PBEM-G6

Chapter Three

For the longest time, Isianu stayed silent trying to come up of a way to escape, but had come up with nothing. She was still weak from when her father summoned her back to their home, so magic was out of the question. Instead she would have to use cunning, and wait for her time. There didn't seem anything sharp, which she could use to break their bonds subtly, which would make things more difficult. At Trent's question, she just stared with hatred towards the humans that had them bound at the moment. "[I don't know,]" she whispered to the other werewolf, "[But be ready for anything...]"

When their captors let their guard down for a moment, she got a glimpse of what was going on in this country and with this Baron. It started to become clear to her, and she decided that this might be something she could use to her advantage. As the last word left the unruly thief's mouth, Isianu leaned back and gave a long, mocking laugh exposing her fangs. Calming down a bit she faced the thief, "You don't realize the implications of what you're doing. Well I guess that's what a monarch would look for in a bunch of pawns..." Turning to look at Trent for a second, never letting an eye leave the thieves, she nodded towards the humans in a sarcastic matter.

When she was sure she got the rogue's attention, she turned back to face them. "You see, he is using you to start a war with my people, what you are doing is adding fuel to the fire. Why should the people go to war with an enemy they have never seen just because the Baron says so? You're paid to run around in these, disgusting, wolf skins, which makes you look NOTHING like us. The people see you as barbaric raiders and demand that you go to war." To add emphasis to the next statement, Isianu turned her head and closed her eyes speaking in a condescending tone. "Then they'll send troops over there hoping to get rich, more land, or wipe a species they think is unworthy of walking the Earth. Of course they'll get slaughtered by a force far superior than they could predict. The end result is more gold for the Baron, and less family and friends for all of you." With that last bit said, she leaned back against the wagon's side letting them digest this information, a slight smile on her face.

Hearing the lupine speak clearly surprised the two bandits that had been conversing. The one behind them just sat, almost as if in a daze.

Before the questioning bandit could speak, the other cut him off. "Hey, don't lose your nerve now. It's just some crazy people celebrating. This is too much money to pass up over what some crazy animal says." He laughed and the questioner finally laughed with him.

Burke shifted, opening his eyes. "War...?" he murmurred to himself.

Trent watched the whole thing, hoping that it would work but to no avail. "[Clever, Isianu. I don't think I would have thought of that ploy. My turn.]" Looking back at his captors Trent tried to look intimidating.

"You are the crazy ones. You are going to get yourselves into a war with us." Trent paused for a moment and bared his fangs menacingly. "Do you have any idea what we wolves do to humans? As I speak there are many wolves shadowing us. They will attack and rescue us. After all, we are their rulers. Let us go now and we will spare you quite a gruesome fate." Making sure he had the attention of the men he slowly turned to the fur pelts. "See those? Well we have them back home. Except ours don't have any fur on them, if you know what I mean." Leaning as close to them as possible, Trent ran his tongue over his fangs and whispered slowly. "They were alive and screaming during the entire thing."

Leaning back Trent gave them an unconcerned shrug. "It's your choice of course. Just know that if you choose not to let us go, I will personally be the one who deals with you."

The two bandits looked around the plains that stretched out in every direction. They turned back to Trent, unconvinced. The first managed to look confused and disgusted at the same time, but said nothing. The one with all the answers shrugged.

Burke shifted uncomfortably.

The other bandit spoke up from behind his two comrades. "You can tell your friends... thanks for the pelts... when you see them." He sat, watching Trent, expressionless.

With both of their ploys failing, Isianu growled at the two men across from her and said, "[Geez, these humans are too dumb to fool. We'll have to try harder then...]" She flexes her muscles trying to at least make it look like she's about to break from her bonds. "Unkempt humans, you're probably not good enough to feed to my lowest Omega... I am warning you, for your own good, you should let us go. That is if you want to surive the night. Don't you know that you should never try to kidnap the magical Queen and King of the Wolves? If you don't let us go, misfortune and anguish will follow you for the rest of your miserable lives. You will catch every disease known to man, but not die, only suffer in agony while you watch all around you perish. When ever you leave the confines of your prisons of stone and metal, all of nature will try to strike you down!" Smiling a bit and leaning back Isianu thought she should add something more. "Of course this curse will slowly start to come true, you won't feel the effects now, but eventually, you won't be able to bear it. And if you're thinking that killing us will save you from this horrible fate, think again. If we were to be slain, you all will be turned into the mangeist, weakest wolves in the world. You would be too slow to catch but the smallest and most disgusting creatures. All of our subjects will harass you until the end of your days and every hunter will be mystically drawn to you. When your miserable lives actually end, we will be there in the afterlife to devour your souls for eternity with the most powerful wolves in history." Giving the thieves a harsh gaze Isianu demanded, "Save yourselves enternal torment and release us NOW!!!!!" The last word said in a deep and savage voice trying to scare the humans even more.

Isianu strained at her bonds, sending bolts of pain through her already raw wrists. The three humans stared at her, the quiet one's glare seemingly malicious.

The questioning one finally spoke, quietly, to the bandit across from him. "I... I think they're dangerous. Think they'll kill us?"

"Yah, if we let them go," said the other, shrugging again.

"...Kill them first..." reasoned the third, producing a long dagger. He didn't stop staring at Isianu. He didn't blink. He partially stood, intent on carrying out his plan. The other thieves pressed themselves against the wagon's sides, the first partially closing his eyes as if he expected to be hit by something.

The throaty laughter of the wagon driver stopped the action in the back. He spoke from behind and over the lupine's shoulders. "No killing today. No kill. Do your toil, earn your pay. Don't talk unless I tell you. And don't think." The three bandits looked at their boss. "Got that?!" said Skale harshly. The two in front nodded quickly, while the third only stood, staring. "We'll camp soon. Save your strength."

Disgusted with the men Trent closed his eyes and turned away. After a few minutes Trent spoke. "[Looks like we are stuck. I don't have any way to get us out of here, at least not yet. I'm sure an oppurtunity will present itself. In the meantime, we might as well just conserve our energy.]"

No sooner had Trent spoken then the wagon slowed. "It looks like Niehl chooses to rest here," rasped Skale.

The wolves were unloaded to find that a large, almost majestic tent was already in place and the handful of soldiers were laying bedrolls. Skale staked out a place some distance from the tent, maybe twenty-five feet. "Wolves go here. Give them something to eat. Two men on them alone every shift." He made his way to the tent. The bandits too began to lay bedrolls, all around the wolves position. Some dried m eat was thrown on the ground before the werewolves.

Skale exited the tent and approached the lupines. "The General wants to see you," he indicated Isianu. "Stay," he said to Trent.

Trent's Adventure

Isianu was led into the tent. Inside was an actual bed, a desk, and a few other minor furnishings. She felt like she should be sensing the magic at work, but instead she just felt nauseated. She steadied herself. To her right, a suit of armor stood, and to her left Niehl was standing by his desk. He had donned a robe in place of his heavy armor.

"I'm sure you have such things where you come from. I just haven't had the opportunity to indulge myself since coming to this magically illiterate country." He frowned. "If one could call it that..." He returned to his confident manner. "Anyway, we should get down to business. Skale tells me that you are not pleased with our 'accomodations' and that you have made some of my brigands uneasy... how thoughtless of me--" He drew a dagger from his sleeve and cut Isianu's bonds. "Don't think that this means you can escape... no, you will hear me out. But your fate remains in my hands for the time being." He crouched, cutting the ropes at her ankles, and hid the dagger once more. He slides a small chair to Isianu and gestures to it, pulling himself a chair and sitting. "Now what I propose is simple. How helpful I am to you is completely dependent on how truthful you are with me. The decision about whether we will be friends or enemies is entirely up to you. I will start you off and you will tell me what I want to know." He studied her, putting his hands together. "I want to know about your confederates. Three humans, one of them being Burke, a moogle, and your wolf friend out there. You gathered together outside of Goranthor. For what reason? Tell me about them."

When her bonds were cut, Isianu gently rubbed her sore wrists and looked with a bit of venom at general Niehl. "Well I would warrant that you would be rather discontent by being bound and hauled around like so much a sack of vegetables." Looking at the chair, she immediately sat and made herself comfortable while looking around the tent. "I think that is one of the few things we can agree on. Ever since I was born magic has been a vital component to my life, but of course we have more important matters to talk about." Crossing her legs and putting her paws upon her knees, daintily and with as much poise as she could muster. Once the first question came up, she cocked her head to one side and tapped her foot on the dirt. "Well I don't know much about them. They're knights running around this country performing a mission or something. They didn't tell me exactly what they were doing, since I'm an outsider and they would probably kill me if I found out. All I know is that they haven't been pillaging, killing, or destroying anything and were kind enough to me, so I didn't think about it. Burke isn't with the most of them, I think he was a survivor of some sort of battle and made it out to the forest that we meet. My Lupine companion I know a little about, he's a member of an ancient order of knights and is on an exploratory quest. We met coming out of Goranthor, and pretty much agreed to stick together. It's rather comforting to have another of your kind out here where we're a drastic minority." Looking back at Niehl Isianu started tapping her claws together, waiting for the next question, and her next escape attempt.

"Your loyalties are misplaced. You will gain nothing by protecting these so-called companions. I know your knights. Burke is a traitor to his country, as your friend is a traitor to yours. How do you think they came to be injured? Noble deeds? Heroic quests? No. Resisting arrest. Now we get into politics. I will give you another chance to redeem yourself. Who are you really?"

At Niehl's latest remark Isianu just shrugged her shoulders and looked directly at him. "Well just being born a noble does not make a man so, and I have known some knaves that are more honorable than many emperors. If you forgive me being so bold..."

"Yes, but sometimes a knave is just a knave... or even worse."

His next question was the one she was dreading, from almost everybody she came in contact with. She certainly wouldn't just come right out and say it, who knows what they would do to her. They would probably hold her for ransom, but she didn't think that Bernuka would give any quarter to human scum. Instead Isianu just chuckled lightly to herself and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds, "My, my, where do I begin? I am she who was born from the twisting ethers of the darkest magic. I am she who many fantastic beasts of myth and legend bow and call me Mistress. I am she who has the strength of a Lupine, but the indomitable will of a goddess. I am she who shall rule every forest and valley where a wolf howls at the moon. But most people just call me Isianu." Cocking her head to one side, she asks, "Is that thorough enough for you?"

"Are you stalling for something, or just playing games? Ambiguous... but truthful. Then tell me this: How much do you care for your kind? Enough to spare them? Or, perhaps, even enough to hurt them?"

Isianu's playful and courteous manner is dropped suddenly at Niehl's question as her left foot comes back in contact with the ground. She looked specutavely at the general for a while before responding, "I am proud to be a Lupine, if that's what you're getting at. I respect my people and would never do anything to cause many of them to suffer." Pausing for a moment, she leaned a little forward and stated, "If you're asking me to go on your rogue's raid, then forget it. How ever I might be entitled to listen to what you had in mind for sheer curiosity..."

"No," said Niehl softly, "you would not be entitled." He called for Skale. "Take her back outside. Don't worry about tying her; she's no threat. Bring the other wolf to me." Isianu was brought outside the tent. Skale called for two men to grab the other wolf, and Trent was led into the tent as Skale stood by Isianu. Burke sat alone in the falling darkness.

The only route open to Isianu was back to the werewolves' former position. Burke was sitting there, waiting, a curious expression on his face.

The Lupine sorceress' eyes widen in surprise for a second as she gets up and lets out an insulted snort. Isianu followed the bandit leader out of the tent, growling if he tries to touch her. She starts to walk slowly back to the prison tent, taking time to get a look at the layout of the camp. Passing by the heavily guarded Trent, she whispered, "[That Niehl is up to something, and I don't like it... He's too smart for his own good.]"

Skale placed himself between the lupines, frowning at Isianu. She couldn't be sure that Trent heard her.

Isianu gave a reassuring nod to Burke as she sat down on the bare earth. "I think we're in some trouble Burke," she said quietly. "I got the distinct feeling that he knows about us, but wants us to say it to relieve any doubt he has. He asked nicely, the basics, who we are, what we're doing, however I know sooner or later he'll start to ask us again. Only that time there'll probably be a 'reward' for answers he doesn't like..." Looking out of the single doorway Isianu muttered, "I just want to prepare you for the horrors we're about to face. You're going to have to scrape all of your willpower together to try and resist them."

"I've never known Niehl to be nice. He's... uh, gone. Not all there, you know...? Polite, I guess... but never nice. Just... away." Burke sat thoughtfully. He listened to Isianu's warning. "I don't know anything about what's going on, other than what you said today. I don't even know why he's kept me alive. I'm sure I must be worth more to him dead..."

Isianu looks at Burke inquisitively and leans a little closer to whisper into the knight's face. "Do you know this Niehl?" she whispered, "Or just know about his reputation? Why would you be worth more to him dead, are you... are you a deserter from his unit?"

Burke smirked. "I'm not ... sure how to answer that..." He turned away from Isianu. "You might say we were... rivals. A deserter? I guess you could call me that. But I didn't have any choice in it... I guess I really am just a coward, to run away from this. But I couldn't even do that. I... don't know." He put his hand to his head and muttered about his head hurting.

Isianu is rather surprised by what Burke had just said, she would have never guessed that he used to be a general. It seemed that there was an outbreak of leaders leaving their posts for moral grounds or some such. Moving a little closer to the knight, the sorceress placed a gentle paw on his shoulder and gently patted it. "It's alright Burke," she whispered, "Some times politics and personal beliefs conflict, and I can respect what you have done. You do not need to explain your reasons, but if you want to set your story straight, I won't object. I have a very rough idea on what happened and I can sympathize with it..."

Burke jumped at her touch, then looked at her. "I...I don't really know anymore." He looked at her thoughtfully. "Maybe you can help me... but I don't know where to start. I was telling... the council..." He shrugged, helplessly. "I tried to tell the council, but I was never really able to tell them, er, us..." His face contorted for a moment. "Ah, #%@&!, I don't know." He looked down at the ground and spoke quietly, "Councilman Haskin was murdered... I know that. I opposed the Baron and then it was my turn to die. I didn't see it then. Direct orders delivered by letter, secret mission, his hand-picked team. He'd already had my funeral before a report could even have reached him. Doesn't anyone see this but me?" He picked at a blade of grass.

Isianu's gaze went to the grass that Burke was playing with and remembered some of the texts she read in the library from before her father took power. The Alpha Lords and this council he spoke of seemed to be similar images of each other. The only difference was that there was no one who knew better back in Goranthor. "Well Burke," she said quietly, "I think one more person does know what's going on, even if she's rather vague on the details. Personally I feel a kindred bond with you, and I will try to what ever I can to help, even though I don't think I'm of much use now..."

Burke stopped and looked at Isianu again. He grinned ruefully. "My luck... the only people I can convince are mad or senile, or the very ones we're supposed to kill." His expression became sorrowful. "My... my father died in the war twenty years ago. I... inherited his place on the council. I guess... I've really made a mess of... everything. I don't guess, uh, you have any ideas? As long as they haven't killed us yet, I don't see any reason to give up."

"Well we do have a common enemy, why should we not believe each other?" Isianu asked shrugging a little. Before she responded to Burke's second question, the sorceress looked at the guards at the tent entrance cautiously. "Well before we plan any escapes," she whispered, "We should wait for Trent to get back. He's in the same boat as I am and we just can't leave him here. That and if we plan to do something about this Niehl and the Baron, it'd be best to know what they're up too. You probably know quite a bit about them, but we don't yet know why they would want us..."

"My enemies' enemy is my friend...?" mused Burke. "No, I don't believe that anymore. A friend is a friend... everyone else is trouble. No, wait, I'm not sure about that either..." He frowned, saying nothing more.

Isianu felt many eyes watching her. From watching the bandits, she gathered that the shifts were large, a full third of the members of this group now awake, patrolling and watching her position.

Niehl emerged from the tent, followed by Skale, then by two of the bandits carrying Trent's limp body. The two dumped the body near some of their sleeping comrades and then followed their leader. Niehl summoned two soldiers and the company advanced on Isianu and Burke. Before the lupine or human could react, they were each seized by two men. "I am afraid," said Niehl, "that your friend has been somewhat rash. Now he is dead. For your own protection, I am having you both restrained. I do not need to kill anyone else tonight. Sleep well." They were both roughly tied. Niehl returned to his tent, while the bandits and soldiers remained on guard.

Isianu started out by looking simply surprised at the restraining solders and why they were carrying Trent out of the general's tent. Then she stared in disbelief as Niehl stated the fate of her werewolf companion. "You... you killed him?" she stuttered at Niehl almost speechless. Eventually the lines of her face start to harden, her fangs become predominate on her face, and something mists over her blue eyes. "YOU KILLED HIM!?!?!?!" she growled at Niehl flexing her muscles she tried to lunge out at the general. Unfortunately for Isianu, the guards restrained her from going more than a few inches every several seconds. "YOU [expletive deleted]!!!!! YOU KILLED A FINE AND NOBLE WARRIOR OF THE LUPINE NATION!!!!! I'LL TEAR YOUR THROAT OUT AND FEAST UPON YOUR BLACK HEART!!!!!"

Before she could get anywhere close to Niehl, her captors manage to bring her to the ground with a stupendous effort. As Isianu could feel the ropes being secured to her wrists and ankles, she struggled, trying to wriggle closer to Niehl. Unfortunately she was soon rendered immobile and nudged, cautiously into a corner of the tent. She sat there fuming and slightly foaming at the outrage that has befallen her companion. Gradually she calmed down and hissed in the general's direction. "[I swear by every god and goddess in the Blessed Pack, I shall have my revenge upon you human general Niehl. Your last life's blood shall stain my claws for your insult to my people, and the life you have taken.]" She soon falls asleep from building up so much rage and having sustained a massive beating she took.

Burke tried to come to Isianu's aid as more bandits and soldiers dashed forward to restrain the two prisoners. The General seemed unconcerned at their resistance, as if he didn't even hear them.

Isianu came to with a slightly inaudible moan; the night has not been pleasant, at least for her. It seemed that their current situation had not changed, bound in the back of a wagon with the wolf pelts. Flinching a bit as the memories of last night flood her mind, Isianu realized how careless she has been. She had acted in frustration and anger, seeking the simplest, and the most likely route to get them killed. Of course one of the things that the humans probably had right about her people is that they do give into their rage all too easily.

Isianu awoke to the sounds of horses and the smell of pelts. It was still dark, some time before dawn. She was lying facedown in the wagon. A familiar voice was talking to her left.

"...price," said Burke. "Niehl will never know. All you want is the money. It'd save you the--"

"Shut your mouth, Burke," said Skale from above the two captives. "If it weren't for you and yours we wouldn't have to do this. Aldersgate used to be such a nice place to make a dishonest living. Now it's got nothing worth stealing. Besides, you can't meet this price. Just shut up and let us have some peace."

She then heard the slight conversation between Burke and their captors come to no avail. The thought had crossed her mind to stay still to try and learn a little bit more about her human companion, but it didn't seem like he was going to be talking any time soon. As quietly as possible, Isianu rolled a bit to her right sitting up and scooting up against Burke. Once up, the sorceress's head is bowed low, staring at the floor of the wagon with a forlorn look. Shrugging a bit, she let out a long lengthy sigh with the word, "Trent," passing her lips, shivering once in a while. As she is doing this, Isianu hoped that these rogues were too occupied with their own affairs to really pay attention to their prisoners. Feinting sorrow, she was working her hands around to try and find a way that she could use her claws to slowly cut through her ropes. Her initial rage has already been vented, not it was time for calculated steps towards escape, and possibly revenge.

Isianu shifted, trying to bring her claws to bear on her bonds. The ropes were even tighter this time around and her efforts were cutting off her circulation.

"Ice... Isianu..." said Burke quietly, seeing her awake. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't know... I didn't believe... he could... murder."

Time passed slowly and miserably. Isianu said nothing, Burke sat sadly. No good ideas presented themselves. The day wore on, the bandits laughed and chatted. Burke complained about not being fed, but Skale ignored him. The sky began to darken. Feeling weak and ill, the thought of rest seemed comforting. Burke was dumped on the ground and left sitting. Isianu was restrained by two bandits as the pelts were handed out. Skale spoke. "You boys all know what to do. Get into your places and wait for the signal." He walked up to Isianu. "You help us with our little show and it'll go better for you." Many of the bandits were dispersing. Isianu looked around. They were definitely no longer in the plains. The ground was rougher, with dense vegetation. She could see some foothills spreading to her right.

"What's going on!" yelled Burke, exasperated. "At least tell us what's going on!" Skale only smirked at him.

Well, now we get to see the insidious plans of Niehl in action, she thought. For the most part, Isianu just stared critically at the humans running around with their wolf skins. She slightly scoffed at the fact that this little charade would work. Once Skale came up to ask for her cooperation, she snickered and stared at the human in the eye. "You are asking me, to go out there on your little muck-raking raid and in turn betray my people and help the person that wants to kill my kind, proving so by killing my companion? The work is simple, running around, screaming like a Death Howler, acting as fearsome as I can? But there is a substantial... emotional value to the work, so to put it simply, what's in it for me?" Isianu gives a sly smile while flexing her arms a bit, testing her restraints. "Of course you have to realize that your men are laughably poor Lupines, and inversely realize how useful a real one would be?" Her claws start to work, itching to be released, but of course, not as fast as her mind.

Skale laughed at Isianu's comments. "You think too much. This will be easy for us all. You're just here for... aww-thin-tiss-sittee. Pretending that you have any choice and struggling to get loose only make things worse for you. Life's too short. Now if you'll excuse me," he bowed low to Isianu and Burke, "I have some scouting to do." He took one of the remaining bandits aside, saying something about torches and riding.

Isianu growled at the rather brazen attitude of the human as he left to give orders to the rest of his bandits. Moving a little closer to Burke, the Lupine whispered into the ex-general's ear. "This is worse than I thought, they aren't just going to scare those villagers, they're going to actually burn and kill them. I have an odd feeling that by authenticity he means killing me and leaving my carcass to be discovered later. He wouldn't risk letting me lose for just a second, the coward. Afterwards he'll probably leave you behind as a casualty of this raid." Looking around seeing that most of the bandits were busy preparing for their raid she tried to move a little closer to him. Closing her eyes and tilting her head upward, she whispered again, "There's only one way I can see us conceivably out of where. As they head out on their raid they'll leave only minimal guards or just leave us tied in the back of the wagon. Once that happens, get your back towards me, I'll try and chew through your bonds." She then starts muttering in her native tongue to throw off the remaining bandits, occasionally looking to see what they where doing.

The few remaining bandits were preparing more horses. One stayed close, watching Isianu and Burke carefully. Isianu waited for a moment of distraction to enact her plan while Burke watched their captors with malice in his eyes. Listening as she manuevered herself to bite the ropes, she heard one of the bandits refer to "preparing the wolf". She made her move, quickly snapping her jaws on the ropes and gnawing them for all she was worth. She was immediately grabbed and pulled away. Remarks of confusion and threats followed her as she was dragged over to a horse. She was propped in the saddle and flanked by two more bandits, each wearing a pelt and wolf mask. They began to walk towards the lights of the distant town, the two bandits steadying her. She noticed one of them had her scythe slung over his back. Casting one last glance behind her, she could see Burke struggling with his bonds in the company of the last few bandits.

After stopping and milling for a while, one of the bandits nodded to the other. "The signal." One grabbed the reins of Isianu's horse and the other slipped the scythe in the crook of her arm. She was led at a gallop into the town, past the surprised torch bearer. They suddenly broke away, leaving her guiding a panicked horse into the middle of a dark town without using her hands while trying not to cut herself with a scythe tucked under her arm. She managed to coax the animal into a jog as she entered the center of the city. In the torchlight, a few startled villagers looked out of their homes at the creature invading their town. A man in armor with a long white beard painfully struggled to his feet and advanced on Isianu, her mount shying away and forcing him to follow, awkwardly holding a sword with one hand and waving a finger at her with his free hand. "It's one of them devils like the Baron said! I warned you all that this would happen! Good thing I was watchin'! Now I got it!" He tottered after the horse and the horse continued to avoid him. The scythe slid down in the crook of Isianu's arm and she had the opportunity to cut her bonds with the blade...

At her rough treatment by the bandits, Isianu just growled and snapped at almost any shape next to her. Once on the horse she seemed to be unconcerned about getting immediate revenge, she tried to access the situation. "[Well this seems to be a lot better than what I had in mind, but still it won't be pleasant.]" Once into the village Isianu did her best to look as innocent and frightened as possible. Once the obvious militia man/Baron's pawn came out, her head jerked back in surprise and looked around with a confused look on her face. When her weapon finally fell into a favorable position, she leaned down and whispered soothingly into the horse's ear. "Once this is over, I'm getting you a bag of apples..." All the while sawing away at her bonds Isianu kept an eye on the warrior in front of her trying to foresee his strikes.

When she finally frees herself, she carefully grasps her scythe, shifts it to her good paw, and grabs the reigns, doing her best to turn the horse around. Looking at the frightened villagers, she tried her best to act like a general going into battle, despite the fact she never rode a horse before in her life... "If you want your village to stay in one piece," Isianu states as clearly as she can, "I'd bring buckets and all able men to that side of town." Briefly pointing in the way the bandits are coming from, she tried the best she could to get her horse to run in that direction.

The old man tried to get into a position to attack, but even without armor he probably could not have kept up with the skittish horse. Instead, he weakly clumped after Isianu, who was becoming more disoriented as her mount wheeled and danced away from the human invading its space. Isianu's comment only seemed to make the horse more nervous. The cobblestones beneath her were arrayed into a circle and there were three pathways leading into it, houses interspersed between the paths. Each path looked the same to her and she couldn't be sure which was the way the bandits had dragged her. As her mount circled again, she thought she detected the salty smell of sea air coming up the nearest path to her.

Most of the people had fled indoors at her arrival. One adventurous young man was standing in a doorway, watching her wheel away from the old man. He simply sat, his mouth open, and watched. In the dark, Isianu imagined that this must be very frightening to them, judging from their reactions. To her command, the old man simply continued to chase, panting and muttering about having "gotten" her. The man in the doorway didn't move at all.

Isianu looks around at the various paths, trying to sniff out the smell of burning wood or hay, but could only get the stink of sea air. Sighing deeply at the situation before her she muttered, "Nothing is just going right..." Looking at the soldier still perusing her, she thought about saying that she was giving up and using him to find the right path. She then thought again about it, she had done enough to smear the good name of her people, shouldn't try to encourage the charade. Instead she tried to deduce which direction she had come from. The path next to her was definitely out, looking around at the two remaining roads, she tried to determine if it led away from the docks. That and if it was uphill, Isianu remembered that they were uphill from the down. Getting a little closer to each road, she still tries to smell if something is burning down that path. Not being one to dwell on things, especially in such a dire situation, she chose the one that seemed the most likely. Before taking off down the path, she looked at the remaining boy, smiled, and nodded.

Both remaining choices were level paths, each at a slight angle from the discounted path, one left, one right. The old man gave up his chase and sat down heavily, allowing Isianu a moment to get the horse back under control. As she looked down at the young man, he ran inside. The sound of footsteps behind her alerted her to the approach of someone from the docks. She chose a path and led the horse down it, managing to assert some further control over the spooked animal. Glancing back, she recognized the bandit's leader coming from the seaside and she could tell he had seen her as well.

"Skale..." she hissed at the bandit leader while racing down a path. That bastard must have circled around the town to help spread the panic about the Lupine attack. Isianu's plan was basically ride through the various bandits, freeing Burke, capturing Skale, and pumping him full of information. It seemed that her priorities have changed. Doing her best to turn her mount around, Isianu rode back to the plaza and tried to come to a complete stop in its center. "Skale!" she announced in a proud voice, "Oh leader of this 'fearsome Lupine' raid, call this off. You don't know what you are doing, you're just a pawn in the Baron's greater machinations." She leveled her scythe at the rogue and tried to sound as cool as she could. "Even though it would be just for me to slay you for all you've done, I think it would be more appropriate if these fine people would just take up the courage to resist. The enemy is nothing but various unfit mongrels you've managed to pick up, I'm sure one of these boys could best them! They may not know what is going on right in front of their eyes, but I will do the best to help them... Now, I only want to know two things; where is Burke, and where has Niehl gone?"

"Oh please don't kill me!" begged Skale. "I just got here on the ferry, I don't want to die!" He backed away, looking around in mock fear. Murmurring behind her made Isianu realize that the people of the town had come to resist. Out of the corner or her eye she saw a ragtag band of frightened villagers approaching. Their leader was a man with a thin blade, dressed in a flowing robe. He stepped forward, his free hand palm outward.

"We have done nothing to offend you, Wolf Spirit. Take your dogmen and leave us." He stood defiant, the others standing well behind him. Before Isianu could respond, mounted bandits behind the crowd charged them, knocking some of the people over and scattering the rest. The robed man slashed one, who yowled and fell off of his horse.

"You need help, hence I'll stay here as long as these filthy mercinaries remain..." Turning around towards the bandits Isianu snarled at those moch-Lupines rampaging through town. "If you want to see your real enemy, look under the 'skin' of that creature you brought down. Now I'll show you the military prowess of a REAL Lupine!" She then moves her horse to slash at any nearby riders, eventually making her way to the downed raider and leader.

Skale retreated into the darkness, vanishing from Isianu's line of sight as she attempted to get some sort of hold on the situation. In his place, four more bandits crowded into the central circle, unnerving the townspeople.

The remaining mounted bandit milled ineffectively, advancing on a knot of villagers who fled and scattered.

Two bandits immediately charged for the robed man leading the villagers.

The man deftly dodged the clumsy attack of the first and sidestepped the second. He in turn sliced his blade across the first attacker's chest. The man reeled and stood for another second, then yelped and clutched the wound.

As Isianu was snarling her challenge, those townspeople who were able also came forward around their leader, preventing her from making any moves in that direction without trampling them under hoof. The only bandits near enough to strike were some of the ones that Skale had summoned. They were milling around outside the circle of villagers and she took a shot at one of them. She overcompensated for the swing and nearly threw herself from her mount.

The two standing outside the area of contention looked at Isianu. One shrugged, but the other reacted to her attack, grabbing at her to pull her from the horse.

The bandit that had previously been cut from his horse crawled in an attempt to get out from under the trampling feet of the people all around him.

Isianu sighed at the fact that she couldn't hit anything, it might have been due to the fact she wasn't schooled in mounted combat. She wanted to strike an imposing figure, like a general rallying his troops, but winning the battle was more important than looking impressive. Looking down at the bandit that had so recently attacked her, she growled, "Get away from me you mongrel filth!" Getting her legs on both sides of the horse, Isianu droped to the ground, ready to wade in, attack those thieves. Isianu hoped that she could at least unmask one of them and expose Skale's band for what they are.

From her vantage point, Isianu saw one of the bandits go for the robed man, missing once more.

She jumped down from her mount, intent on grabbing and unmasking one of her foes. Even in the dark of night these men could not pass for true lupines. She hoped that showing the people the humans behind the masks would end this game. The bandit slid out of her grasp, however, leaving her standing on even ground with the press of humanity threatening to trample over her.

No longer able to see exactly what was happening within the crowd, Isianu could only surmise that the bandits and the robed man were still fighting amidst the bumbling efforts of the townsfolk. She saw the flash of steel in the torchlight.

The two bandits near her growled and hissed at villagers who came too close. They continued to flank Isianu, watching her out of the corners of their eyes.

Isianu bared her teeth at the two bandits closest to her hissing out, "Leave those innocent people alone and come face me you frauds!" She tried to keep up with the men circling her, keeping her ears open for an attack from behind. When there is a clear path between her and the rogue, she was ready to charge in and start slashing with her scythe. Of course the safety of the villagers was paramount, she didn't want to allow one of these innocent people to get hurt. She just wanted to drive those bandits away and clear her kind's name.

The rage building inside her, Isianu slashed the nearest bandit with all her strength, cleaving into his armor.

A fiery object clattered to the stones beneath her, drawing her attention away from the man she had just viciously slashed. It was an arrow, wrapped in burning rags. Before she could fully comprehend what it was, however, dozens more were filling the sky and thudding into the buildings around her. Miraculously, none seemed to find marks in the people occupying the cobblestone circle.

Under the fiery assault, bandits and villagers alike began panicking. The area seemed to clear somewhat as those nearest to exit points made hasty departures, leaving the rest scrambling over each other to get out of the open. Isianu's guards, one clutching a bad wound, split up without a second look at each other.

She caught a brief glimpse of the robed man, who was still in battle with one of the bandits that had attacked him. The other lay motionless on the ground.

As her opponents were fleeing, the werewolf sorceress growls, "Filth! You couldn't even pass for the most cowardly Lupine child!" Inside though she sighed a brief sigh of relief, I'm glad I didn't have to face those two all by myself. I guess I have to learn to defend myself without my magic, just incase something like this ever happens again. Of course she still registered the arrows flying through the air and the houses on flame, already some of the smoke was starting to cloud her sense of smell. Turning to see the robed swordsman fighting off another bandit that didn't seem to run like his compatriots. Running forward as quickly as she could, Isianu came up behind the rogue in wolf's clothing and slashed at him. Once her intentions were made clear she yelled at the obvious leader of this community. "Lord of this town, if you want something to rule over after today, I suggest you get a bucket brigade organized. I'll hold off this ruffian." She then tries to circle around, giving the robed warrior a chance to escape.

Isianu dashed towards the bandit and robed man, passing by a few injured or dazed villagers. The bandit turned and looked at her as he too started to run away. She recognized him as the wild-eyed bandit from the wagon. She swung her scythe at him, just missing as he stumbled down the dark path. Another volley of arrows pelted the town and fires were quickly leaping up from the rooftops.

The robed man looked at Isianu, confused. He clutched his side, held up his bloodstained fingers. He blinked at her, staggering a step. "What... is...?" It was obvious he would not be able to stand much longer.