Wyn had led the group of Sellexun warriors on a fast pace through the night and into the day, stopping for rests only when it was absolutely necessary to do so. On their right, the ocean crashed, sometimes stretching out below them, and other times hidden by the thick forest they were riding through. On their left was always that dark forest that seemed to hold the night, even in the middle of the day. The weather was still cold, barely feeling the spring that had been apparent in the Sellexun capital when they had left.
They were not far from the crossroads where Nerini had told them to meet her, with no trace of monsters or fighters. There would be a direct route through side roads deep into the forest itself at that spot, and as the sun began to set, Shiar had glanced at her in askance. They still had not yet decided if they would foray inland that night, or await the arrival of the other ships and more soldiers that shouldn't be that far behind them.
She opened her mouth to ask the High Lord his opinion when a herd of frantic, yet saddled, horses galloped around the corner and straight at them. The animals did not stop as Wyn's party was forced to split to the sides of the roads, battling their own mounts, who pranced and tried to follow the other animals.
"Cocoa!" Wyn yelled as she got her charger under control, drawing the attention of the small desert horse of Nerini's.
The animal wheeled around and snorted, glaring at her. But Wyn couldn't wait. She turned and urged her horse into a run in the direction those riderless horses had come from. Not long afterwards she heard the clash of metal and screams that created a chorus with the inhuman growls that snarled through the air and chilled her blood.
Wyn kicked her horse into a full run and heard Shiar yell to his men to keep up behind her. They came through the bend in trees, seeing a group of street runners and rogues fighting a pitched battle at a crossroads, with the help of a handful of Lansend guardsmen, near the edge of a cliff. Blood splattered the muddy snow all around, and she saw more than a few unmoving forms scattered around the scene.
She shivered at the sight of the two enormous masses of darkness they were fighting, watching the creatures toss grown men and women about like dolls with arbitrary swipes of their arms. The monsters growled and snarled like animals, though their movements were decidedly humanoid, like children wading around through toys and throwing them around with wild abandon.
As she neared the fight, Wyn leaped from her horse and fell into a roll, allowing the moment to try to control the panic that had leapt into her mind and heard upon sight of those monstrous creatures. Her blades came out as she landed on her feet and sprinted against the slow calm that was her gift, slowing the battle around the creature she was approaching.
Unused to using her power as a weapon, Wyn battled to hold on to it and the still calm as she shifted into position, then let the feeling go and launched into an attack. She spun and slashed at the creature that struggled to understand where she had come from so quickly. Her blades cut deep into the dark mass, finding something solid amongst the shadow.
Shiar was beside her in a heartbeat, moving in tandem to her attacks. When she blocked, he struck and vice versa, their offensive managing to keep the creature pressed back as his dozen men joined them. The massive, hulking shadow fell into the defensive as it found itself overwhelmed by fighters and weapons on all sides. In a last effort to strike out, it lashed out a massive claw at the lone female warrior amongst the Sellexun.
Wyn ducked around a glancing blow, feeling a claw scrape up her back as she drove both her blades deep into the core of the creature. It jerked backwards, and she pushed harder, feeling the tremors through her blades as its body struggled to respond to a fatal blow. The creature collapsed as its claws wrapped around her, pulling her into its chest as it shuddered and shrunk into the grotesque humanoid creature that it truly was.
Wyn yelled and kicked back as she pulled her swords out of the creature's shuddering form and struggled to break free of the death grip she was in, panting and turning to see the second creature falling to the curved blades of a Rogue. For a moment she was entranced with the beautiful dance of the cloaked figure, watching his curved blades catch the last of the dying light, almost seeming to float on air in a style of movement that reminded her of Nerini.
Wyn caught the sight of movement to her side from the corner of her eye and launched into an attack. Shiar caught her blades with his own as she whirled. They braced their blades against one another for a moment, Shiar watching her calmly until her mind caught up with what had happened.
Wyn let out a breath, finally nodding to him and taking a step back, sheathing her swords and wincing. "Sorry."
Shiar frowned and glanced at the surrounding group, ordering his men to help with the wounded. He took stock of the situation before speaking, his voice raising to be heard by both groups as the stillness of the finished battle saw the distinct groups separating with an uneasy caution. "Where's Nerini?"
The Lansend group looked less cautious of both groups, though the street runners had the rough look of ruffians weighing their chances in another fight.
The tall Rogue that Wyn had noticed killing the other creature walked towards Shiar and her spinning his blades into their sheaths, with a deceptively serene expression on his face. "Who's asking? "
"High Lord Shiar, of Sellexu. This is Lady Wyn. I think, owing to the fact that we helped you with your... problem, you owe us an answer." Shiar answered stiffly, though Wyn was relieved to see him sheath his own blades.
"I see ships on the horizon, Sir!" A slight young woman covered in the same armour favoured by rouges, came up and stood beside him, watching the two nobles warily. "They're Sellexun, a big ass one that is going to break itself if it tries to get any closer."
"Tomei, get them to take Lord Kannein down to the beach. And the wounded. Keep the scouts out for the moment. We have no idea if there are any more of those bastards." The rogue watched the two of them, with an expression somewhere between amusement and insolence. "Yours, I imagine, oh High Lord?"
He offered a mocking bow to Shiar, his tone and smirk rather caustic. Though the man paused a moment before offering a formal bow to Wyn.
"Where's my friend?" Wyn asked softly in response, her anger coming out as ice as she looked at the man.
"She fell into a goddamned hole and let a castle fall on top of her." He snapped, motioning back down the road. "Those things have been chasing us, so I'm hoping that they didn't stop to find her broken ass beforehand, and now I'm going to go back there, and find her, and dig her out of that mess."
"You left her behind?" Shiar asked incredulously before whistling for his horse, even as one of the street runners leading a mount up to the Rogue.
The man gave Shiar a once over, his expression uninviting. "It was part of the plan. Get the Lordling out to safety, then give the stragglers a day before heading south to Alliance by ship. If she's buried under the rubble, I'll find her, and we'll make the long way down south the long way."
"Stop. Both of you, before we go running off to who knows where." Wyn murmured, shaking her head, trying to make sense of the nonsense the two of them were spewing. "First, who are you?"
"Sir Keana Rothchild, Knight of her Ladyship, Nerini O'vara, Commander of the Black Cat Company under authority of the Regent." He said simply, offering another bow to her, his smirk dark.
"Well met Sir Keana. Look, as much of a friend as you are and as deep a duty as you have to Nerini, mine is deeper and longer." She paused and looked to Shiar, sighing softly. "High Lord Shiar has joint responsibility, being her fellow Champion under the Alliance, they're technically sworn to protect the Alliance and one another, so we're all in the same position."
Keana raised a brow, a dangerous smile spreading over his lips. "Aye. I've heard of our Alliance Champions. Feeling better, are we?"
"Stop it." Wyn said sharply, snapping her fingers to prevent Shiar from retorting, looking between them. "Look, I don't know what you two are bristling about, but I hope its adrenaline from battle and the urge to do something to help our friend. HOWEVER, If Rini survived, she'll be following with the plan and finding a way out here, meaning if we go anywhere other than what we've agreed upon, we'll miss her. Or she was found injured by these things, or killed in the castle's apparent collapse. In which case, us rushing off back towards where these creatures are coming from is a moot point. We are all injured, we need healing. Let us board the ship and wait, shall we?"
"You call her Rini?" Keana asked curiously, tilting his head, before nodding to her. "Alright. I'll keep scouts out here to keep watch for her, they'll watch all the roads and forests that she might take."
He turned to Tomei, who was beside him again with no words. He merely raised a brow and motioned something with his hands. She nodded to him and jogged away once more, leaving him to turn back to Wyn and Shiar.
"My men can assist here on shore; a lot of your people were injured." Shiar said stiffly, though he offered Keana a hand to shake. "Well met Sir Keana, you fight well."
"And you, my Lord." The rogue Knight shook Shiar's hand, his expression becoming a little more charming as he glanced between the two of them. "I've heard you're quite good with a sword as well. Sorry if I didn't have time to admire your fighting this time, I was otherwise occupied."
Wyn glanced between the two of them, letting out a slow breath, and gave up trying to figure out what had the two men so odd around one another. "If we're all introduced, the ships are approaching, I think we have a Regent to be yelled at by."
"Oh, that's really not my cup of tea, to be honest." Keana smirked and shook his head. "I'll stick to the background, let you be yelled at by your fine blooded brethren. When that's all done, I'll see if I can be of any use."
Shiar gave him an unimpressed look, before merely nodding and following Wyn down the embankment towards the beach, pausing only a moment to glance down the road.
Wyn paused on the beach as the rowboats crested the last of the surf, turning to look in the same direction Shiar was. The forest loomed dark and silent above them, with no hint of her friend. When she sighed and turned back to the two men she was with, she noticed Keana was frowning in that same direction.
When he noticed her watching him, the Rogue winked and grinned to her, before pulling up his hood and offering another bow, motioning to the boats that were landing on shore.