As they continued to walk, out of the streets and into the trees, through the brush...along no path in particular, So'kein was already unaware of where they were going. Or rather, she had already forgotten. After she had unwittingly asked about Edward, Maren spoke up rather bluntly.

"Dead." It hit her hard. He continued on through the trees, stumbling foolishly onward, though she hardly noticed. She wondered if they'd at least been able to give the poor soul a proper burial. She thought to ask, but everyone seemed too coldly focused at the moment. They could all feel the impending danger ahead. So'kein could already sense the dark anger that was waiting for them. It was the type of feeling which wrapped around you like a serpent and squeezed, so that you were too scared to move a muscle in case you should hurry its grip.

Clutching onto the black onyx amulet hanging round her neck--it hanged among many other necklaces--she softly began to murmur in elvish:

"Anta vara tel' Seldarine. Ama poldora. Amin sinta thaliolle e' dagor, Aegisess tivis vanwa lye e' dangora." Then she looked on and shook her head. "We're all damned now unless by some act of the gods..." She didn't speak to anyone but herself. And as she looked at each of them, hoping for their survival, even those she didn't know, she recalled what these few had already been through.

And then...they hit trouble. As Marren cussed and jumped into action, the others quickly followed suit. So'kein was near the flank of their group by now, and upon hearing his swearing she quickly sat down her chest leaving Rin to protect it and withdrew her sabre. "Maybe the gods are favored to us...or else maybe we've already been through hell and left to live in this damned life. Gurth goth rim lye!" She cried, as she held her sabre steady and followed the others faithfully. She couldn't abandon them this time.

-

Izaka's lips curled downward at Marren's oration; sensing trouble he couldn't help but grumble: these people were always causing problems. Although he'd been in the lead of the group, he'd failed to notice the group of foes which loomed on the horizon, only too late realizing their rather troublesome placement. But all of that mattered little now, combat had begun and it was time for actions over words. Pivoting on his foot, the warrior immediately made for the left side of the group, arms moving in something of a flurry, sword and axe loosed from their readied positions at his side. The enemy was bunched up, despite their number. If he could get to the side and push from a flank the perceived illusion of being surrounded might put enough pressure of the crossbowmen for them to begin making mistakes.

It took a couple of moments to reach this new position, but once situated the melee commenced. Steel and iron flew, as weapon impacted weapon, sending sprays of sparks and metal shards wayward to the wind. His axe was the first to draw blood, splitting a mercenaries' helmet, then the gauntlet of his comrade. Blood and visceral sprayed against the ground, strained cries of seething agony from his second victim alerting his desired target to the presence of another figure. The crossbowmen turned, their attention drawn away from the first group as they focused on this new attacker, Izaka drawing closer by the moment. A second volley was loosed from the wooden contraptions, bolts whizzing this way and that, one meeting just barely meeting its mark.

Another spray of sparks as the iron bolt slammed against Izaka's breastplate, imparting enough force to physically rebuff the combatant. His feet stilled themselves, body drawing to a momentary halt as he wrestled with the bloodied projectile. Low and on the right side, his skin was covered with fluid, but it'd hit nothing vital; a flesh-wound, thank the goddess. Narrowing his eyes and with an uncharacteristically forceful roar, Izaka rejoined the melee, closing with the bowmen before they could load a third volley.

Maria kept making her way through the bandit camp, leaving the bodies of those brave enough to try and stop her behind. She was determined to make it through and get to the bottom of this, For the first time since what seemed like an eternity, she would meet with a fragment of her past life. She would be able to confront, at least partly, the ghosts that haunted her since fate forced the knight to leave home. A man jumped from the side, ready to strike the woman. Unshakable, Maria parried the attack with ease and counter attacked with a powerful slash at his leg, almost severing it completely while making the man trip over. Before the first bandit even touched the ground, Maria fluently turned around the strike down yet another foe who failed at sneaking up on her. As if nothing happened, Maria immediately went back on her way, leaving the men half dead, moaning in pain.

Once she reached the very back of the camp, Maria realized the leader was nowhere to be found. There was, however, a small trail going deeper into the woods. Maria took it without hesitation, as there were signs that showed someone before her passed through here. Her thoughts were confirm as she reached a smaller clearing with a single person in the very center, facing the knight who just arrived.

''Took your sweet time.'' The stranger said. She was holding a bow, arrow ready, but also had quite a couple of different daggers attached to her leather armor. Maria took position a couple of feet away, facing the girl who just spoke. ''Yet I came. Alone, just like you asked. Why are you doing this?'' The knight answered.

The bandit chief laughed off her question and grinned as both of them began walking in circle to stay in front of each others.

''You know why, you know what happened. It was your fault.''

''You don't have to do this, I accepted my fate.'' Maria said, but seemed to be struggling inside.

''I did not accept mine, and you're to blame for that, Sister.'' Maria remained silent, and her sister kept on going. ''I am here to avenge our parents who died for YOUR crimes, along with the rest of our family. You're a traitor and I can't --''

''Don't you think I was punished ENOUGH?!" Maria yelled from the top of her lungs, actual tears falling down her cheeks. ''They were MY parents, MY family as much as it was yours! I've acted with honor as by following the code that guided my every steps up to this day. Why can't you understand, dear sister...?'' The knight's voice changed from anger to sad, to almost begging. ''I tried...I came back, but it was way too late. It was already done...''

''And then you fled?!'' The archer spitted out, suddenly angry. ''You did not even mourn them, you did not stay to give them proper burial, you've abandoned ME! You are no longer my sister, you're nothing more than a traitor and I'm here to bring justice both to our disgraced family and Cabadra!'' She she spoke her last words, the younger woman let the arrow fly. Maria barely had the time to step aside, causing the arrow to scratch her arm instead. Without losing any time, Maria's sister drew two of her daggers and dashed forward. Maria tried her best to defend herself, but her opponent was faster and ferocious. It proved hard to parry and evade the tempest of blade that rained upon her with such a mighty sword, but Maria managed to break her sister's defenses and deliver a powerful kick to her stomach, making her retreat a couple of steps back, taking her breath.

''I don't want to fight you, sister, Please. I've...lost enough as it is.'' Maria pleaded.
''It was you, all you. It was your fault. Mother...Father...'' She said, almost whispering, but then she looked up to Maria as she began getting closer, slowly. ''...but not just our family, right? Our family were apparently not important enough...I was not important enough. I used to admire you, sister. Your strenght and will were legendary...but as soon as they were executed, you lost it all. You were too much of a coward to put an end to your days yourself so you went on a crazy quest to get yourself killed.'' The more she gave her speech, the more Maria slowed down until she completely stopped, her will to fight utterly destroyed by memories brought back to her. The once mighty knight dropped her sword into the dust and went on her knees.

''You're right...Do what you must...I...can't continue on. Not without them...not without you. Not alone...''

Maria's sister took back her bow and readied an arrow. She walked up to her sister and pulled on the string, aiming straight at Maria's chest.
''I'll put you out of your misery, Maria. By killing you, we'll bring honor back to our family. Farewell, sister...'' She said with emotion. Despite having been through much hardship because of Maria's treason and after growing up understanding she,d have to one day claim her life, she still loved her. Their life pitted against one another, but in the end this was for the best.

Marren cursed as he jumped into the battle. Foolish, but at least it wasn't cowardly. Akira kept the high ground, providing cover fire for the corsair as the mercenary flanked the group. His strategy seemed to work. With the four on the ground and the unseen archer, the bandits imagined themselves surrounded. It seemed at least for a moment that their battle had been won.

Akira used the opportunity to scout the area from the ledge above. Through the camp there laid a path of blood and bodies. Maria Checking back to see that her companions were not dying, she opted to go after Maria. The trail of bodies ended at a path that led out of the camp and into the nearby woods. A clang of swords could be heard farther down the path. Quickly the elf took to the trees. Her footfalls were quiet as she danced across the limbs. The clanging of the swords grew louder but less and less frequent. Finally the clanging stopped. Akira's heart caught in her throat. No. Not another one. Not again. Her pace quickened, her feet fell silent, thoroughly using her elvish heritage to her advantage.

Suddenly the forest stopped. Her eyes widened, and tears brimmed as she saw Maria.The bandit chief's bowstring was held taunt aimed at the former knight. Within seconds Akira's was drawn the same. Images flashed into her mind. First of Mylene falling to her death, an arrow in her neck. She blinked the image away. Next was Wethera dying in her defense. She drew another arrow and cocked it in her bow. "I wont let her kill you" she aimed one arrow at the bandits hand, "and I wont let her live for trying." and the other at her chest. "Another of my friends will not die because of me." She let the arrows fly.

Takeshi swung his staff around to block a strike at his abdomen, the sword flew upwards to the left and Takeshi was able to take a few steps back in retreat from the recovering scoundrel. He looked around to his companions for help, but all seemed heavily involved in fights of there own. Takeshi readied his staff as the scoundrel charged at him again! Backpedaling, a swift body turn and a jab of his staff allowed Takeshi to deflect the scoundrels attack and have him stumble past. Grabbing the lower end of his staff with two hands he heaved a mighty swing from over head to knock the scoundrel unconscious. Quickly scanning the battle grounds he saw Marren being pushed hard by attackers. Uttering a prayer to Ragnorik and Elgar'nan he cautiously came to the aid of Marren, leveling his staff at one of the scoundrels readying to flank him.

Huffing heavy breaths of the hot and humid air, So'kein continued to move forward through the chaos. Her saber dripped with blood. She had already taken down two men. Part of her wondered what had caused such reason for bloodshed, but she had no time to figure it out. As soon as they had arrived, everyone had thrown themselves into battle. It must be something serious. Akira had taken off from the group, she must have seen something...Maria So'kein reminded herself. For a moment, she thought she should follow the woman as well, but then she heard heavy steps. She abruptly looked to her right, as a great bear of a man hurried towards her, his sword raised high.

“Shit.” She quickly turned to the man, and as he pulled his heavy sword down straight above her head. She let out a huff as she tucked her head, dropped down, and just barely managed to roll under the man—between his legs in the wide stance he had taken to heave his broadsword, and she hopped up on the other side. “Damn, you are a tall bastard.” So'kein quickly turned around and plunged her saber through the man's back. He cried out in pain as he dropped his sword, and jerked one arm backwards as the other clutched his stomach near the exit wound. His elbow cracked against her head with enough momentum to throw her off balance, and off her feet.

So'kein fell straight on her ass, barely able to catch herself on her forearms before her head hit the ground. For a brief moment everything spun around her. “Tanya awra!” The large man dropped to his knees and fell face first to the ground. At least she didn't have to worry about him. But her equilibrium was thrown off. As she tried to stand, she felt drunk with dizziness, which was not so good as being drunk with rum. “Damn it by the gods.” Trying to shake it off made it worse. She had to move quickly, she could hear and feel the footsteps all around her. Practically shoving herself up onto her feet, she closed her eyes and drew in a breath. “Sylaise guide my hand.”

Now. She opened her eyes. Everything still seemed to blur around her, but there, in clear vision something like a shadow, another man approached. Quickly ducking the man's blow and drawing her short sword she thrust it into the side of his head. But she had to let it fall with him as another enemy approached. That hadn't been smart. But she wasn't very experienced in this type of combat. She didn't usually piss off an entire encampment of trained soldiers at once. “Fuck.” She ducked out of the way of yet another attack as her vision began to clear, her other senses were still strong. She threw her dagger without a thought, landing it in the man's eye and sinking it into his skull.

But that was it. She didn't carry any other weapons. I've got to get back to my saber. If nothing else, she did have one last trick up her sleeve. Literally. She had to make it worth the risk though. It had to be a big display. So'kein ran up to a group of men, there was at least five of them...way more than she could ever take on at once. She stood before them boldly as they charged and raised her hands towards the air, shaking them just enough to rattle and jingle all of the jewelry which adorned her arms. She half-closed her eyes, murmuring and humming towards the heavens, as the men still moved towards her, though a bit wearily. Just before they reached her she looked straight at them, and let out a shrill sound. “Elgar'nan will curse you all!!” She thrust her hands out towards them. “Kotyaerea kela!” A black smoke seemed to jump into the air from her hands, filling the space between her and the men. As if fell and swirled, it crackled, like little bits of fire magic.

The men ducked and covered their eyes, it was almost too easy to terrify humans with magic...or the illusion of magic. They had no idea she was long gone, running through the bodies to make her way back to her saber. They cried out behind her: “Witch!”

Marren made to parry his attackers blade, and wished he hadn't. He was pushed back with the force of the blow, jarring his arm. He could swear he heard his bones ringing. He stumbled back, sword arm relaxed and near limp when his opponent made another swipe. Marren tumbled away with as much grace as an oaf, crashing into another pirate who was going for one of his companions. Both nearly toppled but Marren steadied himself quicker, lunging upwards with his blade under the pirates armour. The steel slid through skin and flesh with a gruesome squelch. Hearing a yelling behind Marren turned to see his opponent making another go at him.

'Fuck' Was the only thought in his mind, or otherwise his instincts would have made him leave long ago. Instead he stood his ground.

His opponent charged him again sword in the air and a cry on his lips, but he was stopped by none other than the perverted priest, jamming his staff through the mans legs and making him fall into the ground. Marren wasted no time burying his cutlass into the man's neck. With a nod towards the priest he surveyed the battlefield and was surprised to see how many of the enemy were left.

A dozen of them were shrouded in some sort of black smoke, these were the live ones who could still fight. Others lay scattered on the ground dead or dying, the latter's moans and groans of pain seemed silent during the battle. As he was gaining is breath Marren saw the new add-on to their group come out of nowhere and made quick work of the foes still standing.

As the last of the bandits fell Marren made his way towards where Akira had run off to, ignoring the burning pain on his fairly recent wound. He came upon them, the elf, the knight and some random stranger who was peppered with arrows. It took a minute for his numb mind to piece it all together.

“We done?” he asked no one in particular.

A lone figure sat alone on the sandy ground, his chest heaving as tears rolled down his puffy face. A group of pirates had approached him, snarling at the sobbing man. They began to kick and punch him, snarling insults with words and delivering pain with fist. Edward had reverted inward, shrouding his mind with that cloudy grey substance that had forever resided within his left eye. Edward's mind had simply been broken for good. Broken by his mothers death, his father's torture, and peoples cruelty. His mind was torn by Orcs, and magic. But what shattered it, that final push from the edge into that grey murky abyss he had tried to stave off for so long was the loss of So'kein. The elf woman who had shown him such kindness, only to turn on him. The pain the pirates tried to inflict was nothing, minuscule to that of the sort So'kein had decided to inflict onto Edward.

With the body crumbled on the beach, battered, bruised, the pirates began to lose interest. A mist had begun to fall and cling to the sandy bleeding form. The pirate who seemed to be there leader snarled what was to be the last insult this pathetic form of a man would hear as he drew his cutlass and readied his thrust. He was fast, this pirate leader, with gusto and strength he stuck at Edwards chest, confident of his future. With almost all certainty this pirate must have been all but certain of his future, leading his small band of followers. Yes he would surly become rich raiding villages. He would certainly have plenty of woman to rape, getting first go of all the woman they captured. Delusions of grandeur must have followed him, with his band of armed men he could become powerful, more powerful then any other pirate or marauder!

No matter how swift the strike, how hard the thrust, how confident the wielder, He would never allow this body to die. He grabbed the cutlass with his hands and savored the pain as it cut into His flesh. He smiled as that warm oozing liquid pored out of the wound, striking out at it's attacker instead off falling the way gravity intended blood to fall. With four thin spikes of warm blood mixing with the pirates own, all delusions that pirate held to, that lust for power was gone instantly with the arrival of four spikes through his skull. The mist around the other pirates grew heavy as they stood stunned and shocked. There fear would not last long, the one blessing He bestowed upon them. Thin icy stalagmites formed around those other pirates, and were driven into there throats ending there miserable lives far more quickly then what He deemed they deserved.

Getting up he took a look around at that body strewn, destroyed pirate camp. He drew in his blood inside and healed Himself, using Edwards shattered state to secure the boundary's of his control. Now it was his time at last! He knew his destiny, it was no delusion of greatness he held but fact, fact of his strength and power. It would be His day of rule! His time to reign supreme had just begun!

*Thunk* The slaves hands shook so violently it must have been the gods or fate that allowed him to strike the arrow strait through the Demon of a man he had just witnessed. His hands barely held onto the crossbow as he still tried to make sense of the way that thing had killed those pirates. A gasp escaped the man as It turned toward him, pulling the arrow out of It's head and grinning a wicked demonic smile. The slave started to cry out, but nothing came out as blackness took over the dying slave.

Maria, totally unaware of her friends dire situation in the neighboring bandit camp, was still down on her knees looking at the dirt. For the first in as much as she could remember she just felt like giving in, and that was exactly what was happening. Meeting back with her sister and realizing she wanted nothing more than to kill her was like a final strike to her shaking will. She had loved her sister. Among many other important persons in her life, Maria had loved her little sister more than she would admit it to her or anyone else. Her friends might be in danger right now, but Maria was being selfish. She did not want to defend herself and live in order to go save them, she wanted to be done with it, she wanted for her sister to go back to Cabadra as a hero and bring honor back to their family. The knight closed her eyes as she heard the arrow go free...and the noise of pierced flesh as blood splashed on her face and the arrow passed two inches from her face and hit the dirt.

Clicky this only when you are at the part below plz
Yeah. Yeah I am that much of a bitch.

Maria immediately looked up at her sister just in time to notice an arrow land straight in her chest. Maria's eyes widened and she just stood there not able to move, like in shock. The bandit chief dropped her bow and looked down at Maria, a look of confusion in her eyes. She tried to speak, but failed as she dropped down.

''NO!'' Maria shouted as she stood up from her knees to catch her sister. She turned her around, holding her head up and moving her hair out of the way. ''Sister!'' she said loudly enough for Akira to actually hear. ''Please, don't die...not now! Don't die on me!-- DON'T!'' her voice went from desperation to anger in an instant as she closed her available hand in a fist and hit the ground beside her, unable to just keeps such emotions inside. Despite what just happened, she was still Maria's sister...and her anger towards the knight lady was justified. She could not hate her, Maria could never bring herself to it. ''Juliana...Don't leave me alone...'' To that, Juliana raised her hand slowly and reached for Maria's cheek, caressing it slowly. Maria had not spoken her sister's name in years, and that alone brought tears up to her eyes. Before she could even realize it, they were already rolling down her cheeks. Juliana caught one such tear and gave Maria a weak smile before her hand fell back to the dusty ground, lifeless.

It was as if time stopped entirely. Completely pulled away from the world and her surrounding, Maria gave in to a much too long time trying to keep everything inside. She brought her sister's body up and brought her head against her, lamenting and crying what was probably all of the tears left in her body. One would have imagined that such a great warrior would have taken up her sword and went in search of her sister's killer seeking revenge, but the truth was far from such a thing. Much to even Maria's surprise, she simply looked up in the direction the arrows came from and immediately spotted Akira, still holding her bow. Maria was unrecognizable in her current state. Her hair were a mess and her eyes were still flowing out tears that she wasn't able to stop. Emotions raced through her mind when she noticed Akira, but none of it was anger or the need for revenge. She did not try to understand why she did it, how she got here or how guilty she'll probably feel for it. Maria simply had no strength left in her to worry about others.

Utterly destroyed, she pressed her forehead against Juliana's and began rocking herself back and forth, not caring about what Akira, or any of her other companions for that matter, would think if they were to see her like this.

Severed limbs and broken body parts lay strewn in random patterns about the bloody dirt, the calling card of malevolent butchery. The cool gaze of the mercenary met the scene in silence, the faint twinge of a frown staining his features. It didn't have to be this way, the enemy could have retreated, could have recognized their greater skill, but it was not to be. Turning away from the killing field the warrior moved on to more pressing concerns, for the first time acknowledging the tragedy ahead. His frown only worsened into a scowl, mood made even worse by the recognition of Maria's disheveled appearance and of the body she cradled in her arms. Her muffled sobs and nigh-inaudible words gave away the situation, the death of a sister, the burial of yet another body.

Tiny droplets of clear water splattered against the dirt, first in a light drizzle, then, as it grew, into a rising torrent. The dirt turned to mud, ponds forming in the boot-prints of the previous combatants. Another life wasted in the pursuit of some contradictory goal, it was something he'd seen before. Closing his eyes, the mercenary thought back to former days, times long past when the pain of heartache was still fresh upon his soul, the memory of fallen comrades was close enough to feel. Such a fleeting sensation and in that moment he remembered why he'd become the way he had. Why he'd forsworn material attachments and lived only for his own ambition and survival. Emotional ties lead to tragedies like this one, to misfortunes all to real and imminent, better to view the world with unending cynicism than allow oneself the opportunity for further heart-break. There was only one thing left to do now: bury the dead and move on.

With only a nod of acknowledgement, the stranger turned away, distant soul lingering only as second longer on the emotional scene, cold facade broken only long enough for him to recognize he no longer wanted any part in the proceedings. "I'll find a shovel." His words were drained, harsh, biting. Departing the group, the warrior picked out a suitable spot, one in the shade of some large and unmarked tree and with the aid of one of the bandit's camp tools he began the process of over-turning mud and mortar, creating a sizable hole in which the bodies of the departed could be interned now and for eternity.

Blood poured from the large man's chest and slowly began to seep into the soil as So'kein withdrew her Saber from his limp body. She had been quick to collect up her weapons. Then when she took a moment to look around, it was suddenly all over. Bodies lay all around them. Their group had suffered wounds from the men, she knew, even the first solider she had confronted managed to slash his blade across her arm to leave a fairly deep cut. Yet, despite the wounds she and her companions had taken, overall, it had been a massacre. Those men should have never drawn their swords. She turned, as the others went on to find Maria, So'kein knew she would be of better use to them all if she retrieved her chest of medicines first.

When she arrived back at the edge of the clearing where she had left Rin in charge of the chest, a drop of rain fell upon her nose. Then, the clouds began to weep heavily as the heavens poured. She looked on at the scene. From this high up she could see the group off in the distance. She could see the camp, and all of the bodies. "Rest your souls now, for you fought bravely, and we--not you--are the damned." For a brief moment as the rain fell from the sky, a beam of sunlight fought through the dense clouds, and shined down upon the lost souls, as their blood mixed with rain and soil.

She gasped at it and quickly shoved Rin off of the chest to rummage through it a moment. The little fox huffed and then yawned. Though he was a bit agitated, he was used to his master throwing him around by now. So'kein quickly shut the chest and turned to rush back down to the camp. "Rin, bring that to me!" She called behind herself.

The heavy rainclouds fought to choke out the last bit of light. But before it did, she dropped to her knees. Right in the midst of it all, she knelt down to collect a jar full of the blood, rain and earth, which had been touched by the sunlight. "Let it not be in vein." Softly she prayed an old elven prayer of rest for the dead, which her grandmother had taught her a long time ago. Then she stood and turned to join the others. Rin struggled along behind her, dragging the chest by one of its handles until she picked it up from him. "Thank you dear." She mumbled to the fox as her eyes fell upon the scene.

Maria sobbed, and held dearly onto the dead body of a woman whom So'kein did not recognize. By the similarity of their features and the way the woman mourned, she knew it must me someone of blood relation. It was, in honest truth, a moment which made Maria look very weak, compared to her usual hard-hearted nature. Yet, because it was the only time she had ever seemed to show any weakness, it was also a moment which made her beautifully human. It was a raw moment. A silent moment. And So'kein could feel the weight of it, which she was fairly certain had touched them all.

The Blood. The Sweat. The Soil. The Rain. The Tears. This was the battle. This was their lives.

The sun was shining with wisps of cloud floating in the air, traversing through clear blue skies. It was quite frankly welcome weather after a few days of dreary rain that soaked the village and everything under the sun. It took the better part of last night next to the fire to get Marren's boots dried. His coat was still a bit damp.

He looked over at the rest of the party and held back a sigh. They were quite a sorry site, better than when they came in, but still quite ragged. The worn clothes, the bandaged wounds, and that was only on the outside. Gods only know about what was going on in the inside. But at least they weren't in a life or death situation. At this moment anyway. Marren checked over himself and found much the same with the bottom of his coat was showing tears and mud caked, his left upper arm still in a bind that the perverted “healer” oh so reluctantly tended to.

Still, they were alive and that was what mattered.

“Ready to head out?” He called to them, standing in front of the open gates.

After an undefined amount of time

Kantonia, Elven Capital

The group approached the gates of the elven city which looked familiar enough as a port city to the Corsair, but it held an Elven touch that humans simply did not have. The walls were made of hard stone with towers inter spaced from end to end, that was familiar enough. The gatehouse was even impressive, painted in brown or made out of some kind of rock that, from a distance, was made to look like wood. On it were painted figures of great white horses as if they were running into the city. However, beyond Marren could make out great shapes, trees, gigantic, huge trees that seemed to cover a section of the city within. They seemed impossibly tall, their branches stretching out and covering a large area.

Huge banners were hung over the battlements and flapped in the wind, a rearing white horse on a green background. The emblem of the Kantonian Royal Family.

He turned to the group as the stopped outside the tall gates “Well” He started “To the inn?”