"How... How aren't you dead?" Dave gasped, watching the man he'd just cut take it as if it were nothing. He had no choice, he had to rush again, but by then it was over. The sword of a Witcher cleaved through his stomach and he fell to his knees. There was no time to experience pain however, as the whirling sword cut off his head. "DAVE!" Shrieked Bertha Buttle, clutching her pitchfork desperately. Most of the villagers had since tried to flee now, seeing the uselessness of the fight and were being systematically hunted, but a few who, like Bertha were stuck with their backs to a house, had no choice but to fight. One, seeing the pitchfork heading towards Bertha, tried to pull it away from Solomon only to have it bury itself in his leg. He screamed and fell over, but Bertha saw her chance. "This is for my HUSBAND!" She lunged with her pitchfork towards Solomon. Delaine burst into tears as she heard the screams of Corwyn outside. She desperately moved furniture, pushing it against the drawers to try to stop them. Half blinded by tears and spurred by fear, she pushed the bed against the drawers and stumbled, falling on to the floor. She got up again to try to push the wardrobe, but it merely fell over by the wall uselessly. She cried out and pulled out the knife she kept on her belt for protection. She gripped it so hard the handle dug into the palm of her hand. The door was shattering, she screamed. The door shattered and she readied herself to fight whatever was coming. She saw a little girl. A monster, but a little girl all the same. She cried out in despair again, and dropped the knife. She collapsed into the corner of the room with her hands covering her face. "Please, no! Please, please, please! Don't do it! I don't want to die..." She begged. "You've taken my husband! Just please, please don't kill me! DON'T DO IT!" She stretched out her hands pleadingly as tears streamed down her face. Wilfred had just about made it out of the door when something jumped him. He dived to the floor and rolled away as it sailed over his head, but the creature moved with unnatural agility. The dwarf reached out, finding a broken fence post and struck out with it, trying to keep the thing away. He struggled to his feet, grabbing his axe. The thing was covered with the same boils and pustules as the diseased villagers. "Get back ya b*stard!" Wilfred snarled. He swung the axe wide and jabbed at the beast again, backing away towards the forest where he might find some shelter, some safety. Where's that Boenn when you need him? The screams reached the forest and he could see some of the slaughter. It made him sick. Who, or what would have done such a horrific thing to a peaceful village? The Elf watched. Somebody had to know what happened, to go somewhere to tell the story. However, as he watched he noticed a small figure breaking away from what he knew was the blacksmith. It was being pursued by... Something. Boenn knew that he had to do at least something. He lithely clambered down from his tree, jumping down to get down faster as soon as it was safe. He unslung his bow from his back and began to run towards the village. Maybe he could rescue at least someone from that mess. "Here goes..." Alanna muttered. She had seen one of the knives hit Kyle in the leg, but it was time to go for the kill. Stretching out with her telekinesis, she caught the two daggers that had missed and hoisted them into the air, then sent them spinning into the unsuspecting Kyle's back. One for the main body, one for the back of the head. She saw Adolin stepping in front of her protectively, and his shape changing into that of Carrak of Cintra. He started to retreat, and so did she. "Two big guys coming for us. Hold that shield, I'll do what I can." The Doppler was back in his Witcher's form, bringing all the skills that went along with it. Those two charging were going to be a problem. He began to back away, knowing that she knew to do the same thing. He knew about the Witcher Signs, so he knew one that was perfect for this situation. He stretched out his left hand and drew the Sign of Aard, sending a wave of pushing force rolling forwards. It wasn't quite up to Alanna's standard, but hopefully it would be enough to stop them in their tracks, or slow them down a bit. If they could dispose of Kyle with the throwing knife trick, then it would make either eliminating these two, or escaping, much easier.
"You asked me how I was, as if I need babysitting." Derrick replied with a light smile and a shrug. "I figured I'd return the favour. You're a tough girl. You're probably good enough to last your lifetime with the skills you've got, assuming that you don't do anything stupid. I don't fancy your chances against some of the bigger monsters out there. A single misstep can be the end for one of us, even with our mutated bodies and reflexes. Not that you need me to tell you that I'm sure." But I did anyway, so take that. He wasn't sure how anyone could have mistaken her for a glass doll. Even though she had clear insecurities which she wore on her sleeve for everyone to see, she wore it like armour. Although, he did wonder how much of her attitude was an act and how much was genuine. He'd probably never know the answer to that one. "Anyways, Witcher girl," He said in a teasing tone, returning the gesture. "We'll stick together. As far as I'm concerned. Now, we know that we were headed for the Kaer. It's a pain in the ass but I'd suggest that we head up that way. Not going to lie, that's kind of annoying because I was planning to hit Novigrad to get a job as you know, but it's alright. It'll give time for this old thing to heal up." He patted his wounded shoulder and it twinged a little. He spotted his own horse and Veceslav's, which was panicking just a bit. Without its owner, the mighty steed was getting frustrated and worried. He approached it and cast the Axii sign. The beast calmed quickly and he stroked its mane to try to comfort it a little more. It should have been familiar with its presence so it was probably going to be alright. "Grab my horse, Vecelsav's probably won't like you. No offence to you or anything, but it's a little bit picky and doesn't like strangers."
"Ow." Aedan spoke as he was bonked on the head with a large wooden rod. He winced. It could be worse, it could have been a Zweihander and I saw what that did to Bryce. It was probably a good thing that Bryce wasn't with Greenbeard, otherwise his already delicate brain chemistry might be too far gone for any hope of recovery. Maybe it already was? "Sorry s- Greenbeard. I won't do that again." Turns out, the outside world is full of a lot of informal people. I never realised how comparatively orderly we were back home. Aedan shrugged to himself and followed Greenbeard as he was bid. A tap of his staff and a ring of flowers appeared and he began to treat people, and Aedan naturally joined him. Amazing, he can conjure up the perfect herbs! Such skill! He picked the appropriate herbs and assisted Greenbeard in tending to the injured. It was going well until the Drake arrived. He heard its voice, and Aedan frowned. Now that is just rude! He stood up and stepped in front of people, placing his stand in front of him as impressively as he could. "No, humans are not what you want to eat!" Aedan declared. "Because humans have pointy sticks made out of metal, and they hurt! And humans have magic, which also hurt! Go into the forests and find deer! And bears! Why are you hunting humans?" He transmitted these signals into the mind of the beast, as well as speaking out loud so other would know what he was saying. He attempted to conjure ideas of humans = pain, deer and bears = tasty. The drake was unlike anything he had ever spoken to before. Birds were quite pleasant (Apart from robins) and bees were nice too, but this was an aggressive force. "You met Phillius, Baldomar. Remember that guy outside of Haven who I spoke to, and then tried to convince me to join them, and then rejected us because he was a pompous *******? Yeah, that guy." He explained, folding his arms. "He used to be a member of the Order of the Radiant Sword, like me. He used to be one of the best of us. But now..." "Now he's making a killing by running the Burning Blade mercenary group, which I am a part of." Russell continued. "He's still a pompous ******* by the way. And he thought that you might be coming. He knows that you're trying to get back at him for betraying the Order. Gotta hand something to you though, he's obviously worried enough to tell us to watch out for you." "So you brought us into this grudge of yours?" Aston asked. "Is there actually anything worthwhile here, like you said?" "Yeah, he didn't lie about that. This place does actually have valuable stuff in it."
"I managed to find Veceslav, Veera and Aaron but... We never got round to finding you. By the time we had managed to catch a break from the other drama to find you, Dopplers..." Derrick explained. She had seen for herself what was happening in the city. Little did she know that they were in the centre of it all, trying to make it out of the city. That they tried to save who they could. But it wasn't enough. It never was enough. "Well, hey. I made it. Relax Olivia." He smiled and put an arm around her shoulder and led her to the portal. She's still young. Still a little bit sensitive and attached. What he experienced next was not the most comfortable portalling experience he had ever had. Wind howled and the world was black except for a faint orange glow at the edge of his vision, he felt distinctly sick. He released what he thought might have been Olivia in a panic, throwing his arms out to grip on to something which wasn't there as it felt like the ground was pulled out from underneath him. Derrick cried out, and it was over in a flash. He blinked in the light and groggily looked around. Grass. That was a good sign. Must have put him outside on the training ground of Kaer Morhen. He groaned. "Oh you have got to be kidding me." They hadn't gone anywhere. But everyone else had. Everyone, except Treasa who was shouting at the air. She came over and knelt next to him, and he nodded as he got up to one knee. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've had worse than this." He said with a grim smile. He felt a bit dizzy, but he was otherwise okay. "Looks like our sorceress doesn't know how to portal. Are you okay? Alastar is going to kill me if there's even a scratch on you." He dusted himself off and got to his feet, placing both hands on his hips. Meanwhile, somewhere else entirely... The Halla aep Ker'zaer of the Imperial Palace in Caethair aep Tor Oéranna hummed with the hushed voices of the ranks of the Nilfgaardian nobility. They spoke hurriedly and frantically, as if to get the day's gossip out of the way so that they could get to the crux of today's affairs. The nobility of Nilfgaard had put on their best outfits, high collared jackets and dresses, flecked with black feathers were common. Some of the more patriotic had the Great Sun emblazoned somewhere on their garb, whether it be the central piece of an embroidered shirt, a pauldron or even a necklace wrought in gold, the metal for which the city was named. The Imperial Herald stood at the side of the Throne in clear sight, presiding over the mass of nobility that were assembled there in that most illustrious of halls. I wonder how many of these people have plots, how many of them make their overtures of loyalty even while plotting his death in their secret chambers and their cups. I do wonder. This was the scene for an hour. The Emperor was fond of this, gathering everyone an hour before he was due to make an appearance. His reasons, unknown to the mass inside, were simply so that they got their conversations out of the way so that they would pay the utmost attention. He was most irritated when people spoke when he was speaking. That, and it was a reminder that he was not beholden to them. It had, thus far, seemed to be effective. Then, at the behest of what they assumed to be some unknown signal, the Imperial Herald walked down the steps of the throne platform to the door. Every second step was punctuated by a tap of the grand iron staff of the herald bearing the Great Sun in all of its splendour at the top. Conversation died down, and by the time the Herald reached the door, the room fell totally silent. He raised the staff in both hands and smote a metal plate on the floor placed for this very purpose. The sound echoed impressively through the immense hall. "His Imperial Majesty, Cahir var Emreis, Deithwen Addan yn Muire! Emperor of Nilfgaard, King of Cintra, Lord of Metinna, Ebbing and Gemmera, Sovereign of Nazair and Vicovaro and High Priest of the Great Sun!" The doors swung open and at once all, save the herald, took one knee and bowed their heads. The Emperor of Nilfgaard strode through the room with purpose between the ranks of kneeling nobility. His eyes were fixed straight ahead at his throne. With each step, his boots heels clicked across the marble floor, resonating throughout the hall. As he left the ranks of nobility who filled about half the room, the third quarter was suddenly populated with his Imperial Guard who stepped out from their wings where they waited, forming two ranks either side of the Emperor. The Imperial Shieldbearers stood in the first rank, the Imperial Pikes in the second. Cahir var Emreis briskly climbed the stairs to the throne platform which took the fourth quarter of the room and stopped as he reached his throne. He turned around to face the amassed nobility in front of him, gazing upon them to ensure that all followed protocol. When he was satisfied, he took a seat and placed both hands on the armrests of his throne, sitting up straight. "Those gathered will rise!" Declared the herald. They did. The Emreis smiled as the courtiers stood as a single, fluid unit in perfect step with one another. "Those gathered will await the Emperor's judgement!" Silence reigned in the hall. "I am satisfied." Thus spoke the Emperor. There was a collective sigh of relief throughout the hall, as was customary. "Dubhenn haern am glândeal, morc'h am fhean aiesin!" He spoke the final lines of the Sun Oath, both a comfort and a threat to those gathered. My glare will pierce through darkness, my brightness will scatter the shadow. His eyes seemed to fall on all that were gathered, and all those with designs on his life were filled with fear, for the Emperor's gaze was terrible. Each one knew that they were being scrutinised for any sign of dissension. There was a deathly silence, then judgement was passed. "Berengar aep Casteberg shall step forwards to receive the Emperor's judgement." The left hand group of nobles parted in a circle around the trembling individual. "What say you in your defence?" He fled, but not far. The doors swung open as he approached and a pair of Imperial Guard swiftly arrested the fleeing traitor. He screamed as he was dragged away, and the doors were closed. The group rearranged itself with a gap where Berengar aep Casteberg had stood. After a calculated minute of silence, Cahir var Emreis stood up and folded his hands behind his back to address the nobility of Nilfgaard. "You are gathered here to bear witness to this declaration. Today marks the renewal of the Northern campaign. Our spies in the North have reported utter chaos, and now it is time that we began the war in earnest. The Northern Kingdoms have for too long been allowed to believe that we are of little consequence, that their armies can repel our forces, that they can afford to turn their eyes away from Nilfgaard. This changes now. No more shall the Roethainne live in their arrogance. Their King shall tremble before the might of the Great Sun, and when he raises arms to fight, he shall be found wanting." Declared Cahir var Emreis, Deithwen Addan yn Muire, the hall carrying and amplifying his voice such that he did not even need to raise his voice. "Your silence is found to be in favour of this course. I am pleased to see that you are wise in your choice of actions." Cahir took a seat on his throne again and placed one hand on his chin, the second holding the armrest. The Herald saw the signal and struck the plate again. "All those with matters for the Emperor may now raise them!" One by one, nobles stepped forwards to raise their matters to their ruler while the Nilfgaardian war machine roared to life once again...
"Like the ridge Alanna!" Adolin barked, stepping closer to her. Encased in the bounds of her shield, there was little for him to fear. He watched with a sense of satisfaction as crossbow bolts and the spear of flame impacted against the shield, clattering away and discharging dramatically. The shield got smaller, a result of the sheer force of magic that they were assailed with. Even as they hit, he made his move. Reaching into the folds of his coat he drew a trio of throwing knives and extended his arm outside of the shield and threw, sending the three blades flying towards Kyle's chest with the practiced precision of a Witcher, one of the many he gifts he received from Carrak of Cintra. "Evander, give us a- Oh hell." Damn it you old fool! You passed out! "Got it Adolin!" She cemented her stance on the ground and raised both hands into the air. She remembered the ridge incident. They had been ambushed and were hiding behind this shield, assailed from above. It was just like that, except a little more deadly with this royal mage raining fire upon them. She was forced to take a step back and reduce the shield boundaries, being hit hard. They could do this dance for a while, Adolin throwing knives and ducking back in. With the mage out in the open, he wouldn't be able to evade them for long, and hopefully Evander would even the odds. Dave felt himself being restrained by the clammy hands of what were revealed to be monsters. He struggled and thrashed around, desperately trying to get away. He clung to the sword, his only hope of fighting back. He felt utter despair. Dave Buttle, despite his resistance, knew that he was going to die here. Cold steel plunged into his stomach, and he cried out in pain. He looked down at himself. He nearly threw up. And then he heard it. "Dave, NO!" Shrieked Bertha Buttle, and as the undead ravagers laid into the peasants, the peasants struck back. Bertha threw herself forward and struck the demon holding Dave's sword arm with her pitchfork. It was driven back by her surprise attack, and her husband was freed. "Bertha!" Dave cried. There was only one thing to do. That man looked like a wreck, despite his minions. He was going to get him. If nothing else, if nobody else. "Let's 'ave you whoreson!" The farmer lunged forwards wildly with the sword and threw himself headlong at Solomon. If he was going to die here, then at least the one who did this could pay. Delaine and Corwyn saw the undead rushing towards their inn from where they had been watching. She screamed and ran inside into the guest room where that lady knight had stayed the other day. If only she were here now. She could have saved them all. She locked the door and piled the drawers against it. Meanwhile Corwyn rushed the other way. Perhaps if he could distract them, Delaine could be saved. He rushed into the kitchen and grabbed his club and the iron poker he'd left in the fire by accident when all the commotion started. "Come here! Come get Corwyn Gilbert!" They did. Wilfred Hoover stayed at the back, for once. He wasn't eager to see what was happening. And he was right not to. In fact, as soon as everything kicked off, he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him back to the Forge. He picked up Shinf*cker and waited by the door, expecting pursuit. One of the devils burst through the door after him, but he was ready. He hacked the legs out from beneath it and cleaved off its head on the floor. "This sh*t es soo f*cked." Wilfred panted, running out the back door as fast as he could. "Va'esse deireádh aep eigean, va'esse eigh faidh'ar..." Solemnly spoke the elf, Boeen Cerbin from atop his tree at the forest's edge. He had so far remained unnoticed by the hellish horde, and with the plentiful slaughter there he doubted that he would be noticed. The words he spoke were of little comfort to himself. Nothing could begin from that, nothing good. It seemed that not even the dead could rest. Dark times. "Va faill, D'hoine. Va faill, Pontarsfork." "Don't see any reason not to have you two along. I've calmed down a bit now, kinda lost my cool for a minute." Derrick replied, waving his hand as if to say that bygones were bygones and that was the end of that. Apparently, there was a lot of excitement over the mention of Solomon. Vyle was taking a great degree of interest in it, and his report was chilling. He truly could raise the dead. "Good thing that I set him on fire and ran him out of the city. Sadly, I doubt we're lucky enough for him to be dead. Either way, he won't profit off the massacre too much." Still enough to be a pain in our collective ass. Speaking of pains in the ass, Olivia showed up. He turned to face her, and immediately backed up with his hands in front of him. "Hey, now I made it Oxenfurt. Shame you missed the explanation, because a lot of sh*t just happened. Good thing you made it out." She asked about Aaron. He looked awkwardly at Teliana who had mentioned the portal. "Can you open that portal? We should talk about things back at the Kaer. I'm getting real tired of this hill." Maybe then, everyone else could back him up. Because he was going to need back up. He didn't feel like explaining the whole ordeal all over again, it was far too tiring and there was a lot that she didn't know.
"We can hide what you are Vyle. Vampires aren't registered by any methods of detection we have at the moment." Derrick reassured. "I don't expect the King to like me. I don't even expect the King to trust me. I just expect him to give me a job for dealing with people that he doesn't like either. That's all I want, and all I need. As it stands, the rest of what he thinks can go to hell for all I care." He looked at Teliana with a grim expression. "I'm not going to stop you coming if you want. You've got every right to revenge." He remembered when she first came into the inn room with those wounds of hers, still seemingly fresh or at least recent. It was cruel. That, if anything, truly convinced him that this was the right path to take. "I'll praise King Archon, but it'll take more than that to get me on my knees." She quipped, hiding her worry for what was going to happen next behind a shield of wit. They were well out of their league here. It was a city, and this was the guard. Her stupid pride had got them into this mess, and now they were all in danger. Evander, Adolin and herself. She maintained her control over the shield. They wouldn't know what it did quite yet, so as soon as they fired they'd have to move quickly to gain the advantage. She could block all those shots, and that spear of flame, but she couldn't do it indefinitely. She could only hope that this Evander was willing to help. Otherwise there was going to be trouble. "All credit for being brave Alanna, but you really ought to have let me take the lead." Adolin chastised. He drew his sword and twirled it in front of him, holding the Witcher's blade expertly in both hands while staying inside the protective shield. He was going to need a different form entirely for this. They were already on to him, there was no disguise left to be broken. "You're making a mistake soldiers." "You're right, I'm a Doppler. I'm what you're looking for, not her. She's more use to you alive. She's a powerful sorceress after all. This guy doesn't have anything to do with us really. We just met him on the road." He could clearly see the situation in front of him. There was no way in hell that they defied the law here and got out, all of them alive and intact. He had to do the best he could. He looked at Alanna and sighed to himself. I didn't do a very good job of being her captor. I actually started liking her. Now I've got no choice. Damn it morality. He looked Kyle in the eyes. "So take me, let her and the other guy go. Nice and easy, nobody has to die." "What are you doing you idiot? How are you going to destroy the Witch-" She couldn't believe that she was actually hearing this. No you idiot, you need to be the stubborn fool who refuses to give up and is hell bent on destruction. That's who I need you to be right now. I don't want a stupid white knight on a stupid white horse to rescue me. Damn it Adolin! "Doesn't matter right now. What's important is that at least one of us makes it out alive. If we fight, there's no guarantee that either of us will make it." He explained calmly. He looked at the leader of the guards. "Is that a deal that you can accept?" Half of him hoped that he said no, just so they could fight this out. He couldn't, not now. He wasn't going to risk Alanna dying in a pointless fight. His life wasn't so important. That ended when he slew Carrak of Cintra and sent himself down this path of destruction. He always knew how his story would end - In blood, and in fire. He just didn't think it would be this way, and so soon. "Yes... I think that what you say is true." Ardal agreed as Ellyn spoke to them. Her explanations and thoughts were sound. It was important that they did speak, he supposed. It would be cruel for her parents not to know what became of their child. Gordon shrugged when she turned to ask him. "Well, they're just people right? So long as Matilda is okay, then I guess I don't care." Gordon replied. "It'll just be a shame not to be able to see her much, that's all." "I never even thought about that..." Matilda spoke, reconsidering everything that she had thought. She pushed off her blanket and stood up, looking at Ellyn. "You're right... I would have made my parents so upset if you hadn't come here... They'd never have known... You're amazing, thank you. We should go to see them soon... Now if we can. I want to do this before I find a reason not to." Meanwhile in Pontarsfork... Dave Buttle forced himself out of his house, the rusty blade of his father in his hand. Bertha was clutching a pitchfork, and the remains of Pontarsfork armed with their tools waded out into the village square through the scents of death, decay and pestilence to see who had come to taunt them in their misery. It started with a child. He was thirsty and drunk from the well. He vomited with one sip, and in hours boils and oozing pustules flared up over his body. His parents tried to treat him, but they succumbed to the illness. It was too late before the infected family warned the rest of the village about the well. The only ones who were spared were the ones who had already gathered water beforehand. It was a miserable sight to behold. "Did you do this to us?" Dave spat. "Come to finish the job? Your gang of brigands doesn't scare us!" He was obviously lying. Even he recoiled in fear from the fell host in front of him, and the ruined shape of the man on top of the well.
"Hammer time? Yeah, I can see why you might be specialised in that art. Big ol' hammer you got there." He replied, making some casual conversation with the barbarian. "Err, no. My name is Russell." He started to laugh when the barbarian picked up who was revealed to be Kellan, who struggled profusely and started to kick him in order to get him to put him down. "Baldy I swear to the Father, put me down or I'm going to hurt you!" Why does this always happen to me? "Anyway, what do you care who I am?" "Well, sh*t. Phillius wasn't kidding when he said that you were going to come after us. And that you're an idiot." Russell answered. "He's here?" Kellan stopped struggling and focused intently on what the stranger was saying, who smiled amusedly because Baldomar was still holding him up and he looked quite silly. "Yeah. And a fair few of the Burning Blade. I don't know what you did, but we're meant to kill you on sight." Realising what he just said, he put his hands up in the air and backed away a bit with a nervous chuckle. "Not that I would do that! You guys just saved my ass from those wolves. I've got no loyalty to them, they're the ones that left me." "Good work, but I'd suggest we wait you two. I think there might be more going on here than we knew..." Aston gestured towards the conversation going on between Kellan, Baldomar and the guy they rescued whose name turned out to be Russell. "Sounds like some people here have history." He watched and listened intently with his hands resting on the hilts of his blades. What else did Kellan fail to mention, I wonder?
"No, not at all Anthea." Aston reassured her with an easy smile. "You've thought about something that none of us really thought of in all the rush. Well done. You're right, Kellan does seem to be in a rush, so without any directions we'd probably be sent charging off into whatever he seems to consider a good direction." He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes seriously. "You've got to understand something though Anthea, there's no out of line here. I realise that you're used to being below everyone because you've a history of being a servant, but you have to put that behind you here." He explained. He took one hand away and stood up straight. "We're all equals. If you need an order to follow, the only one you need is this - Do not be afraid to assert yourself and speak. If you think my judgement, Sanderson's judgement, Kellan's judgement or anyone here's judgement is wrong at any point, or you want to add something, you have every right to. In fact, I encourage it. The Gods know we need more thinking minds around here. I'm pretty rash at times." He released her shoulder and hooked his thumbs over his belt. "Just exploring? Weird way to explore, up by Fogwarden. Most people don't even know it's here. I'm not even sure how our leader found this place but for whatever reason, he's hauling ass to get there. There has to be something here. Maybe it's a load of treasure or something. After all, I doubt it's going to be because they're history enthusiasts." The still unnamed chap that they were talking to replied. "Also again, did you guys mention a Kellan?"
"I was expecting something more substantial out of you. I'll reiterate, what are Jayce's plans?" Jaden demanded, more aggressively this time. He didn't even wait for a reply. He had no expectations of a useful answer, that was not what this was about entirely. This was about something entirely different. "Onamakritos, burn her left hand. Men, put it out after five seconds. Let her experience the death that she would so happily have inflicted upon us. Take care not to burn the limb off. I want her to be able to use that hand." Some might consider it foolhardy not just outright crippling her, but it was meant to be a message to Jayce, to the whole Order - Jaden Samarost could afford not to cripple his enemies, because he was the one in control. He held all the cards. They just didn't know the extent of it yet. All of it was part of the game. Kalak nodded as Jayce spoke, outlining the mission details. What he was most surprised about was that he was being directed to lead the mission. That seemed to be more of Ashleigh's department, but he went along with it. Vasher's dark side wouldn't be getting out on to the field this time. A rescue mission suited a more rational mind anyway. "Very well, I shall lead. It won't be an issue. Besides, commanding will be... Refreshing." Perhaps they could make a difference here, try to catch the Shards off guard. He looked to the woman who had just volunteered for the mission. "Considering you skipped the last operation, I should hope that you're taking part in this one. Your eyes might be of use to us here. As well as your... Other talents." He knew of her abilities to manipulate blood, and the curious nature of her eyes. Regardless, he looked straight into them. With what was inside his mind, he needed not fear any hallucinations.
"Alastar is right. There's no need for you to die for this. I don't expect anything of the sort. I won't bring judgement." Derrick agreed. "It's simple, we just say nothing about it. Nobody will know anyway. For all they know, it could have been a pogrom that raided sanctuary causing the whole event to kick off. There's nothing conclusive to lead them to you, or us." What was done was done. and there had been enough death. He felt bad for causing this to her. Perhaps.... Perhaps it was a good thing that it happened though. The Veera that he saw in the city when they fought wouldn't have shown any regret. She was consumed by a rage and hatred that was only put out by sheer luck. "Once we're all healed up again... We should get back out there, doing our jobs." He spoke, nursing his shoulder. "I'm going to see the King. When we were in Oxenfurt I found evidence of the activity of Witch Hunters. I'm going to raise it with the King and see if I can make a contract. With a bit of luck, it'll be a big one. Maybe enough to live on for a while." Witch Hunters... Humans. Humans who tortured and kidnapped and most likely, killed. He remembered the state that Vyle brought the sorceress Teliana in, with her fingernails removed and bloodied. She looked like a mess. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her. They were monsters, and he was a Witcher. Steel and Silver were both for monsters. Alanna rolled her eyes. Really? They're going to make a big deal of this? She had to figure out a way of getting Adolin through here peacefully otherwise it was going to get violent. Very. "If you need proof, fine. But I accept no responsibility for any injuries sustained." Alanna looked at Kyle pointedly and clicked the fingers of a right hand and raised her left up. A rolling wave of energy barrelled forwards which would throw Kyle back, and a faint orange protective shield emerged in a dome around Adolin, Evander and her to prevent any magic or anything they might care to fire at them hitting them. "Now let me make something clear you pompous idiot, we don't have time for your posturing. A Witcher he may not be, but call him a fool again and he'll cut any of your jumped up street rat guards that you care to bring down. He's my protector, and he's killed a Witcher. Why do I need one? Because I can't be bothered to deal with every fool that tries to harass me. That's what he's for, getting rid of irritations. People like you perhaps." She put both hands on her hips, mentally maintaining the shield. "Enough evidence for you, or perhaps you'd like to waste more of our time?" She tapped her foot impatiently on the cobbles. "Well? I'm waiting."
"He had a woman with him? No, that can't be Bryce. And definitely not if they were nice. I don't remember seeing anyone that matches that pairing in Oxenfurt." He spoke, thinking out loud. "And Bryce definitely wasn't that sort of edgy. He was crazy, but he hadn't a shred of fear in approaching and taunting us. And the swords. Bryce only had the silver, sounds like this guy had both. That makes them someone different. I wonder who it was then..." He never would have thought that someone would have tried to pass on a message. Clearly, they were trying to get them to let Tatiana know, or to warn them that something might happen to her. The most bizarre part about it was that Alastar received some kind of death threat afterwards. It was inconsistent. None of it made sense. He sounded shaken, so maybe he was behaving irrationally. His consideration was broken by Treasa asking a question. One that he was hoping to avoid. "Ah. I say stupid sh*t when I'm mad. Veera, sit down. This might be a lot to take in." He had no idea how far back all of this went, so he would go back as far as he could remember. Derrick sat down on a blanket and threw one over to her to sit on, no point sitting on the slightly damp ground. He took a deep breath, looked her in the eyes and began to explain. "There's bits of the story missing, but I'll tell you as much as I can. Only Aaron would know the rest of it I think." "It all started in the Kaer. The day that a lot of strange people started making their way through. Veceslav was dealing with some people, it might have been a sorcerer that showed up out of nowhere, Kruez he said his name was. And he was an alchemist I think. That would explain why he was talking to Vec. As it happens, Solomon, that b*stard with those undead made a quick stop. The guy seemed off, but I didn't think much of him at the time. In any case, you approached me after I'd finished a run on the Gauntlet, and you seemed fired up. You were p*ssed. I've never seen you that angry before. You started talking about Dopplers, about your past. About how you hated them. And... And that you wanted to kill them. I didn't understand what was going on really, and I didn't want to follow you into that madness. You took it badly, and stormed off. You dragged Aaron with you too, because I saw yours and his horse were missing. I told Vec, and he left the Kaer in pursuit." Derrick recounted. "I set off later, unaware of where you or Vec were going. Olivia wanted to go to Oxenfurt, so she went on ahead of me and I followed. Little did we know that we were all bound in the same direction. I suspect Vec followed your tracks, I didn't pay attention." He waved his hands and shook his head. "In any case, this isn't about what I did." He interrupted himself before he got off track. "The next time we met was in the city itself, after I joined a friendly Higher Vampire by the name of Vyle, who you met in investigating the disappearance of his friend. I met Aaron then as well. We talked, he said that something had happened. He wasn't happy to talk about it though. I was meant to talk to you." That was the last time I saw him. I didn't even say goodbye properly. Unknown to him, his face took on a saddened expression as he realised. I hope that he at least knew that we cared before he died. He looked up at the sky. I'm sorry Aaron. "A-anyway, I opened up a secret tunnel and that's when you showed up Veera. You followed, figuring that we ought to stick together. And whatever happened - I have a sinking feeling that people were killed, the slaughter in the Doppler's sanctuary that Solomon mentioned - you didn't want to see Vec. I shoved you inside that warehouse, and tried to question you. You didn't tell me anything. In fact, you were angry. I probably could have handled that entire interrogation better." He recalled the snappy response and how she was so unwilling to talk. He could remember being concerned for what had happened, and even suspicious. "Anyway. we made our way into the tunnel which led to the sewers and followed the Vampire's lead. There was a Doppler with us, Vyle dragged him along to navigate us out. I don't know who he was, but he wasn't involved in the massacre that I know of at least. As soon as he caught the flash of sunlight, he was gone and we left you to deal with a handful of Drowners. At your own request. I guess you needed to take out something on them." This was when it happened. "Vyle had gone, but the Doppler was left. I knew what you were going to do to him if you had the chance, so I told him to run as fast and far away as he could. And then you appeared." He made sure that he was looking into her eyes when he was explaining this part. This was the important part. "You demanded to know where he was. I didn't tell you. I don't believe in pointless killing. Maybe I would have changed my mind if I knew what was coming, but nothing had been explained. I don't know if he even had anything to do with it. I didn't tell you, and I wasn't exactly polite about it. What I said enraged you. You drew your sword, so I drew mine." He smiled grimly. "You were so angry that you forgot all but the basics of technique. You even pulled your Silver on me. I noticed you looking at the notches in the blade. That was where you went for me and I had to parry." He took in a deep breath and released it. "You went for an all or nothing attack. I dodged and flanked you, sheathed my blade and knocked you out with a strike to the head. I only meant to knock you out... But apparently I ended up doing more damage than I thought. I carried you back to the room. And the rest, you know." He stayed silent for a few moments after he was finished explaining and looked away. "Take your time. I'll go over anything again if I need to. There's a lot to take in, I know."
Aedan saw Greenbeard approaching and was initially hopeful that he would be someone like himself. However, it wasn't quite what he expected. He wasn't quite as rude as the Night Knight, but he was definitely not as polite as he or Panola. However, he was one of them technically and he was trying to help people. There really wasn't anything else for it, was there? "Of course. We're here to help after all." The outside world wasn't at all what he thought it would be. One thing he did plan on reporting about it was that for the most part, with a few exceptions like Sanderson and Panola (Who was basically one of their people anyway), everyone outside was either weird or horribly rude. DId their mothers not teach politeness? He looked at Sanderson and the others. "I guess we'll see you guys later. Good luck out there." He looked respectfully towards Greenbeard, remembering how he was taught to respect his elders where he could. "Lead the way." He made a small bow.
He stopped when Veera called after him, and most surprisingly Treasa apologised for what she had said. He sighed and dismounted, then grabbed the reins and led the horse back to where was before. "Now you've all apologised about that, I can't leave can I?" Derrick spoke, once again setting up his things and speaking as he did. He'd attend to Veera last, for now he needed to pacify the two new people. And what Teasa said... "You're right. Aaron won't come back now. None of us will." He turned to Alastar and shrugged, trying to play it cool again. "No worries. No harm was intended and it's just been rough. Normally it'd be fine." He replied. "Wait what, you saw someone who mentioned a Witcher dying? Who was he? Tatiana..." He remembered the woman that he brought from the Kaer to Oxenfurt. The woman that he abandoned. He sighed. Another life lost. Maybe she survived? "Veera, you might want to hear this."
"Wait, you're serious. It's the wrong person?" Well this whole thing was pointless. Almost at least. However, there's something that we can do here. "Yeah, Caleb and I met her. It's a shitshow in there Aias. She's living in awful conditions." The young wizard had a severe look on his face as he recalled the squalid cell that the judge kept the poor girl in, for whatever nefarious purpose. He considered what Aias was saying carefully. If they did this it would mean that they were going to make a huge change to the entire town, but it had to be for the better right? This Judge Turpin character was evil, as evil as they came. He imprisoned a girl and was exceedingly cruel. "Alright... I know what you're thinking. And I agree." Dale decided. "Meet up in front of his house, pass the word around. We're going to give him a little surprise. We'll figure out the fine details when we're all together again." He hung up the communications crystal and looked at the promiscuous secretary who apparently had a drinking problem worthy of Edric but with none of the tolerance. "Keep the files, I don't need them anymore. Some friends of mine found out what we needed." Dale spoke. "It was nice meeting you, another time I'd have stopped for more drinking with you. However for now, looks like we have a judge to visit." I think I'm saved. The way this was going she was going to coax me into a hotel room or bedroom, or maybe even an alleyway. I can't tell how this woman might like it.
"This guy with the hammer, he has the right idea." The not-so mysterious stranger replied. "Saving people isn't really its own reward. Saving people and then earning a bit of cash for doing it, is." He had a very bleak outlook on life to begin with. Now his opinion had just got worse, being abandoned as he was. He turned to face the barbarian looking chap who actually wanted something. He did actually appreciate the other guy's sentiment, but he didn't want someone else to end up ditched by his friends. Rule one of life, don't get screwed. He checked his pouches and dug out ten gold and flipped it over to the barbarian, each coin individually because he could. "There. And to be honest... I'm not sure if I want to go back there..." He considered the matter carefully. He then realised something. "Wait, who the hell are you guys? And sorry, did you say you were here with a Kellan?" Kellan decided to remain tactically silent. He had a feeling that he knew exactly why the guy was asking, but he wanted to see how this was going to play out. The Knight of the Radiant Sword - the last knight - Watched with interest what the others were going to say to this. Depending on what happened next, he'd speak for himself. Right now, it suited him better to wait. In the meantime, Aston looked around at the others and noticed that Anthea seemed a little bit distracted by something. "Thanks for the help again." He said to the man who patched him up with a smile, and walked over to Anthea. It looked to him like she had something on her mind, and she wasn't going to say anything about it. She had serious confidence issues, but he hadn't the first clue as to how to break her out of her nervousness. "Something on your mind Anthea?" He asked, glancing around the forest himself. "Did you see something out there?"
"Yeah, I guess I should have been paying more attention. It's been a long day, you know." Long two days, but you wouldn't remember anything about that, would you? "Well, I hope that she winds up alright. It's hard for some people to believe, but I do actually give a sh*t when something bad happens to someone." And of course, trouble arrived. This time, not Treasa, but her Uncle who apparently had as much of a short fuse. He sat up, now irritated and twigged his shoulder. He cursed, feeling something warm on his shoulder. I ripped the f*cking wound open again. For f*cks sake. He got to his feet, his peace now well and truly disturbed and strode right for his horse. "For f*cks sake I was talking about the fact that you're a walking f*cking mammoth. Your crazy niece hating the sh*t out of me for no fault of my own is one thing, but now you're getting pissy? To hell with this!" Derrick strapped all of his things to the horse's saddle. It was impossible to get a break with these people. "This is f*cking stupid. It's been a rough couple of days, you know? I wanted a break, but look at all of this sh*t! I've got you on my case now, I've got this new slice of trouble, Aaron, basically a kid, died and the f*cker that did it waved his f*cking head at us, a massacre of innocent people just happened, one of our own is lost and might have gone the way of Aaron, and that is just f*cking today! Yesterday, mage kidnappers, friendly vampires and Veera tried to f*cking kill me!" He mounted the saddle and pulled out a strip of bandage and started to wind it around his shoulder which he'd torn anew and downed the second Swallow that Veceslav made him. "They did a sh*t f*cking job with me! Some Witcher I am! They f*cked up, because unlike all of you, I'm cursed with actually giving a sh*t!" He looked down at everyone, and the rage in his eyes turned to tiredness, and exhaustion. "I'm f*cking tired. So much sh*t has happened, and you're all a bunch of cheery f*cking individuals. I'm going to Novigrad, I'll get a job and probably f*ck a few people along the way, because that's an awful lot better than here!" He started moving away slowly, his arm not feeling ready for the strain of a full gallop quite yet. "Of course. She's here for a reason after all." Ardal replied. He sat down on the ground next to her and held her hand as she looked up at Ellyn to answer. "Because they hate Nilfgaardians, they pretend not to care, but they do. They'd never let me go." She replied, tightening her grip on Ardal's hand and sitting up to speak. "I love Ardal, that's why I left. After they're done here, I want to go back to Nilfgaard. With him. Ma and Da would never have it. They want me to stay there and work that farm my whole life, to live there and be a good farmer's wife here in this village. And I'll marry some slob who hits me, have his kids and live in misery. I don't want that. I want something better." She spoke passionately, as if she had been wanting to say this for so long, but had never had the chance or will to say it. She put her head against the shoulder of the corporal who stroked the back of her hair to comfort her and calm her down.
"Good work Onamakritos." She spoke, standing up and dusting herself off. She nodded at Aster, recognising that he existed and that he did help - Even if it was only a little. She approached the door. "Prisoner is secure." "Excellent work." Jaden spoke. He heard the clinking of chains coming down the corridor and looked to a soldier who was bringing better restraints. "Exactly on time. Now this time, we'll do what we should have done much, much earlier." The Inheritor opened the door and allowed his troops to file in. They occupied the walls, two of them relieved Onamakritos of Rose and held her up while the soldier with the manacles chained her arms and legs to the wall opposite the door. This left her unable to move herself anywhere - Exactly what was required. At this point, the Inheritor stepped in and appraised the prisoner. "So, you're the infamous Black Rose. There's not that much to you, is there? I expected more." He folded his hands behind his back and began to pace from wall to wall. He turned to her after a short period of deliberation. "I suppose that we should begin with the more banal questions. As usual, easy way or hard way. It makes no difference to me which you choose. Tell me, what are Jayce's plans? The strategy behind this new strike?" "These are new recruits. The Prince as you know has given his name, although the others have not." The Captain spoke. "Do you know their names? They don't seem too inclined to speak, the woman nor the machine." "Nothing that you can help with. At least, nothing that will make a difference at this juncture." Kalak replied, seeing the new person on the bridge. The Demi-God raised an eyebrow. "Jayce, Theo, who's our guest? And why exactly did Ashleigh storm out of here with the fury of a gale?" He passed her by on the way here and her face was worrying. Perhaps someone insulted her father again. That was a great way to set her off, so it was probably that. He'd ask her himself later on. Someone would need to calm her down before she let loose Anthem and Requiem on the furniture. Possibly Jayce's furniture, and he had some of his stuff stolen already today, it didn't need to get worse. "Anyway, there was a point to me coming here. When you're done dealing with... Whoever this is you might want to check your room." He wasn't going to embarrass his uncle by saying that someone broke into what should have been a highly secured ro- Oh who was he kidding? "Because someone managed to break in and escape with two halves of a Xanahammah and a cross-dimensional communication crystal that probably belonged to you. Unless it was the other broken hammer and crystal."
Apparently he'd poked the hornet's nest now, revealing a host of issues that he had no way of possibly knowing. He blinked a couple of times in surprise, not expecting to hear what he was hearing. Her judgement was unfair. To some extent, he knew that he deserved his reputation but for Veceslav? No. He was about as genuine as they came when it came to people. He disagreed with some of her conclusions, at least about his own personal views. Sometimes, perhaps it was like that. Sometimes it was a challenge, a game and then that was that. And sometimes people played along with that, and that was when it was the most fun. For the most part, Derrick considered most of his escapades not for any feeling of possession or manly pride, but simply for the love of the activity. He wasn't ashamed of what he had done, but he did think that her judgements were unfair, especially considering that she had no real understanding of his reasons, or the opinions of the people involved. The Witcher lay back on the grass and placed his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky. He heard Veera speak all of a sudden. He didn't adjust his position to speak. "I wish it was that simple." Derrick replied. "Apparently she just hates all things male. If she had an issue with me, I could even understand that to an extent - If I had hit on her, which I hadn't. But no, she judged me, though I see how she came to that conclusion, but I don't get her issue with Vec. She really is just a hateful person. Guessing something awful happened to her that made her hate men so much. Makes you wonder though, why does she wander around with a male Witcher, and a beast of a man at that, if she hates us males so much?" Adolin cursed under his breath and gritted his teeth as the guards approached. It was irritating, but they might be able to get through. In theory, he'd be able to lie through his teeth but if he couldn't, Evander and Alanna the two mages were going to have to provide some assistance. Damn it, Bryce you stupid *******. You've made everyone's lives harder. Should have become Carrak of Cintra before coming in here. It was stupid to walk in here with my real face. "I'm a Witcher, Bonhart of Metinna. Come up from the South in search of work. The city has a Doppler problem?" He inquired. Perfect. If I can pull this off, I might able to fool them into thinking I need some 'work'. "Alanna Tanette, sorceress. I was travelling with my companion," Alanna gestured to Evander. "When we met the Witcher on the road. He offered to accompany us here." Most city guards wouldn't think to ask any further than this. We should be in the clear. If this goes wrong, I'll put up a protective field and let Adolin handle the cutting them to pieces. Standard plan of action. Ardal's face looked genuinely grim when Ellyn posited the question. "It's an army camp. She went out to fetch some water one night... Only managed to intervene because she screamed and one of my men heard." He explained, folding his arms seriously and looking at the knight. "We ran over and she was being... Attacked. She got bruised up badly, but we managed to run off the whoresons responsible before anything happened." He took care not to give anything more specific. Her brother Gordon didn't look like the sharpest tool in the shed, and he looked young. He didn't want to disturb the poor boy, ignorant of the world. "If you want to visit the ones responsible, you'll have to go to the nearest hangman's post. The boys and I had them strung up." Ardal looked at Matilda. "You don't attack one of our own, even if she's not officially. She is to me and my lads."
Vance raised an eyebrow at her as she rammed into the door. He didn't even get the chance to interject before she threw herself headlong and heedlessly into the door which, to her credit, creaked open. He grimaced though, knowing that it was going to hurt her shoulder. And of course, now she remembered that he could do magic. He rolled his eyes and smiled as he entered the room. "You're so hasty Shani. Slow it down a little." Vance spoke, as he moved with the grace expected of his stature but deliberately slower to make a point to Shani, and to mess with her a bit. Knowing her, she'd pull off some weird impression of what he was doing later on. Not that it mattered to him. The thought made him smile. She was infinitely more fun than any of the doll-faced airheads or dangerously ambitious women that he'd have had to deal with back in his own society. They could really do with a few women like Shani, it would make things a lot more interesting. Sadly, energetic and slightly more revolutionary figures only came once in a few generations and he hadn't heard of any. Or if he had, he had long since forgotten out of disinterest. Now that he thought about it, it was a shame that the past him didn't know about his present tastes. It might have opened up a few new routes somewhere. His mind returned to the matter at hand. "Well, let's crack one of these open, as I believe you might say. This one should do, I think." Vance opened Crate 5. "Maybe we ought to ask some of them a few questions before they leave?" She added, trying to contribute to the plan. It looked like everyone had got it all together, and this stuff wasn't really her forté. She knew that submarines and stuff existed before, but now it was all becoming quite relevant all of a sudden. She never would have expected to have to deal with submarines and things in her life, but now she was. "If we kill them we'll never learn anything Lu, and I've had enough of death."
Vance smiled and held Shani there. He didn't have anything else to say to what she said, so he simply tightened his embrace and held the moment there for a while with a peaceful expression. He didn't want this moment to end/ Right now was the closest he was going to get to bliss, and he didn't want it to end. Eventually, he came to realise that they were here for a reason and released her. Still holding the smile on his face, now with a slight blush. "We should probably go look for what we were meant to be looking for. Whatever that was." He said a little sheepishly. He stood up straight and adopted a more business like manner. He was about to start moving, but he didn't. Instead, he looked at her again. "Thank you, that was... Nice. I hope- I hope that we'll have more chances like that in the future." After that, he collected himself again and returned to his usual manner. "Onwards!" Dale shook his head. "Not at all. I'm here with a few friends of mine. We're checking the place out a little." Dale answered. "And I'm just doing a favour for a friend. They don't know who their parents are, and they might be from here. And to be frank, your judge can go fu-" Two things happened at this point. His hand was forcibly placed on her inner thigh, but rescue arrived, namely from his pocket. The plot convenient communication device started going off, meaning that he was able to pull away to answer it. "One sec, I've got a call." He said, by way of explanation. He held the crystal up and answered the phone. "This is Dale, what is it?"
