After some searching, Leith was able to find a door to the warehouse. Set in the alleyway between two stacks of boxes. Leith made himself comfortable beside one of those stacks. As he waited for instructions from Ssarak, thoughts of the chase came back to him. He had so quickly run out of breath as he chased after the thief, and because of that, he wasn't able to follow after Lyn. She had nearly fallen to the street below. If there hadn't been anyone else there to save Lyn, there would have been no way for him to reach her, and it would have been his fault if she got seriously injured, or even killed.
Leith grit his teeth. This made it three times, now, that Leith had had a hand in the safety of Lyn. Two of those times he had failed. It did not paint a good picture about his ability to protect those he cared about. He sighed. Now was not a good time to think on such things. With a bit of effort, he pushed his worries to the back of his mind. Back to the task at hand. Ssarak had once again contacted them with a plan. With nothing else to do but wait, Leith took to examining the patterns of the grain on the door.
Darius Jura
Darius glared down at the guard, ready to slap the crossbow down if the man continued on his line of thought in shooting the unconfirmed group of people. But nothing needed to be done. The guard lowered his crossbow and unloaded it. Soon enough it was clear that it was the students abducted by the rebels. Darius smiled and slapped the man on the back. "Good choice. Remember, you are on watch to protect the city and her people. You do neither if you end up harming the people you were supposed to protect." With that, he left to regroup with the others.
Once they had been all caught up and patched up, they were taken to have dinner with the new King of Yarosmere. The man looked at each of them before asking his question.
"I imagine the College has questions about my reign."
Darius gave the man a deep nod before speaking.
"Something like that. It is not often a new nation is formed from beneath an existing one. Can you tell us how that came to be?"
” There was no way that this incident was random. The fucking thing was pre planned. We were exactly where they wanted us.” The young woman remarked as her figure shifted her weight. A finger reached into the bag tied to her outfit, dragging a crimson tinted object from it, and placed it into her mouth. This action was soon repeated in the same manner making the favor a bit more strong. A sure sign that the blood candies weren’t quite as strong like they had been. ” The thief was after that box is what we do know. Question is what is inside our little piece of cargo?” She quietly mumbled out loud.
The woman glanced upwards at her comrades, towards the two rings which laid in wait on her fingers, to the door Ssarak was fiddling with, and back to the rings. The green gem on one of the rings seemed to attract her red eyes.Mental plans and scenarios running through her mind. ” I might have an idea but I need you all to listen. Ssarak ask Leith where he is. If he’s anywhere near the enemies then ask the guy if he can make a distraction without getting hurt. Lyn, sweetheart I need you to make some plant dummies and place them around this door.” She said with a sweet smile while whispering before addressing the dragon.
” Ssarak once you get down there make sure to keep them busy. Right now I have a few advantages on hand. I’ll see if I can’t take them out quietly.” Without another word Keri went into hunting mode. Just at the edge of her perch she spoke the world into the ring. Once the vampire’s figure was cloaked she jumped down, using the blunt end of her sword to knock one guy out that had traveled towards her area, or at least it seemed like it. When another person came towards her the woman repeated the action hiding the bodies behind some crates and entered in from the back.
” Alright boys and girls. Time to make these guys regret stealing from us. Do your best to just knock these jokers out. I don’t want any blood spilt if it can be helped.”
"To review, we're going to beat you so you're not considered traitors by the crown, ensure that any disguises you need are in place so you don't get revealed and killed, and be on hand if everything goes to an absolute disaster and you need to get out of the palace as fast as possible. Any questions or requests?"
E'nasha sighed silently before shaking her head. This was going to turn out okay, right? Obviously it was well-thought out and, well there wasn't much else they could do. She went along quietly as they got the 'cosmetics' out of the way before the group was portal-ed to the desert sands in front of the Castle.
They landed in a pile, and E'nasha was pretty much trapped by the others around her until they all started getting up. The pressure of the other's bodies on top of her own made her aches just that much worse. The beating she received for authenticity sake seemed to also have been a release for the Sand Cobras' anger as much as a ruse to her now. She got up as soon as she could, apologizing to those around her as she crawled out of the pile.
"Even in the night the ground, it is uncomfortable. Why would people choose to live here."
As she stood, she heard Baulder speaking, probably to himself, but answered his question anyway. She walked beside him towards the castle gate as she spoke. "Some live here because they have no choice, others stay because this is where their family is. It's not that bad once you get used to the heat, most of the hard things about living in a desert are made easier over time." She used to live here, she would know... but this place wasn't the same as it was in her childhood. Too much had changed with the rise of the new king... she wasn't sure she wanted to come back anymore.
The gate opened as they approached, and the group was rushed by the other half of the college students as they were taken inside the castle. El'kan hugged E'nasha as soon as he saw her, and even though he asked a million questions she stayed quiet for now, only hugging him back. Aramir waved off the guards as they tried to take the new arrivals to the infirmary, and E'nasha thanked her quietly as they were all then led to a courtyard and patched up a little by the other students.
"Friends! I'm so glad that you're alive, but absolutely disgusted that the Resistance would disgrace us by treating you in such away. You have my word that we will find and destroy them. There will be nothing left of those cowardly fools but ash and blood by the time we are done."
E'nasha flinched as Yolin's voice rang out over the courtyard. The man was dangerous, she knew that much from what the others had said happened after she was pulled through the shadow portal at lunch, and she'd really been hoping to stay as far away from him as possible now they were back. Luckily, he clapped his hands and continued way too cheerily for someone who'd just promised to kill an entire group of people. Dinner was ready, and it's time to meet the king.
E'nasha sat between El'kan and Baulder at the table, and began filling her plate with the familiar foods laid out before them. She pointed out a few of her favorite things to Baulder as well, even though she knew he'd probably end up trying them all by the end of the meal. The king sat to the group's right, though in her mind he didn't look regal so much as like a rogue. He had long dark hair and a sharp nose, a square jaw and piercing blue eyes. He was a pretty man, but in her mind he was still nothing like she had imagined the king would be. While she was pondering this in her mind the king spoke to them, and Darius was quick to answer.
"I imagine the College has questions about my reign."
"Something like that. It is not often a new nation is formed from beneath an existing one. Can you tell us how that came to be?"
Before the king answered, she spoke up as well. "I have a more personal question, if you'll indulge me your highness. We may have been told this before, but what is your birthname?" As far as she knew, a person's name also told of where they were from. It'd be kinda cool if she could guess his hometown, if he had one.
She held in check her joy at having actually done something right this time. But only mostly. A little, smug smirk crossed her face as she prepared another small volley. She knew she shouldn't over tax herself, but if fire was what hurt them, and as far as she knew she was the only pyromancer in the group, then she had to do it. She watched the creature she'd injured as it geared up to pounce at Athalus. This time, she'd be more direct. The fire that she held in her hand she shot at its face, letting the older man use that as a distraction for getting him with his blades.
She glanced around quickly, doing a check of their classmates and somewhat friends. Where the fuck is what's his face? , she thought, a second of worry creeping in. She might not like him, or trust him really, but he seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on. And she'd like to make it out of here alive, so she was going to need him.
“Darell?” she called before she spotted what she thought was him not to far away with one of the tentacle beasts coming at him. “Shit,” she murmured heading towards them quickly and as quietly as possible. She was already starting to feel the effects of using her magic, but the adrenaline of this whole thing would at least keep her upright for a while more. Just hopefully long enough to make it back to the relative safety of the surface.
“Hey ugly,” she called to the beast, knife in hand, a tingle of flames in the other. “Why don't you try me on for size?”
"Do not worry, I can create a sufficient distration for all of you. Just be ready to attack quickly, and decisively." Ssarak telepathically responded to Keri, as well as the rest of his allies.
In the moments it took for his allies to get themselves into position, Ssarak made sure he was ready to fulfill his own role. He agreed with Keri that he was not looking to kill anyone at this point. Although, crippling injuries were not out of the question. He took his blade and turned it around, then activated the rune to shape it into the form of a hammer, distributing its mass appropriately. It would be much easier to deliver non-lethal blows with a blunt weapon. Lastly, Ssarak created a small illusion on himself to make the parts of his scales that were visible appear white, as if he was of the Lux mageblood.
Finally, after giving his allies enough time to be ready, Ssarak put one hand on the hatch and sent another telepathic message to his friends. "Okay, be ready. Three, two, one, go!"
Giving up any semblance of subtlety, Ssarak practically ripped the hatch off of its hinges as he forced it open and dropped inside, using his unfurled wings to slow his descent. He did not know exactly what he was dropping into, so he had to make several judgments quickly to improve his own safety. His first priority in the seconds he had to observe while he was descending was to pick a reasonable location to land. Given the tight spaces without much room to maneuver, the best option he saw was to land with his back to a tall stack of crates so that he could not be easily surrounded.
Once on the ground, Ssarak quickly took in as much of his surroundings as he could. It was dark, but he did have keen eyesight, and he could see that there was movement heading towards him. With his shield in hand, he took up a defensive posture behind it and prepared to protect himself, while also trying to quickly identify every threat he could. Ssarak had made himself as obvious of a target as he could in order to allow his allies the opportunity to surprise the thieves.
At Ssarak’s signal, Meirin bursted through one of the windows. She relied on Ssarak to provide a distraction as she moved in with her weapon ready to strike down any foe. This thief was no ordinary robber; his skills and agility told her that he was at least a professional, possibly even an assassin. She wouldn’t be surprised considering the things they ran into when they go to Djarkel. And the fact that they went after a specific package, an important one no less, made it too obvious to Meirin that this was the work of someone working from the shadows. And if that was the case, than these thieves wouldn’t be alone.
Meirin had only managed to grab her monk’s spade from the carriage, though she had a couple of star knives on her too. She took out two of them and looked for any foe trying to hide to foil their sneak attack. Meirin herself hide within the shadows of the building, taking full advantage of Ssarak’s distraction and everyone else coming in at the same time. ”I’m inside. How many enemies do you see Ssarak?”
Darell closed his eyes, bracing for the pain that would follow and tried to scramble back before he lost his grip. The beast’s tentacles reached for him just when two fireballs shoot out at the creature’s side. It screamed inhumanly while smoke flew off its hide, searing many dark tentacles and catching the beast’s attention. Taking the chance presented, Darell pushed himself upward. His foot reached and tried to find purchase, only to slip back down and nearly caused him to lose his footing.
“Shit!” He cursed again.
The Uth that Helena hit wasn’t quite down as it turned its attention onto her. Jaws snarled and snapped, drool dripped from its maw at the treat nearby. Thump! The beast felt the decay magic spread rapidly from its wounds as it snaked through its system. It screamed and tried to claw out the blade only to topple then die.
Drake’s, however, was a bit more durable. It took the hit and shook itself, before dropping the man’s foot as he back peddled away. Baring teeth, its hooves clattered across the floor and charged toward Althalus.
~Althalus~
Athalus’ Uth growled then lounged. Its tentacles smacked across the front of itself to shield its body and its maw clamped down on Athalus’ hand with his remaining dagger.
Uncovering Shadows
Lyn, Hysteria (Djarkel)
Lyn bit her lip. She thought a moment, considering the request and her own abilities limits. Her arms wrapped about herself as she thought back to her lessons. In theory it was possible that she could protect him by using her plants. Mostly if she focused on it solely and wasn’t interrupted, but she worried her skill level was far lower than she had hoped. In addition, the window above would have to remain open in order for her to be of any use at all. If Ssarak got hurt, not only would Mei kill her, but she would be responsible for it. Lyn inhaled as she shrugged the worry off.
The fight was likely to be most difficult. Especially since she doubted they would simply surround and allow themselves to be arrested, at least if they were good thieves. She had a hard enough time in sparring matches with her god father, could she actually take a life in cold blood let alone in self defense? A childish, naive part of her didn’t want to learn. Not speaking for several more moments, she let the others speak in her silence.
She flinched at Keri’s irritation as the vampire snapped at Ssarak, insisting it wasn’t preplanned. When Keri turned to her then asked if she could make some plant dummies and place them around the door, Lyn nodded that she could.
“I can, and also I can support from up here. Through the main issue is the hatch because leaving it open will expose me and if any of them have any long distance weapons, that could an issue,” she admitted and voiced her worry. Instinctively she pulled her seeds, what was left of them, from her belt. She took a single seed then pulsed her magic through it. The seedling began to sprout before it formed a Y shape and strung a small, rubbery vine between the two top points. It was a crude slingshot for the moment but it would do for her purposes.
Lyn frowned at Ssarak when he stated he could create enough distraction for all of them causing her eyebrow to raise. Not figuring this was the time to argue, she moved into position near the hatch. She readied her weapon as she looked to the Esyire to lead the assault. When his count hit go, Lyn pulled back her first seed then readied her aim.
-Within the Warehouse-
Everything was silent. Boxes piled on top of each other creating haphazardly towers about the stone floors, providing excellent cover for those within. Light poured in from the overhead hatch and illuminated the Esyire to all those present. Everything seemed bizarrely silent for the warehouse which one might question of the students actually were correct in their assumptions that the thief had come here.
Several things happened at once.
A weight on chain came flying out of the nearest shadow to Ssarak’s back. It was aimed at the Esyire’s joint where the wing and back connected, intending to cripple him. Any attempts to grab would be retaliated on for certain. A inkling, if the assault’s mind was being read, would reveal another Esyire who was older, faster and had a knack for Nox magic at the novice level. Through it was unlikely his magic could reach the same level as the other students, it was still likely to be crippling should he use his breath.
Meanwhile, Lyn leaned out to shot the seed from her sling-shot. Her eyes narrowed and focused on the Esyire whose movement revealed himself, only to hear the twang of a crossbow release. It came from the far side of the room where the deepest shadows were. A place where Meirin had likely hidden herself upon entering the building.
“Shit!” Lyn cursed out loud, her figure jerked back to attempt to avoid the arrow. The seed, on instinct, bursted in her hand and immediately hardened into bark causing the arrow to embed into the surface. Frightened and surprised, the hybrid landed back on her ass end with a heavy thump right when the hatch slammed shut. It would take her several moments to get it back open, but at least she would be safe from attacks for the time.
When the hatch slammed shut, there was shuffling in the shadows where the arrow came from and already the man was busying reloading a new shot. It was unlikely he would remain where he was when he fired again so the students better move fast.
Leith had noticed one issue with the door while he waited. The hinges had been horribly maintained and were now rusted. They would make a terrible noise if he opened the door. By the time Ssarak contacted him to go in, he had come up with a solution. With a grasping motion, he started pulling water from the air. When he had enough he split the collected water into two spheres and sent them towards the hinges. When Ssarak said go, Leith clenched his hand into a fist and had the spheres envelop the hinges. He forced the water into the crevices and hoped that it would work.
The door gave a long, quiet squeak as it opened, but Leith figured it was quieter than it would have been, and definitely quieter than the sound of breaking glass opposite him in the warehouse. He quickly pulled himself inside and shut the door behind him. He quickly used one of the stacks of boxes as cover as he tried to get a glimpse of the robber. Instead, he heard the sound of a heavy chain. He caught sight of Ssarak, with white scales oddly enough, about to be hit by said chain. He was too far away to do try and stop the chain, but he might be able to stop the assailant.
Taking a deep breath, Leith focused on sensing liquid. He held his hand out in front of him as he pushed his focus into the darkness behind Ssarak. The warehouse had a damp atmosphere and it made it difficult to find what he was looking for. After a few moments, he found it.
A heartbeat.
Quietly, he made his way towards the pulsing liquid. A plan started forming in his mind. He'd sneak up behind this person, and use his gauntlet to hurl one of the many boxes in the warehouse at them. He was nearly there, just a few more steps and he could-
Leith tripped.
He had been focusing too much on the heartbeat and didn't see the coil of rope in front of him. A quiet curse left his mouth moments before he clattered to the ground loudly. The air rushed out of him in a whoosh. He really hoped that he hadn't been heard.
Veretu was moving at a steady speed through the air. His wings allowing him to fly rather then travel by foot as many would be forced to do. He looks relatively tired as he flew, as if he hadn't slept much. The likely reason was the small black demon he was holding in his arms as he continued to fly. His hawk shaped dragon wings giving him some speed, but he still had to move them in order to fly correctly. As he drew nearer to his destination his expression changed to one of determination and with some changes in his flight pattern he moved to land.
As Veretu landed he dropped the black cat and swiftly strode toward the entrance of the twilight college. The cat padded quickly to veretu and kept pace beside him. Black tail curling into a sort of question mark shape as the walked. Veretu stopped outside the gates and seemed frozen there. His eyes filling with a sort of nervous anxiety he held for the idea of going to this place. He inhaled and looked down at salem who gave him a puzzled The hell are you waiting for expression. Steeling himself he looked back forward and rolled his shoulders before entering the place.
Salem meanwhile somehow managed to turn his walk into one filled with sass that should not be possible for a creature smaller then a human, his head tilting upward while his steps managed to add the imagery of a sass filled hip sway. How the demon managed this was a mystery in and of itself. Veretu meanwhile walked swiftly and silently in order to not attract attention to himself. Rather hoping that all the attention would go to the sass filled demon feline and stay off of him. His wings curled into a half circle around him as if creating a barrier between himself and the rest of the world. Salem just rolled his eyes toward the weaver that walked like a nervous puppy.
Veretu had no idea who he would be meeting. Or if he would be even able to say anything when meeting anyone. Hopefully they were okay when him arriving at this time.
Elise was walking along the path to reach the Twilight College. She was nervous in going to a place with tons of new people to meet and made her walk a bit slower than normal. She was pacing herself to make sure she wasn’t going to get exhausted. ”I-I w-want t-to l-learn… more complex stuff...,” Elise thought to herself, with a slight nervousness to her movement. She raised her head to see if she was any closer to the Twilight College and she saw it in the distance. She opened her mouth in shock and awe, it was imposing but it was in a permanent twilight and it was beautiful.
Elise was walking at quicker pace to reach the entrance of the Twilight College. Her curiosity made her mind wander in what she was going to see in it. She didn’t want to run since she would probably trip on her own two feet and fall on her face. It took her about fifteen minutes to reach the entrance of the Twilight College and stared at the gates for awhile since her nervousness was getting to her. ”I-I’m n-nervous…,” Elise thought to herself, with her sight onto the college’s entrance. Her nerves were on edge and started to walk into the entrance, and noticed someone walking ahead of her. Her curiosity got the better of her and wondered how long this person arrived at the college, before her. She had a gentle smile on her face, and noticed something that caught her attention, a black cat keeping up with the man she noticed.
Elise’s eyes brightened up and tried to hold in her excitement at seeing a kitty cat that was adorable. She was nervous around others, but wasn’t really paying attention to where she was walking and tripped on her own two feet and fell on the surface of the ground. ”O-Owwie…,” Elise said, blushing and embarrassed for falling on her face. She slowly got up off the ground and dusted herself off and carefully walked and paid attention to her surroundings this time around.
She was impressed with the school’s grand scale over her hometown of Cander Village. She glanced at the person in front of her and she could see black bird like wings and this made her interested. ”H-Hi s-sir, y-you h-have a-a n-nice k-kitty c-cat,” Elise conveyed her voice loudly, towards the one in front of her but she was stuttering and was blushing at the same time.
Having placed the crates at his back, Ssarak could focus on his front and sides. He had knowingly placed himself in the middle of the enemy, so he knew he would have to place his focus solely on defense for the time being. For the entire time he was landing, he had been identifying every individual he could. Once his allies were in the fray, he would be free to join them in a counterattack.
It was plain to see those in front of him. He could see where they were, and could estimate how long it would take for them to sprint at him, if they were so inclined. As such, he knew he could take a quick glance around at any other threats. The room was dark, but just for a moment, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and being a soldier, Ssarak reacted. He rotated around his shield to try and deflect or absorb any incoming threat, and faced himself such that he put his armor to its best use.
Ssarak had made himself appear white-scaled, like an Esyire of Lux mageblood. Pushing his hand forward, Ssarak unleashed a wave of illusory flames all around him. The “attack” was short-ranged, and intended to deter too many of his opponents from approaching him at once. Not to mention, it would obscure the vision of any ranged threats.
The King looked at Darius, smiling slightly. "It came about very simply, Darius. The people were tired of being pinned beneath a caste system that afforded luxuries to those on the top and gave nothing to those on the bottom. The people were tired of monsters being allowed to live in our lands. The people were tired of uncaring gods ignoring their pleas and letting the injustices continue. The tinder was all there. I just provided the spark that burned the rotted corpse of the old Yarosmere to ash. The Sand God protects all of his children, unlike the so-called Gods that are worshipped across Tiien. There are a few elements that cling to the old ways, but on the whole Yarosmere is better off." He merely tilted his head at E'nasha. "Personal indeed. Before I became the Prophet, and eventually The King, I was A'dul. Born in a small, starving, village farther towards the cost."
The King's eyes suddenly took a far away look, and his lips began moving silently as if he was talking to himself. Aramir began to feel uneasy, shifting her seat backwards. The King began to be more animated, energetic in his quiet muttering. He appeared to be arguing silently with someone, before his shoulders slumped. He looked at them with steely resignation in his eyes, the air of someone about to do something they had too. "Grab your stone." Aramir muttered to whoever could hear her. She really didn't like this.
"As much as I would enjoy continuing this conversation, the God has spoken to me." Aramir shifted her seat back even farther. "Grab your stone." She repeated, louder. The King stood, making a proclamation. "The College is no longer welcome in Yarosmere. You will be killed on sight, and I see and control everything in this country." "Grab the stone!" Aramir shot to her feet as the King lifted his hand. Rather than ordering the guards to kill them, however, he merely lightly gestured. Everyone in the room, excluding the College students and Yolin, froze in place. "You will be killed if you try to challenge me." Everyone drew a knife or similarly bladed object, putting them to their necks. "Someone activate their stone!" Aramir cried out, drawing her bow, as Mar hissed at the King, fangs bared.
The King's face twisted with hatred, quickly mastered. "You brought a monster in my presence, cleverly hidden. I see now, why the God warned me of you. If you return, you will die. And you will die by your own hands." He dropped his arm down in a chopping motion, and everyone obeyed, slicing their throats in perfect unison. Yolin idly stepped back, avoiding a spray, even as he began to move towards Mar. He stopped as Aramir's bow was trained on him. "For the love of the gods, someone use their stone!"
The King's eyes were cold and merciless. "Flee. I will not give you this chance again."
Darius watched silently as the situation in front of him unfolded. He stood up once the king had. He grimaced as the snow elf repeatedly mentioned the stone. Maybe it was because he had become desensitized to death and wasn't shocked by what happened, or maybe because he had been a part of a few negotiations that had gone south and ended in a bloodbath, but he could understand what the king was doing. A show of power to demonstrate his strength, and to show the College that he is not someone to be trifled with.
Darius laid a hand on Aramir's arm as she aimed the her bow at Yolin and shook his head slightly, glancing around the room at the people slowly dying. "There is no need for that," he said calmly. Panicking here would do no good. He looked to the others and jerked his head towards the door. "Lets go. Nothing can be gained from staying here." He was ready to drag Mar out of the room if she refused to move. He gave a respectful nod to the king before he left through the doors.
Once the doors were closed, Darius quickly lead the others back to the room where they waited for the feast. It was empty, but Darius doubted it would be like that for long. Once inside, he closed the doors and barricaded them. He then turned to the others.
"Now would be a good time to use one of those stones."
Augustus, as usual, was on patrol upon the College ramparts. He had been with the college since his early years and chose to remain a novice. Despite this, his ability with magic earned him a position as a guard and he proudly served within the place that had helped him. Free of war corruption, the college brought a sense of peace he hadn’t had in years. At the sound of two individuals approaching, his head popped over the rampart’s wall. His eyes narrowed, silently judging the pair, before his figure pulled back and gestured for the gates to open. Several volunteer soldiers began to push small, primitive cranks causing the rope to jerk taunt before the doors rumbled wide to allow the two students in.
His head turned to the youngest man near him and newest to the guard, “Jonny, git down thar and git Val, now.”
The thin, twig like individual saluted then darted down the ladders and stairs onto solid ground. He bolted toward the fires within the black smithing area just as Val managed to wrap up her last lesson for the day. Covered in soot and frowning, her eyes turned to Jonny. The boy was clearly winded by his quick trip, his figure half bent and huffing for breath, he finally straightened up at her words.
“Oi! Wat ye want?”
“Now arrivals…,”Jonny took a moment to pant then continued, “At the gate…”
“Aye, wat important about it?”
Jonny stared at her, shocked. Did she not understand his own reason to rush over here? The question bore into his skull as he tried to think what else to say, namely without being rude or getting a sound cuff over the ear by a thick hand. “I-I… ummm…. Aren’t you going to greet them?”
For a moment, the stout, dwarven woman glared annoyingly at him. It seemed she was about to cuff him for his arrogant words before she broke down into a chuckle, her face cracking into a warmer expression. Carefully she set the last of the scrap steel into the fire’s coals and gestured for her student to take over. She pulled off the gloves, the hammer placed down and began to walk out of the forge. Still covered in black soot, she casually began to approach the newest additions to the College.
When the weight on the back of the kusarigama bounced off Ssarak’s shield, the Esyire snarled in irritation and pulled his weapon back against his leg. He had positioned himself perfectly to get a jump on the larger creature as he predicted either him or the vampire would’ve risked coming into their lair. The place around them was too low to fly to their full capabilities and even their movement was limited by the close clusters of materials stored here. Taking this in account, the older Esyire didn’t toss his weapon a second time. Instead he readied himself to go on the offensive.
As the ‘flame’ erupted from Ssarak’s hand, an amulet that hung by the Esyire’s neck glowed a deep purple. Upon it was several runes that Ssarak, due to his time with Val, could easily tell were connected to Rune Magic and possibly to his illusion magic. However, it was difficult to tell until he could examined the item at a closer range. A smirk spread across the opposing Esyire’s muzzle. His figure straightened up just when the fire passed through him, failing to faze him at all.
“You’re going to have to learn some new tricks, mage,” he snarled then inhaled, a thick, green smog pushed from his snout into the direction of Ssarak. The breath was impossible to see through while it filled a quarter of the small warehouse (19 ft estimate). If it made contact, Ssarak would feel queasiness wash over him and an intense urge to vomit would overwhelm him.
Assassin one (Wood Elf) to his left closest to Leith and Mei
Assassin two (Esyire) to his right direction and nearest the corner
Assassin three (Naerse Human-sniper) across the room farthest from where Ssarak entered at
Assassin four (Orc) outside building, and heading toward the roof
Assassin five (Naerse Human-stolen box) edging out toward an exit and walked into Keri’s direction.
~| Leith & Meirin |~
A female with a petite figure had heard Leith’s tumble onto the floor. As his feet tripped, the rope tangled about his legs and ensnared him further than he might’ve originally expected. They tightened to prevent him from moving about easily like ropes often did. The thief grinned then smirked. She rose to her feet from her crouched down position with her trident in hand and casually walked toward the downed student. She hefted the weapon upward, the end pointed directly at his throat and head, before she slashed downward.
Behind her, the sniper with the crossbow was already notching another bolt into his weapon then jerked it upward. His eyes narrowed and finger pulled to aim it directly at Meirin. The bolt promptly left the weapon as he scrambled to find some appropriate cover.
~| Keri |~
When Keri went to pop the individual she found, her hand didn’t hit exactly as she planned. Somehow, the man knew she was there. Either by her own actions or the alarm within the warehouse, his figure shifted to the side causing her sword handle to pop upon the meaty section of his shoulder rather than the head. As her arm pulled it back, he lowered himself and swung the chest. Its side clipped at the nearest side of her knees unless she moved back against the door. Not wasting any time or seeing if the attack hit, the man’s hood dropped in his movement to face her. A bald head literally tattoos caught the sunlight for a brief moment.
She would immediately remember him as the thief that took off with the chest in the first place. His expression folded into a smirk and his hands plopped the chest down in front of him, his arms now free of any burden. His left foot pulled back into a ready stance while his right arm pulled forward and became a fist. His other readied at his side really to react to any aggression.
“You and your friends,” his tone held a smug and cocky tone in each word, “should never have followed. Now you will not live to see another day!”
~| Lyn |~
“Shit, that hurt,” Lyn groaned.
Her figure sat up, rubbing her rump’s sore spot, as she looked at the hatch. It had fallen close and seemed to have snapped shut. She frowned in irritation and began to pull herself upon her knees. Reaching out her arms, she used her hands to examine the frame. Once more she felt for the small catches along the sides in order to jerk it up and help her allies. Her fingers dug into the wooden. Just when she jerked upward, several small splinters caught underneath her scales and dug into her hands. She jerked back with a painful hiss causing her to examine her palms. Several wooden pieces had found purchase within her flesh and drew a frown at them. Picking a few out, she muttered one or two of her father’s favorite curse words then readied herself for another round.
Thump!
She froze in place. The thump happened again causing her eyes to drift to the side and notice the source. A heavy breathing followed by another loud thump held Lyn’s attention to the side.
A large, orcish woman had finally made her way upon the roof. She smiled in a toothy grin, her hands pulled her two machetes from her belt and bolted forward. Lyn’s eyes widened at seeing the height nearly match her own godfather's as the thief’s granite voice rang out in amusement, “Lookie wat Ah found! Come ‘ere and let me split ye down te middle!”
“Oh no...” Lyn said as she rolled to the side, the machete’s blade hitting where she had been moments ago.
While the others asked questions and faked being friendly, Mar quietly sat at the table. Her eyes narrowed on her food and barely touched it while the conversation happened around her. Even if she was hungry, it was very unlikely she would’ve brought herself to feast at the same table as someone who had nearly brought her race into extinction. The food seemed to lose it appeal at the thought. Quietly she scanned the room at the various guards stood around, alert and ready, her tension unable to ease itself. She had been like it since the medical examination. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noted her oddities but it was only a matter of time.
At the mention of monsters, Mar’s head jerked about to face the self entitled King of the New Yarsomere lands. Her eyes narrowed in obvious disgust at his statement as the Naga had made the desert their home far longer than any of the Yarsomere people had. If any race had a right to live here more than anyone, it was hers.
Mar heard Aramir but didn’t listen to her continual shouting. Her skin bubbled in tension causing her scales to ruffle and her figure to straighten upright, her expression twisted slightly into apprehension. Every instinct within her was coiled like a spring trap ready to break with the scene’s progression. Heat from her rage burned within her, the sensation raced along her insides and boiled her patience away. Their little diplomatic attempts had completely failed and now their lives had been threatened. It was the last straw for Marya. Her lips parted as fang shot out, erupting from the back and gave her a feral appearance. A long hiss rattled from the back of her throat in warning. Mar already jerked to her feet, the chair toppled to the floor in a loud clatter, while she stared down the false ‘King’.
His face, for a brief moment, matched her own. A monster against a monster. Deep inside, her Naga instinct wanted to lunge at him and coil her tail about, gradually crushing him into a corpse. She knew the desire was pure suicide, but it didn’t stop it from burning away inside. When the King dropped his arms, blood sprayed across the room. Several specks dripped upon her white skin but Mar refused to react. It all she could do to prevent herself from attempting to kill the King or dying trying.
Movement from the corner of her eyes distracted Mar, her eyes flicked to the side and noticed Aramir’s bow holding Yolin at bay. For a powerful man, it was odd how a trained weapon had caused him to rethink his earlier actions. Not that it mattered.
Darius’ words broke the spell of violence that had spread across each of them. Despite his words, she didn’t move at first. It was hard enough to resist the desire to rip the King apart and movement only made it more difficult. Her eyes continued to glare until the man touched her causing the Naga to hiss and flinch at his touch. Even after two years at the college, the unexpected connection still drew her defensive side out. Her heart still pounded adrenaline through her veins while she followed him and the others out. However, no words could accurately describe the pain or anger that filled her very core.
Upon the doors being closed and barricaded, Mar felt whatever strength she had begin to wade from her. Her back pressed against the wall she felt herself slide down it into a sitting position. Her legs pulled closely and her arms wrapped about them, her body fighting not to tremble at the frustration within her. At Darius’ comment over the stones, she spoke.
“There’s one in my pouch. Use it, I can’t use it at this moment.”
Helena started to back up again, but the beast was taken down before she had to worry too much about it. Once it was crumpling to the ground, she hurried over, retrieving any knives she passed on the way, and went to help Darell back onto even, solid footing again. “C’mon, let’s get you back into the fight.” Not that she wanted to do more fighting, but she’d also wanted to get out of their alive. He came up and got onto his feet, she took that moment to look around again, see where Annabeth and Collete were and if Athalus was handling the one that had gone for him. She was sure that he was, he’d been the one to actually kill any of them, she’d only distracted and wounded.
Which she did again, once she let go of Darell’s hand, lighting up the one going after Drake and the others, helping them out as she could so they all could get out of there. But when she was done, she was panting a little bit. It was pushing at her limits now, at the very least her limits of control. They needed to get out of there soon.
Veretu was walking at a decent pace when he heard someone approach. Approach then fall, but that was not here nor there. He hoped that that would've meant the person would leave, but no...apparently not. His dragon wings pulled around him to create more of barrier between them. He turned, but the full view of him was blocked out by his leathery wings. "He's not a cat" it was said matter of factly and it did not seem to be ready to explain in full detail what he meant.
Salem however turned and seemed somehow more egotistical. "Im much better then a cat. Im special" The cat waved his tail and beamed at the girl before looking up at veretu and rolling his eyes.
Before either could continue however, veretu caught sight of the dwarf woman. It would seem impossible for his wings to shut anymore and him still see, but he managed it. He was fully taken from sight on his front and it was clear he did not handle social interaction well. Though, he was at least facing her direction.
Salem however once more proved that he was the more social of the two. The cat waved his tail once more and instead of outright speaking gave a rather innocent sounding meow. He was testing to see how the soot covered woman would react to him. Giant green eyes and all.
At the Twilight College, Elise blinked at the response from the tall man in front of her. She did notice he tried to shroud himself with his beautiful wings and her eyes were sparkling in awe. ”W-What d-do y-you m-mean h-he’s n-not a-a k-kitty c-cat?” Elise asked, curiously to the man who had awe inspiring wings. She heard Black Kitty’s response to her and giggled cutely towards the talking black cat. ”Y-You a-are v-very c-cute,” Elise said, looking at the kitty cat. She had cute little eyes looking at the black kitty, she had always wanted a kitty cat.
Elise noticed ahead of them, a dwarf woman covered in soot from working at a blacksmithing forge. She walked forward to greet the woman, even though she stays away from forges in her hometown because they craft swords mostly. ”I-I g-guess, I-I s-should g-greet m-myself,” Elise thought to herself, nervously but she didn’t fall on her face again. She gently smiles towards the woman who’s approaching them. ”H-H-Hello…,” Elise stuttered, nervously because of the fact she’s nervous around new people. She cutely and gently sighs and tried to become calm around new people.
Elise had stopped walking right next to the man with beautiful dragon wings at closer inspection. She only wanted to get closer to the black kitty cat. ”I-I s-so w-want t-to p-pet t-the k-kitty,” Elise thought to herself, while looking at the black cat in awe of his’ adorableness. She was looked up for a bit and had a smile on her face. She waited for the person who approached them to speak since she wanted to introduce herself unless, she’s already known for coming here.
Leith hissed in frustration as the rope tangled around his feet. It didn't help that the rope had wrapped his cloak around his feet. His right arm was now trapped between the cloak and his body, and unfortunately he didn't have the leverage to free the arm. Worse yet, it seemed that his fall had been noticed. As a figure walked towards him with a trident, Leith's mind raced. There wasn't much he could do from his position except wait.
As the person stood over him with their trident raised and poised to strike, Leith had an idea. He needed to be precise. Any mistake and he would be skewered by the trident. On the down-stroke Leith tucked his head down and moved his right arm upwards to cover his head.
CLANG
The sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the room and the trident struck Leith's gauntlet. He sighed at the sight of the holes in his cloak. "That was my favorite cloak." He muttered under his breath. He moved his hand to grab onto the trident and keep his assailant from retrieving it and with his free hand he held it out and tapped the yellow-stoned ring on his ring finger with his thumb three times.
As the ring started to hum, Leith shouted out to his friends.
"RING!"
During their ride in the carriage, the group had developed a few strategies for if their diplomatic mission ever turned sour. One of them had been for Leith to shout a word to potentially distract their opponents and warn his allies at the same time. He covered his eyes in the crook of his arm, and hoped that his friends had heard him as a bright flash erupted from the ring. He then gave a tug on the trident and then pushed back on it. There was a ripping noise as his arm tore free of the imprisoning cloak.
”Very well.” Ssarak said dryly before dashing to the side. The moment he did so, he used another application of psychomancy in the form of two doppelgangers that split from himself, all of which appeared identical to him. There were obviously runes on his opponent’s necklace that were related to psychomancy. He had known the fire was an illusion, so Ssarak fell back upon a psychomancer’s most reliable defense. Doppelgangers worked differently from most illusions, and could help protect a psychomancer from a warded mage against which normal illusions would not be reliable. In this case, Ssarak had the idea that the necklace might be able to detect the presence of illusions. However, merely knowing that an illusion was present would not help in picking him out from the doppelgangers.
When the Esyire started to release the noxomantic cloud, Ssarak’s first reaction was to run the other direction, and of course, his doppelgangers followed suit. None of them acted any differently from himself, with no less concern for their own “safety,” so their behavior would not serve as an easy give-away as to which he should target. Ssarak did not know if he was going to escape the cloud, but in any case, he did not need to be close to attack the Esyire. Ssarak wanted to disable or kill his opponent as quickly as he could so that he could help his friends, so if he was able to get away from the advancing cloud, Ssarak would demonstrate the full fury of his expert focused concentration squarely onto the Esyire’s ward. If he could break through quickly, Ssarak already had some ideas for how to best manipulate his opponent’s mind. Upon hearing Leith shout, Ssarak angled his head away from the source of the sound so as to avoid what he knew was coming.
There were almost a week since he parted ways, leaving the Larue, and what was basically his entire life until now behind. The proud, but sad smiles on the other members still scratched the back of his memory. But it was probably for the better. He had already learned everything that he could there. The college could provide him with the answers he sought regarding his mageblood. It was a dangerous power, but Henri saw how much potential it had. He could do so much more... But only if his own ability didn't get him killed before that. For that, his best bet was going to the Twilight College.
Since the Larue circus was passing relatively nearby the region where the college was located, Henri figured that it would be the best time to go. But he didn't expect that the college was that far away... Why the Larue were passing through Djarkel lands was beyond him. The Larue's style of life was literally the complete opposite of that land... The land was barren, putrid, reeking of death. Even the landscape was terribly grey and colorless... The Larue caravan stood out like a sore thumb on all that grayness. Even though, the Larue themselves didn't seem to be affected by that sad land at all, that was something that Henri would certainly miss... They were always happy, cheerful smiling, dancing, drinking, telling stories... They lived their lives at their fullest. It was as close of being completely and truly free as a living, sentient being could get, in Henri's opinion.
"Enough with that... I still have a long way until I get to the College... And those gloomy thoughts won't help at all to keep me sane in this terrible place..." Henri thought to himself with a chuckle. He was terribly unlucky... He thought that he was pretty close from the College, so he brought only his few possessions, namely his clothes and his knives, and some few provisions, which ran out that same morning. He should start worrying himself with that, but hey! He was a Larue... He was used to walk around at his own luck with only a smile on his face, his knowledge and his abilities.
Luck was an elusive maiden, or at least that was what everyone always said, but for the Larue, the Lady Luck was always smiling. For Henri, it was the same. Even in a dire situation like that, he still counted with his luck. Some people used to say that that habit would someday get him killed. To those people, Henri simply gave them a smile and said 'I am still alive, right?' That same smile crept up on his face the moment he saw a city, the buildings contrasting against the grey landscape, on the horizon.
Getting closer to the buildings, his eyes caught a quite... intriguing scene going on. On top of a large warehouse, a large orc woman, wielding two very dangerous looking machetes and a petite woman were fighting. Well... not exactly fighting. The small woman was basically rolling on the roof, evading the orc's machetes and trying to survive. The two were probably distracted, either trying to survive or trying to hit the other one, so Henri wouldn't even need to hide himself, instead, simply walking towards a building just near the warehouse, easily climbing on its roof. He had a clear sight of the big orc woman, which was facing the other side. Sneaking was almost a second nature to him. One learned how to walk silently after living in the streets his entire life.
Henri was already putting his hand over one of his daggers to throw it on the orc woman, but after thinking a bit, he hesitated. He didn't know what was happening, both the orc and the petite woman were strangers to him. Sure, the orc woman was dangerous, and was the only one armed, at least from what he was able to see, but still...
After considering his options for a brief while, he quickly came up with a plan. The noise would make when landing surely would alert the orc, which would undoubtedly face towards the noise to investigate it. She seemed to be experienced with the weapons she held on her hands, so it was safe to assume that immediately after watching Henri running towards her with a dagger on his hands, she would certainly try to parry his attack. Without the element of surprise, a one on one fight with that orc woman was simply suicide. Henri was tired after travelling so much, and that orc was probably much stronger and tougher than him. So instead of simply charging towards her, he could use her own reflexes against her, with a feint attack.
After deciding on that plan, Henri started running towards the edge of the building he currently was, using the momentum to throw the stone as hard as he could towards the orc woman. At the same time, the second the stone left his hands, he jumped towards the warehouse building. The running start and his abilities were enough for him to land safely on the other side, rolling on the ground to deaden the fall.
Immediately after landing, he unsheathed one of his daggers, lunging towards the orc woman with it on his hands, doing his best to look just like an amateur, which didn't know how to wield a knife or fight properly. Timing was important. The second he got close to the orc, he would drop down to the ground, doing a sweep kick to throw her on the ground, followed by an axe kick, aiming to her head. If he was lucky, that would be enough to put her down for a few minutes, or at least make her dizzy and drop her weapons...
"Lady Luck... once again, I'm on your hands..." He thought to himself as he ran towards the orc woman.
