Sol Grim

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

ok sorry I jumped the gun, got forced into overtime today. Will def get a post up tomorrow as I have the following 3 days off after.

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

@Sol Grim
I'll say that the fishbones work to jimmy the lock.

@Cyrania

Oh yea thanks I was going to ask about that then got overwhelmed with work. I was also waiting to see if you guys were going first, otherwise I can get something up tomorrow evening ish.

Pursuit of Power

Dalious

&

The Mother

It had felt like a nightmare, one of which he could not awake from. The longer Dalious stayed at the scene, the more he realized it was not going away. His friend's body stayed cold with the sun's rise, his weapons stuck to the ground in blood. Looking around, he saw that many others suffered a similar fate.

Eventually he began to move again. He checked his friend's pockets, not sure in why he was searching him but he felt there may be something to find. Nothing, the man didn't even carry a coin pouch. Dalious was about to give up when he found a folded paper in his jacket pocket, a bounty letter. Opening it up he quickly read it, it forcing a smile out of him in the process. "Always the persistent one," he muttered. The man was technically a prince, yet he still took on odd jobs and did his own field work. The Mother probably wouldn't approve, but he enjoyed the mercenary work all the same. The Mother...the thought of speaking with her had just occurred to him.

The pirate's head ached even more as he pocketed the letter and stood with his makeshift cane. While the bodies were being loaded up in carts and wagons, he made sure to accompany and help carry his own share of the weight. He stayed with his friend's corpse, through the long ride in the city and to the destination. The burial itself would be up to the parents, but for now the soldiers would leave the body in a temple near where the ceremony would take place later on. This is where the soldiers would tell the Mother to come should she want to see her son before. His body was covered with a royal fur blanket and the blood was cleaned up from his face.

Dalious sat and awaited the Mother, knowing she would come. It was impossible to predict how she would act, he just knew none of it would be good. He simply stared at his dead friend lying on a stone table, knowing only more death would come from this. He sighed and said a silent prayer in his thoughts.

The night had been restless, sleep never came easy in that large, lonely bed. The room itself paled in comparison to the more lucrative ones, but it was far better then what Angeline had ever been use too. Her bed back in Luthra was hard and comfortable, here the bed was soft and uncomfortable. A stark comparison of how different the Exodus world was. Yesterday had been interesting for Angeline. Once again she had to solely rely on herself, something she was no stranger too. Once Avidan had left the tournament, to check on Dalious of all people, she had not seen him the rest of the night. It was strange, but not unexpected. Avidan was headstrong man, this Festival was trying even for her, and she could only imagine what it would be like for a man who hasn't seen civilization in decades. He had his reasons, but Melchior was a different story entirely. She had noticed at first, when conversating with other Nobles, trying to strengthen ties to her Kingdom, how absent her son was.

She hadn't seen him at all during the Festival, a very maddening prospect. Of course he wouldn't listen to dear Mother, he was one of the only few who were capable of such a feat. His duty was to be here, find a Princess to woe, and marry the girl. Not drink himself to a stupor in a tavern. She had sighed many times that night, between her fierce scowl and drinking. Once the tournament had started, and Avidan left, she recognized that it had been rigged, but said nothing. It was too good to be true really, and Angeline couldn't believe this was how the Exodus would so blatantly preform. She would have to tell Avidan when next she saw him.

Once the tournament was over, and feeling considerably drained, she confined herself to Luthra quarters. It was a large room, with not much in the form of any wealth. Exodus probably thought they would steal anything not tied down. The bed was large for just one person, a fact that was not ignored. Did they actually think the Mother and Father were a couple? Her disdain for Exodus grew further with each passing minute. They were fools, all of them. She sent out her guards, telling them to find Melchior for her, but even she knew they would fail.

Now, her face was blank as she sat reading the note that had been stuck on the door. In the night the unthinkable had happened, an event that even Angeline hadn't thought possible. One of the Mutated Bears, fearsome creatures, it had came in the night and slaughtered all that came into contact with it. A part of her hoped it had murdered many Exodus soldiers, as punishment for their little display in the tournament.

She began to get ready for the day, dressing fittingly for the occasion in just one of the black dresses she had brought. Her makeup was light, and her hair was let to hang loose. As she finished, she could not help but wonder where her son was. She doubted he would have been involved with the bear, probably too drunk to really even move from where he fell.

She left her room, walking across the hall to the room she knew her son had been assigned.

She knocked.

There was no reply, so she opened the door to find the room holey untouched. Melchior had never been there it seemed. Her anger was immeasurable, her boy was an idiot, and she had a few choice words for his hungover self to bear once she found him. She left the vacant room in disgust, but stopped in her tracks when she saw a few Exodus guards knocking on her own door.

"What's the meaning of this?" she said while walking over to them.

The guards turned to her, both with solemn expressions. They wouldn't look her in the eye. The older of the two spoke, "You are the Mother, correct?" he asked.

"Of course I am, who else could I be?" she said angrily. She had just about had it with Exodus.

The guard sighed, "I bring ill tidings, my Lady. We... We were able to identify one of the bodies from the attack. I'm sorry, so very sorry, but Prince Melchior was killed in the night."

She blinked, shaking her head slowly. Her angry expression contorted into a mix of disbelief and that of sorrow. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it. She couldn't believe it, she didn't want to. Melchior wasn't dead, he couldn't be.

"S-show me." came her shaky voice.

---

The long, arduous walk to the temple felt as if each step was a mile. She held her head high with each crushing step, her heart was burdened with weight she had never felt before. They entered the Temple, walking past several corpses with blankets covering their bodies. At the end of a hallway that felt as if stretched on forever, there was a doorway and through it sat tables with more bodies. These were covered in finer blankets.

When she saw a familiar face sitting next to one of the bodies, her heart sank. Her throat felt like a lump as tears began to fall from her blue eyes. Her fingers trembled as she touched the fabric, pulling it back until she saw the pale face of her son. Her little Mel.

The lump in her throat was replaced with a heartbreaking wail as she cradled her boy's head in her hands. Touching his cold skin for any reaction, any sign that he might still be alive. But there was nothing.

"No no no no NO!" she cried out, "My son... My boy..." Angeline's voice broke as she began to weep over her dead son. She cried and cried for what felt like hours, the immense pain she felt, all consuming. Never in her life had she shown so much emotion, and the years of holding everything in popped like a cork. Chief among those emotions was her anger, and it was rising like a volcano before it erupted.

Without looking away from Mel's face she spoke aloud, her voice raw, "Why? Why did he die?" She turned to look at Dalious, her tears had stained her black eye shadow and her eyes were red with grief.

"Why are you here, Dalious?"

Dalious stayed silent. He had a lot of time to think of something to say, but in the end decided on saying nothing. For a moment he wanted to hug her and weep with her, but it was not his place to do so. Having no mother or father himself he looked up to them, but he knew the difference. Still, he was here for them still.

"I've nowhere else I'd rather be, my lady," he said calmly, his gaze stayed on her son. "He was my best friend, my only friend." He took a moment to clear his throat, then pulled out the bounty letter and set it on the table's side. "I found this on him, I think he was pursuing it on the side. Maybe that's why he was out there so late. I'm sure he would have brought me along if I hadn't lost him in the festival. I ended up getting thrown into the arena, then some healer afterward brought me to a ...her, friend's house to stay. I found him just before dawn, the bear was dead then as well."

He finally took his gaze away and looked to her. "If there is anything I can do, anything at all. I am here for you."

She did not reach out for the paper Dalious tried to give her, it was meaningless. A thousand different thoughts flooded into her head as she listened to Dalious speak. Angeline clung to his words, desperately trying to find some justification for her Melchior's death. Rational thoughts were quickly being pushed away by irrational feelings, and the only explanation she was receiving simply just wasn't good enough. She looked at the man before her, alive and breathing, then back to her son who was lifeless.

Her anger boiled over in that instant, and she lashed out at the only person who she could blame. Whether it was his fault or not, in that moment Angeline no longer cared.

Her breathing became erratic as she stood up straight and looked at Dalious with intense hatred, her voice was a Mother's scorn, "Lost him..? You LOST HIM? The Prince of Luthra? MY SON? My ONLY SON!" She yelled, moving around the table in Dalious' direction. "By all accounts you shouldn't have even been in the tournament! Yet there you were! Helping an Earthican WHORE no doubt! I don't care that you were wounded Dalious! I don't care! That's no excuse! Why didn't you search for him? You SHOULD have searched for him! You didn't even try!" She continued her ramblings, coming to stand directly in front of Dalious, her hands balled into fists at her side as she looked up at him.

"You should be ashamed to call yourself his best friend, Dalious. Where were you when your 'friend' needed you most? Not by his side, no, not with him. You were probably out fucking some whore or drinking yourself into a stupor instead! Why weren't you with HIM!" she shouted, slapping Dalious across his right cheek. There was a deep silence in the room that followed, and with that quiet, her anger washed away.

She felt numb now, the absence of feeling felt like drowning. Angeline let her hands drop to her sides limply. She looked up at Dalious, her tear stained face devoid of any emotion. Her voice was broken, and hauntingly desolate as she spoke next. "You should have been there for my son, not for me, not now. I never want to see you again. That's what you can do for me, Dalious. Do you understand?" Angeline then turned away from him and back down to her son.

Dalious stood stone still until she turned away. He grabbed the crumpled up letter and pocketed it, then nodded. "I understand." With that, he walked out of the room and made way down the long tunnel toward the outside. He had shamed both the Mother and Father in less than two days, something that used to never bother him because Melchior was always there to make things right again. Those days were no more. He knew his bad influences over their son had left him with a tainted image of himself, but even with everything, he looked up to them as if they were his own parents. Now that was lost and he was all alone again, a thought which angered him.

Pausing just before exiting out, he pulled out the bounty letter one more time and looked it over. Melchior had written down an address of where he believed this gang to be hiding just under the text that read 'Dead or Alive'. Without the Mother and Father there to hold him back or keep him well behaved, he decided to honor his late friend by pursuing this bounty. He knew he would need some help, however, but at the moment didn't much care whether he would live or die. The festivities were a good time, but they were only a distraction for things to come. It was time to implement a bit of chaos.

Pursuit of Power

Dalious

Word of the monstrous black bear had reached the boudoir, though the news changed nothing from within as everyone was told to stay put. It wasn't until just before dawn that a few Freyjan guards returned to give the news that the beast had been slain. They would need the woman working here to help the wounded, as many began preparing warm blankets and towels.

"Wake up!"

Dalious' eyes shot open and he reached for his weapon, though it was far on the other end of the room. When he saw Mahita at the door, she was fully dressed with a look of concern on her face. He gave her a polite nod and smile and then crashed his face back into the pillow for more sleep.

"I said wake up!" Mahita repeated, this time grabbing the sheets and pulling them off the bed. He opened his eyes again, his tiredness wearing heavily on him.

"It's a bit early, but I suppose if you want to go again we could," he patted the area of the bed next to him for her to lay down. "Though I fear I may not be at optimal performance, I received limited sleep." It was still dark outside, though the people talking and making noises outside the room made it seem like it was midday.

"A giant bear attacked the city last night, dozens were killed and injured," she informed him. "Everyone here is helping out, we could use you too!"

"Oh, well that's an easy one to figure out," he told her as he started to get up and put his clothes back on. "Just find a giant fish!"

There was no smile to Mahita's face, she seemed agitated and under stress. Her demeanor had completely shifted from what it was hours ago, when they were alone together. It made him take this more seriously, even though all of this felt like it were a dream. He flicked his bandage to make sure it wasn't, a flinch coming to his face from the pain. The stab wound felt worse than yesterday, though it looked to be healing properly. Mahita quickly rebandaged it for him. "The bear is dead. I'm worried about Thyrri," she said as she did so. "She went out around the time this was all happening..."

"I'm sure she's fine, probably went back to the palace," he said.

"Will you go find her for me, make sure she's okay? I must stay and prepare for the wounded, please find her!"

"Yeah, sure. I'll find her."

Mahita finally smiled again, kissing Dalious on his cheek and then parting to leave. "Thank you, you are welcomed here anytime."

"That's good because you just happen to be my favorite person in this city, sweet Melissa!"

"It's Mahita."

"Right. I'll go find Thyrri then."

The streets were alive with people just like the day before, however it was not for the festival this time. Homes and businesses opened up for the injured, with people moving this way and that. Dalious took a broom from Mahita's, breaking off the bristled end to use as a walking stick. His stab wound was piercing him with every step, and he even had to stop to take a few breaks along the way.

Nearly tripping over a large puddle, he straightened himself out and realized it was no puddle but one of the bear's massive paw prints. The wall next to him had big claw marks on it, with bricks and rubble broken down from the top. It appeared the animal had entered the city from here and then made its way through the back alleys. But why would a bear go through the trouble of entering the city? It seemed strange for even a mutated one, but perhaps someone from here killed its cub. He made a mental note to check the other side of the wall later if it deemed necessary, then kept moving toward the scene of the incident.

He could hear the gathering of people a few blocks away, some were still screaming in agony while others tried to ease their suffering. He saw the dead bear from a distance, its head cut clean off. Before he would approach, something scraped the ground nearby and it caught his attention. There was an armored man sitting against the wall of the alley, parallel to the bear's location. He sat alone, using the metal from his gauntlet to scratch at the ground in order to get someone's attention.

It was still very dark, but upon approaching the man, Dalious could see that he was wearing the crest of Luthra. His face looked familiar, though dreary and covered in a cold sweat. After a brief moment he realized that the man was the guard of his friend, Melchior the prince of Luthra. The guard attempted to speak but could not, instead he pulled down his chest plate and revealed a mass of blood. The bear had slashed him at the base of his throat, and the poor man had been struggling to stay alive the entire night.

"Oh, that's not good," Dalious muttered under his breath. He helped to take off the guard's plate entirely, then started to put pressure at the wound. More blood came out and the man started to choke, him even living this long was a miracle. Dalious pulled his flask from his back pocket and poured the last of his whiskey onto the area, but the guard grabbed it and tossed the remaining drops in his mouth. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

With a last bit of energy, the guard lifted his arm and pointed toward the massacre just a street alley away. "Mel..." he said, then his hand fell limp and his body did the same. He was dead, finally at rest. Dalious closed his eyes and looked over toward the carnage nearby, the guard was pointing at one of the many bodies.

Dalious quickly rushed over, using his stick as a cane. He wasn't able to notice anyone else surrounding him as his focus was dead set on a corpse. The body was cut in half at the waist, guts spilled out just beside it. The victim lay face first on the street, but Dalious recognized the clothing. He grabbed and turned the face so he could see, it was him. "No!" Dalious grunted and quickly backed away. He lost his balance and walking stick, causing him to fall to his knees. Tears began to swell in his eyes as he let out a thunderous scream.

Pursuit of Power

Holy shit that was a lot to read but it was all awesome, I love you guys!!! Yes I'm drunk.

Pursuit of Power

I'm always still down. I personally think we have more than enough people too but I'll go along with what everyone wants to do.

Pursuit of Power

A bit hungover but I'll survive.

Toxoplasmosa Outbreak

Johnny and Sonya

"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing",

Johnny smacked the back of his head against the top of the dash when the voice spoke. "Ah, fuck!!" he blurted, as he stood and turned to see the stranger. Rubbing his head with his left hand, he used the other to hold it up defensively when he saw the gun. His revolver was holstered at his hip, clearly seen upon a glance. "Hey, whoa! Easy there, I'm armed. Let me put my gun down."

He very carefully and slowly pulled the weapon out and set it on the hood of the car next to him. Walking back over to where he was, he now held both his hands up. His first thought was that she was from Toxo, and he didn't want to upset her. Even still, he didn't really have the time for this.

"There, see. Now we can be friends," he said cooly, though on the inside he was a mess. "I'm just trying to help my friends, I'm not one of the psychos out here." He really, really hoped she wasn't either. "My name's Johnny, Johnny Blackburn. I have a group, couple days ride away on horseback." His horse, Brisco, started walking toward them as the clever animal had taken a longer, safer route. "I was, kind of famous back in the good old days. You know, before. Maybe you've...heard of me? Had a couple of hits on the rockcharts, the Grim? That was the band." Usually this method worked in calming people down and gaining trust, whether they knew of him or not. This girl was hard to read in the moment though, she must have been through hell.

Sonya looked, cautious, as the strange man raised his hands and slowly removed his gun from his belt. Unwavering, the woman didn't let her guard down for a second. The man then said he was just trying to help his friends. Toxo member, perhaps? Sonya saw the horse walking towards them slowly. So it belonged to him, then. He was strangely calm in the face of a gun being pointed at him, Sonya observed.

"No, don't think I've heard of you," Sonya replied grimly, even though the name "Grim" did faintly ring some bells in her head. Despite her cold attitude, Sonya did lower her gun after that, albeit cautiously. "Don't think I trust you. I'd blow your brains out if it didn't cause so much noise," Sonya added, never taking her eyes off the man. He did look familiar, it was true. Maybe he wasn't lying about being a bit famous.

It would be a bad time to tell her that he was there for that very reason, to make noise. Feeling a little disappointed that she hadn't recognized him, he tried to remain as calm as he could. "Oh, well...thanks, I think?"

"Blue," Sonya introduced herself, finally putting her gun away completely. "I'm here to pick up some ingredients. Don't get in my way," she said harshly, unaware of the hoard of zombies that were probably making their way towards the station as they spoke.

"In that case, you should probably know that this place has been looted Blue," he told her, then walked over and started petting the horse. Whether this woman was a friendly or not, she had the jump on him. He kept away from his weapons, trying to gain her trust as again he smelled the decay coming with the wind. "Not from me, it's been looted for a long time. I didn't check everything though so I suppose, have at it."

A dark thought sprouted in his mind in mid conversation, something unlike himself but these were desperate times. She wanted to look for ingredients, why not just let her and leave her to her fate. He winced a few times as he thought quickly about how things could play out. Eventually he stayed true to himself, hoping she wouldn't just shoot him here once she heard what he had to say.

Looted? Well, fuck her. Sonya huffed in an annoyed manner. This Johnny could thank his life for not being the looter. He'd be dead if he was. Sonya didn't know why she trusted his word, though. maybe it was what he said next that took her attention away from it.

"You should probably also know, I'm trying to lead a horde here," His hands went up half defensively this time. "There coming, any minute now, just over the cliff," he told her and pointed. "More than I've ever seen, and they're going toward my home. There are good people there and I'm trying to protect them."

"You what? Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Sonya shouted as Johnny revealed his plan. The man already had his hands up defensively, but Sonya didn't hesitate. She had her gun up again, ready to shoot. "You ain't getting me killed here," Sonya spat, falling silent only when Johnny continued about his reasonings. Oh. He was just trying to protect his people.

"If I can get these vehicles all honking at the same time..." he pulled out a showed her his blow horn. "Maybe they will all come this way. Once they come down the cliff, it would be near impossible for them to climb back up."
In the sky, he noticed the vultures were again circling high above just a ways off. The smell of the dead came with a harsher wind and rain clouds formed overhead. The horde was already here.

"Shit. If you help me, there's food, water...maybe I can work in a warm bath? I mean, just for you not me. Or not with me...not that I wouldn't...I mean, uhh, sorry nevermind. But, it's okay if you go. I understand, just know that I have to do this. If you want to shoot me then just shoot me, I'm not afraid to die for something I believe in."

If it were any other moment, Sonya would have blown the guy's head off. But it wasn't. What ever compelled her to feel just that little bit of emotion, maybe it was that lingering fucker Sonya knew was guilt that kept nagging at her, she suddenly felt for the man. Feeling a surge of anger for being such a pathetic leader and having let her own people down, having let them die, not protecting them... It pissed her off. At least this man was doing something, even if what he was doing was probably doomed to fail and goddamn pathetic. Regardless of that, maybe it was the sliver of humanity left in Sonya that weighed on her decision to not shoot him. And what he said next... It would make Sonya want to help him, which obviously was highly inconvenient and frustrated Sonya. He didn't owe this man anything, yet she felt the urge to help him out in his task of... honking the horns, I guess, or whatever he was so passionately going on about.

"Look, I don't give a crap about a bath," Sonya replied curtly, even though the thought did sound nice if she was honest, "but I could do with some alcohol or fuel if you have any." She decided to ignore Johnny's cute fumbling with his words about the bath.

"For whatever it's worth, I'll help you. Don't ask me why, maybe I just feel sorry for you," Sonya continued, putting her gun away and walking over to another car with a stoic face. Really Sonya just wanted to achieve some sort of peace, a feeling of 'I did my best, I helped'. She wanted to make up for her own mistakes, and helping this man would be her way of trying. And she thought he was a bit pathetic, to be honest. But he was trying, damn it. It was more than Sonya could say for herself.

"I'll take it," he replied, she wasn't the first woman to feel sorry for him in his lifetime. "Thanks." He always tried to see the good in people, even in a world filled with more of the bad. This time it paid off, as he gave her a friendly smile and pulled out a flask from his back pocket. "There's more back home, not so much fuel. You got a car or something?" He offered for her to drink some of the irish whiskey he had inside the flask.

Sonya took the flask gladly and took a long sip. It was good, the familiar burning down her throat way too rare a feeling. "Thanks." Johnny took a chug of it as well when it was returned.

"Okay, make as much noise as possible," he started with the plan, but as he spoke the dark clouds started to loom in overhead. The sky turned darker and the air became cooler. A bolt of lightning struck far off in the distance, followed by the booming of thunder. A light rain would quickly pick up. "Use the diesel truck over there and keep sounding the horn. I'll try to get closer and bring them this way. When they start coming, you take off down the road on foot. I don't think it has gas. I'll catch up to you and pick you up."

Johnny reclaimed his long-nosed revolver and put his quiver and bow around his shoulders. Giving Blue a nod, he mounted Brisco and took off back up toward the cliff. As he scaled up the safer end, he began squeezing his horn as he rode off out of sight. The horse climbed up the slippery slope and on the other side was a sea of the undead. The masses were moving as one giant entity, like a school of fish in the ocean. One by one they marched, many already getting stuck in the forming mud.

It was working, as the horns blew a vast portion of the horde broke off and separated toward the noise. Some noticed Johnny and came for him, though he kept the horse a good distance away until he reached the edge. Sonya was sure she was going to get fucked over for this. It was a lousy plan, and for some reason she was on board with it. Inside the truck, she observed as the wave of zombies finally arrived, chilling Sonya to her core. She couldn't believe she was about to lead them here. Taking a breath, she smashed the horn down, causing a noise that shattered her ears by the sheer volume of it. She couldn't believe she was doing this. This was suicide. Johnny rode Brisco over to the edge where he could be seen by Blue, from down below. "They're coming!"

Not wanting the horse to knock him off again, he jumped off himself and started to pull Brisco down by the reigns. The animal stirred and whined, causing Johnny to lose his grip and then slip down the slope. However once the horse saw the zombies approaching, it quickly followed down to the base ground with much more grace.

The zombies shattered ankles and hands as they landed hard on rocks and surface, yet still rose again to pursue the living. Johnny jumped back onto Brisco and rode over to Blue. "We should lead them a few miles out just to be sure," he spoke urgent and quickly, as the dead were now piling over one another as they fell from the slope. Johnny offered his hand to Blue to lift her on the back of the horse.

Only a portion of the zombies followed, failing Johnny's plan by a long shot. Still, it was going to be a problem for Sonya, the portion of zombies that followed them on horseback was way too big for them to handle. Thunder was roaring in the skies. It was going to rain.

"How the fuck are we going to lose them? We can't go to your precious people and we can't just lose these zombies somewhere. Did you have a backup plan?" Sonya jabbed, feeling anxious.

"You are the backup plan," he told her.

Then she had an idea. It was risky, but better than none. "We could lead them to the city. There are more zombies there, but it's easier to lose them when we aren't out in the open and have lots of places to hide." Besides, Sonya couldn't go back to Johnny's group's base even if the horde wasn't heading there. Sonya was that well known she couldn't mingle with groups.

"It's gonna take a couple of days on horseback to reach the city, we could also end up trapping ourselves. The zombies keep walking forever until they find something to eat."

They rode up a good eighty yards or so ahead of the zombies, gaining speed as they went. In order for Johnny to return home, he'd have to make a huge circle back around the zombies which could take weeks. He tried to stay optimistic, hoping Parris could handle the rest. "I have food we can cook up. Rabbits, squirrels...I had a pretty good morning." Johnny was trying to make small talk as they rode along the barren highway.

Sonya listened to Johnny ramble, feeling a slight pit in her stomach. She really didn't want to spend any unnecessary time with this dude, because getting attached meant getting vulnerable. And she already had Natalia to drag her conscience.

Being on the horseback made Sonya anxious. She wanted to feel her feet on the ground. She felt out of control. She hated nothing more.
"Right. Scrap that, you can just drop me off to the suburbs. We are going into the right direction anyway, it shouldn't be too long a way," Sonya said, looking at the farmland scenery that went by slowly as they rode. "Hopefully your crew will survive," Sonya continued. She didn't give a fuck about the group, to be frank, but she didn't want Johnny's efforts to be in vain.

Giving an affirmed nod, the two kept riding in silence. The sounds of the weather around them was all that could be heard. The rain started to pour and the wind became harsher and more frequent. The thunder was constant over the skies, as it drowned out the sounding of the horns to most of the horde. A portion still followed them, but the majority would turn and wander in aimless directions into the trees and fields. More than half still roamed toward Johnny's home base.

Sonya winced as the rain began dropping down after a while. The scenery had changed slightly from the last time they spoke, their journey mostly ruled by silence. The woman felt the uncomfortable burn on her bicep as the fabric of her jacket continually brushed over the irritated flesh. Her wound was inflamed already, and the slowly falling rain didn't help make her feel better.

Sonya didn't like being too far away from her usual neighborhoods, that's why she had requested the man take her back where she came from. It wasn't that Sonya didn't appreciate his offers, it was just that she hated relying on anyone, even for food.

"You're too decent a person. It's gonna get you killed out here," Sonya commented as the suburbs were nearing the field of their vision, breaking the silence. "Thank you, anyhow. I don't say that often, just so you know."

"No problem," Johnny replied. "Thank you too, and you're a pretty decent person yourself, whether you realize it or not." When they pulled closer to the destination he stopped the horse and helped her off.

"You're a good ways ahead of the horde, I'd say keep heading that way until you find where you need to be," he told her as he handed her the flask of whiskey to have. "Keep it, it's not much but it'll last a while. I have to start heading back, I'll take a different route." Johnny gave her a nod and mounted Brisco again, starting to trot off from the woman. "If you ever find yourself heading my way again, just know you made a friend and that I owe you. Until then, take care of yourself, Blue."

Taking the whiskey with a nod, Sonya gave the man one of her rare smiles. It was subtle, so he might've missed it.
"Take care," Sonya's last words were as she turned and began walking.

It would be impossible for Johnny to get ahead of the horde again before they reached the PMC, though he still rode his horse with haste through the muddy fields and forest hoping they would survive the horror heading their way.

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

So dal will wait it out unless my idea or another means of escape occurs.

Kings and Killers: A Classical Fantasy Adventure (Chapter 1)

Dalious Durendail

Name: Dalious Durendail
Age: 38
Height:5'10"
Weight:165 lbs.
Class: Rogue/thief/pirate/swashbuckler/bard
Race: Human

Weapons & Equipment:
*Cutlass; worn on left hip.
*Crossbow; worn on back.
-Quiver (holds 12 bolts); hung low under right rear.
*Boarding axe; worn over back right shoulder.
*Throwing knives; attached to chest strap. (10)
*Lockpicks (3)
-Coin pouch (0), mystic healing potion(1), mystic blinding potion(1), flask, firestarter, waterskin; all attached to various pouches on his bandolier belt.
* mystic belongings stolen from biship isles.

Skills and Abilities:
Stealth. Usually works in the shadows. Has a quick slight of hand.

Navigation. Is never truly lost, but is lost all the time.

Endurance/Stamina/Agility. Spent years climbing and balancing from his ship, uses parkour over structures when in haste.

Fighter. Has been fighting his whole life, mainly wrestling and bare-knuckle boxing, with a mix of submissions and ground game in his arsenal. Has a mean left hook that has knocked out many small time crooks and bandits.

Magic. Not the kind everyone else has, he knows magic with a deck of cards and other small tricks.

Strengths: Sailing, thieving/pickpocketing, smuggling, sneaking, running/hiding, close combat (cheating if necessary), haggling and is a talented musician.

Flaws: Real magic, woman, alcohol, gold.

Personality: Narcissistic, egotistical, smooth, funny, can be charming, arrogant and hot headed.

Bio: Dalious is from the Knight Isles. His father was a gambling man and his mother was a whore. They were assassinated when he was real young, for business his father should have never gotten involved with. From there he grew up stealing and hiding, always coming back home to sell what he had taken. He had joined many different bandit groups throughout his early life, though the life of a pirate was never long so he adjusted as necessary to stay alive.

Many fights and deaths later, he found himself becoming captain to his own bunch of maniacs. They spent years looting and robbing up and down the many coasts and seas of the world. It was how he thought things would be forever, as he etched his legacy with everywhere they went. He was becoming famous and feared. However the more notorious Dalious became, the higher the bounty for his capture. So high in fact, his own crew sold him out.