Xia looked from H to Riastrad, then towards the darkness that was the sewers. "Well," Xia walked passed H and entered the sewers; "it can't be worse than having to clean out a pigpen." She added.

A chuckle, and the grate was sealed behind them.
A few minutes of walking through empty, dark, dank sewers, and suddenly both H and Xia felt ice-cold knives at their throats.
Riastrad slowly raised his hands, in the same predicament. "Easy boys..."
"Turn out your pockets. All of you. NOW!"
"Do as they say," Riastrad said loudly. "Either we're about to get dirty, or apologized to."

The elderly elf beckoned Lavina over to Memoire's slashed chest.
"Hold out your arm," the elf said tenderly, withdrawing a curved very sharp blade. "Fear not - the weapon is enchanted, you will feel no pain from cuts made with this tool."

H glared at the men that had the knives to her throat. She could simply take them down in an instant with the way their posture was. When Riastrad told them to do as they said she glared at him
"Do as they say? I dont have anything of importance on me"



Lavina was hesitant at first. The dagger somewhat frightened her especially everything that has happened. She looked down at Memoire and she decided to risk it. She held out her arm above Memoire
"Just do it"

"Alright." Xia said in a calm tone, as she dropped her bag on the foot of the nearest guy to her; which caused him to drop his knife, and let out a loud howl of pain. Xia looked at the man that howled out in pain, as he glared up at her.
"She broke my foot!" He growled.
"I don't have pockets." Xia retorted, in the same calm tone. "Everything I have, is in that bag. I guess it's pretty heavy; huh?"
"You think?!" The man snarled at Xia.

Riastrad chuckled.
"You'll go far, Xia."
The man behind H held her tighter. "Look here lady. Either turn out your pockets or we'll search you, and we won't be nice about it."

The sage cut Lavina's arm and held it over Memoire's chest. "Here we go..."

H raised a brow at the man when he held her tighter. Next thing the man knew he was laying flat on the ground with H holding her dagger against his neck
"Now what was that about searching me?"
To everyone else she was standing one moment and the next the man was suddenly on the ground. Almost as if time skipped a few seconds ahead. She looked up at the other men
"I would advise you let them go or your friend here wont live, and then I will come for you next"


Lavina inhaled sharply at the feel of the blade on her skin, a moment later she felt no pain. She opened her eyes and watched as the blood dripped down in his chest. At the same time thinking if the decision she made was a good one. Desherins words circled around in her head, her words about trusting humans and what they were capable of. Here she sits giving a human her blood which give him some of her power. She hoped that he wouldn't decide to use it against them once he realizes what he can do with it. She looked up at the sage
"How much blood will he need from me?"

"Enough to weaken you. You will need rest afterwards."
Memoire's body was slowly healing as more blood dripped into the wound.
"I can sense your discomfort. If you wish to halt the ritual there is still time."

Twenty blades appeared from nowhere and each cut about an inch into H's skin at various parts of her body.
"You try anything else, child," said a woman's voice very sadistically from H's left ear, "and we'll see how deep these knives can go before they strike bone." The pain from the cuts clouded her mind, preventing her from concentrating enough to use her power.
Riastrad and Xia remained silent with their solo guards.
"Now," said the voice again. "Are you going to co-operate, bitch, or are we going to get a new training dummy that can shriek? Say "I wet myself" and I'll be nice enough to take my blades away. Say nothing or anything other than those three words and we will gut you like a fish."
Riastrad made a noise like an angered bull. "Hold on now, this ain't fair at all -"
There was a shing of steel and Riastrad halted. "You and the other girl haven't been foolish enough to try and make a statement. Think of us more as teachers of life's lessons. Sometimes a little humility is required without pretense or grudge."
The voice returned to addressing H again. "You have 5 seconds. One."

Lavina clenched her fist for a moment then relaxed
"No I want to finish this, I'll be fine"
she was starting to feel a little faint but toughened it out
"I'm stronger then I may look"
she held her hand over his chest continuing to allow her blood to drip into the wound while struggling to stay conscious. Telling herself just a little more


H winced at the cuts she received, she started breathing heavy through the pain. She tried to slow down the time in order for them to get away, one she was at her limit, two she couldnt concentrate with the wounds. Instead of trying to fight back, which she wanted to , she remained still. She looked to Riastrad then to Xia before dropping her head in shame. Unable to keep fighting. Gritting her teeth she said the words that she was demanded to say
"I.....I wet...myself"

H was patted down, searched thoroughly, then pushed ahead to join her companions.
"Don't feel bad about it girl," the voice said kindly from behind her. "Arrogance is not a good trait. There will always be times to surrender."
The guards opened the door to reveal a vast underground cavern, with tunnels moving off from every which way. People toiled at clearly moved forges, some practiced sword fighting and archery, some were poring over maps and such.
"Well," Riastrad said gruffly, "you two girls get to asking about a job. I'll get the warpstone delivered." He lifted the bag and left the two girls alone with the men.
The men parted and a woman stepped forwards, H's blood still on the end of her blade. Before she said a word she snapped her fingers and every single one of H's wounds were attended to by men with cotton balls dipped in alcohol to clean the wounds.
"I take it that the quiet one has got the brains?" she said, eyebrow raised, pointing at Xia. The woman was slender yet muscled, two long slightly curved sabres at her waist, long flowing black hair and - disturbingly - she seemed to have two large fangs that poked out of her mouth. "And from that, you're the feisty one, Miss Start-a-Fight?"

Memoire's wound closed completely and his breathing became audible once more.
Directly before their eyes, the tips of his ears reshaped, forming points.
"Oh..." breathed the ancient mage. "The changes are faster than I suspected."
Lavina's father turned to her. "How are you feeling?"

H winced when the men cleaned her wounds with alcohol. The sting almost unbearable, but it wouldn't have been the worst pain she experienced.

"And from that, you're the feisty one, Miss Start-a-Fight?"
"They were the ones who held a blade at me first and told me to empty my pockets, after I told them I had none, they proceeded to press the blade even more on me. I was only protecting myself"
she snapped



Leah looked over at her father barely able to hold herself up, her body was swaying as she tried to keep from falling over, Breathing heavy as if it was taking all will to talk
"I'm fine... just....ti...red......"
She suddenly collapsed on top of Memoire as she completely blacked out. Her face and body pale from the loss of blood but she was breathing normally, it was as if she was just sound asleep

The woman laughed, and the men around her chuckled.
"Lass, there are plenty of places a woman can hide a weapon. We've got more pockets than men - and being part of the rebellion is not exactly a position that doesn't exercise caution. We had to be sure, but we don't take kindly to you taking down one of our men for doing his job. Don't worry, no hard feelings around the board - but just remember, defending yourself is something you should only do if you need defending. If a fly landed on you, would you draw your blade and try to slice it apart? Would you swat it for getting in your way? Or would you let it go on its way after landing on you?"

When Lavina awoke, she was in her old bed, all traces of the assassin gone. Memoire was sitting at the end of her bed, and had his hands over his ears. "How..." he murmured, sounding in pain, "do...you...cope...?" After noticing she was awake, he lowered the hands for a brief smile, only to instantly clasp them over his ears again. "Glad to see you're awake," he said, distractedly.

Xia listened to the conversation between H and the woman. She folded her arms slightly, as she tilted her head...if she had grown up the way that she assumes her parents grew up, she might have reacted as H had. 'Perhaps that's why they left me with Jim and Mary.' She thought to herself. She moved her eyes towards the woman. "What is it that you do here?" Xia asked, as she unfolded her arms.

H glared
"If he wouldnt have pressed his weapon against me I wouldn't have thrown him over my shoulder"


Lavina looked down at him and slowly sat up still feeling a little weak
"Cope?"
she gave him a confused look then noticed him touching his ears
"How do you think your father will respond to that?"

"He was only doing his job," the woman remarked. "Anyone with half a brain in their heads would know that and act accordingly."
She cocked her head. "For someone like you to be here means you're not completely thick, but in doing what you did you showed your hand so very early. You showed us you had magic. You showed us you're capable of defending yourself. So we simply denied you the opportunity to do so again. But, you played along so maybe there's hope for you after all."
She turned to Xia. "I'm the second-in-command to Bitten Hand. You want a name for me, Teir will serve. I train new recruits, assassinate allies of the crown, and most importantly I kill anyone who I think is a threat to the cause. This kingdom is a corrupt and terrible bloated thing of deception, abuse and lies. We must cut and burn out the core of the crisis and start anew."
Something dripped on the back of H's neck, then she felt nothing more.
"Now, that mercenary said something about you two wanting a job?" Teir asked, her arms crossed.

Memoire chuckled. "My father has more important things to notice than my new look."
When he met her eyes she saw his had become startlingly slitted, like a cat's.
"I can hear them," he muttered, his teeth gritted all of a sudden. "The trees, the plants, the animals. I can HEAR them. Voices, so many voices, all so old and loud, like a ringing of bells... I take it you grew up with this?"

"And I wasn't doing anything to hurt anyone and they held a blade to my neck. Anyone with a brain would have reacted the same way as I did, How was I supposed to know he wasn't a mugger, a rapist or anything to those extents? I was just protecting myself"
when she felt the drip H wiped it off the back of her neck, assuming it was just water
"So your the one offering the job? What is the job exactly and what will be be doing?"


Lavina shook her head.
"I was born with it, You just gained it being an adult. Its different when your born with it. Eventually they will go away and only the ones you approach and speak to will be the only ones you hear"
she gave him a gentle smile
"How are you feeling?"
she looked down at her hands, fiddling with the material of the blanket
"Thank you...for saving my life"

Teir chuckled.
"I think you've just got a problem with blokes. You need to get laid."
She changed tack, becoming professional.
"You'd be stock runners, going out to get us supplies. We're planning something big, something that if it works will turn the kingdom upside down and topple those who laugh on their high horses right out into the dirt. We need all the help we can get, and I take it you have no love for the elite here. If you do well and prove yourselves, we'll upgrade your workload to assassinations, spy jobs, getting your own forces to command - and should Bitten Hand take an interest in your efforts, you might end up a lieutenant like me. Sound good?"

Memoire started, as though he just remembered why he'd even needed the transfusion in the first place.
"Oh. You're - you're very welcome, Lavina. Any time."
He rubbed his stomach, wincing. "A little queasy, but I'll be fine. Thank you for giving up your blood to save me. I wouldn't have asked you to do that."

Xia listened carefully, then looked directly at Teir. "I come with a few strings attached...two in fact." Xia spoke. "The warpstone that was brought with us, if it's to be fashioned into crossbow bolts, I must be the one to make them, and fire them." She spoke with a serious tone.

H chuckled
"Isnt the first time I have heard that one. I prefer to stay pure until I am ready"
stood silently the rest of the time,while Xia made her demands, she leaned against the wall. She admired Xias demands and tone she was using.



Lavina smiled
"I know you wouldn't have, but it was my choice and I chose to save you. After all you saved my life, so it was right for me to repay the favor."
she looked at his chest wondering
"I-is there a scar, or did the blood heal it completely? I wasn't able to see since I blacked out."
she realized what she was asking him then slightly followed in a somewhat panicked tone
"Y-you don't have to show me if you don't want to. I was just curious as to how it worked"

Teir looked impressed.
"A reasonable demand. However, how often you get to fire those bolts is a very different matter. Don't get trigger-happy before we give you targets."
She turned her attention to H. "What about you, warrior girl? You come with any terms and conditions?"

Memoire opened his shirt to reveal a long pale scar marking his chest - which was now oddly muscular as opposed to proportioned as it had been yesterday. The scar had been tattooed with images of leaves and vines coiled around it.
"Someone did that to me whilst we were out. Is that a done thing around here?"

"As long as it legal, doesn't get me hurt or killed and we are free to do as we wish after the jobs is done no strings attached. I'm fine with the work"



Lavina was surprised to see the scar. She had thought there wouldn't be one. She smiled when she saw the vines
"I don't know, that would be something to ask my father. I'm assuming it has something to do with you saving me"
she couldn't help but stare at his chest. She quickly cleared her throat and looked away when she realized she was staring.
"Thank you for showing me. I'm glad your feeling better now"

"That was what I was taught. You shot what you make." Xia stated flatly. "I have not made a single crossbow, bolt or blade for any other person, other than myself. My creations are as precious to me, as my own life and 'innocence'." When Xia said 'innocence' she used finger quotations, as if she was referring to something else that should have been said in its place.

Memoire noticed her looking at it.
"You like it?" he asked, stepping closer. "Take a closer look if you like."

Teir smirked. "No guarantees you won't get killed, lass. But you seem capable enough. But, in case I'm wrong -"
She clicked her fingers and the four men surrounding her drew blades.
"Here's your entrance exam," she said, her hand waiting on the hilt of her own blade.

Xia, knowing that her crossbow was in the bag that Riastrad had taken from her, drew the dagger that was strapped to her leg. She had no intention of killing the men that surrounded her, since she knew that this was a test of shorts. She suddenly vanished from where she was standing, reappearing behind one of the men. She quickly slammed the hilt of her dagger on the back of his head, rendering him unconscious, before vanishing again, while the other three men attempted to catch her. She reappeared in front of a second man, crouched on all fours, she quickly spun, knocking the man on his back, then vanished before he could react. She then reappeared beside a third, as she attempted to knock him out, as she had done to the first, the fourth man grabbed her, and restrained her, as the second man rose to his feet, and walked towards her. Xia, keeping a calm expression on her face, suddenly gave a sly half smile, her eyes suddenly flashed soon after, which was followed by an explosion of sorts. This was followed by dust being whipped up from the floor, and the sounds of the remaining three men grunting loudly as they struck the walls with a thud. When the dust settled, Xia was standing where she had been restrained, and the four men where laying on the floor, all unconscious.

H smirked seeing Xia had taken care of the men
"Impressive"
she commented on how well Xia handled them


Lavina shook her head
"No its ok. Its just I've never seen a scar like that before"
she kept her eyes on her bed
"Y-you should get something to eat. It'll help you with the queasiness"

Memoire stepped closer, now only a foot away, whilst shirtless and not exactly fully covered on the bottom half.
"Lavina... are you sure you're alright?"

Teir tapped H on the shoulder.
"You against me. Come on."