Fable - Ask Oban Outlaw..

[Rob Cooke]

Rob quickly slid into the turn, barely stopping himself from falling. He saw the hunter hurling himself through obstacles after Wren, who, Rob noticed with a the slight glance he could see, was trying to escape through the sewer grate. He quickly pointed out his hand again, a different spell in mind.

A cloud of smoke appeared infront of and around Szesh. Rob hoped on the hunter stopping in confusion instead of simply continuing to move and out of the cloud to Wren. If he stopped to get his bearings it would be more likely he would get lost.

Rob, though, kept moving. Fumbling with a bit of his pack he drew a small hammer. Less then ideal for a weapon but it would have to do. He quickly swung downwards as soon as he reached the point where he last saw the hunter, hoping his plan worked.

 

[Szesh]

Szesh bulldozed his way out of the alley in pursuit. Wren had darted through yet another gap in the buildings, he just caught her boot as it disappeared. It was very narrow, too narrow for him to fit through.

If he couldn't go through, he would go over. He spread his wings and readied himself to leap above the buildings. He could likely get to the rooftops in a single stroke of his wings, and from them he would just need to run across to find his prey on the other side.

As soon as he went to jump, however, he was surrounded by thick and choking fog. His wings already on their way down, he leapt directly into the side of the building, hitting the rough stone hard and falling to his back on the ground.

He could not see, his eyes stung in the smoke. He got to his feet as quickly as he could and swept his wings forwards and back, trying to blow the smoke away. After the first sweep something small and hard struck him in the chest.

Instinctively he swiped his claws across the blind space in front of him.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren let out an angry growl in frustration as the sewer grate gave her more trouble than she anticipated. Slowly though, it began to move and she pulled with everything she had, her heels digging into the cobbles for leverage.

She heart the thud and clatter and looked up to see the cloud of smoke, her heart pounding in her head as she squinted through the rain to see what the fuck was going on. There was just about enough space for her to slip down into the hole now, but she pulled a little more to leave room for Rob. Where was Rob?!

"Rob!! Rob where are you let's go!!" she called out, waving her hand at the smoke as it drifted toward her. She glanced down at the sewer, and up again to the plume, growling irritably as she considered. She couldn't leave without him, especially not with the draconian. "Rob!?!" she readied her weapons, and moved cautiously away from her escape.

 

[Rob Cooke]

He felt the impact into the hunter, and was about to go for a second swing when claws appeared in front of him. The claws tore a long slice in the front of his mask, then hitting his breastplate as they swung down. They glanced off the metal but still sent Rob stumbling.

His back slammed into a pile of crates as he cursed, trying to get his bearings when he heard Wren call out. "I'll be right behind you! Get out of here!" He shot a hand up to his mask, covering the opening as he ran out of the smoke and towards Wren's voice. He stopped for half a second to throw his hammer in the direction where he had made impact with the hunter and then appeared out of the smoke, looking around.

 

[Szesh]

His hand made contact, but just barely. His claws glanced off armor, sending sparks through the smoke. The dark mist was beginning to dissipate, and through squinted eyes Szesh could see that the masked man was, once again, in his way. He felt his irritation rise. Should he eliminate this extra here and now?

He was not given the chance. Wren's voice caused him to turn, but before he could pursue the hammer hit him directly in the side of the head. It was a small weapon but the impact against his horns hurt and disoriented him for a moment. He snarled, clutching at his temple with his hand. By the time he looked up Rob was rushing through the narrow alley towards Wren, who was next to a sewer grate.

If they got down there he would never be able to pursue them, there was no way he'd fit in that grate. Spreading his wings again, this time with clear vision, he bounded into the air with a loud noise of forced wind. He hit the roofs at a run, scraping shallow gashes into stone. He could not see the pair from up here, but he remembered roughly where they should be and aimed himself accordingly. Perhaps if he were lucky, he would be able to land on at least one of them.

He leapt from the rooftop and fell into the street like a canon ball.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

She glanced back to the grate at Rob's words, but she was rooted to the street, reluctant to jump and leave Rob until she knew saw him and knew he was safe. She was drenched now, her breathing quick and panicked as she waited for one of them to show themselves first.

It was Rob, thankfully, and she'd taken only one step backwards toward her escape when the dragon came down on her hard, crying out as his weight crushed her slender frame to the ground and she lashed out in a frenzy, punching with both hands armed with throwing blades, trying to puncture his thick scales.

 

[Rob Cooke]

Rob shot out of the smoke, shooting his eyes around. He had heard a snarl of pain from the hunter and he was sure that would buy them enough time to get down through the grate.

He heard the noise of rushing wind behind him, but he didn’t stop to turn around. He cursed as the dragon landed ontop of Wren. He braced the shoulder holding the hand to his mask. In the other hand he prepared another ice shard for when he got close. He hurled towards the hunter.

 

[Szesh]

Usually, when Szesh landed on someone, they did not fight back. His weight was often sufficient to squeeze the air from their lungs, and his claws large enough to puncture armor and flesh. Wren proved to be more resilient than he had given her credit for.

His scales were thick, but they were not steel, and Wren's knives found purchase. The cuts stung, and he reached down with arms the size of tree trunks to pin her arms to the ground. The bounty was clear: alive. He would not kill this woman, but he would have to subdue her.

"Yield!" he growled, a tactic he had learned from an unexpected friend some time ago. If Wren realized she was outmatched, as she clearly was, perhaps she would surrender.

He bore down on her, using his great size to his advantage. He did not notice Rob come through the alley, though, and he felt a searing cold on his wing as the ice attack made contact. He let out a reptillian screech and lifted one of his arms to swipe backwards at whatever had just struck him.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

She was sure the landing had done damage, she wasn't sure if she could move anything but her arms until they too were pinned to the ground. Her chest heaved violently as she looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear as she stared at the creature's lethal jaws so close to her, adrenaline rushing her so fast her heart thrummed. A crack of lightening struck, only emphasising just how imposing he was in the darkness... "ROB!!!".. She was going to die.

An arm was free, and primal instinct told her to fight since fleeing wasn't an immediate option any longer. She lifted her free arm in attempt to slam her blade into the dragon's neck whilst he was distracted, a growl of fury thrown from her own lungs as her body protested against the violent movement.

 

[Rob Cooke]

The strike sent him flying before he ever got the shoulder charge in. His breastplate partially caved in, not enough to hurt anything important but enough that he’d have to fix the thing.

He quickly evaluated the situation. The shard had done less than desired. He glanced between Wren and the hunter as he thought. If Wren had been wanted dead then she would be dead by now. Which means that the situation isn’t as dire as it may seem.

Well, if the ice shard hadn’t worked. The only reasonable answer was to make it bigger and heavier, with more of an oomph. He quickly shot to his feet, forming the chunk with both his hands and firing it at the hunter as he began to run fowards again.

 

[Szesh]

His arm hit something hard and flung it aside. Following the blur of movement, he was satisfied to see the relentless pursuer hit the ground.

He turned back to Wren, with the masked nuisance out of the way perhaps she would listen to reason and realize her defeat. He looked back at her only to see a knife coming for his jugular. He moved his arm to intercept but her strike was quick.

Suddenly, something very hard and very heavy rocketed into his back. He roared in pain as he was bowled over onto his side and off of Wren. Her knife, on a path for neck, just nicked his shoulder as he was shoved aside.

He lay on the ground grimacing in pain. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and searched for the two figures. He tried to stand but found that he was having trouble getting air into his lungs. The impact had winded him.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren pulled in a deep gasp of air as the dragon as thrown off of her and she attempted to get herself up quickly but pain seared through her and she cried out. She rolled onto her stomach to try and crawl on her elbows in the direction of the sewer grate, her ribs and spine aflame with agony, her legs feeling utterly hopeless.

"Rob!" she reached a hand out toward him "I can't move!" . Rain hammered down onto the cobbles so hard that she could barely see as it bounced off of the road, but the grate wasn't far, she could feel the water rushing toward it. "Help me up!" she yelled. The draconian wouldn't be down for long.

 

[Rob Cooke]

He quickly sprinted over to Wren, sliding slightly as he stopped near her. He quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her up along with dumping as much healing magic as he could at the same time. He quickly remembered to cover the slash on his mask with his other hand before she had a chance to get a look at what was underneath.

He tried to help her as quickly as he could over to the grate, shooting glances at the hunter as they went to see if he had gotten up yet. They were getting out of here by the skin of their teeth.

 

[Szesh]

"No!" he gasped, pushing himself to his knees. They were out of reach, and if he did not catch them now, they would surely disappear into the sewer grate, and he would need to start his search all over again. His did not have enough time to draw his spear from his back, else he would have tried to throw it and skewer the masked interloper. He could not use his fire, Wren was too close.

He managed to get his claws anchored against the dirty street, and with a heavy push of his legs, he propelled himself forwards, reaching for Wren, hoping to snag a cloak, scarf, boot, anything before they slipped below the surface. If he managed to keep her on the ground he could deal with the other man. His interference was now unforgivable. The bounty had stipulated that Wren stay alive, but it said nothing of her companions.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

She roared in pain as Rob pulled her up, but the warmth of healing magic spread through her for a short moment and it was blissful. With every step closer to the grate she felt it slip further away with doubt and fear, and once more they came close when she was pulled back yet again.

Wren gasped as she felt the dragon’s claws tear into her cloak and take hold, panic in her eyes as she looked to Rob and she attempted to shove him toward the grate before losing balance and falling back onto the cobbles “Go!”

The dragon didn’t want to kill her, that much was obvious, she could deal with it.. maybe. But she didn’t want Rob’s blood on her hands. Besides, she needed him and her sisters to break her out if she ended up at the mercy of the royal family.

 

[Rob Cooke]

And they were so close too. Wren got suddenly dragged to the ground. She shoved Rob, making him lose his grasp on her as he struggled to regain his balance.

He glared slightly at the hunter as he thought about what to do next. “Gods be damned fuck off already!” He yelled in frustration as he began to move forward.

He dropped downwards, grabbing a throwing knife off where he knew Wren kept one, before sliding to a stop next to the hunter and quickly snapping the knife downwards towards their hands. Even if he missed or the hunter moved away he could try cutting the cloth that they had a grip on, though he doubted the chance that would work.

 

[Szesh]

He had her. His claws had caught the dark fabric and he pulled Wren to the ground. He scrambled to his knees, regaining some balance. Finally, he thought, the chase was at an end.

But the masked man did not stop. He grabbed a knife and plunged it down at Szesh's hand. Szesh recoiled quickly, avoiding a wound but relinquishing his prize. Whether the knife itself would pin Wren to the ground he did not know.

It was enough. Wren was on the ground, Rob was not. The man had proven himself resourceful, and he was enough of a threat to expend precious resources on. Curling back his lips, Szesh snarled as a deep orange glow filled his throat. The light built until, with explosive force, fire rushed forth from his maw.

He had aimed his gaping jaws high enough that Wren should have been spared injury, so long as she remained on the ground. Rob, on the other hand, had been the primary target. Szesh sought to reduce the masked man to ash, and he belched forth a plume of heat in his direction, obscuring him behind flickering fire.

Just die already.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren felt the heat before she saw it and she yelled out at Rob to move, her hand shooting upward into the path of the flame, causing an updraft of wind in hopes of diverting it upward and above reach of Rob "Stop!!"

Wren growled out in frustration and tried to pull herself out of the dragon's grip, unlatching her cloak to free her and she rolled onto her side and onto her feet with a grimace, black hair falling soaked around her shoulders without her hood and she pulled her mask down. "Fucking stop!" she held out her hand threateningly toward the draconian, her chest heaving hard as she tried to catch her breath. Rob was going to get himself killed..

"Rob. Go." she snarled out, eyes not leaving the dragon for a single moment. "You're going to let him go, and then I'm going to follow him.." she frowned, her unarmed palm facing him as the wind started to pick up a little, the rain swirling around her in a miniature cyclone.

 

[Rob Cooke]

He cursed internally after the knife was brought down, the assailant had escaped but did let go of Wren. Combine that with her unlatching the cloak and they were good to- Hey that’s awfully orang-

The fire was quickly shot upwards into the air by Wren, and he shot backwards at the same time. He prepared another icicle as he moved next to Wren, listing as she spoke.

He figured now was the time to avoid being stubborn, and he carefully moved backwards, ready to shoot off his spell at the slightest hint of aggression. He moved slowly, unwilling to let Wren to far away Incase things started again.

 

[Szesh]

Szesh's teeth were bared, a veritable cave of black, obsidian knives. He rose slowly to his feet. He did not step closer to the pair, but he towered over them. The rain continued to fall off of his jagged features, horns and claws and wings backlit by flashes of lighting above.

He caught site of Rob forming the icicle, felt the aching pain in his wing where the large block had struck him just moments ago. The wind had picked up, but it was likely just the storm. Still, she had managed to divert his fire. More magic tricks.

"He can go," he said, his voice had the hiss of snakes with the rumble of tigers. "But you must come."

She had to know of the bounty on her, had to know why he was here. She clearly wished to end the violence, but there was only one way to do that. Szesh had not made a habit of failure, and he was loath to start now. He knew there would be some catch, some extra variable that had driven the price of this mission up. If that variable were magic, so be it. He had yet to meet the mage that could magic their heads back onto their shoulders.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Her lips pressed into a thin line at the dragon's rumbled words and she clenched her jaw. She knew well he wouldn't be giving her up without a fight, she just needed a little more time to figure that out. She circled around him, moving away from Rob and the sewer.. "If it's coin that you want, we can come to a more profitable agreement.." she arched a brow, her voice raised through the wind and rain.. She glanced to Rob as she moved, trying to keep the dragon's attention away from him. "Rob, go, quickly.." she repeated. She needed him alive, he had to get her sisters and break her out if things went badly.

The thought of another prison cell caused her outstretched hand to tremble and she frowned. No. Going with him wasn't an option. Her fingers splayed out as her mind focused on the dragon's breaths, and slowly they curled in against her palm and into a fist as she called forth the air from his lungs...

 

[Rob Cooke]

He looked between the Hunter and Wren, still unwilling to leave. Wren asked once again, and after a moment of pause, he finally let out a grumble and walked backwards into an ally, never letting his eyes off the hunter.

Of course, it wouldn’t sit right with him if he just left Wren, so he quickly reached a cracked wall, slowly making his way up it. He wasn’t as agile or as fast when when to climbing as the sisters, but he could make do.

He slipped behind a sloped roof as he reached the top. At this point he had figured what Wren was going for, however much he disliked it. He shot a glance out beside a chimney, checking if the hunter was suitably distracted. If he was, he’d risk lingering his gaze longer.

 

[Szesh]

Szesh was silent at her offer of bribery. From what he had been told of the woman she was of course exceptionally wealthy. All the nobles of this city seemed to be, and he would not have been surprised to hear that the lowest cousin of the nobility here outstripped the wealth of the highest tiers of society in Alliria.

However, given that she was a fugitive from an Oban Prince, her access to said funds were likely to be complicated. Not that it mattered much. Szesh had been stripped of his honor long ago, but old habits died hard. There were very few rules for bounty hunters, very little in the way of a "code," but he would not abandon his duty so easily.

He heard the smaller man walk away. Finally, he had done something sensible. With just him and Wren, he was sure that the fight was over, and he took a step forwards. As soon as he did he felt a great tightness in his chest as the air was pulled from it. He gagged and put a hand to his throat automatically. His powerful chest strained to draw in breath in wheezing gasps, but each time he pulled it in it was torn away all too quickly.

He had been warned of sorcery, and here it was. Black eyes fixed on Wren, she had upped the ante. He wasn't fighting for coin anymore, he was fighting for his life. He leapt forwards, swiping with a clawed hand and pulling his spear from his back with the other, hoping to break her concentration long enough to draw another breath.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

She didn't take her eyes off of the dragon as Rob left them, he could hear him, she knew he wasn't likely to go far, but at least the dragon could stop trying to kill him now and it set her mind at ease a little. She waited for the realisation to set in that his air was being constricted. She didn't plan on killing him, she didn't particularly enjoy the sight of suffocation..well, mostly.

Wren hadn't anticipated the leap forward, and she moved back in time to avoid being knocked off of her feet, but not quickly enough to avoid a bad tear at her chest and she cried out and clutched at it with a grimace before pivoting and making a quick break for the sewer.

 

[Szesh]

Szesh inhaled deeply as the hold on his lungs was released. It was difficult to not simply stop and breath, for although it had only been for a few seconds, the magic had been violent. His chest hurt, and the brief panic that had accompanied the attack had only increased the amount of oxygen his body had consumed. But Wren had started to run from him again, and so he wrenched his body back to action.

She could not be taken in while conscious, this was clear. He may lose a few coins to scrapes and bruises, but so long as she was alive the contract would not be breached. Wren was fast, but Szesh's arms and legs were longer. He took one step to the side and lashed out with his left hand, clamping on to her shoulder like a silver vice. With her momentarily stopped, he swung the butt of his spear at the back of her head. He had knocked out a fair few humans before, so he knew the appropriate force to use.

More or less.