"Lead on, great leader” Just as Liaena had finished her last word, a distant swishing sound could be heard from the corridor behind Hester, just before a longer, gleaming metal object fast approached the owl from behind! Hester barely had time to get away as the flying Runeblade flew straight past her and into the ground where she had been, sliding across the floor but not without slicing some of her tail feathers clean off! In the split second that the cursed blade of the Runeblade passed close to the owl, it was almost as if the unholy magic contained within the red runes of the blade reached out as small wounds formed on the skin beneath her feathers on the side she was facing the blade! As it missed, the blade continued to slide across the floor with great strength, sparks flying before it lodged itself into a stone corner with a loud noise! A silence ensued after Hester had been almost sliced in half by the Runeblade, an eerie silence falling over the corridor, before the sound of two steel boots clamping down against the floor in a casual walk could be heard from the corridor on the left. Emerging out from the shrouding darkness was the figure of an armored chevalier, quietly walking towards them before pausing. His white cloak and armor was as neat and polished as that of any of his colleagues, but his breastplate carried a heavy dent and partial penetration from what had seemed to be an axe! The damage, however, did not seem to bother the chevalier in the slightest. Nor did the darkness seem to impact him. His mask slowly moved towards Liaena who was standing in the corridor, and as his dark, empty visors focused on her, it could almost feel as if she was looking down into a bottomless abyss. Extending his metal glove outwards towards the corner, the Runeblade suddenly began to twitch; before shooting out of the bricks to fly back into his hand! A churning noise emanated from his hand as he clenched his fist around the handle of the Runeblade, the blood red runes along the blade glowing brightly; almost as if they could sense the presence of Liaena, Bella and Hester. The magical tendrils that danced around the blade seemed to drift in the direction of Liaena and the rest, as if they had some kind of hunger. Suddenly, the peculiar chevalier stepped forward with one steel boot, and with the blade extended to his right side, he dashed towards them with a surprising quick and furious charge! ------------------------------------------------ "By the goddess, be of some use and get those reinforcements off our asses!" "Quiet yer yap and keep shooting! I'm working on it!" Smokey shouted angrily back at Rithrynn, unpacking a bundle of dynamite, plastic explosives and a bronze watch knitted together by an elaborate, if unstable, set of wires. "Gimme that!" Smokey exclaimed as he all of a sudden reached for Alissah's hook-shot, snatching it from her before the woman could object! "That's not yours!" Attaching the explosive package to the bundle, Smokey aimed it at the bottom of the stairs at the top of the long shaft before firing the hook shot and letting it go. As the hook attached itself to the bottom of the staircase, the rest of the device and rope soon followed; until both the device and package were now stuck to the bottom of the staircase! "Saynora, you fools!" Smokey laughed out as he tipped his cigar. ... ... But nothing happened. Alissah, who had originally been looking up at the top of the stairs where her hook-shot alongside Smokey's own explosives now lay plastered below the stairs, would turn to throw the dwarf next to her an ice cold gaze. "You forgot to set the timer, didn't you?" She asked with a tone so cold that it could have frozen the molten core of Blackrock mountain! "Nuh! Nah! It was suppos'd tha blow!" Smokey replied, waving his arms in disappointment. "Bloody,-" "With me, men!" [b]*BOOOOOOM!*[/b] However, Smokey soon got his wish as just when a White Hand officer had stepped out onto the stairs with sword in hand, his bomb exploded! The stone stairs below the officer's feet were blown apart and disintegrated, while the man was thrown with a scream across the shaft; to land with his back on the stairs on the opposite end, roll downwards for some ten steps, slip off the edge, and fall twenty feet down to the bottom of the the shaft where Smokey and Alissah stood; a heavy 'thunk' being created as he hit the stone floor in his armor and helmet. "See, I told ye it would work!" Smokey laughed triumphantly while holding his cigar in one hand, looking up at Alissah. Alissah was quietly looking down at the man who had fallen right in front of them, a painful moan emanating from his helmet as the man could barely move, the air literally having been knocked right out of him! "I guess they won't be using that way anymore... unless they intend to do as him." Alissah idly commented as she motioned down towards the officer lying at their feet. " ... in which case they wouldn't present much of a problem anyway."