Lord of Azure Flame Chapter 6: Standing against the Bolivian Army

[Kanami]

Kamilla turned around slowly expecting to be held at sword point again, but managed a small smile as she recognized who it was, though the smile immediately faded as Helios spoke up and she noticed Kelas in the background.

Looking around she frowned, wondering where the rest of the group had gone, but decided it best not to ask, especially since the last time she'd seen them they were between two opposing armies, and it was likely at least something had died in the chaos. She paused and looked around again, and her face paled a bit, "Where's Ulfhrahn?" she asked Aiya uncertainly, she didn't know if she was entitled to ask, but the wyvern had technically saved her life before.

She knew Eric's question was most likely more important to the group as a whole, but she'd prefer not walking into the capitol with convicted criminals if possible.

She also noticed that Amari wasn't around and the nomad seeming disgruntled, but she ignored that, the nomad usually had an unpleasant look upon his face when they made eye contact anyway (I still think Kelas is a he XD)

Edited June 1, 2010 by Kanami

[Ether]

"An Elyisimian caravan we were stuck with got ransacked by Mercenary mages..." Aiya responded to Eric's question.

"As for getting in,we aren't known individually.Damian,Isotov,and Ulfhrahn aren't with us...as for Ulfhrahn,we can't get in with him around,so he went to meet up with Damian."

[-Cynthia-]

Morgan echoed Aiya "We were planning on bluffing our way in. We are not Chase or Isotov, who are the most wanted, and the desriptions of us are probably hazy at best. Unless you have a better plan?"

Edited June 1, 2010 by -Cynthia-

[Kanami]

Kamilla sighed with relief when told that Ulfrhahn was fine, but quickly observed the group again.

I could probably convince the guards I was heading to the church in Ilyphina with an urgent message, Those who can prove themselves to be part of the clergy usually don't get questioned too much at the gates, and a quick blessing from the goddess and a few hand gestures and most are happy to let me pass.

"Though I guess our numbers are too big for that, Could probably bluff our way throught that with Eric and Aiya, but the rest of you... well I suppose you two could pose as TISME mages, which is the obvious choice, but I was pretty sure they had a uniform, so that might not be a good idea. Hmmmm"

Looking at Morgan she shrugged her shoulders "No idea, did you have a specific bluff in mind? Claiming to be travelers would seem suspicious anyway, and there's a chance the guards that captured you have been assigned to watch each gate"

Edited June 1, 2010 by Kanami

[Phoenix]

Kiev awoke to see the cleric girl holding a bowl of water to his mouth. He felt nothing but a slight ache in his stomach. The arrow was gone, and he was healed. Apparently he'd fallen asleep. Light was shining through the whole in the roof, though the sun itself had only just come into view over the horizon. Kiev actually had become thirty, so he began drinking from the bowl the cleric offered.

The disarmed group of guards stood there in utter shock. Could Ixion destroy them the same way he had their weapons?

Guard: L-look here, M-mister! We can't just let you take her!

Ixion: You do not have to allow me to do anything. I'm leaving with her, and that's the end of it.

Guard: Grrr! You want to get beat down?!

Ixion: No time, no time.

The lead guard was just about to rush Ixion when he nearly fell down! His feet were stuck to the ground! The others soon noticed that they couldn't left their feet either! They were all stuck to the stone streets! Irina was let go as a result of their panic and she ran to Ixion's side.

Irina: What did you do?

Ixion: The minerals in the stones, bound to the metal in their shoes. Are you ready to depart?

Irina: Sure! Let's go find Kiev and Iso.

They both started walking away from the trapped guards as they hollered and yelled!

Ixion: Kiev is ... in that church I believe. Iso is with Stephanie.

Irina: Huh? What's Stephanie doing here? Furthermore, why are you here?

Ixion: Stephanie is preparing her new house. She wants some of the finest goods from Elyisima.

Irina: That doesn't explain why you're here though.

Ixion: Ivanko appreciates everything she does for our men and hates the idea of her going anywhere alone ... ... ... I drew the shortest straw ... so here I am -_-

[Inactive Account]

Arrin slid down the saddle after they halted, digging through his satchel. He had blank parchment... but no letters. He went to Amari, and dug in his pack. He brought out a letter. "Here's one!" he exclaimed, opening it. "Wait, what--"

It hadn't been his pack, but his sister's: the letter dated nearly ten years back. "'To any survivors of the--' what on earth is this?!" he mumbled, reading through the letter. It left him with a thousand questions.

Teeth gripped his shoulder: Amari did not want to wait, and he was just standing there in a stupor. Tessa was staring. "I'll deal with that later," Arrin finally managed, and took out a spare parchment, standing over it to shield it from the rain. He missed his traveling cloak...

Quickly he wrote out an urgent-sounding letter, in a passable imitation of Ilony Haldensri's cramped, messy hand. "That should do it," he said, and transferred the seal to the new letter. He clambered awkwardly onto Amari from the wrong side-- the mare shook her head, not pleased to have a sack of potatoes on her back again-- and turned to Tessa. "I don't know about the main gate. It might attract too much attention. Should we just try the one nearest?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No further questions had been answered, but the small group was on the move again. Kelas gathered that the others would be trying to meet them; Amari had probably followed Arrin when she couldn't find Kelas.

Shortly they encountered Eric and Kamilla. At the sight of the latter, Kelas grew suspicious: the girl had seemingly disappeared during the fighting.

Everyone began to talk of bluffing their way into the city. Kelas thought it would work better to camp out overnight and head in during daylight, but did not suggest it; everyone was wet and miserable, and she didn't want to risk hexing by the shaman. Lacking other ideas, she kept her mouth shut, waiting for a decision to be made or a particularly terrible idea to be presented so she could shoot it down.

[Snike]

"Well, if you would let me lead the way," Eric said, "I can probably get you in." Heading towards the gates, the traveler stopped, putting something into his notebook as the guards crossed their spears, barring the way.

"Halt. Who are you?" one of them asked.

"We're just a bunch of traveling mercenaries, on business here, sir," Eric lied, face impassive.

"Business with who?"

"The army and TISME, on behalf of the people of Istample."

"What?!?"

"Just after the army chased out those outlaws, a group of bandits attacked the village. There was about five people, other than us, who lived. The chief told us to go and request aid, and tell TISME about the attack, so they could find a way to make Blizzard tomes elsewhere. An hour after we left, though, a fire broke out in the town. Don't know what happened, but it looks like the town's done for. Anyways, here's the note," he added, passing his notebook to the guard. The guard opened it to find the message, along with the added note, and a red gem right below it. Meanwhile, the group waited, uncertain of the result.

OOC: Nade, if they raise the alarm, there had better be a good reason why. The group is mostly injured, so that lends credibility to their plea.

Edited June 1, 2010 by Snike

[Kanami]

OoC: Hmph, Phoenix offers more of a challenge.

The guards eyed the group suspiciously, the man wasn't making any sense, there weren't supposed to be any soldiers situated at Istample, furthermore the man who had put forward the note seemed to not really care about the incident and his tone and choice of words emphasized this. This wasn't a man who was seeking aid, but just a typical mercenary delivering a message.

The guard reached for the red gem, but quickly withdrew his hand as his colleuge frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine, go ahead" the guard said getting out of their way. As the group attempted to pass, another voice called out headed their way from the other side of the gate, "Wait a second" he yelled commandingly rooting the group in place. "What's this groups excuse?" he asked demandingly at one of the pair. The soldier hesitated but explained to him what Eric had said earlier and the man smirked.

"A mercenary group with a savage animal wearing a decent clothes? This is why I keep requesting we have competent guards at our gates" he said pointing his finger at Kelas. He looked over the group again. He glared at one of the girls and shook his head, "arrest them, they're the criminals we're looking for" he said drawing his sword. "Kill the others if they resist, but leave the Halton wench, we have questions for her"

Edited June 1, 2010 by Kanami

[Phoenix]

OOC:

Ixion led Irina into the nearby church. There she saw Kiev lying up across the alter. By that time, several more servants had appeared. Rather than immediately calling the guards, they were all looking after him. Irina ran over to her beloved wyvern and gave him the strongest hug she could manage. Ixion took his time in heading over.

Cleric: Is this your wyvern? What is its name?

Irina: Kiev. His name is Kiev, and thank you so much for helping him!

Ixion: What is your motive? Any sane person would have fetched the patrols.

Irina quickly snapped at him!

Irina: Ixion! >_<

Cleric: Well ... this wyvern is not a villain. He is one of the Goddess' many earthly creatures. He needed assistance, not a cage.

Ixion: Morality

Inside the inn, Iso headed for the door, hoping to find Irina, but Stephanie quickly rushed in front of him and blocked the door!

Stephanie: Why don't you do something useful? Like fix that window you busted through?! I refuse to pay for damages that I did not cause!

Iso: I don't have enough money to pay for that, and I'm certainly not qualified to fix it.

Stephanie: You men, always expecting every problem to just fix itself! At least have the common sense to avoid danger when it strikes-

Before she could finish, the door opened behind her and she was softly bumped! She and Iso stepped back to see Ixion come into the room.

Stephanie: Did you find Irina?

Ixion: She's not where she was supposed to be. Something is wrong.

Iso: What?

[Ansem]

"Ugh" Helios groaned. He took out his tome and cast Elwind on one of the guards. It cut through his armor and sent him flying towards a tree. He was automatically knocked out. The other soldier charged at him and the group.

[Snike]

OoC:Great, Murphy's soldiers.

"Well,I tried," Eric said, hand on his sword. Before one of the guards could react, he stabbed one of them through the throat. Dragging the body out of sight, he let it fall hidden in the shadows, as the others finished off the guards.

"Let's get inside, before more come."

[Ansem]

"You didnt have to kill them, you know" Helios said. There was something strange about this man. He did not have the air of a commoner.

[Snike]

"As much as I wanted to leave them be, I couldn't. They had to die If we knocked them out, when they woke up, we'd be done for," Eric said, retrieving his notebook, with the gem in it, from one of the corpse's hands. "Now, it would be best to get away from here, unless you want to end up in chains."

Edited June 1, 2010 by Snike

[Phoenix]

OOC: Lightning, I need you to initiate the whole Chase/Manor/Conrad event, I'll follow your lead.

Ixion kept an eye out for any patrols passing the church outside. Apparently they were searching for the wyvern that had gone down. If that was the case, they were close than they knew.

Inside the inn, Ixion took a few steps into the room.

Ixion: When I went to retrieve Irina, all I found were three guards trapped. I can only assume someone else has made off with her. I cannot allow that to happen.

Iso: Well what do you suggest we do about it?

Ixion: You stay put, you wretch. I'll find her myself. The last thing I need is you endangering her any more than you already have. Stephanie. Do not let him out of this room.

Stephanie: Ixion! What about the window?

Ixion: ... ... ... this can wait

He immediately left the room and the inn shortly afterward.

Stephanie: I'm not paying for that window ... no sir -_-

Iso: Who rescued Irina?

[riariadne]

Chase walked into the mansion, knowing that he'd probably just be knocked out if he attempted to leaved, and stepped forward with dread. He was escorted to the hall of orders by a dozen armed guards, and he pushed the door open to see the man he had been evading for nearly three years: General Conrad Jackson.

Conrad stared forward, and was pleased to see that it was, indeed, Chase. He stood up, putting his axe down, and grinned. "Well, look who he have here. Chase Veshkal... charged with st-"

BOOM.

All present in the room flinched as the Earthshaker fell over onto the ground, causing a small tremor. "I always hate it when that happens... anyways, I think you know what you're convicted of, and seeing as I doubt you have anyone who isn't also a criminal to defend you... you're going to prison for the time being."

[Kanami]

Kamilla frowned at Erics action, for once she agreed with the Wind mage, if the guards were missing when someone at the end of the shift, wouldn't that raise an alarm anyway? But not being in a position to correct the man, nor having the time, she quickly followed Eric as he led the way into the city.

[Ansem]

Ian sneaked in the bandit base. He gave Mark the signal to get in. Mark crept in after. A bandit passing by noticed them. Before he had the chance to warn the others, Mark beheaded him. Ian looked disappointed. Mark saw his horse over a bunch of crates. Ian gave him the signal. They ran towards the horse. Ian got the lance and hopped on the the horse. The bandits had no time to respond. They started to charge at Ian and Mark. Ian passed Mark his lance. He stabbed a couple of bandits then ran. "We need to head to the capital" Mark yelled. "I have a feeling we will find everyone over there". The headed towards the capital.

[Phoenix]

Viveka quickly walked closer and leaned in a bit.

Viveka: General, I would like to thank you so much for promoting me, but ... we have a bit of a situation here. Chase wasn't leading that group of criminals after all. It was a man named Damian Kleine from Halton if I remember correctly.

The soldiers near the church continued searching hoping to find at least the fire mage. Suddenly a woman dressed like a maid came running out from the inn! She slammed into one of the soldiers!

Soldier: Watch it!

Maid: Sir! something is wrong! I heard a loud crash upstairs! Something crashed through the window on the fifth floor!

Soldier: You stay here. We'll check it out.

The soldiers rushed into the inn and headed up to the fifth floor. They would be checking every room on that floor.

[Balcerzak]

As Arrin was fumbling around looking to see whether or not he had something that would allow them to carry through with his plan, Tessa rubbed her shoulders. She was cold; with dawn just barely breaking, her clothes wet, and no sun to cast any warming rays, the sudden absence of the body heat that had until recently been clinging to her from behind left her somewhat wanting.

Watching curiously as he called out, "Here's one!" and then began to pore over the contents, she thought she saw his face darken in confusion. She was about to ask what was the matter, but apparently his sister's mare was also impatient and pushed him into action.

As he was hurriedly scrawling out a new letter, she asked, "Do the contents actually matter? Surely the guards won't ask to actually read it, but will be content with merely seeing the seal, won't they?" The mage shrugged, and replied, "This is just in case. It can't hurt." With that he clumsily mounted the mare, and asked if they should just try the nearest gate rather than backtracking.

Tessa replied, "I, I have never really tried anything like this, so I don't really know. All I do know is that since its an urgent message, we need to take this at a gallop. The nearest gate should be fine then. Let's go!"

Patting Trevor's, neck and urging him to a gallop, he neighed back briskly. Saying something to the other horses perhaps, she wondered. Glancing back to see that Arrin was managing alright, they quickly made their way along the road to what appeared to be a smaller entrance to the city.

[[OOC: I think we're there. I don't remember who was supposed to control guards, but if you want, they can challenge us now.]]

[Ansem]

Mark arrived at the gates. The guards were disabled, one of them dead. Mark looked at the footprint imprints. Ian checked the guards wounds. "This was made by a sword" He said. They mounted and headed towards the city

Edited June 2, 2010 by Kai-Sama

[Snike]

OOC: ITT: Mark is the Flash.

Once they were out of sight of the gate, Eric relaxed. Realizing the crest the female soldier had on was going to be an issue, he reached again into his seemingly bottomless coat pocket, and withdrew a small object from it.

"Here, replace that crest with this," he said, handing her an emblem of what appeared to be a sword with a snowflake for a hilt. "It'll stop you from being arrested for now, at the very least. Anyways, I suggest we split up, and meet again at the town square. I have to deliver a message to the church, then look for someone at TISME. Is that acceptable?"

Edited June 2, 2010 by Snike

[-Cynthia-]

"It might not be a terrible idea to split up. We don't know where Irina or Isotov might be, and the situation was a bit too hasty to have a proper rendezvous point with Arrin and Tessa."

"Then again, it's an unfamiliar city and the government is not exatly our friend here, so this may be dangerous."

[Inactive Account]

Before Kelas could even snarl a comeback, one soldier was dead and the other was unconscious, and they were running down the street. "Where-- do we go-- if we split? And what-- when they call-- reinforcements?" she demanded of the others, panting, as she ran.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Arrin looked at the gate with trepidation. "Here we go," he muttered, as Amari slowed to a walk. The packhorse, ambling along behind, did the same. A guard had noticed their approach and was heading over.

OOC: Yes. Yes, I will edit for a single comma error.

Edited June 2, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Snike]

"If and when the alarm rings, it would be best to disperse ourselves, so they have a harder time finding us. Besides, I think the only thing that would give us away is the Halton crest on Miss Wyvern Rider, but if you replace it with that emblem, we're basically safe. I'll just go and assume that the four you mentioned were part of the group, so, I guess we look for them, too. I'll just leave the decision up to you, Miss."

[Phoenix]

Iso and Stephanie could hear loud footsteps getting closer and closer! The soldiers were speedily checking the bedrooms, rudely awakening everyone! Before Stephanie had a chance to conceal Iso, the guards knocked on the door! When they didn't get an immediate answer, they kicked the door open to find Stephanie desperately trying to push Iso under the bed!

Stephanie: ... what?

Soldier: Get'em!

The soldiers quickly dropped their weapons and swamped the both of them! They held Stephanie back while the others put Iso in chains! Suddenly, Iso summoned Proxima into his hands and bashed one of the guards in the head with it! He quickly leaped through the broken window and fell from view! All but two of the guards chased after him, making sure to use the stairs, not the window!

The two guards stood next to Stephanie. One was getting the usual ideas, and the other was thinking that they should arrest her for aiding a criminal.

Stephanie: ... your friends are waiting for you -_-

Soldier: We'll ... catch up

Stephanie: I'll have you know that I am a servant of the goddess. If you even think about-

The soldier interrupted her by yanking her rob open, quickly cupping her breasts, and then jumping back to a safe distance! The other soldier facepalmed. Stephanie stood there with utter shock in her eyes, and the offending soldier snickered.

Soldier: I love doin that. Nice pair by the way. Come on, let's go!

Soldier2: You idiot! We can't just leave! She's clearly guilty of-

Stephanie: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! >_<

The two soldiers were caught off guard by an intense light!

Stephanie: EVIL PERVERT!!! DAMNABLE SIDEKICK!!! THE GODDESS CONDEMNS YOUR BEHAVIOR!!! BEGONE!!!

Both men were immediately blasted by what could only be described as divine light! They both lied unconscious in the hallway under the wreckage of the wall they had slammed into!

By one of the other gates, a couple riding horses came close to the gate. A guard approached cautiously. It was an awkward morning, and they had to be careful so that the criminals didn't manage to enter the city and disappear amongst the common folk.

Guard: State your business

Iso had a horrible landing, nearly breaking his legs! He couldn't run after such a fall and started stumbling around as more soldiers noticed him! In the shadows the maid that had sent the soldiers into the inn gave Iso an angry glare. Iso quickly ran into the church hoping to lose them! Once he was inside, Ixion and Irina turned around!

Iso: Ixion? You found her?

Ixion: Of course.

Iso: Where was she?

Ixion: Right outside the inn, why?

Iso: You said you couldn't find her earlier so I thought that she was further ... away?

Ixion: You don't mean ... *sigh*

EDITED: For WTH crazy update!

Edited June 2, 2010 by Phoenix