Bern it Down (Open)

[Minerva]

Minerva rounded the corner to see no Shaman in sight. He must have hidden himself inside of a building or something… Well, there was only one thing to do. Wait. If he could hide himself, she’d simply do the same - and when he emerged, she’d engage him. All of this cowardly running and hiding seemed to her to be cheap and underhanded, but she had learned to expect such tricks from a practitioner of the vile dark arts. What they lacked in spirit and conviction they made up for in deceit and corruption.

So Minerva immediately turned back around the corner, swearing loudly to herself "Damn it!" as if she had lost him. She then slipped inside the open door of a home and made her way to the balcony, where she dropped to her stomach and laid, looking down at the street. She could see some of her men going about their business, lit torches in hand or in the air as they ignited buildings, their jeering laughter echoing through the many alleyways. By this point, the bloodbath was nearing its ‘end’ - all the valuable gold had been extracted, and all that remained was to finish igniting the city and leaving. Minerva felt bittersweet - she planned to make this her last raid before passing control of the Sharks onto Fin, Scale, and Gill - but she was glad that she had found a new right-hand man in Fang. He was truly a great warrior, and one that would go to any end to protect her.



Meanwhile, Duma’s cowardly stroke found its mark - Fang collapsed under the might of the Swordmaster’s stroke, falling to the ground and laying, his face ashen but his eyes still burning with hate as he spit his final curse to the man.

"You… You who were too afraid to face me head-on and fight… I have no word for you save coward. To die in battle is honorable; to die by a sword through your back is a death that you now cannot even hope to deserve. Lady Minerva… I’m sorry. I go now to prepare the next way… But I… I will always be… A Shark until the End!"

The many Sharks who were bustling about turned at the sound of Fang’s last cry. Those farthest away continued to go about their task of igniting the city, but the dozen or so Bandits, Mercenaries, and Brigands who were nearby began to converge upon the Swordmaster with cries of rage at his cowardly kill.

It was possible at this point to escape from the circle without incurring injury, but they’d likely continue to chase him. It would be nearly impossible for Duma to lose all of them now, unless he fled in the opposite direction of where he’d last seen Drei and Minerva.

[Duma]

Even in death you just don't shut up! Duma pulled his blade out from Fang's corpse. The swordsman cared not for the honor of a bandit. Fang was dead his job was completed. Yes, duel between them would have been nice but he did not have the time or the energy for that. Fang did give Duma some information in his dying breath. Lady Minerva of the Sharks. Interesting. I wonder if she was the mage I saw before. He swing hard with his sword to spray away of fang's blood off of it.

"Oh for Heaven's sake. How many of these bastards are there!" Duma yelled then sighed as he could see the many other Sharks converge towards him. Fang you loud mouth. You couldn't just die quietly. Nooo. Now I have to deal with this.. Duma had two options either stay and fight or run away. It was problematic that he could not run towards Drei and help him. Damn it i'm sorry Drei. I will just have to have faith in you. Don't die now. He gritted his teeth. Gods how he HATED bandits. All part of the Job.. all part of the job. Suppress your emotions. Focus. That's it.

His sword arm twitched. As much as he wanted to cut down every single bandit there he could not afford to get himself surrounded. If they were coming at him in a nice little row in an alley or bridge, he would take them all on. But out in the open where these sharks could surround him and attack him from all sides would end to his death. He needed to keep moving. He started to run. Any shark that was between him and the exit would be killed.

Duma kept running and killing bandits in his path. Eventually he ducked into an alley, falling debris cut him off from the bandits. He made his way out into another road. He reunited with the two guard captains from earlier. He explained that he had taken injury and was at his limit. Duma was given permission to run off along with the rest of the villagers. He put the bandits behind him. After he was healed up, he would return and help with the relief efforts of the village.

{exit thread}

[Minerva]

The flames licked up, burning some of the buildings, as all descended into hellish chaos. The guard, bolstered by a mercenary company that had by some misfortune of luck happened to come along the town, managed to beat the Sharks back, and both sides sustained heavy casualties. For the village, it was bearable - for a traveling bandit company, it was not. Minerva, rising from the balcony and seeing no sign of her opponent, assumed him dead and escaped with the few Sharks who remained. The gold they had looted was enough to compensate the ruffians, and Minerva managed to leave with a nice bonus to help jumpstart her next endeavor. The only thing that was unbearable was the corpse of Fang, which a Shark had brought out to her. With her eyes narrowed and her mouth set in a grimace, the mage sent flames roaring over Fang's body, consuming him and sending him, pure and clean, up to the heavens... Or wherever a good bandit went after death.

Soon, all was quiet - the handful of Sharks had dispersed, the mercenaries went grumbling on their way, after finding there was nothing to compensate them but food, which they quickly partook of, and the town stood - burnt and wounded, but not obliterated.

It had not been as easy as the mage had wished it to be... But she had survived. One thing was clear - she needed more strength. More power. Perhaps she'd do some smuggling - that was safe - and head to the Isles to train.

It was the beginning of a new adventure.

[Thread End]