Knights of the Realm ch. 4: Lies, Deceit, and Hidden Secrets

[Raiden]

Thomas slowly came back to consciousness, a foul smelling liquid placed under his nose. As he snorted away the fumes, the small beaker was pulled away.

Thomas took in his surroundings. He was in a vast throne room, and he could see the taxes of the city populace at work. There was gold wherever he looked, and rare jewels were tossed around like cheap baubles. A chandelier, which honestly looked like it was completely made of diamonds, hung from the ceiling, which had to have been 50 feet off the ground.

Thomas himself was attached to a metal platform with wheels. Chains hung from his neck, wrists, and ankles. The chains dangled down and attached to thick steel bolts on the platform. He wore his disguise clothing. His armor and swords were most likely stuck in some storage room somewhere. He couldn't find Samuel anywhere. He hoped that the hawk had enough smarts to fly to a safe spot. There was always the chance that the bird had been shot down with an arrow, but Thomas kept that from his mind.

In front of Thomas was a long, velvet carpet, lined with very large guards armed with pikes or longswords. The carpet lead from Thomas's platform to a very large throne. And on that throne, sat King Roland the VII. The king had an unpleasant smile on his face.

"Well, you're finally awake. I must say, I'm a little disappointed. I expected you Knights to charge the gate, not sneak in like common thieves. Speaking of which..."

King Roland turned to a messenger next to him.

"What's the status on the Thief of Life?"

The messenger bowed slightly.

"He was not captured with the Knights. It's suspected that he hid himself amongst the performers. We are currently interrogating every captured prisoner. We should find him soon."

"Good. Very good."

King Roland refocused his attention on Thomas. He laced his fingers, and sat down deep in his cushioned chair.

"Now, where are my manners? A good host should always keep his guests comfortable. I used the good chains for you and your friends. How do they feel?"

Thomas spat, the saliva hit the shining tile with a small splat, and stood out greatly against the otherwise clean floor.

"I've been better. You couldn't give me a pillow or anything, could you?"

*Meanwhile*

A guard clacked his sword against the iron bars of the cell. The Knights were all inside the cell, attached to strong chains. Kratos was truly covered in chains, his strength a known factor.

"Alright, kiddos. Time to take your medecine."

Several soldiers went into the cell, carrying small potions.

"These potions will erase your disguises so we can correctly identify you."

Some of the Knights shyed away from the beakers. The guard smirked.

"Look, either you be good little Knights and drink up your medicine, or we'll slip it into your drinking water later on."

[lazy man]

Rulick had obviously lost his disguise already, but the guards seemed to like seeing him squirm as they shoved a potion down his throat. Coughing loudly after they were finished with him, he gave them a glare when they weren't looking because he knew if they were looking, they would probably beat him or kill him. He wished he could call them bastards, but that would result in something much worse than the glare.

It hadn't been long since he'd woken up from his small beating outside, and already he was being treated like crap again. These were the people he'd saved, and now they were him and the other knights like this. It was truly pathetic, but now wasn't the time to worry about it. He had to look for a way out, anything. And then he saw it, something he hadn't seen in years, not since he'd been stabbed in the shoulder by that glowing knife that one thief had. It was a Demon Mark.

He'd never really known what they were, but he knew that he got some sort of ability from them, so maybe this would do something to him. The demon mark was on part of a rusted old chain that had broken long ago, possibly of age, attached to the body of a dead body. He needed to get that broken part of the chain...

Reaching with his legs, he slowly raked the broken chain link over to him, and then, when it was close enough, he flipped the link up to his chest and grabbed it, making sure to keep his fist clenched around it so the guards wouldn't notice. He didn't really know what he had to do with it right now, but he knew he needed this small, glowing piece of metal to do it. Looking around at the rest of the knights, he gave them a look to make sure that they stayed quiet until the guards left. He didn't want them asking why he'd just dragged a small, rusted piece of metal over to himself.

ooc: Remember everyone, only Rulick sees the mark, so the rest of you only see him dragging a small piece of metal over to him for no reason at all.

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion lies on the ground beside Jilleen (You're still Jilleen right?) and sporadically coughs up blood. He turns towards her and whispers "Seems your pig sticker nicked me on the way up," he coughs violently and splatters blood all over the floor. Then, noticing Rulick's glance, he says in a louder voice "You lot wouldn't happen to have a potion to stop internal bleeding wqould you? Didn't think so.". Suddenly, the scars across his body begn to pulse, and his body is engulfed in darkness. So shocked are the gaurds that they don't even think to cry out a warning before they are knocked unconcious by Damion's Shadow Avatar. He reverts back to his regular self, seats himself upon the floor, and coughs blood all over the unconcious gaurds. "These weapons will have to do until we can get to either the armory or where ever they're holding your weapons." He coughs blood again, "I'm starting ot feel weaker by the second, I can probably get you to your weapons, or through the armory, which I believe is 3 floors up and to the right, and on to an audience with the kng before I collapse. Choose quickly please." With this Damion stumbles and just manages to catch himself on the wall. His scars once again begin to pulse.

[Raiden]

(OOC: Important stuff is going to come up. Hence, no breaking into the throne room until the go-ahead is given. And since you guys took the potions, you're back to your original forms.)

[Fuzzydoom]

OOC: so how bout we go grab our weapons? or should we just sit tight?

[wilysword]

Adin had been taken to the mass cell with all of the circus performers, which was what he wanted. It wasn't hard to blend in, but as the guards came to interrogate people one by one, it wouldn't take them long to figure out the one person who had recently joined the show, along with a certain suspicious group now under arrest. But before that happened, he had his own interrogation to do.

Finding Pilo wasn't too hard. Only having been with the show for mere days longer than Adin himself, he had few friends, and the accident with the rope had convinced poeple he was unlucky. He nursed his broken arm alone in a corner, and didn't look up when Adin came over.

Quietly, so as not to attract unwanted attention, Adin said simply, "Why?"

Pilo's answer was just as quiet, but in a firm tone of voice. "Jealousy." Had Adin been one to show his emotions a little more, he might have gasped in surprise. Instead he merely grunted.

"You tried to kill me out of jealousy?" he said incredulously.

"Not exactly. I would have been the best thief in years, if it weren't for two people: you and Arlen. I joined the Shadoweyes to see if this was deserved praise; it was. I cut the rope for the same reason, to see if you were good enough to deserve the title 'best'. I expected you to save yourself, but I never expected you to save me as well. Not only a better thief, but a better man."

Here he paused, looking at his arm for a moment before continuing. "I know you can't trust me now, nor should you. I've already arranged for another Shadoweye to meet you when you escape." Another pause, and, as if reading Adin's mind, Pilo added, "Yes, when, not if. Maybe we'll meet again sometime, when I've come to grips with being third-best."

The guards entered the cell again, headed directly for Adin and Pilo. "You, with the broken arm. Come with us," they said, roughly grabbing Pilo by the shoulder.

"No need for that," he said pleasantly. "This man right here is the legendary Thief of Life," he added, gesturing to Adin. The guards stood for a moment, shocked by this bold statement, then pulled something like a potion out of a pouch. For Adin, it was more than enough time.

Standing smoothly as the guards approached, his arm snaked through one's attempt at a block, crushing his windpipe. The other started to draw his sword, but Adin had somehow gotten behind him, and his neck was broken before he quite figured out how.

"Check the weapons room," advised Pilo. Drawing one of the guards' daggers, Adin dragged the bodies outside the cell, the circus people crowding out of his way; if the were honest about it, the guards shouldn't hurt them too much.

The cell locked once again, Adin dissapeared into the twighlight corridors, making his way to the weapons room.

[Astral Harmony]

Jilleen...no, Adellah grit her teeth as her body changed back, her larger limbs being crushed by the chains. She was righteously pissed, and her eyes reflected this, glowing with a dangerous crimson red. Her face an expression of pain, she slung her limbs forward and...very literally ripped the chains out of the walls, blood dripping down her chin. She quickly flexed her muscles and, in excrutiating pain, broke the cuffs. She was on her hands and knees, coughing blood and breathing exhaustedly even before the chains hit the ground. Slowly, she came to her senses, and realized where she was. Where they all were. Adellah quickly got up, realizing that she was still wearing the dancing dress but finding it mostly useless. The dress had seen better days, to be sure. It hung off of Adellah like a well worn cloak. She didn't seem to care, really. "Oh, they are gonna get it," Adellah said darkly, then came to another realization. "I haven't felt a blow that powerful since one year ago, when fighting those Englasians. Did anyone get a look at who they were?"

Adellah quickly shook her head. "No, not important." She then went over to Cecilia and worked on breaking her chains. It got harder and harder to do, as Adellah's hands became sweaty, and bruises were slowly forming in her palms, but she didn't relent, focused to the task at hand. They were all probably in the most hostile territory that they could be in. King Roland's castle. They might just need all the help they could get.

[Toastburner B]

Nathaniel was glad the cell was dark. That way, no one could of seen he had been crying.

Seeing the Englasian in the bandit group had reopened a wound Nathaniel thought had healed long ago. Every time he slept since, it was the dream about his village being attacked...and of the death of Rachel.

Still...he couldn't afford to think about that now.

Nathaniel sat calmly in his chains. He sat calmly as the guard, even though his magical disguise had already been removed, came over an poured the foul tasting liquid down his throat. Nathaniel didn't struggle, didn't say a word. He just gave the guards a apprasing look...and snorted. Any one of the Knights were worth a hundred of these guys.

And they proved it, quickly. After Damion fell the guards, Nathaniel slid over and tore the keys off of one the guard's belt. It took him a few tries...there were more than one key on the ring, but he nodded with satisfaction when the lock fell away with a click. After shrugging off his chains, he threw the keys to Adellah. "Those might make it a little easier." he said.

He picked up a weapon from one of the guards, a short sword they all seemed to carry...and scowled. "At any other time," Nathainel said, "I wouldn't be caught dead with a weapon of his quality. His Highness doesn't seem to think his guards deserve the best."

Nathaniel leaned his head out into the hallway beyond the cell. "It's clear for the time being."

((OOC: By the way...to avoid future OOC posts, I'm taking the liberty of opening a discussion thread. Hope no one minds.))

[Raiden]

"Not so sarcastic now, are you? Do you still feel like spitting on the clean floor?"

King Roland watched with sadistic amusement as Thomas was pummeled with clubs. There were three soldiers standing around him, each brandishing clubs tipped with bronze. They took turns flailing Thomas on the back, face, and stomach with their large sticks. After a few moments, they stopped. Thomas's face was beaten, but luckily not broken. A flow of blood dripped from his left nostril, the left corner of his lip was bulging with a purple bruise. His left eye, the normal one, was clenched tight from swelling. His ribs were bruised, and one might even be a little cracked. But even with his injuries, he gave out a chuckle.

He deliberately spat again on the floor. This time, his saliva was mixed with blood, leaving a dark crimson splatter on the tile.

"Thanks. I thought the floor needed a little color."

One of the guards bashed Thomas in the back with a club.

"Now now, can't we be civil about this? Surely the Hawk Knight has better manners than this."

Thomas rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve some of the soreness.

"Cut the crap, Roland. Let's get to the point. You sent assassins after each of the Knights, knowing full well that the assassins would never have been able to defeat us. Why?"

"Why? Simply, my good boy. The assassins were never meant to kill you. They were simply used to bring you here, to me."

Thomas looked up at King Roland, his shaggy blonde hair now stragged across his face.

"And why would you want us here? I would have thought that it would be in your best interests to keep us as far away as possible."

King Roland frowned a bit. He stood up, and looked at the soldiers lining the walls.

"Out. All soldiers will report to castle routine patrols until further notice. No one is allowed in this room except for the Royal Protectorate. Now, out!"

A vast majority of the soldiers silently left the rooms, most going to their new patrols, others taking the chance to go into town for some fun. The only ones left in the Throne room were Thomas, King Roland, his wife Nerrana, and a small group of very big guards. Thomas could only assume that they were Englasian. Once the room was cleared, King Roland sat back down. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a smile vial.

"I wanted you here, Hawk Knight. I wanted you, and the other Knights, here. To suffer. To pay for what you did to me. What you stopped me from doing one year ago."

[Lycanthrope]

Devon Groaned and got to his feet "Not thinking of leaving me behind, are we?" he said with a wince. "I may not be at my best, but I'm still probably faster than the vast majority of the guard here." Reaching down to one of the guards. "I want my sword back. Its been too long since I felt it's weight in my hand. Lets get this over with. Damion, lead the way to the armory"

Meanwhile, on the castle grounds, a gray form flitted from wall to wall, tracking the guard to the central keep. There, waiting, he moved in a blur past the guards, then with superhuman speed scaled a wall and ducked into a window. There the hunter took a moment to get the baring of his position.

"Hey--!" a guard started to say as he turned the corner, however before he had a chance to finish, there was a flash of silver. The man didn't get a chance to finish as the sword, Flurry, severed his vocal chords. No blood was splattered: the sword did a spectacular job of keeping things neat, as the body fell, lifeless and bloodless to the ground. The Hunter heaved a shuddering sigh of extacy as the man died. a shame you were merely human he said as he sheathed Flurry and lifted the body. He would have to find a place to store the guard's corpse.

[lazy man]

Rulick thanked Nathaniel as his shackles were unlocked, and his wrists free again. Opening his hand, he stared at the marked piece of rusted metal in his hand. He'd just thought about what he had to do with the damn thing. He had to stab himself with it. It wasn't so much a real thought so much as his gut and his instincts telling him he had to do it. And thinking about what happened in the past only made it more true.

"Alright, I'll go scout ahead. My weapon's in me, so I think I might just stand a better chance." With that, he walked out the door and looked around, making sure there were no no more guards at the moment. He walked off in the direction that Damion had told him to go and walked ahead, making sure he was out of sight of the others. This was really going to suck.

OK, Rulick, it's happened before. You can endure it. Don't make a noise. Be silent. You don't want the others to know what you're doing... he thought as readied himself to do this. Pulling up his shirt a little and putting the broken chain link up to his side, he gulped and inhaled deeply, obviously not ready for what he was about to do to himself.

Overcoming his fear, he clamped his eyes shut and stabbed himself. Rulick had been stabbed before, but this was a pain like no other. Instead of just the incredible pain from doing something like this, there was also a different pain. Something extremely hot was burning in his body, as well as into his skin, and it wasn't exactly a normal burn either. This was like someone had tossed molten metal onto him, yet it wasn't breaking the skin. After a moment, the burning stopped, but the feeling remained that he had stabbed himself.

Looking down at his side, Rulick noticed that he had already pulled the chain link out without knowing, and that the wound had cauterized itself shut, along with strange new markings still steaming in his flesh. Barely holding in a scream of pain, Rulick stumbled against the wall and tried his best to regain his composure before he went back to the group. While he was doing this, he didn't notice that the floor and wall around him had frozen into a crystalline sheen, and the air around Rulick seemed to be colder just in appearence.

He didn't even know it, but right now he was a walking, talking freezer. It wasn't long before the cold air around him stopped emanating from him, and right before he got to the cell again. He tried his best to hold back a face of pain, and tried with all his might to not talk without trembling, or walk without falling over simply from the pain.

"No one's around here, so we should get going while it's still like that," Rulick informed them in a slightly shaky voice. This whole ordeal really was painful, and it almost felt like something was torturing him while he walked, waiting for him to get used to this intense pain.

ooc: If anyone's wondering what Rulick's new power does, it basically lets him freeze things he touches.

[Overcast]

He had been sitting there for about a minute just looking over everything he had just seen. He was chained up pretty badly and he felt a very large pain around his neck that told him the hadn't put Forte in a good position either. He pondered his surrounding and thoughts for escape when a thought revolving over a minor detail that was forcing him to a little fear went up.

"Umm... Little men who hold me in there very powerful clutches at this time would you mind telling me where you got those potions from?"

Those disguises wouldn't be so easily taken away by the simple alchemy of Roland's men. He knew this without question or need for proof. There were only few amongst the Imperial Alchemists who could take those disguises away so he knew that the culprit must be from his lands. The problem was he didn't know who that person could be.

"If you tell me I promise not to use your bodyparts to awaken my potions." a fun idea though it would be true.

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion slumps to the floor, the pulsing leaving his scars. He looks drained, as if his strength is gone. He coughs up more blood, then rises slowly back to his feet and turns to where Adellah is helping Cecilia get free from her chains. He notes Adellah's grip, slides her left hand a little closer to her right one, takes the chain in his hands and gives a hard yank. The chain comes apart under their powerful pull. "Hey nature-boy, you got a potion to stop internal bleeding?" Damion asks, "I think Adellah's knife pricked me on the way up." With that his body is wracked by a coughing fit and he doubles over, spraying blood all over the wall and floor in front of him.

[CelesJessa]

Cecilia rubbed her sore wrists after the shackles had been removed from them. "Thanks." She said, standing up quickly off of the dirty floor and shivered, then she felt around in the folds in her circus costume, yes, the knife was still there. Since she was an archer, the guards didn't think of searching for close-combat weapons on her.

"I guess we can rule out King Roland being innocent." she mused, referring to the way he had violently captured them.

[Fuzzydoom]

"Aye little lady, that we can." Damion's anger radiates off him in waves, before he collapses into a fit of blood spewing coughs.

[Lycanthrope]

"But we can't go anywhere like this..." Devon said looking around, "Does anyone here have anything that will stiffle Damion's internal bleeding? If nothing else it will leave a trail others can follow."

[Dante]

Save your strength for when it's most needed, huh? I guess this is it...

Kratos gritted his teeth, and the thick black chains binding him began to tense, with a clink as the heavy links hit and slid over each other. A nearby guard, noticing this, walked over and laughed.

"Hah, just give it up. They're unbreakable! The King knows how strong you are - he had them specially made just to hold you!"

Kratos pulled. The chains held. Perhaps the guard was right...

..or not. The Dragon Knight closed his eyes, reaching into the core of his being, and as he found the spark within himself, a story came unbidden to him. it was this story that he intoned, as he fanned the flame within himself.

Once, there was a scorpion who wished to cross a river. He saw a frog about to go, and he called out to the frog, "Wait, brother! For I must cross the river and would like to ride on your back!"

The guard looked at Kratos, a quizzical experession on his face.

"The hell are you talking about?"

Kratos ignored the man, and continued.

Said the frog, "But if I let you ride me, you will sting me, and we will both drown."

The puzzled guard called to his fellows. They came, four of them, surrounding the block to which he was chained.

"Hey, get a load of this, I think the mighty Kratos has snapped!"

"Come now, Brother Frog, if you drowned, so would I, no? I cannot swim, and thus depend upon you for my life..."


The guards' suspicions were allyed by the fact that he seemed to be stretching and murmuring, and they rested their halberds on the ground.

"...definitely crazy... mumbling to himself..."

The frog saw wisdom in the scorpion's words, and allowed the scorpion to ride on its back. Halfway through, the scorpion, true to its nature, stung the frog.

One of the guards pulled on his tunic.

"Is it me, or is it getting hot in here?"

In terrible pain, the frog wailed, "Scorpion, you are the end of us! Poisoned by you, I cannot swim, and neither can you. We shall both drown!"


Suddenly, an aura of fire erupted around Kratos, his skin turned a rich bronze in the light of the lambent orange flames. His muscles corded, but impossibly, the chains held. The guards fell back in terror. One, who was too slow, was caught in the fires and was rendered into a pillar of screaming flame before collapsing to the stony floor as a charred wreck. The flames harmed Kratos not at all. Merely one of the advantages of attuning yourself to fire. The chains held, however. Forged of the finest black jade, they sucked heat and resistance into their infinite ebon depths, and while they would get hot, they would not break.

But Kratos was not concerned with them.

Below the chains, at the base of the block, the flames were transferring their abysmal heat to the links holding the chains, and eventually, the weaker metal twisted, and split apart. Chains hanging off him, Kratos stood, a colossus of burning iron and fire. One of them thought to run. Kratos cast an arm forth, and the black chain it bound wrapped itself around the man's greave, which promptly buckled from the heat and pressure and set its wearer to hideous screaming.

Then Kratos began reeling him in, and the man's eyes widened as the flames grew closer.

"Gods! No! Save me! Save meeeee-"

And then he was nothing more than an incandescent coal tethered by a heavy chain which would have glowed red-hot had it been made of mortal steel.

One of the sentries actually tried to attack Kratos, thrusting his polearm out at the man's chest. He was promptly swatted across the face with boiling-hot metal links, but he did not feel them as the impact had already broken his neck. In a strangely distorted voice, a deep and terible intonation, Kratos spoke, even as he entangled the remaining two and pulled them into the inferno surrounding him.

"And as the frog went under the water, the scorpion turned to it and smiled."

There were two flares of light as cloth caught fire, and a couple of anguished screams as two lives met a painful, burning end.

Kratos grinned to himself, then touched a flaming hand to the metal bars of the cell. He gritted his teeth, and the fires around him turned a brilliant blue-white. The iron warped, then ran like water as the Dragon Knight stepped through. He looked back at the incinerated corpses, and finished, out loud,

"But little frog, I can swim."

[Fuzzydoom]

OOC: is that little bit about the scorpion said by Nakor in Talon of the Silver Hawk? I seem to remember seeing it in there. If so a good choice in books. If not just ignore this.

Damion, hearing the screaming from down the hall, rises to his feet and pushes open the door. He steps out of the cell and begins to head towards the sound of combat. As he hears the strange voice issue forth those last few lines, he smiles. The same story was printed in the Book of the Dark One. As he reaches Kratos' cell, he notes the corpses and smiles. "Brilliantly done my friend." With that he turns and continues down the hall.

[Raiden]

"What did we do that was so wrong, Roland? All we did was help save Incrad. YOUR city. We helped you when you needed it, and you turn on us like this."

King Roland snorted.

"You did no such thing for me, Hawk Knight. For my brother, maybe, but not me."

Thomas looked up.

"What are you talking about! You have no siblings. And the least you could do is call me by my name, not my title!"

King Roland flicked his thumb, and popped the cork off the vial he was holding. He sniffed the fumes that came off, and cringed only a little. He then drank down the contents. As he turned back to Thomas, the left side of his face became almost like a liquid. Then, it reformed, but this time, his face was different. It still looked almost exactly like King Roland, only this new face had a long scar over the left eye.

Thomas's right eye became uncomfortable. The right eye was where his own scar rested, and it began to bother him as he remembered that night. One year ago...

The sun had set. Darkness overcame everything, and not even the stars in the vast sky would glow on this night. Kratos had taken the liberty to manifest several floating orbs of fire, giving off the only light available during this battle. Each of the Knights were holding their area in a broad half-circle surrounding the Mountain Gate.

Thomas was farther away from the Gate. He and Samuel were surrounded by waves of enemies, which they were cutting down like cattle. Thomas couldn't truly remember most of his fighting. His attacks were flurries of parrys, thrusts, and cross slashes. There was no end to them. Until near the end of the battle, when Thomas truly became affected by the fight.

The Englasians were running out of both troops and morale. They had never been stood up to like this before, and never for so long. The ranks were beginning to thin when Thomas saw a figure coming towards him.

The figure was small for an Englasian, but he had an aura of power around him. The Englasian soldiers stayed out of his way, and none dared cross his path. He wore a large hooded cloak, which hid his face from view in shadow. Nothing seemed to faze him. When Damion's Shadow Avatar tossed an Englasian in his direction, he simply raised his sword, allowing the barbarian to be imbedded on blade. Cecilia's arrows all came close to hitting him, but he didn't flinch at all. He was focused, and deadly. And he was heading for Thomas.

The two charged each other, Dove and Raven shining in the light from the suspended fires. The figure's sword flashed out, and blocked both swords. That's when the fight truly began.

Their blades whirled and clashed. Neither fighter truly knew which sword was his anymore. Every time Thomas flipped over the figure, the man knew exactly where Thomas would land.

Thomas was getting tired. He couldn't keep avoiding at the rate he was. So, he had to make one last move. Either he would win, or he'd die out here on the battle field. Not a bad death for a warrior, but one he'd like to avoid nonetheless.

Thomas slashed out with Raven, leaving himself wide open in his final slash. As he struck forward, the figure slashed upwards with his own blade. Thomas felt a searing pain run across his right eye. His vision soon turned red, as blood began to seep into his eye. He heard a cry of pain from the other figure as well. Thomas had managed to gouge into his left eye, each dealing the same amount of damage to the other.

The man took his hand from his eye, and saw the crimson liquid that stained it. He turned, and began to run. When the other Englasians saw him running, they retreated also.

For reasons unknown to Thomas, the day was won. He had never figured out who the man was.

Until today.

[Overcast]

"I need some blood and the location of my potions my friends," he looked down the hall, "and I'm sure this place is too huge to help me in that," he looks at the charred remains of the men who had stood there, This doesn't help me. "Your mission if you choose to accept it is to get those potions and collect any blood from our black haired enemies." he began a wobbley run down the hall, "make a stupid noise if you find them I personally must find my wolf."

[Darth SS]

Kal appeared to be sleeping. The key part was that he only appeared. Feeling confident in their ability to deal with this one knight, who seemed small and easy to get rid of, they were sloppy.

That was their first mistake.

They'd also assumed that the locks on his chains were relatively secure and that since he'd given himself up, Kal wouldn't be escaping any time soon.

That was their second mistake.

When all of these things were brought together, it made sense that Kal was under a relatively lax guard. Only three heavily armored soldiers.

That was their third mistake.

One walked over to jab Kal just for fun. There was a whish of sliding metal as Kal tore his unsecure locks open, spun his legs into a circle, and rose spinning. His first chain wrapped around the throat of the guard right before Kal reversed direction of his spin. This spun the guard off and flung him across the room, crashing into the second guard. Both were knocked out.

The third decided to come at Kal. Neatly, Kal arched his back to avoid the stab, in a way that almost any human could not, then he rotated his trunk to come under the shaft of the spear. Not sparing time, Kal started to run up his attacker, but gave a sudden violent kick. This flung the soldier at the stone wall, and impaled his head on a loop for chains.

There was a sickening crunch. Kal didn't notice. He merely muttered a prayer for the man as he got the keys to unlock his shackles.

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion sees a pair of hulking soldiers running down the hall towards him. In his weakened state he is no match for them and he knows it. He ducks into a small alcove with a heavy steel door embedded in the wall. He opens it and steps inside, bolting it behind him. He coughs, and blood spews all over the dark room. Thank god, I was beginning to think this entire goddamed castle was bathed in light. Damion's scars pulse and he transforms into his shadow avatar. The shadow avatar uses the surrounding darkness to heal itself, thus healing Damion's human form as well. Damion then lights a torch and smiles. Roland has grown careless, leaving our weapons so close to our cell, and without gaurds too. Fool. Damion picks up the knights' weapons as well as nature-boy's potions, and heads back towards where he had last seen the group with the weapons wrapped in a cloak slung across his back.

[Overcast]

He looks down upon the many guards at his feet. Anger shone brightly in his eyes. The pain in his body was not his own and he had to find her. More guards seemed to pull themselves from the woodwork. "You damn bastards will pay for whatever your doing to her!" his right hand rushed across many of his leg coming after and pounding them out of the direct path. He looked to those with black hair and stuck his hand in to thier skulls to use them as makeshift cups for thier blood and just let the others die of his bezerk stated wounds.

She stood inside this damned chamber as the fools kicked her around. Once they were aware of her lack of bieng able to die they began thier abuse. Stabbing bashing and various forms of pain rung throughout her body from the wounds these sadistic bastards gave her. Various howls and angry growls escaped her as they laughed. She couldn't stand this much longer. She would have to break the bond soon.

He lifted one of the bleeding men off the blood stained walls, "Where is she you bastard." The man's eyes were in great fear and he was stammaring, "D...dd....dd...ow...oww...n.." he lifted up his gigantic fist, "I can't here you!" The man screamed as liquid lept out of his armor, "Down the stairs!" He smiled and began to walk away, but just as the soiled guard thought he was safe he had a large foot rammed through his face.

She looked out from her pain to see the door get busted in and began a small wolfish smile as Niall's gigantic body pulled through and began a very painful death to her captors. After he finished tearing out the eyes of the last guard he looked down at her with a shamful glow. "I'm sorry I'm late."

He picked up her living remains and began to run back to his fellow knights. After this Roland would not have a very pleasant death. In fact before he died he would be turned in side out and eating his own feces if he got his way.

[lazy man]

Rulick was having a tough time moving. With his side still ringing out in pain and his body refusing to keep up with his will, and it was starting to become obvious that something had happened to him. The only problem with all this was that all the guards seemed to be coming up to them to attack and the other Knights seemed to be spread out all over this prison block after they'd been unlocked. This really wasn't the best time for him to be fighting, but he didn't have a choice. Barely keeping himself from collapsing, he let the Pain Blade shoot out of his arm and confronted his attackers.

With a cry of pain, he easily dispatched the first one, but the second was too fast for the injured Rulick. While Rulick easily dodged the attack from the guard's weapon, the guard shifted into a kick that went straight into Rulick's injured side. Rulick let out a scream of pain as he collapsed, holding his side and squirming on the ground as he held his side and groaned as if he'd never get up again.

"Hmph, and here I thought these Knights were unstoppable..." the guard gloated as he prepared to finish the job. However, Rulick's hand launched up and grabbed the guard's arm, and Rulick stood in front of him, covered in his armor, almost growling in pain and anger. The guard looked more scared than he'd ever been in his life. He tried to get away, but Rulick's grip proved too strong for him to even move. With a strong tug, Rulick tried to throw the guard into a wall, but instead, the guards arm shattered into a million pieces, each one of them frozen solid. Looking down at the stub that was his arm a second ago, the guard screamed in fear.

Rulick looked down at the man in complete surprise. He'd just frozen his arm in a matter of seconds, and shattered it without effort. This was it, this was his new power. Grabbing the man by the throat, he waited a few seconds until the man silenced. Throwing the oddly stiff body at the wall, the upper half of it shattered, the bottom half slumping to the ground. He knew what he could do now. Even if his side was holding him back, he kenw what he could do now. These lowly prison guards were seriously in for it.

Looking at the guards coming for him who had seen what he'd just done, he could see the fear in their eyes. Why they still stood against him, he didn't know, but the mistake they'd just made was a huge one. The only thing that could be heard by anyone who wasn't near Rulick were screams of pain, as well as the sounds of things shattering as they hit the floor or something else.

[Astral Harmony]

"Damion, what the heck are you doing, hauling all that stuff in your state? Here, let me."
Adellah overpowered Damion and took the weapons, selecting her Giant's Axe and Slaughterang from the bundle. She also took up her knife, which one of the now slain guards had confiscated, and got to work. She set the weapons down where they could be easily obtained, then changed her clothes. She didn't bother taking off the dress normally. She simply ripped the dress off and then donned her original garb. Armed and skimpily ["New word made up by me? I'll take it! (thumbs up)"] armored, Adellah motioned to Damion. "C'mon, hero. Let's get you patched up."

[Lycanthrope]

"Sorry, but 'Hero' has never come to mind looking at you." Devon said with a smile, looking sceptically at Damion's demonic appearance as he picked up Fang. "Perhaps 'anti-hero.' But, seeing as you've returned my weapon to me..." Devon took a few practice swings with the sword, wincing slightly. His shoulder still hurt where the arrow hit and he would be slightly favoring one leg for a while to come, but he figured he could fight through the pain.

"So, I figure now we ought to look for the others, once we've regrouped, storming the throne room ought be our next--" Just then an arrow flashed within an inch of his head, smashing to pieces on the stone wall behind him.

He turned to the trajectory course, and there beheld a figure, who stood for an instant, framed in the doorway, a gray cloaked figure with a wide brimmed hat covering his eyes. And with him, the briefest trace of a scent. A sickeningly familiar scent. Wolfsbane. The figure smiled and then vanished as quickly as he appeared.

Within Devon the Beast raged, seethed, as an attack dog at its leash, straining to pounce upon this man who likely was, had to be, the same who sabotaged his act. He knew that if he did not pursue this man, the Beast would break loose and pursue him itself.

"Goddamnit!" he shouted, shifting the grip on his sword and leaping after the Hunter down the corridor.

[Dante]

After extricating himself from the black jade chains and waiting for his fiery anima to die down, Kratos tentatively exited the cell and looked down the corridor. There didn't seem to be anyone around at the moment, but kratos still kept close to a wall, checking inside each cell for a familiar face.

He didn;t like what he saw. Most of the poor wretches who had been manacled here had either gone stark raving mad, or had died of starvation.

There, but for the grace of God go I...

The next cell he came across had a couple of unconscious guards lying against the bars. Kratos looked up, and saw Kal freeing himself from his chains. A third guard was lying on the ground, his neck twisted in a way no living human could ever manage. Which was alright, because he was no longer a living human.

"I see rogues have their advantages too, Kal! Are there any keys on those clowns, or shall I melt the bars of your cell too?"

[Darth SS]

Kal held up a ring of keys just as he finished unlocking his last lock.

"No, it is not neccesary. They had keys."

For the briefest moment, Kal paused and seemed to show pity for the man he'd had to kill. Then, content that his dues had been paid, Kal unlocked the doors to his cell and stepped out.

"We must find Roland, other knights, or our equipment. I would be content with any of the above."

[Dante]

"I vote with saving the others first. Only thing is, where do we start looking?"

[Lycanthrope]

As soon as the question was asked, the Hunter streaked past the other cell, followed by Devon and his oaths as he followed his unidentified foe.

[Raiden]

Thomas felt weak. Very, very weak. He slumped down on his platform, the chains no longer needed to keep him down.

"You were at the Great Battle. You were one of the Englasian soldiers..."

'King Roland' snorted a bit.

"I was no mere soldier. I was unquestioned Lord of the Northern Ices! I lead the Englasian forces on their conquest."

The imposter stood up from his throne, and walked slowly towards Thomas. As he walked, he spoke with a spiteful voice.

"I was Lord Grant, the Englasian King, and long-lost brother of your precious King Roland."

Thomas tried to sit up, but it was all so much to take in. He was feeling weak, and was barely able to keep his focus. The dozens of injuries he had just recently acquired might have had some effect on this, also.

"You're crazy. I'll admit, you sure look like Roland, but there's no way you're his brother. King Roland had no siblings."

Grant, the imposter, stopped in front of Thomas's platform.

"He had a brother, alright. A twin brother. Of course, the royal parents didn't care much for that. Normally, the oldest sibling would get the throne, and the younger ones would get court-appointed ranks. With twins, however, there is no clear answer of who becomes the next King. There was always the chance that one of the twins would become angry with the decision, and there would be a bloody coup. Boy, were they right."

Grant reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small rattle. It was made of gold and emeralds, and had the symbol of the City of Incrad imbedded on it.

"So, they chose one of us. Roland. They kept Roland, and sent me somewhere that I could never be found, and as such, Roland's rule would never be questioned."

Thomas looked up.

"They sent you to Englasia."

Grant smiled, almost friendly. Obviously, he had been waiting a long time for this moment. To have one of the Knights at his mercy, and be able to tell his story.

"That's right. Englasia. A vast province filled with nothing but drunken brutes that lived in small shacks. Even as a young child, I felt that it was all beneath me. But thanks to my loving parents, I had no idea of my true heritage. It was only when I went searching through some of my old things that I found this rattle. Then, after some extreme questioning of my adoptive parents, I found out my true family. My true past. I had lost my birthright through a simple pick-and-choose. So, I began to plan. Through strenous operations, I removed what was considered the government in that backwash place, and instated myself as the leader. Then, I began to build an army. Though they were nothing but hunters, the citizens were a strong lot. They were made as large behemoths, and their wanton lust for destruction and death made them perfect for the revolution I was about to create."

Then, Grant lost his friendly look. His eyes narrowed in fury, and he clenched his hand around the rattle.

"Until you and your damn group of Knights fucked it up. All those years of work and frustration, and your damn group brings it down around my ears. I was forced to leave without my victory. However, I did take a souvenir. This damn scar. This physical proof of my failure! And YOU inflicted it upon me! None stood against me in my raids, but YOU STOOD IN MY WAY! You even almost killed me. That was an insult I could not stand."

[IHateMakingNames]

After the Thief of Life escaped from his cell, the guards had thrown all of the circus performers into one large room with a small amount of guards. Since the knight was no longer with them, and they were merely carnies, it was decided that cells and guards were a waste on them. But they were still being held for punishment, since they aided the knights.

Once they were all gathered together, it was quickly decided that they were going to escape. First Gai, the circus' magician, would open the door, then Callos would take out the guards and they would all leave.

Gai sat in front of the door, waving his hands around slowly. A faint light was glowing around him. "Oh gods of above, mysterious mystical forces from below, grant me your power to-"

"Will you shut up and open the door already! This isn't a show, so quit the act and open it." One of the other performers interrupted him.

"Oh, right, sorry." Gai apologized. The glowing stopped as he stood up. With a simple tab, the door itself sprung to life. It unlocked itself and sprung open.

One of the guards quickly turned his head and looked inside of the room. Callos quickly took him out with a punch to the face. Before the second door guard could react, Callos got to him. The other two guards were quickly dispatched by others.

After everyone was out, Callos lead them out. Most of the guards would be near the knights, so the escape route would be an easy one for the circus.

However, while the rest of the circus left, Gai stayed. When they were all captured, some of Roland's men took his book of spells. While Gai did not need it for magic, it was given to him by his father, and he wanted it back. So he randomly wandered the halls, looking for the room which held his book.

[Fuzzydoom]

In Devon's haste he had accidently brushed against Damion, who, in his weakened state, promptly fell over. His face contorted with agony and he coughed up more blood. A small smile then lights his face. "That last one wasn't as bad as it was before, guess the shadow avatar patched me up more than I thought it did."

[Lycanthrope]

"Fucking Bastard! Slow Down!" Devon shouted. The guard would surely hear them, but he didn't care at this point. They get in his enemies way before they got in his. Unless of course this strange cloaked figure.

"Keep up, Wolf-thing." the figure ahead of him taunted, pausing for a moment. "You seem to be a bit on the slow side today, Injur your leg by any chance?"

"Bastard!" He said as he caught up, and swept with his sword in a deadly arc, faster than the human eye could see.

"That I may be," the Figure said, as he easily sidestepped the blow. "But you're a Son-of-a-Bitch."

Devon's eyes bulged. as he swung again and again each time only striking air. He had never seen a man move so quickly. "What the f--!" but he didn't get a chance to finish, as a blur of silver streaked the air between them. Devon barely managed to intercede Fang between himself and the Figures shining blade. He leapt back five feet from the gray cloaked man, in a defensive stance, reguarding his assailant in a kind of awe.

"Don't you see. Down this corridor you have thought to be hunting me. It is I who have been hunting you, and you have walked into my trap."

The two blades met in a series of sparks, as Devon blocked blow after blow of this strange assailant. No one ought to be able to move that fast! Devon thought to himself as and his opponant blocked and traded blows. Who is this guy?

((OOC: Alright, I'm not sure if anyone's chasing after me, but if you do, don't catch or kill this guy, he's supposed to get away.))

[Astral Harmony]

Adellah was about to help Damion up again, until she heard the clatter of steel boots on moist cobblestones. Adellah let Damion rest and prepared to snap the knight's neck the moment he or she rounded the corner. When the sound got close enough, Adellah quickly reached out and pulled the youthful knight against her body, her arm wrapped tightly around his neck.
"Hey, let me go!" He yelled, his voice cracking.
"What the...ugh, you're that kid knight," Adellah sighed, releasing the youth.
He didn't even have a weapon on him, and when he whirled around and looked at Adellah, he gasped.
"Luh...Lady Adellah?"
Adellah couldn't help smiling at the boy. "I haven't been called that in some time...mostly because I'd rather nobody did. What're you doing here?"
The youth directed his gaze down the corridor. "His Majesty Roland's knights abducted my sister, thinking she was an assassin. I came to get her out."
Was he an idiot? Adellah decided not to hide it. "Uhhh...truth be told, I was that girl that looked like your sister. We were trying to figure this whole situation out with some assassination attempts, and, needless to say, it's grown into quite a mess. Now I'll let you go with a warning, kid. If we learn that you alerted the enemy to our presense, I will cook and devour you on the spot. You hear me?"
The youth slowly nodded at Adellah's dark smile. "Y...yes, I understand. And I'm not a kid. I'm a knight's apprentice. My name is Runegulf."
Adellah shrugged. "Okay, whatever. Runegulf, you better leave the castle. There's going to be a lot of violence, and possibly fire, really soon, and I don't want an innocent like you added to the body count."
Runegulf seemed to understand, and backed away. "Ah...ah, okay, I understand. I guess I should trust that you're doing the right thing. After all, the king just isn't the same as he was over a year ago when I wasn't even an apprentice. If you need a place to hide out in the city, you should stop by my house. I should have space for you and whoever else is with you."
Adellah nodded and returned to Damion as Runegulf quickly left. "What a nice chap," she said warmly as she helped Damion off of his knees.

[Toastburner B]

Nathaniel gratefully picked up his weapons from Damion's bundle, and was overjoyed to see that the necklace with Rachel's ring was still tied around the scythe. As he put the necklace on, he sighed. He had felt somewhat incomplete without the gold chain that had been around his neck for more than a year.

"We still need to make our way to the Armory." he said. "While Damion got our weapons, we won't make it very far without our armor. Not with the fights we are liable to face up ahead."

Blast it, Devon, why'd you run off like that after one guy? Nathaniel thought to himself, looking down the corridor which the man had ran.

"We should stick together...what's left of us, at least. After we get the rest of our stuff, we can go find everyone else. We don't do any good if a guard gets lucky kills us before we can get properly equipped."

[wilysword]

Adin passed the throne room on his way to the weapon store, but didn't stop, although he could hear someone inside; he didn't feel up to taking on twelve heavily armored guards with just one small dagger.

For the rest, he easily avoided the guards dashing around the corridors. Clearly he wasn't the only one to escape, and when he got to the weapon store, it had already been looted. He found a few more spare daggers and tucked them away, before leaving--and running right into someone. Startled, he had a dagger going for the man's throat before his heart resumed beating. Just before the knife slit a throat, Adin jerked back; it was only Gai, the circus magician.

"What are you doing here?" he began, but just then, four guards came around the corner...

OOC: Feel free to prove yourself, IHMN.

[Overcast]

He walked fairly slowly then stopped, he poured some of the blood into a singular skull and began to pull away about 10 of his own hairs a and a large chunk of his skin. He placed the main scull on the skin and the lesser skulls on each hair, "Sofarara Cor E." suddenlu the skulls on the hairs emptied and the skin's blood turned black he poured the liquid upon fortes bodyparts and the pulled together making disgusting noises all the way.Once she was together once more they began to see the dark one and the barbaric girl. Best guess is his club and potions were with them.

[IHateMakingNames]

Before Gai responded to the question, he handled the gaurds. With a simple trick of Earth Bending and a wave of the hand, he caused the stone hallway behind him to collapse, seperating him from the gaurds.

"I'm trying to find my spell book. Do you know where they would have taken a book full of spells and magical advise?" Gai asked. He also continued to walk foward, since there was now a dead end behind him.

[Fuzzydoom]

"You're learning the ways of the Dark One well Adellah. His lessons are taught in harsh terms, but they are always lessons worth learning. And thank you for watching over me, but you must go help the others. I'll be alright, I'll just ambush a gaurd and drain his life energies." Damion, after finishing speaking, immediatly coughs up a glob of blood. He reaches out and gives Adellah's hand a squeeze before pushing her around the corner, gently but firmly. Without turning around he breaths, almost silently, "You bastard, your vendetta is with me and no one else. If you harm her or any of the others, I'll have your head on a pike and your heart in my hand." A man robed all in white steps out from the shadows.

"Hello Damion," he calls in an almost cheerful voice, "I would never dream of hurting any of your liitle friends. After all, they aren't demonic hellions sent to this world to destroy it. Just you, and that is why yours will be the only blood I spill today."

"You always were a coward," Damion jibes with an impish grin "attacking me when I can barely defend myself. Are you messengers of light so spineless?"

The man towers with rage "Do not dare speak upon the honor of the bringers you child eating bastard."

"We've been over this before, I don't eat children."

"Shut up, I'll not have you playing your Light forsaken mind-games. This dungeon shall be your final resting grounds."

"And who is it that's going to make it so? You, you coward? Come back when you've grown some balls you coward. You require weapons to slay me, and armor as well. I'll not tarnish my honor by battling one such as you."

Then the man smiles "You speak strong words for one so weak. You can barely stand, let alone engage in combat. What is honor? Might makes right, as they say."

"Honor is the most valuable thing a man can possess. I will not fall before an honorless bastard such as yourself." Damion is now the one enraged, his face contorted with anger and outrage. He lets out a howl of Anger, so loud and long that gaurds all over the citadel find themselves glancing about nervously.

"Now now, no need ot go acting like the beast you are." The man in the robes says mocklingly, obviously goading Damion on, hoping to start a fight.

"I have no intention of becoming a beast, for the Dark One has no need for a beast. A warrior however, is quite useful." His eyes burn like fire, if looks could kill the man in the white robe would be writhing in agony for years to come.

"Before I kill you, I shall have to read you your offenses, I suppose. Though why bother is beyond me. Everyone knows you're just a dirty barbarian. But I shall humor my masters, if only to keep them happy." He cleasr his voice then launches into a long list of occurrences involving sacrifice, torturing enemies, killing innocents and eating the flesh of the living. Not mention children.

Damion's eyes turn to ice, his face seems frozen in a mask of anger and unforgiveness. "I have never eaten the flesh of anyone, I've never killed an inoccent and most of all, I DON'T EAT CHILDREN!!! WHAT THE HELLS IS WRONG WITH YOU? Is this obsession with child-eating born from some inner desire Jordan?"

The man called Jordan's face turns a livid purple "I am a Messenger of Light, I have never had an un-pure thought in my life."

"Quite arrogent aren't we Jordan?" Damion asks in a low, menacing tone. "At the battle of Arcturus a few weeks ago I saw you impale a soldier from behind, then steal his horse to escape my wrath. You are the greatest of hypocrites my friend, a dishonest one. At least my people and I admit that our practices are not the same as some of those who live in these lands. And I am not so arrogant as to propose that I am perfect. For is it not known to all that only the gods are perfect? You are a fool Jordan, a fool who deserves whatever horrible fate awaits you in hell." This last comment was hurled with such maleficent force that Jordan physically recoiled from it.

Damion laughs, "See Jordan? You are the only dishonorable man here, a coward among cowards. Have you no spine, would thou not rather fight than flee?" As Damion proceeds to tongue lash Jordan, his manner of speach descends depper and deeper into the acient languages until Damion finds himself speaking spell-tongue fluently and with great malice. Damion smiles as Jordan takes a step back. Damion laughs "I haven't been this angry in a long while, you almost brought out my demon half. Wouldn't that have been interesting? Your time will come soon Jordan. You have plagued my land and my people for long enough, tarry not here, lest I lose control and the great Darkness within me rise up to swallow you, along with this accursed place."

Jordan flees down the hall. As soon as he is out of sight Damion collapses. The lost blood had finally taken it's toll. He had used the last of his strength Putting the bold front on in front of Jordan, and now he waited calmly for death. As he feels himself drift away, his last thought is Goodluck my friends, may you be sucessful in this venture. I'm afraid I won't be joining you for the victory feast this time.

OOC: Is this better Raiden? And yes, Damion is half-demon, it came about as part of his ritual when he became the Dark One's Champion.

[Overcast]

He looks down at his comrad, "Get up fool you won't die on my watch, and if you do I will promise this land will not exist anymore, you are not the only with dark magics." he picks him up, stomps out the fallen man's skull and says, "Anic Cur A" and has him drink something green from the skull, "It tastes awful I know but swallow it or die your choice." he continues to carry him and his wolf walking that way, "Any Idea where my equipment is?"

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion's head comes up at the awful taste in his mouth, but swallows it at the knight's words. "Thanks nature-boy, You're truly a man of honor." Damion picks himself up and says "Let's go help the others."

[Astral Harmony]

Adellah didn't want to leave Damion and the rest of the equipment behind, but Damion was a Knight of the Realm, and Adellah admired the guy. Damion actually killed a few dozen more Englasians than Adellah did in the war one year ago, but as Adellah finally neared the exit to the dungeon, she thought that she could finally catch up to him in body count.

Two Englasians were guarding the door out. Adellah was a little surprised at this, and relief suddenly flowed over her like a cooling veil. Perhaps Roland didn't send out those assassins after all. For him to ally the enemy that almost took his kingdom away from him...well, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" wasn't a policy that Adellah thought Roland followed. Adellah picked up a loose chunk of a cobblestone and hit it against the wall right around the corner from where the Englasians were guarding. They looked at each other and one of them broke off. Englasians were still arrogant. Adellah remembered the war of one year ago, when she didn't have the luxury to do what she was about to do now. A clean slice of the Giant's Axe and the Englasian's meaty head hit the ground before its meaty body did. The second Englasian rushed around the corner to find Adellah's knife quickly planted between two of his ribs. Adellah planted her foot in his knee and wrenched it out, a powerful effort. Adellah's attacks weren't bloodless, but you couldn't hope for easy kills on Englasians. Ultimately, she had forgotten how to kill them in her mind, but her body picked up as though she never lost the knack. The blood pooling wouldn't be too obvious. Adellah got to work, dragging the hulking bodies into a dusty, moist corner on the dungeon and then putting out the torches, hiding both body and blood to anyone but the more observant guards. "The Knights shouldn't have much trouble clearing away the guard, but the innocent circus performers will need a clear way out of here before we pay a visit to 'his Majesty.' I better wait for the others." Adellah sunk down low into the shadows, waiting for ally or enemy to enter the area.

[Overcast]

"Get up there is work to be done." he said to Adellah whom he, Forte, and Damion had been passin on the way out, "We must find our glorious leader and save him." he looked down the halls, "OK the one with the best guards will be the path we choose."

((OOC:I saw this movie again last night so I had to put it in.))

BIC:He began to repeat this phrase as he banged his club against the wall, "Warriors come out to play!"

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion smiles as an Englasian steps out of a room that was either a barracks or an armory, either way, a call from the Englasian brought 5 more and 3 archers. Damion smiles, "One archer each and we all get two Englasians. My friends, I believe it is kill time."

[Overcast]

He handled his share quite simply throwing his club at the archer then jumping up to the Englasian men pulling them up and shaking them like a British nanny until they had thier own heads turned to soup by thier impact with thier helms."Overkill!!!"

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion smiles and steps into the flickering shadows created by the torch light. Suddenly his arn appears behind the archer , disarming him, as Damion's whole body comes through unhindred. He kills both Englasians with a quick thrust of the fingers to the Larranx each. He then turns and picks up the remaining weapons, and the cage containing Thomas' Hawk.

[Raiden]

Thomas looked up at Roland, giving off the best smirk his beaten face could give.

"So, you're the long lost brother of our great King, you took over Englasia, you set troops which razed the entire known world, and you're crying because a small group of fighters beat you. You know what's really sad? Of all the Knights, you capture me. Little old me. Simply because I cut your face up. Is that right? Yeah, holding your rattle makes you look so tough, too. All you need is a safety blanket, and you're set for nap ti-"

Before Thomas could finish, Grant had smashed his rattle against Thomas's face. Thomas lurched to the side, the chains catching and holding him in place. A mix of saliva and blood bubbled from his lips. As he fell, his necklaces came out from under his shirt. The whistle and Knight Emblem, Grant had no care for. It was the third one, the ruby on a golden chain, that he took interest in.

"You know, Aironas was one of the first providences we raided. Of course, you were probably familiar with that. Coming home to find your town in flames. It was an early capture, so it was before the time we simply killed everyone we crossed. We kidnapped a vast majority of the peasants that lived in your providence, and took them back to our main camps for questioning. If they gave us good information, we would make them soldiers or slaves. If not...well, they weren't so lucky. I remember that most broke after only an hour or so interrogation. There was this one lady, though. She didn't cave into our demands. She simply sat in the chair, saying nothing. She didn't even scream. Not when she was burned with a heated poker, whipped in her back, sliced by knives, nothing. It was only when she had her throat slitten that she spoke."

Grant reached down and lightly held the ruby necklace.

"She said 'Thomas'. Tears rolled down her eyes, and she died. She had a necklace that looked a lot like this."

With a quick pull, Grant tore the necklace from Thomas's neck, and pocketed it.

"If it's any consolation, she made good meat for our warhounds."

Thomas snapped. His total weakness suddenly disappeared, and was replaced with all the fury and anger he could muster.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED MY SARAI!"

Grant turned back toward his throne, and laughed. His laughter echoed in the expansive room, and echoed even more so in Thomas's head. He began to try and pull himself off the platform, the chains creaking and groaning in protest. The bolts they were attached to began to lift from their positions. Three of the Englasian guards walked up to Thomas's platform and began to roll him out of the Throne Room before he could escape.

"I SWEAR TO GOD, GRANT! I'LL KILL YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO! YOU HEAR ME! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Thomas was pulled from the room, and the large doors were shut. His strength now depleted, Thomas slumped down on his platform.

He then began to cry.

(OOC: Well, if anyone wants to save my ass, I'd greatly appreciate it.)

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion had slipped past the remaining gaurds, searching for Thomas. This was no easy task, even with his ability to slide between shadows, due to the fact that Thomas' bird refused to shut up for even an instant. Finally Damion reaches an ornate set of double doors. Damion leaps back into the shadows as the doors open and out rolls a huge bird cage, with Thomas inside and three Englasian gaurds. Damion smiles to himself as he leaps from the shadows, killing one of the gaurds with a slash of demonic claws. The recent encounter with Jordan had left Damion's demonic side quite bloodthirsty, and these gaurds would do nicely to satiate that thirst.

Blood splattered everywhere as Damion finished off the gaurds. He had been forced to wipe some of it off the key so he could open the lock on Thomas' cage, but once he was out Damion handed him his weapons and his bird. "Thomas my friend," Damion begins "We need a leader. Our fellow knights are scattered throughout the castle, we need to rally them. In our company are the strongest warriors this world has ever seen, but without discipline I fear we could be in serious trouble. What we need is an army. I believe you should be the man who spearheads such an endeavor. " Damion drops to one knee before Thomas "Thomas, I offer my services as a tactician and my full support in whatever undertaking you view necessary." Damion remains kneeling, waiting for an answer from Thomas.

[lazy man]

Rulick had been fighting for what seemed like forever. With his side still stinging like hell and his new power proving to be quite useful, Rulick had left a trail of frozen and broken bodies behind him. He sighed with relief as the last guard fell at his hand, and then worked his way through the pison with little resistance. It really wasn't the maze he thought it would be, but it was still odd finding his way around.

"Damn it, where is everyone..." Rulick muttered to himself as he wandered through the halls, still holding his side, but finally starting to get over the pain for now. He'd been with them for a few seconds, but then they'd scattered. Still in his armor, he could feel the scared eyes of the prisoners as he slumped by, obviously injured. His gaze, however, was looking for any other knights that would be here, and his red eyes shifted, looking for anyone that stood out easily. And luckily enough for him, he just happened to find Kratos and Kal further down the hall. While he would have been more relieved to find more than two of the others, this was still a start.

"Kratos, Kal! Have you two seen any of the others?" Rulick asked as he trotted up, wincing whenever he stepped wrong. He really wished his damn side weren't hurting him, but his new power was definitely worth it, even if the pain made him a lot more sluggish than usual.

[Toastburner B]

Well, this is just dandy! Nathaniel thought to himself. Somewhere along the line, he had been seperated from the other Knights.

And now he found himself facing off against a trio of Englasians.

Somewho...he didn't really mind that part. Not after the memories that had been rekindled.

His scythe moved so fast he could tell the barbarians had trouble keeping track of it. So fast the first Englasian didn't even have time to look surprised as the unnaturally sharp blade cleaved him in half. The surviving Englasians were clearly shaken. These ones had apparently been enjoying the high life of the king's guard a little too much. They were slow, weak, and wholely disappointing...at least compared to the warrior horde Nathaniel faced a year ago, or even a days ago in the circus.

Still, a lame Englasian is still a capable warrior. The two came at him, each wielding a sword. Nathaniel ducked one swipe and parried the next with the metal shaft of his sycthe, then had to manuver his scythe again to block the next blow. The Englasians were striking so fast and wildly that Nathaniel had to focus on blocking.

They are trying to herd me. Nathaniel thought to himself. But towards what?

Soon, Nathaniel had his answer. The hallway grew smaller the farther back he went. I won't have room to swing my scythe in here. Nathaniel thought. Then he smiled.

If the Englasains thought that depriving him of his scythe made him less dangerous, they were about to be sorely disappointed.

Jumping back, Nathaniel threw his scythe. The weapon made a low whistling sound as it cut through the air. The Englasians ducked, and unconciously turned to watch the blade. They recovered in seconds.

But seconds were all Nathaniel needed.

As the barbarians turned around and started to stand, each saw a blur of flesh and metal, and felt their throats open. They turned again, saw Nathaniel, a kama in each hand.

Then they died at the same time.

Nathaniel cleaned his weapons on the clothing of the fallen barbarians, then rushed towards the throne room. The guards outside where already dead, and as Nathaniel entered, he saw Damion and a bleeding Thomas, clearly hurt.

Nathaniel stopped. No...it's not the wounds that are hurting Thomas...

Thomas' usually clear eyes were now read. And his face tried to hide a grief that Nathaniel knew only too well.

"Thomas," Nathaniel said, walking over to the man. "What happened? What did Roland do to you?"

[wilysword]

Adin frowned at the now solid wall behind him. "A book? I think I saw one in this weapons room, now that you mention it." He went back inside and, sure enough, Gai's book was sitting on a dusty shelf among all the weapons. "Odd place for it," he muttered as he came back out. "Maybe the Englasians don't see a difference between magic and weapons." Handing the book to Gai, Adin said, "I need to find the others. Obviously you can take care of yourself, but you can come with me or find your own way out."

Without waiting for an answer, Adin walked off quickly, but not so quickly that Gai couldn't easily catch up.

[Overcast]

He pulled up a newly reborn potion. It cost a bit of the blood he had on him but it was enough. He picked up the bird and took a feather off the bottomof the cage. He inserted it into the potion and poured it on the ground. It skittered for a it but began to trek off, "Comrad this way." He began to follow it he wasn't very far but he wasn't alone. He pulled up his club as he rounded the corner to the room the liquid entered. He readied to hit the men standing next to Thomas, but was able to see the various marks that said who they were. He looked up at thier leader and he began a soft growl from the look in his eyes. The pain. He put up Nature's prayer of suffering and released him, "The world has been seen as the new age blessens you, so long and good night, come along good knight." he took some more blood and turned it green like that he had fed Damion. "Drink, it wll cure the pains of the body if not the mind, and I'm sure the pains may want to be kept." he tured to the blob and looked around the room. "Final mission buddy find any person living who has had contact with me," as it left he turned back, "we have some time before the knights come perhaps we can plan."

[Fuzzydoom]

"We need an army. I've been thinking, if this king isn't really the king, then where the hell is the real king? I say we head to our home provinces, round up as many fighting men as we can, then help the true king round up as many soldiers loyal to the true crown as possible. But first we'll have to save him, of course." Damion's eyes glint in the torch light, his anger threatens to boil over. He feels the red film that marks the coming of his berserker side.

[Raiden]

Thomas took the potion, but before drinking it, he turned to Nathaniel. His good eye was still red from tears, his other eye clenched tight from the wounds.

"King Roland did nothing. His brother, he did something to me. He took both something, and someone, away from me. I don't want to talk about it right now. All you need to know, is that we have a similar pain now."

Thomas took the potion, and chugged it down. He felt his strength return to his body. His limbs began to feel warm. He stood up, and shook out some of the soreness. He reached down and grabbed his armor, and began to buckle it all into place. As he did that, he looked down at Damion.

"Get off the ground, Damion. It feels weird having a man on his knees in front of me."

Thomas felt better with his armor on. He hadn't worn it since they hid in the circus, and it just felt...right to have it on again. He began to attach the hilts of his swords to his hips.

"And Damion, did you honestly think that it would be a good idea to go back to our old Provinces? Grant, the imposter, sent assassins after us for the sole reason to draw us to him. He knew we were each going to leave our provinces without a Knight to defend it. Don't you think that he would have sent out soldiers to take over our provinces? Each of our homes are probably a war zone right now. And sadly, this is not the time to go out and get ourselves stuck in the middle of a bunch of battles."

Thomas looked at the few sullen faces there.

"Come on, our citizens are much stronger than they were last year. Hell, we all trained armies in case something big happened again. They should be able to hold out for a while."

With his swords fastened, Thomas held his arm out. Samuel hopped up and perched on his shoulder. It gave a little cry, and nudged Thomas's face with his beak.

Thomas reached down to his last piece of armor, his Hawk Helmet, and placed it securely over his head. His mouth and eyes were all that could be seen now, and his eyes were beginning to turn grey, like they always did when he was about to fight.

"Our top priority now, though, is to gather everyone, and get our asses out of here."

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion heads off back towards the dungeons, over his shoulder he calls "I'm off to find as many of the knights as I can, I'll meet you back here in an hour." He heads down the stairs, staying alert for signs of trouble.

[Overcast]

"Do not worry my little blob will take care of that," he said grabbing Damion, "The best idea right now is to wait, they will see him, he does something very distracting to make sure they know he's there." he smiles down at him. The smile was false but he tried to hide it. "And if you even attempt to go against my will I will be knocking you out for presevation alone."

[Fuzzydoom]

"Hmmm, have I angered you my friend? If so I apologize, I shall wait." Damion moves to a niche in the wall where he can view events in the hall without being seen immediatly.

[Astral Harmony]

Adellah joined them shortly thereafter. "Oh, good. It wasn't an enemy." She gestures down the way she came. "Some weird glob thing pointed me to go this way. I thought it was a slime but I figured it was one of your weird tricks. Slimes don't hang around populated places these days."

Adellah then turned to Thomas. "I did some scouting while I was looking for a way out. The security that was so tight before we got here is now somewhat lax since we were captured. Not so many archers ready to fling arrows down upon us from the fortified walls that surround us. It's probably our easiest, if not our only, chance of getting out of here now. How we'll leave Incrad itself...I still don't have a plan yet. Maybe one of the gates will be less guarded than the others."

[Lycanthrope]

And the battle raged. The Hunter was faster than any human could ever be, and Devon had already been handicapped by his several injuries.

But Devon was a Swordmaster, and a Knight of the Realm. Once he had accounted for the gray figures speed, he could anticipate his opponent's motions several attacks in advance, and compensate.

But it wasn't easy.

Parry low, he thought, His next shot will be for the leg followed by one for the chest. He moved into a position, blocking the first and then twisting his body a few degrees quickly blocking the second, then flung backwards.

He watched his opponent carefully judging the man's stile as he fought on. The man was heavy on the attack, light on defense. Perhaps I can exploit this, he thought, blocking another blow and steping in closer than he had gotten before, Driving his slightly lighter opponent back by the sheer force of his body, then, with all the force in his body pushed forward on the hilt with his right hand and pulled back with his left, creating a powerful lever, and flinging forcibly into the air his foe. The gray man took it in stride, acrobatically flipping back and landing on the wall with his legs bent, before springing forward, sword in front on a full defensive flying charge towards Devon's heart.

Now! he thought, assuming a seemingly completely offensive possition himself, leaving his right side completely exposed. The man was fast, but could only travel through the air so fast. Devon calculated time till that shining blade would pierce him, and waited for the the eternity of that fraction of a second as the world seemed to slow around him.

It would be a trade. A favorable trade, but a trade nonetheless. At the last possible moment, Devon suddenly dropped his stance, lowering his body beneath the projectile Hunter's. As he expected, the man was fast enough to adjust his attack, but not fast enough to adjust it lethally, at least not before Devon thrust Fang, forcefully at a fourty five degree into the left side of his opponent's body cavity. But the would the Hunter's sword did inflict... He felt the sword clip one shoulder, and felt it's silver-coated blade easily burn through his flesh. And then he felt something different, as if his very blood was being drawn from his body by the weapon. But then it passed by him, and his opponent was being held in the air by the blade, who's tip was now sticking out of the gray man's back. With a twist of body, Devon allowed the Hunter's momentum to continue in its original direction before redirecting it downward into the ground.

He looked at the the broken body of his opponent on the floor for a moment, his sword in hand, before he judged that he could not have survived. Most of his rib cage would have shattered with his impact in the ground, and the blade should have pierced a major artery, and had judging by a pool of blood now spreading away from the corpse on the floor. Devon was about to turn and leave, but then the man groaned and began standing up. "I see... I have once again... underestimated you..." he said standing up, with a twisted, wincing smile. "Thank you for the taste," he said, his smile widening to reveal sharp teeth as he dipped his sword into the pool of his own blood, which quickly seemed to be accorbed into the blade. Still smiling the man began hobbling down a corridor and around a corner as Devon gaped after him.

He shuck himself off suddenly and himself and ran after his foe around the corner to encounter... nothing, no trace at all of a man in a gray cloak.

Another time then, he thought, turning and walking back in the dirrection of his cell. He felt weak. He knew he had lost a lot more blood than a single minor cut could account for.

[Overcast]

The creepy slime trick went around the corner to find Devon it looked at him and flung a bit of itself at the wound that solidified like a rubbery gel. It turned into a hand that pointed off to the right and pulled back to have him follow.

[Lycanthrope]

"What the..." Devon looked at the slime. It appears that I am wanted this way He followed the hand back to the Throne room with the others opening the door and entering. "I appologize for that..." he said, stumbling into the room.

[CelesJessa]

Cecilia was silently walking through the halls, looking for signs of any of the other knights. As she peeked around the corner into a room, she saw it was some sort of guard's quarters. Two fairly small guards were relaxing at a table in the room, oblivious to the fact that so many of their prisoners had escaped. She ducked back around the corner before one of them could see her, or so she thought. As she tiptoed down the hall away from the room, she thought she could hear some movement behind her, but she didn't have much time to react before she felt a sharp blow on the back of her head. The last thing she could wonder as she blacked out was how could they have snuck up behind her so quietly.


"Uhh..." She groaned as she awoke again, she tried to put a hand to her throbbing head, but found her hands to be tied tightly behind her back. As she opened her eyes, she realized she was sitting on the floor in the corner of the guards quarters, her hands tied behind her back and her ankles tied together. The two guards were standing on the far end of the room talking quietly to themselves, Cecilia could pick up the end of their conversation.

"-has to be one of the knights."

"But how did she escape?"

"It doesn't matter. What matters is she did escape and maybe more of them did to, so go check on it."

"Alright already."

The younger of the two guards left as the older one glared over at Cecilia.

"So..." He said, crouching down close to Cecilia, inspecting her, "You're... Cecilia the Pure, right?" He said, twirling a lock of her golden hair in his hand, "Although, you don't really look it right now." He chuckled, noting her torn costume from the circus performance. "Now how did you get out of your cell? The Knights were supposed to have the best security..." He shrugged, "No matter, soon we'll see if any of your other friends have escaped."

(OOC: woot, artistic block gone! Also, now they kind of know we've escaped (at least these two guards) if that's not okay, Raiden, tell me and I'll switch it, or we can just make sure the guards don't share the information with the others)

[Darth SS]

Kal walked up behind the pair of guards. The farthest one dropped the floor like a sack of potatoes after Kal effortlessly snapped his neck. Without pausing, Kal kept walking towards the next guard in line.

The man was foolish enough to draw his sword and charge at Kal. Kal leaned out of the way of the first stab, spun under the man's arm, and broke it. He caught the sword as it fell, reversed it, and ran the man through before standing and turning again and slamming his fist into the man's throat before he could scream for help.

Kal looked down on the two bodies mournfully. He hated killing. However, there were times that he had to. Pushing the thought from his mind, he walked over to Cecilia and start undoing her shackles.

"Come on. We need to find the others and our equipment."

[CelesJessa]

Cecilia nodded at Kal, in thanks and agreement, "Yeah, I've been away from my bow and arrows for too long." She chuckled a bit, picking herself off of the ground, "Do you know if the others have escaped?"

[Darth SS]

"Well, I know that Kratos is free. He's also probably halved the guard population by now. Judging by what I've seen, I'd assume most, if not all of the others are free."

Kal led Cecilia down a hall, falling a mental calling to where he thought his sword to be.

[lazy man]

"Damn it, Kal, don't do that!" Rulick gasped as he caught up with Kal, only to see him talking with Cecilia about the other knights. He'd sprinted after Kal when he ran off for no reason and left Kratos behind, hoping the Dragon Knight would catch up. His side was really hurting now that he'd sprinted like that, but he was willing to accept the pain as long as possible.

"I think the others already got the weapons. I remember Damion getting them, and then everyone got seperated somehow. Wherever Damion is, your weapons are sure to be there." Rulick looked back behind him to make sure Kratos was there, hoping something hadn't happened to his fellow Knight.

[IHateMakingNames]

"Since you got my book, I'll help you." Gai offered his help as he followed Adin. "If you need any magic support, just ask."

[wilysword]

"Sure," said Adin, "but right now I need to find the other knights." Just then, a small piece of slime came up to them and shaped itself into a quivering hand, which beckoned them toward the throne room. "Guess they beat us there," he said.

When he got to the antechamber and found Thomas buckling on his armor, he guessed something bad happened. "This is Gai, you probably remember him; he's decided to join us for a while. I take it our next step, once everyone arrives, is to get out? Someone is probably waiting for us outside, one of the Shadoweyes."

[Toastburner B]

"If we're going to get going, we should get moving now." Nathaniel said. "I'm not entirely sure I know what you are talking about, but if the guy who is pretending to be Roland left, surely he's sending some guards our w-"

The sound of armored footsteps dashing down the hall made Nathaniel stop. A group of armored Englasians entered the throne room, yelling a battle cry.

"Hmm, better reaction time that I thought." Nathaniel said.

In one smooth motion, Nathaniel pulled a kama from it's strap and threw it. The blade slid neatly into the gap between the breastplate and helmet of the guard in front. The man fell, blood pouring from his throat.

"If we can get an Englasian out, we can prove that Roland, or his brother or whatever, is not who he says he is." Nathaniel said. He pulled up his hood of his cloak, making him look like the grim reaper of legend. "The populace will not take kindly to having the barbarians inside their own city."

Before anyone could answer, the remain Englasians were upon them.

One with a giant broadsword charged Nathaniel. Pulling his second kama, Nathaniel threw, only to curse when the blade bounced harmlessly off the breastplate. Nathaniel side-stepped a thrust, and brought down his scythe in what would of been called a casual montion...if anyone could of seen it. The scythe proved once more to be unnaturally sharp, cleaving metal and flesh as the Englasian fell in two seperate pieces.

Nathaniel turned to recieve the next attacker.

[Astral Harmony]

"Not a good idea," Adellah said calmly as split an Englasian's torso from its waist. "Probably to whoever now controls the throne, the populace is little more than slaves who also pay taxes, and I doubt a man as horrible as that guy would care anything about slaughtering them all should he consider them his enemy. In a way, we brought this wrath down upon the kingdom, and it should fall to us to silence it without innocents who don't need to be involved getting their heads lopped off."

Adellah finished just as she severed an enemy's head, a rather ironic notion. Then she thrust the already blood-soaked axe into another enemy's chest cavity, smashing several ribs inward with a violent crunch. "Besides, even the vast populace of Incrad doesn't stand a chance against even a fraction of a castle garrison composed of trained barbarians who know how to slaughter frail people by the dozens. We need to find a safe place to get our heads together and think." Adellah swung her right leg out, tripped an Englasian down onto his back. Then he was impaled with the axe. Adellah twisted the pole and the spine snapped. "Hagh...this takes me back."

[Lycanthrope]

Bloody Hell! Devon thought. He was still in the doorway, when the Englasians appeared. The one in the lead thrust him roughly aside as he rushed past. Were he at his physical peak, he would have rolled to his feet, but as things were he only ended up in a kneeling position, as another of the Englasian's, this one wielding a massive axe ran up to him, screaming a battle cry. The berserker raised the blade high above his head, about to deliver a blow that would, more than likely, split Devon completely down the center. Devon reacted quickly, pushing up with the blade, as he stood to his feet, Driving the long blade of Fang three feet through the Englasian's body cavity and out the other side. The Englasian's eyes burned with hatred as the axe fell out of the man's hands, but he wasn't dead yet. The Englasian reached forward, attempting to grab Devon, intent on ripping him apart with his bare hands before his body succame to the death it was already falling into. Devon brought his foot up, placed it squarely on the man's chest, and kicked back with all of his strength, while twisting the sword and pulling back. Devon flew through the air, flipped, and landed, somewhat shakily on his feet. The Englasian stumbled backwards, blood spurting from his chest and back, and then fell, to lie motionless in a pool of his own blood.

[Overcast]

"I'm not in the mood for this right now!" he picked up his club and threw it at a cluster of the fools blood and bone obviosly flying everywher and picked up two bodies and threw them as well he then picked up his club again ad brought it doun on a fool behind him his helm becoming a crushed tin can and blood spurting out. He began a slow walk as he began to smash, fling, and just plain destroy any Englasian in his path.

[Darth SS]

"Come. We would do best to be reunited with our weapons."

Kal sprinted down the hallway to where he somehow knew the others to be.

[Toastburner B]

"I agree that this guy see's the populace as little more than a thing to tax and get free labor out of." Nathaniel said as he ducked underneath the sword swing of an Englasian. He brought around his scythe, cleanly cutting through the man's legs. As the man fell, Nathaniel finsihed him with a blow to the head.

"But it is already too late to get the populace involved. Thomas is right. Our provinces are probably already under seige, but the Royal Army, despite all it's power, does not have enough men to lay seige to all the provinces at once." Nathaniel parried a spear thrust with the shaft of the scythe, and swung in counter attack. The barbarian blocked, and thrust again. Nathaniel brought the scythe around hard, knocking the spear away once again, and knocking the Englasian off balance. With a swift swipe, the man fell, a thick cut in this chest.

"The only way they could lay siege to all the provinces at once is with a force like the Englasians. And this man pretending to be king obviously has no qualms about using them in battle."

Nathaniel stooped to pick up the kama that had bounced harmless off of one of his oppenents. His throw with it this time was true, and an Englasian swordsman coming through the door barely had time to look surprised before life left him.

"If I'm right, sooner or later refugees will come from our provinces to here, and with them will come tales of Englasians in the Royal Army. The populace's time of ignorance is short either way."

Nathaniel went to his rolled to his left to avoid a overhead smash from an Englasian with a warhammer. Nathaniel swung upwards as he stood, and the body of the barbarian made a sicking sound as it hit the ground in two seperate pieces.

"That, and I would perfer not to hinge the fate of the Kingdom on the Knights vs. the Horde. You must admit we had a measure of luck last time, and I don't want to take that gamble again."

[Lycanthrope]

"So what course of action do you suggest?" Devon said, parrying a blow which he then returned, Slitting the neck of one Englasian, and then stepping out of the way as two of them attempted to flank him, causing them to impale eachother. "We can't exactly fight the Englasian Army single handedly. We can't count on them to retreat like last time, at least unless we can duplicate that same scenario." He sundered one spear head before kicking it into his off hand and driving it into the heart of the one who had attacked him, as he severed the head of second Englasian who attacked from the opposite dirrection. "Wait a minute. Did Fake Rowland say what happened to Real Rowland?"

[Raiden]

With a cross cut, Thomas cleanly sliced the head off of an Englasian that was stupid enough to drop his guard for a few seconds. He looked around. The room was filling up with Royal Guard quite quickly. And as much as the potions helped, he was still in pretty bad shape, and his eye hadn't completely healed up. Sadly, the only exits from the hall either led into the Throne Room, or was blocked by a steady stream of soldiers.

He looked over, and saw a small window in a wall. It wasn't big enough to fit through, but windows tended to leave walls less stable. It was probably a good distance from the ground, but it was their only option.

"Someone take out the wall! I hope no one has any problem with jumping from high heights!"

[IHateMakingNames]

Gai had been keeping the Englasians away from him with Air Bending. He wasn't big on killing, unlike the knights, so he only blew them away with a small vortex of wind.

When one of the knights wanted the wall destroyed, Gai took it upon himself to do so. It wouldn't be that hard of a task with Earth Bending.

From his position near the back of the room, Gai turned to the wall that would be destroyed. He made a fist and pulled his arm back, and punched into open air. The part of the stone wall that his fist was aiming at suddenly blew out, leaving a large hole. As it started to collapse, Gai did a second punch, clearing the debris away.

He decided it would be pointless to tell the knights he took down the wall, since it was obvious.

[Raiden]

Thomas did a quick look through the hole the new mage had made.

He was right. It was a long drop. But it was in a courtyard, which was thankfully quite empty. They would only meet resistance once they got to the gate.

"Let's jump, people!"

Taking a running leap, Thomas jumped out from the hole. He was suspended in the air for a moment, and then gravity stepped in. He began to plunge downward quickly. When he got close, he used the same trick he had pulled when the 'Roland' had forced him to jump. He spread the impact across his body, leaving a dull pain in his legs. His ribs began to hurt again. They weren't completely healed, and that was not a good thing to do to them.

He rubbed them gently, and began to move forward.

[Overcast]

He ran to the hole and jumped out and spread out his cloak to glide to the ground and as he landed caught Forte as she came down after him. He then followed Thomas.

[wilysword]

Adin left off slitting throats as soon as Thomas jumped out the hole; it was rather difficult anyway, what with all the armor the Guard was wearing. As Englasians swarmed around him, he twisted out of their grasp, squeezing through a small crack between two of them. As he ran for the hole, an especially large Englasian moved to block his path. Adin took a flying leap and landed with both feet on the man's chest. He didn't scream as he fell, instead trying to stab Adin. They hit the ground and his slash went wide, scoring Adin's left arm as he rolled off the broken corpse.

[CelesJessa]

Cecilia, Kal, and the others who were traveling with them made it into the room just as the knights were jumping out of a hole in the wall, escaping from the Englasians.

"Oh great." She muttered, making a dash for the hole in the wall, hoping that one of the knights had her bow and arrow. She stopped for a moment at the top of the long jump below and caught her breath, "Here goes nothing..." She said to herself as she jumped out of the hole.

She rolled forward as she hit the ground, making the landing less of an impact on her feet.

"It's good to see none of us are hurt," She said to the other knights as she regained her composure after landing, "Let's hope we can make it the rest of the way out now."

[Dante]

While Kal had gone to free the others, Kratos had been looking for the armory. Along the way, groups of guards tried to stop him. They weren't very good at doing that, as the trail of bodies behind him bearing mute witness to this.

He found the armory. It was a huge contrivance of black metal, bolts, chains and gates. Deadly traps awaited anyone who would try to pick its locks, and the main door itself was a huge slab of metal nearly a foot thick.

Not a problem.

Kratos fanned the flame inside him again, shrouding his right hand and arm in a corona of blazing majesty. Starting at the bottom, he plunged the limb into the surface of the door. The metal glowed red-hot, then white, then ran like water as the bars if the cells had. Kratos pushed through until his hands had penetrated the distance, then dragged it up, the molten steel flowing off his arm without harming it thanks to his mastery of fire. This went on until he had inscribed a large circle in the iron barrier. Gravity took over, and it fell inside the armory, leaving Kratos a nice big hole to squeeze through.

Once inside, he noticed his gear and those of the other Knights, including Cecilia's bow and Kal's blades. Shrugging, he gathered them all up in a convenient sack and made his way back to where Kal had been.

Eventually, he discovered that Kal was not where he was. However, he did find a large group of Englasian soldiers crowded around a hole in the wall. While every instinct in him called on him to fight, he was also acutely aware that these men were carrying black jade spears, which were immune to his burning anima, and that in large enough groups, he might be swarmed and killed without his armor, which still remained within the sack..

So instead, he doubled back and made his way to the level below the hole in the wall. However, this time there was no aperture for him to leap through.

Not a problem.

After melting a hole in the masonry, Kratos leaped down, the sack on his back, landing with a resounding thump before Cecilia and Kal.

"Okay, so I couldn't find the others. I found this, though."

He opened the sack and showed Cecilia her bow and Kal his blades.

[Astral Harmony]

Then Adellah dropped down, gripping the edge so that she fell parallel to the wall. All her rage at the poor situation gathered for this moment, when she stabbed her Giant's Axe right at the wall. This brought her to a safe halt roughly a dozen feet from the ground, but the momentum and power used broke the pole, leaving the axe blade stuck into the wall too high for Adellah to reach. She tossed what little of the pole she had aside and drew her Slaughterang to her right hand and her knife to her left. "Weapons can be replaced. Our lives can't. Let's move."

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion waited for the others to go through the newly made hole in the wall, keeping the Englasians at bay as they did so. He then leapt through the gaping hole and landed nimbly on the balls of his feet. He nods towards the new mage, "It is good to find new friends when so many of the old turn traitorous. I am Damion Hellstrom, Knight of the Seven Stars and Champion of the Dark One. Thomas, would you object if I kept the new guy here with me to hold off the gaurds while the rest of you head for the gate?" Damion then summons his shadow avatar and moves to engage the horde of soldiers coming around the corner. His voice rings out of the shadow, "New guy, your with me. Try and keep their casters away please. The Dark One knows I hate casters."

[lazy man]

Rulick jumped out after Damion, making him the last one out to his knowledge. While the others had landed at least kind nimbly, Rulick hit the ground hard. While he was at least able to roll as he hit the ground, he could feel his side throb from the way he'd landed. Getting up while holding his side, Rulick ran after the others and nodded to Damion as he ran by.

"All right, collapse later, Rulcik. I know you want to, but now's not the time!" Rulcik told himself as he caught up to the group, keeping his armor summoned to make his face seem emotionless to keep anyone from worrying about him.

[Lycanthrope]

Devon dodged his way through the many Englasias before leaping over the head of one opponent and out the hole in the wall. He landed with a roll on the ground and began running with the other knights.

[IHateMakingNames]

OOC: So it makes sense, the first paragraph happens before fuzzy's post.

Gai finnaly jumped out of the hole himself. As he fell, the mage aimed his right arm down and spun it around, causing a small cyclone beneath him. This made his landing a peaceful one.

Then the shadow knight talked about Gai and him holding off a large group of Englasians. "I think it would be better to run."

[Darth SS]

"Just let me carry it for now. I'll put the armor on when I have a chance."

What Kal did grab and put on however were the Hands of God. Then he slung the sac over his shoulder and chased after the others.

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion turns to the mage. With a frown he says "Magi, never appreciate a good brawl." He shrugs and follows the others, knowing full well that alone he was easy pickings for any magic user in the area.

[Toastburner B]

Nathaniel in the meanwhile had been trying to figure out what plan of action would go along with his suggestion.

Finally, he shrugged.

"If we warn the populace...I don't really know what we'll get out of it. Panic, most likely. But, on the other hand, if we don't warn them, when word of fake King get's out, and sooner or later it will, the people will be unprepared for when the Englasians fall upon them."

Nathaniel shook his head. "They have a good plan this time. Almost all the warriors of the kingdom died a year ago at the Battle. The barbarians have the advantage of numbers and experience."

"The only thing I can think of is that if we can expose the fake King, and save Roland if he is still alive, the Royal Guard and the Royal Army will align with us. Combined with our surviving forces in our provinces, that would give us a fighting chance against the Englasians."

Nathaniel looked back towards the castle. "Of course, if we can kill the fake king, the Englasians may break and run, just like they did a year ago."

[Raiden]

(OOC: Almost hit our limit. We'll break through the castle gates, and the next chapter will be us hiding, trying to think up a plan of what to do next, and then escape from Incrad.)

Thomas was running, though his body was telling him to stop. His injuries kept flaring up. He couldn't keep this up much longer. And taking a quick look at the others, he could tell that they weren't going to be able to handle it either. They needed out. Now.

In front of him was one of the many gates leading in and out of the Castle Grounds. Archers aimed down from their stations, and began to fire volleys down.

Thomas pulled Dove and Raven out, and began to deflect any arrows in his vicinity.

"Alright, Knights! Take out the gate, and scramble! We'll meet up in the local inn at town!"

[CelesJessa]

Cecilia leveled her bow in her hands and slowed a bit while the others ran ahead, firing arrows up at the attackers. She managed to take out a few of the archerers, but new ones would quickly take their place. After some of the others had run ahead, she picked up the pace again, keeping an arrow noched, ready to fire at a moments notice.

[lazy man]

"Somone get Kratos over here! He can break down the gate after I'm done with it!" Rulick yelled to the others as he ran over to the gate, trying his best not to get hit by arrows. Upon reaching the door, the knight concentrated and began to unleash his new ability. Slowly, the gate began to get colder and harder, freezing just from the touch of Rulick's hand. After about a minute, a portion of the gate about twice Rulick's size was obviously frozen. While Rulick himself probably couldn't break it, with Kratos' weight and strength the thing would probably break as if it were nothing.

"Kratos, get us the hell out of here!" Rulick yelled as he backed away and waited for him to crash through while trying to save himself from arrows at the same time.

[Dante]

Kratos focused his energies inward again, and activated his aura of flame again, with one exception - whenever an arrow passed within 10 meters of him, a tongue of flame would reflexively leap out and consume it, the harmless arrowhead bouncing harmlessly off the flesh of its intended victim. Kratos slowly backed up in front of Cecilia, careful not to harm her, and her own arrows were not harmed when she fired them.

"Someone go for the gatehouse! It's faster than forcing the gate open!"

[Fuzzydoom]

Damion was in full Shadow Avatar form by now and easily absorbed all arrows directed in his vicinity. He moves towards the gate house and smashes through one of the walls, openning the gate as if it wer nothing. H then positions himself so that his avatar would take the hits for thos passing through the gate. "Hurry," he calls "That large group that was chasing us contained magi. Once they get here I'm screwed, so hurry the hells up." Suddenly a man wearing glowing white robes appears on the top of the wall, an evil smile spread across his face. He opens a book he carrys and begins to chant. Magical energies begin to gather and Damion feels his avatar weakening. "Jordan, you bastard." He manages to gasp, barely holding together his avatar, trying to buy his allies some time.

[Raiden]

Thomas grabbed Damion by the shoulder as he ran by, and pulled him out of the Courtyard. With Jordan's spell no longer affecting him, Damion began to get his strength back. Thomas then pushed him in a different direction.

"Scramble! Head in different directions! No one go in teams! Cover your tracks, and meet at the inn at nightfall!"

Thomas looked at the sky. It was night when they were captured, and it seemed to be morning now. They had to hide for the entire day. It'd be hard, but not undoable.