The Azure Knight had been traversing the Tunnels in utter darkness. Outside she may have the advantage of a powerful weapon, but in these cramped quarters she would be lucky if she could even stab with her weapon. Instead she proceeded onwards, her body ducked low in order to not clip her head on the rocks above her. So far she had met with no Lurkers, but she could hear their scuttling in the darkness. They were near, perhaps even waiting for her. But nothing came from it; soon she found a light at the end of her tunnel, and emerged without even so much as a scratch. Feeling somewhat dissapointed at the turn of events, She servayed her surroundings. It was dark, as the trees overhead allowed little light. But from what she could tell, the clouds were now clear, and in the distance was the city walls of Vekia. Cries from the Night Lurkers told her that they were being dispatched with haste, the light from the sky putting fear into their puny minds. She hear more scuffling, and thought it may be more lurkers. She ran into the bushes, preparing her crossbow and shield. The Azure Knight looked around for what made the noise, and where she should shoot to make sure it stopped moving.
Sweat began to drip from As'ariiez's forehead as he hanged from the top of the tunnel. Moving about the tunnels was not difficulty, he wasn't that small, but not large to the point where movement would be an issue. As he made his way through the grime and unidentifiable substances in the tunnels, he heard the sound of creatures scuttling through the tunnels.The sound grew louder, and so As'ariiez climbed his way up, gripping the top of the tunnel. About a dozen of the creatures moved below him, they appeared to be retreating, or possibly the opposite. As'ariiez had alrerady lost his sense of direction moving through the tunnels. As the last of the creatures marched on, As'ariiez released his grip, landing on his feet, and continued onwards. Luckily, he spotted a light in the distance, and upped his pace, eventually emerging from the ground and into a forest, somewhat darkened from the amount of tree's surrounding him. The scuttling noise returned, instinctively As'ariiez equipped his blade, cautiously looking about for the source. To his surprise another creature spawned from the tunnel behind As'ariiez, charging towards him. He ran to the nearest tree, sprinting up the bark and leaping to a large branch. The creature surprisingly followed him up the tree and onto the branch at a slower pace. As'ariiez waited for the creature to get close enough before leaping to a branch above and climbing to the opposite side of the creature, he then dropped back onto the branch and sliced it in half, causing the branch to fall below along with the creature, stunning it momentarily. He used this opportunity to drop down and plunge his blade into the creatures armor, but not enough to be fatal. As'ariiez gripped tight as the creature tried to throw him off, eventually letting out a cry of pain. The blade was in deep but soon As'ariiez will lose his grip, being thrown off and without a weapon to defend himself.
Looking out of the bushes, the Azure Knight's eyes followed some movements a bit away. She saw a figure coming out of the ground near the same tunnel she came from, but this one was also immediately attacked by Night Lurkers. The figure ran towards the trees, followed by the insects. The Azure Knight rose up to defend him just as he jumped down to stab the beast, but seemingly doing little. The Azure Knight took aim with her crossbow and sent a steel bolt into the brain case of the Night Lurker. It struggled and squirmed for a moment, before it became still. However before words could be exchanged, two more Night Lurkers emerged from the darkness to do battle. The Azure Knight met them quickly, dropping her crossbow and bashing away the insects with her kite shield. They tried to bite for her limbs, but her shield proved it's worth by deflecting their mandibles. Shortly after forcing them to rethink their assault, she drew the Azure Light, and charged at them.
As a steel bolt penetrated the skull of the creature and it lay still, As'ariiez looked up at what appeared to be a Knight the likes of which he had never seen. He observed the stranger only for a moment before two more creatures emerged from the tunnel, attacking the Knight. As'ariiez ripped his blade from the creatures lifeless body and quickly jumped to the ground, reaching for his satchel and pulling out a homemade bomb similar to a claymore. As the Knight bashed away at the creatures As'ariiez prepared the bomb in front of him. The Knight charged at one creature, As'ariiez whistled, catching the attention of the other. As it charged towards him he backed away slowly. Fortunatley the creature triggered the bomb, which delayed for a moment before blowing the bottom half of the creature to pieces, doing signifigant damage, causing it to move slowly. As'ariiez sprinted towards the creature and shoved his blade into it's skull, killing it instantly. He removed the weapon and looked to the Knight, ready to assist if need be.
The Azure Knight engaged in single combat with one of the Night Lurkers. Her recent battles against them have prepared her mentally and physically with how to best deal with them. The Night Lurker ludged at her like a wild beast, only to be knocked aside by her shield. The Azure Knight thrusted her sword at the beast, trying to stab it in between it's armored chitin. She managed to wedge her blade in, however the beast managed to slip free and try to go for the other. "You cannot escape!" The Azure Knight gave chase, but stopped when the other person somehow caused and explosion. This split second scare also affected the Night Lurker, who paused to reconsider it's attack stategy. But before it could really do anything, the Azure Knight was once again upon the beast. She jumped high as she coudl into the air, and brought the tip of the Azure Light into the beast's armored plates. Her sword cut through, and from there she began to stab it repeatidly, until the beast was still once more.
After the Azure Knight retrieved her belongings, she turned towards the stranger. Though it was still dark, she could tell that this man was no mere citizen, as he was clad in light steel armor, and had the inginuity to use parts of the Night Lurker's own armored carapace to serve as replacement parts for his armor. That explosion from before also suggested that he might have dabbled in magic, or perhaps alchemical experiments. Both are the same to her, as far as the Azure Knight was concerned with. "You there. Who are you and what are you doing so far out of the city?
As'ariiez observed and was impressed as the Knight repeatidly stabbed the beast until it lay still, and pondered whether or not this was the first the Knight had seen of these creatures. He wiped off the grime from the creatures off of his armor and blade. After doing so As'ariiez observed the Knight, as they locked eyes he noticed the Knight's helmet glow blue and pondered, was this stranger even human? He also took note of the Knight's shield, although the rest of the armor was a black, blue and silver the shield appeared to belong to some type of city guard, meaning one of two things, the shield was given to the Knight by guardsmen of the like, or the Knight stlole it, possibly off the dead body of a guard. As'ariiez gripped his blade as the Knight spoke. "You there. Who are you and what are you doing so far out of the city?
"City?" As'ariiez thought to himself. He wasn't aware that he was near a city. As'ariiez realized at that moment he had no idea where he was, the last place he remembered being is on some group of bandit's ship. He spent about 20 minutes ransacking the captains quarters for a family heirloom that had been stolen. He was to return it for a reward until he realized they had set sail, and the ship was full of marauders, who inevitably took him as a prisoner, but not before he could swallow the ring. When the ship anchored down somewhere, he was blindfolded, thrown into a carriage and was to be taken somewhere to "Have that stupid ring ripped from his intestines," as he recalled. Although he did remember one of the bandits in the cabin say something about Vekia.
Hesitant to answer, he said "My name is As'ariiez. I was exploring the forest. Who are you? Are you with the guardsmen? That shield doesn't appear to belong to you," As'ariiez gripped his blade tighter.
"A strange time to be out exploring. No, I'm not a guardsman, merely a knight in the service of the city. This shield was given to me by the city guards as I was sent to find the source of these Night Lurkers. I am known as the Azure Knight." The Azure Knight noted As'ariiez tighten his grip, but she cold understand why; he was scared, scared of more Night Lurkers, scared of her. Waiting for a chance to strike. Well, the Azure Knight didn't particularly care for it; she has no reason to harm him unless he gave her one. As far as she could tell, however, this tunnel led to nowhere. She was not familiar to these forests, though she imagined that the Night Lurkers were. Her hunger for adventure told her to venture forth to find the fiends, but her brain reminded her that she was in unfamiliar territory, with only this stranger as a tenuous ally. She needed to return to the city and see what the guardsmen knew, perhaps even get her reward. It would be more efficent if she worked with them instead of playing Knight Errant. "Night falls, and more of these Lurkers may still be prowling in the darkness. I aim to return to the city and report my findings. If you wish, you may accompany me. It would be safer for the both of us, that is for certain."
As the Azure Knight introduced herself As'ariiez's worry faded. Night Lurkers? So she was familiar with the things. They were able to emerge not only from the ground but also the cabin he was kept prisoner in, had they infiltrated the city this knight spoke of? And if so, was it only here, or could the same be happening in Ryyz? As'ariiez was filled with questions and it appeared the Azure Knight would have or would know who would have these answers. "I accept your offer, Azure Knight, lead the way.
Nodding her her silently the Knight turned on her heel and pointed her sword skyward. Suddenly, the blade was engulfed in a blue light, illuminating the darkness. There was no need to hide now, so holding her sword out she began to walk. Occasionally she would see a Night Lurker in the distance, but when she casted her shining sword at them they fled into the shadows. The trip of largely silent until she reached the city gates. It was locked tightly, no doubt to ensure that no Night Lurkers or other invaders came in from the outside. It took a while, but soon the doors opened, with a convoy of guardsmen aiming their crossbows at both her and As'ariiez. "I mean you no harm. I am the Azure Knight, and I was sent by the leader of the guardsmen to find the source of the Night Lurkers. I have returned to report my findings." The guardsmen were still on edge but allowed her to go through. When they asked about As'ariiez, she did not lie. "He is with me, and helped me fight off the Night Lurkers. He will cause no trouble, I assure you." When asked if he was her squire, the Azure Knight smirked underneath her helmet. "Something like that, perhaps."
The city was much different than it was before. Not the peaceful and screne city of stone like it was in the morning, nor the blood-filled streets of just a few hours ago. The city was wounded, but also healing. Various magicians were out restoring damage done to the stonework, which made the Azure Knight edgy. She could feel the presence of Aether Wraiths lingering nearby. She wanted to stay, to fight them, to defend the people. But her worries were for naught, as no Wraiths came to harm them. She moved on towards the city hall where the captains of the guards where. She was met with better reception there than at the gates, though she was told to wait as the captains were in some meeting.
As'ariiez looked with curiosity at the Azure Knight's weapon. He had seen swords and bows surrounded by fire, sometimes even ice, but had never come across a weapon like this, or it's effects, as Night Lurkers flee'd into the forest one by one at the sight of the Knight's blade. As'ariez was startled at the welcoming the guards gave them and was tempted to run, until the Azure Knight introduced herself. When they asked of As'ariiez's nature, he looked up to the Azure Knight, and wasn't entirely sure what her response would be, but was relieved when she announced his appearance. "Better a squire than a corpse," As'ariiez said as he and the Azure Knight walked into the gates.
Walking through the city one of his questions were answered, the Night Lurkers had definitley made their way into the city. He was at sea for about a week, and wasn't sure when these attacks had begun. If they reached Ryyz, he would most likely have no home to go to, as his was not surrounded by the walls of the desert cities, and could be filled with Night Lurlers. As they arrived to what appeared as the city hall, the guards here seemed to recognize the Azure Knight, unlike the ones from before. As they waited, As'ariiez asked "Did you find anything whilst in the tunnels?"
"Not really." The Azure Knight spoke with some dissapointment. "The tunnels were large, but none of them led to anywhere in particular. Which is strange; I beleive Night Lurkers tunnel into the ground to nest. I had half expented to run into a large hive of them, but the tunnels were fairly straitforward. They were more like sapper tunnels than beast tunnels... Which tells me that the Night Lurkers are either more inteligent than I have given them credit for, or something it controling them. " That was a frightful thought. Night Lurkers were indeed foes that should not be taken lightly, but at the same time their beastial mind made them preditable, easy to control through fear. But if someone inteligent or simply sentient led them, the Night Lurkers would become a ferious force to contend with. They were far stronger than the average man, had natrual armored carapace, and were much more manuverable. The idea that inteligence was added to their strengths gave the Azure Knight a shutter. "I suspect that the ones here know this much already, so I'm afraid to say that my mission yielded little results. Though if I may ask, what are you still doing here?" The Azure Knight turned her head towards As'ariiez. His armor suggested that he was not a stranger to danger, but his lack of supplies either meant that he had just escaped a situation, or was foolish enough to travel with nothing but the clothes on his back. "What I said at the gates were to ensure that you were not punished for things out fo your control. However I will not force you to stay with me or to actually become my squire... Unless you wish to do so."
As'ariiez had never seen the likes of Night Lurkers before, with the talk of hives and the amount of damage they appeared to deal upon the city they must be in large numbers. For a species such as them to be controlled by a higher being sounds like something that could lead to very drastic results. As'ariiez is a thief, and occasionally bounty hunter for hire, but if these Night Lurkers began to arise all over Astas, the last thing on peoples minds will be posessions and cold justice. When the Azure Knight asked of As'ariiez's intentions he realized he may have overstayed his welcome with the stranger, who appeared to have a lot on her mind. He chuckled at the knight's words of becoming a squire. "Unfortunatley I do not, I would never live my life in such a way. I don't think I thanked you for that by the way, I appreciate it. I was hoping to have a word with a captain or someone of the sorts. If what you say is true, and these creatures are being controlled by a superior figure, I feel they are capable of doing much more than merely attacking a city, which appeared to already have done a signifigant amount of damage. I intend to offer my services to the captain of the guard, or someone of higher power, should they decline I will be on my way, but I imagine any amount of help would be appreciated." As'ariiez eyed the Azure Knight's shield, and recalled how useful it served her in bashing away the Night Lurkers. "I also wouldn't mind getting my hands on a shield as effective as yours." Although As'ariiez seeked to also make some type of profit from assisting the city, any payment or reward for his assistance would be a bonus, as getting rid of the Night Lurker threat and getting back to business would be a reward on its own.
Though her helmet consealed her face, the Azure Knight smiled. Sure the fellow admited that the life of a squire was not his, but that was his choice to make. She was actually more happy that As'ariiez was willing to offer his service for the city. Sure, for a price, but that was a given. Even the most opprotunistic men wouldn't sign up for such a mission if they knew of the danger, which As'ariiez knew of. He was likely a brave sort, even if he was in it for the money. The Azure Knight could not expect everyone to live up to her standards. "That sounds like a excelent idea. I would not mind to help you, seeing that I have inadvertantly joined forces with them. Though we should make it clear that you are an independant agent, as I would not want any misunderstanding to arrise." As'ariiez also commented on the usefulness of the shield that the Azure Knight was given. She had to admit, it had served her quite well. It's herald, which had the generic icon of the city of Vekia, was scratched and worn but still visable. "Perhaps. We shall see, yes?"
