Sealed Shut City

[Vincent D'Ordyn]

Gray breathed a small sigh of relief as the ithecal joined the squires behind the shield wall at the gate. The city was still in ruins from the invasion of the Qe'Dreki army not even a dozen trials passed. The poor were hungry, and tired. They were the most effected by the ransacking of Lowtown before the Iron Hand was able to reclaim it. Gray had sympathy for these people, some had nothing but their families left, and for some of the people in the crowd those families were outside that gate.

Gray gut twisted. He knew that feeling. To want to save the people you love, even if it killed you, but he also knew his loved ones would never want him to trade his life for the possibility of saving theirs. With a heavy sigh, Gray decided to try his hand at dispersing the crowd. Walking further into the alley, Gray cut behind the building he had been stand beside and turned away from the wall. After a few more bits he exited the alley a few yards behind the back of the mob.

Approaching the rear of the mob, a crowd of about twenty people now Gray made his way into the thick of it a few feet. Turning to an agitated man standing beside him Gray nod in the direction of the gate. "What's going on?" Gray asked, feigning ignorance.

"Where've you been kid." The older man growled, "They refuse to open the gates for the people stuck outside." At the man's words Gray's eyes grew wide, and his breath seemed to catch for a moment. The man smirked for a moment at Gray's reaction. "That's why we're trying to open the gate."

At those words Gray did his best to seem hysterical, which given everything that had happened in the last cycle wasn't all that hard to pull off. "Are you insane?" Gray yelled, his voice passing above the den to the people around him at first then slowly as the quieted further out. "Have you seen what's out there? Monsters! Demons made of blackest night. They don't feel pain! I know! I've watched as knights tried to fight them off. Cold steel against colder shadow, they didn't care if they lost a limp or if another fell. Their claws ripped through metal armor like a quill through wet paper. If you open that gate, you doom us all. Not just the people in the crowd, you doom all of Andaris!" Gray finished, sweating, and looking like a spooked deer shaking in fear. Though what the crowd would take as fear was really the adrenaline pump through him. He hadn't meant to get that into the act, but when he had he fed off the rush that it had given him.

While Gray came down from the high that the speech had left him on, he realized that there was no more shouting, or cursing. No now all eyes were on him, and a lot of those showed the same fear he had feigned acrossed his own. Immortal's I hope this works Gray thought to himself. If not I'll have to go with Plan B, and I really don't like Plan B.

"Let's all just go home and wait."

[Yanahalqah]

The Ithecal offered her own apology in reply to Yana’s, and the Yludih nodded. “Do not fret. I would rather have more level-headed people like yourself around. This catastrophe might have been avoided.” The Ithecal seemed –now that Yana was actually seeing her up close—very much unlike last time she’d met her. Back then she’d been full of cheer, now however, there was only gloom. War changed people, the Yludih supposed, having seen a lot of her peers undergo a similar transformation. Even Hannes, ever the optimist, had not been able to retain his usual attitude. He did smile still, only it felt rather hollow. Naivety had been purged from the Squires, the notions of honor and justice broken down, much like lowtown had been torn down. There was no justice to be found in war, no honor. Only death and destruction.

“Saeri,” Hannes called, making the false Eídisi turn her head, “something’s going on. There have been some people leaving and rejoining the crowd for a while now, and there’s a spot where no-one is standing.”
“Where?” Yana asked, eye spying over the shield of one of her peers, searching for what the male Squire had pointed out.
“The middle,” he spoke, making some vague gestures with his hand.
Indeed, there it was. “Ah, I see it. Strange. We best be on guard, there is no telling what they are planning.”
Hannes nodded in agreement and relayed the message to the troops. At the same time, the doctor asked for something to do, for wounds to treat. Yana gave it some thought. “There are some who were hit by the stones,” she told her, “some worse than others. I will ask around.”

That she did, walking along the shield wall, though none of the squires found they were in need of treatment. Some had mild lacerations on their heads, others some bruised limbs or joints from where a rock had hit them, but none was willing to leave the wall. The thought of weakening the defenses and allowing for a repeat of the grueling scenes from only trials ago was enough for them to stand fast and ignore the pain. Yet, while speaking to a female squire who claimed not to be bothered too much by the wound on her temple, a loud clang of something heavy bashing on metal could be heard, and the squire stumbled backwards, the force of the hit slamming her shield into her own nose. It broke with an audible snap, blood oozing from her face like water from a faucet. Yana immediately filled the hole in the wall, raising her own shield.

“Good thing we have a doctor at hand,” Hannes semi-joked, leading the girl to the Ithecal, his eyes betraying some shock. “Stay as far away from the wall as you can, doc,” he urged, “it seems they have upgraded their projectiles!” He was not wrong. The heavy bashing continued, loud clanks of stone clashing with metal becoming almost deafening. It seemed some people had been gathering bricks and pieces of wall from destroyed buildings, taking what the Qi’Dreki had broken down and repurposing it as weapons.

“Brace yourselves!” Yana yelled, though she could not prevent being driven backwards by the force of the blows on her shield. She could see the metal being dented before her eye, the pieces of architecture easily crushing the squires’ defense. But the knights-in-training did not go down easily, refusing to lose ground. They recovered quickly when they stumbled backwards, and when comrades fell they instantly filled the gaping holes. Nevertheless, the wall shrunk by the trill and more people gathered in line for treatment, only to attempt to take their spots in the wall again, disregarding anyone telling them not to. However, the squires were no longer able to keep the mob at bay, and Yana cursed the one who’d instigated this revolt.

Luckily, the brick rain did not take long. Someone had mingled with the crowd, someone who was able to make them see reason. His words were heard by some, and passed on to others, and the effects were almost immediately visible. While some continued their assault, most discarded their makeshift weaponry, trading rage for hysterical expressions. Fear. With less thunderous noise, Yana could overhear part of what was said, noticing the fear and self-preservation instinct taking over. People were confronted with the idea of causing the death of their neighbors and friends, of families from two blocks away and of beggars roaming the streets. Yana wasn’t entirely sure why they now did listen. Perhaps because the one who had influenced them was part of their group, a civilian. Not a figure of power they believed to be oppressing them. One of their own pointing out the madness in which they were partaking.

Not everyone listened, but most did. And as they realized what exactly they were doing, what opening the gates meant, they grew fearful. Perhaps they had placed their trust in the knights, believing that they could take down any threat to the city. That they could crush the beasts like they had crushed the Qi’Dreki. But when one of them claimed to have seen the beasts tear through metal like paper, when one of them looked so absolutely terrified and hysterical, their own doubts were brought to the surface, as well as their fear. They stopped those who still refused to listen, ganging up on them and holding them down with sheer numbers, then dragging them off. They all left, dispersing through the various streets to go home and barricade themselves inside. The squires let out a collective sigh of relief, lowering the shield wall and relaxing for a moment. They were battered and bruised, arms and legs sore from having to withstand a barrage of rubble. Yana noticed she was bleeding too, warm red liquid streaming from a small cut on her forehead. The pain was not there yet, but still. The queue was long though, and she decided to first go find the one responsible for getting them out of that pinch.

“Good work,” she spoke when she found him, a man she recognized as a mercenary she’d seen on a job last season. “This could have turned out far worse had you not been there. I had not thought they would still listen to reason.”

[Rita Fenyo]

For Rita it seemed like the days were endless, the constant barrage of the two suns, stream of patients and the growing smell of rotting flesh coming from lowtown. For some reason in her broken daze she had wandered into a riot and tired to stop it with reason, Like that would ever work against a bunch of angry racists and now here she was behind a wall of wood and metal offering her services not because of a desire to heal the wounded, that had disappeared trials ago, but to feel useful. Like she wasn’t dead weight to the group of squires.
“There are some who were hit by the stones,” she was informed, “some worse than others. I will ask around.” With a nod the Ithecal slithered behind the squire captain , the pair going along the wall asking if anyone needed treatment. Nothing was particularly desperate, some lacerations that would require stitches but none immediately and bruises she could do nothing about. None of the squires were willing to leave their post and weaken the wall, lest they be mobbed.

A clang of brick on shield, quicking up a cloud of dust. Rita ducking out the way and the Eídisi moving in to fill a fresh hole in the wall. The Hannes moving forward with the wounded squire, there was a lot of blood. As per his advice, she found a spot out of direct attack from the angry mob and away from the shield wall. The squire placed before her, Hannes moving back to the line. The noise was almost deafening, Rita quickly rolling cotton into her ear which quieted things down. The squire in front of her wasn’t as bad as she initially thought, broken nose and possible concussion. Gently Rita set the nose straight, rolling the unconscious woman onto her side. The next patient that came to her had a deep cut on his arm, a simple fix really but one needing urgent attention. Carefully cleaning the wound of foreign object before applying a disinfecting oil, a healing paste and then starting to work stitching the wound. More squires came to the line, most not wanting to wait and returning to the wall even with bad wounds. She commended their bravery even if it was a little stupid. Something shifted at the edge of her vision, she ignored it. First patient done she moved to the next, bad bruises, possible fracture and minor lacerations.
“You my friend will not rejoin that line because you will break this arm. If you do and it breaks I will proceed to say I told you so” With a smale she wrapped up the arm in a splint making sure it would be strong enough to prevent a full break with general use. Then again more stitches, clean, paste, stitch. Cleaning was the important part, disease could kill faster than any soldier could. Wash her hands, next patient.

The noticeable lack of noise caught Rita’s attention. A man had entered the mob and was doing a good job of changing anger to fear, talking hysterically about the danger of the beasts and the damage they would cause. Parts of it very similar to what Rita had said but in fairness he was Human and she was not so it worked better for one of their own to be addressing the crowd rather than some foreigner. Maybe it was the feigned hysteria, manipulating people's emotions with your own act. She stopped working and watched out of curiosity for how the man worked. Starting with one and letting it spread through the crowd. Frantic gestures and short sharp sentences, it was impressive and captivating. Soon the mob dispersed heading back from where they came leaving the man to stay behind. The squires were now more willing to see their wounds tended to, by that Rita got two more to treat. I’ll get to them soon, no rush The first one was just badly bruised and had minor scrapes, not much she could do besides clean the wounds, they didn’t even justify bandages. Something shifted at the edge of her vision, she ignored it again. The second was a little more work, black eye, bleeding from the forehead and a small laceration, to small for stitches but too large to not bandage. The forehead she cleaned and spread paste on, unable to do much more. The arm she would have prefered to have sealed properly but the way she was cut meant that was impossible. So using the last of the healing paste she placed gauze over the wound and bandaged it up properly.

Again there it was. Movement from an alley caught her attention, something big as black as night. Prowling around, watching, waiting and very much real. Rita tied off the bandages and looked up for the Eídisi captain, Saeri if she heard correctly.
“Excuse me Saeri, I think there is something in that alley over there. Big black dog, doesn’t look friendly and might have an infection by the way it looks.” A crash of metal and smashing debris signaled where the beast was. With an unnatural howl it charged forth and, before anyone could react, went straight for Rita. Leaping at the young Ithecal, a scream and sickening crack as it barreled into her continuing its momentum and dragging her down. Jaws firmly around her left arm shaking the poor woman like a ragdoll, Rita keeping her throat covered with the right.
“Help!”

[Vincent D'Ordyn]

Gray frowned at the squires words. "They didn't listen to reason. They responded to fear and hysterics. If they had been reasonable, they wouldn't have been out here in the first place." As Gray began the study his surroundings to be sure all of the mob had cleared out, Rita called out to the squire.

Gray turned in time to watch the beast descend upon the ithecal. With a curse Gray drew his swords. "Whatever happens, get her clear and to safety. Then come help me." Gray barked at the squire, his past life as a Steward taking over in the rush. After which Gray threw out the Protective Spirit of his Taithir to gain the beasts ire for a time. Releasing the ithecal woman's arm the beast whipped its head in Gray's direction, before letting loose another howl and charging after Gray.

Unlike the healer Gray was armed and ready for the beast. The beast closed the distance in a trill, but at the last possible moment Gray shift to the side and let the creatures own momentum slice itself on his waiting blade. Strangely there was little resistance as his sword passed through the beasts body, and as it flew passed Gray could see a wispy substance floating from the wound. "Immortals" Gray growled the curse as he turned on the beast as it landed. With the squires and the injured Rita behind him Gray knew he had to hold this thing of for a time.

"and Sabine's supposed to be the reckless one." Gray muttered under his breath as he took up a stance in preparation for the beasts next attack.

[Yanahalqah]

The mercenary gave her a frown, denying Yana's words. Not reason, he said, but fear. Well, he did have a point, but fear was –as far as Yana was concerned-- a reasonable emotion to have. In moderation of course. It was a self defense system, designed for the individuals survival. But when flowing in excess, the emotion could cause the individual to shut down instead, or become unreasonable, just like with anger. But, more likely was an instinct to run and hide, to protect the self. Unlike anger, fear was useful. It was reasonable to be afraid when faced with a beast that supposedly could annihilate an entire squadron of knights. But that was not exactly what Yana had meant to say. She hadn't expected words to still work, that was what she'd been wanting to say, but she wasn't that great with words. The squire just shrugged.

The healer drew her attention then, pointing at an alleyway that had a dog in it. Only, it was too big for it to be any race of domesticated dog Yana knew. A wild one then? But how had it gotten in? Usually there beasts didn't show themselves in these kinds of populated areas, neither did wolves. It let out a horrifying howl then, startling quite a few of the squires who'd been under the impression that their ordeal was over, and even managing to make Yana, who'd been on guard still, flinch.

“What in the Seven's names-” someone blurted out, their head turned to the beast as it crossed the distance in an instant.
Many other cursed as well, seeing the Ithecal healer being dragged off by the shadow beast, reaching for their weapons. However, someone else was faster.

The mercenary from before came to the rescue, barking orders with such confidence and … air of normalcy, seemingly without any doubt he'd be disobeyed. Hannes who'd been staying by Yana's side saluted out of habit, barely able to hold back an affirmative “YES SIR!”. Even Yana herself was not unaffected, feeling the many drills from trails and trails giving her the same impulse as Hannes had. Both were a little confused for less than a trill, but they did not dwell on it further, instead rushing forwards to hoist Rita back on her feet once the merc had succeeded in drawing the beast's attention.

With combined efforts they brought the snake-woman to their comrades, many of which were glad to still be of use even when debilitated by injury, be it major or minor. Then, they raced to the merc's side as instructed, Hannes leading the charge. Yana paused for a brief instant, selecting three other squires from among those who had lesser injuries and told them to assist her. They did not hesitate one moment.

“Spread out!” she commanded, “Surround the beast, block its path with your shields! Don't be reckless! Stay away as much as you can! Stab it when it gets close!” They cheered in acknowledgment, moving as quickly as they could, forming a circle around the beast, tower shields raised, and swords parallel to the ground, ready to act as a stinger to inflict some pain.

Yana herself did not join in the circle, instead shedding her heavy shield in favor of equipping a bow. She hadn't had one on her herself, but in case of this happening, they'd had some others take some long range weapons with them. Yana borrowed one from a squire with a broken arm, attaching the quiver to her belt. The other few archers wanted to help too, and they too spread out in a circle, positioning themselves so they could shoot through the openings the circle of shields showed. They would tell the shieldbearers when they'd shoot as to not hit one of their own by accident should one of them move at the wrong moment. Yana needed not to relay the plan to the other squires, as they'd come up with this before, in case they would run in one of the shadow beasts.

Good thing they had.

The mercenary did not know of this strategy though, but there was no need to worry. Hannes was sure to fill him in.

[Rita Fenyo]

This is where I die Rita saw the beast charge for her, unable to move out of harm's way or defend herself. The only thing she could do was put her arm up in front of her throat. It almost burned, the pain like nothing she had experienced before, teeth digging into her arm. The momentum carried the beast on, the sound of something breaking and tearing of flesh was all she could experience before passing out with pain. When she regained consciousness she was being dragged back away whilst the squires formed a protective ring around her and the other wounded. Colours danced in front of her eyes, the pain constant and pounding with her heartbeat. A trail of blood and a large puddle from where she had been attacked, deep crimson and constant. A sharp breath of panic, looking at her arm and gagging. Her bone was sticking out, muscles were torn and worst off all two of her arteries were cut. I’m bleeding out…. I’m not gonna last long enough to get to another healer The squire dragging her away placed her against a wall and ran to help. She weakly her good arm pleading for help, too weak to speak. There was no one to help her, those able to fight focusing on the beast. She’d be dead before they noticed so there was only one thing for her to do.
She ripped her shirt clear of the injury, not caring to be modest. A cry of pain, pulling a tourniquet out of her pouch and securing it around her upper arm with her teeth. Breathing short and very close to passing out, there was more she had to do before she could rest. Cauterising or stitches would be difficult if not impossible in her current state, she was shaking far too much and in too much pain. Breaking open another pouch she used her teeth to open a file, holding the contents in her mouth, and biting down on her good arm pushing adrenalin and painkiller into her arm along with her venom. It tasted foul causing her to dry heave after. Her vision cleared and she was a lot more focused. Now was the painful part, she held her broken arm, readying herself. She screamed loudly, thrashing her tail but not stopping till it was done. This time, she vomited fully away from her body. Her left arm set, she started to secure a splint, feeling the painkiller wear off first. With that done she cleaned the wounded area, she was still bleeding a little but she could do little more than bandage herself in the current state. Gritting her teeth and pouring antiseptic onto the wound. Stinging like a swarm of bees attacking her. Gasping for air she did everything she could to properly dress the wound, but the pain was too much and the young Ithecal had already lost a lot of blood. With a dull thud, she passed out.

Template made by Aelius for Rita

[Vincent D'Ordyn]

Gray held the beast back as best he could while the squire's took care of the healer. By the time they rushed to join him in the street, Gray and the shadow beast had already trade blows three times, the last resulting in a near miss for Gray as he rolled out of the creatures reach at the last minute, but taking a small set of scratches to his left arm. Coming out of the roll to face the beast, Gray was met with the shouts and cheers of the squires as the joined him.

A group of squires with shields took up positions at the front, while archers fired from the rear. Gray had seen the maneuver used before, but had never been a part of it before. One of the squires approached Gray as he watched, looking for a way to get back into the fight. "Best to stay back for now, sir. The archers are giving signaling the shields when to move. If you go running in there now, you'll only get in their way, or get yourself shot."

Gray turned his hard eyes on the squire, their intensity causing the poor man to flinch for a moment, before Gray turned back to the beast and spoke. "Hold it back as long as you can. I'll see what I can do." With that Gray sheathed his swords and started looking around. He needed something to balance this fight. Finally his eyes fell on the lanterns that hung from posts along the street. "Squire, what's your name?" Gray asked, his eyes turning back to the squire, a devilish flicker in them.

"Hannes, Sir." The squire answered.

"Hannes, how do you feel about fire?" Gray asked turning his eyes back to the lanterns.

"Fire, Sir?" Hannes asked, before turning his gaze in the direction of Gray's own. "What do you... Oh!"

"Help me collect a few, we need the oil." With that the two went about removing the lanterns from the posts while the others held the beast at bay. After a few bits the two had collected a number of the lanterns. The two began opening the lanterns and dumping the oil into a small pot that Gray had found in the ruins of a house nearby. By the time the pot was full only one lantern remained.

Picking up a nearby quiver Gray pulled four arrows out, then with one of his knives started cutting strips off is cloak and wrapping the cloth around the arrow head, and dunking them into the pot of oil.

"Help me get this pot on top of that building," Gray said nodding to a nearby building overlooking the beast and those fighting it. "Then get these to your archers, find a way to light them." Gray finished, handing the arrows to Hannes before grabbing the pot and heading to the house. Handing Hannes the pot, Gray made his way to the roof, then reached down and took the pot from Hannes. "Now go, and be quick. You've got two bits." Gray said, before moving off to get into position.

[Yanahalqah]

The squires quickly put their plan in motion, even when Hannes was pulled away from the circle by the mercenary, leaving only three shield bearers to keep the beast from running off. Out of necessity, they made the circle smaller, bodies tense and veins full of adrenaline. The beast roared and launched itself at one of the shields, slamming into it with enough power to make the young man take a couple of awkward steps backwards, however, it failed in knocking him down. The young man retaliated, delivering a sharp stab to the beast, which yelped and bounced back into the circle.

Arrows nocked, the archers called for the shieldbearers to stay in place, not to make any sudden moves, and then they fired through the openings in the circle, projectiles piercing the beast from all directions, but did not really seem to harm it as much as expected. Perhaps it needed to be wounded lethally, and injuring it didn’t do anything. Nevertheless, it succeeded in keeping the beast in place, inside the circle, unable to go rampant anywhere else. That was something at least.

This pattern repeated itself a couple times, each time with the same effect. About a dozen arrows were sticking out of its body, hampering its movements a bit. On the places where it had been injured, some sort of black smoke seemed to come into existence. The squires believed it to be the beast’s way of bleeding, as a sign that their efforts were wearing it down little by little. The beast roared again, one of its paws coming up to smack at the arrows stuck in its body, breaking off the shafts. While it did not stop giving off wisps of black smoke, it shed the objects slowing it down, freeing itself.

It roared again, this time sounding far more furious than it had been before, giving off an enraged feel. Aggressively, the beast slammed itself into the shields that positioned themselves in its path, its anger only growing with each failed attempt to break free. Growing more and more violent with each new wound it received. But it did not go down. On the contrary, it apparently had decided to not give the archers any chances to shoot it anymore, bouncing from shield to shield, always on the move. It pushed the shieldbearers around as much as it could, using all kinetic energy gathered from the short distances it had to move about.

But, this also had the effect of giving Hannes the opportunity to dole out the arrows he’d received from the mercenary, and light them with a burning stick he’d pulled from a cooking fire a few blocks away. His brow was sweaty and his breathing heavy from stress and having ran franticly to get back within the two bits he’d been given. But he was there, and he had completed the task given to him. After having given the arrows to the archers, a very brief explanation, and wiping some more sweat from his face, the squire picked up again, having discarded it in order to move about faster. Then, he retook his position in the shield circle, breathing already somewhat under control again.

With an extra target in the circle, the beast stopped for a moment, seemingly thinking of who to attack. Its eyes searched the squires, looking for a weak link. The still heavy breaths of Hannes caught its attention, and it turned its head in his direction, giving a malevolent impression. Hannes decided to challenge it, to taunt by slamming his blade against his shield and screaming, creating a ruckus.

[Vincent D'Ordyn]

A pang of guilt rang through Gray as he watched the squires hold the beast at bay below him. He should have been down there with them, but he would just get in the way. He knew that, though it didn't change the heat that burned in his gut. As the time limit Gray had set approached, he saw Hannes reenter the shield circle and taunt the thing, banging his sword against the face of his shield to draw its attention to him. Kid's got guts. Gray thought to himself, bending down to grab the pot of oil. Or a death wish.

With a grunt, and a single fluid movement, Gray lifted the pot and tossed its contents into the air above the street, letting it fall to the earth, and covering the beast with a splash. Everyone seemed stunned for a moment, and in that silence Gray's voice rang out. Again the authority of his old life filling his words. "Archers, fire at will. Shields, retreat to a safe distance."

[Yanahalqah]

The command they had been waiting for came, and the shieldbearers reacted immediately. They all retreated, while the beast was roaring and howling, covered in oil. Its paws slipped on the pools of substance forming on the ground. It found the source of its current situation then, eyes gleaming as it lifted its head to the top of the building Gray had been standing on all along. It bared its black and shadowy teeth, muscles in its hind legs swelling as it prepared to pounce.

However, as it launched itself off the floor, it lost its footing, two paws being too unstable for it to keep its balance. It smacked its own head into the ground instead, falling sideways onto the cobblestones. Yana and her fellow archers did not hesitate for a moment, nocking and shooting their fire arrows in a fluid motion, setting the terrible beast aflame immediately.

Screams of anguish arose from the creature, reminding some of the sound a lobster makes when it is put in boiling water. It wailed and yelped as the flames licked its body, the tiny wisps of smoke now becoming one huge cloud of black smog. And suddenly it was over. There was only silence. No more beast, no more fire. Only a black burn mark on the floor which they could use as proof that the creature they fought had been there for real. A collective sigh of relief was let out of the squires' lungs.

Yet, there was little time for rest and slacking. Their shift was not yet over, and Yana once more took command, first going to check on the Ithecal who'd suffered the most at the beast's hands. A quick examination revealed that she seemed alright –well, given the situation that is. She was still breathing, though her arm had been on the receiving end of some serious damage. Somehow it seemed she had managed to patch herself up a bit before passing out, and Yana called for some of the injured squires to carry the doctor to the infirmary as fast as they could. All other squires too injured to be of further use were sent there too, while the others were to continue guarding the gate. The few who'd battled the shadow beast were allowed a short break, and the false Eídisi turned to the mercenary next.

“It seems you got us out of some serious trouble twice in a row. You have my gratitude, ser...?”