"GET TH-" The words caught fast in the third speakers throat as a barrage of violence took him all at once. 4 crossbow bolts found purchase, 1 in his shoulder, 2 took him in either eye, and the fourth took his throat.
Hawkes weapon might not have cut through the guardsmans armor, heavy plate and leather, but his sheer force saw the speakers body crushed in a hideous display of brutality.

At the back of the room the two whispering prisoners watched that particular death with excitement, chattering between themselves in a mixture of words and intricate finger motions as they periodically glanced at the group and back to each other. Having reached some sort of verdict the two grinned and whispered a word to their god.
In the next blink of an eye they had completely vanished, leaving only a puff of brief black smoke to indicate they had ever existed.

MEANWHILE, At the frontline of the death row crews ill fated rush the first of the 20 or so prisoners felt Scars needles sink deep into their chest as they rushed blindly into the smoke.
A second such prisoner, their startled cry of surprise lost to the awful sound of wet gurgling as blood blocked their throat from speaking thanks to Scars dangerous knife. More stumbled or outright fell around the now downed convict as they blindly rushed the smokebomb.

A dozen of the wiser criminals, hardened soldiers and bounty hunters all, recognized the trap for what it was the very moment the first of their gang cried out.

Harl Claw, former leader of the Bloodied Falcons, put fingers to his lips and gave a shrill whistle. At the very edge of the creeping smoke his allies backtracked into open ground, refusing to enter the killing field.

"Eyes open. Damn brats got invisibility. Moment they leave the smoke we put an end to em. Ricky, Arlen, Gus, got any juice left?" Harls question was met with a nod as he scooped up a fallen knife from the floor and gripped it in his off-hand.
Back to Harl, Arlen closed his eyes and focused on the depleted reserve of magic he had recovered as they had been freed from their diminutive cell and the magical null zone within. A priest to the gods of battle, his silent call conjured a flickering wall of magical force between the 12 Falcon members and the smokebomb that stretched from one end of the circular room to the other.

Inside the smokebomb, the 6 remaining convicts roared on with their sharp chair legs leading, swiping at everything in front of them not wearing the white jumpsuit of a death row inmate.

Note: Forcewall merely stops projectiles from passing through. It will also prevent the smoke from covering half the room.

Macy glanced between the members of her group, noticing they were mostly grouped together in one area. This wasn't good- being so close together would make it easier for them to be wiped out. She could sense the barrier that had been created - those left in the smoke were just sacrifices, then. The ones they needed to get at, the intelligent ones, were bound to be lying in weight behind that protection. How many were there? She had no way to tell, but from what she could discern from how many were within her smoke, it was more than half behind the wall.

Kris seemed to organize the team to fight those within the smoke, but they didn't appear to have a plan once they broke through. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking. Did this situation really call for it? It wasn't something she liked to use, and in an area like this it could be dangerous... but her team knew her tendencies and should be able to subdue her, if necessary. This wasn't something she could do without warning them, however. And Hawke didn't know about her magic, so he might become a target. Once she decided the best way to do things, she opened her eyes and made her move.

Normally she would approach Scar first, as he was often the quickest to be able to stop her if things got out of hand, but he was invisible at the moment so there wasn't time to track him. Her next best bet was Diana - with her wide range of spells, she could take control of things from a distance if they got bad. Plus, she was nearby. Gripping her rapier and dagger, she made her way to the dragon-woman, placing a hand on her arm. They barely spoke, so she would likely know what this was about. "You know what to do, right?" Once it was confirmed that she would keep Macy from hurting any comrades, she sunk back into the smoke to conceal herself.

She was nearly as nimble as Scar when it came to avoiding detection within the smoke, though she wasn't actually invisible and didn't move near as quickly. As the fight continued, however, she made her way around the edges of the room to approach the barrier. It seemed like it was built to keep physical objects away, but magic would be able to pass through from her close distance. Still pressed to the wall and concealed by the smoke, she peered through the fog to see the stronger ones standing back.

Too many... She wouldn't be able to control them all, but she would attempt three. Targeting three of the men in the front, including Harl, she silently pressed two fingers to her lips and stretched that hand through the barrier, quickly pushing a force to take control of their bodies. Her eyes glowed a bit as she cast the spell, but she remained prepared with her rapier in her free hand, guarding just in case. If the spell were successful, those whom she had gained control over would turn and begin slaughtering their comrades and, should there be time, themselves. She could hold this for sixty seconds, at best, and she hoped by that time her comrades would recognize their opening.

Great. Can't really use Aether in this smoke. Don't wanna risk hitting the others.

Just then, he remembered his other weapons. He unsheathed the Guard Blade from his belt. The blade's enchantment shimmers in the smoke, giving Hawke some idea of where he's going. Knowing these guys would be wielding makeshift weapons, Hawke devised a simple rule to discern friend from foe: If they're wearing white and don't look feminine, they're bad.

Putting this theory to the test, he approaches one figure dressed in white and just slashes before even looking, the enchantment cutting the man in two. Yeah, that was a prisoner, enough evidence. Hawke goes from one figure to the next, slashing the inmates into smaller pieces, passing my the small noble and the magic shouting lady. He hadn't seen the Foxboy or the other quiet noble in the smoke, so he'd hoped that was a good thing.

As he was pretty sure he was finished with the inmates in the smoke, he'd heard the sounds of magic from the shielded part of the room. Time to make an entrance. Sheathing his guard blade, Hawke dragged Aether behind him, the sparks giving them some indication of where he was, running towards the barrier.

Hawke burst from the smoke, using his momentum to slash at the open air. Only the flashiest entrance to clear the area as he took stock of his surroundings.

Between the invisibility and the smoke, along with some assitance from the bigger guy swinging his sword around, Scar made short work of the prisoners. Especially as they slowed down from the needles he had been throwing at them, their bodies slowly growing numb before being cleaved in half by Hawke. Or, alternatively stabbed in the throat by Scar. One unlucky bloke got stabbed by his own teammates as Scar, armed with garrote wire, came up from behind him and began to strangle him, doubled as a human shield when his 'friends' noticed an opportunity to get at the previously unsighted Kitsune. Soon after they were cleared out from behind by Hawke and Scar was gone again, having made short work of that group of prisoner's.

However, if one could see how mad his ears were twitching they would understand why he continued to move around undetected in the smoke. Their movements were swift, trained assassins if Scar had to wager a guess. He could barely make out their footsteps, but they were in here somewhere. One could hear him swear as he covered his ears when Hawke dragged aether across the ground. Fuck that hurt his ears, what was that fucking idiot doing?!

And that was when he found them. Not in the way he imagined though. He had been distracted by the loud screech of metal on concrete, slipped over a pool of blood like it was a banna peel in a cartoon and crashed forwards into the invisible duo. Completely bowling them over and slamming the three of them into the wall. A little dazed as he pushed himself up, he groaned and shook his head. He was going to kill that musclebrained dumbass after this was done. "So, what's your deal?" Scar asked as he pointed his weapon towards them. "You could've attacked us, but instead you're creeping about here. You didn't flee either...so tell me or...well, I think you get the idea." He gestured to the dead prisoners scattered about the smokescreen. Kinda obvious what would happen to the duo. They were more than likely trained assassins, so they wouldn't go down quickly if it resorted to a fight. But so was Scar, and the biggest difference was that he was very much armed. And they were literally without a single scrap of weaponry or armour on them, it was clear who was the likely winner in this scenario.

Looking to the cloud of smoke and hearing the sounds of combat within it, Kris knew not to jump into it or back into it, She knew Hawke was in that smoke and with that hunk of iron he was carrying around she didn't want to risk getting cleaved, she wasn't crazy like Scar was or acrobatic like Macy or half of something powerful like Diana.

Kris stood at the other edge choosing to wait for any of them that were going to creep out the other end or look for some form of escape from the smoke cloud; some of the enemy stumbled out of the smoke some probably effected by Scar's poisons and feeling the effects, they probably thought of themselves as lucky, then Kris struck.

Swinging Diin at the gaps in their makeshift armor giving them the freezing effects the sword, before finishing them off by plunging the sword in their necks. Suddenly the sound of something scraping across the floor brought Kris' attention back to the smoke, she wondered who it could've been causing that, the thought of those monsters came to her mind before she got the thought of that sword Hawke was wielding. Going against her better judgement she pushed forwards into the smoke feeling blind as she pushed through the thick black smoke and nearly tripped over one of the dead guys in the smoke.

Once she was over on the other side she noticed both Hawke and Scar, Scar of which was threatening the last of the group."Oh so you wish to stay your hand now?" Kris asked the varmint man."You sure you don't want to just, jump them and slaughter the rest of them?" She continued the questioning."Or maybe throw a fist full of needles at them?" She fixed her hair."It's obvious why they choose to be in the back and didn't run away, they were planing an attack, one of them setting up a defense just in case one of us or all of us go through their little guard, and if I'm guessing correctly one of them is the leader or second in command."

---

Diana had stood back, keeping an eye on things and watching for if anyone came onto her side of the smoke bomb. Seeing as how most the others had just charged in, she'd done the last task of keeping their backs watched in case someone tried to escape in this direction. Though amidst the clang and scraping of metal, and the dropping of bodies and splashing of blood, her ears were carefully picking out noises from amidst the entire mess of a battle. Dumb inmates with little time, and no weapons, couldn't be that good against fully-armed mercenaries and...whatever the last guy had been before being locked in here. As she heard the voices of others, and the thrum of magic of something having been conjured up prior, Diana began to make her way calmly into the smoke. There was no reason to worry hard about it, and if attacked she had...good means for pushing enemies back. Potentially hard enough to make indents in the stone walls.

Albeit, much like Kris had Diana nearly tripped over not one dead body, but three of the dead inmates on the floor as she made her way to the smoke-free side of the room. Her crossbow was in her hands, ready to fire at the slightest movement of her trigger finger...she only had to point the thing at a target at this point. Yet as she came onto the other side of the smoke and stood next to Kris, the dragon-blooded girl let out a small sigh at what was going on and held her crossbow at the ready just in case. Not much to say at the moment on her part, unless these 12 guys wanted to be force-flung into the back wall of this circular room and listen to the crunch of being slammed into stone.

-Harl and the Bloodied Falcons-

Eyes roaming the smoke, only the occasional stifled scream of a dieing inmate was any indication that the armed group inside had met their foes with success. Many of the voices were ones he had become familiar with in his time amongst the death row prisoners. Hope to escape had been so close and now it was slipping away, as ill-fated to succeed as the rabble was to escape in the first place.
His only solace was the fact that the bugs had not come first. Blissfully ignorant of the threat swarming many levels below.
A face appeared briefly in the smoke before vanishing back. Harl licked his lips nervously in anticipation.

Hawke burst from the smoke and shield to the shock of every Bloodied Falcon member in a headling rush, Harl gripped his weapon with renewed fear and calm and began to shout orders for his casters to stop him, but a wave of compulsion washed over his body to rob strength from his limbs.
His mind knew the order was not his own but robbed of protection there was nothing he could do. Turning on his heel he grabbed the castee who had put up the screen and drove the knife deep into his heart in a single swift motion, tossing the corpse aside to strike at the next in the line.
Two others similarly turned on their friends and allies in a sudden confusing rush, laying out two more with heavy blows to the skull with their pipes.

Harl felt the magic compelling him and became lost in the madness.

(7 falcons remain. 2 mages remain. 3 falcons under mind control)

MEANWHILE, in the corner of the smoke was Scar and his surprising guests. Both men did not appear to understand as he spoke to them, but truer was they could not communicate well enough to respond. The two spoke simple words only and relied on a complex series of hand signals.
Both brought hands to the air as their invisibility faded with contact and shook their heads with vigor, trying to sign "friendly" over and over.
The man on scars left spoke up but the words were heavily accented.

"Escape. Escape!" Neither of the men showed fear of any kind towards Scar, merely a reluctance to fight. Both kept their hands up to show non-hostility
If anyone made a move to attack them however, their tense muscles twitched as they prepared to explode into motion.
Both

(Scars dagger belt is missing 2 throwing knives)

(Note: None of the remaining Falcons are watching Hawke advance, focusing on Harl and the betrayers. 2 men are seperating from the main group and are attempting to cast a spell.

Hearing a voice behind him, the Foxman couldn't help but grimace. It was Kris, opening her big mouth again and blabbering about things which she didn't know about nor understood. And once again to boot, she was involving herself in his business. One day he might slit the blonde's throat-ok maybe not, a bit of an exaggeration. But he certainly felt like he wanted to.

Regardless, he chose to flat out ignore the ear and eyesores, since Dianne joined them for double the annoyance, and focus on the men before him with their strange accents, broken language abilities and somewhat hurried hand signs. The Foxman had been around long enough to visit a few places, and their accent was one he recognised. But what was it?

It was Ching Chong China Land or something or another. At least, that was how the kitsune remembered the Nazar Empire. Close enough right? Now, he couldn't actually speak the language or anything like that so the language barrier was still very much a problem but things were beginning to connect in his head. "Never thought I would find a couple of Imperial assassins locked up in here. I heard you guys were actually good at your job." Picking at his teeth, he rolled his eyes and finally looked towards Kris.

"If they wanted to do so, they could've quite easily in that chaos. Need to work on your perception, oh mighty leader." With a mocking tone, he reached down into his throwing knives. Didn't feel like sharing his bolts or needles, but he could spare these guys a knife or two. At least something to defend themselves. "Unless you're braindead, which I fear you are, they wanna be allies....though they're off to a bad start." With a loud exhale, he stopped rummaging through his throwing knives and gave the two a look that was a mixture of both annoyance and suspicion.

"Really?"

With a sigh and shake of his head, his ears suddenly twitched. He could hear the sounds of battle renewed nearby. But something seemed....off about it. Oh god. Having realised what may have happened in the few moments he had left the damned girl unattended, Scar quickly turned on his heel and made his way through the smoke. "If you wanna escape, then come with us." Was all he added to his little conversation with the duo, he ran past Kris and Dianne and into the now diminishing smokescreen.

Hopefully, that damned Macey hadn't gotten herself in over her head, though knowing the girl she damn well would've tried to. Why weren't the others watching over her?!

"Fine if you think that that you can understand them keep them close to you." Kris told Scar giving him a slight glare, she felt that they couldn't trust anyone here, not after what the warden did to them, and the fact that they were among prisoners didn't help with trusting them either, Kris knew that she would need to be on guard to make sure they wouldn't try anything.

Suddenly Scar decided to rush back into the slowly clearing smoke, not knowing where he was going Kris struggled with wanting to yell at him but held back on bothering doing so. There was a bigger thing at hand, the falcons that were bumbling around in the could now see like the rest of the group, noticing their armor, or bits of it, Kris knew her sword wouldn't be able to slice through their armor, even with it's frost enchantments on it.

The princess held the sword by it's blade, Kris knew she would have to do this the barbaric way, she charged at one of the falcons clubbing him over the head with the cross guard and putting a dent into his helmet, She slammed the cross guard into his head again bringing him to his knees and kicking him to the ground. The Princess finished him off stabbing him with the blade; in while she was finishing the guy off another falcon tried rushing Kris only for her to dodge him effortlessly.

Grabbing her sword by it's handle and keeping one hand on the blade, she precisely struck the back of his knee between the armor plates and making him fall to his knees, she swung her blade at the back of his neck putting a deep wound on his neck before pulling back for another swing and decapitating the guy with the second swing and making his body turn into a icy statue taking out another falcon.

Out of nowhere another falcon grabbed Kris from behind and tried to restrain her, but throwing her head back into his face was enough to make him let go, spinning around quickly, Kris used her momentum and aimed her swing for his knees slicing through his knees as well, the quick slice brought the man to his hands and knees groaning in pain before Kris finished him off by stabbing her blade through the back of his neck executing him. Kris ran two fingers across the length of her sword feeling the cold metal run up through her two fingers.

Macy watched with a gleam in her eye as her three captives began to mercilessly slaughter their comrades. Good... It worked... There was a bit of relief to her thoughts as she stepped through the barrier and out into the open. She hadn't used any of her magic for awhile, so she wasn't sure just how effective the possession would be. They were fully under her command. A small smile came upon her lips as she kept her hand outstretched in order to maintain the connection. Her comrades had begun to move forward, seeing their opening, so she worried less about defending herself and more on keeping hold of them as long as possible.

Hopefully they could kill one or two others before her concentration broke. Once she felt herself getting close to her limit, she changed the command, ordering her three mindslaves to murder themselves. Macy didn't get to see if she held out long enough for them to follow the instruction, however, as her hold on their minds slipped. Slowly, her hand dropped to her side and she stood there for a moment, silent. Her hands shook with anticipation and her breathing became heavy. She replayed the images of their weapons slicing through each other, blood splattering, over and over in her mind. It was addictive. The control she had felt over them was simply delightful. Slowly but surely, a wicked grin slipped across her face, matching the evil glint in her eyes. A demonic aura built around her, and anyone who could sense it would tell that something in her had indeed shifted.

This was a common occurence when she used spells- her bloodlust went wild. Just the thought of ripping flesh, exposing the organs within... It was fun, but it wasn't enough. I want to see more. Really, she wanted to tear apart one of those bug creatures, but these common prisoners would be interesting enough. The urges grew strong inside of her, and Macy caught herself slipping, grasping the wrist that held her rapier with her free hand. She could not stop the trembling. Not good... Her eyes darted around, making sure she wasn't too close to anybody. Hawke was the only comrade near her, but there was no time to warn him that she was going to lose control. Hopefully Diana had heeded her warning and was somewhere nearby.

Without warning, Macy suddenly shot forward toward the prisoners, her hand stretched out in front of her. It soon connected with the skull of a Falcon standing within arm's reach of Hawke, grasping his face with a grip far beyond that of her stature. In a flash, she had engulfed the man in black flames, her smile widening as she watched him burn alive. A small giggle escaped her lips as she glanced to her large companion, making eye contact. Her expression would be wild, and much different from her usual monotone look. Macy was not herself, and found herself lost in her desire to see blood shed.

Hawke stared back at Macy, knowing the look in her eyes. It was the same look his superior officer had that day. It was the same look Hawke himself most certainly had at one point in his life. When that look is around, things don't usually end well. Hopefully, this would end quickly.

But in the meantime, Hawke had to deal with keeping the noble girl controlled, but satisfied.

"You want blood? Stick with me."

Hawke gestured for her to follow, and rushed the two magic users, avoiding the group. Too much blood to be spilled there. Seems like these two were trying to cast a spell.

"Oh no you don't!"

Hawke made two quick, powerful slashes at their arms, hoping to sever a hand, or at least a few fingers. Magic's pretty intricate, and most spells require some form of fine input.

And hopefully, the noble girl followed him.

The watcher retold the final moments of the struggle in the death row cells, recounting the way this mercenary group, no more than a handful of ill-tempered bullyblades, had cut through the growing insect menace and armed prisoners alike with a decisive and overwhelming presence.

Hawke and that accursed sword, the Wardens prized mantlepiece, were back to the fray and this group had recruited the damned human. To make matters far worse the killers from Nazar were armed. If only with a single meager knife. The watcher detailed the events and the Warden, armed with his own formiddable longsword and armor, cursed wholeheartedly. More reports were coming in and it seemd the whole world had descended on this prison tower in force.

Nearly 100 armed veteran guardsman held the middle point of the tower now. Only a dozen floors lay between them and the main entryway, sealed by massive steel doors thicker than a mans thigh. All the windows remained intact, only one single insect had escaped to the outside world and blissfully had been struck down.
Magical or otherwise, someone had stopped the spread.

What concerned him so much was how the rebellious inhabitants had been freed. Every floor was open and every cell door was wide, the prisoners below their position no doubt joined the ranks of the enemy plague by now. That would be hundreds of bodies.

"What of the brute above. Have we eyes on that pyromaniac?"

The watcher was silent for a moment then shook his head. According to his scrying, the man was protected from view directly. The only good news was that the crazed pyromancer had scorched the last 5 floors to ashe of all its inhabitants. Insect or prisoner alike. 3 men had been spared and the warden suspected the local lords had put undesirables in his cells without detailing their.. talents.
The burning man was freeing his imprisoned mercenary brothers.

"They will come down to us eventually. Issue orders: Hawke, the Order of Ashes, and those miserable sellswords who trashed my office are to be killed on sight."

A runner nearby left to spread the word to the other soldiers in charge of their respective units along the barricade.
From the staircase entrywaya the smell of rotting death grew stronger with the sound of footsteps.
Buzzing of wings accompanied the smell.

---

Despair filled the heart of every Falcon member as the group, superiorly armed and armored strangers, descended upon the Mercenary company like a butcher to the chopping block. Hawke and the blood obsessed Macy tore through those in front of them with devastating ease as the Falcons leadership crumbled. The mages, retaining very little magical essence, became just another corpse among the masses around them.
Kriss was less brutal in their violent approach but no less effective as the few remaining death row inmates struggled to deal damage of any kind. Unarmored, unorganized, they fell like the rest had on their bloody path from the wardens office.

Scar had the perfect seat to watch the twins work. Following him was wisest of them and both knew it, and so bent their best efforts to making the way clear. Unarmed and unarmored they were only good for hiding and watching but armed with something as simple as a throwing knife it was another story entirely.
Both twins slashed open their palm with their respective blade and whispered their spells of binding, the unblemished steel took on a pitch black stain flowing along its length. A flick of their wrist and two of the last falconers, one of them the last mage of their order, gurgled their last breathe with the knifes lodged in their throats.
The twins were like smoke as they faded forward in a rush, quickly pulling the bloody weapons out of their targets. fingers wagged in the intricate code of their Assassin language before simultaneously pointing to Scar with a confirming nod. The twins returned to stand just behind him as a proper shadow should. It was clear from the way they deferred to him that he was, for the time being, their master.

With the last of the Falcons' blood gracing the floor, now little more than a lake of red beneath their feet as over a dozen corpses lay sprawled across the stones, the way forward was clear. With Wilhelms key the group was quickly through the unbarricaded side door and down the stairs until yet another set of metal bars blocked their progress ever downward. What was peculiar was the lack of noise.
The only thing they could hear was the low crackle of a fire, smell cooked flesh, and taste smoke on the air.

Opening the side door to their current prison floor, the group was confronted with a bizarre sight. Every cell in the large circular room was scorched black with plumes of smoke drifting lazily to the ceiling. The half-burned corpses of the insect menace littered the floor at the feet of a single figure dominating the room brandishing a longsword, its edges burned an angry white that hissed as the blood coating it was burned away. The knight was tall, well over 6 feet and wide of shoulder. Their clothing was in disrepair and showed signs of catching fire at the fringes.
The door opening forced the knight to glance up, their chest heaving with every laboring breath but they readied their blade defensively.

Their voice boomed from their helmet, "Soldiers under the tyrants banner will burn. Speak your allegiances and spare me the lies." It was a deep and commanding, spoken as one with supreme confidence in their position of power.

---

The man in this room didn't seem to be someone to get in a proper fight with. Scorched and cooked insectoid-humanoid bodies littered around him, the smell of ashes and smoke and heat, all of it and the glowing white hot edge of his blade spoke of both skill and a very lethal intent. Diana had a feeling that something might very well happen, just as it had leading up to this point in time. This could be one of the loonies they kept under check until all of this went down, someone who'd say stuff like this (for all she knew) and would kill them all regardless because of some form of paranoia.

Since to her it didn't seem the rest of the group was going to answer yet...she would try something. Albeit, be ready for battle. She was a bit silly at times, yes, but not outright stupid by any means.

"We're all just mercenaries who got called over here, got locked up here out of the blue by the asshole Warden, and really want to get out of here before those zombie..bug...things kill all of us. Though keeping those things from getting out would be a good idea...and some of the other prisoners already tried to kill us just a minute ago."

Diana seemed to muse a bit as she spoke to the sword-wielding knight, at least at the end of her speaking. Her crossbow was held close, a bit defensive in nature, but it was nothing more or less than what this night was doing. One could call it perhaps "odd" to just come out with the truth. Albeit, she didn't want to risk anything else at the time. If this guy was too crazy, then...well that was going to be that and they'd have to deal with it.

She was glad Kris was ok after that last fight, though.

The knight did not move but it was clear, somehow, that he was squinting behind his visor. Likely discerning whether or not this was a false claim or if they really had been mercenaries. It took many moments of tense silence before they lowered their blade and took a step back, welcoming them to enter the room. The tip of their white edged sword lingered just above the floor.

"You are well armed. I see no colors of the Warden about you," His helm moved with his eyes as they took in the others with quick glances. That gaze focused on the twins, bringing with it a warm gust of magical wind. His next few words were short, foreign, but the Empire assassins lingering behind scar turned to each other with manic glee. Their fingers flashes too quickly to follow until they both took a running step forward in their excitement but swiftly ceased.
Both glanced behind them at Scar.

In the rooms above, any one of this party could have slain them with the others who had fought back but they had been spared. Freedom had been theirs and that kind of mentality was not lost at them. Both turned to Arguth, the fiery leader of their former party, and dropped to a knee with heads held down.

Arguth regarded them carefully but understood what was happening. Years of travel together, before circumstance had driven them into the wardens hands, had given him insight to their behavior.

"You must be the lucky type, for these two to show loyalty so quickly. That alone is enough to prove you are what you say. In the name of the Ever Burning, you have earned my thanks," Arguth dropped to his knee similar to the twins. "And my skills. I am Arguth of the Endless Pyre."

The Pyre was a religious army of pyromancers and, some would say, maniacs devoted to following the will of flames against the true night. An omen of inescapable darkness that threatened to consume the world. Those who wielded their powers were sworn to oppose this omen to the end of their own lives.

Raising to his feet, Arguth sheathed his blade on his hip and ushered them group forward. "I would know the names of my new allies before we continue. The warden has blocked us from leaving, barricading the lower levels with magic and ateel. If we are to escape it will come at the cost of their lives."

If they could not break through, Arguth would carve the memories of these mercenaries into the wardens skull himself.

The battle with the falcons changed quickly to a bloodbath, they proved to have skills almost similar to lowly thugs holding sabers, Kris witnessed Hawke's brute force and his slab of iron sword. But it wasn't just her and Hawke killing them, Macy had a hand in making them turn against themselves and make it more of a slaughter; once it was all over and we moved to another room we found another person, they had the bodies of the infected bug creatures, unlike the falcons he didn't order them to put their weapons on the ground and submit to them, Kris wiped the blood off her blade with two fingers getting a chill running through her fingers from the elemental properties within the blade.

Diana was the first of us to speak, the dragon woman explained our situation better than Scar would, then the thought of Macy crossed Kris' mind and she wondered if the girl was okay after delving into the blood shed even more than Kris would. Kris then turned her attention back to the knight once the two twins that Scar let live ran past them to the knight."So they did have their use after all." She spoke under her breath. Kris sheathed her weapon and stood close to Diana taking in the form of the new knight, when he spoke he sounded more like some kind of crusader and her thoughts on what he could be ran through her head she stared at him from behind Diana almost as if she was glaring at him with her blue eyes.

Kris brought her gloved hand to her face wiping blood from the corner of her eye as the knight asked of their names, the princess hesitated for a moment questioning if she should tell her actual name or give them a false one. She closed her eyes before giving him a reassuring look."It's only natural in our situation." She responded."My name is Kris DeSilva, one of the remnants of the former mercenary band." Kris told her name only, she felt that some if not all of the others would want to introduce themselves their own way or would feel slighted by Kris introducing them.

The princess stood directly behind Diana speaking to only her."We could use this one to get to the outside." she whispered into Diana's ear past her bright red hair, she then moved to Diana's side standing with her."Getting past those wards won't be much of a problem with the right magics, I'm sure one of us here has some form of getting past them directly, if not that I have an idea but it would be very risky with those infectious insects."

Macy listened to Hawke's words as best she could, allowing her hair to conceal her expression as she attempted to calm her racing heartbeat. Blood... The word struck a chord in her, enough so to keep her from bursting forth to attack their new companion. He had been kind to give her those keys, after all, so that she could free her companions from that room. She did not want to harm him, though she did want to find out what made up that burly stature of his.

Managing enough control to resist those urges, his sudden dash caused her to react with her own quick step only paces behind him. Her eyes glistened at the sight of him slicing the arms of the enemy mages, and she followed suit without hesitation to impale her dagger and rapier into the artery in each of their necks, respectively. Blood showered around her, running down her arms and staining her clothes, and she couldn't help the nearly manaiacal laugh that escaped from her lips. This was a wonderful feeling. Her body responded to the gore with a shiver of pleasure, though the moment was gone far too soon.

As their corpses fell at her feet, she took a moment to stare at them, still giggling at the fleeting memory of how Hawke and her had taken them down. Blood splattered on her cheeks, her eyes glimmered with satisfaction. Hawke has helped to quell the urge, if only slightly. She wanted more, but as she turned to look around the room she knew that their current enemies were no more. It wouldn't be enjoyable slicing open corpses with no life. For a moment, she closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing, before she gained the strength to replace her weapons upon her belt. With a slightly struggling expression, Macy walked to where Hawke was standing, not looking him in the eyes as she came to stand right next to him. "... Stay away."

She gave this quiet warning to him as a friend, trying to sound cold in an attempt to encourage him not to help her any longer. Her hands still shook with a deep desire, and she did not want to put him in harm's way. He had seemed to understand this feeling she couldn't control, and she appreciated his help, but as one who was not of their party -not really- he did not need to help her as he did. Without another word, she walked off to follow the rest as she did her best not to get left behind. The urge was nearly painful as she resisted pulling out her weapons again, and instead kept her arms hugged tightly around herself throughout the exchange with this new person, choosing to remain the the back of their group. I want to cut him up... Her muscles twitched and she hugged herself tighter. It was uncomfortable, and she hated the person she became in these moments, but Macy knew that this desire for blood would fade as they progressed. It just took its time.

With the battle over, Hawke quickly spun Aether around in his hand, getting the blood off it, as he wiped away what was left with his palm. More of a reflex than an action, really. He'd helped the noble girl to release her urges a small amount in a slightly more productive way: "productive" being "not attacking him", but hey, it was a start.

It wasn't enough, though, and he could tell. After that brief moment of pure bloodlust, she was only barely in control of herself. Enough so that she could warn him. Hawke knew what she was feeling. The rush was like no other.

"... I understand."

Upon regrouping, Hawke had caught the tail-end of the conversation. Another maniac from The Pyre. He'd heard one was here, but he wasn't expecting to ever meet him. Great. Well, it's better than nothing. What choice did he have but to play along?

"My name is Gabriel Hawke. I was a high-security prisoner here. I met this merry band of misfits not too long ago."

Scar didn't hide the concern he felt when he happened upon Macey during her and Hawke's fight, actually more like slaughter, against the remaining Hawks. He wasn't even needed to dispatch this tools, which he was somewhat glad about because it meant he could conserve his weaponry for more potent threats that no doubt lay ahead. Once the last of the Hawkes breathed no more and the twins were one with his shadow, Scar allowed himself to relax somewhat and approach Macey. Though he did keep a somewhat tentative, hesitant distance from the girl as he eyed up her blood-soaked self. There didn't need to be words exchanged, a silent conversation was being held.

Content that she was fine for the most part, and more importantly in control, he gave her a slow, affirmative nod before following after Kris and Dianna. He would keep a close eye on her as they moved, to make sure she was still in control, but otherwise stayed silent. When they happened upon the Knight, Scar frowned and held a hand out. Not to stop the twins that ran forward, no. But more to stop any possible chance of Macey going berserk. Dianna was the member of the group who first spoke up, with diplomacy that caught Scar a little off-guard. This barbaric woman was capable of such a thing? Maybe they would've left the prison negotiations to her rather than their self professed leader, who seemed to lack even a fraction of the diplomacy on show. Not that Scar was exactly the diplomatic type either, but that wasn't his job, now was it?

Though what surprised him the most was that it didn't somehow blow up in their faces. There was a first for everything wasn't there? Though it seemed like he had played a part in the Knight dropping his hostilities, despite the fact that Scar had spared them on curiousity of their movements, he was still glad he had made the decision to spare the twins. He doubted Kris would've made that same decision.

"Oi, dumbass, don't think those two can't hear you." Referencing the twins, Scar slapped the back of Kris' head and shot her a look when she whispered to Dianna. Just because he had the same thought of using not only the twins, but this knight as well, to escape didn't mean he was stupid enough to voice it like she was. Last thing they needed to do was say anything that might remotely antaganise their new allies.

"Just call me Scar. I'm the baby-sitter of these three morons." Calling out to the knight, Scar turned back and went over to Macey. "You ok? Don't need to 'take a nap' do you?" It was obvious the girl was struggling, any moron with half a brain could tell. If he felt it neccessary, he might need to take Macey out of commission for awhile. Though he would rather avoid that, seeing as they were in danger beyond their understand right now, if he felt like she was going to be a liability he might have to. Even if he had to carry Macey the rest of the out.

Arguth bowed in turn to each speaker, keeping respectfully silent when the others chose not to speak. It was not his place to comment on their lack of social graces and took no offense. All they had to do was fight and from the sounds of it, the group of 'misfits', as hawke had put it were capable of posing a threat to the monsters and their horrible infection. That none of them showed sign of injury to the insects was worthy of praise.

"You must all be tired. No doubt slaying your way down this cursed place is taxing, I would not ask you to venture forward in such a state."

The twins rising to follow on his heels, Arguth turned from the group and shuffled off to the stairwell entrance he had unceremoniously blown off its hinges on the way up. The way down was still barred by a massive slab of metal he had pulled down to bar the path of the wardens lackeys. It could be risen from the groups side andcno other way.
From the stairwell he retrieved his pack. On the way up, he had managed to swipe supplies from the kitchens on the off chance that they would need to hold out against the enemy for an extended period.

Returning to the 'misfits', Arguth put the bag of food in Maceys hands before taking a seat on the floor with his back to the cell doors.

"Eat up. When you are rested we will make our final push for freedom."

Inside of the bag was a dozen waterskins, some even had wine, along with thick loaves of bread and wrapped up cheeses. Salted sauseges and dried pork were amongst the bountiful harvest. Enough that the entire group could barely consume its contents in a single meal. No doubt Hawke, who had subsided on the thin gruel that served as his daily meals, would welcome the taste of wine and cheese with a fever.
Scar, the pig, would finally be able to wash the taste of blood and mold from his mouth.

When they had eaten their fill, it was Arguth who finally spoke.

"Take a chance at some rest. If you are all ready, we can raise the barricade and march out. But I must warn you all now that the lower levels have become a living hell of corruption and living filth infesting the walls. If the wardens men have failed to contain the enemy, we will be walking into the very heart of the hive."

Macy was relieved that Hawke seemed to understand her intent, once again - she hated having to say more than was absolutely necessary, and now more than ever she just wanted to keep herself separate from those around her. She was also thankful that Scar was nearby, as he had dealt with her bloodlust before and was the only one of their group not only strong enough to defend against it, but also knowledgeable enough about it to know how to handle her when she was like this. With him keeping a close eye, like he was doing, she trusted that she would not be able to harm any of their party, including this newcomer. Another shiver ran down her spine as he spoke, the armor appearing to her as a challenge; could her blade penetrate its steel to reveal the soft organs underneath? The young girl would not give herself a chance to find out the answer. She chose not to introduce herself, finding they probably wouldn't speak much anyway, as right now it was best to keep her distance and even then she was not one for conversation.

He seemed to be joining their group in battle, which was both good and disappointing. They did not need to fight him... but also, they did not get to fight him. She rubbed her arm momentarily, looking a bit like someone who was off of their drug fix, yet the friction on her skin helped to distract from the growing frustration within her. Just as she felt her mind begin to grow hazy again, a voice nearby pulled her back to the present. Scar. Something on her expression must have slipped, because she could sense the concern hidden under his straight expression. It was rare for him to show that, so without her full senses about her she figured it meant that he thought she was going to attack somebody. Was it really that bad, this time? She hadn't noticed. Despite her breathing and this clenching in her chest, Macy felt fairly grounded and in control. At his question, she shook her head. "Not yet..." She murmured in quiet reply. Her thoughts were the same as the fox - she would only slow the group down if she were to be unconscious. Still, her words were chosen carefully, to encourage him to keep an eye out as he had been and giving him quiet permission to take her out of commission if he saw fit. His judgement was one she trusted.

Suddenly, she was handed the bag of food, and the young woman jumped slightly at having not realized Arguth had been right in front of her. It was irritating how dulled her senses were by this need to slaughter. Her eyes widened slightly, muscles twitching at the idea that he was close enough to slice... Her hand hovered over the hilt of her rapier, briefly, until he moved away from her once again. As he did, she instead moved her hand to grab one package from the bag and pass the other shares quickly to Kris. Macy needed to get away from the rest if they were to remain here for awhile. It would be good to distract herself with food, if possible, though she could not feel the pangs of hunger from her stomach. All she could feel was this deep agitation.

Quietly, she moved to a corner of the room by herself, where she attempted to eat, nibbling at the cheese that had been in the pouch. She sat with her back against the wall, knees to her chest, though her gaze remained on Arguth. She was unable to break her fixation on him. They had a wise, new companion, it seemed, and a formidable new ally. The strength she could sense from him was the very reason she wanted to fight him so badly. He would be invaluable in the inevitable battle ahead.