Hero's Arms, Hero's Heart Redux

Ash had done nothing. It had all happened so fast she hadn't even had time to move before one of the prisoners was already dead. The orc next to her spoke just as it all turned to chaos and brought her out from her own head. She pointed to the insanity ahead and yelled. "THEY SEEM TO THINK SO! LETS DISTRACT THE GUARDS BY THE PRISONERS! WHEN THE GUARDS NOTICE YOU, YOU RUN!" She ran ahead without looking back to the Orc and attempted to channel a spell through her staff. Her magic was fairly unreliable and wasn't powerful enough to fight with but if it worked it would certainly get the last few guards attention. If it didn't then hopefully she could at least use her momentum to get a good swing in before running away.

edited 28th Sep '15 10:09:11 PM by Yewleaf

It seemed like his being there had just sparked an armed uprising. At this point the consequences didn't seem like an important detail, the suddenness and pounding of the fight riling up that old warrior spirit inside of him. He could deal with running away from the Dark Lord briefly, this fight was its own reward.

The briefly laid out plan seemed perfectly fine to him. He ran along with the staff user, and joined in combat with her. He tried to first land a haymaker blow to the helmet of one of the guards, in order to take his blade. Fist-fighting is fine and all, but it doesn't lend itself much range.

As the chaos erupted around them, Ezekiel took stock of the others who had risen up against the Guard's and the Governor. There were five guards attacking the girl and her rescuer, but some of the like minded in the crowd seemed to be moving to assist her. Which left the Governor against the Elven woman.

Ezekiel never liked being the center of attention. And he didn't like fighting all that well. But there were times that he knew he should discard his worries and distaste for violence. So it was with a deep breath that he steeled himself and took a step forward, the guards would see a well built human, in his mid forties or so, looming up to them from behind the other attackers. Without further warning, the faded warhammer was swung in a vertical arc, intent on being brought down into one of the guardsmen's skull.

Sarah huffed after instant sprinting out of the crowd. A nearby building had been easy enough to climb on, and the blonde elf was now starting to position herself on it's roof. She laid down on it, holding her bow out horizontally in front of her vision. It wasn't the best sniping point in the world, but at least Sarah was hidden and on highground. Another scan of the area revealed chaos from all sides, the guards being locked in combat while another person mover in to free the prisoners. Right... Sarah could leave that to them. Another arrow was pulled from the quiver and laid resting on the decorated bow's string, quickly coated in a small layer of clear crystal. The elf closed the right of her amber eyes, trying to get a good shot in on one of the guards. The most important thing right now was covering for the others who were fighting for their lives...

"Oh why am I doing this again...?" Sarah mumbles, firing off her arrow before reaching out for another one.

As Leil thrust her spear at the crack in the Governor's stance, it vanished, his blade flowing like liquid steel to deflect her attack with an effortless slap. With the bait taken, Leil got the distinct feeling that she had been tested and found wanting; the man's stance was unremarkable, a guard she had broken through countless times before with sheer reach advantage, but something about this opponent gave her pause. "I expected better," he said dismissively.

The conflict on the other side of the dais was proceeding much better for the strangers, however. Michael's sneak attack had managed to disarm one of the guards, while Ciel and Ezekiel had taken out one each; fresh blood splashed across the stained wood of the dais, drawing more screams from the townspeople who hadn't yet fled. Ash's gestures with her staff didn't draw much but a bit of confusion from the guard she was squaring off with; fortunately, Calcol's haymaker saved him from having to think about it. Sarah's arrow took the final guard through the throat as Ruve hurriedly urged the three living captives off the back of the dais, helping them meld into the crowd of people fleeing. The surviving guard quickly fell to his knees, holding his hands up on his head. "Mercy," he croaked. "Mercy, please!" As he spoke, his throat grew a sharp silvered tongue; blood spurted as the Governor withdrew his sword, and within an eyeblink he was standing at the far edge of the dais, his back to the looming edifice that was the Dark Tower.

"This has proven enlightening," he commented, his smooth brow furrowing. "It's about time to put an end to it, though." As he spoke, voices began to echo down the streets; the sound of boots on cobbles grew louder as a score or more of guards flooded into the plaza. "Enjoy yourselves... and when you desire to die, come to me," he said, turning his back. The doors of the Dark Tower swung open as he approached, and closed with an earth-shuddering thump behind him. The plaza, now emptied of civilians, thrummed with the tension of violence.

Ash was debating wether or not she had time to cut the dead man down when the arrival of even more guards told her she did not. She had barely been able to provide a small distraction during a sneak attack so she was rather unhappy with these odds. She turned to the Orc who had helped her and said " Well they've noticed us. Think it's time for stage two of my master plan?"

The iron short sword the guard had dropped was a rather poor piece of craftsmanship, it was obviously made on a budget and for human hands. However, its edge was sharp and its handle sturdy. More than enough to work with. As the plaza became encircled, he had given up on an escape plan for the time being.

Brandishing his sword with one hand, he nodded to the staff-user and replied, "Yes, if you have one."

Leil was amazed by the deft defense displayed by her opponent... despite his cruel nature, she could respect him as a warrior by how she couldn't read that guard... his reflexes and strength. All the more worthy for her to test her strength against... and it just made her all the more eager to put an end to the man.

Seeing him retreat, she doesn't give chase right away... instead she turns her back to the tower, seeing the guards arranged before her... and apparently... quite a few others that had taken up the fight "Let it be so, then..." simply remarks the elven woman, getting into her guard.

Michael stepped back looking at the ring of guards that was forming. Raising the short blade he took from the guard in front of himself taking a defensive stance as he looked around. He readied his other hand to support the blade or strike with either weapons or his fist as needed.

Looking to the others left on the dais with a disgruntled smile. "Well at least saved those two. Anyone got any plans now? Fighting every guard here would not be fun for either side..." His voice oddly calm but with a underlying tone of dissatisfaction.

A minor smile over to the Elven woman with the spear. Giving her a clear nod of acknowledgement and respect.

edited 29th Sep '15 2:46:06 PM by darkdestinysoul

"Well not really. The way I see it we have three options. One, surrender and hope that they take us prisoner. In which case I don't know if crying will help but it can't hurt. Two, try to run into the big scary building of certain doom. Or three, hope whoever is sending down those arrows takes a guard out so we can make a mad dash too freedom through the opening. In any case my name is Ash and if any of you besides me make it out I'd appreciate it if you told people I was a great hero instead of a random traveler who was dumb enough to try to help out in the fight.

Michael looks around quickly, examining the guard formation and the other fighters. Looking over to Ash with a passionate smile and spark in his eyes. "By the great spirit of flames, Karmurza. I Michael, will not let any of us be imprisoned or made a martyr today!"

Taking a few steps towards Ash in a almost defensive way, feeling some of their fear. "We already saved those people, rushing the tower wont help us. Ash, be ready to move out when the gap opens."

edited 29th Sep '15 4:14:28 PM by darkdestinysoul

Vymia groaned. "Really? You all just had to play hero, didn't you? What a nuisance." The sorceress had no intention of being involved, but simply looking different from the rest of the civilians had her lumped in with the rest of them, and now the guards were approaching her. "I have no intention of spending any time in a jail cell. Do you know what they do to witches and sorceresses?"

She held her shield close, and it started to glow, and a large lion came roaring from out of it, launching at one of the guards and starting to maul at him.

"No thank you."

The last thing Ruve saw of the innocent civvies she had just helped out of was running in terror away but at least it's now a frantic rush to safety instead of a fear of impending inevitable death.

Unfortunately she can't exactly join them when the guards cut her off. At that point, Ruve realized she fucked up, by unintentionally joining in on the battle. No weapons, no real way to fight, just her cape and and peasant clothing. She backed up to Leil without looking back and once their back touched, she took a look around and seeing all this people around her. They all look so familiar. Who are this insane people?

And then the shield maiden had just summoned a fucking lion on the guards.

"Hey, Leilerenale?" she whispered without looking, seeing as how she's frozen in fear. "I'm a bit unskilled in the martial arts right here and I rather not get ripped to ribbons. How do we proceed?"

After seeing many things Ash hadn't expected to see today the lion convinced her that today logic wasn't a priority.

She brought her staff up into her arms like she was holding a lance, or at least like how the woodcut of a knight in one of her mother's books had held his; hoping the reach advantage might be enough to push away any guards that decide to brave the lion and get too close. She glanced at the man who was apparently named Michael and at the old Orc who had been dumb enough and brave enough to follow her into this mess. She simply said "I think that's our cue! We'll figure out the details later!" before making a run for it.

She could only hope this plan would work better than her last one. Dying with a guilty conscience would be just too much.

edited 29th Sep '15 11:26:46 PM by Yewleaf

Ezekial brandished his hammer, the blood smeared across the head was wiped away with an empty palm as he looked to the oncoming guards. "More?" He mused to himself as he gave it a small flourish before turning to the guards and taking a step towards them, the hammer head resting in his open palm as he looked down at them. The lion was...concerning, but if it was summoned by that woman, he doubted it was against them.

Calcol stood there for a moment, before he dashed and tried to run ahead of the girl. "Go ahead, I'll cover you!" he shouted in between breaths. He felt a bit bemused with his lack of stamina, as it wasn't easy to run like this in armor, let alone when you're technically a senior citizen to some.

In any case, he felt the need to make sure that this person got through. The likelihood was that there would be many more guards in between here and wherever the next safest location was, and the girl didn't look like the one that could take them on. Also, she had a full life ahead of her at this point. His was waning, and he felt that the young take first priority. He could always run as soon as the coast was clear, anyway.

edited 30th Sep '15 8:00:24 PM by wikkit

Ciel twirled her blade in her hand as she observed the approaching mass of guards, finally letting it rest in a reverse grip held parallel to her arm and back, paying little mind to the magic lion. "Just no end to 'em huh?" She commented casually as she observed the guards carefully, looking for any gaps that she could take advantage of.

Though the guards had looked rather confident before, the way the strangers moved to support each other gave them pause; and the sudden appearance of the magical lion, and its quick and brutal strike, sent several of them whirling to run, their weapons clattering to the filthy cobblestones. The rest faltered, glancing back and forth between themselves, until a burly man with a sergeant's insignia on his chest stepped forward.

"Enough o'this," he snapped, looking around at his soldiers; some murmured and some growled, but all quieted down. "You. Strangers," he called, his voice carrying well through the plaza. "Who among you speaks for you?"

The lion roared at its mauled prey, then hulked over to Vymia, who preceded to position herself on the beast's back, both of her legs swinging off the side. The lion moved over to the rest of the group, in front of Sergeant. Vymia brushed her long black hair from in front of her face, staring at the man with her piercing cold blue eyes.

"I'm going to take this opportunity to officially remove all who charged headfirst into battle from the running. Fools. Wasting your life to save every person stupid enough to get themselves captured will be the quickest way to an early grave. I will speak for this band of misfits, sir. And who exactly are you to ask?"

She scratched the lion behind the ears.

Well, this certainly unprofessional of the guards to drop their weapons just to have a chit chat. Especially when Ruve's new found mates was the aggressor, regardless of whether or not those prisoners do deserve their headless fate.

Still, it's an opportunity to make Ruve more useful in this group of warriors She slowly stepped forth to the Sergeant, making sure she carried some air of authority and diplomacy with her like the wind carrying the cape. She would but the the lady with the blue eyes and a pet lion have spoken up first, which kinda put a rather large wrench in her plan but two's a company.

"Well, I'm not exactly about the fools part since you're here to join the party but...err...in case this group gets somewhat official...thanks for the help and welcome to the crew. Maybe both of us shall represent?"

edited 1st Oct '15 6:14:53 PM by sgtpendulum

Ash sat down suddenly with a heavy sigh. She yelled to the leader of the guards "It was just a bit more informal than that sir, but Lion Lady does raise a fair point! I hereby grant Cape Girl the right to speak for me as she at least attempted to be sneaky and seems less likely to try to sell me out in exchange for her own freedom!

Just a minute ago it was time to run away from a life and death battle, and now they were on the negotiating table with the group they were killing? Calcol opted to shrug in agreement. Aside from the likelihood of this being a trap, he had no idea where this was going.

Adelaide decided to sit this out as well. Negotiation wasn't her strong suit.

Michael would still be in his defensive stance, though he isn't making any moves forward. He was waiting to see how this changes before moving onward, he doesn't want bloodshed just a end to this.

He will look around to his allies and to the sergeant. Curious about their thoughts.

edited 2nd Oct '15 3:11:38 PM by darkdestinysoul

Leil jumped right off the platform clearing it and landing gracefully before she swings her spear on the air before her, spinning it once before she holds it vertically, letting the butt hit the cobblestones "Well? What is you wish to say, followers of the executor?"