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The death knight continued to survey the outlying area of the down. So far, there had been no collection of any warriors or soldiers of any kind nor any sign of the arrival of Ventus soldiers, his lords plan seems to be still effect, and even if they took notice of their activities, it would buy his lord precious time by diverting their attentions elsewhere. However, striking down such an easy target has its setbacks; nothing but mere staggering ghouls--cannon fodders, were acquired from the lot they had slain.

At least not yet.

One of the hunched back ghouls hurried back to his superior, and judging by the limping arms and one leg, he seemed to had quite a thrashing. The death knight knew where this troop came from; he was certain he accompanied him with at least nineteen others to flank and encircle Windsor completely.

"Report."

With a gurgle and forceful snapping trying to realign it's jaw, the ghoul spoke. "There are two citizens here that are proving to be quite the resilience and they are rallying others to escape, they along with them some former soldiers and smiths backing them up. I was only able to escape since they have not figured out the complete nature of how to dispose us properly."

"Hmm..." The death knight to one of the former locals, who had now returned as one of their own. "You!" he pointed his black gauntlet hand, "speak! What do you know of these couple?!"

The former resident, appearing normal, save for the fresh bloody gaping wound on his head, tilted and spoke, "Ah, they would be called 'Magnificent Duo' around these parts mi'lord. They are performers...but do not take them lightly. Time and again I've seen their performance is enough to challenge even the most orthodox battle tactics."

"Interesting," The death knight said, sounding delighted, "they could prove useful to my Lord Lerista. I shall personally deal with these troublesome band of flesh and add them to our ranks. The rest of you continue, but be ready to move once our lord gives word."

The three ghouls charged at her with ravenous speed. Jessica, being a Ventus citizen, easily darted backward with the blessing of the winds but before she could turn away, she spied a body--a young girl, one of her own people. From fear soon turned to remorse, turning into determination then gradually to courage. She looked again and found the ghouls before her. This time, using her speed to charge into the frey.

The first made to leap at her, pouncing like a wild dog. Jess made a somersault mid-air. Her leather boots struck the monster on the back as it passed below her. The other two ghouls skid as Jess pinned the middle ghoul down. They both doubled back then made to jump at her from both sides. Jess looked to both of them sternly, then narrowed her gaze as if looking at both the ravenous monsters moving slowly in her vision. She then looked at her own footing.

After blinking in scrutiny a few times, she shrugged and moved some inches back. Both ghouls ended up colliding the other as they landed to where Jess formerly was.

She then hurried to where the little girl was, hoping she was okay. However, she noticed a part of her skull was missing and brain matter oozed. There were a number of cuts and grazes laced all over her clothing and listless body, the little girl was beyond saving. Jess stood there, horrified, then fell to her knees, before throwing up from the sickening sight. She had never in her life seen death before her very eyes and on such an innocent soul of her own people. She wept, quietly, rocking back and forth while shaking her head. Jess really wanted to see her parents.

"..Uuurgh?" came the voice. Jess blinked, then turned. Those inhumane looking...'things' as Jess could best define them, were laying still and don't appeared to be moving at all.

"...Aaaargh.." No, it came from something...or someone closer. She turned to the little girl and was surprised she was staggering to get up. Her Blue eyes, widened in disbelief. A smiling expression on ehr face, as she thought she had just witnessed a miracle happened. When the little girl met eyes with Jess, her expression shrunk back to confusion--the little girls eyes...they were blank white and empty.

"...Kill!" The little girl suddenly lounged at her. Jessica's glance soon changed to horror as the little zombie girl pinned her down to the ground in surprise. Exposed teeth gnashing closer and closer to her throat.

∥∥∥ Irene spent many months of her travels in solitude, for that was that was what she had always preferred. The only person she had spoken with, was the Queen of Lux, and even that was done through the long-distance communication of letters. However, Irene had always kept her own personal goal in mind---To bring peace to the Marked, wherever their presence was seen as unwelcome. Since Ventus was a vast kingdom filled with many who were opposed to the Marked, Irene was careful to for now have remained in the quaint town of Windsor. Since her Mark was on her left shoulder, it was carefully hidden by the silk fabric of the black cloak that she adorned. The vibrant gold of her eyes held an unreadable look in their depths, and the silky length of her cascading black hair was woven into the form of an intricate braid.

However, right now Irene's sense of focus was directed towards something else entirely. She had received notice through a letter of the problems that Terrae was facing, and that it was highly plausible that perhaps that same problem was starting to spread to other kingdoms. After having currently been in Windsor as a rest stop, a quint place such as this was one of the last places she'd have expected any trouble. If dark forces were trying to attack, it had always seemed more likely to her that they would aim for larger towns, but clearly that was not the case.

As the scene of sheer horror began to unfold in the distance, Irene had a clear view of it all, from where she stood perched high atop a windmill overlooking the small town. Irene had been preparing to leave the town of Windsor and travel elsewhere, when the events had then suddenly taken a turn for the worst. However, she did not plan to leave just yet. Irene had never been the type to flee a scene that involved innocent people being harmed.

Through a set of focused golden eyes, Irene payed close attention to what was happening. It seemed that much of the town was already destroyed--For her to have leaped into a battle such as that, where she would have been clearly outnumbered, Irene knew would have been something foolish for her to do. It seemed that the person orchestrating it, was a knight clad in black armor.

Soon enough, the windmill that she had been perched on caught fire from the base. However even if that had not been the case, Irene found herself unable to wait any longer while the lives of innocent people were lost. She leaped downwards from where she had once been perched in one swift motion. Irene's gaze was focused on the dark knight. Once she witnessed what was happening, she began to move towards where he stood in a blur of speed.

"No... No..." She whispered to herself, after seeing the knight and his forces begin to advance towards a girl. Irene would not stand to witness yet another life unjustly lost to such a horror. It was then that Irene channeled a vibrant wave of light to be produced from her fingertips. The light traveled in sudden bursts of gold towards where the Death Knight and some of his forces now stood, carrying an energy similar to static electricity within it. Originally, Irene had not chosen to be as sudden with her attack as she was now, but it seemed she had no other choice. Even if her attack didn't go as planned, Irene hoped that it would at least be enough to temporarily distract the Death Knight from where the girl and her parents were.

The burst waves of light struck down hit the Death knight. As the power faded, only the death knight who raised his sword was left, while the ghouls laid in lifeless ruin. His body twitches from the electric charge sent to him but otherwise endured through the damage. He sternly looked at the warrior in front of him standing between him and his goal. A brief glance towards Jessica's parent and how they quivered in anticipation spoke plenty to him. However, he will not underestimate the warrior, the energy of her attack felt...very different, but nonetheless, the light energy is sure to put a damper on most of his efforts.

"I'm too close to give up on this now."

He plunged his sword down to the earth. Dark tendrils spewed forth and twisted, later forming into a dark cloaked figured, holding a scepter with several heads, dangling by strings pierced through their eyes, and it's head covered by a skull that resembled like a demonic goat. It turned to the death knight.

"Get the girl, I'll deal with this wretched wench." the knight commanded.

With a humble bow, the necromancer then chanted the knight with a curse spell. Three small floating skulls circled atop the head of the knight with purple smoke coming from the sockets and mouth. The knight then went on to and summoned a shield made of numerous thick conglomerated bones and went after Irene.

Meanwhile the necromancer waved for another spell, and soon the decimated ranks of the ghouls were replenshied. Once more six ghouls went after Jessica. Her parents tried break through the frey but were halted as the necromancer reanimated the corpses of the fallen to occupy them once more.

OOC: To be honest, I was expecting to solo this thread. I seem to have the continued bad habit of running into people who no longer respond after a certain months, even a year, but you're welcome to join. I didn't put a restriction not to anyway.

As the Death knight advanced, he had spotted where the interloper was hiding a proceeded but in a simple walk towards his target. It was easy to spot her first three shots. She had good reflexes but no precise aim, at least what he first assumed. He had dugged down his bone shield to deflect two of her incoming shots. One grazed on his right knee, hurtful but it was intentional. The knight gave a sinister smirk as one of the three skulls that cycled over his temple screeched and dissipated, unleashing one of the necromancer's curse spell of retribution.

Irene would suddenly feel a burning sensation on her right knee, crippling her movement just as she crouched. Unlike Irene however, pain to him is an illusion and so he continued in his walking pace. He was cautious of the unusual energy fluctuating from the silver blade but he dared to test his strength to correct his assumption--he buckled on his knees and made for a surprising sky high leap, descending down with the cursed blade poised to plunged on her skull and crack it wide open like a melon.

---

Jessica was shocked to find herself in a precarious situation where she found herself to suddenly become a target for the menace that destroyed her home town. She had a glimmer of hope when a woman, out of nowhere, decided to rescue her but that changed dramatically when the knight introduced yet another adversary and now even her rescuer has in a pinch as she was.

"Jess! Run away!" Her father called out to her, as he lopped off the head of one of ghouls keeping them apart using a giant pencil. It would be easy to fulfill his request but...what would that make her?

Jessica quickly armed herself as she whisked a flute out from within her sleeve, hitting a ghoul right on the head before spinning back to her lending arm. She twirled to the right, swatting of another ghoul coming from there, then followed a spinning high kick to her left assailant. A quick back flip got her out of the way of the other three swapping their claws to grasp her.

Jessica landed on the burnt down remains of a house. She caught onto her breath as, surprisingly enough, didn't use any of her wind abilities. The gouls were quick however and one finally caught up and rammed her on the waist, sending her crashing to several burnt debris. They would've grabbed her then and there until four of them were struck down from something behind them. She was horrified as the ghouls laid dead n the floor. Arrows of light embedded on their skulls.

"Jessica!" Her mother called out to her from at the distance, to which she looked up a grieving heart burned all over her face. "Honey, it's all right. You can't hurt them anymore." she further reassured.

As Jessica looked again at the disfigured ghouls finally laid dead, the faces of her former neighbors faded away. To her, they weren't just monsters, much like the little girl. They used to be people she cared for, people that tried to protect her, people that would've become her friends...

They were...people.

As the last two ghouls closed in on her, she steeled herself. A burnt piece of wooden derbis was pulled into the insides of her feet. She hooked the debris to above of her left foot then delivered a kick, this time, she accelerated the wind velocity of the debris at such speeds, not only it struck the first ghoul so hard that it snapped off it's neck but even ricochet and passed onto the second ghoul and did the same and did not stop there--the necromancer had barely moments to raise his staff to deflect her strike but it was enough to knock his goat bone helmet off, revealing a very disgusted pale figure of an aged man with blank eyes.

He raised yet again more ghouls but Jess was already on the offensive coming at him in furious speeds.

Jess did not bothered this time to fight the oncoming horde. She had her speed and that was enough, or so she thought. As she neared the necromancer within arms reach, she felt a strong tug, then a second. She looked down to find flailing arms caught onto one of her ankles, and another on the back end of her hair. Like a mere rag doll, she was pulled away and tossed aside away from the necromancer. She crashed landed onto the dirt. When she looked up, several ghouls were looming onto her. Jess cringed and braced herself to getting swarmed. The nearest ghoul brought his claws for the fatal swipe

A boned mace, consisting of a human skull are a bludgeoning end of the weapon, knocked off the attacking ghoul. "Get your filthy claws off my daughter!" shouted her father. More ghouls came forward but were bind quickly by a cloth roll. Jess' mother pulled them off into the air and sent them hurtling into the sky where they were helplessly decapitated by her soaring father who leapt after them.He landed back on ground in a kneeling crouch.

"Well daughter, I suppose it's too late to convince you so are you ready for this?"

Jess bit her lip, her heart was pounding but given the inspiration of her parents and now realizing well how they earned their title, how could she not rise to the challenge with a nod?

"Then go!" Her father ushered. Jess then took flight, taking her forward step on her dad's back. She jumped onwards using the ghouls own backs, shoulders and bobbing hapless heads as stepping stones. The ghouls attempt to follow and grab her but doing so turned their back on her parents, exposing themselves easy to be taken down. The surviving villager also joined into the frey, causing so much stir and chaos, the necromancer barely could keep up supplying..

Eventually, he changed from reinforcing to attacking by hurtling a purple flaming skull at her. Jess spun sideways, avoiding the hit. The ghoul coming behind her melted down to an acidic pool as the skull struck him instead. Jess soon lands herself right at the front of the necromancer

Now at close range, the two exchange a flurry of swipes and punches with Jess mostly evading the staff swipes and thrusts. She saw an opening as the necromancer went for a hammer down strike on his left. Jess then leaped and grabbed on right forearm. She then brought herself over her opponent, making him recline backwards then let go. The acrobatic girl then landed on her feet and at his back then turned and quickly pulled on his ankles, forcing him to fall flat on the ground and losing his staff.

Ghouls quickly came to reinforce. A shocked Jess quickly went for the necromancer's staff and wielded it in spins, repelling most of the incoming threats and keeping them away with thrusts and kicks. In the ensuing battle however, Jess noted the necromancer--her had a feared expression and worried expression on his face.

Fear and worry--two things that were very rare to see in an undead monster unless....

Jess looked to the staff. Without a second thought, she broke the weapon in two. Suddenly, the ghouls went limp. The necromancer on the other hand, cried in utter ghastly horror, before thousands of souls from the very depths of nightmares of hell echoed out into the mortal plain screaming countless vengeance and anguish as they escaped out the necromancer's body, before black fire singed off his clothes and tendrils came to tear all his body parts bit by bit and then returned to the depths he came.

-----

The Death Knight merely looked at the fleeling warrior with a scowl, though he must admit, she bear two elements, easy enough to recognize as she fled from the battle. "So even the marked can not match against us? You should've joined instead."

The poison left on his body did little to no effect as the dead have no working bodies. He sensed a waning power and by the time he turned, his necromancer subordinate was already defeated.

"Impressive," he remarked, "but now let us see if you are such a worth opponent." He then approaches Jess, wielding his blade and the necromancer's curse spell still in effect on him.

Jess eyes were shut the moment the blade cascaded itself on the sky above her. However, as she braced for gruesome pain and death, she felt none. Widened in bewilderment, she found an outline silhouette of a daring figure above her, where the sword as stopped in it's descent. He had caught the blade in his pencil staff but it still reached enough to graze upon his left shoulder--evident by a gash of red on his shirt. The death knight twitched a brow. He attempted to push the blade further to chop off his arm but couldn't be able to do so. Looking below, he had noticed several fabrics wrapped on his hands, binding him into his sword--a further effort on the part of Jessica's mother, who was pulling the knight back from behind him.

"Jess run!" commanded her father.

"A pitiful effort," taunted the knight. He then shifted his force, twisting his wrists so that his blade wrapped around the extended fabrics binding him and cut him loose. Her mother fell back from the sudden cut away. Her father launched himself at the knight but he countered back with a straight forward punch of both his fists, knocking him back and out. The knight then pulled his arms apart and the fabrics binding him were ripped apart. Much of the village survivors were still engaging with remnants of the ghouls to be of aid.

The knight then turned to Jess, who had by now staggered to get up on her feet. "Child, surrender now and gives yourselves to me, or at least spare the lives of your parents by giving yours. Or I shall simply end you all. Either way I shall win."