Luckily, surprise was on Nickolai's side. Clearly, a mixture of Zenia's reassurance and the unusual circumstances had made an attack seem fairly unlikely. The bear headed man's head snapped back as the bullet punctured his skull, and he collapsed in a heap onto the ground. This made it easy for Zenia to see that this was no fake mask.

"A shaman!?!" one of the men shouts, although it sounded like he was shouting it to someone that wasn't in the room. Quickly, the other men surge forward. One of them charges towards James, who makes a hasty retreat to the corner of the room, where he is pinned against the wall by a swordsman. Four of the other men quickly rush towards Nickolai with their swords raised in the air, giving him only enough time to perhaps fire one more shot before they are close enough to swing at him.

But the green skinned creature doesn't move, and seems to be more confused and he remains glued to the floor. Suddenly, a look of shock crosses his face. "Leh...Отец...leh?" he says in a strange Russian-like slur, his eyes widening. "Leh...Вы не один из двадцати шести братьев... Leh. Leh... Конечно, вы отец Leh.Leh Но ... они мертвы ... leh."

"What are you doing orc! Seize the shaman's tool! For the glory of the Claws of-" his sentence is cut off, as is his head. The orc had easily decapitated the man mid sentence, leaving the others temporarily dumbstruck.

"Leh! Для славы отцов старших! Leh! Для двенадцатом сына! Leh! Для славы оживших огров! Leh! Это не человек, дураки! Это бог!"

*****

Diego reaches into a scabbard and pulls out a chipped sword that he throws to Habb. "This will have to do for now, at least until we get to the Guardians," he says, as he pulls out a blade of his own. However, as the two begin to make their way towards the castle, the forest erupts with a chorus of howling. Suddenly, two dozen wolves large wolves fly out of the woods- literally. The wolves flap low to the ground with large white wings. For a moment, Diego freezes in horror, but then quickly recovers as they fly overhead. "Ah, um... they're just a scavengers. I think. To eat the fallen guards..." he looks at the wolves for a moment, but then his eyes light up. "Habb, see if we can't grab a few of those and ride up to the window. I doubt Nickolai will fit into that chimney."