Slaves of Ambition

[morrisb]

Eastern Europe.
Transylvanian Kingdom.
Somewhere south of the city of Kassa, 1550-something.

The dragon-girl called Ruby woke up with a hurting head.
In a cage.
In human form.
And realized she was unable to change either her form or situation.

Just great.

It was a dark night outside, a bleak storm raging across the sky, dark clouds hiding the Moon and stars, pouring down enormous amounts of rainwater.

One couldn't help but wonder how she ended up there. She was supposedly guarding the treasures of a castle, fell alseep at one point, and woke up here.

It looked like a storehouse. For slaves. Dozens of large metallic cages; hers was but one of them. In the neighboring cages, other creatures were imprisoned; she did not recognize most of them. Some were rather small, others like giants. Females and males alike.

There were also a couple of guards and workers around; most of their clothing were ragged, not in much better shape than those of their captives. They were all humans, and did not appear friendly.

By a table in a corner, two men were debating. One was garbed in hooded robes; no detail of his face was visible. The other looked like a rich man, or at least modest: his clothes were clearly newly sewn from black-painted silk. He wore elegant leather boots, and had a sword by his side. Ruby couldn't see his face either, because he sat with his back towards her.

They conversed in German, but for the sake of simplicity we'll put the whole thing up in english:

"Look, the quality of these new 'wares' is beyond doubt, but did you take all the precautions ? I don't wanna' see no trolls and dragon's messin' up my place, like last time !" - the black-clothed man said. He must had been in his late 30's.

"Back then you must have hired an amateur." - the robed figure answered in a deep male voice. - "I can assure you, the curse I put on the dragon will last as long as it has to; a little over a month in total. It can be lifted of course, but very few know the method I used, and even less know how to remove it before it expires by itself. However, she can still be a nuisance, so make sure your men cover her cage with liquified dragonbane at least once a day !"

"Well, I had them do that already, but good you mention it." - the black-clothed guy nodded. - "Proves you know yer stuff well."

Ruby noticed the bars of her cage were covered by some slimy green stuff. Its mere sight and stench irritated her.

"It was my pleasure to be of service." - the robed man bowed his head slightly. - "But now, we should discuss the financial details..."

...and so they did. They talked of prices, places of delivery, that sort of thing. It concerned her little for the time being.

One more thing that caught her attention was a giant map on a neighboring wall; one of the guards studied it with care, muttering to himself something in an unknown tongue.

The map looked roughly like this:

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Hungary_1550.png

Suddenly she heard some knocking on one of the bars. A hand from a cage next to her reached out and knocked on the metal, trying to get her attention.

"Hey... you speak my tongue ?" - it asked in french.

The creature was male, young albino. Its skin almost as white as a field of snow, along with any hair he had. In contrast, his eye was red. But the most disturbing detail about him was the fact that he had three arms (two right). He couldn't have been older than 16, and seemed desperate and terrified.

Eh...

Such a crappy situation... how to get out...?

[kitsune]

Ughhh... what had happened? A groan came from the came holding her in. A girl with bright red hair an deep, red eyes awoke, fire burning within her. She held her head, and man, did it hurt. She groaned inwardly, blinking a few times before sitting up grumpily. She listened to the garbel of speech the others were saying, not understanding a word and sighing. "Idiots! I know the arts of the native Americans, black magic that could make you cursed for generations. You dare trap me?!" she growled, knowing easily that dragon form would break this cage like a tin can.

She closed her eyes and shifted-----!! Wait, what? It wasn't working? She growled, narrowing her eyes. What the hell did they do to her? She shook her head, fuming, trying again and failing. Great; human form, and in a cage. Why didn't they just kill her now, then? She glared around, red eyes falling upon the albino, eyebrows raised in surprise. Not much freaked her out, and he didn't. She was used to seeing rare creatures and whatnot. She was one herself.

Hearing French, she found she could indeed understand him. "Yeah I do. What is this place? I want to get out; I have errands to run!" she snapped in french, not really at him, but directed toward whoever brought her here. She grumbled and turned, annoyed at the green stuff there too. "Grr, and what is this stuff?! It is irritating me!" she said, wrinkling her nose.

Errands; an understatement really. Treasure hunting, dragon killing; the drill. So what if she was a dragon, she would gain high status by killing off those higher, which is what she planned to do. Grumbling she started to murmer stuff about ripping them to bits.

[morrisb]

Seeing her raging, the men at the table turned towards her for a moment, but realized they have nothing to worry about. The black-clothed man laughed a bit at her attempts. As he turned towards her, Ruby saw a cut across his left cheek. Not by a sword, more like from a claw or something... in any case, he returned to his business with the hooded figure.

One of the guards bashed at her bars with a mace. - "Shut up in there, will ya ?!" - he shouted at her, but Ruby did not understand his dialect.

The albino crawled a bit away afterwards, but as the guard walked off, he creeped closer to Ruby again.

"Hush, calm down please..." - he whispered to her. - "I'm glad I found a fellow french-speaker... listen lady, from what I heard, that slimy thing on your cage is made from the rare drahonbane plant; it's like venoumous acid to your kin !" - the albino warned her.

He back away as one of the guards passed by again; soon afterwards he continued:

"I speak bits of german... from what I patched together, these men are slavers. They rounded us up, and are probably planning on selling us, but to whom, I don't know... but if that map on the wall if correct, we're in one heck of a situation all the countries in this part of the continent are complete war zones !" - he whimpered. - "And I'm just a changeling..."

Changeling ? Ruby heard of them. Essentially, demonic offsprings of witches and dark mages. Weak by demon standards, but often stronger and more capable than average humans.

The albino tried to recollect his calmness. - "I'm Ambrose, by the way... who might you be, fair dragon-lady ?" - he asked.

[kitsune]

Ruby snorted. So she was trapped, and to be sold. But who in their right mind would want a useless human, as she was in her human form, or a feirce dragon that would be untame forever and probably kill them? These people were out of their minds. She crossed her arms and glared at the guard, eyes blazing up some more. "I don't care; I want out, and I want it nooow!" she growled. She was acting like a younder 12 year old at this point, because that was how old she was in dragon terms.

"Me? Ruby is my name. and thnks for the warning. I swear, these lesser being should be wiped out... grrr, when I rule, dragon kin will be dominant for sure. We will rule over all, and not kill or anything, but also not be ordered around like now!" she ranted, in french still. She narrowed her eyes angrily and sighed.

This was so stressful, and she wanted out right away. She was indeed being immature about it, but the dragon girl did not care. Facepalming, she sighed and wondered what to do next. Obviously, these men would have to be gotten rid of, and this poison gotten disposed of. She needed to figure it out, and soon, before she passd out from that horrid smell it was emitting...

[morrisb]

Being angry, Ruby probably did not consider the effect of her words on her conversation partner. Ambrose seemed terrified a bit. He knew he was dealing with a dragon, a presumably young one, but first impression means a lot - and at first he saw only a dragon girl in human form, as desperate as himself. Now he had second thoughts. Wiping out humans ? Draconic dominance ? He never would have wished for either of these... but at the same time he couldn't help but notice how Ruby contradicted herself. Dragons, 'not killing' when in fact they are predators ?

In any case, she was the only one in the vicinity to speak with, so he went on:

"Psst, relax ! We all wanna' out of here. But if we act rash the guards will whack on our heads hard. And that hooded guy there, he's a sorcerer ! That much I can tell, I feel it." - he explained.

He glanced around nervously, trying to think of something; but no idea came to his mind...

A guard rushed in, yelling in an unknown tongue:

"Inspection ! Inspection ! Catholic fanatics !"

The two not-quite gentlemen in the corner stood up, shocked and suprised. The black-clothed man ordered some guards out, then turned to his business partner:

"Blast ! This jeopardises the whole business ! What now ?!" - he said in german.

"Let's take a look first." - the other suggested. - "If they are few, we may be able to take on them, or at least hold them up and hastily evacuate our most prized wares." - he concluded.

"Then that's what we'll be doin' ! Ye rabble, out there, take defensive position ! But yo over 'ere, stand ground ! Make sure the wares ain't tryin' anythin' funny while we're gone !"

And so they acted accordingly. The odd duo marched out, along with some guards, though there were still plenty about.

Ambrose leant closer:

"This may be our chance ! Are you a fire-breed ? Fire does not burn dragonbane, but my cage is next to yours, if you can conjure up just enough flame to melt it I may could get you out and then let's get the hell outta' here !"

Sounded like a plan ! However, Ruby felt somewhat uneasy. Some powerful and malign auras... was it the other prisoners ? Or just the dragonbane confusing her...?

[kitsune]

Annoyed at the fear Ambrose was displaying, Ruby rolled her eyes. She sighed and glared, waiting for what he had to say. hering his warning, she scoffed, eyes glowing now angrily. "Be quiet?! How the hell can I accomplish that when I am trapped, and angry. In this form, I am useless!" she growled loudly in french, adding in a few curses. She glared at tge guards, wanting to rip out their throats and laugh as the blood trickled own their bodies and see the look on their faces when they fell to the ground, dea. Yes, she really was violent; not to those who didn't deserve it, but here, it was personal. She was caged and weak becaue of them... she would definitly grab revenge when she had a chance. Crossing her arms, she felt dizzy as the dragonesbane clouded her thoughts.

Ruby saw the guard panic and said under her breath, "Oh-ho you better run... run, before I catch you... and make you wish you were never born..." She said it in English, this time because it was her most comfortable langyage. Switching back to french, she turned to Ambrose, and glared. "Now what?!" she snapped, not caring if she scared him. IT seemed that he knew the situation now better than she did. The dragon girl bared her teeth in resentment, feeling hatred and anger well up inside of her. Her dragonic feelings seemed to be conrtoling her, making her ever so much more violent than usual... and that was certainlly saying something! She fumed, trying not to succumb to her emotions and start crashing against the cage.

Hearing his question, she looked at Ambrose like he had grown a fourth arm. She shoook her head, bewildered. "Seriously? Fire breed...? No duh I am. Only one problem; I can't do a thing in this form. Too bad for us, it seems. Use your worthless head and think of another way out; I sure as ever am stuck... and I can't think strait!" she said, voice rising. She wanted to rip the dragonsbane off of her cage, and be able to actually think without having her thoughts so clouded. She was seeing red from rage, and white and fuzzy from the plant. She was getting more stressed by the minute, and a stressed dragon, human or in dragon form, was not a good idea at all. She blinked, feeling the bad energy and growling. "What are in the other cages?" she asked impatiently.

[morrisb]

Chaos was growing; outside, sounds of battle were filling the air. Swords clashing, muskets banging, arrows and bolts hissing. Loud battlecries. Some noises of thunder here and there.

The other caged demons tried to bust out; the guards left behind tried to contain them, poking with halberds and spears dripping with some venomous liquid.

In one corner, a one-armed, thick skinned humanoid tried to bend the bars. One and half times bigger than ordinary men, and about three times heavier in weight and build. Ogre.

Atop a set of boxes, there was a particularly small wooden cage. The tiny being inside struggled to push it off, with limited success. A pair of insectoid wings, clothes made of leaves, thinner figure than a twig. Fairy.

Meanwhile, a few feet from Ambrose's cage, an oversized lupine beast was gnawing on the bars keeping it away from freedom, while smoke and fiery sparks were vomitted from its mouth. Looked like a wolf, but the unnatural size and reddish fur (along with its disgustingly unhealthy breath) gave away its true nature. Some demon-hound perhaps ?

And somewhere behind Ruby's cage, a pack of black, skin-and-bone little monsters tried clawing their way out of their commonly shared prison. 6-7 grotesquely thin, yet big-clawed tiny fiends all in a single package. They could barely stand taller than a grown man's kneecaps, but this only made them all the weirder. A variety of imps ? Or goblins ?

Then there was a feminine creature: covered in rags, she appeared charming, however for a mortal man the brownish skin, cow-like tail and horns and dog-like fangs would had been a bit disturbing. Instead of angry, she seemed desperate, in a similar manner to Ambrose, but did her best trying to bend the bars. She was rather strong for her stature. Huldra...

Ambrose glanced around. He was not strong enough to free himself, and he could not really hope for help from others. His last hope was diminishing now that Ruby pointed out her lack of magic in human form.

"It's no use then..." - he muttered. - "Unless something suddenly crashes our cages, we'll never ever-"

CRASH !

A cannonball made its entrance through the wooden wall and smashed against Ambrose's cage, blasting off half of it. Ruby felt some splinters tearing into her flesh, but also noted her cage was damaged...

Ambrose was lucky, all things considered, to have survived; one of his right arms was partially torn off by the explosion, but otherwise he was alive. He tried to recollect himself...

"Oh for God's sake !" - a guard was swearing in a slavic dialect as he pulled a splinter out of his left leg. - "Who the f* uses CANNONS in the middle of a town !?"

BANG !

...and he fell with face down to the floor, killed by a bullet.

And in stepped a figure. The rest of the guards turned there, petrified by fear:

A pair of tough leather boots, covered in blood.

NO !

Similarly 'painted' trousers, followed by a breastplate...

No...

And a grim, grimacing face with a decorative helmet on top, with a red and a white feather, and a gilded cross.

nooooooooo....

"Nobody expects the Roman Inquisition !" - Gavron Alexander stated joyfully in latin. - "By my authority as inquisitor, I'm assuming control here ! These caged beasts are mine to handle."

"Only through our dead bodies !" - a guard answered.

"I find that term acceptable." - Gavron nodded and threw his empty pistol at a guard who passed out from the impact. He then drew his rapier and proceeded to cut the guards up personally.

Amrose stood up, and forced himself to stay conscious; he crawled out of his now open cage, picked up a mace from somwhere. - "Stand back !" - he told Ruby as he bashed the bars on her cage, eventually breaking down a couple of them...

[kitsune]

Ruby growled, growing annoyed. The clamor outside was not helping her think at all. IT kept growing, louder and louder, making her even more and more annoyed. The dragon girl clamped her hands onto her ears, trying to block out the sound. At first, everything was muffled. She could barely hear a thing, and she smiled slightly. Now, at least she could try to get in a thought or two. But the noise was becoming so loud now, she head it more clear, until finally she could not block it out with her hands. She took her hands off and with a frustrated growl, slammed them onto the cage ground, ignoring the slight stinging it caused. Finally, she could take it no longer. With an enraged inhuman dragon roar, she yelled in English, "SHUT THE HELL UP!!!"[/color]

She then heard the crash, and felt stinging of her flesh. Glancing down, she noticed a few pieces of sharp objects sunk into her flesh, warm blood forming around the wounds, trickling down her arms. She narrowed her eyes and cursed whoever had done that. She looked p to see the guard yelling about whatever it was that was angering him, and she cursed at him in English as well; her annoyance and slight pain was HIS fault, he had been part of the force that had brought her here! She didn't cringe as a gunshot rang out, and frowned slightly as another human came fourth. She looked him up and down, and her frown deepened; no, nor fear, but annoyance. Great; another hotshot human with weapons. She rolled her eyes slightly, resisting the urge to slowly and sarcastically clap.

She looked behind her to see Ambrose starting to smash apart her cage. Slowly, some of the bards broke. The dragon girl grinned slightly , and seemed to appear behind him then. No, she had not teleported; she used her inhuman speed at that point. She had such talents in human form, even if she had no use of magic. Taping him on the shoulder, she glanced at the hole in the wall, plan beginning to form. She knew the obvious was to escape, and she wanted to do just that. She simply did not care about the other creatures here, they could deal with themselves. Ambrose had helped her, and she would return the favor. Crossing her arms, she said, "Let;s hit the road through that hole in the wall, before Mr. Violentman or the idiot guards catch up."

[morrisb]

(OOC: that red text indeed stands out a lot )

Gavron just finished slicing up another guard when he yelled at the odd couple of Ruby and Ambrose. - "Stay put, idiots !" - he shouted in french - "You ain't going nowhere unless-"

CRASH !

The ages old wooden roof shattered above Gavron; he was just lucky enough to avoid the falling object which crashed through the beams of wood - in fact, a person.

The man was of tall stature, clad in chainmail, save for his legs, upon which he wore a couple of solid iron greaves, dozens of spikes dotting the foot parts. He had red hair, and firmly gripped a cruel morningstar even as he laid on the floor. Nevertheless, he wasted no time and jumped to his feet, facing the inquisitor; for a moment there was silence, and then...

"Not YOU again !" - the man shouted in a deep, almost roar-like tone, annoyed.

"Must I be interrupted at every turn !?" - Gavron replied as he rushed the red-haired man with a flurry of blows and stabs. The tall man tried to counter and then use his sheer size to sweep Gavron over, but he moved out of way.

"This is complete madness..." - Ambrose whispered, comforting his damaged arm. - "Alright Ruby, let's get out of here before another lunatic-"

BOOM !

A sidewall of the warehouse got a huge hole opened in it; it was no simple explosion, but definetly a force of magic. A cloaked figure, blurred by the smoke of the fire, entered through the hole, yelling in english:

"This way ! Hurry !"

Ambrose blinked, then buried his face into the palm of his healthy right arm, then muttered some curses as she tried to drag Ruby along with his left hand...

[kitsune]

Ruby narrowed her eyes and in a short growl, snapped back at Gavron's words. "Puh! You can't tell me what to do! We are leaving, whether you want us to or not!" With that, she turned away, fuming. Her fingers curled into what would be claws, if she was in dragon form. With a loud, almost inhuman growl, she wanled forward, grabbing Ambrose by the arm and tugging him along with her.

Then, the crash sounded, making he dragon girl jump. She gasped as the huge man fell through, landing in front of the man who had the gun. She shook her head and grinned. "That ought to keep him busy..." she murmered. She tilted her head, leaping back as an explosion came to. She listened to words in English and scowled. Great; others coming. Well, it was a chance for a getaway...

She let herself be carried along by Ambrose, mumbling, "You had better know where you are going...[/b]"

[morrisb]

(OOC: I think Roxy re-arranged the site a bit, cuz I have difficulty finding the PM section )

"You think I do ?" - Ambrose murmured. - "At least that guy had a demonic aura, possibly we're better off with him than religious fanatics..." - he tried to reason, not just with Ruby but trying to persuade himself to keep moving.

They got out of the increasingly smoky warehouse, soon to be followed after by some of the other creatures. Ruby found herself in the outskirts of a town; here, at the edge of town the wooden buildings appeared miserable, poorly looked after, but towards the inner districts, stone buildings and well-paved roads could be spotted. Somewhere in the distance, she could see bell-towers of various churches, distinct in style from the elegant french architectures she knew: robust, thick, simplistic, almost militant. On a hilltop, a castle: high stone walls and bastions, throats of cannons looking downwards.

These were her first impression.

The second was a bypassing cannonball from behind. Luckily it missed her.

Outside, battle raged, and now the participants were obvious: the 'catholic fanatics', all bearing crosses and dressed in costly armors, alongside the town militia, first assailed the poorly trained, but well-equipped criminals who gathered up in the warehouse. By now most of them lied dead, but new challengers appeared, demonic in nature...

A gang of deformed, dwarf-sized beings engaged the holy troops; bodies of mud, covered in grass, their fingers thick branches, like some sort of golems. They were suprisingly sturdy. Swords and speartips shattered on them, maces and warhammers on the other hand seemed to work better. A holy soldier threw a bottle at one; the spilled liquid collapsed the creature into a pile of mud.

"Holy water effects them ! Bring more !" - the order was given in german.

Then there were more odd beings never seen by Ruby: several horse-like creatures, taller than any horse she ever saw, with the head of dogs, baring their teeth formed of solid iron. And they had but a single eye on their forehead. Their hooved were spiky, their mane black however bloodied. They crushed, trampled and torn apart all in their path. One was shot in the eye by a musket; it raged, kicking back and forth, cracking the dry earth. Spears impaled it from multiple sides.

"Fear not these Psoglavs ! Corner them !" - yet another order in german.

Ruby could also get a better view of their 'savior' - or rather, could have gotten, if he wasn't all covered by a green, hooded cloak. A black piece of clothing covered the mouth. On his back was a two-handed sword.

"This is getting out of hand..." - he grunted. His charming voice did not fit in with the grimness of the situation. - "Can you fight ?" - he asked the freed creatures, including Ruby. - "If so, make war now with all your might ! We must break out and escape towards that forest, across those fields of ungrateful soil !" - he pointed to the direction. Indeed, the forest in the far distance seemed dense enough to hide in...

Suddenly the red-haired warrior made another hole in the wall, as Gavron crushed him through it. The inquisitor fell through the hole along with his incapacitated opponent. He recovered and pointed towards the cloaked fighter with his rapier, who in return drew his great two-handed blade.

"Florian !" - Gavron yelled. - "You know you can't win here ! How about you actually get down to diplomacy for a change ?!" - Gavron challenged him in french.

The man (?) Gavron called 'Florian' stood firm, but his anxious glances betrayed his mood. He glared towards Ruby and Ambrose, uncertain of what he should do...

[kitsune]

Ruby snorted, rolling her eyes. She crossed her arms and folowed Ambrose. a slight growl rising within her. She stomped on and snapped, "Whatever, just go..." She humphed and followed behind, not caring at all for the demonid auras and such, only wanting to get away and get her dragonic form back. Ugh, no matter how hard she tried, she could not shift back. How inconvinient; she would so murder whoever was a part of this, and gritted her teeth in emphasis. Whirling and seething with anger, she waited to see what would happen next, as the intensity deepened in the air. Danger seemed to be all around, and it was magnified by the canonball almost hitting her. She rolled her eyes at the town, but then jumped back as the creatures came fourth.

They seemed to want to get at her and the group and rip at them, tear them to bits. For the firt time since she was hear, fear sparkled in her eyes. She backed away, heart beating fast, gripping Ambrose's arm tightly and shivering. She glared as they charged forward, and almost cried out in thanks when the other troops arrived, looking feirce but small in number. She watched the battle go on, and the bloody scene did not waver her. The warm liquid seemed to spill everywhere and flow in a river, making things gruesome and disgusting. She frowned, turning and trying to pull Ambrose along to leave. "Let's get outta here while we have a chance, dude." she murmered in french, only loud enough for him to hear.

She then looked to see the cloaked figure. Sh scowled, not wanting to be held up, but listening to what he had to say. She sighed and shrugged. "Are you blind? I am human, weak, a young girl, no weapon. No duh I can't fight. But I can run; where to go now, officer?" she said with a tad bit of sarcasm. She crossed her arms again, frowning deeper when the blasted hole in the wall came through. She facepalmed, seeing Gavron coming again.

Hearing what he said, she remained silent for a minute. Then, she snapped, "Listen, dude, if you have unfinished business and need to try and kill us, try to wait until we get away from the main problem, or we will all die. No duh, lets work together for the time being and run!"

[morrisb]

"Sharp tongue, crappy grammar, good point." - Gavron replied to Ruby, pointing out her contorversial-sounding proposition before turning to Florian. - "Heed the girly for once. You don't want innocents to get hurt, do you ?"

"No. And that's why I'll fight for their sake !" - Florian answered, swinging his sword overhead, the hood falling off from his head, revealing long blond hair, pointy ears, beak-like nose, and a glittering green eye; the other was covered by a brown leather eye-patch.

CLASH !

The heavy blade rose and fell against Gavron's significantly shorter sword, but he countered his opponent's swings professionally.

Meanwhile, the formerly caged demons, without anyone to lead them, went on to join the fray or try to rampage their way out of harm's way.

"Don't let them get away !" - Gavron yelled. - "If they heed no word, then let them die by the sword !"

"Fight on, my brethren-in-taint !" - Florian countered both Gavron's slash and his verbal instructions. - "Fight for your freedom with all your might !"

"Well, that's an order I can agree with." - Ambrose muttered, and jumped into a daring action:

The human troops were encircling yet another dogheaded... horse... thing... whatever, and preparing to impale it. Ambrose dashed next to some spearmen, and waved his hands, as if trying to slap them from a distance. It worked. An unseen force pushed the soldiers off their feet, and the creature called psoglav tried to break out. It was then that Ambrose jumped up to its back. The thing tried to hurl his fragile form off, but he kept clinging into it, uttering some barking sounds.

Oddly enough, that made the creature calm down a bit.

Ambrose 'rode' the psoglav near Ruby:

"Get up here and let's be off !" - he held out his left hand, impatiently...

[kitsune]

Ruby rolled her eyes. While the description was perfectly accurate, she said nothing on his account. She crossed her arms and waited, eyes glimmering with impatience. She still was very confused as to what was going on, and wanted to leave. She growled and narrowed her eyes, watching the scene get even more gory and such.

She was unimpressed by the appearence of the cloaked figure; her opinions are that dragons are supreme, and she was unimpressed by any other creatures. Her eyes were dull and she sighed, waiting silently to be able to get a move on. Talk talk talk, it was all they seemed to be doing right now. Finally, the clang made her snap, "Innocent or not, we need to go. Fighting will get us hurt; GET A MOVE ON!" Her voice was not raised in a shout, as it was hard to hear through all of the fighting.

Ruby watched Ambrose's power, eyebrows raised. She sighed, slightly jelous that he was able to do something now. At least her speed an strength were in check. She looked at the guy who had said to fight on and nodded, tripping a few enemies trying to attack and running off and around with her speed. She growled, wishing she had her real power now.

She saw Ambrose approach and heard him, and the impatience within his voice. "Don't you dare try to order me around! I will come with you Of. My. Own. Choice. Not account of you! BUt fine, let's go I'm not the dilly-dallier here!" She took his hand, hoisting herself up.

[morrisb]

"Cut me some slack, missy... I'm tryin' to be chivalrious here." - Ambrose muttered a bit angrily at Ruby's lack of gratitude. Nevertheless, he helped her up...

BANG !

A shot from behind, a bullet straight to his right shoulder !

Ambrose forced the psoglav to turn 'round and dash off, trampling an armor-clad swordsman in the process into gory pulp.

And they ran, off from town, away from this whole miserable shitstorm of metal and flesh...

Ambrose was losing grip, falling unconscious... Ruby sat just behind him...

And then a bullet hissed by.

"You won't escape retribution so easily, demon-scum !"

A couple of light riders with pistols and sabers were gallopping after them...

Just. F*ing. Great.