Valion followed the group idly during their travels. The horse provided was fast, faster since it had nothing it needed to carry besides a rider. The kings gate was of no interest to the monk as he meditated wordlessly. His thoughts flowed up and down the years of his life, years in service of one lord or another, his teacher instructing him to do the very things he once believed impossible, and Theodore.. to break stone with your bare hand was impressive but that dwarf never once stopped to think about the impossible and simply shattered through the unknown.

How those days were missed now more than ever..

The village they had stopped at was abandoned, Tyr and Marcus had scouted it thoroughly with the others, while Valion had simply found a spot on a roof to settle down on for a nights rest. Again his mind raced to the past.. until the scream of a sea elf broke his concentration. Eyes flying open, the monk was on his feet and over the side of his perch in an instant. Soundless lyrics falling through the open air to land on the hard ground in perfect balance, he came face to face with a lone figure in a cloth mask.

"Be you fri-"

The man's knife made a blitz for the monks throat hoping to take him off guard. Valion caught his arm at the wrist before it had even gotten halfway to its targetc and idly snapped the bones with a vicious yank. Anot equally powerful kick shattered the man's knee, depositing him on the ground like a sack of potatoes as he screamed from the sudden pain. for good measure, Valion calmly knelt beside his fallen victim and shattered it's other knee before plunging the knife hard into his stomach. The wound was deep but had missed everything vital.

"Stay put and you will survive longer."

Out the back alley he ran, following the sound of fighting as the pirate queen fended off her assailants. Distracted by the woman's scream, they did not see the shadow of death engage one of their own until it was too late for him. The leaping kick took the masked assailant in the jaw, shattering bone and snapping his head back. The corpse sailed a few feet before collapsing into a wall.

Hands at either side, Valion positioned himself close to the pirate queen as she stabbed wildly at an assailant and attempted to tear out his throat.

"When you're finished, we must regroup."

----------

Marcus and Tyrs search had found nothing. Nobody's search had. Whatever happened here happened fast. A forced departure in fear of something. Similar to Valion, Marcus had taken up a position on the great halls roof. Sleeping was an option but he had chosen to write down his findings in his traveling journal.
The elfs scream came suddenly and he perked up, packing away the journey all before drawing his firearm. raising it into the air he felt the magic build up in its center. One of the greatest editions to the new design was a function that worked like a flare. But rather than igniting chemicals it was simply a small but bright ball of magic. It would single him out but would reveal a great deal of the area about the great Hall for a few moments.

Pulling the trigger, the night sky brightened immediately in the sudden illumination. A white orb of magic raced into the sky before simply exploding into a shower of illuminating motes of magic. They would only linger for a minute or so, but maybe that would be enough.

"TO ARMS. INTRUDERS IN THE CAMP!" Marcus roared.

Aslatiel and Rakuyo waited for the rest of the group before entering the realm of Talmaria, though they had scouted ahead they didn't have much of note to report once they were joined by the rest of the overseers. By the time they had all reached the settlement the pair was looking forward to some rest while the others searched.

They had almost settled down when shouts rang out followed by a call to arms. Aslatiel rushed out first only to get tackled by one of the cloaked figures, they had a short struggle before Rakuyo blasted him off with a kinetic bolt. After helping Asla back to his feet the pair set to join the defenders and fend of whoever or whatever was attacking.

---

Teagan stalked out of sight as the assault began. He'd been against attacking now but he wasn't in charge and so he, along with with his two companions, had to join in the attack. An attack that failed rather quickly, as he heard the shouts and saw the flare not long after everyone had set in motion.

"knew this was a bad idea" He mumble under his breath as he motioned for his companions to follow. The three made themselves invisible as the stalked out of the brush into the settlement and didn't immediately join the fighting, looking for places to strike. Teagan saw one as Tyr rushed out of a building, he charged forth and only reappeared when he was upon her, rather the striking at her though he held his sword out, Tyr would be unable to avoid getting clotheslined by the flat of his blade but it wouldn't be enough to take her out, which his why he tried to follow up with a stomp aimed at her head.

Of his other companions, one found a place away from the fighting and out of sight, appearing and kneeling down while aiming a bow into the air. When he fired his arrow it arced through the air and splintered causing a rain of arrows in a area of the settlement. And his other companion remained invisible, ready to ambush any who attempted to intervene in Teagan's scuffle with Tyr.

From just outside the town three bodies coming from the north east end of town,one after the other, are seen flying through the air to fall a few feet away from the front of the town hall. "You bloody bastards! Fight with some honor you worthless, yellow bellied cowards!" Karl stomps into town from the direction the bodies came in. He makes his way towards the flare, dispatching of two more of their attackers with quick powerful strikes. Catching a glance of Marcus; Karl shouts,"You need someone to call targets? Or are you good?" Karl was then stabbed in the left shoulder, spinning faster than his assailant would have expected, Karl grabbed the assassin by the throat, "Now, now. One shouldn't stab another in the back tis not the honorable thing to do." With a quick twist Karl snaps the assassin's neck. "Ill let you do your thing Marcus." Karl focuses for a moment, and then his blade is wreathed in pale white flames, the light from his blade is equivalent to a torch lighting up the area, Karl then runs deeper into the town his blade a beacon in the dark.

Night came and Aenwyn found nothing that would have explained the inhabitant's reasons for leaving. Aenwyn found herself with a mixture of sadness and anger as she found herself gazing longingly towards the forest. She remembered explaining to the other elves her reasoning for staying behind. As a scholar, she felt it was her duty to record the events happening outside of Talmaria and the best way to do so was to travel outside the forest. More importantly, she wanted to study the new energies of the other world in the hopes of creating new magic. A challenging and noble goal, but it would be an important one in order to ascertain the elves' place in this strange new world.

And now, there was no one to share her stories with, the knowledge and the experiences that she had gained. Everything and everyone she knew was potentially gone forever. And this happened over five years. Perhaps it was better to go with the other elves. At least then...

Aenwyn closed her eyes. calming herself with meditation. This thinking was distracting. What is of the upmost importance was completing their mission of investigating the vampires. Finding what has transpired in Talmaria can come later. when they've a better foothold in the area. The familiar forests she once knew has taken a much more sinister ambience.

It was then that Aenwyn heard a scream, recognizing the voice of the owner. She rushed outside and surveyed the battle unfolding in front of her. In the darkness, Aenwyn could see their assailants. Humans. Their appearance was puzzling and the timing of their attack was rather unprovoked. Perhaps they were thralls of the vampires...

In the domain of the Elves, Aenwyn knew her magic would became more potent. She called forth a swarm of biting and poisonous insects and directed them at their attackers. Provided the others did not kill them, the enemy would be paralyzed by the swarm's venom. She casted a sturdy barrier around her and began to scrawl something on the ground with her fingers.

It was a conjuration glyph. Satisfied with her work, Aenwyn activated the glyph. An elemental made of vine, earth and stone rose out of the ground in the image of tiger. She took down the barrier and called upon her owl familiar again.

"Take to the skies and try to see where they are coming from," she told her familar.

"Stay by my side and fight off any enemies that get near!" Aenwyn commanded the elemental as she began casting protective magic on her allies.