Part 3: A reckoning rides from the west

"Next, we head back in and see how to piece this group back together," she says, her smile quickly fading. "I meant what I said: you need each other. And you could stand to use a bit more of your mind and a bit less of your mouth, Tim ."

Lilliana shares a look with Na'arik before nodding to the man and heading over to Akiran when he enters. "Everything okay with that one?" She darts her eyes towards the door where Marianne had just intercepted Thrandimir. 

Thrandimir's eyes harden when he hears his name, puzzle pieces falling into place in his head. "Which way were they travelling when they left?"

Wearily shrugging Akiran looks over to Lili "Who da fuck knows. Ya can never tell wit that one." With a slow shake of his snout "Don't matter though, at least for now we're good. Da wizared an' I had a talk, an' he said he'll play ball." Meeting her eyes "Even said he'd help ya learn 'bout ya people"

"West, luckily for you," she says. "It's not every day I see Karnopolis Stasi show up in my bar. They weren't wearing those drab uniforms, but they may as well have been for the way they stood and spoke. They seemed quite interested in finding this Tim Ridnar. Something about desertion of state work duty, fleeing questioning...that sort of thing."

"I'll be sure to warn him if I see him," Thrandimir remarks dryly.

Lilliana scoffs. "What's in it for him? I don't trust him, Akiran. I get he doesn't trust me, he doesn't know me, but you and Therza?"  She shakes her head. "I'm going to talk with Marianne after all this is over if we have time. Na'arik thinks she might be able to help me... I think she's like me. He has a disdain for wizards, but not her... there seems to be something different about her, like me. I dunno. I--"  She huffs angrily as she looks away for a moment, but then turns back to look at Akiran. "Am I being obstinate about this? All of this? I need  to know these answers, but there's a part of me that is screaming 'from anyone, but him.' Is that childish?"

"Yeah I wouldn't trust em,  I already told ya my thoughts on trust. Best ta only trust what ya can do. E'erybody else is runnin' their own game, an' Thrand's definitely got more then a few games brewin'. But for now he wants ta keep Da Pale One close, an' I think that'll make him play it straight with us"  Pausing for a moment Akiran looks back to the barn where Marainne took Thrand and runs his hands through the scales on his head "Marianne's ya best bet, if fortune's kind she'll be able ta just tell ya. But if she can't do it & we gotta hunt for da truth. None of da rest of us got da talent for that type of research, but Thrand." Exhaling loudly Akiran begins again, his voice losing some of the weariness that's dogged it throughout the day "It ain't childish. A bit prideful but not childish. Forgive me for da unasked for advice but I've seen ta many people let pride, honor, ego or what ya want ta call it fuck em over. He won't give a damn if ya don't take his help, hell he may actually like that better. If it was me I'd let em help. Cause does it matter how ya got what ya want, if at the end of da ya got it. Right?" 

"That's good." She mutters about Thrandimir during the slight pause before Akiran continues.  Lilliana purses her lips as she listens to Akiran, nodding here and there as she mulls over his words. "Yeah, I guess that's true. It doesn't really matter, and in the end I get what I want. Well, if you think he will actually help, but... the biggest fear I have is revealing the truth. To find out the truth behind this, I'll have to tell him my real name. I just don't know that he wouldn't use it to his advantage somehow. Maybe Marianne could provide some help with that too, she seems to know him better than some of the others."

Akiran slowly nods his snout "Yeah I would tell em with Marianne there. He respects her an' she's got more then enough power ta keep em in line." Meeting Lilli's eyes "But it's ya choice if ya want tell em. Can't say for certain he won't find a way to burn ya with it. Ya just gotta decide how much risk ya willing ta take ta find da truth."

Lilliana sighs. "Yeah, well, let's get this over with and see what we can do to save this group from itself."

The group reconvenes in the barn and Marianne passes the bottle back to Ascian. "It contains resiq," Marianne says. "Where did you say you got this substance again?"

Ascian hesitates, taking the bottle back with fingers he forces not to snatch. Resiq . A substance Barnes either hadn't known, or hadn't wanted to tell him.  "A man in town," he says reluctantly. "He doesn't know any more. I asked. He didn't make it."

"Suspicious," Marianne says. "He may know more than he's letting on. But regardless," she says, standing. She looks at Ascian. "If you could go to the Shadowfell in person, and see your brother, possibly bring you back, would you want to?"

“What.” He looks up from the bottle to her almost quickly enough to crack his neck, certain he can’t have heard right. “Is that possible. How. When. What do I have to do.” 

"Travelling to the Shadowfell is possible, as long as you have something attuned to that realm," she says. "I doubt anything like that exists anymore, but we don't need it." She looks pointedly at the vial. "We can use resiq. But we'll need a large quantity. A crystal the size of a human hand, I think."  

“What about this.” Ascian pulls out the orb again, the same sickly green. “Or me.” He pauses a beat at the hollow comment that is both statement and question before continuing.   “Where can that much resiq be found.”

Returning to the group after the sobering talk with Katrin, Thezra’s mind is unfocused as  Marianne  picks back up with talk of helping Ash, as if the crush of their collective oppressive distrust was not steeped into the very air itself; as if their ‘group’ even still existed; as if the weight of this waning world was wavering only on the whims of this waif-like boy. Their words glance off her, a swing from a sword she’d already blunted in her mind, and she only stares past them to the city beyond. It felt a bit silly to consider, but the truth of this place seemed so wholly unmistakable now: this was  a crossroads, and their paths were finally diverging. The mumbles between the woman and the waif before her would have remained so, at least, before her mind registers the question at the end of it all:  Where can that much resiq be found. One last parting shot. The image that forms in her mind appears involuntarily but she can’t help but curse under her breath at herself. Her own words scream back at her to say something ー she’d sworn to find a way to help the boy and now she had one ー but this was no longer her battle. It was theirs.  She breathed in deeply. It would have to be theirs. And they’d figure it out, with or without her sword. She couldn’t lead them there anyway, it would be suicide. No . That’s all this was then, one last parting shot. Fired in unision, passing silently in the night, to be discovered only long after both sides had moved on. Thezra’s gaze bores into the back of Ash’s skull for but a moment, before she averts her eyes, biting down hard on her lower lip.

"I don't know for certain," Marianne says. She looks around the circle. "I'm sure there are some of you wondering why you should care, I understand. If money is an issue, I will make it worth your while. If it's distrust in Ascian, then I can only ask if you would rather he be left without your supervision. I know that this is not the strongest base for a group such as this to be built on, but I would rather see you together, than apart." "I am sorry that I have not had the opportunity to get to know those of you that have come into this company more recently," she says. "I bear some of the responsibility for the mistrust sown between you." She collapses back down into her chair. She looks frazzled, to say the least -- much less calm and reserved than previously observed. "If some of you would rather seek other employment, I understand. I'll offer each of you..." She pauses, looking at Na'arik. "How much would someone have had to pay you to dive into the Shadowfell, back in your day." He grunts. "Depends on who's coming with me. A small team? Probably six." She nods. "Five," she says, looking up at the group. "Fine. Six thousand gold to split amongst you to find enough resiq, travel to the Shadowfell, and rescue Ascian's brother."

"You had me at 'Shadowfell'," Thrandimir quips with a smile, laying a warm hand on Ascian's shoulder.

Katrin's hand throbs as she clenches it around the makeshift bandage. Rainwater still drips from her hair as she stands in the doorway, her eyes traveling and resting on each member of the Fireblade's one at a time. They finally rest on Thezra. She feels a sharp pain in her gut as guilt wracks her. No matter how she had intended her request, she knew that there was a chance that she'd pushed the woman away forever.  She looks back at Ascian. This was a chance. A chance to redeem him. To cut him from Vecna's influence. But there was one thing she knew might stand in the way. If Ascian didn't want to betray the only person who had given him what he had been searching for....there might not be a chance for Akiran or Lilli to ever trust him again.  But the promise of 1000 gold just might sway him..... And despite how much she desperately wanted to go home, to see her family again....she knew she would keep her promise. She would help the boy. She owed him that much. Despite his unwillingness to trust her with his secret. I just wish you would have told me.  "I'll go. If there's a chance to save his brother... I'll do whatever it takes to save him," she keeps her eyes fixed on Ascian. She knew. She understood. Family was everything. "But there is something else. We signed a contract to escort some merchants to Dragonvale. And they depart today. Would this cause us to break with that contract?"

Akiran lets out a low whistle  "Fuck that contract. 6k ain't nothing to turn ya snout up at 'specialy since they were only paying 50. May hurt our rep but that's gold enough not ta care." His hand fiddling with his empty flask as he turns his eyes back to Marianne  "But we're still tryin' ta get unfucked from da last time we did em a favor. Da golds a good opening bid, ya break da Beast's curse an I'll dive inta da Shadows wit Da Pale One."

Katrin turns her gaze to Akiran. She looks at him with steady eyes. "I'll break with it if I have to. I just want to know."  I just need to know if I can't see my family for awhile.

Hearing the others jump in on the offer, Thezra shrinks back even further from them, folding her arms across her chest as if holding the tide of their support at bay. Of course, Akiran’s reaction isn’t as much of a surprise as she felt it should be after the last day. Like him or not, there was only one way he’d take the promise of so much gold. It’s Katrin again that she feels most for. The caravan they had signed up for was for her and her family, but like so much in this group, everything always came back to Ascian. Always Ascian. When she does speak, it’s with a voice like kindling left long after its stopped burning.  “The Shadowfell is likely dangerous. Beyond anything we’ve faced already.” She keeps her gaze low, and only ever drifting over Kat, Lilli, and Akiran. Slowly, she rolls her next words over in her mouth. “If you make it, be careful there.”

Akiran's scales ruffle, and confusion fills his eyes as he turns towards Thezra. The Orc wasn't high on the list of people he'd close down a tavern with, but for as much of a pain in the ass she could be. He'd rather have her there, 'specially since Thezra & Lilli were the only ones willing to call a spade a spade when it came to this whole mess. Meeting Thezra eyes,  "Ya ain't leaving are ya? Gold doesn't mean much to ya, but I know ya gotta want ta test that blade ah yours against da monster in da shadowlands. Ya not gonna let me have all da fun myself right?" Chuckling for a moment Akiran grows serious and sincere "Sides that I want ya here.  Ya can be a pain in da ass, but  I like having someone else that'll play it straight. I know we don't always get on, but I know yer not trying ta put a dagger in my back or burry me with bull shit."  His voice going back to its usual tone "An' ya can't expect me ta block for all these armor less mages all by myself. Even my finely forged kit ain't that good" 

"I'm sure you'll be fine."  Thezra lets out a slow breath, forcing herself to bring her eyes up to meet the dragonborn's. "And if you don't trust someone not to put a dagger in your back or shovel bullshit over your front, don't stick with them." Truthfully, his words landed like weights against her shoulders. They'd done nothing but fight for most of the time they'd known each other, yet in a twisted sense of irony he was the one she felt most akin to. He joined when she did. He backed her up when Katrin and Na'arik wanted her gone. He saw Duar'ken struck down two out of the three times they'd faced him. And he was smart enough to not take Thrand's deceit. But one voice among the rest could only travel so far. "I've grown pretty accustomed to knowing when I don’t belong," she states with a shrug. "And here, it's been true since the moment I saw you all from across the field that night near Fireblade — just took me longer than it should've to accept I guess. No reason to keep pretending this'll magically becomes something it isn't."

The guilt in Katrin's stomach twists harder as memories of their first meeting cross her mind. Truly, it was as Thezra had told her. She was fiery. And maybe it was better to be true to herself than try and hide it to appease the others.  And then another memory. A memory of a conversation. Something she had said. "Sometimes we don't have the luxury of being true to ourselves." And maybe...maybe what she had told Callahan all those weeks ago...maybe she had been wrong. 

Vesh said: "I'm sure you'll be fine."  Thezra lets out a slow breath, forcing herself to bring her eyes up to meet the dragonborn's. "And if you don't trust someone not to put a dagger in your back or shovel bullshit over your front, don't stick with them." The Dragonborn's scales flatten and he solemnly shakes his snout "Ya not wrong. Even with a payout like this, normally I'd hightail it outta a shit storm like this. I'm not gonna lie and say part of why I'm stickin' around isn't for da fame, gold an' glory of cleaning up their mess. But I told ya 'bout my past an' a big reason I'm still here is ta do some good." Placing a friendly hand on her shoulder "Ya gotta do what's right for ya. An' ya right this lot's ne'er gonna be family or probably even like each other. But with ya helpin' I think we can keep em in line & do the world a shitload ah good."

When Akiran speaks, she stands motionless, trying to latch onto each word like it were an anchor, but she finds herself slowly shaking her head, pulling back from him. "Why? Why would I stay with a group I can't trust at all? Who go behind our backs and plot and connive and then look us in the eyes and tell us we're acting unreasonable about it?"  Already Kat's own words from just minutes earlier return to the surface, and with them the twisting, stabbing, wrenching feeling in her gut. "If you want to do the world 'a shitload ah good', do it without them." "Besides, the three of them have made it clear they're a group unto themselves."  Despite the pain that feels like it's rising once more towards her eyes, her voice is filled less with malice than sorrow; a sombre tone atop a melancholy chord.  "You and Lilli will always be second to that." Stepping back, she looks across at each of them until her gaze lands finally on Ascian, where it lingers.

The guilt in her gut turns into something else. Anger. Fury. Frustration. She had tried. She'd been honest with Thezra, and to be automatically written off as false and untrustworthy....it enraged her. She can feel heat rising in her chest, her eyes burning with anger.  "You know what?" Katrin says, her voice quiet and deadly. "I'm not doing this. I'm not going to just stand here and take this bullshit." Her voice begins growing in intensity and volume. "You all stand there with your self-righteous pride and honor and judgement, but you don't take the time to try. To try to understand. To ask.  You want to know why I support Ascian? Because he needs help. Because he has a brother, family, that he is trying to save. Maybe you don't understand that. But I do. I have a family. A family that was betrayed, and exiled. A family that is teetering on the edge of war. I might lose my sister. My brothers. My mother and father. And I will not stand here and listen to this BULLSHIT!" She barely pauses for a breath. "Quite honestly, I didn't like Thrandimir when I met him. And sometimes, I want to punch him in the face." She looks at the wizard. "And I think wanting to use Ascian as bait is foolish and a downright shitty thing to do. He's been used enough. And I've had enough." Katrin looks down at her fists. Her hands are shaking, her injured hand throbbing, sending waves of pain shooting up her arm. She takes a deep, shaking breath, then looks up, directly at Thezra. "You told me to stop hiding my fire. Well. There it is. And if you don't like it, that's not my problem." She presses her lips together, closing her eyes against the burning tears that threaten to spill over. All her frustration, all her rage. Has led to this moment. She opens them again, her face stony, and a single tear drips down her cheek. "And I'll tell you something else. I lied. I was going to plant something in the King's mansion. Presumably to spy on him. But that fell through, because of those two over there. And I'm angry about it. But there's nothing I can do about it anymore. So. There it is. I have nothing left to hide." 

Thezra listen to the tirade through, and a smile forms at the edge of her lips as it goes on. When it’s done, she gives Katrin a nod. “Well said.”

For a moment Akiran's scales flare with anger, and a blast of frosty air billows out of his nostrils. His eyes rove between Thrand & Ash & then rest on Katrin. His scales flatten and in a cold & collected tone laced with disdain "Yer a hypocrite. Worst than Thrand, at least he fucking wears what he is in the open. Thezra's right ya three got ya own crew, an' just want us around for a bit ah extra muscle an' magic"

Lilliana had remained quiet during a lot of the exchanges between the group, she really did want to let them all figure this out on their own; the last time she'd tried to help fix things she not only made a fool of herself, but likely made things worse. That was until Katrin exploded and let out yet another secret that had been kept from half of the group and Lilli could not restrain herself anymore. She suddenly begins laughing for several minutes at the sheer absurdity of it all. After several moments, she regains control and wipes the tears from her eyes from the outburst. 'Oh, what the hell. At this point, nothing can make this even worse.'   She smiles as she walks over to Marianne. "As some of you know, my name is not actually Lilliana. My real name is Laurine Stargard and those bounty hunters were after me because of my heritage and my powers that I know nothing about. Ever since they appeared I have been used by everyone around me and treated like an object instead of a person. I have also been hunted for the last five years of my life by some shadowy cult that wants me for something . Now, all the cards are out on the table."  She gives Akiran a sharp nod and a smile, before turning back to Marianne. "Can you help me, please? I want to find out answers, especially now... something has changed within me and I don't understand any of it. I would like to know why me? Was I chosen for a reason? I had hoped to find answers with the king's mother, but when she found out my abilities were not learned, she displayed a serious level of contempt. Also, for obvious reasons, that option is no longer open to us.  Na'arik told me that you might be able help me. Or at least, maybe point me in the right direction to seek the answers."

Marianne seems taken aback by the laughter and the sudden outpouring of information and questions. She scratches the bridge of her nose, and then returns her gaze to Lilliana, carefully measuring the young woman. "The king's tart of a mother aside, I'm not sure that this is the time for all of these questions. I promised you knowledge in addition to gold. I'm sure that we..." She freezes mid-thought, staring directly toward the northern wall of the barn, as if seeing through it.  "Mari?" Na'arik says, his hand moving up to the sword at his back. "Something just tripped my wards," she says, then visibly starts again, her head whipping around toward the south. "And again."

At Lilli's sudden laughter, Katrin almost loses it. How dare this girl, this child, think that anyone could possibly care about her story in a moment like this? That this would help the situation at all? Her hands are shaking, She can feel heat pouring into her fists, desperate to be directed at something. At someone. Anyone. But she holds her tongue, her eyes stone cold as she avoids looking at any of them. Akiran could call her a hypocrite all he wanted. It didn't change her answer. Or her feelings.  But as Marianne tenses, her demeanor shifts. She automatically goes for her axe, only to realize she'd left it in the mud outside. Shit.

Thrandimir can't help but chuckle along with Lilliana when she bursts out laughing. The whole situation is absurd. However, the conversation is soon interrupted by Marianne's warning and the wizard hurries to the nearest door, pressing himself to the wall besides it and peering through any gaps that he can find.

Akiran's scales ruffle in an odd mix of anger and excitement. He normally didn't like to fight for free, but the events of the last few days had left him with a burning desire to hit something until it couldn't get back up. Drawing his blade with a flourish and a predatory grin he starts to move towards the big barn door. Glancing back at Katrin he finds the Dwarf without her axe. For a moment the Dragonborn pauses before, unhooking the hand axe on his belt and silently holding it out to the Dwarf.

The jarring shift in the room from anger to apprehension is so quick as to be nearly missed by Thezra. She’s still processing the sudden and latest outburst from Lilliana when she notices Thrandimir sidle up along the wall and Na’arik grab his weapon. Twisting to crane her neck enough to see out the window along the south wall, her hand instinctively moves to the hilt of her own blade as a curse slips out under her breath. ”Who… are they with the king? Or that Gesrik gubuk  you pissed off?”

Katrin looks first at the axe, then at the Dragonborn. She didn't like him. He didn't like her. They had fundamentally disagreed on just about everything, yet he was offering her a weapon. A way to defend herself. Reluctantly, she takes the axe, hefting it in one hand. It was a bit heavier on the blade end than hers was, but it would do. She gives him the barest of nods, and steps away before she says something she might come to regret later.  Katrin glances at Thezra, her voice grim. "Gesrik. It has to be. He knows where we are. Because of him," she points to the bound henchman in the corner of the barn. 

Thrandimir spots several figures approaching the barn from the south. Two in chainmail and armed with longswords and shields, as well as with scimitars and robes draped over their leathers. Behind them drifts a crackling bolt of lightning. "Does Gesrik now have animate bolts of lightning in his service?" The wizard asks Katrin dryly.

Katrin pauses, crossing over to where Thrandimir hides at one of the barn doors. On the way, she grabs her shield from where she had leaned it against one of the barn walls. Peering out, she notices the strange sight. "Holy fuck," she mutters. "Well, it seems he does now." She glances around at everyone else. "I need to know what he wanted with me. Or if it was just a coincidence."  She grips the axe tightly in her fist as she looks back out at the approaching intruders. 

The momentary irritation Lilli, no... Laurine? Or was she still Lilli? felt at the second disruption of her plans is replaced by a burst of adrenaline as Marianne announces that her protective wards had been tripped and the announcement of multiple groups surrounding the barn. As the others burst into action around her, Lilliana stares around in confusion for just a moment before she spots Na'arik pushing the cart towards the doors, which she then notices are sliding doors. The cart would help, but it wouldn't stop anyone from getting in... She has a burst inspiration as she quickly yanks out her cord of rope while running towards the doors. "Na'arik, hold just a moment!"  Once at the door, she begins wrapping the silk rope around the double handles as quickly as she could, then reaches into one of the many pouches on her belt, and removes a stoppered vial of powdered gold. She carefully sprinkles the dust over the rope, which begins to glow as she speaks out the names of those in her group as well as Marianne and Na'arik. "For them you open, but to others you remain immovable."  The glow on the rope brightens before fading out as Lilli steps out of the way for the cart. "All done, Na'arik!"

The others confer and bicker and prepare but Ascian is silent, stealing across the barn with a viciously barbed arrow already held in one hand. The figures outside the window are as numerous as they are unfamiliar, yet simultaneously familiar in a way that makes him think instantly of Kou. His bow levels at the hobgoblin at the forefront of them before diverting a the last minute to one of the robed figures perched on a rooftop, arrow striking through cloth to find flesh and bone.  

Na'arik draws his sword and begins to move toward the window Ascian is shooting through. As he does, his sword ignites in a flash of red fire. In Marianne's hand appears a staff of old wood. Glowing orange embers flow through cracks in the wood. She waves her staff and Thezra feels a sudden heat as a wall of fire appears outside the door she is near, directly in front of the approaching people.

The Dragonborn wasn't sure what he had expected from his offering but the painfully bare nod was not it. With a shake of his snout he decides it's better to have her a weapon in her hand than not. Seeing Thezra moving to the southern door, Akiran races to watch the windows in the back. Peering at the window his blade drawn and shield raised, ready to do battle with whatever may come. As he waits for the enemy to act, an old war hymn of clan Sovine fills his mind. A ballad of a dragonborn warrior, who triumphed fight after fight defending his people from the monsters of the world. A warrior so steeped in glory that his name survived the ages, and who Tempus himself honored when he finally passed from the mortal world. Akiran begins to hum the tune of the old war hymn, wrapping the butt of his sword against his shield in time with the beat. Allowing himself a rare moment of nostalgia, Akiran closes his eyes and thinks of his home, his clan, and the old ways. As the hymn echoes in the hall around him, the brand on his chest begins to burn. The burning arcs through his body like a bolt of lightning, but through the pain he feels an old strength fill his heart. Opening his eyes he sees his armor and sword glowing with a radiant aura reminiscent of a bolt of lightning cutting through a dark night.  Deciding not to look a gift horse in it's mouth, Akiran sets his stance and readies himself for battle.

As the sounds of the approaching attackers draw nearer, Thezra curses repeatedly under her breath. Seconds. Seconds from being away from here.  With a shake of her head she storms towards the southern door, each step heavier than the last as her form swells and rises until she’s doubled in height, bending to duck her way into the entranceway where Thrandimir had already set to watching out the entrance. She only glares at him for a moment before continuing forward to stand guard at the door, her giant form stood stalwart before it, lest any seek to push their way in. Her blade practically hums in her hands as she steadies her breathing.  One last fight then.  

Thrandimir peers around the edge of the window once more, but Marianne's wall of flame has obscured his view of the approaching warriors. Pulling a wad of fleece from his spell component pouch, the wizard rolls it between his fingers and mutters some words of arcane power. A section of the flames appears to roll back in front of the oncoming group of men, forming a fifteen foot arch that seems to be safely traversable.

Katrin watches as a fiery wall springs up outside the barn. She watches Thezra grow in size, standing as though a sentinel in the doorway. She watches Thrandimir weave a spell and an illusory arch appear in the flames outside. Silently, she crosses over to Thezra, her shield hand forming a complicated symbol which glows in the air briefly. She presses her hand flat to Thezra's arm, and the symbol melts into the woman's skin. "That should help against the lightning." Without another word, Katrin turns, her eyes hardening as they glow brightly with the fires of Tempus. She quickly grasps her amulet, whispering a soft prayer, and she can feel some strength of divine magic return to her as she walks resolutely back towards the barn proper, her gaze fixed on the man who had attacked her. Maybe I can get something out of him. Before all hell breaks loose.

The figures in light armor to the south begin to charge through the apparent safety of the arch. One of them falls within the arch, his clothing smoldering from the wall's appearance. Another charges through after him, making it through but leaving his skin bright pink and beginning to blister. The remaining two begin to catch on, and circle around the wall. The last one around doesn't move fast enough and a tongue of flame kisses him on the back, leaving the smell of roasting flesh in the air as he screams in pain. The man Katrin is charging toward shuffles back, his eyes wide with fear. The hobgoblin and his men seem to wait, eyeing the window from which the arrow came with a mix of skepticism and apprehension. The construct from the retreat begins to pull back one of its massive fists as it approaches the wall. The mages leap down from their rooftop approaches. The one with Ascian's arrow stuck in his leg missteps and crumples to the ground, barely standing back up. He quickly downs the contents of a small bottle, grimacing. Both mages begin to circle around the barn. The two heavily armored foes to the south take a look at the wall of fire, and then begin to circle around the barn, following the lightning bolt.

From her position near the door, Lilli cannot see anything, but hears glass shattering from the area where Ascian had been standing and so she rushes in that direction to also see Na'arik running towards that same window with broken glass. Through the window, she can just barely see movement in the area beyond near the corner of a building. She quickly analyzes the situation and realizes that there are not really any powers at her disposal that can do much from where she stands, desperately wanting to help in any way. She draws out a small, black marble from a pouch on her belt and places it into her palm and claps her other hand on top of it. She focuses her energy into that cold, dark place inside of her that forms the essence of her powers as a bright glow begins to emit from between her hands. With a grunt of effort, she pulls her hands apart and smiles at the tiny star now hovering between her palms, spinning and glowing brightly. Still focusing on her powers, she begins to press her palms together to force the star to compress into the neutron stars she has put to good use before, but she notices this time that instead of compressing, the energy of the star seems to be expanding outward and flickering in an almost unstable manner. As she fights for control over, a strange dark-silvery stream of nebulous energy trickles from the dark stone necklace she always wears into the miniature star, which seems to help stabilize it briefly, but Lilliana knew she did not have much time. She lines up her aim with the open window and the movement outside, then casts the destabilized star streaking past Na'arik as he feels the warmth of the heat. The star slams into the corner of the building opposite and explodes with the fury of a dying star, engulfing several of the enemies within the radius. From the screams of pain, she knew that she had killed at least one of them.  She stares at her hands in astonishment as she realizes that she now knew yet another way of harnessing the powers of the dark star. Then with a bright glow of silver energy from her eyes, she warps the field of gravity around herself in strange waves to help protect herself from blades and arrows. "Sorry, Na'arik!"