---

Álmos opened his eyes suddenly, and he was greeted by the sight of the inside of his facewrap. Gingerly readying himself for movement by gathering his wrappings up and slipping and tying them back into place, the monk moved quickly to the hall - eyes watering from his movement against the still air of his room - and looked out to find the source of the disturbance.

"Surrounded?" Álmos called, leaving the door open and stepping into the hall. "Any idea how or where we might go, then?"

As he considered the options, well-aware of the fact that he knew next to nothing about the cultists (especially in terms of their individual physical capabilities), Álmos' hands throbbed. He flexed and moved his fingers methodically, hoping to cause the discomfort to dissipate. The skin was still slightly uncomfortable from having aided the proprietor the previous night by doing dishes and tidying up a bit. Now, he was regretting it a bit.

Álmos was resigned to a fight - hopefully Chres would have some plan that could make that less likely, or at least lead them to a smaller fight.

Chres Sansus

Interactions with @Elevation, @SonofJet, @HokumPocus, @Jerkchicken

---

Álmos was the first to leave his room, followed shortly by Hark, who seemed alert and wary. Chres looked to Álmos, he had no interaction with this one yet and wasn’t sure what to make of him.

How Chres chose his words in response to Álmos’s question would be critical in determining who the others would look towards to lead. As such, Chres decided a white lie was best. As such, he decide to bend the truth. He would tell them Karina came up with the plan. He needed to make sure the burdens of leadership did not fall onto his shoulders.

“Karlie came up with a plan to take to the roofs.” Chres said, being careful to use the name Gin had given Karina last night. He wasn’t sure how willing Karina was to share her identity with the others. Especially with Hark, the royal bodyguard. Revealing her identity was a decision for her to make, not Chres.

“I can get us up there by weaving platforms with my heat constructs.” Chres continued. “We can also use them to get from rooftop to rooftop. We were thinking we might be able to fake our deaths by burning down the building... I don’t suppose any of you can make illusions?” Chres asked the last part hopefully.

Sil’s voice entered Chres’s head before he got a response. Chres, She said. My new friend sent me on a super important mission to throw stuff at the mean lady outside. If I don't make it back alive, tell my new friend that... that he could really use a good bath... with extra puddles!

Chres’s perked up in alarm. What? Mean lady? The Sightless who had just spoken outside? Oh no... Wait Sil! Come back! Chres thought to her urgently. The Sightless was just talking. Talking would give them time to escape. Antagonizing the cult might only cause them to act sooner.

No time! Sil replied. I need to beat the game!

Chres’s hand instinctively moved to cover his pendent in an attempt to make Sil vanish before she could cause any trouble. However, it was already too late. Outside he heard the Sightless’s words end abruptly in a fit of coughing. He figured Sil must have already done what she had set out to do. Chres cursed loudly.

“Octavio! DB!” He shouted more urgently. “Wake up! I think we're short on time!”

Chres looked to Álmos and Hark. “My familiar just did something stupid." He said with a shake of the head. "Álmos, Hark, can you gather the others while I go and pre-”

Chres’s words cut off in mid-sentence. In his mind, he heard Sil scream in pain, and then... silence. What was that- Chres began to wonder. He felt Metal Glass pendent go cold against his chest. Chres’s eyes widened in realization.

“No...” He said barely above a whisper. Without another word he rushed to the window at the end of the hall. He could barely make out the Sightless below. She had on what could only be a glove painted with shadow metal paint.

Chres's breath quickened as his heart rate began increasing. Sil! Chres thought urgently. Nothing. Sil! Still no answer. An itch began to crawl up the back of his neck.

No no no no no... His wife lay dead at his feet. No, please! Her dried blood caked to his fists. Please... Please, no!

Chres’s heart was racing. His breath rapid. He saw some of the cultists grab a few torches.

“No...” Chres whispered. Everything around him seemed to dull as the memories beckoned him.

Calm down... I need to calm down... A part of him thought vaguely as it fought to keep the memories at bay.

“Not again. Please, please no...” The guilt... The self-loathing... The numbness deep inside...

She’s not her... remember... remember Chres!

That's right, she's not her. Chres closed his eyes, his breathing beginning slow. His heart was still pounding. His body still shaking. She was made to look and sound the same. That's it. Nothing more.

“I’m fine...” Chres said softly more to himself than to the others.

They only hit her physical form with the glove... not the actual pendent...

“I’m fine.” He said again. This time more loudly. His heart rate had slowed down, though he was still a little shaky.

She'll be back... The magic simply needs time to recover, right? She’ll come back... I think... I hope...

"I'm sorry." He said, gathering his wits. He glanced out the window as he spoke, in time to see a torch flying right at him.

Chres dashed out of the way as the torch crashed through the window and onto the floor. The black flames began licking the floorboards, lighting them aflame. Chres vaguely heard a few other windows shattering. Probably more torches.

Chres looked towards the flames, feeling its heat. His shadow stretched unnaturally towards the light. Moving in the black flame's orange glow. It almost seemed as if it were dancing to a song.

Looks like they need not start a fire after all. The cult had been nice enough to do so for them. On the other hand...

We need to move... Chres thought to himself. His mental state had not yet recovered fully.

Smoke began rising from the flames and filling the halls. It threatened to suffocate them all.

We need to move now! He thought more urgently.

---

Octavio stood stiff and alert, ear pressed against the inn´s walls. He managed to find the silver lining of staying at questionable inns, and it was how thin their walls were. A muffled yet very loud voice cried out that they were surrounded and had to step outside.

He was understandably hesitant to bolt out of his room during such a dangerous time, and had opted to wait just a bit more. Lynx watched him motionlessly with a facial expression that communicated the feeling of “I´m bored and waiting for orders.” Their eyes met and Octavio placed an index finger to his lips as a warning. The door responded to his exaggerated movements by creaking loudly. Octavio had managed to find another downside to staying at questionable inns, and it was how terrible the doors were.

As soon as the duo stepped outside they ran for it. The other members of their hastily formed party had no problem with having lengthy conversations and mental breakdowns, so Octavio reasoned that dashing towards them was an acceptable course of action. That, and the place was on fire, which tends to be a characteristic of places that you don´t want to be in.

He greeted them by clasping his hands together and spreading them far and wide in questionable joy. “Do not fear, my allies. I have been awake, planning for our escape with my cute and clever familiar! And it just so happens that I can use illusion magic!” He may or may not have embellished the act of hiding and waiting, and he may or may not have been hoping that people wouldn´t come to the realization that he would have only known about their plan had he actively been eavesdropping. Today was full of discoveries it seemed, as Octavio discovered that the silver lining of things being on fire was that it made for no one asking too many questions!

Of course, it was important to note that his illusion magic was suited for deceiving rich people and taking their belongings and not whatever it was that was happening right now, but being useless in a life or death situation was the fastest way to stop being surrounded by meat shields. He wanted to be useful, but had no idea what plans they had concocted and settled on keeping things vague and safe.

Hark awoke abruptly to the sound of an explosion going off in the hallway. He silently and swiftly grabbed his shirt and tied his belt around his waist keeping his dagger in hand. He carefully crept to the window and opened the blinds just a crack to peer out at the commotion outside.

I knew I should have given up on drinking He thought to himself with a little shake of head.

He carefully exited his room to peer outside the hallway seeing Chres and Álmos out in the hallway. Before he made a full entrance he observed them a little bit to make sure they haven’t gone mad like the rest of the towns people outside.

After a moment he left his room and walked up to the two ”I hope one of you has a plan other than fighting our way through that mob.” Hark said as he came down the hall.

When he approached the two Chres turned and explained that the courier, Karlie, came up with an idea to escape through the roofs using platforms of heat. Hark didn’t think the idea was half bad but not a moment later the sound of breaking glass alerted his attention to the rooms they just came out of and he could see that the building was starting th get torched down.

Hark turned and ran down the stairs looking to DB and Karlie, ”If we don’t get the hell out of this inn now we’re going to get cooked alive!” he called to the two.

Just after Karina shouted, the innkeeper and his family ran upstairs without thinking twice. The way Karina talked, her voice and tone left them no choice. In a crisis situation like that, giving others too many choices was never a good idea. In situations like that, there was no time to think, only to act.

As Karina waited till the innkeeper's family was safe upstairs, she heard the sightless woman's voice again. The second she started to talk again, Karina couldn't help but to smile. Saying that she needed them alive, trying to give them false hope... that was the oldest trick in the book, but still, some would be tempted to fall for it, for example those who were desperate and lost in the chaos of all what was happening.

The cultists were approaching her as she guarded the stairs, trying to be sure no one would get up. Her rapier pointing forward in a threatening stance as she ice blades danced in the air threatening to cut any cultist that came close. Truth was that even with her magic, dealing with so many at the same time would be problematic. She wouldn't be able to hold them off for much longer.

”If we don’t get the hell out of this inn now we’re going to get cooked alive!” a voice called out from upstairs. It was Hark, the guardsman she met before.

"There is no time to waste, don't look behind." Karina shouted once more to the innkeeper, as she saw with the corner of her eyes the innkeeper hesitating looking to her.

"Make sure they are safe, Hark. I will try stalling them a bit." Karina said to Hark as she placed herself in front of the stairs holding her rapier in an attack stance and the ice blades floating above her threateningly, ready to attack.

Outside, Syella was still talking, still trying to persuade them. But suddenly she stopped talking. Something went wrong. Karina already had too many problems to take care of so she couldn't pay too much attention, but the second Syella said those words there was no mistaking. She had just ordered for the cultists to burn down the building. In part, that would work to their favor, erasing any possible trace about them and creating a distraction, but in the other hand, they were out of time.

"Chres, tell me you're already working on our way out..." Karina thought to herself, as she dashed through the stairs, leaving the cultists behind, which promptly started running after her.

Taking a quick glance behind, she saw the cultists running, climbing the stairs just behind her and downstairs she saw something a bit more preoccupying... After hearing the noise of glass shattering, she saw a torch, with black, sinister flames entering through the broken window, making the cultists retreat immediately after that sound. They were planning burning them alive. The building was completely surrounded and the cultists outside would make sure no one would escape.

The flames were already high and the smoke covering most part of the hall when Karina got upstairs. Unfortunately, it wasn't better than the other room. The flames had already engulfed part of the second floor and the smoke was thick and dangerous. The nobleman from the other day was there as well, apparently boasting about his familiar and saying he could use illusion magic.

"Chres, where is the heat construct for us to get out of here?" Karina asked with a penetrating stare.

"Octavio, right? You said you can use illusion magic. Great. Use it to cover our escape, don't let them see what Chres is doing." Karina ordered with a firm voice.

"Hark, protect the innkeeper and his family." Karina said as she looked to the fire. With so much fire around, it would require a great deal of effort to use her magic, but she had to do it in order to give them a bit of time.

Breathing in and out with the cold air coming out of her mouth visible, contrasting with all the fire around them, the air around her started becoming colder and colder. Despite all the fire and lack of humidity, that 'field' of cold air would give them a few more moments before the fire reached them.

"CHRES, DO IT! THE HEAT CONSTRUCT!" Karina shouted. She could feel her blood becoming colder and colder with the effort it took her to use so much magic in a place surrounded by fire.

Chres Sansus

Mentions of @HokumPocus, @13Org, @SonOfJet

---

Chres broke his gaze from the fire as he heard Octavio's voice. The man had finally decided to leave his room apparently. Were he not so focused on regaining his composure, Chres might have sighed and muttered something along the lines of, 'Leave it to the threat of fire to finally spur nobility into action'. However this was not the case. For the first time in a year's time, Chres had to focus on keeping himself and those around him alive.

Protecting people was nothing new to Chres. He had done it many times before. What was new were the memories. Dark thoughts that would creep up on him without warning. The burning self-loathing, which ate at him inside. The regret and sorrow threatening to swallow him whole. Any one of these things could leap upon him at a moment's notice. Freezing him in place. Consuming his every thought. Protecting people was nothing new to Chres. Doing it while fighting off the darkness inside of him... that... that was new.

Focus! I need to focus!

Chres openned his mouth to respond to Octavio, but no words came out.

I have a job... Get them out alive. I need to... what? I need to...

"CHRES, DO IT! THE HEAT CONSTRUCT!" Karina shouted behind him

Chres shook his head. Right... the Heat constructs... get to the roof.

Chres dashed into the room Álmos had been resting in the night prior. The window to this room was facing the back alley. Their escape would be less noticeable from there. He was about to open the window, when he saw something glittering out of the corner of his eyes. The Jade crystal candles. They were glittering from the light shining in from the windows...

Chres paused for half a second. Was he the only one who had stowed away the candles from the night prior? Would they even be useful? Maybe... Maybe not... However, escaping was their number one priority.

Setting his jaw, Chres turned back to the window and checked to make sure the Cultists below were not looking up. After confirming that they were preoccupied, he then opened the window outwards slowly.

He then looked up towards the roof of the building across from them. Nodding, Chres drew out some body heat he had stored away in his shirt. He felt it travel down his arm, to his palm and into the air. Chres's mind worked rapidly, weaving the flow of outgoing body heat into a shape that would suit their need.

A plane, with a dull reddish glow, shot out from the windowsill. It quickly formed into a set of stairs leading up to the roof of the building across from them. It didn't quite make it to the top, though, the buildings were far too close for that. Instead, the stairs strayed off to the right after hitting the wall and continued their assent upwards until reaching the top.

Chres knotted off the weave, allowing his makeshift stairway to hold. The heat construct would now maintain it's shape without budging until Chres unraveled the Weave or the heat contained within dissipated into the air.

"Go." Chres said turning his eye back to the Crystal Jade Candles. "I'll follow."

Approaching the and arriving in the city had been smooth sailing, routing operation. The relative open-mindedness of the people, the comforting fact that one could still stock up on supplies even relatively late in the evening and the huge availability of choices in terms of taverns to have a night's stay in were all things Týfurkh could appreciate, but that small part inside him just had felt it to be a bit too close to the brink of utter boredom. Of course people had turned their heads as they saw him striding through the narrow streets, guiding his horse Jafnir behind him, but that was nothing he wasn't completely used to.

The place that had become his ultimate choice was in a somewhat delapidated state. Small, narrow and cramped in between other buildings of greater size it really was a very far cry from a beautiful sight, but it had been dirt cheap and the local he had questioned had told him that The Rusting Nail actually was better inside than it looked outside. After a short squeezing action through the doorframe, Týfurkh had found out that this, in fact, was true. Not too many spots where beer had once been littered on the wooden floorboards months or even years ago, no rainwater dripping down from the ceiling and enough candles to keep everything illuminated sufficiently. A massive increase in ventilation would have served the place well though, but Týfurkh had not mentioned this to the man behind the counter once he had shoved his enormous self through the small crowd of patrons.

The fellow had identified himself as Bob, a freshman who, according to a regular visitor of this place, had started working there just on that day and had never been seen before. Instincts had told Týfurkh to double-check any food Bob would provide him with -- one could never know with inexperienced people. Surprisingly though the first chunk of roasted beef had turned out to be of such a superior taste and tenderness that Týfurkh had decided to eat a double portion. The second one however had turned out to have the consistency of rugged leather. No, the thing actually had been leather. A piece of parchment, to be precise. And the words written on it had still been in such a good shape that Týfurkh's eyes had found no difficulty catching them before his mind cold have ordered his mouth to complain about the meal.



To say that Týfurkh had found this to be disturbing would have been a massive understatement, but even strange messages should be taken into consideration sometimes. He had had a gut feeling of this being serious, so he had decided to rent a room on the first floor only -- a place where on could jump from if necessary.

The next morning, the sun had barely risen over the horizon and started to send its red rays into the small chamber, Týfurkh woke up. He had kept the window open in order to allow some fresh air in, but now people were really overdoing it with their chimney fires... Or were they ? He raised himself to his full height and didn't even to fully turn towards the window in order to notice there was more to it: Fire! Not one house was burning, but half the street already. And even if one put one's standards as low as 'people frantically running around and crying for water and other help' there weren't any efforts about extinguishing the mess to be seen, only... carnage. A lot of carnage, including guts slashed open and bodies lying on other bodies already.

Týfurkh strapped on his shoulder plates, reached for his crossbow and jumped. He had slept in as much armor as he could possibly do while sleeping at all, so not much time was wasted. The impact he made on the ground was a very tremendous one, but his kneeds and thighs could take the strain. He had to get to his other place Bob had mentioned, but should he ride ? No... while faster, he would also have to avoid any obstalces that could be overcome on one's own feet otherwise. So, though very reluctantly, he freed Jafnir from the stable and allowed his animal companion to roam freely, to try and save itself.

Then he started running. It didn't seem as if the raging madness had spared anyone at this point, a few of them even tried to choose him as their next victim but failed. Týfurkh tried to make this quick, pushing himself closer to his limits as he was running, jumping and evading people and burning debris alike. Then he saw something... A... staircase ? A construct that obviously shouldn't be here. It appeared as if another, more and more ruined tavern was nearby and he tried to catch a glimpse at Chres' face. Bob had written down a visual description of whom to look for and this appeared to be a somewhat precise match. Týfurkh set up a message, one that by the power of his magic was neither disturbed by his heavy breathing nor shouted in order to get through. A very efficient, very narrow channel throug which his words were focused in order to reach the other man's ears alone:

"Wait for me!"

---

Octavio was gearing up to reply to Karina with something snappy in regards to her ordering him around. Something cheeky and jovial that could be summed up as “No one orders the great Octavio around!” but alas, the inn was on fire and surrounded by enemies. He was no stranger to inappropriate remarks in the middle of danger, but this situation was total overkill, and for probably the first time in life he did as he was told and got to work.

His long and slender fingers snapped on to the sides of his head in unison. He began to concentrate. All of his illusion magic was honed with deceiving rich people and not crazed cultists, so there was a possibility that it wouldn´t work at all and he would be nothing more than a man acting out a headache.

After several moments of intense concentration, he let a large sigh escape his lips and beamed with pride at the illusions that had been successfully conjured below him. Two illusions with the appearance of haughty noblewomen, draped in a gaudy visual overload of jewelry and feathers. They had the smiles of someone mentally vacant and faces smeared in greasy make up with tomato colored lips. With a snap of his fingers the illusions took off into the path of danger. Their ornamental dresses impaired their movements and made a very loud series of rattling noises with every step taken. To say that their presence was a visual and auditory abomination would be an understatement.

Lynx was less affected than most by the fire and smoke on account of being both nude and too short for the rising smoke to attack. He stared at the wreckage unfolding all around him and then at the heat construct. Trusting a stranger´s magic so blindly was a surefire way to die, yet at the same time he was an agile animal who wasn´t going to wait for the big and slow humans to cross. The cat sped leaped on to the construct and began to book it. Octavio bowed, as if having concluded an epic performance. “What could be more distracting than a lovely lady in red? My sweethearts should have all of the world´s eyes on them with just a peek of their precious smile.” He followed Lynx, weary from having expended a bit of his magic. In the event of the illusions taking too much damage, they would dissolve in seconds, yet he could always make another with a slight struggle on his end. They were quantity over quality sorts of illusions, seeing as he didn´t find it necessary to imbue either of them with any speaking abilities or intelligence.

Octavio quickly made his way to the window and swung his body on to the first series of steps with grace. That was, until he made the mistake of looking down and his legs became wobbly all over. Despite his agility this was his first encounter with this specific sort of magic. His familiar on the other hand had no such trouble scaling the stairs ahead of him and even slowed down his pace into something more relaxed. Lynx was just as capable of being immature, apparently. "Aren´t you going to hurry up?", purred the familiar. Octavio carefully stood up and looked at the ruins all around him, and settled on focusing solely on the stairs instead. They were prettier on account of not being covered in fire, blood and the screams of the innocent. Well, screaming would happen if he slipped. Octavio carried on walking in silence.

Chres Sansus

Mentions of @HokumPocus
Obscure mention of @Fetzen
Interaction with @Elevation, @13Org, @SonOfJet

---

Chres watched as Octavio’s extravagant illusions bounded out a broken window on the floor below, and ran off into danger. The distraction worked. The cultist below quickly took note of the illusions they thought were people and ran off after them, while alerting their fellows of the supposed escapees. Chres was glad that the ones below were all men, as a woman might have second guessed the sight of another lady running easily in a full length dress without tripping.

It was a relief they even chased the illusions at all. If it were Chres, he may have second guessed the sight of two nobles escaping from a lowly establishment such as the Dockside View. On the other hand… Chres turned his glance at Octavio as the nobleman gracefully made his way onto the stairs… If a man like Octavio had found an inn such as this suitable to his needs, then perhaps…

Chres frowned as Octavio’s grace was thrown off by the not so clever idea of looking down while crossing the heat construct of stairs. Chres shook his head. No… he was quickly picking up that Octavio was not a… typical noble, let alone person for that matter. He was… quirky? Yes… quirky would be a good way to put it.

“Not bad for a nobleman, huh?” Hark said, watching the cultists running after the illusions. He chuckled to himself, clearly enjoying the wild goose chase. “See you on the other side then.” He said to the group as he began to climb out the window, following Octavio’s lead up the construct of stairs.

Chres nodded silently. He was about to grab the Crystal Jade Candles when he heard a voice he didn’t recognize coming from the open widow right next to him.

“Wait for me!” The voice said.

Chres spun towards the window, whipping out his knife in his left hand and the hand ax he scavenged in his right.

The movement startled Hark. “Watch it!” Hark said as loud as he dared.

“Did-” Chres began, stopping himself short. He glanced down at the alley below. Coast was still clear. Chres frowned.

“Same side, remember?” Hark said.

“Sorry.” Chres said putting away his weapons. “I thought I heard something.” Hark shook his head and made his way out the window. He then carefully made his way up the stairs.

Chres turned to the innkeeper. The room was quickly filling with smoke. “Your family next.” Chres said to the innkeeper, while absently picking up a pillow off the bed nearby. “Be quick but steady. We can’t help you if you fall.”

The innkeeper stared at Chres, clearly terrified by the thought of falling, but it was only for a moment. A second later he parsed his lips and nodded in acceptance. He then began helping his wife and child out the window.

Chres smiled sadly for half a second. In another life, perhaps that could have been him. Not anymore, though. Not anymore...

Chres tore his attention away from the family and back to the Crystal Jade Candles. “Go.” Chres said to the rest of the group. “I’m going to grab as many Crystal Jade Candles as I can before the smoke gets too bad. We may need them if we stay in this town for another night.”

Millie scowled as her home on wheels trundled along toward the village as she had been directed. She was mumbling to herself as the wagon swayed. She could just barely be heard above the clopping hooves of her two draft horses. “Ach – what sort of a stupid name…? Damn spirit of the gods be right fooked in the head, he is. Man Person Thing. Bossing a woman about. Asking her to go right into the hands of danger.” Behind her a small window slide open and a pair of brown eyes stared at her.

“What do you want Girl Child?” the woman asked gently, the scowl disappearing from her face. The child’s brow knit in concern and she made a movement like playing a flute. Millie stiffened. “Aye, yes lassie I be damn pissed about this. Fool be askin’ me to put you and Kitty in danger. I tell you, if he were a might few inches shorter I woulda smacked him up the head with the fryin’ pan. Damn all to the eggs and bacon.” Girl Child grinned and Millie wondered if the hot frying pan would have really done any damage.

“I tell you my darlin’ love, don’t be meddlin’ in the affairs of –“ Whatever she was going to say was stopped by the sun turning a strange color and the sounds of a village under attacked met her ears. Millie pulled up the horses and climbed down from the driver’s seat. “Girl Child,” she called. She hopped out of the carriage and ran up to Millie, grasping her hand nervously. Millie smoothed the girl’s gentle waves. “I want you to stay with One and Two,” she indicated the two horses. “And if anyone besides me be comin’ toward you, high tail it outta here.” The girl nodded and clambered up into the driver’s seat.

Millie started walking toward the village, cautious. A large dusty looking white tiger hopped out of the back of the wagon and caught up to her. “You should stay with Girl Child,” she told the cat. He said nothing and merely padded along side her. She rolled her eyes. “Can’t be tellin’ a cat nothin’.” She thought she saw a glimmer of a smirk in Kitty’s eyes.

When she reached the town, it was all in chaos. She sucked in a breath as she saw a mother drown her babe in a horse trough. What in the name of the seven senses was going on here? She rushed forward in an attempt to save the child. The woman back handed Millie and it was apparent it was too late to save the babe. As Millie took a few steps back, rubbing her cheek, the woman advanced with her hands outstretched. Kitty pounced on her, knocking her down. He then bit her neck, snapping it like a twig.

Millie turned her attention to the village again and began to wade her way through dead bodies and violence. “I swear,” she mumbled darkly, “If I see that good fer nuthin Chaos Trickster I be havin’ a few words to box his ears with.” Finally, she saw what she was looking for. A ridiculously tall man. She had been told he was tall. She had trouble imagining anything otherwise due to her short stature. But this man was a giant. Millie dodged around a puddle of blood and sick and came to stand beside him.

“Holy Mother of Tits what be happenin’ here, Turkey?” That was the man’s name, right? Probably not. Whatever MPT had said it was there was no way she was going to remember it. “Where be the others?”

@Fetzen

Maintaining her frost magic in a place surrounded by fire was really taxing to Karina's body and she could feel it in her flesh, but luckily for her, her shouts towards Chres seemed to have some effect, as he immediately started weaving the heat constructs. Karina didn't know that well the circumstances behind Chres' desire to die or all that 'self punishment' thing but she could feel that there was something more to that... Especially on how he froze before she had to shout at him. Was it something related to him being already 'touched' by the cultists' powers? Although right now wasn't really the time to be accusing possible allies, Karina wouldn't let her guard down nearby Chres.

In another hand, Octavio's actions were rather surprising to Karina. She knew very well how nobles reacted to being ordered and she assumed Octavio was no different. She was really expecting to be a bit more... forceful... with him, but surprisingly enough, he simply did what he needed to do. He probably knew that there was no room for pride or complaining. Octavio's illusion took an... exotic form, taking the shape of two noblewomen, wearing gaudy clothes, replete of jewelry and feathers. It was really something Karina expected to see in a noble ball or something like that and most definitely, not in a battlefield. But they would soon prove to be very effective. With a snap of his fingers, Octavio sent the illusions towards the cultists. The loud rattling noises, the long dresses impairing their movements and the distracting colors were surprisingly effective.

With the heat construct ready and Octavio's illusions distracting the cultists, they were able to buy enough time to make their escape.
Octavio's lynx was the first one to go, crossing the bridge with agile and fast movements like it was nothing. Octavio was the second one, but after walking for some time, he simply stopped walking, freezing in the same place for a few seconds after looking down. The smile on his face and the graceful behavior were gone in a flash as he simply stood in silence, walking again after a few seconds without saying a word.

As she waited for everyone to get through Chres' heat constructs, Karina continued to hold back the flames as much as she could. She knew that the moment she stopped her ice magic, the flames would advance at an alarming pace. After the innkeeper and his family went through the window, Karina stopped the cold air emanating from her. As soon as she did so, the flames immediately advanced, burning everything they touched with an alarming speed and intensity, slowly, but surely making their way towards them.

"Be quick, Chres. I can't hold back the flames anymore. It's too hot in here for me to do anything!" Karina shouted towards Ches after she heard him saying he would just get some jade candles before going with them. Even though Karina herself had already picked up some of them, she only got two or three, definitely not enough for an entire group.

Jumping out of the window with an swift and agile movement, she went through the heat construct without much problems. Soon after she got on the other side she looked to the group.

"It's far too hot inside and the smoke is very dangerous... I said Chres to run but I can't hold back the flames anymore." Karina said, kneeling down for a second, breathing in and out, regaining her breath. Everyone near her could clearly see how pale her skin was, even more than normal and how cold her breath was.

@HokumPocus @SonOfJet @Pezz570

Chres Sansus

Interaction with @Elevation, @13Org, @SonOfJet, @HokumPocus

---

With the pillow he grabbed off the bed, Chres took a deep breath before dashing out of the room and into the blazing hallway. Smoke covered the top of the hall. Chres was sure to crouch in order to avoid breathing in the smoke as best as he could. He held the pillow up to his nose and mouth to further avoid inhaling smoke.

He knew he didn't have much time to dally. The heat construct he had woven had about an hour's worth of stored body heat in it. It would last for approximately ten minutes... well maybe more like eight minutes now. That gave him enough time to get the candles... He hoped...

It was hot. Very hot. Fortunately, for Chres, he was a Tempraisionist. The heat was his friend. The stairs he had woven made plenty of room for him to store away more heat for later. Under normal circumstances, recovering the heat he lost would take an hour.

Playing with the body's temperature was a dangerous thing. Changing one's body heat in either direction just a smidge could be the difference between hypothermia and hyperthermia. A Tempraisionist's greatest enemy is the former of the two. That in mind, when a Tempraisionist needs to store away body heat, it is important to only store away only a little bit of body heat while keeping the rest for oneself in order to... well... not die.

The blazing heat from the fire, however, presented Chres with an interesting opportunity. He could store away a larger amount of body heat by using the surrounding heat the help keep his body functional. Heat will rush towards colder objects, and Chres was about to make himself very cold.

Chres began storing away a dangerous amount of body heat. His body began shivering instantly. Chres had never done this before, so he didn't realize just how much of a shock it was going to be to his body. Fortunately the instant relief from the surrounding heat prevented Chres from collapsing to his feet.

Shaking off the initial shock, Chres made his way into the room Hark had stayed in. Weaving between the flames, Chres made his way over to where the three Crystal Jade Candles were left. Their surface glittering in the fire's light. Chres grabbed each of them and placed them in his traveling sack before moving on to DB's room.

The flames were really bad in this room. Chres was only able to get two of the Crystal Jade Candles before he heard a loud crack. Chres looked up. The ceiling above doorway had just sunken slightly. He glanced back to last remaining candle in the room. It was only a few feet away. There was another loud crack follow by a groan.

With difficulty Chres tore his eyes away from the last candle and made a dash towards the exit. Another crack. He was at the door, almost out!

The ceiling collapsed in on itself. Chres dove to the ground and out the door as a cloud of debris enveloped him.

Chres hit the floor. There was a sharp pain in his left foot. Something heavy was on it. Chres couldn't see how bad it was from the cloud of debris. He coughed loudly while swatting away the particles with his right hand. Chres tugged on his foot. Nothing. He tugged it again. It still didn't move.

The cloud of debris began to disperse. Chres was able to get a better view of what he was dealing with. A big chuck of ceiling had collapsed on his foot. Chres tried lifting it. He could lift it a tiny bit, but it wasn't enough to get his foot out from underneath. He was stuck.

Chres sighed. Well, this wouldn't be the most pleasant of deaths, but he supposed it would be decently humiliating enough. He stupidly ran back into a burning building for magic candles and died in the process. He knew his death would be excruciatingly painful, but he deserved it to be painful. He deserved it for his crimes.

For the first time in a long time, Chres felt at peace. Closing his eyes, he relaxed his body and waited for the flames to engulf him.

Are we are happy with ourself, then? Happy to finally have the chance to die? A part of him said in the back of his mind.

"Yes." Chres said absently. "I'm tired... Tired of the constant reminders. Tired of the self-hatred and self-disgust... I'm tired of not sleeping every night. I'm tired of the nightmares which plague both my dreams and waking thoughts... but most of all..." Chres opened is eyes, a deep pang in his heart. "I'm tired of being alone... without her..." Chres absently began to finger the simplistic wedding band he still wore on his left ring finger.

Well then, I suppose that's it. It ends here then.

"Yes." Chres said softly, amidst the ash and blazing black flames. "Yes, it ends here indeed."

What of the others? The other part of his mind said. Are we happy with how we left things with them?

Chres parsed his lips saying nothing in response. He could feel the heat of the nearby flames licking at him. Creeping closer to him.

We left them there on the rooftops, Chres.

"They will find their own way down." Chres said. He could feel his mood beginning to sour. "They don't need me to help them with that."

Perhaps they will... Perhaps they will even be lucky enough to escape the Cult's notice while doing so.

Chres could feel a touch a dread begin to seep in. He had been close to death a few months back before his inner thoughts began walking down the same path as they were now. He knew where this road led.

Or... perhaps they won't...

"Don't..." Chres begged softly.

Perhaps they will be stuck on the rooftops left for the Cult to find them...

The end was so close... "Please don't..."

We're leaving them there to their fate.

"Please... Please, just stop..." Why now? Why couldn't his conscience just let it go?

We came up with the plan-

"Stop!"

We initiated it-

"Please!"

And now they are depending on us to follow through and finish it!

"Why?! Why can't I just let it be?"

Why? You know why! Because you're better this! We are better than this! It's okay for us to end our life, but we should do it without putting everybody else's life in danger too!

"God Damn it!" Chres yelled as he slammed his fist to the ground. Tears of frustration streaming down his face. "God fucking damn it! To hell with the five senses! To hell with them all!"

Chres closed his eyes and took a second to calm his breathing. When his breathing slowed he opened his eyes, wiped away the tears with his arm, and stared at his trapped foot with a look of determination. He knew what to do.

Chres called forth some of the heat he had stored away and Shaped it into a long lever which he wedged in between the floor boards and the broken bit of ceiling which sandwiched his foot. Then, with all his might, he pressed down on the lever and lifted the debris high enough to pull his foot out from underneath. As soon as he slipped it free, he called the remaining heat, from the lever Heat construct, back into him and stored it away for later use.

Ignoring the pain in his foot, Chres got to his feet and half ran, half limped his way back to Almos's room. Even though this was the room where they had climbed out the window, Chres had left the candles in this room for him to pick up on his way back out. This way he could spend more time getting the candles in the rooms closer to the worst of the flames. Chres grabbed the three candles in Almos's room and then carefully began climbing out the window and up the steps.

The heat construct he had formed was running on fumes. He could see it unraveling before his eyes. He ran/limped his way up the steps as fast as he could, watching as the glow to the construct began to fade. At that point, he knew he didn't have time make it up the last few steps. So he jumped, grabbed hold of the roof's ledge and scrambled his way to the top.

Chres rolled on his back breathing heavily. "I got eight of them." He said in-between breaths. "Eleven, including the ones from my room."

Chres glanced down. The cult still hadn't noticed them. Good.

Getting to his feet, Chres limped his way over to the opposite edge of the building. All the while ignoring the pain in his foot. He would tend to it latter. For now he need to focus on escaping.

Placing his hand down on edge of the roof, he called forth stored body heat and Weaved the flows together to form a paper-thin plane bridging the gap between buildings. He made sure not to use as much heat for this one. It wouldn't last nearly as long as the stairs.

"Quickly now." Chres said to the group. "This one won't last as long as the other one." The innkeeper and his family were the first ones to cross.

Týfurkh just stood there, so anxious about missing any reaction of whom he had addressed that he wasn't paying attention to what was happening around him. It was a dangerous position he had moved himself into and his concentration on that one thing only boosted the chances of the carnage reaching his very self. Nothing happened though... not to himself, but especially not with regard to Chres. It seemed as if the man whose name was unknown to Týfurkh had noticed something, but discarded the sensation immediately afterwards. He just continued with what he had been doing just before and Týfurkh saw his chances vanishing into thin air.

Maybe, against all the odds and all plausibility, these weren't the people Bob had referred to after all ? Hard to imagine, but still well within the bounds of the possible at least theoretically. Týfurkh's mind started to think with haste about how to improve his approach. He couldn't except the window of opportunity to remain open for long. Then however there was a disturbance -- one than made him twist around on his heel while his heartbeat punched upwards.

There was... nothing. He looked down, further down, even more so... There was something. A female individual of almost regrettable height that was doomed to induce neck pain while talking to each other. Týfurkh blinked in confusion as his mind connected the dots and remembered the words she had apparently spoken. "Turkey ?" he almost stuttered while trying to figure out if she was affected by the madness or not. The word just made absolutely no sense. However there were no signs of aggression. At least one good thing to know! Slowly his hands moved away from his enormous crossbow and his stance relaxed slightly.

"What gave you that idea about turkeys ? My name is Tý..." It dawned upon him. "Oh!" A decent bit of annoyance blasted right through his control of his facial expression, resulting in a brief, but noticeable glitch. "The others ? What others ?" Týfurkh was too confused to think about Bob having contacted other people with the same story as well. To his excuse one could say however that he had not met Bob any time earlier in his life though in the first place. How could he know that anonymous man's attitude and habits ? It did not slip past his attention though that her request was very specific, thus clearly indicative of her posessing clear knowledge that had to originate from somewhere.

"If you're referring to those people than I guess you can see that for yourself!" He pointed towards the group of other individuals rescuing themselves and others from the tavern via an elaborate magical construct. As they were busy talking though the latter thing started to desintegrate slowly but steadily. An opportunity truly gone -- they'd have to find another way to follow the others now.

Then it burst out of Týfurkh straightforwardly: "Did someone called Bob message you ? Or no..." He sighed. "Did you receive a strange message telling you something about some people you'd have to find here and team up with ? People that might not be aware of your presence and intentions however ?" Inside him, Týfurkh prayed for a short and direct answer. A simple 'yes' would perfectly suffice for him at this point. This wasn't the right place to perform any in-depth analysis and consideration about who might be telling the truth or lies about what. They had to get out of here or a wall of flames wouldn't leave as much as that puddle of blood behind after having consumed them. And if what he was thinking was true than they had yet another reason to hurry up.

The question was... how. He couldn't cast magic steps and ladders, so unless she could do something about that or had other means of fast transport they had to try and get through those buildings still standing somehow.

"I'm Týfurkh. What's your name ?"

She lifted her hands in the air as the man looked down at her and reached for his weapon. She made a loud tsking sound, ready to pummel the fool if she had to. Hadn't his momma ever taught him how to react to a lady? But then again, she had just watched some girl drown her babe. Luckily it seemed he found her to be no threat. Kitty padded his way up to her and sat back on his haunches. Pale blue cat eyes searched over the man before the cat yawned, stretched and leaned against Millie. She lowered her hands and stroked the giant cat's head.

On the roof. What a bunch of idiots. Millie huffed as she watched one of them create a bridge and they crossed to the next building. Stupid. If one of them fell it was she who would be having to do so much work. MTP was an ass for making her come here. Well, he hadn't made her do anything. He had just heavily implied that some important people might get wounded. And she, being who she was, couldn't let that be. It was then she noticed the cult and made a swift movement to stand in an alleyway between the buildings to hide. She had attempted to grab Turkey's hand to pull him with her but found his weight and frame were far too much for her to budge. Kitty almost tipped from her swift movement, made a huffing sound, and then followed her into the alley. She did not have long before the tall Turkey asked her about some nut named Bob.

As he described the person her eyes grew wide and then slanted in anger. "Ach yeah, that's the roight fookin' coont. Though he gave me some stupid name thinking he was bein' all cleverly. Bob's a good, hearty name. Don't you be messin' about with his ilk. Avatar o' Chaos he be. His type sow nuthin' but troubles and dead in thems wake." She had a sour, pissed off look on her face. Millie's mouth was pulled down in an impressive frown. If there was one thing a person could quickly learn about Millie it was that nothing was said in a simple yes or no when a paragraph of colorful language would do the trick. And also, she was very bad with names.

"Ach, there be no way I can be speakin' that name. You gotta change it," she said quite matter of factly, crossing her arms beneath her bosom and nodding. If he didn't change it, she was going to continue to call him the wrong thing. "I be Millie. That be Kitty. And our friends be making their escape." She pointed up as the last of them got onto the roof across the way. It happened to be the building to which she stood beside now. "Like theives we oughta be trackin' them, silent as the night. Though, with yer build I don't be imaginin' that you be silent nor sneakin' about much. Like a roight damn sign you be." She looked him up and down appraisingly. "Or will ya be surprisin' me, boyo?"

Millie was not the subtle type though and the thought of having to track them through the town made her want to do some dishes very angrily. She glanced about her and noticed a large stone. Picking it up, she chucked it to the absurdly tall guy. "Think you could throw this up there toward 'em? Grab their attention? Don't you be hittin' none of 'em. I don't want to be dealin' with dead weight."

@Fetzen

Plot Point

---

Something was off with this whole situation. Sightless Syella, was certain of this. Nobody had come running out of the building in an attempt to escape or surrender. Either she had let her anger get the better of her due to the... well... feces tossing incident... and in doing so ended up killing all those inside, or...

"They are outsmarting us somehow." Sightless Syella said through gritted teeth. Her voice sounding dry, as is typical of a Sightless. As she spoke, her tongue brushed up against some remnants of the poop which the familiar, from earlier, had tossed into her mouth. Sightless Syella instantly began retching, spitting and gagging all over again.

"Such insolence!" Sightless Syella growled in frustration after the retching stopped. "Once I get my hands on the one who owned that familiar..." Syella relished at the thought. Oh the pain she would inflict upon that sorry soul. Unfortunately, her vengeance had to wait. Her current priority was the mission.

Recomposing herself Syella closed her eyelids calling forth the Insight. She needed a clue to figure out what she was missing here. The Insight came to her in a rush. The euphoria it granted being a familiar friend.

Syella saw the inn, or rather a shadowy image of the inn. The image was not very clear as it would appear in the dark. This was due to the daylight which managed to creep through the Distortion. Were it not for the Distortion, she would not have been able to see the inn at all while it was illuminated by daylight. It truly was fortunate for her that this was not the case.

One by one, Syella viewed the different vantages of the inn. She viewed each vantage starting in the recent past. She would then leap forward a given amount of time looking for particular discrepancies between the two time frames. When she noticed any, she would narrow-in on gaps in time between the two time frames in order to better identify exact what had occurred.

Syella sorted through two vantage points without noticing anything. The light coming off the blazing inn didn't help. However she was able to work around it. She was about to sort through a vantage point give her a view of the back of the inn, when some shouting from her fellow Clan members drew her back to the present.

"Sightless Syella!" Her fellow Clan member, De'laire came running over to her in a rush. Syella identified De'laire by her voice. "Sightless Syella, the clan has spotted the deniers escaping out the window. They are heading down the back alley on the opposite side of the building. We are pursuing them now!"

A smirk crossed Sightless Syella's face. She made sure to keep her personal relief off her face. It would have been a terrible waste had she accidentally killed the ones who made the Unspoken Pact. "Capture them alive using any means necessary." Syella commanded. "If that requires cutting off a few limps or severing a spinal cord, then so be it. The ones who captures them shall be rewarded."

A smile crossed De'laire's face. "Shall I have our magic wielders and magic deterrent users chase them as well?"

"Yes," Sightless Syella replied, nodding. "keep some behind, though, just in case."

"As you wish, Mistress." De'laire replied with a bow. She then ran off to deliver the message.

Syella, smiled as her clan member ran off. Things were back on track. She closed her eyes, and embraced the Insight so that she could monitor the chase.

---

It took a few moments for Karina to regain her breath as she waited for Chres to come back. Holding the flames like what she did back in the inn, surrounded by flames was really taxing on her body, but once she got out, the temperature drop helped her quite a bit.

The moment Chres came back, jumping out of the fading heat construct, Karina was already waiting for him. She didn't knew why it took him so long, but his heavy breathing, expression and the fact that he was limping told her that something almost went wrong. Luckily, the risk Chres took coming back there wasn't for nothing. He managed to get eleven jade candles. Together with the two Karina got from her own room, they could probably manage to do something to help them hide from the cultists for a bit longer. It all depended on luck but still... It was better than nothing.

"Thirteen with the ones I got from my room." Karina replied to Chres, correcting him.

Karina simply watched as Chres hastily built another heat construct. This time, it was more fragile than the previous one. They didn't have much time.

"Can you still run, Chres?" Karina asked, carefully looking down to see if the cultists had any idea of where they went.

"Try to preserve your strength... Things will only get harder from now on..." Karina said, looking to Chres as she waited for the innkeeper and his family to cross the bridge. The second they did, Karina crossed it with agile and swift movements.

"They will soon find out what happened... We may need to fight..." she said again, with a worried expression as she rested her hand over the rapier's ornamented hilt. Now that she wasn't literally surrounded by flames, she would be able to use her magic more freely... But still... What she said to Chres was true... She also had to save her strength as much as possible...

Týfurkh looked down at what Millie was presenting in her hands. A stone ? He didn't want to ask it openly, but his facial expression slipped enough to tell it anyway: Seriously ?. How in any god's name would a stone do good at this point ? He reached for it and pulled it out of her grasp. "Beautiful piece of aggregated minerals, but I don't think that anyone will respond in an exactly benevolent manner if its trajectory even just allows for the suspicion of it having been thrown close to one's head intentionally."

Týfurkh dropped the item, obviously thinking about alternatives. "I have already tried some of my magic, but with them out of direct sight by now it won't trigger the desired reaction." He started scratching along his almost unbearded chin. It was a usual bit of body language whenever he was busy thinking about a complicated problem. "However... we could deliver something else up there. Something much more intelligent, agile and capable of autonomous behavior!"

Having said this, Týfurkh barely left Millie an opportunity to evade his subsequent move. His hands were beyond huge. His fingers were so long and his palms so wide that he found it extremely easy to get a firm grasp about the woman's hips. "Unfortunately not exactly lighter. You really could lose a few!" Týfurkh added, grunting a little as he lifted Millie off the ground and as far into the air as his long arms could. "Can you reach the roof ? Get up there and run after them! I'll try to follow you down here as much as I can!"

He tried to relocate one hand first, then the other one further down towards her legs in order to boost her further up. Hopefully Millie had some muscle in her arms and would make it! "Also I'd appreciate it if you'd tell them about that as well. I would really like to get up there in one piece and not reach the sky as a wisp of smoke, so even a hint to the next ladder would be a real deal of help!" Aside from this a gut feeling told him that there could very well be individuals on the move in this city who were on the responsible side of things and not victims.

Chres Sansus

Interaction with @Elevation, @13Org, @SonOfJet, @HokumPocus
Mention of @eclecticwitch

---

"Can you still run, Chres?" Karina asked.

Chres glanced down at his bad foot frowning. It felt as if someone had slammed a door on it. The pain was that of a rhythmic throb; it was probably in the process of swelling. He figured by night fall it would probably be horribly bruised.

"Try to preserve your strength... Things will only get harder from now on..."

Chres watched as Karina and the rest began to cross to the next building.

"They will soon find out what happened... We may need to fight..."

Chres followed the group over being the last to cross. Placing his good foot on the heat construct’s edge, he dissipated the makeshift bridge into the surrounding air.

”I’ll manage... One way or another…” Chres said, limping his way quickly over to the next gap. The throbbing in his foot made him wince, but he said nothing of it. ”Hopefully by the time they notice, we’ll be far enough away to not have to worry.” Chres placed his good foot down on the edge of the roof top. Stored heat traveled from his shirt, down his leg and into the air. Once again he Wove the flows of heat into another bridge.

Chres gestured his companions to cross, watching as they did so. His felt his mind wander over to his familiar Sil. Her metal glass pendent still felt cold against his chest. She had yet to respawn. Why? The pendent had plenty of light.

An uncomfortable thought crossed his mind. The thought of her never respawning. He hadn’t realized just how much her presence had come to comfort him. A welcome distraction from the dark thoughts inside him.

Chres turned his gaze behind him to Octavio. Not only did the man have a familiar, but he was also able to create illusions. ”Octavio, what do you know about familiars?” Chres asked, his hand unconsciously clasping the pendent. ”Mine appears to be broken… I w-”

A bit of movement caught Chres’s eyes making him cut himself off in midsentence. A dark skinned woman was climbing up onto the roof of a building behind them. ”Karina, 5 o’clock. Female. Dark skinned.”

“Karina?” Chres heard Hark ask inquisitively. “As in the daughter of…” Hark’s words trailed off in realization, his gaze turning to Karina as if seeing her for the first time. It was not a friendly look.

Chres cursed under his breath. In that moment, he had forgotten Gin had given Karina a fake name.

Hark stopped in his tracks and looked over at the courier. He knew there was more to her than just a common courier but he never imagined she would be anyone close to the famed Ice Flower. He pulled his dagger out and pointed the tip right at her throat, ”Well well well it’s about time we met.” Harks eyes were glazed on her. He felt the air get cooler around her as the two stood eyes locked on each other.

As much as his blood boiled for a fight he knew he didn’t stand a chance against her ice spikes without his shield. He lowered his dagger slowly and looked over his shoulder as he heard the crazy townspeople coming for them. ”You’re lucky we have bigger problems to attend to.” He said in a low tone giving Karina one last glare before turning to Chres, ”I’ve been staying in a small cottage on the outside of town it has food and all my gear. It’s probably our best chance to disappear no one is tracking I’m staying there other than the three other royal guards that are in this town.”

It was obvious that Chres was wounded. Even if he said that he would somehow deal with it Karina still kept looking at him with a serious expression. Things would already get harder from now on. Taking care of wounds was something neither of them could have the luxury of doing right now.

As Chres started to make another heat construct though, he turned to Octavio, asking about familiars. It was then that Karina realized that the little annoying familiar that was with him wasn't there with them. By what Chres said, something had happened to her. But before Octavio could answer Chres, or even before Chres himself could end his sentence, a small movement on the corner of Karina's eyes caught her attention. Karina wasn't the only one that noticed, but Chres was faster in telling her that there was someone climbing the roof. But this time, Chres forgot to use her 'nickname', the one that Gin gave her, instead calling her by her name...

Karina's attention was divided between looking at her own group, watching their reactions after Chres said her name and looking at the dark skinned girl climbing the roof. Karina's rapier was unsheathed as she looked to both sides. Although she was paying a bit more attention at the dark skinned girl, whom she considered to be a bigger threat, she also had an eye on her group. Fortunately for Karina, or maybe unfortunately, she wasn't wrong in doubting her own group. Hark was quick to pull out his knife, pointing it at her throat.

Immediately pointing her rapier towards Hark, she simply smiled as she heard his words. Her expression didn't show surprise, fear or anger... It was a frighteningly calm and cold expression, her eyes focused on Hark with a piercing stare as the air around her started to get colder and colder. Her rapier's blade was so cold that a white mist could be seen getting out of her blade.

"Bigger problems?" Karina asked as Hark turned his back to her to speak with Chres. The second he did so, Hark would see two ice blades forming behind Chres, pointing towards Hark as the other two were nearby Karina, pointed towards the direction where the dark skinned woman was coming from.

"You shouldn't turn your back so easily to a person you just threatened." Karina said with the ice blades ominously pointing towards Hark.

"Do you think you can simply point your dagger to me and expect me to do nothing? You just made an enemy, Hark. Even though we are surrounded by enemies on all sides, you choose to make another one. Foolish choice. I can't keep working together with someone that might stab me in the back at any moment." Karina said.

Without taking her eyes from Hark, she pointed the two remaining ice blades towards the dark skinned woman.
"Someone, keep an eye on the dark skinned woman on the building behind us." Karina said. She could only hope someone would understand their situation and do that... Both Hark and the dark skinned woman were potential threats now and she could only trust Chres, who was currently wounded... She couldn't focus her attention at both of them at the same time.

Everyone on that group was a stranger to Karina. Ironically enough, the one she suspected the most was the closest thing to an 'ally' she had. Chres knew who she was and choose to stay quiet about it. Either he didn't care or he knew how to evaluate their situation at that moment and realized that it would be better for both of them to work together.

"I am Karina Frost. Cpt. Karina Frost. Military of the nation of Touch. I am here to gather more information about the cult. That is all that you need to know regarding me for now." Karina said, loud enough for everyone in the group to hear. She expected that they understood what her words meant. If her intentions were other, she would have brought an entire division to invade this town.

"We are- I am already surrounded by enemies in all sides. One more won't make a difference. I can either kill you right here, losing a potential ally, but also eliminating a threat or we can work together to get out of this mess alive." Karina said. Her words and her expression indicated that what she said wasn't an empty threat. She was giving a real choice to Hark.

"Look around you, Hark. The Cult already has its roots deep within your country... If it's still your country and not the Cult's country that is..." Karina said, still pointing her rapier and two of the four ice blades towards Hark.

"They are a far bigger threat than any of the sides of this war are to another... I am here in this mission to try and make my superiors realize this..." Karina completed. She hoped that the others on the group would hear her. They all needed to work together if they wanted to have better chances to get out of the town alive... Starting a fight amongst themselves was a quick way to drop their chances of survival to near zero.

"Now... How we will solve this predicament, Hark? I can't trust you anymore. We have little time until the cultists realize what happened and come after us." Karina asked, with a cold, emotionless voice.