"He's Thieves Guild." Angel responded. "I'm hoping that he was the one that stole the key.. well, not him but another thief that he recruited. Anyway, if not he has a network of spies that know pretty much everything that happens inside any city."

Despite the grogginess that always followed a seizure, Angel smiled to herself remembering the roguish Elgin. Thinking of seeing Falanau and Elgin again, Angel prodded her horse to a trot.

"Theives guild you say" Belland could not remember the last time he had a meaningful interaction with a theives guild member however he had had his wallet snatched by a sticky fingered theif once. He had not bothered tracking the man down.
"Why would he go after the key" he continued, "It can not be worth much without the other half".

"If I may be so bold, perhaps you hoped to use his services to acquire the key, Lady Angel?" Alexander asked as he walked beside the horses, keeping pace with them smoothly. "Regardless of whether you own the artifacts or not, I'm not here to battle with you on legalities and inheritance. I will tell you, however, that unless your man has employees capable of powerful magic, he did not steal that key."

Alexander crossed his arms over his chest as he walked, looking at the road ahead. "The lock was undone by magic, and the thief was actually Traven's personal servant. However, she has no knowledge of where the key is, or how she has stolen it. All she remembers is a bloated feeling within her, as if she was too big for her body. And she claimed to hear a male voice in her mind. She was likely possessed through magic uncommon in unprofessional practice. A master spellcaster is the culprit. A dead body nearby confirms someone hostile was in the vicinity at the time of the theft."
-----------------------
Siras pulled himself from the petrified husk of the tree, slipping his thin form out of the hollow stump and setting his feet upon the grass, looking around. As expected, no one was in the area, so he moved through the forest down his usual trail, coming to the entrance to the cavern he used as his gateway. Entering, he raised one hand calmly and closed his eyes, that single action a signal for the undead ogre to lower the club and sit down. With a rumble the beast sat, and Siras moved onto its lap, pulling out a needle from his pouch.

Without a word he threaded muscle sinew thread through the needle eye, tied an end knot, and leaned up to the ogre's face, holding the needle in one hand and positioning the lopsided jaw in the other. He lifted and shifted it into place, and then pierced the cheek flesh with the needle, and began sewing.

Claudius walked calmly down the dark hallway with Joran and Malinus. Rasien had already gone back to his study as he always does after a meeting. He was still deep in thought, not really listening to the conversation going on between Malinus and Joran. Why would Berich not punish me? It's not like him. He has to be planning something, but I can't grasp it this time. He said we were close to our goal, but what is that exactly? He wants power of course, but that's not all. He doesn't need the girl and the artifact to accomplish that. Rasien knows, and so does Darnmon I'm sure. I wonder what orders Berich has for his little lapdog.

All of a sudden, he was roused from his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look and Joran was staring at him. "Are you okay? You were kind of just staring off into space there for a moment," he asked, his voice filled with concern. He too wondered what Berich had planned, and he was sure it had something to do with Claudius, otherwise he would have had him executed on the spot.

"Just thinking. So what do you guys plan to do about your tasks?" Claudius asked.

Malinus was the one who responded. "I'm going to go with Joran to the Imperial City and start my search there. It's the best place to find information, if you know where to look. Still, I'm not happy about going back. I don't know why I have to go. I'm just the teacher here, nothing more." he said.

Claudius looked at him sceptically, noting the many scars crisscrossing the visible parts of his body, the sunken eyes, and the surprisingly large muscles he had for his age. "I highly doubt that. When are you leaving? I think I'll stay here today before leaving. It's been awhile since I've last been here."

"Well, we're probably going to leave now, so that we can get there at the same time. I think I'm going to need a drink first though. Would you like to join me?"

"No thanks, I don't drink anymore. I'm sure Joran would love to join you though."

Joran glared at him as the two walked away, Malinus humming some sailors tune as Joran mumbled something about always getting assassination missions. Claudius just shook his head and set out to find Alister and Manus. They're likely still in their rooms, sleeping from the mission to Anvil. He didn't mind Manus. He was cold, calculating, and completely lacking in emotion, but he would take him over the crazed, bloodthirsty Breton any day.

"I'm almost certain he didn't steal the key but he's my only hope now for finding out who did steal it. The thieves guild has eyes that see almost everything that takes place in the cities. They don't forget when something or someone unusual appears.

I don't understand why anyone would want the key beside me. It's a dangerous thing all by itself. Sarrah once tried to use it without the Egg and it almost killed us both. That's when I started having seizures. I had to learn meditation to stop them. Even now, too much stress triggers them. If I could first find out what happened to my parents I would gladly take the Egg into an Oblivion gate and throw it into a lava flow."

"If i may object, if someone can steal something from the arcane university it is my opinion they can avoid thieves guild attention, anyways if the guild had it there would be an auction somewhere trying to sell it" he interrupted. He tensed in his saddle as he thought he heard a horse off the trail.
"I am excusing myself" he said quickly and pulled hard on the reigns pulling himself from the road and into the trees, "I will try to be hasty" he shouted as he rode deeper into the forest.

ooc: sun plot from me nothing to concern your selves about :ninja:.

Hearing Belland's protests about the usefulness of the Theives Guild spy network, Angel lightly dismissed the idea. Even Claudius who had a penchant for cloaking hadn't gone unnoticed by the beggars in Anvil.

Watching Belland ride off into the surrounding forest, Angel's thoughts now drifted to this enigmatic man who had once saved her life. His comments about the Thieves Guild spies showed a certain naivety about city life. She knew of his Necromancer affiliations. She now realized to what extent he must have participated in the isolation that left them as hampered as it was enabling. Carahil had done the right thing to draw them into the larger community. She knew that Carahil would be tough on those that broke ethical boundaries.

Her musing interrupted by movement in the road ahead, Angel reigned in and turned toward Alexander. "I don't want to impose any hardship on you but the bandits up ahead could be a nuisance. We can go around them, or confront them as you wish." Angel knew her bodyguard would fight or divert without complaint. There seemed to be a kind of solidity to the Vlotarus' shared by both brothers. She only wished she could get them to open up about themselves. "What had made Vladimus so set in his anger? What gave Erandur such a sense of obligation to her?" Questions she might never know the answer to.

Alexander stopped, looking up ahead as Angel looked towards it, stating bandits were ahead. It was easy to see why she would think Bandits; the sun was dropping slowly in the sky, they were a small party upon a road, and these figures move up ahead. Classic bandit raid in the making. Alexander turned his head from left to right quickly, cracking his neck, and when he looked back towards the figures in the distance his calm brown eyes were a vibrant, radiant violet. It gave him an eerie, inhuman quality.

"A band of six." Alexander proclaimed as the light in his eyes began to fade away. "Half and half on each side of the road. No way to tell their armament from this distance, but I reason it to be weak iron swords, axes, and bows. A hedgewizard perhaps, but unlikely. There are no undead, so it must not be a necromancer." He sounded like he was giving off a report, and when he was finished he looked to the bodyguard, Erandur.

"I think we can handle them."

OOC
It has been a week since Erandur last posted. For the sake of not bogging everyone else down, I feel it would be best to assume that for whatever reason, he is no longer participating. I can carry the character for a while as an NPC if anyone thinks he'll be back or we can go on without him. I would appreciate some input about how to proceed when someone disappears and what do you consider a good guideline for a waiting period.

IC
"You have a curious way of invoking spells." Angel observed. Her condition was improving but she realized belatedly that her comment was almost totally irrelevant to the current situation.

Angel now invoked the mental images and keywords that would drop her into a state she had named Mage's Meditation. It allowed her to refocus and she felt a familiar onset of clarity and calm as her breathing deepened and her heart beat with renewed strength.

"I have no desire for bloodshed but we may not have a choice. Perhaps, we could approach first and determine their intentions. I have money if that's all they want."

Angel dismounted. She was not going to place her horse within archery range of the group ahead.

OOC: In most RPs I've been in, everyone simply ignores the missing character or kills him off, but if you think he's coming back, you could play him as an NPC.

When Claudius finally arrived at the door to Manus's room, he hesitated briefly before knocking. Manus was prim and proper, always adhering to every rule, never disobeying an order, never disrespecting a superior. However, he always had the feeling that Manus disliked him, perhaps because he had been raised in Gardenhall and felt that it wasn't fair that an outsider could simply come in and take a position of authority. At least, that was Claudius's opinion, since he could tell that he disliked Joran as well, and that was all they had in common.

He quickly shrugged off these thoughts though and knocked perhaps more loudly than was necessary. The response was quick. In less than five seconds, Manus was standing in front of him, already fully dressed in uniform with his weapon, a silver war axe, at his side. "I was going to ask if I had disturbed you, but it seems you were already prepared. Come on then, we have to locate Alister. We have a very important mission," Claudius said, carefully watching the Imperial's response.

Manus simply nodded and said, "Of course, Head Advisor Claudius. Whatever Lord Berich commands, I will do." He said this is his typical monotone voice, his strict facial expression never changing.

Dissapointed with the lack of response, Claudius began to walk down the hall, Manus close behind. "So tell me Manus, off the record, what do you think of Alister," he asked, making another attempt to get a reaction.

Manus responed in his typical calm voice, his tone never changing as he spoke. This didn't surprise him, but what he said did. "Off the record, I think he's an idiot. Totally insane, with no regard for other's lives or well being. He's not reliable. I would have had him executed, or at least imprisoned long ago. And if you had asked me on the record, I would have said the exact same thing."

Just before turning towards the hall where Alister's room was, he asked another question, this one more out of curiosity than to get a reaction. "So what exactly happened in Anvil. What did he do to that spy you found?"

Claudius was rtuly shocked at the response. "It turns out that the spy was a little girl. The fool killed her, cut off her head. It was completely unnecessary and it put us in danger of being discovered, not to mention the ethical problem with killing a child. I almost killed him there, but he's a far better fighter than I was, so there's nothing I could have done," he said, a surprising amount of venom in his normally monotone voice.

By the time that Claudius arrived at Alister's door, he was seething on the inside, though he let none of this show. He couldn't afford any problems with the man, however much he might dislike him. However, as soon as he returned, he was going to petition Berich to discharge him, which of course would mean his execution. But when the door opened, Claudius decided that he could live with that.

OOC: sry for absence

IC: William decided to scout up ahead with his men, so he had no idea of what was going on with Lady Angel and the newcomer. He wanted to make sure the way was safe so he had his men scatter and search the area. They would continue forward this way until they reached Skingrad, where William would be waiting for Lady Angel at the city gates. He wished to show how useful he could be, but he needed to return to Lady Angel to tell her the coast was clear.

He came riding towards Lady Angel, but once he saw the bandits standing in the road, he jumped off his horse and hid in the trees, waiting to see what the bandits would do. "Damn!" he thought, "I guess I don't make a very good scout."

He was going to try and see if he could sneak around, but then he saw Lady Angel approaching the bandits. "Lady Angel is in danger!" he thought fearfully, "What am I to do?"

He decided to wait, and if they did try to hurt her, he would jump out of the trees and get their attention.

Belland dismounted and staggered around in the bushed looking for the source of the sound. He was positive he had heard a horse however he could notfind any trace of it or a rider. But he was positive, he heard a horse neigh and walked in it's general direction bushing branches out of his eyes. He ducked under a branch and saw a black mare eating some grass tied to a tree by the reigns.
Where is the rider he thought to himself, however his question was answered when he heard a sword unsheath behind him...

As Angel approached the group she could see one of the figures raise a bow and arrow, drawing the string tight. "Don't do it." she thought but in the next moment there was a thwunk and the missile arched through the air toward her.

Easily stepping aside to avoid the arrow, Angel cast her Clannfear summons as her battle calm descended on her. "It looks like they aren't in a mood to talk."

"Neither am I." Alexander replied smoothly, his voice even calmer than Angel's and his eyes never moving from the bandits. "They have given no quarter to many citizens. They shall likewise fail to receive mercy from myself." As he spoke, his arms rose, bending at the elbow as he did not extend them. His fingers were splayed out and light began to condense as he rotated them, palms upwards, and then bent his hands back, baring his palms towards the bandit with the bow. Another bowstring pulled taunt on the other side of the road, and four armed men jumped from the bushes with hammers, maces, and swords.

Too eager. Too undisciplined. Too fast. Alexander thought grimly, as both arms extended out, the small sparks of fire rapidly expanding into masses of flame that spewed forth, shrinking as they rushed towards the bandits. One gout rushed at the offending archer, and as he turned tail he was incinerated, screaming. The other had been directed at the last moment towards the charging bandits, who jumped clear of the oncoming inferno.

As the spellfire reached its limits of range the flames shrunk to nonexistence, and Alexander was cradling his left arm as an arrow jutted from his shoulder, the aqua robes of the Guild torn. He remained calm, not even gritting teeth in pain, and looking towards the archer as he drew another arrow and the other bandits got off the ground, charging again.

Spirals of energy flashed and sparkled in the afternoon sun in a show that would have delighted any child but Angel. For her, it was a life sustaining shield that would slow and then stop the edge or the point within a few millimeter of her skin; robbing it of it's lethal force. By now her Clannfear had reached the nearest bandit and a swipe of it's claws drew a crimson message across the man's chest; death was coming to the Anvil-Skingrad road.

Belland whirled around only to find a man similarly dressed as him standing their laughing slightly he had lowered the blade digging the tip into the ground and laughing hysterically,
"Master I have found you" he said gesturing wildly with his hands. It took Belland a moment but he recognized the man as one of his.
"Good to see you"
"And you"
"Gather the others" Belland ordered as he turned walking towards his horse and mounted, he kicked his horse into motion and galloped away leaving the man confused and with a near impossible task.

Angel's hand brushed Alexander with a healing spell. It would ease the pain he felt when his mage's training relaxed after the battle.

Seeing a hedge wizard begin a destructive cast she ran directly toward the figure hoping to draw his attack. She was a natural spell absorber. When it struck, her girlish scream signaled her failure to absorb the spell. For a moment Angel's limbs twitched as the after effects of the shock ran it's course along her nervous system. while she was recovering, the second spell struck and was absorbed, the normally pleasant surge of manna now amplified into a sensual full body shiver. Angel sent her reply in the form of an illusion; the Hedge wizard turning away to cast a destruction spell at his compatriots.

The hedgewizard had no chance to cast his spell, however, as Alexander had already been on the move even before Angel had cast her meager healing spell. It had little effect anyways, as the arrow had done barely a wound, impacting the mithril chainmail beneath his robes. The arm once struck by an arrow whipped out, lifted, and he splayed his fingers in the air, before swiftly bringing his hand down in the direction of the archer that offended him. The archer collapsed to the ground, his leather armor feeling like thick steel weight upon his lithe body.

"Lady Angel!" The Battlemage shouted as he saw in the corner of his eye she had approached the hedgewizard. The spell struck her, and she collapsed to the ground, and he cast another one as the bandits began to converge on the fallen woman. The Battlemage darted forward, afternoon sunlight gleaming off the chainmail exposed by the tear in his robe shoulder. Both arms were out behind him as he rushed forward, spells gathering magic on his fingers as he divided his magicka within his own body. There was a glimmer of light and the hedgewizard turned towards his comrades.

The soldier took the opportunity, not waiting to see the reason for the exposure of the back, and jumped over Angel, his right arm swinging forward. Bright sparks danced brilliantly over his Mithril plate bracer as he planted his fist into the back of the wizard. The punch and subsequent burst of electrical energy sent the wizard flailing through the air smoking, and bursts of lightning shot around, attracted to the metal of the bandits' weapons. They retreated, except for the one locked in combat with a clannefear, who struggled to slash his blade at the beast now that lines of blood ran along his chest. Alexander straightened himself, looking at the three bandits not currently locked in combat. His left hand still glowed with magicka, a spell on his fingertips. But he was beginning to run thin, having used over a quarter of his magic in the rapid succession of spells cast. He calmly narrowed his eyes, as the three men converged on him.

A war hammer swung skyward, coming down to crush his skull, but the Battlemage thrust out his left hand, and a flash of violet light sent the Nord flying backwards, overcome by the telekinetic force. The mace-wielder came at his right but Alexander kicked out, catching the man in his weapon-elbow. As he lowered his foot he drew his silver broadsword, metal clanging on metal as he locked with the steel of the bandit. "Perhaps you should choose your targets better." Alexander suggested, as his left hand grabbed the man's belt, and the bandit gasped, shuddered, and stumbled back, his skin taking on a blue tinge as the cold overtook him. Alexander uppercut, a ribbon of blood running from the enemy's gut to his shoulder.

The archer got up off the ground, gritting his teeth, and knocked an arrow, leveling it as he fought against the waning burden spell. The Nord got up and charged again, and the mace-wielder had switched hands, rushing forward.

Manus reached the door first, banging on it with his right fist as he shouted, "Get out here Alister, your skills are needed." The door quickly swung open, but as it did so, a shining, silver longsword flew through the air, ending almost exactly where Manus's head had been earlier. Standing in the doorway was Alister, wearing nothing but his pants and carrying his signiture weapon, an inscribed silver longsword. His blonde hair was wild, and very long, looking as if it had never been cut or combed, and without his normal clothes on, several scars could be seen on his chest. There was a wild look in his eyes, as if all his sanity had finally departed him, and he was muttering nonsense that Claudius couldn't make out.

Before he could make another swing though, Manus's war axe was out and moving. He hit him hard in the stomach with the flat side of his weapon, knocking the wind out of the crazed Breton and sending him flying through the room. He hit the wall on the other side, and the Breton fell to the ground, obviously unconscious. Somewhat surprised and entertained by the whole affair, Claudius walked up to his body and looked down at him, a mix of anger and pity in his gaze.

He looked around the messy room, papers, bottles, and many other items strewn across the floor. He noticed one particular bottle and drank a small amount from it, immediately spitting it out. "Bah, skooma! Isn't that just great, not only is he insane, he's also an addict!" He then took out a piece of parchment and his quill, writing a quick note explaining the situation and then placed it on the unconscious figure's head. He hoped that when he woke, Alister would be in a better state of mind and actually read the note.

Manus then came up beside him and gave him a kick to the stomach. At Claudius's surprised looked, he just shrugged and said, "For trying to kill me."

After considering that for a moment, Claudius also kicked him, letting out some of his rage at hearing that he had killed a child. He then strode out of the room with Manus behind him, heading back down the hall he had just came from.

Angel's hand dipped into her potion organizer to withdraw a small vial. Pouring the contents into her mouth, she felt the effects as absorption began even before she could swallow. Her battle calm had been shattered by the double surge of the Hedgewizard's spells to be replaced by a mood of mania which threatened to erupt into hysterical laughter. The whole tapestry of landscape and combatants had become a comic stage. Her newly turned ally had been immediately attacked by Alexander rendering useless any further help from that quarter. With the restoration that now worked it's magic, her mind cleared and the manic mood was in turn swept away.

Picking the nearest of the three bandits surging toward Alexander, Angel ran to his side and, as she passed, used her open palm to paint a greenish glow on his arm which rapidly spread over his body. His raised mace sagged and he dropped to his knees, paralyzed. She had cast the spell on the run, literally wiping it onto him and continuing past while considering her next move; maneuvering to keep the remaining foes between her and a bandit archer standing in the roadway.

"Alexander," Angel called out, "we really need to work on our communications."

Alexander smirked as she spoke, noting her movements. She had swept through the bandit pair, and now between her and himself where the Nord and the now paralyzed Imperial. As the Nord came Alexander rolled, the gravel cracking beneath the brunt of the iron hammer. An arrow whizzed past the two combatants, crossing the air between them in the archer's failed attempt to follow Alexander's dodge.

It's not a Bosmer. But he is pissing me off. Alexander thought as he glared at the Nord, and the bandit hefted his hammer with equal malice. He adjusted his position, feet beneath and sword out at his side. "Now's hardly a time, Lady Angel." The Battlemage remarked.

"Hold still you magical bastard!" As the Nord charged Alexander rushed forward, sweeping his left hand up as if whipping the air. A trail of soft glittering red orange followed, and the hammer burst through the fog a second later. Alexander was already twisting himself around the Nord's left, passing and turning to face his opposition once more. There was a distinctly different crack as the hammer hit ground. It sounded more... metallic.

"Agh!" Alexander stumbled to the side, another arrow sticking out of his other shoulder now. Paying it no mind he looked to Angel as he raised his blade and established a point of line towards the Nord. "Take care of the Archer. I've got the others."

Belland returned to the road to the find the group in the midst of a skirmish against some bandit rabble. He had been interested in finding an opponent capable of challenging him however he did not classify bandits worthy adversaries, thus he decided to end the fight as quickly as possible. He drew his sword just in time to block the incoming strike of a bandit wielding a battle axe. The blow shook his entire body and he nearly lost his grip on the blade. They locked their weapons however the ruffian was overpowering belland and pushing his sword toward the ground opening his entire body. In a last ditch attempt to stop himself from being struck he quickly lowered his sword and pulled it to the side freeing his weapon and flicked the tip towards the bandits stomach. He felt the sword connect piercing through the fur armour and [censored] the skin however it was not a strong blow and would not drop the bandit. He Followed the blow with a strike with the hilt of his sword ending with a satasfing crack as his advisaries nose shattered. He quickly hoped back and reaxamined his foe who was now bleeding from the nose an a small wound to his left side.

"Time to die" he mocked and rose his other hand in a clenched fist calling on both his inner reserve of magicka and pulled a skeleton into reality. It lumbered towards the bandit only to be put down by an axe blow however it lowered the man's guard and left him open for a follow up strike be Belland's sword. This attack struck true slicing through cloth and skin leaving a long wound on the mans chest however it was not as deep as belland has intended and the man swung again forcing Belland to dive to the ground and roll sideways. He sprung to his feet and holding the hilt of his sword in both hands began a barrage of attacks on the man, none of which where particularly strong but might overwhelm his adversary's defences.

A small isolated part of Angel's mind noted the half circle from north-northeast to due south as she headed back toward the Archer. Even as she ran she was drawing a new vial from her organizer. Seeing his knocked arrow she ran on knowing that her shield was not going to totally stop what was about to happen.

When it came the blow from the arrow almost completely stopped her for a moment. It was a lethal location and if it had not been for her shield, it would have killed her. As it was, the potions numbing effects prevented the pain but the sensation of floating was the instant warning that the arrow had been poisoned. Angel was dieing.

The figure in the roadway swam toward her as she drew her sword and splashed the poison onto it's blade. There was no need for care except to avoid touching it herself. Still running, she slashed at his exposed shin knowing the sword blow was meaningless but the poison was one of her own and rated as the deadliest known. Unless he had an antidote he would die. The enchantment from her sword drew even more life from the raging archer and sent it like a momentary respite into Angels sagging spirit.

"Antidote" Angels drifting thoughts whispered. "Antidote. That means something. Something about potions." Hesitantly Angels hand drifted into her organizer once more and drew another vial. She could no longer think clearly and looking at the muddy contents gave her no idea why she had drawn it out. Here now was her beloved Clannfear standing guard over her. As she poured the contents of the vial into her mouth, she reached out lovingly with the tip of her sword and poked at the Clannfear drawing life from the beast through the swords enchantment.

Caught up in his furry of blows Belland did not see the attack coming towards his leg swung as a last attempt to stop his attack, which it did. The blow slammed into the side of his knee and a loud crack echoed out as both the knee and the leg fractured in several places. Belland stood dumb founded before sliding to thew ground, oddly the blow did not hurt as his body instinctively numbed the pain.
How... was the only thought on Belland's mind as the next blow slammed down bashing the arm he had weakly risen, and carrying through hitting his temple and he fell backwards laying still. The bandit leaned over admiring his kill as Belland grabbed his knife from the inside of his robe and sliced at the back of the mans leg, hamstrining him and paralyzing him with the enchantment. belland crawled over to where the bandit had fallen, blood flowing into his eye making it hard to see. He took the knife and ran it along the bandits neck, finally ending the fight and the bandits life. His battle complete Belland laid back staring at the sky waiting for a medic or his amulet to heal some of his wounds.

As Angel and Belland tackled the other two bandits, one an axe-wielder who had sprung out of hiding, Alexander handled his two opponents. One could obviously see from the results who was a trained combatant, and who was not.

The Imperial Angel had paralyzed had managed to break free of the waning spell, and charged. The Nord was turning around to face Alexander, holding in his hand an iron stick with a crushed and mangled form of a hammer at its head. Both charged him, the Nord seeking to ram the breaking hammer into the Battlemage. He had no shield, only a silver broadsword, and two heavy blunt weapons could slowly break that blade. In his mind he panicked, but outwardly he did his best to remain calm. His hands began to glow, and he clapped them together as he stepped back, the bandits converging on him. The hammer struck first, hitting thin air and crushing itself flatter as fuchsia magic glimmered before it. The mace struck next, bouncing off a flash of fuchsia as well.

Sweat rolled off his brow and down his cheek as Alexander felt the brunt of both attacks in his mind, his magick taking the hits. The result was a numbing of the pain he would have felt if he was hit. But it also meant he had little hope of using further magic. He was draining himself.

So as the mace swung again and the Nord drew back his hammer, Alexander let the shield take the mace blow, and in the rebound, sprung forward.

Blood streamed out of the Imperial, splattering on Alexander's arm and face, but he never got the chance to recover as he was punted aside by the Nord, his Shield flickering and dying out as he skidded to a halt on the ground. The arrow stuck in his shoulder broke, and Alexander gasped, feeling the tip dig deeper. Dammit... DIE! Pushing himself to his feet he faced the oncoming Nord, who sought to shatter his warhammer upon his bones. Kicking out and pushing forward, Alexander ducked under the swing and thrust, his sword entering gut and slipping through ribcage. The Nord's hammer dropped, and Alexander recovered from the lunge, pulling his sword out. Casually he whipped his blade on the Nord's furs, and sheathed it before inspecting the scene.

His duty was to protect Angel, and so it was Angel he went to, ignoring the other man on the ground. He grimaced as he approached, kneeling down next to her. "Healing is not my forte, and fighting isn't yours, apparently."