Erratus ran for the horse. He couldn't get away from Kiliment without it. Or, to be more precise, he couldn't get away from Kiliment if he left it there. His profession and shaky morals made this a particularly simple dilemma to solve. Not only would taking the knight's horse make for an easy getaway, it would also save him the time and effort of obtaining one in the city. The thief swiftly made to mount the beast.

"That's the second time I've been through this, it never gets any less frightening." Nero unshielded his still ringing ears and stepped forward to surveyed the damage Kechts' powerful attack had done.


Doesn't look like he held anything back this time.

Nero took immediate note of the numerous unconscious riders as he circled around the tent to check on others with Pitt. He was glad to see that Lucia and the others were alright but his expression remained quite straight, no doubt he was still a bit overcome by the previous blast.



"It looks like we weren't the only ones attacked."

Nero quickly turned about as Pitt spoke. In the distance, just over the hill, Nero could see a warm flickering light.

"Seems the riders were arsonists as well." Pitt sighed softly as he looked about at the numerous unconscious riders and then back towards the distant light of the fire.




What happened next was a bit different for every member of the group...

Lucia's perspective-


From out of Pitt's body leaped forth a great light, almost blue in color- perhaps teal. The light had no definite shape, to Lucia it appeared to be a large wavy mass which expanded out from Pitt's being in every direction. The light felt otherworldly. Before it even passed through Lucia she could feel the familiar energy of the light. She had of course felt this energy before, once in Academy's lowest levels and once in the tented city. This time around the light had no ill effects on Lucia. She could feel and to some degree understand the energy. Had her eyes been closed she would have known it belonged to Pitt and if she knew not where Pitt was she would have been able to find him just by being exposed to or be around around the field of energy he was creating.

The teal light grew quickly and in a generally amorphous fashion. In a matter of seconds the light reached far over the hill and encased the area where the fire was surely raging. Just as its expansion halted the light immediately contracted back towards Pitt. In a matter of a breath the light vanished and Lucia's senses returned to a normalized state.

Talaitha's perspective-
A dome of white light exploded forth from Pitt's body. The light initially felt like nothing, but once it had passed through her and completely enveloped her it left Talaitha's skin feeling a bit tingly and warm. The bubble of light continued far into the distance and eventually stopped just over the hill. Once the light halted it stayed in place for a few moments before retracting back into Pitt's body.

Kechts' perspective
Kechts could not see the light that Pitt invoked, instead he could deeply feel it. He felt a presence pass though his body though he had no real understanding of what the presence was. The 'presence' felt almost like a person- one who was watching him . Kechts could feel cold eyes upon him. Inside this invisible area he knew he was being watched by someone or something. Anywhere he moved within the area was being monitored and every step he might have took would certainly be noted. Eventually the presence completely faded but Kechts couldn't shake a lingering feeling of paranoia.



"Talaitha, Lucia, Kechts- come with me." Pitt motioned with his hand for the three to follow him as he started up the dusty hill. "Nero, Nadya, if any of these riders wake up kill them." Pitt quickly passed over the hill before Nero could protest and behind him the three followed. On the opposite side of the hill and just in the distance they could see an enormous caravan in flames. 40 or even 50 wagons were scattered about, some were on fire and others were wrecked and crashed into pieces. The bodies of horses and camel-like animals were strewn all about the area and bodies of men, women and children were scattered with them. Silhouettes ran about the backdrop of the fire and voices could be heard calling out names or simply calling out for help. As the group slowly approached closer the voices became more distinct against the sounds of the crackling fire. A woman wailing in grief for a injured child, a man calling out the name Antonia repeatedly and a young boy crying alone somewhere in the wreckage were just a few among the voices.

"It appears we weren't the intended target." Pitt ceased to move forward and instead remained still, simply watching the remains of the carnage before him.

_________

"No you don't!" Kiliment frantically drew for a knife on his belt and whipped it towards the horse. The knife sunk into the horse's hide and immediately the horse began to kick into a panicked frenzy; the horse was now unmountable. "If you think I would let you get away that easy you have another thing coming, Thief!" Kiliment called out after Erratus as he began to chase on foot. Quickly following his words were a pair of throwing knives and after the northerner threw his knives he drew for a small crossbow like device and prepared to fire it, all the while he was still running after Erratus.


Meanwhile in the distance the fight between Kariya and the assassin was still raging and the sounds of their clashing weapons were echoing across the field. Two flaming sword-sized pillars could be seen crashing into one another in the darkness and with each collision the pillars created a spectacular explosion of hot red and orange fire.

Erratus stopped short as a blade sank itself into the horse's side. He wheeled around in time to hastily duck the daggers flying toward him, then scowled at the sight of his opponent once again on the offensive. The creature now too frenzied to be ridden, Erratus quickly grabbed its reigns and sharply jerked its head in Kiliment's direction. He then withdrew the knife from the horse's wound and gave it an abrupt slap on the flank.
"Hyah!" He shouted, sending the panicked beast scrambling toward the knight. As the horse ran, the thief followed behind it, dagger at the ready.

Lucia was relieved that Nero was alive, though she did not have much time to dwell on that matter. Suddenly she saw a great light leaping from Pitt's body and rapidly expanded outwards passing through her. She was reminded of the sensations that she had felt in the Academy and that day in the tented city, however she was not struck with a crippling sensation of pain or sickness as it flowed through her. Rather, she could almost read it, much like it was a long thread of string connected to Pitt, and she could see where it went as well. It was a profound experience, though it promptly came to an end as the energy retracted back into Pitt's body.

She followed Pitt, not entirely sure what she had witnessed, though knowing that Pitt would be cryptic, she didn't bother to ask. The scene before them on the other side of the hill was quite dire, as the chaos ruled within the ruined caravan.

"We should help them!" exclaimed Lucia passionately, the scene was almost too much for her to bear. Perhaps she could spin the fire into a string, putting out the fire, or knit together wounds, something, anything! She didn't even know where they would start, and so she looked to Pitt for further guidance.

Talaitha felt the warm light completely cover her, confused by the sensations it provoked in her own body. However, as quickly as it appeared it had gone away, and she was left wondering what it meant. Why did it come from Pitt, was he aware of it, and what was he hiding from them if he was aware of such a strange thing? She began to ask what that just was when Pitt ordered her and the others to come with him, cutting her off. Pushing the experience to the back of her mind, she followed him over the hill and witness the devastation with wide eyes.

Inside of her a deep pain welled up as she stood there. Immediately the first though that came to her mind was that it could be her caravan, her home in flames and her loved ones in grief, injured or even dying. Whether or not the caravan was hers matter not at this moment as she fell to her knees, calling out the names of her loved ones and elders in desperation.

Pitt seemed completely detached from the wreckage before him but upon hearing Lucia's plea and Talaitha's cries his very straight expression softened ever-so-slightly.

"Stand up now, Talaitha." Pitt spoke in a warm, comely voice.

The young commander now appeared to be somewhat concerned with the mayhem before him, though he still remained calm and collected.

"I'm going to need you to help Lucia find survivors." Pitt carefully placed his hand on the gypsy girl's shoulder in an attempt to help calm her down. "Try your best to help move the wounded and those who are stuck in the wreckage away from the immediate area." Next he turned towards Lucia as he continued on. "Don't over exert yourself. Put out what fires you can but don't exhaust yourself doing it. I'll try and help contain the fires as best I can, but our priority is to help the trapped and those in immediate danger." He released Talaitha's shoulder and started towards the caravan at a running pace.

"Get those who are able-bodied to help you turn over wrecked caravans and have them guide you to where you might be needed!" Pitt shouted back once more to his companions one final time before he headed into the mayhem.

_______


As Erratus redirected the aggressive horse, Kiliment loosed a bolt from his small crossbow, though because he was running his shot was far off from hitting his target. Immediately after his first shot, Killiment slid to a halt across the muddy earth and without needing to reload loosed a second shot- once more this shot failed to hit Erratus and instead punctured the side of the horse that was now scrambling towards him. With as much power as the knight could muster from his awkward position, Kiliment dove away from the oncoming horse whilst throwing away his crossbow to the side. As Kiliment began his desperate dive the horse passed by and clipped his legs in mid air causing his body to twist and turn as he came crashing down into the earth turbulently. Though it didn't appear as those his legs were in anyway damaged by the passing horse, Kiliment was still left dazed and out of breath after hitting the ground so hard. The knight was quick to try and return to his feet but found himself too shaken to stand up at the immediate moment.

Lucia nodded and jogged down the hill briskly until she approached the nearest burning caravan. The fire wasn't particularly large and she could hear screams coming from within. Immediately she got to work and reached out with her fingers, literally pinching the tip of the flame. Her fingers moved deftly as she twisted the fire between her thumb and pointing finger. A strand of bright red string began to collect around Lucia's feet as she spun the fire. Gradually the fire grew smaller and smaller until it was completely extinguished, a small pile of warm red string around her.

Lucia picked up the string, leaving Talaitha to deal with the individuals who were trapped within the caravan. She looked over at another manageable nearby fire, and took up her task once again. This time she grabbed the tip of the flame and interwove it with the string that she had formed from the fire. She spun the flames between her fingers, sweat beading along her hairline as she focused intensely on her practice.

Spinning was one of the few things that brought her peace, it was something that reminded her of her home among her people in the days of her youth. Her adoptive aunt had taught her how to spin cotton and wool into thread in those happy days. She remembered how happy she was when she realized that she could spin stray strands of sunlight into golden thread, and yet it was that moment that changed everything. Still, although her magic had caused her much pain, sadness, and loneliness, she was thankful that she had it. If only her parents could see the things she was capable of doing now.

She snapped to attention, realizing that she had finished spinning the fire into thread which she wound around a spool that was quickly massing the warmed red string. Perhaps she would weave something for someone. Fire string typically made for very warm garments, would Nero wear something like that? She shook her head and continued on to the next fire, spinning fires such as these were not excessively draining, so long as she maintained her pace.

With the cover provided by the horse, Erratus was able to close the distance between himself and Kiliment quickly, and in relative safety. When the knight was downed by his former steed, the thief saw his opportunity. He hastily pounced his opponent’s prone form before he had a chance to recover, attempting to straddle him and deliver a knock-out blow to his temple.

Talaitha pulled herself up and made her way down the hill to the burning caravan. She put her stray thoughts of her home behind her as she narrowed her focus to the task at hand, glancing around to see where she should start her work. Most of the caravan was on fire so wherever she went would make some sort of impact. Upon arriving she immediately began to frantically pull debris from the flames until the flames gradually began to die away thanks to Lucia's magic.

Clearing debris from the caravan took a good deal of time, but luckily there was little impending danger. However, she tried to work as quickly as possible because was was unsure how hurt some of the trapped caravan members were, fearing that they might die before she reached them.

As Erratus bolted towards the downed Knight he could feel an odd sensation climbing through his legs. With every bound Erratus was beginning to mover faster and faster and though at the time he was more than likely unable to realize it, he wasn't moving at this speed by natural means...

With this new found haste Erratus quickly closed the gap between himself and Kiliment and then pounced upon him as he was still recovering. Though Erratus had taken Kiliment by complete surprise he still wasn't able to successfully force the knight to the ground. Kiliment had grabbed onto Erratus as he drew close and pulled him towards the ground with him. On the ground the pair wrestled about to gain dominance and for a moment in seemed as if Kiliment might have been able to throw Erratus off and free himself, but just as Kiliment was preparing to make his move a small yet fairly loud explosion of fire flared up on Kariya's side of the battlefield. The noise drew Kiliment's attention away from Erratus for a moment, but a moment was all the thief needed. Erratus quickly forced Kiliment to the ground with a powerful push using the side of his arm, afterwards he raised his other hand back and prepared to strike at the knight's temple, but just as he was about to loose his blow Kiliment erupted forth in a burst of furious battle-induced power.

"Don't you underestimate me!" He howled in a fiery voice as he let lose a wild haymaker which smashed into Erratus' jaw with such force that it surely should have broken or even shattered his jaw to pieces, but it didn't. Kiliment watched with consternation as his fist crashed into Erratus' jaw and simply stopped dead. The thief's body barely flinched from the strike and his eyes never faltered from his target. A breath later Kiliment's eyes shut tight as Erratus' fist crashed into the side of his head sending him into a deep concussion.

Immediately following his victory over Kiliment, Erratus began to feel his adrenaline rush and battle trance fade. A slight pain could be felt coming from his jaws and a large bruise was beginning to develop where he was struck, but his jaw was not broken nor shattered despite being hit by a blow that surely should have done so. In the distance he could no longer see or hear anything of Kariya's battle, nor could he see the horse which he had used moments before as a weapon.


________


"Alya!" Behind her Lucia could hear a voice calling towards her general direction. As she turned away from her spinning she saw a large, tan-skinned man with a great black beard and short black hair. He hastily began to speak to Lucia in a foreign language but very quickly realized she was unable to understand what he was saying. Without trying to explain himself further he grabbed Lucia by the wrist and pulled her deeper into the caravan fires.

Near the very center of the caravan were massive- almost house sized wagons, that were burning out of control. A young woman quickly grabbed Lucia away and guided her closer to the fire after she and the man exchanged a few words.

"Children!" The young, dark eyed, dark haired woman spoke in a heavy accent as she pointed at one of the large burning caravans. "There are children inside this one. My brother went in after them when the fire first started but he never came back out! We heard some of the children screaming, but no one can get past the flames. The fires inside the wagon are out of control and the outside is falling apart. I'm begging you, please. Help us get inside, help me find the children and my brother."

_____


"Girl!" A man's voice cried out from a nearby pile of rubble to Talaitha as she was clearing away pieces from a burned out wagon. "I'm trapped under here! I can see you through the rubble but I can't move!" Talaitha quickly ran over to the rubble and began to remove pieces from it which eventually revealed a middle-aged man with severe burns on the side of his face. "I can't feel my legs girl, I can't move 'em. I can't pull myself out either. Take a look near the back of the rubble, see what's keepin' me pinned."

Talaitha rounded the rubble and began to once more pull away small pieces. To her horror she eventually uncovered that a large metal ground stake had pierced through the man's spine and one of the incredibly heavy wooden cross beams of the wagon had fallen and crushed his left leg, pinning him.

Erratus slumped into a sitting position on top of Killiment’s unconscious body, breathing heavily. He gingerly touched his jaw where he had been struck and winced, but counted himself lucky that he still had it. The obvious question was immediately met with a slew of possible answers as the thief was reminded of the seemingly supernatural powers possessed by the two combatants he had just left behind. Was this anomaly related to their abilities? Could it be a side-effect of his alleged hollowing? Perhaps it was both. Or neither. Erratus decided that pursuing this line of thought would be futile without more information. Putting it aside, he made a mental note to ask about it later.

Returning to the matter at hand, Erratus promptly dismounted Killiment’s torso and made to retrieve the crossbow-like device he had been using. Perhaps it would come in handy. As the thief collected his spoils, his gaze fell upon Kariya’s battleground. The sounds of combat had ceased, and any evidence of conflict had now gone, leaving only the encroaching darkness. Perhaps if he’d dispatched Killiment more quickly, he could’ve taken some potshots at the cloaked man with the bow, he would just as likely have hit his own ally with such an unfamiliar weapon. Erratus prayed for Kiraya’s victory, but knew he couldn’t bet on it, nor would he have risked going back regardless. The only path that remained was forward.

Steeling himself for what was to come, Erratus resumed his sprint toward Atriast.

Lucia's eyes widened as she looked at the fire before her, and they widened further still as the woman indicated that there were children inside. She looked up at the fire, finding that she had to step away from it slightly due to the intense heat. Even if she could spin this all into string, would there be anything left standing? Would she even be fast enough to spin it all before it consumed everyone inside?

"I cannot spin all of this," she said slowly to help the woman understand "We will go together, and I will make a path to the children" Nodding at the woman, and the man to confirm that they understood, she exhaled deeply. This was going to be challenging, but she could not leave innocent children to burn to their deaths.

Looking for an area of the wagon that had the least amount of flames, she pinched the fire and began to twist it. She then helped the others onto the wagon, they would direct her path as she focused on her spinning of the fires around them into string.

Erratus had only been running for a few minutes before Atriast's multicoloured tents and burning bright lights rose into view through the darkness of night. Immediately ahead of Erratus was the tree from which he and Kariya had departed, and beneath it was a covered box wagon with a set of horses tied to it which in turn were tied to the tree.

"OOOOOOOOIIIII!!" A garish voice resounded about the field just as Erratus was spotting the wagon. "Where's that freaky old man Kariya at?" The voice's owner soon completely emerged from the back of the wagon and in his hand was small lamp which barely illuminated himself and the area about him. The voice seemed to belong to a man, a young one from the looks of it. Through the darkness it was hard to tell much about him but for most part he seemed harmless.

"Well!? Whattya' just standin' there for!" The man impatiently called out to Erratus, cutting off any answer he might have been willing to give. "The Captain gave us orders to leave by sun down.The Sun Is Down!" He yelled emphatically as he motioned Erratus over towards the wagon. "We need to leave before things get dodgy!" The man disappeared through the hanging curtains on the rear end of the caravan as if he expected Erratus to do the same.

_____


With Lucia's help the foreign man and woman were able to enter into the large burning caravan, though once inside the trio found nothing but hellishly hot flames and thick dark smoke. The young woman began to desperately call out names in hopes of reaching someone inside but even her most desperate screams could not be heard over the intense sound of the fire. Things were beginning to look grim, the fires inside the wagon were completely out of control and the smoke was quickly becoming thicker and thicker, in fact by the time the woman had stopped calling out names the smoke was so thick that Lucia was having trouble seeing even a few feet in front of her.

"We must be go..." The older man grasped onto Lucia's shoulder through the smoke as he motioned her back out of the wagon. "There... there is nothing." the man seemed to struggle with his words as he turned back towards the woman and grabbed at her arm. The young, foreign girl turned towards her elder and began to shout as her eyes welled up with tears. She didn't appear willing to give up and it was becoming evident that shouldn't leave the burning inners of the wagon without a fight.

"They are in there-" Her desperate eyes turned to Lucia as she wrestled against her elder's grasp. "I know they are in there. If you can clear the way, anything, if you make a small hole or move the smoke so they can see us.... Please- they have to be here."

Lucia did not stop her spinning as she regarded the man and the woman arguing between each other in the thick smoke. The man was definitely right, the smoke would overtake them and they too would be lost in the fire if they were not careful. However, she empathized with the woman, knowing that she did not want to give up hope.

"I will do one thing, though we must be quick" she said while taking note that the fires that she had extinguished were being quickly overtaken by more fires shortly afterwards. "I will clear the smoke for a few seconds with a gust of wind. If we do not see anything, we must leave before we succumb to smoke and fire as well."

She knew the risk of stirring the fires with wind, but she knew they were losing precious time with their arguing. The did not have time for such things. Quickly going through the motions, she felt her eternal energies stir with power as she summoned a gentle breeze through the air around them stretching outwards like a sphere. She had become quite used to summoning air, and this time, since she did not have to summon a power blast of air, she did so with barely any effort. Hopefully, it would be enough wind to at least give them more breathing room, if it could not part the thick smoke.

Erratus cursed under his breath as he was greeted by a man he didn’t recognize. Kariya had told him to find a steed in the village and return to Gonye, but he hadn’t said anything about a wagon waiting to pick them up. A wagon wouldn’t be fast enough, and the thief didn’t have time to convince this guy to give him one of the horses. Moreover, breaking the news of Kariya’s likely death to him was an unpleasant proposition. When he finally disappeared into the wagon Erratus was incredibly relieved. It would be much easier if he could simply take a horse without having to deal with him.

However, something prevented Erratus from doing what came naturally. It wasn’t long ago that he would have taken what he wanted and fled without a moment’s hesitation, but now something stayed his hand. He looked back toward the wagon and let out a sigh, then entered through the back. He began speaking before the man had a chance to interject.

“Listen closely, because I only have time to say this once. Kariya may not be coming. I’m not waiting to find out, and if you value your life, I suggest you don’t either. I am very likely being pursued as we speak, and I have a message that I need to deliver to Gonye as soon as possible. I’m taking a horse.”