Erratus remained silent, but nodded sheepishly as Gonye finished explaining what he needed to do. Even to the benighted thief, it was clear that he had made a pretty large mistake. Though that was run-of-the-mill for him, something about this seemed different. Something about it felt different. The fact that he had inadvertently put his associates at risk suddenly carried much more significance for him than it would have in the past. Unnerved by the sensation, he quickly brushed it off, instead resolving not to blunder again. He hurriedly found the door Gonye had spoken of, then made a break for the safe house. The nimble thief avoided the few scattered husks easily, drawing as little attention to himself as possible in a bid to leave the path clear for Gonye. Once he reached his destination, he hastily relayed the mercenary's message.

Kechts easily startled the two guards approaching him with the suppressing battle-cry of dozens of men. It was clearly only for intimidation, but it traumatized these normal men who were nowhere near the level of Kariya. The harrowing combination of the menacing sounds surrounding Kechts, his towering figure, his dull visage, and the incredible weapon he was holding began to sink in with the men.

Kechts continued to ward off the rest of the guards along with Quentyn and Andreu. He unleashed an array of nerve-wracking noises: cries, explosions, rings - anything that could startle a man. The guards were merely paid men, and thus were compelled to retreat, fearing for their sanity and lives.

Before they could come back with reinforcements and become an actual threat, Kechts conducted a search through all of the wood buildings. The process seemed nearly effortless, lightly knocking a few times on each wooden building before arriving at one with a person inside who, potentially, could be the one the group was looking for.

The four remaining mercenaries who had been lazing about in the safe house immediately jumped to their feet when Erratus entered. The men seemed startled to see Erratus and even more startled to hear Erratus giving them orders, even if they were Gonye's. Nevertheless the men obeyed and quickly gathered up their belongings and personal items, though one of the mercenaries slipped away and vanished up a staircase. He remained upstairs for sometime before he reemerged with the both the princess, still bound by rope and being tugged along, and Gonye's box.

Just then Gonye vaulted through the window and slid to an uneasy stop against the planked floor of the building. Catching his breath he looked up towards his prisoner and his box first, and then towards Erratus.

"They're followin' you." He exhaled a heavy breath as he began to gasp for air. "The second ya' left they changed directions. We don't have much time, start heading out IMMEDIATELY!" Just on the other side of the window the horde was beginning to come into clear view, in a matter of mere seconds they would be upon the house.

"What about the other one? The one that left the school with them?" A mercenary frantically called out as he headed for the door positioned on the opposite side of the house.

"Leave 'em, I'm not bringing Hugh Tate's rapist any further. That bastard is blessed that he made it this far, but he ain't makin' it no further." Gonye leaned his body down the nearby hallway and shouted out towards Lucia and his subordinate.

"We're leavin' now! Get Lucia ready to leave and get out as soon as possible! We're headin' for the ramp down, we'll meet there!"

Gonye turned towards Erratus and pushed him towards the busted down door on the opposite side of the building.
"Time to go, we ain't got all day."

By now all of the mercenaries, save Gonye and the man tending to Lucia, had fled the building and were more than likely already at the ramp that sat just down the thoroughfare from their safehouse.

________

"We're leavin' now! Get Lucia ready to leave and get out as soon as possible! We're headin' for the ramp down, we'll meet there!"

The mercenary removed himself from the floor once more and approached Lucia.

"Wrap yourself in the coat to keep warm. You can't afford to get any wetter than you are now." The mercenary uttered coldly. "If you can run, gather up your belongings and go, I'll be right behind you. If not, I'll carry you on my back."

Talaitha held herself as the building shook all around her, her head tucked as close to her chest as she physically could, frightened that it was about to fall in on her. The loud, violent sounds that scared her earlier had slowly crept closer to the building, as if they were coming in her direction. There was a small glint of hope in the back of her mind that whatever had caused the noises was looking for her, but she could not recall any of her companions being able to create such noises.

The building shook again, this time much more violently, as if the creator of the noises was focusing on the building she was located in. Tightening her grip, she cried out, pleading for them to stop.

Erratus was about to say that they should look for the man when Gonye shoved him toward the exit. Realizing that there was no time to argue, and that it probably wouldn't do any good anyway, he cursed under his breath and followed the others. Once outside, the thief could clearly see the army of husks bearing down on them. That box had certainly caused a lot of trouble. Then again, Gonye most likely thought the same of him right about now.

The sudden hustle and bustle stirred Lucia to her feet and she turned to the mercenary, whom she now seemed a bit wary of. He had brought forth some fairly interesting information regarding Gonye and his company, but there was no time to concern herself with such matters. Obeying silently, she packed all her things into her pack, making sure that her new treasures were all with her before slinging her bag over her good shoulder. She winced as she tested her other shoulder, it was still in pain, though she would have to deal with it later. She pulled the coat closely around herself as instructed and began her jog to the location. She was quite slow, in that she was still quite drained physically from her earlier ordeal, running from the husks, climbing down from a window onto a roof, and summoning a gale of wind. Nevertheless, she did not ask for the mercenary's assistance, she did not wish to be a greater hindrance than she already was.

Once more the group had formed back together, five mercenary soldiers, a captive 'princess', Lucia, Erratus, Gonye. Regrouped and reformed they were soon to meet together at the spot Gonye had specified, the ramp which they had ascended earlier in the day. The four mercenaries who had taken the prisoner and left the house first, waited impatiently for their captain and the others to arrive as the cold spring rain continuously pelted them. Eventually Gonye, Lucia, Erratus and Lucia's 'caretaker' did arrive and immediately the group set off in a hurry down the waterlogged ramp. Not far behind them was the horde that Erratus had roused forth from the depths of the academy, and although they had created a decent lead on the husks, by the time they had completely descended the ramp the monsters were beginning to trickle down after them...

Doubling back through the same city streets they had all cautiously walked through earlier, the group could hear the entire city come to life as the screams and horrendous hollers of their pursuers constantly attracted more and more attention. By the time they had passed the tower where they apprehended the captive princess and lost two members of their original party the horde had more than tripled in size.

The situation had quickly spiraled out of control and the clarity of their ultimate escape was becoming more and more unclear. The drainage system they had crawled through earlier was no longer an option, too many uncertainties and too little time. If the husks followed them into the system they would be trapped and if they took too much time to get into the system they would surely all be killed, so where could they go? In the end all they could do was helplessly follow Gonye who seemed to be aimlessly running. But they all continued on aimlessly, down streets, around corners, up alleys and through avenues until eventually they reached the massive black walls of Gennenberg and a small side gate meant for peasants and horse drawn carts. The finding of the gate was absolute luck and a blessing. The two doors of the solid metal gate were left slightly open and bent outwards from the wall. Everyone could easily flatten their bodies out and shimmy through the gates, and so they did until only Gonye and the princess were left on the other side. The young girl fit quite well through the opening as Gonye recklessly shoved her small frame through, but he himself was forced to take things slow and only just barely made it through as the few husks who had outpaced the horde slammed against the iron.


Taking a look back Gonye released a massive sigh of relief as he watched the husks pile up against the gate that had been benevolently seized solid via rust. Luck had been on everyone's side today, though it didn't seem like it considering the situation... Regardless of any luck they still needed to move on as the gate would not hold forever under the assault of the army of husks and so again, after catching their breath, the group followed Gonye back into the forest from which they had originally came and into a small cave which sat just inside of a large rock formation on the edge of the woods, just insight of the city. Once inside the cave Gonye tossed his body against the stony curved walls and released his grip on his prisoner's bindings. The mercenaries followed suit, though most of them immediately removed their drenched overcoats and attempted to dry out their heads.

"How 'bout that..." Gonye groaned. "We're all alive, I think."

The young girl, once freed from Gonye's grip, pushed through the group and headed to back of the shallow cave where she eventually sat herself down and curled her legs inwards towards her chest. From this position she lowered her chin just behind her knees and watched her captors spitefully.

____________________

The doors of the storage house that contained Talaitha shattered apart as Quentyn's shoulder burst through the wooden frame. The mercenary, after sometime of nursing his shoulder, spotted the locked away gypsy and came to her aid by undoing the bolts and hinges that kept her carefully sealed from freedom. Immediately upon the cage's opening, he grabbed at Talaitha's wrist and dragged her forth from both the cage and the storage house, stopping only once he had pulled her into the pouring rain.

"You couldn't just listen, could you?" Quentyn spit as he release the girl from his heated grip. "You just had to cause trouble. You couldn't keep to yourself so we had to put our lives on the line for you! On top of that we had to go and hire thi-" Quentyn immediately paused, his mouth still gaping wide as his eyes shifted slowly towards Kechts.

"Right...I hired you... Didn't I..." his voice trailed off to a whisper as he turned his attention towards the arched opening to the square where Andreu, with the assistance of Nero, Kariya and Nadya, was hobbling in. Nadya immediately broke away from Andreu's side and brought herself to Talaitha's upon catching a glimpse of her.

"You're fine! Right? They didn't do anything to you or take anything from you did they?" She rejoiced frantically as she gripped at Talaitha's sides.

______________________

Talaitha shrunk from Quentyn's rage into Nadya's care, already beginning to sob as she tightly wrapped her arms around her elder, the only person who would understand, in an attempt to shield herself from the mercenary. With the rain beating down on her bare back, she cried audibly for a few minutes. Getting the initial tears out, she turned her attention back to the mercenary.

"Allow me to apologize!" She cried, sniffing between words. "I did what I was told to do! I searched for Kariya the best I could, and in following my orders faithfully I ended up in a situation that could have ended my life! Maybe it's different for you because right now you're not the vulnerable one standing bare and disgraced in the rain! You don't know how it feels! I almost lost everything!"

With that Talaitha began to bawl once more and lowered her head into Nadya's chest, holding her tighter than before to try to escape from her own fears.

Despite her fatigue, and the rain falling on them, Lucia pressed on keeping pace with the others. Their plight seemed dim as they ran through the city while more and more husks amassed behind them. She didn't dare steal a glance behind herself, afraid that she'd trip and fall, or see that the danger they were in was even more dire than she imagined.

As they approached the gate, Lucia's slim frame was able to quickly and easily slide through the opening. That was the sole time she looked back. She gritted her teeth anxiously, as Gonye just barely made it through the gates before the horde of husks slammed into the iron gates. Surely, fortune was on their side, this one time. Alas, their journey was far from over, she only had time to only just catch her breath before they took off once again. Once they finally reached the cave, a brief wave of relief washed over her as she bent over huffing from the exertion of the day.

Lucia watched the girl that they had captured from the corner of her eye. She pitied the girl, though Gonye had said that the girl was a prisoner, she seemed to be more of their prisoner than having been set free. She glanced in Gonye's direction, once again she was suspicious of his intentions. What was in the box that they had taken from the school? Now that they had it, did that mean they were to free the girl? Also, why did that mercenary assume Gonye and herself having known each other prior to her capture along with the others? She however, was much too exhausted to raise these questions herself so she slid to the ground with a sigh. What had she gotten herself into?

Dusk had now come and the rain which had been tormenting and unrelenting since the rise of noon was tapering off into a light mist. The clouds above were beginning to part ways as well and between their fine cracks and crevices the moon's brilliant luminescence shone through. Water droplets both in the air and upon the ground basked in the sheer splendor of the moon's light and, in turn, reflected back a warm, pale, glowing light...

By the time evening had come, each group had fulfilled their respective missions and in doing so began their journeys towards a rendezvous point that sat roughly between the eastern capital of Gennenberg in the north and the enclave village known as Venosar in the south...

Atriast - Merchant Outpost

Resting on the eastern border of Aestaria, Atriast originally served as a fortress for the military and the expeditionary forces which explored and mapped the eastern most parts of the Greater Aestarian continent. Upon the discovery and alliance of the Varyian kingdom in the east, the fortress fell out of military service and was eventually recycled into commercial service. For over 100 years Atriast has served as the largest trade-gateway in the east. (This would be due to the fact that the southern portion of the kingdom, Ashenryk, broke away and secured all of the coastal provinces once held by the Aestarian guard.) Any merchants dealing in Aestarian goods would generally stop at Atriast to rest before venturing into the lawlessness of the unclaimed and largely tribal eastern lands. But many of them would not travel alone. The main purpose of merchant outposts was to join other merchants with similar destinations and form caravans which could be protected by sell swords, personal guards, or house guards if one were representing a lord. It should come as no surprise then that Atriast wasn't just a place for merchants. The old fort served as a home away from home for mercenaries, store owners and adventurers looking to leave behind the west and travel into the fog of the unknown.

Just as the people who station themselves in Atriast has changed, so too has the area around it. The main structure of the stony fort still remains intact but the walls about it have been torn down and in their place now stands hundreds of tents and temporary living quarters for all of the always fluctuating 'citizens' of the area.


Both parties eventually made their way to the very outskirts of the tent village where they could truly see Atriast in its entirety. A stone tower stood high into the sky dead in the center of a sea of white tents which glowed numerous colours and hues, coloured parchment lanterns were the source of this illumination no doubt. The tower itself burned an enormous signal fire atop its highest point to shepherd the misguided and lost to the warmth and comfort of society whilst the smaller coloured lanterns hung from tents or suspended rope which ran between open aisle and rows. Talking and singing, the sound of gold and copper coinage clanking together, swords crossing, instruments playing, all of these filled the air around Atriast and gave life to a part of the world which surely never slept. Inside the tent city people were crowding together to enter bars, barter and trade and push through busy cross sections to get to the next hotspot. The area was alive and was oozing with life, even through the rain...
_________________



In the North, Gonye's Party (Kiki, LG)

The journey south from Gennenberg was rather uneventful in comparison to the hell they had escaped just hours ago, nevertheless it must have been a welcome change to be calmly walking someplace rather than being chased there by hordes of creatures that wished to see them dead. Once the group had made it to Atriast, Gonye split the party in half. One party consisted of himself, Lucia and Erratus, and the other consisted of his five mercenaries and their young prisoner. Gonye was quick to grab both Erratus and Lucia and pull them into the innards of the 'city'. He violently pushed through crowds of people who were occupying the makeshift streets of Atriast with his unwilling compatriot's wrist seemingly glued into his grip. His obnoxious pushing and shoving seemed to be accepted as the norm in this odd village as he raised very few eyebrows or caused very little friction between himself and others as he was doing so and armed with this knowledge he continued to pull the duo through the soaked-grass-walkways until he arrived at a two story wooden building with a canvas tent-styled roof. Wasting little time he pushed open the wooden door to the building and ushered Erratus and Lucia through before he closed the door behind himself.

"Two rooms for just a'night." Gonye called to woman who was seated behind a long wooden table that was awkwardly position in the middle of a big empty room filled with doors. "Preferably two of your bigger rooms, I got more comin' and we'll need more beds for 'em."


The woman's finger wandered far off towards the corner of the room, towards a staircase which sat tucked away just out of peripheral view.

"There's four rooms upstairs, the two on the end are the only open rooms at the moment" Her voice barely raised above the commotion which continued on outside in the streets. "Plenty of beds, four in each room, 80 copper coins or equivalent"

"Alright you two..." Gonye's words trailed off as he began digging through his pockets. After some time he produced a small handful of copper coins of different denominations. "I'm headin' out to look for the others and guide 'em here." Placing the money on the table he immediately turned for the door. "If ya' feel like sightseeing make sure you remember where this place is. The roof is stripped blue and a red stallion is painted onta' the sign above the door. Pick a room for yerselves and when I get back I expect to see what yins looted from the academy besides my box."

And with that Gonye flung open the door and started his pushing and shoving routine again. But not long after Gonye's exit the door to the inn swung open again and a cheery middle-aged voice began speaking. "Looks like the others beat us here!" it called out as it pushed a familiar set of faces, Nadya, Talaitha, and Nero, through the door. "That means the boss must have taken care of paying for everything then, eh? Great! Well I'm sure ya'll have some catching up to do so I'll let ya' be to yourselves. I have to meet with the captain anywho." Just as quickly as the voice appeared, it left, but in its place it left behind the disoriented and wet trio.
_______________________________


In the South, Andreu's Party (Sayo, Myself, Whim)


The trip from Venosar to Atriast was a relatively less calm for the southern group for their journey left them traveling INTO the storm as it moved north to south. Never-the-less their journey had at last come to an easy pause.

"Quentyn. Take Kechts and Kariya." Andreu began speaking as he surveyed the entirety of the area. "You'll go together to meet the captain, report in about our arrival and of course work out your fees. Myself, Talaitha, Nadya and Nero will head into the heart of the town and look for the others."


Andreu corralled together his group and began guiding them through the pathways of the village. He was sure to constantly check behind him to make sure the others were still following him and of course to be sure that none of them were being carried off or pushed about too roughly. Eventually the group made their way to a wooden structure that sported a blue, stripped, tent roof which just barely peaked above the mess of plain white tent tops around it. The elder mercenary opened the door to the building and began to usher the others through, though he paused for a moment once he took immediate notice of Erratus and Lucia standing alone in the lobby.

"Looks like the others beat us here!" He called out as he pushed and hurried Talaitha, Nadya, and Nero through the door. "That means the boss must have taken care of paying for everything then, eh?" He smiled as he stepped away from the door. "Well I'm sure ya'll have some catching up to do so I'll let ya' be to yourselves. I have to meet with the captain anywho." He shrugged as he pulled his head back through the door and closed it.


________

Inside Atriast (Sayo)

Almost immediately after the two groups formed Quentyn impatiently took off into the very heart of Atriast, and even though he was supposed to be guiding Kechts and Kariya towards some kind of meeting place, it seemed like all he wanted to do was get away from the pair. Eventually though he did guide them, even if it might not have been on purpose, towards a large tent labeled Tavern which he promptly entered. Kechts and Kariya followed after Quentyn and joined him at a table in the very corner of the noisy, but lightly crowded tent. For some time they sat together at the table silent until Quentyn began speaking.

"Listen here..." He turned towards Kechts, his voice sounded slightly irked. "When I hired you I was desperate and I really wasn't thinking. I understand it was just a job for you and you need to make money to get by. I'm a mercenary, I know what that's like. But please, my captain, the man who leads the mercenary band I'm in- he's going to be here any minute to hear me report in about what happened back in the city and all of that horse s***, but just listen." His voice began to sound worried, almost desperate. "When you negotiate your price for your services be reasonable. I can't afford to have you demanding some enormous price... It'll kill me! He'll kill me! Dear god he'll paint this whole place with me... Just- be reasonable... Okay?"

Talaitha kept to herself the entire trip north, mulling over what happened earlier and what Quentyn called her. She kept close to Nadya and the rest of the group as they entered the city, afraid of anything happening again. As they entered the inn and saw Erratus and Lucia, Taliatha tried to hide any trace of what happened to her and hopped no one in the group would bring it up. She nudged Nadya to come aside with her as she left the lobby.

"Do you still want to do this dirty work? It doesn't feel comfortable to keep going with this, and I'm not just saying this because of what happened earlier. There's still a chance for a fresh start, especially here, or anywhere else for that matter. Can we even trust Gonye when it comes to this antidote? Didn't we all feel suspicious when he first mentioned it, yet we're still going for it." She paused for a bit before continuing.

"I'm not sure, I've been thinking too much over the past few days and now it's all just coming out. I didn't want to be dead weight, but it seems like I'm slowly becoming one. Maybe we, I, should get out of here and start over, open a new shop somewhere else. I didn't want to be dragged into some high adventure across the continent, I just wanted to find my people and set up a new shop, I wasn't trained to fight or anything like that, I was trained to enchant. This is getting to be more than I can handle, and I don't think I can take it anymore," she finished, waiting for her elder's response.

The days of monotonous travelling, while boring, were quite pleasant to Lucia. Throughout the journey she remained primarily to herself, her mind lost among her thoughts about her future; she wondered what would be next for them. Much to her relief, over time she felt her magical reserves slowly return to her, once again she could sense things around her. She spun stray rays of sunlight into a luminous yellow string as practice as she walked, though she knew that she was not quite whole yet. She felt a bit hollower than before, as if her magical reservoirs had only barely been filled.

Eventually they reached civilization once again, the merchant city Atriast, she had only heard about it through her travels. Quite surprisingly to others, even though she had made her living as a cloth merchant, she herself had never been to the city for trade. It was a journey too dangerous for her to undertake on her own, or so she had thought in times before. The city was vibrant and filled with life, a direct opposite of where they had been days before, and for the first time in a while she felt stimulated and eager to adventure once more.

It was while she shuffled her feet looking from one tent to the next that Gonye grabbed her by her wrist and suddenly began to pull her through the crowds of people. She didn't bother fighting it, growing accustomed to the man's unorthodox behaviour, and muttered quiet apologies as she brushed by various individuals.

Eventually they came to an inn, where Gonye rented two rooms, and instructed them that they could go sightseeing should they desire. It was then that to her surprise Nero, and the two gypsies walked through the door. They looked worse for wear, then again, she and Erratus probably looked no better; in the time since she had commanded the tunnel of wind, she had noticed in a reflection of water that more of her hair appeared to be silver than the last time she had seen it, also she no longer wore her red robe, having unspun a large portion of it to protect herself from the crazy man from the vault. They had all gone through great ordeals.

Without even greeting them, the two gypsies went off into their own direction, to which Lucia wasn't all too surprised, they tended to be like that. Nevertheless, she smiled and walked over to Nero's side, giving him a hug, despite him being wet.

"You've made it!" she said cheerily, she was glad to see the one person she trusted still alive.

Erratus spent most of the journey lost in thought. The events that had taken place back at the Academy weighed heavily on his mind. His actions had caused quite a mess, one that could easily have turned out far worse than it did. The strangest thing was how that made the thief feel, an unfamiliar emotion that he could only describe as disappointment in himself.

The rest of the trip was spent practicing -- if one could call it that -- with his recently acquired loot. The activity helped to distract him from his thoughts. The sword he had found in the vault, while it appeared decorative, seemed to be perfectly suitable for combat. The fact that it hadn't fallen apart the way Erratus was handling it was testament enough to that. He was used to daggers, but found the longer, heavier blade to be unwieldy when treated as one. It was more cumbersome, more weighty, and far less disposable than his weapon of choice. Still, he found himself taken with it, and decided not to trade it away at the first opportunity.

By the time the caravan reached Atriast, Erratus's form was comparable to that of a child swinging around a stick. It was clear that he wouldn't get very far at this pace. Before he had a chance to consider what to do about it, though, Gonye had grabbed him and Lucia and was hauling them through the city. The thief was unable to keep his hands from exploring a few pockets as he bumped his way about the crowded streets. By the time the three arrived at their destination, he had amassed a small fortune in change, which he busily counted while Gonye dealt with the innkeeper.

After the mercenary left to find the others, Erratus decided that he would use his time to find someone to instruct him in swordsmanship. This city was sure to have several masters who would be able to give him a few pointers. The arrival of Nero, Talaitha, and Nadya were largely ignored by the nomad. As the two gypsies went their own way and Lucia greeted their blade-toting friend, Erratus took the opportunity to quietly slip out into the streets, leaving the two alone in the foyer.
A moment later, the door burst open again.

"You, sword guy! Teach me!" The thief demanded, perhaps a bit louder than he should have.

Nadya watched with concern as Talaitha allowed her inner most fears and worries to spill forth. She wanted nothing more than to comfort the girl and tell her that whatever decisions she made would be the right decision for her, but she couldn't. Deep down somewhere inside her was an enormous anxiety that had been continuously building since they had met Gonye. She didn't trust the mercenary and was almost certain he was deceiving the group, yet she still feared what would happen if they left now. She feared that if herself and Talaitha fled they would be left to some terrible agony that would eventually lead to death...

"Talaitha-" She started in a gentle, yet like always, wise voice. "You must endure, at least for a little while longer. Things are uncertain now and I have no way to bring clarity to our situation but we're close. We've held up our end of the bargain and now it is time that the mercenaries hold up theirs. I promise you I won't allow them to wrong you or harm you. I swear I will protect you no matter what." She placed her hand upon Talaitha's shoulder and clasped tightly before continuing on.

"You must have courage. The courage to endure these times and pass them by so that you may decide to do what you will with the time that is given to you."

Nadya slowly released Talaitha from her grip and for a moment turned her attention towards the other side of the room where Nero, Erratus and Lucia were all gathered up.

"How about we find something to eat?" she eventually murmured to Talaitha before turning her attention away from the three strangers. "You must be starving after all of this."

______

Despite the traveling time, the rain, and the commotion of the city all bogging down Nero's mood, a small smile still came to his face upon entering the inn and seeing both Lucia and Khast alive and... mostly well. But before Nero could even raise his arm to give a cordial wave to his two compatriots Lucia had already brought herself to his side and embraced him. He tried not to seem terribly awkward as Lucia gripped him but he had never been much for such social closeness and this type of personal affection hadn't been part of his life in quite some time.

"Glad to see you too." Nero attempted to mask his nervous nature as he placed an arm around Lucia to return her hug.

"You, sword guy! Teach me!"

Nero turned his head sharply towards the door, and Erratus.

"Teach you?" he questioned as he looked confusedly at the thief. It took a few moments afterwards for him to realize just what Khast was ordering of him.

"You mean to use a sword?" Nero took a moment to investigate both Erratus and Lucia, and to his surprise both of them were now carrying swords.

"I suppose I could try and teach you Khast, but just where did you two get those things and why are you evem interested in swordsmanship all of a sudden?"

"Oh these" said Lucia almost with surprise as she had nearly forgotten about the loot she had obtain "We found these in a vault in some magical academy, and Gonye said we could keep them" She rummaged around in her handbag and took out of the rings inscribed with the arcane etches to show Nero. "There were a whole bunch of things in the vault" she sighed "Unfortunately, its all probably lost forever now; the husks have completely overrun the area."