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"You ask why do I not talk much?"_______←«_____ ←«____ ←«___ ←«__ ←«
_____"...Because there is nothing to say."

Once the group was ready, they headed out through the forest. With Rath, and Sue if needed, having the necessary skills for tracking the bandits' movements, following them wasn't very hard. Their movement was of course slower than the bandits' own, since said bandits actually knew where they were heading. By the time the group drew near to the fort, the brigands had already been back for a little while.

Rath, hidden by the trees, looked out at the fort ahead of them and narrowed his eyes. "There it is..." He turned back around to the others. "They may be awaiting us and I'm certain we'll have to break down the gate while dealing with archers. However, this fort is old, there may be weak spots in the wall we could break through as well." He glanced to Innes. "Members of Cloak, I leave retrieving your teammate to you. Her well being is only second priority to the rest of us." He scanned across the rest of the group. "We'll show these bandits what it's like to get raided... let's go."

A brisk wind whaled through the leaves of the forest, bringing with it a momentary sense of ease for the weary "hero". Here he lay in a small clearing, with nothing but a battle-scared axe beside him. The short breeze was generously welcomed by the exhausted Marquess, as he took this moment to relax.

...Or would that be former Marquess? He had no idea how long he might be stuck on this continent with no way to get back to his homeland. Thinking about it only made him worry... not only for his own sake, but his country's. The Lycia Alliance had only just been formed. What will become of it now that he's gone? His home, his family? Everyone...

I wonder if I'll ever make it back to Elibe. The words almost escaped his mouth as he considered the possibility. Roland let out a deep sigh letting his worries pass. He knew it would only make things worse.

Roland began to ponder how he wound up on this continent in the first place. But... nothing he could think of gave him any clue as to how to make it back. One moment he was in his living chambers, and the next he opens a door to find himself in a small village. He couldn't believe his eyes. To be in one place and then the next without any warning. He thought for sure he was dreaming. Heck, he'd rather it all been one crazy hallucination, than all of this truly being a reality. Oh well... He'd just have to keep moving forward until he found a way to make it back.

Roland lifted up the canteen attached to his belt. ... Empty, as expected. He stood up turning his head from side to side. Nothing but an endless legion of trees in sight. No luck I guess. At this point, he might as well turn back... He'd been wandering these woods for nearly two days now, and found no sign of the bandit's hideout. The same bandits who attacked the kind villagers who took him in, and stole most their belongings and food.

All those innocent lives... Roland became restless thinking of it. He grabbed hold of his only weapon, squeezing it's hilt tightly. All he had was an old iron axe he managed to take from one of the raiding pillagers. Out numbered though he may have been, Roland was determined to settle the score and take back what the villains had stolen. He didn't care for the odds. The faces of desperate villagers was enough to make him charge into any army of soldiers. Heh, besides... No army of hooligans can even compare to the adrenaline which courses through your body, when faced with a full grown dragon.

His memories of those times brought back a shiver of both terror and excitement. An intensity like no other. The scorching embers which flew through the sky like an everyday snow. Great beasts of scales and fangs flying high above one's head. In those days... one could never fear for his life. A moment's hesitation meant meeting your inevitable end to those flames.

Roland quickly stood up, if only to distract himself from the memories he'd reawakened. He quickly replaced a lock on his past, trying to focus on the task ahead of him.

He'd most likely have to turn back very soon. It's only foolish to continue on without any source of water. Roland considered his options for a minute, eventually deciding that he'd have to give up for now. He turned around... only taking a single step before freezing in place...

A distant cracking sound echoed through the woods. It was little more than a whisper, but Roland picked up on it none the less. He turned his head in the vague direction he thought the echo came from, as an ominous flock of birds flew out from the trees. His squinted his eyes... suddenly widening them in realization. The average person might have mistaken that sound for the simple snapping of a twig, but Roland was far too acquainted with it. Any soldier who fought in The Scouring would know that sound...

A ballista. One of the most commonly used, and effective weapons used to combat dragons.

Roland quickly turned around and dashed through the woods. He couldn't be 100% sure of the direction he heard it from, but he hoped to at least come closer to it's origin. He finally had a lead, and he wasn't about to lose it.

It had to be the bandit's hideout. You could never use a weapon like that effectively in woods like these, unless you were hauled up in a fortress of some kind. But would that mean... is there already some sort of skirmish taking place?

Roland raced through the trees, soon to find out for himself.

"You ask why do I not talk much?"_______←«_____ ←«____ ←«___ ←«__ ←«
_____"...Because there is nothing to say."

"Ballista..." Rath muttered, immediately beginning to take aim on shooter. After a few seconds, he sighed and lowered his readied bow. "...I cannot get a shot from down here. We'll need-" Just then a regular arrow swooshed by and hit the ground nearby.

"... ..." Rath raised his bow again and fired an arrow at the bandit archer exposing himself atop the wall. "Them I can hit..." he muttered. "If ranged fighters focus on the other archers, everyone else should be able to get close to get inside and deal with that ballista." He glanced at the pegasus knight briefly, contemplating the possibility of her being able to swoop in and take out the archer at the ballista if the other archers were dealt with. However, she was with Cloak, and the members of that team took orders from the group leader. It was also very risky to try and he wasn't in the business of gambling with guild members' lives.

"The gate will be fortified and slow to break open. I suggest finding a weak spot in the wall somewhere." he called out to everyone in the group. He looked at Sue, knowing she would be there with to cover him, and then rode out. He could fire while moving and move faster than those on foot. He would be a harder target, but a more dangerous one, which would hopefully pull the archers' attention on him so that others could do their part.

O Father Sky, Mother Earth...
I pray that you give me strength.

So, here they were. Although Sue didn't like the idea of leaving someone in enemy hands, she was sure that the members of Cloak who were left could handle it. It was time to get some supplies back. Her and her horsed charged up to the front lines. They would have been up front and personal with these brigands if it weren't for a big problem.

"A ballista, huh? So they've decided to get serious." She muttered. Sue narrowed her eyes, glaring toward the enemy with a strong feeling of disdain toward the brigands. "I've heard of them as a group with no honor, but this is beyond vile."

When Rath said his orders, Sue nodded, riding alongside him. "I've got your back, as always, Father. Let's take out their ranged fighters together." She said, moving forward with an arrow readied for fire. When her sharp eyes spotted one of the enemy archers, she let it fly. The arrow pierced into the archer's upper arm, causing him to drop his weapon. Letting another arrow loose, Sue struck his chest, finishing him off rather quickly. "We have a great balance of strength in our numbers! Surely, someone will get close enough to strike the sniper behind that ballista while we pick off the archers!"

Julia

So that's how it was...Each group to settle their own objectives separately. At least this Rath knew that sometimes sacrifices needed to be made. But the point still stood, nobody was to be left behind. Sure, this Rin might not have been the most battle-hardened fighter, but that was to be expected of a member of that nature. Besides, she wouldn't outright abandon a comrade, Cloak or not. However, something needed to be done about the bastilla that loomed over them. Archers she could deal with, as long as she maneuvered carefully with some cover fire. That on the other hand? Her usefulness had been completely crippled, not to mention the chances of getting in falling drastically. Perhaps she could fix both problems here...

"These children with bows and arrows are nothing to me. I'm confident in my ability to ride, as long as I can trust in your archers and our mages, Sir!" She directed her focus towards Rath, hoisting up her lance to get ready to launch. "I'll take out the unit targeting us with the Bastilla. I might have to fall back for a moment, but I can at least get rid of that obstacle. Meanwhile, we need to find a weakness in that wall and push on. I see some of us are already working on it, that few moments of distracting the archer units will be a blessing. I'm not going to let our comrade stay in there longer than needed. We do not know the extent the bandits will use her to one-up us."

"And I know you wouldn't let one of our members get in the way of the objective, would you?"

Wherever these bandits were using their ill-gotten gains, it certainly wasn't on maintaining their fortress. They could steal, maintain, and use siege weaponry, but they could barely protect their own walls from entry. He didn't know if the bandit manning the ballista was skilled at his job, and he wondered how accurate a shot he was. Amon wondered how they had managed to go by so long without challenge. They were squatters and low-end thieves, and despite how surprisingly resourceful they always seemed to be, if Amon had ever let that get to him, he would not have left their hideaway in Sentria.

The guild members and mercenaries had already begun to array themselves into groups and positions to both draw and return fire, as well as prepare to enter through the walls. When he spied an opening, Amon joined the charge and was able to run under the fire as the ranged fighters drew it. He make his way to the wall using what cover there was in the clearing to get gradually closer. He began to circumvent the fortress.

Eventually a part of the wall caught his attention. The wall seemed to have a crack in it that reached from his chest height to the ground. Amon stopped in his tracks and checked the area for enemies with two sweeps of the head. When he felt safe, he jammed the butt of his lance into the crack where it could fit and tried to jar anything loose. With a forceful thrust down and out, the lance managed to pull some loose stones and chunks of brick out with it.
Perhaps they had finally found an entry point.

He could not, however, break it himself. He would need the aid of someone with a much more forceful weapon. He did not know if Ramla had any magic that could cover it, let alone any of the other mages. But he knew that there had to be at least one who could do the job. Perhaps the boisterous, red-armored one.
Amon surveyed the area once more and ran towards a tree for cover. He called out to his allies in the area.

"Come! Now!"

Better to finish this quick. There were far more important matters to attend to.

"O great St. Elimine!
I am your messenger!"

Sister ۩ Victoria

Very quickly, the scene of the group's nearest battlefield played out before Victoria. It didn't take long for her to look upon the area and notice the kind of defenses that the enemy set up. It was really a basic defense, having a ballista on the far end and archers perched in places where they could easily aim and shoot. Even this basic defense was enough though, and they had the numbers to back up their plan.

"They are still brigands and fools, but they seem different than the last ones we faced. We need to be careful." the bishop thought.

The bishop of Elimine chose to follow behind Julia. She couldn't help but think that the pegasus knight had a point, but her path to take out the ballista was not going to be an easy one. "I'll follow at a short distance." said Victoria.

From the pouch of her supplies, she took out a light blue gemstone, replacing the top of her normal heal staff. She also searched for a different tome, one that looked much smaller and only had a few pages' worth of the spell of light magic. "I have a Physic staff to heal you if you run into trouble, and a purge tome to reach anyone that might target you. You'll have to make it as fast as you can, since I'm our group's only bishop. I'll be counting on you!" she exclaimed.

Elimine's ⋇ Light