Just as the Khajiit expected, the battle did not end in the favour of those in Windhelm. They may have driven away the Kamal ground troops, but the barrage from the siege weapons were enough to take one's breath away in paralyzing fear. The Kamal were not interested in leaving their quarry, no matter how many times they halted their entry into the city. And judging by the state of the docks, and the casualties on their side, a third siege was likely to break through into the city itself.

And then they would find themselves at the mercy of the Gods and the Moons themselves.

[i]"Azurah... have mercy on us."[/i] Rhasha prayed silently, head bowed and eyes closed as he tried to contact his Goddess; one hand clasped tenderly around the amulet hanging upon his neck. Not only were they in peril here, but he had heard rumours that something had happened with the Hist - if the Kamal had attacked Black Marsh, Elsweyr was not far from that coastline - already, a war waged in his home country. His eldest brother at the forefront of the North's armies, they marched upon Senchal, the southern most city, and the last stronghold of Pelletine.
Ripe pickings for any Kamal warship that happened upon them.

Rhasha'Dar did not receive any message or sign from his Lady Azurah, but he did not expect one - the Goddess rarely worked in such obvious manners. Rather, many believed the Gods helped those who helped themselves... so help he had.

Although no expert in Restoration magic, Rhasha was swift to depart from Leif and Sevine following the end of the battle; heading straight towards where many of the wounded lay. The casualties appeared to be all the worse this time around; possibly due to people having no fully healed from the first attack the day previous. He did what he could for as long as possible - brewing potions, healing what wounds he could, and bandaging or splinting those he could not. It was shocking to him how little time it took - there were either those who weren't badly hurt enough to actually gain use from his aid, those who were too far gone for him to help with, or the dead. With the latter two choices unable to gain anything from his magic, and his alchemical ingredients exhausted, Rhasha left the area where the injured lay, feeling exhausted. It was at this time he took to the city walls to pray to his Lady.

Brief plea for aid finished, Rhasha considered recording his thoughts down in his journal. should the Kamal attack again, the city would surely fall, and he would likely die... but Rhasha couldn't even bring himself to retrieve his things to write. He felt drained - not just in magic, but in stamina, and in mind. All he wanted to do was sleep for a very, very long time. However, in his silent wanderings of the city, he found that trouble still remained.

Surrounded by Sevine and Sagax, no less.

Approaching the group cautiously, he took several things into account; One, that a Vampire knelt in the center of the Dawnguard circle - crossbows trained on her, and both Sevine and Sagax, that stood beside her. Two; that someone had pissed Sevine off quite terribly - her stare reminded him quite chillingly of his sister's, when she had death on her mind. Three; Sagax had been beaten something awful. His face was a mass of black and blue, some parts swollen, other parts scraped. He also seemed to be leaning on a scabbard for support... obviously he hadn't fared too well in the battle. And if he felt as bad as he looked, Rhasha knew that if this came to blows, he wouldn't last very long.

Hoping that the Dawnguard weren't as xenophobic against living races as they were against the undead, Rhasha eased his way through the group, quite politely excusing himself as he made his way towards what was obviously the man in charge of this ring of death.

"Greetings," He began, offering up a smile towards the livid Dawnguard man standing before him. "You seem to be confused in picking your battles friend. The demons lay beyond the wall on the ships, not in here with us." Glancing at the Vampire woman still quivering on the floor, he felt a pang of sympathy. Although certainly biased when it came to certain monsters, this woman was hardly something dangerous. Well... not to her allies anyway.

"The main problem This One has found with Vampires, is that they are either evil, or mindless savages," Rhasha looked among the soldiers, making sure to make eye contact. More than a few were avoiding both his gaze, and the face of their once esteemed leader. Perhaps they thought their minds would be ensnared by her magic? Or perhaps they did not want to kill her, and avoiding her face seemed the way to make it happen. His golden eyes made their way around the circle, until they landed back on the man before him.

"But from what This One can see, this woman does not share either of those traits with the species she has unfortunately ended up as. If she were mindless, This One is certain she would have killed many or all of you already. And as for evilness? Friend, this woman could not be more opposite. Do you know the compassion it takes for a person to do what she did? Reveal her closely guarded secret to save lives - to save [i]your[/i] lives, at the risk of her own. And This One is certain she would do it again. For you are her brethren... not the fanged beasts you so dutifully hunt." He finished, hoping his words had at least affected some of them. His voice had been low, and soft - no anger would aid this situation.

Although, thankfully for Sevine, her wrath had done enough to halt them in their tracks. If the Dawnguard did not listen to his more than wise words, Rhasha would happily take to arms alongside her. Because the last he remembered, murder was still outlawed in this city. And the killing of this woman would be murder in his eyes, Vampire or not.

[hr][hr]

[i]The water was cold... too cold.
[sub]she couldn't breathe[/sub]
Where was Sagax? Where did the lights go?
[sub]why can't I breathe?[/sub]
the water was gone, but the battle... was Sagax dead?
[sub]no! I know what happens! you need to stop, run, fig-[/sub]
The Kamal
[sub]Gods please don't[/sub]
So much [b]blood[/b]
It was coming back! Don't nonononono-[/i]

Jerking upright with a strangled scream, it swiftly mingled with a whimper of pain as agony tore through the body of Roze, at the sudden movement. Heart thumping, she laid back down with a wince, trying to tame the wired thoughts in her mind.

"Just a dream..." Roze whispered, eyes closing as she attempted to slow her breathing - it was hurting whatever injuries she had sustained. Waves of dull pain still throbbed from her shoulder, and her side. Other than that, she just felt generally awful. A thin sheen of sweat lay across her pale and pallid face; either brought on from her nightmare or her injuries, she didn't know - but accompanied with a dull headache, a shaking in arms and legs that she couldn't seem to stop, and alternating feelings of hot and cold, things didn't feel too good.

[i]Gods... even my throat feels like the Alik'r desert... would've thought all that water I swallowed would have stopped thirstiness..[/i] At that thought, Roze suddenly remembered Sagax. He hadn't died, had he?

[i]No... he was with me. Farid was being mean to him... asshole.[/i] Craning her head around - as much as she could without causing more pain in her shoulder - Roze felt a mingled sense of relief and worry to see that she couldn't find him. Either he was well enough to walk out of this place, or his injuries had been worse than she had thought...

[i]"Don't be silly... I'm sure he's fine."[/i] Swallowing a sudden feeling of grief, just at the mere fact that he could be dead, Roze blinked away a few tears, although a few escaped and rolled down her cheeks. The salt stung what cuts she had there. 

Gods... what sort of mess had she gotten herself into now?