[color=steelblue][i][b]The Pirate[/b][/i][/color] kept to himself on most nights, when it was time to sleep. This was his first night alone in a single tent, not being huddled around by the others in the army. Whether it was the alcohol or just because he was finally alone, the man broke down in tears. He was finally able to let his wall down, not only because of the loss of one of their own, but from everything in his past. He had killed a lot of people, most of which were in defense of his own life, but there were those he murdered in cold blood. He would see their faces every night, causing nightmares that were seemingly eternal. Their faces flashed through his mind as he rolled around in his fur sleeping bag. One by one he saw them all, clear as day. He knew every freckle and curve of their faces, yet he could not picture his lover's. Her face was always blank.

[color=steelblue]"I'm sorry..."[/color] he repeatedly murmured throughout the night. It wasn't long before he fell to sleep, waking up a few hours later without remembrance of any of it.

He felt slightly sick the next morning, though aside from the sniffles and a rare cough, he was overall okay. As the company of soldiers marched its way to the Kirun, he'd break off from the pack every now and again to hunt. Equipped with a new wooden bow, he'd ride Stealthion through the dense snowy mountains, picking off a few squirrels and rabbits. Not much in terms to feed an army, but it was enough to pass the time. 

There was plenty of food for everyone the next evening at camp, as he was not the only one hunting the mountains around them. Everyone, again, went to their own duties as they would before a battle. Dalious was growing used to it all, as it was not much different than war at sea, aside of course the sea itself. After a stomach full of elk meat and red wine, the pirate moved on to sharpening more arrows and then stocking up on his grenadoes. The camp had made a small weapons forge where he casted as much iron into tiny bombs as he could. There wasn't a lot of black powder left, however, as many others were in need of it. He then used linen and fibers, found from various plant resources not far from the company, to tie some of the tiny bombs to coupled arrows.

"You're still wearing it all, must mean it works."

Dalious raised a curious brow over to the man that approached the forge, he quickly recognized him as the blacksmith from before the castle massacre. Both men smiled and embraced in arms, before just as quickly going back to their grim morale's that seemed to loom over the entire force. 

[color=steelblue]"Was made by a fine smith,"[/color] Dalious returned with a friendly nod, then went back to work at the forge. [color=steelblue]"I'm glad you're alive, but you shouldn't be here." [/color]

"After the massacre, people had to choose a path to follow," he said. "After everything that's happened, I'd rather be nowhere else." He spoke proudly, pulling lightly at his thick black beard as he did so. The burly man then walked forward and dropped a boarding hook down on a table. They were made for recon and stealth, but the word around camp was that Cyril had another plan in mind. 

[color=steelblue]"May I?" [/color]Dalious asked of the hook and rope, wanting to add as much to his arsenal as he could before the next fight, as meesley a weapon as it may be. The Blacksmith gave a nod and then went on to smith a sharper blade. Word quickly spread throughout of battle plans, and of how the advisor was to be handled. 

After hearing the plans for battle, Dalious found out that he would be one of the cavalry. Front line of attack, of which he would have no other way. He was cocky in his preparation and confident in his abilities, however, there was a slight bit of longing for death as well. He would never allow it to happen, but he would never shy away from anything. If he were to die, it would be [i]just [/i]in the mind of those he murdered, and their families. It would also be so in his own mind, he knew he deserved to die back on that noose. Here now, even. He refused to believe he had a guardian watching over him, or in fate or destiny. Even with his skillset, if you keep going into impossible seeming odds of life and death, its bound to happen eventually. Needless to say, he was prepared to die.

Before the night's end, he brought apples over to Stealthion and fed her. The horse ate quietly, but when she had finished, she spurred a little and let out a cry. Dalious stroked her hair and pet her, a smile on his face. [color=steelblue]"There, there," [/color]he said, calming the animal down.[color=steelblue] "We've been through a lot already. Remember my promise? You protect me, I protect you. You're a war horse now." [/color]

The next day they came across the final stretch of desert. Gartian and his army of followers stared back at them, proving this place to be the grounds for battle. Dalious rode in the front of the line, a disgusted look upon his face as he saw the mad man wielding the Queens head on a stick. Within moments, the battle had begun.

Stealthion pulled forward with the other horses in the front of the line. The two armies collided with one another, as Dalious pulled on his reigns and made Stealthion leap over the first of Gartian's spearmen. They landed back down in the thick of it all, with the pirate controlling his horse with his left hand, while striking down enemies with his bladed hand. It was nothing but muscle memory from this point forward. The bodies were so close and thick, he would deflect and strike repeatedly for what felt like hours. He remained in control of his horse as well, pulling and spurring her as he hacked limbs off the enemy line. A small pathway was eventually made, as a few mounted riders moved over closer to Dalious, the Blacksmith being amongst them.

"We have to keep them back from the advisor!" the blacksmith called out. "Give them enough time to-"

His sentence was cut short as an arrow flew direct into his throat, knocking him off his horse and to the ground, where he gurgled on his own blood until he died. A volley of arrows followed thereafter, striking down many others and causing the survivors to flee the area. Dalious raised his arm just in time for an arrow to flick off his gauntlet, quickly then pulling his horse into movement, having no time to even say a farewell to his friend. Another soldier pointed out to a band of H'Kelans heading toward the advisor to back her up.

[color=steelblue]"Ha!"[/color] Stealthion rode fast and swiftly toward the attackers as Dalious pulled an arrow out with a tiny bomb attached to it. He lit it with a match and then let it loose, as it struck the dirt just before the enemy group. It burst up the ground and gravel, knocking many of them down and out, limbs and blood flying every which way.  Dalious leapt off his horse with ease, immediately rolling across the dirt and splitting two H'Kelans open at the gut, just under their armor plate. His horse never stopped running as it circled back just in time for Dalious to safely leap back on and continue riding. He hacked off a few more heads and then gathered distance.

The explosion from the Advisor was massive, sending everyone within its' range flying. Dalious was well out of the immediate danger zone, however he was just close enough to be knocked from his horse and into the dirt. He got up quickly, looking back at Stealthion as she also got up, shaking her head to clear the cobwebs. When he looked back, most of his company was down and out. Christopher was crawling to escape, as the Advisor turned back to him and slashed her whip deep into his back. Dalious picked up his bow and set his last bomb arrow up, taking clear aim and firing. 

The arrow never hit the Advisor. Instead, she suddenly and very sharply leaned back, avoiding the arrow before it hit her, and before it could fully pass her free hand shot out, grabbing the arrow in midflight. With the fuse of the bomb still burning, she turned to slowly look to Dalious, and then suddenly flung the arrow down, straight into Christopher, who screamed once more when it exploded on impact and he was covered in a cloud of smoke.

[color=steelblue]"Mother told me about woman like you," [/color]Dalious said calmly, pulling his grappling hook from his belt and giving it a few spins as he spoke. [color=steelblue]"She said, 'avoid evil bitches at all cost. They'll be the death of you.' Well, lets test that theory." [/color]The pirate sniffed and puffed his chest, he then cracked his neck as the dust settled around them. He took a couple deep breaths, knowing full well that this was a bad idea, but she was messing with his friends. [color=steelblue]"Come on, bitch! Lets go." [/color]

Ignoring him entirely, the Advisor began to step towards Dalious, whip at the ready. [b]"You pests are beginning to anger me. Die quickly."[/b]

She was far to fast for him, as fast as he was. His skill was irrelevant to an extent. His far more powerful allies all lie in defeat, save a few. There was little hope surrounding the chaos. Still, he had to at least slow her down long enough for help to arrive, or death. Dalious tossed his grappling hook toward the advisor's temple, using his other hand to quickly throw knives at her, as he started running.
The whip was brought up, shaft used to catch the grappling hook before flinging it to the side as, in the same movement, she slashed forwards with the whip in a blow that made it curve unnaturally into a cylinder, knocking the knives away as well.

[b]"I said quickly."[/b]

Once more the whip went forwards, except this time it stretched all the way to Dalious. Striking the pirate first on his hip, the blow sliced upwards at a diagonal, cutting into his chest and leaving the black clinging behind, knocking him backwards and down in the process.

[color=steelblue]"Gah!"[/color] he spat, rolling over his bow. The pain was sharp, as the black substance seemed to dissolve through his chest plate, enough to break his skin open. 

Dalious rolled again, equipping an arrow in the process. He fired, then again. He started another run as he did so, whistling for his horse. The advisor was to dangerous for him to handle even in her weakened state. She was someone that needed to be slowly picked apart, perhaps only with magic. The thought brought the Lady Karin to mind, and her magic black powder. The gift had nearly slipped his mind. He latched onto a running Stealthion as he created some distance, still firing pointless arrows off. All his arrows at this point were a distraction for himself to escape. He quickly loaded his blunderbuss up with the magic powder, putting the weapon back to his hip when he finished. 

Stealthion rode in a wide circle, as suddenly a black line speared through the animal's body. The horse fell and died instantly, tossing Dalious off once more. The pirate grimaced from the pain of it all, pushing himself back up to his feet. He blocked an attack from another black line, swiping it aside with one of his gauntlets. He pulled out his katana as more of the mass came at him. He rolled aside from one, coming up to strike another away.  He continued fending them off as the battle raged on in the surrounding.

A group of both the north men and the Barceans came together where he stood, a pile of death and destruction surrounding them. They slew the enemies nearest them and then all took a moment together in the brief clearing.
 [color=steelblue]"She's to powerful,"[/color] Dalious said. [color=steelblue]"We have to rush her. With me, then!"[/color]

"Did you just hear what you just said!?" one soldier spat out. "That makes no sense!"

[color=steelblue]"Trust me, mate," [/color]Dalious assured the small group of soldiers, fixing his mustache in the process.[color=steelblue] "I might have a plan..."[/color]

"Might?  Never trust a pirate!"

"Either way, we're all dead," said another, he was looking around them at the chaos of war. "Might as well go out with a bang." 
Dalious shrugged his shoulders in agreement.

The group went forward, killing the few in their path swiftly. The men each approached the advisor, all from different angles. They formed a half circle around the enemy, all cautious to proceed past her whip's length. One soldier with a broad axe rushed in, as he did, the rest followed his lead and moved in. Dalious was included, as he came at the advisor from the front. 
Even as Dalious switched his strategy and gathered allies, the Advisor continued to advance at her walking pace. Down at her feet the black had gathered into a puddle that moved with her, one that seemed to be boiling angrily, ready to lash out at any moment. And lash out it did, waiting until the rushing soldiers were nearly upon her.

For the one with the broad axe, the black struck very precisely, a sharp spike stabbing up through his mouth and out the back of his head. The others struck much more wildly, stabbing through at indiscriminate points to keep them off of her, holding them high even as she brought her whip around, and more like a sword the weapon tore through the soldiers, severing limbs and halves from each other in one brutal swing.

Dalious dove over the whip as it tore the others into pieces. He rolled directly next to the advisor, pulling out his blunderbuss in the process and pointing it at her chest. [color=steelblue] "Dodge this." [/color] The pirate fired.

The Advisor hissed even as Dalious spoke, and when the gun was brought up she gave another flick of her whip, the weapon coiling around the barrel and lifting up and away, in an attempt to separate the weapon from the pirate before any damage could be done.  

Once again, she failed, and the trigger was pulled. Rather than firing at her chest, the blunderbuss instead went off more in the direction of her head, and even attempting to duck to the side failed. Though it was hard to detect with the human eye, the pieces of shot launched in that movement traveled with much more force than anything else that had ever been fired out of the weapon, and were even crackling red.  

When it struck the left side of her face she screamed, staggering away as the lines around her fell, and so did the various pieces of corpses. Her hand came up, covering the wounded side briefly, before clawing and ripping out whatever left over shot there was, even as she turned to face Dalious.

Her mask hung from the right side of her face in pieces, as did most of that side of her jaw.

[color=steelblue]"My gods you're ugly,"[/color] Dalious said, pulling out his katana and attempting to drive it in her face.

There was no verbal response, just an enraged shriek (or perhaps more of a roar) as she lashed out with her puppeted arm. Though the blow was not coordinated in the slightest, it was more than enough to catch the katana (and when it dog in there was another screeching roar), before she used her own limb to knock the blade away from stabbing into her face. The whip wrapped around her other arm, she suddenly reached forwards, grabbing Dalious by the left side of his face, before flinging him down into the ground. The handle sliding back into her hand, she brought the whip up.

Once more it was unable to fall, as instead something large and heavy suddenly sent her reeling. From the amount of swearing, it was clear that it was Christopher before Dalious could properly see the young man; he had leaped onto her back, wrapping around with his right arm to drive the katana into her side. As the Advisor jerked back and forth in an attempt to throw off Christopher, Dalious could see Christopher's left arm fling back and forth wildly; it was barely connected to the rest of his body, with a large chunk that was struggling to heal just below the shoulder.

Eventually, the Advisor did throw him down, and came away with Dalious' katana. She brought it up and then down, pinning Christopher down to the ground with the blade by stabbing him through the stomach, the young man howling with agony even as his right hand struggled to remove the deeply impaled weapon.

[color=steelblue]"Christopher!" [/color]Dalious yelled, as the poor kid got impaled by his own blade. The boy was immortal, but even still, no one should have to endure what he already had.  Dalious attempted to get back up for another attack, yet the black started severely stinging him at his chest wound. He fell to his knees, as the pain intensified beyond anything he had ever felt before.  He shot back up for a moment ready to charge, but again, the black brought him back down to his knees.  His movements were no longer of his own control.  He looked up at the approaching Advisor, knowing full well that this was how it all ended.  

A half smile spread over his face, he said, [color=steelblue] "At least I'm still pretty, you ugly bitch."  [/color]

The Advisor simply reached down, grabbing Dalious by the hair. Lifting up off the ground briefly, she suddenly slammed him down, crashing him against the ground once and then twice, cracking the stone beneath before she finally flung him away, sending him tumbling away from her and Christopher even as she turned back towards the impaled young man.