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Oh no oh no oh no oh no

Running as if all of Mordache was on her heels, Blossom tore past house after house of the main area of Eyris, eyes wide. Even as her breathing grew more ragged, her pace didn’t slow. She held her broadsword in both hands, the tip of the scarred blade held above the cobblestones. She couldn’t find anyone she knew. Where was Abel? Where were Large, Chickenwire, Clang, Magnet? Everywhere she looked, it was dead bandits, dead Learanians, dead Mordacheans, and no relief in sight.

Steely Dan… Ghis…

The bile rose to her throat again, and Blossom nearly fell over as she leaned against a crumbling home and heaved, the green tinge to her cheeks slowly dissipating. She rubbed at her mouth a moment later and looked up and around, eyes wild. No matter where she was, the sounds of battle followed her, surrounding her until there was nothing left. Lysander’s blade dripped blood against the ground as she lifted it by the hilt again, gripping tightly in both hands before setting off at a sprint once more.

They have to be alive. The guild and the Watch and the Guard, they can’t all be dead. But I can’t find them… why didn’t I go with someone else? Why can’t I find anyone? As it turns out, the old buddy system from primary education was a better idea than one might think; Blossom had been fighting now for hours on her own, unable to locate any other Learanians in the insanity of the southern side of the city. The clarity offered to her after hauling a** let her realize that she probably should have done so a long time ago; if there she couldn’t find any Learanian soldiers, much less any of her close allies, it didn’t exactly bode well. But she had managed all right on her own. She was practically painted with bruises and a particularly nasty cut on her thigh was starting to really hurt, but she hadn’t even been slowed down, really! A weaker woman might not have been able to keep going, but Blossom was, if nothing else, extremely tenacious by this point in her life. Give up? Not an option.

The bandits were everywhere, even as she got out of the particularly thickly-infested areas. By the time Blossom had begun to approach the center of the city, she was wearing a new cut against one arm and her blood had been splattered with more blood, almost completely covering the steel of the blade in red. Her breathing was strained as she paused against a crumbling wall. She had to stop to rest, even if just for a few moments, she could find her friends once she’d recovered. Maybe—

Blossom paused and looked up as a vaguely familiar boy with a familiar angry expression appeared in the distance, cloak swirling around him as he moved. Her blue-grey eyes widened and Blossom rose up again, Lysander in one hand.

“H-Hey! Hey!” She shouted, hurrying forward. She stumbled, picked herself up, ran faster, and practically crashed into Derrin as she tried to grab onto his cloak. “Y-You’re all right! Derrin, r-right? I’ve seen you in the café and with that Jaren kid – it is Jaren, isn’t it – and oh my goodness I’m just relieved to find someone else,” she managed in one breath before letting out a raw gasp. Blossom gripped a hand against his shoulder, momentarily forgetting that, well, she didn’t actually know Derrin all that well.

Making it almost completely certain that he barely knew her.

Blossom looked back at Derrin, trying to gauge his expression before removing her hand from his shoulder. “S-Sorry. You… aren’t hurt, are you? Where are you headed to?”

As Drake the Serpent Fang's sword came flying towards the unscathed castle doors, a sudden red, glowing barrier burst from the ground and intercepted it. The power of the barrier repelled the bandit leader. It did not want the presence of one who had malicious intent. It would not allow him inside. The barrier, and furthermore the one who erected it, was a power very familiar to Learanians.

"..They have already made it this far." sighed Lord Zeon, on the inside. "Form around the king. Use your very lives to keep his safe." he lowly ordered to the soldiers in the room. They quickly surrounded the throne from the front and held out their spears. The mages who accompanied the head noble took out their tomes, ready to start chanting. Lord Zeon turned to James. "We will defend you until the end. If you should see fit to run away, do so while you still can."

"...Even with my power, I cannot keep them out forever, heir of Leander." spoke Fefga, uncharacteristically calm. "When my barrier is broken, my power can no longer help you."

"I shall combine my power with the Spirit's." continued Lord Zeon, as he turned back to face the door on the other side of the reception hall and throne room. "..It will help buy some time." The head elder grunted and then banged his staff on the ground. A magical pulse rippled outward and in turn Fefga's barrier gained strength. Learania was down to its final defenses.

Blossom already felt more confident as she hurried after Derrin, lowering her sword so as to carry it more comfortably in both hands at her side again. She knew where at least one guild member was (he was a guild member, right? Sometimes people came and went so quickly and so suddenly that it was hard to keep up) and now it would be easier to get anything done. It always helped to have back-up! Derrin seemed pretty capable, too. Sure, he had almost hit her directly in the face with cold, unflinching magic, but it meant he had good reflexes, at least. He would be a reliable ally.

The tiny Hero was smiling in relief as they rounded the corner, and Blossom opened her mouth to question Derrin when she noticed his shocked expression. "Derrin? What--" She followed his gaze and saw the tall black man in his rather impressive long coat, with an all-too-familiar green-haired boy tagging along behind him. The shock was pretty clear on her face, too. To have run into him so soon after Derrin even mentioning that he was looking for Jaren was such a huge coincidence it nearly floored her. Blossom shook her head sharply after a few moments and gathered herself again. There were priorities to be followed here, after all.

"Jaren! Hey, Jaren!" Blossom smiled brightly at Derrin. "What luck!" She piped up to the Mage before rushing after the green-haired lad, revitalized by, as she mentioned, their good fortune to have run into Jaren so quickly. It was almost like planned out that way! "Jaren! Come back, Jaren! It's Blossom! Blossom and Derrin! You can bring your friend!" she shouted after him, still running. They had gotten a pretty nice head start after she and her new(-but-technically-not?) Mage friend stopped in their tracks in their sheer astonishment.

"Come back!"

Running away from hordes of bandits was no easy feat to do. He didn't have anytime to look back to see if she was catching up nor did he want to look back at the moment. The main gate was getting closer and closer and hopefully things would turn out for the better. Of course the hero forgot to take in the fact that the whole place was a battlefield.

As he reached the main gate, signs of bandits were already there. However, the fact that other soldiers were there gave him some sign of hope. The boy wanted to smack himself as he had also unintentionally brought more bandits into their current situation and probably made things worse. Oujay didn't have time to rethink his actions. He closed in on a bandit that was trying to go towards the soldiers at the main gate and swung his blade, taking the enemy out from behind.

Bandits in front of him, bandits behind him. He was stuck in the midst of the enemy, but he could help ease some of the stress on the soldiers guarding the gate. Swinging in the dark, Oujay started to take out the nearest bandits around him and some of the attention of the bandits most likely focused towards him, a single warrior surrounded by bandits. They surely believed that they would be able to take out the hero easily.

A swing from the sword and a clank from the shield as the boy continued on fighting. Oujay knew that if he continued fighting where he was, he would most likely be overwhelmed by the sheer amounts of the enemy. Not only that, he knew Jezebel was probably chasing him still and was probably looking to strike him down with her axe. The hero slashed at a bandit and ran towards the nearest house where he would be able to get some shelter while fighting the bandits that would come through the doors one by one.

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Unfortunately, the archers weren't gaining any advantage in the situation whatsoever. However a slight amount of hope rose when they saw the enemy catapults get destroyed one by one. The endless bombardment of giant projectiles was finally over, it helped made them a bit more relieved of their situation.

Alex took a little breather as the arhcers constantly showered the soldiers carrying the rams with arrows. No matter what they did, soldiers kept replacing the ones they killed. The hunter knew the other side of the gate won't last forever. "Tch, this is so troublesome," he whispered to himself.

How are they going to stop the ram when their countless arrows seem to do nothing? Alex wasn't sure how this was going to turn out at all. A sudden scream shook the man out of thought. "What the hell is going on?" he asked. His question was quickly answered as a haunting sight was bestowed upon his eyes. Countless dark magic circles were appearing around the area engulfing his allies and taking out his fellow archers whom unfortunately got caught in the spell.

"Damn, Siege Magic?" he looked out onto the enemy battalion. He spotted the dark magic users huddling in one spot revealed by torches in their vicinity. "Take out the druids!" he yelled as he got ready to pull an arrow out of the quiver. Suddenly he began to feel a small pull which sent ill feelings down his spine. "Crap!" he thought as he dropped the arrow and began to sprint away from his position. Alex never would've thought that the dark magic actually would appear right behind him. Alex was near the side of the walls and grabbed whatever that he was able to grab on along the wall as the magic began to attempt to pull him in.

"This isn't worth my pay!" ran through his head as he slowly lost grip of the wall and was slowly getting closer to the dark hole. Alex sighed as he was down to his finger tips holding onto his dear life. "I guess it ends here," he whispered to himself. Suddenly the gaping hole coming form the dark magic closed in and tore apart the arrow that is sucked in and shredded it to pieces. Alex dropped to the floor when the suction finally stopped. A huge sense of relief overcame him as he was slowly getting back up onto his feet. "Yep, definitely not worth the pay," he restated.

Super Awesome Swordsman;
Jaren Degriess!

I'm the HERO of JUSTICE

LOVE ME!

Jaren had been following Ali across the street when someone shouted his name. It was a normal reaction to turn his head towards the sound. He vaguely recognized the girl that was scampering towards him and was understandably nervous of her; his last few encounters with the female gender had resulted in him almost losing his wangdoodle. He did however recognize the red haired mage! It was his best friend Derrin! From here it looked like he was smiling with joy at seeing his long lost friend.

Derrin meanwhile was closing his mouth in order to prevent a bug from flying into it and trying to keep up with Blossom.

"Ali, wait!" Jaren stopped and waved to his friend. "Hey! Hey Derrin! Guess what? Guess where I've been!"

The reunion was spoiled however, when a large bald man emerged from a side street shouting and running towards Jaren. "Bandit?! Who are you calling a bandit, evil Learanian! Bahahaha, one moment Derrin, I have to cleanse this evil bald man in the name of Justice!
Foooooooooooooooor Juuuuuuustiiiiiice!" He cried out as he began running towards Wallace.

We all have our secrets, we all wear a mask. A persona if you will, to cover our real selves, our shadows, the face that we could not show to society and still appear sane. Not even we know our true nature.

It was kind of surprising to see Jaren look so skittish when she called out to him. He should know her, after all! She still remembered his cow suit. It was still odd. But at least he seemed to be okay, it would have been really bad if something unfortunate had happened to him. He seemed nice enough. They hadn't spoken much in the past, and most of their interaction seemed to be limited to his brief appearances at the cafe or that one time when he tried to attack Ganon under the mistaken impression that he was an evil demon or... something... but he didn't seem like a bad guy. So why was he completely ignoring her? "Yeah, it's Derrin! And I'm Blossom! You remember me, right? I--"

And then... was that Wallace? Jaren was running right for him now, intent on fighting him. Had she just gotten ignored again? "Wait, Jaren! Jaren, I was trying to--"

The black man he was traveling with, though -- Ali, was it? He sure looked familiar -- seemed to be on the ball and pulled Jaren back before he could do anything. And then... ran again for the castle. For goodness' sakes! "He-Hey, wait! Wait up! Go... Derrin, c'mon, faster!" Blossom was setting off at a sprint again, surprisingly quick despite her large sword. She could deal with Wallace later, this was more important right now! "Jaren! Jaren! Oh, come on, wait up for us, we aren't trying to attack you or something! Come back!"

Starting to get a bit frustrated here. They find Derrin's friend, only for him to get dragged off by his... friend? Commander? Kidnapper? Whatever the case was, Blossom was certainly growing more irate by the minute, and she tried to pick up the pace to catch up, Lysander in both hands. Ali couldn't run that fast if he was practically dragging Jaren behind him, could he? "And I'm tired of you two ignoring me! Come back, already, I'm just trying to talk to you!"

The Learanians were starting to fight back more intelligently. First the barrier that sprang up to deflect Drake's entrance to the castle, and now that horse-riding boy and his friends were fighting more valiantly than ever. And with the arrival of this strange dark-haired man... so many complications. The Learanian soldiers were dropping, but their numbers began to slow. The competent ones were the ones that remained, and now their fighting was becoming much more even, and the courtyard was surrounded. Shadow Guild versus Learanian, soldier versus thief.

Honestly, the come-from-behind victory attempts were always so clichéd. Nevertheless, there was a risk that it could work, so...

The blast of wind magic was enough to send a few men tumbling, while others continued to grapple with Leon. He was a fierce warrior, and the Shadow Guild fighters dripped like water to the ground as more fell into place. They seemed endless in this dark night, even as the sunrise was only a few hours away, but their numbers could not last forever. Murphy knew this, and a concerned expression briefly flitted across the Assassin's face before it returned to practiced neutrality.

The Shadow Guild warriors still attacking Sunil were beginning to falter. One gave a mighty blow towards his back while another fell to his claws. The laguz wasn't as big a threat as other Learanian fighters, but he was a threat, as much as they didn't want to admit it. And even as they treated him as a threat, they still were losing. A figure perched on the wall above began to draw a knife, aiming for his head... and proceeded to have to divert his attention to the golden-eyed man that had landed on the wall just next to him. And then, unfortunately, his misjudgment of the loopy man's abilities cost him his consciousness, as he was knocked to the ground with a hard arm to the neck, and then his head struck the wall.

His buddies, however, were definitely more on the ball than him, and as Lance rose up, they drew their weapons and approached, surrounding him.

Murphy scooped up a fallen knife from the ground, giving it a practiced aim and throw towards Leon's neck. Even with the wind, hopefully it would at least graze him, and even the slightest startle could be enough to turn the tides of battle. As much as the tiny Assassin would wish to aid Drake's attempts to break past the barrier, the Serpent's Fang would likely take it as an insult to his capabilities, or call Murphy out on disobeying orders. In any case, the barrier would fall in due time.

They would have time.

Murphy took the weapon of another fallen Shadow Guild member and used it to strike down one of the remaining Learanian soldiers still within the confines of the courtyard. Most were now on the walls or outside, but their attempts to press their way in were starting to grow slightly more hopeful, and Murphy could only hope that Drake's strength could get him past the barrier before the Learanians busted into the area in droves.

Amelia, meanwhile, had curled herself into the fetal position on the grass, arms wrapped around her wound as best as her strength would allow her. Murphy had left her alone, as Drake had asked of his subordinate, but she was still bleeding heavily. Either she had gone into shock or the entire situation was just too unreal for the time being, as Amelia realized she barely felt the wound anymore, save for the steady flow of blood from her side. Had it hit organs? She had no idea, and she frankly didn't want to check.

She wasn't exactly in the mind to, either. It took all of her effort to stay conscious, breathing heavily on the grass, shaking in unconscious pain. Someone had to come soon. Someone had to come soon.

They wouldn't just let her die here... would they...?

The grin twitched and slowly transformed into an infuriated scowl that ground its teeth. Drake HATED magic! And there it was getting in his way again! His anger resonated through his arms and they began to shake with an unbearable desire to shred the barrier's caster into unrecognizable pieces.

"Stupid magic!!" Drake leaped forward and collided his sword with the barrier and again he was thrown back. "You think your little tricks can stop me?! Raaah!" He swung wildly again and and pivoted as he was repelled to swing again. When he got his footing back, he looked up and saw to his delight that his efforts were making a difference. Already, there was a crack. "Heh... ha.. hahaha..." His eyes flared. "You just wait until I get in there!!" He ran at the barrier again. Every time the barrier repelled him, he leaped back with another swing that only increased the damage and lessened the barrier's strength. He did not stop or pause to rest. His state of mind wouldn't let him. He was going to break that barrier!