Tyrael looked down at Gossk as he kneel before the orc. Tyrael had no idea why the lizardman was doing that, but he wasn't going to say anything about it. It doesn't seem like either three of them knew how to operate the skiff, but perhaps one of the slave women did. It would certainly be in their best interest to utilize it if they wanted to return to their homes alive; Tyrael had no intentions of sharing his supplies with them if he was to go on foot. In any case, Gossk explained how one of his spells worked to Tyrael in a way that he would understand through the creature's broken common. In short, Far Stride was a sort of movement spell that would allow them to quickly traverse the dunes and ward off the harmful effects of nature during it's duration. Very useful, though ideally they'll use the Skiff instead. Gossk seems to have a firm understanding of common even if his ability to speak it wasn't very great, so Tyrael felt no need to dumb down his explanation of the spell he'll use on Gossk. Fortunately, most orcs aren't too keen on flowering up their descriptions anyways.

"The spell I'll use on you will make you bigger, and stronger. With that strength pull the skiff from the stones and I shall use my magics to repair it. We'll have those women operate the boat, if they know how. Otherwise we'll have to figure it out ourselves, or at worse, walk." With no other issues to address, Tyrael would use his Size Shift spell on Gossk, turning the already large and imposing creature into an even more massive beast, at least twenty-feet tall if not bigger. His increase in size also increased his weight, creating massive footprints in the sand big enough that Tyrael could've buried all five corpses in a single hole and there'd still be room for more. "This spell will only last for ten minutes. Move quickly." Tyrael would stand out of Gossk's way so he can safely pull or possibly even lift the sand skiff out from the rocks and somewhere more open where it can be repaired and ready to sail back through the dunes. Meanwhile Tyrael looked over Lynn and the other three women.

"Are any of you have healing abilities?" Tyrael says while clutching his arm. It was wrapped so tightly it felt numb to him. "There's no guarantee our travel to Kalla will be safe. I need whatever healing you can provide if I'm to fight against any further threats during our travels."

Allanon looked at Bidzil as he offered to come along with the stealth team. "I don't mind." He turned to Kistal to respond to his explanation. "I see. Well, I don't see a timely way for us to make use of that in this excursion, however should we work together in another one I will keep that in mind and prepare beforehand." It made sense that a part of the target of the scrying would be needed for the spell to work. Magic almost always had frustrating restrictions. It was the biggest reason Allanon chose to not learn how to use it and put a lot of effort into learning how to counter it.

As he stepped outside to make way to his objective, Allanon placed his hand over his wife's sword. "Marissa, guide my judgement."

---

Maeve couldn't help but open her eyes slightly more, a bit alarmed when Sev mentioned that he had bad eyesight, offering a short explanation on how he used his light magic to correct his eyesight and see correctly. That meant that he would be less of a help than Maeve had initially thought... Together with the fact that Maeve herself was exhausted and tired meant that they couldn't hope to win that battle... It didn't need much for either one of them to realize that Bardus was indeed, incredibly powerful, after sealing their own powers and the magical pressure emanating from him.

"As much as I hate running from a challenge... We are in no conditions to fight him... I am incredibly tired and exhausted... Without my magic... I don't think we will be able to do anything." Maeve said, biting her lips in an expression of veiled anger.

Before either Maeve or Sev could say anything more though, luckily someone else appeared to give them assistance. Shouting to them and complaining that they had apparently 'picked a fight' with Bardus, as if they had any chance not to... Maeve recognized that voice as a somewhat familiar figure appeared, surprisingly enough, still using wind magic despite Bardus' spell. It was Sahale. Bardus seemed to be surprised by his presence, lunging towards him shortly after.

It was a short, but formidable exchange of blows between both Sahale and Bardus. Even though it became clear to Maeve that Sahale himself wasn't exactly someone 'normal', Bardus was still overpowering him, each one of his attacks taking quite a lot of effort to dodge or to block. When Bardus finally pierced Sahale's defenses and was about to kill him, once again, the mysterious Sahale had another surprise in his sleeves... A powerful wind spirit appeared in the last second, blocking Bardus' attack and flapping her wings to protect both Sahale, Sev and Maeve.

"We can't stay here... I can't fight him in exhausted as I am right now... We need to go as soon as possible!" Maeve shouted over the strong winds as she looked to Sev and Sahale, using the precious few seconds that the wind spirit gave them by distracting Bardus.

Both of them would be able to see that Maeve was incredibly irritated by what was happening. For her, the thought of having to run away from a fight was humiliating, but she wasn't an idiot... She didn't sleep at all and spent the entire night helping Neev with the wounded. She was definitely not in a condition she could fight a strong opponent or display her full capabilities...

Somehow Sev managed to block a couple of the stone shards sent their way when Bardus attacked, more through luck than judgement based on how many hits he actually took. A particularly large chuck of rock struck him in the stomach causing him to stumble forward, likely out of the path of Bardus's follow up attack were it not for the timely intervention of Sahale.

"All have you know," Sev replied indignantly as he turned to look for Bardus, "I managed to sleep all night without being attacked."

Through squinted eyes Sev was clearly unable to follow the barrage of blows that followed, though he was clearly shocked by the sudden winds. It took him a long second to process the appearance of the wind spirit, but once he did he had to repress a feral smile. Steadying himself he once more took a combat stance with his spear pointed in the general direction of Bardus, mostly.

"I won't get far if I try to run," the warrior mage told Maeve, "not in this state. But I'm not one to give up so easily. Besides, I think I have this worked out now."

Taking a deep breath Sev began to chant a spell under his breath, with no ability to sense mana it was impossible to tell if he was accomplishing anything, but it was unlikely. That didn't stop him as he moved the tip of his spear in practiced motions.

"Sigsus fir pyras!" Sev shouted extending his forward hand towards Bardus, the line a common finishing line to fire magic practiced around the Scar. With his other hand he thrust his spear forward and, quite unexpectedly, there was a wild burst of fire that exploded outwards from the spear tip. The flames wouldn't have reached very far on their own, while the spell apparently worked, it didn't work properly. The winds racing out from the group caught the flames, the fire spell seeming to grow into a torrent of heat as they washed across the ground towards Bardus, and everything else in that general direction wherever the winds carried them.

"Of course," Sev said happily, apparently having seen his own spell, "you have to counter act the aetheric resonance in the local lay field which makes mana unusable. Not an easy task but possible!"

With a mad smile he once more took his stance with both hands on his spear.

"Wonder how long till I'm back at my full power."

Lynn was amazed at whatever spell Tyrael cast on Gossk, having him grow to enormous proportions, he would be able to easily dislodge the boat, seeing that there was surprisingly minimal damage to its tough hull. With some temporary patchwork, it should be able to set sail again. Lynn looked to the three girls. "Do any of you know how to use this thing?" she asked. One shook her head and the other expressed only a little bit of knowledge, but the third happily said that she knew enough to get them by, eager to pa them back and return home. Tyrael then turned to Lynn and the girls and asked if they had any healing abilities between the three of them. "I'll be right back, and don't worry, we will get you home safely," she said with a smile.

Lynn made her way to Tyrael. "I can help with your injuries," she said with a small bow, "My name is Lynn, Its a pleasure to meet you. Now, let me see about those wounds." She waved a hand from behind her to the front, the rune in her water jar activating and starts summoning water, which she then pulled around from behind her ans into a large floating sphere of water, large enough to engulf all but Tyrael's head. Lynn spoke the same incantation as she did befoe when healing Gossk, and the water started to illuminate with power. "Please, step inside the water," she instructed the robed figure.

THE EAGER DRACODILE had barely any time to register what was about to happen to him. He'd understood Tyrael well enough but Gossk had never heard of this kind of magic. It intrigued him greatly and reminded him of his own magical arsenal. He knew that one day he would have to explore the realm of magic more thoroughly, and conquer it. "O-herr do you get your, uh, nagic thou'er, cloaked one?" Gossk asked, eyeing Tyrael as he cast his spell Size Shift.

Gossk grunted a confirmation at Tyrael's warning about the duration and inhaled sharply as he grew, immediately feeling a sense of exhilaration and power. Licks also woke as she sensed something was amiss, and jumped out of her cohort's satchel--she then disappeared into the bushes around them. Lynn, Tyrael, and the chattel shrunk, falling away from the Dracodile's field of vision as he looked out into the distance. Once he had finished his transformation (reaching a truly towering 26-foot height), Gossk looked down and considered his path. He then took a few precise steps, his extremely large stride of 11-feet (15-feet with Far Stride's aid) bringing him to the skiff, which felt like a toy to him. His ridiculously long tail swept the dry air, literally kicking up dust and sand behind him. 'This feels amazing, I am the largest Dracodile that has ever lived...' the Dracodile mused, croaking a chuckle as he took hold of the skiff.

As Gossk was about to lift their eventual transport, he then paused and turned his head slowly to his companions, the images of Tyrael, Lynn, and the Varuk slaves in his eyes. He held that gaze for a moment, a multitude of scenarios and thoughts flowing through his mind. He could eat them all, if he wanted to--it would be quite a feast. There'd be no way that they could overpower him in his current state. The Dracodile even wondered if he would gain Tyrael's arcane knowledge if he consumed him--it was his belief after all, one that proved true to him time and time again. If Tyrael was going to betray them, killing him now would be the best time, lest he used this Size Shift spell on himself. The very thought of fighting a size enhanced Tyrael weighed heavily on Gossk. The Dracodile then considered Lynn...and that she clearly trusted the cloaked stranger enough to work together.

And on top of that, his integrity-bound life debt was wagging its proverbial finger at him. Scoffing at his own stupidity, Gossk wisely passed on the delicious opportunity.

As Tyrael was hoping, the Dracodile indeed placed the skiff in the open out of the rocks. In fact, as he returned to them, he swept aside the rocks between them and the skiff, by using his feet and tail. There was now a clear path for them to use. "It has deen done," Gossk announced with pride, his voice deep and thunderous.

Eyeing the largest outcrop of rock about 50 yards away, Gossk respectfully left Lynn and Tyrael to their business and made a trail of destroyed rocks, overturned trees and bushes, and large footprints. He then proceeded to climb, his thick claws ripping into the rock easily. Once he had reached the top, Gossk scanned the horizon, looking for trouble and finding none. He then began to scratch out his name on the rock, in Rasskarr no doubt. It was a peculiar set of symbols and its meaning known only to him. 'I might as well leave a memento for myself, for another day,' Gossk concluded, admiring his work.

With that done, Gossk once settled his gaze upon the merlady and cloaked figure and waited for them to beckon him so that they could depart for better shelter. His tail flicked impatiently--clearly a trait he'd picked up from his reed cat.

There was a blood curdling laugh coming from where Bardus was slammed against a wall. The shambling man slowly and eerily stood up against the torrent of wind, but had to work to kep his footing solid. "Damn spirits! HAHAHAHAHA, I should be honored it would take such a thing to stall me, ahehehehehe, BUT! I'm a bit annoyed, I say! I... need... to SEE IT! SHOW ME YOUR BLOOD!" Bardus's body pulse a crimson glow, and with much less effort before he started forcing his way through the torrent, dashing towards Sahale rapidly. Sylph, noticing this fact, dashed to intercept, but something else happened that surprised all of them. Upon Sylph's wind, now rode a whirlwind of fire, Sylph immediately took advantage of it and directed it towards Bardus, after landing between him and Sahale. Bardus, however, was completely caught off guard by the fire, and it soon consumed him, his shrieks of pain only sounding like twisted jubilation.

Bardus had seen where the fire came from, and the spirit that had once held his focus now became secondary as this strange man still held the ability to cast magic, it was maddening, intriguing, almost insulting, and made Bardus very curious. If one could cast magic while they weren't supposed to, how did he? Maybe the answer was inside of him. He simply had to find out! Ignoring all other threats, Bardus made a mad dash towards Sev once more. The wind pushed him around and cut at him, but the heavy spears and blades of wind he dodged as if he could sense them coming, though he never took his eyes from Sev.

Sahale cursed as he saw Bardus change his focus and rushed to try to meet him beforehand, but his injuries slowed him down and my his movements sloppy due to the pain. he could feel the broken ribs shifting in his chest, but if he didn't make it, those two were as good as dead. Sahale hauled back and threw his sword, which spin into a disc of wind with Sylph's help as it blazed a path towards Bardus, literally as Sylph combined the fire with it. Bardus turned toward Sahale at this moment, "STOP TRYING TO INTERRUPT ME YOU PEST!" He ducked below the spinning blade, and knocked it with his weapon, the blade becoming slow in the air as it if were floating, much like the rocks and statue had for a time. Sahale had hoped that he would focus on the blade as he drew his katar, and poised to strike. Though Bardus was faster and more determined. With unnatural ability, Bardus sank the head of his weapon into the ground and kicked off, making him slide around Sahale in a semi circle up behind him. He then kicked of the ground, almost predicting the spinning cut Sahale made as he spun around, and from above Sahale he brought has weapon down, chopping into his back, the blade of the old farming tool bursting out the other side of his chest. Sahale immediately coughed up blood and was stunned. Upon Bardus's descent,he rolled forward in the air, his weapon held above him, awing going in a downward vertical strike to the ground to lift Sahale into the air above him, over his shoulder, and slam him into the ground in front of him, knocking him off his weapon.

"There, finally some worthy blood....," the sick man laughed. However, instead of taking his time to appreciate his kill, he had some other guests to attend to. He looked up to Sev and Maeve and pointed his bloody weapon to them. His body and clothes were singed, still on fire in some spots, and one of the eye slits in his mask was burned away just enough to see one of the mad eyes of their enemy. They were almost completely white save for a beady black pupil in the center. Before he could take a step towards them however, there was a high pitched screeching like an eagle only much much louder and full of rage. It was Sylph, and she was about to make good on her earlier promise. Blind with rage she swooped down like a blur, too fast for Bardus to react to, the impact even making him drop his weapon. She started ripping into the man with her claws, unrelenting in her fury until she heard something, a faint but incoherent sound of the struggle to breath. She looked up and saw Sahale, holding an arm up for her, and she rushed to him immediately. Bardus was dazed and nearly torn apart, but still alive, and struggling to get up like the near corpse of a man he was. Whatever hold on magic he had was dropped upon Sylph's assault

Sahale wanted her to be there with him, as he knew the blow was fatal, he was feeling cold, and wanted the person he felt closest to to be there with him. She cooed to him and tried her best to comfort him, but she knew he was slipping away as well, the only person she had ever made a pact with, soon to die in her arms. However something was strange. There was a feeling in the air that made everyone around them feel much much stronger, the power they were feeling would make everything surge with strength vs how Bardus made everything fade. Bardus was nearly back up empowered by this strange aura, but from behind him another figure seemed to emerge, grabbing him by the back of the neck and lifting him from the ground.




"Bardus!" a commanding voice boomed, strong, yet oddly calm. "You have disobeyed my orders... how should I view this betrayal...," the man commanded.

Bardus shrieked in fear, "J-Jeevak! I-I was was just trying to spread word of your arrival, as usual they tried to fend me off and-"

This man he referred to as Jeevak then slammed the man into the ground, yet calmly he replied, "My order was for you clear any remnant bandit trash. I wanted the people of this town unharmed." Jeevak then charge some mana that started to glow green and he passed it to Bardus, healing him from major wounds but leaving some of the harsh and minor wounds unhealed. "Remember this pain, and do not disobey me again. Leave my sight...," he said as Bardus quickly grabbed his weapon and scampered off. He strode towards Sylph and Sahale, to which Sylph stood over Sahale in a protective stance. Jeevak held up his hands. "Great spirit of the wind, I have no intention of harming your pact bearer, instead allow me to heal him," he told her, and in the same way he healed Bardus, he healed Sahale, though completely. Sahale, who seemed nearly lifeless just a moment ago, coughed up the remaining blood in the way of breathing before he sat up, checking his body.

"What the hell? Sylph, I didn't know you could heal!" He said in surprise.

"I can not," she simply said, not looking away from Jeevak. Shahale then turned to what she was looking at and then seemed to be stunned at the sight of the man. It couldn't have been...

"I am here peacefully. I wish to meet a few people, two grusk that are in this town. I am interested to speak with them. One I can feel is in that temple and I shall go see now, but the other...," he scanned the ones that were before them until he locked eyes with Sev, "I'm sure they will speak to me if they wish." He then turned and started walking towards the temple, finished with his interaction with this group and having resolved the problem with Bardus for them. He knew Bardus would not come back here to test his patience.




The moon was low and the sun had yet to start casting like over the far horizon. The scouting party's movements were completely veiled in darkness as they approached their target. There was a rock outcrop a ways out in front of the group, siting about a hundred yards from the wall,which had two towers sitting high above the wall, each with an archer perched inside. It would be the perfect spot to take shots at them. Dorran waved Chihiro close to him. "Two archers, in the towers, we take them out without a scene and they will be blind to us setting up outside their walls. Take that rock outcrop and make your shots, signal when ready. We can then have Hilde blow the gate and move in," he said to her with her nodding in response, he then turned to the others, a mix of his own warriors and the foreign volunteers. "We secure our people first and foremost, forma safe path for them to escape, and have a guard team stay with them. The rest of us will gut these bastards once and for all, ready? Move on Chihiro's signal, and Chihiro, wait for the infiltration team's signal to to give us ours. They will do what they can to preemptively free and secure the girls, as well as disable any extra mages or archers they may have inside. This way, they should be down to just melee fighters, which will make our extraction much easier."


Meanwhile, Bidzil followed Kistal and Allanon up the side of the cliff, carrying the rope and equipment to secure it so that they could descend into the camp from above. From here, they could see a roof that they may possible be able to land on. One of the taller structures that lined the back edge of the cavern's entrance. From the looks of it, it was a platform for archers to shoot from, small slits in the wooden building allowing archers to shoot from at a wide angle inside, but only exposing a small slot in the wall on the outside. A tactic taken from stone castles and crudely recreated in wood. In the middle of the complex were a few cages, holding the more valuable prisoners. Others were seen tied to posts or some of the columns that still stood in the ruins. It was hard to see their condition from so high, but it didn't take much imagination as a bandit started making his way to one of the lower value girls to spend some time with her, shouts of protest could be faintly heard from their position above. Bidzil's grip on his hilt tightened. He didn't often have the urge to kill someone, but these people, if any, were the first he had seen in person to deserve it. "We need to hurry," he said frantically as he started to secure the rope to the top of the cliff so they could use it. Kistal and Allanon could both feel a surge of energy as Bidzil's adrenaline started to kick in, just from simply seeing what was happening. In the darkness, one could actually see a faint glow in the white of his eyes as he finished securing the rope. He wanted badly to be able to rush in and kill the man he just saw, but he could jeopardize her life and the lives of all the other prisoners and scouting party if he exposed them. It took great restraint to keep him from doing something stupid.

Kistal may pick up a familiar scent, if his sharp eyes scanned the bandit fortress below, he could see a portly man snacking on a particularly familiar sack of sweet meats, standing watch next to one of the cave tunnels that went inside the mountain at the other end of the crescent shaped opening of the ruins. Faintly, if he concentrated, he could just start to her a low growling sound and a bark or two. There was the sound of laughter as whatever was going on inside continued. There was a short lived howl as whatever was in there called for help, cut off by a yelp of pain. There sounded to be more sounds of a struggle before something unpredictable happened. A louder barking like noise sounded out through the camp as a chill filled the air and the small cave burst into ice, a few bodies flying out and two still impaled on a few of the ice spikes that now protruded from the cave. The man outside the cave staggered back, dropping the sack and reaching for his two handed ax, trying to break through the ice. The bandits were alarmed and their focus was now on whatever happened in that cave, creating quite the nice little distraction to slip in.

The satyr growled audibly at the twofold cruelty. "I can deal with the rapist from here. Get down there and do your thing. I will check into the cave. I have a specific bone to pick with the fatty. They stole the food I gave that girl and are trying to kill her." From the cliff, he focused on the man about to rape the woman. He popped the cork on his bottle and seemed to magically draw up a couple ounces of alchool into a small neat sphere in the air between his clawed fingers.

"Those you love will cry, those you hate will laugh, join those of your ire and become what you never desire." His hand snapped closed into a fist, the alcohol dissipating into a sickly green mist, blasting the man with eldritch energies and causing his body to transform into exactly two things: a woman and the race he hates most. Then, Kistal took one look down the cliff, seeing footholds to use. He ignored the rope and took the expedient route, jumping along the cliff face, using his supernatural balance and jumping to get him to the ground. He angled his descent to the cave and ended by leaping off the face and dropping on top of the fat man, leading his fall with the spear to attempt to impale and kill the target of his hate.

Chihiro took her position, drawing two spears and settling her breathing. "One hundred yards, two shots...got it." She drew one spear and drew back her arm, aiming her throw with her thumb and index finger on the free hand. She didn't need magic to make the shot normally, so she opted to avoid it in case of over penetration. She let the first spear loose and immediately grabbed her second one, aiming it at the second archer. She let the other one fly shortly after.

Assuming nothing odd happened, the spears would hit their intended targets as it was well within her practiced range and far from the maximum range of her spears. Chihiro crouched low to see the results of her attempts, readying two more spears in case of something happening. She was also awaiting the signal of the infiltration party.

Tyrael looked to Gossk seeing that the Size Shift spell worked without any issue. ”Practice.” Was all Tyrael said in regards to where he got his magic powers from. And it wasn’t entirely untrue. But it also wasn't important right now. The girls began to speak among themselves and fortunately one of them knew how to operate the skiff. ”Good. Than you get on the boat when it’s free, and make prepared to leave. I will repair the vessel.”

While Gossk was moving the skiff, Tyrael looked skeptically at Lynn’s water Orb. He knew there were a variety of healing Magics, and Tyrael could certainly use a bath right a little now, but he was also uncomfortable about how she may potentially drown him in a conveniently head size ball of water. He didn’t say anything of course and simply tells Zastrial, who has remained invisible, to watch Lynn and prepare for any treachery. Afterwards Tyrael walked into the water orb for whatever Lynn plans on doing. ”This is... Strange.”

Allanon clenched his teeth over the sounds below. When he witnessed Kistal perform his magic he was very much reminded of his old team's curse-user. Even though the components and incantations were entirely different, and she refused to acknowledge her magic as curses, the effects were clear and dramatic. What amazed Allanon further was when Kistal decided to skip past using the rope and simply jumped the entire distance down. A jump like that would destroy any humans legs if not more.

Very familiar with scaling down vertical surfaces, Allanon quickly and firmly prepped his rope to hastily rappel down onto the archer's platform. As soon as he landed his throwing hand settled over his throwing knife bandoleer, and he got into a position where he could cover the stairs to cover for Bidzil as he came down the cliffside.

Kistal's efforts would provide quite a distraction giving a great advantage for Bidzil and Allanon. It was a shame his actions preempted the distraction team's actions, but a two-pronged attack on their part would be effective enough. He could understand and empathize with Kistal's actions to rescue the girl from her attacker, however, his hasty actions also could have compromised the mission. All would be made clear on that before too long though. It all depended on the bandit's reaction.

---

Maeve was surprised when Sev, somehow was able to use magic inside Bardus' spell. Even though she had tried, she simply wasn't able to use her magic and the things Sev said, about 'aetheric resonance' made literally no sense at all for her. Despite the strong winds the Sylph was conjuring, Bardus was still able to move as he continued going towards Sahale. Bardus not only was a dangerous enemy, but his bloodthirst was almost palpable in the air as he screamed towards Sahale. Luckily to them, the fire Sev had somehow conjured fused with the Sylph's winds as the wind spirit sent it towards Bardus, which was caught off guard by the storm of wind and fire. For a moment, Maeve thought they would be able to escape unscathed, but the second Bardus once more shouted, resuming his mad dash towards them once more. It was almost as if he wasn't human at all... He was definitely wounded but even with the winds cutting him and the fire, he simply didn't stop. Bardus had an almost unnatural agility, resilience and strength that, when coupled with his skill to block magic, made him an formidable opponent.

With most of the Sylph and Sahale's attacks failing to stop the mad Bardus despite the wounds inflicted, he was finally able to get close to Sahale... One second was all he needed to inflict a fatal blow on Sahale with his 'weapon', leaving him coughing blood on the ground after being thrown and smashed into the ground by Bardus himself.

"Sahale!" Maeve said, alarmed as she saw the scene. She knew very well that such wound was fatal. Maybe he could have a chance if they had a master healer, but Maeve's healing skills, despite being an Isoli and being naturally proficient at it, was far from the skills a master healer had.

When Maeve was about to take a lunge at Bardus, gathering the remaining energy in her body, an incredibly loud screech cut through the air, immediately making her give a step back and cover her ears. She was a duelist and had very sharp eyes, but it was impossible, even for her to see the Sylph's attack. Moving itself so fast that she was but a blur, the wind spirit dove towards Bardus, attacking him in a ruthless and gruesome manner. Not even Bardus, being the monster he was, was able to stop the Sylph in her fury. The only thing that made her stop was Sahale's low and pained groans, which made her fury immediately disappear as she went towards him. Using the Sylph's attack to her advantage, Maeve was about to rush towards Bardus, to give him a finishing blow before he could recover but she coulnd't expect that a hand would suddenly pick up bardus from the ground as a figure appeared behind him.

Maeve heard the exchange between the figure, apparently named Jeevak and Bardus, who was his servant judging by the way they spoke with each other. Still on guard, Maeve could only hope that the new arrival wasn't there to kill them, which luckily, he wasn't as became evident when he punished Bardus for disobeying his orders. It wasn't needed much for anyone there to know that he was somehow, much more powerful than Bardus himself. Fighting against him wasn't an option, not with all of them tired and wounded like they were. After apologizing and healing Sahale, despite his fatal wounds, he said his goal wasn't to kill or harm them, instead he simply wanted to talk to two grusk that were on that town. Maeve had seen one, who was wounded inside the temple but she had no idea who was the other one Jeevak spoke of.

"The only grusk I've seen is the one inside the temple. He was very wounded but he's stable after we treated him." Maeve said, sheathing her rapier as she looked at Jeevak with a piercing stare.

Sev grinned as he heard Badrus's screams, he hadn't honestly been expecting to do much damage. The 'spell' was mostly to throw Bardus off balance, make him question his own abilities, make him desperate. And judging by how he began to laugh it was successful. Sev palmed a flash bomb from a sleeve pocket, pressing it against his spear and covering it with his hand to hide it. While flash bombs were meant to be thrown at the ground to create a large flash and loud crack they worked just as well when crushed by hand. Of course, doing so tends to burn his hands. If there was magic he'd be able to shield himself to some extent but he still couldn't access it as Bardus charged madly towards Sev. He was just going to have to take the pain while hoping his gloves took most of the damage.

Externally he seemed to struggle to follow the headlong charge of the mad man, his spear point whipping around as if unable to decide on where to go. Sev had to suppress a grimace as Sahale was impaled by Bardus's weapon, hopefully the town's healers could save him but, even through squinted eyes, Sev knew it was a mortal wound. Now was the moment the act came together, despite his panicked and confused appearance Sev's heart was calm, he was in his element. He just had to keep the act of blindness up for a few more seconds, at the last moment when Bardus committed to an attack he'd shout some magical sounding nonsense and crush the flashbomb against his spear. The resulting distraction would disorient Bardus enough for the warrior mage to avoid the madman's blow while sticking him in the heart with the end of Sev's bladed spear. Even though this enemy was almost mythical in his strength no man could survive having his heart bisected, or at least, Sev hoped.

Before Bardus could commit to an attack there was a loud screech and the madman was tackled by a flying blur of claws and teeth. Even in his focused state Sev wasn't prepared for the wind spirit to launch a full out attack like this, surely getting so close to the madman was a death sentence if you didn't have a plan. Yet it seemed to work, Bardus suffering injuries grave enough that whatever he was doing to prevent Sev and Maeve from accessing mana stopped. Not one to waste the opportunity Sev quickly chanted some meaningless phrases under his breath to cover his casting of a number of light spells.

With his illusions once again covering his eyes, and his 'spell of sight' cast he was able to fully open his eyes once more. Divorcing himself from his image he took a few steps back and to the side, leaving his image standing with spear ready. Several illusions were prepared for the case that Bardus once again began to attack. With this new found strength flowing through him he even precast a number of ice spells, covering their triggers with more illusions.

But it was all unneeded as a new figure seemed to appear out of the air and grip Bardus by the neck. Sev could only watch in surprise as this new man, apparently named Jeevak, cowed Bardus. He allowed both himself and his image to relax visibly as Bardus was sent scurrying, and managed to contain his surprise as this Jeevak healed what should have been a mortally wounded Sahale. Whoever this was he was dangerous, more so than the madman, cheap tricks were less likely to work on him.

Sev stiffened slightly at the mention of two Grusk in the village, he knew of one in town but he was the only other. Before he could continue that line of thought Jeevak met his eyes, not those of his image, but Sev's own. The warrior mage's blood ran cold, while the removal of mana was surprising Sev could work with it, even turning it to his advantage in a way. But this, he instantly saw through not only Sev's illusions but the lie he'd spent his entire life covering up. The secret that had kept him locked away at home till he managed to learn to cover his eyes with an illusion.

Even as Sev's image turned to follow Jeevak's gaze, which to anyone else was fixed on something in the distance, Sev himself was frozen in terror the likes of which not even Bardus inflicted. His precast ice spells failed as he his mind struggled to work, the illusions covering them vanishing moments later. He only managed to keep his image and eyes going as such illusions were second nature to him. The seemingly unending moment finally released it's hold on Sev as Jeevak turned to walk towards the temple. He was silent for a long moment as the strange man walked off, the warrior mage's mind racing.

"Well, I haven't broken my fast yet, wonder if the innkeep would mind if I raided his kitchen," Sev's image said idly as the mage got himself under control. Joining back up with his image he did his best to hide the fear still running through his mind.

By the time he pushed open the blood stained doors to the inn he'd decided he had to speak with this Jeevak, if only to determine how much of a threat the man was to him. Bardus was a mad dog that had apparently slipped his leash, that didn't mean Jeevak was malicious, but it also didn't mean he was benevolent. If anything the company he kept meant he was a danger.

Sev would have to find a moment to slip away from others to meet secretly with the strange man, likely Maeve would be going to bed leaving him alone in the inn. That would be his best chance.

@Lotrix Molick@Jollan
Crouching low, Anrak crept close to the chief and the other warriors, listening to the plan, nodding slowly as Dorran presented a rather well thought out plan... However, looking at the gate gate of the camp; it was comparable to thick trees lashed together with rough ropes, regardless of Hilde's gifts-- destroying the gate was definitely going to take a massive toll on her. But maybe......

"Oi lass--" Anrak whispered to the young guardian as he leaned towards her, "Save yer strength, if yeh jus' blow tha hinges, aye can take care uh tha door."

There was frantic screaming what seemed to heighten in tone and then turn into more of a roar as the would be rapist transformed into a big hulking bear beastwoman, bursting from his armor that was way too small now, and not the prettiest of sorts either, even among beastmen. The man's filthy grotesque lifestlye was equally portrayed in his, or rather her, appearance. Missing patches of fur, scars and sores, filthy matted fur, and a horrid stench from teeth rotting in her skull. However, the newly formed beastwoman was quite stronger than the man she used to be. But that didn't seem to matter much when she was to busy freaking out over her form to do anything. The woman would be relieved that she wasn't being approached, however, the painful and disgusting display of the man's body breaking and twisting into a new creature terrified her, causing her to pass out.

This commotion was the portly bandit's only clue that something was wrong, but it was much to late for him. As soon as he turned to see what was going on, he was pierced through, the spear going through the man's shoulder and bursting out of his lower gut. Locked in, he couldn't move, and so much blood was pouring from him that he bled out in seconds. Though, he didn't need to warn anyone, as it seemed the whole camp which was about to investigate the wall of ice, was now focused on the satyr. there must have been over forty men at arms in this place, and now Kistal was the center of their rage. Immediately, the four closest men to Kistal carged in, two with spears, one with an ax and sheild, and the last one was a bit bulkier than the others and wielded a crude yet effective looking heavy club in both hands. The spearmen took point, having faith in their reach while the big oaf was behind them ready to deliver a crushing blow. Meanwhile the one wit the shield would attempt flanking into the satyr to catch him offgaurd or maybe even force him towards the spearmen.

The archers on the rafters were alarmed and were scrambling to get their bows strung and crossbows set at the sign of commotion. How did someone get in? What were those good for nothing archers in the towers doing over there? They were so busy trying to get ready to fire on the satyr when a shot was available, they didn't even notice Allanon and Bidzil drop in. From their point if insertion, if they split up, each of them could take out a separate wing of archers, taking them out by surprise in the least amount of time. Bidzil was a bit slower to descend than Allanon, however, while he knew how to scale down a rope, it was nowhere near the ease of which Allanon seemed to slide down. When Bidzil did reach the bottom, he instantly went for one of his swords, this time keeping the heavy sheath in a back wards grip in his left hand, and drawing his blade with a light practiced flick of his right hand. He had to act fast, clear his mind of any doubt and push forward. The archers seemed to have let loose one volley of arrows before the two could start their attack, there were eight of them, four to a side. Bidzil rushed forward to met the first archer as fast as possible. Mid run, his grip on his sheath swapped from a defensive backward grip to an offensive standard grip, and using his momentum, cracked the heavy metal sheath against the unsuspecting archers head as he started to draw his bow to fire another volley towards the satyr. There was a sickening crushing sound as the heavy sheath made contact, and a bit of give as it seemed slightly break into the skull. The man fell immediately, but not without the sound of Bidzil's rush alerting the second archer. The archer, who was mid draw, panicked and tried to spin around and fire at Bidzil, but the shot flew wide as Bidzil broke his run with a forward roll. In this roll, Bidzil made sure to end on his feet, using the momentum and his core muscles to rock him forward till it had him in a crouched position just in front of the now exposed archer. Bidzil then used his leg muscles push up and forward, slamming into the man's gut with his shoulder, knocking him off his feet and onto his back.

The bandit cursed as he hit the ground, scrambling to grab a shortsword from his belt, but it was easily knocked aside by a crushing blow to the hand with the heavy sheath, and in the same rotation of that swing, Bidzil's blade sunk into the man's heart. The man cried out in pain, alerting others close by. That took care of his side of the archers of the rafters, but now the archers inside the wooden structure knew something was up. Bidzil and got a macabre idea, reaching for the lighter of the two dead archers. He may need a shield when he comes through the door to another two enemies possibly waiting for him on the other side.

---

"Did ya hear that?" Dorran asked, the sound of the icy explosion and a some sort of canine outcries reaching everyone even outside, along with the air around them feeling a slight bit colder. There were multiple shouts and outcries as men started to fight and sound the alarm around the camp. Dorran laughed heartily as he stood up on top of the rock out crop they took cover behind. "Alright, that's as good enough a signal for me! How about we go teach these bastards a lesson or two, eh!?" he shouted with his weapon raised, a rallying cry from all his warriors present, even Hilde as they moved forward.

[color=D2691E]"Alright, the doors are all yours! Show me what you can do big guy!"[/colr] Hilde shouted to Anrak as she ran forward, easily outrunning the heavier set Varuk warriors and approaching Chihiro. "Nice throws!" she said in a hurry with a smile as she got within range of the gates. Hilde started to gather air into tightly compacted balls of highly compressed air, though the point was to build up a highly dense ball of mostly oxygen for her fire to light. She then sent each to a different hinge where they seemed to only grow in size, the air around everyone momentarily becoming thinner as if they had just climbed a mountain. "ALRIGHT, HAVE AT IT!" she yelled loudly as a spark seemed to make its way to each of the oxygen balls like shooting stars into the night, though just as the sparks seemed to die out close to their target, the night was briefly light up multiple huge explosions, breaking all of the hinges on the heavy gates, it seemed like all someone would need to do now is blow on them just right and they would come crashing down.



After Gossk pulled up the ship, the three girls bowed kindly to their three saviors, each of them thanking them. The girl who knew a bit about ships spoke up for the others. She was a bit darker tanned than the other two, longer dark hair despite most Varuks having a light sandy color and her features were quite attractive, though she still have well toned muscle as well due to years of training with Madame Valia in their art of dance. Out of the three of the girls, she seemed to stand out a bit. Her slightly larger but also more curvaceous build made out for quite the tasteful figure, strong yet graceful and luxurious. It would come as no surprise that she was being sent on her way to Portea before some of the others. "My name is Sonia, I will do my best to bring the ship back to Kalla. Once the ship gets moving, it will be a fairly easy ride. The craft is large enough that most sand wyrms should stay away, and hopefully the more unruly ones have had their fill for the day," she said a bit worriedly still, she then shook her head, "I will make sure everything is ready for once it is repaired." She bowed once more to them before getting with the other girls to tell them what to do, once all were aboard they would soon be ready to return to Kalla.

"Okay then, here I go," Lynn started as she placed her hands on the very surface of the ball of water that encased all but Tyrael's head. "Bathe this one in healing light, and restore her to her former might...," she chanted the familiar spell, though changing it for what she assumed was a woman due to the voice. Lynn concentrated on the spell but something didn't feel right. She felt fine since Gossk used that spell, but there was something else bothering her. The water, just like last time when she healed Gossk, started to glow, and the wounds on Tyrael started to regenerate rapidly yet painlessly, as if they had never happened to begin with. However, just before the heaviest wound on Tyreal's arm was fully sealed, the water fluctuated and fell from around Tyreal, along with Lynn. Despite her feeling better due to the spell, her body was still worn, and her mana had taken a few heavy tolls between the healing and trying to survive the desert itself. She fell over, the water splashing into the sand around them, her body refusing to move efficiently. This was different than mana sickness, while she was low on mana, she hadn't developed the blue streaks. This place was definitely not where her kind belonged, and it was starting to take full effect on her. She looked around with tired eyes, her vision swimming as things blurred around her, it was strange, nobody else seemed to be tired... maybe she just needed.... a little nap....

While Lynn slipped into unconsciousness, her breathing was still heavy. While she wasn't sure what was happening, due to never being exposed to the situation and not having to deal with it in her own homeland, she seemed to be experiencing heat exhaustion. She didn't quite feel the effects of it due to Gossk'a spell, though she was nearly worn down when they had just arrived, if Gossk remembered, she was barely getting by even when just floating around on her staff. Speaking of which, even her staff, which was usually so nimbly floating around her when not in use, fell with its end sinking into the sand. If anyone were to retrieve the staff, they would find that aside from the globes of water on it, the rest seemed to be made of nothing but solid steel, making it incredibly heavy, doubtful that she had ever carried it herself without her water manipulation.



Jeevak seemed to chuckle lightly behind his mask at Maeve's remark at having only seen one grusk. He stopped walking towards the temple and turned towards her, "Is that quite right? I must apologize then, for in the heat of the moment I had forgotten to formally introduce myself." He reached up and grabbed the mask with one of his hands and removed it, though it didn't seem to be held on my any sort of straps, as if it had just been floating up against his face the entire time. When he took it off, he met Maeve eye to eye before giving a slight bow. "I am King Jeevak of the Grandis Empire. I am indebted to you and this town for providing care for my people. Not very common in these times I am afraid." He seemed to hook his mask upon his waist as if there was an invisible hook there, however, again, it just stayed there on its own. He then turned and went inside.

Jeevak saw a number of injured people, many of whom seemed to be well and in good care, but still too weak to move around. He noticed Neev in one of the rooms, resting in one of the many beds that lined the walls while a drake beastman was asleep beside her, having nodded off after a long night guarding the temple. Jeevak took a deep breath and waved his hand over her, causing her to glow a feint green color momentarily as the blue lines started to disappear. He noticed faint mana trails that connected her to nearly all of the patients inside, and a few trailing in from that Isoli girl from outside. Trails of where they spent their mana, hanging in the air like cobwebs of time passed. He made a mental note to thank them for not only protecting the young grusk, but healing him as well. Just passing by one of the largest Varuk men he had ever seen in a long time, there was a frail figure in a medical bed next to him. It was him, no doubt about it. The Grusk he had sensed from a good distance away. There was power in this one that built up and had unleashed itself violently. He could not control it so it backfired on him, a pity, but not something that couldn't be fixed. Jeevak would stand over him for a moment before speaking, though when he spoke to him, it was if he spoke not only with words, but to his mind as well, reaching to him even if he was unconscious. There was a doctor tending to him currently, he figured he would have to tell him of his intentions first. "Would you mind if I had a word with this patient, sir? It won't be long, or intrusive I assure you."

Allanon smoothly slid one of his daggers from its bandoleer and into the ribcage of one of the archer. He swiftly pulled it out and moved onto the next one. While there was a reasonable amount of space to swing a sword in these circumstances the use of his daggers would be much quicker. He was all too familiar with this dance of death.

He saw an archer able to ready to take a shot, but Allanon wasted no time closing distance, drawing his sword, and slicing through the bow and beheading the archer. A small part of him hoped the bandits would recognize him and surrender or flee. A small part of him was tempted to declare his name and demand their surrender. These people had committed great evils, and the odds were they had no remorse whatsoever. If any of them surrendered of their own free will he would take them prisoner, otherwise, he was simply removing evil from this world.

He hated that thought though. He knew not everyone deserved a second chance, but he knew the power of second chances. He knew how important they were, and what it meant for him. He slid his dagger into the ribcage of another bandit, and continued forward with his sword with the singular purpose to rescue the prisoners.

This was the nose bizarre healing spell spell Tyrael had ever observed. It felt like a bath, which was nice, and the way it helped his wounds were soothing. The few healing spells he ever had casted on him felt like they were physically putting his skin back together which was uncomfortable and awkward, but helpful. This one was nice. When he was fully healed he was about to give his thanks when the girl collapsed. ”Ah shit.”

Tyrael went over to the girl and did his best to examine her condition. No obvious injuries, so no infection or poison. Her body was hot, though he’s not sure if that was normal or not for elves like her. But he was certain this may be signs of a heat stroke. Had she been neglecting to hydrate in the desert? Picking her up, Tyrael goes to take her to the skiff. She needs a cool place to rest out of the sun. ”Gossk, get one the boat!”

Tyrael would board the ship and command Zastriel to find any water or medicine she could find. He would take Lynn and her surprisingly heavy staff to a shaded area, preferably a cabin of some sort, or failing that he would quickly construct a crude tent for her. He tried to remember some information he was told about heat strokes.

First was to remove cloths, but this girl wore so little that he didn’t bother to much about that. From his own water skin he would make a few damp clothes and place on in the girl’s neck, one he put underneath her back, and two on the top of each of her thighs. Something about how these areas get the hottest first, so they need to be cooled down first. Finally, he would use what little water he had left and carefully make sure the girl was drinking. He also knew he needed a bit of salt because of how much she was sweating, but the only salt he had came in the form of salted meat. Hopefully Zastriel would find some salt cubes or medicine which might help.

THE DRACODILE had continued to watch everyone with a predatory glare, remaining motionless as the intense sunlight made his scales gleam. His reed cat, Licks, had made her way up to her cohort's new vantage point and perched beside him--she clearly approved of the spot as her tail had gone all fritzy with excitement. Gossk was examining a weird cloud when the cloaked one yelled at him to board the boat. He barely had time to register what had happened but he could clearly see Lynn being carried away swiftly to the boat.

'What is going on now?' Gossk wondered, looking down and picking his path downwards off of the large boulder.

He jumped down, his feet scuffing and slicing the rock as he descended. His giant form permitted him to shrug off the rough descent, but it was wearing off, he could somehow tell--and sure enough, as he and Licks arrived at their transport, Gossk's gigantic form unceremoniously shrunk. This was quite a good thing since he was about to get on the boat whilst in giant form, but then caught himself before he might have damaged it. The dracodile reminded himself to ask the cloaked one how he might learn that spell.

'That was fun,' he croaked with a mental chuckle.

Crouching on the deck, so as to not appear threatening to anyone around him, Gossk noted Tyrael's disappearing in tow with Lynn and her staff into the cabin. A pang of worry gnawed at his mind as he realized now that Lynn had fallen asleep. They weren't under enemy attack like he had assumed, but rather she had clearly overexerted herself while healing Tyrael.

'Oh, Lynn, I am sorry for you,' Gossk sighed.

The dracodile glanced away, taking in the former chattel into his purple eyes. They must have been watching him warily, obvious fear in their eyes. He looked at Sonia, having read the traits hinting at her dominant attitude over the other girls; In other words, she was in charge and would do the commandeering. He took a single step towards her, closing the gap between them quickly.

'Why does this one smell so good to me?' Gossk wondered about Sonia, trying to control his urges.

After a moment of sheer concentration, he growled slightly, albeit he was merely clearing his throat.

"Let us go." Gossk rasped, with a nod, and gestured towards Kalla--or the direction he assumed would lead them there. "Do not stot thor any reason."

'I'm going to eat her if she messes up,' Gossk decided, having found it very hard to put his trust not only in a flying boat, but a mere human thing to control it.

Satisfied that their servants would do their job, Gossk turned to the entrance of the cabin and sighed mentally at its small door frame. He gestured and grunted at Licks, telling her to stay where she was--or at least the general area. The reed cat sought out Sonia as she began to power up the skiff and steered it towards Kalla. Her tail flicked teasingly against the lady's leg.

---

Down below, Gossk observed Tyrael's work in the dimmed light--clearly he was taking care of Lynn. The worry in his mind was then replaced with curiosity as he drew closer and examined Lynn for himself. Gossk said nothing, his eyes scanning every detail of Lynn's body, noting her gills as well. It reminded him of his own, which left a bitter feeling but it didn't linger. Connecting his analysis of Lynn with what Tyrael was doing, Gossk experienced an epiphany. The dracodile remembered then, that Lynn hadn't been holding up well in the desert before he had placed his Far Stride power over her. He could tell that it was still on-going, but he surmised that Lynn's very nature contained an inherent weakness to these types of environment. In other words, despite his buff, she was doomed to fall from the start.

'Wait a minute...' Gossk mused, a bright idea hitting him in the noggin.

If the desert was her enemy biome, then clearly the ocean was her closest ally, Gossk surmised, scratching the chin of his snout with a claw. He glanced around--the cabin was a little small, but it would still work, especially if he didn't pour all of his mana into the spell. He left Tyrael's side then, and observed the details of the cabin's interior--he touched things here and there, on the wall, and such. He nodded, with a grunt.

'This place seems well built. It should contain everything,' Gossk decided, inhaling deeply as he turned to Tyrael.

"I think you should go adothe, uh, outside, at least thor now," Gossk suggested to Tyrael, "I an going to change this roon thor Lynn. It night de, err... un-confortadle thor you."

With his warning uttered, the Dracodile turned towards Lynn and cradled her gently in his arms. She was so small compared to him, that he worried his scales would cut her without him knowing it. Regardless, a chant began to emanate from Gossk, its tone dark and harsh with rasping, guttural syllables. With each repetition, it seemed to become louder, as though Gossk was trying to be precise with how powerful he wanted this spell to be. With the last necessary syllable on the tip of his tongue, the Dracodile ended the upkeep on his Far Stride spell and then unleashed his nefarious Swamp Pit spell.

In the cabin.

The atmosphere in the cabin changed instantly, taking on a cool, moist temperature. Murky and salty water came into existence all around Gossk and Lynn, and Tyrael if he didn't leave, and filled up the cabin. Plants magically appeared and attached to the wood, as though it was ground. Mud and muck lined the outer edges, plastering the walls and ceiling. In short, the swamp pit tried to fill the cabin as much as it could, in the way its area-of-effect could form, but without damaging the cabin outright. The murky water would reach up to the top steps, right below the door that had led Gossk down into the cabin.

In the middle of the 'cabin pit,' Gossk cradled Lynn's body in his lap, much like an adult would hold a sick child. Her body would float a little bit, but he held her down, keeping her close. Despite the eerie murkiness that would make it hard to see, the dracodile's purple eyes glowed with a bright enough light to let Lynn see around her, should she wake and look around. Not that the light would help him see, rather it glowed due to the power of mana being controlled for this 'minor' Swamp Pit. Gossk just hoped that the cool temperature of his swamp pit would revive her quickly, as he felt the swamp was the cousin of the ocean--and for Lynn, he hoped it would suffice.

'This won't count for my life debt,' Gossk decided, puffing his chest with pride and integrity.

The skiff was on the move, and Tyrael did his best to treat Lynn with what he could do. There was some salt tablets that Zastriel found but and some medicine, but he didn't know what they did. They looked like salves you'd use for wounds and some sort of green pill made of herbs, and he wasn't about to try and play doctor. She also found some more water, so Tyrael made sure to hydrate Lynn with both water and a little bit of salt water. While he was treating her he also noticed that she wasn't like any sylve that he's seen before. He didn't really think much of it before since he didn't pay attention to her, but now that they were so close he took notice how her ears. Frankly the tail and horn should've tipped him off too, but he just thought those were part of her dress, not actual parts of her body. But once he noticed all of these features together he realized why she collapsed when she did; this girl was suited for an aquatic environment, not the desert.

Tyrael himself was more suited for a mountain, to deal with higher altitudes and needing sharp eyes, so this vast and largely empty desert took a tole on him as well. One would think that an it would be difficult to miss anything in an open desert but because it's so vast, everything just blends together after a while. He was truly fortunate to have Zastriel to be his eyes, as she was entirely unaffected by the conditions here. But this girl... Tyrael worried if this meager treatment would be enough. He tried to find more water but what they had was meant for drinking, not bathing, and there was no telling how long it'll take to get to Kalla. Tyrael couldn't afford to use up all of their water here to save Lynn. And... He wants to save her. Though she is a stranger, she and Grossk came to his aid for no reason. Frankly, Tyrael was the aggressor trying to rob the slavers, and yet they still aided him. Though Tyrael would not shed a tear if Lynn passes here, he did not want her to die. Which made him all the more frustrated as he could do nothing else.

It was then that Gossk entered the room. What he said to Tyrael didn't make much sense at first, but he assumed that somehow Gossk knew how to help Lynn. Tyrael wasn't sure of their relationship, but presumably he knew Lynn better than Tyrael did. "So be it, Lakur. If you need anything I will be outside." Though Tyrael's pride wanted him to stay by Lynn's side, he knew there was nothing else he could do. However he did have Zastriel, still invisible, stay in the room on a small table. Telepathically he'd command her to watch over Lynn as Tyrael steps out and takes a deep breath. The skiff was moving quickly and the women seem happier with their freedom. Tyrael stood nearby, watching the horizon. Making sure no one else has the bright idea of trying to attack the skiff.

Kistal may not have formal training, but he had enough fights under his furry belt to work well, even against a few opponents. He levered teh fat man up on his spear and gave a leaping dropkick to the body to launch it at the spearmen. As he fell, he planted the butt of his spear and changed his position to land on one hoof after a twirl down the shaft, his other combining with the blades of his spear to draw a circle in the sand, kicking it up into a cloud as he twisted his body into a graceful turn, causing him to end standing on both hooves after completing a surprisingly sultry dance. The cloud of sand kicked up was infused with magic from his dance, and he launched it over the men threatening him. "Sight has its limits, my ignorant dears..."

The hex, referred to as eyebite, would blind foes for a few seconds as the sand attacked their sight. Kistal immediately launched himself into the air with full force, launching him up and over the shielded warrior behind him. With an agile flip and careful positioning, he made himself fall spear first, aiming to impale the man from behind as he landed.

Chihiro, meanwhile had just stowed her spare spears when Hilde ran by her and complimented her. She didn't have enough time to respond before the woman was attacking the gate. So, the naga got a bit witty and teasing to make herself feel better at not getting a response. "Get your beautiful butt back here so I can thank you properly, Hilde!" She was smiling and giggling softly as she set off to sprint up behind the Varuk woman and wait for the gate to be open. Sure, she could jump the gate, but it would use magic she would prefer not to. She spent the short moment of time to draw her fans and also graze her lips across Hilde's cheek as she sinuously wrapped her body around Hilde's side to end up in front of her, ending the display with a wink.

---

Maeve was still a bit confused about the whole situation. While it was clear that Bardus was an enemy, she didn't know about the man named Jeevak. Even though it was clear that Bardus was his subordinate and that Jeevak himself wasn't happy with his actions, Maeve couldn't help but still be a bit wary about the man just for the fact that he was Bardus' master. That said, he did mention he came in peace so even though she didn't fully trust him, she would simply hear him. She was still incredibly exhausted and in no conditions to fight.

The moment Jeevak introduced himself as the King of the Grandis Empire, Maeve couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow. Knowing who he was raised more questions than it answered. Why would a king come to a small town as Kalla? What was so important for him to come in person and what did he want with these grusks?

"I'm Maeve Orzhov. It is an... unexpected meeting, King Jeevak." she replied with a formal bow after he introduced himself, shortly before going in the temple.

"Sahale, are you ok?" Maeve asked, turning towards the man as Sev had already walked away, probably going to the inn or something.

"Jeevak... He is a Grusk as well, isn't he? What could he possibly want here in Kalla to come in person? Why are these two grusks so important to him...?" she said, thinking out loud after confirming if Sahale was fine after being healed by Jeevak.

"I... Should probably go to the inn and rest a bit. Trying to think about all this in the state I'm in right now will probably bring more harm than good..." Maeve said, shaking her head as she sighed, the exhaustion, both physical and mental, finally catching up to her after that burst of adrenaline passed.