It looked like even with the guard along they would be shambling about aimlessly for a while. Ethan was doing his utmost to remain confident they would find Amuné, and he still was, though he worried what state they might find her in. Kidnappings were worse the longer they went on for and every second passing was a worrisome one. Between everyone they had though things would work out, they had to. They had been through more than this already and Amuné still had to see her parents again, she couldn't just disappear. Saying that would be much easier if they had some actual lead where to look though, right now it was a matter of wandering around and hoping to get lucky.

Ethan had almost considered going door-to-door when Wyth took off down the road ahead of them, watching the moorcat confused before taking off after him. If Wyth was reacting like that then he must have noticed something and they had to follow, it could bring them to Amuné. Blast it if the animal wasn't quick though, the only way he'd ever hope to keep pace was to use his magic and doing that right now wasn't the best of ideas. With the guard and Cecil in tow they managed to keep on Wyth's trail around the corner, heading further down that road until a shout directed their focus elsewhere. Someone was fighting with something and, judging by the growls, that something was Wyth. Had he found someone responsible for this?

As it happened he had, and it was the same man who had taken away Amuné in the first place. They may well have interrogated the man then and there were he not set upon by the massive moorcat and already torn up, probably off to meet the same fate as the man before if they didn't intervene. Not knowing how else to stop it Ethan rushed over and put himself in Wyth's way, smiling as he held his hands in a gesture for Wyth to back down. "Stop, we can't find Amuné if you kill him, please calm down," he urged, waving the animal off and backing up slightly, just in case his plea didn't work. While he was trying to console the furious beast the guard went around them to the man himself, apparently trying to do something to stop the bleeding before he passed out from it.

"That's a good boy. I know you're angry but you need to not do that, killing won't help us," Ethan spoke as he gently stroked Wyth's head, relieved the moorcat had backed down. He understood it perfectly though as even he wanted to hurt the man for what had been done, Amuné was completely innocent and should never have been mixed up in this mess of theirs. But as the guard was showing you couldn't just lash out even if you knew someone was bad, hurting someone else didn't fix the problem.

While he had no medicines on him and there was no healer among them the guard did what he could, using strips of cloth from the man's own clothing to tie up the wounds. His shirt was now in tatters but he doubted anyone minded, it was better than bleeding to death. "I'll get you to a chirurgeon, but first you'll have to answer my questions," the guard explained as the man was helped into a sitting position against a wall. The groans of pain and his panicked state didn't make questioning him easy but it had to be done, they couldn't leave without answers. "You took a young Ydran girl earlier and there have been other disappearances recently too. We have reason to believe you're responsible, so tell me. Are you? And where are they being kept?"

"T-That damn animal attacked me! What are ya q-questioning me for?!" the man shouted, staring wide eyed at Wyth and wincing as he agitated his wounds by moving, "K-Kill that damn thing, it's a wild animal! You're a guard dammit, ain't you supposed to protect people?"

"I am protecting people, I see a slaver right in front of me who could very well bleed out if he's not given help," the guard replied, frowning as he got to his feet, "But... If you don't want to answer me then fine, we'll find another lead. I'd imagine you've got comrades nearby, hopefully one of them helps you." He didn't honestly mean to leave the man there to die, it was more a scare tactic to make him desperate. Turning to leave he'd barely taken the first step before their suspect shouted out for him to stop.

"Alright damn it, alright! Saints don't leave me here!" the bearded man cursed, groaning again as he reached down and held his wounded leg, "Using a damn thing like that to attack me, thought you blokes were supposed to be the good guys... What you're doing is criminal, ya hear?"

The guard rolled his eyes at the irony of that accusation before kneeling before the slaver again. "It's only criminal if a guard does it. At the moment I'm not technically on duty, so I'm not a guard, and neither is that animal, or anyone else here. Just some bystanders trying to do right," he retorted as he reached down and placed a hand on the man's leg, gripping it tightly and drawing a pained groan from it, "Now then, the Ydran girl, where is she? You should know, you had her, tell us where you've put her."

"You bastard! Fine, fine, the girl's over in that building!" the slaver cursed as he pointed to a large stone building, windows boarded up and a chain on the front door. Laying his head back on the building he inhaled before grinning, spitting on the guard and laughing at him as he wiped it away. "But there's more of us than you, and we're all armed! We've got hostages and you bastards can't do nothin' about it! You're wastin' your time here, should just turn around and piss of!"

Nymira had heard a man's scream and opted to follow it, and now she was glad she had. With Asta along they stumbled across quite the scene of a man on the ground being interrogated by the guard, Ethan stood with a bloody Wyth, though she had a sneaking suspicion none of the blood was his own. Cecil didn't look terribly comfortable though that was nothing new. Approaching the guard as she overheard the man shouting about the frugality of their efforts she scoffed, resisting the urge to strike the man for acting so loathsome. "I think we could do plenty, least of which would be kill you and all of your deplorable friends," Nymira said curtly, "But apparently death is too good for scum like you, so we'll have to settle for something close to it. Men without honor like you should be thrown to the flames..."

And that right there was why Nymira wasn't making the calls here. They did need some kind of punishment though, Ethan figured life behind bars would be enough. They had the place now however and most everyone was present, all that stood before them and saving Amuné were a handful of slavers. "Okay then... Now we just have to get inside..." Breaking through the front seemed dangerous though, if Nymira had heard the screams then surely the men inside had too and they were already alert, probably setting up for a fight. Plus as the man said they had hostages now and, if they weren't careful, they may be killed. Amuné may be killed if they didn't do this right. Biting his lip as he stared at the door a thought came to mind then, looking over at Cecil and smiling hopefully. They had a solution to this, one which could take out all the men at once and not result in any deaths. It would be tricky but maybe they could make it work.

"Cecil, remember back on the bridge? What you did to help us get away from that old man? Think we can pull that off again here?" They would somehow need to get water though and get it close enough to the slavers, plus they couldn't get any on the prisoners or they would be caught in it too. Nor did he know where they might manage all of that without the guard catching on to what they were, not unless he stayed with the wounded man while they went about saving Amuné.

"Our best option here is to attack from two fronts, make them split up their forces," Nymira said as she looked to the building, frowning seeing the locked door in the front. She could melt the chains in a second and they would be in, yet as Ethan had considered she too expected an ambush. There was something telling about the front door however and she looked to the wounded man for answers, lowering herself to his level and grabbing him by the collar. "You didn't come out that door, so where is the other entrance? In the back?" When he didn't answer she pressed him back into the wall despite the guard's protests not to harm him. "We won't kill you, but you had best believe I'll bring you close enough if you insist on being difficult. Where is the entrance?"

"Agh, on the side!" the slaver snapped, coughing and rubbing at his collar as Nymira released her grip, "Doesn't matter though, the lads aren't stupid, they'll know you're coming. Like I said just turn around and forget it, you're gonna get yourselves killed."

Opting to just ignore the man this time Nymira looked back at the building, trying to think of an alternative way of attacking it. With the walls made of stone it was more solid than your usual structure, and even with two entrances they were at risk if they barged in. Drawing her eyes up to the roof she noted how it seemed to be made of wood, an idea coming to mind as she went over to Cecil and grabbed him by the arm. "Come here, let me see something," she said as she dragged him closer to the building, craning her neck to look above and gesturing to the boards hanging over. "You can make that jump, yes? They expect us to come from the doors or perhaps the windows... But what about above? You could get up and break in from above, and while some come in from above and draw focus elsewhere the others can use the doors, they'll become disorganized in the confusion and we'll overrun them in seconds." Numbers meant nothing when there was no cohesion, all they had to do was cause chaos and victory was theirs. "Only problem is who do we send you in with..."

"I'll go," Ethan volunteered promptly with a raised hand, "I don't have a weapon but uh... I can distract them at least? I can still keep them busy chasing me while you work on getting in, and I'm safe with Cecil helping me." Not that he wanted to put all of that on his friend but unless he got a weapon inside he was unarmed, and using magic should only be a last resort. Looking at the rooftop before them he debated on finding a way of climbing up somewhere on the side, walking over to the alley and peering around for anything, a stack of pipes or boxes, anything to use. "Hey Cecil, can we uh... Go around back and climb up?" Ethan asked with a nod, smiling knowingly. Since there didn't look to be a way up he'd have to use magic and Cecil would just jump, best to do that without the guard there to see them in action. Last thing anyone wanted right now was things stalling because they were raising flags.

Cecil was nervous. He didn’t know why he was nervous, it wasn’t as if him getting damaged was a big deal except to their money. Maybe it was because of the fact he was probably going to have to fight bad people again and get scolded when he damaged them too much, or maybe it was the uncertainty he faced for his future once they had rescued Amuné. He was still feeling the same as he was since last night, he didn’t think the others deserved to have a burden like him that they couldn’t help like one of their own. He was worried he might get badly damaged one day and end up on his own because they couldn’t find the money to pay for his repairs. He had growing concerns that didn’t exist for the others but even now was being carried around when they were supposed to be concentrating on one person and finding them. He could only keep really quiet and to himself, he didn’t want to end up alerting anyone or making them annoyed because he still carried these thoughts with him.

Having Wyth run ahead barely felt like a big deal to him, he didn’t even think that the beast might had found the trail leading to Amuné. When the beast always acted aggressively towards him he was going to have very little care for it running off whether it was going to come back or not. Following after Ethan and the guard he kept back, frowning as the trail continued. Running along with short clangs echoing from his feet he stopped with a scratching noise, looking nonplussed when they had arrived at the source of noise. It seemed Wyth had found someone, but he didn’t give much reaction to that discovery himself. So they had found someone, that was good for them but it wasn’t up to him what happened next, he looked like a child compared to Ethan and the guard so he had no authority against the guy.

As usual the moorcat was being rather vicious and aggressive, he didn’t expect it to simply try and disable the man as opposed to being all vicious. When Ethan took over the situation he kept back, his eyes going to the guard a few times before he kept his attention elsewhere. He really didn’t like how the strange man was acting after being hurt, he recognised that’s how he left people after he attacked and even left them in much worse conditions to the point they couldn’t be recognised. It was just making him feel bad, knowing he could do more damage than that and yet the man was completely stressed out. He just wanted to leave and go back to the cart, he had no place being here.

Finally the man had revealed where Amune was and not a moment too soon as Cecil was already uncomfortable to the point where he wanted to leave. Frowning, he looked down for a moment before gasping as he didn’t realise Nymira had found her way over to them so soon. So they had extra help again, that was probably pretty good as well since it meant less damage he would need to do if they needed to fight. Disregarding the injured man altogether he waited until the others were finished with their discussions before they could move on. Looking back to Ethan when he smiled at him he simply stared back, not knowing exactly what he was wanting from him until he finally decided to reveal it. Looking off elsewhere when he did he sighed lightly, not particularly wanting to look to the past even on request. “I, uhh…I can do that again…” he muttered, not knowing how he was supposed to do it but he would do what he was told to do regardless.

If they were going to have to attack then he would probably not be allowed to stand back and wait until he was supposed to electrocute the men, however they were going to do that. He really didn’t know how that would happen but if Ethan wanted him to do it then he had to find a way. Staring at the door he felt he could just bash their way in, that’s what he was good at, but they all seemed to have a different idea on how they might accomplish that. He didn’t really know how evil men thought, maybe it was dangerous to go through the door by breaking it open. Looking around for a moment he gasped when he was suddenly grabbed by Nymira, startling him pretty bad which ended in him being taken away from the others. Dragged away like someone’s luggage he looked down at first before up once she stopped, feeling a little confused at first at what she was expecting from him. “Uhh, I can…but won’t I get attacked first? Who is coming with me?” he asked her quickly, looking up again, “Or uhh, rather who can get up there with me? Ethan’s followed me before, but it made him tired trying to. I really don’t like the thought of having all of the people in there attacking me all at once…”

When Ethan decided to volunteer to go with him Cecil felt mildly confused at first before frowning, his eyes going to the building again. If Ethan was going to help him then he really hoped he was not going to get hurt because he couldn't protect him. Sighing, he soon nodded. "Okay...I guess...if you'll be alright..." Watching Ethan walk off into an alley he followed after, looking up at the building the entire time. Hopefully he didn't make too much noise getting up there. Frowning, he looked back to Ethan who wanted to take the easy way up, his eyes going back to see if he was being watched before back to Ethan. "Uhh sure. Sure..." Making a brief dash towards the back the moment Cecil was in a good enough hidden spot he immediately sprung up, getting to about half way but somehow managed to cling to the flat wall of the building using just his fingertips before vaulting up onto the rooftop. It was a lot quieter to go up in parts instead of one big jump, but now it was time to see if Ethan could follow up the way he wanted to as well.

Geoffrey was slightly surprised when he came back to the alleyway, only to find Zander there, working on his Seal Papers in plain sight, and not a single person around him. He stood at the entrance to the alleyway for a few heartbeats before he cleared his throat,"Milord?" Geoffrey asked in as formal a mocking as he could as he bowed slightly when Zander blinked up at him. The scowl he received from the young healer was more then worth it's weight in gold. Geoffrey laughted, straightened himself and held out a hand to the sitting down healer.

"One day," Zander said as Geo helped him off the ground. "I'm going to put something nasty in your shorts like your mother told me too..." Geoffrey laughed and let go of Zander's hand before someone thought other things that were going on between them, were going on between them. "Then I'LL be the one laughing at you."

"One day," Geoffrey fired right back. "Ya won' be such a stick n'da mud. Ya use ta laugh alot more when ya wasn' foll'wing these people 'round."

Zander rolled his eyes and couldn't help a small bit of laughter. It felt foreign to him for a moment, but he brushed it aside. Nymira had caught him off guard, and here he was always on the defensive. He slightly missed travelling alone, healing those he could and moving on. He'd done it for sometime now, and here he was trying to save a Ydran whelp with the most odd bunch of misfits he'd ever laid eyes upon. Shaking off his weird thoughts again he couldn't help be smirk at a thought.

Bowing back to Geoffrey, and sweeping his arm in front of him to lead the way, he pretended not to hear Geoffrey call him a pounce, whatever that was, and followed after the brown-haired archer. They continued on, in silence when Geoffrey stopped him what seemed like streets away from the destination he had in mind.

"Do ya think ya can act as a bu'r for ya family," Geoffrey posed the question as devoid of emotion as possible. Hearing Zander hum in thought, he continued leading the way.

"Most people," Zander answered as they passed a few more buildings. "Don't know that side to my family." He ended the conversation there and poked Geoffrey. "I think we should hurry, I have a feeling disaster is going to strike and strike soon."

Nodding in agreement, Geoffrey took off at a run with Zander following and sometimes lagging behind him. They were heading to slightly more populated streets to cut down on the time it took to hopefully meet the others by the warehouse that was big enough to house a slave ring. Digging into his pouch hanging at his side, he let a blade a grass fall slowly. Zander grabbed it, stuttering as he went and stopped.

"Wasn't this suppse to be FOR IF we found something," Zander hollered up to Geoffrey as they continued to run. Zander was lagging further behind and didn't hear the reply Geoffrey gave. Giving a shrug, he let the blade of grass fall to the ground, they could always grab abother thin piece like that one. When he looked back up to see where his other half had gone, he wasn't in sight. Letting out a sigh, he picked up his pace, his wooden sandals digging into the cobbled street.

Straight ahead, I hope...

"I'll be just fine Cecil, don't worry. This kind of a thing is a breeze for me!" Ethan answered with a smile, "Er... No pun intended." A breeze would be just what he needed to get up, a little push from a gust of wind and climbing to the roof was a simple task. Since they didn't want the guard being savvy to what they were he and Cecil moved around to the side of the building just enough to not be seen from the road, glancing around for an easy way to scale up. No stacked crates or anything so it looked like they would have to get up in one go. Stepping back to let Cecil do his thing Ethan watched as he climbed with relative ease, whistling and giving a thumbs up once his friend had climbed. "Here I come!" Tapping the ball of his foot on the ground he bounced in place before inhaling and focusing on building his magic where he needed it, the ground at his feet kicking up in dust as air was pushed out. With another bounce Ethan crouched before letting his magic go and springing high up into the air, enough so that he cleared the roof and, with less than a graceful landing, came down on top of it with a roll. Not terribly hard to do and nice and quick, now hopefully they could get to the more difficult part.

"Come along then Asta, we'll go in through the front." If she knew how to pick a lock efficiently they could try that but where time was crucial Nymira wouldn't even bother trying. At the door she shot the guard a quick glance to see if he was watching, placing her hand over the lock itself and obscuring it from view. Using just the tiniest of flames she easily melted through the metal and yanked the lock free, throwing it aside and preparing to kick in the door. Before she'd even lifted her leg however Wyth had let himself in through a window, his large frame bashing through the flimsy boards and alerting everyone inside. "Damn cat! Fine!" Stepping back Nymira lifted her leg and kicked open the door, promptly drawing her dagger and storming inside. As expected things were already a mess, men everywhere trying to get their weapons while somewhere in another room Wyth was causing havoc. So much for the element of surprise.

Ethan had wanted to take a moment before making their move but judging from the shouts down below, and the telltale growls from Wyth, things were already setting off. "You've got to break in now Cecil! Anywhere will work," he said as he pointed to the roof, having no means himself of getting through. Waiting until they had a means of getting down themselves he nodded appreciatively and moved towards the opening, taking just the briefest of glances before stepping out and dropping into the hole... Promptly landing on top of a man down below on his way out. Groaning from the collision Ethan rolled off of the now unconscious slaver, dragging the man from the hole and waving for Cecil to come down as well. "Hey, it's all clear! Come on in!" No sooner had he spoken those words did a door swing open and two men, each armed, came piling in. Smiling uneasily Ethan looked around for something of use and found only a discarded broom, holding it like a sword and causing the men to laugh. Boy did he miss having his sword right now.

"Get out of my way!" Nymira was trying to abide by Ethan's wishes of a non-lethal approach and simply take the men down, but it was awfully trying when they didn't have the same inhibition. It went against every fiber of her being and every piece of training not to strike back with her blade, and even without killing them she still left several cuts on her assailants. Sidestepping a man's knife she grabbed his arm and drove up a knee into his elbow to break it, swinging a hard right hand into his face and knocking him out with a good solid punch. "It's like a rats nest... Infested with scum," the Dimuran grumbled as she shook her hand, kicking away the man's knife just to be safe. Where was the room they were being held in? Further inside most likely, probably with more of the slavers guarding their prize. Cowards, they would doubtless try to use those captured as a way to escape. Anyone who did that deserved to die.

Ethan was learning a very good lesson about brooms: they were awful for fending off a hatchet and a dagger. He wouldn't be having such a terrible time of trying to fight if he had any real weapon but a broomstick couldn't do much other than break every time it was hit. Holding the two halves, one in each hand, he ducked away from a hatchet before striking out with the rear of the handle, smacking the man in the stomach with it before giving him a quick whack on the head for good measure. "Sorry!" He couldn't be wasting time fighting these men, Amuné was still in trouble and they had to reach her. With the other slaver coming at him with a dagger he dropped down to his hands and knees to avoid being stabbed, grabbing the man's leg and yanking it out from underneath him to cause him to fall. As soon as they hit the ground Ethan was on top of him, the two struggling to get a hold of the dagger. "Hey C-Cecil! Little help please?"

"What the fuck is goin' on out there?! What's all the shoutin'!?" one of the men yelled, slamming his hand across a table as fighting could be heard a ways off. Growling when no one had any idea he grabbed his greatsword from a nearby wall and pushed the others out of the way, forcing open the door and storming out of the holding room. Other people were coming and going all over, some in a panic and unarmed and bloodied, others with weapons in hand charging ahead into whatever was causing this problem. Gritting his teeth furiously he moved through the crammed halls and found a dead man laying out from one of the nearby rooms, confused as to why people were running away from it until a large beast burst from the doorway, tackling another man into an adjacent room. "The hell?!" shoving a panicking slaver aside he entered the room and stared wide eyed at Wyth, "How'd you get in here, you filthy cat?"

Cecil was in a conflict here. He didn’t know if he was going to end up having to kill people even with Ethan present or if he was going to have to hope that he wouldn’t get too aggressive and accidentally kill someone. To have so much strength that went out of control for unexplained reasons made every engagement risky, he could only hope he would be under proper control while he tackled this situation and allowed them to win overall. With Ethan coming up onto the roof himself he waited for him to get ready, staring at him for a moment before raising a fist and waiting for just a moment. Everyone else had to get into their places before he charged right in, he couldn’t be reckless again.

Looking to Ethan quickly before down towards the entrance he kept his fist in the air, feeling anxious he gasped when instead of Nymira tearing the door through he heard a mashing sound. He didn’t know if that was the signal to go, he thought maybe something else had happened and as a result he hesitated. Looking around in confusion for a moment he soon gasped as Ethan told him to go, looking around quickly before simply throwing his fist down. The ceiling didn’t stand a chance against the force of his punch and ripped open as if it was paper. Not quite knowing if it was safe to go through he waited for Ethan to drop down, taking out a man before he soon dropped down himself with a very loud bang but just as he did he was surprised by the sudden appearance of armed men. While Ethan did have an idea on how to combat the men, his attempt to intimidate definitely didn’t pay off.

Cecil was startled, he didn’t know how to combat these men without the possibility of killing them. Nymira was right in there but if he did what she was doing he would probably end up obliterating them instead of simply putting a stop to their attack. There was no water for him to electrocute them without killing them and if he got too close he would probably end up getting cut up like he had been before. He was scared and right now that wasn’t going to help any of them seeing how Ethan was being attacked now and he was just being treated as a dumb child and ignored for the most part. Raising his fist to help Ethan he gasped as they were ambushed by more men, his conflict arising from being unable to make a decision to help his friend over preventing everyone from coming under attack.

He had to stop thinking so heavily on these things, he had to just go for it and hope for the best and that he was going to make the right decision. Suddenly yelling, he ran to the pair and simply stomped his foot down on the leg of the man, snapping the bone with a very audible crack. He didn’t even know organic legs could make such a noise, but either way he had given Ethan a very clear advantage in the struggle now that the man was in a lot of pain. Feeling somewhat exhilarated by the man’s pain and suffering that he managed to inflict so easily he gasped when he had turned to see Wyth had pounced onto a man right beside him. While he wasn’t too surprised at Wyth attacking the people he was more startled by the number of bodies on the floor now. Maybe that was a call to get going now and get through that door, he needed to find Amuné and get out of here.

Looking to Ethan quickly he soon made a dash off towards the door, not giving much of a second thought to his plan to simply ram his way through the building. If he was going to get to Amuné he was going to have to tear through the building to get to her as fast as possible so they could get out of this place. He would probably get blamed for what Wyth did, his luck usually worked out like that. Swinging his fist back he soon threw it around at the door, his gauntlet extending out on the chain which obliterated the doorway itself and the wall surrounding it. He was not going to hold back, but hopefully he wasn’t going to end up hurting anyone he didn’t mean to in the first place. “Amuné??” he called out before swinging his other gauntlet around, trying to clear a path without going too crazy.

Asta remained silently with the group - she didn't need to help formulate the plan, they were doing well on their own. They had a lead, a guard's help, and their own animal. She was just here to act as another pair of hands and to help the small Ydran they'd spoken about. As the moorcat bolted, she ran alongside Ethan, though the boy was surprisingly fast once he picked up momentum. They came to a scene that, had they waited any longer, probably would have been far more gruesome. The Ydran was rather surprised at the turn of events, but it worked out in the favor of this little band of misfits and she simply nodded at her instructions.

"Sounds like a plan," She agreed, resting a hand on her hilt in anticipation. They all got into position and Nymira seemed to work with the lock somehow. Asta furrowed her brow - could this little warrior princess girl actually pick locks too? After all, it was a pretty difficult skill and even at times, the Ydran assassin had difficulty with them. Whatever the case was, the metal broke free and Asta pressed herself to the wall beside the from as the Dimura blasted the doors in with a kick. The woman remained low and slipped inside as the commotion created its own cover for her to move behind a few crates. Men shouted and barked orders all around and Wyth's snarls could still be heard over all of it.

She pulled a short, pointed rod from her thigh and pivoted as she stepped out from behind her cover, catching sight of one of the slavers. She threw the pin and it sunk into his knee, immobilizing the joint as he turned to retaliate. Asta silently bolted toward him and he raised a hatchet to swing at her. The white-haired woman feigned right and he fell for it as her body twirled left, spinning a full turn, and he froze as she stopped just beyond him. It wasn't long before his shirt was covered in blood from his throat and her eyes sought a new target. Nymira was already moving after Ethan's assailants and so she moved into the next room, unhindered by any of the others, her body turned to the side as she advanced with a trained step into one of the back storehouses. Myria dashed beyond her feet and into the room as soon as Asta opened the door. The pair entered to find three men on their way out to assist their comrades and the cobra fox did not hesitate to dodge around ones feet and twist her lithe body to leap onto his back, her teeth clamping down on the back of his muscled neck.

The Ydran woman ran in after her, pivoting to dodge the thrust of a knife, redirecting the man's hand so it just barely passed her. Her elbow rammed back into the gut of the next one and he stumbled back as she placed distance between and held up her falcata threateningly. Her eyes bore into them as they redoubled, leaving their friend alone to tumble with the creature as they advanced once more. She deflected an incoming blow from the man carrying a longer blade, but she felt a stinging in her left arm after she failed to move quickly enough to block the second. Rare was the occasion in which she had to handle two opponents at once.

She hissed as they separated again, walking in a circle around one another as she held her arm, blood seeping over her fingers. "You two disgust me... Your kind disgusts me," She stated venomously. "Buying and selling people... living people with families and homes and friends... And children, no less!" The woman was already shouting as she spit on the ground at their feet.

The three clashed again, but Asta was more prepared. She swung her blade and it clashed with the swordsman's. The knife-user came in just as he had last time, but she pulled her knee up and it snapped out, landing square in his gut. He doubled over for a moment, stepping back as the other man's pressure became heavier than Asta could handle. She stepped out from under his pressing sword and began exchanging attacks with him. The vibrations as the swords met from time to time numbed her hand, though she dodged most attacks, as her falcata was hardly meant for blocking.

A few cuts for each of the fighters was all they sustained as they stared each other down, panting and sweating. Myria yelped as the first kicked her off of her prey. The long, red vixen rolled across the floor and Asta sneered, letting out a roar as she dove back into battle with the previous fighter. He took a swing at her and nearly caught her arm. No, wait, he did... his blade went clear through. He won!

Asta grinned as his blade fell through air which was definitely occupied by her limb. What he didn't know was that she had put it out for him and in his moment of shock and awe, she twisted her blade and flicked, turning the tables as her uppercut-swing cut halfway into his chest from the lower-right corner of his abdomen. She yanked it free as he fell over, a gruesome sight covered only by his torn shirt.

It was exhausting, but sometimes she had to use what little magic she knew how to. The other two hadn't quite seen what happened and she was quickly on the one who had kicked her companion, bringing her blade down on him with every ounce of power she had. He moved to block it, but his dagger was no match to block and it fell to the ground as it was knocked from his hand, giving him only a moment to recover. He backed up against a crate.

"Wait, wait, please... Don't," He pleaded. The words fell on deaf ears as a sword entered his stomach, only stopping as it struck wood behind him. Asta pulled back and flicked the blade, freeing it of most the blood as the third man approached, his own sword raised. She barely managed to avoid his swing before Myria was on him again and the two were able to dispatch of him more easily. The savage cobra fox managed to catch his throat with her teeth and he fell like a sack of potatoes. Asta stumbled slightly, falling to a knee for only a moment as blood dripped from her shoulder and abdomen. She'd sustained a few cuts, a couple deeper than she would have liked, but she was still breathing, albeit it was a bit labored. The woman looked around the room... Of course it wasn't the one they were keeping the kidnapped people in. She headed for the exit, her free hand clutching her sword arm as she stepped out, her eyes peeling the scene for Ethan, Nymira, and that boy who had blown a hole in the room. He could most certainly pack a punch - he sounded like a pile of rocks hitting the ground though, the banging hardly sounded natural. Then again, who was she to judge? Her shoulders hunched slightly as she and Myria looked for their fellow fighters, four dead bodies now left in her wake.

Geoffrey moved through the crowd with ease, his feet touching the ground and moving him forward at a steady enough pace to get to the last warehouse that he could possibly think of that would be roomy enough to hold people without anyone the wiser. He cast his sight back for Zander and almost ran over a group of kids playing in the middle of the street. Hollering his apology he kept his steady pace and took a back alley to cut time down on his trip. What felt like an hour but was no where near that long he finally arrived at the place he knew the others were at. Shouts could be heard from inside, the front door was all but caved in and a window shattered from the outside.

Pulling his bow free from his quiver, he strung it quickly as he took a few moments to catch his breath and get his body to stop shaking in anticipation. His mother had told him stories of slavers, how they were vicious and smoothed tongued. Always looking on how to steal from those they sold to and where to get their next catch of wares. He ran his fingers over his arrows, twenty in total left, he'd hold Nymira to making him more when this was all said and done. He couldn't make any mistakes with them, they had to count since he had no way of getting more on such short notice and he doubted their corpses would have arrows upon them.

Heading towards the door he watched the others as they took out those in their way from what he could see. Pulling back the string he took aim at one heading towards Cecil from an angle and let the arrow fly. Without seeing if it hit, he notched another and used the doorway as he barrier, a few were rattled but heading after those who had barraged into their lair. Aiming for a man's leg, he let the arrow fly and cursed when it scrapped the inside of said man's leg, leaving him with his manhood but if he lived a nice scar to tell the ladies. Moving away from the doorway, he cursed at the lack of rope and went to see a way to the roof. Ducking down by the broken window, he peeked in, took aim at another thug and didn't feel back when this arrow found it's way home in the man's back. Pulling back and heading towards an adjacent building, he'd find a way to the roof to rain his rage down upon them.

--

Zander huffed and wheezed. In his time away and heading to different towns to heal and to mend he had never had to travel by foot so much. He would gain rides from caravans, offer his service in trade for rides on horses. Unsure of where to go, he stopped at a group of kids laughing about the odd fellow with the quiver who almost ran poor little Tithon over in his haste. Zander asked kindly as he could which way said man went, they pointed down an alleyway and Zander nodded his thanks. Taking a slower pace, he would get there in time for the fighting to be done, and for his need of healing to be used. He had no offensive spells, sure he could induce sleep on the slavers, but they would be alert and willing to fight off the forced sleep. Sighing and clutching his staff to his body he sent out a silent prayer and felt some of his fatigue leave him as his magics went to work in his own body.

Geoffrey was off to the side, poised to fire an arrow into the building and Zander sighed. No such luck on getting there late, taking his time he didn't even seem to notice the guard and his captive as he walked by. His gaze locked on the doorway and an idea struck him. Pulling out the freshly made Seal Papers he grinned mischievously. They would be aware of the forced sleep on their bodies, but what about spells on the doorway to make their escape to put them into a tired state. To drain what energy from them with fatigue and weariness. He shook his head, and discarded the idea. If the captives tried to escape, making them tired would do them no good. He stood at the edge of the doorway staff held tightly in both hands. If he went in, he'd be a hinderance he knew this much. If he stayed out here, there was a chance someone would come out and catch him unawares and death wasn't one of his highest points at the moment. He could ward the door from entry, but what if one of their own was tossed out? He let out a frustrated sigh and walked into the building as if he owned it. So far they all seemed to be trying to get to Nymira and Ethan and Cecil. The cloaked figure was dealing well on her own and Zander decided to guard the doorway. Pulling the fractured door shut behind him, he clutched his staff tighter. One Seal Paper inbetween clenched fingers would be his trump card for now. He just hoped the others found Amune sooner rather than not.

As expected dropping into the building had stirred up a proverbial hornet's nest, and Wyth's charge did little to help that. Panic ensued as their group broke into the building and began engaging the slavers, many trying to flee at the sight of Wyth while others grabbed whatever they could to stand their ground. Most never stood a chance. It was clear that many of these men were used to preying on the weak, subduing them somehow and carrying them away, not fighting. Even with her dud leg Nymira was able to dance around the first she encountered with ease; killing the slavers would have been child's play but she tried to abide by the non-lethal approach, causing broken bones and some cuts but nothing that would kill.

It did not appear however that everyone had gotten that notice. Wyth was killing whoever came close enough to him at the time, as expected of what amounted really to a wild animal. Asta on the other hand seemed to have no issue with slaying the men, doing so in both an elegant and brutal fashion as she sliced one's torso open with a single cut. Yes killing was easier but she was trying to abide by Ethan's wishes not to, as everyone seemed to be. Not quite caring enough to chastise Asta nor thinking it the proper time to regardless Nymira went about her business, confronting a man with a greatsword that had just entered the fray. He appeared to be the one in charge given how others hurried out of his way, and there would be no swifter way to win this skirmish than to kill their leader. That chance wouldn't come just yet however, there were more men to contend with before she might fight him.

Fending off a man wielding a dagger with little more than a broom handle, hardly ideal. Thankfully his attacker was not terribly practiced and left himself open with his first strike, giving Ethan a chance to wrestle him to the ground and knock away the weapon before trying to get hold of it himself: he'd not use the dagger on the man but having a weapon in hand was reassuring. Grunting as he was punched in the jaw his fingertips just barely tapped the grip, stretching to try and grab hold before stopping as a sickening crunching sound tore away his focus. The man he was grappled with had suddenly let go and was grabbing at his leg, and even from his point he could see bone sticking out from the skin, blood seeping through the fabric of his pants. Wincing in sympathy pain he reached out and grabbed the man's shoulders, slamming him backwards and driving his head into the floor to knock him out. Before he was even able to thank Cecil his friend was on the move, leaving Ethan alone at their breach.

He had to keep moving, if they didn't find Amuné soon then something might happen to her. Scooping up the dagger from the floor Ethan took just a second to take stock of their situation and immediately felt his stomach lurch, his face paling as he saw the fallout of their battle so far. Blood. Blood everywhere, bodies strewn along the ground from various wounds, some doubtless Wyth's doing and others by a blade, all he knew was there were several men dead already. His friends were not among the fallen and for that he was grateful but still... Why so many dead? There had been dead men on the ship and he'd seen people slain before yet neither did any good in relieving the sickness he felt at the sight before him. Trying to push through it his legs numbly moved forward, his head spinning as he closed his eyes in an attempt to shut out the images. "Amuné... Amuné..." he whispered, forcing himself to move quicker as he charged for an open door, "Amuné! We're coming!"

Quite a few of the slavers were having nothing to do with the battle ensuing inside, refusing to join their comrades on the cold ground. Whoever these people were they were trouble, and those animals they brought with them too dangerous to fight. One of the slavers had gone for the front door for his escape, his sword clattering against the ground as it dragged lamely from his hip behind him. As he rounded a corner and found the door he spotted Zander stood before it, gasping and taking a half step back before noticing his weapon. "Y-You... You only have a staff," the slaver commented, a panicked grin stretching across his face as he drew his blade, "Heh... Hehe... What an idiot! Die!"

Ralthor be damned, where were Ethan and Cecil? Both boys had since fled the room and gone hell knows where, leaving Asta, Myria and Nymira to tidy up the remaining men. Their numbers were dwindling quickly and soon the slavers would be finished and yet they still had no sight of Amuné, they couldn't rest until they found the young Ydran. Watching as another two men entered the room, the Dimuran slicked her tongue and motioned for them to come after her, her eyes darting between the club and the machete they wielded. Short reach like her daggers, if she could just keep out of their striking range she'd be fine. When both men moved on her she took a quick step back on her good leg, ducking as the man with the club nearly took her head off with a mighty swing. Using the heel of her hand she drove it up quickly and into his elbow to break the bone, giving him little reprieve as she kicked at his leg and brought him to a knee, trying to drive it home with a punch to the bridge of his nose. Feeling a powerful set of arms grab her from behind she growled as her own were pinned to her sides, struggling to get out of the man's grasp. With his good arm the man with the club grabbed his weapon and raise it to smash her head in, and being held as firmly as she was there was little room for escape.

Nymira tried to crane her head to one side to avoid being struck, her eyes reflexively closing as she waited for the incoming blow. Instead she looked up confused when she was dropped, hearing the smack of the club breaking bone yet feeling none of the pain. A quick look back and she saw the man who'd been holding her with an arrow between his shoulder blades, his skull red as blood trickled down his face. Taking advantage of the stunned man she swiped out with her dagger and cut the man's arm to force him to drop it, swinging her dagger up and slicing clean through his throat, ignoring his garbled pleas as he toppled to the ground, his chest painted red. She'd sworn not to kill but had little care now that Ethan wasn't present, hardly wanting to let such a loathsome man live.

They should move on and try to find Amuné as soon as possible. Even if they wanted to there was no chance it was happening, not with the mountain of a man standing in their way now. With the battle spilling into a larger room there was room for him to swing that massive blade of his, a weapon her daggers stood no chance against head on. Sheathing one dagger she reached out and grabbed a chair, throwing it at the man before chasing after it, hoping to get a slight opening. Seeing him simply knock the chair away she had to drop to her knees and slide as she avoided being cut down, barely turning in time and blocking as he kicked her away into a stack of crates. Of course it wouldn't be so simple.

Cecil didn’t know where he was supposed to go or where anybody might be hidden in a place like this. It was highly possible when somebody was hiding something that they’d hide it underground, but he couldn’t go crashing through the ground like he did the walls and doors. He needed to know where he had to go where he wouldn’t hurt the one he was trying to find, especially when he didn’t know his own strength to properly control it. That was the problem with organic lifeforms especially, they all seemed so fragile and it only really served to worry him that he might end up upsetting Ethan some more. It wasn’t fair, he wasn’t getting on at the others for killing all over the place and all he did was accidentally kill. He didn’t mean to kill but they were all aiming to and yet he got punished.

Nevertheless, Cecil was still going to try and limit himself, even if it meant he was going to endanger himself. It shouldn’t matter that much, he would just get repairs if he got damaged eventually, or they can leave him behind if they wanted to. He was just a machine, he didn’t have the same lives they had and had only existed for a short while compared to them. After swinging his gauntlets around he could only pause, calling out to Amuné hoping she would answer. Unfortunately there was no answer, he was instead left panicking over where he was supposed to go without causing the building to collapse.

In a brief moment of panic there was a loud ‘thunk’ near him as if something hit hard against something else right near him, stumbling from his spot before suddenly Wyth came flying out of nowhere and took a fair bite out of an attacker. He barely had time to register what was going on, there was too much that wasn’t happening for him to comprehend. Groaning lightly he tried to find balance again, stepping lightly to the side before looking back to Wyth. Guess he was supposed to follow him, but where to he didn’t know if he could tell. Frowning, he started moving behind him, keeping his fists ready in case he had to start throwing them around again. “Just don’t bite or hit me if I don’t do what you want…”

Zander stood there frozen in place for a moment processing what the thug in half crazed hysteria had said. Sleep magic, would have little to no effect on him, he also doubted that he could talk his way out of this one. Guarding the door, suddenly seemed like a rather stupid idea to the logical part of his brain. He had no magic that could do damage, with sleep out of the picture he took a deep breath and kept his eyes on teh man's chest. Hopefully it would give a few tells of his movement with the blade, otherwise Zander was in trouble. He kicked himself for not hollering for one of the others, but knew over the ruckus he was less likely to get an ally and more likly to draw more attention to himself.

Everything seemed to slow, the sword wielding slaver brought down his blade in a curve, Zander hadn't even realized what was happening. He went to leap back and felt the closed door greet his back. Bringing up the wooden staff as quickly as he could, he swung it like his own sword, striking the broader blade of the others and giving him a chance to get out of the way from his deadly edge. He spun on his heel, taking three quick steps away and brought his staff up and around.

The slaver knew what was coming, and brought his large sword up in a sweeping motion. Zander's wooden staff caught it, but was not thick enough to fully stop the blow, red hot pain laced his chest again. Mirroring the cut from the ship from the ice, he cursed and bite his lip hard to keep from screaming. He wouldn't go like this, he had escaped his father's wrath and branding, had escaped his mother's claws and her beating when he spoke back to her. He cursed them with everything and for a moment, the slaver was his father sneering down at him and in his rage Zander leapt at the man. Terror and rage fought for being acknowledged in the healers mind but all he could do was get his hands around the others throat, having knocked them both to the ground. His chest screamed for attention, his hands hurt from squeezing the other's throat. He didn't realize he was screaming out his rage as he used his grasp on the other to try to bash in his skull using the wooden floor as best he could.

"I won't die, I won't die... I WON'T DIE HERE!"

--

Geoffrey cursed when he couldn't find a way up, and went to find a back entrance to keep tabs on it with his bow, no one in or out unless he knew them. He kept the bow loose at his side, as to not bend the bow and have it lose power. He kept his eyes trained and ready to take out any of those rats that tried to make a run for it. The building wouldn't be a good idea from him to go into, he'd lose range and distance. He kept his eyes open though, nothing in, nothing out. he kept repeating to himself. Not unless it was Ethan and their group.

As nauseating as everything was they couldn't stop, not until Amuné was safe. Even as Ethan felt his heart in his throat and his ears muffled by his thundering pulse he stumbled along, not daring to turn his head and look at any of the dead men laid around the building. It was atrocious, unnecessary, and yet wasn't this what they needed? To save Amuné at any costs? Even so he couldn't accept that so many casualties were needed for it, all of their lives snuffed out for the sake of her. He held the girl dearly but wouldn't want someone to die in her place, certainly not near a dozen men or so. Almost running on auto-pilot as he walked along his head swiveled slightly hearing a growl and noticed Wyth's large frame slinking out of a door, Cecil hot on heels. That had to be the way to Amuné, she was somewhere in that direction. They were coming, she was going to be safe soon. She only had to hang on a little longer.

Blast that mountain of a man struck hard, and with only one kick too Nymira's arms already felt numb. Gritting her teeth as she picked herself up out of the crate she'd shattered she spun her dagger in her hand and watched the man approach her, anticipating his movement by watching how his torso turned slightly to the right and his his right arm cocked back slightly, ducking and preemptively avoiding a massive cleave that sliced into the wall at her back. Kicking out on her own she struck him in the leg to try and bring him down yet found no such luck, having to duck away again to avoid being grabbed by the throat. She managed to get a small cut on his side as she darted away to make room and took the moment to try and gather her thoughts on just how she was going to defeat this man. Powerful and large, he seemed well versed in combat too, not an easy foe for one her size. Magic wasn't an option, she couldn't use it on someone without a Saints blessing, which meant this would come down to an old fashioned brawl.

Keeping her eyes firmly on the man she watched every move he made, doing her utmost to sort the feints from the actual strikes and reacting accordingly. Duck, step to the side, knock away his arm, for a man of his size he was surprisingly quick and precise with his strikes, nothing being wasted in his movements. Narrowly avoiding having her head taken off she swung out at his arm and sliced along the forearm enough to make him drop his sword, albeit temporarily. Nymira only just managed to raise one arm to defend herself when she was kicked in the side, dropping her dagger as she was thrown across the room and into the wall. The impact was a painful one and her arm burned in pain immediately, her head swimming from the landing. With a muted groan she pushed herself up and stumbled to her feet, noting the blood seeping from her reopened leg wound and from a fresh cut on her head. Trying to retrieve her second dagger she gasped as the man was upon her, a hand around her throat as she was lifted off of her feet and pushed into the wall.

"Fuck... Fuck... They're dying out there! We've gotta move 'em!" a slaver shouted, looking at Amuné and the other prisoners frantically.

"Where we gonna move them, eh? Only two doors outta here and they're through that mess!" another snapped back, shaking his head and looking at the locked door, "They've gotta be comin' in here, aye? Let 'em come, we'll ambush whoever gets through and kill 'em nice and quick! Problem solved."

"Right, and what about that fucking growling we're hearing, huh?" a third shot back with a gesture to the door, "They've got some big mutt or something! And there's more than one of them too! We're gonna try and fight them all in this little room huh?"

"Unless you've got a better idea yeah, that's what we're doing! Now shut your traps and get ready!" No sooner had he said that did something slam against the wall outside of the room, a faint groan following as a warning that the guard had been taken down somehow. The three men exchanged worried glances before fetching their weapons about the room, the foremost grabbing his dagger and inching towards the door. Pressing himself up against the wall he put a finger to his lips and waited, not moving an inch until the door was kicked open and nearly off of its hinges. With a wild grin he stepped out and thrust his dagger into the first person at the door, expecting to see a trail of blood flowing from the wound he made. Only there was no blood, and the dagger barely made it an inch into the boy's skin before it stopped, unable to penetrate any further. Staring down at his weapon utterly dumbstruck the slaver glanced up at Cecil, not understanding whatsoever what had just happened. "Huh...?"

Wyth came in on Cecil's heels, slipping around the Machina and the man that stabbed him and leaping for the one beyond. But the room was more open, and Wyth's flank was undefended. One of the other slavers sank his long knife into the feline's haunch, and Wyth yowled in pain, turning to snap at the man. The injury had the cat limping badly now, but his girl was right there, he could smell her now.

Amuné got to her feet when the door was smashed in. The first one through wasn't who she expected, but really, she would even be glad to see Zander's scowl at that point. "Cecil!" she cried with a sob, running to the bars of her cell and reaching a hand through them, even though he was across the room. "And Wyth..Cecil, get me out of here!"

Wyth crossed the room as quickly as he could with two injured legs, hitting the bars of the cage with considerable force as he tried to break it open with sheer bulk. But the metal held, and he stumbled back with an unhappy noise. His girl flinched at the strike, but moments later she was reaching out to run her hand through his coarse fur. Wyth only spared her a moment for comfort before he turned to face the rest of the room with a growl. Anyone that wanted to get to his girl would have to go through him.

Cecil was fairly confident that Wyth knew where to go, it just meant he was going to end up having to take this on alone as he soon lost sight of the others. He didn’t know what he was going to encounter along the way whether it was more of those men or if they were starting to retreat, it certainly didn’t help when he was so unfamiliar with people that bad ones were completely lost to him. If they had already escaped then that would be bad, it would mean Amuné would be gone too and then what. He was pretty nervous, not because he was going to take some punishment but because he was by himself in a terrible situation and nobody else was going to be able to help him. Wyth was not able to fight very well by the looks of him, he was definitely on his own. Frowning as he moved, he continued to look back as if to tell himself that he wasn’t alone, but it seemed he was.

Just what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t punch people too hard, they would break and he would get in trouble. If he used his electricity he might lose control of it and end up hurting someone he didn’t mean to. He was going to have to calm down first at least, he couldn’t get into further trouble after what he already did before. It wasn’t fair, everyone expected so much from him but when he did fulfil his purpose everyone got mad. Maybe if he was calm the men would also be calm and not immediately attack him, giving the others time to come along and help him. But what if somebody wasn’t going to come help him? He didn’t know what he might do, he felt totally lost.

Approaching an area where the sounds of talking could be heard he couldn’t really make out what was being said, but it definitely sounded like they weren’t planning on moving quite yet too. He was definitely certain now, but with Wyth making so much noise he probably didn’t have the surprise attack. Moving faster to keep up with Wyth he pulled back a fist the moment he spotted a man before throwing it as a projectile, catching the man by surprise and saving him the close combat troubles. Pulling back his gauntlet with the chain he approached the door, knowing now he was probably in the right place seeing as how the man had been here.

Throwing back a foot he broke open the door, being hasty to try and enter before feeling a force hit his body. Gasping only briefly out of surprise he looked down at where the man had attempted damage on him, only looking at him briefly before he wrapped his hand around the man’s arm and let out a sharp electric burst. Throwing the man off to the side afterwards he pulled the lodged dagger out of his body, frowning lightly before tossing it to the side. That probably left a mark in his shell, but it was under his clothes so that wasn’t a concern. Throwing back his gauntlets again he soon threw them straight for the other men, his eyes absent-mindedly looking to Amuné as she decided to bark orders at him. “Yeah! I just…was busy…” Moving quickly for the cage he pulled his gauntlets back to him before using slipping his fingers in-between the bars, pulling them and the ones beside them apart with relative ease.

Collab: Scout & Vena Sera

---

Asta took a knee gingerly and looked her companion over. “You okay, girl? He hit you pretty hard…” She muttered with a furrowed brow, running a hand lightly through the cobra fox’s fur. The beast seemed to understand, but didn’t respond with more than a flinch when the Ydran stroked her side. The woman sighed and stuck a tongue in her cheek, “Alright… bruised?” She asked, touching it again. The creature winced and took a hop to the side, one of her legs giving only a slight limp. Asta nodded in understanding, “Find a place to rest, alright? Go on,” The woman instructed. Her companion seemed hesitant to leave her behind, but complied as she rose back to her feet and heard a crash.

When the Ydran woman made to the sound, moving as best she could, her blade poised, she found a hulking man bearing down Nymira. She cursed under breath as she looked around to assess the situation - the dust made the visibility in the room more inconvenient than anything else and she squinted through it to spot a small glint a short distance away. By now, Nymira was pressed into a wall, feet off the ground as the man wrapped his hands tightly around her throat. Asta moved for the dagger as quietly as she could, setting down her own blade for a moment to gather her aim… Deep breath in… As her exhale met its end, she released the blade for a strong throw, shouting, “Nymira!!” It drove into the wooden wall, not so deep that it would be difficult to retrieve, but just beside the Dimuran. Honestly, it was supposed to lodge itself in the man’s back, but in her weakness, Asta felt it leave at the wrong angle and decided it would be just as well in her comrade’s hand.

She readied her blade and began to move toward the man.

Nymira’s hands, empty now, tried in a futile effort to claw the man’s from her throat. His monstrous strength gave no room for error and now that she was in his grasp her chances were slipping away rapidly. Her lungs began to burn from oxygen deprivation and the corners of her vision began to fade in, if this went on for too much longer she’d lose consciousness, and likely be as good as dead. Barely making out the muffled yell of Asta she followed the dagger with her eyes as it struck the wall near her, hastily reaching out to make use of it. Before the man could grab her and stop her the Dimuran had stuck him in the shoulder with the weapon and forced her release, dropping to the floor and coughing for air as she struggled to breath.

“Agh, damn woman!” the slaver cursed, reaching up and pulling the blade free. “I’ll kill you with your own weapon!” Turning on Asta he began to advance towards her yet halted when an unexpected weight landed on his back. Nymira had leapt onto him and now had her arms securely around his neck, barely fitting but just enough to get a hold and squeeze. Choking he tried to swipe back at her with the dagger and missed having instead to pry her arms off of himself and throw her away towards Asta. “Bitches, I’ll have both your heads!” Fetching his greatsword again he rolled his injured shoulder indifferently before stepping forward, swinging out towards Asta.

Asta sneered and dropped her sword as Nymira’s body came her way. She extended her arms, but stumbled weakly as the small, yet surprisingly heavy girl’s weight landed against her. The Ydran woman put down a foot behind her to steady herself and released Nymira, taking two long strides, scooping her blade from the ground as she did so, and met the man’s heavy blade with parry.

“Go to hell,” she spat venomously. Asta pivoted her blade to the side and let the man’s redirected momentum take his sword’s tip nearly to the ground as she moved with her momentum and used the pivot to twirl and swing her sword in an upward slice. He’d managed to recover just in time to block the move.

“Thanks.” There was little time for talk right now, this man was a force to be reckoned with and had to be stopped here, otherwise the others would be in dire straits. Letting Asta clash with him for a moment Nymira found one of her discarded daggers and waited for his missed swing at the Ydran woman, stepping on the blade of his weapon and using it to jump off of, driving a knee into his jaw before falling to the side and rolling awkwardly as her injured leg gave way. They would have to just wear him down and wait for him to make a mistake, it was clear he was stronger physically than either of them and in far better condition, they were fighting at a disadvantage even with greater numbers.

Asta took the opportunity to move as the man was struck in the jaw by Nymira’s incoming knee and moved behind him. She swung her falcata, aimed directly for the back of the man’s knee and his leg crumpled beneath him. The muscle failed before he felt the pain, but he cried out as he lost all control of the support. Asta took her retreat for a few steps, deciding how to approach the next stage of attack. Her eyes moved to Nymira to see what her fellow fighter was doing.

They were making headway, and though her head throbbed and her leg ached Nymira couldn’t allow herself to stop, not for a second. As soon as Asta took out one of the man’s legs she went right after him again, her dagger thrust out at his back in an attempt to draw a grievous wound. For all the pain he was in the man was still quick enough to turn to grab her arm and halt the attack, yet he could do nothing about the second dagger she’d scooped back up. Swinging out with the second she cut across the bridge of his nose and across one eye, blinding him and drawing a good deal of blood, forcing his grip off of her arm. Ignoring his howls of pain the Dimuran backed up one step before driving her entire body forward into his back, knocking him over onto the ground and collapsing on the spot. By now the pain in her head was intense and everything felt like it was spinning, but the man still posed a threat, she had to move.

Asta watched him hit the ground and Nymira took her paces back. The Ydran made her move, coming up on the man and pulling back her leg swiftly. “You people deserve to be in the ground!” She snarled, swinging her foot, aimed for the side of his head. What came next was wholly unexpected as he snatched her ankle with his one good eye and yanked her to the ground. The wind left her lungs as her falcata hit the floor a couple feet away and limp-legged brute with his bleeding eye came crawling over her, pinning her to the ground.

“If I’m going to go, I’m taking one of you nosey bitches with me,” He muttered, trying to sit up as best he could with a crippled knee and raising a fist, bringing it down into Asta’s chin. She flinched at the pain, her head falling to the side as her jaw began to throb.

Close. So close to finishing him off. Her leg all but refused to support her now and the entire room was spinning, the simple act of standing alone proved to be taxing for Nymira. Gripping her dagger as firmly as she could she rushed to Asta’s aid and went right after the man. Seeing Asta take a hard strike to the jaw she gripped her weapon in both hands and ran at the man’s side, driving the blade forward and burying it into his stomach. It had stopped the assault on Asta and earned her the man’s ire as he swung out blindly, striking Nymira in the arm and knocking her over again. Growling through the pain she crawled back over as he tried to get free, grabbing her dagger at his side and giving it a tug, rending the flesh where it stuck and deepening the wound. They had to kill him now, much more of this and one of them was liable to join him.

Asta’s mouth burned with pain as it filled with blood. Shit… She bit her tongue and the stinging was more bothersome than she cared to admit. The woman spit blood onto the floor, dragging herself to her feet as the massive slaver swung out and released her. The woman scrambled for her blade, just barely managing to reach it. She didn’t hesitate to duck another swipe from the man, who was missing his depth perception. The woman turned as she got low and shoved her blade back behind her. The curved falcata left the man from the other side, lodged dead center in his abdomen. She yanked it free and looked back at him as he slumped to the ground, unmoving.

No sooner was there enough space between the bars for the girl to slip trough than she did. But instead of trying to get as far away from Cecil as she could, Amuné flung her arms around him and hugged the Machina tight, burying her face in his shirt. She was shaking badly, and unwilling to let go, even if he tried to slip away.

Wyth came to brush forcefully against her back, though itnwas a tight squeeze between child and cage. Satisfied that she was no longer trapped, he turned his attention to the next task: protection. Most of the slavers in the room were down, injured or knocked out by Cecil's gauntlets. One was struggling to get back to his feet, and the moorcat applied a liberal dose of claws to ensure the man changed his mind about that idea.

The other Ydrans waited until Cecil had a chance to widen the gap in the bars and then slipped out one after another. Most gave him a smile or a word of thanks, though none were keen to linger. "How do we get out of this place?" demanded the skeptic, looking around. She wasn't fool enough to believe that the path out was clear. The older man gave Cecil a pat on the shoulder. Thank the Saints for your timely rescue, young man." He went to scoop up a blade from one of the fallen men, and the lady that had mentioned her children followed suit, though she held it uncertainly. "We'll try not to get in your way, but we'll help as we can."

So that was it then, it was over just like that. Some slavers were still breathing and one even had been brave, or foolish enough, to try and fight back. Wyth was quick to stifle any would be attempts to keep their prisoners and with that they were effectively done here. Glad as Ethan was that Amuné was free he was shaking slightly himself, his stomach lurching uncomfortably; so many men were dead or maimed in some way here, they could have accomplished the rescue without any of that. How would they explain any of it to the guards? He just didn't understand why any of it had been necessary. Looking at Amuné hiding herself against Cecil he was reminded that they had to do it, maybe, in order to see her safe. That was the justification he tried to go with but even then it didn't stick, they could have done it differently still and gotten the same result.

It wasn't just Amuné that they had rescued though was it? There were yet more Ydrans released from the holding cell, all older than the girl but no less grateful to be freed. The readiness in which they took to weapons uneased Ethan and he loathed to think they would use them on their captors, something which while justified still unsettled him. He'd yet to use magic and though a last resort it would effectively rend any resistance useless on the slavers part, surely they'd want nothing to do with a Magi. Should he do that if they faced more resistance? Glancing down at the palm of his hand he entertained the idea only for a second before dismissing it with a shake of his head. Absolutely not, magic was not supposed to be used like that, as a tool to tout over those without, that was wrong. Cedric would have his rear if he'd ever found out, they had to try and refrain as much as they could.

"There's... There's more of us, they should have cleared the way," Ethan mumbled as he looked up at the Ydrans, "Just uh... Just follow us, we'll get you out." Before they could do any of that however he had to see Amuné, taking a knee beside the girl and rubbing her back to try and comfort her. It had been scary no doubt and there was no way of knowing what they had said to her, hopefully the fact they were here now made it a little better at least. "You're safe now Amuné, no one's going to hurt you anymore, okay?" Tears threatened to fall as they welled up in the corners of his eyes, and a quick wipe ensured she didn't have to see him cry. What a relief, he'd been so worried that even as hasty as they'd been they might have been too late.

They had to get going, the longer they hung around here the greater a chance something might go wrong. Hard to remain optimistic with a bunch of bloody people lying all around you, really brought down the mood. Making sure the slavers immediately nearby weren't going to come for them first Ethan led the way from the room, retracing his steps down the hall and doing his best to ignore the scene before them. Nymira and Asta were a little further ways ahead and both of them were clearly worse for wear after the fighting they had gone through, bloodied and beaten though nowhere near as much as some of them slavers. Wondering what lay behind them in the room Ethan only just peered around the corner of the door before quickly looking away, needing no closer look at the man laid face down in a pool of blood. They had killed too then, everyone had. He should feel fortunate they and the other captives were unharmed and free but all of the death left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Finally, I was beginning to wonder if you've gotten lost," Nymira commented, watching as Ethan shuffled forward without so much as a reply. His first time in a fight like this, she surmised, frowning at how defeated he looked. The sooner he accepted this as the reality of how things worked the easier it would become, doubtless it would be their last encounter. Looking back she saw Cecil carrying a very shaken but otherwise unharmed Amuné in his arms, smiling with relief at that fact. Beyond them still were more Ydrans, some armed and others not, all moving in a tight group and eager to be freed of this miserable place. As were they all, their work here was done and it was high time to be rid of the slavers den.

"We should do something about the building, it's become a grave for too many," the Dimuran said as she turned away, following after the group. All the men inside were either dead or severely injured, burning the structure down made the most sense to her. They would all likely die regardless from their wounds and letting any of them live was as much a crime as the kidnappings themselves. Yet she refrained, her hand lingering briefly on a wall before she pulled it away and let her magic settle. The guards would not care for her brand of justice, that much she had gathered, and even if they were to die it would likely be by execution, not by being burned alive. It was a distasteful act to leave such disgusting men alive and yet fitting in a way, their final moments would be spent crawling in the dirt like the worms they were. Wrinkling her face in loathing she glanced briefly at a fallen man just before the door, wondering how his head had come to be smashed in like that. Not a hint of sympathy, he'd chosen this life and paid the price, simple as that.

The guard was still waiting outside when they emerged, the man he'd been with bound and unconscious. Clearly what had happened inside hadn't gone entirely unnoticed as his expression was grim upon their exit, and seeing the state of Asta and Nymira hardly reassured him. He had said whatever they did inside that building would be off the record, he'd not enforce the laws, but now seeing the state of the children he almost regretted that. Without going inside he could guess what had become of the men inside and figured it was a fitting punishment regardless, they'd had been led to the gallows if they had not met justice at the travelers hands instead. The number of Ydrans that emerged, all clearly ragged and worn from their experience, made overlooking the bit of vigilante justice on their part much easier too.

"Some of the men yet live, I'd suggest you gather them up before they flee," Nymira spoke to the guard, gesturing back towards the building, "Others are in a less... Agreeable state. I'd suggest simply demolishing the building unless your people had a use for it. Judging by the deplorable state of this area however I'd assume not."

"You're not wrong, most of this part of town is run down. Generally the less well off live here, and that's the few that hadn't left," the guard pointed out, looking towards the building with a frown before nodding to himself, "I'll go and get some back up and we'll see what's left inside of there. You kids should head to a healer before you go, you've got some nasty wounds there. I wish I could reward you for your help-"

"We don't need a reward, we got what we came for," Nymira interrupted, referring of course to Amuné who was still clinging to Cecil as though her life depended on it. They had no need for a reward anyways, she still had some money left and healers were not generally expensive she'd found, and the only serious wounds belonged to her, Asta and Wyth. Enough time had been wasted in this town as it was too without being given some type of formal reward.

Cecil was barely able to balance when Amuné decided to jump at him, not entirely understand what he was supposed to do about this. He didn’t like how she was clinging onto him but he also didn’t know what he was supposed to do about it. Raising his hands he soon backed off, looking to the others as they made their escape he backed off. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say to them, but what he did know was that he wanted to get out of here just as much as everyone else. Watching as one retrieved a weapon he frowned, not really understanding what they were wanting from him. “Uhh…my way? But I-…uhhh…” He didn’t know what way he was supposed to go or if he should wait for the others to find him.

Thankfully, before he could even try to make the decision for himself Ethan had found him, sighing lightly he tried to pull Amuné off him, but he didn’t really know how that was supposed to happen when she wasn’t letting go. “Ethan! I, uhh, didn’t want to do any of this fighting…but they were in the way…” He wanted to try and justify what he did to the men to clear the way, but Ethan was probably going to be mad at him no matter what he did. He helped Amuné and other people he didn’t recognise so that had to justify doing what he did to those men. Not knowing if he had helped justify himself in any way he continued on, not knowing what to do about Amuné hindering his movement.

Following after Ethan he remained quiet, holding the back of Amuné’s clothes as if it was helping him keep balance. He wasn’t that much taller than her so having her hold onto him like this was making it pretty difficult to walk. Not knowing much about the proper social queues he was supposed to undertake with all the death around he tried not to look at anyone, keeping fairly silent for now as he instead tried to find sight of the others. Luckily to cut the awkward silence Nymira was in sight and willing to talk, staring at her for a moment before frowning. “I didn’t know where to go…” He only found his way because of Wyth, he wasn’t very good at directions otherwise. While he was feeling the relief of finding a little calm after the storm he frowned at her suggestion. “Something about the building? What is a grave…?”

While he didn’t have much of a clue about what she meant he was fine with moving away from that thought and getting out of here. He didn’t want to be surrounded by all this violence for much too long, he wanted to get out of here. Once they were out he was surprised by the sight of the guard, almost feeling like he should be trying to flee at this point just in case he got into trouble. Looking to the captured man quietly he frowned, trying to keep out of their conversation without asking too many questions. Mention of needing a healer had Cecil looking to Nymira to see what she had wrong with her but was startled when Nymira decided to decline further conversation. “W-We should…maybe go…” he spoke lowly, frowning a little, “That would’ve attracted a lot of attention and you’re all hurt. We should find a healer quickly and go get the cart as fast as possible…”