The eerie silence was rather unsettling for the vampire, making her grip tighten more on the handle, as the wait continued. A few more moments of silence between them as his foot moved the chest away in order to add tension to this encounter, making the girl question her methods, than it happened. Quick snapping of the finger causing three colors to blind together fairly well. Slowly the woman’s stomach churned as a vile taste formed upon her tongue.

Naturally the enemy had to be a pyromancer. Naturally these people had to choose the middle of broad daylight to attack. Ever single student was forced into a sticky situation without any type of warning. The one thing she wasn’t expecting was that one quick movement. Keri forced the shield upwards, angling it just enough to keep the man’s motion stopped, and for a bit of pushing back. The girl’s sword was swiped to his side in attempt to either force the human back or hit him.

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak was not expecting the sudden outburst of flames, to be certain. For a few, very brief moments, it raised quite a few questions in his mind which he had a hard time believing would possess reasonable answers. Between the Esyire’s thoughts and the words he screamed, it did not take too much effort for Ssarak to piece together what happened. The way the Esyire spoke seemed to suggest that he knew it would happen, which begged the question of why he, or any rational mercenary, would accept such a job to begin with. Why in the Inferno would anyone who was just working for coin agree to put on something that would allow said employer to immediately kill them at any time? Ssarak worked as a mercenary for a time, and if nothing else, he would have suspected that the employer could easily turn on them once they had secured the package. To Ssarak, it seemed insane, but he did not have time to dwell on such thoughts.

The Esyire, in his panic, was running for an exit, towards at least one of Ssarak’s friends. He could still be dangerous even in his last moments, so Ssarak followed after him. Being that the Esyire was on fire, Ssarak wondered if he might now be more susceptible to illusions. It did not seem likely that he was paying close attention to anything except his own pain. As such, Ssarak attempted to shift his perceptions to guide him away from anything dangerous he might end up setting ablaze. He shifted the apparent position of crates, other obstacles, and the exit itself to try and keep him from causing more harm.

Leith staggered from the push. After the blade made contact with the elf's leg, Leith had shrunk the sword back down to the trinket it was before. He had been planning on shrinking and enlarging the sword when he attacked to throw his opponent off, but a scream silenced his plans. He spun his head around to notice that the Esyire that was fighting Ssarak was now engulfed in flames. A puzzled expression crossed Leith's face and he tried to figure out why the Esyire was on fire.

Panic soon overtook bewilderment as the Esyire started running in Leith's direction. With all the spilled oil, it was far too easy for the warehouse to go up in flames. Without another thought, Leith shot his hands out in front of him and made a pushing motion. All the lamp oil that had been spilled from the barrel and landed on Leith and the elf flowed towards the back wall and out of the flaming Esyire's path.

Leith regretted his decision immediately.

His stomach churned as he lost all sense of orientation. He stumbled backwards, his foot catching on the edge of a crate. He was sent crashing to the floor. He spent a few moments staring at the roof of the warehouse idly wondering what brought him to this point. As he turned his head to the side and vomited, he smiled feebly.

Well, he had never gotten Blood Sickness this badly before, so that was new.

Lyn's help came in a very good time. Thanks to her distraction, Henri was able to land an attack on the orc woman even tired as he was.
As soon as his legs wrapped around the orc woman's neck, Henri grabbed the woman's other arm, making sure she wouldn't hit him. He could feel the woman's muscles tensing up as she tried to escape both his grasp and Lyn's vines, without much success. Even if she was able to rip some of the vines, they quickly grew again around her arm.

The woman's strength was more than Henri expected, but still not enough to get free from his grasp. He didn't know for how long Lyn could keep up with her vines, but he presumed they wouldn't last forever. He had to finish that quickly. But the second that thought came to his mind, he saw with the corner of his eyes something red coming out of Lyn's nose. It was blood. She was probably already close to her limit. Time was running short.

"Shit..." Henri cursed, immediately shifting his weight and pulling the woman's arm to try and throw her on the ground, while simultaneously choking her with his thighs.
As soon as he did that though, he heard a thump sound... Lyn was on her knees, blood coming out from her nose as she struggled to maintain the vines. That was it. The second Lyn lost control of her vines, Henri was certainly dead. The orc woman wouldn't hesitate to cut him with her other machete. He had to finish that on that second, Henri wasn't going to last too much as well... He could already feel an intense muscular pain slowly building up...

"Why it had to be an orc...? Even this woman is as hard as a freaking rock..." Henri thought to himself, as he continued to tighten his grasp on her neck. Indeed, even orc women were heavy, brutish masses of muscles. Luckily they weren't that agile and flexible, but on raw strength, there was hardly any other race that matched their raw, brute strength.

"Just... a bit... more... Hang on Lyn!!" He shouted under his exhausted breath, tensing up his muscles and pressing his legs around the woman's neck almost like a snake in a deadly embrace, before twisting his body with all his strength in a quick, sudden movement, twisting both the woman's arm and her neck backwards in a violent manner.

"Damn... I don't think I'll be able to run for a while after this... Henri thought to himself with an audible groan of pain. Every muscle of his body was aching with pain. He certainly wouldn't be able to run after that. Not on the state he was right now... Not only his muscles, but he was also hungry and thirsty. The effort he was doing right now would probably spend his last reserves of strength...

@Fallenreaper

Alaira Taenn

Silently, Alaira stood. Well. Perhaps not stood. No, one had to have their feet planted on solid ground. Alaira hung from a decorative gargoyle's plinth, quietly contemplating her next move. It didn't take long before she had leaped off with a slight grunt of effort, a burst of aeromancy gifting her with the momentum to continue her climb. It was good training for her, she thought. She could keep her body in shape and hone her magic at the same time. She caught the roof, groaning with effort as she heaved herself up. She rolled onto her back, panting as she looked up at the sky. "I... I bet Dervis would... would just fuckin'... fly right up... The prick..." She muttered inbetween breaths. She couldn't really do much with her Aeromancy apart from augment her momentum, so she had a habit of deriding some of the others with a better handle on it for 'taking the easy way'. This especially included the teacher, who she often teased on account of his height. Having her tossed straight into the air on gusts of wind did little to dissuade her.

After her little break she sat up, brushing her hair behind her shoulders as looked out over the horizon. She sat at the highest point on the keep, and it made her smile a bit every time she remembered that the Arch-mage's chambers were just under her. She quietly wondered how many gargoyles or other, less physical sentries were watching her? Apart from the exercise, she like to come her as, apart from the wind, this was the quietest spot in the entire grounds. For a mindlessly bloodthirsty brute, she spent a lot of time just... thinking. Today was comparatively uneventful. Sure she'd been smithing earlier, as evidenced by the fact that her tunic was still somewhat damp with sweat, but it wasn't anything exciting. Just horseshoes, nails, that sort of thing. Being a goddamn wizard tended to inflate one's ego, and of the very, very small population of students that could work a forge, most found the act of creating such things beneath them.

They wanted to spend their time creating mighty blades, or all manner of magical whatsits, and yes, so did she. The difference was that she understood the value of things like that. Someone has to make the nails and hinges and rivets, and if she does it that means that means she's paid instead of some random chump merchant somewhere. More money means she has an easier time putting together the materials to actually make something worth bragging about. Didn't mean it was any less boring, though. Looking up at the sky, she was reminded that of all the things she missed about her life before, it was probably the blue sky. Out here, it was always some reddish/purple-y shade even in the middle of the damned day. She sighed and rolled her eyes, leaning back against the conical roof and closing her eyes. She began to sing to herself, just a dwarven mining song she'd picked up a few years back. She really did have a beautiful voice, odd from such a brutish woman. Well, she was half-elf, after all.

Annabeth wasn’t entirely sure what happened. After knocking the Uth into the Abyss and making a run for the crystal everything was blurry. Just one huge mental block. Even names were starting to fade from her mind, but Annabeth knew at the very least that this place wasn’t safe. She could see others getting up from the ground and while most seemed unharmed Annabeth still couldn’t explain what just happened, and thus she felt they were still in danger. She also noticed that she was missing much of her equipment such as her bardiche and bow. She’d have to go find a new one when she gets back to the college.

”Is everyone alright? Who are we missing?”

Eventually however Annabeth and the others began their slow trek back to the college. Along the way Annabeth finds Samson who seemed frighten and confused. Annabeth had to use a considerable amount of her mage blood to calm him down and coo him, and afterwards Annabeth felt absolutely exhausted and fell to her knee. She could tell that she must have used much of her mageblood already, ”Keep it together….” Annabeth mounted Samson and rejoined the group.

---

Salem tilted his head causing his large ears to point directly outwards. Large green eyes stared at the woman and while he knew he was getting glared at, why would he change who he was because of a look? Head straightened and he yawned at the woman. Clearly sending the message that he did not care about what she had to say. Who knew that it was even possible to sarcastically yawn.

Veretu seemed to shrink somewhat at being looked over. He seems to relax as soon as Val focused on Salem for a bit. With an inhale he focused in on Val as she gave him his first lesson. He gave a nod. "Understood...I hope that I can get him to be more...well behaved" He shot a glare of his own to the small feline before giving a nod to Val as a thanks for the information. Salem rolled his large eyes in response and smoothed a bit of fur that seemed to be out of place only to him.

Though, he soon stopped, pink tongue stuck out as his head lifted. An offended expression swept the cat's features before he huffed. "I am clearly not like that pile of sand" The cat's head moved as he snuffed the idea. Veretu meanwhile, gave a small chuckle before hearing a greeting.

Veretu moved his wings into a half circle as he slowly turned. "Uh...hi" He was clearly still not the best with social interactions. Salem turned his head and the large green eyes in his head moved to see her. "Another one?" The cat gave a shrug of his small shoulders. "Im more surprised people want to talk to the wall flower" The cat flicked his ears and then snorted.

As Elise spoke Veretu gave a small nod, though it was not the easiest to see given his half circle of wings. Salem huffed. "Im clearly not just any demon. Im obviously way more awesome" The small cat puffed his chest before getting an eye roll from veretu. "Eventually you will be better" Salem stuck his tongue out at Veretu before standing his tail flicking.

The trip back to the school felt so strange. She had dreams. Weird, strange dreams of darkness and tentacles and this...this man, tall, dark haired, and the coldest thing she’d ever seen in her life. She woke up sometimes, sweating so badly from a dream. It wasn’t so much fear, the dream itself wasn’t that scary as far as she could recall as the images fled from her mind, it was just...something so powerful that she felt weak and small by comparison. And she didn’t like that.

But none of those memories stayed with her during the day. And for that, she was glad. She didn’t want to end up doodling those things in her notebook and then having to see them again later and wind up freaking herself out more. So she just settled with spending as much time with Annabeth as she could. Because despite the cloud that hung over what had happened, she had this intense feeling that she could have lost her and she didn’t want to miss out on any time with her. And she was very glad that Annabeth seemed just as inclined to spend the time with her. But even so, when they made it back to school, things went back to being a little more casual between. Which was also something she was totally pleased with. She wanted friends more than anything anyways, so she could live with that.

She was still settling back in, but she was over being in her room unpacking, so she headed back out to wander through the slightly dark halls of the college. She was sue she'd run into someone.

E'nasha Williams ~ Yarosmere

---

E'nasha listened as the king spoke, wondering how long it would be before the group actually saw anything to justify or disprove the Sand Cobra's thoughts about the man. King A'dul, born near the coast... Before she would get a chance to ask any more questions, proof of the Prophet's nature finally began to show itself. As the man's eyes dulled and he began to mutter to himself, E'nasha's hand went towards her pocket to grab one of her seeds. Her fingers closed around something at the same moment as the king's expression cleared, the cold look on his face making her want to run already. In the next moments, she watched as he made his declaration, rising to her feet just before the rest of the people in the room...

She ran with the rest of the group- well, was dragged with them by El’kan. She’d frozen up at the sight of so many people just.. How could they do that? How could they trust in this man so much, to the point where they would throw their entire life away to prove some point? She was lucky El’kan was more level-headed than her. She probably would have been left behind he hadn’t grabbed her hand.

Once back in the Resistance Headquarters, E’nasha explained what she could to Sahra and the other Sand Cobras, but she felt like it didn’t really help them at all to know. The entire encounter with the King seemed surreal in a way... and now that her mind was clearing from the shock of it all, she had a theory about this A’dul. She didn’t tell any of the Cobras though. There was a very real chance that she was just imagining connections where there are none. But, the way the King had suddenly known that Mar was a Naga, and the way everyone else in the room just decided to commit suicide with no hesitations at all… It seemed like A’dul might be a Psychomancer. He could have been reading the student’s minds from the second they entered the room, and when he found something he could use to justify his aggression he latched on. The “sand god” could just be a ploy, to make him stand out at first and convince people to believe him, where a ‘normal’ man’s opinions would’ve been shrugged off. Now, it was just a simple act to pull off. As for the suicides, while they could be just what they appeared- sacrifices made out of loyalty to this man- they also could have been the actions of puppets, where A’dul was the one holding the strings.

E’nasha shook her head at herself, dismissing the thoughts. She was biased, for sure. She just wanted to paint this man as a manipulator- or at least that’s the only reason she could think of to explain the harsh thoughts. Just before the Cobras opened a portal to the college, she glanced over at El’kan. He’d been watching her since they got out of the palace- probably worried about her. Granted, she was worried about him too. With the king’s proclamation… they weren’t welcome in Yarosmere anymore. Their Homeland. It was hard to accept, or even think about, and E’nasha’s heart began to ache the more she tried to. She jumped through the portal just after deciding to talk to him about all this later. For now, it was time to go...

~ ~ ~
Back at the College

---

As her feet hit the ground just outside the front gate, E’nasha shivered from the sudden change in temperature. It was freezing, and she was dressed for the arid desert air. She crossed her arms over her chest as she ran for the gate, rubbing her hands over her arms to try and keep herself from freezing before she could get inside. She already missed her homeland, more than she had before they’d gone back. An icy wind blew through her, and she felt like she was going to freeze solid. So far being back here was going just great.

She ducked inside the dorm building, and started making her way through the halls to the room she shared with El’kan. Once there she threw on her warmest sweater, and proceeded to hide from the cold feelings under the blankets of her bed for a few minutes. That’s about how long it took for El’kan to get to the room too, though it felt like forever. He walked in and shut the door behind him quietly. E’nasha moved the covers just enough that she could see him as he came over to speak to her. ”How are you doing?”

She made a noise, somewhere between a grunt and a sad moan. El’kan just sat on the edge of her bed and asked again. She sighed before actually answering this time, her voice monotone as she tried to keep herself from giving away just how bad she felt right now.

”I’ve been better.” He smiled lightly, trying carefully to change the mood. ”That’s an understatement.” Her reply was just as cold as the air outside. ”No, not really.”

She curled up into a slightly smaller ball as he reached out and shook her shoulder lightly, trying to keep her attention. She could feel herself spiraling into a fuzzy numbness the longer she just laid there, tears beginning to fall silently down her face. ”Hey, we’re fine. You know that, right?” She didn’t respond. El’kan looked like he was going to say something else, but a loud tapping noise from the window took his attention. She saw him glance over at the frosty glass, and then a smile came onto his face. ”Well, about time the bird-brain showed up!”

”What?” E’nasha sat up and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, while El’kan stood and walked over to the window. He opened it, letting in a blast of frozen air that stung her skin, along with a familiar large bird. As soon as the window was closed again, She got out of bed and crossed the room to her dresser, where the Raven had landed on his perch there. She held out her hand and smiled just a little as the bird pecked at her fingers for a few seconds before nuzzling her. She was still crying a bit, but the cold shock from opening the window and the joy at seeing Sir were starting to make the numb feeling go away.

”Welcome back Sir. Did you have a good time while we were gone?” Of course, Sir didn’t answer her. Well, not verbally anyway. He hopped off of his pedistal and onto her shoulder, pecking gently at one of her pigtails once he was there. ”Nah, he missed you too much. See?” El’kan reached out to pat the bird on the head, but pulled his hand back when Sir snapped his beak at him. ”Gr.. Guess he didn’t miss me all that much.” E’nasha couldn’t help but laugh at that, a small smile staying on her face as she pushed her thoughts and worries to the back of her mind.

Focus on the here and now, that’s all I have to do… She poked Sir as he sat on her shoulder, and seeing that he wasn’t going to move, sighed and decided that she might as well get something done now that she was up. ”I’m going to go and figure out just how much homework I missed or something.”

El’kan just rolled his eyes at her. ”You and your studying.” He crossed his arms and waved her off, a soft look in his eyes despite the joking manner he carried now. ”Go on then. I’m gonna hang out here for a bit, then probably go get some food before dark. See you there?”

”Yeah, got it.” E’nasha smiled at him as she spoke, and then turned to leave as he nodded at her in satisfaction. They’d meet up again later.

As she left the room, Sir still sitting on her shoulder, she started thinking about what she should do next. The mission was over, and most likely a failure. She probably should go talk to Ucile about what happened, but as she began to walk in the direction of the teacher’s office, she couldn’t bring herself to actually go there. Instead, she let herself wander, until she ended up by the kitchens. A couple of loud voices were drifting out into the hall, and the usual sounds of clanging pans and simmering foods were intercut by loud thuds and sharp words from the people within. Curiosity peaked, E’nasha stepped up to the doorway and peeked inside.

“Gods damn it! Where’d the bugger go this time?” One cook was shouting from one corner of the room as two others stood back to back in the middle, all three of them looking around wildly at the floor. One held a large metal pot like it was a weapon, and the other two each held a small net in their hands. The first one looked around for a second before shouting again, “THERE!” and diving at a spot on the floor. E’nasha stepped into the room just a little further and saw what it was they were talking about. A small ferret was running around these guys in circles.

After a minute, the creature darted for the door, practically running right at her. She grabbed for the ferret once it got close enough, but it saw her at the same moment and managed to skitter just out of reach before E’nasha landed on her face on the floor. ”Shoot! I missed him.” She straightened up and began to try and figure out where the creature was now, speaking to the cooks as she did. ”Uh.. You guys mind if I try to help?” She was already kind of invested, but considering this had started as their problem it was probably a good idea to ask if they even wanted her to try. Pride could be a funny thing sometimes.

@Fallenreaper

Hysteria (Djarkel) _{@Konan375, @Demonic Angel, @13org and @EliteCommander}

---

The Esyire’s vision was blurred. Edges darkened about indicated signs of failure as he bolted onward. His feet trampled all that lay in his path.

Why hadn’t they warned him about the psychomancer?

The question was quickly forgotten in a blaze of pain along his skin. Burnt scales wafted into his nostrils and churned his stomach at knowing the source. Adrenaline poured through his veins deeply and fed his fear.

He barely noticed Ssarak’s attempts to steer him clear of the lantern oil. His mass shifted around a few objects that suddenly appeared. He barely noticed he missed and ran through a few, focused on escape.

As the Esyire ran blindly toward her, the Elf decided it was time to go. Her features crunched up into a snarl then glared at Leith a moment before she turned to the nearest exit. A window. She felt the liquid rush off her form but continued forward. The mage would’ve been too weighed down by his own folly to interfere.

While her wounded leg slowed her down, she ignored the wound. Blood trickled down her muscles and dripped a trail in her wake. She pushed past the horror-struck sharpshooter.

She tugged on her companion to move quickly. Still, in shock, he closed his gaping mouth and nodded. Promptly they slipped through the nearest window to escape. Being the last one out, the Elf dropped something hard and small. A rune… smoke, thick and blinding, began to flood the area.

The assassins were making their getaway before the Elf paused, then hollered up to the roof.

“Time to go! NOW!”



Lyn fought the impulse to pass out. Her eyes blinked to clear her blurry and swaying vision. It made her sick just watching it as she struggled to get back upright. The vines immediately slacked in her distraction.

Ssarak... we have a problem. We're in serious trouble up here!

Air failed to enter and fed the orc woman’s lungs, her machete aimed to slice off the pest from her neck. His hand managed to hold her at bay. She gave a frustrated snort. Time was ticking down. Using what little strength she had, her other hand jerked at the vines causing them to strain.

SNAP!

They gave surprisingly at her final attempt much to the orc’s shock. Her eyes turned to Lyn, suffering from mageblood sickness. The orc woman’s smile sharpened.

Just when Henri jerked her arm to the side and shifted his weight, she threw herself backward. His body immediately impacted with the ground hard. Added more force than what he had been planning likely might’ve knocked the breath out of him. She didn’t even give him a chance to wrench her head and snap it as she tried to peel him off of her with new vigor.

In the sudden move, much to Henri’s good luck, she had lost her grip on her weapons. She pulled and tugged at his legs, finally peeling one off. Gripping it tightly, she tried to break the bone until a voice reached her.

“Time to go! NOW!”

The orc woman hissed in disapproval. Bouncing up then back down, she peeled Henri off herself. Before he could recover, she was up and rushing toward the edge of the roof to escape.

“We will meet again… and next time, you will die.” She bellowed behind her before vanishing out of sight toward the ground.


Val and Zaad, Twilight College
_{@Vesuvius00@Landaus Five-One@BlackPanther@Luna}


Val nodded toward Veretu, showing approval at his attempts. Encouragement was better somethings, especially for the meek. At Salem’s words about being nothing like Zaad, she scoffed.

“T’at be somet’ing ‘e would say too about you.”

She noted Elise tense as her eyes squinted at the woman. She debated on something in her head than inhaled, thoughtfully placing something away. Her tone took on a mixture of distaste and irritation over the subject matter.

“Aye, lassie. Best to tread cautiously about ‘im. Tey usually belongs in t'e inferno but many come to Tiien. Summoned or discarded by careless mages.”

She made a point to glance at Salem as if accusing him of being one.

When Elise mentioned her fear, the stout woman frowned. She had never heard of such a thing so the reveal was… odd. Pressing her fingers against her chin, she began to think about a solution. She came up blank until Summer approached them.

Val stepped up beside the young woman. She rested her hand on Elise’s shoulder in a comforting manner.

“Deep breat’s little one. Avert your eyes to ‘er nose or eyes, and focus t’ere.” Advised Val.

She bit her lip to avoid commenting on the demon.



Arius, the plump head cook, gingerly stepped from his companions. He approached the smaller student with a sizing eye. After a moment, he twisted his thick mustache and sorted his words.

“Oi, that would greatly be appreciated, ma’am. However, I don’t think it will be as easy as you think. That little pest has been cornered twice… and still manages to get away. We haven’t figured out how just yet!”

He tossed his hands up into the air with a huff.

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

As the thieves started to make their escape, Ssarak’s priorities shifted. The fire was a serious concern, and not one he was going to take lightly. They needed to get out of the warehouse just as quickly as the thieves were. As quickly as he could, Ssarak sent a telepathic message to all of his allies. ”A fire is spreading; secure that package and evacuate the warehouse as quickly as you can!”

As he scanned the minds of his allies to get a sense of their status, Ssarak heard Lyn’s thoughts, and the apparent danger that “they” were in. Whoever “they” might be; he seemed to remember both he and Keri leaving the roof.

Getting as much of a run up as he could, Ssarak ran forward, jumped, and flapped his wings as hard as he could to get as much distance off of the ground as he could. The interior of the warehouse was cluttered, so an actual “flight” was not possible, but he was able to use his wings to essentially jump to the top of some of the higher stacked crates, then jump again to the roof hatch he had dropped through initially.

Ssarak climbed up through the hatch as quickly as he could, but his general bulk still made that take a few moments. In that time, he saw a large Orc woman throw another stranger to the ground, then flee off of the roof. Lyn, meanwhile, looked drained from the all-too-recognizable signs of blood sickness. Ssarak himself was feeling fatigued from his own magical exertions, so if she had been fighting someone, he could only imagine that she had pushed herself to her limits.

Quickly, Ssarak peered into the surface thoughts of the stranger on the ground. Naturally, there was aggression towards the Orc he had just been fighting, but none of the thoughts towards Lyn were similarly hostile. Whoever he was, he was obviously not with the thieves, so Ssarak set his sights back on the Orc.

Once again, Ssarak took to the skies, leaping off of the roof in the same direction as the Orc. He needed to act quickly, but he could not risk using his magic for any significant spells. He had exerted himself heavily during the fight in the warehouse, so trying to use more magic now could just end up debilitating him. But, he was still more than capable of fighting through more traditional means, and he wanted a prisoner. If he could spot the Orc, he would swoop down upon her full force with his mace. He intended to disable her, even if it meant breaking some bones, but more than that, he wanted to see if he could quickly find and remove her rune as well so that she did not also burst into flames.

SNAP

That sound was the worst thing Henri could possibly hear at that moment. He didn't even need to look to understand what happened. Lyn wasn't able to hold the orc anymore. The time was now. Henri had to do something that second, otherwise she would simply cut him down with her machete.

Hastily proceeding to the second part of his 'plan' Henri jerked her arm and shifted his weight to knock her down, but he wasn't expecting her to throw herself backwards as well. With a heavy impact, Henri fell to the ground, his back hitting the roof with full force making him let out a pained gasp and loosing his grasp at the woman for a second. But that was all that she needed, grabbing Henri's leg with a renewed vigor, she tried to break his leg with a tight grasp. Henri would already dead only if wasn't for the fact that she had dropped her weapons.

There wasn't much more to do, Henri was completely out of strength, he was tired, his muscles protested every time he moved and he was almost passing out due to his hunger. Lyn was not in a good state as well, the spell she used drained her completely.
But once again, lady luck smiled to Henri once more as a loud voice coming from somewhere said that it was time to retreat.

“We will meet again… and next time, you will die.” The orc woman said, already up and rushing towards the edge of the roof.

"Next... time, I won't be... tired, hungry and thirsty..." Henri said, breathing heavily, almost passing out, but still with a provocative smile on his face.

"I'll surely look forward to our next... dance." He said, kneeling on the ground and trying to get up as the orc woman fled the roof.

Lyn and Henri were safe... for now. But Henri was in a bad state. Probably worse than Lyn. Even if he tried to get up, his legs didn't have enough strength to even sustain her own weight, and his vision was getting blurry and dark. Even though he fought to keep his eyes open, his body was simply too tired...

"Lyn... We might have a... small problem...." He said, with an awkward smile on his face, blinking his eyes and trying to focus on her, but he only saw a big blur on the place where Lyn should be.

"Going to the college on foot and not packing any... Provisions, might not have been the brightest idea..." He said, leaning to the side and falling on the ground.

Before his vision went dark, the last thing he could see was a man getting out of a hatch on the roof with a pair of wings on his back. Together with the strange winged being, he could smell and see a pillar of smoke getting out of the hatch.

"Hey... Angel... The 'old man' will get mad at you... if he sees you 'down there'." Henri said with a chuckle and a mischievous smile, making a joke about the stranger's aspect before his vision went completely black...

@Fallenreaper@EliteCommander

The floor of the warehouse was cold. The chill seeped into Leith's body as he stared at the ceiling. He needed to get out of the warehouse. There was a fire, and he could see smoke gathering above him. With great effort, he hauled himself off the floor. With the smoke and the dizziness that still plagued him, Leith could not remember where the door was. He felt his way about the boxes until he reached the wall. From there he searched for the door.

It took him a few moments, but he found it. He was glad that he had. The smoke was making it hard to breathe. He opened the door and stumbled to the ground, coughing violently. Fresh air was nice. Cold, but nice. Leith looked up from his position and saw the box.

"Oh hey, the box."

Leith then noticed Keri fighting with the man who took the box. "Oh..." He pulled himself up using the wall as support. The world swayed underneath his feet and he could taste blood.

Oh, fun.

Alaira Taenn

After a time, Alaira felt like she'd spent enough time on the roof. She hadn't had a whole lot to think about lately, stuck 'going through the motions' as she was. Get up, go to class, make hinges or something, piss around, go to bed. Day in, day out, with little in the way of higher purpose to guide her. She never used to think a whole lot, really. She'd just go from fight to fight, and if she couldn't find one, she'd make one. Didn't think about it, didn't need to. The violence itself was all that mattered. Now? Now she did a lot of thinking, tried to find some... point in it all. She still loved a good scrap but it was getting harder and harder to justify it to herself.

And that wasn't even the important question. The important question was... Why? Why did she suddenly feel this way? However, even with this newfound introspection she was still her, and the lack of any real activity was starting to leave her a bit stir-crazy. So, come to think about it, she did still have a lot to think about, but it was all questions she'd already asked and hadn't found any answers to. In any event, she's sure someone would throw a fit if she sat up here too much longer, didn't wanna ruin the shingles. So, she slowly began her descent. She was not adept enough with Aeromancy to survive simply jumping off and gliding to the bottom, so she simply lowered herself off the edge and kept her hand to the wall, using her magic to slowly slide down from roof to roof. The final drop to the ground was far too tall, however.

Alaira clicked her tongue as she looked over the edge... Looks like I'm above a hall... probably. She thought, looking over the edge again. There might be a window open, she could use that to get back inside. Sure enough, there was an open window. She smirked and cracked her knuckles, that would do just fine! She sure hoped nobody was sitting in front of it... She stretched a bit to the left, bit to the right, inhale, exhale... And jumped. During her descent she called upon a gust of wind to knock her back into the open window, curling and bracing for impact. It was pretty simple really, but it was going to hurt. Thankfully nobody was sitting right in front of the window when she came barreling inside, hitting the ground and rolling a short ways before collapsing in a heap. With a pained groan she slowly began to rise, looking up to see... Well, she figured the girl was a student. She hadn't seen her before, that's for sure. Red hair, green eyes, piercings. The most she could offer was a weak smile as she rose to her full height. Huh. The girl looked taller from the ground. "Heh. Uh... Hey. And you are...?"

The assassin’s eyes spied the incoming swing. His feet darted back, barely avoided the blade tip slicing by his waist. A small exhale escaped his lung before the sting erupted across his front. His eyes looked down.

Keri’s eyes watched the man’s movements as he darted in order to avoid the blade tip. Something felt completely off with this. As if there was some sort of ploy at play here. Her weight towards the right, in order to allow to a more stable position, just for the block.

A thin, red line showed through a hole in his tunic. While the momentum of the sword seemed unimpeded, it still managed to touch its mark.

His expression darkened.

A smirk formed upon the vampire’s lips as the blood formed. A small amount upon the blade was formed due to not being enough strength behind the actual attack. Pity considering that she wanted his crimson blood to pour out. A satisfying punishment for harming the woman’s family. Granted if it was actually successive the end result would have been very disappointing. Best to do this right and ask for help learning another weapon after this. As well as a lesson in deception.

With renewed force, his right palm jerked out at Keri’s right side. Just as she attempted to shield herself, he altered his direction at the last moment. The strike aimed at her bag on her hip. He hoped to catch it on fire.

The vampire leaned backward in order to keep the whole thing from burning. A soft sizzling sound from where the rope which held it close burned. Shiftly the girl circled to the left, so her free hand could catch the candies, as her right forced him backwards towards escape. Slowly it come closer to the ground before getting caught just inches from the ground. A rather uncomfortable close call making Keri form a mental note on mistakes that were made. Her now crimson eyes flickering to where the human once was while placing the sword back in place.

By this time, the gas within the warehouse billowed out from the exits. It engulfed Keri, blinding her to his whereabouts. Ceasing his next strike, the pyromancer spotted the darken shapes of his companions. Their figures fled toward the crowded streets and shadows, using the smoke for cover. It seemed it was time to go. His eyes turned up to see the Orcish woman bound off the roof and into the smoke.

By the time the smoke cleared, Keri would find her target (as well as any other assassins) had vanished into thin air. All that was left behind was the stolen box, discarded and abandoned in their retreat.

She whispered a few choice words while a hand dipped inside the bag. Four candies seemed to have been completely unharmed from the man’s attack and the rest were beginning to turn into a gooey mess. Slowly the woman pulled them out and consumed them. Her figure slowly working towards the ladder she slid down and climbed up. ”Why don’t you go with them Keri? Why no go home Keri? Could be fun Keri. You could protect Lynn Keri. You would be helpful Keri. What could go wrong Keri? This would help you get more friends Keri.” She mumbled while climbing. About halfway up she felt the warmth on her hip. ” Hot. Hot. If I ever see Lucilia again I’m going to fucking kill her myself! Ssarak can you grab on person and I’ll grab the other one? I want this fucking day to end damn it!”

Helena stopped part way down the hall, distracted by the entrance of the other...well student was all she could guess until she got a better look at them. Ah yes, another student for sure. A girl (woman probably a more accurate word), and an...elf? She hummed and smiled at her when she stood and spoke to. “I’m minorly impressed,” she said with a little chuckle. “But you can call me Helena.”

She looked up at the much taller woman, not at all bothered it seemed by their very apparent height difference. She was used to tall people in her life after all. “And you are?” she asked with another little smile, pushing her glasses up her nose some.

Alaira Taenn

She seems nice enough, I guess. She thought, looking her over with a quirked brow. Usually when she met someone they expressed either fear or a degree of revulsion. This one, however, seemed rather... well, normal. In the sense that she was not particularly upset with her presence. It was nice. She scratched at the back of her neck as she offered her other hand. "Alaira. Apprentice wizard, I guess."

The girl might notice something a little odd about her. Mainly that all the flesh below her head was well-covered. She wore very thin gloves, and while her simple peasant's clothes had short sleeves her arms were tightly bandaged, even her neck as well. She didn't look injured either, seeing as how she just shrugged off getting tossed to the ground. Could be hiding something.

Hysteria (Djarkel) _{@Konan375, @Demonic Angel, @13org and @EliteCommander}

---

All the assassins managed to escape.

Not a single trace was able to be found as they vanished like smoke in the wind, the warehouse reduced to a partly burnt ruin. With the scene quiet, the students were left to resume their earlier mission. Those still healthy quickly collected their crippled allies and proceeded with medical attention. Much to a few of their fortunes, Samuel seemed to have prepared for trouble. About six tightly bundled blood sickness herbs were stashed among their things within the carriage.

Within the next two days, Henri, Lyn, and Leith were back on their feet. Naturally, during a long conversation things were decided to bring Henri back to the college with them.

Things became uneventful since the assassins didn’t aim a second time for the chest. When the students finally arrived at their final destination, the Baron was grateful for the chest. Even so, he provided them with a return letter for Lucilia. Insisting that they waste no time in returning to the college before the day end, he bade them farewell.



Lyn

Lyn sat, comfortable and warm, covered by blanket inside the carriage. Being slightly cold-blooded, her instinct forced her to suck heat from the nearest heat source. Much to Henri’s enjoyment, that happened to be him. She disliked the cold as it bit through the wool and dug into her flesh. It chilled her to the very bone at the worst times.

The driver upfront hollers back to his passengers. “Twilight College just ahead, folks.”

Gradually the large gates creaked open to allow the horse and the students through. As the horse snorted, their figures brought to a halt, Lyn was the first out. The blanket still wrapped about, she felt her joints pop then snap upon exiting.

“Oh, geeze… ow…owie!”

She leaned back to release the pressure on her back. Sitting for days on end was not fun at all and made her muscles all stiff.


Val, Twilight College
_{@Landaus Five-One@BlackPanther@Luna}

Seeing the younger woman still panicking, Val decided to take matters into her own hands. The dwarven woman gently placed her hands on either side of Elise’s arms then gently guided the woman toward the infirmary. Averting eyes from the color red.

“Come on Lassie, follow me.”

Val paused long enough to address Veretu.

“ Ye n’ Summer t’ere ‘ead to t’e kitc’ens. T’en explore the college a bit. I’ll ‘ave K’an send Rat’el to git ye later. Sounds like a plan?”

Helena noted the way that she was looked at. She was sure the other girl was gawaked at for her height around others. But as she looked her over more she noted that it was much more than just her height. Her brow quirked some as she wondered what it was that had disfigured her so. And yet hadn't touched her face.

She took the offered hand in her much smaller one though she shook with a strength that her size hide. She was decently strong for her height and weight. "Well it is a pleasure," she replied with a smile, dropping her hand back down to her side before sliding both of them in through her belt. "Rather gathered you were a student though."

After quite an eventful first encounter, Henri was finally going to the college. Even though the people who were with Lyn were prepared for anyone who got wounded, Henri didn't receive even a scratch, other than his sore and exhausted body, of course. After resting for a bit, he was ready to go. Lyn, on the other hand, needed some special care. From what Henri understood, she got sick because she used too much of her magic. Henri was a lot of things, but he wasn't heartless. Lyn was such a fragile, innocent girl... He felt a bit responsible for how she felt after their fight with the orc woman. If he was in a better physical condition, she wouldn't have to force herself like that...

Already on the carriage, Henri sat down near Lyn. But instead of talking to her, teasing her & etc. He simply stood quiet, looking through the window. Many thoughts passed through his head at that moment... Even though orcs were difficult opponents, he should be more than capable of handling himself... Maybe he was neglecting his training? Albeit short, it was undeniable that the time he spent out of the circus, he didn't train like he was used to. Maybe that was taking a toll on his flexibility and agility?

Interrupting his thoughts, Henri felt something snuggling up to him. To his surprise, it was Lyn. Worried that if he moved he would scare her away, so he gently and slowly turned his head towards her. Her skin felt a bit colder than usual... it was a bit strange... Maybe that was because what happened after the fight...

With a chuckle and a discreet smile, Henri gently put his hand over her head, gently passing it through her hair. Looking at her like that, she looked like a small animal. Innocent and fragile. To think that such a delicate little thing passed through so much was really surprising. He would leave the teasing for later, for now, Henri would just let her rest. Looking through the window again, he resumed his thoughts.

“Twilight College just ahead, folks.” The driver said, alerting Henri and making him quickly pull back his hand, which he inadvertently
kept over Lyn's head, playing with her hair. Exactly as Henri thought it would happen, Lyn was the first one to get out.

“Oh, geeze… ow…owie!” Henri heard Lyn saying as she stretched herself.

"So... This little kitten is finally awake!" Henri said with a chuckle and an amused expression as he got down from the carriage.

"Not a big fan of cold?" Henri asked, looking to Lyn with a mischievous smirk, obviously referring to what happened on the carriage.

The trip was a long one, and just like Lyn, Henri also needed to stretch himself, albeit in a... slightly different way...

As he walked towards her, in a slow and fluid motion, Henri leaned forward, putting one hand on the ground as one of his legs went up, followed by his other hand down and his other leg up, ending as he returned to a standing up position right besides Lyn, in the same slow, fluid way, continuing in the same speed as he was when walking. As he did so, you could hear his joints snapping.

As he stopped near her, he looked to the college in front of him. He had never been there before. It would really be an interesting experience.

"The college is really something, huh?" He said.

"So, can you show me around? I'm really curious about everything." He said laughing.

@Fallenreaper