((Note: The following story occurs directly after Song and Light and has been pieced together from the in-game emotes of several players-each person should receive credit for the words and actions attached to their characters, I did not write them. Also of note, the player of Eduwiges wrote the description for the cave and wrote for Thunar and the guards.))
(Continued from The Great Horse Rescue: Part 3)
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Thousands of tiny images converge into one piece of information, tiny dots that make up a complete picture of the company once it passes from the complexity of little fly’s compound eye to its brain. It looks toward Calidis' gigantic form as she whispers instructions to it and then flutters its wings to show her that it is ready to follow her command. She sets it free from its vial and hopes that it will find Rhavanielle and bring her back to them before they can reach the cave.
Weapons are sharpened, armor is fastened in place and final preparations are made before the group sets out from their hidden camp in Harrowdale, the valley area of the River Snowbourn, to make for Dunharrow; they are as ready as they can be though they do not fully know what they will be facing once they get there. Everyone remains quiet as they ride toward their destination and the only sound that can be heard in the stillness of the moonlight is the rhythmic “clip-clop” of horse hooves as the company climbs upwards on the switch-back path of the Stair of the Hold. Xandieran leads once again and her sharp eyes scan the path for any foes; though there are none to be seen, there is a slight eerie feeling of being “watched’ as the Púkel-men statues oversee their ascent.
Once they reached the Firienfeld, the large grassy area at the top of the stair, Addie checks the map again and directs their attention toward a somewhat hidden dirt path to their left. They leave their horses tied up near the trees at the bottom of the path and follow it up another switchback ramp. In the distance, they can now see what looks to be a large cave entrance at the top.
(switching to emotes)
As the company nears the cave, they begin to smell a strong odor of manure and each has a different reaction to it; the stench reminds Annabette of the odor of the outhouses by the stables outside of the Pony on a weekend night, Addiela doesn't seem to mind it much since she is used to horses, but Nethrida pinches up her face and Calidis scrunches up her nose at the smell. When the group enters the narrow neck of the cave, the smell becomes even more overpowering and begins to mix with the stench of death and body odor, which finally does make Addie gag and look somewhat ill.
The narrow pathway opens up into a large area. Along the walls are racks of weapons and piles of Uruk armor; curved scimitars and swords fill the racks and large breastplates, leggings and helms- all covered with the stamp of a white hand- rest next to them. Horse pens also line the walls, each with their own horse in them, and several young boys are busy mucking out each stall sweating and working hard to pile up the manure in wheel barrows so that they can be taken outside and dumped. Annabette looks around and shakes her head, “Well, we're in the poop now...”
Calidis makes sure she doesn't bump up against anything. She frowns a little at seeing the conditions the horses are kept in and thinks to herself, “This is no good place for them.” However, despite the smell, all of the horses seem to be well taken care of; all are corn fed and look as if they are meant to be very fast for either attacks, swift getaways, or both. As the group nears the center of the cave, they notice another horse pen, this one with a large beautifully muscled and well cared for white horse- she is as beautiful as she is large, in fact, she can only be related and bred from one of the Meares. Addiela immediately recognizes Lily and her eyes widen. It takes everything in her power not to sprint across the room toward the horse. She whispers to the others and points, "Lily. There."
In front of Lily's stall is a ramshackle desk and sitting on this desk is a huge man who is now looking straight at the group. At first glance, he appears to be corpulent, but upon closer look it seems that he is all muscle; in fact, his muscles have muscles. He is clad in black armor with large shoulder guards and his hair is cut short, much like a Caesar cut, with flecks of gray in it. A large sword lies across his lap and a black helm with black horse hair coming from the top of it is on the desk beside him.
He smiles toward the group and says, “Ahh, at last you join us.” He stands and gives Addie a mocking sort of grin and a smile. “The lady Addiela, it’s so nice to finally meet you, I’ve heard so much about you from your mother. Hmm…” he looks at each person in turn as though taking note of all that have come. “Annabette of Breeland, Xanderian of Rivendell, Hawke the street urchin, Calidis the book attendant, and the horse brat of the late Alfara of Faldham, Eduwiges .”
Addiela glares daggers at the man. "And you, keeper of stolen horses...”
Thunar feigns a hurt expression, “Stolen? This horse is not stolen, you wound me, Addie. She was bought and paid for with good coin from your mother.”
Addie’s rage is beginning to ignite within her, but for now, she manages to keep her voice calm, though there is a slight sharpness to it when she speaks, “It was not hers to sell and I would wager you knew that to begin with. I'm sorry that you wasted your coin to that witch, but I'll be taking my horse back.”
Thunar quirks a brow in amusement “Are you not yet still a minor and subject to her will? Well, never mind. She will make a fine mount for me when I have broken her in, properly.” He laughs wickedly toward her.
Addiela 's eyes flash fire toward the man and she clenches her fist as her rage begins to grow.
Calidis thinks for a moment or two before speaking up, though quietly. "... How much?"
He glances over toward the elf, “How much? How much is what dwimordene, the steed?” He begins to laugh again, “Oh, her price is too high for such as you. You will be paying with your life as it is.” His reaches for a whistle as his eyes scan the room once more, “There seems to be one missing, the other mystical dwimordene… well, it is of no importance.”
As though summoned by his words, Rhavanielle suddenly appears in the room. Thunar blinks a few times at this display of magic and then blows on the signal whistle, which echoes throughout the cave. Guards begin to file into the cave from in front of the group and behind them, ten in front and ten behind; they are all very large men with mustaches of the Rohirrim, tall and imposing, and are well armored in black with hands on weapons.
Rhavanielle seems to be oblivious to the guards for the moment. She feels on the top of her head and then through her pockets, “Tarnation! I left my hat in the tavern.” Her expression speaks that she is profoundly annoyed to be without her funky hat and she looks around to her company. “Did anyone pick up my hat or did it burn with that tavern?” Addiela glares over her with a look that indicates that they had greater things to worry over in this moment.
Due to her question being ignored, Rhavanielle frowns toward the others, which also causes her to finally look around the cave and take note of what’s going on. She reaches a hand in a tunic pocket near her right hip and moves to stand behind Xanderian, who is watching Thunar and smiling softly. Calidis also takes a step behind the others; she does not like how that man looks at them all. Rhavanielle exchanges a sly smirk with Calidis and it clearly looks like she is up to something as her fingers work a lid off a little glass phial in her pocket.
Once the guards are in position, Thunar looks to the company, “It was so easy getting you all here. The right word in the right places. And you fools walked right into my hands.”
Hawke is now cursing himself for not going with his first instinct and killing the hunchback who had given him the map and key. He stands in profile, so that he can keep an eye on the guards in the front and back of them; his hand is on his sword hilt but he knows that they are vastly outnumbered.
Annabette eyes the ceiling, searching for faults with her normal vision and her magic sense. She begins quietly channeling energy into the ceiling over the heads of the guards nearest to her, not enough to be noticeable yet, but enough to begin shaking the seams into the alignment she wants for her purpose. She suspects the other lore-masters will soon sense what she is doing and hopes that they will cast their power into this effort as well. Rhavanielle cannot help but sense Anna's silent channeling and joins her in the effort while she still works on her plans with the vial; Addie, however, is blinded by her anger and does not sense it.
Eduwiges shakes with anger, rage pouring out of her eyes, and she steps forward to confront Thunar, “You were the one who killed my father weren't you?”
“Your father was a fool! He set no guard and did not watch his back; it was easy to attack his camp.” Thunar’s smile fades for a moment into a cold scowl, “He did kill more of my men than I would have liked…” however, that scowl turns back into a devilish grins and he continues, “but he ended up screaming like a woman in the end when he died, just like the rest of them.” His thunderous laugh fills the cavern again.
Xanderian simply watches, eyes narrowing slightly at the mention of Eduwiges’ father, but she bides her time for now. Calidis slips a hand into her pocket and feels for that stone she had almost used when they were ambushed by Addie's mother. Still, she hesitates and decides to try and keep the man talking instead. "H-How long have you been watching us? What is in it for you aside from the horse?"
He stands up from the desk and begins to walk slowly forward. “I have watched each of you since you entered Rohan. Did you really think you could come here without our knowledge and could fix things? How arrogant you adventurers are! You slay a few orcs here and there and think you are up to defeating the Eored?” He laughs, almost manically, “I especially enjoyed how little… Lynx, is it? How she found out her tata was dead.” He continues to laugh, “The Lieutenant of the Elfward had a good laugh over your little speech at the barrow.” He then turns his attention toward Addie. “And it is a shame, lass, that your betrothed allowed you off the hook. I so looked forward to walking you down the aisle at your wedding.”
Annabette continues tweaking her energies, wanting things to align perfectly so her move, when she makes it, is effective. She speaks up, directing her words toward Addiela, "Focus, absorb, act." Addie's whole body is now shaking and her breathing has intensified, not due to fear, but anger over the man's words. She does hear Anna and seems to somewhat focus more, but solely on the man speaking. If looks could kill, he'd definitely be a dead man.
Rhavanielle finally opens up the ceramic cylinder that was in her pocket and a loud hum is heard, very menacing, as a wasp takes flight toward Thunar.
Thunar shakes his head toward the others as he continues to walk forward and readies his sword; he waves his hand around as the wasp buzzes around his head, but doesn’t seem to be very bothered by it in this moment. “Saruman was right! You are all fools and tools of people who have no business in Rohan! NONE! The dark lord has had enough of your pettiness and we will settle things now once and for all!” He swings his sword up and moves in towards Addie, sword raised high!
Addiela could no longer care less if those around her find out about her magical abilities now. She draws in a deep breath as her left hand grips her faint glowing red pendant around her neck and her right arm stretches out toward Thunar; her eyes look to be as though they are made of flame and her voice seems to have an unnatural echo to it as she says, "Ruinë luith!" Fire flows from her outstretched hand and takes the form of a phoenix, its wings aimed on wrapping the man in flames. Addie screams out, “Give me back my horse!”
The flame strikes at Thunar’s face and he immediately puts his hands up to block it, but it swarms around him, burning his hair and taking his eyebrows off. He flails backwards and yells, “Kill them fools, Kill them!”
The guards begin to move toward the group, swords and axes drawn. Hawke draws his sword as they begin closing in, but is distracted by the rush of flame coming from Addie's hand. Xanderian shifts to cover Hawke, she had been waiting for the flame; she draws a single arrow, nocking it somewhat casually while whispering to herself, and aims at the little rider of the large man in black- no one ever armors their groin properly and even if they do, a willowleaf shaft there will certainly get his attention. She focuses, checks her aim, and releases, whispering a word of power as the arrowhead exudes acid.
The arrow flies straight and true, but since Thunar is flailing backwards, the arrow misses his wobbly bits and takes a chunk out of the meat part of the outside of his leg. “Arrrrrgh! You dwimordene bitch!” He falls backwards behind his guards, out of the fight, for now. “Get them you idiots!”
Still hoping for a chance to resolve this peacefully, Nethrida moved forward to position herself somewhat in front of the group and frowned. She calls out, knowing it was likely in vain, "The people of the Mark have long been the allies of Gondor. I wish not to fight you. Cease this foolishness." The guards completely ignore her words and they continue to advance as Thunar loudly shouts, “Kill Her!”
Neth remains in her defensive posture, unwavering as the guard directly in front of her raises his sword at her, intending to follow Thunar’s command. Seeing this, Addie calls over to her, "This is not time for an olive branch, Neth, they’ve already made their choice. It’s time for you to brandish that sword of yours." Xanderian silently nocks an explosive arrow and smiles at the guard threatening Neth; she whispers as she aims for his chest, "I got ya olive branch right here...” She looses the arrow and the guard stumbles back as it buries itself in his chest; when he hits the ground, it explodes and blows out the guard’s chest cavity, sending scarps of meat all over the guards moving in on Neth and on Neth herself. Xanderian chuckles happily and turns back to the other guards.
As the men move forward, Annabette starts to unleash the hold on her energies; she yanks at the lines of power she has interwoven into the rock ceiling over the heads of the front group of troops and lifts her staff and sword as well, in case a wee bit more effort is called for. The rocks splinter into shrapnel shards and collapse on five of the guards, binding them momentarily; the tiny splinters also shoot into the other guards on the front line, stinging them and slowing them down. Annabette doesn't quite cackle, but it's sooo close as the guards scramble.
Nethrida blinks a few times as the guards go down. She looks over to Xan, thinking that the explosive arrow also caused the cave in, and smiles a bit. She comments with a somewhat jovial tone, "Thank you... But do leave some for me too."
As the dust settles, Rhavanielle uses a simple spell to open the stall doors one by one and calls out to the horses to join the fight. The doors do come open, but the horses are too scared to move for now due to rocks collapsing and seeing the flame. Calidis also watches the scene unfold with fear and trembling; she raises a shaking hand to the hilt of her sword; grasping it but not able to make herself wield it just yet.
Eduwiges hobbles from one foot to the other, enraged; sweat is pouring down her face and her hand on Morinehtar. She pulls her sword and swings it at the guard in front of her, stunning him with the blade across his helm and causing him to stagger back.
The circle of guards that had surrounded the group is quickly dwindling in numbers; the group in front of the company only has three guards left, and there are now only nine behind them. Many of the remaining guards are either getting over being stunned or are slightly unsettled by the displays of magic. Hawke is still fairly distracted as well with everything that is going on, but he turns his attention to attacking the guards at the rear of the group. The guard he aims for manages to see Hawke's attacking coming in time to parry it and then moves past him to flank him.
Calidis watches the guard move towards Hawk and removes her hand from the hilt of her sword to retrieve the red stone from her pocket. It is still warm to her touch but she seems to chant something under her breath which makes it glow brighter and will heat up to burning upon contact. She decides not to hesitate and to deal with her distaste for this sort of thing later. She throws it at the guard's face where skin can be seen; however, the aim is off and the stone sails past the guard just as he moves to Hawk's side. Hawk jumps out of the way and it lands in a small crack in the rock facing; the stone glows bright red and the rocks around it also begin to glow.
On the other side of the circle, Thunar stays behind the three remaining guards and is screaming out in pain while trying to remove the acid arrow out of his leg. Xanderian strides toward him, thinking that two can play the hostage game, and Rhavanielle follows closely behind her while chanting loudly and focusing on lending strength and power to her Xan. The chant causes Xanderian’s eyes to flash and her form to be surrounded with a flickering nimbus of crackling light.
Addiela also walks in step with Xanderian toward Thunar, but side by side with her instead of behind. Her expression remains calm though her eyes glow brightly with a fierce fire as she nears the three guards blocking their path toward the man; she reaches for her left earring and mutters a chant hoping that the wisp that is her earring will heed her request and provide a whirlwind to cast the guards off to the side, clearing a path. The rocks on the ground at the guard’s feet start to move as a small circle of air begins to form; however, it only serves as a minor distraction and never gains the strength to move them.
This distraction is all Xanderian needs and she draws two standard arrows to fire at the two guards on the outside of the three in front of her, aiming directly for the chest. One arrow hits exactly as planned, but bounces off the armor; the other buries itself deep into the guard on the right’s femoral artery in his leg. Xanderian is still crackling with energy, which she hasn't really noticed save that she feels FABULOUS. Keeping Heartbreaker in her left hand, she draws Lovelorn with her right and slashes at the middle guard as she unsheathes in one motion, moving relentlessly for the fat gimp in black leather behind the man. Lovelorn cuts through the guard’s neck, cleaving his head from his shoulders; and also slices into the guard on his left’s chest, rendering him hors de combat.
On the other side of the circle, Eduwiges goes after three of the guards on the back line, by now she has her dagger out as well. She tries a raging blade attack, which will strike the first guard and roll into the others; however she stumbles on of of the rocks on the cave floor and drops her dagger to the ground. Seeing that occur, Nethrida moved to place herself in front of Eduwiges so that she could quickly reclaim her weapon. Neth still seems a bit hesitant to go for the kill and simply aims to slash and cut at the Guard's sword arm to try and disarm him. The strength of Gondor shines through her attack as his sword not only drops to the floor, but his arm does as well. She looks toward the guard as he looks down at the severed arm and screams in pain; Neth shrugs, “I warned you.”
Annabette removes a gourd from her belt and looks to be offering the guards in the back line a drink as a peace offering. As she nears them, she snaps her staff against the ground so that the tip of it bursts into flames; she throws the gourd among them and then lowers the flaming staff to light up the tar it had contained. The ground at the guard’s feet bursts into flames causing them to dance a little jig as they try to move out from it; it gives five of them significant burns to their feet and legs and also spooks the horses into the corner of their stalls, away from their doors and the flames.
The remaining guards are all getting nervous at seeing their numbers dwindle in such a violent, magical way, but are well disciplined enough to keep going. The guard that flanked Hawke resumes his attack and brings a hand axe up in order to cleave his skull in two. Hawke sees the guard and shifts his feet nimbly to dodge; he then brings his sword down and cuts the man's hand off entirely before tripping him. The man screams as he watches his hand, with the axe still in it falls on the floor.
The next guard hops over his fallen comrade and reaches for Calidis with one hand while holding a dagger in the other; his idea is to hold her hostage to stop the others. Calidis looks very pale and seems to be in almost a trance; like she's not mentally present. She manages to sluggishly step to the side to avoid being grabbed but nicks her arm on the dagger. Strangely enough, she doesn't seem to notice any pain, though a small spot on her sleeve is now stained red. Hawke turns and slits the man’s throat as he looks back to Calidis for a second attempt at it.
One moves in on Rhavanielle with a mace and swings it from the side, shield in his off hand; however, she effortlessly parries with her staff, which is hard as iron, and then swings the butt end of the staff up to break the man's jaw with a loud crack. He falls down the floor with a thud, unconscious.
The last three guards give a shout as one moves with his longsword toward Neth, the second goes after the glowy elf with his greatsword and the last moves toward Eduwges with an axe. Nethrida clashes her blade with the guard in front of her, but he feints the attack, leaving her wide open, and thrusts his sword forward to pierce several inches deep into Neth’s side, right below her ribs- mercifully her armor blunts the blow enough to avoid any immediately fatal injuries.
The glowy elf ignores the guard attacking, letting the glowyness handle it; she is going after Thunar, aiming to dismember him, piece by piece. Eduwiges ducks under the guards swing and puts her shoulder into him knocking him to the ground like a bristle hided boar. She stabs him in the throat once he is down and moves toward the other guard that is going after Xan. She slices his head clean off and then sets her eyes on Thunar as well, raising Morinehtar and moves towards him.
Thunar has finally removed the arrow and is back on his feet; as he looks around at all of his fallen guards, a wild rage burns in his eyes. With sword in hand, he rushes towards Addie and Xanderian. Addie remains calm as he lunges for her and nimbly dodges out of the way, leaving the attack open for Xanderian who follows his movement and slashes with Lovelorn, looking to take his sword arm at the elbow; the slash does cut in, but due to the man’s sheer size, it doesn’t take his arm off.
The guard that stabbed Neth, looks her in the eye again, she can feel his smelly breath and his sweat drips on her. He pulls his sword back and prepares to attack again, but it is then that Annabette shouts the incantation, which she had been taught by one of the Mother's before her trip to Rohan; she watches with grim satisfaction as a horde of her companions leap into the fray and charge at the remaining guards and Thunar to feast. They make quick work of the guards both living and dead, a carnage of flying flesh, blood and screams, and one manages to land on top of Thunar and proceeds to pound him into submission, beating his face into a bloody pulp.
Hawke catches his breath now that all the guards have died and he sheathes his sword to take stock of his friends. Clearly Thunar is outnumbered and living on borrowed time; Addie, Xan, and Eduwiges seem to be fighting over who gets to him first, now that Anna's beast has subdued him. Eduwiges tries to shove Anna's critter off Thunar so that she can get at him- she is enraged with bloodlust. The critter whirls and snaps threateningly at what it perceives to be an attack and Anna raises her voice toward it to bellow, “STOP!”
As Eduwiges struggles with the animal, Hawk pushes through the group to get to Thunar first and places his boot on the man's throat; he presses hard so Thunar understands it will only take a bit of pressure to crush his windpipe. Hawk then levels a stern glare at Eduwiges, the closest. "See what he knows, then kill him."
Eduwiges is still enraged and she cannot think clearly at all, much less question this man; her elvish education has been forgotten and the bloodlust of the Rohirric feud has taken its place. She barks out, “Question him?”
Thunar feels Hawke's boot on his throat and he twists to the side a bit to breathe better and begins to laugh; his voice is raspy, but is driven by air from mighty lungs. “What is the matter Lynx, you have no stomach to slay me? As for the rest of you, you upstarts, what right do you have to lay your hands on me.. You dwimordenes you foul carrion of the west!.. And you two brats of Rohan, you are noth…'”
His words break off as Hawke kicks him the face and then rests his boot back on Thunar's throat, this time pressing just a little more firmly. Annabette moves through the cavern, approaching Hawke and his captive and accidently kicks him in the side of the head when she reaches him. She laughs with a wicked smile and cups her hand, letting a flame burst forth in the palm of it. "We get to play now, Eorl.'' She looks to Hawke, “Hawke, tie him while he's down, please?”
Hawke nods and finds a length of rope one of the fallen guards had on his belt, no doubt having been intended to tie the prisoners once their group was captured. He tightly binds Thunar's wrists and ankles, and by tightly probably too tight, just in case. Thunar has ceased to struggle; his bonds are holding him for now. Eduwiges back away from him and begins to get herself under control; her chest is heaving and her face is red. She places her hands on the cave wall and presses her face on the cool rock.
Addiela no longer concerns herself with Thunar now that he seems to be handled, knowing that Xan will probably end the man anyways. She steps on him as she walks over him toward the pen that Lily is being kept in. She opens the door and runs in to Lily, resting her head on the horse's nose for a moment. The rest of the horses are starting to walk out of their stalls as well and toward the exit of the cave. They pass by Calidis as she stands behind the group, staring into nothingness. She is still quite pale and the bottomless quality in her dark gaze is deepened- it is as if she's not seeing anything going on around her at all and her mind is somewhere else entirely.
Nethrida had been forcing herself to stay up, despite the wound she suffered. But as the situation winds down her strength finally fails and she drops to her knees; her sword clattering from her hand. Addie sees this as she leads Lily from the stall and quickly hurries over to her. "Neth!" Xanderian cries out and moves to Neth as well, counting Thunar as already dead.
Nethrida managed a little smile "Hey..." she responded before wincing in pain and clutching the wound on her midriff. “I think... That might leave a mark...”
Addiela looks down at Neth’s wound to assess it; she immediately removes her hood and rips it into strips so that she can tie it somewhat to put pressure on the spot and help stop the bleeding. Xanderian pulls healing gear from her belt pouch and passes Athelas leaves to Addie which she takes and starts to apply.
Annabette takes her focus off of Thunar for a moment and turns to watch Addie. When she does, Thunar pushes his body back with his legs and wiggles his upper body util his back is against the cave wall. His eyes burn with madness and hatred as the scene unfolds in front of him. “I hope the gondorian bitch dies!” He spits toward Neth.
Xanderian narrows her eyes toward him and Annabette turns back around to lower her hand with the flame still burning in her palm toward him so that the light and the heat of it are painfully close to his eyes.
Addiela snaps her head over to Thunar, "She will live, but will you be so lucky? And if so, you will live your days in torment, knowing that we got the best of you and your men… And you'll think twice before taking anyone’s horse again." Addie then turns back to Neth to continue dressing the wound.
Thunar laughs, loud. “You are such a fool, brat of Addwyn. You are no better than her with your petty desires; this is nothing to do with your fool horse, your mother sold her to me for coin to spite you.” He coughs, spitting blood out of his mouth.
Nethrida pressed down on the wound a bit herself "I'll be fine... Go break his nose, she coughs a bit and winces afterwards.
Addiela shakes her head and says the next part loud enough where he can hear it, "He's not worth my time. Anyone that cowers to serve my mother is weak and is already a whipped dog." Addie moves Neth’s hand out of the way and finishes bandaging her up while Xanderian pets Neth's hair.
Hawke kneels and draws his Elven dagger from the the small of his back. He unceremoniously stabs Thunar in the left eye, not deep enough to kill him though. ''Shut up with yer taunts or I'll take the other eye. Now answer our damn questions.” Thunar screams as he feels his eye go.
Annabette winces when she sees Hawke do that, dude was ugly before, now he's half blind and ugly. She moves the fire closer to his remaining eye. "Who paid you to kill Eduwiges’ father and who arranged for his guards to be gone?”
“Grima, Grima,” Thunar mutters, half crazy, 'Who do you think tells Grima what to do? Her father was asking too many questions." Thunar takes a deep breath.. "I enjoyed ordering my men to do what they did." He looks at Eduwiges. "Your father screamed when I gutted him. We had to make it look like Uruk Hai."
“For fuck's sake! Hawke, do you think you could cut off all the toes on one of his feet? Crippled and half blind...he'd be even more worthless than he already is.” Annabette has never used that sort of language in front of anyone here; she's in a bit of a mood.
Hawke was about to comply, but he gets out of the way as he sees Eduwiges rushing over to Thunar; she pulls him to his feet and slams him against the wall, her dagger is at his throat. He stares at her with one eye glaring and smiles at her. “Well! Don't just stand there... Kill me you bitch!”
Eduwiges looks at him and flicks his nostril with her dagger, “You’re more pathetic beaten than dead.” She releases him and turns away, walking to the group.
Annabette purses her lips and blows the flames in her palm out like a pipe match. “Sort of anti-climatic… Too many cooks spoil the torture.”
Across the room, Calidis is still in a state of catatonia, eyes moving right to left and then to the right again, seeing things that aren't there. For once, her features aren't pinched in fear. Rather, she is completely expressionless. Addiela looks across to Calidis and then to Xan to get her attention; she motions her head that way. Xanderian follows Addie's gesture and nods, rising.
At that moment, Thunar rips his hands free from the ropes, he had been working on loosening them while he and the others talked and his great strength did the rest. He whips a hidden dagger out from his belt and leaps towards the unsuspecting Eduwiges. Addiela gasps as she sees that happen, but Xanderian feels Thunar move. With Heartbreaker still in her left hand, she lets the bow take the shot as she continues towards Calidis; the arrow catches the man in the throat and his eyes go wide as he tumbles to the ground, blood gurgling. He coughs and turns on his side, dead.
Calidis stops moving her eyes and stares straight ahead, not registering Xanderian's presence. Xanderian rests a hand on the woman's shoulder and Calidis slowly turns her head, but still seems to look straight through her at something that is not truly there. Xanderian whispers softly to her and Calidis seems to hear the whispers, but still remains expressionless. Her mouth opens slowly and she takes a breath. When she speaks, she sounds as if she is merely on a pleasant walk. "... First they took his hands... So he couldn't fight back..."
Xanderian looks her in the eyes..."No...we are here...and now...not then, sweet one...”
Calidis lifts her hands and counts off on her fingers in a casual manner. "Then his arms and legs..." She lowers her hands and her brows furrow a bit. "... In the now?" Some awareness returns to her gaze and a tear falls down her cheek but she is not quite back yet.
Xanderian leans close and kisses Calidis' cheek softly and says, “We are in the now...not in the past, or the yet to be... All is well, dear one...we are safe...the battle is done. After this, the paths of the dead will be as a spring ramble.”
Hawke wipes his bloody dagger on the sleeve of a dead guard and puts the blade away while Annabette goes to the clod's desk to look for incriminating evidence. Finding nothing, she shrugs and starts looting bodies. Eduwiges walks over to Thunar's dead body and spits on him before going through all of his pockets. She pulls a blood red gem on a chain from around his neck and holds it up, “Anna, Hawke, look! It matches the other ones we found.”
Hawke rolls his eyes and huffs, “Great, they were all members of the cult. Let's get out of this shitty cave already.”
Eduwiges says, 'Yes, I need outside light, and I am sure Cal and Neth do too.'
Addiela would double check to make sure that the makeshift bandage is secure before attempting to help Neth to her feet. She doesn't seem comfortable with it, but she will let Neth use her as a support to help her walk. Hawke also moves to support Neth's other side, slinging her arm over his shoulder if she'll let him; this way Addie doesn't have to bear the weight alone. Addie gives Hawke a grateful nod and Neth seemed to also be appreciative of the help, though she could stand on her own. She sighs a bit, "Thank you..." and cringes as Addie and Hawke gently walk her toward the exit.
Annabette lifts her hand, palm out and checks her fingernails, then curls her fingers and turns her hand to buff the nails on her jerkin before walking toward the exit, “Dinnertime, Calidis. Let's go while it's hot.”
Calidis looks back and forth between everyone, still confused. She glances down to her arm where she was nicked and notices the blood. She then notices Nethrida's injury... and pieces together what has happened. She looks intensely troubled but seems to furiously reel it in as she quickly wipes the tears from her cheeks and makes to follow.
Addie whistles for Lily to come. What they had entered the cave for had been claimed and Eduwiges now had her revenge.
