Mahtan's face stung from the slap it received, but the Elf stood his ground. He would not let anyone walk over him, Demon or not. As he was about to speak his mind, Susanna's eyes rolled back in her head and she began to collapse before his eyes. Being shocked by her story, and now this, Susanna's name escaped his lips as he went to grab her. He was too late unfortunately, and her body crumpled to the ground. He was just kneeling down to cradle her head when suddenly Susanna's body stood. He watched her with close eyes that were filled with worry, but suddenly turned an inky black as he realized what had happened. The scent of an Elf filled his nose, a scent that was far too familiar. A name could not find it's way into his mind however, so Mahtan took a step back and stared on with an expression to match his confusion. When his lips parted to ask what was going on, Susanna spoke, only was overlapped with many different tones. The one most noticeable out of the bunch was a voice of honey and silk, sending the smell of pine needles and fresh snow towards Mahtan with every breath it took. His eyes reverted back to their normal emerald color, but still held some of the inky substance within them as he placed his right hand across his chest. He dipped his head and cupped his hand over his heart, staying in this position to greet Lilith.
When the Demon's voice reached his ears once more, the pointed flesh twitched at the sound of the extremely soothing voice. He closed his eyes and opened his mind to grasp every syllable that passed through his hearing, almost as if it was fresh water in a drought. When her speech was finished, Mahtan simply nodded and watched Lilith lay back in the position that Susanna had fallen. When Susanna herself regained consciousness, Mahtan kneeled at her side and acted as if he was sheathing his weapon before grasping her fair hand and pulling her to her feet with the utmost of care. "Susanna...I...You were attacked. I managed to scare them away with some flashy sword play. They seemed to be bandits...rapers, maybe. They caught sight of you from up near that windmill and thought I was but a mortal man. They were wrong. I'm sorry that you had to experience such a problem, and I will never let it happen again. I didn't go through all the trouble of saving you only to let you down. I apologize, human."
Mahtan decided to throw some racial boundaries in his last sentence as to not come off as having feelings for Susanna. It wasn't his intention, but something seemed off about it. She was indeed beautiful, and could match an Elven maid in the correct light, but it wasn't something that could be concerned about. They were in a world of death and destruction. He was the Prince of Death, the Harbinger of Hellfire, and the Heir to the Circle. Mahtan began to wonder where Seth was at a time like this, his noble posture and way with words could be needed. In fact, Mahtan was sure Susanna needed the human Noble at this point in time, as Mahtan didn't exactly know how to deal with what had just happened. In attempt to put it behind him, the Elf attempted to speak once more;
"Susanna, I'm sorry I brought you to this place. If I would have known, I would have taken the Western Road. If it's too much for you, we can turn back, I really would not mind. All that matters right now is that we stay safe, and keep each other out of harm's way. You may not be able to trust me after being attacked, but I hope you can find it somewhere inside you to let me help. As for Veiron...I will make sure nothing like this happens ever again."
Mahtan smiled as he repeated Lilith's words. They felt uplifting and powerful, almost as if the world beneath his feet and the air around his body wanted him to speak, wanted him to tell them what to do and how to do it. He felt the inky black blood pumping through his veins, making him feel younger than 50 once more. Already he could tell that his body was changing. Not only was his fair skin appearing even younger, but his body was accepting muscle onto it, which is a hard thing for Elves. It appeared his time in the Human lands had taken it's toll, but in a good way. Mahtan pushed these things out of his head, wondering why it was so easy for him to get side tracked, then turned to face the small town in front of him and Susanna. The sun was beginning to set, and they would need a place to stay. Mahtan, being a polite noble, stuck out his elbow and peered at Susanna from the corner of his eye, emerald eyes shining devilishly in the retreating sun;
"Well, my Human friend, shall we? We have work to do."
It took the two nearly half an hour to reach the small town, and by this time it was already night. Lanterns were being hung in the marketplace, and torches were posted outside nearby houses. From what Mahtan could see, the village wasn't very protected. It was almost too perfect, he could burn it and sack all the supplies he could possibly need. Wait, why would he think of such a thing? Why would he hurt such innocent Humans for his own gain? Yes, he was an Assassin, but he would never...Would he?
This question bounced around in his head for a small while, at least until he felt the chill of Susanna's arm leaving it's place from hooked around his. She had moved towards the marketplace with her lips pressed tightly together, knuckles whitening from her forced grip on the staff. Mahtan gracefully followed in her steps, back straightened and steps silent. When he peered over her shoulder at what she was staring at, he felt his heart sank. A small girl and her father were packing away their valuables from their market stall, and he could feel Susanna's emotions rising once again. Would Lilith be paying another visit? No, Mahtan would not let it happen again. She wasn't in the best of mental states at the moment.
With a quick move from his hand, Mahtan grabbed Susanna's arm and spun her around, seeing that her cheeks were flushed. She avoided eye contact with the Elf and stared down at the ground, where she moved some pebbles around with her foot as if she were caught in a daze. "Susanna, we can't be lingering here, we need to get what we need and move on, towards Veiron. I believe we will find some answers if only we got closer.
It seemed a nearby man picked up on Mahtan's words due to the fact that he had bustled over, cherry colored face flushed from hard labor. He dabbed his brow with a rag and narrowed his eyes at the Elf and the Woman, the deep brown of his iris matching his hair and skin color.
"So...you two think you can waltz into Veiron, eh? And who are you to do that?"
Mahtan's head snapped towards the man, his eyes as black as a starless sky. The veins in his neck and arms were clearly black as well, and his voice was slightly multi-toned. The man began backing away slowly, voice shaking at the sight of the Elf. "W-what are you? Are you a D-demon?"
Mahtan simply parted his lips and grinned at the man, pointed teeth becoming sharper by the second. From a good head or two below, he heard Susanna inhaled sharply as she now realized just what his condition was, and backed away from Mahtan. He guessed that she was having an internal battle with Lilith due to the fact that her voice was nearly a whisper as she spoke to herself aloud. Mahtan's attention still focused on the man, he felt something boiling deep within his soul. He thought of Susanna's situation, and Seth the Nobleman that had saved Mahtan's life....and the Warrior. The Warrior that had slain Arya and the Demon that had possessed her. This was all enough to cause Mahtan to roar in his multi-toned voice, and suddenly the marketplace burst into dark red flames all around him. Stalls crumbled beneath the blaze, and Mahtan's nails grew pointed and increased in length. The veins in his forehead were filling with black, and his hair was darkening ever so slightly.
"It's because of YOU that this happened. You filthy Humans caused Arya to die, you caused the Demons to invade these lands, YOU HUMANS RUINED EVERYTHING. You made Susanna lose what she needed most, you caused Seth more hurt than was needed, and you KILLED ME!"
The flames grew in size as his anger intensified, and just as he was about to kill the poor man he felt a hand grasp his shoulder with surprising strength. A voice spoke out in his head; 'Mahtan, my Prince. Do not do this. Control yourself. We can talk about this later, just stop it now. I will wipe these Human's minds, but you must stop!'
It was Lilith...or was it Susanna? Mahtan couldn't tell the different between reality and his mind, but the flames slowly dispersed as he calmed himself. All around he could see that the market stalls had burned to the ground, and there were many Human bodies lying around as their memories were being wiped. Mahtan thrust his shoulder from Susanna's hand and spat on the ground as he reverted back to his normal self. He closed his eyes and walked abruptly away from Susanna, fists clenched into tight balls as he made his way to the large building directly in front of him, past the burned down market stalls. He assumed this way the Inn, and figured it would be a good place to spend the quickly approaching night.
Whether Susanna followed or not, he didn't care. She was simply a Human, nothing more.