Turn 2 -- Kre's Date Turn 2 -- Kre's Date 7th day of Alturiak. Evening. Milbourne.
Finally, an hour or so after midnight, Laera finishes what Kre believes to be her second mug of ale. "Goodness me, I must not be as used to the strong ale of these parts as I thought. Would you mind walking with me to clear my head?" she asks of Kre.
Kre sits motionless, thinking to himself, 'How can I resist?'. He drains the last of his ale and stands up, offering his arm to Laera. "Well then, shall we go?" As they leave, Kre pauses at the door to steal one last glance around the room, checking for guards and to see if the man he dealt with is trying to say anything to him. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary and the other man having long left the inn, Kre walks Laera out into the chill air of Milbourne.
Walking under the full moon, Laera holds tight to the right arm of Kre as the pair slowly walks down the town streets. Laera smiles warmly as she pulls Kre closer to her, "The evening is a bit colder than I had thought."
"That it is," replies Kre as he feels the heat of Laera so close to him.
Talking softly as they walk the streets, Laera points out the different stars and constellations that light up the night sky this time of year. Kre is quite fascinated by the knowledge of the beautiful lady beside him, he having never taken the time to wonder about the meaning of the stars in the sky. As the couple reaches the outskirts of town, Kre stops and turns to look at Laera, the river Churnett slowly flowing nearby.
"How is your head now," he asks.
"Much better. Thank you very much."
As Kre is about to reply, four men step out of the shadows and quickly surround the couple. The men are dressed in dark clothes and have masks hiding their facial features. They all have daggers in hand as well as heavy clubs. The men form a circle around the pair, standing several feet beyond the couple as they turn back to back.
"Come quietly with us, Novablade and we'll let the whore go," states a man standing in front of Kre.
"Whore!" begins Laera as she starts to take a step toward the man before being held back by an arm from Kre. As he does so, he whispers to her, '...on three...'
"Look, if it's money you want, then take it all, but if you touch her, I'll rip your eyes out of your skull." As he finishes, he whispers to Laera again, 'one...two...three...'
With incredible quickness, just as the man is about to reply, Kre bends over taking two knives out of his boots and rolling toward the man, in one fluid motion launches the two daggers. The first strikes the man in his chest, splitting his rib cage while the second embeds deeply in his throat. His eyes go wide in shock as the blood flows freely from both wounds. As the thief goes down, Kre draws ColdHeart in his right hand and another dagger in his left. He spins around to ensure Laera is safe but the second thief to his left lunges at him. Kre avoids the clumsy blow of the man's club and sweeps at the man's legs with his foot. Catching both the man's legs, he knocks him to the ground roughly.
Moving at the same time as Kre, Laera had a dagger in hand before the young thief. The robber next to her, thinking her no threat decided to move to take Kre. The man never lived to realize his mistake as Laera's dagger quickly slid through his left ear, plunging into his brain. Holding the man up momentarily, Laera pivots on the ball of her right foot, bringing her left foot up in a wide arc to crash into the jaw of the shocked last thief. Blood flies from the man's lip as Laera's booted foot fractures his jaw. Crying out in pain, the man crumples to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, the lady lets the other man drop as she pulls her dagger free of his head and steps over to the other man; grabbing his hair to pull his head back, exposing his neck to her blade she opens a deep gash across his throat.
Kre has no time to admire the work of Laera as he jumps on the last thief as he struggles to rise. The thief catches Kre's arms and the two roll around on the dirty street for a moment before all movement from the man ceases. Kre looks down angrily as he sees ColdHeart buried in the chest of the man.
"Damn it!! I wanted one of them alive," he says as he slowly draws ColdHeart out of the man's chest.
Angrily, Kre moves over to pull forth the masks of each of the men to see their faces. He doesn't recognize any of the men, having never seen any of them before in his life. Searching their bodies, he finds no coin or anything that would betray their identity.
"Professionals," states Laera flatly. "Bad. But professionals nonetheless."
Kre looks around to see if anyone saw the encounter or others are nearby. Seeing no one, he turns to Laera.
"You ok?"
"Fine. A bit shaken up by that. But fine. Would you mind walking me back to my room?" she asks with a smile on her lips.