Beneath the Shadows Prologue: With a Single Step

[eclipse]

"How well do you heal head injuries?" Raelyn spoke up. She honestly wasn't sure if Leon would be able to handle this.

[Oersted]

Ernce looked up the newcomer to the table. It was an elf who seemed to be a healer judging by the staff in his hands and his offer to help. Ernce looked around the table to see if anyone was going to take his offer. Zeff was fast asleep; he'd move him to a bed in a bit, probably when he himself felt like turning in for the night. Caslan was staring at... a horse, probably his own if Ernce had to take a guess. Someone else was at the table but he didn't know her name, although he remembered her giving him a apologetic look when he'd been near Mira... Mira! That's what he was forgetting.

Taking a quick scan around the inn Ernce didn't see Mira but it didn't bother him much at the moment. She was probably upstairs or something since he hadn't seen her during or after the battle it was entirely possible that she was already back and sleeping in a bed somewhere.

"It probably wouldn't have looked so bad," Ernce said casually. "That battle was so chaotic it was almost hard to tell who was who. Honestly, I'm surprised that ya didn't get hurt at all. Ya must have some pretty good luck to not even have a scratch on ya. As for helping, I sure don't need it and Zeff over there is sleeping. Not sure 'bout Caslan though."

With that said Ernce stood up and ordered a tankard of a cheap ale. He wasn't aiming to get himself drunk. He had no intention of waking up with a hangover not even twenty-four hours into the mercenary life. Besides, he didn't drink much in the first place and he'd bought his drink on more of a whim than anything else. Taking a sip from the tankard he stared out the door hoping that his earlier gut instinct had been completely misplaced.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Oersted

[Bluedoom]

Rimsky grunted at Malachi's tone. There wasn't any need to snap at him, he was only trying to help! And besides, Raelyn had already gone to the inn(or was probably at the inn) so he had no idea where she was. Caslan and Ernce had Zeff covered, so who else was left to help?

"Suit yourself!", saying so, Rimsky rode back to the inn pretty quickly, although on the way he saw Toqua scouting from afar- it didn't look like was was bearing good news at all. Probably a bad omen. He entered the inn when Adari was bringing Caslan's horse out- what in the world? Caslan must've been pretty bad at taming his horse for that to have happened.

That and he only saw Zeff sleeping, with Ernce beside him, and Leon and Raelyn having a conversation with him. "Darn tha' battle was exhaustin' alright!" he said and gave a chuckle.

[scorri]

"Boss. It's Senian soldiers. 12 o' them. Dunno why, but they're outfitted all official like and everythin." Toqua and Serath flew down from the roof and landed by the rest of the vets. "We might be lookin at serious trouble here. I don't like it."

Meanwhile, the soldiers reached the village and glanced around. Captain Skelyos swung down off his horse and examined one of the bandit's bodies. "Hmm, recent battle. Be ready men. There's spatters of blood heading this way, so we shall go that way as well. Hopefully the defending force of this village has been worn out and it will be an easy victory for us. After all, the trap must be set soon." Mounting back up, the soldiers set off towards the inn.

[Rothene]

Trying his best to avoid looking at Joey, Caslan approached the innkeeper and produced a few coins to purchase any left over food. What the elf received was two cold rock solid, no longer freshly baked loaf of breads. Squeezing the breads slightly on his way back, Caslan frowned as he wondered how would Zeff even eat them in his present condition.

Sitting next to Zeff, Caslan let the breads fall on the table with them making the noise stones made when one drops them on wooden benches. Using a knife, Caslan was relieved to find that the knife was able to cut through.

With a slice of bread in hand, Caslan shook Zeff to wake the white haired mercenary up while offering the bread, "Hey, got some food, get up and eat some."

[Psych]

"Well I can probably close a wound, but I'm not sure about inside stuff." Leon sighed and took his staff in hand, before giving it a spin, and making the orb on top of the staff glow. He placed it close to Raelyn's head and let the energy seep off and heal her wound.

Leon's hunger had deserted him so he let Caslan eat himself, before pulling a chair up to the table with the others and sitting down. He put his feet up and rested his arms behind his head, waiting for some orders. No one was really lively and he wasn't exactly sure how to lighten the mood.

[Snike]

"Senians? Looks like we walked into something big, considering there's no reason to be all the way east like this," Andre said, frowning. " Alright, we're forming two squads of three. Adari, you take Sayina and Charlie. I'll go with Toqua and Brader, wherever the hell he is. Could you look into that?" the mercenary continued, turning towards the half-dwyvern rider.

Charlie, in the meantime, began to recite a quick prayer. Better to do it while he could.

***

Brader finished acquiring ale money, and began to head back towards the inn. It wasn't like there'd be another attack, so he was in no rush.

[eclipse]

Much to her surprise, the world slowly righted itself. He's a lot better than he gives himself credit for Raelyn noted. She shook her head gingerly. While she wasn't fully healed, she was no longer a danger to herself.

"Thanks, sir," she said sheepishly. "That helped a lot." She took a good look at the people around her. There were fewer people here than before. I wonder who we're missing she thought idly. Hmmm. . .the ratio of men to women seems to be more in favor of the men. . .and it's a lot more quiet. . .oh, that crazy dwarf girl's gone. The remainder seemed to be more comfortable around each other.

Perhaps. . .I can stay here for a bit.

[Vestige]

The pain, depression, guilt, and anxiety were unknown to him when he was asleep. But every time he was awoken, the thoughts of what he had done and what he had seen came rushing back to him. It was infuriating to Zeff and he would have yelled at Caslan to leave him alone if he had had the strength to do such a thing. But not only did he not feel like bothering, he did have a debt to Caslan for at least helping him to the inn. Still though, he was in no mood to eat anything let alone stay in the company of others. He lazily pushed away the "food" Caslan was offering him and walked to his room. Shutting the door, he drooped into his bed and closed his eyes once more.

[scorri]

Toqua nodded and sprung up into the air. Flying above, he spied Brader. Just as he was about to shout down to him, he instead froze, horrified as an arrow sprouted from the man's left shoulder. Cursing, he sped back towards the inn, finding the others. "THIS WAY! BRADER'S HURT!"

Adari heard Toqua's shout and cursed, turning her horse and charging off towards her wounded companion. Sayina was closely following behind her, reaching into his bag, finding his staff, as well as various salves and medicines.

Captain Skelyos grinned as the man in front of them sprouted a feathered shaft. "Good shot. Lets get the rest of 'em boys." The soldiers charged towards the inn, weapons drawn.

[Snike]

As soon as Toqua mentioned Brader's injury, Charlie took off back towards the site of their previous bout. If he could make it fast enough, maybe he could distract the soldiers and let the others save Brader.

Andre, in the meantime, closed the inn door and made sure that none of the newbies were trying to sneak out and join them, before breaking into a sprint in the direction Toqua had indicated. It was past the time for words.

***

Brader's left shoulder erupted in pain, as he had apparently been shot, judging by what his assailant said. With a snarl, the fighter swung his axe, catching a poor sap who thought he had been eliminated straight in the chest. Unfortunately for the mercenary, the others learned quickly and he was quickly stabbed through the chest with a sword. As the weapon was withdrawn, the axeman fell to the ground, his blood beginning to pool around his body.

[Rothene]

With two loaves of bread, Caslan sat where he was and began eating them. Despite no longer fresh, the bread's exterior remained crunchy, which delighted the elven mage. It seemed people were exhausted and Caslan himself could not be bothered to leave his seat. With nothing better to do, the elven mage tried to establish eye contact with other inn patrons and wave the second loaf of bread with a smile, hoping that they would understand his intent to share the meal.

[Oersted]

Ernce jumped when he saw the door shut quickly, nearly spilling his drink over himself. "That can't be good," Ernce thought has his attention drifted back to his surroundings. Caslan was waving the bread that Zeff had refused to eat before he went off to bed. Ernce was glad Zeff had actually gone by himself; it would've been awkward if he would of had to carry Zeff to his room. Ernce eyed the bread that Caslan was waving around. "I'll take it," Ernce said to Caslan as he held out his hand.

[Rothene]

"Good, let nothing go to waste," Caslan said as he handed the bread to Ernce. Slicing the bread, Caslan asked Ernce, "So, what do you think is happening, why did the boss tell us to stay here?"

[Oersted]

"I don't know what it is exactly," Ernce said as he bit into the bread and found that despite being old it wasn't that bad. "But I've..." Ernce stopped himself from mentioning his past, taking another bite of bread to stall for time. "...Worked as a mercenary before," Ernce finally said. "So I can speak from experience when I say it can't be good that he gathered us all up in here where we'd be safe. Although if I had to guess I'd say that either something went wrong or that there are more enemies. More than us new guys could handle." With that said Ernce quickly finished the loaf of bread, stood up and stretched.

"I'm gonna head to bed. You can have my drink if you want it," Ernce said before he headed towards his room. Once he was inside he took off his armor, setting it down by the bed, and leaned his lance on the wall within an arm's reach from where he lay on the bed. The last thoughts that entered his mind before sleep over took him was that he was glad he was a light sleeper and that there wasn't a single window in his room.

[eclipse]

Something's wrong Raelyn thought to herself. Where's the captain? He should be back by now! And why'd the door close? The patrons in the bar were talking, but it wasn't the easy, after-battle talk she was accustomed to. The atmosphere was too tense, the air was too heavy. . .this was nothing like the victory drink after a successful mission! She wanted to go to sleep, but her instincts wouldn't let her. The best she could do was stay with the others. Perhaps they lack the experience. . .or perhaps they're more accustomed to this than I give them credit for.

[scorri]

Captain Skelyos grunted in surprise as the seemingly dead man took down one of his best men. As the others in the group quickly surrounded him, he grinned. That should take care of that... Suddenly, one of his men fell with an arrow through his eye and another had disappeared, picked up by a wyvern and her rider. That one soon made an appearance on a nearby barrel, appearing like a rag doll with a gash across his throat.

Adari yelled to Sayina tersely as she drew back her bowstring again, "Get Brader out of here. Now." The elf quickly dropped down on one knee and took in the injuries. With a gulp, he did a quick patch job with his staff and then swung the man across his horse. Jumping back up himself, he charged away from the battlefield to a safe distance, while muttering complex healing spells under his breath. It wasn't looking hopeful though...

[Toogee]

With all the yelling going on outside, Chandra decided to leave Erebus' side and figure out what was going on. Luckily, there was a window in the room, so the dark mage could witness the going-ons outside. She was shocked to find that their superiors were currently engaged with what appeared to be a group of knights. One of their own, Brader, was clearly wounded, being hauled away from the battle for treatment. Surely, they needed aid, but where was the rest of the group?

Immediately, she grabbed her heal staff and headed out of her room without a word, hastily making her way down to the main lobby. There, Chandra found the rest of the group nursing their wounds and heading off to bed, but there was a strange tenseness in the air. They knew something was up, and Chandra was about to tell them what she saw.

"We're under attack! Andre and the others need our aid!" The dark mage immediately made for the door, but she found it locked. In fact, it may have been locked from the outside.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Chandra said as she struggled to get the door open.

[scorri]

Rayil stood up and placed a gentle hand on the woman's shoulder. "Stop. It's not our place to go outside. We were asked to stay inside and so we will. They will handle it. Don't try to go against their decision. Or... or I'll stop you."

[Snike]

Aaand apparently the door was locked and the veterans were outside, fighting. Either they didn't do well enough in the first round of bandits or these new ones were out of their league. Jacob wasn't pleased with how they were being treated, but that was a complaint for another time. For now, there was the little squabble between Chandra and the new swordsman to deal with. Maybe it wasn't his place, but, well, it was probably better to be disciplined for interrupting a fight than for standing by and watching one. The lance-wielder got up from his chair and walked over to his fellow recruits.

"All right, simmer down, both of you," Jacob said, crossing his arms. "The others locked us out because we wouldn't be able to handle the enemy, which is probably a fair guess giving our condition after that bout. But that doesn't mean we're going to beat each other up to enforce that. Let's just wait another ten or fifteen minutes, and if they're still in trouble, we'll go out and try to help. I'm pretty sure they have this handled, though."

***

As Brader was pulled away, Charlie charged in and struck a man down with his light. Unfortunately, he went in too far, and a soldier kicked him to the ground. The monk closed his eyes, and waited for his foe to impale him with his lance...

And was surprised when the blow never came. His attacker fell dead, an axe in his chest. A short ways away, Andre removed his sword from another soldier, before going over and retrieving his other weapon.

"Stay behind me," the half-dwarf growled, as he advanced on the remaining Senians.

[Toogee]

"Guess I missed that announcement," Chandra quipped, not appreciating Rayill's gentle threat. She slid Rayill's hand off her shoulder and recounted what she saw.

"I saw our employers under attack outside my window. Brader's being pulled out; I can't say how bad his condition is. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to see if we'll have a job tomorrow."

With that, Chandra retreated to her room, keeping the door open in case any more commands come through her hall. For the moment, she peeked outside the window and watched her remaining superiors continue to take on the Senian knights.

[eclipse]

So that's what's happening Raelyn thought to herself. Best keep away from the windows. I don't want to give the opponents any clue of our current strength - or lack thereof.

[Parrhesia]

Malachi winced as he saw the quickly growing situation. The unskilled bandaging around his arm would let him shoot, but... it wasn't a condition to fight in. He kept himself tensed up, bow strung and an arrow close to hand, looking for Rayil as if waiting for the order to come, and praying it wouldn't.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Parrhesia

[scorri]

Rayil frowned. "We are not going outside. That's that. I will not allow any one out. That's what I was told to do and that is what I will do." He sat back down at his table by the door and continued to watch the others.

Meanwhile, the battle outside was a mess. Adari reached for another arrow before realizing that she was out. Too many of her arrows had been damaged in the previous battle. Muttering a curse under her breath, she drew her sword and continued fighting against the invaders. Toqua meanwhile was enjoying himself just fine as he would swoop down, catch a soldier, and then drop him somewhere else with an axe wound left somewhere on his body.

The invaders' numbers were dwindling rapidly. The captain glanced around and realized that he only had two or three men left able to stand. "RETREAT! GET OUT O' HERE YOU MEN!"

Sayina was watching over Brader, muttering complex healing spells as he did. Finally, he stopped. He'd done all he could. He closed his eyes and whispered a silent prayer to the death god that Brader would somehow live.

[Bluedoom]

"What in damnation? A battle outside? Well darn! We can't even help with da door locked!" Rimsky said frustratingly, slamming his fist on to the wall. There wasn't much that could be done at the moment. All he could do was contemplate about what might happen next.

Rimsky decided to go to Chandra's room and see if she would do anything stupid and disobey orders. Not a time for foolish acts. Upon arrival, he saw Chandra looking through her window, spying upon the battle. "What's happenin' down there? Is it good news?" he asked.