[i]Aha! The crossbow![/i] Nartholan did indeed see a crossbow in the weapon booth.

As he picked it up, he realized he hadn't the foggiest idea how to use the thing.

[i]This is easy, you just slide an arrow into here...[/i]

He looked around. [i]They brought the crossbow but not the arrows?![/i] All that was there was a set of circular pointy sticks.

[i]Well, a stick is better than nothing...[/i]

He got the stick in... finally. He pulled the trigger.

A few times.

[i]Why doesn't this damn thing work?![/i]

He set the thing on the ground and looked. [i]Everything looks fine...[/i]

He looked around for a non-broken piece of equipment. There wasn't a bow. He knew there wouldn't be guns laying around... he had to do something to provoke Dryllis. Alliance with him was out of the question. Bringing a sworn enemy of his master into the conflict would ruin all the plans...

[i]Mardolg... it's your turn. Come soon.[/i]

[hr]

Dryllis stared at the group when they mentioned 'lost', and lowered his axe very slightly. He was still very much on his guard... this could be a trap.

"Lost? My course is clear and that is-"

He stopped as a pair of dead Talinth demons caught his eye.

They obviously hadn't been dead for very long. One of them showed very slight signs of life. Showing little regard for security, he strode up to the one emitting slight signs of life... and brought his axe down into the demon's chest, ensuring its return to the hell from which it came.

"There... now, whom's lord do you serve?" he asked Linia as he turned around. If these folks had killed Talinth demons, then they weren't of Dracuil's ilk... but that didn't mean they had anything to do with his own master. [i]Maybe they are Trathaniel's folk?[/i] It would be a sheer stroke of luck to find servants of the only allied Lord around, although he still had no idea what he was doing in this portion. He wasn't sure if this was the Battlefields anymore...

The other two knights stood guard, weapons ready, and watched the exchange.

[hr]

Mardolg had finished the last of the bones in his meal when Nartholan sent a thought to him.

"Not now, dammit!" He looked around for any spare knights. The two blood knights had already been sent, and they obviously didn't last long. 

He left the fortress in search of a more... exotic demon. One that would suit the job perfectly...