Erratus was entirely dumbfounded by how nimbly Killament thwarted his onslaught. The fight had just become considerably more interesting. The two combatants each grappled fiercely until they heard the door to the room open. The thief's opponent quickly rolled away in anticipation for the new arrival. Expecting more hostiles, he was releaved to find that it was one of Gonye's men.
"You get the girl; we can't afford to have you die yet! Just let me handle this for now!"
Erratus gave the man a blank stare. He was right, perhaps, but at the same time completely insane. This mercenary was willing to risk his life on the off chance he could hold off this knight for more than five seconds, all so that Gonye could carry through with his plan. Did all soldiers have any sense of self-preservation surgically removed? Well, the nomad knew one thing. His sense of self-preservation was firmly intact. He gave the merc a pat on the shoulder and dashed out of the room. As swift as Killament was, Erratus was faster. He began searching the remaining doors in the hallway as quickly as possible.
If I find the princess quickly enough, perhaps I can keep that poor fool from being killed. A strange thought. Erratus wondered why something so frivolous would cross his mind.

Lucia did as instructed and ran up the flight of stairs. The faster they rescued the woman, the quicker they could leave this forsaken land. As she reached the main hall, she witnessed Khast leave one room and was searching the doors in the hallway for their target.

"You check one side of the hallway and I'll check the other" she stated in her regular soft fashion while she hurried to the side of the hall that Khast wasn't presently checking and began checking each of the doors on her side as the man had been doing earlier.

With both Erratus and Lucia checking every door in the hall it wasn't long before one of them stumbled upon the correct door. As Erratus opened the last door on his row, four doors down from the first door where the mercenary was still presumably fighting Kiliment, he caught sight of a figure sitting away from the door peering out the only window in the room. The figure did not turn to face Erratus even after he had opened the door and because the room was so dark Erratus could only barely make out the figure's features: a thin body, a white dress with an off-purple tunic worn over top, and long, light, golden brown hair that appeared to only be braided near the very end for a few inches. Just as Erratus had discovered this room though, a terrible pounding could be heard from the first door in the hall and an enraged Kiliment came bursting out after a few seconds delay.

"Thief, our fight is yet not over." Kiliment growled as he slammed the door behind him and eased his way up the hall, only taking notice of Lucia after his first few steps. "I will kill you both, you know this. Yes?"

____

The Lord of Silk relaxed himself as he watched Talaitha drink and only after a few moments of silence did he begin. "This person you are looking. You say he does not belong, yet no one who does not belong in this town lives long in this town. Take for example you." The Lord of Silk leaned forward cautiously as he pointed out a group of for men sitting in the corner of the tavern. "Those men have been watching you, even before you made your foolish announcement. They know you are an outsider with no ties in this city and had I not sat you down they would have murdered you in the street." The deeply dark-skinned man sat back in his chair and with a quick nod of his head gave Talaitha a quick look from head to navel. "If who you are looking for is anything like yourself, he is long dead by now." The Lord of Silk subtly laughed before continuing his questioning. "-but I do not believe who you seek is what you think him to be... I believe he is an outsider, but a well versed outsider. Tell me, what does this man you search for look like... What is his name?"

As Erratus burst through the last door on his side of the hallway, he was met by the sight of lone figure, facing away from him. Whoever it was didn't even turn to acknowledge his entry. Even in the dark, he could make out a few details, and he was fairly certain that this was a girl. It had to be the princess.
He might have stopped to admire her if it wasn't for the distinct impression that something was amiss. Or if it wasn't dark. In any case, he wouldn't have time for any of that as Killament seemed to have finished with the mercenary. The thief felt a slight twinge of something. Regret? Sorrow? No, that was unlikely.
In any event, there was no time for concern. In response to the knight's threat, the nomad leapt for the figure in front of him, trying to hoist her up by her arm and placing one of his knives across her throat.

Lucia continued checking each of the doors but she was unsuccessful. She quickly exited the latest room that she had entered only to find that Khast was no longer in the hall frantically searching for the next door to open. Had he found the girl they were supposed to find? Why hadn't he told her? Then again, the paranoid man problem didn't trust her with whatever he was doing.

She spun on her heels to face as she heard a door from down the hall where Khast had been earlier slam shut. He plainly told her: "I will kill you both, you know this. Yes?" Lucia frowned; this place seemed to be filled to the brim with knights. Why all these guards to keep one girl from escaping? She was probably very important. Whoever she was, Lucia was not about to let this knight get in the way of their mission.

"I mean you no harm" she softly called out to the knight and she thrust her hand out in front of herself while turning her body away. Desperate times called for desperate measures, with Khast gone she was all alone and she knew that she was no match for this seasoned veteran. She felt the magic energies coalesce around and within her as she focused them as she had days before. The magic began to spiral as it had earlier, though rather than let it linger she immediately loosed it, causing a tunnel of wind to project outward from her hand. Once again she was nearly knocked off of her feet, though true to his words, Gonye was right, it had been more easier to access the ambient magic than it had been the first time. Better still, she was not as drained as before and she quickly knocked an arrow onto her bow.

Kiliment slowly meandered up the hallway with his hand lazily slung at his side and his sword just inches away from the floor. The knight seemed to be in a world of his own as he continued on up the hall way, only coming to his senses once he had come dangerously close to Lucia. Allowing his head to hang and his wild blonde hair to clutter his eyes, Kiliment leaned forward and gently spoke to Lucia.

"You mean me no harm, yet you point a weapon at me. You speak against your own actions, one should not expect another to ignore aggression even if it is from a beautiful women who speaks in such a delicate way." raising his head Kiliment continued past Lucia toward Erratus. "But just this one time..." he mumbled as he entered the room where Erratus was holding his hostage.

The young girl Erratus had taken into his arms did not resist his grasp, though she didn't seemed entirely pleased with the idea of being taken either. The girl appeared to be about 16 or 17 and now that Erratus had taken her so close he was able to get a much better look at the girl. Her face appeared young, refined, and beauteous, though the expression she was wearing was stern and full of spite. Her eyes burned in a fiery amber color and her long, flowing hair was tied together into two long braids that dropped over her shoulders and ran beside her chest.

As Kiliment entered the room he stared deeply into the young girl's eyes before raising his glare to meet Erratus'. "Today, you have won thief. But on the morrow such luck will not be found. You may have bested me and you may still find a way out of this city. But in the hills outside these walls you will be stalked, and we will get her back. And if I can not capture her, others will try." carefully Kiliment brought his sword from his side and pointed it towards Erratus before he began to slowly edge his way towards the thief. "And in the South, there are others looking for her. And they will not hesitate to kill both you and her." dropping his sword from its previous, pointed position Kiliment sheathed the blade and turned his back on Erratus and the princess and headed for a door across the hall. "And when the west comes fishing for her... you should be wary, you have taken in more trouble than you know. Give my regards to your captain, and if he is here, the brat." opening the door Kiliment entered a large room across the hall, busted out a window with his gloved hand, and grabbed at an old banner hanging from the side of tower, using it to the slide down close to the ground level.

Talaitha was taken aback by what the Lord of Silk told her, but tried not to show it on her face.
"They never told me what he looked like. It was like they refused to, but they did tell me his name was Kariya."
She took another gulp of the drink and added,
"What's this drink?"

Erratus breathed a sigh of relief, though he was still a bit unsettled by the princess's glare. He tucked the knife away and dragged his hostage into the corridor, casting a glance at Lucia.
"Check in there." He said brusquely, gesturing toward the room in which he and the knight had battled. "He might yet be alive." He neglected to give any sort of context for the statement, and the girl would not likely find what was inside to her liking, but the thief didn't really care. He would do it himself, but his hands were a bit tied. Without saying another word, he began to make his way back down the tower, prisoner in tow.

Lucia did not move from her position as she kept her arrow targeted on the knight as he approached. She watched his every moment as he approached, taking note that he didn't make any sudden movements to attack her. However, much to her surprise, the knight simply walked past her mumbling. She lowered her bow with a deep exhale, completely unaware that she had been holding her breath that entire time, and ran to the room where the knight had gone.

Once she reached the room, the knight was no where to be seen and Khast had the young girl in tow. He told her to check the door where the knight had exited earlier. She had forgotten about the mercenary! Taking a deep breath, she cautiously opened the door to peek inside to see whether the mercenary was still alive.

"Kariya you say?" The Lord of Silk seemed incredibly intrigued by this name, so much so that the stoic face he had been wearing throughout their whole conversation shot up to a smile. "Kariya, that name is not from this place, but from a place across the ocean. Your friend could be from numerous places, but its safe to assume that he isn't dead if he is from where I believe him to be." completely ignoring Talaitha's request to know just exactly what she was drinking The Lord of Silk called over one of his men in studded armour to the table and began to spout out a long, long command in another language. The armoured guard nodded numerous times during whatever he was saying and answered back a few times before he returned to his position in a far off corner of the bar.

"Ashab abakhir!" The Lord of Silk called out to the man before returning Talaitha's attention.

"I believe who you are looking for is in a place called The Roost.. It is a district of this town populated by a very interesting number of people. The people of The Roost come from a very far off land and they practice a very extreme 'etiquette' system that even frightens the Draniki. All you must do is enter The Roost and find someone who is wearing a sigil on the back of their tunic. From there be sure to bow and say in the most respectful voice you can muster Neishu hao" The Lord of Silk paused for moment after his initial instructions "The man you are looking for... Does he wear a sigil?"

_____

As Erratus descended the steps the young girl in his arms did not struggle though a terrible hate appeared to burn in her eyes. "Which group of liars and traitors do you serve." The Princess muttered as allowed her head to drop.

From far beneath the spiraling stair case Gonye could be seen casually resting atop his 'home-made barricade' as he caught sight of Erratus.
"Ah! Good man!" Gonye called out to Erratus as he took a long look at his prisoner. "Did everythin' go alright up there? Where's Lucia and my man?"

______


Inside the room Lucia had carefully peeked into the armoured mercenary laid motionless and terribly bloodied in the corner. The man didn't seem entirely alive, though after a few seconds he let out a cough of exhaustion. The soldier's wounds seemed fairly severe, a large cut on his side had completely torn away his leather and iron armour, and up his right arm there was a terrible cut that seemed a few centimeters deep.

"Is... is that you.. Captain.." The mercenary called out as he eventually took notice of the opened door.

Erratus's feeling of unease did not leave as he returned to the bottom of the tower, though he was slightly relieved to see that Gonye and his men had built a sturdy barricade.
"They're both still up the tower. We were assaulted by a knight by the name of Killament." He wondered if the mercenary leader would recognize the name. "If we hadn't found the girl in time, I fear we all would have been killed. I left Lucia with your man. On the off chance he's still alive, he will need immediate medical attention." He paused for a moment before continuing.
"It may have been helpful to know that the one we're kidnapping is Ostarius's own daughter."

Lucia gasped and ran into the room while covering her mouth upon seeing the bloodied mercenary on the ground.

"I'm sorry, no, I'm not the captain" she said in a hushed voice while running to his side. "Can you move?" she asked "Are there any healing salves, does Gonye know any healing magic...maybe he could teach me how to use healing magic? Anything?" she felt herself rambling and then stopped herself staring at the mercenary with a look of pity and pain as if she could feel a bit of what he was going through while he lay on the ground.

"I don't know if he wears a sigil." Talaitha replied, looking down at her drink, ashamed she did not have any more information. "The only information I was given was a name. Also the name of the drink..." she continued meekly.

OOC: Twas Kane's daughter, LG.

Gonye gave a quick shake of his head as he removed himself from the barricade he had built a summoned over a his remaining men to help him dismantle the heap of wood and iron and he had stacked in such a hurry. "I doubt it woulda mattered t'all." Gonye snapped back quickly. "Had it been some commoner or some far off dignitary the end result woulda' been the god damn same, we know-" Gonye paused as he grabbed at a lodged chair and tossed it away before turning and approaching Erratus. "I know what I'm doin'. She was being transported from the capital after Ostarius' men kidnapped her, they had to bring her here first to avoid confrontin' forces searching for her from the west. I planned accordingly, I knew this was the easiest point of attack, you're not dead, she's not hurt, and at the end of the day everything will be the same." tearing a piece of rope from a satchel firmly attached to his riding belt the mercenary captain tossed the rope quickly to Erratus and returned to helping deconstruct the barricade. "Tie her up, when your done head up stairs and check and see if my man is able to walk or even alive. If he can walk bring 'em down, if not fetch Lucia..."

_____

"You... you don't need to be sorry." The mercenary smiled for a moment before pushing his body and back against the wall to prop himself up straighter. "There's nothin' that can be done for me. Gonye's hands.." Letting out a sharp cough the mercenary covered his mouth quickly to avoid any possible blood splashing onto Lucia. "Listen, you don't deserve this-" the pained tone the mercenary had previously spoken in began to vanish and in its stead the sound of pity rose to the surface. "you don't deserve to be lied to, not you. There's a lot of things at work here, things I don't even get completely. Things that you won't understand- things you haven't yet had the chance to understand- we're not bad people, we just haven't honest and you don't deserve that... I wish I could tell you more about the cure that you and your companions are after and where we planned to find it, but I know very little of it besides what you've already been made aware of." letting out a long grunt of pain the mercenary relaxed himself once more after a few seconds of tensing his body. "what I do know..." he gasped "is that this mercenary band is much bigger than what it seems, and what we're doing over here in the east is a large project... Something Pitt devised.. I think...I think from the start it's been Pitt's plan. We let Gonye get captured so that he could meet you and secure you...They know things they shouldn't, the Captain and Pitt... Things commoners and even nobles shouldn't... Like that girl... she's, uh.. she's the daughter of Kane, and according to Gonye she has a brother that's out in the east searching for her with an army... Ostarius had men kidnap her... Him and Kane are feuding, Kane never ascended or whatever was claimed years ago... He's still in Sol Erra and Ostarius and him are fighting over something- probably the country or something else I don't fully understand. Somehow we're involved, and so are you." the mercenary gulped heavily before letting out another string of coughs and relaxing to catch his breath. "There's nothin' that can be done now... Just let me die." he whispered under his breath as he shut his eyes and leaned his head back to conserve his strength and relax his pain.

____

"Forgive me!" The Lord of Silk cried out as he peered deep into the cup of untouched white liquid that he had ordered for himself. "It is a drink made from a fruit that grows in the desert in the east, the people here call the juiced version of the fruit you are drinking now kuashen" Backing away from the table the Lord of Silk signaled for his men whom immediately flocked to his side. "The name Kariya is unique, one I have not heard before... Go to The Roost, from here all you must do is take a right and follow the street until you find a red gate. Once you have passed through the open doors of the gate find a red building with yellow doors. Enter the building and ask for a man named Shamar. He will know of the man you are seeking, I guarantee this." moving for the door The Lord of Silk halted for a moment, returned to the table and placed a small bag of money on the table. "Our deal as it would seem is off. I was unable to give you any worthwhile information and so I am afraid I'll have to pay for the drinks. Mind yourself as you leave, those men in the corner may still follow you. And remember, if you bump into anyone in the Roost or cause any problems give the person you offend or have happened upon a slight bow and say Neishu hao." turning quickly once more the Lord of Silk vanished hastily through the exit of the tavern with his two guards in tow.

Without a word, Erratus snatched the rope out of the air and securely bound the prisoner. Afterward, he made his way back up the tower to find Gonye's man. Considering that Lucia still wasn't back yet, it was rather likely that the mercenary was still alive. In that case, convincing the girl to leave him behind would probably one hell of a task. As he entered the room where he fought killament, the nomad noticed that it was less then a wreck than he would have guessed after hosting two fights. That knight worked quickly, that much was certain. Lucia was still here, speaking with the wounded mercenary, sounding rather desperate. The thief could see why. The soldier's body was sporting a couple of nasty cuts, the gash on his side looking particularly worrisome.
"Well, that appears to be rather painful. But at least you're not dead. Do you think you can walk?" He asked.