Sevral's Story

“If you haven’t realized, they are trying to kill us…”

Keyra's eyes narrowed half in shock half in disbelief. The woman before her was completely different than the princess she knew. This person was colder than ice, a steely look in her eye that could freeze just about anything they set upon. Even Keyra felt a chill run through her, straight to her center. It was that fact alone that let the princess slip from her numbed fingers. The deadly look that she'd received told her that this new woman wouldn't hesitate to kill Keyra should she get in the way. However, as the woman turned towards Sevral and the cloaked man that he'd been talking to, she couldn't just let her do as she pleased.

Taking a deep breath, Keyra turned around, unsheathing her blade as a braver pirate rushed at her since the princess had walked away. The flow of pirates had stemmed, most likely because of Gavyn whom the Vall had lost track of. The last thing she'd heard from her companion was a quick question as to where Yo'Von was and then a bit to Ocenia to keep herself safe. Some protector... Keyra thought dryly to herself. Did he not see the blood lust in Ocenia's silvery blue eyes? Did he not see the danger in having her keep this power out? She was going to lose herself, and if they all weren't careful, they might find themselves at her mercy rather than someone else's. That wasn't something she enjoyed thinking about.

Killing the one that tried to run his blade through her, she stalked after the princess who had set her eyes on the cloaked man. Already her icy magic was beginning to cover him. Her heart skipped a beat at how close Sevral was to the danger and she silently hoped that he wouldn't somehow gain Ocenia's rage as well. With a deep breath, Keyra prepared herself for the worst as she stepped in front of Ocenia's view once more.

"I understand that they were trying to kill us, but they're running now. Do you not see yourself right now? You're not fighting to protect yourself, you're killing to kill. For the sheer pleasure of it," Keyra stated firmly. Behind her, she could feel the magic pulsing. It wasn't Ocenia's either, so she knew that the cloaked man was some type of magic user. To what extent, she wasn't sure, but she did know that killing a man who wasn't even putting up a fight was dishonorable to say the least. The Vall made sure to keep her weapon down at her side. She was fully aware that what she was doing was akin to 'rattling the cage' and that it could possibly come back to bite her. However, she wasn't going to sit back and let the princess do what she wanted, especially if it meant going on a full out massacre.

"Let him be, Ocenia. He's already wounded and helpless. We'll take him and question him, just as Gavyn said," Keyra mentally bit her tongue as she uttered the words helpless. The feel of magic behind her was a clear indicator that the man was far from helpless, but she hoped that he wouldn't do anything stupid as she was trying to keep him alive.

"You kill only those who are trying to kill you, my sword master taught me that. You don't want all of this blood staining your hands, Ocenia, now snap out of it! What happened to the woman who healed my broken wing? Where is the woman who had a gentle face rather than this cruel one that only thinks of death?" Keyra took a step forward, coming closer to Ocenia, her hand lifting to reach out to her. At the back of her mind she cursed silently at Gavyn. It seemed that only him and his fiddle was the only thing that could bring the princess back. Damn him for thinking it was okay to let her unleash this powerful being. Controlled? It controlled her only and it was a deadly control that only wanted death and destruction.

Adnan looked at the man before him warily. He’d acknowledged his presence earlier, but it seemed now the swordsman was requesting of him whether or not he was a friend or foe. The blade gleamed wickedly at him, inviting him to join the party of congregated bodies around the man. The one thing that caught Adnan’s attention was the fact that none were dead. No signs of any cuts or stabs, simply dozens of bruises and a mass of unconsciousness.

The Elven man was about to answer when he glanced past the one before him. The Princess was at full power now, transformed, dawning longer hair of pure white and silky smooth with the wings of a Vall. He watched her dance around, the sound of her music causing the pirates nearest her to begin a vicious campaign against each other. The man swore silently beneath his breath now as suddenly her attention was entirely on him. He felt it before he saw it, and knew immediately it was her magic attacking him.

The ice crept slowly up his legs, encasing his lower half and immobilizing him in the process. Acting quickly, Adnan knew one spell that could get him out of this predicament, and more. Opening his palm, he completely disregarded the man before him. He knew at most he probably wouldn’t attack seeing as Adnan had yet to strike, but even so he had to act quickly before they realized what he was doing.

A miniature flame sparked in his palm before igniting, then wisps of shadows began to crep into the fire. Adnan harnessed its power as it began to grow and grow; the air around him catching it, increasing it and spinning it into a massive inferno, a tornado of sorts that protected him from any outside forces. The ice around his legs quickly melted away under the intense heat while he remained perfectly unscathed. Repositioning himself inside the tornado, Adnan now gathered the power he required before suddenly caused the tornado to explode outwards. The man’s main goal was to take out the one in front of him, but the force was enough to probably reach the Princess and other Vall girl, along with the pirates. With luck it would send them back too, but Adnan didn’t count on it.

Assessing the damage, a grin crossed the man’s face now as he himself took to fire, drawing his sword in the process. Adnan, free of his bonds, readied himself, the blade of the weapon catching fire next, crackling with blue flames. The Elven man then hurled himself forward towards the Princess, but dodged out of the fireball that surrounded him before it made contact, allowing it to progress without him towards her.

Taking only a moment’s pause to find the page, Adnan looked at his spell book and his smile grew even wider. His blade began pouring out a black smoke that would morph into flames, a deadly combination of fire and dark shadowy magic. The man then swung his sword out towards the Princess, hurling a good portion of the shadow/fire towards her, a follow through for the prior attack with the massive fireball. Whatever had happened to everyone else didn't matter at all, his attention was entirely on the Princess.

Sevral waited patiently, staring at the man, watching every move he did, deciphering it and deeming it to be a threat or not. Suddenly though, an odd melody permeated his ears and he couldn't help but turn with the Elven man, following his gaze to where he found Ocenia in her Vall state, wrecking complete havoc. Sevral wasn't sure how to react to this sudden turn of events. She held the flute to her lips and twirled around the groups of pirates, the enticing sound from her instrument causing them to turn on one another, beginning to slice each other or themselves apart, unable to break the binds of the spell. Those who didn't fall under the effects of the cursed music simply found themselves run through by hunks of ice, the pure glassy white staining more and more red with every passing moment.

The swordsman noted indeed she held a considerable amount of control over her power, but then again it seemed like the power also held a great amount of control over her. She seemed totally different, hungry for more bloodshed, he could see it in the twinkle of her eyes. It was the same thing he'd seen in the eyes of his comrades that night, the lust for blood, the need to kill simply to kill, to test the power one held. Sevral shuddered and watched Keyra attempt to tame her, thought it seemed to no avail.

Suddenly though, the Princess' icy cold gaze was on himself and the man before him. A wave of fear crept into Sevral as the air seemed to get colder, causing a chill to run up his spine. It took a moment for him to realize he wasn't the target, but instead the other man was. Obviously he was no ally, as when Sevral turned, he found that Ocenia had completely encased his lower half in a thick layer of ice, immobilizing him in place. The swordsman was by no means attuned to sensing magical abilities, but had guessed the man before him was some sort of magic user by the way he more or less materialized from nothing, and watched now as the man before him now held out his palm. Slightly perplexed, Sevral kept his sword held ready in front of him, waiting. What happened next definitely wasn't what he had planned.

As the tiny spark in the man's hand blew up to a roaring, crackling tornado that enveloped the man, Sevral found himself flung backwards as it then exploded out, the force sending him a good distance across the stony floor, the heat so intense his clothes caught nearly immediately, either charring and extinguishing or staying alight. His sword, which was obviously no defense at all to fire, flew from his grip and clattered to the ground, skidding away in the opposite direction before coming to a halt, the fabric on the hilt charring as well. The man did everything he possibly could not to panic as he coughed and gagged, attempting to regain his breath as the wind had been knocked from his lungs under the impact. He didn't even bother looking around to see what was happening next but instead busied himself with quickly attempting to put out the flames that clung to his clothing.

Sevral rolled over onto his stomach and got to his hands and knees. He pulled out the tie that held his hair back and allowed it to fall messily around his shoulders as he made sure it wasn't still burning. Parts were singed along with his clothes, but at least the flames were out. The next issue was his skin, but it was mostly on his arms that had come up to protect his face from the attack. The skin was a bright red and stung horribly, some areas already beginning to peel or blister. Sevral knew better than to cradle his arms in his body as trapping the heat wasn't smart, so instead he looked up to register what was happening before him.

The man who had just recently been captured in ice before engulfing himself in flames was now wearing the fire like body armor and running at the Princess. At the last moment he'd let the fireball continue without him while he himself opened a small book. A moment later his sword was pouring out a combination of black mist and flames which he then proceeded to fling at the Princess, each slash at the air sending another burst.

"Damnit," he said quietly to himself as he tried to stand. The pain was mostly in his arms and his breathing was still somewhat short, but for the most part he was okay. His only thoughts now were either, save the Princess, or make sure she didn't go into a mad rage and obliterate everything. He had no idea where Gavyn had gone, but hopefully whatever he was doing was turning out better than everything going on here.

Her eyes were locked on the princess, trying to get her to regain some portion of her earlier self. However, that didn't seem to be the case at all. Instead, behind her the man that she'd been trying to save from the woman's lust decided that he didn't want to partake in that action. She felt the magic first before she saw it. She didn't have time to twist around as a heat wave hit her right in the back and flung her forwards into Ocenia.

Keyra was lucky her blade was held at her side as she hit the girl. Even more so that her distance from the man had been enough to keep her from being injured too much. Though her wings stung painfully, they weren't broken or hurt other than just being overly hot. Her voice growled out of her throat as she whirled around to face the magician. "Shit," she cursed, mostly to herself as she had now just eaten her words about trying to save someone who was helpless. Helpless... apparently not, and this man had other ideas that far exceeded his own safety. Fool, Keyra thought.

Her eyes caught Sevral as he rolled over onto his stomach and began putting out small fires that were burning all across his clothes. Her heart jumped in her chest and her eyes widened, "Several!" she shouted to him. Another feeling in the air pulled her attention and she turned back to him, her eyes narrowing as she bared her teeth at him. Keyra just barely managed to get her blade up, turning it so the flat of it was exposed to the direct hit from the magic. The Vall's weapon was no match for the spell that hit her.

The blue fire erupted across her blade and hit her. The crackling of the fire rushed up her arms that held her blade, split from hitting steel and hit her lower abdomen and chest as it was split nearly in half by her blade.. Keyra stumbled, her voice screaming out from the impact. The hit knocked her backwards as she had been prepared to launch herself at the man in an attempt to run him through for attacking both her and the princess. The cry was short, but filled with pain. With one eye closed as she fought off the pain, she struggled to keep her blade up as yet another attack was sent right after the first. Keyra braced herself, refusing to move from in front of the princess.

The darkness simply slipped around the steel, curling along it's edges as if embracing it. The fire followed right after it. Her wings spread in a valiant attempt to protect the woman behind her. In doing so, Keyra took the entirety of the attack. The shadow magic curled around her, the fire exploded across her body a second after. Her scream penetrated the tower, fading as the magic faded. She stumbled backwards, her breathing becoming labored and her vision swam in and out.

Her sword trembled in her hands and slowly the heavy weapon fell to the ground and she followed it. Hot blood filled her mouth and she cough, spilling it all across her blade that was buried in the wood beneath her. Her body leaned heavily against the weapon as she fought to stay conscious and defend the princess. Her voice cracked as she tried to yell at the woman, "Run," she called but wasn't sure if Ocenia could hear her.

Keyra could feel blood all along her face and arms, her chest as well from both hits. Her skin crawled from the shadows that had assaulted her a moment before. Her heart beat loudly in her ears as she looked up at the cloaked man. His magic was deadly, possibly more so than Ocenia's. Still, she wouldn't let him just walk up and take her. The Vall struggled for a moment, but she managed to get back to her feet whilst using her sword. Each breath was like a stab in the chest, but she stood regardless. Lifting her battered wings, she shielded the girl behind her. This man was on an entirely different level. Even if it took her life, she'd keep the princess safe. Hopefully until Gavyn came back to do the rest.

It did not fail to amaze the snow angel that again Keyra had tried to stop her in the process of her own magic. Did the woman have a death wish? Or had Ocenia really done something she shouldn’t have. There was not a doubt in her mind that the man before them incased in her cold magic had come with the pirates that attacked them, even if he was injured he was clearly a threat. Did the woman before her ranting about Ocenia’s blood thirst not realize that the man behind her was radiating his own type of magic that could easily overwhelm them in a moment’s notice? Frustrated and irritated, the snow angel allowed herself to calm a moment to hear what the other Vall had to say to her, even though her eyes and ears were on Keyra her main attention was to her own magic and the magic around the man.

In the middle of Keyra’s words Ocenia felt a spike of energy and was bracing herself for an attack when a burst of flames freed the man from her hold. The blast caught Sevral first knocking him hard to the ground with force that worried the inner human that sat and watched the horror of all the events. Because she had positioned herself in front of the princess it was Keyra who took the blast full force next, falling into icing cool arms of snow vall. Though the princess had managed to catch Keyra, they were still pushed back by the blast a few yards. To her surprise silvery-blue haired woman pushed away with enough time to ready herself for the next spike of energy Ocenia had felt from the man, which brought her attention to a spell book he kept on his person. He was not a true magic user, she realized at that moment, in fact most of his magic came from the knowledge of spells instead of being born with the inner power. It was clear at that moment that the book would be one of the key elements to take from the man to keep him at bay for a while longer, though she had not enough time to relay this information to the winged-vall before her as she took another blow from the man’s magical weapons of dark flames.

Painful grunts came from the now injured woman as she pushed herself back up to her feet mumbling something as she did so. Did the princess hear correctly? Did this woman really just ask her to ‘run’ from this stranger? Had she not just pleaded the woman to back down with her magic so that she would not kill everyone in sight? “Fool…” Ocenia mumbled under her breath as her power began to grow with her anger. Her icy stare stayed on Keyra’s back as her beautiful white wings spread out to keep the princess safe. “Foolish woman… you contradict yourself…” her words were followed with a gust of wind that pulled Keyra off her feet and slammed her into a wall to the far right. “And you!” she pointed her flute at the man who had failed to hit his proper target. “You have poorly picked your enemies, darling.” A wicked grin matched the devious look that seeped into her winter gaze just as more wind picked up around them and soon they were engulfed in a blizzard worse than that which had been trapped in Yo’Von’s quarters only hours earlier.

The wind snapped around with large and small flakes that blurred the vision of not only the assassin but those within range to ear the whistling of the blizzards wind. Shadows were ignored as the storm was so heavy it was almost like trying to see through a night without the moon’s guidance. This was up to her, no one else; even if Gavyn had been here he could not stop the princess from protecting herself and of course pleasing her own appetite for battle. Two decades she had been trapped within the human mind she called herself, but now she was free! Free to guide her own power, free to kill, free to fly, and most of all free to use her body as she saw fit, and now this man endangered her freedom and it was not going to sit well with the already irritated woman.

Keeping a cool calm about her magic, she focused on the other man’s energy which was like a flickering flame in the middle of an awful storm. His heat was starting to falter in the temperature she now produced. It was said that some of the most powerful snow valls were able to freeze fire in its place, and it was clear her magic could do so if focused properly, but this was not what Ocenia had in mind. Calling upon her own magic she produced two large ice daggers in hand, while listening to the whispers of her storm to tell her if the man had moved in any way. If he were to use magic she would feel it against her own power, a foolish way to make oneself more known to its predator. It was just as the wind thought to calm that she took this moment to strike. With speed a gust of wind slammed the man into the wall right next to Keyra, which was followed by a blurred vision of the princess as her daggers went to their respective places. One dug into his cloth of his right arm keeping him pinned to the wall, while the other was at his throat. A pleased smile came over her as she stared at him with a gaze only meant to be seen by those who would die shortly after, but then…

Her body relaxed, the storm went silent; her eyes became warm and worried in the pale face her vall was known for. The human side of the princess had peeked, but not completely, her form had still taken that of the deadly snow angel. “What do you want with me?” her voice chimed like a bell as she stared at the man. The book he carried now completely frozen shut as she kept her attention fully on him. “Who sent you and what do you want?” her muscles tensed as she kept him pinned to the wall, her wings spread out to intimidate as best as possible, but at the same time the princess was using all her power to keep the Vall from pressing her dagger into the man’s throat to silence him forever.

Von Dranosk

The battle had been rather hectic if that was so to say, Rioma was doing her best to keep the Wind Mire out of harms way and not long after the fighting had started no hide nor hair of Gregorio or his two guards had been seen. His men where beginning to clear from the lower portions of the tower and his ship had already managed to pull away from the tower in the midst of all the chaos.

Keyra and Sevral had not been been given much luck in what was happening below, while it took only moments for Gavyn and Ocenia to meet with them in a correlated defense. It was not without danger that this action would go about and it was not without a high risk that they could lose one another in this hectic combat.
V had been doing her best to fight off any pirate that got close to her or the others, every few moments a long tendril of shadowed essence would lash out and either swipe an aggressor away or it would jab out and pierce into his body. These men they faced where not the most organized of enemies and their only saving factor in combat appeared to be their overwhelming numbers in the heat of things.

It was with that V realized that the only way to win the encounter was to stave off such an advantage so with a large blast concentrated she blew one of the large hooked spears along with most of the wall off the tower. The shadowy mass that was left behind began to seal the wall back up and she returned to fighting the remaining souls, despite the fact she could still hear the landing of more spikes above and below them.
V had a man in her grasp as soon as Ocenia began to charge herself full of power and that was already enough to V to know that Von had a good enough reason to hide who the young woman was and she paid attention with baited breath.

Von opened his eyes once more as he tried to right himself in his stance, the air down in the forge was stale and cool on the tongue as he looked about the whole of the room. His mind absently holding his left arm close to his ribs and doing as best he could to release the pain from his original landing. He began to move towards the back of the room where he knew there was a staircase and was planning to use it to get back up top. But unfortunately there where some men ready to halt him at his first turn, they where brutish and very uncouth about the way they examined him in his state.

That was until one got up the nerve to call out Von while in his state.."Lookie here boys.. seems we got us a soldier boy with a chink in his armor.. ohh little man hows it feel to be so damaged?" The larger of the three men accosted Von in hopes to break him early, however Von was no fool and he was easily aware of what was going on.
While the three men laughed at Von in his predicament the one from before was going exceptionally far to indulge in his happiness. That was until he was stopped when the tip of Von's spear parted his mouth from his head in the throws of laughter. Von only looked up at the man and spoke.. "Damaged.. but not broken."

Von stood and hefted the weapon to the underside of his chin and spun on the spot shifting the bladed tip in place as well. The first strike swiped right across the first mans face and shredded it leaving him to grovel in pain. As the last man was not lucky enough to take a glancing shot like so his head caught the full force of the aerated petals around the spears neck. His body falling was the last to echo before Von before low and behold the upper floors above Von could feel an intense heat radiating from up there and he was all too willing to hurry there.

Taking his spear in hand and his sword along his belt Von finally made it to the large stairway near the back of the structure. He once again twisted the half of it once more to shrink it back down and slide it across his back. with that he made his way back up towards the higher levers to actually meet up with the others once more.

Sevral watched, slightly dazed but still well enough to comprehend the situation as Keyra fended off the man's attacks. A stinging went through his chest as he watched the woman, too stubborn in her own ways to move, simply withstanding the hellish assault if only to save the Princess, who looked anything but grateful. If only Sevral could do something, but he found himself unable to move, petrified as it seemed like only yesterday when he'd been in the same state. He'd instigated it yes, but couldn't follow through. Even as doubt and regret settled in, even as he had changed his mind it was too late, and he was left to watch the one he cared for the most crumple before the others turned on him.

The man shut his eyes, as if the act would conjure up some barrier that would keep him safe from his past, from the memories that never went away. Then he watched her drop.

"Keyra!" he shouted as the woman came to her knees, supported only by her blade. He watched the spray of blood come from her mouth, looked at her shaking figure, struggling to remain awake, alive. Sevral couldn't speak, but tried as desperately as he could to will her to move, if he could simply do it with his mind. Perhaps he was as weak as they had called him many years ago, too kind, too gentle. But no. The swordsman watched as the woman stood again, though unsteady and still spread her wings to protect the Princess. It was either the still burning pain in his arms or actual fear that caused the few tears, but that didn't matter now.

Sevral, who had finally gotten to his feet bolted forward. The Princess who seemed to have been in a state of shock or bewilderment now flung aside the girl who had risked nearly her life to protect her, without even a second thought. Already she must've been badly burnt or torn up, but the sound of the girl's impact brought with it another thing, the brittle crunch and snap of bones under the force. What happened outside Sevral's immediate vision was of no concern to him. The man ignored the world itself as he came to his knees by the woman, gently inspecting her, but not wanting to move her for risk of breaking something else. He eyed her carefully, taking in all the wounds and struggling to remain calm, to not whip around right now and tear through the man who had done this. "Keyra?" he questioned softly. "Keyra?"

A cold, angry wind then started, but the man ignored it. The blizzard, the pain in his arms, the stinging that accompanied the brilliant red burns was all null and void in his mind which had all attention entirely on Keyra. He brushed her hair back carefully, unsure exactly of what to do but not wanting to leave her. His own hair was in his eyes now but he didn't bother to fix that. Behind him, he was aware of the Princess now attacking the man, but just barely. In his mind he was still fighting hard not to turn and shout obscenities, to draw his sharp blade and show him what he was truly capable of. He wasn't sure who he hated more at this point. The man himself who had started it all, the instigator, or the Princess. Perhaps he was simply mad and thus couldn't think straight, to find some rationality, but she had thrown aside the girl without even blinking, completely disregarding the fact that she'd done everything in her power to do what Gavyn hadn't done. He was the one who was supposedly tasked with keeping her safe, and yet where was he? Would she have done this time too? Sevral didn't know.

The man was unable to contain it anymore. Finally he stood, his hand sliding off the woman's cheek as he turned to face the magic user. Sevral had missed it all, the entire exchange, but now he took in the situation. He noted the man's flute, the Princess, but all else was unable to reach him, not even the calming melody he played. No amount of the musical magic could quell the rage he felt. The woman was alive, at least, but the state she was in was unacceptable. The man drew his sword slowly, purposefully, the blade sliding silently from it's scabbard and glimmering in the light.

Without warning but with extreme accuracy the man pulled back his arm and hurled the sword forward. The weapon spun end over end around the crosspiece, the extreme care and meticulous crafting job resulting in a perfect balance between the hilt and the blade. Sevral had practiced many things with swords, including throwing. While unconventional and never suggested, he used it now and was happy to say he was more than capable of finding his mark. He had no doubts about the throw even after the weapon had left his grip. He knew where it would end up, he never missed. While the man was busy, lost in controlling his magic and playing his instrument, he would never see the blade coming at him.

The man’s laughter had been unsettling in the princess’ chest. Had she been wrong to force her other half away to deal with their current situation? Probably, but that did not matter to her currently, instead she continued to hear Keyra’s words in her ears about her own blood thirst. Ocenia had not only frightened the pirates but Keyra as well, and now the woman was injured because of her and this brute she held in place. His laughter settled, bringing his gaze to her level. He spoke to her, his voice deep with a rumble but the amusement still laced each word her spoke.

The man before her was a criminal; her vallself was in the right of him being an enemy for his main mission was to take their very life. Someone had hired an assassin for Ocenia’s head, but who? And why? Concerned and baffled, the snow angel’s grip weakened as the human girl mulled over the man’s words, unaware of his own scheming. Watch out! her other half shouted loudly, pushing the human girl out of their mind and moving just in time to avoid the flames wrath, it did however graze one of her wings burning the tips. This brought out a short gasp from the snow angel as she turned her murderous gaze upon the assassin.

Amusement, that is what she would call it as she saw the man stop and pull out a flute presumably made of a light wooden stature. Had he really intended to use the power of music against her? Her pale lips parted slightly, her wings tucked behind her back as she took a few steps toward the man. A slight wind picked up to carry the tune throughout the entire fortress along with raising her deep silvery-white hair off her neck and back. Light laughter passed through her now parted lips as she cocked her head to the side with a form of pleasure. It was in this moment of distraction that she had for the Adnan that she was unaware of Sevral who stood from his former position next to his fallen angel. Had she not been completely focused on the intent to destroy the foolish man before her, she would have noticed the sound of blade slicing through the air, but instead she went to speak to the man before her.

“You’ve been dulled to realize that music only works to call and calm those willing, a much stronger type of song is needed to take the will,” she knew the tune well, had used it against her own parents while they were fighting to calm them down or even put them asleep when she wanted to leave the palace for a few hours. The one thing a musician of magic needed to learn was how to decipher the tune itself and break the magic up so that the effects would not harm the user, which is what she currently did with his tune. It would also explain why her magic earlier would not have affected him but did affect the other crewmembers of his ship. Again she laughed as she considered what to do with Adnan now, her blizzard would work wonders, but she decided to play with her prey now instead of instantly attacking. With an option in mind her wings spread out just enough to take the hit of Sevral’s sword, it sliced through her feather wings and soft tissue like butter and continued on its mark toward Adnan.

A scream escaped the princess’ lips and her body flung around after the sword sliced through, her wing going limp to one side while the other still held itself up straight. Those deadly icy eyes narrowed in on the enraged man before her. His posture gave him away instantly as the man belonging to the sword, along with the empty sheath at his side. Mistake or not, the woman would not care, she was not Princess Ocenia, not in the long run, her intents were much darker than that of the human’s though they were both clearly in pain. Now her anger and rather were focused on a new target, which made it unclear to her if the sword, which had continued on its targeted path, had hits its initial mark. “You… will… regret… this…” her wing struggled to go up like the other to intimidate, but instead stayed limp at her side. The wind slammed into Sevral, causing him to hit the very wall that caused Keyra to black-out.

Von Dranosk

Every step had but a slight irritation in store for Von as his ribs where beginning to get to him in a certain aspect of his mind, being no stranger to fighting through such pain he was able to push the feeling further back out of his consciousness and clear from knowledge.
However the fact every few steps up the stair well had him facing opposition in the form of one grimy pirate after the next was beginning to actually be a focal irritation for him. The men where so under trained that a single swipe or thrust of his spear would topple them and soon another body was sent flailing down the stairs into death. While ascending Von could feel the torrent of power being unleashed no more then a floor above him and he was certain that if it wasn't Ocenia it was someone who would have far less noble reasons for such show of force.

Toppling one more enemy Von comes to a large latched door with iron barring and kicks the latch aside before breaking through the rotted wood work and behold before his eyes lay a killing grounds with several bodies still in the fight. V was getting overpowered by four assailants who seemed to be followed in from an adjacent on the other side of the room. Wasting no time Von rushed forward jabbing his spear into one while quickly dropping his weapon and drawing his sword to cut into another. The two began to fall as V took the opportunity to gain the upper hand with her remaining attackers, Von removed himself from that incursion to find as much of the others as possible.
He could see Keyra in her unconscious state slumped against a wall while Sevral laid nearby her in an apparent pained state, Von began to drop his guard and approach them in an effort to help the two. But that was until the cold lick of magic brushed against his cheek and his eyes snapped towards Ocenia facing off against her own choice of target.

Von's eyes gave a turgid masking as he could tell something was strangely amiss with Ocenia, she was in no way herself anymore but her state was more like that from her incident aboard the ship. A wing held out strongly from one shoulder while she did her best to maintain the other in its damaged shape as he looked on at the other in front of her.
It was easy enough for Von to tell from what features of the man that showed that he was in fact an elf and none of the other pirates he had seen before where other then human.
It did occur to him that the two had already exchanged blows seeing as they squared off with opposing injuries.

* * * *
Gavyn himself was doing a valiant job of keeping the numbers of possible enemies low amongst the rank and file, every swing of his weapon either caused a body to reel in pain or to outright die from the trauma of the blow. However it was obvious that Gavyn in his bravado had manage to bite off more then he was able to invariably chew, the pirates began to amass more against him and when one fell to his blade two would replace him and within a few swings hands could take hold of him. Then in the midst to retake his leg from one of the vacant bodies amongst the deck the flat of a blade made solid contact with the back of his head and in that moment all for Gavyn went black.

Blurred images began to coast back into reality as Gavyn could only attempt to force his eyes open and he could see an blurry figure with a captains hat coming into view."Well.. well" The man gives a long puff of smoke from his cigar into Gavyns face as he spoke. "Looks like you've got allot to answer for little birdie." His less then tasteful smile revealing the missing occupancy of three teeth.
He steps away from Gavyn as more men pile their boots on his back to hold the considerable mass of his body down and even in his downed state he did give them time for pause. The Captain on the other hand was not going to have any of it.. "Alright.. break out the flintlocks and get ready to take the tower." He had already returned to the edge of the ship and locked his gaze on the section of the tower with the most fighting, his spyglass can see V's shadowed mass blocking the large holes along the second level. His arm gestures down and only a few men are required to move the ships large size down closer towards the very same level.

The ship turns and bucks towards the tower enough to align with it on approach, while some of the cannons are still able to fire rounds in the Wind Mire's general direction, the men on the deck had only cleared enough of the bodies away to get room for themselves and they lined up against the rail and keep their attention on the tower.
Von and the others in the tower where not ready for the hell that was about to be unleashed upon them as the Captain raised his sabre and gave it a swift swing towards the deck, four cannons opened fire on the side of the tower and in close repose the wall that was once sealed was ripped apart in a torrent of fire and shattered stone. The Explosions alone were enough to send anyone near that side either tossed aside or thrown clear from the impact in pain.

The Captain watched with joy in his eyes as he just smiled and spoke.. "By Gods I never get tired of seeing that." Several others from the pirate crew cheer out at the amount of destruction that over takes that section of the structure. Von gets sent clear across the room whirling over and taking Ocenia out in the process, Keyra and Sevral had the fortunate luck if one could call it that to be on the opposite side of the room from the explosion. Adnan and V who where both so inraptured by their own power manage to shrug off the insubstantial blows of small pebbles and concussive forces to keep upright, despite the amount of disorientation and ringing the blast caused to run through the ear.

Von was able to lift himself up from the body of Ocenia to see the wall was now all but completely gone and the visage of the smiling Captain was there to greet his own eyes... "Keyra?... V?... Sevral?.." His voice drew out with some resignation start to build in the back of his throat. Only a faint voice calls out from the dust and rubble.. "Yo'Von.. I can is everything all right over there." The voice belonged to V and Von smiled as he continued to search around for friendly bodies, that was until his eyes saw a sight that harmed his pride. Gavyn was being tied to the side of the pirate ships mast and he was definitely being secured tightly from the amount of rope they where using. He could not really stomach the fact that one of his own group had been captured and was now within the enemies hands.

The Captain raised his sword once more and readied his men with their flintlocks.."On my order fire.. We can retreive the princess after, the contract said dead or alive and I think its about time we end this." One of the other men points out towards the group and speaks. "I spy our little elf friend Cap'n" The Captain tilts his head a moment to see clear into the smoke.. "Ahh... Aye Adnan.. It appears will no longer be needed your services.. but don't worry our side of the contract was to end your anyway so I think this happenstance is rather poetic. More ironic in fact if you ask me anyway." The Captain laughs through his teeth as he crooks his head back in a detached sentiment of caring and he barks out "Ready!.."

Von can feel the panic of the moment begin to well up in his mind as scrambled thoughts start to collide.. "Damnit.."
He looks around and manages to gather his sword and spear back up, pointing it straight at the Captain. But his eyes begin to falter and he is quick to realize that he must have hit his head rather hard on impact with Ocenia or the wall. The young princess's body begins to stir under his and he looks down to see her look normalize from before, the long hair and wings scattering apart and turning into little petals of ice that disappear.
He digs into himself and does something he never thought he would do in over a hundred years... "V.. I need you to move us." A deceptive gasp of realization could be heard from the other side of the dust cloud as she scoffed at his words. "Von this is no time for games you know I'm no allowed to do.."[b]

Von interrupts her quickly.. "Are you also allowed to let yourself die as well?[/b]

"Either way I don't have enough strength to do that for all of us." She returns and Von yells back just as fast.. "Valia... Please" The leather clad woman only returns with a loud grunt of contempt as she climbs to her knees and raises both hand clasping them together above her head.
The room begins to shake as the shadows of each nook and cranny begin to crawl out and congeal creating a massive circled form around the circumference of the towers level. The sound of V straining could be heard as she wrestled to gather as much shadow energy as possible before the pirates attack. Her vision was quickly to catch the moment the Pirate Captain swung his sword and gave the order to open fire.

With no choice V had to force the spell and every inch of the room was consumed in darkness, that along with a cold black pressure began to build starting with the shoulders and working its way towards the stomach. The feeling was of everyone being moved through the area known to V's clan as the first void and it was easily understandable why she was reluctant to pass through such a world. The sickly feeling of darkness quickly gave way to a rushing pressure being released as the sound of gunfire could be heard going off outside the bubble and everyone soon found themselves violently tossed out into a new area all together. Von and Adnan both had the awareness to roll and correct themselves on impact while the others including V were tossed out to land on a solid wooded flooring.

Von rushed up to check V and she was now lying unconscious on the floor, her body devoid of all shadow energy and small jets of steamed smoke poured off her body. Von knew she would be fine eventually but his next concern was with the others and he looked around to spot the bodies of Keyra, Sevral, Ocenia, and even Gavyn who was still partially wrapped in mooring line still where all laying around the room weapons scattered here or there. Von could tell from first sight that they where now on a ship of some sort, but it was not his due to the size of the compartment and it was then that he knew the location that V sent them. Von and the others where now in the belly of the beast so to speak, sitting several decks below on their ship.

Von reached out to grab Keyra and Ocenia's arms to shake them and spoke towards Sevral seeing as his eyes still registered consciousness."I think its a good time to get back in the fight Sevral.. What say you Gavyn?" Von voice contained a bare amount of paranoia about this predicament seeing as they where now on the enemies own ship.
Despite Adnan being merely feet from Von, he did not care and it was easy to see why in Von's case. Adnan was going to be killed as well if it wasn't for V's power, but one thing did tick inside Von's mind about Adnan.
What contract?

Fear, anger, relief, revenge; these were just a few of the things the man felt as he watched his blade tear through the wings of Ocenia as she splayed them out. In a way, it was a sort of terrible justice dealt on account of the woman having harmed Keyra moments before. Somehow it seemed as though the damage she received was now equal to how she'd flung aside the girl, yet at the same time Sevral knew this was a terrible mistake. He wasn't sure what emotion was winning in this power struggle within him.

Anger still boiled for Adnan, but he couldn't see the sword now as the Princess now turned on him. He wasn't sure if he was happy he'd hurt her, or afraid of what she'd do because of it. Everything seemed to come in waves, one rolling over the other before getting flooded and forced away by another, only to struggle it's way back on top, a series of conflicting thoughts that seemed hellbent on spiraling out of control. Immediately, as the woman stood before him with one wing limp compared to the other in an attempt to intimidate, Sevral's eyes had shot directly to his other sword which lay several meters to his right. There was absolutely no way he could reach it, and for some reason he was glad he hadn't thrown that one because technically, he'd just got two birds with one stone, or so he assumed. No matter how much he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help but feel satisfied with the outcome.

The man didn't even get a moment to think any further on the subject as suddenly he was shot back. Magic wielders had always annoyed him, the way they could simply attack without even moving or visible using up any amount of energy. He respected it, though, but right now saw it only as cowardly compared to pitting one's own hand-to-hand knowledge against another, letting the best man win. Either way, it was no use complaining.

Sevral slammed into the wall Keyra had hit previously and he wasn't sure if this was with the same force, more, or less. A gasp escaped him as he once more got the wind knocked from his lungs, and he slumped forward onto his hands and knees again, coughing, struggling to regain control of his breathing while fighting off the stinging he now felt throughout his entire body. The pain was excruciating, not just the searing heat he felt in his arms, but the blunt impact of the wall along his entire back. Once more his eyes shot to the other sword, though he knew it was useless.

The man knew Ocenia probably wouldn't stop there, so as best as he could, Sevral stood to defend himself from whatever else came next, but he found himself knocked back over from a totally different force. Sevral heard the shots before he saw the impact, but knew it was the pirates this time who had dealt the damage. Looking up, it was now that he just registered how close the ship had gotten, its guns poised for attack as they unleashed a volley on the old, already crumbling fortress. From where it impacted, a spray of dust, debris and rubble of varying sizes rained down over the group, the shock wave sending Von, who Sevral hadn't noticed before, into Ocenia, effectively taking her out of commission.

Although the blast had occurred on the other side of the room and though moving made a sharp stinging shoot through his entire being, Sevral had still managed to place himself over the fallen Keyra simply out of a protective instinct. No more harm would come to the woman he knew, not as long as he was conscious himself. The man shielded his own eyes for a moment as everything subsided, then looked up towards the ship to ensure no more blasts were coming. It was now that he also registered two voices and connected them in his mind to being that of Von's and V's. What they were saying was a unclear, as Sevral's head was swimming at this point, a cluttered mess of events and thoughts that got stirred into an even thicker mass when he'd been thrown around. The man felt as if he was on the verge of himself passing out.

Suddenly black... This is all Sevral saw. In combination with his sudden dizziness, and the fact that his ears seemed to be failing him, making all sounds distant and faded, the man felt like somehow he'd been pushed to death, or close to it. He had no idea what was happening, he wasn't even sure if he was awake. Somehow it seemed like a strange dreamland, but it was cold and the pressure he felt somehow made him claustrophobic. Whether or not he imaged this feeling or not, he didn't know that either.

Everything was back in view in a matter of seconds, and now Sevral found himself in a totally new surrounding. The sounds of combat still seemed like they were present, but again, this could be his imagination. It took the man a moment of shaking his head and blinking before he rolled of Keyra and simply laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. Only the sound of Von's voice saying his name made him finally take a second look around and begin comprehending the situation.

"I think its a good time to get back in the fight Sevral.." the Captain had said, "What say you Gavyn?"

"Indeed," said Sevral warily, straining to sit up. The man looked around as everything once more became clear, and his mind finally settled. "Where are we?" he asked quietly, still uncertain of his conscious status.

The darkness that kept her from the blinding pain was fading away. Someone was shaking her, and not to nicely. Burning pain rippled through her chest and down her back. She cracked her eyes opened, a harsh cough wracking her and forcing more blood into her mouth. The crimson liquid flecked her lips and face as she was unable to roll over to spit it out. Keyra could feel a thin river of blood slowly fall from the corner of her lips as she lay there. Her eyes were opened, but only partially, and she couldn't quite focus on anything at that moment.

Breathing was unusually painful, sharp stabs of pure agony pulsing through her lungs with each shallow breath. It took her some time, but she managed to get her mind working again and to look to who it was that held her arm. Deep purple eyes settled on Yo'Von's form as he knelt there, one hand gripping her upper arm, the other reaching for someone else. She couldn't see who the other person was. Keyra just barely caught what he'd said, something about getting back into the fight and asking if Gavyn was in for it as well.

Slowly, she shifted her head to the side and spotted Sevral sitting up not to far from her, he voiced the question that had slowly come to her mind as well. Her gaze flicked about them then, trying to figure out what the hell happened and where she was. The last thing she remembered was standing up from the attack that the mage had thrown at her. Then Ocenia's cold voice behind before the Vall's magic had thrown her and crushed her against the wall. Anything after that was nothing but darkness.

In her had she felt the heavy weight of her weapon that she'd somehow managed to keep a hold of. Without registering the extent of her injuries, Keyra pulled one arm up next to her and began pushing herself to sit up. However, the pressure in her chest forced out another deathly cough, more blood and a shock wave of agony. She fell back with a short cry. Her hand came out from under her sword and she pressed it against her chest to try to ease the pain and pressure. Only then did she lay back, close her eyes and take stock of what had happened to her.

Her stomach and upper chest were cut up pretty badly, burned from the two spells that she'd taken. Both hits had crushed her rib cage on impact and broken at least a rib or two. However, what probably caused the worst of the damages was when she was thrown. She could feel her wings had taken a lot of damage, possibly even broken near the joint, and both joints were jammed between her shoulder blades, half the cause for the pressure all across her chest. She wasn't sure if anything else was broken or dislocated, but she expected it to be so.

Opening her eyes once more, she struggled to get air slowly into her lungs without too much pressure. Reaching out with her hand, she took hold of her blade and began using it as a means to get herself up and on her feet again. It was a slow process, but after a little bit of work, she managed to get to her knees while holding the handle of the enormous sword. Weariness flooded her from the use of energy and she couldn't finish getting up. Instead she knelt there, getting her breath and energy back. Her eyes flicked to Ocenia who was on the floor next to Yo'Von. The Captain had been shaking her as well as herself. Keyra looked around now that she could see better and spotted Gavyn who was partially wrapped in rope. She raised an eyebrow, but didn't voice her question, or rather, couldn't due to another round of coughing.

Once finished, she wiped her gloved hand across her lips to clean the blood and looked to Yo'Von, "I'll fight with you, Captain," she managed to say softly. There was no way she was going to be left sitting like a duck in where ever it was they were at. She had gathered some strength whilst sitting there, and she was damned determined to use it. Especially when she set eyes upon the mage who had attacked her. Her gaze narrowed at him and she pulled herself straighter even though she was down on the ground.

"I should kill you were you stand, mage," she growled between clenched teeth, her hands tightening around her blade.

Rage sifted through the vall who kept her narrowed gaze upon Sevral after her wind landed him against the stone wall. The human inside cried out trying to keep the vall from killing one of her friends, but the woman would not heed her calls. The man had injured them, took out their wing with a steel blade that tore a large whole through their means of flight, of course the snow angel would not let the man live after that. He had claimed to be a friend back on the boat in his room with Gavyn and Keyra in the room, or at least that was how the vall had taken the entire situation yet here he had injured her. Ocenia tried to reason with the enraged woman, had it not been the snow angel who slammed Keyra into the wall which had brought this anger to Sevral? Ocenia even cried out that perhaps the blade was not meant for them and instead for Adnan, who had apparently went unharmed, but this still did not comfort the power that began to swell in the icy chest of Ocenia’s current form.

Completely absorbed by her own pain, Ocenia did not sense Von when he entered the room or the cannon balls as they tore through the building flinging bodies around in its wake. The winged-woman did not even have time to react as Von’s heavy body flew at her with such force that it knocked them both to the ground, causing her head to hit the ground with much force, from there she was out like a light.

Time seemed to stand still as the two Ocenia’s stared at one another. Their realm complete with the trees and fog of their dreams. The rusty-hair human narrowed her eyes at the silver haired beauty with disgust, but the snow angel seemed unmoved by the gaze. Instead she pulled her limp wing around so that she could assess the damage. If it had not been for the princess’ constant whining about keeping the man named Sevral alive had also been a distraction from the blast that now kept them in their cold state of unconsciousness which left them staring at one another with distaste. “Keyra was right, you are blood thirsty. You shouldn’t have treated those people like that!” Ocenia snapped, throwing her hands around as she spoke with revulsion toward her other half.

“Oh, come now. They were trying to take your life princess, give some credit to your savior.” The snow angel calming stated, her eyes glancing up for a moment before returning her gaze back to the injury which was her top priority. “Besides, he injured us…” The woman added, rubbing the area around the hole in her snow-white wing.

“It was,” Ocenia paused as she felt something brush against her shoulder. When she turned her attention to behind her she saw silver-eyes of the tall man who haunted her dreams of late. He motioned his hands toward the east of the trees where voices murmured from afar. He hummed lightly as he stepped back into the fog.

Von’s rough hand shaking her bare cool flesh woke the princess from her debate with herself. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open allowing her form to shift like liquid back into her natural state. She had missed Keyra’s awakening and the painful manner it had taken her to reach a standing position. Ocenia felt bad, it had been her own fault that the woman was in such bad shape but that did not distract her from the pain she felt in her shoulder. Slowly, sitting herself up, the princess felt the sharp pain of a deep wound in her shoulder blade. It had not been her own body that was injured but her other half, though the wound still transferred when they changed forms. Immediately she began to panic, the pain increased with every deep breath that spread throughout her spine and body.

“Gavyn…” she whispered before lifting her ocean gaze up to Von. “Von…” her voice took in a hissing breath as her hand reached up to cup her shoulder to try and ease her pain. Without her hands on the injury she had no way to heal it herself, it was the price for being a healer, she thought to herself. If only the vall had not been so reckless. “What happened?” she mumbled her question before her eyes spotted the assassin before them and fear slithered down her spine increasing the tension around her injury causing more pain to seep into her bones. Her body froze, and she fought with every muscle in her brain to keep her murderous half at bay before she brought more chaos to the group.

Shift left. Trip. Follow with left fist to kidneys. Continue momentum. Right elbow to the jaw. Extend arm. Grab hair. Slam to deck. Grab arm with left hand. Pull forward. Right knee to abdomen.

Gavyn's mind remained void of any other thoughts as he continued to move around the men, trying to keep the numbers back as he attacked continually against the constant influx of enemies. He hadn't believed there could be this many men on the ship, and now that he was the focus of their distraction, he was able to experience their numbers firsthand. He'd been doing well, if making very little progress in any particular direction when his entire groove was thrown for a loop as a crossbow bolt shot past him. The projectile had been enough of a distraction for a blade to cross over his left bicep, slicing the skin open and allowing his blood to flow forth. Falling back into his breathing patterns, he pushed through the pain and continued his assault as another bolt flew through the air, this time scoring a hit upon his right leg. He could almost feel the point penetrate to his hip bone and before he could recover, a third bolt was launched, finding its mark in his right side by his ribs.

A rage flew through the Gryphon as he broke from his discipline, using his strength to smash through the men that stood before him. His golden eyes were full of wrath as he looked to take out those with crossbows if only to splinter the weapons upon the heads of their comrades. It was then he felt the heavy slam of something upon the back of his head, not even having a moment to register where the blow had come from as he fell with a heavy thud upon the deck floor, his conscious leaving him.

It was the feeling of an increasing weight on his back that brought back Gavyn's conscious and the terrible headache that pounded behind his eyes. The worst option would be to remain prone and unaware of his situation. Breathing deeply through his nose and exhaling forcefully through his mouth repeatedly, pushing the pain to the back of his mind as he forced his eyes open, taking in the sight of the Pirate Captain before him as his vision slowly began to clear. The smoke blown into his face forced the Gryphon to stop his breathing, once more aware of the pain and the pressure weighing down on his back. Gritting his teeth, he attempted to rise as more men seemed to come over at his movements to keep him prone. “Birdie?” he pushed out through gritted teeth, enraged by the condescending meaning behind the word. His wounds were taking their toll on him as he continued to try rising, only to have more men piling on top of him until he was forced to collapse once more to the deck.

The sudden fire of cannons deafened the large man for a moment, pausing his struggles as he could almost feel the destruction of the tower. A roar escaped from his throat as he struggled harder to get out from beneath his captors, moving up to his knee when a rope was forced around his body to bind his arms together. Several men held each end of the rope, trying desperately to keep the man from breaking free. Eventually, the had been able to drag him to the mast, some even becoming bold enough to sneer at him in his contained state. One well placed headbutt had the men back off as it became clear that taunting the beast was far from the best decision. The attack only intensified the throbbing in his head, but the satisfaction of breaking his taunter's nose was well worth it. He saw to the side a man holding onto his fiddle, examining the instrument before setting it aside as a trophy of sorts. His growl was not contained, making those standing within arm's length to take another step back.

He strained against the thickness of the masses of rope, his left arm not being as efficient as he had hoped, though he doubted it would have done any better against such a strong binding. “Oi!” he called, trying to distract with his filthy mouth if he couldn't beat the Captain to a pulp, but it was too late. The order had been sent and his eyes scanned over to the tower where his comrades still remained. He barely had time to register the location of everyone, his eyes finally finding the prone Ocenia, when an even greater pressure than before weighed down upon him from all sides. His vision left him and he was suddenly tossed to the floor, left to roll haphazardly against a wall, gritting as the bolts were forced to moved with him.

A few deep breaths and Gavyn began shedding the rope from his body and allowing it to fall to the floor around him. He stood with a little difficulty before gripping the bolt at his hip and tore it from his flesh, letting out a grunt of pain that did no justice to the intensity by which he felt it. He let the bolt fall as well before gripping the one in his arm and pulling that out as well, the blood running freely from him. “Aye, Cap'. If'n mayhaps we've mor' o' a plan, may find a bet'er outcome. Least ta 'ave some sort o' thought ta compliment th' skill,” he said as he tore his ruined shirt into strips to stem the bleeding in his arm. There was little he could do about his hip at the time and would simply have to work through the pain. The wound wouldn't kill him, but if he could keep from get his attention distracted again, he could survive until he was able to get to his herbs.

His attention went to Sevral as he heard his question and closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose before frowning at the stench. “Tis no mistake. We be on th' ship o' th' enemy. Ya can smell 'em in th' stale air.” His eyes met with Keyra for a moment before finding the one he first wished to know the condition of. Ocenia had begun to rise, sitting upon the floorboards and looking to be in quite a bit of pain. The Gryphon moved to her side as she called his name, already tearing more of his shirt that could barely be called as much anymore. He folded one piece of the cloth over to make a layered bandage and took a knee beside the young woman. “Ya fought well, lass,” he said, moving her collar and adjusting her shirt that he might apply the makeshift bandage. His large hand pressed down over the wound. “Tis a scratch, aye? T'will be a' ye fullest inna shake o' a tail.” He spoke to try to distract her, unable to explain what had truly happened. He hadn't been in the tower, trying as he did to stop the pirates from continuing their assault. He pulled her shirt lower down her arms and motioning her arms to move out slightly. Her modesty would remain in tact, but he needed to secure the bandage to her so that her blood loss would not be so great. The last of his shirt had been made into a long strip, leaving him only in his leather vest. He tied the bandage in place, wrapping beneath both arms and over to her shoulder tightly. Satisfied, he nodded and pulled her shirt back up into place, ignorant to the blood he stained upon it.

He graced the mage with a glance and only shook his head. He had thought he would have been taken care of foremost, but something had apparently gone wrong. He didn't know how they got where they were or why the assassin was taken along with them. He was meant to kill this princess Von had in his midst, and apparently suffer death as well. He assumed she was stowed away in the tower by they words the Pirate Captain had exclaimed, and only hoped she too had been able to escape with her life intact.

“Ya fought well, lass. Tis a scratch, aye? T'will be a' ye fullest inna shake o' a tail.”

Keyra kept from rolling her eyes or exhaling the heavy sigh of annoyance at the man's ignorance to the Princess. That alone was a feat in and of itself for her. Instead, she reached down to her belt and from one of the pouches her fingers removed a couple of herbs. The same tiny purple flowers that she'd given to Sevral when he had fallen ill to too much drink. They would suppress the girls pain in her shoulder. With a little bit of effort, Keyra got to her feet using her sword and moved to the large Vall and the Princess.

A cough bubbled in her chest, but she fought it back, wincing at the movements. Once she stood next to Gavyn, she opened her gloved hand and reached between the two. Her fingers, she noticed, shook uncontrollably as she fought to stay upright. Her breathing was more than labored and the pressure from her jammed wings wasn't helping.

"Take them, two each. They will ease whatever pain you're feeling," Keyra managed to say softly before the cough she'd suppressed took over. Quickly, she took Gavyn's hand and pressed the flowers into his palm before stumbling away from them both and hitting the wall behind her. There she stood, one hand over her mouth to catch the warm coppery liquid, the other clutching her sword. As the coughing subsided she reached once more into her pouch and her fingers shifted around searching. She could feel four more of the flowers left in the dark leather bag. Her hand removed them and she looked at Sevral and Yo'Von.

Not wanting to move from her place against the wall for fear of collapsing on the floor, she motioned for Sevral to come to her. Her hand extended for him to take the flowers as her mouth opened to speak to him, "You as well. Two, and two for Yo'Von." Keyra frowned slightly as she made a note to herself that once they were in the wilds of Herth, she needed to replenish her herbs. The only thing she had now were the little green leaves for burns and a couple of yellow flowers for poison, minor poisons. The green leaves would do her no good as the burns were too many and too extreme for the herb to be of any use to her. Even if she had any more of the purple flowers used to get rid of pain, it would have done nothing for her.

"I agree with Gavyn," Keyra started, taking a deep breath in order to continue, "We need a plan."

As the Gryphon had said, the air was stale with the smell of the enemy. Now that she was fully awake, she could hear the sounds of the men pounding across the deck far above them. She didn't know how long they were going to be able to stay hidden down in the bottom of the ship. Her mind was trying to figure a way out of their predicament as another cough filled her. Instinctively her hand reached up and as she pulled away, her gaze flicked down to her blood stained glove. However, what she spotted only made her heart jump and her fist clench tightly. Her eyes narrowed and she turned her head slightly to look to the mage. She disliked magic to begin with, but that dislike was only fueled by the pitch black streak she'd seen in her red blood. Whatever his shadow magic did, it wasn't in her favor she was sure. She had half a mind to turn and run her blade through him. Keyra stayed where she was, though, it would be a waste of energy to try to kill him. She would need every ounce she had to help them get off the enemies ship. Then she would kill the insolent mage.

Von Dranosk

Von looked over his shoulder from Ocenia to V's still smoking form, she was laying very still and there was the smell of burnt leather emanating from her body. Apparently she wasn't lying about being shot on the strength to send them away from danger and their current location as well as the state of herself was all too much proof of that.
He caught the act of Keyra offering him the small flowers through Sevral's aid but Von had to refuse them, all he had was some broken ribs and that alone would not excuse him for such a need. He reached over and pulled V closer to him as her body was still somewhat hot to the touch and she didn't make a noise verify whether or not she was conscious, Von only looked back at Sevral as he received the flowers.. "Go ahead and keep them for someone else.." He said it blankly as if he just didn't want the help from either of them. He brought V's body up against his and moved his hand across her face, as if looking for some way to subvert her mask and peer behind. But he quickly stopped that pursuit and let her form rest across his bent knee as he tucked her arms to her sides.. "She burned herself out just from shifting us this far."
"I remember her being so much stronger since the last time we fought together.. I guess she has been strained as of late."

He kept her body close as the others tried their best to gain their bearings and it was good to see that all of them had made it out, albeit damaged but no worse for wear. It was good that Gavyn didn't loose his sense of humor in all of this, which Von was hoping still counted as his sense of humor or not some silent inner plea for help.
It wasn't long either that Gavyn spoke of making a plan for when all went to hell again and Keyra was quick to second such a motion.. "I agree with Gavyn, We need a plan."

But Von noticed that there was another body in the room, the same man from eairler who he thought was in a fight with Ocenia and it was obvious from her body language that Keyra was more then willing to finish off. The man had seen his own level of combat and he still bore many injuries from the rest of the group, his cloths lightly nipped with frostbite and the small lacerations also remained visible on his form. Von on the other hand knew it wasn't as easy as that to classify him but there was an eerie feeling of remembrance when he looked at the elven male.
But he had to speak out about him for the rest of the group.. "Don't worry about it now Keyra.. he's outlived his usefulness, Now he's even more expendable then we are." Von took another look at the man and could begin to realize just by his outfit who and what he was. "Well.. Ardnan" he kept a slight sigh in the back of his breath that stifled a laugh.."My how the great do love to fall, Don't tell me that you where contracted for this.. surely you could have found a better way to waste your own damn time."

Von sat V down next to Ocenia and made his way over by Keyra's side and began to support her side while setting her sword to the side. He was able to slide a barrel over for her to sit on and he realized that the barrel had the three notations on it that denoted a keg of powder, looking around he could tell now that this was stock for the ship and it was easy to understand why V dropped them there. This was easily the largest compartment on the ship with enough free space and the fact that she aimed it well enough so no one ended up in a wall was even better.
The whole room began to shift in weight and Von could feel the change in direction.. "We're going up.. He must be trying to find us or he is trying to catch the Wind Mire." He grabbed a lamp from the edge of the wall and used the flint match to light it before setting it on the hook. "Either way they aren't going to find us or the Wind Mire, This ship may be bigger but it wont even begin to match it in speed.. I would bet that Rioma has her pulled below the tree line or above the clouds." It was only a few moments after that before the sound of cannon fire could be heard wringing out again.

Leaving Keyra sitting at the wall Von made his way towards the door and began sliding the locks in place before returning to the group. "The fools are going to bring down the tower just to find us.."

He rubbed an arm across the side of his chest absentmindedly in an attempt to stave of whatever feeling he could receive from that location. But it was true that he and the others would need a plan before anything could be done, despite the fact that several of the enemies men have already fallen to either Von or the others. It was easy enough for him to think that there was far more for them to fight still seeing as the ship was frigate and the amount of man power used to successfully run one was vastly more then his own.
"Okay.. we have to destroy this ship and I think we already have what we need." Von motions as he picks his sword up off the floor and returns it to its sheath.

"I just don't know how we are going to get off this ship yet."

It took just a few moments of playing for Adnan to realize his flute had no effect on the Vall before him. In fact, he noted, it looked as if it just amused her more than anything. Putting away the instrument, the man sighed a moment before she spoke. “You’ve been dulled to realize that music only works to call and calm those willing, a much stronger type of song is needed to take the will.”

Adnan was about to respond, to explain his actions and his knowledge when suddenly a sword came from behind the woman, the sharp blade spiraling towards them both, first penetrating the wings of the woman, and then proceeding onward into the man’s shoulder. The Elven man stumbled back in shock and pain as his hand clutched onto the blade that dug deep into him. Just touching the steel however put a cut in his palm as the blade was beyond sharp.

Quickly Adnan recovered. He had no time to remove the weapon, and knew that doing so could cause him to just bleed out, so he forced himself through the pain as the sharp weapon continued cutting with each movement. Adnan steadied himself just enough to withstand any more attacks the Vall might make, though instead it seemed she was totally focused on who he could now see was the owner of the sword, the man from earlier. Unfortunately it seemed that blunder wouldn’t fair well, as the Princess flung him into the same wall he’d forced the other woman into.

A massive blast tore through the entire structure as suddenly Adnan’s own ship had begun firing on the old fortress. Completely disregarding what was happening before him, Adnan knew he was safe as he’d just caught glimpse of a rather large man getting hurled into the Princess, knocking her out. The Elven man’s eyes locked with the one whom he had called Captain and called up rather harshly, “Hey, I’m still down here you insolent swine!” Adnan paused, awaiting a response, but what he heard wasn’t what he expected nor what he wanted.

"Ahh... Aye Adnan.. It appears will no longer be needed your services.. but don't worry our side of the contract was to end your anyway so I think this happenstance is rather poetic. More ironic in fact if you ask me anyway."

Adnan glared at the Captain, tempted even to call upon his magic and unleash hell, but instead simply replied with, "You will regret this captain. I will make it out of here and you shall have to always watch your back. You will fear the darkness, I swear it!"

Suddenly Adnan felt the swelling of magic around him. At first he’d assumed he was being attacked again, but then suddenly the whole world was black. The man was shocked at first, even as he appeared in what he instantly recognized as the cargo hold of his own ship, and looked around warily. It appeared like everyone besides himself and the other large man had landed upright, while the others were in varying stages of combat aftermath, from complete unconsciousness, to simply beaten and battered.

Immediately everyone around him had begun to converse, check on each other, but one such person caught his attention as the young blue haired Vall approached. Her words weren’t kind, but he didn’t expect much. "I should kill you were you stand, mage," she said.

Adnan nodded his respects and replied, "Maybe later, but right now I have to have a little "chat" with the captain." Adnan used airquotes and greatly emphasized the word chat, though immediately a stinging ran through him as the blade in his shoulder intruded further with his actions. The man winced and watched the woman treat her wounded comrades, listening to her words as she passed out flowers that could supposedly ease pain. The man frowned but thought nothing more of it.

Adnan glanced down at his right shoulder which held the ice dagger, and then to his left which held the man’s sword. Gritting his teeth, Adnan prepared himself for pulling the two weapons out and had to gather all his possible strength so that he wouldn’t cry out in pain. Once the job was done, Adnan threw the two weapons aside and allowed flames to catch on his hands again. Placing them to either shoulder, the mage quickly used the fire to cauterize his own wounds. A man then spoke up, and Adnan listened as his name was spoken. From the looks of it, this was the group’s leader. “Well... Adnan. My how the great do love to fall, don’t tell me that you where contracted for this... Surely you could have found a better way to waste your own damn time."

The man chuckled slightly and Adnan noted what he could’ve sworn was a bit of sarcasm. Had this been under any other circumstance, perhaps Adnan would’ve waged war on him, but this wasn’t the time. "Well,” he began, “it was good money and that is how I "waste my time.” Though that’s not the point. The point is now I will go and slowly kill the captain for his treachery.” Adnan took a moment and added the last part as more of an afterthought. “Oh, and you won’t have to worry about me trying to kill you. I'm no longer getting paid, so what’s the point?"

Adnan then noticed that that Vall that got hit by his fire/shadow tornado was coughing up black blood. He approached her and said quietly, "Here let me take a look at you." Adnan lifted her chin and felt her neck then continued, "Yeah, that’s bad... or well it’s what I intended it to do but, since you aren't my targets anymore...” The man paused, thinking, “Here just trust me a moment… My shadow magic should fix this." Adnan quickly produced his spell book and began thumbing through the pages until he found what he wanted. He then placed a hand on her throat and asked her to place her hand on his chest. "This might hurt but please when I tell you to, push all of that magic towards me."

Adnan shut his eyes a moment and concentrated his power to his hand, then began to pull the shadow magic out of the Valls body. He could do a good portion of it, but he would need her help. “Now!” he said as finally the difficult part came.

A surge of power hit Adnan, as the source of the magic, its roots so to speak, were stronger and more powerful than what festers. Besides being unable to pull it out himself, it unleashes excruciating amounts of pain when it does get forced out. Adnan barred his teeth and did his best to not scream with the pain until finally it was done. Sighing and taking several deep breaths to recollect himself, the man finally spoke. "Well you should be good,” he said between breaths, “but you will want to take a look at your own wounds."

"Okay.. We have to destroy this ship and I think we already have what we need." The leader of this group had said.

"Well I for one am going above deck to greet our friends.” Adnan said, “Anyone wish to come along and see what is going to happen to those foolish pirates?" Looking at his spell book again, Adnan turned a few more pages before placing his hand on his chest. He took a deep breath and concentrated, an enormous amount of energy now collecting around the room. “Rise shadows,” he said slowly, “converge on me…” Slowly the shadows around the room began to move, morph together into one amorphous blob that seemed to twist and breath before finally it began moving across the ground towards the man himself.

Adnan took in the shadows openly, though came forward slightly to let out a sickening blood filled cough. He was ready for it of course, as this spell required a small sacrifice, but that was nothing. After a moment the spell was finally finished, and no more shadows were present. Adnan looked up, a new glint in his eyes as he spoke. “Now,” he began, even with blood still coming from his mouth, “go and kill my enemies…” Suddenly the shadows began pouring from the man’s own body in a massive cloak. They wrapped themselves around him and flowed down easily in airy wisps and strands until they hit the floor and dissolved.

Adnan began walking forward, empowered with his spell that completely shrouded him in shadows and left him invisible to those he didn’t wish to see him. He didn’t bother checking the group behind him but proceeded onward. As the first of the pirates came into view at the stairs, his cloak snaked out. The shadowy magic slowly came up and forward like unholy tendrils and latched onto the man and his shadow, encasing him in his own sort of dark cloak. The pirate, unsuspecting until know began to scream and lash out at something he couldn’t touch nor see. Slowly the magic around him was eating away at him, melting his body, completely disintegrating him. Adnan smiled cruelly as he watched, then finally spoke as the last of the pirate disappeared and the shadows regrouped. “Now, isn’t that fun? They’re all going to die like this for crossing me… Quickly now, we must find the Captain.”

Sevral watched what happened next in a sort of detached state. He wasn't listening to anything anymore, but instead was still fuming in a way, and knew it best to simply stay quiet and not do too much, lest anger get the better of him. The last thing he wanted now was to have an outburst and start something else up, especially when their place of refuge was the pirate ship itself. Sevral knew it wouldn't take long for himself to calm, so until such times he remained silent, watching from his place like some child whom had just been chastised and forced to sulk in a corner. The feelings towards Ocenia and Adnan couldn't be put into action, because it simply wasn't fair, but Sevral still felt the need to hit one if not the other, and it sure wasn't going to be Ocenia. Besides, in a way the incident with so sword, though an accident, was sufficient. Not so much for the man however.

From his mind Sevral found himself dragged back into the real world, forced out of his shelter of thoughts as Keyra motioned to him. She seemed as though she refused to go any further, out of energy to do anything more. Sevral slowly stood and walked over, then took the flowers she offered. An odd feeling of remembrance came with the sight of the little plants, but the man couldn't find it in his memory. After tasting them, he immediately knew exactly why they seemed familiar. The bitter-sweet taste of them was just as overpowering the second time, but the man was grateful as moments later they took effect, though Sevral hadn't received too much damage, in fact what he sustained was nothing compared to the others.

Silently Sevral stood as Von approached and helped Keyra into a sitting position on a barrel, and he as well as the Captain seemed to notice the markings on the wood that meant the object was full of explosive powder. He nodded and turned to retrieve his weapons. He didn't bother looking to the mage as he gathered his sword from the floor, but instead passed him to the second blade across the room. The two weapons back in his possession were already calming him, though he did have the urge still to run it through the man, somehow he couldn't find it in himself to do so. The mixed blood smeared across his blades was good enough payback for him, so Sevral busied himself now with cleaning them while everyone else came up with a plan of escape.

"Adnan," Ocenia had said, “He has magic of invisibility… and magic with music. "If he would be willing to help us, now that he has been discharged of trying to kill me, then we have a chance of escaping. Using that type of magic on all of us though with take a little magic tapping that he can use from me. Setting up a long enough line to light we’ll sneak out with ourselves hidden, light the fire. With Adnan’s direction we should be able to escape the ship in time to avoid the blast.”

Sevral turned to the man and waited. It seemed though that after a moments pause, Adnan's only offering was simply purging Keyra of the black magic that infested her, and nothing else. While the mage was working, the swordsmith never took his eyes off him, wary of any more tricks against the woman, yet satisfied at the sight of seeing him in pain from the process. Sevral had shrugged almost as if the man's disregard to everyone else was fitting, as if he'd expected it, but then watched as Adnan spoke, his words cold as he began looking through his little spell book. "Well I for one am going above deck to greet our friends.” he had said, “Anyone wish to come along and see what is going to happen to those foolish pirates?"

Glancing around, Sevral watched as the man began to gather his power, summoning the shadows from all around. It was spectacular in a way, how powerful one person could be, and Sevral couldn't say that sometimes he was jealous of magic users. Their lives were so simple, they had so much control, but he still preferred his hard working life and years of practice over the simple leisurely life of spells. As the man dawned his shadowy cloak, Sevral glanced to the others now in question, then watched as Adnan left the room, apparently doing this not for them, but for his own sake. Finally he spoke.

"Well then," he said, "I suppose Adnan has the pirates taken care of, what shall we do?" He turned mostly to Von for this, though his eyes flicked back and forth to everyone else, mostly for inclusive reasons as he was never one to shut anyone else out.

"Don't worry about it now Keyra.. he's outlived his usefulness, Now he's even more expendable then we are," Yo'Von said to her, obviously he had noticed her murderous glances towards the mage. For a moment she fumed at the thought of just letting him go without having a token of farewell from her blade, however she realized that the Captain was right in his words and turned away so as not to look at the man.

To her surprise, Yo'Von then crossed the distance between them and pulled her off the wall, supporting her weight against him as he took a barrel and moved it beneath her. He put her down on it gently even as he took her weapon from her grip and leaned it against the wall. Her eyebrow lifted in confusion, did his actions mean to tell her not to fight? To sit and do nothing? As courteous as the thought was, Keyra didn't agree with it and wouldn't have any of it either. She would fight if it meant getting them all off the ship. However, as much as she wanted to stand again, her legs wouldn't listen and she was left to sit leaning her back against the wall and fighting to breath properly passed the pain.

Another cough welled up in her chest and she quickly covered her lips hoping to at least cover the existence of the ever darkening blood that was probably a sign of her life ebbing away slowly. The Captain continued to speak, directing his gaze to the barrel that the Vall was perched on. She too turned her eyes downwards and noted the marks along the wood. She was sitting on a barrel of gun powder, for a moment her heart jumped to her throat and she stilled herself uneasily upon the dangerous barrel.

“Adnan… He has magic of invisibility… and magic with music. If he would be willing to help us, now that he has been discharged of trying to kill me, then we have a chance of escaping. Using that type of magic on all of us though with take a little magic tapping that he can use from me. Setting up a long enough line to light we’ll sneak out with ourselves hidden, light the fire. With Adnan’s direction we should be able to escape the ship in time to avoid the blast,” Ocenia spoke up offering an idea on how to get off the ship, however Keyra was quick to denounce the idea.

"He just tried to kill you, Princess," she shot, though the venom in her voice was cut off as she coughed terribly in response to her sudden outburst. Her ribs ached painfully and her body was nothing but fire. Once she got herself under control again she glared at the man as she finished, "I wouldn't trust him at all, Ocenia. Not after what he's done."

"Here let me take a look at you." Keyra stiffened as the mage stepped closer to her. Her eyes glinting with rage as he knelt down and reached out one hand to lift her chin and inspect her carefully. His finger felt her neck as he sat there and Keyra soon shot out a hand and gripped his own tightly, pulling him away from her throat, "Yeah, that’s bad... or well it’s what I intended it to do but, since you aren't my targets anymore... Here just trust me a moment… My shadow magic should fix this."

"Trust you?" Keyra started, but her voice was cut off again. She mentally cursed her weakness at the moment and his black magic. He wanted to use more shadow magic to heal her? She didn't like the sounds of that at all. She would have protested vehemently but she couldn't find the strength to do so and the mage was too quick in the process. He flipped through is book and found what he wanted before turning back to her and grabbing her hand. She found her fingers pressed against his chest and his own around her throat. For a moment she almost threw him away from her, but he spoke and she forgot what she was going to do, "This might hurt but please when I tell you to, push all of that magic towards me."

Unsure of what he meant, she felt his dark power creep through her skin, down into her core and she stiffened. Every muscle contracting against the power that flooded her. Her breath sucked in and out of her chest quickly, half coughing half choking on his magic. The feeling was less than pleasant and it did hurt as he'd said it probably would. Unsure of what he was doing, fear crept into her heart. Hell, he could have been slowly killing her right then and she was powerless to do anything, locked in his spell unable to move. Her eyes shut tightly as she fought off the painful feel of his shadow magic, her head tilting backwards each pulse of power drawing forth soft sounds of pain in her throat.

Then she heard him, his voice calling out 'Now!' at her and she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. She wasn't a magic user, how was she supposed to push that power to him? All she wanted was the feeling of pain to subside and for him to writhe in agony for everything that he'd thrown at her in payment. Then the pain seemed to dull, though it was still there and next to her, she felt the mage cringe slightly, his hand around her throat tightening just a little as he took the brunt of the magic that had affected her. It was over soon after that and she was released from his hold and power.

Keyra took a deep breath and found that it was a little easier to breathe. Her head came forward as she looked at the mage wearily. He stood and left her on the barrel. The Vall watched him carefully as he called the shadows to him and with a short call to them, he left the room. That man is too powerful for his own good, Keyra thought.

"Well then, I suppose Adnan has the pirates taken care of, what shall we do?" Sevral spoke then his eyes jumping between them all. Keyra reached for her sword and pulled herself to her feet once more. With the shadow magic gone she felt a little bit stronger, though her ribs still ached dully. Her wings were jammed and she was going to need someone to work them free so she could use them again. She wasn't even sure if they were broken or not because she could hardly feel them. Keyra moved towards Sevral, each and every burn and cut stinging painfully to remind her that she was battered beyond simple repair.

"Sevral," she called, her voice softening on his name. For a moment her thoughts went a different direction as she dropped down next to him. Realization hit that if Adnan hadn't taken the magic from her system she could have died while on the enemies ship. Her gaze stared at him for a long time before she composed herself, making a note to talk to the man before her once they were safely on the Wind Mire. "I need you to work the joints of my wings free," she said finally and turned away from him as her face heated slightly.

"If there is anyway we could take the wheel of the ship, then getting off would be made much easier. Take her over the Wind Mire and drop a mooring line down to the other ship. Set a slow burning fire here and we've got enough time to do just that. If you think that's possible, Captain," Keyra said as she sat next to Sevral, leaning on her blade.

Gavyn was happy to have been able to assist in the small way he could in stemming the blood flow of Ocenia's shoulder. He knew if he kept his attitude light and the air pleasant enough, it would help to calm her down, meaning her heart wouldn't be beating as much, and thus slow the blood flow. His gaze shifted to Keyra as she came stumbling forward and placed four small flowers within his hand, two each for he and Ocenia. He was going to protest, but decided against it, simply accepting the gesture for what it was. He wasn't injured enough to impair his ability, and he would truthfully rather feel the pain than not feel anything. They were still well in the midst of the battlefield, and taking something that would dull his senses would not be the correct course of action for himself.

The young woman also refused the flowers and Gavyn could only look at the beautifully colored petals before placing them within a pouch on his belt. “Lass, if'n ye feel ye need 'em, ye see me. Af'er I ge' ye off ta safety, we both can be sharin' in th' bliss o' relief, aye?” he bargained with Ocenia, not wanting her to go without, thinking that his needs were greater. He was built to withstand much, and the honor within himself would never stand for her to make such a sacrifice. He smiled at her and gave a wink, not moving from her side as his gaze shifted to the rest of the group. Von seemed to have been carrying a great weight upon his shoulders, and some of which seemed to be focused on the condition the leather-clad woman was under. He watched as she was set down beside Ocenia, discovering that this woman must have been the one to transport them to relative safety. He silently thanked the woman for her sacrifice.

The pounding in his head was already beginning to lessen as Ocenia spoke of her plan. He placed his hand upon her good shoulder, to lend her his strength in proposing the plan. A nagging in the back of his mind told him that her word choice didn't quite fit, but shooed it aside. The assassin had been planning to kill them all to get to the princess. Still, why would she choose only herself as claiming to be a target? He was going to comment on her plan when the sharp tongue of Keyra shot in. The first thing to go through his mind was that she had a bit of bull in her for the way her temper flared stubbornly. The next completely voided the first as he referred to Ocenia as Princess. He could barely believe his ears, but there was no doubt about it. Ocenia had been the Princess from the start? He gazed around the room, but saw no further surprise on anyone's expressions. It seemed he had been the only one who had not been told. Even the assassin had been aware of her identity.

Not even focusing on Adnan healing Keyra, Gavyn was simply trying to mull why it would be kept from him. He knew Sevral would be watching his lass like a hawk, and if a call to arms was initiated, he would be one of the first to defend against the man, magic or no. Still, his mind drifted. No one had bothered to correct him or inform him of his mistake, thinking the princess and Ocenia were two different people.

However, the calling of the shadows to the new man did shake Gavyn out of his thoughts as his grip on Ocenia tightened slightly. “Oi! Ya daft!” he seethed at the magician as his shadow was also drawn to the man. He didn't like the idea of his shadow being tainted by this being's magic. His shadow was an extension of himself and it being under another's control only added to the implications that were possible. He never studied magic, but it never took a genius to understand the power was beyond limit with the right training and conduit. He took solace in knowing most magicians killed themselves trying to achieve it, but that nagging in his mind was always there. It's why he never understood why his brother was so keen to learn it.

He watched him exit the door and heard the bloodcurdling screams to follow as he made his advancement. This fool of a man was giving away their position, their one ace in the hole to take on the pirates. “Ach, if'n th' lad survives, t'will kill 'im meself,” the Gryphon growled out as he stood from his spot, reminded of his limitations as he released Ocenia. That discussion would have to wait for another time, as it seemed they didn't have time any further to sit and discuss things out.

“Keyra-lass, ye've a point. I've no doubt th' lot t'will be on us in a moment. If'n th' wheel be yer need, then ye have it. I'd ask ya to remain an' hold th' position if'n I thought fer a wee moment ya would. So I ask it o' Sevral. Keep yer eyes ta th' door an' keep 'em fro' th' powder.” His gaze turned to Ocenia, and he bent down, wincing only slightly as he reached and placed a hand on her head. “Ya play that flute o' yers, lass. Keep th' lads a' bay. If'n 'here be a breach, yer ta shrill. I'll be 'here,” he promised as he stood back up again and looked to Von with a nod. “Ya be Cap'. Tis only rig't ya lead us out. T'will no' le' th' impatience o' that crazed nyaff harm me mates further. W'at say ye?” he asked the Captain. His meaning was clear. V was injured, Ocenia was injured, Keyra, Sevral, as well as the two large men who now stood beside one another all had sustained injury. They had stolen from him his precious instrument. The Gryphon was sick of the pain that was being caused and was ready to put an end to it as quickly as he could. He grinned to the Captain, a look that could be found on the face of a mischievous lad. As it stood on the Gryphon, it meant only one thing. He wasn't going to stop until he had completed what he had set out to achieve.

Reassurance, Gavyn reminded her of this when he placed his large hand on her shoulder. It was then that she felt highly confident in her own idea to take on the pirate ship, but everything spun out of control from there. It had been nice, she thought, that the shadow man known to them as Adnan had helped one of their own by taking the poisonous leeching magic out of Keyra’s body, though she still seemed very exhausted from injuries she had sustained. If she had not been terrified of her own powers at this point she would have easily been able to take out the damaging magic in her body and healed all her wounds absolutely, but fear had stopped the princess from offering her help even to Gavyn. Afraid of yourself, how pathetic the other’s voice mocked within her head as she allowed her posture to fall back a little submissively while listening to the others.

Registering a little late, the princess pulled her gaze away from the dark oak floors to the assassin who had commented on taking the pirates out himself. She supposed that it was only his right to be angry with them for refusing him pay along with trying to kill him with her other companions. Perhaps, she thought, it would be a good idea for Yo’Von to send her back to Ophidia to reconcile with her father. The thought gripped her heart tightly making it almost hard to breath. Panic then settled and her body tensed. How had it come down to her being the cause of other’s pain? Back in Ophidia she had been a very respectable princess waiting to take the throne from her father, even though she was adopted, she still had these rights by law.

“Ya play that flute o' yers, lass. Keep th' lads a' bay. If'n 'here be a breach, yer ta shrill. I'll be 'here,” The rough voice that belonged to Gavyn caught her attention. The grip of the devil’s hands around her heart loosened when she found him with her eyes. He had really asked her to play her flute and magic to help them with their situation, though she knew for a fact that the others would have rather her play her part as the helpless princess. “I…” The woman took a few steps and took hold of the man’s well built arms. “I can’t…” Her face paled, her eyes became dull with pain, and tears started to roll down her cheeks building at her chin. “I can’t,” she said louder this time and without thinking ran out of the room and down the hall, turning here and there until she found the deck. Realization dawned on her as she recognized the captain and his crew staring back at her. She had done it again.