Fate - First Reply The Adventurous Seven

[Heike Eisen]

Lady Eisen, are you here?

Kalia. Her head swiveled in the direction of his call and there in the world of grayscale she saw him, tall and distant among ground of white and trees of gray. The scope of the light from the fortress' fires and torches were well behind the both of them, faint and indistinct echoes of the raiders shouting and the hoofbeats of stampeding cattle.

Curious, that. What Kalia had done to so frighten the animals. Let alone what he had done to captivate the attention of the deserters and escape their ire. Heike found magic strange at best and disquieting at worst, like a good many Reikhurstans. Yes, Reikhurst had its own sorcerers and enchanters and young men and women brimming with potential who sailed to Elbion to enroll in the College, but such didn't change the overall culture of the city-state.

And, as Heike approached through the shroud of night and ranks of trees, something even more curious. The sight of Kalia...carrying two healthy steers. Carrying them. Like a child might carry two puppies under his arms. As if it were nothing to him to do so, no astounding feat. Thinking of the amount of blood she would need to burn through exertion to lift and carry even one of those steers made Heike's head spin.

Heike came close, but not too close; the animals under Kalia's arms were agitated enough as it was. Her mouth was parted open in an expression of clear awe.

Then it spun into an impressed grin. "You sure I shouldn't join up with the deserters, Kalia? Make this fight even?"

She shook her head, casting away the moment of mirth. She lifted up and prominently showed her left forearm, the knife sticking through it. Her tone level, calm, bearing a certain begrudging acceptance, "I've received a parting gift. Courtesy of a dead man by the stables. He should tell no tales, as others of his ilk say, and I believe I wasn't seen by anyone else."

Heike lowered her arm. She didn't want to take the knife out just yet. Proper precautions needed to be taken to cleanse it of her afflicted blood or dispose of it safely, lest through some grievous mishap it infected someone else, innocent or guilty. And now wasn't the best time.

"I will need some sleep for my wound to heal. A few hours at least. But I can still fight if I must without it."

Her throat ached. Craved. This she did not tell Kalia. An intermingling of shame and the adamant belief that she could endure without feeding until the guilty came running to Dunderstahd, offering themselves up to her discretion.

A belief she held despite her eyelids feeling heavy. Tired.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He saw her approach and chuckled a bit himself at her joke, then he was attentive as she gave her report and revealed her wound.
After she was finished he was thoughtful for a moment and the cows groaned to each other about their discomfort.

"If you are able to move then we can deal with your wounds once we return to the village. If the bandits care at all about their continued operations in this area then they may be combing the woods for straggling livestock as we speak. If you can take care of it on the move all the better, tonight the village should be a safe place to rest."

He hoisted the two steers to a better position and began walking in the direction of the village.
"While you rest I'll see if I can get the villagers to begin preparations for defense, they've had the night thus far to rest, so the village should be fortified by morning if all goes well. It's entirely possible that the bandits may try to attack as soon as possible, morning at the earliest. Our attack was effective but I am beginning to doubt that we've managed to make them cautious enough."

 

[Heike Eisen]

"Yes. I can move," she said.

But no, she would not be able to take care of it on the move. Natural solutions like regenerative salves and alchemical solutions like healing potions simply didn't work for her, and sometimes had violently inverse reactions. A mage versed in a healing discipline would exhaust herself trying to mend even half of Heike's wound. It seemed yet another cruelty foisted upon her by her affliction, that to heal even the most minor of injuries to her body now required feeding--depredation upon others.

And she had not fed. Not in a while. The craving in her throat and the tired weight of her eyelids were reminders none too subtle. Mentally, she kicked herself. She could have fed off of the bandit who had seen her. She could have done so quickly; it would not have been a lot, but it would have been something.

But she could do it. Endure. The bandits would come--of that she had no doubt. She needed only one. One, and a small moment (preferably alone) with him. Bandits, raiders, murderers, the guilty of all stripes, they were the acceptable targets of said depredations. Her Oath of Justice was rather fulfilled when she fed from them, not tortured by rationale as when she had to feed from the innocent.

Heike walked after Kalia. The occasional shout behind them from the abandoned fort loud enough to pierce the distance and echo faintly through the trees. An ambiance some might find unnerving in such a darkened wood.

And Kalia volunteered to captain the defensive efforts of the village.

"Very well." And at the mention of the bandits likely attacking at dawn, a confident smirk, and she said, "Then I will wake before then to properly greet them."

Ready or not, weakened by thirst or not, she would. She had to.

And Heike waited until both she and Kalia were suitably in the middle of nowhere special in the forest. She gestured and asked for a brief moment. Crouched down and dug a hole with her right hand and carefully withdrew the dagger stuck in her forearm and tossed it into the hole and buried it in the dirt and stamped the filled hole flat. She adjusted the cloth wraps on her left arm to tie over and put pressure on the wound. The wraps were quite useful in this regard, easily replaced, much more convenient than the sleeves of her coat or shirt--when once she had said sleeves in their full length.

"Not even those deserters deserve the affliction in my blood," she said.

The bleeding wouldn't stop--not until she slept. But the cloth wraps would be an effective fix for now. The blood oozed out lazily as opposed to flowing, as it would if she...

The truth, Heike. You are sworn.

...was still alive. Still had a heartbeat. If she was not afflicted.

Once done, Heike stood again. Said she was ready. And followed after Kalia on their way back to the village.

* * * * *​

Piker squatted down by the pens where the animals had been. The men were getting everything back under control as best they could.

But he found something interesting. Reddman, dead, his neck evidently slashed by claws.

Piker reached out. Touched the bloody claw marks with the tips of his fingers.

Goddamn if this vampire didn't get this loins stirring. He loved dangerous women. Loved them. Those ordinary womenfolk captives? Cowering and gone white with fear? The submissive types and all the rest like that? Just didn't do it for him anymore. Couldn't climax. Couldn't get it up half the time. The few other men in the camp who knew about his predilections gave him some shit for it, but he didn't much care. His tastes were refined.

Women like their captives were a copper a dozen. Everywhere. Throw a stone and you'd hit two of 'em with the ricochet. But dangerous women? They, yes they, were special. They were a challenge.

And Piker loved challenges.

He sincerely hoped that she was there in Dunderstahd come the morrow.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He watched the process of her disposing of the blade with silent attentiveness. So her blood was that infectious...
A passing thought went through his mind, 'what would happen if his skeletal body were exposed to the curse?' He wondered if anything would happen at all, or if one curse would cancel out the other, or if he would simply be destroyed. There were far too many variables about his own curse that he didn't know yet and so he wasn't yet willing to try it.

As they came out of the clearing he spoke to Heike.
"I suspect there is a spy amongst the villagers. I don't have any solid proof yet but if you are willing and able I would like for you to keep an eye out for anyone entering or leaving the village or otherwise sending word out of the village discreetly. You are talented in that area and in a good position to do so, the villagers don't even know about you yet and I think that will work to our advantage."

They approached the village and the cows groaning brought a few villagers out of their houses. He set the steers down and gave them over to some of the villagers who were all at once groggy from sleep, awed by his strength, and overjoyed to have some of their livestock returned.
When the mayor approached Kalia spoke with a loud voice for all to hear.
"People of Dunderstahd, hear me now! You have slept peacefully up to now, but if you want to survive you must wash your faces and awaken your minds. I predict that by morning the deserters will attack, we must accomplish four objectives before they arrive; First, we must erect the palisade around the village and fortify it.
Second, We must store up water incase they bring fire to your houses.
Third, We must dig pits and footfalls all around the village and cover them with grass.
And Fourth, you must steel yourselves for the dawn, harden your nerves to iron and prepare for death, for if we cannot turn back the enemy tide, this is the day the people of Dunderstahd draw their last breath."

He crossed his arms across his chest and looked at the people about them. He drew their attention to tell them all of this, but also to take attention away from Heike Eisen so that she can go restore her strength in whatever way necessary.

 

[Heike Eisen]

A spy.

That complicated things. But in a particular regard it was an opportunity for her, for now there was potentially someone from whom she could feed. Quite close at hand. The guilt of the deserters and raiders tainted the spy with the same through his association, with his aiding of their nefarious cause. Yes, a feeding with no remorse...if she could find him out.

And that was the problem. She might make the correct decisions to put her in the right place at the right time to spot such a man as Kalia described, acting in a suspiciously discreet manner. Or she might not--and time was not on their side. To further clench the issue of time, Heike needed to sleep. Three or four hours worth, which was good; all wishful thinking cast aside, any more than that probably would not do very much more for her wound, what with the thirst scratching at her throat as it was. A different option: she could forgo sleep in an effort to catch this spy, but that was a poor choice: leaving the usefulness of her left arm in question and bleeding slowly. No. It wouldn't do, on that last point alone.

She said as they walked. "This I can do, but first I will need to sleep." A momentary upward glancing at the cloud-choked night sky. "I may yet wake with an hour or two of darkness left. And the advantage will be mine before the sun rises."

Just as the advantage had been to the deserters during the day. If the timing was right and the spy broke off just before dawn to deliver some message or meet with someone, Heike would see them through the night's veil as clearly as the deserters had seen her earlier.

Heike and Kalia kept their pace through the clearing, toward the beacon of meager torchlight that was Dunderstahd. To Heike, also the beacon of color amidst the gray and white.

"I will find you in a few hours." She thought of the deserters, through some vengeful boldness inspired by the attack on their hideout, perhaps coming sooner than that. A rueful smile. "If I am allowed that."

And she broke from Kalia's side before they touched the grace of the village's lights. Heard him in his booming voice distantly as she navigated through the islands of dark and shadow. The villagers did not know about her yet, as Kalia had said, and she would rather keep it that way. More complications beyond a suspected spy would arise should she be found out for what she was.

So that meant no inns, no taverns, no knocking on someone's door to see if they had it in their heart to house a traveler for the night. Nothing of the sort. Not even a short and polite conversation with one of the village watchmen, if she could so help it.

Heike weaved in the spaces between houses, hopped over low walls and fences, stayed off the main roads. She wasn't one of the deserters, the bandits, the raiders, but she certainly was acting like one. And it pained her that this was the essential nature of her being now, that she had to temper her forthrightness. She wanted to help the people of Dunderstahd, but to simply tell them this, any of them this, would be to put this cause at hazard. She had taken a chance with Kalia, and that was enough.

Eventually Heike came upon a house that, out back, had a number of small sheds, a garden, a modest barn, and a chicken coop. The barn would do.

And yes. Within, there was a hayloft. A kind of place which she had become all too familiar with after her affliction. It would not be the first nor the last time she slept in one.

Heike went into the barn, climbed up the ladder, nestled herself so as to be mostly out of sight within the cluster of hay bales, and closed her eyes.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

The villagers responded to the news well, indeed many of them had been expecting something like this would happen eventually but they had no idea what to do. But Kalia was able to give them some guidance and help them achieve the nights chores. He was relieved that the villagers were reasonable and didn't turn on him blaming his reckless preemptive attack for bringing about their current situation.

He was happy for the grace they showed him for his blunder, but he definitely could have done better.
Livestock returned one by one throughout the night while they worked, and with each returning animal their spirits rose, even as the sky slowly began to get lighter.
Before the break of dawn they had built a sturdy palisade wall with sharpened stakes pointed outwards at the forest around the village that would do for now until they can build a more permanent defense. The holes were dug and they even had time to embed wooden spikes at the bottom of a few of them.

Kalia oversaw the work with the village elder, giving advice where needed. He didn't see Heike around so he hoped she was resting. The cloud cover never lifted during the whole night which gave him some hope for Heike being able to function for the upcoming conflict, but with the smell on the breeze there might be the potential of rain.
When all the work was done he spoke to the villagers about their roles in the fighting.
"You are all very brave people, those of you that have some skill with a sword or spear will be of great value but you must not break ranks with those around you. You should all be separated into groups of five, these people you are with will be your squad and you will support each other and watch your backs. Your strength lies with each other, so long as you remember that you should all come out of this alive.

Gather all those unable to fight in the elders house and remain hidden until the fighting is over. As for me, I will do my part and draw as much attention as I can. They might kill me but I accepted this job and profession knowing my life is on the line. However, do not be afraid of any magic that I conjure, it will in no way harm you or the village, so please keep that in mind."

Once he had given all the final instructions to the villagers he left them to prepare themselves for a fight. They just had to survive this one battle, then they can begin their rebellion in earnest and take back their village.
He walked around the village, examining the palisade wall. It was easy to climb over, but easy to defend as well as repair if any part got knocked down.
His thoughts wandered back to Heike as he waited for dawn to break.
If he had his full power, could he cure her? Did she want to be cured? She seemed like she might have been a paladin or cleric at one point but... if she were to choose him over the gods she previously served, would that give him the ability to cure her, or fulfill any promise he made to her?

When it came down to it, even though he sought the power and actually achieved godhood to some degree, he knew very little about what that meant and how the rules worked. He knew that he could receive prayers which even now voices echoed in his head, but since these were the voices of all his followers who died with him and now reside in the paradise he made for them, it didn't do much but encourage him at times and provide him a steady stream of strength and power.
Having a follower still existing in the physical world, though... What could he do then?

_____________________________________________________________​

Just as dawn was about to break a man with a dark hood crept through the village, making his way to the palisade being careful to not be spotted.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike opened her eyes.

Still the interior of the barn was painting in gray and white to her eyes, but there in the grayscale the faint and faded colors of all things. The return of the vivid. This was the herald of the coming day to her.

She tried moving her left arm. It responded, rolling from one side to the other. Her fingers flexed, the claws at their tips scything through the air. And with careful motions she undid the cloth wrap immediately tied about the wound. Examined it. No more bleeding, yet it was sore and seemed ready to reopen at the slightest provocation.

It would have to do. The healing of her wounds had cost an unconscious expenditure of blood, and thus the thirst had gotten worse. Akin now to a harsh day of physical training as a squire, muscles burning and sweat pouring, that same feeling in the pit of her throat as then it yearned for water.

Heike stood up. Plucked some loose strands of hay from her coat and from her pants.

This was similar, wasn't it? This day. Reikhurst and Dunderstahd. She could not have known it then when the vampires attacked Reikhurst en masse; the day had seemed like any other. But her happy and hopeful thoughts on the day did not change it. Did not and could not shape it into anything other that what it was going to be: Reikhurst's final.

Heike climbed down the ladder and pulled up her mask and exited the barn and eyed the merciful cloud cover in the sky, the contours of which more evident in the colorful vanguard of dawn. She had failed in her duty to Reikhurst, yes. But here, in Dunderstahd, she could make a difference. She and Kalia could turn back the tide of malevolence that threatened to destroy this village, its people, their way of life.

Her thoughts in this were not happy nor hopeful. But they were determined. Confident.

Heike was not seen as she left the barn. Sunrise was coming, but Arethil was still covered in mostly dark, what scant light heralding the sun's emergence in the east smothered severely by the clouds hanging low.

Good.

She made her way toward the palisade wall (and a serviceable construction it was by the villagers). Toward the edge of the village by which she and Kalia had arrived from the deserters' hideout last night. Any attacks would come from here, and any potential spy trying to leave the village would go through here as well. Shortest route in both cases. And the wall would serve the spy to a degree, blocking normal lines of sight as he crossed the clearing and the fields between the village and the forest further off.

Or so he would think.

Heike, gingerly, climbed up onto the roof of a home nearby the wall. Normally such a thing would be trivial, thanks to her affliction, as it had been to jump over the much taller height of the abandoned fortress's wall last night. But she could not afford such exertions now. She was--more or less--just a human with sharp claws, until she could feed again.

She crouched and stayed low. A good vantage up here, but in the thin but rising light, the possibility remained that she could be seen. By the spy, or worse, by the villagers themselves.

And, through an astounding collision of timing and circumstance, she did not have to wait long. A half-hour, forty-five minutes perhaps? She had been considering going to find Kalia, thinking the spy (if there was one, she thought then) likely to have fled already in the thicker dark.

But there. A hooded man, alone, carefully making his way toward the palisade wall, seemingly probing for a way out. All the other villagers, Heike had noticed, were walking around in groups of five ever since she had woken. Kalia's doing, she surmised. But not this one.

It was no crime to do what this man was doing. Simply walking alone could be just that: walking alone for whatever innocent reasons the man had. But Heike trusted in Kalia's intuition. And on that, she acted.

Heike dropped down from her perch on top of the house. Swept over to the man in the space between the houses at village's end and the wall. Swift and silent. By the time he heard or suspected something and turned around to see, she was upon him.

Heike open-palm struck the man in the chest as she slipped a foot behind his. Down he went, with a hard crash in the dirt. Heike dropped down. Sat down roughly on his stomach and straddled him. Held one hand of claws just above the flesh of his face.

She smirked behind her mask. Said, "Hello there. Tell me, what is your name?" She leaned her face in a touch closer. "And what you are doing out here."

A slight dangle of the claws held above his head. Like wind chimes. And she added in an almost playful way, "Truth is advised."

The thirst gripped powerfully at her throat. Demanding satiation.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Seemed the only thing they could do now was wait for daybreak to see what the ex-soldiers decided to do.
Kalia still mentally berated himself for misjudging the deserters, they were more organized than he anticipated and far more confident and competent than he had hoped. As soon as they made a united front against their insane comrades Kalia knew that he had made a poor call in not preparing everything in the village sooner.

Even though the villagers worked efficiently and did well given the circumstances it was all still a rushed job and they had less time to prepare themselves. Before he dismissed the villagers he instructed them to gather into their groups of five and immediately begin discussing their own fighting strategy, there was at least one person with some combat training or experience with each group to help them formulate their plans, but it wasn't enough in comparison to teaching more people how to fight properly.

The main bulk of the fighting would be sitting heavily on his and Heike's shoulders. If he got the opportunity he wanted to speak with her again to discuss the best strategy to utilize her strengths in the upcoming fight.
But first he had to speak with the elder, who was too old to fight but would be present for the battle, helping organize their people. Kalia needed to talk to the elder about keeping everyone calm, even though he warned them that he will be using magic, he thought it wise to discuss his strategy further and in greater detail with the elder so that he would know what to expect and prepare the others in turn.

______________________________________________________​

The mans hood fell back as he was knocked down and pinned, revealing a middle aged man with a scruffy beard. He frantically put his hands up as he nervously grinned.
"N-nothing! I was doing nothing! Just strolling around the wall a-and keeping watch!"
Nervous chuckling with his pulse quickening, his eyes darting from side to side looking for escape. For a spy he wasn't putting on a very convincing show of innocence.

 

[Heike Eisen]

"Nothing? Or strolling around the wall? Or keeping watch?" A smile, conveyed through her eyes. "Those are all mutually exclusive things."

Of all the changes that came with her affliction, those changes repugnant and those changes peculiar, one stood out as being unsettling in a way primarily subtle. It involved her heightened sense of smell, which, all by itself, was a massive change both repugnant at times (towns and cities never smelled so...filthy before) and peculiar at all times. There were not many surprises for the human nose past a certain point in life. But, to suddenly have the astounding capabilities of a nose likened more to a bloodhound's (yes, a terribly apt comparison), was overwhelming and confusing. She still, after five years of experiencing this new world of scents and smells, was clumsy and inept on average and perhaps decently capable when a fluke struck her.

One such fluke had struck her two years ago. When she realized a faint scent--rather, a faint collection of scents--emanating from a thief she had captured...was the smell of fear.

Heike, through her affliction, had gained the keen nose of a predator. An animal. A creature.

And this man beneath her smelled of fear. Light and sour and tingly. Not full blown terror. She was disgusted that she should even know the distinction.

He was afraid, with anxiety rattling his hands and his quiet laughter, but this in and of itself was not enough to substantiate guilt. After all, why wouldn't he be afraid? He had just been tackled by a strange masked woman with claws for fingers.

Perhaps a tactic to flush out his guilt. Tricky to word, so as not to violate her Oath of Truth.

Heike flexed the claws held over his face again. She sighed, as if disappointed, as one might if an anticipated challenge had turned out to be far easier than one expected.

She said matter-of-factly, "You were so close. What do you think gave you away? Hmm? Do you have any idea what little detail made you stand out?"

A growing awareness of the man's body heat, through his clothes and her own, warming her legs. Spreading that silent echo, that faint illusion, of life.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

There was always something, always another thing. The work was never done until the enemy was at your gate, then you had one job and one job alone, to fight for your life. Kalia simply had to make sure everyone was prepared to do that.
His discussion with the elder went well, he was relieved that magic was so readily accepted which may be what worked against them at the deserters camp.
But after going everything twice over with the elder Kalia still had preparations to make, small tweaks to their defenses.

He went around and visited every group of five individually to give them tips and encouragement. In total there were five groups of five of people still able to fight, that gave them twenty seven fighters against the army of deserters including himself and Heike. The odds were against them, but he was slowly becoming confident that they will overcome those odds, especially between himself and Heike.
He still wanted to meet with Heike and go over what would be the best strategy to use her skills and abilities to their fullest potential.
Though ultimately he wanted to keep her hidden as their ace in the hole incase the enemy decided to use their own power card.

He wasn't sure what it was, but there was a mind, a driving force behind this mass desertion. If that mind revealed itself he wanted to be prepared for the worst. He could move around these pawns as best he knows how with his considerable experience, but himself and Heike were his only power pieces to play, and that may not be enough against the unknown.
He continued making rounds to each of the five groups as they prepared, giving advice on how best to use their formation and what each person could do.

_________________________________________________________​

The man was beginning to sweat profusely as his nervousness became uncontrollable. He licked his chapped lips and tried desperately to think of a way out, but the strength of the woman on top of him was inhuman. His best bet was to try and talk it out, so that's what he did.

She asked him what he thought it was that made him stand out. Did she know he was a spy? Had she been watching him listening in and sneaking out in the middle of the night?
He tried to calm himself, how could she know? he had never seen someone like her in the village, she must have just arrived, possibly reinforcements brought in by that giant adventurer. He had nothing to worry about besides convincing her he was a simple villager.

"N-now miss, I don't know what made ye think I was suspicious, I often take walks around the village. It's good for my heart and I want to enjoy it with what little time I have left to live! That giant has us all on a suicide mission and I just don't want a part of it, I want to just live quietly and not die before my time."

His heart was beating fast, he hoped that was enough to get the wench off of him, then he just had to lay low and escape the village from a different direction, but he had to warn everyone that the villagers were digging in and preparing for a fight! he had to get away and let them know so they won't be caught off guard thinking the villagers have already been declawed.

And speaking of claws... those talons above his face weren't normal, not natural even for a woman... She wasn't human, a demon! That thought made him release his fear in a pathetic puddle around him.

 

[Heike Eisen]

It didn't work.

Sometimes it was that the guilty would go chasing after themselves when they thought their guilt uncovered, becoming their own worst prosecutor. Confessions, excuses, explanations, talk of all sort seemed to be waiting just on the edge of their lips for the surety of knowing that the tension was over, the game was up, and that hiding was no longer necessary. With it came a heavy relief.

For some. Not all. Including this one here.

The man was sweating, yes. He reeked of fear, yes. He even let go of his bladder (Heike, thankful, that she had not sat too close to that). And all of these things did not prove that he was a spy.

And she could not say that she knew he was, for she did not know. Such would violate her Oath of Truth. She could not be too rough with him. Such would violate her Oath of Justice. Without anything in which to leverage the truth from him (if, indeed, she was not currently harassing an innocent man), Heike's efforts were at a standstill. Knights did not make good inquisitors; that's what inquisitors were for.

She did have another tactic she could try.

"A suicide mission, you say? That's terrible," Heike said. "How about this? Let's go tell the giant that you just don't want to be a part of it. Together."

Heike stood. Used the sides of her thumb and forefinger to pinch the man's tunic and pull him up to his feet. She managed it, but with more effort than normal. A fit woman, Heike, harkening back to her days of life. The trials of both training for knighthood and knighthood itself had ensured as much. But the first stage of blood deficiency had begun to set in: general weakness. Getting slowly worse the longer she went without feeding.

She yanked the man along, keeping him close. An arm. Over his shoulder. In a way that was almost friendly, but both she and he--surely--knew that it was not. This sentiment made tangible when she said, "Do not cry out. We wouldn't want to wake your fellow townsfolk who might be sleeping still. Things would become unpleasant if that happened."

Toeing the line of "conduct unbecoming of a knight" with that one.

Into the space between two homes that she hoped were unoccupied, or the occupants thereof soundly sleeping. The man held at arm's length as she peered around the corner of one of the homes and down the main road of Dunderstahd.

Kalia. Making rounds. Talking with one of the groups of five she had seen around the village. A good circumstance that the village was not crawling with such groups, or sentries, or many curious eyes of any sort. Heike would certainly appear to be the clear threat out of the herself and the potential spy. And irreconcilable complications would undoubtedly follow.

Heike had to wait for Kalia to turn her way. A quick gesture of her head, a hiss of "Psst!" to grab his attention, whatever she needed to ensure he came over.

And, once he did, she said to the man in her grasp, "Go ahead. Tell him what you told me. Do not be afraid."

Perhaps Kalia would be able to succeed in determining this man's guilt, or lack thereof.

Or they might have to go and scrounge up an inquisitor.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

The man squirmed as she pulled him up and walked with him, but his struggling could not break that grip. They moved quickly and the whole time he sputtered and stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse or response to get out of a meeting with that awful giant in bronze armor, but he couldn't get out any intelligible sentences.

___________________________________________________________​

Kalia was just finishing up with one of the groups when he heard the slight sounds to get his attention. He didn't react at all at first, finishing what he was saying to the group of villagers and excusing himself before he turned toward the source. Seeing Heike he casually made his way over and stepped into the shadows.

"Oh good, I was hoping I could find you Heike. There were some things I wished to discuss, but it seems you have a problem on her hands?"
He regarded the man struggling in her grip.
"Seems you've caught a little mouse. What seems to be the issue?"

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike loosened her grasp on the man. With Kalia near, it wasn't as necessary to hold him so close or so tightly. Conserving energy was her foremost concern, especially if this man turned out to be simply a nervous and cowardly wreck, and not the spy they were looking for.

What seems to be the issue?

She was confined to the truth. Yes, she could easily just say that she believed this man to be a spy, and that would be true. But to make accusations without a reasonable level of evidence or probable cause was, at best, bad conduct and an abuse of station for a knight and, at worst, a violation of her Oath of Justice. Her claim wasn't baseless: such would make it a violation of her Oath of Justice and her Oath of Truth. There was just too much reasonable doubt for her to rightfully declare that she believed the man a spy. As it currently stood, Heike herself was in the most wrong, having assaulted the man and having forced him to comply with her wishes.

It was up to Kalia. Unless he, too, was oathbound. For all she knew of him, he might well be.

"Do you remember what we talked about?" Heike said to Kalia.

Then, glancing over at the man and gently pulling on his tunic, she said, "I found this man. Alone. By the palisade walls. He believes the defense of Dunderstahd is a suicide mission. He wants no part of it. All he wants is to live quietly and not die before his time. So he told me."

And, to the hooded man, Heike said, "Go on then. Tell him why you don't think you should defend your home village, and should be allowed to let others fight and die in your stead."

Even if this man wasn't the spy, Heike despised him regardless. He who had the capacity to defend his home, and in so possessing this capacity the raw obligation to do so in its most dire hour. His mere presence revived in the deepest hollow of her stilled heart that which haunts her ceaselessly.

Her own failure to Reikhurst.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

The man heard her accusations against him, he had said those things to try and garner sympathy from her, but now he was going to be hanging from those words. He was finally able to blurt out, "THAT'S A LIE! I SAID NO SUCH THINGS!"

Kalia examined the man. He didn't seem familiar, but he was hardly acquainted with every single villager thus far. Still, his pacifist views... Or excuses... Were not unexpected.
In his eyes that simple suspicious action was grounds for Heike to have her way with him, and just by looking at her he could tell she needed it.
But while he was acting the part of Adventurer he had to stick to the heroic persona that he created for himself and work this out, it wouldn't do to make a mistake at this point.

"Hmmm... Forgive me if I believe my comrade more than I believe you at this moment, sir. You say this is a suicide mission, that means you think we're all going to die if we try to fight back, correct?"
The man grit his teeth in response and nodded his head.
But inwardly he actually saw a glimmer of hope for his situation, perhaps he could still talk his way out of this and get away!
So he kept grumbling, "You're all damn fools, you'll all die if you think you'll win against the castle garrison!"

"I see, so what if I told you that; not only will we not die today, but we will be victorious without a single casualty on our side?"
The mans eyes widened and he looked at the bronze masked giant, "You're mad... There isn't a chance in the world that you can win! At least those of us smart enough to hide won't end up dead, they need us to keep them supplied! they can't afford to slaughter every one of us!"

Still not incriminating enough, Kalia had to keep going. This was all pointless to Kalia though, Whether he was the spy or not they couldn't let him go now because they couldn't have him telling the rest of the village about Heike. He did this more for Heike's sake since he was more and more convinced she was a paladin of sorts. He had to satisfy her oaths if she still had any so that she could fight at her best when the time comes.

But he had a plan to bring out the truth here. Information gathering was a useful past time
"Not much confidence or pride in your home village I see. Now, what if I told you the leader of the deserters is already dead? Ivan... Ivan-something..."
The mans eyes widened again, "You killed Captain Ivanhoe!"
Kalia nodded and stood up with a sigh, "Yes... And that's how we know you are a spy."
The man gaped at Kalia, "Y-you can't be serious! Is it because I know the NAME of the captain of the guard!?! Everybody in this town knows-"
Kalia cut him off, "Wrong, only the village elder and the people in the keep knew Ivanhoe had replaced the old captain. He arrived not a few weeks ago and never got acquainted with the people in the village, and nobody knew him otherwise because he is from Vel Anir."
He pointed his finger at the man, "The fact that you know his name proves you are from the keep, and since you're a soldier and have declared you refusal to aid this village, then you are guilty of betrayal and treason against the people of Dunderstahd"

He nodded to Heike before turning his back on the man.
"If it's any consolation, I lied, Ivanhoe is still alive and well as far as I know... However... your sentence, is death."

 

[Heike Eisen]

Kalia. Far more versed and capable at removing the false mask of innocence and revealing the deceptive, the guilty, lurking beneath.

And so it was treason.

Kalia nodded to Heike. She nodded back. And from there she wasted no time: a hard, open palm strike to the spy's solar plexus to knock the wind and the fight out of him, and a guillotine of an elbow to the back of his neck to knock him flat to the ground.

Heike stared down at the man. But it wasn't to him that she spoke. Her voice was a weighty core of iron, wrapped in a thin lace of ill-concealed shame and embarrassment.

"Kalia," she said. "I would ask two things of you."

Heike crouched down. Turned the writhing spy over. Laid a hand over his mouth and nose. Her claws--like the sinister legs of a deadly spider--wrapped about his skull.

"Please keep a look out for any villagers wondering near."

She sat on top of the spy once more. Leaned in close to his neck.

"And do not turn around until I am finished."

Her cheeks, exhibiting a relic of life, flushed red with that same embarrassment that tinged her voice. Even though Kalia knew what she was, even though he had accepted her despite knowing so, still she could not bear him witnessing her do what she must. To see in this small moment the fulfillment of the affliction thrust upon her, the true monster made manifest through this abhorrent act.

Heike pulled down her mask with her free hand. Bared her fangs.

* * * * *​

Muffled screams and shouts and pitiful protests into Heike's palm from the spy. Kicking of the spy's legs and the bashing of his feet against the dirt.

Growing weaker.

Weaker.

Until quiet came round once more.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Kalia turned around as requested, but there wasn't anyone nearby, nobody to see the brutal execution. Even if he hadn't been guilty he had to find a way to get rid of him. This was the best way to do it, it would be too risky to leave him tied up in a shed somewhere without supervision.
He could hear the feeble struggling behind him even as he looked about. The sky was slowly becoming brighter hailing the day behind the cloudy sky.

Time was running short and they had much to discuss, now was a bad time but it had to be done.
While she fed he spoke, "I'm thinking of two strategies where I think your skills would be best put to use in the upcoming battle. The first is that we have you hidden in the tree line to ambush their flank and administer destruction to their rear guard, that will keep you out of sight of the villagers and a secret from whoever leads at the front of the charge. This would also have you in an ideal position to kill the captain, Ivanhoe, if he chooses to hang back during the battle.

The caveat that you would have to keep in mind is that I want there to be survivors to return to their keep. This will serve us depending on the situation. If Ivanhoe doesn't appear then I want the survivors to report to him and demoralize him and his reserves.
If Ivanhoe is slain I want the survivors to report to whoever will be left in charge of guarding the prisoners and livestock and accomplish the same."

He leaned against the side of a house with his arms folded across his chest.
"The other strategy is that you can remain inside the village to aid the defense wherever you see necessary, this might risk exposing yourself but any help or guardian angel over the villagers would put my mind at ease."
When the man stopped struggling he glanced over.
"I would also like to hear any suggestions you might have."

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike fed on the spy.

The blood siphoned through her fangs and into her mouth and trickling down her throat was immensely pleasurable in the most sinful and vile of ways. Her affliction forced this liking of the abhorrent act upon her, turned her own body traitor against her mind.

It was disgusting, and it was euphoric.

And she was glad that Kalia did not watch. For him to not only see her commit the act, but to see that look of pleasure caressing her expression...to see her enjoying it. Unbearable.

Heike gorged herself on the spy's blood as Kalia talked. Gorged herself in much the same manner as one would during a feast, eating more than one's usual fill. She drank and drank until the spy's skin paled and his lips turned blue and his life faded from his eyes.

Heike sat up, her head leaned all the way back and her hair cascading down past her shoulders. Breathed, even though she didn't need to. Felt her heart beating in her chest, pumping the spy's warm blood throughout her body where it would become idle and cold and infected. In the worst twist of all, this--right after feeding--was the only time in which she felt truly alive again.

In a way, she was glad that Kalia had spoke through the duration of her feeding. It gave her something on which to divert a portion of her focus.

She stood. Wiped the corners of her mouth. Looked to Kalia when he glanced back.

I would also like to hear any suggestions you might have.

"The sun is rising. These clouds may hold. Or they may not," she said, and, as if prompted by her own words, pulling up the hood of her coat and her mask. "If it were night, I would gladly go to take the captain's head on my own. But it is not. If in the course of combat the smallest bit of my flesh is exposed, I will be left defenseless."

Perhaps a singular strike against the captain--if she knew what he looked like--could work. Leave out the attacking of the backline to reduce the risk of something going wrong. A better option, but still, a weighty one: all it would take was one cut, one tear, her hood pulled down or ripped off, and then she would be dead. Fighting in daylight was hazardous to the extreme for her. Even with the cloudy skies above, who could predict when a break in the cover overhead would send down a spear of direct sunlight at just the wrong time to paralyze her?

"I will stay within the village. Within earshot of you, if it can be helped."

Heike glanced down at the spy's body; it still needed to be disposed of.

Back to Kalia. "We cannot control if Ivanhoe shows or not. But we can defend the villagers and their livelihoods to our utmost. We must."

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Kalia nodded. She was definitely a knight or paladin of some sort before she became a vampire. Few even among the adventurers guild would be so chivalrous.
"If I may ask, do you pursue a faith? You act like a paladin I once knew while I was alive. You have such a driven attitude towards caring for these villagers, I just wonder if there is a reason for it."
They had been working together closely now that he didn't even realize that he let the word slip out, 'while I was alive'.

She was concerned if the clouds would hold and let him know the consequences if the sun struck her flesh.
"Hmmm... Perhaps I can set up a ritual that will keep the clouds heavy through the battle? I know an old Kalitian spell for rain. Would that open your options a bit? If you can defend the villagers and their groups throughout the battle that would indeed put my mind at ease, but I don't want you to be compromised in the middle of a fight."

During the battle he will be taking the brunt of the enemy force. He didn't want to use the madness spell again, such a spell could backfire drastically and they would be faced with the same odds as before, just with a few that made no distinction between friend or foe.
He had to use his magic for some major crowd control during the battle, keep the majority of the enemies attention on him, hopefully of their strongest and most skilled warriors while the more insignificant soldiers go around them to raze the town.

Kalia suddenly realized his blunder earlier and then hoped she missed it as he went on, but his voice faltered as he turned his back to her.
"A-anyways... Perhaps in this battle you can reveal yourself to the villagers, after aiding them from the shadows. Saving their lives will predispose them to your favor even if they do discover your true nature. And once that rapport is established I can put you in charge of leading them when we go and clean out the keep..."

 

[Heike Eisen]

While I was alive.

The small and brief jump of her brow came without invitation into her expression. There and gone. Who wouldn't have reacted so? Heike had thought one thing of Kalia, and it turned out to be the opposite.

And in this a greater sense of camaraderie was born. Her cheeks rose up just so, hinting at a minute smile hidden behind her mask. Yes, it was selfish for her take some joy in being in the company of someone who truly could understand, for such joy necessitated some awful circumstance similar to Heike's own having been thrust upon Kalia. But she felt this kinship nonetheless, this bond of shared suffering. There was no world in which Heike and Kalia did not endure their own respective mockeries of life, so it was all they could do to survive and cherish small comforts in this one.

She almost forgot his question.

"No, I do not."

A good number of people of Reikhurst followed Celestialism; this, among other smaller sects and esoteric denominations. Heike was once so inclined and interested in pursuing matters of religion, and even admired the stories of paladins--knights imbued with divine power--from far away lands. And then Reikhurst was destroyed, and not a single god or goddess lifted a finger. For all the faith of those Reikhurstans who believed, such amounted to nothing in the end.

So Heike cast away the gods and goddesses as they had cast away Reikhurst.

She reached down to her belt. Took hold of the strong thread upon which dangled the insignia of the Golden Blade. She lifted it up and grabbed the insignia and presented it for Kalia's viewing.

"I am a knight of the Order of the Golden Blade to this very day. I am bound by the Trinity of Oaths I swore upon by knighthood: the Oath of Honor, the Oath of Truth, and here, the Oath of Justice. By this third oath I am to protect the meek and the innocent from the guilty and the wicked, and so shall I uphold it."

Kalia had an intriguing tactic to employ: a ritual to ensure continued cloud cover.

Heike nodded quite enthusiastically to this. "Yes, that would open my options tremendously. I could fight more vigorously, more aggressively, freed fear and reservation and having to track the sun."

A-anyways...

A bit of a stutter. Nervousness. Did it make him anxious to suggest that she reveal herself to the villagers? Sure, it was risky. Some of the villagers may not be swayed by the philosophy of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" or even if Heike personally saved them from death at the hands of the bandits. Oh. Well. Leading them was another matter entirely; Heike was up to the task, but would the villagers as a whole be up to having her lead them? That was a cause for concern, alright.

But Kalia hadn't been anxious to suggest that Heike, alone, flank the bandits as they charged in during their attack. Or for any of the other dangerous and risky tasks he had asked of her. So why...?

Why...

While I was alive.

That was it. That had to be it. The mask, the clothing and armor that covered him so completely that not one spot of flesh was showing--he did not intend to say what he had said. A slip. Heike did not know the manner of his undeath--highly unlikely that he was a vampire, thankfully, given how he spoke of her "kind" yesterday--but he surely faced the same stigma that she herself did.

Heike lowered her mask and her hood, such that he could see her face unobscured. She approached him. Reached out slowly for his hand and took it in both of her own, careful to grasp with only her palms. A knowing squeeze, from the light pressing together of her hands on his.

She looked up at him. Smiled. In her eyes a rare gentleness.

She said, "It's okay, Kalia."

Her heartbeat slowed. Stilled, as it finished pumping the blood from her feeding. Her brief illusion of life ceasing with it.

"I understand."

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

He was surprised when she took his hand, her smaller hand easily fit in his palm. He hadn't seen that look on her face before, it was comforting, opposed to his mask that served as the frozen visage of his face. He sighed as he knelt down to be closer to her level.
"I've not been fair to you, I've uncovered your secret but not deigned to reveal my own in return. That was wrong of me."
With that he reached up and took off his mask and headdress, pulling back the hoods and scarves that covered his face.
Underneath was another mask and the strong scent of herbs, spices and incense, but it was pure wrappings like the kind used for burials. Layers upon layers of thick bandages to give his skeletal form shape and structure.

"I'm Kalia Oro Khastan, the god king of Djedi Akhmis, and the avatar of shame. This body I inhabit is undead, that of a mummy lord. But the sand storms of Amol-Kalit have scoured away what remained of my preserved flesh, so I give myself the likeness of flesh and life with this disguise."
He sat knelt before her, finally exposing himself. Now that it was out he was calm. He knew she wouldn't judge him, she was in a similar boat, except she had to go through less lengths to pass herself off as a living creature. Every joint in his body was carefully oiled and padded so that they wouldn't creek or grind against each other and let people know his true nature. And the herbs and spices covered the stench of death.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Of course it was surprising.

But not surprising in the way it would have been when she was alive. In life she perhaps would have found herself pitted against Kalia in much the same way as she might have with Szesh, for the despite their respective intentions both undead and Draconians would have been looked upon as suspicious at best. The Lord Commander and his Knight-Commanders of the Golden Blade all placed the safety and well-being of Reikhurstans above all else. And Heike knew that, if so ordered, she would have upheld her duty.

But the Lord Commander and the Knight-Commanders were dead. Heike, left on her own. Left to make her own judgments.

Yes, it was surprising to see what was beneath Kalia's mask, but only because she had assumed him to be human. Perhaps an orc or elf, given his astounding height, but alive was the point. It was not so, and that was that. Surprise as a mere matter of fact.

This mild surprise did not cause any damage to the kinship she felt. Her smile even grew a touch wider. For there were very few who could truly understand, could honestly relate, to the extreme ostracization of being a thing reviled. Hiding away from they who were once your kin. Burying deep the truth of unlife as an absolute necessity in the pursuit of aiding the innocent, these same good men and women prone to righteous violence against you as much as monsters and men who actually were wicked.

A hardship so specific and thus rare that her meeting Kalia by sheer chance here in Dunderstahd--and his sharing the very same burden--might well be called a miracle of sorts.

Heike was not familiar with this place he spoke of, Djedi Akhmis, nor why he called himself a "god" king, nor what it meant that he was the "avatar of shame." But she knew that he, too, was undead, and that he, too, carried in him the fire and the will to pursue justice across Arethil despite the terrible circumstance that had befallen him.

He was knelt before her, his great height down to her level. She reached out with her left hand, still holding his own with her right, and cupped what would have been his cheek. Ran her hand down the bandages. Careful to do so with only her palm, her claws arched as backward as could be.

She said, "How long has it been?"

Since a caring hand touched your face.

Since you became as are you now.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

His posture fell, his shoulders lowering. He expected acceptance and that would have been enough for him, but this level of compassion was completely unexpected. He held her hand tightly in his grasp, claws or no. And while he couldn't physically feel her touch on his face wrappings it was the presence that impacted on him. She was touching him, and he had been afraid that pleasure was lost to him forever.

How long had it been?

Since he woke up it had almost been a year. In that time he had become an adventurer, made a little bit of a name for himself. There were times women had offered to be with him and he turned them down every time, knowing that even if his undeath didn't terrify them that he would be unable to satisfy them in any way. But before he awoke? How long had he slept?
He longed for his flesh once more... But as of right now he couldn't see any possibility of getting it back.
His voice was low when he answered, almost breaking, as soul felt pain was awakened in his spirit.
"The memory of my last touch of the living is all but faded... A year? Centuries? A millennium?... This... This is a presence I've longed to feel since I left my tomb..."

He raised a hand and put it over hers as it cupped his face. If he could cry this is where tears would have trailed down his face. While he was alive he hadn't been without the gentle touch of a woman when he needed it. He never took wives, but his concubines wanted for nothing. He loved them and they returned his love.
He could hear their prayers in his head still, urging him not to turn away from this good thing that has suddenly come into his un-life.

But it was still too much for him to process fully just yet. He was a skeleton under these complex wrappings, pads, and coverings. Physically he could no longer function as a man should to a woman he cares about. Even as a fellow undead was this touch real? He knows too well the indifference undeath bestows, he physically cannot feel any emotion, thus he's forced to pretend except for when he is touched to his very soul, which transcends his bodily senses. Vampires were different, but how different?
He turned his face to look up at her. Since his eyes weren't visible he had to exaggerate the movement so she could know where he was looking.
"Miss Heike... I thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart... This kindness means a lot to me. If you truly hold no love for the gods and we survive this battle, I would like to share my story with you."

 

[Heike Eisen]

"And I would hear it," Heike said. Her smile turned playful, as did the light in her eyes, and she leaned forward just a bit and added, "Before I was motivated. But now"--her eyebrows bounced up--"I'm determined."

The brief spot of playfulness went away, and Heike's serious and assured composure returned. She moved her hand up his face, and then down it one more time, her palm curling about his chin before sliding away. The points of her claws just barely escaped contact with his bandages; this yet another small curse granted by her affliction, that even showing care and affection for another was made dangerous--gentle fingers forever tipped with razor sharp knives.

Kalia was truly ancient. As ancient as the most venerable of elves, if indeed his memory was stretching back across the gulf of a thousand years. Was Djedi Akhmis gone and lost in this great interim of time? To Heike it was an awful thing to consider. Reikhurst, at least, was still a ruin she could visit, still alive and fresh in the memory of those who had been there and those Reikhurstans who survived its destruction. If Reikhurst had been swallowed up by time such that nothing remained and no one remembered...no, it was too painful to even think.

But Kalia would tell his tale (and Heike hers), and she would learn how his undeath had befallen him. This and other things. A bittersweet excitement: bitter that it happened, sweet in the sharing.

Heike took a step back and glanced down at the dead, pale spy. It wouldn't do to leave him there, for someone to happen upon the body, and for Dunderstahd's defenders to fear a vampire in their midst before the battle had even begun. Heike suspected that it would be difficult enough to win the villagers' favor enough for them to accept her, let alone lead them into battle later on.

She pulled up her mask and raised her hood once more. Said, "I will dispose of the spy's body. Attend to your ritual, Kalia, and I will come and find you shortly."

Heike crouched. Grabbed hold of one of the spy's lifeless arms and grunted and hefted the body up and onto her shoulder. The spy's arms dangled behind her, legs rested against her front.

And with that she started off. Back the way she had originally come with the spy and between the edge of the village and the impromptu palisade wall and disappeared around the corner of a home.

 

[Kalia Oro Khastan]

Kalia replaced his mask, once more disguised as a mere adventurer. Heike left to dispose of the body. Perhaps if he were still alive he might have felt more strongly about the loss of life, even that of a spy. But ever since he awoke he found he cared little for living or dead one way or another. He hoped it was simply a biproduct of his undeath, and that he wasn't simply becoming as callous as the other gods in their games with human lives.

The time was drawing near, he had a ritual and a village to prepare. He got up from his knees and went to find the elder once more. He told him of his plan to summon rain and to warn the groups not to be distracted or afraid.
"This spell will confuse and hopefully frighten the enemy. We need every edge we can get. Also inform the groups to get into position, the time is nearly upon us, they should be here any minute."
Again the village elder was very compliant and carried out his instructions.

Kalia got to work on the ritual. He began marking runes in the dirt with the spear tip of his scepter until he made a magical circle. He then stood in the middle and extended the scepter into the full length spear. He tapped the spear on the ground and it made an echoing ring, uncharacteristic of metal hitting soft dirt. The runes lit up with a blue light and floated off the ground, orbiting around him. He began muttering the incantation to activate the spell.
Once he spoke the final words, the boy that volunteered as the runner ran by him shouting.
"Their here!"
So now it was time. He reached out his hand and the floating runes wrapped around his forearm. It wasn't quite time to activate the ritual, for the full effect the timing had to be perfect, almost theatrical.

Now that he thought about it, fear was their greatest weapon at the moment, and much of the fear he planned to wield he hoped he sufficiently prepared his allies to face.
He made his way to the east palisade where the villagers last stand was gathered. Across the clearing he could see the former soldiers gathering in great numbers. No doubt they were sending more to flank and surround the village.
Now to see how well his strategizing and planning will work.

He turned to the villagers. Some of them had gone pale at the sight of the soldiers, but they had been preparing all night for this moment, some of them even longer. Not one of them ran in fear.
"People of Dunderstahd. This is the night where we fall, where you lose your wives, your children, your homes, your very lives... Or, this is the night we drive your tormenters out of your village and back to the crumbling ruin where they make their home! Let this be the night Dunderstahd is free from the shackles of a slave like existence!"
As the villagers got some of their color back and rose a small war cry Kalia went on and gave some final instructions, "I will face them in the field of war, you must defend your homes alone but do not despair. I have an ally on her way, she is as deadly as she is noble. She will arrive soon, so do not despair at any time, trust that help is coming."
He turned but then looked back, "One last thing... Cover your ears."

With that he turned to face the enemy army and stepped over the palisade wall. His voice boomed across the distance, "I WILL SPEAK WITH YOUR CAPTAIN! WHERE IS IVANHOE! LET HIM COME FORWARD IF HE IS NOT A COWARD!"
The sudden boom of his voice startled the soldiers, who weren't expecting a magically augmented voice. A tall, wiry man with very polished and shiny plate armor stepped forward on his equally magnificent horse.

Kalia continued to walk forward, as did Ivanhoe on horseback. As soon as Ivanhoe was in speaking range he stopped and his face split into a smile.
"Is this a parley? how quaint, I'll humor you, adventurer. I'll pay you eleven-hundred silver if you pack up your things and walk away now. I assure you there is no way these poor villagers can pay you anything above a copper, why don't yo-"
Kalia interrupted with his still augmented voice, so the whole army could hear.
"YOU DARE TO ATTACK THE PEOPLE YOU SWORE TO PROTECT! YOU ARE THE LOWEST SCUM OF THE EARTH, UNFIT FOR THESE PEOPLE TO SCRAPE OFF THEIR BOOT! I FIGHT FOR JUSTICE! COIN IS WORTHESS TO ME!"
He raised his fist to the sky, and spoke more quietly, but everyone could still hear his voice.
"You dared to harm the innocent. The gods will punish you for you arrogance, but first, I get the pleasure of sending you all to meet them."
He brought his fist down, activating the ritual.
"DISPAIR! FOR YOU FACE THE JUDGEMENT OF A GOD IN THE FLESH!"
The entire sky exploded, thunder and lighting flashed across the sky in sheets with deafening booms and explosions.

Ivanhoe's horse reared and bolted back towards the enemy lines, the soldiers were cowering and covering their ears at the sudden blast of fury from the sky. As the thunder lowered to a rumble the rain began to fall. And as the rain fell it was finally quiet enough for Ivanhoe's frightened voice to squeak out his furious orders, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill them all!"
And that's when the army finally moved. The mass converging on Kalia.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike did not have to go far. Merely to the outside of the palisade wall; no need to take the body any further. She was careful not to be seen--a task that wasn't especially difficult, given the current state of the village and Kalia's direction to the villagers. So she, with some small amount of irony that she acknowledged with a wry smile, went to an opening in the wall that the spy himself was likely heading toward when he was alive. Went out of the village bounds and laid the spy's down and carved with her claw a few slashes into his flesh to give an impression that he had been felled by a sword. A poor tactic, yes, but the imminent battle would make his corpse hardly distinguishable from the rest.

Heike rose to her feet and turned and walked back into Dunderstahd. Now, it was a mere waiting game until the defense of the same. And here, finally, in so defending Dunderstahd she had a chance at a kind of vicarious redemption. She had failed her own home. Watched helplessly in the custody of monsters as it was burned to the ground.

But today, in Dunderstahd, she had the chance denied to her in Reikhurst. The chance to fight. To be the bulwark against wickedness for these people where she could not for her own. They did not know her. They likely would not accept her. They very likely would find her existence reviling. But she would defend them still, for she was not only oathbound to do so, but in her heart she knew it to be right. And while her heart may be still, it was not quiet.

As Heike stalked through the village, she abruptly heard Kalia's voice, loud and clear and akin to thunder itself:

I WILL SPEAK WITH YOUR CAPTAIN! WHERE IS IVANHOE! LET HIM COME FORWARD IF HE IS NOT A COWARD!

His voice had sounded from the eastern wall. Exactly where she and Kalia suspected the deserters to come from. Heike hustled down the main road of Dunderstahd and, once she saw the gathering of the village's defenders, she took cover behind a quiet home. She still needed to prove to them that she was on their side by felling their foes in combat. They would react how they would, but Heike needed at least the chance to show her benevolence.

She heard Kalia's voice again, distantly outside the confines of Dunderstahd's impromptu palisade walls, yet despite the clear gap she heard him clearly. One of his magical talents, it seemed. And he said something she found to be quite strange.

...YOU FACE THE JUDGEMENT OF A GOD IN THE FLESH!

Heike had no time to process this, for, in a masterstroke of timing, the sky erupted into a clamorous storm above her head, painting the village in ephemeral flashes of blue from the lightning and shaking the dirt beneath her feet and the house she hid against with the reverberations of thunder.

It pained her to wait, but she waited. There was no sense in charging out into an open field, thus giving up a fortified position, when at a severe numbers disadvantage.

Heike peered out from the corner of the home she hid behind and out beyond the town square and the gathered defenders to the opening in the palisade wall. Kalia would make it back.

He would.

Yet she worried nonetheless. The raw strength of it surprising.