The guard gave a yelp of surprise as the leg of Von attempted to crash into the well guarded plate legging. The dull clang of boot smashing into hard metal was heard as the steel surfacing held strong. The soldier crashed through the door like a minotaur, towering at least two feet above Von in height and definitely outweighed him by at least a hundred pounds.

"YEE CHOSE THE WRONG DAY TO BE A GAMBLIN WITH STROGHOR THE STEEL HIDE, LAD!" The guard bellowed, and with one mighty surge forward, knocked the door along with Von, clear across the room.

"WE GOT OURSELVES A BLOODY JAILBREAK A GOIN ON HERE, EH!? BRING OUT THE ALE AND THE MUTTON! WE BE FEASTIN WITH YOUR BLOOD AS THA GARNISH, BOY!" Stroghor bellowed, most likely gaining the attention of the entire Ghalerion Headquarters.

Von didn't have time for such pathetic theatrics out of this man, merely changing his tactic; Executing a simple sidestep from the door effectively dodging the attempt to smack him against the wall. As soon as the guard started yelling Von slung the dagger straight through towards the neck of the guard, aiming to use the gaps that connected the helmet in order to make an effective piercing, being at such close range made it fairly easy for him to accomplish this task.

"Oh shut up, you massive overgrown fuck...I have business to attend to."

The dagger piercing straight into the neck of the guard and destroying his vocal chords before he could ever finish his sentence. Simply watching as the guard fell to the floor from choking on that cold steel.
After that Von gave a flick of his wrists and walked out the door like nothing happened. "God, I hate cocky guards..."

Robert paid relatively close attention to the demon expert as he listed off effective tools for warding off and harming general demons. He did not have any of the tools he spoke of, but did not imagine it would be difficult to come across any of them, except for the three-bladed dagger. A blade with three edges wouldn't be a singular blade at all, but rather three put together, or perhaps a weapon with three wedge edges.

After working to salvage what could be saved from the wreckage of the night, Robert decided to retire for the night. Almost forgetting about Gent, he was pleased to see his crippled companion collapsed on the only bed in the room, equally exhausted from his own work that night. Smiling slightly, he pulled off his sword and sat down against the wall beside the door. He didn't bother to change his clothes- this wasn't a temple, there was no guarantee of safety here, especially in this city. In fact, if it wasn't so uncomfortable to sleep in, he'd have donned his armor.

With the hilt of his blade resting against his shoulder, his right hand wrapped tightly around the hilt, he leaned his head back against the wall, tilting it slightly to rest on his shoulder as well, and slept.

Gent heard Robert come in. He knew it was his companion by the way his friend walked, listening to each footstep, Gent could nearly see him moving around the room. He sighed and buried himself more into the bed, feeling slightly guilty. Robert carried him around, helped him, listened, and mostly obeyed the mage’s every command. It was the physical workload of two people that Robert did. So finally Gent roused himself from the bed. Shivering from his own lack of sleep, Gent raised his hand and focused on the pack. The pack shook gently and a bedroll came out, floating in midair till Gent directed to a spot in the room. There the Gent quickly made up his own bed on the floor before turning his attention to the sleeping ex-knight…

And then he stopped. The knight was already asleep. A wary smile passed over him. “Rust for brains, one day you’re going to get a kink in your neck.� Was all Gent muttered as he waved a hand, the blanket from the bed roll popped up and was arranged rather hastily around Robert. Then Gent back into the straw filled mattress, digging himself deep into the blankets, the mage focused on staying warm as the first frosty morning of autumn came.

He would tell Robert what he had learned later when the big man could focus….

….Belarius…. was the name. Something about that name he knew meant something… but what?

Ka`zeh quirked a slender black eyebrow in the direction of Robert as he walked away without a word. The detective assumed the stranger would make himself at him regardless, and decided to head to the Headquarters to the welcoming embrace of paperwork. Yes indeed. Stacks and stacks of paperwork.

The man groaned as he lowered his head a bit to avoid the warm rays of the morning sun. The usual business lining the marketplace began to open. Livestock, fresh fruits and vegetables, jewelry, and armaments were among the few items that could be bought in the marketplace. The filth of Ghalerion seemed to vanish with the night, and instead was replaced by a mediocre hustle in the city streets.

The city seemed quite dead during the day time. Despite the rays of the morning sun, a heavy fog had settled into Ghalerion, and dark storm clouds slowly began to creep across the dull blue sky. Ka`zeh couldn't remember a time when the weather was fair in Ghalerion. It was either raining, or it was night.

--------------------------------------------------

Von had managed to escape without being caught, and the only sacrifice was the brave soldier Stroghor. The man's bleeding corpse lost all traces of life as the guards of the night shift slowly walked to the barracks to shed their heavy armor and get some well deserved rest.

A trail of blood alerted even the weary guards as their eyes spotted the large soldier's body in the doorway leading into the Barracks.

"Murder! Someone's been murdered!!" One of the guards bellowed, and the bustle of the Mess Hall silenced for a moment, and then the sound of heavy running echoed throughout the corridors of the Ghalerion Headquarters as all of the soldiers entered the lobby and also saw the dead body of Stroghor.

Belarius emerged from his chambers on the second floor, slowly walking to the balcony to survey the chaos for a moment. His four elite guards filtered around him like moths to a light.

"SILENCE!" He bellowed in a very powerful voice, instantly bringing about a hush throughout the ranks of soldiers.

"One of our soldiers have been brutally murdered. Check the dungeon, search the entire headquarters. Mobilize our militia immediately. No one will enter or leave this city until we have captured the culprit and put him to justice!" Belarius commanded with a swift and mighty demeanor, watching the guards quickly comply with the commands they were given.

The loud blare of a foghorn echoed throughout the entire city, the militia at their posts moving into tighter positions around the entrance and exit gates of Ghalerion.

Guards began to flow from the Headquarters like an angry swarm of bees. They began to break into houses, forcefully shoving families against walls while they completely wrecked the interior of the homes searching for the criminal that had slaughtered the soldier.

Ka`zeh was roused from his drowsiness by the cries of shock from families as their homes were violated by the guards. A few passed by the detective on their way to search more areas of the city, and the detective grabbed one by the arm.

"What the hell is going on now!?" He asked, growling a bit.

"A soldier was murdered in the Headquarters. Belarius commanded us to lock down the city and search every house!" The guard responded, jerking his arm away and running past Ka`zeh.

"Impossible..a guard murdered inside the Headquarters!?" He gasped, but his eyes widened as he witnessed the method in which the guards were "searching" for the culprit.

"What are you doing?! You don't have to wreck their homes and scare the daylights out of them just to search for a criminal!!" Ka`zeh roared in anger, running over to try and get the soldiers to stop.

A guard rounded on Ka`zeh, his hand slipping to the hilt of his blade.

"Sorry, detective. Belarius' orders. You'll have to take it up with him," The soldier warned.

"Believe me...I will," Ka`zeh replied dangerously, turned on his heel, and marched off towards the Ghalerion Headquarters.

Von grinned in a sigh of relief, however he wouldn't be able to savor the moment for long; Guards had been flooding the city, searching every nick and cranny throughout the town. His eyes were darting around to the point of putting a strain on the muscles from attempting to avoid oncoming swarms of guards.


Eventually he heard the yells of that familiar detective Ka`zeh screaming about the dead guard and attempting to their method of search. To a half ironic sense, he couldn't help but agree - It'd be much easier for him to escape town without all those guards.

Then as if spontaneously he bursted into a bar and grabbed the first bottle he saw, followed by a lantern used to light the room. "I need this thing...."

"NO WAY IN HELL YOU CROOK."

Von arched an eyebrow at the sad attempt to be tough from the bartender, stuffing the bottle in his pocket, he unsheathed his blade and thrusted it straight forwards, allowing it to stop underneath the chin of the bar-owner. "If you don't want to die, you'll move those liquor barrels outside and start rolling them down the street...I'll finish the rest."

The bartender did as he was told only because of that blade he had pointed at his neck. Men and women were both flooding out of the bar, making it about five blocks away before finally grabbing onto Ka`zeh that just happened to be nearby.

As soon as Von and bartender made it outside, he made a gash in each of the barrels and continously kicked at them until gaining enough momentum to make them start speed up. Taking off in a burst of speed, he aimed to light the trailing fluids with that torch, the gash being just small enough for a trail and also to leave enough for them to explode when they hit the guards at the gates.

If Von succeeded in this plan he'd suffer horrible burns, but it was worth it if he wished to live at all.

Gent heard the screams of the people outside. How could he ignore the shrieks of terror and of pain? He shuddered in the bed, trying to grasp his temper before it overcame his senses. Already he was feeling it slip. The guards outside were roughing up the peasants, women screamed the names of their children and daughters as soldiers parted them. Gent couldn’t sleep. While Gent would never admit to being a kind person, there was something in him that did not tolerate the injury of innocents. Thirty minutes had not been enough to sleep off a night of work. Gent shivered and pulled his cloak tighter, damnit! Damnit! Damnit! he thought to himself. The shivering grew worse as Gent felt his blood sugar drop.

One of the disadvantages of magic was the after effects- different for every mage. In Gent’s case, his blood sugar went down and he lost body heat rapidly. Sleep or food normally made up for this, and since Gent wasn’t getting either, his temper rose faster then normal. Heavy boots soon won his attention as he heard them slam up the INN steps and kick open the doors. The guards would soon be in Robert and his room- both of them would be trapped.

But it was what Gent saw outside that made him lose his temper and pushed him to the edge. He saw the barrels, Von kicking them. He saw the liquid squirt out everywhere and the lantern. This wouldn’t be anything left of this city if Von was allowed to go on. The fire would spread and many of the homes would be burned right along with the people trapped within.

Plates rattled on their shelves, cups fell from tables, buildings shuddered as Gent’s energy manifested.

“That idiot!� Gent hissed as he pulled his brown tunic on. “Robert, he’s going to destroy the city! That bastard! I should have never let him loose. I made a mistake in breaking that man out. He caused the fires earlier, Gods damn that pyromaniac!� Things in the room rushed around a swearing Gent and started to pack themselves into a tight bundle. Efficient and light, it would be easy for Robert to handle later. Guards were shouting and demanding answers, but Gent hardly cared. His eyes were locked on the lantern.

“I’m going to focus on putting out the fires, you got to get out- use the damn window- and stop him!�

Those where the last words Gent was able to say, the power took over. The winds in the street kicked up, this time in droves, howling as the air raced around the street. Licking out flames as glass from broken windows flew in the air. The element must have sensed Gent’s wish to avoid harm, for the glass was buried into wood buildings, not into human flesh. The lantern Von had been using blew out and the barrels pushed back, rolling into buildings, harder to control as the winds grew.

Gent didn’t know if Robert was able to stop Von, Gent didn’t even hear the words of the soldiers screaming at him to stop. Gent was drowning in a show of power as every flame in the town was licked out or snuffed out by the dirt and dust.

A sharp blow to his skull, Gent was swept down into the darkness as his power raged on unchecked. It would take the effort of the battle mages and what ever element user to calm the winds and pick up the damage.

Two of them would carry Gent down into the depths of the dungeon to await his fate.

The commotion outside and Gent's raving quickly awoke him. Trained as a soldier, Robert was fully alert almost immediately as he burst to his feet, withdrawing his longsword and strapping on his daggers. He knew simply from his companion's tone that action was immediately necessary, the words simply filled in the blanks as the priest's powers began manifesting to protect the city, despite the chaotic nature of their presence.

"Window, right," Robert nodded at the cripple's instructions as he rushed towards the large window frame in their room. Swinging his sword as he gazed through the glass at his intended target- the bandit Von- the former knight crashed through the window and hurtled from the second floor, sailing toward the ground below. Why he had chosen such a stupid, potentially life-threatening mode of getting outside, he wasn't sure, but luckily and coincidentally enough, a cart of hay was positiong right below the window, cushioning his fall and allowing him to roll, safely landing on the cobblestone street below. The same thing had helped save his life years ago, when he lost his knighthood and was nearly killed.

Rolling out of the cart and grabbing a handful of sand and dirt from the ground in the process, the former Sir Axgarde turned to face the trouble-maker.

"Von!" he shouted to get his attention. His stance, tone, and expression on his face made it clear to anyone in the area, and especially Von, that he meant to apprehend or otherwise stop the bandit by any means necessary.

Stalking towards his victim while the wind raged all around them, scattering debris everywhere, Robert quickly broke into a balanced charge and rushed his opponent, hurling a fistful of sand at the man's eyes before immediately thrusting his sword forward to stab the rogue's chest.

OOC: Just for the record Von isn't a bandit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Von continued his dash without remorse for the lives of others around him, he had to get out of that wretched town in order to save his own life, otherwise he'd be left at the mercy and descretion of the Ghaleon authorities. "I don't have time for you right now - If you want me come and get me!"

Time was running short and if Von didn't do something to keep that fire going that it wouldn't be long before he was finally apprehended by the proper authorities. Taking the initiative, he threw his left arm directly up infront of his face, latching his hand onto the trenchcoat in order to shield himself from the sand thrown at his eyes.

Von had spotted the cart that his opposition had used to land on and instantly took advantage of it, dragging his blade along the ground, he aimed to at least throw up a few embers into the direction of that annoying instigator and seer his eyes shut.
The momentum of the swing had indeed aided him in the battle and he would use the force of that spin to quickly turn off into another alley way and continue his escape.

The sand had not worked perfectly- Von had managed to protect his eyes from the grit and dirt that would've irritated and temporarily blinded him. Unfortunately for Von though, in protecting his eyes he blinded himself to Robert's true attack, a straight thrust with his longsword aimed right at the rogue's chest. Thinking he was out of immediate danger, his only response was a counter-attack in answer to Axgarde's sand, using his blade to flick whatever he could from the ground up towards the former knight's eyes.

Unfortunately it was too late for any such attack to have effect. Robert stepped forward with prejudice, blocking the debris flung at his eyes with his body and running his blade into the left side of the rogue's chest, impaling him upon the sword. Closing the distance between the two, Robert reached forward with his left hand and grabbed his stunned opponent's sword arm. With a sharp, strong tug, he pulled him onto the blade, pressing the steel further into his body and burying it almost up to the hilt.

"A selfish piece of shit like you," Axgarde muttered through gritted teeth as he wriggled the blade within Von's chest, "with no regard for human life or happiness, does not deserve the freedom you've been granted."

Hearing the pounding footsteps of armored guards rushing towards the scene, Robert shoved his victim backwards, pulling the blade from his foe's body and letting him bleed out into his clothing.

Fully aware that, while his opponent was mortally wounded, he was still potentially dangerous, the sword-fighter remained on guard, looking for any desperate acts. Meanwhile all around him the manifestation of Gent's frustration and rage roared, swirling dust and debris everywhere as it worked past the priest's original intentions, having already put out the fires. It was just a matter of time now until the city's mages were able to subdue Gent's forces.

Unlocking this now. We're all getting back on track and we're going to go from Robert's stabbing, but it'll be a non-fatal wound for you Von. That's the final decision on this one.

Any questions about it, PM me.

Von cringed intensely as a vast amount of pain went coursing throughout his chest, stunned for a few brief seconds until he finally managed to get his wits about him. The attack would prove fatal if he didn't do anything about it.


His attention had been caught on that particularly free spot which he aimed to take advantage of, he'd get his revenge or die in the process - One way or another, he'd find his advantage and take full control of it; And alas it had been met, allowing his opposition to pull himself straight into an attack, re-adjusting the positioning of his wrist on the hilt of his high frequency blade.

In doing so, his blade would travel straight forwards, at the man aiming to rip through the right-hand side of his chest and directly into his lungs, being at such close range ensured the attack would be success, taking into account both of his opponent's arms had been pre-occupied.

"You're damn right I'm selfish. This town has done nothing to deserve any respect from me, so why should I act like it does?"

A new side had been revealed to the so called criminal and coward that everyone couldn't help but label him as. Those words were meant to pierce and merely show the man that Von - A worthless relentless asshole even had his own reasons.

Having taken hold of his victim's sword-arm for just this purpose, it was a simple matter of shoving his arm off to the side, easily knocking his blade out of the way of its intended strike and allowing Robert to pull Von towards him.

Hearing the man's reply changed nothing of Robert's opinion about him. Not respecting a city as a whole was one thing, endangering innocent lives of its residence was something else entirely.

With guards approaching, Robert yanked his blade none-too-gently from his opponent's chest cavity and shoved the wounded man towards the armored men to subdue.

"Take him," he shouted over the roaring windstorm, "he'll live if someone treats that wound before it can be infected."

Using a handful of straw from the cart behind him, Robert wiped the blood from his sword, using his shirt to take care of what the straw may have missed before sheathing it at his side. The wind still had not ebbed, forcing the former knight to squint and use a hand to shield himself from the blowing sand, dirt and debris that flailed directionless in the air. Turning back to the guards before they left, he mentioned this.

"Someone should talk to the city's mages," he continued shouting, "kill this wind that's kicking everything up."

Walking back up to his room in the inn he was met at the door by a pair of guads carrying his traveling companion, unconscious in their arms.

"Wait a minute!" Robert shouted in protest, drawing his sword once more, "What are you doing with him!?"

"Our mages tell us he's the cause for the gale outside, he's being arrested for using magic within the city limits."

"But he saved the city from the fire! BOTH of them!"

"Be that as it may sir," the guard continued, "We can't let breaking the law go unpunished. He'll have his trial."

"Alright," Robert reluctantly conceded, sheathing his longsword, "so where will he be in the mean time?"

"All prisoners are held in the jail at the guards' station until time for their trial."

"I'll follow you there."

"As you wish."

Marching behind the guards, he followed them to the guard station as they carried the frail cripple.

If there was one thing Von most definitely wasn't going to let happen it would be being taken back into custody by those annoying half brute guards. As soon as he was off that blade, he barely managed to kneel down and grasp the hilt of his blade, and take off not even standing up fully, he could only use his legs since he was so severely wounded.


They'd most likely try executing him on the spot if he stayed there for much longer, evening was starting to fall amongst the streets once more and Von immediately swiped his blade against one of the lanterns, knocking it off of its hook and setting the that area ablaze once more.

Putting the city in danger was something he could care less about, as he stated before why should he respect a city that deserves no respect. Even a man of such belligerence had feelings and it was about time that he started doing something with his own life."This town's going to burn in hell..."

He said to himself continuing to make his fervently slow run down through the gates of the city, he still had his right lung to use and if he could only use half of his strength then that'd be what he'd use to get himself out of this predicament."That gate is just up ahead...Hopefully those guards won't be there to try and stop me..."

OOC: For the record, this is complete and utter bullshit

IC:
Following the two guards carrying Gent on their way back to the guard station, Robert glanced around, observing the city as the winds slowly began to die down. Catching a familiar sight out of the corner of his eye, the traveling warrior turned to look, catching view of a staggering Von, bleeding profusely from the chest and making his way down the street in the middle of plain view.

Upset that the guards had not, in fact, taken him into custody as they should’ve done and confused as to how Von got away in such a wounded state, Robert broke away from the guards he was following to pursue the rogue as he traveled down the street. As he drew closer, the wounded rogue suddenly lashed out at a lantern post nearby, knocking the lamp from the hook it was on. Immediately understanding his purpose, Robert grabbed a dirk from his thigh and whipped it forcefully towards the falling fire-starter. With skill and precision honed from years of combat training, Axgarde managed to pin his dagger beneath the hook of the falling lantern and sticking it into the post the lantern had fallen from.

“You little bastard!� The former knight shouted as he quickly drew another dirk and flung it forcefully at his former victim’s right shoulder using the same skill and precision with which he’d made his initial throw. Withdrawing his longsword once more, but this time drawing his last dirk in his off-hand as a defensive weapon, he approached the wounded renegade.

“Guards! Guards!� he shouted for everyone to hear, his voice carrying further now that the winds were dying down, “I’ve found the fugitive Von! He’s trying to escape!�

Closing the distance between the two, Robert proceeded to viciously swing for the renegade’s left thigh.

A grunt of irritation followed by his body completely turning around, cognition told him exactly who and what was following him through that city and attempting to stop his escape. As ironic as it seemed for man wounded in the chest to still be walking wasn't as disturbing to he himself as it may have seen.

His entire life Von had been dealing with criminals of all sorts getting into brutal fights and nearly losing his life in many. That's why he never quit, he didn't know how to get tired or fear death. He'd seen it too many times in his entire life to be affected by it or even fear it and that's what kept him going that entire time.

His sheer ambition and utter rage forced him to immediately turn around and latch his left hand around that dagger in the wall, allowing the blade to harmlessly pass by his shoulder in the process as he turned and rip it off along with the lantern it was hooked onto. Forcefully throwing it against a cart of hay and destroying the wooden legs it had used for support, causing all of it to fall straight onto the ground and cover up Roberts path, in doing so he lit up the straw and set it ablaze along with the oil which gave him plenty of fuel to work with.


Reaching into his trenchcoat he would grab the second dagger he had stolen from the storage closet back at the Ghaleon headquarters and take careful aim, slinging it straight throught he flames and towards the unprotected chest of robert as he pulled out his last two weapons. "Goddamn punk doesn't know his place...and it sure as shit isn't getting involved in things that don't concern him..."

Placing his blade infront of him and in a defense posture in case the man were to sling that last dirk his way and attempt to finish him off for good.

As he withdrew his final dirk, through the flames Robert could see Von reaching into his coat. Expectedly, he had a throwing weapon of his own for his stalker. Seeing the flashing blade twirl through the fiery blockade, Robert pulled his sword across his body and swung with a back-hand motion, knocking the knife away like a skilled tennis player returning a ball. Discarded from its path, the blade fell to the ground with a slight clatter. All around him shouts could be heard, some of distress, some of alarm, and the armored clattering of guards could once more be heard from all around them as they converged on Robert’s shouts and the flames.

Stalking angrily towards the fire that cut him off from Von, the sword-wielding Axgarde reached forward with his blade and carefully pushed aside a pile of flaming straw, opening it up for him to walk through and in turn, coating his sword with some of the oil that had lit the straw. Flickering light from the flames of his sword danced through his murderous eyes as he approached the offending Von.

Standing with a right-lead as his longest weapon was held in his primary hand, Robert slowly circled around Von.

“The guards are on their way. Don’t think you can make it out of this alive or unshackled. Like it or not, you’re trapped. I’d ask you to surrender, but I’m sure that’s a useless question.�

Darting forward, the former knight feinted with the tip of his long blade to knock aside the dagger in the rogue’s lead hand before stabbing forward past it towards the criminal’s lead shoulder.

A simple flick of the man's wrist combined with a thrust most likely wouldn't be enough in order to take out a man such as Von, even in his wounded condition he hadn't lots his mentality and train of thought when it came to combat tactics.

"Goddamn prick, just doesn't know when to quit, does he?" He reached into his pocket once more and grabbed the final dagger from his pocket, using what little strength he had left as a means of moving towards the man, since not much momentum was applied in his attack, it was made relatively easy for Von to simply stumble out of the way.

Utilizing sheer methodical thinking in avoiding this attack, ramming his right left elbow into the flat side of the blade which he assumed was facing the sides of the streets. Forcefully shoving it off to the side and leaving along with his arm extending completely outwards to continue the force behind it and simultaneously sling the last dagger outwards into the exposed neck of Robert.

The counter attack had thrown Robert off balance and Von would take advantage of the situation by concurrently finishing off the attack with a thrust of his blade downwards into the forearm of Andrew and in the process disable his hand completely which would render it useless due to dexterity being cut off - That is if everything went according to plan.