Saben Strahd was surprised to see her go down again, but then he reminded himself that this assassin is an elf and far more frail than he or anyone else who served
Bastellen in the Strahd family. He could smell what was left of her blood, which had slowed to a crawl from lack of pressure, her heartbeat had slowed down considerably and was only getting slower as the gauntlets continued to feed off of her and repair themselves, at this rate her gauntlets would kill her before anyone has had the chance to interrogate her.
He knew this to be a failsafe of Bastellen if any of his servants were defeated and captured, the gauntlets would respond to Bastellens command and proceed to kill the wearer.
And removing the gauntlets was equally dangerous... If one did not know the special trick. And knowing Bastellen, he probably never told this servant that there was a way to remove the gauntlets without injury from the internal blades.
Saben knelt down beside the assassin and lifted her right hand to examine the gauntlet, it was like a smaller clone of the gauntlets he used to wear, though he imagined that it would change its size to fit any who hold it.
He proceeded to smoothly rub the surface of the gauntlet like a massage, the blades slowly pulled themselves out of
Elise Darkwater's arm and there was a light click as they receded into the gauntlet.
Saben was then able to easily slide the gauntlet off her arm without causing more injury, he repeated the process on the other gauntlet and slid it off, the marks on her arms of previous removals confirming his suspicions earlier.
He wrapped the gauntlets in his still bloodstained white cloak and continued his examination of the assassin, at this rate even without the gauntlets she would die from her injuries.
His orders were to apprehend her, which implied brining her back alive, but she was at deaths door already and had more than a foot through it. He thought seriously about his next move, if she died he failed and they learned nothing, but what could she tell them that would be of use? It seemed like they knew all they needed to know already, Bastellen has influence here as well and wishes to continue hunting House Armon... But what if there was something more? Something worth saving her miserable life over, he would be a fool to let her die because of his own arrogance or pride, and he had his own new beliefs to consider as well, showing mercy to those in need...
He sighed and removed some bandages from his satchel and began binding her wounds as best he could, doing a fairly nice job considering his extensive field training.
He bound her head tightly and got most of the bleeding to stop, but without quick action she would still die from blood loss.
Her heart was beating dangerously slow.
Without waiting for permission from anyone else he lifted the assassin carefully in his arms and began carrying her quickly back to the collage, leaving the human girl and that cursed book to be dealt with by the collage. He didn't need to examine the book, he was already far too familiar with its contents and he never wanted to perverse his mind with its words of filth again.
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Alexis Armon didn't like waiting, but she certainly had more patience than her brothers ever did.
Rhali Ka'Thas had completely recovered from the crossbow bolt and poison and sat beside her silently.
Neither of them held any grudge against the assassin herself, but they were all angry at the god she chose to serve, who in turn chose to use his servant to try to kill them.
She remembered reports given by her brothers about a cult within House Strahd that served some dark god who promised them the power to defeat House Armon, but she had never come face to face with that enemy until now, and now she knew why her brothers considered this entity a threat.
While the assassin may not have been anything special, she was resourceful and skilled with what she had, resourceful enough to infiltrate a collage of magic users which surely had security measures against such attacks.
But for the life of her she couldn't remember the name of that damned god... or god of the damned...
When Saben returned carrying the wounded assassin Alexis and Rhali stood up allowing Saben to place her on the couch.
"Excellent, thank you for not killing her Saben. We don't know enough to allow a lead like this to slip out of our fingers."
Saben nodded,
"She is an assassin of Bastellen, the god my family worships and the one I used to serve. But she is just an elf, she couldn't handle the cost of using her gauntlets so much. I'm afraid if we don't do something she will die soon and we will know nothing."
Alexis punched the palm of her other hand,
"Of course, Bastellen! now I remember... So this is the same dark god that drove your family to attack House Armon... And now he is here as well. Seems we can never find peace, I thought that if House Armon met any enemies here that they would be new and we would be unknown... But it seems we were not destined to be so blessed."
Saben continued;
"M'lady, she is slipping away, her heart has almost stopped. The choice is yours, since only your blood is strong enough to bring her back now. But I've seen what kind of person she is in her eyes... She's sadistic if not insane. Words of reason may not reach her."
Alexis nodded and her face turned serious.
It was dangerous to save an enemy like this, because when they awaken they are stronger than before and better than they were, but even in that light she wasn't worried about what the assassin might do, even as one of them she would be too young and inexperienced to know how to use her new abilities and be effective if she chose to attack them. What she was worried about is what if she gave the assassin her blood, and it turned out she didn't know anything, or didn't chose to help them.
Her blood was valuable and powerful and she couldn't just give it to anybody.
If the girl was truly insane, as in she literally had something wrong with her mind, a condition that was treatable, then her blood would cure that as well, but an attitude or personality is something totally different.
