The Law of the Battle [PM to join]

[Deleted]

"Cover?" Lilly raised an eyebrow at Selena, equal parts amused that anyone was willing to stand in front of her and at the realization that she, yeah, had been pumped enough to consider going in first herself. "Uh, yeah, right. ...Cover." The glint in her eyes ignited alongside the flickering mass of heat in her palm, a boiling mass of heat slowly collapsing in on itself as ethereal but barely-visible magical barriers constricted around it. "Lend her your lance, Alicia; I will handle the civilians."

A casual wave of an unarmed woman's hand towards a bunch of people might not normally be much reason to fall back, but seeing the flickering inferno in her palm, audibly compressing with each pulse of energy, was enough to persuade the full set of civilians to take a few cautious steps backwards. Just in case. "...It's probably safer if you stay in this area for the time being, or fall back towards the entrance. We'll continue on inside. Don't throw your lives away when you just got them back."

The mounting burning sensation in her hand was an unwelcome reminder that she could not yet pull off what she had hoped to, but the crackling ball; of - it was barely fire anymore, more heat compressed into a small enough area to blur its exact nature, but Lilly was uncomfortably aware that she had neither the firepower actually required to amplify the reaction - she neeeded a stronger base framework to play with to go much further - and her theories were incomplete at best, patchy; she needed to be able to actually understand exactly what she was doing before she tried anything too much crazier with it.

It would explode pretty nicely, though.

Without an adequate delivery system in the works just yet, Lilly grimaced in disgust as she took a step forwards, lobbing the stupid thing like an undersized softball over the two girls, as well as the clashing bandits, into the hallway behind them. Absolutely disgraceful. She should at least have invented a magical catapult, or perhaps an amplified rail launcher - but with her lakc of control over the spell as it was, she was less than eager to try accelerating it beyond the speed of sound through a colossal magical amplification affect. Because it totally didn't already have enough magic compressed into it without needing possible dissolution of the containment protocols.

Also, she had no idea how to make any of that stuff happen.

She smiled anyways.

"...Yet."

The dim alcove that marked the corner of the corridor erupted with the light of the sun itself, the dual Fire spells she had collapsed together seeking the escape the confines of their rapidly-disintegrating expanding barrier. Unable to escape outwards immediately, the magical energy rebounded on itself, bathing anything unfortunate to share the confines of their ethereal spell in an unending wash of fire.

Granted, the spectacle lasted for about two seconds before disintegrating entirely and leaving the two charred corpses to slump to the floor, but, uh, that was something to work on.

[Alicia]

Alicia nodded solemnly, planting her feet. "The honor is mine," she said, before cutting herself short; the bandits were approaching. She pursed her lips as they approached, her lance lunging forwards; the man's axe batted the wooden shaft aside, yet she spun her wrist, pulling her arm back, the tip of the weapon circling back around and beneath the blocking bandit's arm and into his guard. She jabbed the iron point forward, but the bandit stepped back warily with surprising agility, evading her attack; she let out her breath in frustration as she quickly pulled back the lance, awaiting his next movement.

As she readied her shield, a flash of red blurred past the corner of her eye and over her head; she had but an instant to wonder what it might have been before intense heat assaulted her; she closed her eyes, turning her head away, the hot air brushing against her plate briefly before its source was extinguished. She glanced over at her opponent; he seemed to have fared far, far worse than she had. An odd mixture of fear and excitement coursed through her as she realized how close the spell had landed, and how easily that could have been her, and yet, her first impulse was to turn around and berate Lilly for taking away the first truly competent opponent she'd faced in this place. She suppressed the urge, breathing deeply. "By the holy prophet, next time, you stand over here and I hurl javelins over your head!" She called back over her shoulder, her tone dry, moving forwards towards the hallway, shielding the warrior at her side from the archer's aim, engaging a richly-dressed swordsman that had gracefully stepped to the front. Who knew, perhaps this one would be a challenge, too!

[Selena]

Selena had been worried a bit. The men here were much stronger then she would have imagined, and she was having trouble keeping her defense while pressing any form of offense. That, and she wouldn't pretend she could dodge those arrows forever. She'd gotten lucky the first time, if they were allowed to fire without pause, it would only be a matter of time before they struck home.

She felt some heat building up on the back of her neck, and reflexively flattened her body against the wall. She'd had to fight on the same side as spellcasters before, but she'd never seen such a spell. It was different, not all all like the balls of fire she was used to seeing. Never-the-less, it flew over the pair of warriors they were fighting, detonating behind them and filling the hall with fire and smoke. A strangled cry as the fire enveloped the back of the man she was fighting, the nauseating smell of burnt flesh filling the cramped corridors. Both of the bodies fell, and a new pair moved up to take their place, blocking her way to those obnoxious archers. This was endless! As the knight moved up to engage an oddly dressed swordsman, Selena picked her target, and prepared herself for what would be an incredibly foolish move.

Still, she decided to put her trust in her new allies, for if they didn't work together, none of them would be getting out of here alive. She ran forward to meet with her own opponent, a lancer user with a large shield as well. Perfect, these close quarters would make it difficult for him to bring that weapon to bare. [blue]"Come then! Let's see if you can match me!"[/blue] She challenged. Charging down a lanceman was dumb, and he set his lance at her, ready to impale her with a single thrust. With a quick motion, she swatted the lance out of her way with her buckler, leaving her entire middle exposed and vulnerable.

The move caught the lanceman off guard enough that she could shove him aside and get by, but a pair of sounds greeted her ear with the sound of death himself. Twin arrows sailed mercilessly through the air towards her exposed center. The first struck her breastplate, and thankfully bounced off, but she was not so lucky with the second. It struck her left side, slipping through the leather under armor quite easily. The stab of pain, and the small spray of blood, distracted her for but a moment as her right hand plunged the sword forward.

It was with a satisfying crack, the man's hardened leather armor gave way before the blade. The blade stayed united with his body for but a moment, as Selena pulled it out to slash at the second archer. His reaction time served him well, and he was able to jump out of the way in time. His bow, however, did not, and the wood was cut in half.

She wanted to press the attack, to spite the pain in her side, but before she was given the opportunity, she felt something large and heavy strike her back, knocking her forward. She landed on her hands and knees, crying out sharply from the arrow moving about in her side. She glanced behind her to see the lancer trying to reaim his lance in the crowded hall, apparently he had just shoved her with his shield.

The other archer, for his point, went to recover his dead friends bow.

[Deleted]

Lillianne flicked her hair with practiced ease - yes she practiced that sometimes so what voices? - as her smile grew at Alicia's retort, her natural competitive streak and the rush of power flowing through her eroding her restraint... and her common sense. "Oh I'm sorry, Alicia," she began, stressing her "apology" in a way that did not in any way whatsoever sound incredibly insincere, "I couldn't hear you over the sound of me BENDING THE LAWS OF NATURE TO MY WILL WITH CONTEMPTUOUS EASE what was that about you tossing toothpicks around?"

She was vaguely aware that if she looked any more like the cat that ate the canary, her smile was going to devour her entire head.

Settling for setting her hand on fire rather than pushing her luck with the feisty Etrurian, she followed the two girls into the fray, the mage's free hand set contemptuously on her hip in a gesture of defiance. The lance-wielding bandit Selena had pushed back locked eyes with her, still looking somewhat confused at what the hell had just happened, and she returned his confused gaze with an absolutely angelic smile before igniting him with the sweep of an arm, a trail of cinders in the wake of her hand as he immolated on the spot, bubbling somewhat less than appealingly as he fell.

Lilly looked dubiously at him for a moment before gingerly stepping over the boiling mass, cheekily smiling again as she continued. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." She paused, frowning for a moment as she realized that there was still fighting going on. Either these bandits were acting like cornered animals, or unusually... loyal. Raising her voice, she projected it, her words thundering down the hallway. "Surrender, curs, and you'll have your trial. Refuse, and you will meet your end in fire and steel."

[Alicia]

Alicia winced as the man's blade struck her forearm; strong as her armor was, there was only so much force the layers of padding could absorb. The bandit recovered quickly, staying within arm's reach, making it impossible for her to bring the lance to bear one-handed. She couldn't kick him away; the armor was far too restrictive, and the swordsman too limber to catch his feet beneath her own.

Alicia's words ran over the battlefield, and she gnashed her teeth, anger and competitiveness igniting together inside her. T-toothpicks! Unforgivable! "Yeah, as if your little embers would bring a real knight down!" She cried out, twisting her entire body, the armor adding momentum to her movement as she slammed her shoulder into the advancing swordsman's face. He fell back, clutching his nose, spewing curses. "I'll show you what this toothpick can do!"

She roared, the lance darting forwards; the man parried it awkwardly, sending it sliding downwards. Like a snake, it dove behind the bandit's legs, hooking them, and Alicia pulled on the shaft, bringing the man down before driving the lance firmly into his chest. "Hah! Match that!" She said, her tone victorious as she turned around, only to see her casually ignite the lance-wielding bandit with a wave of her hand. Her expression soured as she turned away. "You're cheating," she stated dourly, her lips pursed stubbornly as she advanced towards the last remaining archer.

[Selena]

Selena rolled and covered her head as she saw the blast of heat coming forth from the noble woman again. The man above her, reduced to...something best not described, Selena sprang to her feet to avoid getting...flash-fried bandit on her leg.

And these two were carrying on a normal conversation, like it wasn't even a bother to be running around in here. Just how powerful were they? She offered a two finger salute to Lilly, as she turned around to advance with Alicia. The last remaining archer looked paniced and dropped his bow to the ground, dropping to his knees with his hands out.

[red]"W-Wait! I-I surrender!"[/red] He shouted, clearly terrified of the death these three could deal. Selena didn't stop her advance though, and walked right up to the man, kicking him sharply in the chin with her armored foot. The man flew back, cracking against a wall and laying there. He sturggled to look up at the woman approaching him, her eyes boring into him. [blue]"Good for you."[/blue] She said, cool and calculating steps forward. [blue]"I find you guilty of theft, murder and treason against all of Lycia. Your punishment is death. May Saint Elimine have mercy on your befouled soul."[/blue] She declared, driving the sword into the man's neck with a precise thrust. He gurgled for a moment as the fountain of red sprayed out, collecting on the ground. She kept her sword in for a moment, to keep the blood from splashing all over her, and then removed it once the flow had slowed. The body slumped over, eyes stuck open in abject terror.

She paused for a moment, sheathing her blade and grasping the arrow still in her side. She could break it off, and go looking for the arrowhead later, or... Pulling a small rolled piece of leather from her pocket, she bit down on it and pulled, ripping the arrow from her flesh as she winced. The cut had been opened fresh, and she began to cover it while addressing her new comrades.

[blue]"Thank you both for your help. I am sorry if you have...objections to that, but I am here to exterminate these blights from the lands. I am Sir Selena, Knight Errant of Laus."[/blue] Sure she could have added in 'former', but this seemed more likely to get people to not question her methods if they thought they were dealing with a knight. That and she had never stopped doing her duty, to protect the people of Laus, nay all of Lycia.

She took the moment to offer her hand to Alicia at least. She happened to be closer, and had stood by her side as they had turned back the tide of enemies. Sure the mage had been vital, but there was just something about fighting side to side with someone that birthed a sense of trust and camaraderie.

[Deleted]

"So much for questioning him," Lilly responded with a certain degree of waspish admonition. She hadn't really considered the possibility of anyone breaking the temporary proffered truce, so having her tentative plan of questioning the first bandit to actually seem pliable so far go up in flames - figuratively speaking, she mentally clarified - was aggravating. Still. Stay calm. Better to have the crazy murder machine lady on your side than piss her off and decide you and Alicia are bandits who need to be purged blah blah fanatacism.

Sighing as palm met forehead, Lillianne looked very, very hard for the silver lining in the situation, determined to make some good come of the debacle. Well, they couldn't interrogate him for information on what traps or forces lay ahead, so that... wasn't much of an upside. At least he couldn't turn and try to kill them, not that he would have been able to do so. "...Well, at least now we don't have to worry about what to do with him." She smiled, one that did not reach her eyes, a dry chuckle accompanying it. "Thanks for that, I suppose, though we will be blind going further in." Her smile evaporated in the face of a stony expression remniscent of nuclear winter in its frigidity. "Try to restrain yourself from repeating this performance when we find the leader of this forsaken abomination of an outlaw band; I will find out what is going on here. What happens to his life after I extract the necessary information, I am... less concerned about."

A sideways glance at Alicia was all the further thought she gave the subject, a silent request to step in if necessary in the future. The death of one or a hundred bandits didn't bother her in the least, but to have been so close to potentially valuable information, only to have it witheld from her by zealous fanaticism, was something she had expected more from an Etrurian inquisitor than a fellow Lycian. "-But well met, Selena. Lillianne. This is Alicia. The rest of our force are engaged in securing the rest of the fortress." Nationality seemed less than important to stress; Alicia's fanatical Etrurian partisanship could only cause problems, and Lilly herself was here less as a representative of House Ryerde as she was as - well, herself. Little benefit could come from attempting to trumpet her past titles, while the risks were great.

"It is reassuring to have to stellar warriors at my side in this final leg of our little picnic gone awry, though I certainly hope there are few foes remaining." Her expression grew more dour, closer to petty annoyance than anything else. "It would take precious few more of these swine to bridge the gap between bandit clan and small army, and this fortress already houses too many secrets for my tastes."

[Aeros]

Nothing.

He had found nothing.

Aeros had been sure that he could trace the infestation of undead somewhere, at the very least; it was hard to forget the overwhelming hatred he had felt in their presence, the practical stench of something that didn’t belong on this world or any other. And yet when he left the small town and had been presented with a choice of going north or east, he had chosen north…because he felt like it.

It wasn't an overwhelming instinct or urge. He just…felt like it. And he didn’t keep track of time very well, either, so he could have been traveling for any time between a week and a year. All the manakete knew was that living in an actual house for almost a month had spoiled him; after a few days (?), scrounging off the wilderness was getting tiresome. So when he came across what appeared to be a fortress of some sort, he saw it as an opportunity. Why humans built such large structures, he would never know, since only half of anything this large was used or even checked on a regular basis.

…Which meant he could sneak in, find the most disused place, and hide himself until he felt like leaving. Maybe.

There couldn't be anyone in there capable of taking on a dragon if it came down to a fight, right? And the walls seemed conveniently devoid of sentries, so it was easy enough to fly over them, even in sealed form, and slip through a window.

The small kitchen into which he emerged was completely deserted, and seemed oddly...messy for a deserted area. The manakete had seen messes like this before, and they positively reeked of the word bandits; nobody else would live in a practical castle this big and leave it a mess, regardless of their hurry. Looking on the mess reminded him of...too many things, so Aeros quickly made his way to the entrance, suppressing a shudder.

Bandits. Where did they keep coming from? It seemed that everywhere he went, there were brigands in the countryside, raiding small towns, farms, huts in the woods, never anywhere important, but this fortress seemed too large for anything like that. Maybe he was wrong, which would be a huge relief, although it still left the question of the mess...

"...precious few more of these swine to bridge the gap between bandit clan and small army, and this fortress already houses too many secrets for my tastes."

...Well, apparently they were bandits, but at least somebody appeared to be...cleaning them out? Investigating them? No, they were definitely an opposing force, or they wouldn't be calling the brigands 'swine.' Which meant...

Which meant...

Despite any previous luck in that area, Aeros was more than little afraid that his character judging abilities were lacking. He took a peek around door framerame before jerking back at the sight within: three women and the edge of a cloud of others, the former standing in the next room and the latter in the room beyond that. Whoever they were, they appeared to be armed; even as confident as the manakete was that he could escape or defeat anyone who attempted to harm him...he had been chased away once recently.

Never again.

He had promised himself that, and he wasn't going to break it. Period.

Although these three--and maybe the others--could be allies...or enemies...or allies...he could just head up to a loft somewhere, but if these three and their group were actually invading this fortress, as odd as that seemed, they could very well win. He had seen more than enough humans capable of taking on small armies, so three or even more at once wasn't beyond reason. And if they won, they would search the fortress.

Then he had an idea: what if the only place they wouldn't search was behind them? And if he ever felt that following them was too much of a danger, he could probably find a place to hole up in, maybe dive out of a window.

So that's what he would do. The manakete brought himself to the outer wall of the chamber, listening for sounds of movement within.

[Alicia]

Alicia nodded at the swordswoman's greeting, her stare puzzled. Was she a fellow believer? Her previous words led credibility to her theory, and yet...killing a man who had surrendered was against her own moral code, and that of the teachings she believed in. She looked to Lilliane as she spoke, nodding subtly at her gesture. Even so, she could not help but feel a measure of respect for the other woman, regardless of her misgivings; she had fought valiantly, despite her injury.

She removed the lance from her gauntleted hand with some effort, sliding it out of the metal plate's grasp before offering her own hand and bowing her head in salute, her expression serious. "It is an honor to meet a fellow knight in battle. May you receive Saint Elimine's blessing. As our...leader," she spoke, directing a sideways glance at Lilliane before rolling her eyes."As our leader said, I am Alicia, a knight in service of Saint Elimine. It is the holy will of Etruria that this band be...dispersed." She said with some distaste, grimacing at the word. "These bandits have grown too strong, and too daring by far."

The Etrurian moved away, closing her hand over the lance securely once more before walking to the front, tilting her head. "Shall we follow their trail, Lilliane? Or, did you have another plan in mind?" She said, the playfulness of her previous banter gone, her expression serious, her senses alert. The deeper recesses of the fortress would hold greater danger...danger that they might not overcome unless they worked as a team.

[Selena]

Selena had a few choice words in mind for...Lillianne was it? But she restrained them. She didn't appreciate being patronized, but from the few mages she'd met, she had come to expect it from them. She worded her rebuttal carefully.

[blue]"I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it, the grunts don't usually know anything. They are all power hungry, and even these lot know that information is power. You let a grunt get too much, and he starts getting ideas. At any rate, it is my honor to fight with you both."[/blue] She spoke, turning to Alicia this time. [blue]"I am glad I had one as skilled as you at my side, your skill was impressive to observe."[/blue] She remarked as she shook the knight's hand briefly.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Alicia turned slightly to address Lilly, and this slight movement let Selena notice a shadow. Small, quick and no longer there. Something had moved, had it been a trick of the light? She waited for a moment, pushing the sounds of Alicia's conversation from her mind as she tried to focus on any new sounds, without telling them to be quiet. Such would give away that she was alert, and her prey might be more careful then. If he or she thought themselves undetected, they would be easier to follow. If there was anyone there in the first place.

And then a small cracking sound. Like stepping on an uneven stone and making it shift just an inch. A subtle sound, that most would miss for certain. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Selena had spent the last few months dealing with ambushes. From brigands in towns or a forest to...far less pleasant or human things sneaking up on them by the light of a campfire. Being set upon by monsters from your nightmares on a moonless night, with only the dying embers of a fire to fight by, would make anyone twitchy. As a result, getting the drop on her had become notoriously difficult.

While Alicia and Lilly spoke, she advanced down the hallway. Slowly, carefully, but advancing none the less. She seemed relaxed, seemed like she was just scouting...until she'd reached the break in the hallway where she had heard the sound. With a deft motion, she spun around the corner and drew her sword, an achievment in the tight space. She pointed it into the darkness, unable to see more then an outline of the area, but sure that someone was there.

[blue]"Why don't you stop sulking around and step out into the light? I know you're there."[/blue] She called to the other person. Sure enough, she did know he was there...somewhere. Definitely within earshot, but the exact location was iffy at best.

[Aeros]

His plan didn’t really make sense when he thought about it; yes, it made sense in the…sense that it worked, but not in the sense of ‘great idea! Let’s do that!’ Nothing really came to mind, but Aeros was sure that if he thought about it for a moment, he could probably find a better way to do this.

He didn’t think about it, nor did he move from his spot.

The memory of his last encounter with a group of humans was still painfully fresh: being chased away by a pair of suspicious fighters, both horror-struck at mere hints of what he was, and both willing to fight him despite being terrified. Why did he keep trying? Richter, Rayl, Crowley…they had all been exceptions in a world that hated manakete. Hated Aeros, for some ‘Scouring’ that his race had been a part of.

The dragon had never asked the details of the Scouring, and had avoided hearing about it; not for lack of curiosity, but because whatever the dragons had done then, it had left a very, very bad memory, and a bad memory was the last thing the manakete needed.

Breaking off his train of thought, Aeros decided to check on the group again. He needed to know where they were going, after all…

As he moved to look around the corner, he heard a slight squealing sound. The manakete froze, hoping, hoping that the group of humans hadn’t heard it, listening to the sounds down the hall…and registering no change. The three women were still talking, the mass behind them was still murmuring, and—a slight sound was all the warning he received as a swordswoman stepped around the corner and drew her weapon, the point just missing the dragon’s forehead. Stifling a yelp, Aeros stumbled back, instinctively drawing power from his dragonstone to toughen himself, too panicked to find an escape route.

Then he realized that the sword had actually passed his head on its way up, and was now pointed at an angle that was clearly meant for a taller opponent. And her challenge clearly meant that she hadn’t seen him. Relieved, Aeros slowly began to step away from the sword; too high or not, he didn’t want to be near a weapon in this form. Just in case the woman decided that swinging wildly would find a target—which it would—he began to draw more power into himself—

At which point the stone began glowing through his tunic. Brightly. Instinct took over at that point, and he snapped his wings out farther and clapped a hand over the glowing stone.

[Deleted]

It soured the moment a bit to have Selena act as though no useful information could have been gleaned from the man; Lillianne suspected that the girl was just trying to defend her actions out of principle rather than worrying too much about the truth in her words, but if there was anything she had learned from her own days as an academy student or watching the court... well, no one really liked admitting they were wrong. She certainly wouldn't have been excited to admit it either, though the mage's consistent streak of self-appraisal and drive for improvement would have been enough to make her do it... probably.

All things considered, not really taking the other girl to task for it. An extra sword hand was worth a few quirks... for the time being. There would have to be Words(tm) with Selena before Lillianne considered anything else. Another moment of quiet contemplation before a thin smile graced her lips, a gesture of concession more than anything particularly wild. "...Fair enough. I see that you and the walking tin can have already met, so let's move on to finish exterminating the outlaw infestation."

Okay so maybe she was a little bit bitter about the good Alicia's little display, but there was nothing wrong with a solid dose of self-respect! Backsassery was an ill-advised action when she was around, and it was sort of amusing, anyways.

Selena's sudden motion caught Lilly entirely off-guard; she had half expected a sword to the ribs before realizing that something else entirely was going on, Selena already on the warpath. Again. "I would have warned the rest of our band to tread carefully had I known how likely they were to be ambushed for reporting in," she mumbled to Alicia with mock outrage and a conspiratorial wink, not having worried too much about how she might have come closer to stage whisper than anything resembling actual secrecy.

Rounding the corner shortly behind Selena, though, her confident persona faltered at the sight of - someone, or something, in the shadows; even with the individual's form clad mostly in shadow, wings were not really a common human trait unless she really had slept through all of Biology junior year like Verys claimed. Lilliane paused, one hand already seething with living flame, torn between natural curiosity, scientific curiousity - what the hell walked around with wings, anyways? - and the beginnings of a horrible plan that Alicia would be welcome to chide her for later.

Okay, so there really wasn't much of a conflict going there.

Lillianne layed her hand on Selena's shoulder in one fluid motion, the flesh still warm enough from the pyrotechnics display of a moment before to act as a less-than-subtle suggestion to not repeat the performance of a few moments ago, but her attention was on the thing - the... boy? - entirely, her mind working in overdrive to attempt to piece together some sense of sense from the situation.

More important, though, was to defuse the issue. A moment after raising her eyebrow, she dissolved her expression into an open smile, appraising the boy top to bottom with an expert eye. "Well! You look more like a bat than a bandit." Pause. "Bat-dit? ...No?" Since when did humans of any variety sport wings? The only species Lilly was familiar with having been winged, particularly scaly wings of any variety, were bats, wyverns, and... dragons. The last of which had supposedly been extinct since the scouring, though there were always rumors to the contrary - and hadn't there been some talk of a humanoid dragon somewhere in Lycia a few years back that she had never taken seriously enough to follow along with?

Still, baseless suspicions meant little without evidence to back them up. "I don't recognize you from among the captives we rescued earlier, young man, but you don't exactly look like a bandit." Seriously, was he lost or something? Babysitting had not been in the job direction. "May I ask you why you were following us? We're here to clear out the local outlaws and rescue kidnapped individuals, if that influences your answer." Gargoyles? Were gargoyles supposed to be real now? Human...oid, winged... he didn't look much like a stone statue, though, animate or otherwise.

[Selena]

Selena wasn't paying attention to Lilly's remarks when she had her sword drawn, initially anyway. It wasn't until the figure in front of her started glowing that things seemed to get critical. She saw the glow, confused as to what it was, but it illuminated the figure against a backdrop of total darkness. Against this darkness, she saw a pair of large wings. A nightmare made flesh, standing before her again. She'd have thought it was a joke a few months ago, but after all she'd seen, she wasn't so willing to take that chance anymore.

For a brief moment, the sight had scared her. Her heart sped up in her breast from shock, her hand tightened on her blade, and even her feet bounced slightly, ready to retreat in a moment's notice. The glimmering...whatever it was, had done one thing for the soldier as her sense came back. It had given her a target. She tensed her sword arm, feeling a wave of heat overtake her body, and prepared to strike forward. Before she could, however, she felt a hand on her shoulder, beckoning her to stop. She debated on pushing through it, but her reason had been restored after the momentary adrenaline rush. Lilly wanted to talk to this thing...and make bad puns at it too. So be it, if the mage wanted to get herself chewed in half, or cut down by some bandit trick, who was she to deny her the chance?

Selena lowered her sword, but did not sheath it, as she gave room for Lilly to approach the...whatever this was. She took that as her chance to leave back into the main hall, so she wouldn't be in the splatter area when the well dressed mage got eaten. [blue]"Fine then, I'll let you interrogate this one. Do try to at least give a warning scream if it decides to eat you though."[/blue] She shot right back at Lily, her tone an odd brand of sweetness that had not yet been hurt. She might not have been as skilled with veiling her insults, but she could throw them plenty fine.

Wanting to interrogate a bandit? Ok, that was understandable. And maybe she had acted too hasty. But there was no way what was in that hall was human, or on their side. If it wasn't human, well she'd never met a non-humanoid creature that didn't try to murder her. Asides from normal animals, of which that was not. If it was a human? Likely a bandit trying to use scare tactics to get close, though that seemed to have failed now. She rolled her eyes as she looked sideways at Alicia. She at least half smiled at the knight. She might have been a religious zealot, but at least she had a decent head on her shoulders so far.

There was just no reasoning with some people.

[Aeros]

Aeros almost panicked when one of the other women rounded the corner--with her hand on fire, no less--plus the revelation that his wings were once again inconveniently visible (he needed to learn how to keep tabs on those) and was only stymied at the new arrival's next words.

A pun.

He had just been the subject of a pun.

And when he noticed that his mouth was slightly agape, he decided that he had more important issues to deal with. Like, say, who this woman was that would see...see...well, it was established that he had given himself away, and this...person...wasn't panicked. Or afraid at all. Or even really...curious, as far as he could tell. She just made a (bad) quip, and asked him a few questions, probably like she would anyone else.

It was a nice feeling.

...But she had asked him some questions, and he wasn't about to be rude to the first person that had asked him an honest question without either being in a war zone or wanting to put him in a war zone. As he began to answer, the swordswoman made some remark and walked off; it irked him a little that she would assume he wanted to eat anybody, let alone that it would be the one being nice to him instead of the one that attacked him.

The questions were...difficult enough, though, so Aeros decided to ignore the rude one and focus on the nice one. "I..." really, though, how much could he tell her? She already knew his biggest secret--well, the biggest one he actually knew--so saying anything more couldn't really hurt, could it? "I was...looking for a place to sleep, actually. And..."

Uh-oh. He was about to say too much, he knew he was, he needed to stop himself--"..and I'd like to...help...if I could."

Well.

...Well. He finally had his mouth closed, at least, even if he felt like hiding that fact in the nearest cranny. At last under the glow nobody could tell if he was red-faced or not...

[Alicia]

"T-tin can!" Alicia's mouth fell open at the affront, her composure shattering completely as she stammered, her jaw trembling slightly as she struggled to form words, her eyes wide in shock. "You really have no shame, do you? To a knight of the church, even! As if you were one to speak, you, you..." Her voice rose an octave as her carefully kept professional monotone broke. "You arsonist!" She took a deep breath, her lance shaking slightly, trying to calm her emotions. Not now; there would be time enough for it later. "I will...examine the bodies. Perhaps one of them is alive...or holds information that might be of use," she spoke, her tone not quite down to normal, yet measured and paced once more. "If that is okay with your highness?" She huffed, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she turned away. Perhaps one of them had held orders. Perhaps-

Her train of thought was interrupted at Selena's sudden movement, and she turned swiftly, lance at the ready, her posture aggressive. Were they under attack? She followed the younger woman's movements, but could not catch sight of anything amidst the shadows. A brief glint of light drew her attention, and the Etrurian stared with astonishment as a boy stepped out from the darkness, her eyes drawn towards his wings in amazement. Was he some kind of demon? If so, it had to be purged. She took a step forward, resolution written on her face as she raised her lance and shield, intent on attacking.

Alicia paused as she caught sight of the child's face. His expression...was he scared? Guilt and shame assaulted her, but she forced them down fiercely. He could be a threat. But still...did Elimine's teachings not say that they should make an effort to help each other? That they should not judge based on appearance alone? But, even beyond the teachings...the boy's demeanor, his appearance, they did not seem like those of a demon intent on attacking. A small part of her mind screamed at her to smite him down, but she shunted it aside; if anything...he reminded her of the orphans she sought to aid, lost and confused. The mistrust of strangers, the loneliness, the fear, they were feelings she knew intimately, feelings she herself had experienced as an orphan in Delfia, as any other had, before the old man had taken her in, given her a roof to live under along with the other lost children.

The Etrurian knight snorted at Lilliane's pun, smiling as she allowed herself to relax; this boy was clearly no bandit, and despite his appearance...she could not bring herself to think of him as a monster, not when her heart told her that he was a child in need of comfort. "What is your name, young one?" She asked warmly, her voice open and friendly, her tone completely unforced, a slight lilt weaving itself into her speech. "Don't worry, we won't harm you. I'm Alicia." She smiled reassuringly at him, leaving her lance to the side as she approached him unguardedly. "My friends call me Allie, though." She winked at him, giggling softly. "You're welcome to do so too, if you want to."