Erratus did as Pitt had instructed, not out of any sense of duty, but because he didn't have much of a choice. If he was honest, the assignment made absolutely no sense to him. Two heads didn't seem like they'd be much of an improvement over one for this particular mission, especially when the second head in question was his. The way the ignorant nomad figured it, he was quite possibly the worst candidate for the job. He simply hoped he wouldn't be expected to handle the negotiations.

"Ah, greetings." he said as he approached the warrior. "I'm Err… ah, Khast. Khast Vamall."

Erratus silently cursed himself. This whole alias business was getting out of hand. By now, he'd completely forgotten why he started it to begin with, assuming there had even been a reason. He was only keeping the charade up for the sake of appearances at this point. Should he simply go back to being Khast? No, he couldn't do that. He would have to sort this out later.

"I take it we're prepared for departure?" the thief asked as he shot a sideways glance at the princess, who seemed none too pleased.

OOC: Just going to move stuff along as fast as possible with as little writing as possible.

Talaitha, Lucia, Kechts, Nero

By the time the sun had pulled itself into the highest position in the sky the group could no longer look back and see the tented city from which they had departed. They were making good time, there was no doubt about that, but as they continued across the prairie it became harder and harder to keep pace. The horses were beginning to slow drastically as temperatures rose and to make things worse every breath was beginning to feel stale and harsh as the air dried out. When early evening began to fall the group found themselves no longer in the prairie, but in the desert. The earth beneath them was now dry dust and most of the vegetation was gone save an occasional shrub or prickly looking bush. The land was unforgiving and grim, yet awe-inspiring for westerners who had never seen such a sight. Here in the middle of what seemed like endlessness, the group seemed completely dissociated with the world they had known.

Religious texts claimed that once long ago the entire world was like this desert. Priests teach that man's rise to prominence brought life and death to these deserts which is why the flowers in the fields bloom in beautiful shades in spring but wilt to colourless ash in autumn. The council which rules Aestaria in the name of the Divine King, assert that it is Erus' will through Kane that the land remains in this life and death balance, but what of this desert? Certainly there are bits of life here and there but for the most part the area is still largely inhospitable and terribly rugged. It seems almost insane to think it, but perhaps this is the land God has forgotten?

The early evening passed quickly and before long the moon had assumed the old position of the sun. Above them in the sky a million and one stars began to shine brightly upon the earth and so bright was their glow that even in the darkest of night a torch was not necessary to see.

"We'll stop 'ere for the night." Very few words were spoken during the first day of the expedition and so it was quite unexpected when Gonye finally spoke up. "Too dangerous to be out movin' in the dark." The old mercenary dismounted his horse, pulled a stake from his pack and drove the stake into the ground. Afterwards he procured a thick rope from his bag and tied it through a hole in the stake and his horse's reigns.

"Catch!" into Nero's chest, Gonye tossed a large bundle of canvas, poles and a shovel. "Dig a shallow ditch, pitcha' roof up o'er it and put some canvas linin' the ditch."

For a moment Nero simply stood there with the tools in his arms before he realized what exactly Gonye was instructing him to do. "R-right, shelter." He quickly laid out the materials at his feet and grabbed the shovel from amongst them.

"The grounds hard up top but soft beneath. Strike it, break it a bit, then dig." Gonye added before he looked to Kechts. "You mind helpin' the kid? He's not the best at the simple stuff."



With Kechts' help the small ditch was dug in no time and afterwards the pair made quick work of erecting the canvas cover. Meanwhile, Gonye instructed Talaitha, Nadya and Lucia to tie the rest of the horses up just as he did and to unload their water, blankets and food into the center of the trench. Once everything was taken care of and their desert shelter was completed, Gonye wandered off to speak to Pitt who was still mounted upon his horse. For a moment the two mercenaries simply conversed before Pitt dismounted and Gonye took his place upon the horse. With a nod the mercenary leader kicked his horse into action and at a light gallop he vanished off into the eastern distance.

"Looks like we'll be staying behind to wait for your companion while the captain goes ahead to scout." Pitt let out a tired breath which, to his surprise, became a visible fog in the desert air. "It's starting to get too cold for me." he lightly joked whilst wrapping himself tightly in his cloak. "Perhaps it'd be best if we got some rest."

With that the group settled for the night into their slightly snug covered shelter.


Later into the evening...

As the others drifted off to sleep, Kechts' senses began to rouse awake. In the distance he could hear unusual noises. Thudding... hooves against the earth. It was distant, but not so distant that he couldn't make a rough estimation of how many horses he heard. Ten- no twenty, thirty? Were the more? As each moment passed he could hear the horses approaching ever closer and their numbers growing ever larger until eventually the noises they were creating was so loud that it stirred Pitt from his sleep.

"Raiders..." A concerned voice seeped through Pitt's lips as he launched to his feet. "Get up! We need to stop them before they reach us." Pitt pulled himself out from beneath the shelter but was immediately forced to the ground by a passing horse and a wild swing of the sword, they were too late. Thirty-some-odd raiders had already descended upon the camp and were beginning their assault.


______

Erratus quickly learned that the man he was traveling with was named Kariya and that he was only helping the group because he owed Gonye some kind of debt, other than that he didn't seem very interested in holding any kind of conversation and so for the first few hours of the journey north he remained absolutely quiet. By late afternoon the trio had arrived at a cross roads where a cloaked figure was awaiting them. At the cross Kariya attempted to trade off the imprisoned princess to the individual who identified himself as a servant of Ostarius, or as he so eloquently phrased it, 'A Servant of the Eastern Lord'.

"The situation has changed, we no longer have any interest in her." The man hissed as he pushed away the rope Kariya offered him. "They don't seem to care that we have her anymore, they're throwing her to wolves and they're coming for our heads."

Kariya looked back towards Erratus in a generally confused manner. He hoped Erratus knew more than he did of the situation but concluded quickly from his dull expression that he too was just as uninformed as him.

"But... You're supposed to be working with the council... aren't you? You work for your lord who in turn is an ally of the king... The mercenaries kidnapped her, and now they're returning her, so take her." He reached out once more but the cloaked figure refused his reach.

"We don't serve this country and we don't answer to its king, got it? And as for her..." The man turned his attention to the young girl, his face all the while was beginning to twist into a terrible scowl. "I have no idea what she is, but she's no princess. She's worthless and is no better than-"

"Liar!" She was fighting back tears in her eyes and her usual pale and graceful face was now flushed with anger. This was the first time she had spoken during her captivity, but now the young girl was holding nothing back.

"They would never abandon me! How dare you even make that assumption! Take it back you coward, you traitor!"

The servant scoffed at the princess' sudden outburst and did his best to keep his own temper in check. "As I said, I'm not trading for her. You tell your leader that we'll take whatever he stole from the academy as a toll instead, otherwise he won't be reaching the citadel."

Kariya attempted to speak out in protest against the servant's final decision but was stopped immediately when the man raised his hand into his face.

"We don't have the luxury of conversation anymore, mercenary. The army is coming this way and I have no intention to be caught up in their wrath. Your allies have until tomorrow to surrender their plunder to us. If they comply they'll be given safe passage and guidance to our Lord."

"But what about her!?" Kariya injected as he pointed back towards the girl.

"Kill her, release her, carve her up or even make her your queen..." The cloaked figure turned away and started up the road back north. "do what you want with her, just be quick about. I'm certain they're close, they may even be watching now." With those being his final words the servant vanished into the distance leaving the greatly confused trio to his back.





Once the man had vanished from sight Kariya snapped to his senses and cut the ropes from the princess, then directed her back west towards a military garrison along the main road. Afterwards he grabbed Erratus and hastily turned back towards the tented city. The pair needed horses, and they needed to flee east as soon as possible. It was a just hunch, but generally Kariya was right about these things, he was certain that the men out east weren't just looking for the kidnappers, no... they were here looking for Erratus.

Early evening


The two had been keeping a decent pace as they fled south towards the city, but just as their destination was within sight, Kariya's pace began to slow. By now he could barely feel his legs and his entire body was becoming tense. He wasn't tired, he had been feeling this from the very moment they left the cross. He had tried to outrun it, but he couldn't. He knew this feeling, it was almost nostalgic. They were being hunted, not by man but by a monster, a monster neither of them could hope to defeat.

"So, you've decided to accept it then." Just in the distance was the city of Atriast and all around them was empty plains and gently rolling hills, yet somehow without any indication, someone had sneaked up ahead of them and was simply waiting before them. It was a single man, a middle-aged man with long dark hair, deep black eyes, a square jaw and a slightly pointed nose. The man wore what looked to be some kind of uniform consisting of a long black tunic, a pair of puffed out trousers, high leather boots and a set of sabre-like swords just like Kariya's.

"I knew you'd come to your senses eventually." The man drew the longer of his swords and began to slowly approach Erratus and Kariya. "You're the infected one, aren't you?" His eyes were like those of a wolf who had just cornered it prey, focused, cold and absolutely unwavering.

"Khast..." Kariya had lowered his voice to a less-than-intrepid whisper. "They were supposed to give us horses and guide us east - among other things - in return for the girl." A sour smile crossed his face as pondered over the sheer ludicrousness of their current situation. "Listen, We don't stand a good chance against him, but it's not like we can really run either." Kariya dug quickly though his pockets and produced a folded up map which he pushed into Erratus' hands. "He's after you, but he won't kill you. We might be able to force him away if we exploit that in combat, but if things start to go wrong you need to run. Get a horse from somewhere in the city and follow that map east, it's real easy to read and it should guide you right to the others."

Just as Kariya was preparing to draw his sword their attacker launched into action and within a breath's time he was upon Erratus and his sword was in full swing.

The journey had been a struggle for Lucia. Quite unaccustomed to riding a horse, she clung to the steed's neck with a vice grip, while closing her eyes tightly for most of the ride. She muttered silent prayers as she nearly fell off of the horse with each jolt as it clip-clopped through the prairies, though as time drew on she, slowly, grew accustomed to the motions of the horse. She had missed much of the transition of vegetation as they now went further into the desert, though she found it stunning nonetheless. Like an ocean, sand stretched out as far as the eye could see; golden dunes rising from the ground like waves frozen in time. The heat had become quite unbearable, Lucia leaned back away from the horse's neck, probably much to its delight, and held onto the reins tightly as she bounced on its back.

Soon the moon hung high in the sky, stars twinkling endlessly above in the heavens, the scorching desert sea painted in cool shades of night. The cool air reminded her of the loss of her enchanted cloak in the Vault. It would take her a while and a lot of fire to spin into a new one. Gonye stopped them as he commanded the group to set up camp for the night. Relieved to get off her horse, Lucia slid off its back and tied it while bringing their supplies to the centre of the camp. She took little notice of Gonye's departure as he scouted ahead, too exhausted to do anything beyond go to sleep.

Lucia fell into a deep sleep, most likely due to the slow restoration of her magical reserves, and thought that Pitt's exclamations were merely a product of her dreaming, though as her consciousness stirred the yelling did not cease. Raiders? Raiders! Her eyes flew open as she heard the hooves thunder around them. She reached for her bow and quiver, trusted friends she had neglected for a very long time; her pouch of enchanted fabrics; and the rings engraved with arcane symbols that she had acquired from the vault. She left her sword behind, knowing that it would not help her in her present situation, being widely unskilled in its use.

Still half-asleep, Lucia scrambled to her feet and pinched the air while twisting it as moonlight fell upon them and drew it across her bow as if she were knocking an arrow. Fantastically, silver light hung suspended between her fingers in a straight line as she aimed at one of the s**** and loosed the arrow.

Unfortunately for Talaitha, horses were much different than oxen and the trip was more uncomfortable than she had hoped. She didn't have as much trouble as Lucia seemed to have, but the motion of the horse was incredibly uncomfortable for her, and she quietly wished that they would stop and rest at some point so she could dismount and take a rest. She had not spoken to Nadya about her dream at all. In fact, she spoke little the entire journey as there was never a good time to start a conversation.

When they had finally stopped, she hopped from the saddle immediately and feel to the ground, laying still and appreciating being able to rest. However, the rest was short, as Gonye told her to help set up camp, which she did reluctantly. At this time, she wanted to ask Nadya her opinion concerning her dream, but did not have time to as they were all doing different jobs. Exhausted once finished, she opted to head straight to bed, forgetting about her dream for the time being.

Awoken by the call of raiders, she pulled herself up as Lucia headed out. No longer carrying her enchanted dagger, she felt unable to help out in the fight. Even if she did carry a weapon, she felt that she was not one for fighting. She had no skills conducive for combat, but if given a weapon she would usually try, but most likely she would get in the way if she chose to stand up.

Dropping his cane, Erratus frantically dove to the side as the man clad in black rushed him. He rolled nimbly, drawing his sword as he regained his footing. He pointed the blade toward his opponent with one hand and clenched the other into a fist, abandoning Nero's teachings in favor of what he was familiar with. One afternoon of swordsmanship lessons wouldn't do him any good here. Kiraya seemed to think that this man was more than a match for both of them, which was quite worrisome. The thief prayed to several of the gods he'd heard of that the warrior was correct in assuming the cloaked figure wouldn't kill him, but if that was the case, he was giving a very convincing performance. Erratus shot Kariya a questioning glance.

Lucia's arrow of pale light smashed into the rider with such force that it knocked him from his horse. With a resounding thud his body crashed into the sandy ground and for sometime he simply laid there gasping for the air that had been knocked from him before slipping into unconsciousness.

Though Lucia's hit had been effective she wouldn't be allowed any time to revel in her marksmanship. In the same moment that her arrow landed another rider passed and grazed her with his horse, knocking her to the ground. In the distance yet another rider was charging towards Lucia with a long lance-like weapon. If Lucia failed to act quickly she would soon find herself impaled against the ground.
_____

"Take this." Nero raised his tunic and from his side he drew a short straight sword, only a few inches longer than a dagger. Quickly he handed the hilt towards Talaitha before he prepared to follow Pitt. "If the two of you can't fight or won't fight I understand, but if we can't stop 'em try and at least put up a good fight after it's all said and done."

Nero turned and immediately exited the dug-in-tent but upon seeing the sheer number of raiders he secretly wondered if he too should have been hiding with the gypsies. "Too late to run away now I suppose." He nervously laughed as he pulled himself to his feet.

"You'll have to put aside your ineptness aside for a bit and prove to me that your side is for more than show." Pitt overhead Nero's quip as he exited the tent behind him and couldn't help but tease the wanderer.

"Sure thing mercenary," Nero fired back as he ducked an incoming arrow. "I look forward to seeing what you can do and what you've been hiding from us this whole time." Nero's words were in no way a joke. He had begun to tire of being pulled about blindly by the mercenaries. Perhaps if Pitt was pushed to an extreme he would reveal something to the group and confirm Nero's suspicions that he was far from ordinary.

_______


"I've never had to use a weapon against a person before." Nadya reached up the sleeve of her robe and produce a short dagger that she carried for personal defense. "In fact when I was a member of the covenant I rarely ever saw combat." Nadya closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning around and peaking her head out from beneath the tent. "We can't let them do everything for us. The others are out there fighting, sure we didn't ask to be here, but neither did they." Before pulling herself out completely from under the tent she turned to Talaitha and offered the young girl her hand. "We'll fight together with them then. It's about time we start trusting the others, they're in this mess just the same as us."








_______
The assassin paused and simply stood his ground as he watched Erratus dodge his initial strike and roll some distance away torwards Kariya.

"He swung for your arm." Kariya answered Erratus' questioning stare with a whisper. "Was it too fast for you to see?" Kariya mocked Erratus but he was doing so entirely in jest. He knew that there was little chance Erratus saw much before he was forced to dodge away.

"It seems I've made a terrible mistake." Kariya let out a deep breath before he continued. "I may have over estimated our opponent. I let past experiences cloud my judgement and I failed to act because I was second guessing myself."

To Erratus the situation and what Kariya was saying must have been confusing. There was little chance he could truly understand what Kariya was saying for he knew not what Kariya knew or what he and the assassin truly were.

"But, you were able to evade away and he doesn't appear to be that much quicker than me. He also stopped, he's not chasing into the two of us." Kariya's confidence had returned and with it his sense for battle. "He underestimated the both of us and now I can only assume he's trying to rethink his approach."

There was still hope yet for the two of them, that is at least what Kariya believed. The battle would have to be quick though. Alone Erratus wouldn't stand a chance against the assassin and Kariya's old body wouldn't allow him to fight at his best for very long. Kariya would need to come up with a plan to maximize his effectiveness with Erratus in order to win, and he had to do so quickly, but just as he was preparing to share this information with Erratus something changed. The assassin's legs tensed then swelled to a great size and with a single effort he propelled his body towards Erratus and Kariya at more than triple the speed of his original attack.

It was then that Erratus felt an incredible force slam into his body and soon after he was flung several feet away from Kariya. When he recovered from his flight, Erratus rose to see Kariya standing where he himself once stood and the assassin far in the distance behind Kariya.

"Such strength..." The old warrior's voice seemed to struggle to make even the slightest noise.

After being pushed aside it was hard for Erratus to make heads or tails of the situation, but as his senses returned something quite obvious began to dawn upon him. He had been pushed away by Kariya just in time to protect him, but afterwards the old warrior attempted a counter attack and paid a hefty price for failing.

Kariya had become over confident after the first attack. Even though his guard was up he only just barely reacted in time to push Erratus away with the right side of his body. Afterwards he attempted to swing his sword to catch their attacker as he passed, but he swung far too late. By the time his sword had crossed from the left side of his body to the right, the assassin had already completely sped by and severed Kariya's non-dominant arm, the left, just above the elbow.

Kariya stood motionless, still in final stages of his long passed and desperate swing. His right arm was stretched far out into the distance and his sword pointed even further. His legs were spread into a wide stance and his feet were planted into the earth with such pressure that the ground gave way and turned to dust beneath his heels. This was the fastest he could retaliate, yet beside him was a massive pool of blood that was growing ever larger by the second.


"You stopped taking me seriously." The assassin sounded quite proud of himself, though his conceit was still overshadowed by irritation and a tad bit of exhaustion. "I expected more from you, but perhaps I was giving you too much credit. Perhaps what they say about you older generations is true; once you hit a certain age your minds just stop working the way they're supposed to."

Kariya of course had tuned out his attacker's voice, instead his mind was completely focused on finding a way to flee whilst still keeping the promise he had made to Gonye. He needed to keep Erratus from falling into enemy hands, but at the same time Gonye considered Erratus a resource that he needed alive for himself.

"Run..." Kariya's face showed no sign of duress, in fact he didn't even seem to show any signs of pain after losing his arm. He was focused entirely on this moment, what was about to happen and what had happened moments before were no longer relevant to him. "...you can try and run as far away from him while I hold him here." Kariya plunged his sword into the ground and grabbed at what remained of his left arm with his right hand. "or thief, you can stay here and fight alongside me until either him or I die."

The veins in Kariya's stump began to swell as he spoke to Erratus and blood that was once spilling out uncontrollably was beginning to slow. Around Kariya's body Erratus was beginning to notice a faint white glow and as he looked towards the assassin he noticed he too shared the same glow.

"Well then, Khast Vamall..." Kariya's eyes were now focused and across his face he wore a frenzied grin. "Will you be spending the night here with lions?"

"Of course. In your state, you'd never hold him off long enough for me to make it back to Atriast." Erratus said with a smirk, lifting his blade and moving to his ally's side. Only together would they be able to defeat the assassin. He was still afraid, but Kariya's words rang true. The thief could act as a shield, preventing their opponent from making fatal blows while the warrior retaliated from behind. After running for so long, he wanted to stand his ground and fight for something, even if he didn't know what it was.

A likely scenario. Erratus frowned, furrowing his brow as he made haste across the sprawling fields toward the city. That kind of heroism wasn't something he was capable of. His sense of self-preservation was still intact, as strong as ever. He hadn't so much as paused to say farewell before fleeing, and how could he be expected to? Between the two powerful combatants with presumably magical abilities, he would have been able to accomplish little more than the princess.
If that musclebound idiot is inclined to throw his life away on another's behalf, that's his business. It's not my problem. He attempted to rationalize his actions, but it did little to quell his unease.

The thief's body was tilted at a dangerous angle, prevented from toppling over only by the rhythmic pumping of his arms and legs propelling him forward. Despite a niggling urge to look back, his eyes never strayed from his destination as he fled. He ran faster than he had in a long time, as if he could outpace his doubts.

Talaitha, though still not really confident about her ability to make an impact upon the situation, felt eased by Nadya's. She gripped the short sword as well as an untrained woman could and took her elder's hand, exiting the tent into the battlefield that engulfed their tent. Perhaps it was time for her to finally quell her hatred for the outsiders, as they treated had her better than she first believed they would. There was not complete acceptance of them among the group, but it was clearly due to their own detachment, and if there was any way for them to make amends, it was to fight even if they knew they could not, because if they were to die, at least they died as allies rather than ambivalent passersby.

She pulled herself close to the ragtag formation that the others had created, trying to find a way to help. Most of the bandits were out of range at the moment, so it seemed to be somewhat of a skirmish with the arrows whizzing by around them and there were no signs of any other offensive actions being performed otherwise. However, she did notice that a lone horseman was approaching Lucia, who was on the ground. She ran as quickly as she could to intercept the man's lance with her sword before he struck her ally.

Time seemed to slow as the lance approached Lucia; she would not have been quick enough to loose another arrow, whether real or ethereal, to defend herself in time. While time did slow, her thoughts continued to race; what would become of her? was there truly an afterlife? how long until she became a husk? All these thoughts held her tongue, for she did not cry for help, neither did she see Talaitha quickly approaching with her sword extended to intercept the lance.

Lucia recalled the lesson from the tome of the Sharasi, magical warriors who had mastered the art of manipulating the second gate to accomplish fantastical feats. If only she could wield magic as they could. She felt useless; she came from weavers, not warriors! Neither could she say she came from mages, having been raised in a society taught to fear magic, everything that she had learned had been through trial and error. At her highest points, this had been done with wonder and excitement, as she spun the warm rays of the sun into golden string. At her lowest points, she learned through putting her life into the hands of fate itself; standing alone on the highest hills and not caring whether the lightning she sought to weave killed her. She had little control over her abilities, relying on the elements around her to weave, spin and loose. She was by no means a trained practitioner of magic. And yet, Gonye and Pitt felt that she was special and gifted. Truly, it was something she did not understand, for all she saw of herself was a failed and bumbling mage.

What was it that they saw in her? This mystery truly confounded her, and now she would never know. Ended by a lance.

"No" Lucia thought to herself, she would find out. She would not let her road end here, not after she had just begun to learn more about herself and her abilities. She would continue and she would see herself one day as how Gonye and Pitt did, and to do that, she would live.

While Lucia felt that she had spent much time in her head, not even a moment had passed. Her resolve to survive assured she looked the rider in the eye.

"NO!" she shouted, very uncharacteristically loud for the girl, and raised her hand in front of herself. The air between herself and the rider began to haze and stiffen, glistening like a humming wall of glass in the moonlight. Like the Sharasi, she sought to create a barrier of energy to protect herself fed by the energies produced by the second gate within herself, her Coen Zhusa.

Confirming the animosity of the raiders, Kechts rose to his full stature from behind his companions, dwarfing the raiders and his companions alike. His jaw lowered, widening his mouth to an inhuman width.
Unintelligible to his foes but a much needed warning to all else, Kechts bellowed: "CLOSE YOUR EARS, NOW".
He then raised his cane to an even greater height than himself, and then thrust it into the ground with immense force, his arms stretching to their greatest extent to push the cane down from his towering self.
For a surreal instant came a vast silence across the battlefield, a wave of dust spread from Kechts, leaving only his silhouette and the shadow of his great cloak flying up, barely hanging onto his shoulders.
After this surreality, to the hostile raiders and their steeds came a cruel shock. The earth beneath them seemed to both plunge down and erupt skyward as a sound more deafening than thunder blasted their entire beings.
But to Kechts' comrades, it looked like the raiders were horrifically startled by a heavy breeze.
The roar of a cannon sized as a mammoth was stifled by a still air around them, and dampened further by the hands over their ears.

Talaitha's attempt to save Lucia, though quite valiant, was completely in vain. The rider was approaching far too fast for the young gypsy to defend against and even if she had made it in time the charging horse would have likely trampled her to death.

Just behind Talitha, Nadya watched in horror as her younger kin charged recklessly into combat. "Talaitha!" Her voice cracked in desperation as she tried to call her away from the rider.

" "CLOSE YOUR EARS-".

A unfamiliar voice called out to Nadya and though the elder gypsy was quite concerned for her kin's safety she quickly complied and forced her fingers into her ears before shouting once more. "Get out of the way young one!" her voice this time rang with great desperation and guilt. She was terrified that Talaitha might be harmed or even killed and if such a thing were to happen only she could be blamed for it. She drove Talaitha to fight, it was her fault that she was even in danger now...

____

Using only the energy within herself, Lucia conjured forth a barrier. This was a feat many mages would train most of their lives for, but when pressed in a life and death scenario Lucia was able to do the impossible- or so it appeared.

Lucia was young and naive, she knew not the ways of the spiritual gates within her nor did she comprehend what her energy truly was. In a similar scenario a trained mage would have instead focused his energy around his body, or more precisely he would have focused his energy around the point of impact. A trained magic user wears the energy emitted by his second gate almost like a cloak. To the arcane-trained eye this energy appears as a white aura and whenever the second gate is 'accessed' this aura can begin to form. In this situation Lucia was using her potential aura to form a barrier, an object detached from her physical body. The amount of raw energy needed to form this detached object was immense and quickly Lucia learned that she was not yet up to the task of doing something so advanced yet.

Lucia's defense shattered into thousands of gleaming pieces as the rider's couched lance blasted through her impressive, yet fragile wall. Once more the young girl was completely helpless though this time she was only a mere inches away from certain death. She had no time to move or defend from her current position, all she could do was watch death barrel down upon her. But then, something happened. From her position Lucia wouldn't have been able to see Kechts, and in her current state she might have easily missed his warning to cover her ears, but she saw it- She saw the gnarled man's incredible display of power.


Through the earth itself everyone surrounding Kechts could feel the shock waves of his attack and in the air they could see water vapor being violently pushed away and dust being sent skyward. The raider's horses flew up into a frenzy in the distance and many of their riders were thrown violently to the ground. The rider closest to Kechts, the one assaulting Lucia, was blasted to the side. His body was immediately crushed upon hitting the ground as he was tangled up with his horse which too was falling. Those who had not been knocked from their horses were left rattled and dazed. Some had ruptured ear drums which were oozing blood, others had weak limbs which refused to move or even tense up. Of the thirty-some riders which had initially intended to attack the camp, only a small handful were still mounted and of this small group only one or two men still had complete control of their horses.

"Alliastavah!" A rider's voice called out as his panicked horse bucked and turned away from the tent. "Mul'adbui! Alat'tihad!" Hastily the raiders began to fall back over the hill from whence they came. Some were forced to leap from their panicking horses and run on foot, others who were unconscious were dragged away to safety or left behind simply lying in the dust.


Behind Kechts, Pitt stood with his arms crossed and a smug grin scrawled across his face. Unlike the others the mercenary hadn't shielded himself from Kechts blast.

"Quite a save!" Pitt quickly congratulated Kechts on his spectacular show of force. "I hope none of us were harmed by that attack. I can see now why Gonye decided to hire you onto our team." Pitt slapped Kechts across the back in congratulatory fashion before turning his attention elsewhere. "So are we all alive? Did we make it?" He called out to his group as he peaked around the side of the tent to check on Lucia, Talaitha and Nadya.


________


"THIIIIIEEEEFFF"


Over the sounds of clashing swords behind him, Erratus could make out the call of a familiar voice with an even more familiar accent.

"DID YOU THINK THAT YOU COULD RUN FROM A VALOROUS KNIGHT?!" The voice was now closer and the sound of a madly galloping horse could now be heard over the raging battle in the distance.

Hair, flowing long and blonde- eyes, green like a forest basking in spring light- and an accent only found only in the far north. The Knight Sir Kiliment Yelizaveta had appeared seemingly from nowhere to avenge his now disgraced pride.


As Kiliment's horse quickly approached Erratus' flank he leaped from his saddle and lunged a long, thin straight sword towards him. "THIIIEEEFF!" he shouted out in rage once more in midair as his attack narrowly missed ahead of Erratus. His feet crashed against the ground and his body turbulently rolled through the muddy earth as he regained his footing a few feet ahead of Erratus. Quickly the knight took up a fencing stance, his eyes were full of fiery spirit and his sword was pointed directly for Erratus' throat. In the distance his horse continued to run for some time until it came to sliding halt at a broken down stone fence.

"I told you I would find you once more and settle the score, thief." The knight subtly began to shift his weight to his back foot as he prepared to lunge. "Draw you weapon now, it's the only chance I'll give."

"THIIIIIEEEEFFF!"

Who the blazes is… Oh, no.

"DID YOU THINK THAT YOU COULD RUN FROM A VALOROUS KNIGHT?!"

No. No, no, no, no, no. Oh dear gods, please, no.

"THIIIEEEFF!"

Erratus slid to a halt as Kiliment crashed into the ground in front of him, very nearly skewering him in the process. The knight quickly stood and positioned himself to attack, while the older man could do little more than contort his face in disbelief. Why, of all places? Of all times!?

"I told you I would find you once more and settle the score, thief. Draw your weapon now, it's the only chance I'll give." Spat the imposing figure.

"Why did you decide to pursue me?" The thief asked as he slowly and deliberately drew his sword, buying as much time as possible. "Should your priority not be to help the princess?"

If the knight gave a response, Erratus wasn't listening. His eyes flickered rapidly between his adversary, then the horse, the expanse of land between him and the city, and his own blade. Finally, they settled on his clenched fist. He hadn't opened it since the assassin attacked him. He'd had been hoping to save this in case he was pursued, but now was as good a time to use it as any. No sooner had the thief fully drawn his sword with one hand than he released his grip with the other, flinging mud directly toward Kiliment's face.

"As I was fleeing from the King's army in north I happened to cross paths with the messenger you and your associate negotiated with. He informed me of our Lord's change in plans but he also told me something quite interesting." Kiliment's face twisted into a smile of joyous spite as he prepared to continue. "He told me he met with an old fellow, an old fellow with a-" With a vulgar splat Erratus' mud projectile sprayed across Kiliment's face and eyes.

"Auugh, bastard!" Kiliment hissed as he bounded backwards defensively. Quickly he used the back of his hands to wipe away the mud from one of his burning eyes. He attempted as best as he could to keep one eye free and on Erratus, though he could barely see him through his remaining unfocused, watery eye.

He'll run for the horse. Kiliment's mind raced to an immediate conclusion whilst he was backing away. He can't get away from me without it.

Talaitha heard her name called, with a cry to cover her ears following. Though she was in no position to drop the sword, she released it from her grib immediately and instinctively covered her ears and crouched low to the ground in a ball. She was now aware of her surroundings once again, and the fighting courage she felt only a few seconds earlier was gone as she broke down. What was she doing? She didn't want to die! Or did she? Her life had been terrible ever since she left her caravan and wherever she went she found animosity or danger. Death would be better than living through this hell!

The blast happened in and instant, and Talaitha felt as if she was going to be carried away by a strong gust. Through her hands she could hear the muffled noise from behind her and thought that the end had finally come, but once it stopped she glanced around and pulled herself up. Though visible shaken, she walked to Lucia and offered her a hand to help her up.

The wonder at which she felt as Lucia conjured the shield was immediately met with a crippling pain that struck her stomach as it shattered once the lance hit the shield. She breathed slowly, now facing her fate bravely, staring the rider in his eyes as she met whatever fate befell her. Perhaps Gonye and Pitt had been wrong all along, Lucia found herself thinking, she had never been born for greatness. Magic was a dying and lost art in and of itself, who was she to fool that she could be some sort of protege.

It was then that her magical senses were immediately alerted by a fast approaching wave of power. She did not hear Kecht's warning, though Lucia instinctively curled up onto the ground with her head tucked downwards and her arms over her head. Fortunately for her, she had her arms covering her ears, and even then the sound that she heard was quite loud, causing her ears to ring as it passed her by. The man who would have pierced her in her fetal position was violently thrown from his horse and subsequently trampled violently as his horse reared and fell upon him. Lucia closed her eyes and focused as the power flowed about her, willing with all her might that it did not knock her out, as most other magical energy seemed to do in her presence.

The queasy feeling in her stomach subsided as the wave of power passed her by, and she opened her eyes to look around at the carnage the man had wrought. The group that had been around them was quite incapacitated, with the stragglers fleeing into the desert. A shadow fell in front of her, and she looked up as Talaitha offered her a hand up.

Shakily, Lucia grasped the hand and stood to her feet.

"Thanks," she said softly.

She looked around the camp once again, how many of them had been lost in the battle? Where was Nero?