Unlike the other two, Cecily was not well prepared for what just happened. She instinctively went underneath the table as Satsume yelped and only peeked afterwards to get a glimpse of who dared barge into their room. Lausian assassins would have went straight for the kill, but these men were evidently trying to take them alive. Well, sans Satsume and his persistence. The absence of the innkeeper, despite the noble clearly hearing his voice before, probably is indicative of his involvement in the scheme.
She watched as Maisie and Taika were carried past their room and stood up from behind the table with greater confidence that this is not a Lausian scheme. There was no need to be concerned: they were likely to be held in relative safety like what the brigands intend to do with Paige and herself. However, unlike Maisie and Taika, Cecily was surrounded by people who could fight back.
"Whatever happens, keep one of them conscious for me," she said, shadowing Paige as the librarian crossed to Satsume's side.
Her behavior, calm and composed, seemed to unnerve the bandits as they recovered their bearings from Satsume's desperate attack. It is highly unlikely that they have ever targeted a person who is familiar with intrigue in the way that a noble of Laus would.
"Hurry up and get this over with!" the apparent boss growled to his comrades.
"Preferably him," Cecily said, ignoring the bandit leader.
The two lesser bandits ganged up on the other two, one to finish off Satsume and the other to duel Paige. The bandit boss was not one to idle as his men did the work. Cecily could see in his step that he intended to barge in at an opportune moment and catch one of them off guard. It would have been a sound plan if Cecily was totally defenseless. But her galdr was already coming to her lips to help re-energize Satsume for the coming fight.
Ready or not, the bandits attacked.
Satsume stared down his foes. His face bore a look of determination struggling to surface through the pain. As he leveled the spearpoint at the assailants, Paige moved up alongside him. Her rapier was outstretched.
"You won't be carrying us off that easily," she declared. As she spoke, two men in the hallway scurried past, each one with a woman over his shoulder. "....well, you won't get all of us so easily!"
Satsume's mind was eased slightly as Paige's willingness to fight. Maybe it was the comfort of not needing to protect both her and Cecily. Maybe he thought she wasn't mad at him anymore. Regardless, it lifted his spirits some - much in the same fashion as Cecily's songs.
"Hurry up and get this over with!" yelled the lead goon.
Satsume snarled, and made a couple of cursory jabs with his spear to maintain distance. The room was one of the larger ones in the inn, but fighting space was still at a premium. If he could force them into tight quarters, it would make this fight far less dangerous.
"Hnnngh! Hyah!" Satsume's thrusts were weak. The pain siphoned speed from his attacks, as he struggled to balance the two. If the two men in front had any weapon other than heavy cudgels, they probably would have cut him down by now. I need to keep them away until I can take away their space..., thought Satsume. The brigand made a clumsy attempt at a quick side club attack, which Satsume just barely intercepted near the base of the weapon with his spear. His legs buckled as he grit his teeth through the searing pain, struggling to keep his remaining ribs intact.
Suddenly, he noticed the pain in his side begin to dull. And then he heard a familiar voice behind him. Cecily's notes sent Satsume's muscles bristling with energy, and adrenaline began to surge over him. A faint sneer crept over Satsume's face. He shoved the brigand’s arm aside and opened his stance.
"Come on, fool!" he bellowed over Cecily's song. Shouting still hurt, but the galdr made it less noticeable.
The brigand in front of him raised his club over his head, intending to make good on his boss' order to cave in Satsume's skull. "Hrrrraaaaaaaagh!"
Satsume swept a leg behind him, shuffling his open stance sideways, opening a gap between himself and Paige. The enemy's attack fell hard into floor, busting through the floorboards and burying the head of the cudgel. Satsume brought his lance up, glancing the blade across the man's face. He yelped in pain, immediately letting go of his weapon and recoiling backwards to cover his bleeding face with his hands. The thought of following through with a horizontal sweep briefly flashed in Satsume's mind, but he had closed the gap too much and risked hitting Paige on the backswing. Instead, he brought the lance up horizontally and shoved hard, knocking his bewildered opponent back against the wall. His head smacked the wall - hard - and he fell to the floor.
The leader glanced at his fallen comrade, then locked eyes with Satsume. He looked about ready to speak, but instead looked at Cecily and made a mad dash to get through to her. Instinctively, Satsume jutted his lance across his body to block the way. The brigand halted, his sword still brandished in front of his face.
Satsume traced the man’s glare to the body on the floor next to him, and without looking, picked up his back foot and brought his heel down on the hand reaching to retrieve the club. Another scream of pain caused the leader to flinch.
Satsume smirked and pointed his speartip at his chin. The pain was threatening to bring him back down, but Cecily’s galdr held strong.
“You don’t get them until you get me first,” said Satsume. “Now come on!”
As Eli joined him, Shad examined his left hand. The pain hadn't lessened any from the punishment it dealt out. He rubbed his right hand over his left, covered in blood as it was, and thought he felt a bump along his hand. I didn't break something, did I? Shad thought. His attention was diverted back to the matter at hand, due to the approaching voices. There was their cover blown. It was going to happen regardless. He saw to that himself. But they were going to make it to the castle.
Then Eli took out another brigand. He dropped a torch that landed before them. The others were alerted to that. Shad glanced over at Eli who apologized to him. He looked...worried. Shad unsheathed the Sacaen blade and looked into the blade and saw that he still looked as angry as when he pounded the first mans face into the ground. He returned the sword to his waist. He remembered something Maisie mentioned. About a ransom. "If your still up to my bad ideas, I got one. If they are in a talking mood, anyway."
Shad ascended the steps, drawing his fire tome with left hand. He roughly cleared his throat as the two remaining brigands looked around, drawing their attention. That was he cast a fire ball onto the ground before him, illuminating himself for the brigands to see. This show of magic had surprising unnerved them, far more than he expected it to. "I'm here to discuss terms."
"Discuss terms?"
"M-magic?! J-just like the brat!"
"Shut it."
"That bitch killed eight of us! She killed my brother!"
Shad cleared his throat again. The first voice seemed to regain his cool a bit, but the other was terrified. And they must have been talking about Maria. She...killed eight men? A girl of ten killed eight brigands with magic alone? He killed his first man at eight and was almost cut in half and suffered short term memory loss from head trauma as a result of it. "That 'brat' is my sister. Her ransom is what I'm here to discuss." Shad could almost see their silhouettes look at each other, then back to him. He spawned a ball of fire in his right hand to give them a better view of his face.
"He looks like one of those guys in those paintings."
"That brat told us her father was dead."
"Then he's the brat in that painting."
"I've heard that someone signed in claiming to be a lord. Thought it was ego, but apparently not."
Who'd he hear this from?Shad dissipated the spell. "That would be me. I would request an audience with your leader to discuss paying the ransom. I imagine that with the trouble my sister put you all through, it would probably be a fair amount more than I carry on my person. I'd like to work out an extension on this deadline."
"Why didn't you use the main road?"
"The rotting corpses of my soldiers make it a bit intolerable to traverse. If you wanted my money, then making it hard to get to the castle was the wrong way to go about it." That hopefully will fool them a bit. He could tell that they were thinking it over. He wanted to look back at Eli, but this plan is more by ear than anything. Shad took a couple steps to the side of the staircase, freeing up options for Eli to act.
"Wait. Did you come up here by yourself?"
"You killed Carl and Les, didn't you?!"
"I came to town with a group of people, but I'm the only one up here. They think I'm in bed right now. I can't possibly wait another night without securing my sister's safety." Shad coughed a bit. "As for your men, I'm willing to pay a larger ransom to atone. That's what you men want right? My family has a large stockpile of gold that we've been sitting on for years." Even as we've been paying for a castle no one has lived in for ten years. Shad put the book down on the ground in front of him and both swords. "As a sign on good will, I've disarmed myself. Just escort me to the castle, and you'll have your money in, say, a couple weeks time."
"Couple weeks?!"
"It's coming straight from Etruria. It has to be smuggled through Lycia so they don't appropriate it." The two brigands looked at each other again. The prospect of gold lingered in the air. If they delivered Shad to their boss, maybe they'd get a bigger cut when it's all divided up. The one motioned to the other to grab Shad so they could escort them. Shad just kept positioning himself so the brigand would have to walk in view of Eli. That's Shad's whole endgame here. And the idiots were gullible enough to walk into it. As the brigand was about to grab Shad's arm, he shouted "Eli!"
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The pair carrying the unconscious ladies weren't too thrilled with the sounds they were hearing from the rest of the group. Their fight doesn't sound like it's in their favor. The two looked at one another and came to the same conclusion. Get out while the gettin's good. The two men abandoned the others and left the inn, Maisie and Taika in tow. Just because the don't get the whole bunch doesn't mean their allowed back empty handed, after all. They started walking back through town before one of them tripped and dropped Maisie on the ground. The other dropped Taika like a log and helped his partner up. They looked back towards the inn and both gave out a sigh of relief. They should be able to get back before those three could catch up, if they win.
Despite how late it was, a woman walked through the village with a bit of a skip in her step. The faint jingling of the jewelry she wore was lost underneath the loud clanks of armor of her companion that marched behind her, covered in so much gilded metal it was hard to tell there was even a person inside of it with a large ax on it's back. Coming to a spot she noticed something strange. A couple men with some motionless women set on the ground next to them. Given the lax circumstances it was probably not carrying the dead some place more proper. After all, to put a body in transit down on the ground so haphazardly meant there was little regard for it. Also they still looked alive. Regardless of the reason she strange sight peaked her curiosity.
Approaching the two, no doubt having her presence announced by the almost mechanical way the armor followed her, she put a finger under her chin and tilted her head to the side. “Good evening. Sorry to bother you but I couldn't help but notice that it looks like you're kidnapping those two women. I heard there was a festival soon but I wouldn't think that this would be one of the customs.” She took a look around. “It also doesn't look like anyone else is celebrating. Either this is a very backwards festivity or a crime in progress.”
Ellie stepped back towards the piles of crates, giving herself plenty of breathing room for the coming attack. Shad noticed her apology and thought a moment before he spoke.
"If your still up to my bad ideas, I got one. If they are in a talking mood, anyway."
Ellie nodded as Shad turned to step towards the staircase, casting a ball of flame before him to illuminate the passage - further obscuring Ellie's presence as she slunk into the darkness around her. She bent one knee and took aim just over Shad's shoulder, waiting for the perfect moment.
Words, words, words... we should run. This was a terrible idea. We shouldn't be here without the others...
The trio carried on for what seemed like an eternity, Ellie's breath getting heavier, her bow arm quivering and her draw arm burning. She slowly eased her draw as Shad lowered his weapons, offering himself and denying her presence. The silence that followed his surrender sent a chill down her spine, time stood still and the flame on the stairs flickered gently in the breeze. One man motioned to the other, and Shad began to step back... the perfect bait.
Ellie drew hard once more, grunting as she did. As the brigand reached for Shad's arm, he turned to face the sound in the darkness.
"Eli!"
Against the dark blanket of night, the flickering light of the fire reflected off the arrowhead as Ellie let fly, piercing the brigand's bicep just above the elbow. Recoiling towards the wall, he braced himself against it with his free hand and proceeded to place a hefty right hook clean across Shad's jaw.
"YOU SHITS!"
Ellie stepped forward into the light, another arrow already nocked; as the brigand turned to face her once more, she released. With little more than a thump and a crunch, the brigand collapsed, howling in pain with an arrowhead protruding from his left thigh. Ellie rushed to Shad's side, dagger drawn as the last man lunged forward, ax raised high above his head.
Paige stared down her opponent, her rapier outstretched to keep distance between them. The brigand looked at the slim piece of metal and his giant club. He smiled as he smashed his weapon into hers. The sword was unable to handle the force: it left Paige's hand and met the floor with enough force to shatter the blade in two. Paige's eyes widened, shocked that her weapon was discarded so easily. Normally, this would have been the end of the story. Fortunately, Paige still had the light brand.
The light brand was a two handed weapon, something Paige had little experience with. Her grip wasn't as confident as with her original weapon; she needed both hands to keep the blade stretched out. She wasn't used to the weight of the weapon, as evidenced by the unsteady shaking in her hands. Her foe could tell and began to advance. As Paige prepared to parry, her eyes gazed over the runes etched along the blade. Suddenly, they began to glow. A glowing pulse raced from the handle to the tip of the blade. A small ray of light magic shot directly into the brigand's face.
"MY EYES! OH MY EYES!"
The brigand dropped his weapon as his hands covered his face. He retreated into a corner and mourned the (unknowingly temporary) loss of his eyesight.
"I CAN'T SEE! I WILL NEVER AGAIN GAZE AT THE BEAUTY OF A SUNSET, THE BRIGHT COLORS OF A FESTIVAL, OR THE NAKED BOSOM OF A YOUNG MAIDEN!"
His proclamation was followed by a loud sobbing, which had the unintended consequence of drowning out Cecily's galdr.
Her galdr being drowned out by the noise was the least of her own worries, since Cecily unwittingly allowed herself to be caught in the light brand's light as well. She shielded her own eyes in vain and clenched her jaw in irritation. Cecily was smart enough to know the extent of the blinding effect since she had seen light brands used in public exhibition matches between soldiers. However, she was not beyond adding her own complaints to the din.
"How did we go all this way without me knowing about that sword?" Cecily grumbled.
Cecily's own lapse of focus broke the welcoming spell she was placing on Satsume and, despite the noble attempting to restart her galdr, the third bandit made his move and attacked. At the same time, the bandit leader, having somehow avoided the light brand's flash, was quick to replace his bawling minion. He swung his club with expertise in a golf swing-like motion, aiming to separate Paige from the others.
Satsume's brazen call was immediately followed by a brilliant flash from his right. Instinctively, he shielded his eyes with his hand.
"MY EYES! OH MY EYES!"
Satsume caught a glimpse of the bandit leader making his way past his screaming companion to attack Paige. Inexplicably, he paid no heed to Satsume as he moved - he charged forward wildly, making a beeline for the source of the light. Without thinking, Satsume jutted his lance in the bandit leader's direction.
"Hurrrggkk!"
"Errrrrgh!"
What was supposed to be the sound of the bandit leader receiving a spearpoint to the ribs was instead joined by the sound of Satsume sinking to his knees in excruciating pain. Cecily's song had stopped! Now the adrenaline was receding, and the pain in his ribs came back with a vengeance. Fortunately, he was able to keep one hand on his weapon, reaching out and snagging his target. Both men crumpled to the ground. Satsume let go of the shaft, leaving his lance stuck in the bandit leader's side.
Can't... let him get away...! Satsume shuffled across the floor, straining to reach the bandit leader. He was able to set one foot and push forwards, throwing himself onto the brigand and pinning him under his weight.
With a shout that was probably more in pain than anger, Satsume decked the bandit across the face with a tremendous left hook. Now he was straddling his unconscious foe, his spear still buried in his ribs.
Finally sapped of his strength, Satsume could do nothing now but curl over and grab at his injury in futility.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two bandits looked at each other, then back to the woman who had addressed them.
"Oh we're gonna celebrate, all right," said one of the bandits, brandishing his axe. "Just as soon as we break that hunk of metal and take you for ourselves!"
"Hank, how are we gonna carry all three of-"
"Shutup!" The two bandits charged toward the strangers.
Shad shot a smirk towards the brigand as he heard the recoil of the bowstring. The smirk disappeared when he realized that Eli didn't take the man out with the first shot. As the man cried out in pain, Shad came to the realization that Eli rarely kills with one shot. As he was thinking of making a mental note of that, he felt something approaching. He couldn't react fast enough and took a right hood straight to the jaw. Suddenly Shad had a good view of Eli for a brief second before falling on the ground. That hurt. Shad put his hand on his jaw to feel the side of it, while his tongue explored the inside. He suddenly felt something move in the back of his mouth and instinctively reaching in with his index finger and touching the source. That was when he felt a molar shift around. Shad pushed it back into place with his tongue, hoping Maisie could mend it before it fell out completely.
He looked up and saw Eli next to him with a dagger out. Obviously the other brigand was approaching them now. Of course they would be. As he started getting up, Shad's shaken up head started giving him flashes. This was almost deja vu. Except the one on the ground wasn't the younger red head. Shad scooted closer to his book and managed to grab it between his boots. He sat up and grabbed the book with his left hand shot a spell with his right, hitting the brigand square in the stomach. He backed up a bit dropped the axe as his clothes caught fire. Shad got back up to his feet and put his book back. He returned the sacaen blade to his belt while he unsheathed his Schiavona and extinguished the flames on the brigand with the wind spell it was enchanted with.
He walked over towards the man again, this time standing on the mans dropped axe. "Let's discuss terms, shall we?" The man was still clutching himself, reeling back from the burns he recieved. "Point us towards the entrance you used." He sheepishly pointed the way that they needed to go. "Don't worry. I'm not going to burn you any more. Immolation is a horrible way to go. I've witnessed it first hand." He said reassuringly. He had a warm smile on his face after he said that. "Oh. How is my sister doing?"
"She...is alive."
"That doesn't sound promising."
"She's in one piece."
"You are making this sound worse."
"She...she...deserves everything she got." The brigand says, his courage returning to him. He made a run at Shad, hoping to throw him off guard. Unfortunately for him, that was what Shad was counting on. He made a clean thrust right into chest of the approaching brigand.
Shad sighed as the man was just standing there, grasping at his chest, at the wound. Shad placed his left foot against the brigand and kicked him off the edge of his blade. "Shouldn't have said that." He turned back towards Eli, sheathed his sword as he did so. "Let's head back. This route should be good enough. If I get much closer, Satsume won't be able to hold me down."
”Ah, I see. Crime in progress. Disappointing.” Lita said before jumping back spinning in mid-air before landing on her armored companion's shoulders with a handstand. Pushing herself off of that she spun again and landed safety behind the tower of metal the bandits had just vowed to, ”Well I'm certain you have no qualms about dealing with this riff raff?” She said, giving them a push.
The push didn't do much to the gold armored knight. Reaching back they grabbed a hold of their axe and moved forward, swinging it one-handed at one of the bandits. It was a bit awkward but neither of them were well suited for dodging with the momentum all thrown about, getting broad-sided by the blade. They didn't get out of the exchange unscathed as the other one hit the hard to miss metallic target. A look of confusion came across his face before getting hit. The armored one's axe hadn't stopped when it had hit his friend. It had kept going along with him right into his buddy. As the swing finished it's arc they were launched off to the side together.
”Not bad,” Lita said as she watched the display, ”But I expected better. Be sure to not scuff up that armor too much.”
Her armored companion merely turned and stared at her silently.
”Oh, don't look at me like that.” she smirked.
Ellie braced for the incoming attack, when suddenly a burst of flames caught the aggressor square in the chest. Shad stepped forward and questioned the man briefly, learning of an entrance off to the left of the path and asking questions of a more personal nature. Ellie eyed the bandit intently, all the while attempting to block out the groans of the wounded bandit at her feet. In a sudden movement, the burnt bandit lunged towards Shad, only to be met with the sharp end of his blade - the man sputtered a moment, eyes wide as Shad withdrew his blade and shoved the man to the cold dirt.
"Shouldn't have said that. Let's head back. This route should be good enough. If I get much closer, Satsume won't be able to hold me down."
"Right," she started, kneeling down beside the bandit still writhing in pain, grasping at his leg. The man spat at her, gritting his teeth through the pain. "I'm sorry, you weren't supposed to find us." She wiped the saliva from her cheek and placed her left hand forcefully against the man's face, drawing her dagger across his throat with her right in a single, decisive motion. She paused a moment as the man squirmed, clutching at his throat - then there was nothing. Standing with a sigh, she sheathed her daggers and turned to Shad.
"I'm sorry it turned out like this, Shad."
She placed a hand gently on his shoulder, hesitated a moment and nodded. The moon had come out from behind the veil of cloud in all the commotion, its light casting a feint shimmer atop the grass between the foot of the mountains and the village walls below. The duo made their way hastily towards the village, when Ellie remembered something suddenly - Paige. The women still had yet to discuss what had happened in that scuzzy back room in Tania.
"Hey, while I think of it... I've got something I need to-"
Ellie couldn't quite make sense of the noise she heard as she approached the village limits - shouts, clanging, who was to say? But it definitely wasn't fitting of the hour nor a village so lifeless as the one they found themselves in earlier that day. Without so much as a glance in Shad's direction, she took off running towards the inn with bow in hand.
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The wind was violent as ever, the boom of wings thundering through the air. Leroy clutched the reins of his wyvern tight; he could feel his fingers numbing with every passing moment, teeth clenched and his arms quivering. His wyvern grumbled, hardly loud enough to be heard at their pace.
"I know, boy. I know." Leroy replied, placing an open palm gently against his wyvern's neck. His mount flapped hard, spreading his wings to glide a moment and let out a violent shriek.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
The castle wasn't much further now; someone was going to answer for that letter. Anthony's visage remained imprinted in Leroy's mind, a constant reminder that filled him with rage.
(09-30-2017, 06:11 PM)Lavi Wrote: [ -> ]At the same time, the bandit leader, having somehow avoided the light brand's flash, was quick to replace his bawling minion. He swung his club with expertise in a golf swing-like motion, aiming to separate Paige from the others.
Paige wasn't used to wielding thee light brand. She had to squint her own eyes from the blinding attack. By the time she refocused, the bandit leader was upon her. She dashed to the side to avoid getting hit, but this put on the other side of the room, opposite from Cecily and Satsume.
Cecily's vision, although still spotty from the blinding light, could barely make out the hands of someone reaching out towards her. Where did Satsume go? The woman took quick steps backward, unsure how to respond to the incoming grip that she perceived to be impossible to escape from. She felt her foot brush up against something and Cecily immediately bent over, picked it up, and swung it with all of her strength just as the bandit's fingers closed around one wrist. A loud crack of breaking wood responded to her efforts and Cecily felt the powerful grip go slack.
Her vision cleared to see the third bandit on the floor, knocked out beside the ruined cribbage board.
"Your game turned out to be good for something," she dryly remarked. It was too obvious a jest, but it was too hard to let pass.
With the bandit leader skewered by Satsume and the wounded bandit knocked out by Cecily, there was only the blinded bandit left.
Eli's consoling(?) words didn't affect Shad that much. His blood lust was sated for the moment. His sister was still a prisoner and his men where still dead, but he finally drew first blood against them. That was more comforting to him than what Eli had told him. His mind went over the conversation he had and going back over it, he recalled them saying how many Maria had killed before they captured her. He felt a bit of pride and regret at the feat. Maria, at half his age, is already thrice as good with magic as he is. There is a lot of their mother in her, after all. But Maria shouldn't be killing people at her age, not with twenty soldiers protecting her. She should just be practicing and perfecting her magic at this stage in her life, not putting it into use. But...wait. Why-
Eli disturbed his train of thought as he ran off towards the town. Shad just stopped in his tracks and looked back at the path they had taken. "Why did you stop fighting?" Shad said to his sister, knowing full well she was far out of hearing distance and probably not in a position to reply. Shad began playing scenarios in his head. The first he could think of happened to him personally. Magic exhaustion. Could she have exhausted herself fighting so many opponents? She has a better grasp on magic than Shad, perhaps she was using more intensive spells.
Perhaps they forced her to surrender by using the others as hostages. It would explain why they were so scared of her. They needed hostages to stop her in her tracks. The only people they killed were the soldiers, so its fair to say they'd have a pick of hostages to use to stop her. But that was Shad thinking optimistically. In the back of his mind, he knew the possibility existed that she was actually beat up and knocked out. He didn't want to consider that. With how scared those two men were of the brat, it was almost obvious in his mind that Maria put up more of a fight than they were able to put up with until something happened. They still had a fear of magic in them from what she did. Although, Shad was just projecting one mans fear onto all of the brigands they were about to fight.
Shad turned his gaze back towards the town. The bandits are real. Shad knew Maisie wouldn't lie, so why is this town so eerily calm? Shad had an idea flash through his head as he kicked a nearby rock. And a large one at that. "Why did I kill them?! Argh?! I should have pressed them for more information! Why! Am! I! So! Stupid?!" Shad yelled, kicking the rock to punctuate his words. He barely registered the damage he did to own foot in doing so. He still didn't feel the damage he did to his left hand punching that man's face into pulp. He kept kicking the rock till he lost his balance and fell. He just laid back on the dirt, staring into the sky, panting all the while. It's only then he heard the commotion going on, but didn't have the strength to pull himself up just yet.
Ellie darted between alleyways, retracing the steps she had taken to meet Shad before their brief excursion up the cliffs, missing a turn or two in her blinded haste. She eventually found her way to the inn, only to be greeted by a rather sultry young lady, accompanied by a towering hulk of plate and little else; stunned by the immense proportions of the behemoth, Ellie fumbled in her steps and struggled to regain her footing as she halted.
"Oh, don't look at me like that."
Ellie eyed the two, then turned her gaze on the heap of bandit laying motionless in the streets before the duo, then Maisie and Taika. It didn't take her more than a moment to put two and two together. She ran towards the group and knelt next to unconscious ladies, reassuring herself that they were both alive and well. A few scrapes and bruises, perhaps, but no worse for wear.
"Thank you!" Ellie proclaimed as she stood, equal parts relieved and distressed. Before she could utter another word, she took off in a sprint towards the inn, waving frantically as she ran. She burst through the doors, daggers drawn as she scanned the lobby - only the innkeeper was to be found, quivering behind the counter.
What a pitiful man.
Ellie offered the man a scornful glance before she made her way up the stairs, sobs ringing in her ears accompanied by a loud thud ringing through the hall. She rounded the corner into the first open door she found, and was instantly overwhelmed by the scene - Paige standing uneven and exhausted, Satsume straddling a filthy mess of flesh and sweat, and Cecily standing bewildered as she eyed the corner of the room. Ellie saw what caught her attention and grabbed the man viciously by the hair, tugging hard and placing her dagger against his throat. She stomped hard on one of his ankles, snapping the tendon with ease.
"We need to ask you some questions," Ellie spoke clear and confident, offering a nod in the direction of her allies as the bandit yelped, attempting to grasp at his ankle - with every movement, Ellie applied more pressure before she forcefully turned the man to face her companions. "Paige?" Ellie looked down at the man a moment, then turned her gaze inquisitively to Paige, pressing the blade of her dagger lightly against the man's throat, drawing a fine trickle of blood.
Taika began to stir after Eli ran off. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't at the inn anymore. Her last conscious memory was her downing a drink the nice innkeep made for her. She pushed herself up, so that she was sitting on the ground. She looked around and noticed the bodies surrounding her. Maisie was a couple feet away from her, her face rather bruised and cut up. She turned back and saw two men on the ground in a heap. "Huh?"
She heard running in the distance and saw that red headed boy running back towards the inn. Why did he just leave them here? She looked around some more and saw another pair. A metal goliath, at least from her perspective, and a lithe woman standing behind him. Everything was confusing to her. Like there was some thick fog in her mind she was trying to see through. She resisted the galdyr enough, so whatever happened to her wasn't some magic. She looked down at the ground, realization on her face. "H-he...drugged me."
She tried to get up, but fell back down on her butt. She grabbed at her scarf and could barely get a firm grip on it. "E-Excuse me. Uh...sir? Miss? Could you, uh, assist me and my, uh, friend here? Could you help us back to the inn? Just follow that boy, he's, uh, part of our traveling group." Taika struggled to put together the words. The situation was still affecting her. "My friend is still, uh, out of it. And that...damn...innkeep drugged me. I-I don't think it's run it's course yet. Could you help us?"
After dispatching the two brutes there was a bit of a pause before someone dashed over to the two women they had just liberated, checking them and then thanking the duo before just as quickly dashing into the inn. Lita looked back at her companion and shrugged. Thankfully one of the two women began to stir and rightfully figured out that the intimidating armor and the lightly clothed woman behind it were indeed her saviors, not more of the ones that were trying to kidnap them.
Lita knocked on the back of her companion’s armor. “Well you heard her, she asked for our help. You don’t expect me to do the lifting, do you?” It wasn’t hard to tell, even though their appearance was completely obscured by armor, that they were not pleased by that but they got moving, putting up their axe and reaching down to pick up the still unconscious Maisie and giving Taika a hand to get up.
Moving around from behind the one she was just ordering around, the woman said, “My name is Lita. You can call them ‘Goldhardt.’ Just think of them like an animated suit of armor. I guess you can say that’s accurate if you have a wide definition of ‘Nobody is in the armor,’ but that’s neither here nor there. Just don't expect a conversation from them. From your companion’s movements it’s safe to assume there’s still some trouble to be had. We should get moving.”
And like that, without giving Taika time to question anything she had just said, Lita began leisurely walking towards the entrance of the inn. Goldhardt would follow, helping Taika as needed.
Paige was in a daze. She was about to face off with a superior opponent with a weapon she wasn't used to. Had Satsume not reacted when he did, she didn't know how the faceoff would have ended. She stood there motionless until Ellie called for her. Immediately, Paige took in the scene. Ellie was holding the only surviving bandit for questioning. But perhaps the biggest priority was Satsume, who was currently curled up on the floor.
"Secure him for now," Paige told Ellie. The librarian immediately went to Satsume. She knelt down beside him to examine his state. He needed healing badly. All because she couldn't handle a new sword.
Satsume's grumbling reminded Cecily that there were real concerns other than her own satisfaction, bringing the woman over to her retainer's side. She bit back the temptation to ask him if he was alright. Of course not: it does not take a physician to see his pained expression. However, healing magic is not one of Cecily's specialties and she was not sure whether a vulnerary would really fix the blunt trauma that plagued Satsume's midriff.
Instead, she offered something else. "I suppose it is ironic our roles are reversed. If you were having any dreams of me carrying you, they are sorely mistaken."
Cecily could not let Satsume see what she was feeling right now. Theodore, who previously served Cecily, died on his own volition to protect his lady from harm. There was no way for Cecily to have been in a position to save him then. This time was different; she was not incapacitated and bedridden and, despite that, she had no means to prevent his health from declining. There was a feeling of guilt in having him open the door, but she doubted that the situation would have been any better had it been she who answered the door instead.
It is better this way, she had to mentally tell herself. Without thinking, she held Satsume's hand in her lap with a gentle massage. Her smile was nervous and she was sweating a little. For the first time since she was a young child learning Lycian politics (not counting her rhythm of health, of course), her composure faltered.
How can she fulfill her ambitions if her followers keep dying before the journey can begin?
Satsume's eyes were shut tight to combat the pain; the action and noise around him had finally dwindled. He heard additional footsteps enter the room, accompanied by Eli's voice. Satsume wanted to speak, but his brain remained fixated on containing the fire in his ribs. His teeth refused to budge, so instead he nodded slightly to himself.
More noise nearby. Satsume felt something on his left pauldron.
"Secure him for now." It was Paige. Satsume finally opened his eyes and watched as she looked him over. Cecily soon joined on his opposite side, seeming to almost fall to her knees as she grabbed his arm.
"Are you-" Satsume struggled to say.
"I... suppose it is ironic our roles are reversed," she said. "If you were having any dreams of me carrying you, they are sorely mistaken."
Satsume turned his head slowly to face her. She had a look of... concern? Worry? There was a look in her eyes that he hadn't seen since the time she was poisoned and delirious. Satsume looked down at his right hand, which had found its way into her lap, where she massaged it gently. It was probably the first time in his life that the touch of a woman didn't result in him doing or saying something profoundly moronic.
Cecily must have eventually noticed his gaze, because she looked down at her lap, and the faint smile across her face faded. Her face started to go pink.
"No, but... I could use some help getting up," Satsume finally said. He raised his arm up over Cecily's head and set it gingerly across the back of her neck. Then slowly, gently, he took his left hand away from his ribs and reached over across Paige's neck in the same fashion. "Nice and easy..." he cautioned them.
The girls got to their feet and keeled down to prepare to lift him.
"Nnnnngggh....!" Slowly, painfully - Satsume was lifted off the bandit leader's body, until he was finally able to prop himself up somewhat clumsily on Cecily before coughing out a painful breath. "...I need a medic," he said. "...and a vacation." Looking back at Paige, he gestured towards his spear on the ground. She returned it to him.
As he shuffled out of the room with Cecily's help, he made eye contact with the remaining bandit - the same one that had caused his injuries.
"Almost," Satsume growled with a smirk, before spitefully spitting a small mouthful of blood at his feet.
Cecily said nothing as the two of them made their way down the hallway and to the stairs. Upon seeing the lack of a railing, Satsume groaned audibly. But they made it down - somehow - and past the reception area to the exit. Satsume was so focused on making it to the doorway so he could prop himself up for a rest that he didn't notice the trembling innkeeper in the corner. Finally, finally, they were outside.
"Ffffuh..." Satsume's curse turned into an exhausted sigh at the sight of a massive armored figure standing a short ways away in the street. One of Shad's lady friends lay cradled in its arms. In front of the armored figure was a relatively slight woman with long black hair and some unreasonably gaudy jewelry. Slowly, deliberately, he moved his weight off of Cecily and stood on his own feet. His left hand settled back over his spear, still blood-caked from his earlier fight. It was all a show, obviously - Satsume was in no condition to fight. But it was his job to keep her safe. He took a step in front of Cecily, his damaged armor clattering in disagreement as he shifted his body into a fragile, but mostly upright stance.
He said nothing as he held his spear - still collapsed - in his hand. His tired eyes met the glare of the woman, as if to say "are you really going to make me do this again?" Hopefully these two newcomers were friendly, and not the cause of Satsume's untimely demise.