[center][color=a187be][b][i]Annabeth Gulch[/i][/b][/color][/center]

Sure enough, everything went to hell quickly. While Annabeth managed to get the girl, Jessie, to cooperate, the Nox started to shift again. [color=a187be]"Dammit, why now!?"[/color] And to make matter's worse, the Nightmare was back. Everyone was making a dash to the room that Darrel directed, but the beast was heading straight for Drake. Everyone was moving except Colette, who had made the decision to fight the Nightmare herself. [color=a187be]"Colette get back here!"[/color] Annabeth had to save her magic; she couldn't risk Blood Sickness trying to use her spells to distract the Nightmare. Instead she took her dagger and hurled it in the Nightmare's path, hoping that maybe the blade would sink into it's eye or something, or at least distract it long enough for Annabeth to grab Colette and get to the room.

[color=a187be]"Stay with the group Colette, follow me!"[/color] The girl grabbed the vampire by her hand, not wanting her friend to throw her life away trying to hold this beast back. The room was just a few feet away; if she could get Colette in there, then Annabeth could save them all. [color=a187be]"Let's go!"[/color]

[i][b][center]DIPLOMACY MISSION[/center][/b][/i]

The first thing Ssarak would notice was the presence of a ward; but not simply a novice one, but one at least equal to his own. It was strong enough that if it weren't for the fact that Ssarak was actively looking for it, this ward could have possibly gone beneath his notice. Even now, tracking the ward was about as difficult as tracking the thief himself, who had the advantage of moving through the narrow alleyways; various obstacles such as canvas covers and tunnels covered the thief from above, and without Ssarak attempting to break through his ward he would have quickly lost the thief's position from above.

Leith's attempt to stop the thief failed, however it did succeed in causing the thief to crash into the wall with a sickening crunch. He quickly recovered and ran, however it was obvious that he had damaged his arm from the crash. For those pursing the man on foot, they may have noticed as he ran into a dark tunnel that he removed his mask; what was at first a dark blade hood soon revealed long fiery red hair. When he was outy of the tunnel, he was in front of a thick crowd of parade goers and onlookers. They didn't seem to notice him as he pushed through them and ran across the parade with agile swiftness, avoiding the horses and dancers and easily reaching the other side of the street.