"Aye." Markus breathed, too busy to stop and wipe the blood off of his backsword. "No wonder they chose to be pirates rather than city thieves." Markus turned to leave, before he heard a grunt behind him, and stopped for a moment. He turned back around to see the man with a hole in his chest weakly reach for the pistol strapped behind his back, and in an instant Markus moved to simply cut the man's hand off. 

But he hesitated, and caught himself. It wasn't too long ago when he was a soldier, both for country and for hire. After a second of contemplation, he ran the man through the neck to end his life quickly. A soldier's death. "We need to get to the top floor." Markus said. They both moved in unison, rapier and backsword out, moving through the short corridor lined with golden and crimson banners, and finding the stone stairs. The thick wooden door opened to reveal six men, four with muskets and two with large axes. Two muskuteers were at the fore.

"Matar a los bastardos!" 

Calliope ran a musketeer through before he could get his gun up. Markus cut one's arm in a flash with his offhand rondel dagger, causing him to drop the primitive firearm. The rakish corsair caught it, spun the musket until its butt struck the soldier in the chin, and he shot into the crowd. The smoke and shot in such close proximity bought them some time and Calliope slammed the door shut, blowing a few loose strands of hair out of her vision. "That way is a bit too crowded for my tastes." she said dryly. 

The door they had come in from suddenly opened, and another three men stepped out. A crossbowman with a scar over his lip, and two younger pistol wielding soldiers. Likely they had heard the earlier musketshots. The crossbowman was ready, firing a bolt and nearly hitting Markus, the bolt struck the wooden door, quivering, mere inches from his face. "And that way is a little hostile." He replied, and the two turned around to the northern end of the hall at the center of the corridor, the only area soldiers had yet to burst out from. 

Markus raised his hand and uttered a quick word of power, and fire sudden burst forth from Markus and engulfed the two pistoliers and crossbowman, the pistols cracking as they shot wildly. The door they had been holding suddenly burst open, but Markus and Calliope were already moving, the Captain holding his First Mate's forearm to help her move in the confusion, just in case. Two musket balls ricocheted off the stone walls just as the two slammed the door behind them, finding themselves in what looked to be a darkened office. 

Calliope cursed, realizing the only way out was behind them, unless they wished to leap 30 feet to the hard ground. Markus made it to the window, opening it up and looking both down and up. Behind him, Calliope used her weight to knock over a cabinet in front of the door. She was answered by bullets and crossbow bolts puncturing the all too thin door, scything into a wall. "Any other bright ideas?" she asked Markus. 

Markus ran his hand along the stone window bottom, checking to see if it was wide enough to stand on. "Here," he bade her breathlessly, adrenaline keeping him honed to a razor's edge. She moved over to look out at what he was gazing at, and looked up to see a small balcony above them, a man's height away with thin openings in the stone pillars that held the embroidered railing aloft. It was too thin for Markus, but Calliope... 

"You'll need to squeeze those breasts through, but..." he said, trying to make light of the situation. Another volley rang into the room, and an axe blade suddenly pierced the door. Markus quickly knelt down and raised his hands to let her get a boost out of the window. If Markus could climb the outer wall, Calliope could with her slim fingers. "Find some rope when you get up there," he told her, trying his best to sound steady.  
[@Penny]