The Law of the Battle [PM to join]

[Alicia]

Alicia swung her lance in a wide arc, slamming the tip sideways into Licebeard's cheek; the sharp edge left a thin slice running across his toady face, a red welt forming around it where the flat edge had struck. She pressed forward, but the man surprised her, fury lighting up his eyes as he charged instead of reeling back; she thrust her lance forward in a hurry, but the bandit was nimble on his feet, and dodged the poorly aimed blow. She tried to backpedal, eyes widening as his right arm rose ominously overhead, his axe hanging over her unprotected head. She wouldn't have enough time to parry, much less dodge; the armor was too restrictive.

She stepped to the side, lowering her stance, the axe ringing against her left shoulder plate instead of her head. She bit back a cry of pain as the rings of metal beneath the armor dug into her flesh under the fierce blow, cutting past the padding and cloth. The man stared at her blankly, somehow unable to understand why she was still standing. He was fierce and strong, but his reasoning was lacking; that was her opening.

Without warning, she raised her foot and stomped on the man's own, placing as much of her weight as she dared on the attack. A sickening, crushing sound filled her ears, making her shudder; the bandit did far more, screaming and dropping his weapon as he struggled to break free, wheezing. Her lance pierced his chest moments later, and she pulled away from the flailing man, soon to be dead.

A cry of pain from her right caught her attention; a pug-faced man stood nursing his arm, an arrow lodged firmly inside it, a badly-worn lance held weakly by the wounded limb. She thrust her lance forward once more, silently thanking the archer girl back in the woods. A second arrow whistled through the air, hitting her breastplate; the curved metal deflected it inwards and up, towards her shoulder joint. The head was not strong enough to break past the leather padding, its momentum ruined by its previous impact, but still carried enough speed to ruin her attack. The spear thrust flew badly off target, missing the man widely. She cursed as the bandit turned around and fled, heading back towards the gates, his weapon abandoned.

Crimson flared up from the edge of her vision, and she allowed herself a brief respite, turning her head for an instant as she breathed in deeply. The sight was anything but relaxing, however; the forest lit up for an instant, orange peeking out from between the trees before receding. Lillianne and the archer had still been there, at the very least, and she had no idea if Erica had had enough time to take to the sky. How long had it been since they had charged? Worry filled her features, unbidden. No, it had been their plan for Erica to fly into the battle behind them; no doubt she had already left the cover of the treeline by now.

That still left two of their group inside, however, and she was certain the flare she had witnessed was not natural. It was only logical to believe it was the result of the Lycian woman's magic, after all. The feeling that something had gone horribly wrong crossed her mind, and her heart clenched with fear. Why was it that the thought of them being hurt weighed so heavily on her mind? The young girl was with her, of course. She should have never come this close to the battlefield. And, besides, the woman was their leader; should she fall, the group would lose heart and be easily routed. She looked away, hesitating. Should she help them? Her eyes sought the fortress once more, and she steeled her heart, breathing out deeply once more. Quell her emotions. Show no weakness. She would not get back in time, if she managed to cross the field at all; giving her back to the fort was as good as signing her own death warrant now. The bandits would easily outrun her. No, her place was at Linius' side, charging at the front. She had her orders, and it was high time she returned to the battle. She moved to his side, bracing herself. Saint Elimine help them all.

[Valclaud]

Valclaud's eyes opened wide as he saw a pegasus knight take to the sky into the combat. [white]"It can't be, can it? that nice pegasus woman? Is it her?"[/white] he told himself, but when he saw the long braid trail behind the rider's head as they dived down to attack there was no doubt in his mind. [white]The nice pegasus lady who saved me before is fighting bandits? Guess its time to pay her back for earlier[/white] he thought as he made his way closer to the combat when he saw movement out of the corner of his vision. Three bandits were. . .wait, make that two (where are all these explosions coming from!?!?) were heading towards what looked like to be two women; one with a bow and the other with runes around her arm. [white]So the explosions are her using some sort of anima magic[/white] Valclaud thought. Besides his mother teaching him about Shaman Magic, she also told him about other kinds of magic; mages who used the powers of the elements, while priests and acolytes used the powers of their God and faith to heal and cast light magic. [white]Well,[/white] He thought [white]At least she isn't using light magic.[/white]

Taking note of his current surroundings, Valclaud thought it would be best to help out the Mage and Archer due to the bandits coming up on them and headed in that direction. Pulling out his flux tome Valclaud focused his power around the Pentacle inscribed in the book, waiting until a sphere of blackness about the size of an orange formed. Grabbing it, Valclaud hurled it at the bandit closest to him; hitting the bandit in the side, tearing open the flesh before evaporating. [white]Damn,[/white] He thought [white]Looks like I still need practice to have it last longer. At least he's now bleeding badly, but I still need to hit him some more before I can move on.[/white] After clutching his wound and getting his hand soaked in blood, the bandit noticed Valclaud. Figuring it would be better to take on a child instead of a pyrotechnician like his buddy, he stumbled off in the direction the the young shaman.

[Linius]

Linius stepped forward, thrusting out his shield to meet his enemy's blade. So many today did not understand how a shield was used. One did not simply hide behind it. A shield is made not only to block, but also to throw the enemy off his balance. Bringing his weight behind his shield thrust, he pushed forward, causing the bandit to stumble. Raising his lance, he gave a mighty thrust, impaling him clean through his sternum. Placing a large boot on the freshly made corpse, he pulled out his lance. "Alicia, with me!" he barked, positioning himself again behind his shield, slowly advancing towards the enemy.

[Sammi]

Sammi took a brief second to catch her breath on a nearby tree. She looked down at where Alicia and Linius were. They seemed to be doing well. She didn't know where Erica was, but that didn't matter right now.

Lillian was at her side preparing another magic attack, she figured. It was pretty fascinating, considering she had only seem magic once before. Sammi decided she had a few seconds to rest as Lilly fired the attack.

She wasn't sure what happens then. Lilly must have hit a tree from the blow and blacked out. She hoped that she wasn't horribly hurt. She made her way over to her and noticed her behind a tree throwing up. There was a bandit waiting for her on the other side of the tree probably waiting for Lilly to get up so he could finish her off. Sammi saw this as her chance so she pulled herself up to the nearest branch and started climbing the tree. She climbed as high as she could go and aimed her arrow. She fired and it hit the bandit's shoulder. He looked back at the tree and noticed her. Crap she thought.

He through his lance at the tree, making it shake. The branch that Sammi was perched on snapped from the impact and sent her falling. She landed on her back practically knocking the wind out of her. She pushed herself up and sent another arrow flying. This time it landed in the bandits chest, and he screamed in pain, then dropped his weapon and ran off. Sammi fell back on to the grass, catching her breath. She noticed that Lilly was getting back on her feet and it would be only a few minutes until there would be more attackers.

[Deleted]

Huh. Well, that explained why Linius had suggested she not eat much before the fight. Lilly dragged herself upright more than she stood, one palm resting on her forehead as if that would magically make the pain go away. It didn't. Her head was still ringing, but she didn't see a huge pool of blood anywhere and she wasn't missing her legs, at least, so that was probably - oh and her arm was hanging useless. Dislocated. God the hell dammit. Swearing under her breath, Lillianne brought her good arm down on her other shoulder, cringing at the grinding snap as the joint popped into place. THAT... had been somewhat more painful in practice than in theory. Also sounded horrible. Okay. Not missing any limbs, pain would go away, not on fire. So far, so good. The square root of sixty-four... eight. Two to the fifth... thirty-two.

Well, at least she was capable of basic mathematics. That... probably ruled out a fatal head injury. Not that she had been through a lot of those so far, admittedly. Okay. Look around. Take in everything. Sammi... saving her ass. Handy. Some shaman doing... shaman stuff. He looked a bit young, but then so had Sammi, and she was launching a stream of arrows like a walking repeating ballista. Lots of dead bandits. More than she remembered killing. That was fine. Another one, walking over towards the shaman. Bleeding. Smiling brightly at an opportunity for taking out some of her mounting frustration, Lilly lobbed a ball of fire at him, watching with grim satisfaction as it impacted his back in a burst of heat and flame that set him alight. The screams were absolutely musical to her ears, but the still-building weight in her chest refused to be ignored.

The bandits had known. They hadn't just been lucky and prepared - one of the god dammed villagers had told them, and she had very nearly paid the ultimate price for that betrayal. Sammi, too, had already been hurt; the mage could only hope from the still-booming sounds of battle that everyone else was alive.

Letting her head loll backward, Lilly shut her eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath. Focus. She'd burn down the whole damn village later if she had to in order to smoke out the traitorous mongrel, but for now she had to assert control of the situation. The bandit ambush had been unsuccessful. Mostly. They were still alive. They still had a cance. Snapping back to alertness, ignoring the throbbing in her head, Lilly looked over to Sammi, hoping the girl was fine, offering her a hand to help the girl pull herself upright. "Thank you, Sammi, I owe you for that." Truth be told, she had expected very, very little from the younger girl. It wasn't a particular dislike of archers or children so much as the combination of the two that had left her leery, but the girl seemed dead set on outdoing her in overall contribution to the fight. Lilly smiled down at her, not particularly perturbed by the idea. "Keep it up, but be careful. Are you going to be alright?"

There was the shaman, too. He had attacked one bandit - maybe he would be willing to work with them for the rest? She looked over to him appraisingly. "You have my thanks as well, shaman. Interested in a good deed? We're exterminating these bandits for the nearby villagers, and your magical expertise would certainly be useful." Assuming he wasn't a murderous sociopath who was about to kill the rest of them as well. Might as well appeal to his baser tendencies in case he wasn't in the business of being a hero. "If there's any loot in the structure, you'd be welcome to a full share of it."

(OOC: I think that was all of the bandits I initially spawned for the ambush squad, or am I missing some?)

[Sammi]

Sammi closed her eyes for a bit and when she opened them, she noticed Lilly standing over her. "No problem," she said to Lilly. "Im alright by the way. Is that all the bandits here?" She figured that Alicia and Linius were finishing up, and Erica was ok too.

Then something to their right caught Lilly's attention. A shaman that Sammi had not noticed before. "Ya we could use the help if you are up to it", she said at Lilly's request for him to join us. She wasn't so sure if this man could be trusted though. Maybe Lilly had known him, but maybe not since she was just asking him to come along just now. "Oh well," she said to herself. " I should keep an open mind. I'm sure he can be trusted."

((OOC: Ok if you want to move on to the next phase of the battle save for valclaud's response that's ok. I'm not sure if Erica is done but she can respond as well.))

[Alicia]

Alicia moved swiftly to the older knight's side, unable to suppress the small wave of awe at Linius' dexterous handling of his shield. She felt slightly envious, she had to admit; it had never appealed to her, and she had always marched out to battle with just her lance at her side, but to see it in the hands of a competent user was a thing of beauty. Immensely useful, too, she could see it, but she still preferred her off hand free and unencumbered. An arrow sung as it flew past her, and her expression grew sour. Accursed archers. Perhaps a shield wouldn't have hurt this once.

Her peripheral vision caught movement, a shadow that approached from the side. Alicia whirled, her lance spinning upwards to meet a bandit's own before it could reach her. Their weapons clattered together dully, wood striking against wood before the man jumped back, growling. Her arms shook as the impact forced her to take a step backwards. She narrowly avoided crashing into Linius. The Etrurian's eyes widened in surprise. He was huge, easily as tall as the Lycian man and as wide as an armored knight. His body was rippled with muscles in a way that made her hesitate; no wonder his attack had sent her reeling. She was no weakling herself, but the bandit before her was ridiculously strong, built like an ox; she wondered if he was half-giant, a descendant of the creatures in children's tales.

The knight swallowed heavily, taking hold of her lance with both hands. Fear was the worst enemy, sharper than any blade. She narrowed her eyes, glaring before letting out a battlecry, charging forward, hoping to catch him by surprise. Her lance darted forth like an arrow, aimed at his midsection; the man batted it away fiercely and followed up with his own lunge. She sidestepped, barely, the tip grazing the armored plate at her front, leaving behind a sharp nick that trailed off to the side. By the goddess, his attacks were fast.

She cursed as he came at her again; she knocked his spear downwards, bringing up the opposite end to strike at his face. His face snapped back for an instant, but he pressed on, undeterred. What was this monster? Pain seemed not to matter to him. She aimed low, towards his legs, but he stepped back. She bit her lip. Their lances might be the same in length, but the man was taller than her, and had more reach. She closed the distance, knowing she could not afford to let him use it to his advantage. She lowered her stance, shifting sideways, her lance parallel to her body as she sent it darting forward. The sickening sound of parting flesh had never sounded sweeter to her ears, or made her feel more relieved, as the tip pierced the mountain's right arm. At last, he screamed, his voice deep, anger and pain mixing together in a shout, and for an instant, she felt afraid of him.

That would be her undoing.

Seizing the opportunity, the man kicked viciously at her, his foot landing solidly against her side. Surprised, she lost her balance, pulling the lance with her, yet letting the weapon clatter uselessly to her side as the fall knocked the wind out of her. She struggled to rise, the weight of the armor keeping her on the ground. By Saint Elimine, she wasn't ready to die yet. She couldn't die here. Fear gripped her heart in its freezing clutch. There was far too much she had to do still. The man's lance rose, his expression one of unbridled fury, and her arms rose reflexively.

She screamed, years of training falling apart in an instant. Not in prayer, or to her goddess; no, it was a scream of pure, unbridled terror, of one who knew her time was at hand.

[Erica Winters]

Kiki’s wings burst outwards and the duo balanced effortlessly in the sky. Erica’s head quickly scanned the ground below taking in as much information as she could in her available stationary time. If she remained adrift for too long, she became a target for all if any remaining archers. The battle seemed to be going well, there were still a threatening amount of bandits crowding the battlefield, meaning it was still a very lopsided ratio. However the fighting skill of the team balanced out the scales to a more desirable standard. Erica’s head darted to the right as in the side of her eye, she saw a stray arrow skim the air beside them, a very close hit! Immediately her head shot down where she saw, an archer? No how could she have missed it before, darn! It was so close to where she had just landed as well. With no time to waste Kiki reacted almost in the same mindset as Erica once again nose diving towards the target. Within seconds the duo had come in range of the archer, Erica immediately noticing the arrow lodged in his arm. A sly grin snuck its way onto Erica’s usually humble expression, mentally she thanked that young blonde archer. She finally seemed to have gotten into the right mindset, there was no escape for the archer now. Erica skillfully twirled the lance with her outstretched arm. Kiki braked harshly in front of the archer, leaning back and kicking him to the floor with her strong hooves. Erica stabbed to through the tip target, a somehow innocent frown occupying her face as she yanked the slim lance from the husky bandit. Even if it was a bandit, taking someone else life, they were in some ways no better than the bandits, no one had the authority to take the life of another, even in the name of justice…

Erica was shocked by an unexpected startled neigh roaring from Kiki. She needed to focus, her silly emotions were distracting her at the most crucial of times, and if it weren’t for Kiki she might just have died right there and then. Thankfully as a hefty axe swung in a wide vertical swing from beside the duo, Kiki had successfully flapped out of the way. The bandit chuckled, a deep somewhat haunting laugh. He had a big nose the largest most noticeable feature of his crusty peeling skin. His big brown eyes bulging over his fattened cheeks. He spoke in a deep rusty voice.

“You can’t hide on your perdy white flying horse lady!”

Erica snarled and wasted no time having Kiki raise from the ground. She extended her wings and forcer herself to a higher position than the bandit, but his reactions were quick chucking forth what Erica had not noticed to be a hand axe. She held her lance out to guard but with one hand alone she could not resist the force, and the weapon shot to the side out of her hand, lodging into the ground. The grotesque bandit guffawed as the hand axe swung back towards him like a boomerang. Erica had not thought about the other ranged weapons to worry about, she was too distracted by avoiding archers. The bandits were smarter than she had thought. Erica snarled quickly kicking in the side of Kiki and yanking the reins to the right. Kiki flew forward just as the bandit chucked the axe once again, a narrow evasion. Together they circled the man stopping behind him and kicking him to the floor. The bandit however rolled forward catching the returning axe. He was talented, Erica knew her only chance was to her lance.

“Charge!”

The bandit grinned as Erica and Kiki shot towards him, and he once again chucked the axe. Erica pulled up on the reins and Kiki quickly arced over the axe aswell as the bandit, lowering once again after flying past. She reached down and pulled her tossed lance from the ground, but it was deep, almost taking her off Kiki entirely. Finally the bandit ducked his own axe allowing it to soar past and behind him towards Erica. She turned on Kiki and guarded the axe, causing it to drop to the floor. Kiki shot towards him and unable to avoid the range of the slender lance, the bandit finally fell, slashed by the sharpened blade of the lance edge. Erica did not smile, but rather offered a silent prayer. She took no pride in killing someone, even if it was to defend herself.

The battle took a lot out of her, but she had earned some valuable knowledge in the process. Looking around she noticed the archers, there were none left nearby. She was unsure of the others but her area had been secured of bows. With a sigh of both relief and stress Kiki wasted no time before shooting once again to the sky. However Erica knew it was naïve to think she was safe, her head darted back to the hills, seeing a decent explosion. It was obviously Lillianne, Erica was not surprised. She had already seen a portion of her abilities. She questioned flying back to ensure their safety but she had to trust Samantha and Lillianne, and she had to do what they trusted her to. Her place was on this battlefield, with Alicia and Linius. Kiki soared once again across the sky, Erica looking down until seeing the two familiar heavy knights battling off surrounding bandits.

“Down Kiki!”

With every death, their victory became even more obtainable, their victory grew closer. Kiki landed flapping her wings wide as her hooves reached the ground, and her wings then retracting and folding. Erica sat on top, noticing Alicia fighting a rather dangerous looking bandit. She snarled as Alicia lost her balance, knowing the danger that put her in. As she galloped towards Alicia her thoughts were confirmed as the bandit rose his lance. Blood splattered across the grass as the bandit received a long gash across his back. Erica had swiftly slashed the bandit from behind, causing him to drop his lance and fall to the floor. Erica panted heavily, she was quite dangerously out of breath.

“Alicia… Fight… we must fight… together!”

Erica took deep heavy breaths between her words, her face plastered with a serious expression. She now realized fighting together, did not just mean fighting the same foes.

[Selk Mar]

With the situation that the group was dealing with, Erica trying to help Alicia and the others regrouping or finishing their individual remaining opponents, it was unlikely that anyone involved would notice the sound. It was the sound of a man on a mission: the sound of metal clanging with each boot fall. The bushes rustled as Selk made his way through the brush as quickly as he could. His eyes pierced the thickets of leaves and foliage to spy the ones he'd come to aid. Two female combatants were faced with a rather tall, sturdily built swordsman. And it looked like the two women were fatigued. Not only that, but one was on the ground and wearing heavy armor much like Selk wore himself.

He didn't hesitate or miss a single footstep as he closed the gap. While the more lightly armored of the two went to the side of the other, likely to help her up, Selk burst through the bushes and made his move. The swordsman they'd been fighting was getting back to his feet, sword in hand. As he raised his blade with his sword arm there was a sickening crack as Selk's shoulder collided with the man's side.

He dive tackled the swordsman from the side and skidded across the ground for a couple of feet on top of him, raising to a mounted position before dropping his metal encased right fist into the disgruntled man's face. There was another snap as the thug's nose crunched under the pressure of Selk's fist. He dropped a left hook to his jaw and finished him off with a two handed smash.

When the man stopped moving, though he was still breathing heavily, Selk got to his feet, clutching his side and smiling. He hadn't even bothered to put his helmet on yet. His side had mostly stopped bleeding, though the cloth he'd used to cover the wound beneath his armor was now red instead of white. He looked at the two nearest him and said, "Looked like you could use a hand. I heard the battle over the hill after a skirmish with a couple of highwaymen." He would reach a hand down to Alicia to help her up if she was not on her feet yet.

[Deleted]

"Seems like the last of the ones that attacked us, anyways." Lilly left the obvious unstated, though implied - if this bunch had managed to sneak up on them, there was no telling whether or not there were actually more. It bothered her perhaps more that they had already run into over a dozen bandits, between the lot in front of the gates and the squad here, and that was not counting any bandits who had been out on raids or patrol, as well as the sentries - surely there ahd been more than just the one - and any still inside the fortress. Only a dozen bandits, her ass! More like a small army of the things.

An army. That was what was bothering her at least as much as the betrayal, Lilly realized. These men weren't just uncoordinated scavengers; they had already showcased an understanding of tactics that she had failed to anticipate, and their use of anything beyond axes was somewhat uncharacteristic for the type as well. It almost felt as though they were fighting the rudimentary beginnings of a military unit, rather than mere bandits - but what the hell could have turned a couple bandits into something like this? The turncoat villager couldn't have done any of this by himself, even if there were more than one; they could partially cover it up, but but instigate it. She shook off the thought, determined to follow up on it later, but forcing herself to focus on the task at hand for the time being.

"...Let's met up with the others. Safety in numbers." Which really translated to 'let's get out of the damn woods to make another ambush harder,' but then why stick to one meaning when two would do? "If you're interested, young man, follow along. We're about to link up with the rest of the group, then breach the fortress." Throwing Valclaud a radiant smile, Lilly set off towards the rest of the group.

She emerged from the foliage with roughly as much subtlety and caution as a wounded bull elephant, stalking towards the others with purpose, taking in what she could see. Everyone looked to still be alive, at least, though she could see splotches of crimson on most of them, and Lilly doubted that all of the stains were bandit blood. That - made things somewhat more difficult. A wounded knight would be less able to hold off an endless horde of ravening fools than a hale one, but she couldn't judge them for getting hurt. Her initial plan, to provide ranged fire support as a joint effort between herself and Sammi, had collapsed when the ambush struck; the four she had sent to the frontlines had been forced to fend for themselves. Five, now. Another... knight? He didn't look like a bandit, anyways, and he was helping Alicia up.

"We've been betrayed."

Lillianne's voice rang out, projected by the oratory eloquence she had learned over her years of public speaking. At this point, she didn't much care if she was a touch more singed than was entirely to her tastes - the boiling, churning sensation bubbling within her was making it difficult to worry about much beyond envisioning throttling whatever scum had thought it was a good idea to keep the bandits up to date with the plan and try to get them all killed. She had only told the village council of their plan of attack before leaving, thus it only made sense that one of them had done the deed. "One of the village council informed the bandits of our coming and arranged to have us all butchered."

She closed in on the group, her voice dropping in volume, but not intensity as she neared. "I apologize for not foreseeing this development, but for now we have larger worries; I suspect we were fed false information on the size and quality of the opposing force. They've already thrown well over a dozen men at us between the initial gate defense and ambush alone, not counting the now-missing sentries, anyone who was in the fortress in reserve, and possible returning bandits. This is now more a mission of survival than simple pest extermination, but I believe we have an excellent opportunity to turn the tables if we can use the gates as a defensible position."

Diamond-sharp focus had always helped her survive the slings and arrows of outrageous fate, and unifying her thoughts towards the subject at hand was helping her calm down. Lilly let out a breath, then continued in a conversational tone, discarding her voice of a moment ago. "You've all done wonderfully." Even the Etrurian scu - Alicia. Lilly let her glance flicker over to the Etrurian knight, a half-smile still on her lips. "And it would seem that we have made the acquaintance of two allies of chance, a shaman and a - knight?" She nodded her head to Selk, none too shy about admitting that she was grateful for his actions. "Thank you. This age is rife with cowards and swine; it is good to see that there are yet those of us with the steel to rise above their fear and aid others."

A moment to catch their breaths, to tend to wounds and clear their heads, but for how long? She needed to talk to all of them at some point, to ensure their morale was still passable, to hopefully restore what faith she could in her tactical prowess after the recent gaffe, to familiarize herself with their condition. "Erica - when you have a moment, would you kindly take to the skies and scout for any incoming forces? I would rather not be taken unawares again."

[OOC: CHECKPOINT REACHED. The first wave of bandits is all dead - we can take a short break from the fighting to talk, explore, and just recuperate. If you want to check what's inside the gates: a dusky, musky room, filled with mostly-broken implements of war (irreparable ballista, some other unusable siege weaponry, and clear evidence of - so far - unsuccessful attempts to repair them). There are a few doors leading further into the fort, but reinforced and barred shut. Within those constraints, go wild.]

[Alicia]

Alicia shook with relief at Erica's voice; the sight of an armor-clad teal blur would have surprised her, had her emotions not been in such disarray. Far beyond the point of shock, it took her a few moments for her eyes to acknowledge that the bandit was, in fact, not looming above her any longer. She looked to the side, feeling an odd satisfaction welling up as the newcomer drove his fists into the man's face. A slight undercurrent of disappointment filled her, however, as his head fell to the side, unconscious. She wanted to punch him, too.

Her eyes followed the knight as he walked back, an easy smile on his face. By Elimine herself, he was younger than her, yet was easily as tall as Linius. She took his hand gratefully, a dull pain radiating from her side as she rose with his help. The arrow that had been lodged into it had snapped during her fall, a small shaft of wood now disappearing into the plates at her hip. Her entire body trembled as she looked at the toppled ruffian. Goddess, that had been close. Waves of fear threatened to overwhelm her, and she fought the urge to throw up. No, this was no way for a knight of the church to act. She clenched her hands into fists, breathing regularly, but her heart would not stop its frenzied beat. Tears threatened to well up in her eyes, but she bit down on her tongue harshly, focusing on the pain. She would show no weakness.

She dipped her head towards the knight, smiling tremulously at him and Erica both. "Saint Elimine sent you both not a moment too soon." Her voice shook slightly, despite her efforts to steady it. She took a deep breath. "Thank you, Erica, uh..." She hesitated for a moment, realizing with a start she didn't know the teal-armored knight's name. "My name is Alicia. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Lillianne's voice startled her, and she composed herself, turning around. Of all the people in their bandit-hunting group, she was the last person that should see her shaking in terror. Hopefully, any tears that had escaped earlier would be lost in the sheen of sweat that covered her face. Her words, however, were disturbing enough to drive her out of her current state. Her eyes narrowed at the suggestion. Betrayal? She listened closely; the silver-haired mage's reasoning was sound. If that was the case...to rout out the bandits, her orders had said, and crush them. That most certainly included the little rat back in town. She regretted not being able to drag him before the inquisition, this far south, but he would not escape Saint Elimine's justice.

She winced as she took a step, the pain from her hip growing as the rush of battle left her. She looked around; Erica had a job to do, and she dared not distract her from scouting. Linius and the new arrival had their hands clad in gauntlets, just like her own. The archer was but a child. That left..."Lillianne." She winced, not quite from the pain, as she braced herself once more. "Would you help me pull this arrow away?" She turned, exposing her side. "Please."

[Valclaud]

Vaclaud kept silent the entire time he went with Lillianne and Sammi back with the others they traveled with. His eyes widened when he saw three knights and Erica where the remaining party members. [white]She is the Pegasus knight I saw[/white] he thought as he kept on remaining silent when the smell of food compelled him forward.

Searching the corspe of a bandit Valclaud found a dead rabbit attached to his belt; probably was going to be cooked before everyone showed up. [white]Oh well[/white] He thought [white]looks like he's not going to need this anymore.[/white] Not even bothering of cooking it, Valclaud snapped the spine, ripped off a bit of the fur and started to eat the rabbit raw; blood dripping down his chin and collecting around his face as he dove right into the first meal in three days.

After he finished eating his fill Valclaud tossed the remains off somewhere as he made his way back to the group, blood still on his lower face and hands. His mood changed to anger when he heard one of the knights bless Erica in the name of Saint Elimine; the Goddess for Etrurians. [white]"So you are an Etrurian?"[/white] Valclaud as the armored woman as he started to remember memories of his childhood and what fate set him out to travel. Just in case, Valclaud grabbed his book from his robes and hid it in his sleeve as he waited for a response from her.

[Deleted]

Alicia's arrival refreshed Lillianne's flagging attention quickly, not having expected the Etrurian to come anywhere near her unless absolutely required. The reasoning behind her surprise visit revealed itself in short order, the shaft of an arrow sticking out of a joint in the younger woman's armor. For all the talk about showing a front of strength, dignity, and poise, Lilly couldn't help but let her features turn slightly, her oppressive feeling in her gut helpfully reminding her that YUP wounds were gross. At least magic tended to cauterize, freeze, or otherwise stem any issue of fluid from wounds; actually staring at the grisly, jagged edges of flesh was another story entirely.

Truthfully, it impressed her more that Alicia was still capable of walking around than her correlating general dislike of the Etrurian could counter. Delusional religious crusader or not, it took courage and willpower to stay upright with something like that. Lilly could empathize - she wasn't in nearly as poor condition, but her headache seemed unlikely to go away in the near future and she was sore all over. Her estimation of the knight bumped up a notch or two. Given how much Alicia was obviously putting into controlling herself, as well as the resolve it had probably taken to approach her in the first place, Lilly found that she couldn't very well simply refuse or shuffle the duty off to anyone else. "...I understand. Brace yourself."

Do it quickly. If nothing else had stuck with her during classes on medical aid, the Lycian mage knew that the faster aid was applied, the more likely it was to actually have any real affect. Less critically, she also knew that when given a choice between quick bursts of pain and drawn-out agony, the former would often be more horrific to look at, but result in less overall pain. Steeling her expression as best she could, bracing her leg against Alicia's steel-clad foot, Lilly whispered something under her breath and - pulled.

The shaft came out with a sickly squelching sound that turned her stomach instantly, accompanied by a small spurt of blood and shredded flesh. Cursing, Lilly placed a finger over the gash, regretting not having thought of this beforehand. "Cauterized or bandaged?" The latter would certainly be more humane, but the former would serve to definitely close up the wound and staunch the flow of blood entirely, as well as removing any risk of infection. Ryerde's magical academy might not boast the same number of legendary sages as those of Laus and Etruria, but they had a certain focus on the pragmatic that led to every graduate at least having a basic idea of medical care... and how to bypass proper care in favor of resuming activity immediately. The science of efficiency, not humanity.

The new boy, the shaman, whatever his name was, choose an inopportune time to start a discussion about nationalities. Lilly replied immediately for Alicia, her voice icy with austere reproach. "Does it matter? Right now, she's wounded." Not particularly interested in either of their responses, the mage focused on her task, igniting one finger with as little power drawn from an unformed Fire spell in an attempt to at least stem the gradual flow of blood while waiting for Alicia's response.

[Alicia]

Alicia dug her feet into the ground as she waited, closing her eyes, breathing deeply. Calm as midsummer's breeze. Calm as midsummer-the knight gasped as pain filled her mind, a short strangled sound escaping her as the arrow left her side, and she hissed in pain; her hands twitched involuntarily, seeking her side, but she clenched them into fists, restraining herself. She did not want to interfere with whatever Lillianne was doing, and in any case, touching an open wound with dirty plate gauntlets was probably not a good idea.

Goddess, but it hurt!

The knight swore silently in her mind, keeping her eyes tightly shut. Count to ten. No, better, recite the scripture. Yes, that was always soothing. Slowly, she felt her muscles grow less tense, her shoulders relaxing, and she sighed. She hesitated at the mage's question, thinking for a few moments. Cauterization sounded...painful. Still, they did not know how long it would take for reinforcements to arrive, and she needed to be ready to march at the front as soon as possible. "...Cauterize it." She breathed out raggedly, unnerved, opening her eyes slowly. Hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as it sounded. "And...thank you, Lillianne." She had half-expected her to refuse; to learn that she had not only been willing to help her, but also had knowledge of first aid was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps she wasn't as bad a leader as the Etrurian thought she'd be.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she heard a boy's voice. She did not recognize it, but its tone was hostile enough to raise alarms in her mind. Her expression turned to revulsion as she saw the blood on the teenager's face and hands. Saint Elimine save them all, what had happened to him? Or, rather,upon closer inspection...he did not seem wounded. If the blood was not his, then...what had he done? Pride demanded that she answer his question, however. She started to speak, but Lillianne beat her to it; she looked towards the other woman in surprise. Her rebuttal was cold, yet fierce. Had the liaison just defended her? A small smile escaped her for an instant, before it was subdued by the tension of the moment and the throbbing pain from her side. She had been hasty in her judgement of the silver-haired woman.

She considered evading the boy's question for a moment, before shaking her head slightly. It would have been for the best to avoid an argument at this time, with her side wounded and Elimine knew how many bandits approaching, but...she was a holy knight. She would not hide away and play with the truth like a thief caught red-handed. Saint Elimine had chosen her, and she was proud of the fact. "Yes. I am a knight of the church." She paused. Perhaps she could lighten the situation somehow. "May I help you?" She watched the teenager warily. He was just a boy, but a dagger could be wielded just as easily by a child or an adult.

[Erica Winters]

Erica continued her heavy panting, exhausted from constant fighting. Even if Erica had been trained, using what you have learned, putting it into practice was not only difficult, but it took a lot out of you. Even if she was carried by Kiki, reaching out and attacking causes a lot of leaning and stretching, aswell as effort to keep herself mounted. She did not draw her eyes from the battlefield but she could only imagine how she would feel in Kiki’s position. Yet the winged horse stood strong, with energy left to burn. She had been flying a life time, it would take more than some gallops and nosedives to tire out this Pegasus.

Erica’s glance shot towards the rising bandit. Even after a gash across the back, he had the strength to rise from the ground, lift his sword and proceed with his initial attack. Erica snarled but her strict expression was broken by panting. Her free hand rested across her chest, over her cold plated armor. She was tired, but she had to stop the bandit, she had to help Alicia. Using whatever Energy she could squeeze, she raised her lance in a defensive position. However, before she could even react a cyan blur tackled into the bandit. Erica not having much time to process what was happening widened her mouth in disbelief. The cling clang of heavy armor echoed as an armored man skid across the ground, punching against the bandit. Erica then realized what was happening; a streak of good fortune. Someone was here to help. A gentle smile of relief covered her expression. This stranger, whoever he was, he was strong he quickly eliminated the bandit. Erica was relieved, the death of the bandit had not even phased her in that moment.

Erica was unsure what would have happened had he not come along. She needed to take a breather; she did not have the energy to head into another fight. Had she been forced to fight, sure she might have one, but she could have gotten a serious injury. Erica felt genuine relief, genuine gratitude. She waved gently as he approached the girls once again. Her breathing lightened as the armored man approached. She allowed herself to relax. She fastened her lance to Kiki and let her arms hang lightly for a while. Erica smiled her usual smile of refinement. She was glad the knight was so helpful; Erica probably didn’t have it in her to help Alicia up, not in that hefty armor. She sighed, allowing her breathing to return to normal.

Alicia dipped her head and smiled tremendously, once again displaying how much her faith affected her as a person. Erica shook her head at Alicia’s thanks.

“You would have done the same, do not thank me.”

She turned her head to the armored man, offering him a warmhearted smile. Was this knight going to continue helping them? This fight had shown Erica how capable everyone really was. Of course, if they really wanted to secure a victory they would need more fighters,

“A sincere thanks to you. I am Erica Winters, it is an honor to meet you.”

Erica nodded politely. She looked around now having the time to analyze. The fort area was clear, and they were all safe. She wondered about the others though. Her mind flashed back to earlier in the fight, the big explosion. After that she hadn’t seen many of Samantha’s arrows… Thinking about it she was not becoming a little worried. Relief tingled through her as she spied the others approaching. Everyone was safe.

“Everyone is safe…”

She whispered under her breath. She waved slightly at the incoming, trio? At first she had noticed Lillianne and Sam, and immediately spoke up.

“Lillianne, Samantha, thank you for your assistan—“

Erica was cut off, not by Lillianne, but by herself. Her mind registered the fact that there were indeed three of them. Her eyes widened as the third person came into view. It was that boy, the shaman boy. What was he doing here… Last time she saw him they were running from the knights. Of course, he probably didn’t have anywhere to go. Erica didn’t know how to react at first, he was strong, she didn’t even know if he was dangerous. Still, he was just a young boy. Erica’s suspicions and worry, they were strong overruled by even the slightest relief, relief that he was safe.

“Hello again. I’m relieved… to see you’re doing well.”

She smiled weakly, but there was a vivid sense of concern in the smile. She hardened her expression and returned her attention to the job. Though her face did not show it, she felt shocked, disheartened.

“Betrayed… It’s hard to believe…”

Would someone from the village truly betray them, when they put their lives at risk to help? No… it must have been a bandit, disguised maybe? Maybe not… Erica couldn’t explain it; it was quite hard to believe in the first place. No matter, there were other villagers that needed her help, villagers that deserved it. She had accepted this job and she was going to finish it. She nodded, accepting Lillianne’s request.

“I will waste no time.”

She pulled Kiki’s reins at an angle and the horse turned slightly, to a clear path.

“Kiki, soar.”

The white feathered horse took a galloping start, her wings bursting forth as she almost magically galloped into the air, high into the sky. Erica soared across the skies, her long chestnut braid whipping rapidly in rhythm with the winds. The peaceful silence of riding, it was always so relaxing. She could not relax however, she had work to do. Her head scanned the ground beneath her, flying just past the fort. She smiled peacefully, all seemed well and safe. She pulled once more at the reins, Kiki making a sharp U-turn back to where they came from.

“Come on Kiki, let’s report back to Lilli—Huh?”

On her way back she noticed something approaching from the east.

“Kiki, let’s investigate, don’t get too close.”

With a tilt of the head, the obedient mount lowered towards the group.

“bandits…”

Erica’s eyes skimmed across the husky men, ten of them. The marched organized in double file, and they were well equipped. They carried bows, swords, lances and even axes. Erica snarled, the front pair of knights were well armored, did they know about the fight? Erica kicked into the sides of Kiki and turned back to the others. Kiki dove towards the ground her feet hitting the floor launching her into a gallop. Erica rode around her allies as she waited for Kiki to come to a halt. She stared at Lillianne with a strict expression.

“Bandits approach from the east, ten of them. They look pretty organized, they’re coming in double file, they don’t look so weak either. Their well equipped with bows swords lances and axes. The leading two are heavily armored…”