High priority target [Open | Richter]

[Gaius Balmung]

Bern. Just thinking of the place made Gaius a bit sick to his stomach. Ever since he left the damned country he never wanted to come back to it. Though he left many things there like friends, belongings and other things. Gaius didn't care, he wanted to cut all ties with the place and finally be done with it. So why in the world would the man be going back there now? Well during his first year or so of being out of the military and finding something to do he turned to a friend who, thinking back on it now, wasn't probably the best to go to for help.

Gaius needed money so he needed a job or jobs, well anything really that would get him some warm food and a place to sleep. So this friend of his decided to help him out in finding jobs. Most of them were simple missions such as deliveries or guarding someone. Things started to get a bit out of hand when this guy started to ask for favors, figuring Gaius owed him for all the jobs he was bringing. That sort of relationship had to end, and end fast. Gaius quickly reminded the guy that he wasn't his pet or lackey.

Still, against Gaius' better judgment, the man kept in contact with the guy and would often take jobs that were completely shady as hell. Last thing Gaius wanted to do was get himself involved in something bigger than himself and not worth his time. The guy was good at finding nice paying jobs to do and was the guy to go to if you needed some information or someone or thing. Gaius would often wonder just how far this guy's connections went and who he was working for or who worked for him.

So when Gaius had been contact by an informant of an informant who worked for this guy Gaius was a bit surprised. Not only by the fact that he figured they were done but also the fact that he managed to find him. Normally Gaius would have told the informant to shove it but the man had told him that this was something that Gaius couldn't skip out on, an opportunity that he couldn't miss. He made it sound extremely urgent and that sparked Gaius' curiosity though the location of meeting wasn't exactly all that pleasant seeing how it was town that Gaius was familiar with.

A real nice place however, if you can ignore the fact that a lot of criminals and scumbags use the friendliness and hospitality of the townsfolk as a mask to hide their activities. They don't cause any problems for the towns people and they get a nice and cozy place to lay low and conspire. You'd be surprised on how much goes on without people realizing it and part of it was the fault of the guy Gaius was meeting. He felt a bit bad for the people, they were kind and had no idea what was going on.

"Hey Gaius! Buddy! Calm down alright…I swear it was important!," A frazzled man would say after he was pushed up against a wall of a building by an angered wyvern rider. "You send a messenger to tell me that this was important and all it is, is some job?! Why shouldn't I let Phantom eat you right now?" Gaius would growl tempted to knock the guy's lights out. "It's not just any job it's an opportunity of a life time! Now I know you don't like coming back to Bern but you couldn't miss this! I swear you'll be set for life if you manage to get this done! Have I ever steered you wrong?" The man would retort as fixed his collar.

The answer to that question was yes, a hundred times yes. Gaius couldn't count how many times he either got screwed out of money or was just flat out lied to by this guy and it led him into a lot of trouble. "Yes you have you slimy weasel. I don't even know why I came here, I'm out," Gaius said as he turned from the man and headed toward Phantom who was watching just a few feet away from them.

Before he could make it to his wyvern the man would quickly make his way over to Gaius, throwing an arm around the man's shoulder. "You came cause you were curious! I know ya Gaius and I know that even when you say you don't care sometimes ya do. And you know I'm the guy who can get ya answers to about anything and that's why I figured you came. So, how about you help me with this and I'll help you. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours?" Always the one with the sliver tongue this guy was.

Gaius couldn't lie, he did want some info about a few certain things and this guy probably could help. "Fine, tell me what this damned job is," Gaius sighed, giving in to what the man wanted. "Ah! I knew you'd come along eventually!" The man exclaimed. "So let me fill you in on what's going on. There's a rather well known person in Bern and some certain individuals may or may not want the guy dead. Not sure why I didn't ask so don't ask me that but what's important is the fact that if you manage to be the one to take him out you'll get a reward so good you'll never work a day again!" There was a lot of detail that was missing that Gaius would probably like to know.

"So what's the catch? Do I have to fly all over Bern looking for the guy?" Gaius asked. "Ah there is one catch though. You're not going to be the only one going after to the guy. Not the first person I talked to about it. Also, not sure if you care or anything but word on the street is that there's a rebel group forming up in Bern but I didn't say anything," The answer wasn't something that Gaius wanted to hear but it wasn't something that he didn't have to deal with before. The second part was something that Gaius hadn't expected but it wasn't something that he wanted to be a part of.

He could care less if Bern was still under Ilia's control or not so he wasn't going to stick his neck out of a rebel group. "Around nightfall today if the target is coming through there's probably going to be a messy fight so get ready. The guy's name is Richter Abend, The Winter Lion. You can't really miss the guy, apparently he walks around like a big red target. Just make sure you're the first guy to take em out and you'll get the reward. Now if you excuse me I've got to go talk to some clients about the future of my little business," And with that the guy was gone. Gaius felt like he needed to go bath after talking to him. Business? The guy was probably just trying to swindle more people, it would be fitting to hear that once he was on the receiving end of his tricks.

That guy never really liked to discuss all the details about a mission or a job. Liked to live it vague and then blame it on the mercenary if something went wrong. Gaius hated the guy but even more he hated himself for actually being curious enough to come back to Bern. He wasn't even sure that he would go through with all of this. Not only would have to take out a guy, who sounded like it would be hard to take him down, but he might have to take on others trying to get to him. Gaius let out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. It certainly wasn't going to be easy and now the rumors of rebellion? What the hell was going on in Bern?

[Richter Abend]

Richter tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he let his body settle into the rhythmic motion of the gait of his horse, but consciousness and alertness were not coming to him easy. By Barigan’s beard, it was late. The moon was just beginning to come down from its high point in the night sky, which meant that the faint light of the morning would not arrive for hours yet. Like any sane man, the Ilian warrior found himself longing for the comforting warmth of his tent, yet like any insane man, was instead awake, or was at least trying to be, at this ungodly hour stealing away into the silence of the night. Just what the hell was he thinking? He should turn back around, go to Clair, apologize for his recklessness, and work with her to come up with a forward plan of action for both of them to walk together.

The pink haired Ilian shook his head, as if to throw the thoughts from his ears. No, no, no, no, he’d already gone through this with himself. Bern was a lost cause. A distraction. The rebellion was only getting bigger, and throwing in his lot with Ilia would only bear fruit if they actually won, which was an idea that Richter was starting to find less and less plausible. He’d heard what Alranus had said: The Prophet had his fingers in the rebellion. They were actively growing the discontent, and the arena was just an example of that. Richter could win battles in Bern, but as long as Kraft’s spies and assassins were sparking more conflict, on top of the already burgeoning rebels, there would always be another battle to fight. The Ilian commander could waste countless days, weeks, months, even years trying to quell this war before he saw any progress, and even if he did end up winning it for Ilia, there was no guarantee that there would be anything left to challenge Kraft with.

Lycia was already at that point. Reports were showing that the territories of the once flourishing country were awash with monsters and banditry. When Ostia was burnt to the ground, the rest of Lycia was shattered in its wake. Richter wasn’t going to get any help there. Sacae was no better. A loose union of tribes, they would only mobilize if their own lands were threatened. Many had tried, and failed, to unite those nomads, and those had all been Sacaens. No Ilian was going to march in and unite the grasslands against a far greater foe.

But what Richter could do was take the battle to the Prophet himself. He'd infiltrate his castle, and carve the head from the shoulders of the beast. He would see the Prophet dead, or at least die trying to make it happen. No, he wasn’t trying to get himself killed, but he was not going to shy away from the possibility. All life was sacrifice, and his was a life sacrificed for by too many people for him to waste it away fighting in some damned rebellion. There was no “other way”. Somewhere in him he'd always known that, but the fact was unavoidable now. It didn’t matter how many promises he was breaking; not to Ilia, not to his men, not even to Clair. He’d vowed on the graves of his brother and parents that he would end conflict like this, and he’d stand by that vow until the end. If Clair couldn’t see the value in that, then it was best if she didn’t come along. She’d be safer that way. He was traveling into hell; he couldn’t afford anything but the most steadfast heart.

The warrior sighed, the sigh quickly turning into a large yawn. This all felt so eerily similar to his hasty departure from Ilia, what with him riding off into the night with not even a goodbye to achieve some goal that most others thought impossible. Even after eight years, the blank, dead faces of his family, lying bloodied against the snow remained burned into his memory. He had finally gotten over their loss, but it didn’t make the pain go away. Acceptance was realizing the pain never would go away. Maybe Richter was being foolish, but he didn’t care. He’d took comfort in the fact that he had put aside his misplaced hate, his survivor’s guilt, and his desire for revenge, and knew that he truly was fighting for something that mattered, something bigger than himself. Hopefully one day, if he came back from this, he could sit down and reap the fruits of his labor.

Again Richter looked up at the moon. In its great fullness, it illuminated the night in a way that could almost be confused for morning. The Ilian had to remind himself that he was leaving in the middle of night. He knew full well that he was committing treason against Ilia by running away, and knew what that would mean if he got caught. Richter fingered the emblem of Edessa he kept in his pocket. If he ran into any resistance, hopefully he’d be able to trick whatever soldier or border guard that tried to stop him that he was on official Ilian business outside of Bern. He’d rather things not come to blows if they didn’t have to.

[Euphemious]

"Alright lets move out", spoke Euphemious as he and several other Rebellion soldiers began to move out onto the road. Reports had come in from the area that there were possible Ilian movement in this sector. It could be a scouting party or a inspection team, but from the lintel Euphemious thought it might be a messenger. Euphemious was hoping for the latter. If it was a messenger then they could waylay him on the road and take his documents. These documents could then be given to a forger and the rebels would have a way to give false information to the Ilian forces. Control over information was one of the primary objectives of the Rebellion. If they can give the Ilian's false reports they could lure them into ambushes or send there troops places were they were not located. Information control is one of the primary keys for winning a war. Euphemious was not going to is out on this opportunity.

"Alright keep your eyes open and your heads down men", spoke the knight. "If anybody ask we are mercenaries hired to inspect the road", the knight pulled up a fake Ilian seal and held it up for his men to see. "This is our pass if anybody ask for proof of our authority. Any common man will buy it, but a Ilian officer might not fall for it. If they do react then we take them down. Capture if possible, information gathering is key, if not however we kill them and hide the body. We don't want the Ilians to catch wind of what we are doing out here. Understood", spoke Euphemious as his men gave a nod of approval.

With that the knight and the others marched out into the darkness scanning the road by lantern light. They looked to see if there were any travelers coming or if anybody moved with purpose. With luck they can get a messenger.

[Gaius Balmung]

It had been quite some time since Gaius Balmung had mulled over the decision if he was going to go through with a job or not. The last time something like this happened it wasn't to something this important. Gaius just had to decide if he was really going to accept a job for such a little amount of money. What he had to do warranted more but he did it anyway seeing how he was such a nice guy. This on the other hand was a totally different playing field, Gaius wasn't sure if he would be able to collect the reward.

Not only were there going to be other assassin's but this Richter guy. Gaius had done a bit of research while he waited for nightfall. Going around and asking people just who this man was exactly. What Gaius heard wasn't all that reassuring. This man wasn't one to reckon with, a person the likes that Gaius hadn't faced before. It was a bit terrifying but at the same time exhilirating. Just thinking about fighting him got Gaius' blood flowing. He wanted to be the man to take him down, no one else would get a chance to even raise their blade at him.

That was going to be difficult as Gaius began to notice the others that were probably going to be his competition. They were all powerful looking assassin's too, it wouldn't be easy. None of them had Phantom so Gaius had the advantage of the sky and probably getting to the target first but it did complicate things. If this turned out into some kind of bloody massacre then Gaius would surely demand more money. Things became even more complex when he discovered assassin's working together and overhearing their plans of attack. They were certainly not amateurs.

All this for one man? Richter Abend was definitely one unlucky bastard, Gaius was sure happy he wasn't him. He wondered what things would be like if he was, surely it would be hell on earth. When it came to nightfall Gaius planned to be the first to find the man but he wanted a duel, a warriors duel. Gaius wanted to test his mettle against the Winter Lion. He wanted to see if he could take on a man of Richter's caliber. Gaius was started to forget the plan was the kill the man not beat him in a sparring match.

It didn't matter, when Gaius got like this there was no stopping him. As night finally fell Gaius took to Phantom and then to the skies, ready to find his prey. It had been a while since Gaius felt like this, it reminded him of his days back in the Bern military. And the man was Ilian! This was great! Gaius could let loose! As he flew above the town he noticed the assassin's making their moves. The fools had no idea they'd be too late to reach Richter. It was at times like this that Gaius felt things got a bit too easy.

As he flew toward the roads he noticed something odd. There was a group of men marching through the roads with lanterns. Were they just simple towns guards? Perhaps mercenaries or travelers making their way through? There was no way they were any of the assassin's hired for the job as they wouldn't be so foolish as to travel through in such a large group with that much light. The darkness was their friend tonight and they would stay close to it. Besides, while the assassin groups were diverse in weaponry and armor, none of them looked like…well normal soldiers.

From the looks of it, the man known as Richter Abend was not with them. Even in the dark seeing someone in red armor wouldn't be that hard for someone used to having to see things from what most would consider a disadvantaging spot. Even Phantom was on a look out for Richter and it wouldn't be long for the wyvern to spot him. Phantom was always good at tracking people down and Gaius loved the wyvern for it. After a few moments of flying they finally spotted someone, their target for the night.

Gaius wanted to make an appearance, he wanted to let everyone know that the target was found by someone else and no one would take it. "Alright Phantom, let's see if the Black Rider of Bern can match the Winter Lion!" The man exclaimed as Phantom descended rather quickly toward a man riding his horse. As the large wyvern came closer to the road he would then expand his wings allowing for a more smooth descent. Would be a nice crash if he kept going the same speed though they did meet the ground rather fast. They would be blocking the man's path, there was no escaping them.

"A fine night for riding!" Gaius would shout out to the man. "Don't you think? Such a fine night would be a great setting for a wonderful battle," Gaius was making it pretty obvious as to why the man had just rode his wyvern right in the middle of the road. Whatever assassin's or mercenaries awaiting in the shadows were watching to see how this all played out. However, if they saw their moment they would strike. There was still the issue of the other group to deal with after all.

[Richter Abend]

Against the dark of the night sky, the Ilian couldn’t see the great black wyvern until it was right in front of him, so when Gaius touched down, astride a road block of teeth and scales, Richter was caught completely off-guard. His horse reared up, terrified by the unexpected arrival, and the bells of alarm began to ring throughout the Ilian commander’s mind. Was he under attack? But how!? How could someone have known he was leaving? He’d only made up his mind an hour ago, and he had told no one.

With a dramatic flourish, Richter one-handedly drew the great netherblade Damonzahn from its sheath and swung it above his head in an impressive display finesse. He held it there like the tail of a scorpion, ready to strike at a moment’s notice, and as his horse settled, calmed by the reaffirming grip of its rider’s hand upon its reigns, Richter cooly eyed the beast that stood before him. The runes on his sword began to glow with dark power, a beacon meant to ward off potential attackers. Any enemies that did heed its message would be doing it for their own sake, not Richter’s.

"A fine night for riding!"

It was dark, but from atop the wyvern’s back the pink haired Ilian could see a dark-haired man brandishing a spear. Of course, a rider. No wyverns came this close to Castle Bern of their own accord. Richter was about to tell the man to cut the small talk, but the rider spoke again before the Ilian could.

"Don't you think? Such a fine night would be a great setting for a wonderful battle,"

Richter paused before responding, looking over the greeting pair. The wyvern itself, the more intimidating of the two, wasn’t particularly standout, at least not as far as wyvern’s went. It had not the pale, death-like coloring of Alranus’s mount, nor the immense size of Ariston’s warbeasts. Even its black coloring wasn’t particularly unique among wyverns, though it had made for a startling entrance. On the other hand, Richter couldn’t make much of the rider. He fought with a spear atop a flying mount, which made him a common type of foe, but his skill and ability remained a mystery. Hopefully they could keep it that way.

“I’ve had enough battling with wyverns and their riders to last me a lifetime,” replied Richter, understanding the real message that lay beneath the man’s indirect verbiage. It didn't take a genius to figure that an armed man accosting him in the middle of the night was up to no good. “I think we’d both be better off if you took your friend and flew back in the direction you came.”

[Euphemious]

"I see nothing commander", spoke one of the rebel soldiers as they walked the road. Euphemious however kept quite as he focused his ears on the darkness. There was something wrong. The knight could not put his finger on it. Something was off about this road.

"Commander", spoke the soldier again trying to get Euphemious attention.

"I heard you", spoke Euphemious answering his men. "I was quite because I felt something was off", he spoke as he came to a stop. The other soldiers raised a eyebrow at the proposition and stopped as well.

"What do you mean", spoke one of the men. "I don't hear anything".

"That is the point", spoke Euphemious. "That is what is off. It is far too quite out here. It is almost as if we are walking into a ambush", spoke Euphemious. The knight looked around for a bit and then gave an order. "Everyone put out your lantern and follow behind me about a hundred yards.

"Commander", spoke the men.

"Just do it", spoke Euphemious. The men looked at each other puzzled and did as he said. Every lantern went dark with the exception of Euphemious which began to move through the darkness down the road. A single light piercing through the darkness.

The knight was paranoid.He felt as if they could be ambushed at any moment even though nobody should have known they were patrolling this road. Maybe the rumors of activity were a lure? Maybe he had walked him and his men into a trap. Euphemious was starting to second guess himself. If he was as skilled as Aidan or had the brain of Zach he would not have to worry about that. If the two of them were in charge of this little raid everything would have went smoothly even if it was a ambush.

[Gaius Balmung]

It was obvious just looking at the man that the stories that Gaius was told did not do him any justice. Even in the dark of night Gaius could tell that the man before him wasn't your average swordsmen. The excitement that filled Gaius before was now brimming out of the man and his lust for battle was starting to get a bit to his head. His wyvern could feel this and was quite concerned, not for his rider's ability to fight Richter but more so for the fact that it was being quite obvious that they weren't alone. Gaius was too focused on Richter to notice.

The blade the man had, it wasn't like anything that Gaius had seen before. The runes on it and the glowing nature of it made Gaius believe there had to be some kind of magic. Gaius wanted to test the blade's ability against his spear, though the outcome of that battle was fairly obvious to the blue haired man. He wondered what other tricks and weapons this man had up his sleeves, how exciting a battle with him would be. There was something that had caught Gaius off guard though and it was Richter's overall attitude.

He did not seem like a man ready to battle or a warrior who lives to fight but instead he seemed like a tired man who wanted nothing more than to be left alone. That would be quite the problem as it began to disappoint Gaius more than most would probably imagine. There was no honor, no glory in fighting a man who not only did not seem to want to fight but wouldn't be fully invested in it. That however wouldn't change the fact that they weren't the only ones here. While Gaius didn't care much to fight a man who didn't want to fight the others weren't as picky.

"Well that would be a bit of an issue," Gaius began as the man let out a sigh. "While there is no fun to be had fighting a man who is obviously not interested I'm not the only one who would be facing you," The rider was obviously referring to the audience that they had. Gaius was now considered a target seeing how the mission also stressed getting rid of witnesses which would cause trouble to that group Gaius saw earlier if they hadn't left yet. Gaius took a moment to look about, noticing shuffling of bushes and movement in the night.

"There's been a hit placed on your head for a nice amount of gold and you've managed to gather a large amount of assassin's, bounty hunters and mercenaries that all currently want your head and right now they're waiting to see how this all pans out between you and I," Gaius explained as Phantom began to shuffle about, noticing even more people moving about in the dark. "By now they're all probably getting a bit restless and want to take this chance of you being distracted to get the upper hand. They're all probably planning on taking me out too as to not get in the way of their kill," It was quite the troubling situation that they were currently in that was for sure.

Gaius scratched his head thinking of what to do in this situation. If he made a move that would certainly alert the others to go on the attack. What was also troubling was the fact that the man had no idea how many had gathered to take a shot at Richter. "So what do you plan on doing? We're both stuck here until either they make a move or we do. Quite the troubling situation we're in huh?" This would probably turn into a fight for their lives but who would make the first move?

[Richter Abend]

“Of course there is,” muttered Richter in reference to the man’s mention of the hit that had apparently been put out on him. The Ilian simply sighed in disappointment as the wyvern rider directed his attention to the shadowy figures moving about in the darkness, his blade slowly drifting in kind. In truth Richter was surprised that it had taken so long for some greedy headhunter in Bern to try and collect, and he had almost expected it to be done in group fashion, but he had hoped that this night in particular wouldn’t be the night when it happened. Right now it just felt like some sort of cosmic joke.

Then, with little warning, the point of the pink haired warrior’s blade snapped in the spearman’s direction. It was a threatening motion, but if one could see clearly, they would know that Richter’s face looked more contemplative than anything. His mind was less focused on the intended threat of the wyvern rider and more focused on how he could use the situation to his advantage. One man wasn’t a threat. Multiple men always were, because all it took was for one to get away to create an even bigger threat. But some things couldn't be avoided.

“It would only take me a second to tear you off of that wyvern of yours and gut you. You think if I did that these leeches would back off in fright?” Richter asked, nodding his head in the direction of the men that had come to surround them. He paused for a moment as he tried to make out just how many men had come to claim his head, but at this time of night an exact number was hard to make out. There were enough of them to cause a problem, that much is true. “No, probably not.”

"You might be a dirty bounty hunter, but at least you're upfront about it," said Richter as he let Damonzahn drift in the direction of the rustling bushes. It remained there, pointed at some random ambusher. “Tell you what, I’ll make you a proposition. You help me fend off this little headhunting party we have here, and you can have your duel afterwards. Then you can rake in all of the profits my head will give you. If you can get it off my shoulders that is.” The Ilian raised his blade into the air then let it fall in the direction of another shadowy figure on the opposite side of him. His eyes followed the arc that the sword’s tip created. “Or, if you're just looking for coin, you can attack me right now and split the winnings with these fine men. Of course if you do that I’ll kill you along with the rest. Your choice.”

[End Thread]