The man who had been yelling about Khienro steeling his sword stood out of the crowd,

"Do you think we're dumb, witch?! I 'ave seen 'er kind before, I 'ave!" He turned back to the crowd, and raised his voice even more, "Why they will tear yer 'ouse to shreds, they will! And kill the young'ins and feed 'em to the dogs! They best be tied up on a stake and roasted, they are!" The man, along with his horrible grammar brought a strong roar from the crowd, adding their rather loud, raging aproval.

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Khienro loosed the reins that were in his hands. This horse could run fast, and reins only hindered that. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he was relieved to see that Naidele still had a firm grip on the horse's saddle as to swing up if necissary.

Wood and fire would make no difference. At least, not with her. Khienro thought, oblivious to the fact that he, somehow or another, was actually speaking telepatecly to the woman standing next to his horse.

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Naidele wrinkled her nose in disgust, listening to what the man thought she would do. Just because she had magic made her evil? What little hold on her self control she had was quickly slipping away. She wanted to be done with these men.

'They best be tied up on a stake and roasted, they are!'

At this, Naidele smirked. If they tried to do that to her, or in any way try to harm her with fire, they would be in for a rude awakening. It was not beyond her ability to turn their fire against them. She knew too that Nakaida certainly had ways to deal with whatever these men through at her. They would not be easy oponents.

But just as she was having these thoughts, a similar thought voiced itself in her mind. Wood and fire make no difference. At least, not with her. Khienro's voice. Baffled, she glanced up at him. Did he have any idea what he had just done?

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Khienro, oblivious to his action, much less the stare that he was receving, stared hard at the man in the crowd.

"I say we just be done with them now and perhaps give a proper burial to the silent ones -that would be zero of them- later." he said this all telepathicly again, still completely unkowning.

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*BUMP*

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"I say we just be done with them now and perhaps give a proper burial to the silent ones -that would be zero of them- later."

Khienro's voice resonated through Naidele's mind once again. She still gaped up at him, her mind momentarily off the present danger at hand. She couldn't believe what was happening. How could Khienro possibly have the ability to speak with her telepathically. Khienro.... although she had never before communicated with anyone telepathically, she tried her best to project her mind's voice to him. She wondered if it would work.

But before she could finish her question, a simultaneous battle cry rose up from the men in the mob and, weapons bared, they rushed forward.

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Khienro, still mentally burning the idiot standing in the middle of the crowd, jumped visibly when Naidele's voice entered his mind. Snapping his head around to stare at her, he was about to ask what just happened, but the crowd was already charging towards them. Rolling his head, he mumbled a curse under his breath before turning to look at Naidele again,

"You know, I was just thinking that we -meaning you- should just finish them off, or stall them. Whichever, now is a good time."

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"On it," said Nakaida tersely, one hand out and her pale hair whipping wildly around her as wind conformed to her will. The crowd stopped, fighting against an invisible wall, which served to stall them but made them quite a bit angrier.

Nakaida cast a very uneasy glance at Orindil. "I don't think I can hold them off long enough for us to get away. If you have any inklings of a plan, now's the time!" She had to shout over the roar of wind and voices, both palms now outstretched as if to halt a river's current.

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Khienro dismounted and looked around, his racing mind scratching at the seems of reality for a plan. Suddenly, all of his half-finished plans came to a screaching halt as a large, dirty, balled fist was inches away from making contact with his left temple.

Eyes wide, Khienro ducked quickly before he was knocked sensless, and made a swift return blow to the man's stomach. Once the man was doubled over, Khienro got up and quickly unsheathed his newfound sword, and prepared to defend himself if necissary. Then he looked back at Nakaida, who was struggling to keep the mob at bay.

Cursing, Khienro's mind once again raced, then his eyes landed on a shack - a blacksmith shack, right near the gateway. Smirking with triumph, he ran into the small wooden building and searched for a metal can. Once obtaining his prize, he took it and ran towards the mob, before stopping half way and emptying the contence of the container onto the dry ground below. As the last glop of the tar like substance made contact with the earth, Khienro dropped it and ran back to where Naidele stood, and took her by the shoulders, trying to comunicate over the wind.

"Naidele, light that line on fire, it'll keep them off our tails for a quite a while - and everything should be fine, dirt doesn't burn, and thats all there is around here." He said, gasping for breath. Running around on adrenaline was at least a little tiring.

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Naidele's momentary inattention, caused by Khienro's unknowing telepathic communication with her, made her more surprised as the mob charged forward. She was forced to make a quick recovery as one of the men- one of the few who had escaped Nakaida's wall of air- came at her with a large, wicked looking knife. He was too close and quick for Naidele to effectively summon her powers to kill him, so she spun her dagger up into her hand. The man was quick, but his extra bulk made him slower than her. He paid for it with her dagger in his gut. With a violent twist, she wrenched it back out.

She looked around, and when she couldn't find Khienro, fear clawed at her soul. She was too afraid to look among the bodies strewn on the ground. But her fear didn't last long. She saw him running back towards them and the mob, emptying the contents of a can onto the ground.

Naidele's eyes widened when Khienro urgently grasped her by her shoulders. Then understanding dawned on her when she caught the nature of his plan. "Of course!" she exclaimed. She moved around him and thrust out her hands. Flames emitted from her fingertips, and when the fire made contact with the liquid from the can, the flames shot up high and began traveling towards the bulk mob.

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((Hmmm... Do y'all think one of us should PM LDM? She's been oddly absent...))

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*coughcough* Please, people! Post!

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Without even realizing his actions Orindil threw himself in to flank Nakaida, his bow singing with every arrow he loosed. Not accustomed to battle heat, his horse balked and reared, making his arrows miss half the time - though never failing to incite panic nonetheless. His shots were lined to cripple, not kill, but harming civilians still sent a sharp pang of guilt through his gut.

He steeled himself with the knowledge that they'd brought it upon themselves.

And then Naidele's flame wall roared up, and his horse nearly threw him off. Jerking hard on the beast's reins, Orindil brought it around facing the gates. A few more precision shots felled the soldiers guarding it. "Go!" he shouted over the din at his companions. "I'll cover you!"

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Of course that would be the wise thing to do, but Nakaida couldn't have lived with herself if she'd left. "Nice try," she gritted through clenched teeth, sword weaving like a thread of silver among the endless ranks of soldiers. Her mare was long gone. "Being a Keeper doesn't give me license to abuse the loyalty of whomever I choose!" this rose to a shriek over the din.

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In response, Orindil vehemently plucked Nakaida right out of the battle heat and plopped her in the saddle in front of him. This made it harder to shoot of course, but he soon found Nakaida an asset when she began manipulating the very air to propel his arrows. He brought his steed to bear and caught sight of Khienro and Naidele already moving rapidly towards the gates.

Digging his heels into the stallion's flanks, he spurred it forward. Its coiled hindquarters, already tense with adrenaline, fairly launched it past the disconcerted guards and out into the waiting forest beyond.

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Nakaida turned, hair whipping past her face, to look past Orindil at any possibility that the crowds would give chase. It looked imminently likely. But Naidele and Khienro...no, they couldn't wait to make sure of their escape. "Keep going!" she shrieked again, trying futilely to think of some way to stop them being pursued. None came to mind.

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Khienro, after staring at the large flame for a few seconds, promptly picked Naidele up, a hand on either side of her waist, and mounted her up on their horse's saddle and mounted up behind her. Grabbing the reins, he spurred the spirited stallion into an all out gallop through the wooden gates, and looked back only briefly to see if Orindil and Nakaida were faring well. Seeing as such, or, at least what seemed as such, Khienro leant forward slightly in the saddle, attempting to navigate over Naidele's shoulder.

"We need to get out of here. Fast. I just hope Nakaida and Orindil make it out of there..." He then once again unkowningly sent a last thought to Naidele, however much he wished to keep it to himself. "Alive."

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