Serene stopped in her tracks when she heard what Tekun told her. "Eh..." she began to say, then shaking the thought away. "Not good...not good..." she began to mutter under her breath. "How could it not have worked? He said it would be full proof...liar..."
She then continued around the corner after saying this last remark.
________

J smiled at her, letting her down. "It's fine" he told her, still smiling. "I just reacted at the right moment, I'm used to this." He sat back and gripped the mallet once again. He slapped himself in his mind. "How could you f*** up at a moment like that?!" he thought, angrily.

Tania stayed away from where the innkeeper and the rest of the crowd was, she had seen too much violence that day, from assassins to powerful demons. She wanted to leave the stressful scene and go spend time with Rana or check up on Tekun, or wash Windy, that was until she caught sight of Serene walking around the corner. A whole wave of emotions washed over her, sympathy, understanding, betrayal, and anger, this girl had attempted to have her killed, well at least she thought it was, it was the only logical reason. "I need to know" she said surprisingly icily towards Serene "Did you have an assassin sent to kill me?" She attempted to keep her ladylike composure but she couldn't help but remember the rocky time they had had in her previous life.

"Silence, fools!" The other two figures made suggestive finger poses. They then crossed their arms and fell, standing back to back behind the leader. He spoke once more.

"You, who do not tire from the insultation and mockeration of our esteemed god, shall know true sufferation under his proclamation." Lex slapped his cheek and started banging his head against the wall. The hoods didn't notice or care to notice, they only continued.

"Now, I dare you to utter one more word that would defecate upon our ways. Please, keep up your ruse, you rube. Or I'll have Toulouse rub you out."

Lex looked up. "My name isn't Toulouse-"

"I said silence!!"

"No, you told them to be silent."

"Shutch'yer mouth!"

"Keep it closed."

Violet c*** her head sideways "But....I thought old sheddy was supposed to kill us not Lex?" she said, and nodded to her own language "I'm sure the traitorous chienne....er...bard, would agree. Isn't that right granny?" she added innocently. She sat there quietly staring at her boots, as she was wiggling her toes underneath.

The larger hooded man walked up to Violet and revealed a sharp knife underneath his sleeve. He grabbed her hair forcefully and held the knife up to it.

"I believe a trim is in order."

"Run'er through."

"Slice and dice."

Lex's eyes widened slightly, but he only looked down. He couldn't bare to watch Violet's beautiful locks be damaged in such a way.

Leon watched and made a sudden jerk, as if it were an attempt to break the chains.

"You son of a b****!" He yelled at the man giving a glare. "Get over here. Come on!"

He wasn't going to just sit there and watch them do this.
----------------

"Thank you though." The girl said and gave a warm smile before taking a seat across from him again. The Mercenary gave a chuckle and then muttered to himself as he read the book.

Without a word Violet swept her unbound feet quickly at her assailants as they came towards her. "Help me brothers, help me sisters!" she yelled in an eerie musical voice. The crack that had let the musical snare escape before she was brought into the room now served as a vent for a rush of air. It disturbed the decorations that had been carefully set up, destroying the false serenity that was in the room. The air surrounded her, spiralling upwards without ceasing, they played with the folds of her clothing and tossed her hair about. "See" said Violet happily "If you had good in the music of your soul the spirits would have loved you as well" she said to the evil bard. The wind continued to swirl violently around her as she spoke, sounding slightly like whispers in a library as they swirled fiercely.

The hooded man ignored the wind and immediately set his hand upon her head and grasped as much hair as he could in his giant palm. He then swung the knife under, severing the strings from her scalp in one violent motion. He then stepped back as the weak wind flowed through the room. The sight of Violet's follicles in this demon's clutches was a bit more than Lex could handle. He drew his sword, unnoticed over the loud laughter and stabbed the larger man through the heart with swift precision. The blade he was using was much different from his usual iron one. This particular sword was beautifully crafted in an eastern style and slightly curved at the tip. It was easily recognizable as the legendary Wo Dao. Few were said to have been made and even fewer able to wield. Swords of such caliber were said to lead a man down bloody paths of lust and violence.

He crumpled to the floor, completely unmoving. Lex then turned to the other two. They seemed taken aback at the sudden outburst from their uneasy "ally."

Leon flipped and made a lunge, only to find himself held back restrained by the chains. He used his feet to try and push off the wall. It didn't work, but he could have swore he heard a bolt go lose, but there was not much else he could do. Once he got free. He was gonna break a neck or five.

Blood and Violet's hair were thrown throughout the wind, it was too much for her to understand. Her once long hair that had flowed down the length of her back now lightly touched her shoulders. She couldn't believe that the hair which she cherished and loved to let fly in the wind was so short so unlike the wind that had protected her. A droplet of blood blew onto her cheek, she knew he was dead there was no other way around it, she screamed with terror. She was afraid of seeing others dying around her. The wind intensified, now smashing all things that were made of pottery, ripping and grabbing like greedy children fingers onto anything that wasn't held down. She couldn't wipe the blood from her face, since her hands were bound, and she continued to scream the wind whirled around her angrily and fearfully, ripping up the very tiles off the floor that she dryness that she felt previously was over and her tears spilled down her cheeks, as she stared at the body of the lifeless man.

The two remaining figures bolted from the room before Lex could cut them down. The wind was becoming quite fierce, now. He was afraid for his own life, but more so for Violet's. However, before he could reach her, Adélaïde strolled by and knelt down in front of her. She placed her hand upon the girl's cheek and rubbed it lightly. "Réduire au silence, child." She softly uttered.

Serene stared at Tania squarely in the eyes, and began to lift her fist to throw a punch at her. However, as she lifted it, she stopped. "This won't get me anywhere..." she thought, her mood slowly drifting from sour and worsening. She dropped her fist to her side. "...but I know what can..." She thought, as she sprinted towards Tania, aiming to take her out with a tackle.
_______

He began to grip his mallet even tighter, his muscles on his right arm rippled with the tension. He was bored, and could no longer take it. He stood up and opened the door to the cart, and jumped out. He then began to walk alongside it, feeling better outside than in a cramped vehicle.

Violet didn't notice the bard coming through the cyclone towards her, though she did feel the touch on her cheek. She looked down, the blood was gone and the bard that had earlier tortured her now stood in front of the dead body.

"Réduire au silence, child."

Violet blinked with surprise why was this woman calming her? With the cease of her screams the wind stopped howling and circled around above her head whistling softly. Her lute fell into her lap, having been lifted into the air by the wind in its rage. Violet slid away from the evil woman, not knowing whether she could trust her. "Leon are you alright?" she called softly, still shivering slightly from being in the same room as the dead.

---

As Serene ran towards her Tania stepped out of the way and towards Rana "I suppose that means you are the person who sent the assassin after me. You really need to keep your emotions in check, its highly unladylike" she stated calmly. She felt somewhat like a wimp for hiding behind Rana, but now was not the time or the place to settle Serene's treacherous behaviour.

Rana turned to see Tania and Serene arguing. He had been distracted with the mess. "She sent the assassin...?" He asked, his voice bothered and exhausted.

Tekun went to turn to go out into the next room but then heard a voice from behind shout his name. It was Tara. He turned to look at her, he smiled but that smile turned to a serious look. There was a sad look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Tekun asked approaching.

Tara looked at Tekun and tried to find the words to say it.

"I found out somethign recently that I must attend to Tekun." She said. "I need to leave, I don't know if i'll be back or not." She said. Tekun stood there for a moment quietly. He wanted to go with her, but knew he couldn't. Not sure of what exactly to say, Tekun wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug.

"I'll be sure to finish up what's needed as soon as possible." Tara said and patted Tekun's head. Tekun let go of Tara and looked up at her. "Just promise to come back safely."

Tara gave a smile. "I will." and then turned the otherway and left out the nearest door, unseen by any of the group.
-------------------------------------


"I'll be fine." Leon said. "I'll be even better once Lex cuts both of us down." He said. "You ok though?"