[i]Althalus[/i]

Althalus dubiously looked over their latest member, Darrell, scrutinizing him. He didn't trust him. Then again, he wasn't about to trust anything that came from the Nox so it was really nothing more than paranoia. Healthy paranoia, granted, but paranoia nonetheless. He jerked a thumb at Helena. [color=00aeef]"As my suicidal little friend over here noted, it went to shit. Some mage was in the middle of an already undead filled city, and the shadows came alive and gutted most of the other students alive. We have no idea what happened to the instructor. I assume he's still alive, given that it's stupid hard to kill Master Mages. He's not here, obviously."[/color]

He glanced over at Annabeth, glancing at his other two companions. "A knight-errant-in-training, a vampire who has a couple demons, and a thief from Port Slaughter who lived the good life before now. I feel safer already." He replied dryly. Sighing he started walking in the direction his gut told him. [color=00aeef]"Come on. We're gonna make it. You all have so much to live for, and I gotta make it back to Mar or she'll have Uicle resurrect me just so she can skin me alive."[/color]

[u]Sansar, Yarosmere[/u]

Yolin merely smiled at Darius, only gesturing to the arena in response. Aramir felt tense. Not because of the crowd and noise around her (she loved those), but because she could sense the tension in the air. The expectancy for the kill, for blood to spray across the sands in droves. 

The fight hadn't even begun yet. Khalitan slowly shuffled his way into the center of the arena, the seven Sand Cobras backing away as he did so. The crowd grew only louder, baying like hounds on a scent. With shaking hands, the Immortal One began to put his helmet on. As it slid over his eyes, blocking his sight for a second, the Cobras struck. Two pillars of stone erupted on either side of him, rushing to crush him, while more boulders flew over head to make sure he couldn't dodge. The remaining Cobras crouched into ready position.

It was so quick all Aramir was sure she saw was a blur of movement.

Boulders were smacked aside,and two Sand Cobras were decapitated. The other four scrambled backwards, one falling over in a spray of blood as something punched through her chest. The crowd howled in excitement.

Another stumbled to the ground, blood pouring from a sliced throat. The noise was deafening as the crowd cheered.

The other two were also quickly decapitated, their bodies slowly falling over as the crowd went beserk, chanting. "[i]Khalitan Cah! Khalitan Cah! Khalitan Cah![/i] Taking off his helmet with shaking hands, Khalitan wiped his blade off on a body and shuffled back into the gladiator pits.

Yolin looked over at the College students and smiled again. "As I said. He is the Immortal One. He has never been defeated, and some doubt he ever will." Aramir barely heard him, looking in shock at the remains of the Cobras, so quickly dispatched by an ancient man. "Well, now that we caught the best part of the arena, shall I give you a tour of the palace?" Yolin asked brightly.

[i]Yarosmere, unknown location[/i]

Sahra shook her head. "We don't want you to face down the entire nation by yourselves. After we help you free your friends at the dinner, we want you to convince the College to side with us. We only need to despose of the 'Prophet.' With him gone, victory should come quickly as the people are freed from whatever foulness that has corrupted their minds." She looked at Baulder. "The Prophet is but a man. A very powerful man, but mortal nonetheless. He can bleed. And if he can bleed, he can die."

The man, presumably the Sand Cobra leader, spoke up next. "We can enter the palace secretly. We'll do this to save your friends, and to assassinate the Prophet when the time comes. However, we can't do anything right now. Your friends are still getting the 'tour' and the Prophet won't be vulnerable until the dinner, and then not vulnerable for a long, long time after we free your friends. If you all promise to play nice and not do anything stupid, you can wander around our cozy little hole in the ground while we wait. Eat, sleep, treat your wounds, train, whatever you want to do. Sahra and I will be in the little outlet in the farthest back, planning our entry and exit into the dinner. Medical is to the left of that, food to the right of that, training and our small armory is your second right. If you need to relive yourself, take the first left and then the second right afterwards. If you need anything else or get lost, ask someone. We don't bite. Promise. We should have a plan in a few hours. See you then or earlier if you like our faces that much." With that, the man turned on his heel and left.

Sahra sighed. "That was Mak. He's the leader of the remnants of the Sand Cobras and rather brusque. But everything he said is true, including the statement that you're free to do as you provided you don't fight or do anything stupid. If you want to leave, ask one of us and we'll let you out in  a way that won't compromise our location to the enemy should you get caught. Deal?"