Fire and Chaos in the City of Thaedes

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Kella went quiet after the girl left. There was an awkward silence for a time before she raised her blue eyes to look at Alastrom.
"I... I'm sorry I thought she was.... But it still seemed you two were as such. I'm sorry." She hoped she didn't bring up any ill feelings. The man looked upset.

"Are you... alright?" she inquired gently.

[Paradox]

"No, it's ...fine. "Alastrom lied and it was pretty obvious that he was. "She's right. I'm not." He sighed, "She was only eight when I found her. We're just a couple of stays, the two of us. We've only ever had each other since the war took away everything and everyone else. She never called me her father, but I think of her as family. Nothing will ever change that."

"What about you? Do you have any family, Kella?"   

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Kella was about to reply on his other questions, but then snapped her lips shut at the mention of family. Blinking, she averted his gaze and dropped it to the ground.

"No. Not really," she said with a frown. "At least not any more.."
She might as well consider it that way and it saddened her to think- her family really was no more. With her parents dead and Blaith having gone off the deep end... who knew where her remaining cousins were. Yes.. it seemed evident she might be the last Harmond. She supposed their line would end with her. Not that she could ever have a family- an impossible feet for a woman who could not touch, lest she kill.

[Paradox]

A sensitive question , it seemed. Alastrom frowned at her answer, but wasn't surprised by it. She was a mage too. Why would her tale be any different? Any less tragic, but it seemed that hers must have been the most tragic of them all. Alastrom was not a very physical person, but he made exceptions for Alanna. He couldn't imagine how difficult it would have been for either of them if one or the other possessed a power like Kella's. It was...manageable, but it would have been such a different and more cautious sort of life. A life filled with fear and probably loneliness.

"Sorry. Just...trying to make small talk. Never been good at it."  He felt somewhat foolish and lapsed into awkward silence after that and wasn't sure what else to say. What could he say to something like that? He was sorry ? He had no idea. "I don't mind. " He finally spoke up, "I don't mind you coming with us, that is . " More awkward silence. He really wasn't much of one for words, Alastrom.

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Kella nodded, remaining quiet- and when the air became so tense and awkward it might break, she turned from him.
"I.. I'm going to look out the window. Make sure it's still safe and no one is coming."
Though even as she situated herself near the window, she had a hard time concentrating on what may or may not be lurking outside. The ghostly echoes of the canons and gunfire were terrifying- and this whole situation- like one terrible dream.

[Paradox]

Alastrom nodded slightly, saying nothing in response because he too felt the awkward tension and wasn't sure how to respond to it. It was something of a relief to him when Kella moved over to the window. Yet, at the same time he also felt worse because he blamed the awkwardness on himself.

Though it felt like an eternity to him, Alanna hadn't been gone for more than five minutes when she returned with a couple of blankets in one arm, and a couple pillows tucked under the other. She quietly knelt down beside Alastrom and propped his head up, sliding the pillows beneath it then taking the blankets and spreading them over his sturdy form.

She then moved over to where Kella was watching. Her face was as white as a sheet and she looked nervous, "So, how are things out there? " She asked quietly, her voice tremoring slightly.

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"I... it's hard to see out, but everything looks all clear," Kella began, but the moment she turned around to look at ALanna, she gasped. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

[Paradox]

((Warning. Violent themes which are not graphic, but disturbing in nature.))

Alanna's face scrunched up and tears threatened the corners of her eyes , "Y-you really don't want to know." She hid her face from Kella in her hands and choked a sob, shaking h

"What is it?" Alastrom sat up, grunting with effort.

"...god they're -they're all dead. The people- the people... in this house..." she couldn't finish as she gave away to uncontrollable sobs. In one of the bedrooms she'd come across one of the most harrowing scenes she'd ever encountered. A family , it seemed, huddled together in a corner, bloody and lifeless. A mother, her two young childeren and ....lying slightly away from the group was a man with a bloody hole in his head, right between his eyes. Alanna had seen the bloody pistol lying discard on the floor beside him and she had almost been too paralyzed with fright to enter the room and claim the blankets and pillows for Alastrom but she had averted her gaze from it all as much as she could...

And little good it did for her because the image of that scene would be forever burned into her mind. What had happened there ?It made her feel so ill to think of it...

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Kella clutched a hand to her chest and went white. Her eyes were wide as she peered up at Alastrom, though she said nothing, her eyes spoke volumes.
Someone had to check this out; what if they were murdered? What if who killed them was nearby!?

[Paradox]

His eyes met hers and he sighed. So much for resting. With a grunt , Alastrom dragged himself up to his feet, "I'll look." He told them quietly before he left the room quietly and crossed into the darkened hall,stepping as lightly as he was able to. Al paused at each door and held his breath , listening for the slightest of sounds , but the only thing her could hear was Alanna sobbing. 

One at a time, he pushed each door open to find a children's bedroom that was eerily orderly and empty. He moved to the next room and found it empty as well. At last he came to pause in doorway of one of the final rooms at the end. He pushed the door open gently and saw the bodies lying there and the blood.  "God..." He closed his eyes for a moment, struggling to maintain his composure.

Taking a deep breath and opening his eyes once more, he cautiously stepped into the room and looked around. Aside from the bodies, the room seemed nothing out of the ordinary except the pistol on the floor lying just inches from the dead man's hand. Alastrom moved towards it and as he bent to pick it up, he heard a sound and felt movement behind him and instinctively he ducked his head and not a moment too soon either as the whir of a blade swept overhead.

Instinctively, Alastrom spun around, kicking high and catching the assailant behind him square in the chest. The sword in the man's grasp clattered loudly to the floor as he stumbled backwards and knocked bodily into a dresser. The dresser rocked, picture frames falling and smashing loudly to the ground. Alastrom saw the man now in the dim candlelight. One of Krah's soldiers. A young man with murderous and haunted blue eyes. It was uncertain as to whether or not this soldier was the killer but Alastrom had no time to consider this as the man launched himself forward with a cry, tackling Alastrom bodily and the pair of them crashed to the floor, rolling over and over on another until they stopped at last with the lad pinning Alastrom under him and repeatedly striking him , bloodying his face and nose.

Alanna heard the commotion from the front room and  halted her tears, staring over at Kella with wide eyes. "Did you...hear that?"



 

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Kella's eyes widened. After a moment of fighting over what she ought to do, she moved past Alanna.
"Wait here," she whispered, and she glanced around once to see if anyone was lurking in the dark before slipping off towards the source of the noise. Though as she crept her way towards the room, she heard some other noises, and her foot falls carried her quicker towards the source.

Approaching the door, she placed her hand on the knob before drawing in a breath, then holdin git- she pushed the door open and peered inside.

[Paradox]

Typically , Alanna wouldn't have listened because fear and curiosity got the better of her but considering where she thought Alastrom might be and what was in that room, the girl couldn't bring herself to go back there. She knew she'd lose it if she had to see the bodies again let alone smell them.

The pummeling only lasted for a few seconds in the time that it took for Alastrom to recover from his daze. With only one arm pinned, Alastrom quickly raised the other, slamming his forearm into his assailant's throat and forcing the other man back and tumbling off his chest, releasing hold of Alastrom's other arm in the process.

As Al scrambled to get to his feet, the soldier retreated to fetch his weapon , but Alastrom charged and rammed the other man ,smashing bodily into the wall though not without taking a powerful right hook to the face and staggering back, tripping over one of the murdered corpses and landing heavily on his back.

The soldier pushed away from the wall and dove for forward to snatch the pistol that was near Al. The mage , however, thinking quickly kicked it and it went spinning away beyond his opponent's reach. The weapon settled at Kella's feet near the open door as the soldier hit the ground beside Alastrom with a snarl of frustration. 

((If this makes no sense, I'm sorry. Sleepy action posts are sometimes incoherently written. xD))

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Kella had been watching in a dazed fear. It froze her in place and she couldn't move- even as she heard the cracking of bones. It was the weapon landing iwth a hard rattle at her feet that had her jumping as she gasped, and she leaned away, pressing into the door frame as the fight went on.

Not a fighter by any means, she had no idea how to help, but seeing how the soldier was eyeing the weapon, the slim girl dashed forward to pick it up, but the bulky weapon felt awkward and dangerous in her hands- and also useless as she tried to regain her breath while peering over frightenedly at Alastrom and the man.

[Paradox]

((Warning. Kinda mature language going on here and mildly disturbing themes.  ))

The soldier's eyes followed the fleeing pistol and settled on Kella, narrowing lethally at her as she picked it up. He froze for a moment, dreading that the woman might have known how to use it but seeing her awkwardly hold the thing immediately restored his confidence. However, as he started to shift to his feet, Alastrom grabbed his arm and held it. The soldier turned and bashed the man's face three times with an iron-clad fist and smirked with a cold and cruel sort of satisfaction as the smaller, older man's grip weakened and he lie there bleeding still on the floor. If the fool wasn't dead now, he'd be in a moment.

Grunting, the soldier pushed himself up ,rising to his feet. "Give me the gun, " he growled menacingly at her through clenched teeth and held out his hand, his gaze expecting prompt compliance. And he was arrogant in his assumptions that he would have no difficulty in obtaining whatever he wanted from her because she was a woman and it was her duty in life to be submissive to men, submissive to him. 

Of course, anyone with half of an intelligent thought in their minds might have realized that surrendering to the killer's orders would have been an extremely foolish thing to do. 

No compliance? So he would try a more tactful command, "Give me the gun, please?" Surely she would listen? His tone was cold yet smooth as silk. He had charm, good looks. How could she resist him? "Do the right thing and no one will get hurt, I promise."

Still she didn't submit to him. He found his sword lying on the ground. He preferred the swift, clean kill of a bullet to the brain over the sword. He wasn't skilled enough with the blade ; his kills were always messy and he preferred not to get blood on him . But now the blood from Alastrom's nose was all over his fist , his face and his throat, a little on his dirty iron breastplate and ...soon this woman's blood would stain him as well.

He raised the weapon and grinned at her, his eyes lighting up with a wild and fearful level of insanity that spoke of a man that was no longer, a man so gripped by paranoia and a lust for violence ...a monster. "Are you going to shoot me, bitch? "He spat at her . "Well hurry up and fucking do it!" He shrieked and then laughed, "You're not going to do it. You're a woman. Too stupid and weak. Just drop the weapon and lie on your back, bitch. That's all you're good for. If you're a good girl, maybe I'll make you a woman before I slit your pretty little throat." He sneered at her.

((I don't mind what you decide to do here. Kella can shoot him LOL or something else can happen. I'm prepared either way so no worries. xD))

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Kella, though terrified, (and perhaps it was the fear that made her unresponsive) but with each question, she took a single step back, cowering away from him as her hands shook. The gun was wobbly in her hands, and she, too nervous to try to even figure out how to use it.

Blaith had shown her once how to do it- on one hot, summer day. THe hting was loud and scared her- and recalling that moment, she regripped the weapon more properly and kept it pointed at the man.

"N-no.." came her voice, defiant and soft. "Just drop your weapon and I won't shoot." Though even she wasn't sure if she could do it...
though the man had a sword- and her life, very possibly, in jeopardy.

[Paradox]

Kella served as a fairly excellent distraction.With the soldier's back turned towards him, Alastrom slowly , quietly rose to his feet. Though he looked at Kella, she had not noticed him at all, her eyes fearfully glued on the soldier. He crept up behind the man, his approach very slow and methodical , his movements comparable to those of a large hunting feline on making ready to pounce on its prey.

Cold, dark rage twisted the soldier's expression at Kella's refusal and the finality of murder lit up his mad eyes. " A tough bitch, are you? " He spat at her and charged into her, knocking her to the floor, " So shoot me then! " And fell upon her, determined to humiliate her and put her in her place. He cast the sword aside , confident that he would not need to use it, confident in his strength of dominance over her. And no matter what noises she made, he wouldn't show her any mercy. He would take pleasure and he would hurt her but , fortunately for the both of them...he wouldn't get very far.

Al stood over them and paused to wipe the blood that streamed down his face from a cut just above his right eyebrow. "You should have listened to the lady."

Shit! He'd thought the scarred man was dead. Bastard was tougher than he looked.And now whe realization that he was about to be killed struck him then and all of the confidence fled his being, replaced by naked fear and a wild desperation to live," I just want to be away from this hell. I won't give you or your friend any more trouble. Release me!"

"Alright." And with those words, Alastrom gripped the man's head in both hands and twisted his neck. No hesitation, no remorse. Not in his expression or in his heart. As the body slumped over Kella, Alastrom kicked it rolling off of her. He bent down over the man and felt the pulse just to make sure that he was dead before turning his attention on poor Kella.

He knelt down beside Kella to inspect the damage. Though he was inwardly concerned , nothing ever translated well on his cold, stony exterior, "You okay, Kella?" He inquired quietly.

((Went with a less terrible approach. FOR NOW.))

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Kella was over powered far too easily. She was a lover, not a fighter, and the man had her on the ground in seconds. Kella let out a cry, and at the man's words, hot tears streamed down her face.
"Please don't hurt me,"s he begged, but it seemed the man was out to torture. He had a crazed look in his eye, that something was broken- something lost,a nd the fear pained her but also made her fearful in return.

It was Alastrom's words that brought her heart into her throat and she turned to look at the man when the soldier tried to beg for his life. But in one sickening noise, the man went down nd Kella, flinchingly, looked away.

She was trembling now from where she lay on the floor, and didn't look his way until Alastrom spoke. And when she did, she grit her teeth as hot tears began to stream down her cheeks.
It was also then she realized she was still holding the gun,and let the metal thing drop hastily from her fingers as she turned to again, such remorse and thanks evident in her eyes as she nodded her head. But she couldn't even answer him. All she could do was nod.

[Paradox]

Alastrom went over to her and crouched down on the floor in front of her. For a moment, his usually stony expression softened and he placed a bloodied hand lightly on her shoulder. Even through the blood that streamed down his rocky face, she may have caught a glimpse of the silent guilt and pain in his green eyes that he quietly endured , "If you're sure , then let's get you back in the other room." He held out his hand for her to take. She was wearing a glove and he had no reason to be afraid.

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The tears seemed unyielding, and though she felt numb and scared in the moment, Alastrom's soft voice helped coax enough strength within her to stand. She took his hand and let him guide her to the other common room with Alanna, but her legs were shaky and as they walked, her legs eventually gave way as she gasped and collapsed against him, catching herself just barely on his arm and shirt.