TACTICAL NUKE INCOMING!! (Just kidding, it's just [@MiddleEarthRoze] and I, being a couple of idiots.) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ With the rest of the party gone, Sagax was left alone on the docks, staring absent-mindedly at the water lapping on the side of the pier. It was actually quiet, the first semblence of silence since before the first Kamal assault. Eventually jogging his mind back into action, the man decided to make his way back into the city proper, maybe see Sevine or Roze again, whatever he could occupy himself with. Besides, he needed to get out of the way of other mercenaries and guards, as they were busy setting up defenses. Shortly after he went through the gates into the Grey Quarter, he heard the tell-tale signs of another attack coming. Guards yelling and citizens screaming. More Kamal had landed on the docks! Good thing he got out of there when he did, Sagax thought to himself. There were more barricades and traps set throughout the city. If the snow demons breached the gates, they would have no easier time fighting through the forces of Windhelm. Shoddy crate barriers wouldn't keep the Kamal back forever, though, but Sagax was simply not built for direct combat, especially with those giants, so he was at a loss as for what to do. He had to think quickly and get his proposal to Ashav, or gods forbid, Cat-Kicker. Closing his eyes and rubbing his temples feverishly on the corner of the path to the Grey Quarter, Sagax tried to think of anything he might be able to do to help drive back the invaders. As soon as the cry went up, Roze was running. Not away from the docks, as every survival instinct in her body was telling her to do so, but towards it - she had to help. They were barely prepared for the first attack, let alone a second one. She had lost Leif and Sevine upon leaving the shop with the former - she had instead found a quiet corner to get some rest in. But any remnants of rest was unimaginable right now, with adrenaline running through her body. Hell, Roze hadn't even seen the ships yet, but the mere thought of them returning was enough to make a man - or woman, in her case - go pale. Running through the Grey Quarter, she skidded to a halt as she saw Sagax, approaching him with a somewhat relieved smile upon her face. "Sagax! Any idea on what to do? Or where the others are, for that matter?" She asked, slightly out of breath. Arrows didn't work, and Sagax didn't know how to use a bow anyway. A conventional direct attack on the ships was completely out of the question, and even then...wait, what was that sound? Cocking his head up at the distinctive sound of quick feet tapping on the stone towards him, he saw a pale-faced Roze, quick breaths blowing cold mist into the air. "Ah, Roze! Good timing! I don't know where the others are, no, but I'd assume somewhere on the walls, as I haven't seen Sevine or Leif run past. As for what to do...that's what I'm trying to figure out. People like you and I can't just run up and smack these bastards in the head, now can we? Gotta be smart." Sagax racked his brain for something, anything, that they could use in the upcoming fight. Roze and him, they were quick, very quick, quicker than any one else in the company perhaps. Then he thought back to the Redoubt, how they used special charges to blow open the main gate...could they do something similiar here? Use magic charges to destroy the Kamal ship? It was worth a shot, and it was Roze and Sagax who would have the best chance at slipping past the Kamal. "Roze, do you know if we have any of those charges left? The kind we used at the Redoubt. I've got an idea, but...I'll understand if you say no...and possibly call me a fucking idiot." Catching her breath as Sagax spoke, Roze frowned slightly as she thought on his words. "Charges? I should think so, we didn't seem to use many, from what I saw." She answered, then eyes widening slightly as she realised what he meant to use them for. "You're thinking we should blow the ships up with them? Running across the ice that could break at any minute, to throw charges on ships that are heavily armoured, and crewed with ice demons that could easily pick us off from a distance? Sagax, you [i]are[/i] a fucking idiot." She answered incredulously, but then a wicked grin grew across her face. "But let's do it anyway, you mad bastard." Fairly similar to Leif's plan back in the shop, it was rife with danger. But still, what else could they do to help? She could pitch in a few arrows that likely wouldn't make a difference. But her sneak, her true forte, made her light and quick on her feet. A perfect person to go running across some ice to lob bombs at enemy ships. At Roze's response, Sagax could only return a borderline psychotic smile of his own. "Good, very good! That's exactly what I'm thinking! I'm glad you're on board with this. I'd hate to steal all the glory away for myself. Besides, even if we fail..." Sagax shrugged, "we'll be heralded as two of the biggest badasses in the company, and possibly the entirety of Windhelm! Well, even if they wouldn''t want to admit it." Readjusting his hood, Sagax nodded his head towards the docks. "Well, if we have charges, they're probably in the warehouse and that's also where we'll find Ashav and the Cat-Kicker." Making his way towards the gate, he looked back to Roze, holding his arm out in a 'ladies first' pose. "Shall we, partner? Don't want to keep those snowy bastards waiting." "Hmm... two of the biggest badasses? I think fools will be coined more often, depending on our outcome." She chuckled. "Let's just hope it won't become 'martyrs'." Pulling her hood up like Sagax, she inclined her head jokingly as he held out his arm. "Yes we shall - it's time they had a taste of their own medicine." It didn't take long for the two to reach the warehouse, even despite all of the others scurrying around like frantic ants, some clutching weapons, others looking more than feverish in anticipation of the coming battle. Upon finding Ashav, Roze allowed Sagax to pitch the plan - it was his idea, after all. And she had the feeling Ashav would take the story better from a man than a small woman like herself. Finding Ashav, Sagax showed his respect and saluted. Ashav, though, simply stared at him quizzically, as if saying "Well? What is it, runt?" Clearing his throat, Sagax spoke with as much confidence as he could muster. "Ashav, sir, I have an idea I think you'd want to hear." To this, Ashav simply nodded. "What I'm thinking is that...Roze and I, we could use a charge to disable the Kamal ship. We're small, and fast, so the invaders would have a very hard time hitting us. We could slip past them, and toss the charge onto the top deck." It was silent for a few moments before Sagax spoke again. "So, uh...what do you think, sir?" Frowning slightly and staring in a contemplative manner, the Redguard looked between Sagax and Roze. "I think you're absolutely insane and possibly idiots. But...." His voice trailed off. Ashav wouldn't turn down a chance to really deal a blow to this enemy, as suicidal as the plan was. He didn't exactly have the utmost confidence in the two, but he thought it better not to let that show. Besides, with the lives the Kamal had taken, it would be great just to see how much [i]they[/i] enjoy dying. "It could work, maybe. We still have a few charges, yes. Grab however many you think you will need; they're scattered about in these crates. We'll try to give you a bit of archer fire to draw some attention off of you, but you'd better be as fast as you make yourselves out to be." The heavily-scarred man nodded again and turned away to address another mercenary, discussing battle plans. Turning to Roze with a grin, Sagax spoke enthusiastically. "Well, we got the go-ahead from the boss himself. Let's get to work, yeah?" Although not blaming Ashav for his less than enthusiastic look, he seemed happy enough to let them try their plan. "Huh. I'm surprised he went for it, to be honest." She replied, but offered up an enthused smile to Sagax as the two made their way to the supplies. Strange, to be smiling in a situation as suicidal as this one. "Okay - I don't think we should take all of them. Just in case things don't go to plan, yeah?" She suggested as they reached the charges. "Maybe one each? And maybe stop for these resist cold potions - if we fall into the water, I doubt it's going to be a refreshing dip." Nodding in agreement, Sagax fished two charges out of a larger crate, fully primed and ready. In a crate across the room were two potions of resist cold along with some other irrelevant bits and bobs; a few petals of deathblossom, a dragon's tongue flower, things like that. He gave one of each to Roze. "Good idea about the potions...not even our Argonian friends can swim those tides for very long, I doubt we'd get very far without help. So, I'm thinking to get the most out of these charges, we should toss them onto the ship at the same time. Then perhaps we could dive into the water and swim to one of the other piers. What do you think?" Taking the charges and the potions, Roze looked at the former somewhat dubiously. Hopefully these things would work. To their advantage, at the very least. "Good idea - I'd preferably avoid the cold water, but it's better than being blasted to death by those bastard Kamal." She responded. Chaos continued within the warehouse, and outside of it. Already they could hear the sounds of battle underway as the first wave attacked the pier. "Alright - let's do this, before we come to our senses." She muttered grimly, gripping the charge firmly in her hand. "I'm guessing we're to aim at the second wave of ships, before the others are overrun?" She asked as the pair exited the building. "Yeah. Gonna have to slip right past their commander, or whatever the hell counts as a commander to the Kamal." Exiting the warehouse, Sagax surveyed the field. Kamal had already smashed through some of the barricades, with spears, shields, and sabers. The defense force had already come together, trying their hardest to form a wall across the pier. There was ice all over pier seven, with strange streaks of red strewn across it. He couldn't see Felix. Punching down his gut feeling, he rationalized that Felix was simply hiding somewhere, or perhaps he was obscured amongst the larger bodies of the rest of the mercenaries. Surely the man was not so suicidal as to charge in blindly...then again, that's what Sagax and Roze were doing, so he couldn't exactly judge. He returned his mind to the enclosing bombing run. "Speaking of slipping by...I'm thinking of using that ice patch to my advantage. We could glide right past that center mage and the commander, and run the last stretch. Then we toss the charges, and dive into the water towards pier six." He nodded approvingly to himself, grinning all the while. "A foolproof plan if I do say so myself! Roze followed the path Sagax had laid out with her eyes, considering it. The ice would give them more speed... if they didn't fall on their asses, that was. "Foolproof? Don't be jinxing it just yet, my friend. There's more than a few obstacles in our way just yet." She replied somewhat dubiously, then jumping back slightly as something exploded against Pier 7. Flames erupted from where they landed, forcing four of the Kamal away from the entrance to the pier. That left just one mage standing on the ice, between themselves and the ship they were set to bomb. "Now's our chance! Hopefully everyone up top will keep that Mage's attention away from us." She alerted Sagax, pointing out where the fire had removed the Kamal spearman and shield bearers aside. And so, with their path somewhat clear, the suicidal pair made their way to battle erupting on Pier 7. At first, it was easy for Roze to avoid conflict. The Kamal were too busy fighting their attackers to even notice the small pair slip by them - but as they reached the barricades and the fire, things got more tricky. Arrows were being volleyed overhead - although the archers up top were doing their job in aiding Sagax and herself, many of their arrows fell to early, one even nicking the side of Roze's neck as it whizzed by - burying itself in the wood much too far away from the Mage. "Here we go Sagax... don't panic." Roze muttered - although it could be said that this placating murmur was directed more at herself than her Imperial comrade. Uncorking her potion bottle, she downed the resist cold elixir in one go - ironically enough, it felt icy as it settled down in her stomach. And yet, already she felt warmer - the ice beneath her feet no longer seeping into her boots and stabbing her toes with shards of cold. Heart racing and fingers twitching, Sagax went with Roze to the center barricades. The sudden explosion worked very well in their favor, separating the Kamal, giving the pair a good opportunity to dive in. Archers rained arrows from above, a slight help at the least. He resisted the urge to turn around and scream unkind words at those on the walls when an arrow flew past his thigh, skidding across the ground in front of him. What the hell were they doing up there? Were they drunk or just stupid? He stopped his thoughts for a split second, and dwelled on his sudden anger. It made him so...uncomfortable, being angry. Such a concept was foreign to him, and these were his comrades! He shouldn't be angry with them, of all people, but he couldn't help it. As if he and Roze didn't have enough to deal with, they didn't need the incompetence of those who were supposed to be helping them screwing everything up! Physically shaking his head clear of such distractions, he eyed the center Kamal mage. Just had to get past him, and then they could toss the charges and get the hell out. But were it so easy. Suddenly, he heard a popping sound, like someone opening a bottle of wine. Looking over he saw Roze drinking a potion...of course! The potion of resist cold! Sagax hurriedly undid the stopper of his own bottle and drank it in one swig. He cringed slightly at the bitter chill of the brew as it went down his throat. "This crap better work..." he thought to himself after tossing the vial haphazardly. Breathing out slowly, Sagax looked Roze in the eye. "Well...now or never. Ready?" He kept his smile going, the confident facade masking his own gut-wrenching anxiety. Despite the warmth spreading from her stomach due to the potion, there still lay a chill of fear in Roze's heart. Noticing Sagax's somewhat over confident smile, Roze plastered one on her own pale face. Fear was not a useful emotion right now - not on this stupid-ass mission that she'd volunteered for... for some reason. "Ready as I'll ever be." She muttered, glancing at the charge in her hand. It had a ten second detonation delay, which would give them plenty of time for them to throw them on the ship, jump in the water, and swim like Hell. However, the Gods had clearly examined their well thought-out plan, laughed about it, and ripped it to shreds, judging by the way things truly went. Running forth, both Roze and Sagax didn't have too much of a hard time on the ice - it was no different than the skating she'd done as a child. Well... the Kamal and what was looking to be Death's favourite Tea Party was different, but the ice was somewhat the same. The arrows from behind them continued, some even finally reaching their mark of the Kamal mage... who, despite the arrows, had sadly noticed the pair skating towards him. Could Kamal feel surprise? Disbelief? If they did, that's what this mage was feeling right now - seeing two small humans heading towards him with naught but harmless swords and bows. "This is close enough Sagax, throw it!" Roze announced as they got closer to the ship - and the Kamal. Another arrow grazed her side, but her aim rang true as she activated the charge, and threw it straight towards the ship. It soared in the air, and landed with a satisfying thud on the deck of the ship. The Kamal mage now had his full attention on the pair, disregarding arrows completely. For a moment, all Sagax could hear was the wind and his boots hitting the ground. Nothing else mattered to him; he didn't [i]want[/i] anything else to matter to him, he needed to focus. Eyes on the ship, it grew closer and closer...as did that damned mage. Sagax let himself slide across the ice, letting gravity and momentum do most of the work, as he activated his charge. As they pair got to the mage, Sagax heard Roze yell to toss the charges, and he was about to before the Kamal mage decided Sagax needed to chill out. Weaving their hands through the air, the mage summoned a large chunk of ice and lobbed the whole thing at the duo. Sagax had no issue staying clear...or he did until he noticed that the larger chunk had several smaller pieces break off midflight. A sizeable block of ice, about the size of a Nord's fist, crashed into Sagax's left shoulder. The sheer force of the impact knocked Sagax onto his back, leaving him to the mercy of the ice patch as he struck the ground with considerable force and slid the rest of the way to the ship on his backside. Suddenly finding ground with friction, Sagax tumbled across the remainder of the pier. Foolishly trying to use the wounded arm to support himself and get back up, Sagax fell to the ground again. He forced himself to his feet using his other arm, and grunted loudly as his whirled the charge overhead towards the Kamal ship. Sagax watched his charge soar through the air, and for a moment, pure joy overtook Sagax as it looked like it was about to land perfectly. A bright flash erupted from the ship; Roze's charge. Then another bright flash...midflight towards the ship. Sagax had primed his charge after Roze set hers, but the blast radius of her charge set off his own. He tried to dive into the water to safety, but just as he did, he felt a sudden searing feeling on his arms and across his chest, as if he had been hit with a white-hot branding iron. The pure force of the explosion sent Sagax flying into the waters of Windhelm, and he hit the surface dazed and blinded, with hardly any feeling at all in his body save for the biting chill of the freezing waters, as if the river itself was trying to stab at him. Roze would have been unable to aid Sagax without falling herself - thankfully she had avoided the larger bits of ice; only a few small flecks digging in her skin here and there. Thanks to the potion, she barely felt them. However, the potion did nothing to aid her following the detonation of the charges. Hers exploded right on time, while on the ship; however Sagax's did not go so smoothly. She did not have the same quick reflexes of Sagax, and barely had time throw her arms over her face before the bast wave of the explosion hit them; lifting her from her feet as debris from the ship battered her. Then came a falling motion, and the breath-taking plunge into the sea. Roze had expected numbness, even calm beneath the waves. But the explosion hadn't finished with them yet - debris launched itself after them, and it took all of Roze's willpower to not cry out in pain beneath the waters as a searing pain pierced her side - throught her blurred vision, she could see something sticking out of her body, but as the blood misted the waters, things were beginning to grow unclear. Or was it the blood? With a sudden realization ripping through her dazed state, Roze realized that the last thing she needed was to take a nap beneath the waves. It wasn't too good for the lungs, she had heard. But her arms had become lead, and whatever she had been impaled with was quite happy to let her sink to the seabed. She had lost Sagax in the littered waters, and with no sunlight, she had no way of knowing which way was up or down. The first charge dealt significant damage to the Kamal ship, the second one did not. Because the top deck of Kamal vessels were armored less than its hulls, the explosion created a large gap on the surfaces. Several ship crews were tossed about, a couple rocked back and forth, colliding with one another and knocking a few off balance. One Kamal sailor tumbled overboard, splashing into the waters and plunging down to the riverbed close to Roze and Sagax. Two Kamals near the edge of their ship were expelled onto the berth. The most notable damage would be inside the Kamal ship. After part of the top deck caved in, something started shaking in the ship's bowels and it swayed unsteadily. Foreign shouts carried across the vessel, as fast as the ship docked, it was gone. On the opposing shore, it seemed like Kamal sailors were forced to perform emergency repairs. For the dual of foolhardy bombers, they would not have the leisure of watching their handiwork. The explosion, stray debris and water movement caused by ship leaving port all made Sagax and Roze struggle to stay afloat. Before the ship completely left port, it imparted souvenirs in the form of ice spikes. Three giant projectiles came out of the crystal holes, one hit water, another struck barricades between piers six and seven, the final missile met the midsection of Windhelm's walls. The first missile created a large wave, carrying Sagax chin first against the stone berth of pier six. Another projectile sent wood pieces hurling into the bay. Fortunately for Roze, a wooden plank floated near enough for her to grab on. Still seeing white, Sagax drifted numbly along the momentarily-calm waters of the river. The constant stabbing of the cold water, though, eventually woke him from his stupor enough to at least move his head. His ears rang and his head felt like it was splitting apart; in general, he felt like absolute shit, as some Nord friends would probably describe themselves if they were in such a situation. Looking around for Roze, he saw no sign of the rogue. Unfortunately, he had no time to go and search for the woman, as the Kamal ship was already taking off, shoving debris in every way in its wake. It did not leave without parting gifts though, oh no, that would have been far too simple. Three pillars of ice erupted from the portholes of the chugging vessel. The only one Sagax cared about in that moment was the spike making its way through the air...right towards him. While the glacial chunk didn't hit Sagax directly, he was near enough to the impact zone to feel the effect of its landing. A large wave caught the Imperial, carrying him along shortly before oh-so-kindly slamming his face into pier six. While he was dazed before, now he was completely unconscious, everything fading to black shortly after the man began feeling a very worrysome pain in his jaw. He, once again, floated unmoving in the waters of the pier. Hey, at least that went according to plan; he got to pier six. Attempting to focus beneath the water, Roze was able to see the flickering of fire shimmering above her - so that way was definitely up. The silhouette of a wooden plank - large enough to carry her weight - bobbed above, and pushing her screaming limbs to work, made her way to the surface. The first breath of air was both euphoric and agonising - the relief undeniable, but the cold air sending ice down into her lungs. That's what it felt like, anyhow. The sudden noise and light was an assault on her senses - despite the debris, it had been calm beneath the waters. Suddenly all she could hear was the battle raging all around her, lights putting spots in her eyes, and her pain increasing tenfold as her senses rushed back to her. Looking around, she felt a spark of fear upon not finding Sagax at first. This fear increased further as she did spot him - but unmoving, head in the water by Pier 6. [i]"Gods no... please. Not another death..."[/i] Paddling towards him desperatly, Roze pulled Sagax onto his back so he floated on the water. Blood poured from a wound in his head, and his lips had turned blue - she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. Quelling a spasm of agony, and attempting to ignore her pain, Roze hooked an arm around Sagax's body, using her other to head for dry land. Thankfully, he wasn't too heavy - but the swim was hardly an easy one. Especially without aid. At pier six's edge, a pair of Nord warriors spotted Sagax and Roze. One of them casted a rope, and pulled the two in once they grabbed onto it. Sagax was taken out of the water first, he was hoisted by two giant hands on his torso. Roze, on the contrary, was pulled out by her arm. Her equipment soaked heavy with water, countered the upward force every bit of the way. Eventually, the Nord got her on dry land. But during the process, Roze's shoulders became unwilling fulcrums. Her injured shoulder from the redoubt battle torn open again, that very arm popped out of its socket and the muscle surronding it twisted in all kinds of painful knots. In the process of panic (or fainting, in Sagax's case), they failed to see a Kamal charging in with sabre raised high. "Get the boy away!" One Nord shouted. He put his sword en garde. "I'll keep the giant busy!" Seconds later, Sagax was barely distant to the occurance of a horrible decapitation. Blood sputtered from the Nord's neck onto Roze's face, she first felt the detached head flying into her own, and then layers of blood caked on her eyes, effectively blinding her for the short term. Though in her dazed state, Roze was not perceived a threat to the Kamal, who chose to fight the second Nord dragging Sagax. For Roze, she was momentarily ignored, and it might be a wise idea for her to do something about an unmoving Imperial man. Despite her bravado in keeping her pain out of the way, as soon as she felt the sickening 'pop' of her shoulder, Roze screamed as excruciating pain exploded throughout her body. Things happened far too fast after that. The Nord holding her upright bellowed something, and all of a sudden there was a Kamal, and the world became red. For one awful second, Roze believed the Kamal had struck her, and these were her dying moments. But the thing to hit her had been the head of her saviour, and his blood covered her as she and his body fell to the floor. Wiping the blood from her eyes, the first thing to be seen was the death grimace of the Nord's head, laying on it's side directly in front of her. The eyes hadn't even glazed over yet, fury and fear still evident in the dead man's expression. It was as if he hadn't realized his death just yet. Blinking sluggishly, the world seemed to slow down. Noises were muffled, as if she had just submerged her head in water once again. Blood continued to drip from her head, but she had no way of knowing if it was hers or the Nord's, who's still eyes were still fixed on her. Still looking down, she noticed what was causing sharp waves of pain to emanate from her side. A splinter of wood, about the length of arm, sticking into her side, running all the way through her from front to back. [i]"Oh, look. I've been impaled."[/i] Tilting her head back up numbly, Roze noticed the Kamal was not, in fact, intending to decapitate her as well. In fact, it was heading straight towards the other Nord, and a still very unconcious (Or dead, for all she knew) Sagax. But was she going to allow this thing to step all over her friend, dead or alive? Nope. Struggling to her feet, (Which of course, just made all of her nerve endings punish her mercilessly) Roze headed down the dock, keeping low. Partially because it hurt too much to stand straight, but nobody needed to know that. As the Kamal reached the Nord, he swiftly dropped Sagax - in a rather ungraceful manner, and probably not doing any favours for his head wound at that - and began his struggle with the Ice Demon. Roze didn't expect the man to survive without aid, but she was in no position to give it. Instead she grabbed Sagax by the collar with her uninjured hand, and began dragging him the rest of the way off the pier. Now out of the water, and with more injuries, it was far harder to move him - not only were they both waterlogged, but the battle still raged on around them, and she was losing a lot of blood, pretty fast. "By the Nine Sagax... did you have rocks for breakfast?" Roze muttered under her breath, a quiet bubble of delirious laughter escaping her lips. What an odd sensation, thought Sagax, as he felt himself floating along an unknown path. At one point he weakly opened his eyes, the sudden light blinding him. Was he being carried away to the afterlife by an angel? Hm, this was quite the burly angel, though...and, hey! "What in the world? Did the angel just drop me!?" he thought to himself. The ground felt nice, though, so maybe they were just being nice. It felt so nice in fact, that Sagax closed his eyes again. Everyone needs their beauty sleep, right? Of course they do, people only became beautiful when they slept a lot...no, wait, that didn't make sense. That's not what that saying means... Such strange thoughts continued to drift in Sagax's mind, as he went along in a half-conscious state. The floating motion began to shift into something much more rough. He heard something skittering across stone, and for some reason he felt really heavy. Well, as heavy as he normally was, as he finally began getting a little feeling back into his body. Wait, HE was making that dragging noise, it was his boots. But he couldn't have been dragging himself, that would be ludicrous! It would have to be another angel, of course! Looking over slowly and opening his eyes enough to see more than the stone he was being dragged across, he saw another angel, much different from before. Yes, they were much more fitting of the title...wait a minute... That was no angel! It was just Roze! He began to notice the blood all over her, and the piece of wood jutting out of her body. Her mouth moved and, through the ringing bouncing all over in his head, Sagax heard her speak. Something about eating rocks? That would be silly. Oh, wait, she was commenting on his weight; how hard it was to drag him along. Right, that was much more sensible. Taking in a shaky breath, Sagax worked through the pain in his jaw and responded. "No, no rocks...just a bit of bread, if I'm remembering right..." His voice came out much more raspy than he expected. He was messed up. Bad. "Thanks for dragging my useless ass out of the water." He tried to smile, but he could only curl his lips up in an unconvincing replica of a grin. Roze could have cried with happiness to see Sagax speak - smile, even. Well... it looked more of a grimace, but he had obviously broken his jaw. All the same, Roze returned a smile herself, laughter not so much delirious now, but relieved. "Technically I didn't get you out of the water... your fat arse was just too heavy for me." She answered weakly, then glancing up and blinking blearily as further commotion erupted ahead. Something on pier... was it five? Four? She had lost count, but some new monstrosity had appeared upon it, causing men to scream in fear. Of course Sagax couldn't smile for crap, he just had his jaw broken. Seriously, who could smile with their jaws not properly attached? Still, he had the right idea about smiling. He and Roze were lucky, as the battle roared all around them, everything blew by like ambient noise. On pier five, a giant green humanoid creature with a pair of wings were draining red energy from a pair of Kamals. If the Breton and Imperial had been more lucid, they would hear panicked screams about a "vampire lord". Beside that, arrows whizzed past frequently. A Dawnguard's bolt exploded several meters from meter, and a Kamal exploded following suit. Finally, they came by pier three and the city gates. Coming to meet and greet was none other than Farid. "Hey pretty," Farid said to Roze. Turning to Sagax, his expression soured. "Hey ugly." The Redguard examined the two, frowning as he saw Sagax's crooked jaw, Roze's embedded splinter and other bleeding or not-so-healthy looking bits. "What did I miss at pier seven? Must of been quite a show." He mused. For some reason (probably luck), Farid was perfectly fine. Not a bit of him was scratched while men were dead or dying in front of him. Waving to some guards and militia troops by the gates, he called. "Get a healer over here!" "You miss me, honey?" Farid winked Roze, and also not neglecting to tease Sagax. "Or are you here to see the vampire?" Although immensely relieved to see Farid, Roze hardly thought that now was the time to start flirting. Sagax had now been left - more comfortably, this time - on the ground, and she herself was on her knees beside him. Hearing Farid's final comment, she looked back at the pier in surprise. Oh... so that's what it was. "Yes, I'd love to have whatever blood is left inside of me to be sucked out by a vampire." She answered dryly, although still offering up an extremely tired smile to the young Redguard. She was pleased to see he was uninjured - but had she any strength left in her, would have sucker punched him in the side for his comment to Sagax. Like he hadn't been through enough already. "They better hurry up though... a lot of it has leaked out onto the docks." She added with a tired chuckle, and at that, darkness swallowed Roze. She fell to her side, pale, bloodied, and very unconscious. Sagax sat tired and drained on the docks, thankfully Roze set him down with much greater care than whoever was carrying him earlier. He simply stared and exhaled slowly at Farid as he "greeted" Sagax. But when he mentioned a vampire, he couldn't help but draw his ire away from the Redguard., By the gods' graces, there it was. Over on another pier, sucking the Kamal dry of life with some kind of magic. "Well I'll be damned...certainly something to write home about..." he muttered. His attention was not divided for long though as he went back to glaring at Farid. Though he was kind enough to call for a healer, Sagax was sure it was actually meant for Roze; Sagax just happened to be in the area. What an asshole. Looking down to unbuckle his sword, he finally noticed why he felt as though he were being hit by a poker before. Almost the entirety of the right side of his armor and shirt was gone, leaving the tattered remnants of a sleeve and his glove, now singed and leaving several fingers exposed. His hood smelled like burned leather...surprise surprise, and bits were missing, leaving several holes all over. All across his arm and the upper part of his chest reaching slightly up to his neck were burn marks. To say the man was shocked was an understatement. He stared at his wound until he began feeling a warm stream of...something creep down his cheek. A brief dab with his now-bare fingers revealed that it was blood. "Oh, so that's why my head hurts. Makes sense." the Imperial said plainly. Of course the plainness betrayed the pain he felt, but complaining wouldn't solve much. Oddly enough, his main concern was getting a new shirt. It would be indecent of him to walk around without covering up, and besides, it was far too cold for that sort of thing. Windhelm was no Imperial City; there was no warm sun giving way to a cloudless summer day. Using all of his strength, Sagax got to one knee and plunged the tip of his scabbard into a crack in the stonework. Using his sword as support, he slowly rose to his feet, wheezing with effort and pain, followed by a growling sound. Not a groan of agony, but an angry, hateful growling. He continued to glare at Farid. He was completely unharmed, skin still as smooth as a fucking newborn. What about Felix, though? There was no denying it any more for Sagax, Felix had perished. A simple, good natured bard died to the Kamal, but this uppity cunt was still standing? With not so much as a scratch, at that! The Imperial would have gritted his teeth if he could have gotten his jaw to work right. His anger was suddenly quelled as he noticed that Roze fell onto her side out of the corner of his eye. "Roze! Shit!" Looking up, the guardsmen that Farid waved to were still just standing there. "What the hell are you doing!? Quit standing around and move your asses!" He obviously couldn't shout, as even opening his mouth to speak slightly louder was hell on his jaw. Hopefully they got the message. The guards got his message, sort of. While Sagax's curses were furious on paper, what came out was actually comical. It sounded like exaggerated speech from a children's puppet show. Nevertheless, the injuries tend to speak for themselves. The gates couldn't be opened for two people, not while dozens of Kamals battled human a staircase and a dock away. While they were settled in a fortified corner near a dock office (where Utu-ja and Orakh was treated earlier), Farid ran off to grab a torch for the healers. "Try fire." Farid told Sagax. He turned to Roze, but only sighed at the unconscious Breton. "Would be a shame if she dies." The healer said something about stabilizing a wound. Farid shifted the torch around so light shone better in the area. "You know the secret, runner boy?" He bragged, pointing to the torch with his spare hand. "Wave this at them snow demons and they freak out. Trust me, if you can get a good burn on their armor, it'll weaken for you to cut through." "It's a shame Felix didn't believe me." Farid shrugged. Eyes searching somewhere in the distance, he patted a pouch on his belt. "Dumb bard thinks it's a hoax. Now he lost the bet and owes me ten gold." The healer started to fix Sagax, restorating aura carefully charged as he asked the battered Imperial to sit down and present his wounds. "Better do it," Farid jibed. A patronizing smile shown to Sagax, as if he was showing off his intact jaw. "This will make your face more tolerable." Sagax stood stoicly, gripping the handle of his sword harder and harder with each word that left that stupid bastard's mouth. It wasn't the personal insults, or the patronizing arrogance of Farid's voice. Sagax was not so petty as to be perturbed by such things. It's when he began going on about the bard that Sagax became more and more visibly angry. As visibly as possible with a busted up-jaw and a bleeding head wound. The way Farid tapped his gold pouch, how self-assured he was with his crooked smile. There was no way he didn't know Felix was dead, the grinning cunt. He turned to the healer when they addressed him, and looked between them and Farid. He wanted to just deck the Redguard, it would be so satisfying. His free hand was gripped so tightly that it was beginning to cramp up, clearly every part of his body wanted to bring pain to Farid. He had to calm himself though. "Lady Mara would show mercy. Lady Mara would not act in anger. Lady Mara would not act in hate." He repeated this chant in his head, over and over. It felt like he ran it through a million times before he finally set down his sword and sat on the pier once again. He ran the healer through his injuries; his jaw, the part of his head that was bloodied, and some of the more irksome burns. As an afterthought, the man also motioned toward his left shoulder. It didn't feel like anything was busted, but he wanted to make sure. He completely ignored Farid, and any words would continue to be ignored unless they came from elsewhere. Like not Farid. Anyone but Farid. Good news for Sagax; Farid decided to shut up for the time being. The healer insisted on no distractions, and despite his ill-mannered treatment of Sagax, Farid still had enough courtesy to let others get the proper treatments. Both Sagax and Roze suffered intense injuries, but with the timely application of restorative spells, healing potions and mundane dressings, they were able to stay in stable conditions. Pieces of arcane ice lingered in Sagax's shoulder, nothing vital was shattered but the remaining fragments were reluctant to melt, due to their magical nature. Blood loss got the better of Roze for now, in the absence of blood transfusion on Tamriel, she would have to recover drop by drop until enough is able to kick start her head again. Meanwhile, the battle on pier three was a success. Guards and White River Braves held their ground. Casualties were lopsided, far more defenders gave their lives in order to force the Kamals' retreat. In the aftermath of the fight, many more wounded piled onto this makeshift clinic. Once their urgent bleeding have been sealed and disjointed fractures splinted, the pair of mad bombers saw their healer away with fresh patients. In conclusion, Sagax and Roze would be hurting for days, if not weeks, to come.