[center][b]Forgotten Ruins, east roads & alleys.[/b] [u][i][b]Yinha, Locke, Serafaye:[/b][/i][/u] As the buxom elf dragged the befuddled and thought-addled dracokin along, the horned girl's head rose at the question posed by Buzz Killington. He had asked something really bizarre. Had she forgotten how to cast magic? No. She hadn't forgotten, the issue was that [i]she[/i] had never actualyl cast [i]real[/i] magic, her avatar had, and it had done so on her input. In that sense, one could say that Serafaye, as she were, didn't actually know how to cast magic at all... Whcih was depressing as all hell, considering she was supposed to be a bad-ass level one-twenty sorceress... "No, I haven't." She blurted out, in a manner that sounded both irritated and dismissive, but also contemplative. "The way I used to cast magic just seems to not work in this wo- place." She said, halting a word to repalce it with another. Honestly, what was she thinking? Revealing that she couldn't cast magic to this strange, masked possible pervert? For all she knew, the guy could pounce on her and the big tittied elf, if he thought he had a chance to overpower and pin them down. Especially now that they were in this dark and dreay alley! Serafaye could feel a bead of sweat form on her brow, and she narrowed her eye at Locke, keeping a suspiscious and watchful eye on the masquerade mask-wearing mage... Which left her blind to what Yinha had just pulled her along into. "[i][b]Stop right there![/b][/i]" Came the loud, deep voice of a man. At this point, the trio were forced to stop, as a proverbial wall of steel and spears barrd their way forward. The imperial troops had taken up position in this small backstreet as well it would seem, and now they were face to face with one another. Behind the row of spearmen, with their broad shields and pointy sticks aimed at the new arrivals, there was an Imperial officer with a blue-plumed helmet - a lower rank officer. He looked stone-faced and serious. Either Locke's fairy had taken a different turn somewhere along the way, and failed to spot these goons, or it had been taken out by the row of archers standing behind the spearmen... Speaking of, said archers were all aiming their projectile weapons at the three stooges. "Put down your weapons, dispel your sorceries and surrender! Fail to comply, and we won't hesitate to kill you! This is your only warning!" The petty officer roared, in practiced and rehearsed manner. He'd probably done this sort of thing lots of times. Serafaye was... Perturbed... By this turn of events. Now she didn't just have to worry about Buzz Killington trying to molest her and the elf, who was still holding her hand for some reason, but all of these new guys... What if they all decided to have a good ol' fashion genital jamboree with the laides? Not like they could possibly hope to stop them! There were at least two dozen of 'em crammed into this alley, and with no side-paths to take, and the only other way to go being back, they weren't exactly in a position to run away... "Hm? [b]You![/b] The one with the horns!" The Imperial Officer then bellowed. "Step forward and kneel down, hands behind your head!" He ordered. "Uh... M-me!?" Serafaye meeped. "Yes, you! Move up here and get on your knees, now! Do it!" "Uh... Uhm... W-Why? What're you gonna do?" "Get. Over. Here. [b]NOW![/b]" It didn't look like the guy was inclined to share his intention. And seeing as Serafaye didn't want to cause any trouble for the elf who had tried to bring her to safety, but ultimately led them into the jaws of their enemies - albeit unintentionally - the dracokin let go of her ... Acquaintence? hand, before moving up closer to the Imperial spearwall and slowly sitting down on her knees. She felt like she was being accosted by corrupt cops, accised of criminal acts she hadn't even committed. The officer, motioning for his men to make room, passed by his own defensive line, flanked by four additional soldiers, who all approached the young girl. The man stared at her with aq very strange glare. "What are you?" He asked. The question seemed strange, but genuine. "Huh?" "I said, what are you? Yo look human, but you have the horns of some... Creature." He stated, bluntly and rudely. "Ho- Oh, yeah. I do. All dracokin do, I suppose." "Drak... What? Make sense, girl!" "S-sorry! Uh, a kind of human with dragon's blood in them." "... Are you mocking me?" "What?" "Do you really think I'm that sutpid! Dragons and humans can't conceive children! Stop wasting my time and answer me!" The man gave a firm, full-on-from-shoulder-height bitch slap to Serafaye's face. The resounding smack was quite impressive. However, what was more impressive wasn't the sound, but the fact that the officer's hand stopped dead in its track on contact with Serafaye's cheek. The girl's head didn't even budge or twitch at the impact. Rather, the officer's eyes were wide and his mouth slightly agape, as he both stared at the young lady he had just struck - with no effect - and his own hand, which had come to an abrupt halt. "W- Wha... Ho-" He fumbled over his words, understandably. ----- [i][b][u]Artemisia:[/u][/b][/i] Travelling along the main east road would prove a short-lived excursion. Not far ahead form where the group had just previously been, the full force of the advancing Imperial army slowly advanced in unified and well-practiced formation. Spearmen in the front, swordsmen behind and archers in the back, with the officers barking orders and commands from the rear. Any attempt at negotiation or communication would simply be met by harsh orders to dismount, lay down arms and surrender unconditionally. [i][b][u]Annabelle, Cecilia, Kaze, Vani:[/u][/b][/i] Noises came from the alley, and angry shouts and questions could be heard. It would appear that the group that the scout had detached from earlier had now caught up to, and found, their knocked-out ally. The sounds of armored feet racing across the dirty cobblestone streets would begin to grow ever closer, and it was only a matter of seconds now before the reinforcements would round the corner and rush out into the street where the backmost members of the party were located. Their options were fairly limited though. Either follow the elf, Serafaye and Locke into the alleys, or dash ahead on the main road along with Artemisia and her horse. Running back was no longer a viable idea, unless they [i]desired[/i] ot engage more Imperials in a fight. It seemed things were just getting worse with each passing moment.