[IC] Knights of Elementia.

[Shadow Daedalus]

Venator was moving as soon as the first arrow struck, instinct taking over as he vaulted the side of the carriage and took cover, taking advantage of the disorganised mess of movement to move away from the immediate danger and slip into nearby shadows with his raven close behind. He cast a sparing look at the fallen knight, a man that would have been his comrade, yet felt little over his death. There was little point shedding tears or growing angry over a man he did not know. Instead, he held his arm out for his raven to perch on, tilting its head curiously as he gave it its instructions.

"Find them."

With those two words, the shade-like bird took flight and shot towards where the arrows had come from, dissipating into black smoke after a short distance. Acting on instinct, he closed his eyes when suddenly his vision changed. The colours had drained away and the edges of the buildings blurred like smoke on water as he saw seven figures hiding in the shadows from a position in the air, their bodies glowing softly with silver light against the murky grey surroundings. His point of view circled the hidden archers as they scrambled to avoid the two retaliatory shots from the brown-haired archer girl, one of the seven falling lifeless as a result, before letting loose a few shots back in return. Considering the circling flight pattern, he guessed he was seeing through his raven's eyes... Releasing his Raven Vision, he put a hand over his eyes and lightly shook his head in an attempt to clear the weird sensation that followed before he turned his head sharply at Mira's cry of pain. Frowning slightly at the effective loss of the other archer, he quickly refocused on the remaining 6 assassins.

Readying his bow, he took aim at where he had seen them last. Focusing his gaze, he could vaguely make out the silhouette of a few of them, and decided to bank on his luck. Slowly inhaling, he held the arrow back on his longbow for three seconds before letting it loose. He couldn't see where the shot had landed, but even at such a distance the substantial force behind the arrow was enough to knock the man back several steps. Seeing him fall, he quickly let loose a second arrow to confirm the kill before looking for his next target. With any luck, he might just make it through today alive...

[The Irish Tree]

Well, an assassination attempt wasn't far from the first thing Oriel expected to happen. In fact, it was probably in the top 5. Regardless, danger was present, and just before she was ready to spring up with her luggage containing her armor as a shield, Arno moved to defend her, flawlessly defending the arrows...although it seemed that their Knight of Lightning had been assuredly killed. While she'd seen death before, many times even, the idea that this attack was so brazen still shook her a bit. The Knight of Metal seemed to have some form of death wish, and as such was offering to draw their fire with nothing but two corpses strapped to his back. "Had I the luxury of time, I'd offer to do the same." she said, opening her trunk and hastily tossing the Knight of Metal her sallet. "But we have little in the way of time. I doubt that they'll actively shoot at you with your shields...they'd likely leave you last." she said, putting on her gauntlets. "Buying time with more bodies is unsatisfactory...but I've no better plan. Unless you'd like to take the time to use my armor." she offered, turning to the injured Mira and grimacing. If the Knight of Metal didn't mind a bit of chafing, her armor might very well save his damn life. An arrow in the shoulder...and from their looks, none of the party were doctors of any sort.

While she wasn't a doctor, she'd seen plenty of idiots think that removing the arrow was a smart thing to do, and as such said: "Don't touch it. You'll lose more blood." This was bad...luckily she'd had at least some degree of protection and it wasn't chainmail, but a shot in the shoulder was serious. They needed to get Mira to safety, or her shoulder could very well heal incorrectly, or they could all just be shot to death. "Arno, we need to get Mira out of here. Telius, could you lend a shoulder?"

[Skyrte]

The Capital, Elementia
Arno Volke

The way the Knight of Wind, Alya, laughed at the ambush didn't sit well with Arno. He enjoyed the fight, it was exciting, a true contest of skill in martial prowess and strategy, but he didn't trust anyone who relished the fight. Those who seek the battle are often those who broke ranks to chase down the routing enemy, right into a potential ambush. Arno specifically passed on those soldiers when selecting his men for his troop, even when the battle loving warriors were often more skilled. He needed men to hold a formation, not to break it and turn a battle into something like a common street brawl. He glanced back at her and saw her hop off the wagon, catching an arrow midflight before saying her weapons were out of range. Before Arno could say anything, she disappeared into the fleeing crowd, presumably to hunt down their ambushers. Darkness Knight had hopped off long ago. Arno huffed in displeasure as he felt another handful of arrows smack against his shield, though he would be lying if that catch didn't impress him.

Mira poked out of cover to fire an arrow in the direction of the incoming fire, what she hoped to accomplish Arno didn't know. Suppression fire with arrows was an advanced tactic requiring at least a hundred well trained archers firing in rank, ripple or platoon fire. She quickly caught an arrow in the shoulder, and if these attackers were skilled, they would be using broadhead arrows. A very deadly arrowhead against unarmored targets. He looked back once again after a slightly lighter than usual volley against his shield, seeing that Sidero was offering to be bait for their attackers. Lady Oriel disagreed, offering her armor. Both plans weren't ideal, Sidero could be killed in his heroic distraction, and Arno preferred that nobody else get hit in case their attackers move to engage in close quarters combat. Putting on Lady Oriel's armor would take too long, the longer they stayed, the higher the chance that someone would get hit by a lucky arrow. Arno glanced around, seeing the thick wooden walls of the wagon. He stomped his foot on the wagon floor a few times, then kicked the wall to his right a few times, feeling that the wagon side was thicker than the floor. He rose his foot and kicked the side with a good deal of strength, snapping the supports at the base. He then grabbed his warhammer, using the spiked end, slammed it into the top of the now loosened side. He moved it back and forth, wrenching it free.

He dropped the large board, formerly the side of the wagon, behind him. He looked behind him, seeing that Oriel had her gauntlets on. "Lady Oriel! I need you to carry this board as a shield! Telius! Grab Arcane's bow and help her move! Do not take that arrow out of her!" Arno commanded, in that voice he used to lead fifty warriors in the midst of a battle, "Metal! Drop those bodies and carry Lady Oriel's armor case! We will be moving left into the..." he looked to his left, "herbs shop, under protection of the wagons side and the armor case! The wagon side first, then the case! On Lady Oriel's mark! Get ready!"

[NobodiesHero]

Moments after asking the archers to return fire, give them a chance to escape, the Knight of Wind lost the initial respect that Telius had for everyone before he got to the know them. Instead of simply saying that her weapons didn't have the range for it and ending it there, she rushed off as if alone she could actually do anything. "What the fuck are you doing!" He called after her, but she was already gone. Telius absolutely never swore, swearing was for people who couldn't come up with a more clever response. In this case, it just seemed to suit the situation well.

Mira attempted to return fire alone, using some sort of magic to do so. As she did, Telius felt strange. There was nothing unpleasant or seemingly harmful about it. If anything, it was exhilarating. It was short lived tnough, Mira only got the chance to fire off one or two arrows before a lucky shot caught her in the shoulder. Telius called it lucky because he wasn't sure if the enemy could even see them or not, and because it could have hit something much worse than shoulder. Shoulders healed relatively easily, only body parts did not.

The Knight of Metal offered a plan, a way for them to escape. A plan that turned Telius' stomach. He didn't like it at all, but if that was their only choice then he'd go with it. The use of corpses was completely and utterly wrong though. The Knight of Fire liked it as little as he did, and offered the use of her armor instead. It was the Knight of Earth who offered a better solution. With an impressive show of strength, he kicked, then pried, the entire side of the wagon off, ordering the Knight of Fire to use it as a shield.

The Knight of Earth then ordered Telius to help Mira, which he would have done anyway. It was his fault she got hit after all, though he put just as such blame on the Knight of Wind. He bristled slightly at the last comment of don't remove the arrow. What did they take him for, an idiot? Of course they did, he was a noble, what could he possibly know about battle? He was better than making a comment though and held his tongue. Instead he did exactly what he had been planning on doing anyway. He gentle grabbed hold of Mira's good arm, and slung it across his shoulders, his free hand he slid around behind her and placed it a polite distance above her hip. "Lean on me as much as you need, I've supported far heavier people than you." He said, giving her a reassuring smile.

[Rekaigan]

_{The Capital, Elementia}

---

As Alya moved through the crowd, her shared vision with Akash spotted most, if not all the archers. While she acknowledged that it wasn't the best idea to split from the group, she knew that she could easily get back to them if need be. Given that one or two of the enemies had been killed or incapacitated by the other knights, it should be a lot easier on herself to hunt them down. It seemed that they didn't realize her position. The huntress was already onto them.

Alya had swiftly climbed onto a roof, her foot steps as silent as a feather. The closest archer was still focused on the other knights down below, which was very much in her favor. The concept of bait was often not something that amateurs like these thought about, although calling the others 'bait' might be a little extreme. She waited a moment before putting the blowpipe to her lips, 'fft..' The dart flew true, piercing the neck of one of the archers. He slumped over and rolled off the roof, his body flopping onto the stone below. Staying out of sight behind the tiles of the peaking roof, she unsheathed her boomerang, letting it fly immediately. The weapon curved as it made it's journey back to it's owner; however Alya had thrown it at a wider angle, the blunt weapon crashing into another ambusher's skull with a loud 'THUNK', knocking him out.. She'll need to pick that up later. Four down so far.

She glanced back at the wagon in the distance; they hadn't moved all that much, which was concerning. It's not like she would've been that helpful if she was there.

Her shared vision kept view of a few more enemies, but they looked a little uncertain now that their numbers had been cut down.

[ViannaNight]

Mira smiled back at Telius and she leaned on him. She felt strange with his hand around her waist. She smiled as she noticed he was being polite and placing his hand above her hips like a true gentleman. After a few minutes of her leaning on him she felt stronger. She looked at him "Do you know what is going on right now?" She asked him as she dodged arrows "And I am not talking about the ambush of arrows that we are under. I feel stronger just leaning on you" She know she might sound crazy but she really didn't give a shit right now. She tuned into her fox about then.

Feyla was doing just as she told. She blended into her surrounding like a ghost. She found the archer that hit Mira. Feyla lunged at his throat biting and tearing at it. How are you doing my darling girl? Mire asked through their bond. Feyla responded killed one after more. Mira smiled as she saw through her foxes eyes. "That is my girl" She said out loud. Once again looking at Telius "How are we going to get out of here? We need to get everyone to safety before we lose anyone else."

[Duoya]

Sidero prepared himself, every muscle in his body at the ready to throw himself out of the wagon and into the volleys of arrows. The Knight of fire spoke up, offering her armor for protection... Sidero seemed to doubt that the medium armor would even fit him, but it was far better than disgracing corpses. He was already untying the corpses and gently laying them down against the ground, before the snapping of wood caused his head to dart towards the knight of earth. He had kicked sections of the left and right walls of the wagon, and was taking the thick wooden walls off after using his large war hammer to loosen them. Pulling them free, he relayed his own plan. Of course, nothing provided the perfect defense against arrows - even steel could be punctured by a strong bowman and a sharp arrow. But wood would provide a much better defense than flesh, and would weigh far less heavily on Sidero's mind. Untying the knight of lightings corpse, Sidero gently laid the two down near the front of the wagon, and was just about to grab one of the walls before Arno's orders became directed at him. Complying, Sidero gently took the armor case from Oriel, before turning it on it's side and picking it up. Compared to the bodies, it was far lighter to carry. Quickly, Sidero looked around the wagon, realizing that 2 people were gone! The knight of darkness left the wagon before the attack even began, but Alya seemed to have disappeared while Sidero wasn't looking.

Rising to his feet with the armor case in tow, Sidero made his way to the very back of the group, as Arno instructed. He must have had far more experience with human opponents, so falling his orders would be the best for the groups survival. The knight of Spirit and Arcane were together, and Sidero made sure to protect them with the armor case since Telius had his hands full helping Mira. Sidero was the person furthest back on the wagon, as Arno commanded, and after giving a downcast look at the corpses, he nodded towards the others to show that he was ready to move on their order. Sidero sighed gently, trying not to focus on the corpses and their fate. He resolved to come and retrieve the corpses after the assassination attempt was taken care of and the coast was clear.

[The Irish Tree]

By now, Oriel was already greatly appreciating Arno's service as he devised a far better plan than either her or Sidero had. Mira's notion to move to safety was a work in progress as Oriel hoisted the wagon wall up as a shield. Her hands were armored, so the best a shot could do would be to break a finger or two, given that gauntlets were kind of awesome like that. "Go!" she shouted, taking a step out and raising the shield to protect herself and those behind her. She could only hope that they follow through with her...They needed to treat Mira's wound quickly or risk her injury aggravating. She'd advance at sufficiently slow speeds to ensure that Mira, Telius, Sidero, and Arno were protected from any initial volleys, although lobbed shots would likely still be an issue. As two arrows thunked against the wagon wall, Oriel thought back to one of the most important things she learned from her father: Never break formation. Two more would thunk, but their defensive train line would continue. So long as those behind her advanced, that is.

[Skyrte]

"Go!" Lady Oriel shouted. Arno stood his ground as Sidero and Oriel leapt off the wagon with their makeshift shields, then the last few of the group followed them, taking cover behind them. Arno acted as a rear guard, taking the back end. He made sure nobody lagged behind the slow pace of the shields, pushing when needed. The walk was fairly short and although the fire of the arrows intensified, not many more found their mark. Arno noted that they must have panicked and picked volume of fire over accuracy, a good thing as well. A well trained archer with an eagle eye would be able to find targets of opportunity much easier. After a few more hits on his shield, Arno felt a sharp slap on his thigh, he grunted in response but kept moving.

The herbs shop was a fancy one, a single wood door with two windows at the front of the store. He glanced into the shop, seeing that it was well lit from the natural light, and that it was abandoned. As they got close to the shop, Arno looped around the back of the group and approached the door, he readied himself then lifted his right foot, driving it his heel near where the lock would likely be placed. He leaned into it, providing the weight of his armored body into the kick. The door rattled roughly, but it didn't budge. He brought his foot down, then kicked it again, and again. The third time the door frame splintered, and the door itself was flung open with the force of the kick. "Everybody in!" Arno shouted, raising his shield once more. He glanced down at his thigh where he felt an impact and saw an arrow sticking out of his aketons front slit, over his thigh. He muttered and curse then checked over his group, once they were all in, he followed them into the shop.

The shop was fancy, tables and shelves lined with various herbs, traveling supplies, and containers holding things Arno couldn't identify at a glance. It was well lit from the windows, but the cobblestone walls were still lined with lit torches, the stone ceiling, crisscrossed with wooden beams, had chandeliers with lit candles. The tables mostly contained the traveling supplies, dried foods and cloths, while the shelves and counters had the expensive herbs. The floor was made of wood that was pleasing to the eye, and Arno noted another door in the back of the shop behind a counter next to a small fireplace, hidden behind a semitransparent white cloth. Presumably that was the door leading to some kind of storage room, and the stairs leading to some living quarters on the second floor.

Arno placed the shaft of his warhammer on a table containing nothing more than fancy bowls, cups and teas and slid it across the table. Clearing the table of everything save for a few bowls and cups. Arno dropped his warhammer onto it with a thud, and then his shield onto it, which had more than a few arrows stuck into it. The soldier looked down at the arrow sticking out of his thigh and put his left hand around the arrowhead, keeping the slit of his aketon pinned to his leg, then with his right hand he yanked it out, dropping the arrow onto the table. He lifted the edge of his aketon, revealing the dozens of smaller overlapping steel plates, riveted to the aketon itself. One plate was punctured, and his cuisses was dented. He let the aketon slit fall again once he was content with his inspection. He looked over the shelves, looking for something particular. He spoke as he did, "We've gotten out of the kill box, and more or less broken their ambush. If I were them," He picked up two bottles and placed them onto the counter near the fireplace. "I would either gather more men and chase us in here for a prolonged fight in melee range, or break off the attack and seek another opportunity. Hopefully they've left for now, and hopefully those of us who sought our attackers in that ambush know we're here." Arno said, he opened a number of jars and sniffed the contents, taking two of the jars. With all of the oils, herbs and ingredients in place he rummaged through the cabinets, finding a decent sized pot, the shop owner likely used it to make salves and ointments themselves.

He put it onto the counter and unhooked his red cloak, placing it onto the counter as well, fully revealing his layers of armor. "Lady Oriel, you should don your armor. If you need to change..." He placed him hand on his cloak for a second. He looked to Telius and Mira, "I'll make a salve to stop the bleeding and to keep the wound from festering, but we need to see a real surgeon for your injury." He stated, an archer with a wounded shoulder was no small thing, if the wound healed incorrectly it could affect her ability to use the bow for the rest of her life. He had seen crack archers, capable of holding the draw of their 170 pound warbows for half a minute, be reduced to not being able to fully draw their bows at all from wounds like that. He glanced down at his cloak, some of those archers had been his friend. Arno looked back up, this time to Sidero. "You mentioned your equipment was in your Inn room correct? Do you know how far it is?"

[Keyblade87]

Leonidas had watched the events unfold in pure terror and awe he had no idea that being a Knight could be so deadly. One had already fallen and another was injured. During the chaos to reach the shop and escape the ambush Leonidas had gotten a small cut across his left cheek. The wolf next to him licked his cheek where the scratch was and Leonidas pulled back before reaching a hand up and seeing as it came away with a thin line of crimson blood. Oh well he thought looking to Mira and her wound. could have been much worse. Looking out the window he watched and town guards hauled the bodies of there would be assassins and sighed.
"I think we are safe now." He said turning shyly to the rest of the group. "I'm sorry I froze out there I had never encountered something that intense before and I didn't know how to react." He admitted looking to the floor feeling a wave of shame wash over him. "Once we get to the castle I'll be sure to train harder than ever to make up for what happened."

[Rekaigan]

_{The Capital, Elementia}

---

In the corner of Akash's eyes, the huntress noticed that the group had begun to move. She observed them for a moment as a few more arrows slammed into the wood. Akash soon spotted the other ambushers as he glided above. These guys weren't really paying any attention to their own comrades, it seemed as though they tunnel visioned on the cart and thus failed to notice that they were getting picked off by someone. Like the wind she moved, swiftly leaping from rooftop to rooftop, her shoes lightly tapping the wood and ceramics as she landed. Her boomerang was out of commission for now, but her darts were more than enough for these amateurs.

However this time, the one she was sneaking up on, noticed her. The cloaked figure turned, his bow drawn. He hesitated slightly before firing, giving Alya enough time to react. Had he not hesitated, he would've struck her cleanly. The huntress rolled sideways, down the steep roof, the arrow flying past harmlessly. 'fft.' The ambusher's hand instinctively grabbed his neck as a dart pierced the skin. His eyes went wide and his mouth began to froth. His body slowly slumped onto the wood.

The remaining two ambushers remained to be seen. But it wasn't long before Akash spotted them, however they were long gone, their figures running off into the distance, hopping along the rooftops. The huntress knew when it was time to stop the hunt. The prey was too far off now. Alya whistled loudly; signalling for Akash. The bird of prey screeched in response as it flew back to it's master. The familiar melded back into her arm as she made her way back to the other knights. After retrieving her boomerang, of course.

---

The huntress made her way to the shop that had a plank full of arrows.. It was obvious to her that it was their's. "We should be safe for now. Two escaped though." She announced as she walked into the shop. The last few words were said quite bitterly, but it was good to know that everyone was safe for the most part.

[Shadow Daedalus]

From his new position atop one of surrounding roofs, Venator watched as the Knights on the ground finally organised a solid and somewhat successful defensive manoeuvre as they began to move towards one of the buildings off to the side, even while being peppered with intermittent bouts of arrows. Watching as the Knight of Earth kick in the door the shop and the rest of them scurried inside, he turned his eyes to where the assailants were still hidden and then onto the rapidly approaching Knight of Wind. Watching as her avian companion scouted from the air, he sent out Corvo to do the same, watching with his own eyes as Alya dispatched another before seeing through his raven's eyes as the remaining two broke off in an attempt to escape.

Alya must of been too far away to give chase, instead returning to the rest of the Knights but Venator didn't have the same problem. Range was his ally after all, as an Archer and Marksman. Drawing two arrows and passing them to his bow hand, he pulled a small vile out with his free hand and flicked off the cap with his thumb before poring a sweet smelling, wheat-coloured liquid across the tips of his arrows and casting the vial away. Poison, or Honey-fang Vemon to be precise. Drawing back the poisoned arrows against his bowstring, everything faded away as he focussed on his target. Wind, Speed, Direction... Adjusting his aim to compensate, he blow out a long breath, holding of several moments before finally, almost in slow motion, he let them loose. Flying straight and true, the first pierced the heart of the man closest and he died instantly. The second, however, fell short and pierced straight through the man's thigh. He stumbled and fell, struggling to get up before he was beset by violent tremors, leaving him writing and convulsing in agony for several seconds until he finally fell still, putrid blood running from his eyes, nose and mouth.

Satisfied with the kill, No-one left to run back their superiors with news of the Knights' survival, he recalled Corvo and hopped down from the roof, the demonic bird taking its perch upon his shoulder as he touched the ground. He slung his bow across his back and adjusted his scarf before he reached the shop, tapping his armoured knuckles against the doorframe as he overheard Alya's announcement, walking in a few seconds after her.

"Those two won't be a problem."

He stepped into the shop proper, not stopping as he spoke and quickly going over to stand amongst the shadows nearest the group. He offered no other words, instead letting someone else speak, hopefully with a real plan of some kind.