Purged by Fire(Open)

[Euphemious]

OC: No problem Kenneth. I said before you could use them. Just keep track of Sword, and Axe personalities.

Kenneth surprise attacked worked just as Euphemious thought it would. Though Kenneth had not noticed it yet his actions sent the enemies into chaos. The lead brigand’s orders fell on death ears as the members of the band fought for themselves. Sword had already slain one of the soldiers and Kenneth finished off the last mercenary. As the chaos started to take hold of the bandits Butorega took the advantage to finish off one of the brigands.

"You looked like you could use some help,” spoke Kenneth as he aided Axe. Euphemious had taken note. He had to remember to thank the lad once the fighting was over.

"Thanks", spoke Axe with a cheerful smile. That smile was soon interrupted by the last soldier as he moved to strike the lady Brigand. Axe was forced to dodge and strike out against the soldier. By pure luck her axe landed in his neck, and the soldier immediately fell dead.

"Nooo", shouted Axe as she placed her hands over the soldiers bleeding wound. It was as Euphemious feared. Axe was not ready for battle. He noticed her slack in their last confrontation, but space in the battle field prevented him from getting a good look at her form. It was clear to him now hat Axe was not fit for the battle field. She was too timid to kill. Well, was too timid to kill.

"The first is always the hardest", spoke Euphemious to himself as he pulled Axe off the ground. The enemies were now numbered at only two unites. Form what Euphemious could see the others had them under control. "Come on Axe", he spoke pulling the girls hands away from the wound. "He is already dead, there noting you can do about it."

For a moment Axe stared at her hands. The crimson liquid oozed between her fingers. It was her first time killing someone. In truth she never thought of killing anybody, not even the bad people. She joined the fight because her cousins were fighting. The idea of ending another person's life never crossed her mind. It was for this reason her swing in the last bout with their leader was shallow, and as a consequence she nearly lost her life. Now the young maiden had blood on her hands. Her face twisted as tears began to flow from her eyes. She turned around and grabbed her cousin, and held him tight. Euphemious stopped for a moment and took a look around insuring the enemy was handled before he began to comfort his cousin.

"Come on Gwendolyn", he spoke. This was the first time he spoke her name, and he vowed it would be the last. Their oath removed their names from them till they completed their task, and Euphemious vowed to himself to keep it.

"Greggory I am a murder", she cried. Her face was covered in snot and tears, and her axe lay in the dirt.

"No you’re not, Axe", spoke Euphemious making sure to use her fake name. A sense of doom however ran over the knight as he comforted his cousin. He did not like the idea of dealing with her breakdown, while they were fighting the enemies. Though they numbered only in two it still made him nervous.

[Kenneth Fanter]

It seemed Sword had missed one of the soldiers because a lance charged right at the maiden. Either luckily or unluckily, Axe landed the hit and killed the soldier right on the spot. After that she broke down. Euphimous comforted her, so Kenneth turned Dinami and galloped over to a Brigand fighting Sword. He lowered his lance and opened a large gash on the bandits back. He arced his back and yelled in pain, then swung his axe as he turned around. He caught Kenneth in the side.

"GAH," Kenneth yelled as Sword used the distraction to plant her axe in his spine. He fell and Sword turned her attention to another bandit. Kenneth inspected his wound. It wasn't to bad, but Kenneth was younger so a small wound to an adult was like a large wound to him. He turned his attention to Jinala, who had the bodies of two of the Brigands at her feet and was fighting a third. Kenneth again spurred Dinami towards the fighting pair. He hit the bandit in the back and Jinala finished him as he recovered. The three left fighting mopped up the remainder of the bandits and Kenneth trotted up to Axe and Euphimous. He dismounted and spoke to the pair.

"We've finished them," Kenneth said, "but we should not linger here. A few may have escaped and could be running for reinforcements as we speak. We need not rush, though. I'll leave it to you, Euphimous. If we do leave, though, it's Axe's turn to ride Dinami now, so she is welcome to."

Kenneth hoped this would cheer the maiden up.

[Euphemious]

By the time Kenneth arrived Axe had stopped crying. Kenneth gave his report, and Axe finally let go of her cousin. Kenneth attempt to cheer up his cousin was noted by the knight. Axe accepted his offer, but the cheerful glee that usually follows after all her response vanished. The only thing left was a dim cheer.

As Axe walked over to the horse Euphimous looked up at Kenneth. "Thanks", he spoke as he turned and pointed to the ruins at the top of the mount. "I suggest we meet up in the ruins of Lowlander Hall", he spoke. "There is a small temple inside the ruins. It would be a perfect place to rest and recover. It would also give us a great vantage of the terrain. If any brigands headed out way we would see them coming before they saw us.'

As Euphemious finished speaking Sword walked up to him. "So she broke down", spoke Sword as a worrisome expression crossed her face.

"Don't worry about that", spoke Euphemious as he began walking over to their new companion. "We can talk about that when we return to the temple." Sword nodded as Eupheimous began to speak with their new guest.

"As for you", spoke Euphemious as he sized up the lady. "I would suggest you move with us back to temple, but that is up to you. If you chose not to come then your safety is in your hands." With those few words Euphemious and Sword began their trek back up the mountain toward the ruins.

"Sword", spoke Euphemios as he stared back at his cousin. "Remind me to get a horse", he spoke as he continued to climb the hill.

[Kenneth Fanter]

Kenneth helped Axe onto Dinami, but noticed the maiden's severe lack of cheerfulness. He looked at her, but her eyes remained downcast. Kenneth nodded at Euphimous, "We'll see you there."

He quietly spurred Dinami and the horse trotted up the hill. They sped up to a slow gallop and reached the ruins of Lowlander Hall. They slowed to a stop in front of the temple. Kenneth dismounted and studied the door. The handles were busted off and the doors were ajar. Not surprising. This place must have been picked over multiple times. Luckily, Kenneth knew the secrets of the temples. Hidden compartments and the like. There was mandatory praying to the gods in the training school he attended since he was a child. He'd seen the bishops and monks pull out hidden staves and healing items from panels in the floor and walls. He began walking around, tapping his foot on the ground and his fist on the walls. He eventually found a hollow spot in the wall and pried it open with his lance. Inside rested a few staves and a small crate of vulenaries. He grabbed one and drank it. Kenneth felt the wound in his side closing. He walked over to Axe and handed it to her. She took it without a word and just stared at the floor. Kenneth stood for a moment, then sat on the floor. He studied Axe.

Kenneth remained quiet for a moment, "Axe, I know killing someone is hard. Mentally and physically. I been training to do it my whole life and it's still hard for me. Just know that if you're ever having problems with killing, you can talk to me."

Axe glanced up and a smile formed on her face, slightly, "Thanks, Kenneth."

[Euphemious]

As Euphemious arrived at the temple he was met with the image of Axe standing in front of the door. From what he could see the maiden had somewhat recovered. A smile was back on her face, but it was nowhere near as bright as it use to be. A small feeling of guilt rose in his stomach, as he contemplated the thought of his cousin losing her eternal smile. None the less their was more important business at hand.

"Sword", spoke Euphemious as he turned his back to the stone wall. The maiden quickly ran forward and jumped into the palm of Euphemious hand. The knight pulled up as hard as he could as the lady fighter leapt into the air, and grabbed the top of the stone structure. She took position on the roof and began to look over the area.

"See any brigands", asked Euphemious as sword shook her head.

"Currently none", she spoke, "but I will keep a look out in case anymore come over the horizon.

"Right", spoke Euphemious as he walked into the temple. As he walked through the door he greeted Kenneth, and escorted the rescued damsel inside. "Now maiden" he spoke as everyone finished their greetings. "Tell me what you know of these brigands." Euphemious had decided he was going to make it his mission to be rid of these bandits. These lands once belonged to the Lowlander family, and as the last remaining member of that lost lineage it was his duty to restore order.

In truth however he had planned to skip that till he had found the champion’s sword, but after being attacked by the low lives himself he decided that this would come first. Depending on the information he received from the maiden he would plan his next assault.

[Kenneth Fanter]

"Euphimous," Kenneth shouted at the knight as he questioned Jinala. He tossed a vulenary at Euphimous, "This should patch you up."

Kenneth walked outside and tossed another one up to Sword. She caught it, nodded in thanks, and drank it. The squire walked back inside to the pair talking and handed a third vulenary to Jinala. She simply held it while she spoke. As she did, Kenneth studied her. She had long, purple hair tied back in a ponytail, light blue eyes, a red tunic with a belt carrying a knife around her waist, and a brown cloak. Very pretty.

"I saw those fine fellows running around the ruins," she explained, "They place they were picking over seemed like it used to be pretty regal, so I wandered inside. These guys seemed kind of thuggish, so I did my best to stay out of their way. Until I found of few of them huddled over something. They were so enthralled by it that I was able to take a peek. Low and behold, a very beautiful sword lay under their grubby mitts, so I did a little backstabbing and throat slitting and the sword was mine. As I was high tailing it out of there, a band of these brutes cut me off from the exit. A couple had some lances, so you can guess what happened next. Next thing I know, the sword was gone from my grasp and I was chucked into the back of a dirty wagon with a dirty rag in my mouth and a dirty bag over my head."

She grew silent. Kenneth guessed that they found her soon after all of this.

[Euphemious]

"Hmm", spoke Euphemious as he rubbed his chin. That sounded vague enough to be the champion's sword. It could be, or it couldn’t. In truth though it did not matter. If it was a chance it was a champion sword, even if it was not the one of Lowlander Hall, it was still worth getting out of the hands of the brigands.

"Tell me more about this sword", spoke Euphemious as he gulped down the vulnerary.

"Could it be the Lowlander Champion's Sword", asked Axe in excitement. It seemed like the girl had recovered, or at the very least the idea of accomplishing their fist goal might be in sight. Though Euphemious had his doubts. For him this seemed too convenient, or at the very least to to easy. Euphemious was prepared to spend years searching for that sword. In his mind he would have to fight a noble house or two before being reunited with it. Euphemious however decided it was best not to get his hopes up to much, though Axe seemed to take the opposite path.

"Also I would like for you to tell me about the ruins. I don't expect you to know everything, but I am wondering if it is the remains of Lowlander Hall. If so then we might be in some serious trouble."

[Kenneth Fanter]

Jinala frowned, "So I've become an information broker. If only I wasn't it such a spot, then I could be charging money," the young thief waved her hand in a dismissive way, "No matter. Onto the sword. It was a longish blade and wide, too, a broadsword is the best way to describe it. The sword had lost its luster, so it wasn't very shiny and the hand guard looked sort of like two axes. When I had gotten it, I saw a jewel in the middle of the guard. It was covered in dirt, so I gave it the old spit shine and cleaned it off. A Phoenix symbol rested in the middle. A very beautiful sword."

Kenneth leaned back as Jinala described the sword . He wished he had a sword like that or at the very least was able to afford one. It would be nice to be rich, to have servants at your beck and call. He sighed and listened to Jinala once more, who had stopped to drink the vulenary in her hands. Kenneth saw the various scratches and cuts on Jinala close up.

"Now the ruins," Jinala continued, "I'm afraid I can't tell you much. I was only paying attention to the bandits wandering around and not making sure to step on any bones. The place was littered with them. One thing does stick out it my mind, though. There was a helmet on top of a sword in what remained of the courtyard. I tried to take it, but it just wouldn't budge."

Kenneth turned to Euphimous, "Do the sword and The ruins for the description of what you ask? Because if so, we'll have to do some plundering ourselves of a certain bandit camp."

[Euphemious]

"That is it", shouted Axe in a pitch of excitement. "That the champion sword right", asked Axe? Her sudden burst of enthusiasm was deflated by the fact that she had never seen the sword. Her and her cousins had talked about it, but Axe had never actually seen the blade. On that matter Sword was just as ignorant as she was. The only person who had ever seen the sword was Euphemious, and he was still simply rubbing his chin.

"It sounds like it", spoke Euphemious. "Every thing she said fit the description of the blade, but the fact it was in the ruins is what is bugging me. The ruins she spoke of are clearly lowlander hall, and if history serves me correctly the hall was looted by the victors. I doubt they would just leave the noble house of Lowlander family sword lying around. Then again", spoke Euphemious as he mediated on the matter. "They may have taken a fake one. A sword designed to trick thieves, and robbers. The actually blade could have been hidden in the keep, and was found by these bandits."

"So are we going to get it or not", asked Axe.

"Of course", spoke Euphemious. He then turned toward Jinala. "I got some bad news for you Jinala", spoke Euphemiois as he stared into her eyes. "The sword you nearly lost your life for might be the blade me and my cousins have been after. Needles to say we have no intentions of returning it to you when we recover it from the bandits. Second thing is that the ruins you speak of are not as far away as you thing. They are only a half an hour march from here. If you are going to flee this would be the time once we start fighting this whole area might be engulfed in battle. I doubt the bandits at their camp are the only ones in their group. Once they see the fire they will probably come running."

"Fire", spoke Axe. "What do you mean by fire? Do you plan on burning something?"

"But of course", spoke Euphemious as an evil grin crossed his face. "Do you not remember the old Bern proverb? Fire burns everything, and brings forth new life. We plan to revive this land, and bring it back to its once glorious past. Thus we need fire, and the fire of creation shall purge this land of its bandits, and make way for us."

"Kenneth", spoke Euphemious as he turned toward the young squire. "We could use your help on this one. If you decided to leave that is fine. It is your life, and I would not expect you to waste it on complete strangers. However if you come you have to be ready. The same goes for you Axe", spoke Euphemious as he turned toward his cousin. "I don’t need you breaking down like you did before. If you lose focus we all might die. The bandits out number us, and we are going to need all the fighting force we can muster.”

“Right”, spoke Axe as the bright smile once again disappeared from her face. The sword had distracted her dilemma, and Euphemious brought it back again. The armor knight knew this would happen, but he thought it was better now than on the battle field. Euphemious walked outside the door, and called to Sword.

“Sword come down for a moment. We need to tell you what has transpired, and what our plan of action is going to be.”

“Sure”, spoke Sword as she jumped down from the temple joining the group in preparation for their attack.

[Kenneth Fanter]

Jinala shrugged and grinned.

"It's all right," the thief said, "As long as the brutes who treated me so unceremoniously don't get the blade, you can have it. As for fighting with you, I would miss it. It's about time I was able to get my revenge on these guys."

Jinala pulled her knife from her belt and began flipping it around. She seemed disinterested in the conversation now. Kenneth couldn't wrap his head around her attitude. So carefree, but cut throat at the same time. The squire turned to Euphimous.

"Of course I'll join you," Kenneth said, smiling confidently, "As my duty as a knight, I'm supposed to help people. Plus, this little skirmish will assist in my training."

Kenneth paused, then ran over to the crate filled with staves. He grabbed them, then ran outside to Dinami. He placed them in his horse's saddle bags. He reentered the temple, "We might as well take those with us. They seem unused and could fetch a good price. At the very least, we could also give them to some priests in need of them."

He walked back over to the little group and waited for the battle plan.

[Euphemious]

"Ok listen up", spoke Euphemious as he pulled out a map from his bag, and placed it across an old table. "This is a map of Lowlander Hall before it was attacked. I know it will be of little use now, but the terrain still should be the same. At the very least however it will give us a direction of were to go."

"Right", spoke Sword as she walked up to the map. She placed her finger on the temple which was not far away from the ruins. "So we are here", she spoke almost taking over the battle plans. "If we are going to fight them then we are going to need to draw them out of the ruins. Fighting them in the ruins would prove quite foolish as they know the land more than we do."

"My thought exactly", spoke Euphemious. What we need is a distraction, or at the very least something to draw them out."

"Oh I get it now", spoke Axe as she poked her finger on a point on the map. "That is why you wanted to set fires."

"Exactly", spoke Euphemious. If we set fire on the eastern side of the ruins the evening winds should drive it toward the western end."

"Then as they flee the fire we ambush them", shouted Axe. A sense of pride filled her chest as she was able to deduct Euphemious stratagem.

A smile crossed Euphemious face as he placed his right hand on Axes head. "I am proud of you", spoke Euphemious giving Axe the attention she wanted. "It seems you do have a brain."

"Hay", shouted Axe as she removed his hand from her head.

"You should have seen that coming", spoke Sword as Euphemious moved back into the stratagem.

"Kenneth I am going to need the speed of your horse", spoke Euphemious as he pointed toward the position. "I am going to need you to ride around the ruins, and set the fires needed for the stratagem. There should be some tall grass so you are only going to need a torch. Also take Axe with you. She may be a bit dim, but she can handle a fire.

"Ok I am not stupid", shouted Axe.

Ignoring Axe Euphemious continued to talk. “Kenneth, whatever happens do not get caught.” A seriousness filled Euphemious eyes as he stared at the squire. “Your life is worth more important than this attack. We can always regroup and launch another assault, but we can’t do that if you are dead. The same goes for you to Axe”, shouted Euphemious as he finished talking

“Right”, spoke the cheerful Lady Brigand.

[Kenneth Fanter]

Kenneth smiled at the trio laughing and making up. He grew serious when Euphimous spoke to him. He nodded, "Of course, Euphimous. Come on, Axe, let's get moving."

Kenneth ran around the temple and grabbed some excess cloth and lanterns. He stepped outside the temple and whistled for Dinami. The horse soon cantered up. Kenneth placed the materials into Dinami's saddlebags and the pair mounted him. Kenneth spurred his horse and they took off for the woods. Axe furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Why are we heading to the forest," the maiden asked. K
They arrived and Kenneth jumped off of Dinami. He gathered some branches as he explained his plan to Axe.

"We need torches," Kenneth said as he walked back over with a bundle of sticks in his hands, "so by combining sticks, cloth, and lantern oil," he spoke as he wrapped cloth around the sticks and doused them in oil, "we can make torches."

He stored his torches in Dinami's saddlebags, mounted him, and galloped off again. They ran around the eastern end of the ruins, making fires and lightly them with the torches quickly. Axe was very adept at lighting and building the fires and they were back at the temple in half and hour. They reentered it and Kenneth gave his report. Now, they waited.

[Euphemious]

Everything seemed to go just a planned. The evening winds had picked up, and the fire was moving back towards the temple. The confused screams could be heard from Euhemious position.

"Good, good", spoke Euphemious as he moved to the brim of the hill. The bandits would clearly come to the temple to regroup. It was the only structure still standing, and was at a perfect position to fight off the fire. Even still the armored tactician worried about being flanked. If any of the brigands were not at the fort they may come up from behind them.

"Problem", asked Sword as she stared at her cousin’s worrisome face.

"Just worried about the flank, but that is not our top problem right now", spoke Euphemious as the first bandits appeared, in their hands were chest and barrels. It was obviously the plunder they had gained from the area.

"Securing their plunder first", spoke sword with disgust. "Well I say we relieve them of it."

"Not yet", spoke Euphemious. We have to wait for them to get closer. I want our attack to be sudden and without warning. The confusion will ring through there men, and help us secure a victory."

"Right", spoke Sword as she stayed low in the tall grass. The bandits moved ever closer to the point they were almost on top of them.

"There", spoke the lead brigand as he approach the climax of the hill. "Store the goods in that temple, and dig", before he could finish his throat was slit open by the thief. The maiden had popped out of the tall grass like a snake, and struck before the brigand could react.

"We are under attack", spoke another, but he was soon silenced by Euphemious lance from behind. Euphemious had allowed them to walk past him and Sword before he struck.

"Bob", shouted one of the bandits before Sword crushed his spine with her iron axe. The forth bandit dropped his chest, and attempted to draw his axe, but Euphemious quick reflexes allowed him to impale him before he could finish. At that moment Kenneth showed up, and gave his report.

"Already knew that Kenneth", spoke Euphemious as he pointed toward the raging flames that loomed over the ruins. "Good work, you to Axe."

"Thanks", spoke Axe as a bright smile crossed her face.

"Don't get to happy", spoke Euphemious. "There are still more of them. Five more figures appeared from the flames moving at a rapid pace towards the group. Two of them however were on horseback. It was a sight that sent a small chill down Euphemious spine. "Calvary", he spoke as he looked at Kenneth. "This is going to be troublesome."

[Kenneth Fanter]

Kenneth stared at the horizon and the figures who approached. As he stared he spoke to Euphimous.

"Shouldn't be too big of a problem. They'll be wielding swords and lances, which gives us a good advantage against them. You and me, Euphimous, can each work with one of the ladies to take them down. The others may be more difficult."

Kenneth drew his lance and prepared himself to charge. Nervousness fluttered inside him. He now realized how hard battle actually was and what pain felt like. He didn't want to die, but he forced himself to be brave. It was his duty as a knight of Laus to help people. Dinami sensed his nervousness and skittered nervously. Kenneth patted his friends side.

"It's okay, buddy, we'll get through this," Kenneth whispered to the horse. His voiced picked up when he spoke to Euphimous, "You pick, who you will fight with. But you'd best hurry."

The group of bandits had picked up their pace when they spotted the four and were coming ever closer and quickly. Kenneth gulped.

Do or die time.

[Euphemious]

"Easier said than done kid", spoke Euphemious as he sized up the rest of the bandits. The first horseman was a standard Calvary man. From what Euphemious could tell he was currently using a lance, but that did not mean he could no use a sword. The second was a nomad. Either he was from the plains, or he spent a good amount of time copying their horse riding style, either way he was a bow user. Next to nomad was a mercenary, and next to the Calvary man was a myrmidon. Easy prey for Euphemious. As strong as they were Euphemious armor was thicker. However leading in the middle and obvious leader of the cutthroats was a Bandit, and not just in title only. Butorega could see a lance strapped to his back, and in his right hand was hammer, bane to all knights.

"Is that a lance on his back", asked Sword as her cousin stared into the swifly approaching bandits.

"Kenneth", shouted Euphemious as he pointed toward the second horseman. "I need you to take out the nomad. With his heighten mobility, and long range of attack the rest of us will practically be useless. Axe I need you on the cavalier. Be careful he might switch to his blade."

"Me", spoke Axe with confusion. The cavalier was obviously the more difficult opponent, minuses the Bandit of course. She in truth expected him to choose Sword for the job.

"Yes you", spoke Euphemious. "Sword is better at fighting than you and I can't risk you fighting the mercenary, or the myrmidon."

"Get to moving Axe", spoke Sword as she charged forward. "I assume you want me and Jinala on the sword users."

"Exactly", spoke Euphemious. "Leave the Boss to me", spoke Euphemious.

"Be careful", spoke Sword as he continued to charge toward her opponent. "Come on Jinala", she spoke as she moved to engage the mercenary.

Euphemious took a deep breath, and began to advance forward. It seemed that he and the Bandit had the same idea as both men moved to face each other in battle.