Without a Paddle

[Anonymous]

"No what, your highness.  Fine deal with this official."  Hachen said now thinking 3 dimensionally.  Hachen left the alley so the prince could talk to the higher up... although he doubted he could grant them any sort of protection.  Hachen got out his wand and was about to make another escape route but the woman broke open a wall.

They pinned they pinned the woman so there was only one thing he could do.  "Sorry guys."  He said before chanting the short chant to call lighting.  The lightning shot into the building, arched before it hit Hachen's body, and flashed right by the men pinning the woman.  The guard jumped back and Hachen threw up a barrier around the building to block all entrances.  The guards were all ready pounding against the barrier.

Everything was happening to fast for him to control himself so he kept to his escape plan.  He pointed his wand at the ground and a tunnel started to dig itself.  He took the woman by the arm and pushed her down the tunnel.  He looked at Asyel, his eyes sincere, and said, "This barrier isn't the strong, it can only hold so much.  Either risk it with them, or I can take you to the safe haven of Connlaoth."  He didn't know her decision but either way he had already sworn to protect people, he wasn't about to leave her alone.  The barrier cracked a bit, kinda like glass, from the guards constant attack.

[Anonymous]

Ealius sighed, he had from what had started to happen, they had taken what he said wrong. Idiots! He could have gotten them out safe, whether or not they were magic users! He would have recieved hell for it later, but . . . now all was lost, he would still recieve it AND nothing was to gain. He put his hands to his face and groaned. Why did everything go wrong? If they had listened closer to what he said, he had said that they were under the protection of the prince, no matter what, until a higher authority said so, could take them!

He thought and thought, whether or not to help them, it was not exactly a choice he wanted anymore. No matter where they were, they would get caught. He sighed, a safe haven, that was where they needed to go. Finally he decided on an action that was in his mind, of best interest. In a tiny little gesture he turned the air into a tendrils that opened a pathway through the barrier, not cracking it at all, but using its weakness. No one saw a thing. He glared at the soldiers and shouted. "Back of all of you, or I'll have you all hanged!" He paused. "I also want the highest official here to come in with me to negotiate."

He then walked into the building that Hachen had surrounded with a barrier and shook his head slightly when he saw them. The barrier closed behind him as he scratched his head. "You guys really do misunderstand me . . . when under my protection, unless someone with greater power then me undos what i say, you are all, immune, even to people with magic." He sighed. "But you keep on going, trying to escape, making it a whole lot harder for me." He looked out, still waiting for the official before continuing. "By the time a higher power sees what I have done, it will be too late, you people will be gone." He hoped they got what he meant.

"Now all we have to do is get that single official of power in here, and after a bit of power from me, you guys will be out in no time, going to a place that you deem is safe."

(Ooc//: Sorry Crono, was bored so I posted!)

[Anonymous]

"Look, I realize that you are trying to help.  I realize that we will be protected while in your good graces.  Last time I trusted a Connlaoth higher up though, he had good intentions just like you, the king through me and all of the others in jail.  Luckily my pig was able to break us out... barely."

He looked at Aysel and Ealius and said, "Look, I'm here to protect people, I'm not about to let her or that woman get caught.  I don't even want them to have the slimmest idea of going to the Connlaoth dungeons."  

The barrier broke a little more and that made him realize something.  "How did you get in here?"

Out on the other side of the tunnel which was a mile outside town, the woman emerged to see a pig looking right back at her.  The pig squeeled so the woman got out of the tunnel and followed the pig to the catacombs, where she would be safe.

[Anonymous]

She stared in awe. These people knew nothing of her name, nothing of where he was from, nothing at all about her and yet they tried to protect her. She didn't understand it. Her eyes darted as the men discussed their intentions for the future. She bit her lip and tried to follow the conversation as tempers flared slightly with each word. She began to grow uneasy while watching the guards attempt to break through the barrier.

Though Hachen didn't know she knew it, Asyel knew there was a chance they could be caught and thrown in the dungeons, or worse. And even though Ealius said they were under his protection, she knew the guards could find loop holes to get their hands on any of the four of them. Ealius silenced the guards' attacks which eased the tension and panic a bit but she knew it would only be moments until the head guard devised a new plan to get to the magic users, the Prince, and herself.

When Hachen asked the question, Asyel too grew curious. She didn't get why he stuck around when he could have escaped. She leaned forward a tiny bit, waiting for an answer. She had many questions for the Prince, some relevent to the situation at hand and some that had nothing to do with anything. The major one on her mind blurted itself out without her permission. "Why are you even bothering to get us out of trouble, your highness?"

OOC~ holy smokes...that's short...sorry for the bad post

[Anonymous]

What. A. Day. Next time she saw that courier, Leslie planned to punch him in the mouth. Repeatedly. First her peaceful patrol was interrupted, then she had to deal with a death and calming people down while tracking a mage, and now this. When she got back to Connlaoth, Leslie was going to do nothing for the next week or two but sleep and take long relaxing baths. Now was definitely not the time for daydreaming though. There was work to be done.

After she had made her threat known, one of the mages demanded that everybody stop. Yeah, right. Like she would take orders from....Leslie mentally ran through a multitude of curses. Well, looked like she found the runaway Prince. This made the situation exponentially worse. Not only did she have to worry about keeping herself and her people safe, but the Prince's safety was going to be doubly hard to ensure since he was in that group of mages.

And then the insanity deepened. While the group was busy bickering amongst themselves, Leslie was much to confused to do anything besides try to sort things out. Why in the world would the Prince want to protect mages?! Mages of all things! This had to be a bad dream for there was no way a member of the royal family would even fathom that idea, let alone try to do it.

The Captain was yanked back to reality by a building being struck by one of the mages. The mage that had tried to demolish said building quickly dashed into the hole that she had created quickly followed by the Spike and Jim. Things were happening too fast for her to process adequately and-HOLY FUCK! She reeled as lightning dropped out of a clear sky to almost fry half the people gathered here. Backup was sounding really nice right about now. Where were Razor and Kim? As if on cue, the last two members of her squad came sprinting around the corner with Jenks. Hopefully the horses would be there when they got back, though, at this point, Leslie was more worried about living long enough to get to the horses.

The Prince exploded again and Spike and Jim paused at their assault. Leslie had had enough of this. "Spike! Jim! Stand down! And as for you!" She said, directing her ire at the 'Prince.' "I don't know who the hell you think you are but you're done trying to pass yourself off as somebody important! You look a lot like Prince Ealius, I'll give you that, but there is no way in hell that a Connloathian, let alone one of the Royal Family, would try to protect a mage." Unless that mage was important in another country, of course, but she wasn't going to give them any leverage. "And if you think I'm going to walk in there, you're stupider than you look. Now, if you don't come out here then we'll make you come out." She drew her pistols. "Soldiers of Connlaoth. In the name of the Patron and Matron, I order you to bring these mages to justice by any means necessary. Attack!" The soldier drew their swords and rushed towards the group of mages. Leslie started firing between them, sounds of thunder exploding from her guns with every depression of the trigger.

[Anonymous]

As bullets and swords hit his barrier Hachen felt himself growing weaker.  Whether Ealius was the real prince or not, it seemed things wouldn't turn out quite how he planned anymore.  "In lieu of saying I told you so it would just be easier to say, if you are going in the tunnel jump now before..."  The barrier cracked larger this time.  The crack split all across the barrier now.

[Anonymous]

This was tiring, and Eal was getting far too deep into this. He opened a hole with his powers and stormed out of the barrier, blowing people away from the cracked barrier as he did so. He headed straight toward the leader of the bunch. Bullets brushed past him, but none what so ever touched him, even when one was shot straight at him, its path was suddenly averted. He put his face straight into the female's face. The guns pointed at his chest but he did not care. Ealius stared deep into her eyes and sighed. "Do I really look like a fake to you?" He took out the seal. "Does this look fake to you?" He grabbed the back of the woman's head and put it as close as he could without making their head bash together. "Do you REALLY think that I, Ealius, is a fake? Do you really want to take that chance?"

He backed off now, a few feet, but still at point blank for the officer's guns. "Go ahead, shoot me, but if you have to explain to my mother why I am dead and why YOU killed me, then go ahead." Ealius sighed. "And you really don't want to know why I am protecting mages." He stepped in close again, really close, close enough that if he whispered anything, no one else would hear what he said. Then he embraced her. As he did so, one hand still behind his back, he made hand motions to Hachen and the mismatched group, telling them to leave while he distracted them, in case this higher official did not take his bait.

"You wanted to know the reason why I protect filthy mages right?" Ealius whispered into her ear. "Well, it is because I am not to NORMAL after all." He released her from his embrace and stared at her before he went on. "So if you want to tell everyone that, then go ahead, go ahead and tell everyone my secret, but just this once, tell your men to leave, and let these people go."

[Anonymous]

She saw the signal and took no time dawdling. She jumped into the tunnel and sprinted when touching solid ground. She wasn't fast, something sitting in a dark room for long periods of time will do to you, so she figured the other two, or maybe three if the Prince decided to come along, would catch up eventually.

She could barely see where she was going, and had no idea where this tunnel led to. When she fully believed she was far enough away from the commotion, she stopped and leaned against the dirt wall, catching her breath and waiting as the others meet up with her. Today was weird. Even when she did leave to get food or anything, nothing like this ever happened. What was the lady thinking? Why did she get caught up with some low-life who was just there to make fun of mages? You think she would be used to people hating mages by now. Unless she wasn't from here which would make no sense, because even those from different parts know Connlaoth does not accept magic. This woman would definitely need to explain herself if and when they escaped this mess.

As she continued thinking to herself, she realized these people still didn't know who she was. They deserve to know that much. After all they had thrown themselves in the face of danger to help everyone in this mess. And she had done nothing but make things worse. She could only wait for the right time to tell them now.

After a few minutes of silence, she heard footsteps. She leaned off the wall and waited for whoever it was to get close enough for her to be able to recognize them. The footsteps then stopped. Asyel's heart skipped a beat as the suspense grew. Whoever or whatever it was must have had a reason to stop running. She quieted her breathing, which she just now realized was loud, fast and definitely able to be heard in the echo of the tunnel. What had gone on back at the building? Was everyone ok? should she go back to check? Was she the only one to survive the mayhem? So many questions flooded into her brain and she had no way of answering them. All she could do was wait.

[Anonymous]

Hachen nodded at the prince.  If the prince helped mages than he should know where Hachen was going to take Asyel and the woman.  He jumped down the tunnel and right after that his barrier shattered from some of the soldiers that weren't listening.  When Hachen reached the bottom though he sealed off the entrance with no trace of where it once was.

He walked for a while hitting his wand in the palm of his hand. I could have sworn this thing makes light.  He thought to himself as he went on.  He didn't hear Asyel's breathing even when he was close.  He finally got it to light up and it blinded him for a minute.  When he got his vision back he was standing only inches from Asyel.  Although he was there for two seconds it seemed like forever before he backed away, a little embarassed.  He cleared his throat a bit wondering if she noticed the akward situation.

[Anonymous]

The seal would have convinced her. She'd seen it before and knew that only one of the Royal Family would carry it with them. He really didn't need to go nose to nose with her nor jerk her right to him. Really, none of his theatrics needed to be done. When he backed off, she noticed that her soldiers were just standing there, wondering what to do. Leslie was about to bark some orders when he was in her face again. And...hugging her? Now she was really confused. What did he mean he wasn't normal?

She sensed that something wasn't right. For now, Leslie decided to keep the little tidbit that had been divulged to herself. She had more pressing concerns, those mages for one. Those mages that weren't there any more. Mentally, she cursed at herself for getting distracted, cursed at mages for everything, and cursed at life in general for throwing her this horrible day. Well, at least she could complete her orders. She had the Prince and like hell was she letting him out of her sight.

She gave him a quick glare. "Men! Fall back! We have recovered the Prince. We're heading back to Reajh." The soldiers snapped to attention. "And as for you." She said in a normal voice, giving him a pointed look. "Don't think I'm against tying you up and throwing you over a horse to make sure you get back. So, my Prince, if you would lead the way back to the horses." She moved out of the way and bowed in one motion. She was going to make sure he came with her. The idea of tying him up was getting more and more appealing.

[Anonymous]

Asyel was momentarily blinded by the flash. She blinked and rubbed her eyes before looking towards where the flash came from. All she saw was a dark figure. She screamed before clamping her hands over her mouth. She stared, scared into immobility. Her heart sunk as she realized she may have been caught. Her mind raced through all the options she had. They were limited and none would get her completely off the hook. She figured it would be best to just stand there and take anything that was about to come at her.

She stared wide-eyed at the stranger. Her eyes began to focus. The figure became more detailed and distinct. After a few seconds of horror, she took in who the man actually was. With great relief, she realized it was Hachen, only a few minutes behind her. She didn't know what to say to him so she went up and hugged him out of pure happiness that she wouldn't be caught by the mage hunters. "Sorry I ran off like that. Is everyone ok? Where's Ealius?"

[Anonymous]

Hachen was a bit taken back by the hug but caught himself in time to respond, "Well, in order.  It's okay, any longer and the barrier would have broken.  Yes everyone is okay, and as for Ealius... he's probably being escorted back to Connlaoth palace."  Hachen said holding point his wand down so the light wasn't too blinding, but still light enough to see each other.

"I'm not sure how much longer the tunnel goes but it shouldn't be too long, I mean the walk here took a couple minutes and this only goes about a mile out of town."  He said pointing his wand in the direction they needed to go.  He found out that turning around in a tunnel could be bad so he wanted to make sure she knew which way to go.  The tunnel was wide enough to walk side by side so he walked with her towards the exit.  While walking asked, "So... still going unnamed?  It would be nice to stop refering to you as girl," He used a light tone to make a joke.

[Anonymous]

Ealius smiled. He had a hunch that the woman that stood before did not like him. It was but a hunch, but from her expression, and though she believed that she showed known, Eal was an accomplished reader of emotions. He knew that if he pushed too much, he would not like what would happen. That was not a hunch, it was obvious, he was in enough trouble as it was, helping mages escape. Ealius thought hard about his next actions, because they could trouble him far into the future if he made the wrong choices from here.

"Well now, where shall I go from here?" Ealius looked expectantly at the woman. "You seem like you are the highest official here, obviously from here on out, you will be overseeing everything I do." He paused before starting again. "We might as well start on names. You obviously know mine, because you just went through all that trouble to find me," He said and returned his gaze into no where. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss . . . ?"

[Anonymous]

Asyel let the little information soak in. She realized that even though they had gotten their hands on Ealius, he would be fine. He was a prince after all. They couldn't touch him without serious consequence, removed from office, imprisonment, maybe even death if they went too far. That relaxed her nerves a bit. She looked around. Something was missing. Then it hit her. "Where is the woman who was with us?" There was no sign of her anywhere. Asyel's stomach sank at the thought of what the mage hunters would do if they got their hands on her. Maybe she escaped, ran off with no one chasing her. Maybe, but probably not.

She looked up at him, holding back tears at the thoughts that flooded into her mind. She bit her lip and tried to swallow down the lump in her throat. Asyel didn't quite know what to make of these emotions. She hadn't felt this way towards anyone in several years and now all of a sudden she was being flooded with all these emotions. Fear, anger, sadness, happiness. It was almost too much. She breathed in, trying to push down the emotions like before with little luck. A few tears slipped over her eyes and fell down her cheek. She wiped them away, hoping Hachen hadn't seen them. She looked at the floor once again.

"Sorry I have been so...secretive. You never know who you can trust, ya' know?" She tried swallowing again, same result as before. "But it's clear i can trust you, after all you only tried to protect me and..." She Shut her eyes tight, forcing all the tears and sadness back down before it erupted. "My name is Asyel. Asyel Morgandi. My trust has been broken many times and i just...don't want it to happen again. I'm sorry" She choked up a sob. Tears rolled down her cheek. She wiped the tears from her face and turned away from Hachen and walked forward. "We should...we should probably keep going. If they find us..." She broke off. She didn't want to think about that. "Do you know where this leads to anyway?" she said, trying to change the subject.

[Anonymous]

Hachen put a hand on her shoulder to help calm her down.  "It's okay, the woman ran away with my pig, they should be near the catacombs by now and that's where we are going now.  The catacombs are the only place in Connlaoth that are safe for mages.  This tunnel leads outside town and I'll be able to get us to the catacombs from there."  He smiled to her as they walked, "There's no need to be secretive around me, I'm here to protect you.

Meanwhile... Pig and the woman stopped infront of the cliff of a wall.  The woman was nervous, looking around for mage hunters or soldiers but the surroundings broke down around her and she found herself transported into the underground catacombs along with pig.  There people there started to help her and pig was transported back out.  Pig turned and ran back to where the end of the tunnel was, it figured they would be out of the tunnel by time he got there though.

[Anonymous]

He touched her shoulder and seemed to take away all her fears, as if by magic. She wondered if he actually used magic to do it. She smiled at him as they continued walking, relaxing more and more with each step. He was the first person she had actually felt comfortable with in a long time. She found herself smiling and looking at him frequently. He was there to protect her, and she realized she would protect him at all costs.

They walked for several minutes before anything in the tunnel changed. Asyel talked little, but she didn't mind. The silence, the darkness, it all comforted her. She welcomed it and just hoped Hachen wasn't uncomfortable. She stared at him, wondering why he decided to protect her without knowing if she was friend or foe. She was wondering why he was in that spot at that time. Why didn't he just watch what had occurred earlier from afar like everyone else? Thoughts flooded into her mind which kept her mostly silent. She closed her eyes momentarily to collect and organize her thoughts in the darkness like she was used to. But after a few seconds of that, she tripped and fell over what she thought was a root. She landed hard on her side and winced as something sharp scratched at her arm. She let out a small yelp and held her arm tightly, feeling blood trickle in between her fingers. Great. Just what she needed.

[Anonymous]

Hachen tried to catch her as she fell but wasn't quick enough.  He held the light towards what scratched her arm and it was a bunch of tree roots.  He moved the light around the tunnel and the roots were sticking out on one side of the tunnel, the other was completely root free.  "Must be a tree over there."  He helped her up and looked at her arm.

He bit his lower lip thinking and ripped a length of his shirt off.  Then he tied the shirt around her cuts and said, "Keep presurre on it, it'll stop the bleeding sooner."  He said moving her over to the rootless side.  "We're almost at the exit," he continued moving his light forward to show a dirt wall.  It seemed like it was just a dead end but before she got too frightened he said, "It's an illusion, misdirection in case I'm followed in the tunnel.  He walked forward and pointed the light to his right and the bean of light went down a hidden hallway.  The dirt of the right wall and the dirt at the end of the hallway matched perfectly to hide the turn.  Anybody that didn't know would think that it was a dead end and not even go down to the end to investigate.  He smiled and waved his hand for her to come near, when she turned the corner she would see the light coming from outside.  There was a dirt staircase leading up out of the tunnel.

[Anonymous]

"Captain." She corrected him. "Captain Cadoc." With a motion, she gathered her soldiers around her. "Jim, Razor, you two are going to stay behind to make sure the villagers stay calm. When I get back to Reajh, I'll dispatch a proper investigation force to relieve you." The two she named off nodded. "The rest will come with me and escort the Prince back to the Capital. Let's go!" She turned to the Prince and bowed. "If your Highness will come with me?" Though it was phrased as a question, it was far from such. The Prince was going home.

At a signal, Leslie's squad formed up around their charge and headed back towards where the horses had been left. It would be a tense ride back. Those mages were probably going to try and steal the Prince. After all, with such an important person in their possession, who knows what goals they might reach for. They would also be able to make a pretty penny in random as well. Her squad would have to stay on their guard.

Leslie's brooding lasted until the horses came into view. She realized then that the Prince might have been trying to talk to her but no matter. Talking to her charge wasn't something she wanted to do right now unless needed. Leslie withdrew a few coins from her coin purse and tossed them at one of the soldiers. "That should keep you for the night. Replacements should arrive tomorrow." The two saluted and moved off towards the inn.

She turned towards her charge. "Now, my Prince, if you would kindly pick a horse to ride, we can be on our way." And she would be that much closer to getting him out of her hands.

[Anonymous]

Ealius had to smiled a bit. No matter how much trouble he was in, meeting new people, whether they liked him or not, or whether HE liked them or not, it was always a new experience. He must say, the Captain seemed to be very annoyed. Not that he could blame her. He had been a nuisance after all. His life seemed to consist of him getting into trouble. Not that he really cared. Though he might as well talk to the captain, she was an interesting one. Whether or not she really wanted to talk or not, the captain seemed likable enough. If he just happened to get out of trouble this way, then that would be a bonus. But probably not.

"So . . ."Ealius dragged out the word. "How fare you these past few days, Captain  Cadoc?" He made sure to lay the word "captain" a bit deep. He got onto his horse. "Bad?" Ealius sighed. "Hope that's not because of me." He paused. "Though I was allowed to come here."

(Ooc:// Ahaha, short post.)

[Anonymous]

She chose to ignore his question.

Truth be told, the days leading up to this had been pretty easy. That probably explained why this day was being such a bitch to her. She sighed. He was going to insist on talking to her the whole- He was allowed to do what now?

Leslie couldn't help keeping a look of suspicion off her face. "Allowed to or not, I am under orders to take you back to the capital." It was weird, though. If he had been allowed to come here, why the search party? She shook her head and mounted up. She took a quick scan of what remained of her team. The Prince had taken Jim's horse and Spike had attached the lead to Razor's horse to the back of his saddle. Everything seemed to be in order.

"Form up and let's go." Leslie turned to the outskirts of town. The solder's formed up in a loose circle around their charge with Spike bringing up the rear. It was not going to be a pleasant ride back.