Kiritanek rose from where he was sitting after most of the patrons had left the recentky decimated tavern. The mini-quake had shaken much of what was left standing into broken items not left standing. The ice that held the Shaman's prisoner shattered in the vibrations causing the mightily worried man to excuse himself surprisingly quickly for someone of his stature. The Tui approached the odd Zaggyar who had settled himself. "Such a show of power was unnecessary" he began, refeing to the earthquake that he had observed Tuon initiating, "When you frequent places like this you observe that many of these dull examples of humans have the capability to ignore much." He looked judgementally at Tuon before continuing "what brings you to this den of the world? Your race does not leave their land. You are the first I have seen beyond the Rothen." The blood red gills at the back of Kiritanek's head shifted uncomfortable, as if remembering the awful conditions the wanderer endured there.

As Tuon felt the power seep out of him, the ecstasy which he experienced during the summoning of the Earthworm, he felt a bit of ... loss. Then he finally took notice of the tavern, well what was left of it. Half the chairs and tables had been broken, and many a few of the patrons were on the ground, not as much as he would like mind, but it will have to do. Tuon could do nothing but smile at the damage he had wrought in this place. Well, the Zaggyar were not a normally violent race, but well, there are exceptions to certain restrictions.

Then he saw movement, and it was surprising for it was movement towards him. The drow walked over to him confidently, all regal and mighty, perhaps add a pinch of arrogance in it and uttered a very simple sentence to Tuon. "Nice parlour trick, bright eyes."

Tuon could do nothing but gasp at that arrogant drow as it, no Tuon will not admit that Drow's gender, left the tavern. Regaining his composure, Tuon closed his jaw and sat down on the broken piece of table which the other two patron had been using as their sanctuary before leaving, a wise choice that. He scanned the surrounding and saw many patrons still regaining their composure, a short stocky man running out after the Drow.

Tuon grimaced, probably a cat-purse, a common pest found in taverns such as one like this. A blight on the society, whatever you need could be earned in honourable raids and not this .... action called stealing. Tuon still could not put disgust out of the word Stealing, even though he has been so long in human territory. A tall lean orc was leaving too, probably after the drow. No matter, Tuon could sense that arrogant as the Drow was, it probably had good fighting skills.

As Tuon settled down on the table, it had conveniently been formed into the shape of a Shaka, a plant which grows in the shape of what the humans in this land call a chair.

Tuon was settled down when he saw someone walking over. He could not tell what he was wearing; Tuon still had very little idea about what other creatures wore. But from his grab, he looked like a shaman.

"Such a show of power was unnecessary," the shaman said. Tuon raised his eyes, as much as he could. He hated violence, but he would not hesitate to use violence in order to stop violence, don't anyone know such basic logic?

"When you frequent places like this you observe that many of these dull examples of humans have the capability to ignore much." Tuon merely nodded his head to his observation, he had certainly seen more than one example of that in his travels.

"what brings you to this den of the world? Your race does not leave their land. You are the first I have seen beyond the Rothen." Now, that was shocking, Tuon had never even seen their kind before, but maybe they had things such as scholars or books which showed the Zaggyar. But the Zaggyar are a primitive race, by the human standard, not using books, they use Oral communication to pass down the history of the race. Tuon is one such Bayar, he knows the entire history of the Zaggyar race in his head.

Tuon stood up; he always preferred speaking to someone on a level term, especially more so with s stranger. “Well, first, shaman, can I call you that,” Tuon asked with a wave of his hand, “well, I have no idea what you are called, so I will just call you shaman first, by your garments. Well, I am Tuon, a Bayar of the Zaggyar, that’s a magician in human tongue. I also take on many other roles. Well, for that display of power, I simply felt too bored, as the humans would say.” Tuon flashed a brief smile, boredom in the Zaggyar world was always taken up with raiding, oh how he missed those times.

“And yes, I tend to notice that many of the humans have an extraordinary talent for ignoring things, they tend to wisen up after some of the lessons I give them, for ignoring a Bayar, of course. Not many people know that I am a Zaggyar, but that is no matter.”

“As to the reasons for my being here, well,” Tuon turned away from the shaman and looked away, knowing that at the moment his eyes were a bright orange, the colour of hesitation in the Zaggyar language. He was not sure how much the shaman knew of his race, but better to be safe than sorry. He turned towards the shaman again once he was satisfied that his eyes were back to normal purple. “ I am sorry, well, as I was saying, my reasons for being here. You see, I was what you called a adventurous Zaggyar, not many of those exist, but one of those I am. So, being life-curious, I set out to attempt to know more of the human world and bring back some knowledge to the Zaggyar race. But on the way here, I found a summons for the king looking for heroes to fight a creature called the Dragon. Well, I personally have never heard of such a creature before and I wanted to fight that creature. Of course, the other benefits of helping the king are involved. So, that is my story, a brief one. What is your story …”

The nagamuri decided it was best to leave. He didn't want a hunting knife. He turned and exited the bar. He watched the streets, the ground crunched beneath his feet. The southerner hated being called an orc. In-fact, the word orc in nagamuri culture was deemed to be highly insulting, people died when they called a Nagamuri an orc. It was dishonorable death to, usually involving an everyday item used to brutally murder or hurt the one who called the slur. Because that's what it was in Nagamuri culture. A racial slur.

Samuro folded his arms. Examining his nails as he watched people pass him. His eyes passing along them. The nagamuri were a rare sight to most people, surprisingly half of the peasants increased their walking speed. Samuro grinned and waited for something to happen.

The Zaggyar's action of standing brought him above the smaller Tui but that did not phase the newt-like being. Kiritanek was used to many species being larger then he was, and he was comfortable in the fact that he could overpower a number of them. Although the power shown by the black-skinned being lead the shaman to understand that they were roughly on equal terms in that respect. He did not fear, for Tuon showed no sign of aggressive intent. "Ah, boredom is a great pressure, I understand of course." Kiritanek replied politely "And you are correct, I am a shaman, although that is more a translation into the human tongue. I differ from the human example." He smiled in return to the Zaggyar, although many races would find the tooth filled grin frightening. Tuon continued and the Tui listened intently, for there was not much else to listen to as the being told his story in all the time he required without interruption.

Only when Tuon was finished did Tui respond to the invitation to share. He indicated the Zaggyar to follow him "We should leave this place, it would be welcomed by the proprietor," he indicate the bartender who was in the process of recovering what he could and giving the pair looks that suggest he would rather he was alone for the task." As he walked he told his story "I shall begin with a formal introduction" Kiritanek began. "I am known as Awl Kiritanek Xect. Like yourself I am the black sheep, to use the human phrase, amongst my kind, the Tui. I have magical capabilities beyond my kinsmen and belong to a family of what the humans would call Shamans. At our entering to adulthood we are sent to leave the tribe and wander until we are ready to be welcomed.

"Many shamans remain amongst the ice fields and glaciers of the east from which we hail. A few more adventurous souls like myself journey into the world. Our temporary exile is intended to make us more learned and powerful while the others of our kind remain amongst their clans on the ice for the full extent of their life. I have been away from my clan of Xectuiezex for a full 42 years and during that time I have travelled far and wide. Meeting and living amongst a large number of races of this world. Your kind being one of them, although I only stayed for two seasons as the conditions were too harsh for a being such as myself. So in much the way as you travel to learn so do I, although my purpose here is altered from your own." The Tui finally stopped walking, ending his short journey in a small cross roads amongst the houses of the city. A large figure could be seen standing at the side of a busy thoroughfare and a group of beings of differing size could be seen down another street, crowding in and out of what appeared to be a blacksmith. He turned to Tuon before continuing his story.

"For the past three years I have been living in a nearby human city, adapting as I have in so many cultures. When the city received the missives you intercepted. I felt that as I had only several more years left before the return to my own kind I should attempt leave a mark amongst the wider cultures. My wanderings has shown me that the Tui clans are some of the smallest of congregations and much of the larger world do not even know of their existence. I wish to bring my kind into the greater vision. And even if I fall to the Dragon, I shall die knowing that I serve my kind in the wilderness..." He paused, surprised that he revealed such details, not that they could be used against him. "By the way, I do not know your name friend."

"Fascinating." Kiriel lied, inwardly rolling her eyes. She'd managed to drive away the lumbering fool only to be left with the chattering idiot. At least this one chattered in a vaguely coherent manner, even if she did it far too much. "I'll make a note not to be robbed by a talking horse, in future."

Silence fell between the two for a few moments (at least on Kiriel's side of things) as they walked, and Kiriel eventually decided that she might as well poke the conversation with a stick and see what happened. "Do you have a brother?" she asked, glancing down at Coriel. "Because I saw someone who looked rather like you in the tavern, stealing from idiots. But I am certain that someone was male. Unless you are a nymph? You do have that look about you, now that I think about it." The drow looked Coriel up and down, noting her features were moderately androgynous (though that was no certain indicator, a nymph might swap from the form of a beautiful woman to that of a burly, chiselled man). "Do enlighten me as to..."

The drow's speech was interrupted by a loud crying from nearby, as the city guard passed by. The same would be occurring throughout the city, as patrols of guards moved through the streets.

"Curfew! Curfew! All citizens are to return to their homes immediately! Visitors, please make your way to the nearest inn displaying a dragon's head above the door, or to an inn in which you have made prior booking. This is for your own safety, the city guard are not responsible for your untimely demise should you remain out of doors! I say I say again, curfew! Curfew! All citizens are to return to their homes immediately..."

Kiriel tuned the man's words out as he began to repeat himself, and folded her arms, pausing in her walking. "Well that's irritating." she stated.

As all of the citizens and most of the visitors knew, this curfew was very important. Shopkeepers dealt with whatever they were doing and bustled their customers away in order to close up shop, men and women alike hurried through the streets to reach their homes, and the sound of slamming and locking doors resonated throughout the housing districts of the city. The few buildings remaining open were the inns the guard had mentioned; those with a dragon's head above the door. They were establishments being paid by the city watch to allow all comers to hurry into the safety of their walls should they be unable to reach their homes or booked places of residence.

Safety from what? That question would soon be answered, for those who did not already know the answer.

Kiriel looked down at the woman with her, "Well, I suppose that we should probably go and find an inn, then." she said without any real enthusiasm. "Or perhaps..." the drow's mouth curled upwards in a smile. "Perhaps, it would be good to get a look in at what sort of thing we are up against, hm?"

Still grinning wickedly, Kiriel turned her path and began to walk in the direction of the city walls, one hand caressing her shortsword. "Feel free to tag along, my dear!" she called back to Coriel, "My name, incidentally, is Kiriel." she added as an afterthought.

Kursh trudged calmly along through the streets of Emeralia, eyes alert as he moved. The people around him did not hide their stares, but he had become accustomed to the looks people gave to his kind. Most people mistake the Nagamuri for the barbaric invaders known as orcs, and Kursh grimaced as he heard the whispers behind him. He stepped up the pace and moved quicker, heading towards the city center before a call rang out;

Curfew! Curfew! All citizens are to return to their homes immediately! Visitors, please make your way to the nearest inn displaying a dragon's head above the door, or to an inn in which you have made prior booking. This is for your own safety, the city guard are not responsible for your untimely demise should you remain out of doors! I say I say again, curfew! Curfew! All citizens are to return to their homes immediately...

Kursh huffed a bit as he became frustrated. Every single time.. he muttered in his gruff, but calm voice, ignoring the Curfew call as he continued towards the city center. At the worst, he could run to anywhere nearby and see if he could get out of the way should things go wrong.

After the blacksmith had finished with the horseshoes, Drew wised for the love of Sharad that he could see them and make sure the craftsmanship was up to his standards. It would make for an incredibly bad coincidence if on his journey they broke down right in front of a a really big monster. He had absolutely no wish to become monster-food in some kind of horrid black cook pot, mixed in with some eye of newt. Are there potions that have ingredients made from horses in them? he casually thought as he walked out of the horseshoeing area of the shop and went back to Vincent. That man would be a remarkable source of income for him.

He was about to reply with the statement, even going so far as saying "Well we should get going-" however then the annoying procession of guards with their loud voices marched past the building, looking for all the world like a marching band without instruments, telling everyone within reach to get to an inn before curfew. Turning back to Vincent, he said "apparently to the nearest inn with a dragon's head above the door.I happen to know such a place (you don't get to be a talking horse without walking through the city's streets after all), so follow me and make sure to to tell the owner I'm your horse. I have no money after all."

Heading out of the store he didn't check to see whether Vincent was following him. Truth be told he could probably sneak his way into a stable by knocking the stableboys out cold with his brand new horseshoes. They probably wouldn't suffer any sort of permanent brain damage; probably, at least. He had a slight curiosity of what could possibly cause his untimely doom, but he figured unless it caused a sound that could be heard from the city walls it wouldn't concern him. He causally trotted along like this for a few minutes before getting to an inn called The Dragon's Tail, with the image of a dragon's head at the front. "Ah, this looks to be the place. I hope you have the money to afford a room here because this was closest and I am not walking any farther on account of the threat of my untimely doom looming over my head this very instant."

"Alright" Vincent said cutting across Drew's face walking to the inn "Wait here I'm going to pay for my room and for you to be stabled here" he said slowly opening the door. The line from the front desk extended to the door, Vincent steps up to the front of the line cutting every one behind him.

"Yea I'm going to need a single room and somewhere to stable my horse" He said giving a friendly look to the woman behind the desk

"The cost will be 100 gold pieces" The woman answered

Vincent looks in his gold pouch to find it empty, he looks back up at the woman and smiles "Well I'm low on gold". Leaving the inn disappointed looking back a Drew who was starring blankly at the wall, Vincent waves his hand in front of Drew's face "Lets go I have no money".

Arrow nodded his head at Sigrid's words; they rang true in his own head, thinking back to his days as a soldier himself. Whilst it had been true that his king had been conservative with his better troops, the unit which Arrow had led had been considered something along the lines of cannon fodder themselves, not half due to he himself. It would have been far more convenient for his father were his bastard son simply to be slain in battle. Of course, this hadn't occurred to Arrow in those years, but looking back at it, it was a little more obvious.

"I have some experience in that department." he noted with a smirk, "And I agree wholeheartedly. What more is a dragon than a particularly large, bitey foe alike any other? Aside from the necromancy and the fire breathing, of course... but nay, such things are manageable. I am certain we will have mages of our own to aid us against him..."

At that moment, the patrol of guards made their way past, shouting their instructions, and Arrow raised a brow.

"Whilst it would be logical for us to return to our places of residence at this point, I somehow feel disinclined towards it." The archer chuckled. "What say you, madame, do you fancy accompanying me to aid the guards in their defence of the city?" Arrow looked upwards at the night sky, flexing his fingers. The moon shone brightly, and the light of the lamps combined with that should provide enough light for him to shoot capably. As long as the night remained clear, that was...

Tuon listened attentively as Awl continued on his story-telling and when Awl, indicated that they should leave the tavern, for the bartender, who was eyeing him suspiciously seems like he wanted to be alone. Tuon dug into his inner coat where he hides some of his travel money and placed a full bag of coins, the last few such bags of his, on the table before leaving. Tuon did not feel sorry for the earthquake but he did feel sorry that the bartender had to take such damage for the stupidity of human actions.

As they left the tavern, Tuon listened as Awl went on about how his story, the similarities in both their stories were striking, yet despite their similarities, their differences too were distinct. “For us Zaggyar, it is a different story. As the Bayar are a special lot amongst the Zaggyar, the first Bayar established a temple hidden deep within the Rothen Wastelands and each new child Zaggyar are tested for the ability to use magic from our adulthood ceremony and brought to the temple to undergo training. We came from no clan and all clan, in times of emergencies; we are the uniting factor of the entire Zaggyar race.” As Tuon finished, he let Awl go on with his story.

Stopping at a small crossroads from where they left the tavern, Tuon noticed that Awl was looking at something but did not manage to see what before he turned his attention back to Tuon again. Tuon listened with great interest as Awl described the purpose of his visit and as he paused, a look of pure surprise was on his face; it was as if Awl had no intention to reveal what he had just said and would do anything to take it back. As he resumed, Tuon realized that Awl was asking him a question. He smiled as he replied and bowed deeply enough for a king, a mark of respect amongst the humans which he learned.

“My name is Tuon Rila Zagtayar. Rila is my family name and Zagtayar is my clan name. Bayar of the Zaggyar race and traveler of the human nations. It is my pleasure to meet you, Awl, Shaman of the Tui.” When he finished, he bowed once again. “My apologies if I have offended you. We of the Zaggyar prefer formal greetings and it seems that I must be losing my way to have forgot such an important part of our culture.”

Just then, a gong ringed in the distance, calling for a curfew and for citizens to return to their inns or the inns opened by the city watch.

“Well, my friend, would you care to accompany me back to an inn opened by the city watch, so that we may enjoy the young night together. And perhaps we might even learn what is plaguing this city, what say you?” And Tuon’s eyes was once again flashing with the yellow of excitement and ecstasy.

The Tui shook his head in response to Tuon as the curfew summons disappeared amongst the urban surroundings. "No, I must apologise" Kiritanek began diplomatically, "I did not wish to cause you any inconvenience. I just wished to be polite and speak to you on level terms, my friend." He paused a moment before continuing, voice holding no humour at the mistake "Awl is merely my title, I apologise for the misconception."

The Shaman smiled his toothy grin at Tuon's suggestion. "I must decline." He said, politely. "I shall remain beyond any walls today. I ask you to do the same, for anything we could learn within these inns we can learn beyond them." He looked steady and sure in his statements "I already understand the general nature of these threats. A day of listening patiently within an ale house provides much information of varying sorts. I believe we are facing creatures of darkness and undeath and I shall see the extend of these beings myself for there is no better way."

"Coriel? What an odd coincidence." Kiriel raised an eyebrow as she walked, glancing over her shoulder. The drow did a double-take upon noticing Coriel's new look, but then remembered her previous observation. "Ah, yes, you are a nymph then. That always catches me by surprise." Looking back ahead, Kiriel chuckled. "Variety is the spice of life, I suppose."

It was a short jaunt through the streets before the city's walls became prominent, towering over the streets several blocks away. The last few trickles of sunlight were fading as it ducked behind the mountains to the North, and with it the civilians were holing themselves up in their houses. The movement of armoured guards through the streets became more obvious, patrols were increased and their weaponry upgraded from cudgels to swords, axes, and bows.

There was an odd lull as a patrol passed out of earshot as Kiriel and Coriel moved, the city eerily silent as families quietly went about their evening business within the confines of their homes. Most cities would still be hives of activity at this time, but not Emeralia. Kiriel clicked her tongue. "Now if I know my villainous activities, this would be the momentary quiet right before the..."

At that moment a loud and echoing screech resonated through the city from the sky.

"...loud noise announcing the attack." Kiriel finished, smirking.

From the cloudy night sky above, silhouetted against the low moonlight, winged shapes began to descend. From another adjacent street came a shout of "Gargoyles!" from a guard patrol, and across the city bows were turned skywards. The shapes descended sharply into dives, more echoing screeches resounding through the streets as the gargoyles attacked. As they drew closer, their appearance became more obvious. Their wings were ragged, batlike and rotten; their features twisted in snarls and howls. Sharp teeth were bared, and faintly glowing green eyes staring and dead; their limbs and extremities ended with scything claws, their skin grey and tough. All in all, they were pretty nasty things.

"Heads up, nymphy boy." Kiriel grinned, lifting her own bow and aiming upwards. "Wouldn't want to drop one of these on you by mistake."

The drow released an arrow, and pierced a gargoyle through the eye. It fell from the sky to crumple on the ground only a few feet to the pair's right.

"Nasty fuckers these, but at least they die easier than skeletons...."

Tuon listened attentively as the Tui politely declined his request. He smiled as the Tui volunteers to stay outside of any protection and even wishes to combat some of the vile beasts.
Tuon bowed and said, “I shall respect your wishes, and as my new friend, perhaps I shall accompany you. My powers, however will be diminished as I have not brought my quarterstaff with me and exhaustion will take its toll on me.”
Just then, as the last of the sun fell away, the sounds of marching boots could be heard resonating throughout the city as the guards in the city increased and each was spied with elaborate weapons.
Tuon turned towards the Tui and gave a warm smile. “Well, looks like being inside the city is a good learning experience too.”

"Indeed" Kiritanek responded, looking to the sky as shadows started to flit in the dark sky. "I thank you for accompanying me. As I understand your strength shall be more then needed without the assistance of your staff." He smiled at the Zaggyar, encouraging.

A screech from the sky raised a cry as the shapes in the sky dropped down towards the ground. In a moment Kiritanek's scimitar, until presently unnoticed at his side, was drawn and ready. The gargoyles descending with frightening speed, in other parts of the city some made it to the ground and some encountered the armoured patrols. Sounds of battle began to spring from around the streets, at the moment on a few cries rung from mouths. A few of the grey skinned beings made their way towards the two standing in the open. These the shaman spotted. In a moment of concentration he swung his arm out, fingers apart and palm facing towards the descending monstrosities. The water vapour in the air around the Tui's appendage cooled with the power of his magic and began to shape itself into shards of ice hovering just above the spell caster's hand. With a simple closing of his fist the shards were propelled into the air, the once empty sky around the diving gargoyles filled with the icy projectiles. Three fell, pincushions of ice and crashed at the Shaman's feet. Two had managed to avoid the shower and continued their journey towards Kiritanek and Toun. The Shaman had just briefly expending himself with the last spell and would not be able to deal with the grotesque survivors.

Arrow did indeed follow behind Sigrid, and his eyes went to the sky when the first screeches were heard. The archer narrowed his eyes at the silhouettes of the gargoyles that descended from the sky toward them, lifting his bow from his back and nocking an arrow to it. "It seems that the first instance of combat shall be at least partially aerial, my lady Sigrid." Arrow murmured, locking his eyes onto one shape that soared overhead. "I shall draw their attention to us, I think; ready yourself."

At Arrow's words, the arcane archer moved his hand over to the end of the nocked arrow, briefly brushing against it. Where his hand passed, the arrow's tip became alight with glowing fire, and he grinned. Lifting the bow skywards, Arrow aimed the weapon at the gargoyle that moved over them, and loosed. The arrow shot into the sky, unnaturally bright as it soared upwards, illuminating the area around them briefly before passing too high for the light to reach them. Arrow's aim was true, and the arrow head embedded itself into the gargoyle, knocking it backwards with a screech. It did not finish there, however, even as the creature began to descend in a flailing of wings. After a few moments, the arrow exploded like a firework, creating a loud bang that could be heard from several blocks away, as well as a burning light in the sky, only slightly obscured by bits of gargoyle.

"I give it three... two... one..." Arrow began, and as the archer had predicted, in only a few moments time a great deal more gargoyles appeared within the pair's field of vision, attracted to the light. "Ah, there we go. Much better!"

Arrow lifted his bow once more, nocking another arrow, and began to fire. His arrows flew true every time, striking gargoyles down in various manners ranging from crackling spasms brought about by surges of electricity, down in blocks of ice, or even in one interesting instance in through a nearby window, at which Arrow winced and called "Sorry!" at the responding screeching from inside as the gargoyle's corpse came to a rest in somebody's kitchen.

Of course, as accurate and fast as Arrow was, his little light show had drawn more gargoyles than he could take down before they reached him, and about half a dozen of the creatures descended nearby to attack both he and Sigrid in close range. The sound of booted feet as a group of the city watch approached was audible nearby -- it seemed they had noticed the concentration of the creatures descending toward this particular street. Whether there would be any gargoyles left by the time they got there was another matter...

The kingdom walls were there looming in the distance, and from where Alex stood at the top of a hill, she could see the firelight coming from the houses and watchtowers, and some small flashes of light on one side of the walls.

"That is odd. Are those fireworks?" Then she looked closer as the small flashes illuminated tiny silhouettes that anyone with lesser eyesight wouldn’t have seen in the fading light.

"Oh. That’s not good. Are those gargoyles?" And indeed they were.

After a groan of sheer exasperation, Alex took off on a dead run, mentally cursing at her mother for delaying her departure and causing her to miss the start of the fighting. Then, as she watched the small gargoyles’ shapes fly towards the city, she noticed a few branch off and come her way.
“Well this is brilliant. Here they come... But at least there are only four of them.” She removed her trusty sling from the right side of her belt as she talked aloud to herself to stay calm, and retrieved a smooth stone from the pouch on the left side of her belt. She placed the stone in the leather pouch, and, feeling its weight, watched the gargoyles come closer. As they neared, she started spinning her sling until it was whirring audibly.

After waiting a few more moments for the beasts to come closer yet, Alex let loose and the nearest of the four gargoyles fell dead to the ground, a stone embedded deep in its skull. Unfortunately, Alex was only able to unload one more deadly stone before she had to draw her club. Loading up and getting the sling up to speed again would probably end up getting her killed before she even reached the city. One of the gargoyles landed in front of her, and the other remained flying overhead. Alex kept a watchful eye on the airborne one as she backed up slightly from the first. The ground gargoyle swiped its ugly claws at her as the one in the sky dove down to grab her with its sharp talons. She rolled as the two nearly ran into each other, and then they both took to the air and circled her. One dove, but Alex hardly needed to move. She turned her shoulders sideways, swung her club and cracked its head, then turned to look around for the other.

'The other' was coming at her now, and this one looked as if it would try the same diving method as the other, but instead it feinted, slapping Alex’s head with the side of its tail, leaving her momentarily dazed. She had forgotten to wear her helmet, of all things.

Then the thing pounced on her and ominously lifted an arm to swipe at her face. She backhanded it, picked up her club, and swung at its head. There was another satisfying crack, and it was over.

"Gargoyles. Why someone would send them out as a main force escapes me, She puzzled over this, despite her lack of military experience. All you do is swing and they go down like flies. I guess the problem lies in hordes of them... Like that horde over there at the castle, where I should have been a few days ago."

Alex dramatically groaned in exasperation again, then started running towards where she had seen the flashes and horde of gargoyles. She hoped she wouldn’t miss too much, but knowing her luck the things would all be dead before she got there.

As the Tui smiles at him, a screech piercing through the sky raised a cry of alarm in the city and figures of grey skins called gargoyles began to descend out of the sky at frightening speeds. The awkward silence of the street just now became a sea of screaming souls as people who didn’t manage to make It to their house screamed and ran for their lives and as armoured patrols fought and tried to repel the gargoyle attacks.

As soon as Tuon saw that a few of the gargoyles were approaching him and the Tui, the Tui immediately summoned up a few shard of ice and threw It in the direction of the gargoyles. Tuon saw that three of the five gargoyles that flew in their direction went down with shards of ice dotting their entire bodies and saw that his Tui friend had already exhausted himself.

Tuon gathered the energies of the Earth around him. Summoning the discipline of a Bayar he had learned, Tuon took the dirt of the earth and shaped them into shards of dirt, similar to what his Tui friend there had done. Tuon stretched his hands out and controlled the few shards, moving them in simple movements, yet deadly. Even though Tuon could not manage to kill the gargoyles straight off, he still managed to hurt them enough so much so that both the gargoyles retreated with heavy bleeding.

Panting, Alex reached the castle walls. The horde of gargoyles had mostly died down (just her luck of course), except for a few stragglers that decided to stick around and see what exactly was running towards the castle. She dispatched them as easily as the others that had met her on the top of the hill (if not faster since she knew what to expect from a measly two of them), and kept up an easy jog into the kingdom itself. It was eerily silent at the moment, and she was trying to soften her footsteps so she could hear more of what was around her. She tried to avoid looking at the bodies of the civilians unfortunate enough to not make it inside before the horde struck, keeping her head down respectfully.
But as she slowed to a walk and passed a house with a shattered window, she was able to listen more closely, and Alex heard some high pitched screeching and inclined her ear to listen.

"Oh, more gargoyles? Okay, so I think I did not miss too much, then. I imagine I made very good time running here as well," She said to herself, feeling the strain in her legs as she continued at a brisk walk towards the horrible sound of the screeching beasts.
She wasn't too sure what she would find, but she drew her sling and prepared a stone just to be ready, because in times like this being ready was what made the difference between life and death.

Kiritanek recovered from his expenditure of energy quickly, he was thankful for Tuon's assistance. "My thanks." He said as the wounded gargoyles backed off. A grin spilt his face, revealing rows of aggressive teeth. "Shall we finish them off?" He asked and without waiting for an answer his scimitar was out of its scabbard and newt-like Tui charged at the ugly beings. The slow-of-thought winged monstrosities were taken by surprise, usually creatures were the ones doing the chasing. The nearest's brain finally caught on that it should move, but it was too late for the Shaman's blade slipped though the flesh at the gargoyles neck. The startled head fell from the shoulders of its bearer as Kiritanek, still moving forward from his stroke, smashed his shoulder into the still standing headless being. The corpse flew backwards, knocking over its fellows as the Shamans charge halted, his decapitating stroke had brought his blade around, bearing his shoulder and back. He took a moment to recover his stance, but in that time the other gargoyles had caught on to the situation and went for the Tui in a variety of methods.

one attempted to take flight and tumbled out of the way entirely as the shredded wings failed to hold it in air. The other was not so foolish and, earthbound, headed for the Shaman. Drooling mouth open and claws raised to strike, it executed no ability in its attack and Kiritanek found it easy to drive the cold steel into its stomach and up through the being's diaphragm. The steel grew even colder as the Tui froze the black ichor that passed for blood around the wound. Essentially freezing the creature to death. He disengaged the blade from the corpse and turned to face the recovered, flightless gargoyle.