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Taff quickly followed Romulus letting out a sigh of relief that some help was there after all, even if it was a far cry from royal standards.

"Coming... coming..." mumbled Taff very accustomed to being a servant and so picking every item that Merthyr was discarding along the way so as to leave no trail or evidence of their passing bar the blood.

Merthyr let himself be picked up by Romulus by then barely conscious at best "Th...Th... than...k...y..ou" exhaled Merthyr going limp altogether, resting his head against Romulus chest and entrusting himself into Romulus care as he passed out into unconsciousness, the loss of blood and excrutiating pain too considerable and still ongoing to grant him even the strength to keep awake.

As his arm grew limp it discarded the travel bag too, items of which had been sewn by Merthyr and picked by Taff who dutifully collected them and the bag too, scurrying down to the alleyway following Romulus.

It took all his might not to cringe at Romulus' revealing of his name. Stallion took such care to determine precisely who knew any of his personas...the former ringmaster was still quite the rigger at heart. This was why he worked alone. Other people introduced variables that only served to make the whole thing unsteady. And by the skylights, the intention of opening up an escape was supposed to be so that Romulus could escape alone, not with two complete strangers in tow! Especially the Prince! It fudged the entire concept of it! He tried not to seethe despite none of them watching as they left him standing there.

At the very moment that Taff decided to go follow Romulus and Merthyr, Stallion glanced behind him at the alley from which the Prince and his servant--he was pretty damned sure that the other man had been Merthyr's manservant, and to his minor annoyance he could not presently recall his name--had gone. He certainly hadn't missed the look of fear that had touched Romulus' eyes when he'd looked behind them...

He too now registered the clicking and slunk into the shadow of the building, his countenance and visage vanishing under the spell of his illusory magic, rendering him invisible to any who attempted to look upon him. He turned his head briefly as he heard Iskra's cry, and what was supposed to be a chill in his blood manifested instead into a curl of dread deep in the pit of his stomach, a vile thing. He seriously debated fleeing, currently unable to be seen, and possibly offering some aid. However, the number of sets of footsteps hadn't changed, so he assumed they would be alright. And in knowing where Romulus would be staying, he could always check up on them later.

Currently, hidden from all beneath the illusion, he waited to see what the large shadow would entail, the one growing larger as its owner drew closer, the clicking only intensifying.

The shadow bore ever closer, swallowing the light, bringing with it deeper and deeper shadows. The first thing which would become visible were the three scouting eyes, racing along the ground at different heights. Scouting and surveying the floor of the alley, following the trail. These disembodied scouts raced past Stallion, not seeing him for a second.

Following swiftly behind came the rest of the monstrosity. While the darkness still hid individual features, such as colour and fingers the overall shape was plainly visible. It was that of a ten legged spider-like being, six of the appendages representing insectoid limbs while the other four were eerily reminiscent of humanoid limbs. Of more pressing concern to anyone still within the alley was the swarming mass of tendrils which protruded out of the underbelly of the creature.
It would be possible to avoid them if one was skilled and lucky enough, but it would be barely if they performed such a feat.

Executioner himself was slowing down, he'd spotted people in the alleyway, yet didn't know exactly which one was his quarry. The darkness masked their identities, which was one thing his prey could could be thankful for, yet it did not eliminate the trail which he followed. That had yet to run out, at least for him.

Merthyr, Taff and Romulus had already made their escape, while Stallion was the only one who had remained in the alley. He grimaced as he caught the first sight of the great creature. He had seen many strange things in his life, but what hellish, strange monstrosity was this? Upon seeing the tentacles on the underbelly of the Executioner's spiderlike form, sweeping the alley's extremities, he knew he had to make a move. His own breath catching for a few moments, he spotted a stack of large crates aside him, and began to climb it. Living long enough in the lawless life and ever having to keep body and wit sharp, he was easily able to scramble up strategically onto the roof of the inn beside him.

What in the skylights...

By the gods, what powers had the Prince and his ilk angered? He couldn't help but wonder. It was a terrible idea to have helped, and if the Prince and Taff found out who Romulus was...well, being disappointed was somewhat of an understatement.

However, one thing that he was quite adept at, was thinking on his feet. He had climbed upon the inn, still masked by his spell, but he tried to do something to at least distract the creature. Hanging off the edge of the inn's roof, he kicked down the stack of wood-palette crates, sending them toppling just as the creature would pass them. Telekinesis required extra arcane energy, and he preferred not to attempt it just yet.

Stallion swung himself onto the roof and began to run, leaping onto the next roof. There was absolutely no intention to even attempt to slay this...thing...but if he could stall it for quite the amount of time, then he'd be satisfied. It would be intriguing to see how the creature thought. Maybe it would grant him a new perspective.

After Eike blushed, Raed laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Tha's good to hear! Second part'sh a li'l less, but we got plenny of river and I think I get to use some fancy-pants showers when I ge' back t'work! Messy ain'na problem."

She happily walked with him out into the open air. Sorta open, anyway. As open as the air could be in a city, with all the usual stinks and clouds of dust, fog, or flies. Still, wasn't another kind of place she'd rather be.

When she stepped out, she'd got a bit ahead of Eike so turned back to ask about a destination. Saw movement up on the roof, stared for a sec, heard the crash from in the alley, and found her attention pulled to--

"Whoa-sh**. What is tha' thing?" Even bleary as they were, her eyes told her 'spider' but something deep in her gut argued, 'no.' Both options had caused her to jump a good few feet back, further out into the street.

Now, to be perfectly fair: there was a good chance that was a booze-induced imagining or maybe a misidentified mass formed by multiple people. She thought she saw a hand or maybe a foot in there.... Yeah, probably just a case of mistaken identity. The sounds it was making, though? Harder to explain away.

Raed looked back to Eike, almost sober in her seriousness. "If that's what you need help with, I'm afraid I'm not rightly equipped. I'd need a sec to borrow a blade from somewhere since - heh - these babies aren't good for hack-and-slash."

She'd gestured down to twin, escrima-like clubs hanging from decorative knots on her belt. The leather at their handles formed loops at that end, making quick-draw a simple fact of lifting them up over the knots. No good for battle against an armored monster, but just fine for defense against human foes. So long as they didn't carry shields.

She blinked, mentally shaking herself and trying to focus on the blonde. It didn't help to dwell on her current shortcomings, and she'd need as clear a head as she could manage if they did end up fighting that thing.

Romulus moved quietly through the alleyway, feeling blood ooze between his fingers. His own arrow wound ached the more he thought about it, but what was more concerning was the trail they were leaving.

He stopped, looking around with his grey eyes, listening to the clicks as they neared, and knelt, quickly yanking his tunic off and carefully tying it around Merthyr’s waist, to contain the bleeding.

Romulus was not built like a warrior, but that was already obvious. He was lean, still muscled though not so much as a seasoned Knight would be. But something about the boy looked strangely familiar, perhaps if he hadn’t traded his hair and eye color away it would be clearer. And then of course, there were the bandages around his own chest, covering the side where the arrow had shot him. Incriminating at best, he could only hope they wouldn’t run into anymore of Lady Aileen’s men...or worse, the men who would come in to take over.

He picked Merthyr back up with a small grunt; they had little time to waste, having stood around distracted as he was, “Come, quickly. This should stop the trail...” he broke out into a run again, weaving through the alleyways.

————

Aileen sat quietly in her room, drumming her fingers on the windowsill as she peered out over the lands, her families land...soon to be controlled by this “Tron Pentre.”

It made her blood boil, but on the outside the woman remained coldly indifferent, only gazing out across the night. She could use this arrival to her advantage. Lure out The Jester...certainly this Tron wouldn’t be so foolish as to ignore a good plan, and oh, did she have one brewing.

The woman stood back, before moving to sit at her desk with a sigh, rubbing her temples.

The sudden shower of wood from the nearby roof caught executioner by surprise, causing the being to let out a chatting of teeth in annoyance. The physical response on the other hand came even swifter, the front tendrils pulled back and solidified into razor-sharp whips. The same extensions of his body which now busily set about slicing the falling shards of debris apart.

It wasn't a long diversion, one that lasted only a mere few seconds, yet it was long enough to slow the main body of Executioner down. Long enough to allow Romulus to bind the princes wound and halt the trail of blood. Yet for all of this a small part of the monster still followed, a small eye hiding in the darkness which sped after the fugitives.

As such the main body ceased its merciless pursuit, it had no need so long as it could apply pressure when and where it was needed. All it needed now was his partner, someone to swap out with when the work became tiresome or to help apply pressure. The wait was not a long one, for along the rooftops from the direction of the castle came the other cloaked figure, lead by the fifth eye.

With one final bound, resulting in the partially shattering of the roof around the point of impact, the other landed next to Executioner. It was then that something which would certainly seem strange to those that had seen the current appearance of the creature happened. The new figure tenderly began to stroke the abominations head, the other responding warmly to the gestures.

"You got an eye on the fugitives?"

Executioner nodded, or at least made a movement which most resembled nodding. "Yes my love, after this mission it won't be too long till we get our lives back."

Though the mercenary was much louder and expressive than he, Eike appreciated her willingness to help. He let her take the lead (figuring it was just something she did naturally) and paced behind, not noticing the chase quite as quickly as she did as a result.

When he did, though, he followed her gaze and startled at what he witnessed. He blurted out a short, "-Woah, my god!" And shuffled away until his back pressed against the doorway. He peeked around the closing door, too paranoid to take his eyes off of it.

Then when Raed commented on it, he gave a nervous smile and shook his head. "...N-no. That is certainly not what I'm asking for help with--" A second, more frightening realization came to him as the creature was pelted by crates. "...But we should hurry!"

With that the sorcerer jogged out across the street, returning to the alleyway the other man lay in. Eike remembered where the man he'd helped was, finding little difficulty despite the approaching darkness. What he didn't expect were the three fugitives who suddenly also hid in the same alley. By the time the sorcerer arrived, though, Romulus was almost done with his work.

He sputtered a bit in confusion, glancing back towards the main road. Were these men what that creature was after?

The sick man, on the other hand, remained relatively silent as he observed what transpired. Whether it was because he was too tired to care or simply trying to avoid detection wasn't apparent.

Relief passed through her and she gave an emphatic nod. Whatever he needed help with wouldn't be as bad as trying to take on a beast like that while only half-armed. (Okay, half-armed was a bit dramatic). So she gladly jogged after him, only sending the occasional glance back at the now-halted creature.

Before she ducked into the alley after Eike, the sounds of damage to the roof bade her look back once more. And she cringed at the sight that greeted her. How could anyone offer such a tender gesture to that thing?

Either way, she now wanted even more not to become involved with it. Hemmed in by the walls on either side, Raed couldn't help note the movement of those fleeing the area ahead. However, she missed the binding of wounds and certainly didn't get a good look at them from here. Their only defining feature was a particular grayness of one member, and that would swiftly be forgotten once she took a breath.

The pervasive stench of cloying sickness made her gag. Lose her lunch, even.

When Raed finished emptying the contents of her stomach, she wiped her face and pulled her collar over her mouth and nose. It wouldn't do her any good when she helped carry him (even drunk, she could see the high probability of this request), but it made her feel a little better in the short term.

Too bad it couldn't block her eyes, too. The stranger on the ground was absolutely piteous and she knew she wouldn't be forgetting the image any time soon. His rattling breaths and some small thing about his eyes were the only indicators that he wasn't yet dead. 'Yet' being the operative word.

"Damn, you're a mess," she murmured. Then she looked to Eike. "Where we taking him, then?"
Hopefully it wouldn't be far.

Man, she'd need a bath after this...

Stallion was thoroughly both intrigued and revolted, and he bit his lip to keep the laugh from running away with him and completely giving away his location. How curious this all was. Were these truly some sort of lackeys for someone of a higher power? Oh, what he would give to meet whomever the great bonelike spider and his beloved served, if only to make some pointed remark. How ironic would it be then, if such was related to Mancini family if at all? Even if magic was now being persecuted, who on earth would have the daring gall to stand against the great prowess of such a creature? It had sliced up the wood with such ease, and the illusionist could only imagine that it would do the same with flesh.

It was a morbid thought, yes, but not bothersome. When it came to the cruel world, such was to only be expected. Avoided, perhaps, for the self, but death was an inescapable fact. The world itself was a stage, a mess with all the actors and barely a director, or a producer, creating the great show of Chaos. Such small yet critical strings did he pull, and such sleight to be done, in order to make his debut on the world stage after the epiphany of his downfall. The whims of that insatiable combination of the calculating and lackadaisical mind ruled him, and ruled him well. What, oh what, would merely touching a new piece upon the chessboard play? The thought made him wonder, and he tilted his head as her stood perched atop a roof, still mere nothingess to all who would lay eyes upon him, except for maybe perhaps the smallest distortion in the light and shadows beneath where he stood. Only a slight breeze, too far for anyone else to discern, marked his movement from the spot.

A shadow was cast from the torchlight that lit the road behind where the Executioner and his partner, the eerie shadow trailing a figure that quietly walked towards them, perhaps tilting their head a little with the vaguest of muted interests. His face was shrouded by both his hood and the shadows cast, and his baritone voice was somewhat resonant. He did pause for a moment upon registering the large forms of the lady and what appeared to be a great spider of more than a formidable size.

"Well, that's something that you certainly don't see every day…" he drew back perhaps a step or two but did not flee. The stillness of his posture and the lack of swaying vacillation denoted a security in the male's own body and countenance.

---

As one of the Executioner's eyes scuttled past another alleyway, there was a sudden shuffling of blankets and burlap. There was a young boy that scrambled to his feet, at first away from the noise. However, the movement had been much too small to identify properly in the dark of the night like this. Standing to his feet, he peered out into the roadway, looking after the little thing? What was it? Curiosity propelled him to his feet, and he gathered up a cloth sack to sling over his shoulder before he began to trail the strange sight in the silent run reserved only for such well-honed street rats, in which the sound would not give him away.

Merthyr was too far gone to even notice the change of pace. His limp head and arms and legs were as though he were a ragged doll roughly played with, without any strength or awareness of his own.

Taff nodded at the command from Romulus to go forth quickly, he had sense sorcery around but had failed to see creature because his eyes and mind was mostly set on Merthyr. When Romulus broke into a run, Taff followed suit, rushing after the benefactor.

__________________

It was rather late, cold and dark yet the town was far from asleep, not only were bandits and creatures keeping the streets alive but soon the resounding of hooves, many horses hooves broke any silence.

Lord knight Tron Pentre and a large part of the royal army had finally arrived at the very same location. Lucky for Romulus and those in the vicinity, Tron the Terrible barely paid any head to mere commoners, street beggars or orphans so they would remain mostly unnoticed.

Lord Pentre had been traveling to the Mancini mansion no sooner he had been informed by the king of the prince's absence and his new appointment as the lord of the lands. However, the distance was much too great to travel in a day, it had taken him many days from Capital city to this location

Given the late hour Pentre decided to be courteous and not disturb the widow, opting to stay at the city instead and shelter at the taverns of the main city, to eat, sleep and rest, resuming official matters and the undoubted tense visitation in the morning

Eike nodded back at Raed, adding a small, "Yes," in as he realized it may be too dark for her to see the initial gesture. He knelt before the man and checked his pulse and breathing, more out of impulse than anything. Was it his optimism deceiving him, or were things getting better? He drew away before getting his answer, deciding that it was best investigated once they were out of the chaos. "Ah, w-well, anywhere out of the cold works! Initially I was thinking the tavern, but the patrons wouldn't take to that well..."

He tugged on the scruff of his chin. "It may have to do anyway." Though he might mention more suitable places, such as chapels, the recent scare about the Mancini family had him nervous about going to especially orderly places. When the trio of strangers vanished into the back alleys he couldn't help but be a little relieved.

Skin still crawling from recent events, Raed knelt beside the sickly man. For a moment, she just watched him breathe, listening to Eike speak, then she shook her head. "Not that tavern. They'll probably fight about it, an' I don' think tha's what we want righ' now."

Surprisingly gentle, she pulled the stranger up and over her shoulders so when she stood, he was stable (if draped limply). Then she turned to face Eike and tilted her head.

"I think I know a guy who'll help," Raed offered, nodding in a direction vaguely towards the river. "Has the keys to a carriage house an' he migh' jus' be willing t' let us in. Unless you got a place closer... Carriage-fren' is a bit of a walk."

If no objections or suggestions were made, she would start off towards her destination, pausing occasionally to be sure Eike was following and chattering aimlessly as she went.

Eventually, Romulus had managed to bring them to a small house towards the edge of the river; a candle lit in the window signaled someone was awake, and Romulus simple rushed inside, making his way towards the back, “Madam Clarke, please fetch some water!”

This Madam Clarke he had addressed could only be the surprised elderly woman who sat at the table; she didn’t seem surprised with Romulus, which was good, but rather with the state in which they had all arrived; “Goodness child, what have you gotten yourself into tonight?”

“He’s hurt.” Romulus grumbled, carefully setting Merthyr on one of the beds; he quickly stood and began to search around the room for his things, as the old woman approached Merthyr and examined him carefully; her eyes moved suspiciously to Taff, and she straightened up a bit, before she began to remove Romulus’s shirt from Merthyr’s waist.

————

Iskra wasn’t a curious person when it came to this city- she was beginning to find curiosity was more deadly than most would think, so when the woman passed the alleyway, she wouldn’t even glance in the direction in which she saw the massive shadow move. No, Iskra kept her eyes focused on the approaching horses, waving her hand to flag them down.

It would be difficult to recognize the bandit at first, cleaned up as she was; even Iskra’s hair had been styled to Aileen’s taste, the two tails she wore weaves into a braid and pulled up like a crown. She wore nobles clothes (granted still those of a man), and a sword rested on her hip, though her belt of daggers crossed her chest and seemed more used than the blade on her hip. But with two of Aileen’s men flanking her, it was clear the woman was under surveillance, and probably pretty bitter about that fact. If there was one thing Iskra loved, it was ulterior motives, and having these guards following her meant she was unable to pull any tricks.

She stood near the tavern, hands folded behind her back with a wicked grin across her lips, “Vell, Lord Pentre arrives, glad to see you made it safe.” Something about her tone said otherwise though, like the edge of venom was fully prepared to cut. Her eyes slid to the guard at her side and judging on the harsh glance the woman got, she was pushing the limits. She scowled and looked to Pentre and stared, “Zhe lady had me deliver zhe King’s new order...quite harsh for zhe actions of single mage, da? He must be getting scared...a killer like zhat Jester could come for him next.”

"My task is to draw him out and have him captured. Go now and return to the lady Eileen, inform her I have every intention to marry her forthwith and I shall use the wedding feast to attract the Jester.

Given I am the new lord of these lands and she is one of the vassals now, she is no position to refuse, more so if she wishes to maintain her home, comforts and ruling power..." informed Tron Pentre quite prepared to use the widow to get to the golden goose

"I shall come in the morning with a wedding gift and some dowry... through which I shall formally announce our engagement. If the engagement feast is good enough and lavish enough we might not need to wait to the wedding to capture the assassin..." explained Pentre

"In the meantime, I will be taking up residence at the taverns and inns. Nothing like first hand gossip to know of his deeds and whereabouts...." trailed off Pentre turning his horse around to go to the nearest tavern and letting Iskra go to deliver the news and events to the weeping lady, or so he thought.

The gigantic crimson beast suddenly reared up and once more began to morph, twisting and writhing as it did so. Within seconds the hideous spider-like limbs and twisting tentacles were no more and in its place was something equally malformed in appearance. Jagged dagger-like limbs fused together and lifted upwards, shifting till four new protrusions emerged from the spine of the armour. Extending outwards into wings that rippled like gore flying from a kill.

At the tip of each wing a trail of similar tentacles draped like a twisted illusion of a cape, their number constantly shifting as they extended and retracted. More and more of the gore pooled around the head until the helm was lost beneath what could only be described as someone's nightmare of what a bird's head looked like. Nothing about this abomination of a gigantic bird looked inviting, yet the other on the roof showed no fewer signs of affection.

Lovingly pulling his hands through the ever-shifting myriad of feathers, constructed from the gore the still cloaked being turned to face one of the floating eyes. "You do love this form for hunting don't you, my love?"

Executioner's beak swung towards the figure, "The thrill of flying is so much better when I can share it with you."

Whether they did not see the other figure on the rooftops with them, or simply did not care would be up to the observers to decide. The result being that the cloaked figure swung themselves up and onto the beasts back which took off into the sky, further damaging the roof with the skywards leap. When in the air the beast let out a shrill and distinctly alien bellow.

The young sorcerer hummed, an indication to Raed that he didn't have anyone better to assist them. Truthfully, Eike had very little to value in these lands, simply enjoying the prospect of traveling through them. At least, he did, until discovering the sickly stranger. The implications of the sick man's presence were not good, and though Ortrun was compassionate he was not completely self-deserting.

When Raed picked the man up, she'd find something else rather odd about him; though most of him was flesh and blood, one of his limbs felt differently. Hard, smooth and light; a familiar feeling to anyone who spent any time resting in most buildings.

As the mercenary started to leave the alley he followed, sparing a glance back in the direction of the fleeing trio before disappearing between houses. Between them and their pursuer's subsequent bellow, he was quite glad to be departing! And though their following conversations were mild and pointless, it served to ease Eike's tension, and practicing speaking the local tongue with Raun was enjoyable (if clumsy on his part, at times.)