Paige awoke with the first rays of the sun, as she was so accustomed to doing. She was up well before she had to go to training, but that was all the better since she would have even more time to spend with her family before leaving. Of course, she was the first one up and had to wake everyone else with the delicious scents of the fresh eggs she was making for them. She enjoyed breakfast immensely and then said her goodbyes before heading back towards the castle with Saber at her side.

When she arrived at the castle, she was offered a variety of swords, shields, and armor to choose from. Paige chose a short sword as well as some light armor. She figured she would try using a new weapon during training to see if it suited her better than the one she had. However, by the end of the training, she had decided that she much preferred her trusty glaive instead.

Paige was feeling rather good about herself at the moment, but she was not sure how well she would feel once she was actually faced with some creature to battle. She wondered where their adventures would take them and when they would have to fight against their first creature, whatever it might be. She did not have to wonder long, for as she rounded the corner of the castle, she noticed a scary scene a ways ahead. Three of the ugliest creatures she had ever seen were fighting with a few of her fellow guard members. They were tall, dark, and hooded creatures who seemed to breathe an air of misery and hopelessness. In fact, as Paige made her way silently toward them, she began to feel more and more in despair.

Keeping as quiet as she possibly could, Paige inched along the wall of the castle, attempting to remain out of their sight so as to gain the element of surprise. She successfully came within six feet of the closest creature and cast her entanglement spell at it. The vines shot out and began winding their way around the creature but slowly started to dissolve. Paige could not believe her eyes. Her heart immediately sunk. This enchantment had never failed her before. Why would it not work now? Perhaps it just didn't work on these creatures who seemed to know how to suck the life out of them.

Knowing she had no other choice, Paige prepared herself for the inevitable battle that was to come once the creature realized she was there. As she had guessed, the creature had felt the presence of the vines and looked around in confusion to see where they had come from. When he saw Paige, he swung at her with one of his spindly arms. Paige ducked and put up her arms right as the blow would have hit her in the face had she not. The creature swung at her again, but this time she did not have the chance to react so quickly and was hit across the face this time. Paige could feel the sting from the cut she had just received, but she knew she had to put it out of her mind and keep on fighting.

She quickly swung her glaive at the creature and landed a fierce blow to it. The creature began to howl, but it seemed to recover pretty quickly from it. Paige wondered how she would be able to defeat this thing. Suddenly Saber leaped at it, claws thrashing about wildly. Paige hoped he would not get hurt too terribly by this horrible creature. She could not bear losing him and did not know what she would do without him.

Samuel had the greatest night of sleep that he had probably had in months. It really put his mind at rest that he finally had a group of competent people to protect the city. It had been way too long since the city had this and now maybe they could work together to dispose of the filth that reigned fear over the citizens.

He woke as he normally did, as the sun rose. However, instead of wondering what crimes had happened while he was resting, he looked forward to meeting with his new recruits once again. Samuel put on his armor, sheathed his sword and slung his shield on his back. He looked out the window to see if he could see his friend, Kerix, waiting for him. He knew that he would not be able to see Kerix, he never was, but Kerix would find him when he wanted to talk.

Captain Dimas stood outside of the castle, waiting for Kerix, who never showed up. Samuel didn't take any offense to it, something had come up and Kerix would talk to him when he later got a chance. Instead, the new guards began showing up, lining up like they were soldiers. Captain Dimas first gave them the speech he had been preparing in his head all morning, telling them how proud they should be to be selected.

The rest of the training went on without any problems, and at the end he ushered them into the small armory that the castle had. He handed out the old armor and swords to anyone who was willing to take them. He encouraged everyone else to review one of the copies of the Raygin City Laws Manual. Before they broke for a mid-day break, Samuel gave a final speech, telling everyone that abuse of power would absolutely not be tolerated. Anyone who does abuse their power as a guard in Raygin would personally answer to him.

As Captain Dimas told them all to take a break, he saw a familiar little goblin. "Zag, how would you like a little sparring match? It will be good practice, as I am sure that you will have to deal with a lot of people much bigger than me." The goblin accepted, if not a little hesitant about the idea.

The two of them stood opposed to each other outside, behind the armory. Samuel took his shield and his sword in hand, as he watched the nervous goblin standing a few feet in front of him. Dimas raised his sword above his head and lunged towards the goblin, swinging his sword down. The sword hit dirt and threw Samuel slightly off balance. He looked around for the goblin, but Zag was sprinting towards the street.

Dimas wasn't expecting the sparring match to take this sort of turn, but he just shrugged and took off after Zag, running as fast as his heavy armor would allow him. Even with Samuel taking steps three times as long as Zag's he quickly lost him in the busy crowd. Many people quickly moved out of Samuel's way, as he barreled through the street with a giant blade in one hand and a large shield in the other.

Samuel stopped once it was obvious that he had lost the small creature and the match was over. He was about to return to the castle when he suddenly heard screaming behind him. Samuel spun around and saw three tall creatures in black robes stumbling towards him. He wasn't sure what they were, but they certainly weren't friendly. At once, all three of them sprung towards him with their pale, clawed hands outstretched. Dimas hunkered down and lifted his shield in front of his body and face, preparing to throw off the impact and to slash back with his sword.

The three dark-cloaked creatures hit the shield with more force than Samuel had been expecting and threw him off his balance a little, making it impossible for him to retaliate. Instead, he pushed back as hard as he could, pushing them back a few feet. One of them fell back from the push, and began to wildly flail its arms, almost as if it didn't know how to get up. Samuel redirected his attention to the other two, which already seemed ready to attack again.

This time, only one of them attacked, which is what Samuel had been hoping for. This allowed him to parry the monster with his shield and slash down with his sword, hitting it approximately where its shoulder would be. His sword sliced easily through the black cloth of the cloak and the pale flesh underneath. So easily in fact, that his sword hit the ground and snapped in half. Right next to the end of Samuel's sword landed what must have been the creature's arm. It still wriggled and clawed out, as if it was still attached to the creature.

As Samuel's sword hit the ground and broke, he lost his balance, toppling forward. He smashed into the creature whose arm he had just sliced off with his now defunct sword. Dimas landed on top of the robed creature, smashing it with all of his weight. Samuel rolled off of the no longer moving creature and struggled back to his feet; the fall had hurt his leg and now it hurt to put weight on it.

When Samuel turned to face the two other robed creatures, he noticed that there had become a large ring of people standing around him, watching the fight. A little urchin boy had moved out of the crowd to inspect the creature that Samuel had smashed. Samuel yelled at the boy, a little harsher than was necessary, "Please stay back, these things are very dangerous!" The urchin jumped and ran back into the crowd, hiding behind the forest of legs. The monster that had been knocked on its back had somehow stood back up, and hissed at Dimas.

The sounds of battle were heard by Slivazar, he heard a crossbow fire and various other noises coming from the courtyard up ahead. He picked up his pace and continued out towards the clearing, "Did that creature he just saw have something to do with this?" He thought suspiciously.

When he entered the clearing he came upon a quite a sight. A large cloaked being like the one he had just seen was hovering it's way towards what appeared to be an unconscious man on the ground. Also in the courtyard a wood elf was wielding a bow and preparing to draw back another arrow, and somewhat close to him was a confused and timid looking goblin clenching a fork in his hand with a cross bow by his side. Slivazar was confused beyond all comprehension? But by the look of the cloaked monster it seemed as if it's intentions towards these others weren't good.

The wood elf quickly recognized Slivazar by the door, by the appearance of his eyes he seemed in distress. Slivazar pulled out his bastard sword from the sheath on his back and began to charge the cloaked figure. At the same moment the wood elf released his arrow impaling the creature in the lower back, it stopped it's course and shifted around spotting Sliv's charge. It reacted quickly and dodge a lumbering horizontal strike from the blade, it lashed out at at him with it's menacing claws slashing across his chest. Slivazar was able to notice all the wounds on the monster at this point, it had arows and bolts jutting from it's slashed apart robes, whatever this was it didn't have much fight left.

Slivazar clenched his left hand and punched the the creature in the side of it's hood, stumbling it. Then with his right hand tight around the grip of his sword, he skewered the beast through the stomach. It let out a blood curdling scream and wriggled insanely on the blade, it lashed out once again but this attack was much slower allowing Slivazar to dodge it. He placed his foot on the monsters chest and kicked it off of his blade. It staggered backwards but regained it's stance, only now hunched over near death.

With a final "thump" another arrow plunged into the side of the creatures hood and it toppled over. Slivazar looked to the elf and nodded.
"What was this?" He called out to him.
"A wraith, I have seen these creatures before, a long time ago." He replied. Sliv was preparing to introduce himself but the elf made his way over to the unconscious man. Slivazar followed.

Ogava was having a nice relaxing day of training. Most of the men had barely held a sword before never mind fight. They were farmers with good intentions, but used to wielding shovels. Ogava easily parried his sparing partners attacks, while almost lazily hitting him. Ogava held back a little so the man would not feel discouraged, but still made him work very hard. At the end of the training several men were soar and bruised, but Ogava had not been hit by his partner. The slow pace at which they had been fighting, had barely warmed him up. After a rousing speech by his new captain, and a promise of new equipment, Ogava headed down to the armoury.

There were several different pieces of armour there. The only full plate was that of the kings personal guard... Ogava decided it would be best not to wear that, lest he dishonor it. He found a breast plate, and some chain mail, shoulder pauldrons, plate sleeves, plate gloves, and a sturdy pair of boots. He then found a helmet it offered full protection for his face, however was hard to talk out of, or see for that matter. He then picked up a sturdy steel shield, and a steel longsword. Then he put a guard tabard over top. The armour was dirty, he would have to spend some time cleaning it.

The captain set off to have a friendly duel with a goblin, so Ogava decided to watch. He studied his new captain, Ogava was impressed. Then the little goblin ran off. Ogava hardly had mobility to follow at such a pace, but he made his way down anyhow. He decided on a quick tour of the town to get used to his armour. He rounded the corner saw 2 of 3 creatures defeated on the ground. He charged the last one "Heronious prepare me as I vanish this child of evil!" As the words fell off his lips, the dirt fell from his armour. and a slight aura formed around him. As he drove his shield straight into the wraith, the creature was thrown back on the ground. He quickly removed the creatures head, then returned to see if his captain was alright.

Shindo sat besides the man that had helped him out, he wasn't dead but it had been a close call. The creature that had just entered the fray followed, it was a some kind of reptilion humanoid, although he had just helped them Shindo didn't really trust him. He ignored the reptile and put the man on his shoulders.

"Hey you! Zag right? Go and warn the captain, you're faster than me and I have to take care of this man." he ordered, he didn't wait for an anwser, there just wasn't enough time. Instead he jogged towards the barracks, trying to move as steady as possible hoping that he would be fast enough. It had been a harsh battle and Shindo was happy that he wasn't the unconscious one. When he passed by the forge he saw his pauldron "I'll get that another time," he thought "first things first."

He moved beneath the dome where the wraith had appeard, around the tree where the birds had been in that had kind off warned him and over the stone bridge that crossed a little creek. It reflected the sunlight in countless colors and shapes. Shindo had probably stopped for a moment if he wasn't in such a hurry. It was a beautiful day, but just like the creek Shindo didn't notice it.

All he thought about was the pain in his back, the scratch on his cheek and the slower and slower breathing man which he carried. "Maybe he felt the wraith's presence even more than I did." the elf considered. He began to jog at a higher pace, knowing it could make the difference between life and death.

When the two arrived at the barracks the elf looked like he knew exactly what to do, he put the man on a bed and sprinted to the water barrel which was just outside the building. He ripped off a piece of his shirt and dipped it in the cold water. He ran back at full speed and put the cloth on the man's forehead. Although Shindo would've prefered to cool the man down even more, it had to be enough for now. He quickly looked around and saw what he hoped to see; no one.

He placed his hands on the man, his right hand on the man's chest with the palm on his heart and the fingers pointing towards the right lung. His other hand was placed vertically, pointing towards the head, the pink of his left hand touched the right hand's thumb. The elf began to mumble in a strange language, it looked a bit incongruous but it was all Shindo could do. He used his "Mister Cool" spell to influence the state in which the man was, he wouldn't, no he couldn't let this man die.

Once he established a connection between them he finally understood how this man was able to move so fast, he could use magic! Shindo was a bit suprised, but this meant he could save the man. At first Shindo planned to keep the man alive until help arrived, but now he could make sure the man would surive.
Shindo's mumbling had turned into whispering, he continued in a sharp, monotonous way. He felt the tension in his back getting worse and his cheek began to bleed again, bundled with an intense pain it was trully terrible.

But the stubborn elf didn't stop, contrary he began to whisper faster and louder. Bruises and abrasions from earlier battles returned, his skin got sunburned and a sickening feeling emerged from his stomach. But Shindo ignored them, he focused on the man, which began to breath faster again and the pale skin he had before Shindo's intervention was disappearing. Shindo was dizzy and saw black dots, he had shaking legs and he was sweating like a pig. He had used this spell before, but with a full-elf. This was probably a half-elf, which made it so much harder.

First he had linked with the dying man, and once the connection was stable he began to "loan" his recovery spell to the half-elf. But the effects could be fatal for Shindo, the injuries (and other stuff the spell had taken care off) he had returned and because it wasn't a full-elf he was "healing" the returning injuries were from a longer time ago, the pain was heavier than it would've been and it would take longer to save the man, which added the risk of overheating.

Luckily for Shindo, and the for the man, he had put a cold piece of cloth on the man's forehead to keep him alive for longer, now it would serve as a heatsink. The ranger lost most of his sight and his lips dried out, his hands were shaking but he kept them in place. The whispering had turned into normal speaking, well, it sounded raspy and hoarsely. Shindo was tired and dizzy, it felt like he had to vomit and had pain everywhere. "This better be worth it." he thought while his left knee slowly began to dislocate.

Kerix was surrounded in darkness, his eyes immovably locked on a man standing a ways from him. He appeared to be in the light of something overhead, yet there was no light there, and his features were only minimally distinguishable from the other darkness surrounding them both. As the man waved, motioning for Kerix to come to him he felt a tugging as though he was being pulled away. Suddenly an image appeared as though he were looking through a window. It was apparently from the perspective of someone watching him as he crawled out from the shadows after he had killed the city supervisor. He felt a pressure squeeze him as the fear of being found out came to his mind, but the tugging continued with increased force as though he was being pulled in two directions. Seized with fear, Kerix realized someone knew he was there that night and could expose him. The image was gone as quickly as another replaced it: a particular spot in the city, and the path to get there. He looked towards the man again who spoke words while his mouth remained closed.

"Come to me, Lathan Dayle."

He felt the tugging continue, and then it was as if the other side had stopped pulling all together and he was being yanked forcefully in the one direction. Waking with a start, Kerix sat up as he breathed in quickly and deeply. Looking around he could see that he was in the barracks and the elf who had been standing over him now put one hand on the bed for balance. Though he felt as if his blood had been frozen and was still thawing throughout his body, Kerix swung his feet off the bed and stood, grabbing the elf by the shoulders.

"I don't know what you did," he said as he moved the man to a sitting position on the bed he just occupied. "But thank you. You need to sit for a second and catch your breath. I don't know how you feel, but you look like death warmed over."

Instinctively he reached his hand behind his back to find nothing, remembering that his knives had been used at the previous fight. "Stay here," he said quickly. "I will be right back."

Sprinting off, Kerix quickly oriented himself and returned to the spot where he had fought the thing. "How could he know my name," he thought to himself as he ran, still seized by the thing he could only described as a dream. As he rounded a corner and approached the scene he was stopped in his tracks when he saw nothing.

He had expected to see the creature, but it had vanished. As he walked to the spot where he fell and began collecting and sheathing his knives, Kerix noticed there weren't any tracks leading away from where the creature had been. He could see the spot on the ground where the thing had fallen, but there was nothing there except for two arrows and his larger and primary blade. It was as if the thing had simply ceased existing in the spot where it had lay. Whatever had happened, it was nothing that he could continue to undertake himself.

Kerix turned quickly and began his route towards the barracks again but soon realized that he had missed a turn, finding himself in a part of the castle grounds he did not recognize. Rather than turn back, he climbed a nearby wall in order to better determine where he was and where Samuel or the barracks might be. Instead, what he saw as he topped the wall was quite a chaotic scene. One of the black robed creatures leaned over a soldier that had fallen, his sword still protruding from its side as it held its hand to the side of the man's now deathly pale face as though it were leeching the life out of him. A second creature had been fighting with a a soldier who was now down and unmoving. Kerix watched as it stood and turned its eyes towards a female nearby who was watching the third. The third creature was beneath him, backed against the wall by the force of the blows from a tiger but still relentless in its own swings, connecting with the tiger repeatedly.

Thinking quickly, Kerix moved towards one of the larger stones on top of the wall and began to push it slightly; it would give. Letting out a quick whistle, the tiger looked up at Kerix as it fought and somehow understood the message. Shifting its back feet, it began to push the thing further down the wall towards Kerix as he began to push the stone. "Come on," he shouted as he pushed with all of his might.

As the stone made its final tip, Kerix was unprepared and instinctively grabbed it as it fell, riding the stone down as it landed on the things head crushing it to the ground. Kerix bounced wildly off the stone on to his back on the ground as the tiger quickly approached him and sniffed at his face. "Help the girl," he wheezed forcefully as he regained his breath and threw an arm in her direction. Looking over he could see the thing unmoving beneath the stone as a dark gray fluid ran from its smashed skull.

As he stood to his feet he saw the last creature stand, apparently having completed its feeding and turn to face the girl as well. Instantly he sprinted in her direction, hoping that help was on the way.

Crap, how did that guy manage to get floored so fast!? Oh well at least the Elf was still there. Wait a second, the wraith was coming towards him now. Zag's face was a picture of fear as he frantically tried to reload his crossbow, the wraith floating ever nearer. Then, thank the Gods, some giant lizard-man-thing came out of nowhere and floored the unholy creature.
"Hey you! Zag right? Go and warn the captain, you're faster than me and I have to take care of this man." ordered the Elf as he went to pick up the injured guy.

How typical of an Elf to be the one to give orders. Whole bloody lot of them were pompous know-it-alls. Still though, that didn't mean he wasn't right on this occasion, the Captain needed to know. He left as quickly as he'd arrived, taking a route that led him closer to the castle. He crashed through market stalls, shoved past commoners, and jumped walls and fences as he slowly returned to the castle, where he assumed the Captain would still be. He even grabbed a few pouches and a bread roll, which he munched on as he ran. It was as he leapt one such wall that he was greeted with a most displeasing scene. The Elf with the tiger was facing off against two of the creatures, with another one crushed beneath a chunk of stone. Unfortunately he took this in in less than a second, as he was falling towards the ground after jumping the wall.

The next few moments were a blur. He landed on something black robed, knocking it to the ground, and at the same time something whistled over his head. That was most likely a very close call. The fork was in his hand faster than the eye could follow, and stabbing the damned wraith in the back.
"Die you stupid zogger! How many times do I have to stab you before you stop twitching!" he yelled at it, not that it could respond.
Suddenly it rolled, throwing him off it. It caught him by the throat in mid air, and Zag started screaming in agony as the deathly cold seared his body. The wraith's touch had a magnified effect on people with dubious morals, and for a creature like Zag with absolutely no morals whatsoever it was enough to produce physical pain. "Please!" he managed to shriek in between pained cries "Help!"

As if from nowhere, a short Goblin suddenly fell from the sky in front of Kerix landing on the approaching creature. He took a second to look at the wall over which the small man had obviously come, but it was a moment too much. As he returned his eyes to the scene at hand he saw the goblin stabbing the thing with a small fork.

"Die you stupid zogger! How many times do I have to stab you before you stop twitching!"

He nearly laughed when he recognized Zag as one of the individuals who had applied for a position on the city guard. His delight was quickly turned to shock, however, when the creature effortlessly threw the smaller form off of it and proceeded to stand upright and catch the goblin by the throat before he had hit ground. It was a feat of agility that put Kerix's own abilities to question. As Zag began to shriek, Kerix sprinted towards the downed soldier, shouting back over his shoulder, "Hold on Zag!"

He couldn't help but let out a little nervous snicker as he pulled the sword from the downed man. There wasn't much that Zag could do but hold on. He just hoped he hadn't wasted time. Running back to the pair, Kerix could see that Zag was in serious pain as the thing continued gripping his throat. Yet Kerix found fortune in the fact that apparently when draining a person, they were very immune to distraction.

Coming up on its side, he swung his arm backwards and then up in the most powerful circle he could muster, finally bringing the blade down in a wicked arc. "Take that!" In an instant, he had severed the pasty white arm just above the wrist, which allowed Zag to plummet to the ground, the thing's lifeless hand still clutching his throat. As the limb was severed a spurt of black liquid shot forward out of the arm, but the thing didn't growl as the other had. "So much for pain," Kerix observed to himself.

As the thing turned towards him, he stepped forward swinging the blade behind him as it continued on its arc. Stepping sideways, Kerix turned his back to the creature, but only for an instant as he continued to swing the blade around, gaining momentum. The creature had stepped closer, but as Kerix completed his spin and began to fall backwards, the blade found its way to the end of its path and sliced deeply into the creatures neck without a sound. Instinctively, he kicked a foot up and out, knocking the looming creature back a few feet, gaining precious seconds.

"Zag," he breathed heavily. "Get distance and shoot its neck. Try to finish it off." Kerix pointed a hand to the thing with a sword sticking through its neck as though an executioner had began to behead him and simply not finished the job. Kerix rolled backwards and onto his feet as the creature approached, holding his arms high in the air. It thrust its and and severed limb at him as if it were trying to gather him up in a bear hug, but for the moment Kerix held it at bay. The thing was strong, and he wouldn't be able to hold it off much longer, but he turned in a circle with the thing, as it bit the air in his direction. He hoped he had guessed right and put the things back to Zag.

"Please don't shoot me," he whispered to himself, as Kerix realized he didn't know how good of a shot Zag was. It would be close, but at the moment it was his only hope.

Samuel was preparing for another charge by the dark creatures, when suddenly one of the new guard members, Ogava, burst from the crowd, already wielding his sword in one hand and his shield in the other. Ogava shouted, "Heronious prepare me as I vanish this child of evil!" and Samuel could see Ogava seemed to glow as he quickly rammed the creature with his shield and then slashed his sword through the creature's neck.

As soon as the grey head fell to the ground, Ogava had turned his back to the last creature, and walked over to Captain Dimas, making sure that he was alright. Ogava clearly hadn't seen the final creature that had just stood up. It noiselessly sprung towards Ogava's back, its claws pulled back and ready to strike. Samuel pushed off with his good leg, leaping into the monster with all of his weight, stopping it short of its unwary target.

The crowd quickly tried to move out of the way of the charging force, but several men were clipped and shoved out of the way. The creature lashed around with its claws, trying to strike at anything around it. One claw smacked a man so hard that he fell down and on the way back, it scratched another man, who also instantly fell to the ground. The other claw found its way to Samuel, scraping up his breast plate and nicking his cheek.

Samuel leapt back, trying to avoid the claws that were swinging around. He ducked under one that was aimed directly at his face and swung the hilt of his sword at the thing's face, just barely swiping it across the face. He looked back to Ogava and yelled, "Quick, use your sword! I can't do anything to it like this!"

When Shindo was just about to pass out the man suddenly sat up and breathed quickly and deeply. Shindo staggered and put one hand on the first thing he found, the man began to speak and much faster and clearer than the elf had expected.

"I don't ... what ... did. But ... you. You need to ... for a ... and ... your ... I ... know how you ..., but you ... like death ... over?" But Shindo wasn't focused enough to hear everything; before he realised what was happening he was the one on the bed. Shindo opened his mound, trying to say something but nothing happened.

"Stay ...," the man said faster than Shindo could listen. "I will ... right ...!" and off he was, sprinting away to a place unknown to Shindo. But he didn't mind, he had to recover now and do some thinking. "What could he have meant with the things he has said? They didn't make sense!" he thought while the nausea disappeared.

"Wait a second... Could he know? He did say he knew 'how I' and what was that with the 'you like death' part?" he mumbled, discovering he could speak again. The recovery had returned to the ranger and was working non-stop, curing his knee and bruises as Shindo panicked. "I-I have to get out of here! Before he returns and fights me in this state, I'm in no fighting condition!" he said, sweating while he stood up and almost fell, because of his temporary weak legs.

He staggered towards the door, despite the repeatedly falling and breathlessness. After what seemed ages he was at the 'warning tree' and felt much better than before. He was able to run again at a startling rate, especially compared to how he had moved after saving someone's life. He had no idea where the man had run to, nor did he care. He had to warn his allies, as fast as possible, without delay. Shindo ran south, in the direction of the Poor District, avoiding the crowd and the extremely dark, sinister alleys.

The buildings became less and less 'atractive' as he ran past them, just like the clothes of the people walking in the streets. The elf knew exactly where to go here, it was his teritorry to say so. He placed his body closer to the ground, hung forward and began to take bigger strides.

And there it was, the forgotten church, towering above the other building. It was a magnificent structure, although it was in terrible shape. He never entered it through the door, instead he climbed the creepers which grew on the little building that was left of the church. Once he was on top of the constuction he turned left and lifted himself to the rope he had placed there himself. From there he walked to the left, the opposite direction of the church and stopped at the edge of the roof. He turned around and took one step forward, he moved his right leg backwards and placed his foot on the edge of the roof, his other leg was bended a bit. He concentrated and focused on the ledge on the side of the church. There he stood for a moment, a light breeze stroked his face.

A burst of energy moved through his body, filled with adrenaline he rushed towards the church on full speed. Once he had crossed half of the roof he used his magic to sprint even faster. His ears rang and his feet touched the ground less with every step. He hopped when he was a couple of feet away from the edge, landed on the tips of his two feet and lauched himself at the ledge.

Shindo felt like a prestigious eagle, flying through the air without having to 'flutter his wings' to stay there. This image was quickly torn to pieces when he realised he began to descend. "Oh shit!" he yelled when he crushed against the wall. His bones shook and all the air that was in his lungs were gone in a fracture of a second. The elf closed his eyes and prepared for another smack, but it didn't happen. He opened his eyes and was suprised to see the wall infront of him, somehow he had managed to grab the ledge. He was holding on to it with his phalanges, which began to get more and more sore with every passing moment. He tried to pull himself up, but it was much to heavy.

He could do two things, let himself fall and hope it wouldn't hurt too much or try to get up somehow. He moved his feet around, hoping to find a stone that protrudes, without finding anything. He thought off something new, if he could just let go with one hand long enough to get a better grip. He removed one of his hands from the ledge. But he had misjudged the amount of presure that pushed on his other hand, which was slowly sliping off the ledge. Quickly he grabbed the ledge again with both his hands "OK, uh... This is pretty awkward." he thought.

After a minute he couldn't stand it anymore "And all this happens just because of me trying to freakin' help someone! Without even trying to benefit from it. And why does this ledge have to be so damned high compared to the little building down there?!" he shouted. The elf wanted to stomp something, but remembered that he was still clinging to the ledge. Instead he kicked at the wall, putting all his anger in that single outburst.

"Yeah! Finally some luck!" Shindo cheered when he realised he had kicked a hole in the wall. It was in such a terrible state that he was able to make holes in it. With his other leg he made a second hole, a bit higher than the previous one. He continued doing this and could, luckily, climd the ledge because of this. The rest of the climb was easy, all he had to worry about was not to get noticed when climbing the church's tower.

Once he was in the tower he took a small piece of paper and began to write:

Badger -> Giant Squid

Warning:
After saving one of my fellow guards he told me "he knew how I..." and more of that stuff.
I'm not sure if he meant this, but we shouldn't take any risks.
I know you know what to do, immediate action is needed.
Please get me my 'special' stuff, I'll figure out what he meant.
Code: "G'day ser, me had to give ya these from he."

Got attacked by wraiths today, investigation starting in a few days.
Anything I need to know about them?
The guy I saved is probably half, Paige and Saber are in the guard as well.

Giant Squid-> ...

He folded the letter and put it in a tiny box, he opened an cage and took a hawk out of it. He tied the box on the hawk and whispered to it in the strange language he had used before. The hawk flew away and the elf looked satisfied, yet worried. This is not how he'd planned it, not at all...

Ogava was quite surprised as the captain leaped at a foe behind him. Apparently his fellow guards men did not know how to kill evil. As a claw raked his back, he felt a slight pain, and the trickle of blood. Hmm I guess they can go through a breast plate He thought as he instantly put out his spines stopping the rake short. He then stabbed the creature through the arm with the spines on his right arm, and used it as leverage to spin around. The creatures weak flesh, and muscles tore under the strain of Ogava's weight. Several sickening snaps were heard, and punctuated by the loud thud of a shield hitting a head. More furry swipes came at him, he raised his shield, protecting himself. He drew his longsword, as he parried attacks off his shield. These creatures were fast, but lacked proper structure. He waited for the next assault, and when it came he stepped under a slash, and knocked the creature with his shield. The poorly balanced foe stumbled, it would be it's last act. Ogava's sword found it's mark, dropping the last of the creatures. He double checked to make sure the third one was dead. "That's what I call training sir!" Said Ogava as he came back to examine the man. He was not well, "Do you need a hand getting to the healers sir?"

Paige looked up at the last of the wraiths that was in the area where she was. The other two lay in huge heaps of lifeless matter on the ground, but this one was still fighting. Paige immediately swung her glaive towards the creature and hit it in the area where its face would have been if it had had one. It howled in pain and rage, but that did not stop it from fighting back.

In the next instant, Paige was the one to scream out in pain as one of the long clawed hands of the wraith hit her arm with a powerful punch. She could feel blood surge from where she had been hit. When she looked down towards the site of her injury, her eyes were met by the horrible sight of a huge gash on her arm.

Paige was hurt but her spirits were not crushed. She knew she could beat this thing if she put all her heart and strength into it. She believed in herself and would not let this thing get the best of her.

She swung at the wraith once again, but this time she barely grazed it and did not hurt it one bit. Instead, she was the one to get hurt again. The wraith swung another forceful hit at her and knocked her on her backside. Now her stomach hurt a bit from being hit there and she was also sore from falling on the ground. However, she was nowhere near ready to give up.

Paige wondered where Saber was and noticed him a little ways behind the wraith, prepared to attack it from behind. Saber leapt at the wraith and started clawing it with all his might. The wraith was surprised by this attack and turned around to deal with the tiger. Paige saw her chance and mustered all her strength and energy. She sent a strong blow to its neck and watched as its grotesque head rolled off and onto the ground. Paige was immediately proud of Saber and herself. This wraith was now dead, and it was because of them.

Suddenly the creature released Zag, and he fell to the floor. The human who had been knocked out earlier. What was he doing here already? Oh well, at least he had been around to save him. Things could have been a bit messy otherwise. The combat quickly moved away from him, and with one hand he painfully dragged himself a small distance away from the fight. Gods it hurt, and there were black spots dancing across his vision. Still, there was one lesson these things needed to learn- if you don't kill a Goblin the first time, then he'll always come back for revenge. With a gasp of protest he managed to reach over and grab his fallen crossbow. Looking around, he realised that he had dropped the rest of the bolts when the thing grabbed him. Bugger, there was no way he was going back over there yet. But there was one thing that he still had which he could use. Looking down he saw that the fork, now covered in the creature's black blood, was still grasped tightly in his hand. Firing that would be dangerous, but this bastard had to pay.
With a lot more effort than it would normally take, Zag managed to load the crossbow. Right, now where was it? Over there, with the bloke still. Good, he had managed to sick it in the neck. That would make things easier. Zag raised the crossbow, trying to aim for the wraith, but the black spots on his vision refused to go away, and made it impossible to aim properly.
"Fuck...This..."
He managed to say, as he pointed it in the creature's general direction, closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. He couldn't see much anyway, so why bother having his eyes open? The shot would've been way off, if it wasn't for the wind whipping the fork just barely over the man's head and into the wraith's. The shot struck with enough force to sever the remaining fleshy strands, and the head toppled from it's shoulders. The creature fell to the floor instantly, where it's body continued to twitch for a few seconds before becoming still.

Unfortunately Zag didn't get to see how good the shot was, because upon pulling the trigger he had finally passed out. He lay there up against the wall from which Kerix had toppled the stone, his chest rising and falling with a steady rythm. Luckily Goblins were fairly resilient for their size, partly due to their lifestyle, and with any luck he would be up again in a few minutes, although he would likely have a terrible headache.

"Do you need a hand getting to the healers sir?" asked Ogava. Samuel just shook his head and said, "Good work, Guardsman Ogava. I need to check on the others to make sure that they are OK. Can you do me a favor?"

Samuel picked up what was left of his sword off of the ground and handed it to Ogava. "Take this to Korgan, the dwarf smith in the Northern district. Tell him that Samuel needs it fixed as soon as possible."

With that, he gave Ogava a pat on the back and started to limp back towards the barracks. Samuel ignored the bodies of the evil creatures on the ground. They only seemed to be interested in the members of the guard. Was someone trying to shut down the guard as soon as it started? Or was it something even more malicious? As he left the crowd of people, he didn't notice all of the people cheering for him and Ogava killing the evil things.

The pain in his right knee began to get even worse as he walked; the adrenaline from the fight had numbed the pain, but now that everything had calmed down, it was really beginning to bother him. Samuel was getting old and he couldn't bounce up from injuries as much as he used to, but he refused to let this slow him down. Perhaps it would be better with a good night's rest.

Dimas was horrified when he turned the corner and saw such a terrible sight. His new recruits were scattered around, some of them clearly injured, others seemed just frightened. Zag lay on the ground, apparently unconscious. Kerix stood, though somewhat ragged-looking, next to one of the dead beasts on the ground. There were two more of the beasts, slain on the ground, one of them crushed by a rock.

Samuel had to take control and make sure everyone was alright. It was impossible to know whether everyone was alright, or even alive, so he needed to do a role call. He couldn't let them see that he was injured, however, so he stood up as straight as he could, making sure to put as little weight on his right knee as possible.

He looked over at the elf standing next to her familiar and shouted, "Paige, if you are not too hurt, could you please gather anyone who is injured and bring them into the barracks?" He ordered two other guards to go along with her and help.

"Kerix, could you gather everyone you can find together so we can do a role call? I want to make sure that everyone is alright," he ordered his friend.

Samuel stooped over Zag, and, seeing that he was still breathing, started to try to wake the goblin. "Come on now, I know that you're tougher than this. Its only been the first day, it will only get tougher from here," Samuel made a little joke, mostly to try to pull his own spirits up.

Paige stood there amidst all the dead creatures and injured friends of hers, rather shaken up from the fight albeit extremely happy that these wraiths were dead and would no longer be a problem for the members of the guard. She looked up and saw Captain Dimas round the corner and approach her.

"Paige, if you are not too hurt, could you please gather anyone who is injured and bring them into the barracks?" he asked her.

"Of course. I will get on it right away," she replied.

Although Paige was still very sore from her battles with the wraiths and her arm now sported a rather disgusting looking black and blue bruise, she knew that some of her friends were more injured than she was and needed immediate medical attention. She sprang up and started scanning the area to see who needed her help.

She noticed that Samuel had walked over to Zag, who was lying passed out on the ground. Paige decided to follow him over there. Paige bent down on the ground next to Zag when she got there. She heard that he was still breathing and was thankful for that, but she hoped he would be alright. She wondered who else was hurt and knew that Samuel would stay with Zag and would have the situation under control just fine, so she decided to go looking for anyone who might be injured.

"Samuel, I'm going to see who else is hurt. I will see you later," she told him.

Paige set off around a corner of the castle and saw two men she knew were also in the guard. One of them was sitting against the castle wall with a pained look on his face and the other one was sitting beside him. She walked up to them to see what she could do to help. She noticed that the one man was definitely hurt, seeing as his leg was bleeding quite a lot. The other man was wrapping a piece of cloth from his shirt around the injured man's leg so as to help stop the bleeding.

"Let me help you with that," Paige offered.

She finished winding the cloth around the man's leg and tied it.

"Thank you very much. My name is Tom. Could you help me get to somewhere I can get my wounds treated?"

"Of course I will. I will bring you to the barracks."

Paige stood up and with the assistance of Tom's friend, Pete, helped Tom up off the ground. Paige and Pete allowed Tom to put one of his arms around each of them. Slowly and carefully, they made their way to the barracks where Tom could be treated for his injuries.

The wraith let out a piercing howl as it writhed and twitched on the stone floor.

" You have failed me..." Raegus' voice was a deathly whisper, his eyes bulging with rage, " I send you to eliminate the guard and bring me Dimas, and all you succeded in doing was leaving them with a few scratches..." He twisted the ruby ring on his left hand and the wraith gave another cry, fumbling desperately on the ground.

" Master...We tried...They were....Strong...."

"Enough! I will hear no excuses!" The wraith let out an excrutiating shriek as Raegus vented his anger through use of his ring.

And then, he released it. The wraith remained on the ground, a ragged bundle of rotten clothing, as the mastermind turned away in disgust. He stared into the shrouded corners of his throne room as he pondered the problem.

" Dimas and his band are stronger than I thought...This could be problematic...But they know nothing yet, and without knowledge they cannot see me. And they cannot fight what they cannot see..." He falls silent for a moment, before spinning around, " And where is my dammed servant! Silas! I sent him out days ago, and I have heard nothing since!'

" Master....I do not know..." The wraith wheezes desperately, but Raegus just snorts and, placing a finger on his ring, puts the abomination out of its misery. Wit a final wail, the wraith crumples forwad and does not move again.

" I am sick of incompetent servants..." Raegus breathes as he looks at the wraith's corpse, as if it was something the cat dragged in.

Just then, another of the creatures stumbles into view. It's head is bowed fearfully and it walks gingerely closer to his master, as if ready to turn around and flee if necessary.

" Master..." It whispers, its voice unsteady.

Raegus ignores it.

" Master..." A little louder.

Still no reply.

"Master..." Raegus spins around, his eyes flashing, and the abomination falls onto one knee with a groan.

"Yes?"

" There are visitors at the door...They wish to speak with you..."

Raegus looks at the wraith a little longer before nodding. " Very well, send them in." And with that, he releases the creature form his power, straightens his robes a little, and then ascends the steps to his throne, sitting on the black seat with grace.

There is a groaning noise as the great doors to the throne room creak open, and within moments, three figures can be seen ascending the stair. In the middle is a little man, barely passed youth, his hair wild and uncleaned, his clothing torn and filthy. He wears the garb of a fishmonger. On either side of the man are Raegus' wraiths, the sound of their breathing rattling as the move. The undead creatures clutch the man by both of his arms, there pale fingers rotten and clenched, and drag him up the steps. As they reach the top, they throw him before Lord Raegus.

" Listener..." The young man whines, bowing, his shoulders shaking with fear. The wraiths have that affect on people. Raegus does not speak, but watches the pitiful fishmonger with cold eyes, waiting for him to speak. This had better be good.

" Listener...I have information...Captain Barlabus...He's docking soon....Within days...."

Raegus feels his heart leap with excitement, but does not show his emotion.

"You are sure of this?" His voice is level.

The man sqeaks and nods.

" How do you know?"

"My contact, sir...She wrote to me from a nearby port, told me when they would arrive..."

"And their cargo?"

" She said they picked something up, but would not tell me...A big seret...Yes...Big secret..."

Lord Raegus nodded. As it happened, he knew what was aboard that ship. Finally! He had waited so long.

" Very well, my child. You have served me splendidly. Take him away and pay him what I owe."

The wraiths nod and pick the man up as he bows and weeps with joy, overwhelmingly glad that his life is spared.

"Thankyou,my lord, thankyou!"

As the man is carried away, the mastermind strokes his chin thoughtfully, his eyes calculating. Eventually, he gestures to the shadows behind his throne, where a handful of retainers and advisors lurk.

" Braccus! Come..." A wild-looking man with a golden mane of hair appraoches the throne. He wears thick animal furs, and belts laden with jagged weapons. His face is brutally scarred, one eye covered by a leather strap.

" Yes, my lord?"

"Take your men to the docks. Secure the area and the warehouse. If any goblins attempt to enter the vaccinity, kill them. There must be no misunderstanding as to who is in charge here. Glagonar must NOT intercept that shipment, is that understood?"

" Yes, my lord, I won't let you down..."

" You had better not," The mercenary bows and turns to walk away, " Oh, and Braccus?" He turns back, " If Dimas turns up, make sure he wishes that his bitch of a mother never opened her legs."

The mercenary grins. " Will do, my lord." With that, he turns and paces away.

Kerix fell to the ground with the wraith still clutching him in a death grip as its head rolled off its right shoulder. As the pair landed with a thud on the hard packed earth, he put a hand to his ear to check for blood, swearing that the projectile had come close enough to his head to clip him. It had not. Zag was a good shot indeed.

With a grunting thrust, Kerix threw the dead thing off him and lay on his back for several moments catching his breath. Finally he stood to his feet and saw Samuel and others approaching. As Dimas quickly assessed the situation, he had begun taking charge as was in his nature to do.

"Kerix, could you gather everyone you can find together so we can do a role call? I want to make sure that everyone is alright."

He nodded and looked around to see who was in the immediate vicinity so that he could separate those that had been found from those still unaccounted. He was about to head back towards where he first encountered one of the creatures when a thought bubbled up from his memory. "That's right," he commented to himself as he trotted over to Samuel who was standing over Zag. "Almost forgot."

"Samuel you need to know that Glagonar is trying to bring a shipment into the city without anyone noticing. Don't ask me how I know, just trust me when I tell you that whatever is in that shipment is of monumental importance and must be seized. I'm sorry I can't tell you any other details other than this: the shipment is sure to come this day."

Kerix turned away and began heading off in his original direction with a single word echoing in his mind: "Come.....come.....come.....come." As he turned a corner he headed left, instead of the direction he should have gone, feeling compelled to a destination he did not know. As though someone else control his body, he passively watched as he continued in a direction that led away from the castle, focused only on arriving at this unknown spot. Even the chatter of people along the street did not distract him as he plodded along his course."

"Didja hear? The Blind Man is back. Took im four this time. Who knows how many he'll collect 'fore he's done."

Shindo returned to the barracks without much problems. This time he stopped at the entrance of a tavern, at the little bridge and eventually at the barracks. Things weren't as bad as Shindo had expected, but maybe this was because there was already a regroup-order given. Shindo just blended in, acted like he had been near the baracks all the time.

He helped people with first aid and bandaging, there were lots of injured guards, but nothing to severe from what Shindo had saw. He hoped he met some of the guardsmen he actually knew. These peasants and merchants had the motivation, but were lacking the proper skills to fight these things. "I'll have to tell the Cap'n that they should deal with the normal crimes," he thought while helping a man get on his feet.

After a while helping guards he saw Paige at the barracks "Hey, what's going on?" he yelled, walking towards her in the meantime. "Looks like we're in big trouble," he added as he stood infront of her, she seemed a bit shocked.

"Come on now, I know that you're tougher than this. Its only been the first day, it will only get tougher from here."
That was the first thing that Zag heard as he returned to the world. Groaning he slowly sat up, clutching his head.
"Next time I'm leavin' the stabbin' to you." he muttered with a malicious grin, despite his splitting headache. "Mork I could murder a fungus brew right now." he added, sure that alcohol was the answer to his mental pain. Carefully getting to his feet, he picked up his crossbow, though it felt unusually heavy in his hands. Stumbling over, though growing more coherent with every step, he picked up his small bag of bolts, slinging it over his shoulder once more. Then he remembered the fork. He walked over to the corpse of the Wraith and spat on both the body and the severed head. With a sickening sucking sound he prised the utensil free, and licked the black blood from it. It didn't taste too bad really. Replacing his fork in his pocket where it was easily accessible, he turned away from the castle until he found a tavern.

A few minutes later he came back with a stein in each hand. He offered one to the Captain whilst taking a drink from his own. "So, which bastard put them onto us, and when are we going to get him?" he asked, entirely serious.

Hoy.