The New Girl (open)

The man didn't need to go far before he was met by knight Captain Thorne. Lilian recognised her from last time she'd been at the hold. Doing her best to catch her breath she straitened as Randalla asked her what was going on. "I need Kairi, there was an attack, one of my friends was hurt. I don't know all the details but Vala said she was attacked by walking dead men." As if to drive her words home, there was a horrified scream behind her. Lilian spun around to look towards the gates, as a soldier came running in. He tripped, a sword burried in his back and a black shrouded shape lunged onto him, ripping the blade free and driving it home again. When the man's screamed ceased, the thing looked up at them with a rotting face. Then another stepped around through the gate, and another, before charging towards Lilian with a demented rage in their eyes.


Kora looked up as Kairi asked her if she was feeling alright. "I.. Yes. I'm just.. I don't know if I'm actually ready for this." Bethany looked up, drink half way to her mouth and Kora blushed. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful." Bethany shook her head. "You don't sound ungrateful. You're just homesick or something. I mean I wouldn't know, I was overjoyed when I left Edia, but I didn't have allot to miss." Bethany said. Kora frowned. That didn't really help. Bethany seemed to notice herself, and looked at Kairi. "I'm... Going to get another drink." Bethany said and stood up.


Lilian threw up her arm as the creature lunged towards her and hacked downwards with a heavy strike, the blade stopping when it met the divinium plate in her arm. Another charged towards Randalla, while the third one attempted to slip past Lilian's guard and drive a sword through her side. Lilian drew Akroma and pointed it towards the other creature before activating the enchantment and causing the blade to launch outwards at high speeds, driving the thing away from her as it impaled it. As the blade snapped back, she slashed it across the other one's gut and kicked it away from her.

She turned to help Randalla, and was tackled from the side by the creature she though she had dealt with. The creature slammed a heavy fist into her face as they hit the ground, before raising it's sword to impale her. She grabbed the blade with her metal arm in a vice like grip, holding it inches away from her throat. The other creature began to get to its feet.


Rowan was waiting for Arthur to decide what to do, when there was a bone chilling scream. from the direction of the main gates. "Something's wrong." He said, and took off running towards the sound. The screaming was cut short, and then more screams broke out, along with the sound of fighting. He emerged in the small courtyard at the main gates to find a trio of creatures attacking Randalla and a stranger. One of the creatures tackled the unknown girl and pinned her down. Another one began to stand up. Without wasting another second, he crossed the courtyard in a sprint and grabbed the man holding the girl down by the back of the collar, before ripping him from his perch and throwing him towards the other one. "What the fuck is going on?" He asked, as he got a proper look at the rotting faces of the strange creatures.

Kairi studied Kora as the young woman seemed to consider her words before speaking what was on her mind. As expected, the young Asentari was experiencing cold feet about her decision to leave her home to join the Order. Kairi smiled, fully understanding what Kora was going through. Bethany attempted her own unique brand of psychotherapy, but it didn't seem to reassure Kora too much. The elder Merciallus then looked to Kairi for help as she excused herself to go an get another drink, leaving Kairi with Kora and Nichol. Kairi considered her words carefully. "It's alright to be nervous. I'm sure this is all very overwhelming for you. A new place and a new phase of your life. It must be daunting." Kairi took a sip of soup before continuing. "My own circumstances were quite different when I joined, but I've seen many recruits in my time here have the same issues you're having. You can do this, if you want to. I trust your aunt, so I know she wouldn't bring you over here if she didn't think you could handle yourself." Another smile and a gentle hand on Kora's shoulder. "I can't tell you what to do with your life, but I would recommend you at least give it a try. You can leave any time you want, so you don't need to worry about being trapped here." Kairi looked to Nichol to see if he wanted to offer any input, as a fellow young recruit to the Order.

Kairi then noticed something unusual out of the window of the tavern. People running away from the direction of the gate, and guards heading towards it. Kairi stood and bowed to Kora apologetically, her expression one of concern. "Something is wrong. Wait here please." Kairi marched towards the door and exited the tavern, heading towards the front gate and the unusual disturbance. Kairi grabbed the nearest guard and issued her instructions clearly. "Muster the garrison! Grab anyone you can find! Go!" The guard bowed in acknowledgement and rushed towards the barracks. Kairi continued on and saw Rowan was about 20 yards ahead of her and rushing towards the gate, and she quickened her pace.


Randalla dropped her package and put both her hands gently but firmly on Lilian's shoulders as the young Knight tried to catch her breath. "Easy there, Lilian. Tell me what happened." Lilian squeezed words out in between breaths, and the news was not good. Lilian had come looking for help from Kairi because one of her friends had been attacked by... undead? Randalla looked at Lilian in confusion. "I'm sorry, Lilian? Walking dead men? What do you-" Randalla was cut off by a terrible scream, and she looked up to see a soldier falling out of the treeline, a dark shape leaping upon him and stabbing him with a large sword until the screaming stopped. The creature looked up at Lilian with empty eye sockets and charged, leaping up into a ferocious attack. Lilian blocked the strike with her metal arm, but before Randalla could assist she found herself being smashed to the deck by another creature. Randalla rolled through and regained her feet quickly, countering the creature's next lunge by grabbing its arm and twisting it into an armbar. She looked to Lilian and saw one of the creatures on top of her, the other regaining its feet nearby. "Lilian!"

But the worry was for nothing, as Rowan Aratris emerged from nowhere and dislodged the creature from its mount and hurled it towards its fellow. Randalla yanked suddenly and snapped the arm of the creature she was holding and tripped it to the deck before returning to Lilian and helping her to her feet. Looking to the three creatures, Randalla suddenly noticed a large amount of movement in the treeline and her voice boomed to all of the guards that were approaching. "CLOSE THE GATES! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! ALL FORCES, ALERT!" Kairi arrived with some more guards and formed a perimeter around the creatures as more guards pushed the gates closed. Kairi looked to Lilian and Randalla as she drew her weapon. "Lilian? What's happened?"


Odric listened as Aether went into detail about his people's tactics, noting the highly unstable nature of Trevatya. The Harbingers' actions seem to have caused as much damage as the kingdom's enemies, and the wanton disregard for their targets and the chaos their actions created gave even the most aggressive Heanta a run for their money. Aether then broke down the structure and recruitment of the Harbingers, and they sounded formidable indeed. The young man then warned that if Ka'Lesa's native inhabitants were to launch a retaliatory strike against Trevatya, they risk the involvement of the other kingdoms on that continent. Odric nodded. "Indeed, that is my worry. Any conflict would simply escalate until one or both sides are completely obliterated. Your Harbingers don't just risk another war in your homeland. The Eldari and Heanta alone have the power to annihilate everything on this continent, but they're too busy holding old grudges against each other. The Asentari are descended from dragons. I'm not sure about the inhabitants of your continent, but regardless the death toll would be catastrophic." Before Odric could continue, an alert went up. Randalla's voice boomed through his study's open window, a call to arms. Odric looked at Aether with concern. "We may need your help sooner than anticipated. We appear to be under attack. I must go." Odric stood up and grabbed his sword from the weapon rack by the door and headed out.

Arthur stood for a few seconds, thinking over what Rowan had said. Before he got to answer though, they all heard a scream. Tristan reacted faster than him, and followed Rowan to where the sounds of fighting could be heard. Arthur followed a little behind. Tristan saw what was happening, and cursed the fact that he didn't have his weapons. He called to Rowan, "We need our weapons. It won't take me long to get them." 

Tristan turned, and was almost run over by Arthur, who had never gotten the chance to put his weapon away. Tristan stared, if only for a second, before returning to the task at hand. Arthur, on the other hand, ran in, activating his Concursum Aura, which should help with the shock of an attack on the Hold. He ran at the ones that Rowan had thrown at each other, as energy surged in Excalibur. Swinging the blade, he blasted them with his Solis Undo. It was then he noticed the rotting faces on the ones he had just attacked. Thinking quickly, Arthur did not question why they were attacking at the moment, only focusing on letting the others know. Turning to where he saw Kairi, and Randall, he yelled "They're the undead! Let everyone know they are fighting corpses!" He then moved towards the gates, trying to help get them closed.


(In case anyone needs to know what the abilities Arthur used do, here you go.)

Spoiler:

After bumbling in trying to comfort her relative, Bethany left to get some more drinks. He ate silently while listening to Kairi. He waited until she glanced his way, maybe wondering if he had something to say. It was perhaps a bit harsh, but he did talk away, voice slowly getting hoarser and hoarser in his quiet, monotone voice. "If you go back to your nest, would you be able to escape it again? The path forward is right before you. Sometimes your path may loop around back to where your nest is, and continue on to a new one, but going back the way you came is usually not a good idea. The path forward usually isn't straight, but it's always one step ahead of you. All you have to do is take that step, and keep walking." After all, he came here to look for a father that didn't want him that much. And found a big brother that opened his arms, even while fearing that Nichol would want some kind of vengeance or be angry at him. Arthur's been good to him. And his path forward was to support and help his brother and the organization he dedicated his life to.

Kairi seemed to notice something off. And told them to wait here. Frowning, he finished his meal quickly. Looking outside to where the Knight was looking, he saw the commotion. Quickly, he ran out to collect his bow and some arrows. He still had his short sword, but he still felt more comfortable with his bow and arrows...

~

Aether listened, and give some other input. "With respect, two nations ganging up on one usually leads to the one folding rather quickly. There's a reason Mondolin has been able to last as long as it has. I would bet that if the Asentari and Mondolin joined forces against one or the other, they too could rule the continent. I do agree that the death toll would be horrific, not to mention the damage done to farmlands, towns, and other collateral damage causing even more casualties." It was only then an alert sounded. Nodding, Aether added while heading towards the window. "I'll meet you there." From his back, sigils started to appear and form wings. Jumping out the window, he floated and was flight capable. The blonde started to fly towards the commotion.

Kora listened as Kairi spoke to her gently, reassuring her and telling her it was ok to be nervous, but she should atleast try. She told her that she trusted Bethany, and knew she wouldn't have brought Kora if she didn't think she was ready. Kora nodded. Even if Bethany couldn't find the right words, she didn't seem like the kind of woman to put people in danger for fun. Then Nicol spoke up, saying more than he had all day.

It was a strange message, but she understood the meaning. If she ran back home now, would she ever leave again? Better to keep going forward. She gave him a kind smile. "Thank you. Both of you." She said. "I feel a bit better now." It was just as well, because at that moment, Kairi noticed a commotion. She stood up and told them to stay here, before heading out. Kora jumped up ran over to Bethany, who was looking towards them puzzled. "Kora, what's going on?"

Kora shook her head. "I don't know. Kairi told us to stay, but you should go. She might need help." Bethany nodded. "Sounds like it. I'll be right back, ok?" Bethany asked. Kora nodded and Bethany patted her on the shoulder before chasing Kairi out the door. Kora went to sit down, when Nichol got up and left too. "Nichol wait we should do what Kairi says." She said as he ran off. "Oh, fiddlesticks.." She looked out the window, to the commotion outside.


Lilian was struggling to kick off the creature, and then it was gone in an instant, replaced by a big man. Or Eldari. A blast of golden energy hit the two creatures tangled up on the ground, and they burst into flames as the Eldari leapt over them and made for the gate to close it. Randalla Thorne offered Lilian a hand and she accepted it, getting to her feet. The remaining undead returned to its feet and leapt towards Randalla but Lilian beheaded it mid leap. Lilian turned to look towards the gates, spotting more of the rotten shapes before the gates slammed shut on them. Lilian took a deep breath, as Kairi joined them. "I didn't know they were following me.. I didn't stop.." Lilian said, pale. If she'd stopped before getting to the hold... What if they were after Andreas too?

Kairi asked her to explain and she looked up. "Something happened near Serenity Valley. Fayla was attacked by a mage and some of those.. things.." She said. She was trying to catch her breath and not panic about Fayla, when the big Eldari joined them. "You said Fayla was attacked? is she alright?" He asked almost gently. She wasn't expecting it. She felt a little calmer. "Vala saved her, but she hasn't woken up. I came to get help because there's more of them. Vala seen tracks all over the forest, the Calixto might be attacked. My father went to Sinderon to get her mother. They could be after him too."

The Eldari looked at Kairi. He looked almost as panicked as Lilian felt, but maybe she was just projecting. "If I leave now I can get to Calixto in a less than a day." the Eldari said, like he was seeking permission. Before anything could be said, there was a scream at the wall one of the men manning it was taken by the leg and pulled off of it. Lilian handed her sword to Kairi and pulled out her crossbow, as undead clambered over the walls. She loosed a bolt, catching one in the head as he lunged for one of the soldiers, but another quickly replaced it. A dark skinned woman charged past, running for the steps to join the soldiers, swords flashing as she made it onto the wall. "Is that a walking dead man?!" she asked no one as she kicked a corpse from the wall.

Kairi stared wide-eyed at Lilian for a moment as the young woman sputtered out some words about not realizing that she was being followed. Before Kairi could respond, one of the creatures lunged at them. Lilian reacted instantly and decapitated it, while a blast of bright energy struck the other two and utterly destroyed them, signalling the arrival of Arthur. Kairi looked at Randalla, who was dishing out orders to the guards as they arrived. "There's a large group of them coming from the treeline. We need to mobilize quickly." Randalla nodded in agreement. "I've called the alert. the garrison is forming up here." Kairi then looked at Lilian again as the young woman began to explain that Fayla Shor had been attacked by a mage and a host of the same undead creatures that had come to the Hold. Kairi looked at Rowan when Fayla was mentioned, and she saw the concern immediately crack his normally taciturn features. Lilian explained that Vala had saved her, but she had yet to recover from her injuries, or even regain consciousness. While Kairi absorbed the information rapidly, Rowan had already made a decision, though to his credit, he still looked to Kairi for permission.

Before Kairi could respond, another scream from the top of the wall sounded as a soldier was yanked out of view from the parapet. Kairi looked to Rowan and nodded quickly. "Go. We will hold off the rest and follow as soon as we can. Good luck." Kairi then looked to Lilian, who handed Kairi her sword having noticed that she wasn't carrying any weaponry save for her ceremonial dagger at her back. Kairi took the weapon and nodded in gratitude. "Thank you. Let's go." Kairi looked to Randalla and shouted as a creature clambered over the wall and onto the battlements. "They're scaling the wall, we need to get up there!" Kairi called to Arthur. "Arthur! Take the right stairs and be careful." Kairi ran to the u-shaped stairs to the left of the gate and leapt up and grabbed the landing at the halfway point of the stairs and hauled herself up. She raced up the remaining stairs to where more of the things were climbing into view. Kairi activated her Armor of the Faithful, bestowing the protection of heavy armor on the three soldiers that still stood on this section of wall. "Soldiers! Stand your ground!" She then made a beeline for the nearest undead and smashed it to the deck with a tackle before ramming Lilian's sword through its neck and standing to face the others.

After the gate closed, Arthur told the other soldiers near him to be ready. Then, he heard a scream, coming from the battlements. "There's more?" He said, more to himself than anyone else. He heard Kairi tell him to take the right. Nodding, he headed up to the top of the battlements, to see Bethany kick one of the undead off the wall. As another came up, Arthur swiped down, lopping the head off of the thing. He got close enough to speak to Bethany, before asking, "Where's Kora and Nichol? Are they alright?" Another one came up, and Arthur summoned his Solis Sagittae, firing 5 of them at the undead, which burst into flames.

Another one rose up, before it's head was blasted off by an arrow made of pure magical energy. Tristan had returned, and he loaded another arrow into Fafnir. "Rowan! Weapons here!" He said, releasing another arrow. When Rowan grabbed his things, Tristan looked at him. "You seem like you're leaving. Is now the best time for that?" He said, cocking back another arrow.

Just as an undead soldier raised a blade to strike at Bethany, a spear and a young man slammed into the head from above. The sigils behind Aether's back disappeared as he spun, slamming the other end of the spear into the side of another's skull. Kicking it off, he took a quick glance at the largest pile. The long haired blonde switched weapons in a blink of an eye to his sword, as he motioned with his other hand. Dirt and stone from even below on the ground erupted up, quickly forming a boulder that then launched downward at the crowd of piled up undead as the Traveler defended himself.

Unfortunately, he needed time to rest between uses of that particular magic. Instead, he used Barbatos's enchantment. Turquoise wind swirled around the blade, then he swung, firing a slicing wave of wind that beheaded another few undead. From then on, he switched in accordance to the situation. Spear for long ranged thrusts and slashes, claymore for instant kills at closer ranges, and his sword for point blank range and quick strikes, never too far from allies. He could already tell this was going to be a long day...

Rowan stood tense as he waited for Kairi to make a call. Then she nodded, telling him to go. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Thank you." He said. He looked at the young knight who had come all this way to warn them about what had happened. He hadn't caught her name, but he took a guess that she was Fayla's friend from mondolin, the one his young niece had spoken fondly of. Rowan sensed there was more to their friendship, and felt he should reassure her. "Don't worry. I will let no harm to come to fayla, I promise." He said gently. She nodded, handed her sword to Kairi and pulled out a crossbow. Rowan made to go grab his weapons, only to find Tristan approaching him with them in hand. He took them with a greatful nod. Tristan asked him if he was leaving, and why. "I need to get to Calixto. Fayla was attacked by these... things, and now the only thing between them and her is Vala." Rowan said.

"Listen I know Vala is your daughter, and you probably want to come with me, but I'm faster alone. But get your ass out there as soon as this is done, I'm sure she'll appreciate it." With another nod, Rowan turned and headed for the gate. "Open the Sally Port." He said, drawing his weapon and activating its enchantment. The men looked at him, and then nodded, pulling the smaller door in the hold's gate open. An undead surged through but rowan cut him down before bull rushing his way through the gate, and pushing back the undead with brute strength, before following up with a powerful horizontal spin, icey blue energy erupting from his sword as he cut a swath of the dead down. The Sally port slammed shut behind him, and with two more wide swings Rowan was free, springing away from the hold towards Calixto. Some of the undead tried to follow but quickly fell behind.


Bethany slashed and stabbed, Asi bursting into flames as it cut through and undead's arm. It caught fire and fell backwards, buring, though it still stood back up and glared at her from the ground. Arthur asked her a question, but she was to busy tossing a few balls of fire down on the burning undead and finishing the job to answer. Then Arthur shot one with his golden magic, and the undead it hit burst into flames and disintegrated. She didn't have time to think too hard on it, as one rose up beside her only to have it's head smashed in by a flying man. She recognized him as the stranger from the courtyard.

She finally responded to arthur's question. "They're fine. I left them in the tavern." She said. "I Don't know if they'll stay there though." She said as she continued to cut and stab. There was movement in the forest, and Bethany was shocked to see more of them emerging. Where were they coming from? She looked deeping into the forest, and spotted a strange shimmer. There was something else out there.


Kora moved closer to the window that faced the main entrance. There was a pitched fight occuring, and what appeared to be rotting men where climbing their way onto the wall. She had never seen anything like it before, and she stood frozen with fear at the sight of them. But then she spotted Bethany and Arthur fighting on one side of the wall, and Kairi on the other. Two strangers stood back firing bolts and arrows at anything that tried to flank the defenders, and others ran around, barricading the gate or moving to help on the walls.

She couldn't just stay here, while they all faught. Even Nichol had gone to fight. Kora clenched her fists and ran for the door. She entered the court yard, and joined the two strangers with ranged weapons, summoning her staff. An undead lunged over the wall, charging towards the man who had flown over to the wall. Kora shot it with a beam of electricity and it fell backwards off the wall. She looked around. "How can I help?" She asked the man and woman beside her, a heanta, and a young human girl. The human looked at her. "Keep firing." The human said with a determined nod.

Kairi stood up as the soldier she had smashed to the deck and stabbed lay still at her feet. Another pair of creatures mantled the parapet and made a beeline for her, and she dispatched the first one swiftly with a well-placed decapitation from Lilian's sword. The second one looked past her at the forces on the ground behind the gate, completely disregarding the Knight-Lieutenant and making to leap from the wall. Kairi was taken aback for a split-second before ending the creature's cursed half-life with a deft swing. She looked to the other side of the gatehouse and saw that Arthur had been joined by Bethany and Aether. Satisfied that the three of them, along with the several soldiers that remained on that section, had things covered there, Kairi turned her attention back to her side of the wall, only to realize that there seemed to be no end to the steady stream of creatures emergin from the forest. Kairi saw a shimmering... something out beyond the forest's edge. The creatures seemed to be originating from the shimmer, and it became clear that they needed to act soon or they would be overrun.

Randalla joined Kairi on her section of wall and dispatched a creature. A bolt into the head of another drew Kairi's attention to behind the gatehouse, and she saw that Lilian was now being supported by Tristan and Kora. More Order forces approached the gatehouse from the main square and began to push towards the wall. Randalla puffed her cheeks as she ended another creature. "There's no end to them! Where are they coming from?" Kairi nodded her head towards the forest. "There's some kind of magical disturbance in the treeline. They seem to be-" Kairi was cut off by a horrendous roar, and she looked to see a large hulking form emerge from the shimmering portal. The form was about ten feet tall, vaguely humanoid, and it lumbered towards the Hold with chilling purpose. Kairi called to the soldiers massing behind the gate. "BRACE THE GATE!" The soldiers did as they were told, charging to the gate and holding with all their might. But the creature did not go for the gate. Instead, it made for the base of the wall section that Kairi and Randalla defended, and Kairi suddenly realized what it was gearing up to do. "BACK! GET OFF THE WALL, QUICK!"

The soldiers nearby began to make for the stairs, while Randalla made to follow, before turning and yelling in panic. "KAIRI! LOOK OUT!" Kairi turned and was met with a large form soaring towards the parapet and landing right in her face. Before she could react, a thick and muscled arm met her torso and swatted her from the wall, sending her flying with a grunt of pain. Landing in a heap on the ground behind the gate, Kairi shook the cobwebs out, before rising quickly. The massive brute leapt from the wall and landed in front of them, but made no effort to strike Kairi, who was nearest. Instead the brute fixed its eyeless gaze on Lilian and made to strike the young woman. Kairi leapt into action, jumping in front of Lilian and catching the massive arm with both of hers. She slid backwards slightly in the dirt, but held firm. Then she noticed that more creatures had scaled the now defenseless left wall and were now all bearing down on Lilian, absolute focus in their movement. Kairi shouted to those around her. "They're trying to get to Lilian! Form up and protect her!" Soldiers rushed in from all sides and formed a defensive phalanx in front of Lilian, while Kairi caught another giant fist, the force causing her to drop her weapon. The fist suddenly opened, enveloping her body and lifting her from the ground. Eyes glowing, Kairi activated her Solar Flare, blinding the brute with a sudden blast of light. The thing dropped her, and she rolled over Lilian's sword to pick it up and face her foe.

Tristan listened as Rowan and Kairi talked back and forth, keeping Fafnir locked and loaded to shoot more undead. Rowan told him what was going on, and, in a slight gesture Tristan face hardened when he heard what was happening. Nodding once, and watching Rowan leave, he was knocked out of his own thoughts by a hulking mass of flesh hitting the ground near him. In absolute shock of the monster in front of him, Tristan hesitated.


Arthur breathed a sigh of relief when Bethany told him that she had left Nichol and Kora back in the tavern. He then refocused on the attacking horde, before noticing that a majority of them were on this side of the wall, while a lesser amount were helping Kairi. Before he could say anything, a hulking mass attacked Kairi's side. Rushing over, and seeing Kairi grab both of the things arms. It suddenly grabbed her, and lifted her up. Running along the wall, Arthur leaped up onto the wall, and, as Kairi unleashed her Solar Flare, jumped down onto the thing, plunging Excalibur into the things back, just a little under the shoulder. The force knocked Arthur to the ground, but he was immediately up, and backed away a little, suddenly realizing he didn't have a weapon now.

Aether stayed focused on his own fights. But this was really getting tiresome. Easy to kill, aside from maybe that large one that just went past them, but there was sheer numbers. Looking over to one of the new recruits,  he spoke. "Surely I'm not the only one to see that shimmering. If you can hold the line on this end, I'll go and check it out...how much you wanna bet that that's where they're all coming from?" Switching to his claymore,  Seraphim, the large weapon suddenly ignited in flames. Then he hopped off and used the climbing and piling corpses as stepping stones to get down safely. Slaying several in his way, he made a beeline right towards where the shimmering was at. With any luck, he'll still have back up, even if it would be in the form of an enemy.

~

Nichol saw the huge mass of flesh, and Kairi standing her ground. Tossing Kairi's sword and buckler to her right, hopefully close to her, he also took off his bow, and aimed at the left eye with an arrow. Then the boy fired another at the other eye. He stayed at the roof tops, and rained arrows on both the beast, and any other things that tried to get close to them. He wasn't planning on going near that giant unless he absolutely had to...

Aether pointed out the shimmering to Bethany, right before a monstrous form hit the wall where Kairi had been. It jumped away and Kairi went after it. Bethany spotted Kora, and considered going to help, but Arthur went. She turned around to see Aether jump off the wall and land on a pile of corpses and decided things in the courtyard were handled, before jumping off after Aether. She landed feet first on the face of a freshly killed young man, who's greyish skin hadn't quite had time decay and he did a great job of breaking her fall, as she landed with a roll before slashing at the legs of the closest undead corpse. Asi burned through him like butter, and she rose up, tossing the rest of him over a shoulder before following after Aether.


Bob was.. Alive? Again? He remembered a forest. He remembered something falling and a thud and a loud snap. Had it been his own neck snapping? He was sure it had ended for him, but now he was here, and he felt different. He felt... Slower. And for some reason, he wanted to get into this castle, and kill someone.. However, as Bob looked up at the wall, all of his problems were about to fade again, as a woman, a familiar woman, jumped from the wall, her feet speeding towards his face. Not again. He thought. But when had it happened before? All thoughts were squashed, along with his head, so answering the question became some what redundent.


Bethany followed After Aether, keeping her distance from the undead as the approached the shimmer. She spotted movement, and several undead popped out the gateway, as a cloaked figure spoke arcane words from a book in a high voice. Bethany, who didn't like much enjoy what the strange woman was doing, took a deep breath, and unleashed a swath of flames towards the figure. There was a scream and the portal vanished, but after a moment the flames cleared and the woman staggared away, cinders burning at the edge of her robe. The stranger turned towards Bethany. "Fool, you will not get in the way of the great plan!" She said, before firing a ball of black energy towards Bethany, who dived aside. Three smaller orbs shot towards Aether, and if they hit they would sap directly at his life force, dealing weak damage through armor as if it didn't exist, but doing no physical damage.

With a wave of her hand, ten undead converged on Aether and Bethany too.


Lilian had expected many things today, but an impromptu raid on the Sunlight hold was not one of them. She was starting to wonder just what had followed her, when she noticed a commotion on the wall and something massive landed on it, before leaping off directly towards her, slamming its fist down. Lilian dived back, pushing the small girl who had joined them a moment ago out of the way, but Kairi intercepted the fist before it would have hit her anyway. More of the dead scrambled over the wall towards them. A blonde knight with a glowing sword lept off the wall and stabbed the creauture in the back as Kairi struggled with it.

One of the undead took a swing at Lilian and she blocked it with her arm before swinging her crossbow upwards with the other, catching it in the head as a foot long blade popped out of the end. She ripped the weapon free and fired several shots into the encroaching undead as Kairi warned that they were specifically after Lilian. She had guessed this herself, but refused to flee from this fight, and when Nichol threw Kairi's weapons down Lilian grabbed Starlight and drew it before running a hand across the blade. Deadly lightning sparked from the weapon as she embued it with magic. "Kairi! Catch!" She said, tossing the sparking weapon to Kairi.

The undead pushed in further, and a sword cut through the air towards her face. It would have killed her, had a shield not appeared in the space between her and it, and proceeded to rupture in a blinding light that stunned the undead around them.


The undead started to push in around them, and soldiers too. Kora was starting to feel real fear as the dead faces drew closer. She had froze when that massive monster jumped towards her and the other girl, who had pushed her out of the way. She had tried to keep firing her staff, but her hands were shaking so much she couldn't take aim properly. And then she heard Kairi tell everyone to protect Lilian, and she guessed the girl beside her was Lilian, so she tried to focus on that order. When an undead nearly cleaved Lilian's face open while she was distracted doing something to Kairi's sword, Kora had finally acted, creating a shield between them that stopped the attack and blinded the undead infront of them.

They needed to get out. There was to much of a press, and her staff was useless in such close quarters. Taking a deep breath, she composed herself enough to look around for somewhere to go. And then she spotted a sturdy wooden balcony the upper floor of the building behind them. Kora created opened a portal, before turning to Lilian. With an unsteady grip she pulled at the girls armor. Lilian looked around, and she pointed towards the portal. "Lets get to higher ground." She managed to say. Lilian gave her a nod. "Go, I'm right behind you." She said, pushing Kora towards her own portal. "Red, lets reposition and focus fire on the enemy from above." She called. Kora stepped through the portal and Lilian followed. It would stay open long enough for Red, Kora guessed that was the heanta, to get through before snapping shut.

As Kairi freed herself from the creature's grip with her Solar Flare, the hulking form suddenly roared with pain. Kairi saw a sword sticking out of the creature's back, and recognized it immediately. She looked across and saw Arthur standing down with her, and now weaponless. Kairi called to Arthur as she lobbed Lilian's weapon to him. "Arthur! Catch!" Kairi then set her sight on the still-reeling behemoth and charged up behind it, praying for the pain to not be too bad, and gripped the sword with both hands. To the Lieutenant's surprise, the weapon did not burn her, instead feeling simply like a normal weapon. Kairi yanked with all of her might and the sword dislodged from the creature, and she jumped back out of range. The creature, now free of the intruding implement, turned to face them. A flash of light and a voice from behind caught her attention, and she turned to catch Starlight in surprise. Lilian and Kora were standing together behind her, but before Kairi could protest Kora opened a portal and vanished through it. Lilian called to Tristan and jumped through herself. Kairi then noticed something unusual about Starlight. The weapon was sparking with electrical energy, and Kairi looked up to see Nichol, Lilian and Kora on the rooftops. The young man must have gone to retrieve her weapon from the armory, and the enchantment looked like Lilian's work. She caught the eye of al three for a moment and nodded in gratitude before turning back to the issue at hand.

Kairi readied herself, keeping an eye on the massing soldiers as they formed a perimeter around the massive behemoth. "Keep your distance! It's very strong and deceptively fast." The Knight-Lieutenant of the Order saw the creature look for its target, before finding it, spotting Lilian on the rooftop. It lumbered to the base of the building, before starting to climb. Kairi called out a warning to Lilian, before running up behind the creature, decapitating a pair of smaller creatures on the way. She switched Starlight to spear mode and rammed it through the right leg of the creature and into the wall, pinning the appendage and forcing the creature to stop its ascent. Then, using the spear as a platform to vault up and onto the behemoth's shoulders. There, Kairi piled all of her strength into ramming Excalibur through the left hand of the creature that was currently gripping the roof and pinned that limb down as well. Hanging from the sword and yanking back on the creature's head, she yelled to the rooftop. "Somebody blast it! Now!"


The necromancer watched with a grin as the undead she had summoned to her surrounded the intruders. "You just don't understand, do you? If you'd just stand aside and let us eliminate the young Knight your Hold harbours, there needn't be any more bloodshed. We'll return home and you can all go about your business." The necromancer's face turned dark and a distinctly threatening tone entered her voice. "However, if you resist, I cannot guarantee your safety. What I can guarantee, however, is that regardless of your choice..." Dark energy began to emanate from the necromancer's hands and she readied into a combat stance. "The Great Plan will be realized!" One of the undead stepped in between Aether and Bethany, and began to radiate the same dark energy as the necromancer for a second, before exploding violently, showering gore and bone in a radius of 10 ft. The necromancer gestured, and the other undead moved in, aiming rusty swords at their foes.

Aether was being followed by the lady. Well, he didn't quite expect her follow him, but two is better if his pursuers decided not to interfere no matter what. She ended up taking the lead when they got there to some woman reading from a book, and the Asentari spewed flames at her and the undead in the way, easily clearing a path. After the necromancer called them fools, she attacked, with Bethany diving away, and Aether using smaller movements to avoid the three attacks aimed him. One by ducking, another by jumping over it, and the last by moving to the side, and walking towards her.

Ten more surrounded them, and another moved in between them. Aether bulldozed away from it, surrounding himself in an electrical shield, and hoped Beth had something for herself against the explosion and resulting shower of gore and bone. Once his shield wore off, he jumped with a slash, easily cutting the rusted blades in half. Then cut down the three that he just jumped over and disarmed, melting right through their armor and setting them alight.

Running towards the necromancer, he spun as if to strike with his fiery blade, only to use his spear once he was in range, using Seraphim to burn/cut away the undead that got in his way...

~

Nichol partly watched as Lilian did something with Kairi's sword and tossed it at her. Before he could start, the beast started to move...towards him. Well, more accurately, it looked like it was aiming for Lilian. He fired arrow after arrow, but wasn't hitting anything of value. Then Kairi pinned its leg to the wall of the building. She just gave the perfect opening. Running and sliding right to the edge, the mark on his forehead glowed as he took out ten of his largest crystals and put an arrow in his mouth, and readied another.

Once at the edge, he fired all ten crystals in a Diamond Storm at the head. And fired once at the eye, the second arrow at the other eye, and tried to grab a third arrow to shoot into the face if the others didn't have some kind of magic or arrow or something to smash it in...

Arthur heard Kairi yell his name, and caught the sword that had been tossed to him. He watched Kairi get behind the monstrous form, and grab Excalibur. Worrying that it would burn her, but focusing on the task at hand, Arthur was about to join in, and help Kairi, when he saw the red headed Heanta, Tristan, just standing in the courtyard. Arthur ran over, using Lilian's sword to either kill, or incapacitate as many undead as he could. However, when he got there, the Heanta suddenly spun into action, grabbing his sword, and tearing into he nearest undead, leaving nothing but a bloody mess. Arthur stopped, and decided that now wasn't the best time to mess with the Heanta. He moved back towards the hulking flesh monster, once again fighting his way through undead.


Tristan heard everything going on around him, but he wasn't moving. He felt something hot move through his body. Unsure, Tristan realized he was feeling rage. Rage at his own hesitation. Rage that his only daughter might be facing death at hordes not unlike this one. Rage that he still wasn't sure what to do. Tristan allowed the portal to close behind him, and dropped Fafnir, instead unsheathing Anduril, and, letting the rage take him, ripping apart the nearest undead into bloody tatters. He advanced forward, trying to the same to anything that got in his way.

Bethany let out a sigh as undead surrounded them, and the strange woman started to talk, explaining that all they needed to do was hand over the girl. "Yeah, I don't know, if you're trying to keep some sort of undead army secret, well you're not doing a great job. The entire hold knows about you now." She said. The woman didn't seem to actually be listening, and was busy screaming about some sort of great plan. And then one of the undead lunged forward, seeping energy. Bethany instinctively activated her stoneguard which coated her in a protective layer of stone as it exploded, splattering her with dark energy, bone and guts. The stoneguard took the brunt of the magical damage, leaving Bethany to be doused in blood, gore and bone, which bounched off her skin harmlessly. "What. The Actual. Fuck." She said, pulling a piece of intestine off her shoulder and dropping it to the ground.

Undead closed on her and she turned into a furious blender of people, slashing and stabbing at heads and dropping anything around her in seconds, before turning to the woman who was already being attacked by Aether. She raised the palm of her hand in the woman's direction, unleasinging a beam of fire in her direction, sweeping it across any undead in her path and towards the woman, dealing strong damage to anything in the path.



Lilian and the girl beside her lay down as much cover fire as possible, as Kairi continued to fight the monstrosity below them. Lilian picked off an undead as it burst through the soldiers and tried to stab Kairi, and several more blasts of lightning struck undead around the area. The monstrosity ignored Kairi and started to climb the building. Lilian shot it in the shoulder, as Kairi pinned it to the wall with starlight and another sword, but the thing kept coming even as Nichol shot it multiple times. But that didn't stop it, and neither did it stay pinned as it ripped half its leg open pulling free from the other sword, and mangled its hand to keep climbing.

Lilian clicked the cartridge free as she moved towards it, slamming in a fresh one. Its massive hand reached for her trying to crush her, but a beam of lightning blasted a hole in it, and the monster was delayed, giving her time to point her crossbow directly into it's face, bracing it against the railing, and hitting the trigger that activated the enchantment. The weapon unloaded it's entire clip in a matter of seconds. The recoil nearly shook the weapon loose of it's bracing as the crossbow released and automatical drew the string back rapidly, but she managed to hold it steady long enough unload right into the creatures face, each bolt ripping a hole almost entirely through its head.

With a groan, the monstrosity slipped backwards and toppled from the side of the building, landing with a crash.

The necromancer was unaffected by Bethany's jibe, simply looking at the Asentari with a raised eyebrow. "A regrettable consequence, but it matters not. The Great Plan would not exist without contingencies." The corpse that had begun radiating energy leapt into position and exploded, showering the surroundings with blood and viscera. The intruders both managed to avoid the brunt of the explosion, though the resulting gore still showered the female and left an impression on them both. The female verbalized her displeasure, but the male got to work immediately, carving a path through the undead throng. The necromancer fired an Enervation Ray at Aether as the male approached, a 2-foot-wide beam that would bypass physical barriers like shields and armor to deal Weak damage directly to the lifeforce of anyone struck, but could be dealt with by dodging or use of magical barriers. The necromancer then turned immediately to the fire beam that was coming her way from the female and burning through her minions with ease, and threw up a magical barrier that blocked the fire beam before shattering like glass. The necromancer turned back to deflect a spear thrust from the male before aiming a pair of staff swings at him and jumping backwards out of range, commanding any undead that still stood to protect her.


Kairi hung on as the massive creature struggled, tearing itself free of Starlight with a horrendous roar. Kairi heard a grunt from behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Arthur cutting down a couple of creatures that were attempting to come up behind her. Kairi nodded and looked up then to see that her command had been heard, with Nichol and Lilian ending the hulking behemoth's fight with a volley of assorted munitions destroying the creature's head and killing the beast. Kairi let out a deep sigh of relief, before yanking Excalibur free and dropping to the ground lightly. The dead hulk slid to the ground with a loud thump, and Kairi retrieved Starlight from the wall. She turned to Arthur sheepishly and cleaned the blood from the blade with her cloak before holding it out to him. "Sorry about that. It really is a fine blade." Kairi suddenly remembered that Excalibur was supposed to burn people who the weapon deemed unworthy, but she decided to consider the implications of that at a later stage.

A shout from behind Kairi alerted her to an incoming shield, and she turned to catch Bastion as the shield flew towards her. Randalla nodded before decapitating the undead she was fighting and running over to Kairi. The adopted mother-daughter duo surveyed the scene for a moment, before coming to the same conclusion. Randalla loaded her handcrossbow as she spoke, looking towards the gateway. "This is our chance to push out and secure the gate, but we need to be fast if we're going to help Bethany and Aether." Kairi nodded and looked to where Lilian, Nichol and Kora were up high. "I will take the gate itself." Randalla nodded in agreement. "We'll secure the wall. Good luck." Randalla raced to Lilian and Nichol's building and scaled it gracefully before calling to the two Humans and one Asentari. "You three, with me! We need to secure the gatehouse!" Randalla called out to the rest of the archers who were nearby and then led them all towards the wall, where the steady stream of undead had begun to slow. She popped a shot from her crossbow that thudded into the head of an undead, and reloaded as she moved forward.

Kairi's voice thundered with authority as she called out to the troops around her. "Form up! We're going to push the gate!" The soldiers duly obliged, forming a sturdy infantry wall, while Kairi nodded to Arthur. "I need you too. Let's go." Kairi then turned to Tristan, but the Heanta was still tearing apart some undead in the main courtyard. Kairi called out to him. "Mister Bahamut! Tristan!" But the man did not respond, instead continuing on his own personal rampage. Kairi shook her head and turned back to her troops. One crisis at a time. "Alright! We need to use the sally ports to get out, and we'll form a line as quickly as possible once we're out. Remember your training, and trust each other. Now let's get out there!" Kairi advanced with the front line, skewering or trampling the undead in the way. The troops reached the wall and seamlessly filed out of the sally doors, streaming out quickly and forming the same tight formation they did inside. Once the gatehouse was retaken, they would advance towards Bethany and Aether.

Aether first used his flaming sword to try to shield him from the beam. Only to have it go through it. Eyes widening, he turned did a short hop to his left, barely avoiding it by the skin of his teeth. That allowed her to predict his thrusts and deflect it three times before jumping back. More undead came in, but only three. He had to switch his weapons to the other hands to effectively counter them, slicing one and burning it to ash, and severing the spinal column with from the rest of the body.

The third one made him drop his weapons and jump into a semi-front flip. Practically doing a hand stand on the undead's head, the blonde twisted his body, and the head, to snap the neck and spine handily. While the flames on Seraphim subsided, both weapons dematerialized. Only for the spear to show back up in his hands as he approached the necromancer threateningly before stabbing and slashing away at her to keep her busy.

~

Nichol wasn't the only one that helped. Lilian likewise put enough arrows in it to stop it. He hopped down in time to hear Randalla's plan. She called for him and Lillian, and Kora, to secure the gatehouse. Looking at it, he saw a soldier desperately trying not to get pummeled and eaten by two undead. Taking out two arrows, he fired one, then the second, both landing in the head, keeping them down. The young boy sprinted ahead, using his whip made of crystal to bypass most obstacles and scale much more quickly, firing arrows when he could to make things faster and easier.

Arthur smiled at Kairi, when he took back Excalibur. "It's fine. We are in a fight after all." He listened as Kairi and Randalla were talking. When Randalla ran off, Arthur was already nodding his head when Kairi said she needed his help. "Don't even need to ask." When Kairi tried to yell to Tristan, Arthur said, "I don't think he's much in the mood for cooperation." As they formed up, Arthur did say, "I'm going to try and find an opening, and help out Bethany and the new guy. Just give me a signal. I can move faster than the group of us can." When they passed close enough, Arthur yelled out, "Lilian! Thanks for the sword, but I think it misses you!" Arthur then tossed the blade back at it's wielder, before focusing back on the matter at hand.

(Tristan is still in blood rage moe, so no post for him. Sad times)

The necromancer blocked Bethany's fire beam like it was nothing, then turned her attention back to Aether, leaving Bethany the perfect opportunity to close in, since her beam had done the job of clearing a nice path through the undead. While the woman attacked Aether, and he attacked back, Bethany closed at a sprint, leaping towards the woman with Asi and Vajra reversed in her grip, bringing the blades down from above in an attempt to skewer the woman through the neck and torso.

She followed up immediately, slashing one Asi upwards while spinning the shorter sword around and attempted to drive it into the woman's gut. Switching Asi's grip she brought it back down, attempting to slam the hilt into the womans face, before another attempted double skewering, driving both weapons forward violently towards the woman's chest and gut.


Kora stood shaking as she watched the monstrosity that had been inches from its target fall dead to the ground. The girl beside her slapped the side of her crossbow, and the cartridge that loaded it dropped out as she pulled another one from her side and reloaded the weapon. She looked at Kora and smiled. "Thanks for the help. I'm Lilian Toral." She said offering her hand. Kora shakily accepted the handshake. "You're welcome. I'm Kora Me-." She jumped as Randalla thorne shouted up to them, asking them to help take back the gatehouse. "Its nice to meet you Kora. Come on, lets go finish this." Lilian said. Kora hesitated, but followed as Lilian followed the balcony down and around to a stairs.

They passed Arthur, who called to Lilian and tossed a sword back to her. "I was wondering where this had gotten to." She said with a smile. They kept moving towards the gate house, catching up with Randalla as several undead burst through. One lunged sword swinging, and Kora froze. A hand caught the sword by the blade and pulled it aside, as Lilian drove the blade on her crossbow up into the undead's skull. Kora finally reacted, blasting the other undead with her staff before she looked at Lilian, alarmed that she had just cut her hand and noticed several cuts in her long glove. She could see metal underneath. Lilian turned to her. "Take a few steps back and cover me." She said gently, as if she knew Kora was scared and didn't wan't to upset her. Kora nodded and did as she was told, taking up the rear as they joined Randalla.

Kairi nodded with a smile when Arthur nodded before she had even finished giving the order. Arthur told Kairi that Tristan was not in a position to follow orders, as she had surmised by looking at him. "As long as he's attacking bad guys, then we'll make do." The young man volunteeered to move to Bethany and Aether's aid when given the word, utilizing his superior speed, and she nodded in agreement. Kairi rushed forward as the troops moved in as orderly a fashion as was possible, and Kairi marveled slightly at their ability to keep their discipline, despite none of them having any experience dealing with the kind of situation they found themselves in. The solid wall of soldiers skewered or trampled any undead that were caught in the way, and the sounds of combat overhead told her that the gatehouse was being secured as well. "That's it! Hold your line!" They reached the sallyports and Kairi led the way out, dispatching a creature that had reached the base of the wall before setting a mark for the shield wall with her own shield, directly in front of the gate. The Order soldiers quickly formed either side of her and the new line was established. Undead forces were now down to a steady trickle, and they were easily dealt with by the infantry line. Kairi nodded to Arthur to signal his next task. "I will follow with reinforcements once the gate is secure. Good luck."


Randalla saw the sentry stagger back attempting to deal with a pair of undead, but before she could even react a pair of arrows extinguished them. Looking to her right she saw Nichol, and she nodded appreciatively. "Not bad, kid." She aimed her hadn crossbow at an undead on the far side of the gatehouse, and brought it down before nodding to the retreating sentry who had sustained a number of wounds. "You've done all you can. Get yourself to safety." The sentry nodded and headed for the keep, while Randalla drew her scimitar and caught an undead that was attempting to drop from the wall to the ground, severing its head as it leapt. Randalla saw that the gatehouse was now clear, and shouted over her shoulder. "Archers! To the wall!" Bowmen began to funnel from behind the gate up the stairwells as Randalla peered over the parapet. She saw Kairi's infantry line formed up in front of the gate, and she saw Arthur taking off into the treeline towards where Bethany and Aether had gone earlier.

Randalla turned to Lilian and the others as the bowmen lined the battlements and began to provide covering fire for the troops below. "I'm heading down to the front. We'll need to send more forces into the forest to end this. I won't order you to follow, but we could use your help for one last time." Randalla then leapt from the wall and landed halfway down the stairwell, before leaping again to land next to a sallyport. Randalla exited the sallyport and approached Kairi and put a hand on her shoulder. Kairi tapped the soldiers either side of her and the moved in to close the gap when she stepped back. Randalla nodded towards the forest. "The creatures a starting to thin out. We should send a force to help Arthur and the others." Kairi nodded. "I will take a few mounted troops. Get there as fast as possible." Randalla returned Kairi's nod. "Good luck." Kairi (and anyone who wished to follow) turned and headed for the Hold, signalling for the gate to be opened. She ran inside and headed for the stables, opening the doors and untying her trusty horse, Clement. She nodded to the four soldiers and anyone else who had followed to mount up. Once ready, Kairi set forth.


The necromancer laughed as her blast bypassed the male's weapon and forced him to move, allowing some of her undead to occupy him for a moment at least. She turned just in time to parry a pair of attempted hammer-stabs from the female. She side-stepped the upward slash before spinning the other way to avoid the stab. She then back-flipped to evade the pommel strike, before leaping forward into a frontflip that carried her over the twin stabs. As she flew, she aimed a staff strike to the female's head, before spinning and attempting to lariat the female with her staff. The necrmancer then had to spin her staff quickly to parry the assortment of slashes and stabs that came her way from the male, as he had freed herself from her minions for the moment. She backflipped away and concentrated her power, using her Grave Lord ability to pull up one of the corpses nearby, an Order scout who had stumbled across her position and paid for it. The body rose to her feet and picked up her arming sword, turning its sightless gaze to Aether and Bethany. She charged, with greater coordination and speed then the previous zombies, and aimed a precise pair of swings for Bethany's head, before pirouetting and aiming a pair of sharp thrusts at Aether. The necromancer used the distraction to reposition and aimed a trio of hard staff swings at Aether's head.

Nichol moved up and was the first to arrive on top of the walls. He again used his arrows to remove threats, and luckily it was thinning out. Randalla moved down to go assist the others on the front lines. He continued to rain arrows down on any that he could.

~

Bethany managed to get close enough to join the fray. Then the Necromancer dealt with him after avoiding her. She then did something, used her magic to resurrect corpses buried around them. Well, one, but it seemed different...more powerful. It first attacked Bethany, then moved for him. He deflected the first strike with his spear, then he moved around the second thrust, kicking the back of the leg to hopefully knock it down to one knee. 

The blonde's spear disappeared, to be replaced by his sword. He again deflected the first hit, locked with the second, and redirected it enough to attempt a thrust at her shoulder. The end result was him forcing to use a free arm to block the third swing, making him stumble backwards. He could feel his wrist swelling up already...either the bone was bruised or something was broken.

Arthur, when Kairi gave the signal, took off towards Bethany, and Aether. He made it in time to see an undead attack the fellow blonde young man. Arthur rushed in, and aimed Excalibur at the thing, before blasting off his Solis Tormento. A blast of solar energy rushed out, Hitting th undead and throwing it back. Arthur took this moment to charge in close, and cut the things head off. Arthur then turned to engage any undead near him, hoping that would give Bethany, or Aether a chance to take down the one who was summoning them.

(Apologies, not alot for Arthur to do except kill undead, and Tristan is still indisposed)

When they were done securing the gate house, Randalla turned to Lilian and asked her if she'd help. "I brought them here, there's no way I'm going to sit it out now." Lilian drew her sword. "I will also help." Kora added behind her. Lilian nodded and followed Randalla down and out the gate, while Kora took a position on the wall, joining the others, firing down beams of lightning at the stragglers.

Lilian made it out the gate and activated Akroma's enchanment, thrusting the weapon at the closest undead before whipping it up, slicing into its torso and up through its head. She slashed another, and joined the line of soldiers dispatching the last few with Kairi.


The necromancer danced around her blows and before Bethany spun as the woman swung her staff around and caught Bethany across the chest with the staff. The blow knocked her off her feet, and the woman seemed content to turn all of her attention to Aether, summoning an armored zombie. The thing took one look at them and charged. Bethany blocked the first swing and rolled aside of the second before the zombie turned towards Aether and attacked him. After a brief exchange, a golden flash slammed into the zombie and within a matter of seconds its head was flying across the clearing. The necromancer didn't seem to expect it, as she turned in shock, her attention off of Aether and Bethany. Bethany sprang forward and slashed Asi across the back of the woman's knees cutting the tendons and causing her legs to crumple, before driving Asi down into the woman's torso through her shoulder. Bethany ripped the sword free and kicked the woman over. "That, is enough of that." She said, wiping her blade clean on the woman's robe.