The orc's ability to respond was hindered rather greatly by the ice. Indeed, as they attempted to draw their weapons and respond to the attack of the knights, they suddenly slid on the ice and fell to the ground, grunting and growling, cursing in their tongue as they attempted to quickly rise. As Fanilly came up to one of the downed orcs, her blade flashed and sliced through the gape between its armor and chestplate, spilling the creature's dark blood on the white ice as it hit the ground with a dull clunk. The next orc she encountered was more able to get to its feet, but it still wasn't prepared for the following blow that pierced its cheaply-made dark armor and sent it to the ground. So far... this was going just as she had hoped! The orcs were unable to adequately defend themselves, let alone stop their advance. When the two groups of knights came to the center of the ruins, there was a crumbling staircase that lead upwards. If Fanilly had to guess, the 'dark lady' was likely further up the stairway, on the next level of the ruins.

The guards lay dead, scattered across the icy ground. Unfortunately, the plan to make the charge right to the 'dark lady' had been foiled by the stairway, which seemed to be the only avenue of advancement.

That made this a great deal more difficult. There was likely no way that the dark lady had failed to notice their attack, and even if she had, well... it was unlikely that the stairs were not trapped.

And she'd thought her plan would really work...

"... This..." Fanilly hesitated for a moment, "We have to advance as quickly as possible, but this stairway..."

Before she could try and construct a plan, something enormous came barreling down the stairway. After a moment, Fanilly realized just what it was. A stone golem?!

What was more unexpected was the figure on [i]top[/i] of the golem.

[url=https://safebooru.org//images/2264/42e71b4e8288452e080223990fe6c45c2d3a6dfc.png?2358748]Driders were a rare sight in Thaln, but one so well-dressed was equally unexpected[/url].

"I... I don't like the orcs! S-so it's not like I'm angry you killed them!" declared the drider as the golem came to a halt. It was a towering construct of solid rock, "But I won't let you hurt my mentor, regardless of what you think she's done!"

She pointed down at all of them, and the golem raised back one of those fists...

[hr]

"Oh! Oh! Do you want to help too?" said the little girl with the wide-brimmed travelling hat, excitedly waving her hands in the air as she did, turning to face Marianne, "Um, my friend, Mae... she lost her puppy, she can't find her at all. She's looking for her in the town square, and I thought since the knights are really good at all kinds of things, you could help!"

The girl smiled. It looked like she was really beginning to leave her friend's little puppy could be located.

"The puppy's name is Ennifer, like from the old stories! And, um, Mae is by Beldrigan's Barrel!"

And indeed, Klaus would see [url=https://safebooru.org//images/322/1137aa0271117ead3c8e1632a35cff2500cf9fd7.jpg?1186163]a little blonde girl[/url], who looked rather despondent, both hands to the sides of her mouth as she tried to call for her pet.

"Ennifer!" she called, "Ennifer! Where are you?"

[@PKMNB0Y][@Raineh Daze][@Crimson Paladin][@harinezumikouken][@Strange Rodent][@Noodles][@TheFake]