Vengeance of the Heart

[Aegis]

The two elves entered the darkend room. It was modestly furnished, as to be exected of a local inn, but was more then they had been using the past weeks out in the wilderness. There was a single dresser, with a desk next to it. Across the room, was a single bed, barely large enough to fit two average sized human people on. A single candle was all that was available for light within the quint room.

Ae'siir slowly made his way to the candle, and used the flint that sat idly by its side. Sparking it casually, he placed it back on the desk, and turned towards Lilth, who had already sat herself upon the bed, and was working at unclasping the first set of buckles that kept her leather cuiress on. Any other man, at the sight of the elven woman undressing before them, would've swooned at the notion, but Ae'siir only took a couple of steps, stopping in the middle of the floor, and then lowered himself to the floor, sitting cross legged. He took the latch on his belt, and unstrung the leather bindings keeping the twin kukri's by his waist. He wouldn't need them tonight, for the first time in many nights. He sat quitly, folding his hands together, and placing them in front of his face, and closed his eyes. A low, deep mumrering could be heard from the larger elf, but nothing distinguishable.

Lilth had finsihed removing the leather bondings from her body, and had placed them aside. Aside from the modest silk shirt and short leggings, both of which clung tightly to her body, she was completly bared out to all. She watched her comrade quietly, a nightly custom she had enjoyed since the two first began travelling together, as usual, a playful, childish expression on her face. While having gained the maturity and wisdom of the elves, she appeared no more then twenty years of age, the fingers of time seeming slipping past her. As Ae'siir continued he low chanting, Lilth crept off the bed, dragging some of the linens along with her, and crawled up behind her larger counterpart. She crawled as if a cat would, slowly making her way towards him, as if stalking him, yet playfully. As she came up behind him, she made her move, running her hands up along his back, and over his shoulders, before grasping each other in front of his chest. She then leaned her head upon his shoulder, and looked towards Ae'siirs undistrubed face. She gave a silent giggle, before giving his ear a playful bite, and then pulled back, and leaned against the side of the bed, drawing the linen's up, wrapping them around her body.

Lilth watched casually until Ae'siir finished his nightly ritual, upon which he turned his body around to face his playful companion. As he moved, he dropped his hand to the pouch where he had placed the stolen ring, and took it out to examine it.

"This one looks af it is worth something more then it would seem.." He said casually, spinning the ring around in his fingers. "I wouldn't be surprised to find some magical properties on it, considering the previous bearer of it..." He glanced towards Lilth, and smirked. "It is amazing how skilled you are."

Lilth smiled childishly, and lowered her head a bit, letting his jet black hair drape over her shoulders.

"Well, in the morning, then, we'll have it looked at. See if this is more then what it seems..." With that, he lowered the ring, and returned to his pouch. "But for now, let us rest. It has been sometime since we have had accomadations such as these. Let us enjoy them while we can."

Lilth nodded, and crawlled back atop the bed, and rolled over onto her side, and looked to Ae'siir. The elf only shook his head. "I do not fully trust the men here... I would not want something to happen to you in your sleep. I shall watch the door, until I feel comfortable." Lilth let her head drop, dissapointed, but understanding. Within moments, she closed her eyes, and was asleep, leaving Ae'siir watching the door, and listening to quiet, rythmatic sound of the woman's breath...

[Rob-hin]

Meanwhile, the bait made its way towards the village. The bigger of the two, Anrin, leading the way; both men had their swords ready and moved around as quietly as possible.
“Keep your distance hog boy; you almost poked me with that sword of yours!”

“What’s your problem Anrin? Are you still mad at me for drinking that last wine last night?”

While not verbally responding, Anrin pushed aside a branch on his way and let it slip again. The branch swung back and hit Valen in the face who had some trouble not yelling on compulsion. When he calmed down a bit he angrily muttered in anger.
“You did that on purpose didn’t you?” Quickly Anrin turned his back on Valen to hide the grin on his face.

”Quiet, there is the village… That must be him there, leaning against that tree there.” Anrin pointed towards Mursalin.
“This is what we do. You wait here and I make my way over there.” His hands made a circle towards a few feat from Mursalin. “I’ll make some noise of some kind like throwing a pebble or something. When he looks, you make sure he sees you and when he’s coming for you, you make your way towards the rest. I’ll be your back up.”

When the two men chose their positions, Valen had second thoughts. “Why do I always get the dangerous jobs? Next time, I make the plan.” In the meantime, Anrin had started the trap. Reluctantly, Valen made himself clearly visible.

“I sure hope he doesn’t have any long ranged weapons…”

[Rudar Dimble]

The lady fair and beautiful walked towards him. “I give you mercy…accept it”. Gurdio wanted to accept it, and he reached out his hand, almost touching hers. A light, cold sharp and blue as it could be, build up a wall between the two.

“You fool! Do you really think we would give you mercy? Do you really think I still recognize you as my son? Fool! Never, never, never, never, never….” The words faded in the distance, leaving a man alone in the emptiness. Would that be his fate? His destiny? Tortured by loneliness, unable to be deteced by others?
A clear picture of his father emerged where the lady, his mother, just stood.

“No one will ever feel sorry for you. People will only laugh at your jokes. None will believe you when you tell them a sad story. Didn’t you notice back in the inn today? You told them why you were attacked, and none, none felt sorry for you! Your lips will be sealed whenever one asks about your origins.And you know it….you know it.”
His father disappeared into the back again…leaving Gurdio alone, as usual.

Pictures of his childhood, pictures of better times, of times without hatred or sorrow passed his view. He didn’t want to see them, but he was unable to walk away or turn his head. Torture, pain, it hurted his heart, his soul every night, year after year….when would this nightmare end?

[Rob-hin]

The trap was set and the mouse took the bait.
Mursalin dropped his sandwich and quickly grabbed his weapons. “Halt, be you friend or foe?” But the figure in the bushes did not respond, instead he backed away slowly turned around and started running. Mursalin sprinted after him, determined to find out what the man was doing there.

He chased him for some minutes and right when he was about to jump the runaway, an arrow missed him by an inch. Startled, he turned around and saw several men blocking his was back to the village. “Damn… there are more.” He cursed to himself as he looked around assessing the situation; only to find himself to be completely surrounded. “There must be at least 15 of em…”

The men surrounding him were mostly dressed in chainmail shirts and were armed with the same swords; some of them also had a bow and arrows.

[CM]

As Mursalin was surrounded, he had little choice. Closing his eyes for a second, he said a silent prayer to Tyr for his protection and that he would uphold the honor of the family in this suicidal effort. Opening his eyes and without a word, Mursalin attacked the closest man to him.

[Rob-hin]

By blocking Mursalin’s first attack, the attacker showed he had been trained properly. Mursalin’s long sword flashed upwards towards the man’s head, but as the man tried to block it; Mursalin surprisingly dodged left turned round and planted his sword into his attacker’s stomach.
As his sword had truck its target, Mursalin dashed forwards to the next attacker. Knowing what to expect, this man put up a better fight.

Observing the fight from a distance, the leader cursed. “Damn it, we’ll loose too many men this way.” Then he saw from the corner of his eye the gnome scout sneak up to the paladin and he grinned.

Two attackers lay dead on the ground when the gnome reached the unexpecting Mursalin. He jumped up onto Mursalin’s back who lost his balance because of this and fell to the ground. All he knew was lots of pain and then he lost his consciousness.

The last sound he heard was an evil laughing on to of him…

[Rob-hin]

The sun started to rise when grim figures surrounded the Inn, every man following the unspoken instructions given by the leader of the group. His hands directed the men and assigned positions to all of them around the Inn, bow and arrows ready.

By his side stood the small gnome rubbing his hands in pure anticipation of what was about to happen. “We’re goi...” An angry glance looking down on him, quickly silenced him again. A bit frightened, the gnome backed of a few feet behind the leader.

Looking up again towards his men he felt self complacent. Proud of his achievements, the leader’s mind wondered of for a second. He looked at the sunrise and smiled, the time to strike was now. He raised his hand and the group responded by getting down on one knee and lighting a small torch.
The staff in the torch was sharp and pointy, it was used to jam it into the ground. The men grabbed an arrow and loaded it onto their bow. The point of the arrow was rapped in a cloth drenched in a flammable substance. Then they waited.

The leader ordered the attack by dropping his hand again. Like they had trained, the men followed the order by holding their arrow into the flame, thus setting it on fire. One by one they fired their arrows towards the roof of the Inn, only to reload for a second shot. The air was filled by small balls of fire flying in a high bow onto the Inn.

It didn’t take long for the roof to catch fire as it made of wood, just like the rest of the Inn; thus the fire spread out fast. Sneaking through every small crack of wood, the fire made it’s way inside stetting curtains and all else that would burn on fire. “Fire, fire! Wake up the Inn is on fire, we must get out of here!”

“Hold your fire until they come out!”

Three travellers opened the front door and stormed outside towards safety, or so they thought. They took one step outside and were then pierced by numerous arrows.

Harnan saw what happened and rushed from one side of the Inn looking for a safe way out. Panic took over when he could not figure out what to do to get out of there alive.

[Aegis]

The first calls of panic snapper Ae'siir's attention quickly. Glancing over to Lilth, who was slowly raising her head off the bed, and looking towards to her companion. The larger elf pushed himself up off the floor, grabbing hold of his weapons in the process. Lilth followed suit, crawling out of the bed, taking a few quick moments to throw her leather cuiress and breeches on loosely. Within moments, both were ready. They could hear some disjointed screams outside of the room, and the distinct sound of arrows being loosed. The pair quickly left the room. The halls had become clouded with thick smoke, and the sound of wood cracking, and burning swamped the pair's ears.

They made their way to one of the upper windows of the inn, ducking low under the window cell, as to avoid being spotted. Ae'siir nudged his head up towards the window, and Lilth nodded. The silent elf crept her head up, and peered out to the front of the inn. Her glance was answered with the sharp whistling noise of an arrow, and the loud thud it created by hitting the side of the inn, next to the window. Lilth pulled back quickly, and knelt beside Ae'siir, and motioned with her hands that there were armed men outside. The larger elf nodded.

"Very well." Ae'siir glanced left and right, checking the halls for anyone else. As he looked left, he saw the trailing flutter of someone's robes, but nothing else. "I have no wish to die here. We'll help them out." Lilth nodded, and smirked wryly to Ae'siir. Ae'siir then took a few low steps away from the window. Once far enough back, he stood to his full size, and drew both his Kukri's, tracing a pair of silver lines in the air. Giving each a breif spin in his palms, he looked towards the window, determindly. Lilth backed off a few steps, fastening her cuiress in the process. Ae'siir shot her another glance, and a reassuring grin, then began to run forward, towards the window. As he neared the glass frame, he raised his forearms in front of his face, and tucked his head, then with a strong push, he launched himself off the ground, and angled his body towards the outside.

*****

The leader of the assailents stood smuggly, admiring at the work his men were doing on those leaving the inn. He seemed to reveil in the sight of the burning tavern, and enjoyed waiting for his prey to leave the building, and enter his waiting grasp.

His attention was ripped away suddenly by a loud crashing noise coming from the second story of the inn. He snapped his head towards the second floor, only to be greeted by the raining shards of glass. Ae'siir came bounding out of the window, his back foot catching the window frame, and giving another great push. As the elf came carreening out of the inn, he seperated his arms, branding the twin Kukri's devilishly, a distrubingly stoic look upon his face. As Ae'siir neared the ground, the nearest men scattered, some dropping their bows in the process, in order to draw their own blades. One didn't make it. As the elf came in contact with the ground, he landed with inches of one of the men, his Kukri's already making a trail of red, tracing the lines of his attack along the man's chest and face. Ae'siir put his foot forward, and locked his leg up, and came to skidding halt.

Two of the attackers, now with their swords drawn, quickly approached Ae'siir, their blades poised to run the elf through on the first go. As the pair made their attacks, one slashing in a high arc, and the other driving his sword forward, the lighter Ae'siir only kicked back, pushing himself backwards, cleanly avoiding both clumsy attacks. As his feet touched down, the two men were already moving forward again. Before either could bridge the gap, though, a pair of silver streaks snapped through the air, finding a their marks in the soft flesh between the men's thumbs and forefingers. The two men stopped alomst instantly, their swords being dropped, and the other hands being brought close, craddling their pierced flesh. Ae'siir smirked, and glanced towards the Inn, where he saw the slender frame of Lilth, one leg dangling over the side of the window frame, leaning against the side of it, and three more darts in her hand. She flashed a quick wink, and then threw the three darts in rapid succession.

The other men, though, were able to pay strong attention though to the sole attackers, and quicky spotted Lilth sitting in the window above them, as did the leader of the group. He quickly motioned to the man on his left to hand him a one of the bows, which was promptly given. With a quick eye, he c0cked an arrow, and sent it loose. Lilth looked up, too late. The arrow sped through the air, and found a place dug into her right arm, just above the elbow. Her usual childlike demeanor now contorted into pain. Dropped several darts in her hand, she grasped hold of the wound, wrapping her fingers around the arrow's shaft. The sudden movement and pain, though, shook the usually nimble elf's balance, and small women toppled off the side of the inn, and hurtled towards the ground, ending the descent with a heavy thud, and a light moan, before slipping into unconsciousness. The men's leader watched his success happily, smirking to himself, and handing the bow off.

Ae'siir watched, his face in shocked awe. As the body of Lilth hit the ground, his eye began to twich, and his mouth hung open. The sound of her hitting the ground sent a spasm through Ae'siir's body, as he doubled over, and tucked his arms in tightly. His body was begining to convulse, and tense up, his knuckles turning a pale white as he clenched the hilts of the Kukri's even tighter. His eyes appeared to roll back into his head, and the pupils shrunk to almost nothing. A low gurgling noise could be heard from the elf's throat. The men who had began their advance suddenly halted, their courage faltering at the sight of the elf. Ae'siir's body seemed to bulge for a moment, and growing twice his normal size, and foam began to run down the side of his chin. Finally, the convulsions stopped, and the now hulking elf slumped forward onto his knees. Everything seemed to quiet down, the only recognizable sound in the area was that of the inn burning to ashes, and the scatered cries inside.

The sounds of people exiting the inn, able to do so because of the distraction caused by Ae'siir and Lilth, was dull, only a handful stopping to see what had happened outside. Those cloest to Ae'siir began to tremble somewhat, unsure of what was happening. Their questions were quickly answered as Ae'siir snapped his head up, a malicious look upon the elf's normally stoic face, his pupils almost non-existant. Then, within the blink of an eye, Ae'siir proppelled himself forward, Kukri's bared violently, speeding towards the nearest of the attackers...

[Tybaltus]

It didn’t take long for the roof to catch fire as it made of wood, just like the rest of the Inn; thus the fire spread out fast. Sneaking through every small crack of wood, the fire made it’s way inside stetting curtains and all else that would burn on fire.

Greppun, who immediately became alert to danger, quickly jumped up and rustled Acolytus’ bed.

Acolytus, now feeling the after effects of the ale failed to budge immediately, but Greppun was determined to get his master to wake. Acolytus slowly opened his eyes and groaned. His eyes were blurry and all he could see was the moving shadowy outline of Greppun in the dark. “Not now…I feel awful. Leave me, please,” Acolytus frustratingly whispered to Greppun. Greppun jumped on Acolytus again, and the motion forced Acolytus to wake up in frustration and turn on the light. “WHAT?” Acolytus shouted.

“Fire, fire! Wake up the Inn is on fire, we must get out of here!” Harnan yelled.

Acolytus jumped up and quickly put on his armor and cloak. “I apologize, my friend. I am sorry I yelled. Ale can be our enemy sometimes,” Acolytus admitted in shame.

Acolytus looked into the hallway and noticed it was shadowed by the rush of smoke from the roof. He realized it was still barely visible close to the floor, but fleeing to fresh air was of the essence. As Acolytus tried to figure whether to use the window or the hallway to the door as a means of escape, loud screams of agony outside pierced the ears of Acolytus. Tavern patrons that were staying the night had been killed outside.

“Gods. What is transpiring here this morning?” Acolytus asked in disbelief. Acolytus quickly dropped all thoughts and went with instinct for a way to escape. He dashed down the hallway, coughing from the smoke he inhaled, but stayed conscious enough to make sure that Greppun followed closely.

Acolytus found the opening to the doorway, and fresh air beyond, but something still kept him from safety. There was a large pack of foreign faces, armed heavily. Acolytus’ eyes widened as he realized this looked like the troubled grove all over again. “Does misfortune have to cross me everywhere I tread?” Acolytus painfully shouted.

Suddenly, the outside foes were distracted by something that had occurred nearby. Acolytus, with the painful headache from the ale, the smoke, and memories, gathered himself and realized this was the opportunity to go into a battle stance.

He rushed outside and just breathed for a moment, then looked down to Greppun. He gave him a piece of cloth, and pointed to a house on the horizon. Acolytus was motioning him to go to Corriatia’s house, the woman he originally came to Umar Hills for. Greppun took one last longing look at his master and ran fast towards the structure that he was destined to go.

Acolytus grinned. He rose his spear into the air. Immediately his body turned dark brown from head to toe. He stood tall, like the great pines of Neverwinter.

Acolytus then shouted, “Emitto ingenium amicitia alicunde superiacio”

Leaves from the nearby wood rushed towards Acolytus in a blur of green and brown. The wind stopped, but the leaves that gathered gradually formed into a shape. First it was a simple sphere, but quickly more finite details appeared in the object. The leaves formed a long body, and quickly got more and more detail, until a cat-like shape had been conjured from the moving leaves.

Silence.

Suddenly, the shape came to life and the creature bore its color, jet black, with yellow frowning eyes, staring at its new foes that it has been summoned to face. It let out a giant growl. The panther then charged its closest adversary who was still in awe of the appearance of the creature. In one fell swoop, the adversary’s head was ripped off. The body fell limp and fell to the ground with a thud.

Acolytus looked up and smiled again. “Now it is my turn.” Acolytus grasped his spear, and in his new bark-form, he looked at the crowd, and pointed the spear towards them.

[Rudar Dimble]

At first, Gurdio was happy to wake up from his evil nightmare. He sat right up in bed, listening to the yelling downstairs. Something was wrong. He got up and looked outside the window. Smoke was rising up from the inn and strange, unknown enemies were roaming around the inn.

For a moment Gurdio was stunned, but his keen gnomish mind made sure he grabbed back his wits. He walked towards the door and felt whether it was hot. The cold touch and awful smell of the wooden door were there.
“Good”, Gurdio thought, “the fire hasn’t reached my room yet”.
He opened the door and walked down the hallway. When he reached the stairs, the screaming and shouting became louder and louder. Obviously there was a fight going on down there. The gnome sneaked down far enough to witness his friends from last evening fighting for their lifes.

“Payback time!”, wispered Gurdio. He stood up, concentrate for a while with his hands streched out. The palm of his right hand grabbed his chest, like it was trying to take the gnome’s heart out. After a second or two he made a throwing gesture with both his hand and shouted: “Morti eligrata non portil!” With a beautiful red beam of light three magic missles left his hand and were seeking their way towards one of the assassins. Gurdio knew the missles never missed and the target probably wasn’t one of those who could resist magic…..the missles killed him instantly.

Satisfied Gurdio walked further downstairs and he noticed the pretty elf Lilth had lost conciousness. He had to help her.

[Rob-hin]

Strange sounds,
Broken glass,
Heat,
Smoke?

Fire!
Crudely awoken from his sleep, Gurney was suddenly wide awake. “I have to get out of here… fast!” He grabbed his clothing from a chair and picked up his other stuff, but as he wanted to make his way downstairs he realised something was wrong. This fire was lit; someone wanted to lure them out for some reason. To kill them? Most definitely.

So he got dressed as fast as he could, swung his ballist onto his back and firmly griped his rapier in his right hand. As he made his way towards the stairs, his instinct wanted to force him to run down and out; he had to fight to stay calm.

“Steady now Gurney… You don’t want to run into whatever’s happening down there.”

Leaning against the wall, he made sure no one outside saw him. Once he had reached the door, he peeked around the corner and saw a group of similar dressed men fighting of the elf of earlier last night. He had a strange look on his face… His partner lied on the ground with Gurdio bending over to see how badly she was hurt. Perhaps that was the reason to his state. Magus, Mursalin and Acolytus were nowhere to be seen.

The three did create a breach in the formation of the attackers. Gurney kept himself hidden in the shadows until he had reached on of the archers. The man had just loaded another arrow onto his bow and aimed for the small gnome who was now an easy target.

Just before he could let his arrow fly, the blade of a dagger forced it’s way through the man’s chest. As life left the archer’s body, his body grew numb and he released the grip of the arrow. It flew through the air and pierced it’s way into the inn… inches above Gurdio’s head.

Shocked, Gurdio stared at the arrow for a second and then turned and follow the arrow’s path to its origin. When he looked, he saw the archer drop lifelessly onto the grass. Behind him stood Gurney, who nodded and then turned to face his next opponent.

[Rob-hin]

As the leader saw Lilth being shot down, he smiled pleased. “Good, they can never hold up against us for long.”
However, the defenders seemed to be getting the overhand in this fight. Ae’siir took on several attackers by himself while Gurdio took care of Lilth. Gurney carefully took out some attackers, trying not to draw attention to himself and Acolytus had summoned help too his aid.

“Damn incompetent fools, must I do everything myself?” He moved forwards towards his men, there he stopped and looked up to the sky and softly mumbled strange divine words. Suddenly he raised his hands as high as he could and shouted; “Erythnul, aid your loyal servant!”
A bright light shone down at him, and he looked bigger and stronger; laughing manically with his hands still raised up high.

He lowered his hands, rolled his head around to loosen his neck and turned to face Acolytus. With his hands, he started making strange gestures while speaking unclear words; then he pointed towards a sport near Acolytus. At first nothing happened, then the earth got torn open and a skeleton caring a long sword and a shield climbed out and made its way to Acolytus.

Not wasting any time, the leader turned away and focused his attention to the rest of the group. There were but a few of his men left there.

Agitated by his men’s failure, he looked for this most nearby enemy, it was Gurney. Focusing his anger towards him, he again muttered some strange words and aimed his spell on Gurney. As soon as he had finished the spell, Gurney felt his attacks getting weak and his mind getting clouded.

Gurney knew had been affected by a spell witch affected his skills, so he dropped back towards Gurdio.

The leader grabbed his mace and shield and slowly made his way towards Gurney.

[Tybaltus]

“Erythnul, aid your loyal servant!”
A bright light shone down at him, and he looked bigger and stronger; laughing maniacally with his hands still raised up high.

He lowered his hands, rolled his head around to loosen his neck and turned to face Acolytus. With his hands, he started making strange gestures while speaking unclear words; then he pointed towards a sport near Acolytus. At first nothing happened, then the earth got torn open and a skeleton caring a long sword and a shield climbed out and made its way to Acolytus.

Acolytus looked at the earth below him ripple and crack open from the cleric’s spell. His eyes widened as he saw the demonic creature emerge from the hells from which he came. Acolytus snarled as the creature prepared for combat. Acolytus’ eyes became focused and thin, “I shall enjoy sending you back to your home, demon.”

The panther was busy fending off the armed enemies, as it was clear even the mighty cat could not take on a three on one battle. Acolytus knew the panther would stay true to the battle at hand, and would endure the pain that it would inevitably receive. Acolytus grasped the spear and pointed it straight at the skeleton and started to charge.

The skeleton held its kite shield firmly in front of him, but also prepared the long battle-worn sword for a counter slash. Acolytus’ fury was apparent. He held the spear high above his head, ready for a downward thrust on his summoned foe. The point of the spear made hard contact on the kite shield of the skeleton. Sparks flew in a yellow shower of metal and old dry paint that once embedded this well crafted shield. The skeleton was taken back by the force Acolytus made on the shield. His back leg bent from the pressure Acolytus applied. The skeleton, not knowing the meaning of pain or reason, still made the slash counter attack he planned, but the momentum of the attack was too much on Acolytus’ side. The slash the skeleton planned landed well short of Acolytus’ body. The momentum of Acolytus’ attack caused Acolytus to land in a kneeled position. But the skeletons poorly planned attack gave Acolytus time to reassume himself in a battle stance. Acolytus, discouraged that his primary forceful attack did little to harm the skeleton, took a quick breath and waited for the skeleton’s inevitable attack. The skeleton, though essentially stupid, was a skilled attacker. The skeleton threw the sword up in the air, and with great force, he swung it down at Acolytus. The air being cut under the sword’s mighty swing could be heard with ease. Acolytus had little time to notice the giant swing, and attempted a quick dodge. The sword made heavy contact with Acolytus’ elbow, which was still in the path of the swinging sword after his attempted dodge. Barkskin flew off of Acolytus’ elbow, but the sword dug deeper, past the barkskin, and penetrated the flesh. Acolytus only grimaced a split second, but with determination in his eyes, it did not deter him. Acolytus, with the injured elbow, grasped the spear once again and thrust it towards the skeleton, once again. With the skeleton’s attack leaving his entire right side exposed, Acolytus realized this was a golden opportunity. This time, Acolytus was careful to avoid the broad shield.

Acolytus swung around on a pivot so that he quickly was looking straight at the expressionless face of the skeleton. Acolytus clenched his spear such that his right hand was in the back and left hand in the front in order to force a strong but downward motion in order to make contact the skeleton’s skull. Acolytus’ thrust was successful as it gouged into the skull of his enemy. Gray powder erupted from the right side of the skeleton’s head, created by the heavy hit Acolytus created. The skeleton undeterred from this attack, and immune to pain brought his sword up into the air. Acolytus took the spear and jerked it backwards and thrust it towards the skeleton’s weapon arm. The quick jolt of a hit Acolytus forced, caused the arm of the skeleton to be pushed backward, negating his oncoming attack. Acolytus, now realizing he was in the position of control, kept pushing the skeleton backward with the spear. Acolytus then took his right foot and placed it behind the right leg of the back-peddling skeleton. The skeleton fell backwards to the ground. Acolytus brought his leg upwards and placed it firmly on the skeleton’s arm holding the weapon. Acolytus threw his spear high in the air and, with force, quickly threw the spear down towards the remnants of the skull of the fallen skeleton. The spear dug deep into the skull and it was a final hit. The skeleton turned into a pile of dust in a flash once the spear made its fatal blow into the skull.

Acolytus turned around towards his panther, and saw it beaten, bloody, and bruised. The panther had been doing its job as it had severly wounded a thug in the enemies’ party. The panther continued its stance as an attacker and protecting its summoner, but Acolytus knew his summon would not last much longer. Still, the panther fought with pride in his eye.

[Aegis]

The attacking men do little to thwart the renewed vigour of the elf. Moving swiftly, Ae'siir came crashing in upon the group of assailants, Kukri's bared viciously. As the elf neared the first, the man raised his blade, blocking the path of the powerful attack. The sound of metal clashing upon metal rung out in the ears of those around them, but fell upon deaf ears to Ae'siir. The man recoiled a bit, trying to steady the blade as it shook from the ferocity of the attack. Before he could even look back up towards the elf, another attack came bounding in, the hooked edge of the kukri speeding past the man. For the brief moment following, the man stared blankly, trembling, thinking the blade had severed his life in one deft motion. The moment ended quickly, as Ae'siir wrapped the deadly weapon around the mans back, and ripped it forward, tearing the upper torso of the man apart from his lower half. A wave of blood erupted from the exposed organs of the man, and the staggered gasps and cries of pain rang loudly in the ears of his surrounding comrades. Ae'siir didn't slow. He spun just as quickly as he killed the man, and set his sight on the other two who had advanced upon him. His face had been splashed with the man's blood, and the crimson liquid intermingled with the green tattoo, creating a twisted display, and mockery of what it represented. Ae'siir's eyes showed no semblence of sanity, or comprehension, only an insatiable bloodlust.

The two men stagered backwards, holding their swords up, visibly shaking. Neither could blink, nor would they risk it in such a case. They watched as Ae'siir began to stock their way, and they slowly began to retreat faster. As Ae'siir stepped closer and closer, one man finally broke, turning, dropping his sword, and running as swiftly as he could from the elf. Ae'siir followed suit, charging forward, past the other man. As the retreating man ran, his arms flailing wildy, he neglected to look back, and didn't see the image of Ae'siir leaping powerfully into the air, and come crashing down, driving the keen edges of the twin Kukri's deep into the man's back, and straight through, until the tips could be seen coming from the man's stomach. The man's body lurched forward, and blood flowed freely from his mouth, as his eyes drained of all life. Ae'siir remained standing over top the dead man, a pool of blood staining the ground at his feet, his body heaving in a slowly, rythmatic motion. Slowly, he turned his head, his souless eyes turning upon the final assailant who had attacked him. A thick lather ran freely from the corners of the elf's mouth, and his gritted teeth were bared. The final man only closed his eyes as Ae'siir began the charge towards him, preferring not to witness his demise. Ae'siir ended it swiftly, severing the head of the man cleanly from the body in one single strike to the neck.

Ae'siir then stopped, and turned his body towards the sounds of combat around the edge of the Inn, swiftly making his way towards it. As he rounded the corner, his eyes narrowed in upon the first person he saw, the image of a man standing over top of Lilth. His eyes narrowed into slits of their former self, and he charged forth...

[Rob-hin]

Backing up from the approaching cleric, Gurney scanned the environment deciding about what he should do next. In his current state, he wouldn’t stand much of a chance against the cleric. Then he suddenly realised something; the wizard, he’s not out yet!

He glanced over to the burning inn, the roof was totally covered in flames and the burning hay flew through the sky carried by the hard wind. Villagers tried their best at keeping other houses from catching fire as well. By this time, flames had completely covered the inn making an enormous pillar of fire.
Could he still make it inside and get the wizard out safely? He had to try. Gurney turned around, straightened his back and directed himself the gnome Gurdio. “There must be something wrong with Magus! You take care if this guy while I go back inside and get him out safely!” Gurdio nodded in understandment.

Acolytus seemed to have taken care of his opponents himself and turned to face the cleric as well. Good; Gurney though; together they might just stand a chance.

Still not really confident about the upcoming fight, he turned towards the inn and made his way towards the door. Should I really let those two take this guy on? He seems to be pretty strong. Hopefully someone comes to their aid… they’ll need al the help they can get.
Perhaps they’ll hold on long enough for me to aid them when I’m back. They won’t get any assistance from the villagers, that’s for sure.

One of the two archers that were still left standing heard about this plan and quickly blocked Gurney’s way. “You’ll never get him out. He’ll pay for what you did to my friends!”
Full of anger and hate Gurney dashed towards the man. With his dagger in one hand and his rapier in the other he made one all or nothing attack. Gurney stabbed his rapier forward with awesome speed and the man had trouble avoiding it. Without slowing down, Gurney continued his attack. As he jumped passed the man, who he saw to be nothing more then an obstacle, he held his dagger at his side pointing it outwards. Passing the man, his dagger slid open the man’s belly, the inside of his guts fell into the grass making a bloody mess. Without even looking back at his, now beaten, opponent Gurney leaped through the burning door into the red hot inn.

The last archer who saw this all happen looked around in horror and saw that he was the last one left. He could think about only one thing, to get the hell out of there! He turned around and ran as fast as he could, stumbling over his own feet in pure panic.

Once inside and surrounded with flames Gurney carefully made his way towards the stairs. “Magus, where are you?”