Saber remained still as he was overcome by the haze--but not because he was calm. Instead, he was paralyzed with fear--if he moved so much as a muscle, who knew what could happen? It might screw up the entire process, and the mercenary wasn't about to lose his life for a stranger. Wait. Wasn't he already doing that by agreeing to come on this mission? Or maybe he had thought that his wellbeing was secure before accepting this task--although, looking back on it, that was absurd. They were penetrating a huge tower that was probably filled with enough well-armed, well-trained, and powerful guards for them to be disposable. Yes, there was no doubt about it. Sabertache hadn't done much thinking before taking action.

But wait. What about Aiden? She must be scared to death... He tried to look around as much as possible, but couldn't make out anything in the odd atmosphere. Then, finally, his feet hit solid ground. The mercenary exhaled--until then he had no idea he was even holding his breath--and loosened his muscles, wondering how long he had been in that surreal realm. Apprehension was creeping into every crevice in his mind by now, and it took all his will to fight back the urge to call it quits before these robed maniacs got him into anything even more dangerous. He nearly drew and threw his blade in one motion as the fifth man stepped out of nowhere, but he was still clenching Roth's shoulder. Realizing his faux pas, he released the man quickly, and shot his hand down to his side. He knew nothing about these people, why was he here? They could have been lying about everything up until then.

He listened to the short exchange between the mysterious allies--six floors? They would have to travel six floors? And who knew what was waiting for them...this was bad. He cast a glance towards the glass door, wishing he were on the other side with--his eye caught a gleam of moonlight off of one of the guard's armor, and he stepped back, his saber whipping out in an instant. I knew it!

At least they outnumbered these men...but still, the defenses looked nearly impenetrable, and...well, they were big. Even Saber, as tall as he was, would have a rough time touching his sword's edge to their skin. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, caught a glimpse of the familiar curly locks he was looking for, and grasped Aiden's hand briefly with his left. Hoping he had her attention, he turned his head to the side and whispered, "Shadowmeld and get past the circle, quickly! I don't want them beheading you!" Releasing her hand and looking for Kuro, he hissed out to the only other familiar face there. "Kuro, with me! Your back to mine! Hopefully our swords can hold them off long enough for us to think of some strategy." Lifting his own blade before his face and bending his knees, he fumbled with his sheath, detaching it from his belt and bringing it out in front of him in his left hand for extra protection.

Victor, too, had been stunned by the sudden death of the guard, though mostly because it had been an extremely loud ordeal. How come the other Apostles could make all the noise they wanted while he had to remain utterly silent? And for that matter, why was Maverick allowing anyone else to speak at all? It all seemed very unfair and this made the Bard sad and confused. So he stared, silently still, into the night sky and tried to piece together what he was doing with himself at that moment.

When he looked down he was alone.

The Hylian glanced about nervously. He noticed Pyraline and Taint, but was still deeply disturbed by the sudden disappearance of his other comrades. Perhaps they had been taken in the night by the denizens of the tower? How had he not noticed? He wasn't being serious when he had wished for more silence. Oh woe, why had he been so selfish only moments before?

It suddenly occurred to him that, being Apostles with the intent to sneak into a place, they may have used their special powers to teleport into the tower. It also occurred to him that he held this power as well. Although... he had never used it, had he? Oh, well, now was as good a first time as ever.

Ah... but how does one go about using such magic, he wondered silently. First he tried clenching his body and just concentrating, but this yielded no results. After all, he wasn't sure what he was concentrating on doing, exactly. So he tried just spinning around a few times. This seemed to bring about some interesting results! Oh wait, no, he was just dizzy now. So he fell.

Well, at least he had transported himself to the floor. On his back, he groaned without a sound - Goddesses, why did they have to make magic so complicated? Victor closed his eyes and pondered on this. Violent magic was easy enough, he had learned just to create an orb of energy and throw it, basically. Songs were just a matter of playing a magical instrument, so... why was mental magic so troublesome? Oh, what he wouldn't give to just be with the rest of the group in the tower...

As he lay there thinking, he felt a sudden tingling sensation. He smiled at first, because he was quite ticklish - then he frowned profusely. Could it be a bug of some sort??

With a jolt the Bard was on his feet and doing an absurd dance of fear and grabby actions, wiping all along his cloak to ward off any tiny intruders; of course, he did this all without a sound. When he was done he noticed that he was surrounded by solid walls. How'd those get there?

When he turned he noticed that his teammates were surrounded by solid guards. How'd they get there?

Assessing the situation with an unusual swiftness, Victor reached for his trusty boomerang and slung it at the nearest guard's head.

Ah, wood. You don't require any complicated thoughts, now, do you?

Aiden stayed still through the process, or mainly still. Her wide gaze sucked in the haze with wild and giddy curiousity. She was always one for learning and this triggered an idea. Her book needed a section on magics.. Bringing her mind back to the present she smiled, the ordeal felt somewhat like shadowmelding.

While she did not agree with her race on most accounts, shadowmeld was still well known and common for her. In fact most of the time she was totally scared of those sharing her heritage. As soon as her feet hit solid ground she let out a small giggle and flexed all the muscles in her arms. Truly this magic was something worth writing about. Once this rescue was through she would have to corner one of the men.

Aiden was so interested by the magic and testing it's affects on her body she zoned out of the whole conversation, that is until she heard him getting louder. By that point it was too late, for one thing nothing he said made much sense, and for a second she was not the only one to hear him.

Looking at the oncoming enemies she tensed and crouched lower. It may have seemed odd for her to shrink herself when the men were already so tall, but it was a defensive tactic all the same. Saber's hand grabed hers just then and she flinched, her hand clutching his almost painfully tight for a moment. Thank goodness she quickly realized who had touched her and relaxed, she had been about to use a judo like throw on him. Her gaze softened when she heard him. He was concerned, her stomach did a few flip flops then froze. Did he expect her to run? Even when he in the others were in danger?!

Her vivid gaze narrowed and she clenched her teeth. Instantly she drew her dagger and in a defient act straightened up, leaving herself open. Then with the grace of a true bard going into a dancer mode she slipped between her comrades and stood at the frontlines within arm reach of the large men. "Can I help you?" Her soft voice was calm and clear, but not nearly loud enough to travel far.

The spell the Apostles had cast was in fact an odd one to Kuro. He was only used to battle spells like elemental burst and fire. But the thought of a spell to be used for different things had crossed Kuro's mind, but he had never seen them before, and was a bit startling, but Kuro quickly got over the strange sensation when they had finally got into the tower.

He let go of whichever Apostle he was holding on to and took a step back. He surveyed the room and even began to take a step closer to the walls to get a better look at them, but stopped when he heard the voice of another cloaked figure. He turned his head in the newcomers direction, and stood straight up for a second, then slumped over when he realized that his appearance didn't seem to matter much.

The conversation might have been interesting if Kuro had actually been listening to it in the first place. The only part he actually caught was that the prisoner was being held on the fourteenth floor, and that there was an easy access from the sixth floor via some magical thing, so the mission may have just gotten a bit easier.

But the guards made the mission much more difficult.

Kuro reached inside his cloak with both of his hands and pulled out his two trusty swords. He quickly moved toward Saber, getting back-to-back with him, and looked around the room, noticing the people who had acted already: Victor was using his boomerang, while Aiden was talking to the guards.

Kuro took a deep breath and sprinted off a short distance, making it to the guard nearest Aiden, and jumping up, slashing horizontally at the guard with both of his swords, aiming to cut his forehead and chin. [Dual Wield L1]

He landed next to the guard and took a step back, next to Aiden. "If you want to fight, at least keep your guard up," he said, "these guys are big and might be stupid. That's a lethal combination," Kuro finished, jumping back to where Saber stood, facing the guards and remaining alert, but a bit scared at what the guards' reaction could be because of his comment.

"I'm a dead man."

<center>“Can I help you?”</center>

The fact was evident in the dark lobby of the cold, unwelcoming tower: These people were intruders, and yet they did not seem to pay any mind to their trespassing. Aiden’s calm, negotiating demeanor was lost on the brutes, and no sooner than her words had passed the threshold of her mouth and escaped her lips had one of the guards turned violently on the girl, and without consideration for the brutality of striking a young woman, the armored foe hammered his large blade downwards towards her torso.

It was at this exact time that Victor’s boomerang came within an inch of hitting its mark. The target guard, however, was far too quick for such an attempt and ducked his head out of the way of the bard’s trusty weapon. It struck the wall behind him and ricocheted, coming back towards the battle and making a return journey back to its bardly master. Unfortunately for Victor, the guard was quick to catch the Deku boomerang, and as he held it in his grasp he looked at the man who had thrown it. Glaring at the musician, he threw his catch to the floor and turned on its master and pointed directly at him with his metallic gauntleted hand. Then slowly, intimidating, he heaved his sword into both hands and trudged towards Victor with a menacing grin alight on his face, laughing quietly to himself but just loudly enough that the others could be sure of one simple thing: our heroic bard was in trouble.

Kuro and Saber were in even more peril than the other two volunteers; although back-to-back sword fighting was an excellent strategy, it did not hold up well against the two guards that had focused their energies on subduing the pair. For starters, Kuro’s twin blades could not penetrate the surprising agility of the guard he had struck out at. The brute noticed quite easily that the young Hylian was having difficulty wielding a sword in his off-hand, and that the dual-wield technique had not yet been learned in its entirety. As the Deku blades came hurtling towards him he easily deflected the blow with a powerful sweep of his arm, disarming the youth in the process and without a shadow of a doubt sending a stinging shock down his arms and into his body. He didn't seem to notice the boy's remark, and as Kuro had jumped clear of the guard now, he set his sights on one of the cloaked figures. They seemed to make up the bulk of the party.

Saber was not quite so lucky. The guard that was not busy dealing with Aiden, Victor, Kuro, and the others was quick to direct its attention to the other back-to-back fighter. A sword’s sheath, no matter how great the sword it contained might be, was no match for a colossal two-handed iron sword, of that fact that foe was very assured. He slashed the oversized weapon in an arc at Saber’s side, and the Tantari Mercenary Extraordinaire was indeed fortunate to have been hit by the sword’s flat than by its razor-sharp edge. He was sent flying through the darkness and struck the wall directly to the left of the great glass entrance. The wall crumbled a bit as his body slumped from its momentarily gravity-free suspension and fell to the floor in a pile of dust and debris. The guard was sure that his opponent was made of tougher stuff than to be felled so easily, and so trudged slowly over to where the boy had fallen. He was not giving Saber a chance to recover, oh goodness no, but rather could not move very fast for all his weighty armor!

The halfling Apostle, Eyra, was having her own troubles against the guard that gave chase to her. Being only a fraction of his size, the helpless woman could do nothing but guard herself with a small Deku shield that looked as though it would crumble under the force of a steady blow. It was not like an Apostle to carry a shield into any affair, but this vertically challenged intruder had been prepared, it seemed. But let it be confirmed that, of course, the shield would have splintered and the girl would have been left for near dead had the violent Apostle from outside not interfered at that moment. A horrible burst of lightning burst from his finger and speared the guard through the skull, blasting through the other side in a horrible but awe-inspiring splendor of lights and static power. As the tall, muscular man fell to the ground, instantly slain, his hair stood high on end and frizzy, and his body, which would normally have been still in death, twitched uncontrollably as small shocks leapt up here and there all over his smoking carcass.

OOC: As this battle will be RP-based rather than stat-based, if you have a chance to mod yourself as dodging, you have that right. So, for example, Brizzy doesn’t need a successful dodge check to avoid that blow. Just escape if you’d like ^_^. Just to clarify that a bit; haven’t had a good RP-based brawl in ages.

Aiden's strong gaze watched her attacker eagerly as each of his movements seemed to be happening in slow motion. Her mind was a mess, should she skitter out of the way? What about twirling in closer and hoping to land a strike in a weaker spot in his armor? As his blade moved towards Aiden she crumpled! Was she hurt?! Well she didn't make a pained noise...

In reality Aiden had used her flexibility, her left leg bent up beside her. She was squished against the ground, her back arched only slightly for her own comfort. In a defensive action her small dagger clinked against the guard's large sword, now if he even moved slightly she would feel it and hopefully be able to take action. Her right leg was tucked up to her chest, looking a lot like a deadly spring. Swiftly she let her leg fly aiming a kick to his groin! As her leg flew her arm tense and she pushed up against his blade trying to distract him and leave her target open. In the effort her nose crinkled and she let out a soft grunt.

All of the others were drowned out in these critical moments. She was not worried for them, each could handle their own. Or so she had to believe. If her focus slipped at the wrong moment she could lead them all into grave danger. Still, she badly wished to sneak a glance towards at least one of the others. One in particular.

Saber felt a rib or two crack as his body met brick, and it hurt to breathe. His sword and sheath clattered against the ground a ways from his body; he had been unable to hold onto the weapons during his flight. Taking a few seconds to regulate his breathing again, he rolled painfully onto his stomach and rose to his knees, his eye catching his opponent's approach. There's no way I can overpower him...grabbing my saber right now would just be a waste of time, it's useless given the situation. Suppose I did have it, I would still have to get past his sword and up to the uncovered head...

That's when it hit him. His bruised left arm fumbled in a bag strapped to his hip, retrieving a bomb. Let's hope I've trained myself well enough with magic... the mercenary thought as he gulped. Suddenly lunging to his feet, he switched the unlit explosive to his right hand before hurling it at his opponent's face. As soon as it left his hand, he began straining to build up his magic, trying to remember everything Tayro had told him in the mines...and when he hoped the bomb was close enough to the enemy, he let the energy out, praying to the Goddesses that his Fire spell would form inside the bomb like he intended.

The stinging shock wasn't the first surprise, nor was the strength of the huge guard. The most surprising thing was the amazing agility of the guard. How was it possible that such a big person with so much armor could avoid Kuro's attack, and react so quickly? Kuro decided however, that he shouldn't dwell on the subject any longer and instead dwell on something more important like the horrible stinging shock that lingered in much of his body.

Kuro leaned against a nearby wall trying to regain a more regular breathing pattern as he considered each of his options: physical attacks weren't much use at all, and Kuro wasn't at all about to try any more, especially since his swords were on the ground now, but still nearby. The only thing that had seemed to work at all was magic, and Kuro wasn't very proficient with the art, but he could use it to an extent, and that's just what he did.

He only knew one way to do it very good, but it worked. He reached into his pocket with his left hand and fumbled around for a piece of what appeared to be chalk. He pressed it against the wall and drew two circles that was big enough for him to place his hands into, with a symbol inside. He placed his hands inside them after returning the chalk to his pocket and began to gain magical energy in his hands. As he gained the last he could, the chalk disappeared and he shot the elemental burst from his hands. As he did this he prayed that the blast would collide with the head of the guard he had just attacked, and left the element that would form purely up to fate.

OOC: I’d blame the month+ hiatus on having to wait for KP to make a post… but to be fair, the game itself is just as dead. Blah.

IC:

A bomb without a sword is as useless as, well, a sword without a blade. Or, perhaps as useless as bow without a string. Both were comically similar situations. The guard let out a grunt of amusement as the explosive – which he sincerely doubted would be exploding any time soon – came flying towards him. He lifted a gauntleted hand and caught the off-mode bomb, holding it back out to the mercenary to retrieve, taunting him, and tempting him to take it back.

That is when something most unexpected occurred. The tips provided by one Tayro Wind in the mines entrance of Northern Hyrule had proven quite effective, as even a generally magic-incompetent grunt such as Sabertache had apparently learned from the best. A look of bewilderment appeared on the guard’s stern face. His hands were suddenly burning, and he knew that something was not quite right. The bomb he held in his outstretched hand glowed a bright, blinding white. He knew what had happened, but had absolutely no idea how it had been possible. With a startled cry, he was lost in a haze of thick grey smoke. It took only a moment for the smoke to clear, and Saber would be sadly disappointed to see that his plan had not been entirely effective. The guard was generally unscathed, although clearly quite disturbed and mentally unperceptive for the time being. The armor around his forearm and hand had been stripped clean off, and his limb fizzled and hissed loudly, quite obviously having suffered a burn. The arm and hand themselves remained relatively functional, although they were now bleeding and stinging as a result of a seemingly painful scalding (as could be judged by the look of shock on the guard’s face).

His surprise was evident, and his low intelligence kept him from snapping out of this state instantly. He stood there for a moment, staring at the burned limb, completely at a loss of words and emotions. However, before any one of the Apostles and adventurers present could act, the brute came to his senses and let out a terrifying bellow, his eyes alight with fury. He fixed his gaze on the cause of his wound – the sheepish young mercenary standing not more than a small stride away. Grabbing an object from his waist area, he proceeded to throw, with his entire might, said object directly towards the boy. Saber was lucky, it can be said, that the guard’s stupor had lasted well into this move. Lucky, however, would be a grand understatement. For the sake of argument, it is entirely true that had the heavy, metallic ball not landed a few paces behind the boy, Sabertache, Tantari Mercenary Extraordinaire, would have never been heard from again. A clanging sound resounded throughout the lobby, and every single guard glanced over anxiously. The blast was thrice that of a standard bomb, and it sent Saber hurtling towards the guard he had wounded. He landed in a heap at his foe’s feet, his entire backside black with the soot of the explosion.

All of this commotion had caught the other enemies off guard for a split-second. Fortunately for Kuro, the guard he had chosen to concentrate his Elemental Burst on was not even paying attention. The spell hit its target perfectly, unleashing a terrifying sensation over his entire being. The deep purple shadow that had now completely doused Kuro’s opponent howled eerily as it flitted around the guard. It darkened to a pitch black shade, and from beneath the dark veil could be heard a muffled scream. The haze cleared, and left behind much left than had been there when it had been cast. The disturbing effects of shadow magic had a wide range, and this was apparently one of the varieties.

The guard’s armor was twisted and bent, mangled beyond recognition. His face was spotted with dark splotches, the shape of his face and cranium having been warped drastically into an indescribable form. One eye hung from its socket, forced from its place during the monstrous shifting of facial proportions. His lips were twisted into an awkward position, and his nose had simply ceased to exist. His limbs had been gimped – they did not perform the functions they had been naturally designed to. He took a step, and his leg let out a mist of thin black liquid. A groan – impossible to understand as anything more than a final plea for reprieve – escaped the deformed face of the once human-looking guard. He teetered backwards, and fell to his back. As he landed, his body splashed against the cold marble floor. There was nothing left of the guard save some mangled, compressed armor and a large pool of black liquid. A hush fell over the room. The other guards said nothing. The one who was keeping Aiden quite busy stood down and stared in horror at his fallen ally.

Roth looked at Kuro with shock. “What in the hell was that?” he stammered, quite disturbed for a man of his size and durability.

The unnamed Apostle stood back and folded his arms. It was a terrible thing to witness. He had no idea that the magic was so potent. He glanced at the boy they called Kuro. Notably, the kid would be more surprised than any. Magic didn’t often do that to a person, not even shadow magic. The Apostle saw Maverick staring at him, and he returned the stare with a shrug.

OOC: Wow... No posts since March. We can't let this topic die.

IC: Kuro hadn't expected his elemental burst to do much of anything, really. He was a grunt. Not a mage. He wouldn't be able to do much. He only wanted to score a hit at least once.

And by the goddesses he hit.

He was happy to see his burst rocket towards his unknowing foe, and even happier to see it doing some good. A smile came to his face that quickly converted to an expression of shock as the horridly mangled guard fell to the ground dead. He blinked a few times. How had that happened? He definitely didn't have that much power did he? No. He had used magic on several occasions, and never did something so horrifying happen. But, then again, they say each low-leveled elemental burst was different, and Kuro rarely created a dark type one.

Kuro composed himself. Focus on the other guards. It's still not over. Kuro took a deep breath and reached for his swords, grasping them tightly. His mind was working incredibly hard to think about what to do about these guards. It wasn't easy to hit them with any normal physical means. They were distracted now, so it might be easier, but still hard.

Kuro took a deep breath. He sheathed the blade in his left hand, and sprinted to the guard Saber had just hit, figuring it might be easier for his plan to succeed on him. When he was close, he jumped up and reached for his neck with his left hand in and attempt to wrestle him down. As he did this, he thrust his sword, trying to impale the back of his head. Kuro knew it probably wouldn't work well, but he prayed that it would help somehow.

OOC: Props to Kuro for not letting this topic die.

IC:

Kuro’s courageous charge against the well-armoured guard was easily among the bravest of actions that could have been administered at this point in the struggle. Futile as it was, the boy’s selfless attempt at besting the giant of a sentry could be seen as the best symbol of fiery passion with which the adventurers and Apostles fought.

He had been successful in making contact with his left hand, and as his fingers closed around the guard’s thick neck his plan had seemed to be a definite success. Of course, in such a dimly lit room such an illusion was expected. Rather than a look of shock, an expression of malice and excitement shined throughout the grunt’s face. In only a short moment, his own muscular arm had lashed out towards the oncoming dual wielder. No sooner had the boy’s hand found its place around the guard’s neck was it immediately pulled away from its target. Kuro hovered above the ground, his throat tight in the grasp of his enemy’s bloody, bare hand. The grip tightened, obstructing Kuro’s ability to breathe normally. The lack of oxygen entering his body spelled catastrophe for Kuro Rinku.

Fortunately, as the guard had become completely preoccupied with his newest catch, he had also become completely oblivious to his surroundings. It’s true what they say about the toughest, maddest of grunts: intelligence is not an attribute that most are well endowed with.

From behind the guard charged Deagan Roth, colossal in his own stature despite the overwhelming physical advantages of the sentries. Without so much as a grunt of exertion, he swung both arms behind his back and unsheathed from apparently nowhere his signature weapon of choice. Shadows formed behind him into the shape of a great two-handed sword, and as the weapon took physical form he slashed out with all his might and skill.

Kuro fell to the ground, landing on his backside. The severed head of the man who had until just that moment been administering his untimely suffocation rested on his lap, eyes wide and mouth wet with a familiar warm, red liquid. The body of the guard stood motionless for a moment, and then collapsed forward next to the boy. The clanging of armour against marble echoed in the lobby of the infiltrated tower, and in an instant the fighting had resumed.

Saber watched the bomb explode, his tired face lifting in a victorious grin as the body of the guard was obscured by the thick smoke. However, his heart soon sank as the screen cleared, and the face of his tormentor was seen once again. At least he seems injured. The mercenary thought. Perhaps he'll be--

CLUNK--

What was--

BOOM!

And then Saber was skidding across the ground, his vision fading as his entire backside erupted in pain. He felt something slam into his gut, and he lay winded, fighting for conciousness. He heard footsteps, grunts, and the rustling of armor, and then slipped into darkness.

He awoke to a throbbing in his head, felt throughout his entire body. HIs memory had deserted him for a few seconds, and it was more than he could ask to get to his feet. He lay there, scarcely breathing, and tried to assess the situation. Through hazy eyes he saw some round lump--upon further inspection, it seemed to be a head. Across his legs, cutting off blood flow, was some piece of armor or other, heavy enough for someone to be inside. He had no idea where his sword was, or the current status of the battle. All he could do was pray to the Goddesses, begging them to relieve some of the pain, and clear his head enough to see what was happening and get back into the fight.

OOC: I feel useless. Saber is too weak.

OOC: Allow me to backtrack a bit for the moment.

IC: As Victor's boomerang dropped, so did the Bard's heart. Despite having a selection of other means of attack he felt like none could succeed if his trusty boomerang hadn't. So of course, the next option was to run.

But for all intents and purposes the group was still stuck in this lobby, so the Hylian's NEXT course of action wad to run in circles and wave his arms to give the illusion that he was making any progress in doing so. And this was exactly what he did.

Weaving in and out between the pillars in the room, Victor avoided the guards and silently wailed as his comrades continued the fight. His actions could be seen as quite confusing, but mostly to him, as he had no idea what he was doing beyond moving his limbs. He missed everything, especially the parts when he had his eyes tightly shut in fear.

It seemed he would never stop running except for a puddle of guard that would end i for him. As the Bard slipped on the black mass, he supressed a startled cry. What the hell was happening oh Goddesses.

He lay there for a while feeling partly wet, partly cold, and partly strangely depressed. What was this stuff? He lifted himself and, apart from suddenly feeling happier, he discounted said stuff as merely water. He investigated the area for nearby leaks; perhaps he could patch one up oh right the fight.

Victor searched for the nearest guard, found him, swallowed his fear, and unleashed an Elemental Burst of his own - Light.

The two remaining guards fell back and could be heard whispering to one another, although such gruff whispers could be easily heard by all. It seemed that they were becoming worried. The odds were stacked considerably high against them now, even despite their size and strength and obvious ability to throw around their foes with surreal ease. There stood five unharmed cloaked warriors, and although the undisguised fighters were beaten up and clearly having a hard time, the chances of a victory for the tower’s midnight shift seemed to be slipping. After only a moment of conferencing, they each gave a solid nod and turned back to the battle.

From his backside, the first of the guards drew two impressive silver longswords, and began swinging them in a most intimidating style as he trudged towards Roth, intent on avenging his decapitated ally by severing a lot more than just the Apostle’s head. Roth held his sword ready to block and parry, but it would not be an easy manoeuvre with the twin skewers sweeping so uncomfortably close.

Although Saber was a dedicated believer in the divine three, it seemed that his plea for aid was going unanswered. Perhaps this place – this place of seemingly endless evils – was not a domain that the powers of Din, Nayru and Farore held value. The mercenary, severely injured, was denied any reprieve from the creators to whom he had prayed.

Noticing this, the subordinate Apostle who had been partially responsible for alerting the guards to begin with leapt to the fallen Hylian’s side and placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. He whispered something to the boy, but in so hushed a tone that none could hope to pick it up. A sudden burst of light erupted from his fingertips, draining from the hand of the spell’s master to the body of the spell’s target. Saber’s body glowed momentarily, and then the light cleared. The Apostle helped his charge up off the ground and patted some of the soot from his back.

“Good as new, sir.”

As he said this, and as Saber was likely feeling the gentle touch of rejuvenation upon him, a horrifying cracking sound rang out. The Apostle was sent hurtling forward and face planted against the cold marble floor, clutching his back and bellowing out a surprised “Augh!” Behind Saber stood the second guard, still in mid follow through from his devastating attack on the unsuspecting healer. The flat of his wide sword had crashed powerfully into the back of the fallen Apostle, and he now regained his fighter’s stance and let his blade come flailing down on the newly refreshed nomad. This time, it was the edge of the great blade that was bound to impact, and would by all logic easily cleave the unfortunate boy in two. Eyra had run to her partner’s aid, letting the spirit of nature heal his wound and prevent a major spinal cord injury. The others, however, could merely look at Saber and the guard in awe and in recognition of what was about to occur.

What did occur, however, was truly an act of the goddesses. It seemed that they had indeed answered Saber’s prayers, in the form of a clumsy young bard named Victor. The shadow-drenched vagabond’s Elemental Burst of Light had found its target. Said target happened to be the eyes of the Saber’s assailant. In a blinding flash, Saber’s life was saved. As the light cleared, the guard could be seen screaming in shock as he rubbed his eyes, completely blinded by Victor’s well-placed burst. It seemed that bards were useful after all. The dual-wielding guard, distracted by the light and by his screaming compatriot, was easily subdued by Roth and his sword. Disarming the brute, he managed to knock his enemy back. While logically staying down would have been for the best, the persistent guard did not know better. Launching back up, his cranium came into dull contact with the flat of Roth’s large blade. He fell back down, unconscious. The Apostle checked for vital signs. There were none.

The blinded guard regained his sight, but had dropped his weapon. He blinked and came face to face with the more violent natured of the Apostles. A rapier’s point was pressed delicately into his throat. One swift motion and the sentry would be dead. The Apostle held still and spoke.

“What should we do with him?” echoed the query with a dark tone and an obvious sadistic demeanour.

Maverick replied instantly, striding towards the guard at swordpoint. “We spare him. If anything, I should like to teach these brutes the meaning of mercy.” The superior knew what was about to happen, however.

The Apostle ran the guard through.

Maverick had stopped trying to control the wayward one, simply telling himself that the subordinate’s usefulness in combat justified his being there. He turned and sighed. “I really wish you wouldn’t do that, Vic…”

Vic grunted and spat on the plated carcass of his foe. “He moved,” came the quick reply.

The Apostles followed Maverick towards the opposite end of the lobby, where a wide glass door blocked entry to the next room. Sliding it to one side, the leader stepped through. Beyond this door was an interesting spectacle – an elevated space in the center of this circular room was glowing a psychedelic purple glow. It hummed quietly in the still air. Maverick stood on the podium, his body becoming alight with the same mystifying aura. He motioned for the adventurers to step onto the magical device, and the other four Apostles were quick to join their superior.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Even though, he still couldn't do much of anything. As soon as he seemed to have a small glimmer of hope, the guard had reversed Kuro's move and his eyes widened as he realized that he was dangling above the ground and being choked. He tried desperately to touch the ground, but only succeeded in wasting energy more than anything else. His grip on his swords that had been firm, lessened, until they slipped from his hands and hit the ground.

He tried to gasp for breath at the same time, but was unable to get any air. He wanted to scream for help, even if he would look like an idiot for doing it. He did try though, but nothing came out of his mouth. Strangely enough, though, someone did come. Kuro thanked the goddesses several times as he saw Deagan Roth decapitated the huge guard.

Kuro struck the ground and moved away from the guard and his severed head nearly at the same time. Kuro slowly stood up. He looked down at his clothing that was stained red with blood, then at the dead guard. He stood there for several seconds staring at the pool of blood that was still growing, and tore his eyes off the scene before him and he grabbed his swords.

When he looked up, the battle had been finished. Kuro sheathed his swords and followed the apostles to the magical thing with a bit of reluctance. He still didn't know what he thought about them yet. They were shady and the one called Vic was sadistic and bloodthirsty, and none of them said too much. But, Kuro had agreed to do this, and wasn't going to quit. Not that he had much of a choice anyway...