The former foe merely nodded and agreed to the plan then went ahead to tackle Kala away from the soldier. He hadn't wasted a second and prepared the Ritual of Calming working as quickly as he could trying to concentrate with the practiced skill he had. It didn't exactly help that Kala started screaming, but Varraki started the chant of the Ritual and the more he progressed the more haze there was between him and the world around him so he didn't hear Veera shouting through the trance he ended up. His voice had changed into a soothing droning tone that would be invading Kala's mind in an attempt to calm her down. He continued along with the Ritual reciting the memorised words of the chant. The Prince's awareness was muddled his eyes looking at the dancing flames in the middle with nothing else around but foggy darkness as he performed the ritual. Zahariel sat quietly in the shuttle as it flew into the Shard base. The Inheritor had personally come to receive them, it reminded him a little bit of the Ancient days, but only a little bit since the splendour of these days was far grander than that was shown here. All soldiers looked a lot less impressive than the gathered might of the Custodian Legions and less colourful at that. Onamakritos was saying he wanted to help with the interrogation and that his flames would be of use in said interrogation. "You'd do well not to let the flames consume you." Zahariel said crypticly, hinting at the man's temper and that he should be careful if he were to do an interrogation. Zahariel brushed past Jaden without a word or a glance and moved to his own quarters, while it was larger than the other quarters out there, courtesy of the Inheritor for his services. It was a rather solemn place. It was perfectly clean and ordered like a monk's room. The Ancient God just locked the door behind him and threw back his hood. He detached the scaled chestplate and cloak and inspected the damage done to them. He undressed further until all that was left were the bottoms of his underrobes. He put his sword on an ornate standard decorated and took a few tools from a drawer, he proceeded with removing the actual bullets from his flesh and then cleaned and bandaged up the wounds, they would heal quickly enough. He washed himself with water from a large urn, as he had requested personally. Then he took out the repair kits for his robes several rolls of priceless yarn contained in them and repaired the several layers of robes that he wore and when they were repaired he washed the bloodstains out and put them back on. He then picked up his last piece of gear, the scaled armour and used a small raised coal furnace in the corner of his quarters to repair the damage to the metal armour. He wasn't an Artificer, but all the Custodiands all knew how to maintain their equipment. He had received ancient tomes with secrets of the Ancient gods on things normally not meant for Custodians because he had been left behind. After all the equipment had been repaired he fastened the sword back to the chain belt around his robes, put the hood of his robes back on, concealing his face and more of his pale skin and walked out. That Onamakritos was unsuitable for the interrogation, had no sense of when to stop or how restraint worked. He could be meditating but he was gonna bring this to the Inheritor's attention even if the man knew it himself. Plus there were other things he wanted to discuss with the man anyways a few inquiries he needed to make and out of everyone the Inheritor was one of very few people he didn't mind dealing with.
Hendrik was wandering the streets of New York, wanting to go home travelling the more quiet parts of the city. He had no need to worry about the dangers of wandering through alleys, he was a Nephilim and a skilled one at that. Turning into one of the alley he noticed that he was followed by two people. Hendrik took note of it and just walked on. Then when nearing the end of it two other people closed off the other end of the alleyway. Hendrik walked over when one held out his hand to stop him. "You ain't going anywhere, Nephilim." One lad with neatly combed back black hair said. Hendrik just looked at him wanting to push past, the two behind him caught up which left Hendrik surrounded, the Nephilim sighed. "I really don't have time for this..." The young lad just laughed at him "Can you believe this guy?" His companions joined in. Then from behind one of the people snaked an arm around his throat and that same young man smiled "Too bad, Nephilim, you'll die here." And with that he saw them for what they really are. The young man's fangs went for his neck, Hendrik's hand quickly went for his Seraphim blade and he shout out it's divine name, the glowing blade extending from the hilt. He elbowed the man that was holding him just below the ribs and used the moment to twist out of the grip. The boy however was still upon him and Hendrik lost his balance and fell onto the ground, the boy digging his claws into his shoulders. Hendrik roared out in pain and just brought the blade up digging it into the Vampire's side whose grip only tightened, Hendrik simply kept on pushing the blade further and further into the vampire's side until the young man let go of him and dropped to the ground writhing next to him. The other three didn't wait for Hendrik to get back up as once more one snaked the arm around his neck and pulled him to his feet. His bow and quiver dropping to the ground. Hendrik grunted, blood seeping from the deep wounds the claws left. He tried once more to get himself free from the grip of his oppenent only to fail. Hendrik started to see black spots sneak into his vision as in front of him another one of the vampires was preparing to sink his teeth into his neck and he could feel them as the claws dug into his sides and Hendrik screamed it out in blind rage, he didn't get his ass thrown out of Idris over his actions to die in an alley because the Clave couldn't even keep a cursed cup safe. He brought up the Seraphim blade into the gut of the Vampire that has draining some of his blood. Then he jumped up, pulled up his legs to his chest causing his entire weight to be forced to be held up by the Vampire trying to hold him. Hendrik slid between legs of the one cutting the back of the knees of the one and kicking him forward as he dropped onto his knees Hendrik Drove the blade through his spine. The last one leaped at him fangs bared and claws extended, the claws dug into the lower arm of his free hand, causing Hendrik to howl in pain even more as he drove the blade into the vampire's gut and twisted it. Following up by kicking the vampire off the blade. He roared at the skies in defiance, he collected the fallen bow and quiver. Driving one of the hallowed arrows into each and every single one of the Vampire's hearts and then stumbling on purely on the force of his anger. It wasn't too far now, he had drawn a simple healing rune with his stele but he knew it wouldn't do too much for him with all the wounds and blood he was still losing. He had torn some pieces of cloth to try and bandage up the wounds a little bit, but he only half-assed it. This was the price he paid for being too damn stubborn to take a cab. He reached the Institute as he was on the edge of his strength, feeling his mind float free. This was it then wasn't it? Death was on the doorstep waiting to knock. He opened the door to the Institute and entered the elevator, pressing the button. He felt himself slide back against the wall and down onto the floor. The deep gashes on his lower arms and sides still slowly bleeding. The clear marks of a vampire's bit on his neck. Numerous smaller scratches he hadn't even noticed he had received in his blind rage and the deep rents in his shoulders that stained his blackened Nephilim armour all becoming too much as he felt himself slip into the darkness.
His Scion had admitted his wrong and Veceslav had accepted the younger mans apology, he had helped him to try and find his sister but they didn't find Tatiana. They stuck close throughout the night and since Aaron had mentioned a battle he used the time during to night to prepare oils, potions and bombs. Not just for himself but also for the others sharing some of his alchemical concoctions with Aaron. Relict Oil, White Raffard's decoction, Thunderbolt, Tawny Owl and a set of bombs he handed to his younger collegue. He had seen Veera about and well with the new day ahead of them he wanted to find her, if only to make sure she was still alive. Then they could get the hell out of here before this so called battle started and get this all sorted out. Prepare the Kaer in the event of their opponent being so bold that they wanted to pursue. Then however he heard it, the sounds of battle Aaron said something about the battle not being supposed to start at noon. Well never trust your opponent to stick to the rules. He followed his younger scion applying a combination of Relict and Crinfrid oil on his Viper school Silver sword and followed Aaron into the streets, what looked like a well equiped militia was going into the homes of the innocent to pillage and kill. Aaron questioned the Dopplers' Veceslav gave them no such treatment and coldly stepped towards them. He would stick close to Aaron, they had to until they found Veera and Derrick who were somewhere out there. "Stick close, we gotta find the others" He told his younger scion, they were spread too thin right now as it was to fight. He stood next to his scion and in a set of controlled swings sent down a few dopplers screaming in agony as the silver sword bit into their flesh and the oil bit into the wounds. Veceslav moved up the street at another group of oncoming Dopplers, Veceslav took a dragon dream's bomb and threw it following up with a flick of the hand resulting in gauts of flame speeding forward igniting the flammable gas that the bomb spread. The dopplers engulfed in the resulting flash fire dropped to the ground and Veceslav walked past stabbing each as he passed. He fought on through the street, using the silver sword and rallying any humans he passed, he needed all the support he could get, saving humans who would back him up as thanks. As Veceslav's group started to grow in numbers it also gained momentum sweeping through the streets, he had to find the others. Veceslav leading the peasants, he himself making a lot of difference for those who followed him as he skilled swordsmanship drew the dopplers to him after all he was a witcher and unbeknownst to him he had a price on his head. But as the dopplers were distracted by Veceslav his civilian compatriots blindsided the dopplers. Down the street he saw a larger group of dopplers converging on one point, Veceslav went forward leading 'his troops' forward the skirmish that ensued was deadly for both sides, dopplers and humans fell alike. Veceslav himself got a few stabs but he went on regardless especially when he saw the reason these people were converging there. Derrick had been cornered and Veceslav wasn't going to let his scion die here. Attempting to carve a path towards the witcher, doing so resulted into a stab into his side and in anger Veceslav blasted to the side with Aard, trying to get to Derrick. Raymond had noticed that during the night people started to leave the city and when he had asked about it they said they were fleeing the war, but the war wasn't even close. It was beyond the Yaruga not even close to the Pontar. He wasn't gonna leave his home instead he slept well and equiped his Aedirnian armours and stayed inside barricading inside his home, preparing for the worst. The King wouldn't permit a war inside the city now would he? The King wouldn't allow a city like Oxenfurt to fall to rioting right? it was too important for that. Raymond hadn't seen the witchers since that one day and well he prayed to Melitelle they returned because he didn't want to be caught alone here. The barman of the Golden Sturgeon had a quiet day when just serving drinks to a few sailors when two people came in, a young lad and a girl. He looked them over carefully the girl was injured or something and when they sat down at the bar he asked them what they wanted to drink. Then they asked the question meant to contact Sigmund. "Well there'the usual Salmon, Trout, Cod and Pike. Looking for anything specific? And can I get you two anything? You look like you got a long journey behind you." The barman said leaning on the bar.
Conrad didn't exactly catch what she whispered after he had spoken, but he had noticed her body stiffening. This boded ill and when she started speaking his thoughts were confirmed. Just when he thought he had fully grasped the extense of their cultural differences another look revealed yet another divide. She looked at him with hard eyes, she had seen through his faked confidence. Then again he hadn't really been a great liar. The question she asked he couldn't answer, as she clearly didn't understand the concept of a white lie... She told him to go and lie to Rayyad instead and she then stomped off into the distance. He called her name after her telling her to wait, to come back, but she kept on going. Meanwhile Rayyad was throwing a tantrum about how it was unfair that they had judged him for his plan and Conrad looked at him and said "While we do not know what it has been like what gives you the right to damn someone else to such a fate?" Tessa had broken out into a run and if he had any hope of sticking together he had to go after her now. Stick together in an unfamiliar environment to improve your odds of survival. The lesson was simple and it had been hammered into him by his drill instructors, yet he was close to failure to comply with the lesson and it had been his own damn fault. He ran after Tessa calling out for her to wait up, while he had the endurance to keep going in the heavy armour for quite a while it still weighed him down and she was slowly but surely gaining on him, he pushed himself further and further willing himself to catch up to Tessa, but he was pushing too far and before long he stumbled to his knees feeling the contents of his stomach well up and spill out of his mouth. In the moments he took to throw up he had lost her and was left all alone, trying to get his heavy breathing under control. He wiped off his mouth and cursed softly, his anger mainly directed at himself, he stood back up and walked to the closest ruin and sat back down resting, putting his back against the wall, pulling his knees up and while keeping his elbows on top of his knees his hands went to the opposite shoulder, his lower arms forming an X against which he leaned his forehead. Leona had been right, he was a poor excuse for a soldier that wouldn't do his comrades any good no matter what had happened or how they thought about him, he still saw them as his brothers in arms. He had lost his way in the chase through the city and lost the only familiar face around. To make matters worse the one guy that knew the way around this damnable place was now pissed at them. While before he had a little bit of hope of getting out of here alright, everything just seemed to fall apart. No matter what he seemed to do he'd always make that misstep somewhere along the line. He had regained his breath and rested, thought the entire situation through. It wasn't a time to feel lost, he had been a soldier after all and technicly speaking he was on-duty and this was no way to behave on duty. Both Tessa and Rayyad may have been angry at him for different reasons but that still didn't mean that he didn't care. Tessa was a teammate and while she was mad about a white lie, he couldn't let her on her own, teammates always supported each other setting aside personal feelings but seeing he had lost her that was out of the question and perhaps for the best, since he'd do well to just let her anger cool a bit. In the mean time maybe he could help Rayyad out, after all the man said he had needed protection if he was gonna lift the curse of binding. He'd have to find Rayyad help him break the spell and then they could all go home, just as he had promised. This expedition was a test and he was glad Shyra hadn't been there to see him in that pitiful state. He'd prove her wrong, and not just her Leona as well eventhough she wasn't present. He got up with newfound purpose and tried to navigate the city back to Rayyad's place.
Vance decided to take the chance to speak he had been given and tolerated his presence at best, mostly because Thea forced him to accept his presence. Thea's outburst while only partially justified resulted in an increased pressure on his leg, he gently removed her grasp from his leg and wiped the tears away, telling her to take it easy, to take deep breaths. "She isn't asking for perfection, Vance and you're forgetting that I haven't met all the people in the world either or been adventuring for years. Sure I learned things by looking after my own younger siblings, but that's it. All she's asking is that you're there when she needs it and help her grow as a person. And that doesn't require perfection, after all I can do it and I am far from perfect." Conrad started of he had the difficult task of standing in the middle. "Thea, you must understand that your father was an older man and any comparrison to him is a bit unfair to Vance, he doesn't have the life experience that your father had, he wasn't ready to take up the mantle of responsibility for you. And yes you don't exactly make this easy, but you are far from a demon child. Just a bit lost." His tone had softened deliberatly when talking to Thea, Vance should understand he didn't want both of them to experience a fiery death. Thea was upset badly by Vance's words which was understandable and as she yelled back at him and he could feel the temperature rise, but he didn't have time to react to it. Thea was angrily pointing everyone to get away and flames shot out. There was no time to get out of the way as the blue flames illuminated the cavern more and washed over him. He felt the heat on his face and heard Thea cry out. The force of the flames pushed him off balance and he fell. In that moment all the memories of this happening with Tessa and Vance. He felt a shot of pain at the memories and landed on the cavern floor. He got back to his feet and he could feel the light burns on his skin, it wasn't anything serious and he would be fine. He wanted to go to Thea who was asking for her father, her real father yet Vance had already scooped her up and was holding her as he walked over he caught her saying she had to make do with him. "You're only right in the first part, Vance, but that's it I get you're trying to make up for your shortcomings earlier, but she doesn't have to make do with you if she doesn't want to, she still has a choice in all this. Whether you like it or not. It's sad to hear how you lived your life before coming to this Guild and it's understandable that it is giving you problems. Perhaps you should sort out your own problems first before trying to help others with theirs and take up responsibilities you can't uphold." Conrad said calmly, Thea still had a choice in this and while he wasn't saying it bluntly he thought it might be better for him to let her go
Baldomar looked around the fork of the road, doing a better job at it than Kevin who was just looking down the bloody road as if he had seen the Headless Horsemen down there. Some bloke said that they should go right because of the M on the signpost "Oy where's the M in the name Fogwarden keep? Honestly it sounds like an idiotic idea to go with that logic." Baldomar said, then his brown eyes caught something it was part of the other sign that had been broken it was marked with an F. "See we should go left, take a look at this" He said throwing the sign he found at Artie "F as in Fogwarden, I say we go left because it seems all the more sensible than going after a bloody M when our destination starts with an F." "So you were going to trap one of us down here? I mean I understand you want to get out of here and all but do you truly want to damn someone else to such a fate?" Conrad said indignantly, that was low especially since he had been playing so nice, pretending he didn't want to hurt them. After he had explained the plan Tessa walked out of the house saying she needed some air. She may not have caught what Rayyad congratulated him with. The totem would be down in the mines. "Yeah we'll protect you, might take the others a bit of convincing though, now if you'll excuse me..." Conrad said as he also left the house to go find Tessa, watching from the door opening he saw her sitting on the steps in front of the house, he walked over knowing she'd hear the sound of his armour and sat down next to her taking note of her difficulty breathing."Easy, easy, everything will be okay. " He said, the tone of his voice calm and soothing "It's gonna be alright, Tessa, no one is gonna be trapped here, alright? Not you, not me, not him. I won't let it happen" He said trying to reassure the girl. "The others are probably missing us now and are coming here, together we'll break the curse and everyone can go home." He looked at her his face showing confidence which was partially faked but he hoped she didn't catch on to that.
"The history books or the populace will not be so discriminate. A Witcher present at the killing whether he drew his or her blade or not will all be branded as murdering freaks. As I taught you but clearly not damn well enough you know damn well that dopplers like Higher Vampires and Succubi are sentient monsters and should be treated as humans. Sigmund will know what to do and he will punish him fairly you can be sure of that. Now if you would open your goddamn eyes. And sure you want me to say it? Fine she is your ****ing sister, you blame us for getting her into dangerous situations yet you abandoned her in the first place." Veceslav's words once more were like knives, she wasn't his charge to keep and it wasn't his fault in the first place she was now here in the city. "And for the record, you shouldn't be looking at me, I left her in the care of Derrick and Olivia and while the latter is a bit of a numbskull, Derrick is quite trustworthy, because you two decided to go on a genocidal crusade against all Dopplers and I came after you to stop this utter idiocy before it starts, though if what Sigmund told me was true, I guess I am already too late... I might as well go back to the goddamned Kaer to prepare the reception of another angry mob." That last part was loaded with venom, more than the young witcher had ever seen of him. "And remind me to kill you the next time you break the laws, seeing that is obviously the way you think this world works."
Hendrik easily kept up with Rhett as they went from rooftop to rooftop the wolf's excellent sense of smell leading the way. Then at the edge of a rooftop Rhett stopped and had jumped down. Hendrik followed his example, not the greatest idea he had ever had as pain shot up his legs as he landed and the expression on his face turned into one of discomfort for a moment. Rhett went back and forth through the alley until stopping at something. A door. "We got you now you son of a *****..." Hendrik muttered He nodded to Rhett as he carefully touched the door handle, the door had been left unlocked either this guy was outright cocky or he wasn't there anymore. He opened the door, drew his Seraphim blade and spoke it's holy name out loud "Azrael" while in his free hand he held a witchlight as he walked into the building. It was quite dark so the Witchlight was a blessing, funny how the criminals thought that the darkness could protect them from the divine light of justice. He soon came upon a room that contained the heads of his victims. Hendrik ignored the grissly trophy gallery and searched the entire place to no avail. Masque was gone, he looked to Rhett "He's gone... you able to find any other trail?" He asked the wolf, so close only to slip away once more. Damn it. Then a voice rang out, it spoke clearly of the Mortal Cup, and how this person was in the possesion of it. The Cup was used to create the first Nephilim and could be used to create more, but in the wrong hands... And only one was still remaining? Which one was it? The mirror or the Sword? He was unaware which were still in their possesion, but this was pretty bad. It had gone from bad to a complete charlie foxtrot. All downworlders were encouraged to rise up to the Nephilim, he looked at Rhett "Don't even think about it...." He said, glaring at the wolf "This seems like a dead end to me and furthermore something more important just popped up, if you want to tag along, tag along and if you don't then I guess our partnership ends here, which would be a shame now wouldn't it?" Hendrik walked out of the building again, resheated the blade and went on his way toward the Institute, he could have taken a cab or anything but he wanted to walk.
Conrad listened to everything Rayyad had said answering his questions. An eight feet tall totem? Okay then, wait if he didn't like going deeper into the caverns, maybe it was down there? Seeing he probably hadn't checked there yet. He took the cup of tea and when Rayyad apologised that there was no milk, he smiled and said "That's alright, don't like milk in my tea anyways." His thoughts went over the totem idea again "Say, could it be possible they hid the totem deeper into the caves if they knew you wouldn't go there anyways because you didn't want to be enlightened?" He asked then it happened though, just like before the change in voice and Rayyad backed away, Tessa immediatly got up and knelt next to the shaman. She looked back at him, her eyes pleading him to help her, help Rayyad. He carefully walked over a bit more guarded because of the change in voice, but it seemed that Rayyad himself had no intention of warning them. "We'll help you, Rayyad." He said to the man "We won't leave you here on your own." No man deserved to be trapped on their own, no wait there were a few of them like the worst criminals then again executing those was a lot easier and saved taxpayers money. He was glad that he wasn't on his own down here, eventhough he still partially felt left out because he didn't know what it was like to be so in touch with nature he wasn't alone here with Rayyad and he was glad he was here too not wanting to think about Kara, Tessa or Laurentinus ending up here alone.
Veceslav looked at his younger collegue who was angry at him. Which was quite understandable, but that didn't justify it. He let the younger witcher vent all his anger and sheathed his sword. "Are you quite done now?" Vecsalv said, it had been a mistake to be so easy on him all friendliness that had been on his face had turned stone cold. "He isn't going to, I sent him to Sigmund for a reason. As for your sister, we're witchers first and foremost, monster hunters, we are to act as we see fit. Killing this man would have left the girl in the same situation as your sister. This should be taken into consideration, not staring yourself blind at one piece of the larger picture. You are letting your emotions cloud your reason and yes I might be rather lenient here. You want him dead, it ain't the answer, be pissed at me go ahead. After all you yourself have set on a genocidal crusade against dopplers so what does that make you huh?" His tone was sharp every word meant as a cold stab. The one Witch hunter who stood over Ana died instantly as Batman Vyle landed upon him, while he was distracted with Ana the others melted back within the thicket and spread out surrounding the pair, the five of them were evenly spaced around the two and when Vyle started to move with the intent of going back to the city they struck. From the thicket dimeritium crossbow bolts flew, two towards Teliana one of which struck in her left shoulder not too far from her heart. And the other three flew towards Vyle coming from behind him.
Conrad just tagged along Tessa began to talk about loneliness something Rayyad seemed to understand and he felt left out. He hadn't really known the sort of loneliness they described that no one understood their struggles, he wanted to ask if they had tried to make someone understand there were always people who would make the effort to understand, but he'd probably just be making himself look like an ignorant outsider. He was certain there was some sort of cultural divide here and made a note of it to maybe talk about it all later if there was a later. Conversations with rabbits well that's a first he had heard about that. "One can still catch a glimpse of the former glory in those ruins and there isn't much one man can do and I must say you've done one good job at maintaining what you could." Conrad said, he was genuinely impressed by the architecture of the kingdom, even in it's ruined form. When they finally were inside he sat down as the Webber Prince started off his story, Hirokir the nextdoor neighbour wanting to wage war on Tyrrus or vice versa it didn't matter who wanted to kill who. He did agree with the fact that humans were quite the territorial creatures valuing a safe home above anything. Well there was an artifact binding him here somewhere that prevented him to leave, he felt sorry for the man. "Do you know what happened to the people who lived here? I mean judging by the city it must have been an impressive Kingdom and those don't tend to vanish easily. And I get it the passage must be guarded in some way to prevent us from fighting but wouldn't it be better to go back to the status quo by sealing the passage off entirely on one side? And this artifact got an idea of where it might be?" Conrad inquired the questions raced through his mind so the artifact was here to bind him there so he would be there to guard the passage. It was all connected and maybe the removal or destruction of the artifact would free this man. He realised he had been wrong once more in wanting to kill this man before then again it would have been self-defence but his hands would still be stained with the blood of the innocents. The man then asked them why they were in the village since he hadn't seen them there before. "Well it's correct that you haven't seen us before we only arrived last night. We're part of a group that was supposed to go to the Darklight Caverns I don't exactly know why we were supposed to go there, but that is just how we ended up in the village." He explained to the best of his ability. "I mean I'm not even remotely from around here, hailing from the east and all that."
The Andaran Prince had pressed off several shots in Requiems direction when his original target appeared in front of him, he noted the bloody shoulder, hence why the blade had fallen away. She pointed her sword at him and he flipped the switch selecting full automatic fire and kept the muzzle pointed at Veera and his finger lingered near the trigger as she explained to him why she needed his help saying that the poor fellow already had enough to deal with with the demon going after him. As she lowered the sword so did he lower his rifle, atleast that took some of the explosive air in this discussion. "I will not assist you in the capture of that girl. However I am willing to help you in getting that comrade of yours out of harms way. I do need a little time to prepare the Ritual I can't guarantee it works but it's worth a shot, if it works the girl will calm down, you can take your comrade and get him out of there. Do we have a deal?" Varraki proposed to his opponent after the agreement had been struck he went with Veera and when closer to Kala started to prepare and perform the Ritual of Calming.
Rayyad seemed to atleast have a little bit of a soft spot for Tessa or that's what he gathered from him loosening the webbing a little. He didn't say a thing, he doubted he would get the same treatment especially after the freak out about those three spiders, then again he had been ignored after he had been secured anyways and while this bloke said he had a job for him he didn't have a very good feeling about it all. And he didn't exactly have the same problems or atleast to the same extent as Tessa since his armour had given him just that little bit of extra room to breathe, but he bit through it. They had been carried throughout the forest and Tessa had tried bargaining with Rayyad, he was touched by this gesture, but thought it wiser not to say anything. They entered a cavern through a large stone door and when it sealed behind them something unexpected happened. Rayyad removed the webbing freeing both Tessa and himself again, first order of business for Conrad was grabbing his greatsword and putting it back in it's sheath. After what had happened earlier he didn't exactly like his odds with these two so it was best to follow along. So this bloke was supposed to become the webber prince? Well I guess it made sense he was so pissed about the spiders. "Rayyad... if I may call you that. About those spiders... I am terribly sorry, I had let myself go too much, I am just used to my comrades holding me back just like I hold them back... It's inexcusible what I did to them..." He said walking alongside Tessa, he didn't look at her since he still felt like it had been his fault they were here, the guilt visible on his face.
Conrad was rather uncomfortable being carried around by the giant arachnid. This bloke explained to him that he only needed Tessa in his home in the caves, he made a note of that. Whatever happened he needed to stay alive if only to get her out of there. So he swallowed the smart-ass remark about Rayyad not doing his own damn work and just have others do the dirty work. It'd probably be better not to piss him off, after all he needed to stay alive and as much as he hated it, he felt like his life now depended on the whim of this man. "Well, what is it that I gotta do for you then?" He asked politely, if he had to do some job then he might as well know what he was going to get into and maybe find ways to stall enough before the others would come for them. Damn it all, just damn it all, what if he hadn't followed Tessa she would have been all alone here. This was all his fault Conrad the Killer a name he would have been proud of in the army, but now it was weighing down like a mark of shame, not because he had damned himself, but also because he had damned Tessa. He felt like it had been the biggest bloody mistake of his life to come to this society. All he did was damning others.
The Andaran prince hadn't exactly expected what was going on but it had made more sense now. His target decided to ignore him now and started to run just like the foe that had appeared out of bloody nowhere. The redcloaked girl however had changed and he began to place the pieces together. Could this be one of these mythical creatures from Andaran Lore? One of those his father had told him didn't exist anymore because they had been relentlessly hunted? He couldn't be sure and while a part of him screamed at him to simply get away as far and fast away as possible, but this was a unique opportunity. His father couldn't say he had met something like this nor could his grandfather of that he could be sure. He stood up and moved over firing off single shots at Requiem as he went over, firing from the shoulder taking a moment to take aim and steady as he fired the shots. He remained at a bit of a distance though it never hurt to be careful around the beings of myth.
Conrad had been right to be guarded about this stranger. He answered Tessa's remark regarding the spiders and good intentions "No, just let myself go too much..." He said with a rather saddened tone. Then this stranger started to go one as to how he lived in rainforests but that these forests were much nicer. He invited Tessa to visit his home sometime. Funny how Conrad had been accused of wanting to find a mate, this guy wasn't even hiding it. Oh well why did he care about that. Then this guy started to freak out at the sight of him. Conrad only stared with a darkened expression on his face. "Tessa... run.... now!" He shouted, the man was going absolutely mad about how he had killed the spiders while he could have let them flee, by the Guardian was everyone just going to yell at him for that now? "Oh of course you just wanted to scare us away and not get anyone hurt, yet you send others so your own skin isn't on the line. I may be a heartless ******* for killing these spiders, but atleast they're off to the afterlife together. Not one left behind to suffer the loss of his mates." Conrad retorted as he drew his greatsword, he had enough of this man already. And this time it would self-defence and defending others. However shadows appeared on the forest floor and the skittering sound. Conrad had the intention of charging this ******* and end this little incursion before it had got even started. However it was not to be so as he started to move he felt sticky silk fall over him and Conrad was struggling against the silk to free himself but he was janked to the ground, his blade had fallen from his grasp but still stuck to the silk. He was dragged towards the spider and as he was dragged towards the truly titanic spider he struggled against the bonds a few small strands snapping but at large the silk held. Conrad futily struggled as the spider secured him. He looked towards Tessa whom this ******* was holding. "I'm sorry...... I'm sorry...." He whispered looking at her, feeling this had all been his fault while part of this was just bad luck. "Let her go damn it, I killed those spiders, she doesn't have anything to do with this!" He shouted, but he knew he wasn't in a position for demands. Baldomar just listened to the girl with a rather amused look on his face. "Well everyone is like that when they grow up, they don't feel like they'rep repared to fly out and be independant adult in this world. You can't prepare and learn everything some of it is just falling and getting back up but you can learn a lot of the survival skills. I could teach you a few things about that, like which mushrooms to eat and which ones not to eat if you don't want your intestines on the floor." Baldomar stated with a laugh, it was one of his favourites, then again that bloody Greenbeard was a ******* and had found a mushroom he didn't know. "Well, I don't really trust people all too much, Kellan sure, he's my mate. Now ain't that roight?" He called over to Kellan "I wouldn't sit around to see if it happens, but rather prepare for it so when it does happen you'll not be off as bad and atleast save yerself, little girl." Once more during the carriage ride Baldomar had been sleeping like a rock, he just didn't care at all whatsoever. He loved hiking and was a bit saddened he had to hold back for the others then when they finally arrived there was something about old roads and he didn't really pay attention then Kellan asked them to choose either left or right some signpost to the right said M. Baldomar just started to look around for he wanted to make an informed decision like any responsible adult would at an election.
Milosh was just sitting there knitting a sweater since it was bloody cold outside and he had nothing better to do. When the sweater was finished on the front it read I <3 Mum and Milosh left the base to go deal with something else. He had left that sweater near an open book about basic alchemy the first line reading. "The first law of Alchemy, to get something what you want, you must be prepared to sacrifice something of equal worth." Milosh had an imprtant meeting and was on his way to the Inn at the crossroads travelling on main roads without his insignia but full armour like any soldier or mercenary. Spoiler: This time not Milosh but actually Jaroslav kiddies, be warned Jaroslav lead Teliana to a clearing in the woods, unbeknownst to the little mage however they were being watched from the shrubbery which had been requested by some knights who said Ni Jaroslav stopped in the middle of the clearing and unsheathed a small dagger. The friendly look on his face had disappeared and replaced with a coldness similar to the one that Milosh possesed. In one quick motion, executed expertly as if it had been practiced dozens of times before, he slashed through the clothing the knife biting deep into the flesh of her thigh. Jaroslav didn't look back and walked across the clearing to where the others were waiting. And that is when the sound boomed across the clearing the crows flying from the trees in large flocks cawwing as they went. The sound of a warhorn followed by the enthousiastic shouts of men. The horn boomed again and again until it had sounded ten times in total the sound, then they came a handful of Witchhunters armed with blades and crossbows appeared from the shrubs, Jaroslav had left the site and went back to base as his compatriots started their hunt. Seth had willingly let himself be marked as agreed upon, but things quickly went sour as Aaron ignored what he had said and went in for a kill, he wanted Seth dead and while it was understandable it wasn't the right thing to do in this case. He put his silver sword back in it's sheath and then drew his steel sword. He pushed Seth behind him and placed himself between Aaron and Seth "Seth, go now, while there is still time. I'll take care of this." He told the man not looking at him. Then Tessa threw a dagger at Aaron and he recognised it as one of his own. When did she get that? No matter. "NO BOTH OF YOU GO! DAMN IT!" Veceslav was getting angry he turned to Aaron with the same anger clear on his face. He cast an Aard sign to blast the younger witcher backwards, he was reluctant to kill the young witcher but if he was forced to he would not relent. It would be a loss, a waste of life, but if there was no other way then Veceslav would end it in that way with a heavy heart.
Kara of course kept on going down the path of annoyance thinking something had transpired between him and Tessa. He let out a sigh "Damn it, Kara, the joke is really starting to annoy me. Nothing happened between us and I am honestly getting tired of this bloody joke." Conrad said unable to keep the anger completely out of his voice. The insinuations were wrong and they cut deep into him he didn't exactly show it but they hurt him. Then he heard Tessa next to him she was going back into the woods and since everyone else decided to go to town he figured it best to stick with Tessa, leave none on their own and all. He followed Tessa without saying a thing, when Tessa hugged the cool bark of the tree he was rather surprised it was an odd thing to do then again she hadn't exactly been understanding of all their customs either so there was a bit of a cultural divide, it was rather interestinghe had always wanted to learn new things. "It's not as funny a joke anymore once you're part of the target, isn't it?" He said his voice calm, he wasn't angry at her, especially now that she understood how he had felt on the carriage. "Because people have intentions some better than others and their actions might not always reflect their intentions. Good intentions might be taken as bad intentions because of the actions taken, like on the carriage..." He said his voice trailing, why did he have to bring that up again. Then something he didn't exactly expect happened. He heard a voice one he didn't recognise. He looked rather odd and Conrad remained guarded with this stranger who introduced himself as Rayyad. Conrad decided to return the favour. "I'm Conrad. Just Conrad." He stated simply.
Veceslav turned to Seth who thanked him, he had heard he was dead broke so Veceslav held him a small pouch of coin. "I know what you did to Tatiana, normally it would warrant death, and I think both of us know that pretty damn well, your one saving grace..." He started in a low voice nodding to Tessa "She is the only thing keeping me from murdering you on the spot. I hope this has been a lesson for you and I am willing to let you go, on one condition. I know damn well you can change appearance and you could still continue your little sadistic adventures. You are going to get marked something you can't shift away and I'll let you go. There's a friend of mine in Novigrad by the name of Sigmund, he'll help you you need to look around in the Golden Sturgeon ask the barman what fish came in today and if he asks you about anything specific ask about a swordfish." He told the man and drew the silver sword motioning him to wrap his hand around the blade for the mark. He had caught Veera walking past, but he had to deal with that later he turned back to Aaron "I am gonna regret askin this but you mentioned a battle what in the name of Melitele have you gotten yourself into?" He asked, when he asked where Tatiana was he began to realise she had left he had been so focussed on Tessa that he hadn't exactly noticed where she had gone off to. "We ought to look for her." Spoiler: More of Milosh and co so be warned Kiddies it ain't pretty The little mage was starting to spill what she knew, she really had given up easily. He tightened the screw until he was sure it was digging into the bone of her fingertip. Without saying an aweful lot he destoryed the finger nails of the pinky fingers. He put the Turka away as Egon came walking in a whispered something in Milosh's ear. "Ah, it would appear that I have something more important to do now, is there anything else you want to tell me, before I go to that slippery mate of yours who nearly got away? He's in the next room especially for you so you can hear him sing." Milosh said nearly turning away going for the door waiting her response at the door. It was a lie they hadn't caught the runaway mage at all but she didn't know that and she had been putting in an effort to make sure he got away. He heard her out and then left her in there, they imitated the sounds of torture in the next room just to tick her off a little bit more. Then it was Jaroslav's part to be played, he entered the torturer's chamber and removed the fingerscrew and cleaned and cauterised her bleeding fingers using an iron poker telling her to be as quiet as possible. He told her he was gonna get her out of there. Unshackling her from the metal rack, he told her he couldn't unshackle her because he didn't have the keys to the shackles around her wrists. Milosh and Egon were busy as were all the other Witch hunters in the base they were either out on hunts or inspecting some of their more lucrative ventures or picking up shipments. He lead Ana out of the cave and into the forested area past the grave of young Dragan. Jaroslav supported Ana when she stumbled helping her along telling her there wasn't much time before Milosh would find out and come after them. Adalwulf only grinned as the vampire realised his mistake in attempted to hear him out. He took the words fanatical creature as a compliment and laughed until Vyle knocked him into unconsiousness. Bernard was still chasing Zephyr unbeknownst to the fate that his comrade had befallen.
Conrad had found himself sound asleep rather quickly the nighttime sounds of the forest rather soothing as he drifted off to sleep. He slept rather peacefully completely oblivious of Alice stalking them or Kara and Shyra's little disagreement inside the Inn. During the night he had moved, he was completely unaware of it but he woke up when Tessa stirred next to him she had rested her head on his shoulder and his own arm had be slung around her waist. He was only half awake still and took a moment to get his bearings. Tessa had already stood up and he heard a rather familiar voice. It belonged to Kara and she was cheering him on and whistling. He got up and started putting on his armour again. When he was done with putting his armour back on he got out of the little hut the flushed cheeks having regained their normal colour. He stood next to Tessa as she asked Kara what had happened, he regretted leaving her alone in that room. Was this why Shyra wanted them to bunk or was she really just being a cheap *****? He didn't think about it too much. Now there it was again the suggestion of him just sleeping around then again to be fair he had been sleeping with someone he to be completely honest barely knew but that was all that happened and it's not like it would have been any different had he remained in his room. "Nothing happened, neither of us could sleep. So we slept out here." He stated simply. Well that nothing had happened wasn't exactly true either, they had woken up differently than they had gone to sleep. Going from backs against each other to her resting her head on his arm and him holding her.
