order to make sure they kept running, but he stopped as soon as he reached the edge of the camp.

Walking back to the others, Ssarak observed both the cave, and Alaira herself. It would be difficult to miss her sudden shift in demeanor, which was drastically different from the confidence she was practically radiating only moments before. Alaira was not the type to discuss her weaknesses, which was why Ssarak had to discover her vulnerability to psychomancy through experience, rather than simply asking her. In this case, it was not difficult to conclude that Alaira held fear over something related to the cave; perhaps the darkness, or the tight, enclosed space. Either way, it would likely not be best for her to lead the way inside.

"We cannot bring the caravan through if there are still hostiles in the camp. We need to clear the cave, though it does not look as if there are any light sources within. Unfortunately, I can only create the illusion of light. We should look around for lanterns, or anything else that might light the way. If that fails, can your electromancy be used to illuminate the area, Alaira? I can take the lead when we head inside, as I am the most well-protected. Could you give me the axe you recovered? It would be more effective to use that in close quarters than my pollaxe." Ssarak requested.

Farian sneered at Mar, blood fire dancing along his hands. "I am Farian, you murderess. Blood for blood, as they say. Eania will pay for it's crimes, starting with your friend." With that, he flung another bolt of fire at Coco. Before the blood red bolt could hit the Foreas, a vine whipped out of the nearby woods and yanked Coco into the bushes. After a few moments of hearing Coco panic, the shout of "I'm Okay, don't worry about me!" echoed out and everything became quiet. Farian turned his burning gaze upon Leith. It was clear that he was discomforted, glancing at the burning pile of bodies before forcing himself to stare back at his two opponents. "I did not murder them. I was unable to stop those who did," Farian glared back at the man sitting on the rock, before facing Leith again, "and will see that they answer for their crimes accordingly, but Justice is Red. There is always death when seeking true justice, and this was just one unfortunate stepping stone. Just. Like. You." With that Farian sent six fire balls in rapid succession at Mar and Leith.

Mar hissed, her body twisted about to the right. One flaming ball skimmed too close for comfort, the heat touched and filled her skin's surface. It brought the pain back to her foremind making her eyes hardener at her target. Her scyth twisted, swirling around to catch the other two. Their embers sparked when they made contact as she flipped them downward. Her head took a moment to dart where Coco was immediately latched on by and been about to rush the bushes where Coco vanished when she recalled the Foreas words. Resisting the urge to check with her own eyes, Mar's head turned to Leith to spot how he faired.

Leith flinched at the incoming fireballs. He had been expecting Farian to throw something at him and Mar, but he hadn't been expecting that many. He ducked under the first fireball, and started emptying his waterskin as he batted the second one away with his right hand. He then made a quick motion and pulled what water he had emptied out of the waterskin and threw it at the last fireball, forcing the water to envelop the flame. The flames hissed and the water turned into a steam that partially obscured the man. "Is the potential death of innocents really on the path to justice?" Leith gritted his teeth. "Not only that, but killing one for the crimes of another is deplorable."

"It was not my decision! I was busy surviving what he," The Pyromancer jerked his head back towards the man on the rock, "Put me through! Do not try to paint me in the same light as the murderers that rule this land!" He hissed, flames leaping out of his mouth with each word. More flames gathered in his palms, but in his rage at Leith he forgot about his other opponent.

Seeing Leith far decently against, Mar's eyes jerked back to the man and narrowed on the source.She rose and straighten her back, her tail unfurled, as she whipped it out. Being the closer of the two, it targeted at the fire mage's legs and aimed to crippled the knees.

Farian noticed the tail too late. Not as used to dodging the tail as Althalus was, he jerked back, saving his knees but not his shins. He hit the ground hard, his arm cast awkwardly below him. An audible snap could be heard as his elbow broke beneath him. Farian screamed, flinging his remaining hand out wildly to send a short burst of flames out.


In the other fight...

Althalus stared at Grey in open shock. He couldn't really come up with the proper words to describe his surprise. "What in the name of the Godsdamned fucking Inferno are you doing?!" He shouted after the retreating guard, before whipping his eyes back to the elf. She had stopped giggling and dancing, simply staring at Grey's retreating back. Althalus thought he heard a low growling coming from her. Okay. Two choices. Stay and die. Or turn my back on her and die. Althalus thought, slightly hysterically as how bad the situation was set in on him.

Maybe she'll just let me go... He took one step backwards, and then another as her skin began to writh, as if there was a swarm of eels beneath it. She was moving as he was halfway to his third step.

She was fast. Inhumanly fast. Shitshitshitshit. Althalus thought bringing up his crossbow and firing. She was merely a couple feet away from him by that point, and she caught it with effortless grace. She threw the bolt into the ground and grabbed him by the wrist and throat as he reached for one of his knives.

Althalus tried to resist. He really did. But her grip was like an iron band around his throat and wrist and all he could do was gasp out something that was supposed to be swearing, but just ended up being gurgling. "This is your main hand, right? The one you use to fire crossbows?" She squeezed and broke his wrist. With a twist of her hand, as Althalus gurgled again in an attempt to scream, she used his knife to cut off her wrappings. The lower half of her face was just teeth. From ear to ear, from just beneath the two small holes that served as her nose to where her jaw should be, it was teeth. No skin, just gums and teeth. Without any hesitation she shoved his hand, blade and all, into her mouth and bit down.

Althalus's hand and wrist were gone in one bite. She threw him to the ground, chewing as she ran off towards Grey, outstripping the guardsman with surprising ease. Althalus's scream sounded over the combat between Farian and the rest.

When Farian fell, Mar's coils pulled forward, bring her just above the fallen mage while avoiding his wild aiming flames. It wasn't easy. Her shoulder felt the heat lick up her shoulder and followed by her arm, causing her to flinch. Thankfully, each dodge brought her closer until her weapon was at his throat and read to bring his life to an end. She opened her mouth to speak only to have her head snap up at hearing Althalus' scream. Something, she realized, should never had happened if Grey was fighting alongside Althalus. She trusted him to look after Lyn's father after all and the man seemed honorable enough to fullfill that duty, did something happen?

Her eyes immediately spotted Grey moving away, turning his back on Althalus and their foe, and move towards them. The sight caused fury to rise within her core, her eyes flared in anger. What the hell was Grey doing? She questioned the reason for abandoning his ally as her face paled on seeing Althalus' hand and blade being gashed on.

"Althalus!!!" She screamed, her eyes no longer on her mage. She wasn't going to see Lyn's father, her mate, being eaten because some bastard biped refused to cover his ally. She made a dangerous mistake and it would be one she would come to regret. When she tried to remove herself to help Althalus, she left herself exposed to her enemy.

Farian didn't hesitate. He opened his mouth and a stream of flame shot out, raking Mar's back at short range. The Naga screamed and recoiled, arching her back, before falling to the ground. Even if Grey had been stronger and faster than any normal human, he couldn't have made the distance to stop it. Mar had been less than a foot near the mage and it only took seconds before her exposed back was doused in flames. Her hands dropped the weapon while she thrashed about, her flesh being pounded into the ground in order to douse the unyielding flames.

The 'Eternal Hunger' leapt onto Leith as he turned and threw water from his pouch onto Mar's back, extinguishing the flames on her back. She sank her teeth into his neck and started chewing and tearing. He managed to throw her off and she landed nimbly on her feet, turning and facing Grey. "Do I have your attention now? Perhaps you'd like to play with me, before I get bored again and finish off your pathetic little friend." She gestured to Althalus, who was still on the ground, curled about his roughly amputated hand. "He won't be firing a crossbow anytime soon." She gestured for Grey to come forward, as Mar's body thrashed in the background. "Let's play."

E'nasha

“Hello? We’re here to get the carts you’re hiding behind! Care to help us and not become bird lunch at the same time?”

The words startled E'nasha, who up until that point had been hiding, curled up in a ball by the one cart that hadn't been destroyed yet, listening to the far-off cries of the monster that had brought her here. Looking toward the voice E'nasha was surprised to see an elf, a fox-like creature she didn't recognize, and another smaller elf, blue like the one that had tried to help her and El'kan earlier that day.

"Y-yeah? I wouldn't mind helping if you can get me out of here." Her voice shook at first as she slowly stood, brushing the dirt and other things off of herself. First we finally find the college, then I'm kidnapped by a monster, and now once I'm safe from the monster again I'll have to make my way all the way back to the college, alone this time because El'kan's already there... E'nasha sighed quietly to herself and took a few steps towards the small group. "What should I do?"

Darius made his way down the tower. It had been quite easy to dispatch the crossbowman, considering he had been distracted by Alaira, and then by Ssarak. All it had taken was a dagger up into the base of the skull. The fight had ended quickly, and without any casualties. It had been marginally better than the last two fights.

When Darius regrouped with the others, he peered into the cave. It was blacker than the pit in there. He spat on the ground before turning to Ssarak and Alaira. "I do not know much about mind magic." Darius started. "is there some way to see what is down there to deal with without light? He looked in the direction of the gates. "We should have someone keep watch for the other bandits. And possibly move the bodies to a place where they can't be seen."

Grey came to a stop as she heard that piercing scream, wheeling around and noticing, with no small amount of horror, exactly the extent of his folly. The world seemed to go dark as he witnessed that... Monster tear off his Ally's hand. He dropped to a knee, nearly vomiting at the sight of the horrifying visage their opponent had dawned... He had.. underestimated her considerably... No, that wasn't strong enough. He fucked up, no other way about it. He heard Mar call for him, and turned to see the man he had been going to provide support against set her ablaze, and before he knew it, the Elf had torn a chunk of Leith's neck out... He... couldn't adapt to Leith running off, and thanks to this petty nonsense he had nearly gotten all of them killed... He was really the only fighter left...

Grey froze as she regarded him, the normally unshakeable guardsman paralyzed with fear as the creature spoke in that sickening voice of hers... The very thought that such an art as Vitamancy could be used to kill had never even occured to him, much less something like... this. He was totally at a loss as to how to fight her now. He had expected she was merely support, but the reality was far too grim. And yet... He tightened his grip on his axe. He would save them. He was no hero, every single thing that had happened to them was his fault. They would not thank him, and he would not deserve it if they did... He... he had to redeem himself, somehow. He would never forgive himself if for some reason he lived, and they didn't... And if he were to quit now, he would have for sure killed them. If he somehow pulled through, he could at least sleep easy knowing they hadn't been lost solely because of his incompetence.

"A... Abomination..." He growled, tears streaking from his one eye. "I will not underestimate you a second time...!" He dashed forward rather suddenly, intent on kneeing her in the stomach and bringing the haft of his axe down on her skull right after...

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak stood at the entrance of the cave, his eyes unable to see more than a few feet in as he stared into the darkness. Darius was right to be cautious, as they did not know what they would face once inside. It would be much easier to drag them out into the light and into an ambush. There were multiple ways he could think of to force them out of the cave, but they had to be cautious in their approach. They did not yet know if the bandits held captives, but just as Darius suggested. Ssarak's magic might hold the answer to that problem.

"Alaira, could you handle the bodies and keep an eye out for reinforcements? Myself and Darius can handle the cave." Ssarak requested. He kept his tone neutral, but his reason for selecting Alaira was motivated by sympathy. It was obvious that she was not comfortable with the cave, but he knew her well enough to know that she would not admit her fear.

As for his next task, Ssarak needed to concentrate. He rested the haft of his weapon on the ground, gripping it with both hands as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I will see what I can sense. I may be able to listen for their thoughts, for the senses they are experiencing, to learn what lies below." Ssarak reached out with his magic, ignoring Darius' thoughts and avoiding Alaira's to see who else he could find. It quickly became apparent that some of the bandits on the surface were merely playing dead, but they were no threat at the moment, so Ssarak ignored their voices so he could listen for the presence of anyone or anything new.

The Eternal Hunger giggled, as Grey spoke. “Aww, is the big bad baby guardsman unable to take a little suffering of his friends?” She bared her teeth in a mockery of a grin, as Grey rushed her. She nimbly sprang away out of the kneeing. However, she misjudged the length of his axe. The axe blade caught her shoulder, neatly separating it from her body. “Tis but a scratch!” She declared, gesturing for Grey to come at her again with her remaining arm. Not a single drop of blood leaked from her wound.

“Enough!“ Farian spoke from behind her, practically spitting the word out. “Lets finish them already. Toying with them is unnecessarily cruel.” The pyromancer lifted a hand blood red flames gathering in his palm again. He looked at Grey, some form of sympathy on his face before speaking. “For what it’s worth. I’m so-“ With a dull crunch and a sputter of flame, a the jagged remains of a farming hoe erupted out of through his chest. The end sticking out of his chest was blackened and burning. Farian let out a scream, collapsing to the ground and writhing in pain as he tried to remove the hoe from his body.

“MURDERERS!!!” A familiar voice filled with rage and hate howled. From the burning pile, corpses began to rise again grasping whatever weapons happened to be at hand, and began shambling towards the Pyromancer, the Vitamancer, and the man sitting on the rock.

The boy had awoken.

With a flick of his wrist, the hoe ripped out of Farian’s chest, drawing another scream from the Pyromancer. He walked towards them, spittle flying from his lips as he screamed at the sources of his hatred. “You thought they would kill me!! You thought I would forget, forgive!! You were wrong! For the deaths of my family and my subjects, YOU WILL DIE!!” Farian stumbled to his feet, flames gushing from the wound in his chest like blood. The flames in what served as his eyes and his mouth were fluttering erratically, growing steadily dimmer. A brief glance at the approaching horde was all he needed. In a heartbeat he was off in a stumbling run through the woods. “After him!!” The boy screeched, running into the woods with his flaming zombie horde following at a fast shamble. The forest was already beginning to burn.

After cutting down the first few corpses that came at him with a lazy ease, the man leapt off the rock and jogged towards Althalus. “You leave me again,” The Eternal Hunger hissed at Grey, “and I’ll eat the human and the half snake alive.” She leapt at him, moving with unnatural speed and tried to shove her, now clawed, fingers into his face.

The man roughly flipped Althalus over and grabbed his stump of a hand, which was oozing blood at an alarming rate and showed no sign of stopping, drawing another scream from the assassin. “Shut up. I’m going to help you.” The man snapped at his ‘patient’, his voice rough and gravelly. A ball of flame appeared in his open hand, and without hesitation or warning he shoved it straight down onto the wound. The sizzle of blood and flesh being burned and the smell of cooked flesh filled the air. Althalus passed out. After briefly inspecting the freshly cauterized wound, the man dropped him.

“Oh no. You can’t go to sleep just yet. Wakey wakey.” Leaning down he placed a finger on Althalus’ forehead, his eyes turning from red to purple. “Awaken. I command it.” The man’s voice was now deep and smooth, almost soothing. Althalus’s eyes fluttered open and a low groan escaped him. “Fuuuck. Everything hurts. I feel like my hand is…” He raises his now amputated right hand. “Missing.” He paused for a moment, staring at it in shock. Then he started, remembering where he was. “That ugly bitch! And flame face! Where are they? What’s going on? Who are-“ “Silence.” The man cut him off. “’Flame face’ as you so eloquently put it, is running through the woods. ‘Ugly bitch’ is attacking your guardsman. Your Naga lover is wounded, but I’ll fix that soon. The plant woman is in the bushes, protected by something. The other human is as okay as one can be with bite marks on their neck.” With that the man turned and walked away, heading towards the fight between Grey and Eternal hunger.

Drawing his sword once more, the man lifted his right hand and cut it off in one fell stroke. Blood gushed outwards, collecting disturbingly in one puddle, before he just stopped bleeding. As Althalus looked on in horror, the man’s hand began to reform while he spoke to the blood. “Arise, slave. We are Legion, and we have long ago conquered you. Obey our commands and enter the mortal realm through our sacrifice.” The blood boiled and hissed, gradually forming shape into a demon. “Heal the Naga. You know what to do.” As the beast nodded it’s obedience, Legion spoke once more. “Do not eat her. If she has any bite marks from you on her, we will ensure you suffer.” With another, far more shaky, nod the demon sprang off, moving as quickly as a deer through the rough ground. Reaching Mar within a few moments, it oozed a crystal clear slime from its tentacles onto her body. Actively seeking the burns, the slime gathered atop them and numbed the pain the Naga was feeling. As it sat upon the burn marks, it slowly began to turn a red color, as if it was absorbing the burns.

Grey clenched his teeth as he evaded, his strike missing... How could she be so fast? How?! Everything was looking hopeless in the extreme by now, and he noticed he was breathing a little harder. He faced them as quickly as he could, noticing that the Pyromancer had rejoined the fray... He also noticed the expression on the Pyromancer's face... He had heard some of the things he said, maybe he could be reasoned with... At this point, that was his onl-

He audibly gasped as he recoiled in shock, a farming tool appeared to have burst through his chest... He whipped his head to the side, the kid having apparently woken up... He knew it, he knew he should have killed him when he had the chance! "N-no... No!" He cried, gripping his axe tighter as he noticed the other man finally get up... He'd take any excuse to avoid fighting that... thing any longer, but when he stepped forward to engage him, he heard the horrible sound of the 'elf' speaking once more...

He gasped once again, barely able to whip around in time to raise his shield... However, in his panic his stance had been all wrong, and the monster had bowled him over... He fell to the ground with a loud crash, losing his grip on his axe. He... screamed, a truly pitiful one as he tried with all of his might to hold her off with his shield... He was shrieking and heaving in terror, sharp claws finding his face and carving into his cheek, nearly cutting right through. "G-get offa me! G-GET OFF!!! he cried, desperately bashing at the creature with his free hand as he tried to scramble backwards...

Caravan Mission

As the college students waited on the surface, in the Ravine the last of the robed man was scheming a desperate gambit. He had heard the cries of his men as they were cut down, and he knew he was trapped. He had to do something to escape, to elude these mysterious attackers. But as a vampire, his strength lied within darkness, not day. Djarkel, as bleak as it was, left very little in it's lands to create shadows. He would have to wait until nightfall if he wanted to have any hopes of escaping unharmed. However... He had some allies. In the absolute darkness the vampire looked over to cages near him. Cages containing feral vampires. Nearly turned victims of the vampire's hunger. They were in the early stages of a vampire's blood thirst; the sun would kill them if exposed for too long. But for the purpose the vampire needed, it may just be enough.

But the vampire had to act quickly. He sensed a disturbance against his wards. "Blood and damnation! A psychomancer!" The vampire whispered to himself. He grabbed his journal and his sword. Going over to the cages containing the feral vampires, he gave them a few crude clubs pilfered from guardsmen of the past. He doubt the vampires were in any state of mind to fight tactically, but if they could cover his escape, that was all he needed. He was well fed enough to be largely unaffected by the sun, so it was just a matter of escaping while the chaos occurred on the surface.

Mean while Ssarak would detect the presence of a intermediate level ward, and at his current level he'd have to focus more intently if he wanted to break through it. But he could easily discern the mad ravings of the five feral vampires below. Their minds flickered between ravenous hunger and their observations. Hardly an individual thought amongst them aside from their own desire to feed. But shortly before they were released, Ssarak could see in their minds that they were armed and now freed. And their thoughts would echo a command that Ssarak should heed quickly. "FEED!"

From the darkness the five feral vampires ran out. Immediately the sun began to bake their skin causing them to scream in agony, but they ignored the pain. They smelled blood in the air, and saw the eysire and the human before them. Their savage instincts told them to attack; to kill and eat them. Ignoring the pain, blind to the ripe corpses around them, the feral vampires lunged at Ssarak and and Darius, ready to bring their clubs down onto their heads.

Mean while, the vampire from the deep focused his magics into an invisibility spell. He had to be quick however; he knew that the Psychomancer could find him by virtue of detecting his wards. But with the feral vampires occupying him, the vampire psychomancer expected to be able to escape before they could catch him. Shortly after releasing the feral vampires the robed one left, invisible, and headed strait towards the forest.

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

"I can hear them. Their thoughts are almost insane, ravenous. They may very well be...wait. Ready yourselves, they're coming!" Ssarak warned, quickly bringing his weapon to bear. Their attackers were far from subtle as they charged from the cave screaming at the top of their lungs. As soon as he saw the first of them start to come within range, Ssarak acted quickly and efficiently. The feral being was nowhere close to approaching tactically, so it could not evade the heavy, diagonal strike from the axe head on Ssarak's weapon, which had more reach than its meager club. The sheer force of the blow was enough to split the beast's skull open like a melon, which was unquestionably fatal. However, the second of the attackers was close enough behind the first and was able to leap up on Ssarak before he could recover from the swing.

Fortunately for Ssarak, the very shape of his head was a boon in this situation, as it only took moving his head a slight amount to make the club hit his helmet at an angle, significantly reducing the impact. It was still painful, but not deadly. Ssarak grabbed a hold of his attacker's side with one hand as he turned to use its own momentum against it by throwing it straight to the ground behind him. Knowing that there were yet more of these frenzied beasts, Ssarak ran a few steps away from the cave entrance to give Alaira some space to enter the fight, trampling over the one he had tossed to the ground in the process. Even with Ssarak's size, it was not likely to be lethal, but at the very least, it would be injured.

By this point, it was obvious from their attackers' appearance, and their reaction to the light, that they were feral vampires. They were essentially mindless beasts that cared only for their next meal, which meant there was one more that was unaccounted for. A feral vampire would not have wards, especially wards as strong as those he felt. In all likelihood, it was another psychomancer who was probably the greatest threat remaining in the camp. However, he was also nowhere to be seen. He likely was the one who commanded the ferals to attack, as Ssarak heard the order when he was reading their minds, but he was not following up on the attack with his own abilities. To Ssarak, this was immediately suspicious. To send vampires out in the daylight to fight was a bad idea on its own, but to do nothing to aid them was just a waste of forces if he actually wanted to kill them. Either the psychomancer was preparing another defense below the surface, or he was trying to escape. Ssarak knew well all of the tricks a psychomancer could use to slip away unseen.

Ssarak could not let the psychomancer escape, but the feral vampires were not going to let up the pressure. Even now, the one he had trampled was starting to stand, while another was rushing past it. Extending out a hand, Ssarak used an illusion that would perhaps be even more effective than usual in this situation. It was a bright flash of light from his hand which would hopefully serve to blind and confuse the ferals. They were obviously sensitive to light, and their simple, rage-filled minds might react with the same momentary aversion to the perceived light as to the actual sunlight.

"There is another in the area, a psychomancer. We cannot let him escape!" Ssarak shouted to the others. It was loud enough that the psychomancer would be able to hear him if he was indeed above the surface, but in this case, that was exactly what Ssarak wanted. Using the brief opportunity afforded to him by the blinding light, Ssarak worked up a short sprint, then lifted off into the air safely above the feral vampires. He just had to trust in his allies' abilities to handle the feral beasts while he located their final foe. Unfortunately, Ssarak could not simply look around and spot the psychomancer if he was using invisibility. Even if his invisibility was not perfect, it would take too much concentration to scan the area in the time he had. There was the option of Ssarak using his own psychomancy, but he had another, potentially easier solution in mind. All he had to do was trick the psychomancer into making a mistake.

"There! I found him!" Ssarak shouted, followed quickly by him loudly flapping his wings to gain more height, and therefore potential for speed. Of course, he had not actually located the psychomancer, but the sudden announcement that he had could cause him to rush, or even use other abilities to aid in his escape. Either way, Ssarak scanned the area, looking for any sign of movement, especially in the grass or bushes.

Mar was feeling nothing but pain, heat and worse. Each time the stench from her roasted skin reached her, the scent screaming wrong as she could feel the surface blistered and bubble from her attacker's underhanded attack. The layers on the skin's surface were completely blackened by the first contact. Little holes, were skin blistered and popped, were left scattered over her back. The weaken layers underneath were left exposed to the bacteria filled air, leaving a stinging that numbed from infection. All she could feel was the heat. How rolled and settled into her skin and muscles, leaving her helpless. Her eyes were glazed over from tittering between passing out or getting her scaly ass back up. In the background, Grey's and the bitch who ate Althalus' arm sounded far off and dim.

Sounds caught her attention as she weakly twisted her head about. Her eyesight was blurry allowing to only see a grey, red smear hopping towards her direction. Slowly, she flipped her head about to spot her scythe several feet away out of her reach, exactly where she dropped after being singed, making her inwardly curse her stupidity. Her arm feebly reached for the weapon and her fingers, followed meekly by her body, inched toward it.

Her felt, more than heard, the beast come to a halt before her fallen form. With surprisingly gentle pressure, a single hoof landed upon her lower back. Mar hissed softly and tried to twist loose but found herself held fast. Something wet, cold and slimy oozed over her back. It hit the flesh, connecting with a cold sensation that spread through her nerves, numbing the pain receptors, caused her to immediately relax. Her muscles seemed to lose all function and crumbled into a heap while the slime continued to absorb the burns. The heat was the first to go. Yet there was still much work to do as the beast, a demon her tongue uttered in her mind on flickering it out, the bitter sulfuric taste mingled with the air, when the creatue applied another layer. This time it was healing some of the missing patches, recreating flesh and chasing out the infectino that had started to take root. At this point, mar could lift her head enough to spot Grey's and the strange mage's fight. Sadly, until the beast was done, she couldn't join the fight quite yet.



Eural uttered another curse under his breath, his body hunched over and reins whipping the horse along. He felt like his arms were about to fall off at any time now. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted the girl jerking up the vampire, tugging her into the wagon, as she let go to reload the balista. It didn't work so well. The Roc, stretching her neck out, then sent her head slamming into the wagon side causing the bolt to fall from its rest. Eural bit his lip at the rotten luck plaguing them now and focused on not toppling from the wagon, his hand jerked out to balance himself again, while driving on the animals.

Again the Roc made a loud, ear spliting screech that rattled his brain. He flipped his head around to see Annabeth's war axe tumble to the ground as the Roc lounged again, her deep eyes locked on their wagon. He could see the stress in the handcrafted vines and knew they wouldn't last long, some already started to come apart at the fibers with each tug of the Roc's wings.

The drive didn't know what to do save to keep Samson and the mare from smacking into any trees. Inside he was feverishly hoping the mages knew what they were doing else him, Mr. Macbony, the two girls and likely the other crew were all goners.

"Let there be LIGHT!" Ananbeth shouted.

Her voice echoed, followed by a sudden flash of light and directions for him. "Eural, see if we can lead the Roc into the forest. We have to cut down it's mobility!"

"Right!" He cried back and wrench the reins into the upcoming tree gap, driving the frighten horses into the groove. The wagon rumbled in protest while the wheel on the left side made a subtle wobble, hinting to a broken bolt and unstable fastening. He spied the Roc's head thrash back and side to side, as if something had been tossed into her eyes, loud squawking filled her panicked cries. Her feet hobbled back as it picked and clawed the ground, kicking up dirt in her attempt to gain her sight.

"Hey," Eural shouted at his passengers, noting the Roc's likiness to lose them if they didn't gain her attention again, "Someone better get that Roc's attention and fast!"

Alaira Taenn

Alaira had graciously accepted the offer, not wanting anything to do with the cave as she simply nodded and scampered off... A few bandits had actually been alive it seemed. She took care of that. She spent her time away keeping watch, and looting corpses. She didn't really find anything of note, a flask of spoiled ale, an incomplete deck of cards and... jackpot, twelve coppers! That was halfway to a free pint of mead! She pocketed the coppers, there was no way in hell Ssarak might object to that... She'd feared he might try to take her new axe though.

Her thoughts were interrupted by... Screaming and violence. Great. She looked back, somewhat bored as she noticed the near half-dozen wretches... Well, it was probably time to head back anyway. Lucky her, they weren't in that... place anymore. She ran towards the battle, looking up with some confusion as Ssarak took flight... what was going on? the fight was here... right? Understanding apparently dawned on her as she heard him speak... Ah, someone was running off? couldn't have that! "I got him!" She cried, dashing off in the direction he was facing, assisted by Aeromancy... She wasn't seeing anything, but they were fucking psychomancers, and her hearing was good enough she'd definitely hear his footfalls... Or hers... Whatever. "Come out and I'll make it quick! If you make me hunt you I'm taking my sweet time..."

Leith could taste blood. It was horribly surprising how quickly things went downhill. He had collapsed to the ground after he had thrown the elf off of him, but not before she bit a chunk of flesh from the back of his neck and another one from the lower half of his face as he threw her off. Gingerly, he brought a hand up to the side of his face. He winced when his hand brushed against a flap of skin that hung down from his jaw. The pain was intense. He put his hand down and pushed himself up. There was a small puddle of blood on the ground, but it wasn't an alarming amount.

As Leith stared at the puddle, he heard Grey screaming. He whipped his head around to see that The Eternal Hunger was on top of Grey and clawing at him. He grit his teeth. This had to stop right now. The voice had said she was weak to Pyromancy. Farian had been chased away by the corpses that the child had brought back, but his blood red flames were still burning in some places. There was a lamp nearby. Leith stood up, pausing to look at the demon that appeared to be healing Mar before he walked over to the lamp and picked it up.

Leith crushed the lamp in his hand as he made his way over to The Eternal Hunger. Oil started leaking from the fragments, but he gathered it up and formed it into a ball the size of a fist. Once that was done, he discarded the mess that was once a lamp. He sent the ball of oil out to The Eternal Hunger. It hit her neck and moved up to cover her eyes, nose and mouth. Leith walked up to her and ripped her off of Grey and threw her towards one of the flaming corpses that had difficulty moving. Leith's head throbbed as he sent a line of oil towards the flames, keeping it still attached to the oil on her face. Without taking his eyes of The Eternal hunger, he held his hand out to Grey.

”Are you okay?" Leith was completely unaware that the chunk that was torn from his face made at least three teeth visible on his lower jaw.

Grey Onyx

Grey tried as hard as he could to throw her off, but it just wasn't happening. It didn't matter how hard he punched her, she just did not care. All his struggling really seemed to do was keep her from eating him for a few more minutes... He was beginning to feel his consciousness slipping, fading away for the smallest moment before awakening to that storm of twisted flesh and gnashing teeth. And then, he felt some sort of impact, through the beast atop him... He felt something drip onto him from above, before the weight was suddenly gone... He gasped, panting with fear and exhaustion as he saw a hand, attached to an arm, attached to... Leith.

He didn't answer, staring off into space as he took his hand... He looked down to his hands... What... what was he doing?! Leith was missing most of his face, and he didn't seem nearly as shaken up... They needed him, and he was flailing around like a child... He looked up, finding the monster thrashing about near a not-quite-walking-corpse... That was it, this ended now! He threw his shield aside, roaring in fury as he charged her, still somewhat crazed... He tackled her, reaching for what might generously be called her throat...

Meirin Kurenai

The college students and the caravan master left shortly after their talk. Meirin knew from the look on the caravan master's face that it didn't go in his favor. Meirin was worried just what happened however, as she occupied her time keeping Lyn away. The red haired girl was still a bit sore over Alaira's actions, but was trying her best to look past it. It was obvious that Alaira was going to need a lot of help. She could play tough as long as she wants, but the fact is that there are major flaws that Alaira needs to fix. No one has to be perfect, but Meirin still believed that she could fix her mistake.

It wasn't long before the caravan master stopped in the middle of the road. Meirin wondered what it was all about when he told the others they had a few hours to find the bandits. Meirin was glad that the caravan master accepted the deal, but as everyone else left she began to worry. It was only going to be Lyn and the caravan master if everyone left. And while she did want to fight alongside Ssarak, Darius, and Alaira, they still needed to guard the wagon too.

"You guys go ahead, I'll stay with the wagon. Since they won't have the element of surprise on their side, I know you can take care of them, easy! If anything shows up, I can deal with them myself."

There wasn't much room to debate since they had a time limit, so the two groups left. Meirin stayed in the wagon as it moved through the forest. This forest felt familiar to her and she probably went through it once in the past. But that only reminded her of the dangers that lied in wait. It brought back memories of demons and her failures. Before they could get the better of her however, Meirin took out a container with her medicine and gulped down two pills. Her mind was at ease, as though it was able to forget her troubles and give her a moment to collect her thoughts. Once she steadied herself Meirin looked around.

The caravan master hide the wagon in the only part of the forest with a thick brush and overhead cover. It wasn't totally dark, but not much sunlight broke through the canopy. It was a good place for hiding, but that could easily be used against them. Picking up her weapon Meirin got out of the wagon and stood guard. She waited... And waited... And waited. A younger Mei would have grown impatient and started to slack off, but this Meirin was diciplined enough to remain steadfast. She kept note of every sound and sight she could detect. After a while, she was able to figure out what was normal and what wasn't. If something new came along, she'd know it.

However there was one thing on her mind. The Caravan Master. She didn't like how the rest were treating him. Alaira was being... Alaira, and while she knew Ssarak was doing his best to be nice, he was still taking advantage of him. She knew it was for the good of the college, but Meirin still couldn't sit comfortably knowing that they were pushing him around. She wanted to say something so she did. Walking up to the caravan master Meirin called out softly.

"Excuse me, do you have a moment?"

Unknown to Meirin, around that moment Lyn also wandered off into the forest.

Waking up with a start the caravan master nearly drew a knife on Meirin. It wasn't a proper fighting dagger, more like a kitchen knife. He didn't have a proper weapon because he thought he'd have bodyguards, but right now the only people to protect him was this red-haired floozy and that little girl. "Nhh, what do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?" More like nurse his hangover, which he wasn't improving by drinking more of his hooch.

"I just want to say sorry. Sorry for everything that's happened. I promise that the college will do everything it can to make this all right."

"NO!" The caravan master jumped to his feet, standing over Meirin. It helped that he was still on the wagon. "Right?! The right thing to do would have been to find someone else! First that crazy elf bitch burns the fields, than she attacks guardsmen, and now here I sit, waiting for her to go cut a path of destruction in the country side. Don't think that makes you special. I came to the college hoping for once I could find guardsmen who weren't trying to be goddamn heroes or insane! But nooooo it looks like everywhere I go, there's always someone who wants to fuck around!" The Caravan master was red in the face from both booth and anger. He throw his bottle at a tree in anger, causing some birds to fly away from the shattering glass.

"All I wanted was to get to Hysteria in two days. Hell, I came all the way from Sanguine in only three, and the worst I had to deal with was bandits making me pay a tenth of my profits to go free. Nooo trouble at all. But than I hear talk about demons and figured, hey, why not ask the college for help? They're must be more professional than the other drunken idiots who pass as demon hunters! BUT NO! THEY'RE ALL THE SAME, EVERY LAST FUCKING ONE OF YOU!"

The caravan master panted heavily at Meirin, nearly spitting all over her face in his rant. Any notion of stealth was forfeited in exchange of letting himself vent. He sat back down and curled up, ready to sleep.

Meirin was quiet. She let the caravan master speak his thoughts while she kept a calm face. He had every right to be angry so she was going to let him say what he wanted to say. But when he stopped, Meirin spoke.

"Your anger is justified, and I won't make excuses for our faults. But we're not the same as the others. We aren't here for gold or to the thrill of killing. There is a greater threat that looms over us. What we face now, these bandits and vampires and demons, they're just a shadow of the monster that wants to destory us. Of Kudd Gro'Freesah."

Meirin let her words sink in for a moment. She knew about the great demon god after some more researching behind the attacks. She's heard of the bedtime stories the people of Djarkel had about the demon overlord who would steal away naughty children and turn them into little monsters. And yet somehow those children's tales become much more frightening to Meirin, knowing that it may be within Kudd's power. But all the more reason she had to fight against him and anyone who would serve him. She had to protect the people she loved, and surely the caravan master wanted the same thing.

"In these dark times it's hard for anyone to think clearly when so much is at stake. It can be crushing to think. Before, I was simply a student of my art and magic. I didn't have any greater aspirations but to perfect both. But when the demons attacked my home... Even if I wanted to run, I knew that war was upon us. So I had to fight. But it's is not something that is so easily done. Take for example Alaira. The stress of the war she had entered has... Made her paranoid. You must understand this, don't you? Demons are easy enough to spot, but when we heard word that Kudd had humans among them, suddenly everyone could be her enemy. She cracked, and only wanted to protect others by destroying those who would harm them."

The caravan master said nothing. His face was covered up bu his sleeve and hat. But he wasn't snoring, though his breathing could be heard. Whether he was asleep or not was hard to tell, though that may have been done on purpose.

Letting out a sigh Meirin leaned against the wagon. She still kept an eye out on potential enemies, more so since the caravan master's outburst might have alerted potential threats. Still she spoke, hoping to make a breakthrough.

"Do you have a family, sir? Wife and children?"

The caravan master said nothing and continued to feign his sleep. However he dropped the act as soon as he spoke. "My daughter... She wanted to run the caravans, just like me. She... I wanted to spoil her. I wanted to keep her at home, where she would be safe, and after every trip I'd bring her something from my travels to show her that I loved her. She... She's gone now. Left with her first caravan... And never came back. I that was five years ago. She was only fifteen years old... But she was always my little girl."

The caravan master didn't really make a connection with what Meirin was saying about Kudd and such. He knew the name, but he wasn't in the right state of mind to care about it. All he could think about was what happened to his daughter. What might have happened. "Do you know how it's like to feel that powerless, woman? I could... I should... Have stopped her. Saved her. But... She... It wasn't my choice. I had to go along with it and... And this is what happened. That was what happened when I didn't get to even have so much as a say of what could happen. First I lost her and... I don't even know what to do anymore. I just... Don't care anymore..."

Sitting next to the caravan master Meirin looked down at the huddled up old man. He was so small right now. "That little girl with us, Lyn, she's someone's daughter too. Don't you want these roads to be safe for children like her as well?"

"..." The caravan master didn't responds.

"I know we aren't doing the perfect job at it. But the college wants to help. No one else should have to suffer. I'm sorry for your lost. But we'll do our best to make sure it never happens again. You have my word."

"... I don't know. Your word holds no meaning to me, college girl. I... I've been promised so much. How can I possibly believe that the college would ever hold to it?"

Suddenly, there was rustling. Both Meirin and the caravan master shot their heads towards the sound. Meirin react just in time to avoid an arrow from hitting her in the shoulder. She jumped off and grabbed her weapon, holding it at the ready.

"Heh heh heh... Well lookie here. A fine woman, and a wagon full of goodies. Looks like this was a good hunt after all, eh lads?" From the forest came three bandits, each armed with a bow. Dirty, grimly thugs. However their armor and equipment suggested they weren't mere brutes, but potentially deserters from a Djarkel Baron. They wore Splintmail armor, armed with shortbows and twin shortswords. Meirin would recognize the hilt design of the swords belonging to a former baron in Djarkel, who had been recently displaced and turned to banditry. They're well known for their dual-wielding weapon style, but better known for their pack-like combat tactics. And it was three-on-one, giving them a slight advantage. "Hey girlie, why don't you put that shovel down and play with us? I promise we won't hurt you! Heh heh heh... Not too badly anyways."

Meirin's responds to the bandit's words was throwing one of her hidden daggers at the bandit, piercing through the hand holding the shortbow. "Please stay back, caravan master. I will protect you." With the other half of the lungchuan tamo, she hurled it at the same bandit as before. He dodged but still got nicked on the shoulder, on the same arm that got stabbed.

"You bitch! Ooooh.... You're going to pay!" The bandits who still had hands drew and arrow and tried to shoot down Meirin.

But Meirin was faster. In a single bound she got close to the three bandits with her weapon ready to cleave through their bow. With one well practiced swipe, she sundered through the wooden shafts of their short bows, just barely missing their hands. But she didn't stop there. After her swipe she pressed the attack and stepped towards the first bandit, dropping a quick but hard stomp right on the side of his kneecap.

There was a sickening crunch as Meirin broke the bandit's knee, much to the horror of the other two. However they still had enough sense to at least draw their short swords. One of them did anyways, while the other only managed to draw one. He charged at Meirin with a blood curdling roar, stabbing at her mid section while the other moved in to flank.

Puller her leg back from the bandit's knee she kicked him aside with a flick of her leg just in time to see the other two move in. She parried the one-handed bandit's stab with the crescent end of her staff, spinning it just once through the air so that she could plant the spade end right into the shoulder of the first bandit she took out. Her weapon could not break through his armor, but she used his armor to slide the sharpened spade head right into his unprotected neck, partially decapitating him.

The dual wielding bandit lunged right as Meirin sunk her weapon into the first bandit's neck, one blade going towards her staff and the toher towards her hand. He intended to hold her weapon in place and wound her while his friend get ready to stab Meirin in the back. Indeed, recovering quickly from the parry the bandit ducked low and stabbed towards the back of Meirin's legs.

Not wanting to be attacked from both sides, Meirin moved her hand down the shaft of her staff just in time to avoid getting her hands cut but the bandit's blades. When her hand was close to the crescent head of her staff she jumped into the air, holding onto the staff as leverage while sinking it further into the neck of the first bandit. She avoided the one-handed bandit as she did a hand stand on the top of her staff. With a twist she fulled decapitated the first bandit and got the made out of the shaft. Pressing against the crescent blade Meirin pushed herself off the staff and further into the air, where she preformed an aerial weaving movement. Before she landed she shot a blast of air right down onto one of the bandits.

Unbalanced from Meirin's acrobatics the dual wielding bandit was knocked onto his stomach from Meirin's wind attack. The second bandit had no idea what to do, and didn't get a chance when the Caravan Master threw his knife at the bandit. He meant to do that just to distract the bandit, but his blade managed to land right into the bandit's neck, severing an artery. The caravan master was just as surprised as the bandit.

Stepping up the the last bandit Meirin put both her feet on the back of the bandit's arms to pin them to the ground. "I will be merciful and spare you if you answer my questions honestly. Where is your base? Who is your leader? And what have you and your gang been doing?"

The bandit was nearly crapping in his pants if he had anything to eat. Scared for his life he stammered out answers to Meirin's questions. "T-to the west! We marked out path with red leaves! The boss is a guy name Yogol, big orc fella, knows magic! He brought some friends along and said if we worked with them we'd be rich! Please don't kill me, you gotta understand, Djarkel is a horrible place! It... It does horrible things, you have to adapt, you have to be willing to get your hands dirty! It was just trying to survive!"

Listening carefully, Meirin stood, one foot on his back. She kicked the swords out of his hands before reaching around his neck. She put the bandit into a sleeper hold as he struggled against her, but in ten seconds he stopped moving. He would be aware, but light-headed, within a few minutes. And just to make sure that he didn't give chase she used his own belt to tie his feet and legs together. Assuming the wolves don't get to him, he could undo the belts and live to see another day.

Meirin gathered her weapons back together and returned to the caravan master. She even gave him back his knife. He seemed shaken at the sudden conflict but she put a reassuring hand on his knee. "I want to see Djarkel be a better place. It is my home, and it brings me pain to see my people forced to kill each other for something as simple as survival. These are dark times, but the college aims to be the light in our darkest hour. Please believe me."

The caravan master looked at Meirin. His face was full of mixed emotions. He didn't like fighting. He wanted nothing to do with it. But at the same time, for once, he was grateful that someone was doing their job and protecting him instead of starting or looking for fights. He only wanted this to be a safe trip, not one disaster after another. but than the caravan master looked around and noticed something was off.

Meirin realized it as well. Gripping her staff she went to the back of the wagon. She was gone.

"LYN!"