(Post written by Wraith, quizzicallyquixotic, Tiko, and Script)
Ira had not been the only one to notice that beacon of light across the desert night. The convoy of humans, small though it was, was closing the distance between themselves and the renegades during the course of that interaction. There had even been some measure of effort taken to ensure that their approach was not merely a frontal confrontation.
Remaining in the shadows just beyond that ring of light, Delilah sat side saddle on the mare that danced under her, silent save for the soft nicker that escaped when the clash of that brawl began. Flanking her on either side, Jerod and another proficient officer sat at the ready with their swords drawn. Further afield, and closing in on foot from either side of the cave entrance, pairs of soldiers crept in, hopeful for the benifit that surprise might offer when the occupants came forth to impending summons. The remaining three of that band- one having already begun his solitary trek back to th mine camp, were engage in seeking some climbable trail that might lead to high ground, above the cave exit. A last line of defense or offense, if needed; even if every indication had been given that they were to expect a small group on the run.
"Well well well..." The purr came from the gloom somewhere beyond the fire light. "I like nothing so much as a good cock fight, myself.." Delilah's voice was all sugar and cream. "But I can't imagine that even your kind..should find it worth your while to lose your wings for one so useless to either of our worlds as a condemned slave." A press of her knee to the ribs of her mount, and Delilah was emerging into view of the grappling pair. "Hand the slave over, peacably, and I might be inclined to forget this little ..treachery, on the part of your..." her lips curled, "people..." A complete fabrication, of course. Delilah had every intention of making the arrogant miscreants pay for the defiance of even one of their kind for her cause.
Klo was only distracted in picking the too cooked flesh off the bones of the rabbit. The violet pools of her gaze lifted, searching the darkness to find the source of that nicker. It was all she could do not to shriek. The rabbit fell to the cavern floor, and she shifted to a crouch near the flames. That woman.. Klo's head tilted, lips parting slightly to allow her breath to escape between the sharpened fangs. A human.. and one who meant to drag her back to that place. The fey might happily have her throat for that. The violet pools of her gaze shifted to the shadows within the cavern, as though seeking some way out. None but that entrance, and even with the roast so near her nose, she could smell that human stink all over. It was when that last word had escaped the human female's lips that Klo erupted into a furious shriek.
No human or many other creatures were capable of producing a sound like that. The fey's fingers curled into the fire pit, dragging free a hot stick from its prison to go flinging it, ash and all at that mare Delilah rode. She would take death over a return to those mines, and the fey, who was not much of one for words to begin with, burst into action in attempting to overtake the woman.
Klo's shriek drew Adriaan's attention away from Ira, still caught mid grapple over the glaive. A moments assessment was all it took as he looked back to Ira, his expression saying it all. Whatever he saw upon Ira's face was confirmation enough for him and he released the weapon and swept after Klo. “Stay in the cave!” Adriaan hollered after her. Out in the open they would be swiftly surrounded, but the girl seemed well beyond the capacity for rationality.
Ira's eyes narrowed in response to the arrival of Delilah, and it didn't take him more than a few seconds to realise that the humans wouldn't care whether or not he was with their prisoner or against her at this point. Turning away from Adriaan to walk toward the cave entrance, the young Lord met Delilah's gaze with a raised eyebrow. "Your people are not known for their honour," he noted dryly, "I'll take my chances with your swords over your words."
Jerod didn't know what had made the sound, all he knew was that there was something nightmarish erupting from the entrance of the cave and that the mare under Delilah was rearing up onto her back legs with a whinnying scream of its own, as fire and death seemed to approach. Without thought the captain was charging to enact his role as guardian, and a kick to his stallion's ribs had the horse charging into the gap between the woman and the slave. "Get back! M'Lady!" His shout echoed that of Adriaan, and sword drawn he was bearing down on what the light revealed to be little more than a golden girl.
Delilah was fighting her horse, pulling hard on its bit as she attempted to twist the mare to the ground again. The riding spurs in her boot heels bit into the animal's sleek hide, into scarred spots where the cruel instruments were used to striking. The woman only cared for the comfort of her mount, when it was co-operative. Fury burned in her eyes. "What are you waiting for, fools..Get them! Get them all!" Even if she wouldn't be the one charging into the fray.
How swift could the creature be without her flight? She had taken down a few guards on her own in that weakened state, and now with a few days rest and fed, she was closer to that strength she had once possessed. The guard's interference earned him a hiss of a feral creature, and like a child denied a toy, Klo threw a tantrum.
That tantrum involved her swiftly ducking around the feet of the mount, almost nightmarish in her own right for the speed at which inhuman legs could move. In the matter of a few well timed hops and grappling she had twisted herself onto the horse's back, and blunted though the dagger was, when she brought it down into the horse's flesh it pierced true. What damage the blade itself could not do, the poison coating it handled well enough, sending the horse bucking into a frenzy as the toxin worked its way through its body.
Jerod might have been next, had it not been for the horse throwing her roughly back to the ground. The unfortunate horse was not much more than a convulsing pile of flesh soon enough. Bruised and bloodied from scrapes and perhaps a stray sword swing, the fey was leaping to her feet again, unaware of the threat posed by the armed guard above until an arrow had come flying to blossom from the back of her shoulder like some macabre flower. In that state, the pain that might otherwise have stolen her breathe was pushed aside for the red mists of bloodlust. When that second rider came charging to the aid of his fellow, the sword he kept outstretched did little to save him. Before he'd the chance to dismount or swing, the fey was clambering upon him in a twist of white limbs and hissing fury, and he suffered more than one bite to his arm and neck before she dropped to the ground; pulling him along with her.
