Everyone aboard the Caravan was shaken about as it came to an abrupt halt. Marilyn tugged on the reins to settle the Venbu down, just barely keeping the beasts from breaking free of their restraints. By the time everything settled down, Noru was clutching to the rim of his bunk desperately, while Zay almost found himself flung over the railing by the quake.

	"Everyone!" Marilyn called out, "There's somebody on the road!"

	A single man was stumbling towards the Venbu with one hand clutching his shoulder. He wore a battered set of armor with Arcadia's royal crest embedded onto the width of a shoulder pad. His other arm was bare and covered in blood. It looked like it was stripped clean by something with strands of chain-mail and ripped leather hanging down to his elbow. It looked like he was about to wave Centaurus toward him, but as soon as he released pressure on the wound across his right shoulder, the bleeding continued and he stumbled forwards face first into the ground. Zay caught a glimpse of him as he fell, but didn't recognize the man. That didn't stop him from taking action.

	"Flin, help me out!" Zay shouted whilst jumping down from the top of the cart and landing beside its Venbu. If they didn't act quick, that man was sure to die. But what they didn't know, is that the creatures likely to be responsible for his injuries were closing in on his scent quickly. 

[center][h1][color=ed1c24]* * *[/color][/h1]
[i]Earlier, at noon - 12:30 PM[/i]
Southern Trading Route - Centaurus' Original Path[/center]

	Blake stood proudly on top of a supply Caravan while holding his hammer firmly behind his neck with both elbows. He stretched his shoulders while looking out into the hillside, disappointed with not only his men, but the information they were given. Three others were scouting the area nearby at the Caravan's base, all wearing casual clothes with no indication of their alignment. One was generously tearing supplies out of the storage room, while the other was carefully examining the bodies of the previous owners. They were all garbed in stock uniforms, none wearing anything even slightly unique. Well, that wasn't entirely true. A few of them were coated in far thicker layers of dried [i]blood.[/i] Another man popped out of the Caravan just below the torn awning. Unlike the others, he wore a stock Arcadian uniform much like the victims, untarnished by injury or dirt. He quickly climbed up to where Blake stood and shrugged as the man looked his way.

	"Like I told you, there's nothing to suggest-"

	"Search it again then, yeh dimwit!" Blake shouted, lowering his hammer to the ground with a loud [i]thud[/i] that cracked the wood paneling. Where his hammer rested, laid the corpse of a woman dressed in silver armor. No doubt, it was the armor of the Paladins. "This was too damn precise to be a coincidence! Why the hell was she-" Blake lifted his hammer and planted it right into a slot in the woman's armor the matched its width perfectly, "-here as well!?" The Arcadian knight stumbled over his own thoughts to answer.

	"I haven't the foggiest, but I'm certain that this group knew nothing about it as well. The paladins must have gotten wind of our situation somehow. She appeared mere [i]minutes[/i] before you." He pointed to himself and sighed. "If you hadn't stepped in, I'd be dead. I'd say our mission remains a success-"

	"Oh shut it!" Blake grunted, leaving his massive war hammer planted firmly in the lady paladin's corpse. The large man looked out into the hills and ran his bare hands through his hair, pulling at the follicles angrily. With so little hair left, the stress of this situation threatened permanent baldness on Blake. "I was lucky enough to get the drop on this righteous little harlot! The captain escaped and we lost a man. This is hardly a success! If he gets away and alerts another Caravan, that's that!" Blake's arms crashed down to his sides and went limp. "All becomes lost! We become public criminals!" He began to break down into a panic, "That's if [i]she[/i] doesn't kill [b]me[/b] first..."

	"That injury was severe. He'll bleed out in less than an hour at this rate, assuming the beasts in the hills don't get him first," The knight assured Blake, "You're blowing this out of proportion, sir. We have nothing to worry about." Blake lowered his head into a slow nod.

	"Yeah. Yeah, sure. I guess you're right about that." He turned his head and began inching his way to the front of the Caravan's roof. "But y'know..." Blake leaned forward and glared at the two slaughtered Venbu in front of him, while scoping out the path that lead to Marrenfall. "...I'm more worried about the sisters."