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Sent Kobold

Chapter 7: Revolt's Chaos

Author's Note: Warning! This is an extremely long chapter. Better have some time to spare.

In order to bring about change, something must be given in return, if only to hope that it ends better for all.

---

In a town four days out of Milianso, the residents were about to see one the stranger sights of their lives.

Then the Kobolds came in.

"Are we there yet?" asked Iskdiwercaesin as he curled up on the remains of his hoard.

"How about you stick your head up and look around?" growled Baous as he tightly gripped the reigns, his claws sinking into the leather.

"But then I'd have to look at your face and I don't want to spoil my view," mocked the green dragon.

Serhis took a sip from his canteen before sighing, the past four days weren't the most stress relieving. He was seriously rethinking about his people's ideals about the nobility and glory of dragons. Sure enough there were shining examples, but he wondered why nobody ever said anything about the arrogance and vanity that came with it. Most likely because the ones that did didn't live long after voicing that opinion.

After spending four days with the wyrmling, it was abundantly clear that he and Baous had a clash of personalities, to put it mildly. Baous wanted for Serhis and himself to just go on their own path and let Iskdiwercaesin go on his own way, but the dragon had a will of his own and that he would be following them regardless and that they had no way to be rid of him. Serhis also didn't like how Iskdiwercaesin irritated his friend, but he could offer little more than a rebuke. At the very least Baous responded with equal vitriol when pressed.

"At least my face doesn't cause everyone to run away screaming when I poke my head up."

"Shut up. I only asked that woman for directions and she must have been surprised from my quick appearance," Iskdiwercaesin shot back, though he knew that was a weak response.

"Quiet. Please. A little quiet. At least for an hour," pleaded Serhis with exhaustion from hearing this constant bickering. Here was another part of Baous he never had seen, and this was a part that he really didn't want to know any more about. An aggravated Baous was something he never hoped to see for any length of time. Unfortunately, as long as the wyrmling was with them and had an open mouth, that wasn't going to change soon.

Huffing, Iskdiwercaesin closed his eyes and curled up into a more comfortable position. Even if the ritual had altered him, it would seem that being something of a jerk was his actual personality instead of a condition of his species. "This stuff is low quality, you should have just let me haggle for a lower price," he muttered as he examined the items they had bought two days ago. Out of the nearly ten thousand gold pieces left in the wagon, there was barely enough to cover the bottom now. They had stopped in at a village to purchase some supplies and other assorted good and Iskdiwercaesin had wanted to purchase items that ranged from the mundane to healing potions and scrolls of magic.

"They gave you a five percent discount, that was good enough, and I don't think showing all your teeth was a good way to get a better deal," said Serhis. At the very least, Iskdiwercaesin had understood that anything aggressive would not be tolerated by him, and had spelled out that a "rampaging and berserk dragon" running through the countryside tended to bring all the fortune seekers out of the woodwork and that he had no means of escaping or beating a serious force. Buying those items was an investment he said, to let him be better able to replenish his lost hoard. "I see a town now, we can stop there for the night. What's it called?"

"Natade," said Baous, "the map is in my pocket. It's almost night time, so yeah." It would take another three days to get to the next town on a river and from there it would be a week on the water to get to Saletvarin.

"They better have some good food, better than the slop we've been having," said Iskdiwercaesin with his eyes still closed, "that cow we got was not the best out of the herd."

There was at least one perk for having Iskdiwercaesin with them, the guards no longer took as long to get past and their questions were short. A dragon's unblinking stare unnerved most people. At least until the guards scrambled to find a superior to discuss about that unique situation.

"So Iskdi, how long are you going to follow us?" asked Baous.

"Stop calling me that! Call me by my full name!"

"If you didn't have such a long first name that wouldn't be a problem. And maybe you should think twice before calling someone a mutt."

"My name has a meaning that is lost on you, and a lot of others that know it, so give me the respect I deserve."

Baous barked a short laugh, "Ha! Respect? My dad said respect is earned and you're not doing much to do that."

"Neither have you! At least the small Kobold had the decency to keep me alive. What have you done, drive the cart and feed the horses?"

Serhis interrupted before anything more could be said by either, "Both of you, now's not the time. Besides, people are looking."

A lot of people in town were looking at them, but they didn't do more than point and stare. Baous and Serhis tried to keep a low profile, but that spectacularly failed when Iskdiwercaesin stood proudly on his hind legs with head held high.

Finding an inn, they parked their wagon nearby and tethered the horses. Iskdiwercaesin scooped the remainder of his gold into a pouch, not wanting to leave it in the wagon. About to enter, they noticed a large crowd gathering in a square near the inn.

"What's that all about?" asked Serhis.

Baous glanced into the window, "Don't know, but the inn is almost empty, no one's inside except the receptionist and he looks like he want's to go too."

"What do we care, probably some performer doing some cheap tricks," said Iskdiwercaesin as he almost entered.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the loud voice of a trained showman echoed down the street towards them, "allow me to show you these rare and valuable wares, some ancient and thought lost to time, others taken from the hoards of dragons and powerful warlocks!" A firework went off into the sky from the plaza, further attracting the attention of everyone present, including the new arrivals. Everyone was paying more attention to the display set before them instead of what was behind them, no one panicked at finding out just what was to their backs.

"Taken from the hoards of dragons," Iskdiwercaesin said with disbelief, "somehow I seriously doubt that. There's no way someone could steal from a dragon and come out unscathed."

Baous smirked at that, "I'm sure there's exceptions to the rule..."

"... I said shut up. My hoard was used to pay for medical expenses, that's different."

Standing in a wagon in the square, two figures could be seen, one male human and a female elf, but they could see the helmeted heads of a group surrounding the wagon, probably hired guards. Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin could see what was in the wagon. Piles of random objects were littered inside, scrolls, books, wands, vases, bowls, forks, candle holders, weapons, armor, and other numerous random objects. It was the man that was speaking in a clear and loud voice, but it was the elf that was attracting the onlookers, her face certainly luring the crowd closer to the scene.

"Look at this fine sword, which can ignite into flames with the proper words, it's blade of the finest quality as any warrior is willing to tell you as they look upon it. This breastplate has stopped arrows, saving the many hearts of the ones that have worn it through it's time. For those of you that have more practical concerns, a decanter of endless water, perfect for simply washing or irrigating the fields. Tell you what, as a gesture of goodwill, we'll fill the reservoir of this town free of charge!"

The crowd watched in fascination as the man set the decanter down, making a geyser spout for a second before turning it off, showering all those near it with a spray of water, while at the same time causing steam to rise from the flame-sheathed sword that he held over his head and striking a pose, the droplets evaporated in the heat, demonstrating that this was the real deal and giving a show. The gathering of people clapped in support, murmuring to each other. It was clear that what these things would cost would be far more than most of them could afford, but that didn't stop them from looking at these wondrous items with awe and those that could afford them wouldn't doubt the authenticity.

"As many of you already know, I am Lilthian Binns, friends can call me "Lil' Binn", and since many of you already like me, you're all my friends!" he said with a roar, the crowd roaring with him in approval. "And some of you know Gatosa Vihes. I know a lot of you would like to get to know her more! Eh! Eh!" he elbowed at the elf, the men hooting and hollering as she playfully slapped him on the back of the head. "Ah, not so hard there," they smiled at each other.

The crowd shifted a bit, allowing them all to see the two in the wagon more clearly. At least for Baous and Iskdiwercaesin, Serhis had enough trouble looking over the sea of heads. The human was likely in his early twenties, clean shaven face, blue eyes, blond hair, draped in rich and fine clothing of red, white, and black, and more than likely beautiful. Serhis couldn't tell, he didn't know what human's considered beautiful, the best he had to compare to was Helena, which others admitted was also beautiful. To that standard, the woman standing next to him seemed to be better, dressed similarly to her companion with straight, raven black hair and brown eyes, but Helena had a force of personality and spirit that this woman didn't have, so he had to say they were equivalent.

"What do you think is going on?" wondered Serhis.

"Looks like the local heroes just rolled into town and want to off the stuff they don't need at a higher price while impressing the peasants," Iskdiwercaesin postulated, "not a bad way to get more money than what a merchant would pay for."

"Let's just go back to the inn, I don't think we need anything and it's not that entertaining," said Baous.

The showman, Lilthian, put the sword down and rummaged through a chest, pulling out an object and holding it high, "This is the claw of a brass dragon! Who among you would like to have this unusual find, or perhaps find a use for it as a component for a powerful spell?"

The crowd bellowed, some people already throwing in the price they are willing to pay for it, Serhis shaking his head in disgust, but Iskdiwercaesin seemed to chuckle, "I think I like these people. If I had more in my hoard, I'd probably pay for that."

"That's deplorable, what possible use would you need for the hand of a good dragon?" huffed Serhis.

"Well, it's not like I actually was the one to cut it off that dragon. Besides, it would have more use to me than some sick trophy, I can use it for a spell."

"You're a spell caster?" asked Baous.

"I know how to use a few arcane tricks and how to use magic items, which can be extremely useful at times, now shush, I want to hear how high these fools are willing to pay for it. Maybe I should join them instead, they seem like the type that knows how to do things."

Serhis groaned. He seriously hoped that this wasn't a sign that nothing had changed, but at least this wasn't an outright evil act. Though he still wondered how in the nine Hells did they acquire such a thing.

"Sold! To the gentleman in the pointy hat!" shouted Lilthian as he tossed the limb to a wizard that paid well for it, "Now we have more rarities! The hide of a green dragon! Use it to make one of the more interesting armors ever known, or perhaps as another spell component, or even as simply as a fashion accessory for those of you that love leather, or a simple rug that will be talk of all that enter your home!"

"Or not," Iskdiwercaesin reevaluated his previous statement with distaste.

As the man in the wagon surveyed the crowd for potential buyers, then spotting their little group at the edge, "Whoa, what do we have over there?!" he declared. The large crowd's attention shifted from the spectacle at it's center to them, with many yells and screams aplenty as some realized just what was behind them and how close they were. Almost like one mass, one half of the crowd displaced the other half to get behind the guards of the wagon.

"This doesn't look good," groaned Serhis through his teeth.

"You there, wicked dragon, winged kobold, and dog... thing, what are you doing in this fair town? Come to terrorize it and demand tribute?"

As Iskdiwercaesin took in a breath, Serhis shouted as he switched to Common, "No, no, not like that! We pass through, only going another place. Don't want trouble, and this no wicked dragon. Well, not anymore. I hope." That last part was not without doubt, since he didn't know if Iskdiwercaesin was breathing in to either answer or use his acidic breath, and Serhis was deeply hoping that it wasn't the latter.

"Explain yourself!" Lilthian demanded, "what did you mean by that?!"

"Ehh, this green dragon is different!" said Baous, "a ritual by clerics of Io stops him from wanting to do anything bad."

Iskdiwercaesin held up the pendant with the sigil, though if they understood what it meant wasn't known.

"I'm not familiar with that symbol," said Lilthian and chances for a uneventful resolution started to sink.

The elf now spoke, breaking her silence, "However, those symbols that you wear, kobold. Those are... Bahamut? The Star of Bahamut?" Her voice was smooth and strong, a match for the face that said it.

"Yes, Serhis cleric of Bahamut."

"And as one, you are charged with protecting the people as well as stopping chromatic dragons," she continued, her hand stroking her chin as she thought. "What you say might be true, you wouldn't willingly go with such a creature if it's nature was still inclined to evil."

"Hey! He, not ‘it', " interrupted Iskdiwercaesin.

"Now hold on," said Lilthian, raising his arms, "just because he's wearing some robes of some obscure god doesn't mean he's a cleric. He might have pilfered that off of a corpse of something."

"Perhaps," said Gatosa, "this is a strange group. A wingless green dragon, a golden scale kobold with wings, and I guess a werewolf."

As one, they responded. Only it wasn't the same thing or subject.

"We only want go to inn for night, go in morning," said Serhis.

"I'm not a werewolf, I'm a Kobold of a different kind," corrected Baous.

"Watch what you say about the wings, I'll get them back," growled Iskdiwercaesin.

There was a bit of silence as no one spoke, the two on the wagon looking at one another, trying to figure out what they said, the guards shifting their feet as they faced the trio, the crowd whispering to one another trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

Hearing the trotting of horse hooves on cobblestones, the three looked behind them, seeing a fully armored figure riding a warhorse approach the scene with a group of twenty, likely the town guard as could be told from their uniforms.

"What's all this about?" demanded the armored figure. Serhis couldn't tell the species of that person, but it sounded female, if a bit distorted through the full helmet. "Gatosa, Lilthian. Figures."

"Hello Captain Xephil," greeted Gatosa, "if you're talking about the crowd, that would be us. If your talking about these three, we're trying to figure that out ourselves."

"I heard that one of my men saw a green dragon enter the town," said the Captain, "but for now, can we clear out this crowd? It's bad enough that every time you get back, you always do this sort of thing, but now with a dragon?"

"We be on our way then," said Serhis, eager to end this uncomfortable situation.

"Allow us to invite you to our place for the night," quickly said Gatosa before they could leave. The people around them were already starting to disperse, but a good number of them stayed to find out what happened next.

"What are you doing?" asked a shocked Lilthian.

"It's the least we could do for holding these people up, and we can talk this over dinner," she replied, "that way, your suspicions are either going to be proven wrong or confirmed."

"Dinner?! With a damn dragon?!" exclaimed Lilthian, "I hope you know what you're doing. And you're the one paying for it's meal."

"Uh, we no need have to have dinner with you, it fine," said Serhis, unsure how this was going to end.

"Serhis, you don't to be rude, we've just been invited to be honored guests," Iskdiwercaesin stepped forward as he overrode the Kobold's words, "if having dinner with a pair of this town's finest and respected members means proving I'm well mannered and not some havoc wreaking terror, let's take them up on it."

Serhis and Baous looked at each other, as if asking each other if that was a good idea. Eventually, they both sighed and nodded their heads in agreement. They knew that this was likely the only way out of this situation without causing an ruckus or alienating anyone here. All that they hoped for now was an uneventful meal, simple table talk, and that the weapons stayed holstered.

"You know what, if we're going to do this, we're going to at least make it a party!" shouted Lilthian, "The doors to our place are now open! We just got back from a long trip and got money to burn. It's not everyday you get the chance to say you got to party with a dragon, who's coming!?"

The crowd that the three had honestly expected to be unfriendly or outright hostile now had turned into a wave of goodwill, more than eager to help spend this other adventuring group's gains. It was a bit much to handle, this event had turned from a spectacle of peddling trinkets and items to a tense standoff and now into a jubilant celebration. Serhis was still a bit bewildered by it all and couldn't get a shocked look off of his face, Baous had a nervous smile, but his eyes more than told that he was a bit uncomfortable about this, and Iskdiwercaesin was taking this in full stride, head held high, chest forward, and grinning without showing his teeth.

"You coming too Captain?" hollered Lilthian over the crowd, "always want to support our local law enforcement!"

"I'm on duty," gruffly stated Captain Xephil, "as long as there isn't any fighting, we're done here. I don't want to hear any complaints about rowdy partying or that you're too loud from the neighbors."

"Hell, we can solve that, we'll invite the neighbors too, they won't have anyone to blame but themselves," smugly replied Lilthian, "Come on Xepy, almost everyone knows you better by that helmet than your face. Get off early, unwind."

The Captain ignored the nickname and the offer, "Night Watch, back to scheduled patrol!" she shouted as they marched off.

Lilthian shook his head in amusement, Gatosa tapped him on his shoulder, "Go ahead and round up the food and drink, I'll go and open the door for our guests."

"Sure, this was your idea anyway. Have fun talking with these three," he said as he hopped off the wagon and down the street, "I'm going to need some help, someone's going to need to carry those kegs!"

A portion of the crowd left with the man while the rest followed Gatosa as she directed her wagon towards another street, though she could clearly be heard saying, "I'm not the one that suggested the party. Ah well."

"I'll go get our wagon," sighed Baous as he went back, catching up to them later as they went down several streets before arriving at their destination.

They had been led to a grand house which was very well maintained and decorated, holding most of the guests while the rest set up tables on the street. Whoever these two are, they obviously had plenty of gold and weren't afraid to use it. All the while, Serhis, Baous and Iskdiwercaesin were personally led by the elf. Serhis could tell one thing about her, although she didn't speak as much as her partner, where he spoke to the crowd and responded to their reaction, she spoke with a particular goal in mind. That proved to be true when they were seated at the main table in the house waiting for the food to arrive.

"There are no ill feelings about that display in the streets?" she asked them.

"I guess no, but might feel better if you tell us why you want us here, this very sudden," said Serhis as he watched the unfolding celebration around them, the large room well decorated with a rich assortment of items, the fireplace already alight, and the chairs cushioned in red velvet before a long, carved, and lacquered table, most of the seats taken by a multitude of people talking amongst each other.

Baous and Iskdiwercaesin nodded, feeling the same way. Gatosa regarded them all as she spoke, "aside from you all being a rare sight, I needed to see if you truly are who you say you are. Meaning that you are indeed an altered green dragon that no longer obeys the nature of it's bloodline," she said as she kept her eyes on Iskdiwercaesin.

"Hmph, that's what this fuss is all about," he said as he leaned back into his seat, pointing a sharp claw at the scaled Kobold next to him, "ask him, he's the one who did that to me."

"Oh? So you have managed to do such a thing, Kobold?"

"Yes. And my name Serhis. Went to temple, performed ritual that take a week and many rare things to work, and now he come with me so that I explain for him how he no longer big meany. Like right now," explained Serhis, appreciating the irony of his statement.

"I'm not familiar with the dragon gods, but is this a standard practice among those of Bahamut?" she asked in a neutral, but serious tone.

"No, this something that I do that way beyond what normal asked," Serhis admitted, "since no guarantee that he don't go back to before, don't know if that for good or bad."

Iskdiwercaesin grunted, not comfortable being the subject of a conversation that he sat right next to, "As far as everyone's concerned elf, just don't give me a reason to turn anyone into a puddle of goop and you don't have to call for the torches and pitchforks."

"And what of your other companion over there?" Gatosa indicated Baous with a glance.

Baous answered for himself, "Like I said, a Kobold, but of a different sort. I don't know how many times I have to explain this to everyone I meet."

"And what is your relationship with these two then?" she asked further.

"Serhis is my friend, he's helping to find out other Kobolds like me. As for Iskdi, he-"

"Hey, full name!"

"- is a dragon that Serhis wanted to save and that's as much of a relationship that we have," finished Baous with irritation.

"As for you, Iskdiwercaesin, why are you here with these two?"

The dragon snorted, turning his head to the side as he answered, "Like the Kobold said, as long as he's around, there's a better chance that some mob won't want to run me out of town at first sight. As for the Kobold mutt," he drawled out, making Baous bare his teeth, "I guess you could say he serves as a bodyguard for the other one, and as long as that one lives, I have to go along with the other."

"That answers my question a bit, but are there any other reasons, and I'm wondering what happened to your wings," she pressed.

"... My wings were damaged when I fought an older black dragon, who I swear I'm going to bring crashing down to the earth like he did me, and that's as much as I'm going to say about him. And any other reason why I'm with these two? It's better than just wandering around looking for something to do. Clerics of Bahamut usually have something going on around them, might be because they are connected to the very stuff of luck or something like that, I usually don't pay attention to all the divine activities. Nothing like things like that to find some kind of opportunity. Sort of like right now. Why did you invite us to your house? You have something in mind, don't you?"

Gatosa's face was a blank slate as far as everyone was concerned, there was no way to tell what she was thinking. "Perhaps I do have an "opportunity" for you, but for now, I think I'd better help Lilthian get through the door. Serhis, come with me, I'd like to speak with you while we're handing out things."

Serhis was puzzled at this request, but hopped off his chair and followed her out the main hall, passing the numerous guests in the house as they looked at him no longer with disdain but curiosity as he followed the elf into the corridor that lead to the front, "What you wanted talk about?"

"Mainly about that dragon," she said as she pushed passed a thick part of the crowd in the corridor, "I wanted to ask if you know what you're getting yourself into."

"I don't understand, what do you mean?"

"You said it yourself, you don't know what this dragon is going to become some tyrant that will eventually find no need for you and dispose of you. I can imagine he's not to pleased about what you've done to him. It's a bit strange talking about this sort of thing to a creature that is normally thought of as a danger to others as well, but at least you seem to be an exception, being a cleric of Bahamut, but for that dragon... you understand my unease about simply trusting that it won't suddenly betray someone's trust?"

Serhis himself had to admit that he had a few doubts of his own about Iskdiwercaesin's conduct in the past four days, but that hadn't proven anything yet. It was like a small child acting out, demanding candy and generally being uncontrollable. The difference being that children didn't have the ability to knock down a fully grown human, had sharp claws, and could breathe a whole sort of nastiness. At least not dragon children anyway.

He still needed time to see what Iskdiwercaesin really is like, "I reserve judgment for now."

"And what will happen if he turns out to be as vile as he was before?"

"Then... me and Baous stop him. I can see that he not as powerful as I thought, and if prepared for it, can do it quickly," Serhis answered with a bit of worry, but still sure about what he had said.

Nearing the front door, Gatosa broke the brief silence between them, "How old is he now?"

"Four and a half, but why-"

"Six months. That's how long you have before he finishes molting and turns into a bigger handful than what you're capable of handling."

Serhis knew she was right, he did notice a few signs during his time with the young wyrmling, that he needed to shed, that he was experiencing a growth spurt. Six months ago, he was likely as small as Serhis, but in six months time, he'd likely had an advantage in height against even an orc.

"Why you telling me this? What is it you want?"

"I'm saying that for now, he won't be any trouble for me and Lilthian," she said with her hand on the closed door, "he still won't be trouble later, but I don't want to simply wait as he gets more powerful. I'm saying that if I had the choice, I'd end this right now. I'm saying that I'm respecting your judgment for now and not taking this into my own hands. I'm saying that you had better be right," she made each sentence seem heated and cold at the same time, contradictions be damned.

"But he didn't do anything to anyone," protested Serhis.

"Wrong. He only hasn't done anything in your presence. He has more than likely has done some terrible things before he met you. Eventually, he's going to be beyond your control, and when he does, others are going to suffer for it. From the sounds of it, you took a lot of time and energy to accomplish what you've done, and it's only because of that that I didn't let Lilthian start a fight with you."

"You still have not say why you telling me this."

Gatosa paused for a moment before answering, "Partly because that thing is dangerous and I'm offering you a chance to be rid of him, partly because if later you turned out to be wrong, people are going to remember me for not stopping before he went on a slaughter."

Serhis let the words sink in, unsure how to respond. Thinking for a moment, he gave his response, "I don't want you to hurt him. I going to pay the price if I wrong, but if I right, maybe it will be for better. I hope he be like good dragon, but can never be sure. But at least have some hope. You saying just because he has chance to be bad again, you want to kill him, and I say he has just as good chance for him not to be."

She took her time to understand Serhis' broken Common, but getting the gist of it, "Very well, but I will want to talk to you about this further later on," she said as she opened the door and walked out into the street.

Standing to one side of the door, Serhis finally sorted his thoughts and motivations. He wanted to alter Iskdiwercaesin in an effort to fulfill some self-assigned obligation to his virtues and now he wanted to find out if he was right, and that required himself to protect the dragon. The hand of Fate or Chance had been at work here, turning a random encounter into something beyond his ability to comprehend. He now had a self made purpose to achieve aside from doing the workings of Bahamut.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Still sitting at the table, Baous and Iskdiwercaesin were the center of attention for the crowd in the main hall. Iskdiwercaesin basked in the attention, but Baous was uneasy with all the stares.

"What's taking them so long, I'm hungry," Iskdiwercaesin complained as he sat awkwardly in the chair, offering a tooth smirk at anyone that he caught staring at him, but he was still bored.

"Since you can eat half a fully grown cow in a day, that's not surprising," muttered Baous.

"I'm a growing wyrmling, and besides, you never know when you're next meal is coming," he said as he turned his gaze from a little boy that had run off in fright to Baous.

"Until Serhis gets back, can't you just stop complaining?"

"Geez, what is with you and that little runt? You his servant or something?"

Baous gave the dragon a glare, "No I'm not. He's a great friend that went out of his way to help me find out where my family is, he's always helpful to others and he never says anything bad about anyone unless they earned it. What about you? I don't see anyone saying you're a good friend or anything. Probably because you don't even have any," he teased with a fake smile.

Iskdiwercaesin shot Baous an equally angry glare, "I had a legion of servants before I met you, those drow practically worshiped me for bring riches and prosperity to them. I am well respected and feared by others of my age, no other wyrmling can claim to have had such a vast hoard like mine!"

"So you had no friends at all, huh?" Baous said with a smirk.

"Does it matter?" rebuffed Iskdiwercaesin, "I don't see how you make any friends easily with a manner like that."

"A lot better than you being a rude and impolite jerk. Maybe if you were a bit nicer to me and Serhis, you'd see I'm a much nicer person."

They sat looking at one another for a second, stares locked at each other, before turning their heads in a huff.

"... I really don't get you," commented Iskdiwercaesin while still not looking at Baous, "first you vouch for me out in the street, now you say I'm a jerk."

"I'm just telling the truth," said Baous in the same manner, "You're not the same dragon that threatened and yelled at us, thinking about killing anyone just because they're in your way. I bet if you hadn't been in that ritual, you'd have tried breathing acid on me just now. That doesn't stop you from being a jerk though."

"I don't know, keep on going like that and I might be tempted to do so," chuckled Iskdiwercaesin.

"Was that a joke?" asked Baous half cautiously, half hopefully.

"Maaaybeeeee," Iskdiwercaesin gave unhelpfully.

Baous sighed, talking with Iskdiwercaesin was a tiring activity, "Look, if you're going to be coming along with us, can you at least try to be more friendly? I know we got off on the wrong foot and you hate Serhis for doing that ritual, but you're coming with us anyway for whatever reason. He was doing what he still thought was best, and he still is."

"And you're hoping that if I get to know him, I'll be his friend," the wyrmling off handedly said, "and that will put him at ease since he'll know that all his efforts are worth something."

Baous looked blankly, he wasn't used to things being spelled out so clearly. Iskdiwercaesin looked amused at his expression, "Green dragons are known for being master manipulators, and the only way to do that is reading a situation and knowing what the other guy wants. It'd be an insult to my linage not to be able to do that."

Recovering his thoughts, Baous said, "What about you? What do you want?"

"What I want...? Wealth, power, knowledge, surviving, the usual," he replied in a blasé manner.

"Anything else?" pressed Baous, "That can't be all. Is there anything at all you care about besides yourself?"

Iskdiwercaesin glared at him, the conversation became just as heated as before, "Two weeks ago, I nearly died, only to be rescued by a pair of mismatched Kobolds that had me placed in a ritual! Until four days ago, all I cared about was simple! Now, I have to deal with... feelings... emotions that I didn't get before. So before you start talking about me being ‘friendly' keep that in mind," he finished in a low growl.

Tense silence again rose between them. This conversation had all the trappings of a battle, a brief and frenzied engagement before pulling back to regroup.

"I'm sorry," finally said Baous, breaking the silence.

"Excuse me?" asked Iskdiwercaesin with some surprise, not expecting that or even sure what the apology was for.

"I said I'm sorry. For making you feel uncomfortable about those feelings. I don't apologize about what me and Serhis did about the ritual, otherwise we would have just let you die," said Baous with a firm tone.

It was Iskdiwercaesin's turn to be speechless, only for him to break into a wide smile and laugh, everyone in the room immediately looking to see what the cause of such a loud roar.

"Hey, I'm being serious," said a miffed Baous.

"Ha, ah, ha, sorry, sorry, it's that I've never been apologized to unless someone was pleading for their life," he managed to wheeze out after he calmed down.

"And you think that's funny," Baous pouted.

"In a way, why, yes. I can't remember any time when someone's ever said sorry to a dragon like that before. And it's usually the other way around, someone demands an apology after a few houses are set on fire, the crops are ruined, or somebody's cow going cross-eyed or some other stuff like that."

"Still don't see how that's funny."

"So you've got no regrets about the ritual? Fine with me, I don't regret being about to die. As long as you've got the same courage to say that to my face, I'd love to see what you've got for our enemies."

"Our?"

"We're not friends, got that?" affirmed Iskdiwercaesin, "but I'll settle for ‘ally' for now. As long as you stop that frail Kobold from getting smashed by a troll, he's going to stop a mob from forming every time we set foot into town."

Baous didn't have anything to add to that and simply nodded. Things didn't seem so tense now as he sat across from him.

"Hey, mutt. Make yourself useful. Can you get up and see what's taking them so long?"

"Can you stop calling me mutt!? And why don‘t you go see for yourself?"

Then again, just because they had formally called each allies didn't mean everything was fine. It just meant that they had more reason not to tear each other apart.

Neither needed to bother, as Lilthian, Gatosa, and Serhis came back into the house, cheers erupting from the rowdy guests as wagons full of food and drink was parked out front and soon there was a line of people taking the stuff into the house.

Baous watched as Serhis placed a bowl of celery on the table, noticing that he looked a bit subdued, and walked over, "You alright? Something happen?"

"No. Nothing happened."

"You sure? Something's up, I can tell."

"Well... it's just that Gatosa and I talked about Iskdiwercaesin..."

"Ah..." said Baous. He wasn't too sure what that was about, but he could guess.

"There's nothing to worry about," reassured Serhis, slightly perking up, "after this party, we'll go to an inn, get some beds, and be gone from here tomorrow."

Lilthian seemed to overhear this as he approached, "Leave? So soon? Gatosa filled me in on what you've done. Man, you've got some guts there little guy. Anyway, start being the life of the party, you bunch are the reason I decided to throw one. Well, that's not true, we would have thrown one anyway, but you guys make it much more interesting. Go, go!" he said as he started hauling them both to the main table.

Seating themselves, Lilthian gave a sly smile at Gatosa, "Everything's done! Invited some of the neighbors over, and the rest are going to be coming anyway. Hell, some folks from across town are likely going to be here as well, this bash is going to be all over the streets!"

"How much did we spend this time?" ask Gatosa, with just a hint of tiredness in her voice.

"Let's see... fifty gallons of ale, plus enough food to feed almost four hundred people, and that's the good stuff... two hundred gold pieces."

"Almost four... Why did you invite nearly four hundred people over?"

"Just a guess. I don't have any idea how many are really coming, the last time we did this it was almost three hundred, and stories spread. Besides, we've got a dragon sitting at our table, no thanks to you, and I don't know how much they eat."

All eyes turned to Iskdiwercaesin, who was currently in the process of swallowing enough food to feed a grown man for a whole day, "What?"

"Anyway," Lilthian continued on, "since we've opened our house to you and offered you our hospitality, why don't you explain to us what you're doing traveling."

Serhis gave the very basic reason for their travels, mainly heading to Saletvarin and gaining access to the Academy library, while at the same time taking on various odd jobs for money and doing good in the name of Bahamut, but also not mentioning the Kobold city of Tiichi di Soves or the hidden temple of Io the next town over, as far as to not mention that the ritual had been done four days ago, since it would have narrowed down the location too much for his liking.

"Well, that was a disappointment," sighed Lilthian as Serhis finished.

"Huh? What?" said Serhis with a bit of irritation.

"No insult meant, but I expected something more. A kobold cleric of Bahamut, another kind of kobold, and a wyrmling green dragon, it sounded like the perfect thing for some sort of epic quest. A task given in the name of Bahamut, hunting packs of werewolves, or taking down some overlord somewhere, but instead all you're doing is wandering around and doing random things."

Again, all three say something back to him at once.

"What does having to be on an epic quest have to do with anything?" said Serhis.

"Looking for my family is very important to me!" growled Baous.

"Don't think I don't have my own ambitions. I still need to take revenge against Dianekesswhedabkeari Nocudithroden for taking my wings, and I don't see you being on some grand adventure!" hissed Iskdiwercaesin.

Gatosa smacked her palm to her forehead, "I'm going to have to say my friend here is great with crowds, but when talking to others individually, he tends to stick his foot in his mouth."

"What? I'm just saying what I'm thinking," said Lilthian.

"Or in this case, removing his foot when it should stay there."

"What I was about to say is that if you're interested, maybe you'd like to work with us for a bit."

The three paused for a second, in various states of eating, drinking and swallowing. Iskdiwercaesin was the first with an empty mouth, "Say that again?"

"Gatosa says you've got her vote of confidence, so I might as well say you can be useful. Every now and then we get some jobs of our own and it'd be so much easier with a bit of help. And think of the stories! Lilthian and Gatosa, along with their associates and a dragon, have saved the day!"

"As you can tell, he's got an eye for the dramatic," noted Gatosa to her guests.

"Are you going anywhere with this?" an impatient Iskdiwercaesin asked.

Lilthian gave a glance at Gatosa, very quickly, very briefly. They couldn't tell if she nodded or shook her head, but it seemed that Lilthian picked up something from her, "This town always has some sort of trouble by the end of the week. Nothing too big, but enough that we get called out to deal with it. Assassin vines growing rampant, a mess of goblins on the roads, or something attacking the farms. Gatosa thinks this place is also on a bugbear migration path. The last bit of work we've had to deal with is some damn cult trying to summon a devil. By the way, has anyone asked about buying that fire sword we picked off them?" he asked Gatosa, who shook her head in the negative. "Looks like we're going to have to sell it at half price to some merchant. Anyway, that last job was a bit close for comfort and we're looking to expand the team."

"We have another member of our group. He's around here somewhere," Gatosa said as she looked around the room.

"Atamis is outside, likely near the barrels of ale. Picked him on the way home and filled him in a bit about our guests. Might have to empty him out later," Lilthian said with dry humor. "And probably going to have to fill him back in about them if he forgot from all the drinking. He's a Halfling, quick on his feet, quicker with his hands and a blade," he said to the three sitting across from him.

"But we have to get to Saletvarin," said Baous.

"Well, can you spare some time with us?" asked Lilthian, "Two weeks, maybe a month? Afterwards, you can either keep working with us or you can go on, spending a few weeks with us isn't going to change anything, maybe except for your wallet and for the better. We'll give you fair share of the profits."

Baous wasn't sure what to do. He still wanted to take a grasp at any hint of information that might help him locate his people. It was true that any time they spent here wasn't going to change anything about his chances for getting that info, only when he was going to get it.

Looking at Serhis, he asked, "What do you think?"

"I'm fine with whatever you want to do," said Serhis.

Turning his head to Iskdiwercaesin, the wyrmling only gave an uninterested shrug, willing to go with whatever he choose as well.

Gatosa opened a bottle of wine, pouring herself a glass, "you could be of great help to us. The jobs have been coming in a bit more frequently lately and we're going to need some backup to pick up the slack. If you feel that you can be of help to us, we'd be grateful for the assistance."

"What about your town guard, aren't they any help?" asked Iskdiwercaesin as he talked around a mouthful of bread.

"No insult to the good Captain, but her force is more suited to keeping the peace, not mopping up the nasties outside the walls," Lilthian commented, "and if she tried, there's probably going to be a few casualties. The local power heavies here tend not to like that, which is why they pay us to do the dirty little jobs. We succeed, they can take credit for sending us out, we fail, they don't have to deal with ‘liability'" he said while making air quotes with his fingers.

Baous thought about it as he chewed. It sounded simple, and there wasn't any harm from trying. Aside from the potential enemies, but that was another matter entirely. "I guess we can stay here for a bit," he answered.

"Great!" shouted Lilthian as he rose from his seat, then standing with one foot on the chair and another on the table, elevating him well above the floor, "Everyone, listen! Our three guests here have decided to help our cause, willing to aid us in our struggles! They will show that they are worth our respect and goodwill, this reformed dragon, loyal and noble beast, and pious reptile, so I raise my mug to them!"

The room exploded in cheers, easily showing how well like this man was to take his word for it. The fact that he was the one who provided the beer and ale they raised in their hands seemed to help.

"Loyal and noble beast?" Baous could barely be heard under all the noise.

"I think you're definitely loyal and noble, but the ‘beast' part could have gone better," Serhis said to him, "same could be said about the ‘reptile' description."

"Just grin and wave," offered Iskdiwercaesin, though trying not to show too many teeth, "a lot less problems from this bunch that way."

Hopping back off the table, Lilthian leaned dangerously back into his chair while propping his feet onto the table, leaving the chair with only two legs on the ground, "Just to let you know, one of the guards did get a report from a herder that one of his sheep got dragged off into a forest by a big spider. One of those huge ones. Any of you have a fear of spiders?" Everyone shook their heads. "No? Good. Til then, let's party!" he said as he immediately downed a flagon of mead.

Everyone drank a toast to the three guests of honor, Gatosa sipping her wine, the extremely large party drinking enough to keep a brewer in business for a good time, though Baous and Serhis stuck to water.

"Uh, hey Serhis? Do you think it's a good idea to let Iskdi drink that?" Baous pointed at the immature dragon as he curiously sniffed at the brew.

"Eeeehhh... I don't know," he replied worriedly, Iskdiwercaesin already had a claw on the mug. It is a fact that dragons can consume essentially anything with little ill effect, barring some clear exceptions. This could lead to particular tastes, copper dragons have been known to favor consuming venomous insects with no problem. He had no idea what drinking alcohol would do to the green wyrmling. Before either could stop him, he had already drained half of the tankard in one gulp.

"Hmm. Bitter, but tasty," commented Iskdiwercaesin as he finished the rest just as swiftly.

If there was one piece of logic to put to this, the stuff he drank wasn't going to be anywhere near as caustic compared to what he could breathe out.

"I don't think you should have anymore," suggested Serhis.

Instead of answering, Iskdiwercaesin belched. Had anyone been standing in front of him, it would have been likely that the unfortunate person would have had their nose hairs burn off. And possibly their eyebrows. The chandelier above them burned a little brighter as the gasses expelled rose while everyone in the room shouted in only the way a rowdy party would, in complete encouragement.

"What did I tell you, a party to remember!" yelled Lilthian, "anyone else want to offer a dragon a drink?"

"I can see the paint peeling off," Gatosa noted as she observed the chandelier with faint disgust.

Serhis and Baous looked at one another and silently agreed that neither of them would be drinking tonight, not that it stopped them from partaking of the fare placed before them. Lasting into the night and well into the early morning, both of them still would wonder if this was still a good idea.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By dawn's light, the group dealt with the aftereffects. Serhis and Baous were perfectly fine, Gatosa was also similarly unfazed from a roaring night of wine and song. The song part was provided by Lilthian, who could prove that you can play a lute while piss drunk. He also proved that no one wants to hear it again when the hangover stuck, clutching his head throughout the day. As for Iskdiwercaesin, he swore never to drink for a century, if not more, and that was all that needed to be said. They found the last part of their team outside, sitting in an empty barrel of ale. Everyone thought it best not to ask what had happened.

For the three newcomers, the next month would see them acting as essentially a protection force for the town. During their off time, Serhis would still offer his services as a healer and trap maker, Baous helped in the selection of healing herbs. Iskdiwercaesin would either stand in a plaza sunning himself and be looked upon by many, many of the people that passed by, enjoying the attention, or would locate the nearest library and be looked upon by many, many people as he read. As for the jobs they participated in, they paid well, either in the form of loot garnered from the fallen hostiles or provided as a reward. Serhis and Baous had little to do with the money and saved it up, though Iskdiwercaesin loved seeing his hoard being replenished, if only little by little.

They got to know the three local adventurers better during this time. Lilthian was an accomplished bard, or as he preferred, a lyric thaumaturge. Contrary to popular belief that all bards tended to contribute less than their worth in battle, his abilities in turning a jarring chord into a lethal wave of sound made him a fair bit more dangerous. Gatosa seemed to be a sorceress that favored either charming her foes and rendering them harmless or polymorphing in a medusa and simply turning a foe to stone, quickly ending a fight, though everyone else tended to quickly vacate the area as she did so. As for the third member, Atamis, he was a moody sort, he didn't talk much, though Lilthian swore that he was a much better person to talk to after he had a few drinks in him. His tactics were ambush and taking advantage of any weakness, mainly using a longsword and dagger.

Though they spent a month together, often in a tense combat situation, Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin didn't have much of a relation to the others aside from a professional business manner, neither trio prying much into the others affairs after the initial contact. If anything, Serhis and Baous got to know Iskdiwercaesin a bit better. Meaning they found him to be brash, a bit selfish, and keen on manipulating others, but at least without malice or spite. One sole improvement was that he had stopped calling Baous "mutt" and Baous now pronounced his full name. Though only out of combat. Iskdiwercaesin's name was a bit too long to say during a pitched battle, forcing Baous to shorten it back to "Iskdi", which meant Iskdiwercaesin always called him "mutt" in response.

At the very least the name calling was gone, thought Serhis. Riding in their wagon, Serhis tended to the wounds of Iskdiwercaesin as they rode back to town.

Lilthian whistled as he looked back down the road, riding next to them in their own wagon, "What do you think we should name this piece? Stony Rage?" he asked at he tapped the rock solid statue of a hill giant tied to the back of their wagon.

They were returning from a village some distance out of town that was being terrorized by the now neutralized hill giant, having taken a few scratches and bruises, but nothing life threatening.

"You alright back there?" asked Baous as he drove the cart, "that kick threw you pretty far through the air."

"I'm fine, stop thinking that I'm that weak," responded Iskdiwercaesin, sighing a bit as Serhis finished his healing, "you could have been faster with that hammer of yours, he almost stepped on me instead of kicking."

"Hey, that guy's over ten feet tall! I was lucky enough to hit his shins."

Serhis sat down, feeling the bumps in the road. He had asked Baous about how things were between him and Iskdiwercaesin, and was a bit relieved about how they seemed to have settled a few things between each other, though that still meant they picked and sniped at each other every now and then, but at least not as often as before.

"It looked like he almost wanted to step on you," commented Gatosa, she was driving the other wagon, "and Baous' hammer blow made his knee flex."

"I'm not sure which would have been better. Damn, this bastard is ugly," Lilthian said as he kept looking over the giant statue. They couldn't bring the entire thing back, so they had opted to use Baous' hammer to knock off only the head, "at least the smell is gone."

Baous nodded with a high degree of agreement, taking a long inhalation through his nose.

"When I wanted to return to the skies, that way wasn't how I wanted it," Iskdiwercaesin said as he laid down as well.

"Any comments about our little quest Atamis, huh?" Lilthian asked.

The Halfling said nothing, sitting at the top of the giant head since there was no more room in the wagon.

"Yeah, thought as much."

They had only heard the Halfling speak only a few times during the month, mostly a warning given during a battle or when asking for someone to pass the butter. He was almost opposite to Lilthian, quiet and low key. Though a lot more people seemed that way next to the jovial Lilthian.

"Of course, everything looks a bit less pretty compared to you Gatosa."

"Always with the sweet talk," she said with grace.

As they rode through low hills, Baous spoke while paying attention to the path, "It's been a month now, hasn't it?"

"Yes," answered Serhis.

"Oh? You want to be on your way then?" asked Lilthian, "the people around here were just getting to know you."

Considering how Lilthian was a master at public relations, it was more likely that people around the whole country were getting to know them. Barely a week and three jobs when they started, everyone in town knew about the new arrivals and how they were aiding the local heroes and they were warmly welcomed. Of course, Lilthian, Gatosa, and Atamis were regarded as the ones who helped bring them into the fold, which had propelled their own fame and reputations even farther.

"It was nice being with you all, and we did a lot of great things. That giant would have been way too much for us to handle without you" acknowledged Baous. "But I still want to go to Saletvarin. Maybe after I find the rest of my family, we could come back and help out again."

Lilthian didn't respond immediately, taking a bit of time to think. That was something unusual. "Before you go, let's head back to our home for a bit. There's something we want to ask, a favor."

"Sure, I guess," said Baous, "but why not now?"

"This should be discussed behind closed doors," Gatosa answered. Atamis was looking at Baous as well, a cool gaze. It looked like they all had this in mind beforehand.

The trip back to their place of residence was quiet, a feeling that something of importance was about to happen dwelled on the minds of the three, wondering what they wanted to ask. They turned in the stone head for a small bounty before going to the house. Only when all were inside the main hall did Lilthian speak.

"What I'm about to ask never leaves this room, understand?"

"If we think it's an important secret to keep, sure. Not that you've been doing anything important," Iskdiwercaesin said offhandedly.

"I'm not joking," he darkly retorted. "Remember some time back, when I said that I had expected some quest of critical importance. Guess what. We were already on such a quest. Right now, in this town."

"What you talking about?" asked Serhis.

"Remember, no talking about this to anyone outside. No one."

This was a Lilthian the three had never seen. Even in battle, he would make candid jokes and comments.

Sitting down, Lilthian began explaining, "I suppose you could call this a self assigned quest. We've been working on it for over half a year now. We expected that it would have taken maybe another half to succeed, but with you helping us, we can finish this now. We intend to take down the leadership of this town."

Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin remained silent for some time, letting the words sink in.

It was Iskdiwercaesin that spoke first, "You're going to have to explain this to us. With a lot more detail."

Gatosa answered, "The leaders of this town are totally corrupt. Things here might look peaceful and idyllic, but start poking into the politics, then things get ugly very quickly. You haven't noticed yet, but spend enough time here, and you'll have to bribe half a dozen officials just to talk to someone that can actually do something. After that, then you better hope you've got good connections and deep pockets."

"Politics," mused Iskdiwercaesin, "interesting. But why involve us? And why now?"

"Obvious answer is that we needed allies," Lilthian said, "and you seem strong enough to get things done."

"We needed to see if you all were trustworthy. That is the reason why we asked you to stay with us for a minimum of two weeks. We had to determine whether you could be depended upon and that you could be persuaded to aid us," said Gatosa.

"Why us?" asked Serhis.

"No other reason aside from you arriving and your strength," she replied. "Had we thought that you couldn't or wouldn't be able to help us, we would have let you on your way. This month, you have demonstrated that you possess both. You are of great assistance during our battles and you have a tendency to help others. We couldn't reveal our actual intentions to you from the beginning, if you weren't the type to help others, we would have played our hand too soon, we couldn't risk strangers into our ‘conspiracy'."

Looking at one another, the three were unsure what to do. This was a new situation that was developing quickly, with or without their input.

"What would you do if we said no?" asked Baous.

"We have these," Lilthian said as he produced three vials, "Potions that modify memory. You'd forget what happened in the past few minutes. Costs a bit, but worth every copper piece."

Iskdiwercaesin looked at the potions as they settled in the vials, "Glad to see you're not the ‘you'll never get out of here alive' conspirators."

"Say that we agree, what proof do you have that these people are as corrupt as you say they are? And what are you going to do to them? What do you want us to do to them?" demanded Baous.

Gatosa glanced at Atamis, the Halfling producing several documents and giving it to her, her hands laying them out on the table, "Here's your proof. As quiet as they'd like to do things, they still have to do a bit of paperwork to do their dirty work. They've pocketed public money for as their own, not enough to make it noticeable, but over the years they been in charge, it adds up to a tidy sum. Sometimes it's not just palming a bit of gold, it's little backroom deals and favors, and with much more activity, everything presented as legitimate. Any person that speaks against them, they tend to have trouble doing so again, either being brought to financial ruin or locked out of the loop of politics. And if they want someone dead, even that can be done with a frightening efficiency. A coroner on their payroll tends to make for a swift burial. It's all done with enough subtlety that everything looks nice and neat. In truth, the people in control plan to stay that way, this whole town under their thumb without many realizing it. Those that do are isolated, so that no one can gather together to make a united front to oppose those in control."

Looking over the papers, they could see a lot of writing had been done that supported what they had to say. Serhis asked, "if you have all this, why not show it to everyone?"

"That would be unwise. The method we used to gain these involved bribing certain people, theft, and other links that can easily be used against us. If this went to the public, the town council would claim these to be forgeries or quickly create something to contradict it, we cannot establish these as firm evidence."

"But what do you want to do about it?" Baous said again.

"If you want the short version, we're going to cause a revolt," grinned Lilthian, "Gatosa, you need to be a bit quicker about these things. Let me spell it out, we're going to boot the town council out of their little nest, we've got enough public support that when we're done it's not like we're going to be called, ‘usurpers' and ‘disturbers of the peace'. We're going to be rallying the whole town while you're going to storm the town hall. That way, there's going to be enough chaos concentrated on you that we'll be able to gather enough people to bring things to a close. They'll be too busy with saving their own asses while you're attacking to notice they've been cornered. Villains lose, heroes win, everyone applauds, end scene," he ended with a theatrical bow.

Having been informed, Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin contemplated. Many things could go wrong with causing a town wide revolt. "You any more proof?" asked Serhis, "Something that we know for sure that these people cruel?"

Lilthian looked uncomfortably at Gatosa. Shrugging, she rose from her seat, "I understand that you want damning proof before you commit to this. Follow me," she said as she walked out of the room with the two others.

Walking after them, they went further into the house, descending to the cellar. The door to the cellar was locked to the three during their month here and it was only now that they saw what was underneath. Tables full of charts and papers lined the walls, maps of the town, the layout of the town hall, schedules of the guards, records of observed activities of the town council. Striding past all of this, Gatosa stood in front of a wooden box that laid next to the far wall of the cellar.

"I'd advise you to breathe through your mouths," she said as her boot kicked the cover off.

Baous seemed to stagger back as the lid fell off. Looking within, two reasons became apparent why. It was either because of the smell that assaulted all their senses or the fact that a slightly decayed corpse was in that box.

"Ugh. Pretty," scoffed Iskdiwercaesin, "but this proves what exactly? That we've been in a house with a dead body and the bunch of weirdoes that kept it here?"

Picking up a scroll from one of the tables, Gatosa handed it to Serhis, "A scroll to speak with the dead," she explained, "you'll be able to ask it three questions before that spell expires."

Serhis took the scroll without taking his eyes off the of body. It seemed to have been the body of a female Halfling, roughly half a week after death. The cause of death was extremely apparent, a wound on her head exposed the inside of her skull which seemed to have been caused by a blunt force. "Who is she?" he asked.

"Tillie Greenfield. Didn't know her very well, but we seemed to have had like minds. She was also aware of the actions of the town council and was about to reveal it. A bit too late though. Some farmers found her body out in the hills with her horse milling around in a nearby field, her head next to a bloody rock and drag marks for nearly a mile. Everyone thinks that she died because her horse got spooked by something, making her fall and be dragged to her death. That was about three months back. After using another scroll, we found that it wasn't the case, though you'll be able to hear it from her instead of us," Gatosa pointed from the scroll to the body.

"Used preservation spell then?" noted Serhis as he unrolled the scroll and reciting the spell. Finished, the scroll's energies expended themselves. Though the body didn't move, there was now something that made it seem animated.

"Well, since know who you are, going to ask who make you die?" Serhis directed his question to the Halfling body.

Mouth moving, lungs briefly inhaling, she answered, her voice with no emotion, no variation in pitch or tone, "Three men on the road. It was during the night, when they attacked me. One used a flaming arrow, my horse was terrified, and fled. Another tried to use a spear as I passed, but missed. The third used a bullet in a sling, and I could feel as it hit the back of my head. Afterward, I can only remember being on the ground, but still moving, and then my death."

"Why did they attack?"

"I don't know for certain. But they wore distinctive markings, I know one of them was wearing a ring, it was a signet ring of one of the council members, given only to those who are part of his employ, unmistakable as it shined near the flaming arrow before he released. I guess that they realized I knew their secrets, and marked me for death."

"Speaking of found secrets, a good bunch of this stuff is actually hers," motioned Lilthian to the piles of papers, though he had a hand pinching his nose, "grabbed it from her home before anyone else could when we found out she knew about this."

"I believe that is the undeniable proof you require?" asked Gatosa.

Serhis nodded, "Yes, this make things much more definite."

"I suppose you have no more questions for her?" inquired Lilthian with a nasal voice, "Can we close the lid please? She may have stopped rotting, but what already has stinks."

"Wait, one more. Do you have last request?" asked Serhis.

"Bring my killers to justice. All of them." With those last words, the body of Tillie Greenfield ceased moving. Placing the cover back on, Gatosa leaned on a table.

"Ever the champion of compassion and justice to the end," Lilthian blithely regarded, referring to either Serhis' thoughtfulness or the late Greenfield, no one knew.

"Why..." Baous distastefully inhaled, "Why haven't you raised her? You have enough money?"

"What for?" responded Gatosa. She had her clenched hand to the bottom of her chin, still in thought. After a brief pause, she explained, "Money is no problem, she herself could have afforded being raised once. If we raised her, that would cause a lot of unpleasant questions if she was seen alive. The council would have immediately found us out, before our preparations could be complete. Better if she stayed like this until after we have finished." Lowering her hand, she looked directly at them all, "I realize that his is a lot to comprehend in a short span of time, but if you wish to aid us, do so quickly."

A lot would be an understatement. In the space of these past few minutes, these three had changed in their eyes from the local respected monster hunters, to a stealthy group with an agenda to bring down powerful people.

"I suppose you have an idea about what to do after this is over?" asked Iskdiwercaesin.

Lilthian gave a wide grin, "We got stuff planned. Well, Gatosa has stuff planned, I just follow the script. I do know that we'll be well received by everyone and they'll be enchanted with our resounding victory, with fame and fortune not far behind."

Iskdiwercaesin seemed to have made up his mind, "I could do with a good reputation and more wealth. And if we mess up, I'll just stay clear of this town for a few decades, so I don't mind either way. Though I'd prefer winning," he smirked.

"So if we do this, how much trouble we causing?" asked Serhis, "How many guards? Who these people that we need to catch?"

"Are you agreeing to be part of this?" said Gatosa in turn.

From everything presented, Serhis' duty was clear. Justice was to be to pursued, the mountain of evidence shown couldn't be denied, even if his personal connection to this was tenuous. Though he felt he had been manipulated, at was revealed in the end.

"We'll do it."

Serhis blinked. Instead of him answering, it was Baous, coming forward and with a determined expression. Wordlessly nodding, he agreed to the task. He was sure why Baous wanted to do this. Raised by an adoptive father that firmly followed the teachings of St. Cuthbert, even if he didn't worship that deity, the teachings of justice and righteousness certainly had grounded themselves in him. Humble Baous could follow the ideals he had given himself.

Seeing that all had agreed, Gatosa looked pleased, "We welcome your further assistance."

"I suppose the trip to Saletvarin is going to have to wait a bit longer," shrugged Baous.

"I'll expand on what we require you to do," she further explained. "Inciting a massive revolt is going to take some time, it will need a few hours for news to spread about every piece of proof we can present. Those of this government aren't going to sit idly as this happens, they have informants that would undoubtedly hear of this. I'd imagine they'd scramble to destroy evidence or fabricate something to at the very least placate the people while denouncing us as rabble rousers and glory seekers."

"No objection about that," interjected Lilthian, "guilty on both counts."

Gatosa ignored the comment, "They will attempt to crush this uprising. Violently. Which is where you interfere. We will time this to occur while they are in session and that is when you will storm the hall."

"They'll be calling their guards to cover their asses, and not sending them out towards us," said Lilthian.

"Don't think that the council members themselves are going to be weak. A few of them are warriors and spell casters that entered office and power has made them hedonistic, but not weak. Don't hold back in your attacks, the death and suffering they have silently caused means little to them. If you cannot kill them, at the very least hold them there until we arrive. At which point, we will aid you in the elimination of their extortionate rule. This will be extremely public, erasing any doubt."

Iskdiwercaesin chortled with a smirk showing the barest hint of his fangs, "I was right about you." He wasn't referring to Gatosa, Lilthian, or Atamis, but instead, was looking at Serhis. "You either have a curse of fate or the blessing of chance. I knew that somehow you clerics of Bahamut tend to get yourselves into something."

Serhis had to admit, Iskdiwercaesin didn't need to make much of an effort to prove that. He had yet to hear of a cleric of Bahamut that didn't have an eventful situation occur at least once.

Gatosa went around the room, picking certain papers and documents out from the piles as Lilthian gave an equal grin to Iskdiwercaesin, "And I've never been so glad to be wrong about you. Although green dragons causing the leadership of a town to collapse actually proves me right... Ah, never mind, I don't have patience for those philosophical debates."

Steeling his mind, Serhis muttered a prayer. Finished, he asked, "When we start?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the afternoon sun faded, Serhis looked to the North as the stars began to appear, then started to walk. They had waited a full day to pass to recover from their battle with the giant. He could already tell that starting a full scale revolt was going to be servable times more difficult than fighting something that literally could have stepped on him to death. Baous adjusted his armor and inspected his war hammer, following Serhis as they went. Iskdiwercaesin didn't seem the slightest bit bothered, yawning after a full day of waiting. They could see the others going their own ways, heading for areas they had determined to be the most effective in gathering a mob.

A cold wind swept through the streets, the main plaza ahead of them. The plaza was built in a circular design, its floor made with a white clay tile encompassing the whole plaza, a mosaic built to the sides on the main road depicting the wind sweeping fields of wheat. Street lamps made of cast iron lined the street, there was a man going to each one and lighting them for the night. In the center, a birch tree stood as its leaves swayed to the breeze, a fountain built around it with a wavy texture carved into it. Statues of important people of this town also stood neat this fountain, historical figures that they weren't familiar with standing dignified, though they did see a few of the current top council members standing there. They had seen the pictures of these people in the reports.

In one corner of the plaza, they could also see the states of Lilthian standing in a "heroic" pose, chest jutting out, arms positioned in a dramatic manner, and face with an expression of ecstatic victory. Gatosa stood next to him, no less heroic in her own manner, but with far less explosive energy. The face did no justice to what she really looked like. Atamis was nowhere to be seen.

The council building faced the plaza, a three story building constructed with red brick sand many windows spanning a whole block, its black tiled roof starting to blend into the night sky. A wall five meters high surrounding the whole complex, forming a semi-circle as it reached around half of the plaza.

A few people were here, passing through, but the ones that concerned the three the most were the guards. Only tow could be visibly seen at the front gates, bored after standing at their post, but these weren't the ones they were concerned about. It was the privately hired guards milling around, just as bored as the others, but capable of murderous intent. Even now, they could see a few of them through the windows, their garbs different than the standard guard's uniform, far better equipped and likely more skilled as well. They were more callous mercenaries than hired guards. The public guards were relatively innocent, minor isolated incidents aside, but it was the mercenaries that the council had hired that was their hand and weapon. The guards with shiny armor and helmets were little more than window dressing to maintain appearances that law and order were firm and established and that their dealings were dealt in a public manner.

Walking around the tree and fountain, the people that crossed their path gave greetings of "Hi!", "Welcome back," and "Fought anything interesting?". A month ago, these people would have more than likely not given them the time of day. Thanks to their efforts and with a healthy helping of Lilthian's retelling of their deeds, these people had softened up a bit. There was still a bit of tension as they looked at their faces, that would always be there no matter what, people simply feared what was not understood or out of their ability to control. For now, they were understood, but they weren't precisely "controlled", and Iskdiwercaesin more than likely have taken a bite at anyone who would have suggested he could be. They were strong, and that made many uneasy as well. At the very least, no one impeded their progress as they approached the gates to the town hall.

Coming closer, the guards stood a bit taller. They stopped ten feet away, Iskdiwercaesin taking out a scroll and unrolling it, as if to present it to them. One of the guards looking at the other inquisitively, the other shrugging, before asking them, "The council is in a private session at the moment, if you want to enter, you're going to have to wait until tomorrow."

Serhis sighed, giving a remorseful look to the two guards, then meekly saying, "Sorry."

Before either could respond, Iskdiwercaesin's sleep spell fell upon them, their eyes wearily drooping, then falling shut as much as their legs. As far as everyone else on the street could tell, both simply fell over like logs.

"I told you they looked exhausted and sleepy," Iskdiwercaesin spoke out, loud enough for some people around them to hear, but not enough to make it sound false. The shape of the walls helped in carrying his voice around the plaza. A few onlookers approached, wondering what had happened.

"What happened to those two? Huh? Jenkins looks totally out of it," an old female human said, referring to one of the guards.

"Don't really know, we came here to talk to the council since Lilthian's busy. We wanted to talk to them to let us through, but it looks like they were so sleepy and tired..." Iskdiwercaesin said with the most concerned tone he could muster. Had Serhis and Baous not known better, they too would have believed him. "Do you know a place where we could put these two? That armor must be a pain to stand in all day and I think they need a break."

"Old Joshua's place is right over there," the old lady pointed to a house just outside the main plaza, "I'm sure he'll let them stay for a bit. Andrew, Val, lend a hand here, will you?" she said to two of the other people that had come over. This woman seemed to be the type who knew everyone who lived at least twenty houses down from her place. A pair of muscular man and woman helped pick the two sleeping guards up as started to carefully lift them away.

"Oh, wait," the green wyrmling said before they could get far, "we need to get inside to talk to the council. Can we use their keys to open the lock?"

They paused, looking over their shoulders at him, "Uh, sure, I guess," the woman carrying who they presumed Jenkins is, digging through his pockets, "I'm not sure the council's going to like being interrupted."

The keys were dropped into Baous' hand, who had to flip through several of them to find which one fit the lock on the gate. Iskdiwercaesin and Serhis waited right next to him, as the eyes of the mercenaries looked down on them, not sure what was going on. Serhis was uneasy with the stares, but Iskdiwercaesin looked up, smiled and waved at them. Finding the right one, they passed through the thick wooden gates.

"Don't lock it," Iskdiwercaesin silently ordered, "we don't want to cut off our escape route if this turns bad and any of their reinforcements are going to have a key anyway. It'll block the others from coming as well."

Shutting the gate behind them without locking it, they stood in the courtyard, a grey brick road leading to the front entrance, passing a grass yard and flowerbeds. The beauty of the scene was somewhat ruined with the gang of approaching armed mercenaries. Passing through the main entrance, they numbered six, half of them heavily armored, the others equipped for skirmishing. Looking up, they could also see two more at the open windows, they had yet to nock their arrows, but keeping an eye on them.

Their leader approached, a relatively young dwarf Baous thought, roughly sixty years old, equipped in a heavy full pate armor suit of high quality and had a great axe strapped to this back, a pair of throwing axes to his side. "What are you doing here? Who's the idiot that let you in?" he demanded, eyes unweaving as he glared at them, not so much as flinching as Iskdiwercaesin made eye contact. Dragon or not, that axe could still do tremendous harm to the wyrmling's hide.

Serhis gave an answer, "We give message. Letter for head of council, Jaiques Dehill," he said as he reached into his pack, pulling out a folded piece of parchment. Just to the side of his vision, Serhis could see Baous and Iskdiwercaesin look at the paper curiously, this hadn't been part of the plan of attack. They had figured by now, the brawl would have started. That expression of curiosity vanished no sooner had it appeared, gong along with whatever Serhis was improvising.

"Huh, a note? Acting as messenger boys for Lilthian's bunch. If you want to send a message, you could have waited until tomorrow."

"This important. It for only Mr. Dehill, no peek. Very important, must bring to him now." Serhis was severely limiting his vocabulary, hoping to seem less bright and play on the dwarf's stereotype that Kobold's had limited mental capacities and that he was thoughtlessly following orders given.

The dwarf stood his ground, refusing to let the Kobold to pass, "No. You're not going inside. That's our orders, understand. Every day, no visitors during night hours."

Serhis had known that. In point of fact, they had planned on it. They had chosen this specific hour to strike, while all of the council was gathered in one place, in the area they would deem the safest. Any attempt at an assault of this place would likely meet with heavy resistance, while actually managing to get inside and eliminating them was near impossible.

Fortunately, that wasn't their objective. All they needed to do was cause enough of a ruckus damage to make the council bottle themselves up as they waited for reinforcements. Reinforcements that would be tied up dealing with an angry townspeople outside the fortified walls of the town hall complex. After that, they only would need to wait as the council starved themselves out.

"But- but- Lilthian say message really need go to Mr. Dehill. Please let in, please?" Serhis pleaded. He wasn't much of an actor, but hopefully this was enough to let him accomplish what he needed.

"No, end of discussion," firmly finished the dwarf.

Serhis let out a sigh, "Well, if it all right, maybe pass note along? That way, Serhis say done best to Lilthian," he said as he held up the note for them to take.

At this they relented. The dwarf that they had yet to learn the name of motioned for one of the skirmishers to take the note, "Just... hand it to the clerk or slide it under their door or something."

The elf nodded, then went back inside. The seven left looked at them, their body language highly suggesting that they leave. "Well, what are you waiting for? You message's been sent. Go. Shoo."

That hadn't gone as well as Serhis would have liked, but at least it done something. He had hoped for the possibility to enter the council chambers themselves and hopefully end this quickly rather than turning this into a drawn out siege, but it wasn't going to be as easy as that. He was content with simply dropping down the number of potential hostiles they had to fight at once by one.

And hostile they were going to be.

Waiting as long as they could, they stood their ground, the mercenaries glowering at them, waiting until the last moment before they would need to be pushed out.

"Oh, oh," Serhis said worriedly.

"What now?" the dwarf thundered, not taking kindly to their continued presence.

"Forgot give one more thing," blurted Serhis, running up to the dwarf with hands clasped, as if he were holding something in his palm.

"Dammit, what?! It had better not be another note," the heavily armored dwarf shouted, his patience completely gone, half ready to kick Serhis' scaly butt onto the ground.

"This," announced Serhis as he pressed his claws against the metal covered chest.

Letting out a primal shriek, the dwarf fell to his knees, clawing at his helmet as he was consumed with an absolute fear. Everyone else acted immediately, Baous swinging his war hammer in an arc at the nearest warrior as Iskdiwercaesin breathed forth corrosive acid on the others neither had attacked. The surprised guards struggled to fight back, attempting to land attacks on them while the archers fired from their position from the windows.

Serhis took two long steps back, a protection spell needed as he fell under attack from the arrows. Neither struck, the shots so shaky that the spell wasn't needed, at least for that moment. Baous only caught a glancing blow at first, though a glancing hit might mean a bone fracture, his second strike going around to keep momentum and landing a solid impact this time, the human falling to the gray tiles. Full plate armor could little to negate the force of a well swung war hammer. Iskdiwercaesin proved to be agile enough to avoid taking injury himself as the three others concentrated on him, though he had casted his own protection spell were beforehand, but it only allowed him the opportunity to group them together. A stretch of grass became just as acid burned as the bodies that fell on top of it. Both of the archers started firing on Iskdiwercaesin, believing him the more dangerous target. They were right. Only one of the arrows came close to hurting him, bouncing off his scales as it was slowed down passing through the arcane generated armor. Iskdiwercaesin came closer to them, moving at a walk, daring them to fire once more. The next pair of arrows disintegrated in flight, as well as the two archers that couldn't pull back their heads in time to cover, the wall between the two windows badly melted.

The dwarf had gotten up now, screaming as he pounded at the door of the town hall.

"Whoa, what did you do to him?" Baous asked as he marched up to the frightened dwarf, disarming him by ripping the great axe from his back and pulling off the others.

"A spell that makes cruel and evil people full of emotions that conflict with their nature," Serhis answered, dropping the shortened vocabulary, "the effect differs from person to person. I guess this one has thought and done a lot of unpleasant things to make him like that. Be careful, it's going to wear off soon."

Five seconds later, the spell had run it's course. The dwarf's expression of fear hadn't though, he was now cornered by a terror inducing Kobold, a Kobold that knew how to expertly wield his weapon, and a green dragon, without a weapon and at their mercy. He wasn't clawing at the wooden doors anymore, but he was going to bolt for the nearest escape that was presented to him. His breathing ragged from the yelling, he coarsely said, "You'll pay for that, you will."

"Such bravado," commented Iskdiwercaesin, "and an impossible promise. What should we do with you?"

"Really can't let him go," said Baous, "he's got to have done some horrible things since your spell worked so well on him," he said to Serhis. "And he's going to get in the way of the others when they get here if we let him go."

"I have some rope we can use to restrain him," suggested Serhis.

"That'll have to do for now. We're going to tie you up, so don't try anything," Baous said to the dwarf they had yet to learn the name of.

Hands and legs bound, the dwarf still looked at them, with every fiber of his will saying he wanted to kill them. He almost wanted to resist being tied with the rope to the pillar that was part of the building and only a strong sense of self preservation seemed to have stopped him.

"We caused a lot of noise, a lot more of them are going to come this way, even if they don't know what caused it. The screams and the yelling are really going to make them ready for a fight," said Serhis.

"Even if I don't get a chance to gut you myself, I'll have your heads on a wall. I'll also have you skinned and made into armor," growled the dwarf at them all, the other part directed at Iskdiwercaesin.

Groaning, Iskdiwercaesin shook his head, "What is it with the obsession of making armors out of dragons. It's damn annoying. Can I gag him?"

"What's your name?" asked Baous in Dwarven.

"Munep. I want you to know it when you die by my axe."

Baous was about to say something more as he was interrupted by shouting above them, through the windows that the archers had shot through.

"About time they noticed," said Iskdiwercaesin in a insulting tone, "now they'll sound the alarm. Can we get to a more defendable location now?"

"He doesn't have a key, so..." Baous said as he reached back, then swung with full force at the door, smashing the lock. Kicking the remnant in, the entrance hall opened to them. No one was inside, the room was decorated with enough objects to make it seem like a proper place, though there were some objects to the side that also made it look like a guard post. They had just taken out the entrance guard team. Now if only they had a way to deal with the other seven posts.

"We go through the left rooms first," recalled Baous, already moving to the door. They had been given a blueprint of the town hall to study by Gatosa, as having the layout of the entire place would make this go along much more smoothly. The council chamber was in the middle of the whole building, only accessible on the third floor, but their objective wasn't to attack the heart of the place, but to go around it entirely and cause as much damage and confusion as possible. Between the three other external guard stations that would at least be less well guarded as the front, attacking the four internal ones would be a daunting challenge. Making their way through the South-West part of the structure, they could hear the shouting of others echoing through the walls, distant or simply above them on the floor over their heads.

"Why does this place have so many rooms? I've heard of bureaucratic entanglement, but any town hall that needs this many rooms has got to be a mess of paperwork," commented Iskdiwercaesin.

"It's got to do with making this place seem clean and efficient, making it look like there's enough people here so that the real controllers for this town don't have to deal with people that could become a problem. It was also built for the purpose of holding off a siege, able to hold many more times the guards that are still here and hold attackers off," suggested Serhis.

"Whatever. It's probably going to be half burned to the ground by the end of today. We just don't want to be in it when that happens," Iskdiwercaesin said dismissively, "Where's the next bunch? We going to run into them soon?"

As if in answer, the sound of the town bell ringing broke through the air. Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin slowing down a bit to listen.

"The news is out. Here come the reinforcements," Iskdiwercaesin said in a deadpan tone, "How many of them are there in total?"

"About a hundred and fifteen. Minus seven now," replied Serhis.

"Let's see... four at each of the other entrances, five at the ones inside, add the guy that went back inside... That means thirty three of them are in here with us and seventy five more on the way from their private barracks. Not even adding the whoever in the council can fight, we're going to be so outnumbered," Baous said as he grit his teeth.

"Then Lilthian had better make that rousing speech quick. Rah, rah, down with the tyrants, rise against them, bread and circuses for everyone," mocked Iskdiwercaesin, "I'm pretty sure a thousand or so angry peasants are going to be trouble for seventy five thugs. Besides, you're forgetting one thing?"

"What's that?" asked Baous.

"That a dragon's going against them, so we'll never be outnumbered," smirked Iskdiwercaesin.

Serhis and Baous knew it was ego that made that remark, but they hoped it was true as well.

"Hey! Those are the intruders!"

In front of them through the next room, they found one of the groups from a guard post. "It's those things that are with Lilthian's bunch! What in the Nine Hells?!" shouted a gnome as he raised a crossbow, not sure whether to aim at either the small Kobold that he immediately despised at first sight or the green dragon he thought the more dangerous target.

"Didn't they take down a hill giant? Should we pull back and wait for the rest?" one of the mercenary guards, a human, said with some worry.

The last guard brandished his broadsword, a half-orc, "Nah, we can handle ‘em. What you going to say to the others, that you ran from some oversized lizard, a short gnoll, and a pathetic runt of a dragon? Aren't they suppose to be the size of house? And have wings? Come on, we can take care of some wingless weakling!"

"Runt? Wingless... weakling?" Iskdiwercaesin repeated with a low growl, "I'd have just breathed and be done with you, but I'll rip you right out of your armor. Might not be as weak as you say."

"Uh oh. They might want to run," said Serhis.

Baous shook his head, "This isn't going to end well."

Taking a step forward, the green wyrmling launched himself at them.

The resulting mess was made in half a minute, the rug in this room badly stained after Iskdiwercaesin finished tearing them apart. Serhis and Baous did minimal work, not being able to do much as he went to the three and showed the strength of his fangs and claws. Serhis stepped around the bolt in the floor that the gnome had wildly fired as he went to the next room, Baous trying to remove some blood spatter from his fur with an expression of disgust, Iskdiwercaesin being the last to leave, spitting to clear his mouth, leaving a hole in the rug.

"That was unnecessarily vicious," remarked Serhis to Iskdiwercaesin.

"They should have known better than to insult a dragon," he responded.

Peeking through the next door, Baous said, "I'm just fine, so I don't know about that."

"You're a special exception, you're useful. Be thankful for that. Let's just be done with this, can we?"

Going around the outer perimeter of the town hall, they found the other two guard posts and defeated them soundly, Serhis and Iskdiwercaesin reserving their magic in the event of an emergency. Having went full circle, they found themselves back at the main entrance and had picked up the key for the inside of the building, which helped speed them along.

"Ahh, much better," breathed Iskdiwercaesin as Serhis finished putting a healing spell on him, having taken a few nicks and scratches, "Looks like our little job is done."

Baous paced around, still a bit on edge, "I guess we have to stay here a while longer. Until they come out and surrender at least. Leaving before this is over won't feel right."

Iskdiwercaesin stretched out, head to tail, "Staying here a while longer doesn't sound bad. Think of it this way, all while we're waiting for them to starve themselves out, we'll be living like heroes, the whole town grateful to us, and I do think Lilthian's going to make the biggest feast he's ever made."

"How long we're going to stay here is going to depend on a few things," said Serhis. "If don't have any food with them, they're going to have to surrender in three weeks or starve, and I really don't think they have enough to feed those twenty guards or themselves. If they don't have water, it's going to be as short as three days."

Finishing his stretch, Iskdiwercaesin moved himself over to the front door, "I'm going to see how big of a crowd they managed to get."

Opening the front doors, he walked along the tiles towards the walls, Serhis and Baous going after him since they were curious as well. From the sounds coming over the walls, the numbers of people must have been massive.

The dwarf, Munep, was still tied to the pillar, though the ropes looked like he had been trying to struggle out of them. Unfortunately, his armor was working against him and he had no luck getting out. He spat at them as they passed, missing.

"Hey now, no spitting at us unless you want me to do the same to you," said Iskdiwercaesin with mirth.

Climbing up the stairs to the top of the walls, they saw the full results of the revolt created around them. At the front gates, a street brawl had erupted in the plaza, the mercenaries barely holding their own against the mob that surrounded them. There were plenty of torches, since they were needed as night had descended, but there were few pitchforks. Instead, the mob had decided to be a bit more practical, attacking with clubs, staves, and whatever they deemed appropriate. Rocks were sailing through the air with some degree of accuracy.

"Heh, whoa. That's a lot of them down there. And I don't even think that's all of them. Do you see our little partners in this revolt in this mess?" asked Iskdiwercaesin.

Looking around, they shook their heads. "Maybe they're gathering more people before a big finale," suggested Baous, "Lilthian really seems to be the kind of guy that likes having a dramatic finish."

"Over there," pointed Serhis, indicating to their right to a heavily fortified building, "that's going to be some trouble."

Standing at the corner of the block was the headquarters and barracks. A mass of people surrounded it, though they kept back. At the front stood the town guard, now heavily armored and armed as this had turned into a crisis situation. Gatosa had told them beforehand that they had no indication whether the town guard were as loyal as the forces of the council and would tell the people that they should be wary of them, but not overtly hostile, not until they chose a side. The captain stood with her forces, watching the mob in front of them, Captain Xephil in full gear, her expression undetectable. They could see her looking at them, her helmet turned in their direction for a moment, the steel glowing a bright orange as it reflected the light from numerous fires and torches, before looking back to the crowd that stood and jeered at her, telling her to either help overthrow the council or hole up and cower in the headquarters and meet the same fate.

"Looks like they're coming this way," Iskdiwercaesin redirected their attention back to the mercenaries, thinned in some number, but now had managed to break through a section of the mob that surrounded them.

"Should we lock the gates?" suggested Serhis.

As they charged forward, their advance slowed to a crawl, bogged down by the rush of people that tried to close up the opening. They were placed in a worse situation than before, now that they were spread out and being picked apart.

"Nah, we're fine. Go open the gates for them," Iskdiwercaesin said to Baous, "if they make a statue for us, I at least want it to be true to reality. I'm going to stand up here and they can remember my glory. Then they can remember me by carving it in stone and putting it where I stood." It looked like his ego could only be encouraged by these events.

"Something's wrong here," observed Serhis, "look at the sky. Look at the undersides of the clouds. That's rising smoke. I think we might have some razing and looting out there."

"A messy part of any revolt. We'll deal with it after the rest arrive," said Iskdiwercaesin.

The yells and shouts below them reached a fevered pitch, it was hard to tell what any one person was saying. All they could hear were a few snatches, "Run them out of town!" "Dibs on that sword!" "Rilliyic's one of their lap dogs, drag him out of his house!" "After those Loyalists!"

Iskdiwercaesin leaned against the wall, watching as the brawl began to come to a close, the mercenaries completely crushed, though the townspeople had suffered some casualties as well. "Time to open the gates," he smirked, running a claw past the crest on his head, trying to look regal and majestic.

Standing on the walls, Iskdiwercaesin let loose a fell roar, grabbing the attention of everyone in half a mile radius. One claw raised on the top edge of the wall, he'd have spread his wings if he still had them to leave an even stronger impression. He was very satisfied from the gawks he could see on the faces of the people underneath, a hint of a smirk barely noticeable, since it's hard to tell a dragon's expression unless someone was familiar with them.

"Hey! There're the traitors!" "Lilthian was right! They did join up with them!" "Get ‘em! We'll drag them and those tyrants out of there!" "Tell them that they're in there, someone send a runner!" "Don't give them a chance to regroup. CHARGE!"

The quiet smirk was gone by the first shout, now replaced by bafflement. Serhis knew few would ever see a dragon with that expression, though judging from how Iskdiwercaesin was looking at him, he must have been looking the same way.

"Lock the gate, mutt! Lockthegatelockthegatelockthegate!" Iskdiwercaesin said in a rapid fire urgency.

Baous looked up at them from the foot of the wall at the gates, not sure if the heard that right. He couldn't hear the voices beyond the gate, if only because they were muffled to him.

"Hurry!" shouted Serhis, watching as the crowd now turned their attention to them and rushing their position.

Pulling the keys out of his pocket, Baous picked through them to find the right one, the two draconians above him nervously seeing the mob close a lot of ground. Fitting the correct one into the lock, counterweights built into it shifted and moved as a large bar fitted itself across the wooden gates. He then heard the enormous "thud" of a mass of bodies ram into the door, though thankfully neither a creak of straining iron or the crack of splintering wood.

"What did you do?!" he yelled at Iskdiwercaesin.

"Nothing! Don't blame me, something Lilthian did is responsible for this." As he was about to continue, a small *crack* interrupted him, the sound of a crossbow bolt shattering as it hit the wall he was standing by.

"You missed! He was just standing there, how could you miss!?" "Shut up, you've never fired one of these things before either." "Everyone, grab a crossbow from that scum we brought down!"

Running down the stairs of the wall and out of line of sight, Iskdiwercaesin could be heard cursing, "Damnitdamnitdamnitdamnit," nearly getting shot making him very unhappy. Serhis had already jumped off the five meter wall and had glided into a soft landing on the lawn.

"How did this happen?" wondered Serhis as he stood up from the landing crouch, "why would they do this?"

"We've been played," darkly seethed Iskdiwercaesin, "They tricked me. Me. I don't care why, there's going to be a penalty for this."

Baous sighed, his hands tightly gripping the haft of his war hammer, "Something's wrong here, something's really wrong here."

"Yeah, those backstabbing, ooze puss, ogre shits aren't dead yet, that's what wrong!" hotly breathed Iskdiwercaesin, rage fueling a primal part of him.

"Language," said Serhis, "for now, let's get out of here, then find some answers later."

"How? The whole town has this place surrounded," asked Baous. "We're going to be stuck in here for the siege. That we helped make," he added meekly.

Serhis scratched his head, unsure what to do. Iskdiwercaesin didn't say anything, though they could see his eyes glance at the stumps on his back for a moment.

"Let's try and get to the top of the roof. Maybe we'll find a way out there," suggested Baous. Serhis nodded, the idea was sound.

Iskdiwercaesin craned his head up, looking at the roof, "Know any way up? We sure can't climb up walls and we don't have any equipment for that sort of thing."

"There's suppose to be a roof access on the third floor," answered Serhis, recalling the schematics for the building.

Iskdiwercaesin apparently remembered them as well, "Yes. Through the main council chambers. And all the guards that have probably gathered in one spot. This is going to be a great plan of escape," he sarcastically noted, but in a tone that suggested that he had no recourse but to go along with said "great plan".

Over the din of the shouts beyond the wall, one comment got all of their attention, "Get a battering ram!"

The dwarf, still tied to the pillar, shouted at them "Let me down, cut me loose!" Munep shouted, his previous assumption that his friends would burst through the gate dashed.

"We'll get caught if we stay out here, go," motioned Baous as he flung open the main doors to the town hall, waving his arms for the others to get inside. Swinging the doors close, he locked them.

Running back through the town hall to the stairs leading to the second floor, they locked each door behind them, hoping to delay any eventual pursuer.

Iskdiwercaesin looked up the wide staircase at the closed doors above. "Great. Just great. Now we're going to have to go up to an area we didn't clear out, heading right for the twenty odd mercenaries still left, who've probably heavily fortified the place and are just waiting for us, not to mention the potentially dangerous council members, and behind us is an angry revolt that wants to tear us apart because the scumbags we worked with betrayed us," he said bitterly.

"Why are they coming after us anyway? Wasn't the plan that they would only surround the place, not storm it?" asked Baous.

"They didn't give us the actual plans," theorized Serhis, "and I've got a bad feeling about how this is going to end. I have the impression that they don't want to take the top members of the council alive, and us as well. We have to get out of here quickly, before they decide to burn this whole place down on top of us rather than chase us all down through those locked doors."

"Potential ambush at the top of those stairs, remember?" noted Iskdiwercaesin,

"Not much choice now," said Baous, legs flexing as he readied to charge up the steps, then making a running sprint to the top. Smashing through the door, they entered the second floor's lobby, a large room that could act as the main gathering point for a many number of people. Nobody was here, making it seem emptier than it was already.

Looking around, they wondered where the remaining guards had went. "That was uneventful," muttered Iskdiwercaesin as he walked up the steps.

"Maybe they're in the council chambers at the top," suggested Baous, scanning the empty room.

"Keep on guard, this could still be a trap," said Serhis. "Which way to go? Those doors ahead of are much closer to the stairs leading up, the doors to our sides take a much longer route, but are less usable as ambush points."

"Personally, I'd rather go the long way. Anything with less chances of making this difficult is fine by me," Iskdiwercaesin put forward.

Serhis and Baous nodded, this decision might as well have been decided by a coin flip, the sacrifice of time for safety or vice versa equally concerning.

Taking the passage to the left, they could see the town from outside the windows they passed, the night sky glowing the color of embers as the town around them was lighted from the numerous people in the streets and the torches they bore or the raging fire of a building being set alight. Talking, yelling, shouting, crying, screaming, all muffled and yet still heard as they passed by each window.

Why would they do this? Serhis asked himself again, still at a loss as to why Lilthian, Gatosa, and Atamis had betrayed them, what they could gain from this chaos aside from the obvious, yet that still didn't make sense as to why they needed from the betrayal.

Slowing down with due caution, they reached the doors that lead to the room that contained the main stairwell that lead to the council chambers. If any point could be considered a choke point and highly defendable, that would be it. Pulling out the wrinkled building plans, they could see that those stairs were surrounded by a balcony on the third floor, it would be a perfect kill zone for any ranged attackers.

"Any plans on how not to get shot to pieces when we go up?" asked Iskdiwercaesin in a low tone.

Serhis and Baous shook their heads. Serhis kept his eyes on the door handle, not sure if a bunch of savage goons were going to burst through at any second, "I've got no spells prepared for this."

Baous leaned against the door, peaking through the key hole. Through it, he had a side view of the room. To his right, he could see the main doors that lead into the room, the doors they would have had to come through had they taken the direct route. As far as he could tell, that would have been a truly unpleasant experience, he could see that all the archers in the balcony above have a clear view of that door. From here, if they entered, only a fourth of the archers had clear line of fire, half of them directly above them and unable to see them the rest would be blocked by the staircase. Counting those in the room, there were eleven that would attack with melee weapons, six on the stairs and guarding it, the others at the bottom, behind a barricade and ready to deal with whoever came through any of the doors. Up above, there were three archers on the opposite side to him, four to his left at the top of the stairs. As for the other three out of the twenty one, he could guess that they were directly above him. It wasn't as if the side doors were undefended, but the guards had less covering fire from the archers due to the blocking staircase. He quietly whispered what he saw, holding his breathe every time it looked like one of them looked his way, exhaling softly when it looked like nobody had heard him. The background noise of the town riot managed to cover any noise they made.

Serhis contemplated on the tactical situation, unsure how to gain an advantage. The fourteen mercenaries they had defeated below them they only managed to beat because they were spread out throughout the rooms. Assaulting a platoon of prepared mercenaries that would fire at the first sight of enemies was either going to end their own defeat or a hard won victory, but at a heavy disadvantage when they went up against the fighting members of the council after expending much of their strength and spells. Looking at Iskdiwercaesin and Baous for suggestions, both shrugged, also at a loss. Shoulders and wings sagging, he wasn't thrilled with the prospect at having to fight through all of them just to get through the council chambers and to the roof above for only a possible escape route.

Pulling his head back from the keyhole, Baous readied his hammer to smash the lock, "R- Ready," he acknowledged.

"As much as I would like to see you pull your weight, just hold on for a moment," Iskdiwercaesin put a claw on his hammer, "perhaps a distraction first? I'll go through the other side door. You'll make a nice distraction first, smashing through the lock, then getting out of the way before those arrows take your invitation to go through the door. While they're all looking that way, I'll come through my door and we all won't be pinned down here."

"I guess that would make things only a bit better," said Serhis.

Iskdiwercaesin turned to go the other way, though they could here him mutter, "This is going to hurt a shit load of arrows..."

Going halfway down the hall, everyone swung their heads as a loud boom and crash could be heard outside. "Crap. They're through," stated Iskdiwercaesin as he looked out the window at the end of the hall, Serhis and Baous running next to him to look. Outside, they could see people streaming though the gates and pouring into the courtyard, the ones in front being lead by a team with a battering ram. Another crash was heard as it was carried into the front door, "I don't think locking those doors is going to slow them down anymore."

"You're not going to be able to get to the other door in time. By the time you get to the main stairs, they're going to be there as well," said Serhis.

"Any new plans?" hopefully asked Baous.

Neither having one, discouragement sunk in a little. More people came in through the gates as it could allow, though there seemed to be some going out. A gang lifting the dwarf Munep over their heads, still wrapped in ropes, for whatever fate they had in mind.

"Do you think we should have let him go?" wondered Baous.

"What for? He'd be stuck in here with us and probably have joined up with those guys over there," Iskdiwercaesin nudged his head towards the room with the staircase, "he'd have been torn to pieces by us. Not that anything's changed now."

Still more came in, but they seemed to flow around something. Looking beyond the flickering torches and smoke, they could see Lilthian, Gatosa, and Atamis standing at the fountain, looking at the town hall, surrounded by throngs of the mob. They didn't seem to see them through the window, though it would have mattered little. Lilthian seemed to be rallying those around him, gesturing with his hands and whole body, spurring them on. Gatosa also spoke to them with less movement, but her voice was likely just as powerful. Atamis stood guard, his gaze directed at the town guard headquarters down the street, still held and not assailed. Not able to hear what they were saying, Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin stepped back from the window and kept out of sight.

"There's our ‘heroes of the hour', Iskdiwercaesin said sourly, "wish there was a way to get at them."

"Might want to escape first," said Baous, "the people have probably gotten up the stairs by now."

"Uh oh. This is going to end badly," said Serhis as he went back to the door with the mercenaries behind it. Peeking though, they had definitely heard the gate being smashed in, all of them tense with weapons held at the ready. If they could see the number that were running up, Serhis was sure they would have tried to run.

"I'm surprised that they haven't tried to burn this place down. Would have been quicker," Iskdiwercaesin said behind him, whispering no longer needed as the voices full of anger and rage kept rising.

"They want to make this look good. Bring us all out and make it all a public spectacle," said Serhis.

"I locked the door behind us. Hopefully that does something," said Baous, "I don't think they're going to drag that battering ram all the way through those other rooms."

A crash, then shouting punctuated with the sound of arrows flying, those noises carrying through the wooden door. Serhis looked though the keyhole again, witnessing a clash erupt in the next room. There were already some casualties, the battering ram had been dropped as those at the front had been shot, two or more of the carriers were bleeding out in the doorway. The mob had rushed in and those at the stairs kept them back.

Iskdiwercaesin listened as the battle raged since both keyholes were blocked by Serhis and Baous' heads, "Do you think now's a good time to burst in? It's not going to get any better from here."

Still looking through, they watched with only a limited view of the battle. These mercenaries weren't just in a superior tactical position, they had prepared extensively for a battle. The four on the stairs were rotating position when needed, never giving a step for the oncoming waves, while the remaining two behind them concentrated on healing them. Though they didn't have the food and water to hold out for a prolonged siege, they most certainly had the supplies for the battles. Healing potions, wands, scrolls, everything that could be used to heal injuries when inflicted and enhance the fighting capabilities of those on the front lines. Those four were all that were needed to prevent the rest of the mercenary group from getting overwhelmed. The crowd of townspeople was taking more and more casualties all the while, the dying and dead being carried back out. They were fortunate in only a small manner, that the mercenaries they were fighting against didn't look as if they had anything to use against large scale groups, a fireball fired anywhere would have been devastating. That still was no consolation to those struck by the constant downpour of arrows, the archers up above firing anywhere, barely aiming and still hitting someone all the same.

"No, going in now would be a bad idea," responded Serhis as he pulled his head back to answer. "We'll get caught on the staircase as well, and now there's going to be a hostile to our backs. I really don't think they're going to listen to anything we have to say, not after Lilthian had a talk with them. And I don't want to fight them either, we're suppose to be the ones helping them, but now they're getting slaughtered. What was Lilthian thinking?" he asked himself.

"They're running away," said Baous, eye still peering through. "They took a lot of damage there," he noted with distaste, sharing Serhis opinion that the townsfolk didn't need to suffer through all this.

Iskdiwercaesin looked through the window again, watching as the state outside changed from bad to worse. "Now they're really mad. Either they're going to come back in better prepared or they're going to say ‘screw this' and light a fire under us. We need an out."

"We can attack them now," suggested Baous, "they're probably still hurt and they used a lot of their supplies. There's a slightly better chance we can win."

Listening through the door, they heard the defenders talking to each other. "Damn it! I need some healing here!" "I'm down to half a quiver, anyone have some more arrows?" "We've got more supplies, someone get to that room to the right!" "Did you see how many there where?! Shit! Isn't there an escape route, a secret passage, something?" "We're not paid enough for this crap. If there was a way out, I'd have used it by now. We'll have to hold out until they give up or we find another way." "It looks like the whole town's in an uproar. Damn that Lilthian!" "Those bastards up above better be doing something to get us out of here."

Serhis nodded at Baous, "I think that-"

The door at the opposite end of the hall cracked and splinted, interrupting Serhis' words with a *thump*. The mob had returned, this time using the side passages.

Cornered, the three looked at one another in a brief panic. Baous almost seemed ready to head in through the other door, risking a fight with the mercenaries dug in up front with the revolting townspeople fighting them from the rear.

"Not that way!" screeched Serhis, rushing into one of the smaller rooms in the hallway, Iskdiwercaesin barely half a meter behind him at a run. Baous' paws dug into the velvet carpet as he reversed course, following and slamming the door shut. It looked like they had entered some form of waiting room, likely for those that had an appointment with the council.

Fumbling for the keys in his pocket, the doors locked with a soft click that was drowned by the sound of wood splintering, then numerous feet thundering down the hall as well as the roar of many voices.

"Looks like they used our idea," observed Iskdiwercaesin, "if they fail again, I just know they're going to put this place to the torch. Us being locked here, in a small room, with plenty of flammable wood and stuff, not really a good place to be when that happens."

Baous was busy piling heavy objects at the door to barricade it. Chairs, a bookcase, a rather ugly statue of a badly carved human, hopefully stopping anyone from entering now that they were well and truly trapped.

"I really hope you know that you're going to move all that stuff out of the way when you smell smoke," Iskdiwercaesin said.

Baous seemed ready to reply with a sharp rebuke, but Serhis cut him off, "Not now! Let's just find a way out of here first." Baous held his tongue and Iskdiwercaesin did the same. "Take out all your equipment, maybe we can find something to use here."

They combed through their packs, rummaging through various items and hoping to find one random item they had that could aid in an escape. Baous only had a few personal items, some things to beat the boredom of a long trip, things for setting up a camp, but nothing that would have helped. Iskdiwercaesin didn't carry anything that would have helped either, only carrying emergency supplies, food, water, a few potions, some of them unlabeled, some of the magic items that he had bought, some chalk and a bag of marbles as well as other random objects. Looking as Serhis also pulled things out of his pack, they both realized that Serhis carried some unpleasant things on his back. Portable traps, two bags of Alchemist's Fire, safely secured, a vial of acid, provided courteous of Iskdiwercaesin's spit, a bottle of holy water, a white bead that would blind anyone looking at it as it struck a hard surface, a smokestick, a pair of thunderstones, and the most dangerous piece that any Kobold would recognize. Ditherbombs.

"Whoa. Do you really carry all this with you, as well as your other stuff? What is this?" Iskdiwercaesin said as he moved a few of the other items that Serhis had put down aside, poking at the sphere.

"Ah! Don't touch! And definitely don't shake," warned Serhis, "the chemicals aren't mixed right now, but move that trigger and we'll be in some trouble. That's a ditherbomb."

"Ditherbomb? One of those little Kobold trinkets that can explode?" Iskdiwercaesin pulled his claw back a few inches. "Why didn't you this earlier? You could have blown a hole in the outer wall!"

"It wouldn't have helped. If we managed to blow up a section of the wall, which would have probably need to use all of them, that would have made our problems worse. This whole place was surrounded, a hole in the wall would have only lead us to a bunch of people waiting for us."

"So? Something else that's not useful here?"

Serhis looked up and down the room, "We could blast though the wooden walls of this room, but that'd only lead to the same problem, we'd be letting the attackers in..." The room was a bit barren, though that might have been due to most of the objects of mass and weight being placed directly in front of the door. There were no windows, this room was on the inside of the town hall complex, the rug was of standard quality with a diamond pattern with black and brown, the walls were paneled wood with tastefully etched carvings of curving lines. A simple chandelier hung in the middle of the ceiling, made of brass and none of the candles were lit.

Intense fighting could be heard through the walls. They couldn't tell who had the advantage, but from the footsteps that kept running past going back down the hall, either the amount of casualties on the townspeople's side was distressingly high as they brought the wounded down or they were fleeing.

"I could try breaking a hole in the floor," offered Baous, war hammer tapping the wooden planks that weren't covered by the rug, "we might be able to get out that way."

"Assuming that the whole floor underneath isn't swarming everyone else trying to get in and out, though if we dropped any of those lovely little presents that Serhis has," Iskdiwercaesin looked at one of the ditherbombs, "I'm sure they'll get out of the way very quickly."

"No," Serhis said firmly, "I'm trying not to harm any of those people. A thunderstone, maybe, but that's a last resort tactic to get out of here, and even then that's not going to be a way out, not with so many."

"Right. No bodily harm to the revolting townsfolk. Though I still hope property damage is still on the list of options," remarked Iskdiwercaesin.

"Well..." Serhis rethought the idea about breaking a whole through the floor, remembering a certain incident which required bashing through a roof to escape, though this time it wasn't going to be them setting fire to the building. More than likely Baous had the same idea, as they both looked up.

"No good. The ceiling's to high to get a good swing," Baous said as he craned his head, moving his arms so that the war hammer barely touched the ceiling.

"Maybe I do have to use one of these," Serhis reached down and picked up his things, leaving one ditherbomb out. "Get your things. Iskdiwercaesin, can you drag on of those tables from the pile next to the wall? Baous, put this up there, I can't reach."

Baous and Iskdiwercaesin wondered what he meant to accomplish by this, though it became clear soon enough as Baous put the ditherbomb into the chandelier. A thick wooden table was placed so that it would face the center of the room while still having room for a certain three to be behind it, as a rope was attached to the triggering pin of the ditherbomb.

Holding onto the rope, Serhis gently pulled enough so that the chandelier and the ditherbomb it carried were at a diagonal angle, "I'm sure the blast won't reach us, but the table is just a precaution."

"Get ready to run and climb," advised Baous, "This is going to be noisy and anyone outside is probably going to try and find out what made it."

"Amazing what you can do with just some rope, a little knowledge about alchemy and motion, and some explosive chemicals," laughed Iskdiwercaesin.

His breathing a little shallow, Serhis pulled enough of the rope so that there was no more slack, one good yank would set it off. Taking a deep breathe, his claws dug into the rope as he readied to pull.

The sound of an explosion went off. Only it wasn't in the room. Baous and Iskdiwercaesin blinked, poking their heads above the rim of the table and still saw the sphere intact and not flying in bits of pieces and shrapnel still hanging there.

"What was that?" asked Baous, "Does someone else here using explosives? And it sounded like it came from... above us?"

Iskdiwercaesin nodded, also a bit puzzled by this.

Serhis also didn't know what made that noise, the rope relaxing in his hand, before a sense of comprehension came to him as he recalled, "You'll see soon enough. Keep your heads back down, I'm going to make our own racket."

Everyone relatively safe behind the lacquered wood, Serhis again gripped the hemp rope, laid down on the floor, then tugged.

The chandelier swung back and forth, the ditherbomb weighing it down and making each swing more exaggerated. The swinging shook it, mixing the chemicals for six seconds before tearing a new skylight into the ceiling. Chunks of wood and plaster rained down on them, Serhis using his wings as a covering, leaving a film of dust and paint chips on top of them. Half of a desk came crashing down through the hole, the other half splinters after being caught in the blast.

"No one's hurt? That one exploded fast," said Serhis.

"Of course it exploded fast. What other speed do explosions go?" Iskdiwercaesin shook his head, knocking loose a plaster fleck on his snout.

"Ditherbombs don't explode after a set time. Sometimes it's as short as that or could be as long as twenty seconds," Serhis replied as he looked over the table to see the damage. A twenty foot chunk of the ceiling was gone, the edges still crackling from the heat, while a much smaller section of the floor underneath had been blown in as well. Looking down, he could see the floor below, and the floor below could see him, dozens of eyes had looked up to see what had caused the loud bang. Pulling his head back quickly, he wasn't sure if anyone had actually seen him through the mess of splintered wood.

At the barricaded door, the remains chandelier had twisted and wrapped itself around the face of the stone statue after being forcefully propelled. It looked like using the table for cover had been necessary if it had swung the other way when it exploded. They could hear someone shout "What in the Nine Hells was that?!" "It came from in here. You think it might be more of them?" "This door's locked, should we bash it down?" "Are you kidding? Those bastards over there are fighting and you're thinking about going into a locked room?" "After that noise, it's safer that way. Wait... if it's locked, that means someone's in there. It's got to be their guys, it might be their reinforcements! Get in there and cut them off!"

"Time to get out of here," Iskdiwercaesin said as he flipped over the table. Serhis used it as a springboard, jumping on top of it, then through the hole above, his wings propelling him upwards and leaving a cloud of dust behind him as he caught the edge at chest height, his claws scrambling to find purchase as he dragged himself up. Taking some rope out of his pack, he looked around to see what he could tie it to.

He was inside a study, or what could count for one after the damage had been done. A ornate chair sat in one corner of the room and the desk would have been nice as well if it hadn't been destroyed and dropped a level down. The place was sparse of any weighty furniture, though a large wooden chest might work for him. Testing if it was heavy enough, he pushed it, but it wouldn't move an inch. Satisfied, he tied the rope to it and cast the other end down, allowing Baous and Iskdiwercaesin to climb up. Pulling themselves up, they looked down to see the door in the room beneath beginning to crack and splinter. Moving out of sight if anyone managed to break in and look through the hole, the three moved to a side of the room.

Iskdiwercaesin looked at Serhis, frowning, "What are you waiting for? One more ditherbomb and we'll reach the roof."

"Uh, it doesn't look like I can do that again. I don't see anything that can make the ditherbomb stay close to the ceiling after I arm it and since I can't tell when it's going to detonate, I can't just throw it up at the right time, and I really don't want to play catch with an exploding ball."

"Damn! Where are we? Can we reach the roof from here?"

"Let me check," said Baous as he looked around, "I think we're in the private section for the council members. This might be one of their offices. And that's... no, we're going to have to go through the main chamber to get up there."

Iskdiwercaesin shouted in exasperation, "Raaugh! This is frustrating! If any one of us could get to the roof, we'd know if there was a way out of here, and that's only a maybe. If I still had my wings that would be a way out. If you could actually use your own this would be easier!" he yelled at Serhis.

"I almost can fly on my own" retorted Serhis, "I just need a bit more practice."

"Not that it's helpful now. The next time we get to a town that doesn't try to kill us, we're buying climbing gear."

"Agreed. And maybe something that makes my ditherbombs sticky so that they catch to something. If you want to shout at someone, how about you go to the people in charge here?"

"Yes, that would do nicely. At least we got past that killing field at the stairs," rumbled Iskdiwercaesin."

Baous reached for the handle of the door, "We want to get out, not start a fight. Can we try to go past them without a fight if we can?"

"Hopefully. They don't have a reason to stop us," said Serhis.

Opening the door, they passed through a few hallways, all of them lavishly decorated and carpeted. Reaching the door to the council chambers, their running slowed to soft steps. Through the oaken doors, they could here many voices, all of them trying to shout over each other. Expending all of the protection spells he had, Serhis loaded his crossbow as Baous and Iskdiwercaesin each took a door. All of them ready, they flung open the doors and stormed in.

"No one move!" roared Iskdiwercaesin, his voice echoing through the chambers. Three of the people inside, dressed as members of office, recoiled in terror as they were within ten feet of the door as it was kicked in, scrambling and falling as they tried to get away. Reaching down and picking up one of them, he yelled, "I told you not to move!"

Surveying the room, they could see the whole council chamber. Built in a wide, rows of desks faced the main central table, where the three ruling heads of the town were seated in the back of the room. Beyond them, another pair of doors, leading further in to the private sanctuary as well as the stairs that lead to the roof. At the moment, the central desk was a seared chunk of wood, the area in front of it smoldering from what looked like an explosion. The elf they saw earlier in the front entrance was flat on his back at the center of the blast. The three seated at the thick oak table all looked at the intruders.

The leader of this town, Jaiques Dehill, is a burly human with bands of muscle circling his arms and legs. He was wearing what looked to be the same armor that the mercenaries wore, likely donned when he heard that this place was under attack. Next to him was Otrin Feo, a gnome wizard, still dressed in his official robes of office. Also with them was Reevis Cornhall, a halfling who's criminal record stretched a mile long and yet still managed to be seated in the halls of power. Out of the fifteen people here, these three were the most responsible for the corruption and death dealing. They were adventurers before they became public officials, meaning they had combat experience. At the moment, they were standing a bit away from their desk and tending to their burns, Jaiques and Otrin a bit scorched, though Reevis seemed to be unscathed.

Tossing the man he held into a chair, Iskdiwercaesin looked at the back where they stood, then at the mess near them, "What happened to that elf?"

"Remember that note I gave him earlier?" asked Serhis, "Those contained explosive runes that detonate when they were read. I was hoping that Jaiques would read them himself, but it looks like they had him read it for them."

"Who are you?! Are you the ones responsible for this? All of this?!" shouted Jaiques, referring to the town wide riots.

"A bit," acknowledged Baous, "I'd ask you to not to fight us and surrender, but since our allies kinda abandoned us, I'm don't think that'll do anything. I'll settle for us not fighting."

"I recognize these three," said Reevis as he shuffled through papers that were laid out on the table, "it's those Kobolds and the dragon that joined up with Gatosa and the others. Damn!"

"I said we should have just killed them and be rid of them," said Otrin in a I-told-you-so manner.

"And I told you why we couldn't! If we did something to them, everyone would notice. They're far too popular and someone would eventually have gotten suspicious," Jaiques said.

"Yeah, and I see that your plan to send the whole bunch to get killed in some dangerous situation work so well," Reevis said in a scathing tone, "With those three backing them up, not only did they survive, they got even more popular! And now look in the mess that we're in!"

"I hate to interrupt you," said Serhis, "but we want to pass by, use door behind you to get to roof."

The three heads of council looked at one another, then Reevis asked, "why would you want to go up there?"

"Not that it's your business, but we're just looking for a way to escape, same as you bunch," said Iskdiwercaesin.

"Hah, if we had a way to escape, we'd have used it by now," said Otrin, though he muttered a barely audible, "should've prepared dimension door today." Standing with as much sense of authority the could emulate, he said in an formal tone, "If I gather correctly that you've been betrayed by that lot of demon-dealing bastards, perhaps an arrangement can be made between us?"

"What kind of arrangement?" asked Serhis.

"We have here documentation of they're own misdeeds. Don't think that you yourselves were the only ones to fall for their lies," said Reevis. "The public image they presented was almost perfect, but after this amount of time under our observation, we've been able to trace a few dark secrets of their own. Unfortunately, nothing that could have been used to implicate them or was too coincidental. We knew these cretin were up to something to move against us, we just didn't realize it would be for all of this."

"Get to the point," demanded Iskdiwercaesin, "I get the feeling that once those poor guys downstairs get tired of throwing themselves at your bodyguards, they'll set fire to this place, so I like if you'd finish talking before your lips get charred off."

Reevis didn't take kindly to being interrupted, looking a bit peeved, "A mutual arrangement for us to escape from here. Obviously, you're able to breach into areas that normally are protected. Like here. We need you to get us to a certain room on the ground floor. There, we will be able to get an escape tunnel that runs underneath this building. The damn thing is that we can't get to it now with all those bloody sod peasants in the way!"

"Why not you use it sooner?" asked Serhis in Common.

"Because a certain three were downstairs butchering our men!" Jacques thumped his fist on the table, "And we thought it was you bunch and we only needed to wait for the rest of our men to get here to kill you. Then the whole town revolts."

"All part of the plan," groaned Iskdiwercaesin. "Where does this escape tunnel go?"

"It leads to the city walls. From there, we can scale down the wall and leave this dank cesspit. I'm going to have to leave all of my stuff," Jaiques moaned.

"Hold on, we're not going to abandon this place yet," Otrin said, "we'll escape, yes, but we'll be back. We can still make this work. We'll have sneak back in when the time is right, retrieve the needed documents and scrolls from my home, then we confront those three pit-spawn and be rid of them. Afterwards, we can give the citizens all the explanations needed to get us back into their good graces."

"There's a lot of ifs in that plan," Reevis said, "but I'll give it a shot. I'd imagine we'd have a bit of unrest for few years, but we'd still be back. If not, we'll cut and run, and but that time with as much coin as we can carry. So what'll it be? You with us?" he asked the three opposite of them. The other council members had been quiet, fearfully listening as the town sought their deaths, but there was a glimmer of hope in their eyes with the hint of a possible escape. Now, those eyes were on Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin.

Iskdiwercaesin looked at his two companions, speaking privately to them, "Doesn't look like we've got much of a choice here. The roof keeps looking like a dead end and this bunch probably do have a secret passage tucked away in events like these. Typical paranoid, tightfisted tyrants."

"Lilthian was right about them being opportunists. We barely step through the door and they already see us as a way to get out here," Baous chipped in, "I don't know. These guys seem really shady to me. Even if Lilthian and the others betrayed us, these people are still responsible for some really nasty things, I'm not sure these guys are any better."

Serhis looked at the heads of council, all three looking back at him. He also felt the same as Baous, what Lilthian has said had become suspect, but there was the feeling that he wasn't lying about their acts. He wanted to flee this place, there was no doubt, but having to cooperate with them was going to be distasteful.

"Sometime soon please?" Jaiques demanded, "while the ground floor isn't being engulfed in flames."

"Say that we agree," said Serhis, "you still going be this way? You still going to have people suffer so that you live comfortable? You still going to kill people?"

"No, of course not," replied Reevis, "we realize that acts like that are what cause these people to be like this. No one wants a revolt, it causes needless deaths. We'll have to change this when we're back in power. A few examples are needed, that's all, to show what happens when the peace is disturbed. After that, everything will be normal."

They paused before they answered. That pause was enough for Serhis.

"Liar. Not complete liar, but close enough," Serhis said.

"What are you doing?!" Iskdiwercaesin hissed in his ear, "Why are you bringing this up now?!"

"I won't allow these murderers and tyrants to escape. I won't help them, I refuse to. Not one of them. They might not all deserve to die, some of the things they done might not be so serious, but I just don't know. There won't be any justice here. Not with these people, not since they are the law here. If they're fortunate, someone with a level head will give them a trial instead of killing them on the spot, because I'd rather move past them and not deal with them, but I doubt that since Lilthian's the one who'd probably do that."

"You don't think this could have waited until we were outside the city walls?"

"Listen to your friend. Once we're out of here, we'll go our separate ways. We will try to handle our own situation and we'll never see each other again, assuming you never come back here," said Otrin.

Serhis shook his head, "No. I told you, I not helping you get out. We go now, to the roof, to a maybe escape of our own, but you also on your own. Even help you escape would hurt people on way out, and there no way I do that." His resolve firm, he could feel Iskdiwercaesin fume at him, but he could also see that Baous understood what he felt and agreed that this course of action had to be taken.

"What about you, dragon?" asked Reevis, "you want to get out of this as well, right? Your breathe may all that we need. Those ingrates will scatter before you and with our men at your side, you won't have to worry about being outnumbered. We won't be ungrateful, there could be a position for you on this council once we retake control."

Serhis looked worriedly at Iskdiwercaesin. This he hadn't expected. Iskdiwercaesin was no longer bound to his nature, but that didn't mean he wasn't still selfish. That they offered a way to escape as well didn't help. If Iskdiwercaesin did agree, Serhis wouldn't stop him, he couldn't. But if both of them did escape from here, he would need to come back, if only to confront Iskdiwercaesin and end him then, having returned to a being that no longer had empathy for others and without his bloodline affecting him. Now, all Serhis could do was look at Iskdiwercaesin and listen to his answer.

"Nice, but I'll pass."

Serhis blinked. Baous was surprised. Neither knew by what reason he would reject such a tempting offer.

The council was just as surprised, shouts erupting from all quarters. They had been silent as they listened to Reevis and the others talk and cajole, but now that they best hope of getting out of here refusing the offer, they were mad.

"What do you mean, ‘I'll pass'?!" bellowed Jaiques, spittle flying from his mouth and hanging from his teeth, "Just a moment ago you said that our escape route was a sound way to go! We even sweetened the deal with a position in the council!"

Iskdiwercaesin tilted his head back slightly, a hint of a smug grin parting his jaws and showing a bit of teeth, "If anything, it's that offer for the position that told me you're full of crap."

Serhis looked blankly at Baous, not sure what to make of this, seeing that Baous' mouth was hanging open in shock and surprise. Then he realized his own jaw was hanging open, clamping his maw shut as he listened to Jaiques go through a tirade of swearing and cursing comprising of the common language and a bit of Orc sprinkled in. Iskdiwercaesin didn't seem to mind, his grin even widening a little further as the man of choleric temperament neared the end of his rant. Otrin and Reevis looked like they wanted to say something else, but anything they would have said would have been drowned out by the sustained, high volume foul language.

"Done yet?" asked Iskdiwercaesin with some amusement.

"Full of crap?! You goblin shit eating puke breathed pair of reeking scales, who in the abyss are you calling full of crap?!"

"Someone who's personality pretty much confirms my suspicions."

Jaiques had run out of air for his yelling and was taking in more for another assault, Reevis taking the opportunity to interject, "What are you talking about?! We don't have time for this, we have to go, now!"

"For one thing, you'll never make me a member of your council. You wouldn't even let us get out of the tunnels alive if we had gotten you there."

"What do you mean?" demanded Otrin, "we'd have kept our word."

"It's those sorts of words that really make me suspicious," said Iskdiwercaesin. "For clarification, it only takes a bit of thought to know that one way or another, you'd backstab me first chance you get. If I had let my guard down in your escape tunnels, that would have been a very, very quick chance. Narrow tunnels, pathways that only you know, blind corners, us completely surrounded by your men and no way out, that would have been nasty. Offering me that position on the council set some alarms off. You know as much as I do that I would have offered little in the way to your council, I would have had a nice government position with little to do, I'd do no more than to sap your coffers. Eventually, you'd kill me in some convenient way if you really did keep your word and we got out of those escape tunnels. And you'd had to have killed me soon. I would have gotten older, I would have gotten more powerful and become something you couldn't control, you bunch of megalomaniac old farts, while you would only suffer more as you aged. No matter how I look at it now, the outcome's the same. I become a threat to you. You know that as much as I do. Maybe you wouldn't have gutted me in the tunnels, but you sure would have done it eventually."

Serhis thought Iskdiwercaesin's words through. It certainly showed how Iskdiwercaesin's mind worked. While at first glance, the incautious would regard this as paranoia, but for Iskdiwercaesin, there were several factors that made what he said make sense. He would eventually have become more powerful than any of them in time, and considering the type of people that the heads of council were, they would have most certainly have used violence, regardless if he was only a perceived threat. Jaiques outburst pegged him as the type of man that would accept no insult from anyone and had an extreme alpha male complex. Simply the thought of him being more powerful would have set them off.

Dragons tended to think much differently than any sapient being. They would think nothing of spending decades to decipher a complex riddle and would spend centuries to bring a plan to completion. For Iskdiwercaesin, thinking that forward was only a matter of course. That didn't mean he didn't appreciate current situations.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to go right by and head for the roof. Good luck trying to get to the bottom," Iskdiwercaesin casually dismissed the council, stepping to go past them and head for the door to the stairs up.

"No way, by the Nine Hells, no fucking way!" shouted Jaiques as he drew the great sword attached to his back. "You insult me, you won't help us get out, and you're damn right I'm going to kill you!"

Otrin and Reevis tried to stop him, or at the very least restrain him. "Now's not the time!" warned Reevis. "We'd get nothing from fighting them!"

Baous' ears jumped up, his eyes wide and head tilting up as he became alert. But not from Jaiques' actions, though that was one thing. "We've got to get out of here! I can smell fire!" His nose was sniffing the air, "and it's not from the outside. It's coming from downstairs."

Serhis looked around wildly, searching for a hint of roaring flame. No fire could be seen, but the faint crackling and the odor of charring wood was starting to become apparent.

"And that's why we're going up to the roof right now," Iskdiwercaesin said with a greater sense of urgency to the two.

Looking like the way was clear, they started to head towards the opposing door, only for Jaiques to stand in their way. "No! What are you doing, you pair of idiots! They've got something that can get them out of here! Something that can get them through the walls and floors. That explosion we heard after the first one that got us! They have something! It's now or never, we can't go to the ground floor now that it's on fire!"

The desperate thoughts of a man with no options left, Jaiques was reaching for any possibility that would let him get out alive. Unfortunately for Serhis, these thoughts were right on the mark and as far as he was concerned, he was going to keep his ditherbombs.

Iskdiwercaesin heaved a sigh, "Great. We have to fight our way out as well."

The three looked cautiously at the other three across the table, sizing up each other. Jaiques, Otrin, and Reevis stood at the ready, mad desperation showing from their eyes and the movement of their hands, as they gripped their respective swords, staves, and daggers. Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin were more than ready, aiming the crossbow bolt, balancing the hammer, and claws forward with jaw slightly open. As Lilthian had said, they were former adventurers, working as mercenaries before coming to power, which they then hired mercenaries of their own. They were less battle hardened than Jaiques and his company, the way he shifted the sword just slightly as Baous shifted his own weight said something about his own skills, but he seemed a unused to the sword he carried, Serhis recalling that they didn't have their own equipment and essentially borrowing the stuff from their mercenaries. This impacted Jaiques and Reevis the most, but Otrin was the least affected, the gnome was a wizard and the most dangerous if he possessed the right spells for the occasion.

"Let us pass," said Serhis, trying for one more attempt to get out of this situation without having to fight.

Reevis answered by flicking his wrist. The dagger spun through the air, catching Serhis full in the chest, shock and surprise doing little to stop the pain.

"Serhis!" Baous and Iskdiwercaesin cried out in alarm, though Baous' was cut short as he brought his war hammer to block Jaiques' sword as he charged forward, his swing clumsy from the rage.

Serhis stumbled a bit as he pulled out the dagger, using a bit of power to heal the injury immediately, "I'm fine, just fight!"

Iskdiwercaesin didn't need much more encouragement, bellowing out as he splashed them with acid breath. Otrin got lucky as he dove away, most of the spray missing him, though he got a bit on him, but Reevis got away with nothing on him at all. Jaiques was in no position to get away, the acid scorching some skin as he got hit fully, causing him to yell out. That yell got louder when Baous took advantage, getting in a hit that caught him full in the chest, a lucky strike that would do heavy damage to his ribs even under the breastplate he wore.

"Augh! Shit! What are you doing Reevis, get over here and help! And don't bunch up or we're all going to get spit on again by this putrid lizard!" shouted Jaiques, "get the rest of the men up here!"

The other councilors ran towards the door to the stairs down, wanting no part of this fight. The smoke was starting to get thicker and Otrin was going to add a bit more to it, flinging a fireball at Serhis. Ducking behind a table, Serhis still felt a few blisters as the heat washed over him, Iskdiwercaesin also managing to get out of the way, Baous was not in the blast radius since he was too close to Jaiques.

"I'm helping, don't shout at me," responded Reevis, getting next to Baous and thrusting a dagger at him. He couldn't get into a good position to do major damage, only managing to inflict a shallow, but still painful cut.

Jaiques swung in an attempt to retaliate against the devastating swing that Baous had managed to connect, only to fail again, "Damn it! Die!"

Serhis ran behind Baous, "Going to make that harder for you!" he nastily spat back at him, concentrating and infusing himself, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin with extra energy and strength.

Iskdiwercaesin made full use of his boosted swiftness, striding forward to come within almost a meter of Otrin, now isolated as they had spread out in an effort to avoid getting Iskdiwercaesin's breath on them again. But he seemed to hold back, almost like he was hesitating.

Otrin backpedaled at his advance, taking a step back as he started casting at near point-blank range.

"Bad mistake!" Iskdiwercaesin said in triumph, following Otrin step for step as he snapped his jaws forward while Otrin was in mid-sentence of his spell. As he had no protection spells active, he only could rely on his own reflexes to get out of the way. Since Iskdiwercaesin's teeth sunk into him, he wasn't fast enough.

The spell fizzled in his hands, one that would have created a wall of fire Iskdiwercaesin could tell. "Strong spell. Too bad it didn't work," Iskdiwercaesin said as he withdrew his head as Otrin flailed with his staff to knock him loose, "by the way, your accent when you talk in Draconic is terrible."

"I need help here!" Otrin said as he placed his hand over the bite wound.

Baous stood at the ready in front of Jaiques and Reevis, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Reevis turned to aid the wizard, only to have his legs swept out from under him as Baous swung his war hammer at his legs. Reevis tried to take a swipe at Baous, but that had become extremely hard now that he was on the wood floor.

"Oof, I need help now!" Reevis said with a wheeze after getting the air knocked out of him. Jaiques swung at Baous again, and again, and still his strikes were badly aimed or mistimed.

"For a former professional mercenary, I'm doing better than you," goaded Baous, "a bad day for you, huh?"

"And it only get worse!" Serhis shouted behind Baous, his last words being drowned out by a loud, high-pitched ringing. Jaiques' blade shattered in his hands, littering the area with shards of steel.

The ringing faded as Jaiques screamed in anger, "I won't be humiliated by you, I'll strangle you with my own damn hands!"

To the side of the room, Iskdiwercaesin continued his pursuit of the wizard, easily outpacing him, forcing Otrin to concentrate on avoiding Iskdiwercaesin's jaws rather than his spell. Again, Iskdiwercaesin seemed to hold back from committing himself to a strike until that moment, but instead of another snap of teeth, he had drawn out a wand, pointed at the gnome. Three streaks of force energy came out of the wand, unerringly slamming the wizard as another spell was disrupted.

"Couldn't tell what that was, but that looked like another powerful one. Pity it didn't work," mocked Iskdiwercaesin as he kept aim with the wand, the wooden handled object seeming almost harmless in the sharp claws that held it. "Spent a good bit of gold for this, but it works wonders when used properly against other spell casters."

Otrin was starting to panic, having been cornered by a dragon that was familiar with magic and outmatching him despite himself being a fair bit more powerful. He looked feverishly the two others, his face itself pleading for support.

Standing up with a high degree of speed, Reevis avoided a swing from Baous as he rose, backing away to distance himself from the Kobold. Jaiques was trying to make the best of his threat, flinging himself at Baous in attempt to strangle him now that he had no weapon, only to be pushed back with the blunt end of a hammer at high speed, then taking another, more severe blow as Baous struck again. The man's knees started to buckle, adrenaline and rage starting to do less and less to blind him from the pain of his injuries.

Keeping his position to Baous' flank, Serhis reaching into his pack, his eyes looking at Reevis as he tried to reach Otrin. The gnome was in poor condition. And was about to get worse. Iskdiwercaesin was intent in ensuring that the gnome had no idea what his next actions would be, giving no hint of a pattern for the wizard to plan a counterattack. His next move was to be just plain brutal.

"No spells needed for this," hissed Iskdiwercaesin as he launched himself fully at Otrin, fangs bared and claws moving, dropping the wand as he tore into the wizard. Otrin was vulnerable, unable to stop any of what happened next. Teeth dug into his left shoulder, a claw cutting into his side.

"Please! Get him awa-!" his last words cut short as Iskdiwercaesin's claws went in underneath his ribcage. Serhis winced, knowing it had hit something vital, and could name the individual muscles and organs that had been rendered useless. Namely the superior area of the liver, some of the diaphragm, severing of the inferior vena cava, and the celiac plexus if Iskdiwercaesin had hit with all his might. Sometimes having a superior medical knowledge brought unsavory analysis for Serhis during combat. It didn't help that his teachers during his childhood had taught some gnome physiology and anatomy, if only to kill them with better efficiency.

Otrin made a low groan, a brief one, before he fell to the ground, leaving Iskdiwercaesin standing looking very much like what someone would paint of a monster that was a dangerous green dragon, with blood in a streak down one side of his snout and neck, his claws dripping blood on the wood, some joining what was pooling on the ground next to he gnome.

It was enough for Reevis to reconsider aiding the now dead wizard. That was good enough for Serhis as he tossed one of his leg snares. The unfortunate halfling had taken a step back, to turn and run, landing squarely on the trigger and making him trip and fall.

"Damn you! I'll make sure Otrin sees you shortly so he'll have a chance to flay you!" Jaiques said as he tried again to reach for Baous' neck, only to have his hand smacked away by the hammer, making him dance back to avoid the reverse swing.

Reevis laid on the ground, a bit stunned as he tried to turn over and stand up, only to see Iskdiwercaesin standing above him, then seeing a bit of his blood spill as the wyrmling started tearing into him.

Barely able to stand, Jaiques still had a bit of fight left in him. He wasn't the type to give up, even as everything turned against him, from the plan to destroy Lilthian and his group, to the town erupting in a riot aimed against him, and now a fight for his life.

Taking in some of air after all the repeated swinging, Baous met the man's eyes, "One chance, surrender," he said as he exhaled in gasps.

Even without a weapon, allies to aid him, or even the knowledge that only luck could turn the tide, he once again rushed Baous, "Die! I won't let you surrender, I'll kill you rather than have you surrender!" In his mind, that statement meant that Baous had wanted to surrender, not the other way around.

A resigned sigh came from Baous, jabbing the bottom of the war hammer into Jaiques' stomach, causing the man to double over, only to stand back up, however briefly, as Baous moved his arms in a wheel motion, hand at the base of the hammer weight as he swung upward. The strike could have well snapped his neck in addition to the damage to the skull.

Blank eyes stared at the dark ceiling above, painted red like the entirety of the room, consciousness having forever left those eyes though they were still open. The helmet he wore sounded hollow as it hit the wooden floor.

Flailing to keep the green dragon from further ripping him apart, Reevis capitulated, "Stop! Stop! I surrender!"

Iskdiwercaesin stopped his assault, through he didn't let down his guard, "first smart move you've made after your dagger got stuck in my ally there. I'm watching out for that, by the way," he warned through bloody bared teeth.

His lungs heaving ragged breaths, he sat up, "Dammit Jaiques. Never could take an insult lightly."

"Yeah, murdering bastard dead, a crying shame," Iskdiwercaesin dismissed, "since you're surrendering, you had better have something to give. The way to the escape tunnel would be appreciated. No objections this time Serhis?" he said with an annoyed voice, "Those two are dead and this guy's going to be our captive, instead of them going on their own way. Can we get out of here now?"

Not able to think of any, Serhis didn't disagree.

"Where are the guards?" asked Baous as he went over to the open door that the councilors had fled through, "they should have gotten here by now." The hallway to the stairwell down was clear. In fact, the door on the opposite side was wide open and the stairwell was in sight, councilors and mercenary guards absent. The rising film of smoke coming up was not encouraging.

Nudging the still prone Reevis, Iskdiwercaesin asked, "You weren't surrendering just to buy time for reinforcements to get here? If you were, there goes that plan. Looks like they ditched you and made a break for the ground floor and risking the fire."

Glowering, Reevis clasped at his injuries. "Look, I'm going to just drink a healing potion. I'm not going to make any sudden moves and I'm not going to do anything that'll make the three of you beat the shit out of me. That fine with you?"

"Fine. I've got no intention of carrying you out of here anyway," responded Iskdiwercaesin, though he looked like he wanted to reject.

Emptying a vial of potion into his mouth, the cuts and bite marks knitted shut, though Reevis still looked pale.

"Done yet? I'd like to get out of here before the fire gets up here or something important falls out from below where I'm standing. Not to mention before wherever the entrance to that tunnel is cut off," Iskdiwercaesin said.

"There is no tunnel," Reevis spat out.

"What?" "Huh?" "Say what?" Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin all asked.

"Would you repeat that? Iskdiwercaesin said with a dangerous undertone.

"We were bluffing. There never was a tunnel like that. We'd never trust having a way that lead right into the center of here from way out on the wall anyway."

"Then why ask us to help you get down?" asked Serhis, with half surprise and half irritation.

"Look, you looked like you could cause a commotion. No offense, but the moment we got down there, you'd have made good bait for the townspeople to concentrate on while we got out of here. It was the best we had, since you just burst in. Hell, even the dragon would have worked just fine for that."

"When I said you were full of crap, I didn't know how much I was talking about," snorted Iskdiwercaesin, who leaned in so close to the Halfling's face that he could smell his nose hairs burning from the breath, "what use are you to us now?"

"Nothing," Reevis answered sharply, "absolutely nothing. Lilthian and the others out there don't want me alive, so I'm no bargaining chip for you to use. I'm just something that'll drag you down while you try to escape. Just fighting me would have slowed you down as well. I'm just surrendering so that we can go our separate ways a bit faster."

"I don't see why I can't just finish you off right now for trying to use us as a distraction. Looks like I was right about you trying to kill me more ways than one. I knew you were deceiving me about something, I didn't think it was the whole thing," said Iskdiwercaesin.

"No need to do something like that," Reevis said nervously, "look, let me try and make my own way out of here, and you'll never see me again. I'd probably be a distraction myself for you as I get out of here."

"Or the other way around," Baous commented.

"Eh, maybe. But either way, letting me go isn't going to do you any harm, right?"

"I no so sure about that," said Serhis, "you do plenty of harm already. Let you go and you escape, maybe you have no way get town back, but you still can hurt many other. And you do nothing to give back to the people you hurt before, no do you regret it." Serhis embraced mercy to the fullest, though mercy in itself meant that no greater harm would come of giving mercy to someone as unrepentant and deceitful as this person. Lilthian might have deceived them about the their own plans, but their portrayals Jaiques, Otrin and Reevis were more than accurate, murdering schemers with little regard about the people of the town, that had done nothing to repay those deeds and were more than willing to keep on doing so. Acts of good required intelligence, and this was one of them.

"Huh. Didn't expect that from you Serhis," remarked Iskdiwercaesin as he pressed a foot onto Reevis' back, "hear that? That's the sound of someone not going to spare your life just for the heck of it. That means you better have a good reason that we make sure you don't come after us sometime later."

"He surrendered," protested Baous.

"And by surrendering, he has chosen to pay in full for all the acts he's done, good and bad," replied Serhis in Draconic, "And he's done little good to help others that didn't directly benefit him. But that doesn't mean we're going to take him with us. I'm content enough for him to brave the fire, then the crowds outside."

"But- but- They'll kill me if they get a hold of me," Reevis said in desperation.

"It's either that, or we get rid of you right here and now," said Iskdiwercaesin, pressing the sharp claws into his back without piercing skin or cloth.

"Justice can be serve in a way, since the people get decide what do with you for what you done, we have no personal thing with you," said Serhis. "You maybe somehow get away completely, but that risk I willing to take."

Baous bent down to look Reevis in the face, "If you don't want to do that, then I'll fight you one on one. A duel, rather than an execution."

Reevis' eyes darted back and forth from Baous, then Iskdiwercaesin. Then the messy piece of meat formally called Otrin and Jaiques. Finally with a dry voice, "I'll take my chances getting out of here."

Baous nodded, while Iskdiwercaesin reluctantly moved his weight, allowing the halfling to stand, though in both of their minds, they preferred it this way rather than spend more time dealing with him. Through their sensitive noses, they could smell the fire and smoke getting thicker. Already coming through the door was a plume of gray smoke. Taking off at a run, the man went through the thickening cloud of ash.

"Now that we're done figuring out if he was going to die by the fire, by the crowd, by us, or a combination of the crowd putting him back into a fire, I'd like to leave," Iskdiwercaesin said as he walked towards the door and the stairs up, not waiting for Serhis or Baous to respond. They caught up at a run, all of them heading upwards to the level above.

Opening the door to the roof, they now saw the whole view of the town of Natade, unobstructed by high walls and blurred windows, as it was engulfed in the revolt. Fires had been light all around the town. The whole town wasn't on fire, but many a building was alight, those of known supporters of Jaiques' rule and had benefited from it, others taking advantage of the chaos to bring about disputes to violent confrontations, some set simply because someone wanted to see it burn.

It was likely that many would have preferred for less fires, their own homes next to the ones to be torched, but how could they object, with a crowd baying for blood and cinders? It was a wonder that whole parts of the town weren't in an uncontrolled blaze, but by morning, the sun's first light would reveal if whole blocks had been left in ruin. For the moment, there were those intent on stopping fires from spreading, if only to let the target building next door turn to smoldering embers.

And right now, they could hear Lilthian's voice carry on the wind, along with the soot, his clear voice shouting out, "Clear the city of those that took those of your blood, those of your friends, those of your family for their enjoyment and amusement! Put them to the torch in the middle of their own lavish homes! At the very least whatever is put in it's place is without their taint!" A cheer from the crowd, then the scream of the wind as it shifted, billowing more smoke into their path.

"This... This is completely crazy," muttered Baous as he raised his arm to block the smoke from his eyes, "what does Lilthian think he's doing?"

"Aside from stirring the crowd into a frenzy, I don't know," Serhis said, "he could have gotten the entire town behind him without burning half of it down."

It made no sense to any of them. They didn't know if they wanted to rule the town, to simply be lauded as the greatest heroes known to Milianso, or some other purpose. As it was, they were now more concerned with getting out.

"If you want a better view of the carnage, try climbing the bell tower," said Iskdiwercaesin as he looked up above to the bronze bell hanging several stories up, "we might just see someway out of here, because I don't see any way off of this roof from here.

Serhis somberly agreed with a nod. The whole town hall compound was separate from it's outer wall or anything that connected it to adjoining roofs. If Serhis took a running leap out of the bell tower, he just might reaching a building roof if he timed it right and used the heat of the fire or a good updraft. This all assumed he wouldn't be shot down by someone with a captured crossbow on the ground, and if Serhis had taken a rope with him, anyone could take a pot shot at Baous and Iskdiwercaesin as they climbed over the long rope.

"Looks like we're on a burning building again," noted Baous with some forced humor. "You would think that it would make the second time of escaping easier. Surrounded by people who want to get us, someone we trusted behind it all. This time we trusted those guys for a much longer time and the people below aren't zombies."

Baous was trying his best to smile, trying his best to endure a tense situation with his sanity intact, but his eyes were set with a nervous tension that spoke of how scared he was for himself as well as Serhis and Iskdiwercaesin. Serhis could almost see that same fear reflected off those brown eyes in his own. "Yeah. At least those people have a chance of not being mindless when this is over," he replied. The forced humor wasn't really working, but it was better than being scared and unable to do anything.

"Again?" Iskdiwercaesin said inquisitively, "Whatever. Tell me about it when we're not standing on expensive firewood." He flung open the door to the bell tower, advancing up the stairs with the others two racing up behind him.

At the very top, the wind howled around them as it passed through the open bell tower top, the sound of a town in revolt unable to be heard. The polished brass bell hung at the center, flickering a bit of light from the fires down below.

"Well, we can see over that wall now," Iskdiwercaesin said as he craned his head over the edge, a fear of heights completely absent. "I think I see a few spots where the crowd is gone, but I can't see if the streets nearby are completely filled with them instead. I don't see any streets that are totally clear so we can get out of here. This sucks."

Serhis saw how the stumps of his wings flexed. He turned his attention back to thinking of how to escape, only to be distracted again. A figure with his clothes on fire rushed out the front entrance of the building, flailing as he went before falling to the ground and rolling. The crowd surged forward to extinguish the flames, then roared as they saw the burned halfling they had just saved. Serhis couldn't tell what happened next as the figure that he assumed was Reevis was swept into the crowd. From his position up here, he also couldn't tell what happened to Munep and if he was suffering the same fate as Reevis or he was still tied to the pillar and was about to be burned, if the fire hadn't reached him already.

"We're in the middle of the whole town, so it doesn't matter which way we go, it's probably going to be just as hard any way we go," said Baous as he also searched for an opening.

"It would help if we had a way to get to the street first," said Iskdiwercaesin.

Serhis shook his head, "the street would be a horrible way to go. The roofs of the buildings are likely our best chance."

"Which would be a lot harder to get to than the streets. We would have to go into the building, run through however many people inside that aren't going to like us passing through, outrun however many others that see us going into the building and chasing us, and hope that the one that we picked has a roof access."

Baous looked up at the bell, then down to the roofs, "I don't think we have enough rope to try that trick we did before and slide down."

The smoke pouring out of the windows of the town hall was getting thicker. They didn't have long before the fire gutted the inside and caused the whole thing to collapse on itself. As the black clouds went out, stiff winds blew them away, passing over the walls and into the town. Serhis dearly wished he was powerful enough to cast a spell that would have allowed them to walk on the wind, using it as a bridge to simply walk over the walls. His thoughts touched briefly on how the spell's name was a bit of a misnomer since it blew the caster along rather than them walking, one word that stuck with him as he thought. A bridge.

"I think we're going to have to try something risky," announced Serhis.

"You have a way to get us out?" Baous said hopefully.

"How risky? Not so risky that we're all going to die if you fail?" Iskdiwercaesin asked.

"No, not that risky. Well... maybe yes, if I get this completely wrong."

"Since we're in danger of dying already, we have to try something, since you're not making any ideas" said Baous to Iskdiwercaesin.

"I didn't hear you suggest anything either," Iskdiwercaesin snapped.

"Please no more bickering, especially not now. We're going to have to go back down the tower," said Serhis as he walked down the stairs. They got to the base of the tower, Serhis inspecting the bottom of the stairwell.

"Looking for something to get?" asked Baous.

"More like looking to put something to put down," said Serhis, motioning them to get out of the tower.

"What are you doing?" Iskdiwercaesin said with irritation for being shooed out by a Kobold as well as curiosity of what Serhis had in mind.

They could see him pick through his pack, then pulling out the black sphere profile of ditherbombs. Placing them towards one side of the tower, closest to the surrounding buildings, he took extra care as he set them at the wall.

"Oh. Oh." Iskdiwercaesin could only say that much as he realized that Serhis was attempting to demolish the supporting wall of the bell tower, "Oh damn."

"Everyone stand back," warned Serhis as he got ready to shake.

"This is your idea?! That tower might be well built, but are you honestly thinking that it'll hold after it falls? We'll be lucky if it doesn't disintegrate on impact. We'll be even more lucky if we don't disintegrate if it falls toward us!"

"No, I don't think all of it will hold together, but enough should stay intact so that we can cross. The wall should help to brace it in the middle, but I don't know if it'll reach the other roof."

"You better do it quick," said Baous as he looked at the stairs that lead back down, smoke coming out in a thick column.

"You know what? Why not? It's either we die in a fire, we die in a spectacular explosion as we're crushed by a falling bell tower, or we make it out of here alive by demolishing a public building," Iskdiwercaesin agreed with no amount of grace.

Shaking the ditherbomb, he tossed it among the others sitting next to the wall and ran out. Since it hadn't exploded six seconds after he shook, he turned around, watching to see how the tower would fall. A tense twelve seconds later, the monstrous explosion went through half of the base of the bell tower, the mass of stone and wood going towards the empty space that had been made. Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin were a little less tense, now that it looked like that it wasn't going to head their way. Then they dived to the floor as the dust cloud of debris swept towards them.

Serhis coughed as he flapped his wings, gray dust flowing off of all of them, "Did it work?"

Looking at the where the tower had fallen, Iskdiwercaesin only had one thing to say, "Whoever was the architect did shoddy, shoddy work."

The tower was barely intact. Where it had hit the wall, a huge crack through the stone could be seen and looked like a mild breeze could cause it to fall to the streets below. It had fallen at an angle, not able to reach the roof on the other side of the wall, but with a running jump, they might be able to get there. Many of the stone blocks that composed the structure had fallen off, they could see the internal staircase from their position on the roof, but the fact that it was still a pathway they could use was a stroke of pure luck.

Iskdiwercaesin looked at the improvised bridge with a critical eye. "Who wants to go first?"

"I think I better," said Serhis, climbing on top of the tower wall, "I'm much lighter than both of you, so it might not fall apart when I cross."

"Be careful Serhis," Baous said as the Kobold found his footing on the crumbling stone.

Taking a calming breath, Serhis looked ahead at his target, then ran at full speed, going over the part of the wall, over the area where the top of the tower hung over the street., using the tower as a ramp as he jumped off, wings spread and coming to a stop onto the roof.

Looking back, Baous and Iskdiwercaesin were talking to each other to see who would go next. Baous went up, going at a much more cautious walk to Serhis' run. The wood of internal framework creaked and groaned as his weight passed over, having already been weakened from the effects of time and now from the impact. Reaching the midpoint, they thought they could see the crack begin to widen minutely as he stepped on the free-hanging area. Taking a running leap, Baous almost tripped as he went over the uneven surface of the tower roof, his arms stretching out to catch the roof ledge as he impacted the building.

"Serhis, help!"

"Keep holding on!" Serhis grabbed Baous' arm, the lower half of his torso now hanging over the empty street as his other arm scratched the tiles looking for purchase. Serhis barely had the strength to hold on, long enough for Baous to pull himself up as his legs used the side of the building to push against. He kept prone on the rooftop, glad to find himself with his legs remaining intact.

"You alright over there?!" shouted Iskdiwercaesin from the town hall roof.

"Yeah! We're fine," Serhis responded, Baous still gasping for air.

"I'll show you how you jump," Iskdiwercaesin said as he almost effortlessly hopped onto the tower. When a dragon needs to fly, they can't take off at a dead stop, relying on their strong muscles to jump and accelerate before their wings can take over. He was confident his natural abilities would allow him to jump over with room to spare. That confidence was a bit shaken as his foot went through a bit of the stone.

"You alright now?!" Baous yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry," Iskdiwercaesin said as he pulled his foot out. He didn't want to know for sure that he could see clear through that hole he just made. "Ah damn!" More stone at the corners of the tower crumbled as he went further forward. "Screw it!" he declared as he broke into a sprint, blocks now freely falling off as his weight thundered over. As he leapt, they all heard the sound of wood snapping and stone shift, the tower coming down underneath the wyrmling, putting him in the same spot as Baous, clinging to the side of the building.

Baous braced his foot, reaching for Iskdiwercaesin, "I got you, I got you!"

"Pull me up!" Iskdiwercaesin's claws left scratches on the side of the building, Baous pulling with all his might on his arm while Serhis did his best with the other arm. An updraft of stone dust wafted up from the street, the tower now a crumbling ruin. It was Iskdiwercaesin's turn to lie prone on the rooftop. "I hate being stuck to the ground," he gasped out each word.

The gray cloud of rubble started to blow away, exposing the remains of the bell tower, the bell itself shattered, though it made one brief last ring as it had hit the ground. Baous peered over the edge, looking at the wreak, "I don't think anyone saw us, but the streets are going to be full of people looking to see where the tower landed. As long as no one looks up, we shouldn't be seen," he said hopefully.

"Unless they have a way to shine a light up here, they can't," agreed Serhis. "As far as anyone can tell, the fire brought it down." Looking around, he tried to see a path they could take through the roofs to leave Natade. At the very least getting to the top of the town walls wasn't going to be an issue. "Do either of you remember which way the main streets head? As long as we avoid them, we can probably jump the narrower streets or find a way across."

Both of them shook their heads. "After staying here a month, I still don't know where some places are," said Baous.

Getting back on his feet, Serhis motioned for them to get up, "We'll have to try guessing the way out. Any way away from here will do."

The roof tops were somewhat difficult to cross, some of the buildings had slanted tile roofs, others were a full level lower or higher than the one they were on, and when they had to cross a smaller street, they had to see if an arch connected a building to allow for easier passage or they had to risk jumping it. Serhis had tied a rope to all of them in the event one slipped so that the two others might be able to hold on, but no one had the ill fortune of stepping on a loose tile or slippery roof yet. They managed to get two streets away from the town hall and they were more than a little tired.

"Anyone else need to rest?" asked Serhis, his arms and legs fatigued from having to cross so many uneven surfaces and a few jumps.

"I'd like a place to sit down," said Baous.

"After having fought a mess of mercenaries, getting betrayed by the guys that we worked with, fighting the guys in charge of the mercenaries, and constantly having to worry about falling for the first time in my life, resting is pretty high on my list," Iskdiwercaesin said, still having enough energy for his attitude.

Finding a flat roof that sat in the shadow of a much higher building, they couldn't be seen from the street, though they could still hear the shouts, jeering, and the pounding of many feet on the ground. The revolt was still in full movement, the night nowhere near over with midnight still a few hours away.

"Now that we're no longer in danger of being roasted or crushed by the local architecture, I'd like to know if either of you have thought out why our three former partners thought it best to make our lives miserable," asked Iskdiwercaesin as he laid down.

"I'm still not sure why," Serhis said as he used his still unpacked bedroll as a seat, "from what Jaiques told us, it sounds like they've been planning this for a long time."

Baous dusted off a spot on the gray stone roof before he sat down, "that would mean they included us as an improvised sort of thing. I guess they figured having us around would make things a little easier for them, but I still can't figure out what they have in mind or why they wanted to get rid of us."

"Because it's convenient this way," an irked Iskdiwercaesin said, "I don't know what they want out of all of this either, but by getting us killed during the riots, they probably figured that getting rid of us any time afterward would be a problem, especially if we're also the ‘heroes of the town' alongside them. I don't see why they didn't let us go on our way after this was all finished, they knew we'd leave eventually for Saletvarin. Probably because of what they're going to do later, whatever it is."

Serhis sighed, shaking his head, "we might not know at all. I don't see any way to confront them about this, it's going to be difficult enough escaping."

"Escape? After Lilthian's done telling this tale of overthrowing the town council, he's probably going to mention us. He probably thinks we're dead now, but if anyone recognizes us as we're traveling, he's probably going to try and finish the job, not that we're going to be hard to recognize, he hasn't told stories about any other kobold or green dragons in the area. Even if we stay off the main roads, we're not going to be able to go into any town that hears about this, and something like this is going to spread for a long way. Damn, I just went from having a reputation of being the trustworthy green dragon into the traitorous back-biter. He's not going to have a hard time convincing anyone about that," Iskdiwercaesin said with no little rancor at Lilthian, Gatosa, and Atamis.

"So getting out of the city is going to do nothing for us," Serhis muttered, "we'd be hunted down anywhere we go, Lilthian made us too well known."

"Does that mean we do have face them about this?" said Baous in a resigned voice. "It's going to be our word against their's, so that's not going to work for us. What could we say? Wait... Otrin mentioned something about having something that shows that they aren't as noble as they say they are?" he mentioned hopefully.

"Yeah, a something they thought wouldn't work," Iskdiwercaesin argued, only to say, "but yes, at this point, we have little to show that it isn't required that we be shot at first sight."

Serhis put his pack back onto his shoulders, "We don't have anything else, do we? I hate having little choice. Which way to Otrin's home?" All three of them were drawing a blank.

"Ah dammit! We don't even know where to go?! Here's an idea, go to one of the torched houses, I'm sure they probably set that on fire already, and there goes our little bit of hope up in smoke as well! We're completely cornered," Iskdiwercaesin raged.

Serhis and Baous' spirits fell, the situation seeming worse and worse as they thought about it.

"Who's out there!?" a voice shouted in the darkness.

They turned to confront the voice, Serhis with his crossbow, Baous preparing his hammer to block or strike, Iskdiwercaesin needing little more than to turn and his and hold his breathe, seeking out if it was one of the townspeople that had spotted them. The voice had come from the looming building, a female voice, distorted by what sounded like a metal helmet. On a balcony of the tall structure, the figure was crouched behind the balcony wall, the silhouette hard to see in the darkness, but they could tell that she was holding a bow aimed at them, "I'm asking only one more time, in the name of the Guard of Natade, who are you?! Any hostile movement and I start shooting!"

"Guard of Natade? The militia," Serhis recalled in a whisper.

"Take a good look at us, I don't think you're going to have a hard time telling who we are!" Iskdiwercaesin shouted at the woman.

The woman paused, regarding them warily before shouting, "Gairof! Gairof!" her eyes and bow still pointed in their direction.

"Yes?" another voice asked from inside, male with a deep voice that seemed to echo a little.

"Get the captain, tell her we've got some either guests or intruders."

"This can go very wrong," Serhis lamented.

"We can rush her," Iskdiwercaesin said in a hushed voice.

"I heard that," the woman said, shifting her aim at him rather in their general direction, "Sit quietly and try not to think or say anything as stupid as that. The captain's going to see what we're going to do with you.

He grumbled, irritated about being overheard and certainly less than pleased about being ordered, "I'll decided what I think is stupid. You better just hope you're smart enough to figure out if that arrow can even hurt me."

It turned into a staring contest, both glaring each other down, though that was difficult considering that the woman was wearing a helmet and it was hard to see through the slits. Serhis and Baous watched them both, muscles tense and ready for a possible fight.

Metal foot gear was being quickly used, the footsteps of armored guards announcing their arrival to the scene before their actual sighting as the captain arrived with a team of guards. They moved onto the balcony, the team each holding a crossbow as their leader regarded the three. Serhis recognized Captain Xephil, during their month stay here they ran into her a few times, but each was only a brief encounter, either to confirm that they finished a task or while she was on patrol. Overall, they didn't have much of an impression of her.

"Hello Captain," Baous greeted with a nervous smile.

The captain didn't answer, instead asking, "Why are you here?"

"... we don't have reason to be here," Serhis admitted. They didn't have much reason to go anywhere now as their options dwindled, "we stop here to rest after get out of the town hall."

Captain Xephil quietly kept watch of them, the rest of the guards with crossbows at the ready. She asked another question, as if picking them carefully, "What happened between you and Lilthian's group?"

"We don't know. That lump of troll's dung set us up and we don't know why," Iskdiwercaesin replied in tempered anger.

"We don't want to cause trouble," Baous said, lowering his war hammer, "if you know the way to Otrin Feo's house, we can go away."

"Councilor Feo? Why would you want to go there?"

"If you haven't heard, we're the new villains," said Iskdiwercaesin, "we're not going anywhere until we can safely say we're not traitors, murderers, assassins, haven't gone well poisoning, picking babies out of our teeth, or whatever Lilthian's been going on about us. Oh, and don't mention you've seen us to anyone, they think we're dead now."

Iskdiwercaesin had a tendency to insult anything when pressed, Serhis decided to be a bit more tactful as he spoke forth, "I know you have trouble of you own now, with all those people going wild. Please tell us where Feo house is, hoping maybe not loot, wreak, or burn yet. Something there he have that can say he not as good and hero as he look like." He wanted to avoid a confrontation. After the fight with Jaiques and the rest of the council, he was almost spent and out of spells, meaning they would have little protection or healing if a fight broke out on the roofs.

"We've been hearing about how you were allied with the councilors, overheard as the crowd talked amongst themselves. Is that true?" Captain Xephil pressed.

"If you haven't guessed yet, that would be a no," said Iskdiwercaesin. "What about you? Where do your allegiances lie? I'm guessing one reason you aren't busy trying to stop a fire from roasting your barracks is because Lilthian thinks you might join him."

Captain Xephil leveled her gaze at him, herself also wearing a helmet, but from her stance and the way she had moved her head, it was obvious. "My allegiance lies with Natade and the people that live here. The disturbances that Lilthian has caused, the needless deaths that most certainly have occurred this night, lives destroyed, this was not needed. The allegations he has claimed of the council, I admit some of them have credence. We have been concerns that they have been committing unlawful actions, but any attempt to investigate a suspicious activity has been shut down by order of the council, the Guard is subject to their decrees."

Baous asked, "You've been investigating them as well?"

"Correct. What little evidence we've gathered is sparse and not strong enough to hold them to criminal actions, but we were starting to make progress."

"What is with this town? Does every group here have a compelling need to spy on each other or something?" Iskdiwercaesin directed to no one in general.

"Nope, we're just the unlucky bunch that got caught in a play for power and made a useful pawn," said Serhis.

"Speak in Common. It makes my men a bit less edgy when they can understand what you're saying and more restrained from pulling the trigger," Captain Xephil politely requested.

Serhis wasn't completely aware he had lapsed back into Draconic, "Fine then. What are you going to do now? Let us go? If you do, please tell where Otrin lived."

The Captain stared at them as she contemplated, a woman who was used to making snap judgments in dangerous situations now taking her time. "You claim Councilor Feo had some form of evidence related to acts Lilthian, Gatosa, and Atamis have committed?"

"Yes, though don't know if he was lying to convince us to help him, but we don't have other choice. We have to try and see."

She stood at the balcony, processing what had been said. The other guards standing around her were still nervously keeping their fingers on their crossbow triggers, though they had been polite enough not to point them at Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin directly. "Sir? Your orders?" the bow woman asked.

"Stand down," Captain Xephil ordered, the Guard no longer pointing their weapons at them, but they still watched closely.

"Thank you," Baous said with a heavy amount of relief, "we can go now? Which way is it?"

"Baous. That's your name, correct? Serhis. Iskdiwercaesin."

"Yes, that's right."

"The Natade Guard requests your assistance."

That took them off guard. "What do you mean, you request our assistance?" Baous asked, though Iskdiwercaesin asked at the same thing with a half second delay, making an odd sort of echo.

"Our situation has us at a disadvantage. As we've been surrounded by almost the entire population of the town that is capable of hostile action, our ability to prevent damage done is almost negligible, and it will remain that way as long as Lilthian remains in control of the course of events."

"Huh. I would have thought you would be inclined to help them, considering that your own investigations into the workings of the council were halted. Probably sent up a few warning signals," said Iskdiwercaesin.

"Lilthian and Gatosa have their charms, but I doubt they have the best intentions for Natade. It was frustrating enough that our ruling government was likely corrupt, but being under mob rule with him in command cannot be allowed. With that in mind, my request for your assistance is directed towards the effort of preventing any more harm that they can cause."

"What you think? Should we go with them?" asked Serhis to Baous and Iskdiwercaesin, his voice a bit softer since he wasn't directing it towards the balcony, but still loud enough for them to hear and ease any nervous tensions.

"This sounds familiar, doesn't it? Help us get rid of the guys in charge," Iskdiwercaesin imitating Lilthian's voice with little similarity, mocking all the while, "but it can't hurt."

"It would be nice if we had help from them," Baous said.

"Okay. We help you," nodded Serhis to the Captain. The Guards around her standing relieved as she looked a little less tense, though difficult to tell through the thick armor she wore. They cleared some space on the balcony, allowing Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin room for them to enter.

Getting inside, they stood on the third floor, the room they had come in looked to be the Common room of the building. Five round tables with empty seats occupied most of the space, half finished meals and partially drained mugs of ale were on top, the Guards likely having sat down for their evening meal when the riots started. Each of the walls had a balcony like they one they came in from.

"How quickly can you ret rive the needed evidence?" Captain Xephil asked as she lead them past the cooling dinners towards stairs that lead down.

"It would depend on if we knew where the former Councilor's home is and if we actually knew where to start looking," Iskdiwercaesin said with a bit of annoyance as he was being flanked by both sides by the Guards, as was Serhis and Baous. Though they had agreed to help, they weren't completely trusted.

The Captain ignored the attitude, "Roughly seven hundred meters North North-East. We have a map of the city, we'll point it out for you." The continued down the stairs and it was clear where the guards had went. Nearly twenty Guards stood on this floor, armed in studded leather armor and wooden shields, truncheons, short swords, long spears, and crossbows. The room itself looked to be used for sparring, but any such related material was out of the way or was being used as a makeshift obstacle. "Anything to report sergeant?" she asked one of the Guards.

The man, a half-elf that looked maybe to be in his forties, it was difficult for Serhis to tell, looked surprised as his Captain descended the stairs with them in tow, but answered the question instead of asking, "Nothing so far. Nobody has tried to force the downstairs doors open and the men downstairs are still seeing what they can fortify."

Captain Xephil sighed through her helmet, "Even with the best fortifications, an attack on our positions would be devastating to both."

"Are they going to attack?" asked Baous.

"I don't know. So far, all they've done is jeer at us, but that won't last long. I'm going to see that my men don't get harmed, or have to harm the people they've sworn to protect or those they care about. They have orders to only use their truncheons, but deadly force is still an option."

"Sir?" the sergeant asked, looking at the new arrivals. Others in the room also had their attention shifted to them, expressions asking the same thing.

"They know of the location of potential information that could resolve this crisis and are willing to cooperate. It's going to be difficult, but there is a chance to end this situation with Lilthian.," said Captain Xephil, the people in the room seemed to brighten a little at the smallest glimmer of hope.

"Yes sir! Any way we can be of help?" asked the sergeant.

"For the moment, just hold position Sergeant Quios. We need some time to develop a plan," replied the Captain, going back up the stairs. The sergeant saluted once, returning to his position.

"Using us for sustaining morale?" Iskdiwercaesin inquired as they went back up and out of hearing of those downstairs.

"Checking on the status of our position," replied Captain Xephil in a non-answer. Going past the common area, they went one level higher and towards a room, the Captain's office. "Devisi, go back to your position and keep a look out. Gairof, you and the rest head back to your own." The woman with the bow nodded as she went back down, the others following. Captain Xephil went to her desk, sitting down in a manner that her joints were a bit stiff.

The office had a few objects inside. The desk wasn't anything special, simple wood with no carvings and a quick dash of paint. Parchments covered it's top, some neatly stacked like logs on one side and a mess of them on the other. The wall shelf had a healer's kit placed on it, some potions, and a set of manacles. No signs of any personal items were to be seen.

Properly seated, she asked, "Since you said ‘former councilor', I take it that you've witnessed their deaths?"

"We saw their deaths, yes," said Iskdiwercaesin, "and might have played a part in it too. Whatever happened to Reevis depends on the crowd's mood."

Serhis and Baous weren't sure what her reaction would be on hearing of how they were personally involved in that, though Iskdiwercaesin could make a guess seeing as how he admitted it.

"Normally, it would be my duty to arrest you here, even if they were corrupt, but the current set of circumstances changes things. Almost half of the Guard are likely in their homes now, it's mainly the night watch with us here. I have an idea what Lilthian wishes to accomplish by not condemning us along with the Council. He has nothing to gain by eliminating us, but could benefit from acquiring our allegiance, as we aren't connected in the same manner as their private security. Thugs and brutes, all of them. Though I should say we weren't connected now that they're gone," she said with absent respect.

"And what they get if you do agree?" asked Serhis.

"Legitimacy. Under the law, if the civilian government has collapsed, we would step in. The fact that they were the ones responsible wouldn't matter to them. These laws were created during more turbulent times, when the government and military were closely entwined, if not one and the same, and very few of those laws have changed over time. They could still try to claim that they can command this town without our acknowledgement, but it would be more established with it."

"Suppose we do get the things from Feo's house. What then?" asked Baous, "would it be enough for the town to turn against them?"

"That would depend on what they've done," said Serhis.

"This is such a flimsy plan. We have to get to a dead man's house that may not be there with evidence that also might not be there hoping that whatever it is better than court records showing they've kicked puppies," Iskdiwercaesin shook his head in exasperation, "and the damn thing is that I can't thing of anything that would sound like a smart plan. They really screwed us over."

"If it's any consolation, we have done investigations of our own," said Captain Xephil.

"You do? Then why are we even going there and just bringing it out now?"

"For the same reason that the council had, lack of firm evidence. We've discovered a list of aliases they've used, but it's tentative and what little we've found that would make them disreputable is minor. Petty crimes and minor infringements, nothing that would upset their support. Heh, when the council heard we were investigating Lilthian and the others, they were more than happy to support us on that regard."

"Damn, we have to go through with this, don't we? I just hope what Feo had wasn't just your stuff they copied and this is all redundant," Iskdiwercaesin said.

"Are you ready to leave now? Do you need any supplies? We have plenty of thieves tools we've confiscated that could be of use. I can't spare anyone to go along with you, they are all needed here."

"I think all we need now is rest," said Baous, "my friends here used everything they had to get us out of the town hall and we can't do it tonight." Serhis and Iskdiwercaesin nodded in agreement, they were completely spent.

"Thief tools we may not need, we do not know how to use. Best is just crowbar," said Serhis.

"Do you have any scrolls for us? That would help," Iskdiwercaesin asked.

Captain Xephil shook her head slightly, the steel helmet making a little noise as she did so. "We'll have to wait until tomorrow then and last this night. If Destiny has any favor left for us, then we'll still be here in the morning. I'll go to our mages later and see what they have to spare that can allow you to infiltrate more easily. If you have nothing else to ask, go downstairs and get something from to kitchens to eat, store your strength for tomorrow. I'll send bedrolls for you, I'm not sure how to accommodate you though," she looked at Iskdiwercaesin.

"Since you don't have a pile of gold, a blanket and pillows will have to do."

"Very well. Send up Devisi when you get down there, she would be the elf archer that spotted you."

Leaving the office, they went downstairs and found the bow woman at her post. "Captain Xephil wants you to head up to her office," Baous said to her. Nodding silently, the elf went up.

"It's hard to tell who anyone is with all those helmets," Serhis said.

Iskdiwercaesin shrugged, "It's either not knowing who's fighting next to you or not knowing if your face can handle taking a blunt object. I'd rather go with the first one."

"Since your face survived slamming into a tree from high up the first time we saw you, I'd say you can handle the other one too," Baous teased.

The little conversation was a way to unwind as they found the kitchens and had their evening supper, even if it had a tendency for Baous and Iskdiwercaesin to further annoy each other. It served as a small distraction after being betrayed and surviving near death, as well as what was to happen tomorrow. But eventually, the conversation came back to the Lilthian, Gatosa, and Atamis.

"I don't know anything about the halfling. He always just sat there and never said a word unless it was a warning in a fight or something like that," Iskdiwercaesin said as he went through his dinner.

Baous swallowed a spoonful of chicken broth, "Yeah. Whenever there was one of those parties, he'd take a plate of food and go back to his room. I didn't know if he was just moody and moping or if he was just really shy. Even when we were fighting a monster, I've never seen him get angry or upset, he only had that same look on him. His face seems a little sad, don't you think."

"A little," Serhis chewed through an apple, "maybe because he feels underappreciated? Did you notice that statue of Lilthian and Gatosa in the main plaza? He didn't have one."

Iskdiwercaesin started on a piece of extremely rare meat that barely touched the cooking fire, "It's either that or he's really shady and didn't want his face carved out for everyone to see. Though if it is because the others don't care about him, why would he stay with them? It's not like Lilthian doesn't mention him in his tales either. Makes me wonder why he stays with them though. He's a very private guy, but he's with someone who'd love for his face to be known across the planes."

"Maybe he doesn't want to stay with them," suggested Baous, moving the empty bowl aside and going after a side of beef that was decidedly more cooked that what the dragon was tearing into.

Iskdiwercaesin chewed slowly as he thought, "Coercion's a possibility. Blackmail? Former debts? Mind control? Then again, I'm not getting that feeling that's it any of those. It's more like he doesn't like how open they are, but doesn't need to complain as long as he stays out of sight himself."

Serhis mulled over this, thinking of other reasons of why would the halfling would stay with Lilthian and Gatosa, if only for the purpose of splitting them apart to remove a threat. His musings wandered uncomfortably close to a conversation a month ago, the one involving Gatosa as they walked out of their home. Now as he thought about it, the more it felt like he had been manipulated into committing himself to Iskdiwercaesin's wellbeing. He hadn't thought about it like this, but with their betrayal, it carried a much more unpleasant context. There would have been others listening in the halls as they talked, hearing of how this Kobold that was supposedly a cleric of a mostly unknown dragon god of good was vouching for a green dragon. By doing so, she had ensured that this eventual betrayal would make him a liar. Serhis voiced his opinion, as well as the discussion in the hall.

"Shit, they really got us good," Iskdiwercaesin chewed angrily through the last of his dinner, bones and all. "You're concern is touching and I appreciate you staking your honor or whatever value you like on me, but damn, you're easy to manipulate."

"It's not like that's my fault," said Serhis, "it's not like I made it for all to know. She's really convincing and it's not like she would know how I would react barely an hour after meeting us."

"That elf's a conniving witch. Wouldn't mind having her work for me, as long as I had a quick way to get rid of her," Iskdiwercaesin said idly. "Anyway, doesn't she seem to be the one that's calling all the shots? Lilthian might be the voice and face of this whole mess, but the more we think about it, it's her that's been doing most of the planning. She told Lilthian to call off the crowd the first time we came here and the one that picked out the jobs we took. Lilthian's not an idiot, but it's Gatosa that knows when and where to do things."

Serhis and Baous analyzed the hypothesis. It sounded plausible to both of them, nodding slightly at Iskdiwercaesin.

"So it's likely that Gatosa that's in charge, not Lilthian. If anything, she probably let's Lilthian hog as much of the glory as he wishes just so he's the one that's blamed if things go wrong. Everyone we talk to, they think of them as Lilthian's team." said Serhis.

"And she's the one who does the hard talking. Lilthian might cajole and banter around, but she'll press you hard so that the decision you make is going to be something you stick to," Iskdiwercaesin looked at Serhis as he said that. "The next time someone goes behind my back and says that they want me dead, you tell me. Got that?"

The wyrmling leaned down across the table so that his eyes met level with Serhis, being a neck and head taller. Iskdiwercaesin wasn't going to brook any attempt on his life, nor any talk of it either. Serhis didn't know if he would harm him, but understood that he was justifiably angry. Baous looked at Iskdiwercaesin, hands slightly loose to drop the knife and meat-stuck fork he held for his war hammer leaning on the table.

"Don't worry there mutt. It's something you'd want to know as well, wouldn't you?"

"It's alright Baous. Sorry that I didn't say anything about it earlier," he apologized, "at the feast, it wasn't something that could be discussed at the table, and afterward, it slipped my mind, with the talk of staying for a few weeks to a month."

Iskdiwercaesin muttered, "Slipped your-"

Baous' pointed ears turned, his head turning sharply in the same direction, "Guys. There's a lot of people coming." Sniffing the air, he added with a growl, "Lilthian and Gatosa are there."

Iskdiwercaesin also turned his attention to the open balcony, inhaling through his nose, "Yeah. Hard to smell with the burned wood and burning meat smell in the air, but it's them all right."

Moving out of their seats, they edged toward the balcony. The large crowd was still outside, but it was parting for the arriving Lilthian and Gatosa. Atamis was nowhere to be seen.

"Keep down," Serhis said, taking out the torch near the door to the balcony and dousing it in a barrel of dishwater, darkening the section of the room. "They don't know we're dead and if they see us, they're likely to order everyone to attack right now."

From their position, they could see the pair standing on their wagon from the lip of the balcony, exulting as those around them cheered, though Gatosa again was maintaining a graceful composure as Lilthian basked in the glory of it all. Behind them, they heard one of the guards running up the stairs, coming down later trying to keep up with Captain Xephil as she leapt down the steps.

Serhis and Baous looked back at the balcony, noticing how Iskdiwercaesin had his teeth bared, a growl of violent intent passing though them, legs hunched as if to take a dive out the window. Baous put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't do it. You're not rested yet and if you did beat them, everyone there's going to get you."

The wyrmling growled a bit louder, but he didn't go any further. He didn't growl any longer, but the murderous glare in his green eyes seemed even more intense now.

The wagon came to a stop. Captain Xephil emerged from underneath as jeers and boos were made from the crowd that she was sworn to protect. Lilthian raised a hand, silencing them. "No need to be uncivil. These are the Guard of Natade, and their captain has come forward, so please, show respect for those that did do their duty in shielding you." Ever the showman, his tone was cordial and projected for everyone to hear. The smile he wore would have made a perfect replica of the effects of a nymph's gem, blindly beautiful, but utterly false, illusionary, and dangerous. The voices of the people subsided, listening intently to what would happen next.

"Lilthian Binns, Gatosa Vihes, as Captain of the Guard, I order for you and the rest of these people to disperse. This is a disturbance to the peace and my men need to access problem areas immediately. There are numerous fires in the town, looting is rampant, and citizens of this town are being assaulted."

"Ever devoted to your duty, aren't you Captain? But I'm afraid these people aren't here as a disruption, they are simply people that are showing their support for us, so if they wish to disperse, they'll do so of their own will." The townspeople shouted their support, Lilthian's words further impressing those willing to hear them.

The Captain stood her ground, a pair of other guards beside her as she continued to make her demands, "By law of the town of Natade, I am to place Lilthian Binns, Gatosa Vihes, and Atamis Tillroot under arrest for the destruction of government property and the intent to murder government officials. An investigation will be done to determine how many people have died tonight due to your actions."

Everyone erupted in shouts again, hostile intent coming off them in waves. Gatosa sat in the cart, still impassive, while Lilthian turned up the charm, "Now now, there's no need to do that. I'm sure you realize the mitigating circumstances of these ‘crimes'. While I did demand that action must be taken, it was in an effort to remove a council that couldn't be removed by legal means. I'm sure your own investigations showed that something was happening. We're also not completely responsible for everything happening tonight, there are always those that are parasites that'll take any opportunity to loot what they can, and I welcome you to arrest those people. As for the destruction of property... well... yeah, you got us there. But don't worry, everyone can chip in to buy a new town hall. And it'll be even better than the one before!"

In the balcony above the cheering masses, the three hid in the shadows cast from the torchlight. "So that's Atamis' last name," muttered Baous.

"Good to know. Not that it helps us," said Iskdiwercaesin.

Serhis shook his head, listening to Lilthian, "Anything he says, those people are going to follow. Nothing short of saying something completely outrageous is going to upset them."

Captain Xephil raised her voice above the crowd's, "A court will decide that. For now, my highest priority is to protect this town. Allow the Guard to pass so that they can take the measures necessary to do that. The fire brigade must be activated to prevent those infernos from destroying more homes and lives and the Night Watch is to stop further looting."

"Noble endeavors! I wouldn't possibly object to this, but there's a matter I'd like to discuss before you attend to your duties."

Lilthian strode forward two steps as Gatosa stayed in the wagon, staring intently at the captain. "Seeing as the council was illegally staying in power, the charges against us can hardly be taken at face value. In a manner of speaking, the Guard would be in charge of this town now, and has been for some time according to the law, it's just that you didn't know it yet. Seeing as how the council is now vacant, the people here are quite vocal about having us in charge of things."

As if on cue, the mob chanted, "Lilthian! Gatosa! Atamis! Lilthian! Gatosa! Atamis!"

"Our election to the post is almost assured. But that's only going to happen as long as the Guard supports us. We've been wondering how much you've really supported Jaiques' little gang, seeing as how you've tried to make an investigation into their activities. There's still a bit of a question that you might have been loyal to them though..."

"Smarmy little bastard, isn't he?" hissed Iskdiwercaesin. "Pretty much what we figured, he's making a play to control the town."

"Shh. Let's hear what the captain's going to say," whispered Serhis.

"If you wish to be head of council, hold an election. Should the results be in your favor, then the Guard will recognize you as such," said Captain Xephil, her words likely thought out well beforehand.

"There's no need for that Captain," responded Lilthian, as if talking to an old friend that was being a little difficult, "As Captain of the Guard, you have executive powers that can appoint me immediately. I've read the laws, archaic messes that they are, but they haven't been changed since times of war. Once I'm head of council, I'll see to it that we both stop the havoc in this town, as you'll command the Guard and we'll organize the people to aid you."

"We have no time for this," the Captain responded with steel resolve, "the more we spend talking, the higher the chance that the blazes will spread. After the fires are doused and the riots are stopped, then we'll discuss this matter, but your aid and those of the people will be appreciated if you cooperate."

Lilthian's mask of good faith hadn't cracked, but he was getting more and more insistent, "We can be of even greater help once it's known that the Captain of the Guard is fully supportive of the new head of council. Speaking of that, Captain... How about we revive an old tradition? The title of Commander hasn't been used since days of old, and now would be an excellent time to do so. Name me head of council, and my first act is to place you as Commander of the Guard. Your stipend will be increased, more guards to be placed at your disposal, and being Commander means that you won't be as restricted in your arrests, most handy when dealing with these riots."

"Almost sounds desperate, doesn't he?" Baous commented.

Lilthian was about to go on, but was tapped on the shoulder by Gatosa, who had stepped off the wagon, whispering in his ear. "Of course, a special election is understandable. You wouldn't want to appoint someone until you were absolutely sure that proper procedure is followed. We'll hold the election soon enough when things calm down, and after that, you'll make it official. What do you say?"

"Did either of you hear what she said?" asked Serhis, both Baous and Iskdiwercaesin shaking their heads negative.

"I find your conduct suspect, but I will obey the will of the people, should it reflect what you demand. Once we're finished with quelling this crisis, then the election can take place," said the captain.

Lilthian broke into a wide grin, "Good! Shake on it?" he said as he extended his hand.

The captain stood still for a moment before reluctantly shaking his hand. One brief shake, then quickly detaching as she stepped back, "Guard of Natade! Gather your equipment!" she commanded as she stepped back inside.

"She bought us a little time," sighed Baous. "I guess we have a few days."

"She not only got time, but she's now got Lilthian and everyone else to help her in her duty, if only because it'll help improve his image," Serhis contemplated, "and we'll only need one day. Hopefully."

Iskdiwercaesin said nothing, turning away from the balcony with a scowl.

Baous shifted his head to the green dragon, "What where you thinking anyway? You were ready to go out jump out there, wings or no wings. Not the smartest thing you could have done."

Iskdiwercaesin turned sharply, shouting at Baous and Serhis irately, "What do you thing?! They were right there! Right there! They've made complete fools out of us, tricking us and they're getting away with it! And haven't you realize something's wrong!? I'm trying to remember yesterday, when we got back to they're house."

"Whoa, calm down," Baous tried to say to the wyrmling in mid-rant.

"When they showed us to the basement?" thought Serhis.

"No, before that! And after! It all seems strange when you remember it all, doesn't it?"

They tried to work out what he meant, recalling the past day's events. They had just gotten back and they given them enough circumstantial evidence to convince them all to aid Lilthian, Gatosa, and Atamis. They planned some of the finer details later in the main dining room, then had dinner, going to sleep and waiting for the time to strike.

"Still a bit confused? Try thinking about how long that all took. Wasn't dinner a bit ‘early' that day?"

"We did just get back at noon," said Serhis, "... but all that and the planning couldn't have taken more than two hours. We had two dinners?"

"Starting to get the picture yet? They practically screamed it at us when we got back!"

"The memory modification potions..." breathed Baous.

"Now you get it! They messed with our memories. They changed my memories. I swore that day after I got our of that ritual that you put me in, I'd never allow that to happen again. Damn right I wanted to gut them on the street!" the wyrmling fumed, "It would have been hard, but the crowd wouldn't have mattered. One or two good acid baths can scare them away."

Now as they tried to remember yesterday, there were a few inconsistencies. When they got out of the cellar, the sun was much lower in the sky. The time in the cellar seemed so perfectly clear. Maybe a bit too clear. And rushed. Trying harder to think how much time it all took, those minutes in the cellar, the whole time that they spoke, it seemed a bit compressed.

"They put the potion in our food," Serhis realized. "We had an early dinner and they made it seem like we had seen all the proof earlier that day. Then they continued on, as if nothing had happened."

"Explains why I felt so full at dinner that night," Baous muttered. "Yeah. I'm going to have to go with you on this Iskdiwercaesin. I don't like it either. But they messed up a lot there at least."

"Probably only had enough for two doses or three for each of us. It was a rush to tamper with our heads, they couldn't cover everything."

Serhis shook his head, "Have they really done so much? Why would they...? It's so that we would be utterly convinced that we had to help them."

"Why else would they do that," said Iskdiwercaesin, not really asking a question. "They did everything so that each one of us had a very good reason to help. What they just did outside is almost the exactly what they did to us, tempting us with a reward, telling us what we want." Barely contained rage dripped from each word.

Baous stared at the ceiling, a bit dazed at the realization, "it was that easy? Just to change our memories like that?"

"We will have to make them answer for that when we face them later," said Iskdiwercaesin.

Serhis solemnly agreed. He wasn't one for pointless retribution, but having someone tamper with all of their memories was frightening, the ease that they could have erased something or placed something false would demand some form of justice. On top of the other grievances anyway.

Hearing steel boots and greaves shifting, they saw Captain Xephil coming up the stairs towards them. "You heard what happened outside?"

"Yes," said Serhis.

"It's the best I can do to give us an opportunity to halt their grab for power. I hope that by tomorrow, you find what we need."

"So do I. We leave early next morning."

"The Guard will be out in the city and our headquarters will have only a few stationed in it. I doubt that an attack will occur now, but I still advise alertness. Use our facilities as you see necessary, a number of scrolls have been put aside for your use. Do you need anything else before I leave?"

Not able to think of anything, they shook their heads and the Captain turned away. Other guards were starting to come up now, gathering equipment for the night ahead, talking to each other with quiet and uneasy tones. "This doesn't seem like a good idea. Going out like this." "Captain's orders. It's part of our job." "Yeah, but nobody said anything about this! We're on fire duty and we have to deal with the crazies as well. How many fires do you think there are?" "Devisi's been counting them, thirty nine of them." "Shit. At least the town's going to help now. Doesn't Lilthian have a decanter of endless water? That'll be useful." "It'd be useful if I could drown him with it." "Forget drowning. I'd stick it up where the sun don't shine and give him one hell of an enema. Then he'd drown." "Man, that's sick." "After this is over, what happens next? Lilthian becomes head of council? I know he's caused all this trouble, but... is that really so bad?" "Hell if I know. Councilor Dehill wasn't the nicest person in the world, I know that after being on the investigation before they shut it down, but as far as the neighbors were concerned, he was doing an okay job. They probably were screaming for his blood today." "I just hope my wife's okay out there. I really hope..." "I'm sure she's fine. As long as the Captain's in charge, it'll work out." "Captain seems to have something else in mind, since she asked them for help."

The numerous guards were looking at Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin. Serhis nodded at them. "Do good job out there," he tried to encourage them. Baous waved weakly. The Guard finished gathering supplies, then headed out in horse pulled wagons, filled with guards, pails, buckets, and emergency medical supplies.

Again by themselves on the third floor of the Guard headquarters, Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin finished their dinners that had turned cold.

"Let's try and get some sleep as soon as we can so we can leave early. It should be dark enough so we can get across the roofs without being seen easily," Serhis said as he washed his bowl.

"I suppose I might get a little sleep," replied Baous.

Iskdiwercaesin picked a spot near the hearth, lying down and curling up as the went to sleep.

Baous walked past the sleeping dragon, unfurling his bedroll "Wow. He goes to sleep fast."

Serhis also took a spot near the dying fire, placing his own bedroll down, "Maybe he'll wake up at the first sign of trouble? I've heard how some dragons do that when someone tries to go into their lair."

"Good night Serhis," Baous said.

"Good night Baous," Serhis adjusted his wings, then tried to find an uneasy sleep. Peaceful serenity was found instead, and was most appreciated.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By first light, they were in sight of the late Councilor Otrin Feo's home.

"Huh. It's still standing," remarked Baous as he stood on a slanted roof, using a chimney to brace himself.

"Let there be hope that what we need is actually there," prayed Serhis close by, looking for a path over the roofs down to the mansion.

Iskdiwercaesin perched on the top of the slanted roof, balancing himself on the edge as he looked behind them and all around, continuously on watch incase someone had spotted them. "Pretty big place he had there, probably bought it with all that money pouring into his pocket. The people in this town are idiots. Barely anyone suspected any corruption, and those that did couldn't do shit. I'd attribute that as a survival mechanism."

"The commentary's not helpful. This way," Serhis said as he took careful steps to the next roof.

The journey here hadn't been hectic, but it wasn't exactly contributing to their general health either. Having woken up at four in the morning, they had to take advantage of the overall darkness to get this far. They used the same balcony in the Guard headquarters to get outside, then slowly made progress through the town using the map that Captain Xephil had provided among the other supplies. There were some basic potions and scrolls, most of it things that the Guard probably didn't have use for in times like this, spells that could detect hidden doors or dampen an area in magical silence, as well as more practical healing potions and summoning scrolls if the going got tough. To their relief, it hadn't gotten that bad. It wasn't easy either, four times they had to double back when then found that the route they had chosen would have left them too expose or that a fire had burnt down a building and they couldn't go any further. Twice they had to use a scroll that covered them in fog as the streets still had a few people wandering around, making it seem that the morning mist was simply a bit thicker on a specific roof or alleyway.

Getting closer, they found a roof that they could jump off from that would get them over the wall that surrounded the entire mansion. They also could see the place in better detail as the morning sun crested over the horizon.

"Kinda gaudy, isn't it?" Baous said as he made out more of the details of the two story mansion. Each of the windows was made of stained glass, none of the sides of the house was bare of embellishments, statuary stood on the corners of the roof, there was even a small fish pond and hedge maze. "Oh. Looks like I was wrong."

"Huh? What?" Serhis asked.

Following where Baous' finger pointed, he saw an open window. And the corpse of a human that was inside. "Looks like someone wanted to loot the place." The corpse was still standing, a spear coming through his chest, originating from a wall.

"The house is trapped. Is nothing going to get any simpler?" groaned Iskdiwercaesin.

Observing more closely, they could see that some damage had been done to the house. Some of the statues had been smashed and a few of the windows. Arrows had made scorch marks on the walls and torches seemed to have been thrown inside, but all that had burned was the fuel sources on those objects.

"Otrin Feo must have built this place to be fireproof. As well as a danger for anyone he didn't invite," said Serhis as he picked through his pack, taking out some scrolls. "I have three scrolls that'll show where traps are at least. We'll go around those dangerous areas if we can. Everyone ready? When we jump in there, it's going to be hard to get out. At least the Captain gave climbing equipment for us."

"If any of us had any training in that," muttered Iskdiwercaesin, "I'm ready."

Baous gave a thumbs up, securing a rope around a flue. The jump wouldn't be difficult for Serhis, the wall to the mansion was four meters high and from their position, he would need to hop rather than leap. It would be the landing that would be difficult. The rope was more for the others to slow their descent. Taking the rope, Serhis went to the top of the sloping roof, steadied himself, and took the jump over the street and wall, landing softly on the lawn. Staking his end of the rope tight, he looked up, watching with a degree of worry as the others had to make their way down. Baous went first, using a length of rope to slide down and control his ride down and landed with a grunt, sustaining no injuries. Iskdiwercaesin took a bit longer on his attempt. Serhis and Baous could barely hear him muttering and cursing as he got ready, then slid down.

"Grah!" Iskdiwercaesin yelled as he landed, coming in too fast and rolling as he hit the grass.

Serhis and Baous nearly got bowled over as Iskdiwercaesin almost fell on top of them. "How badly are you hurt?" asked Serhis as Iskdiwercaesin was flat on his back.

"Ugh. I don't think anything's broken."

"Your legs are going to be a bit sore, but you're alright," Serhis said, trying to help him up, "we have to get out of sight. Baous, get the rope."

Taking the rope off the stake, Baous braced himself against the wall, then pulled hard, forcing the rope to come off the roof. "Whew. Glad it held," he sighed. They couldn't risk letting anyone seeing the rope, so they tied it with a knot that would come off with enough force, but that meant a risk of them falling if the knot had loosened during the slide down, but it was a risk that couldn't be avoided. Coiling up the rope, he put it in his pack.

Now inside, they needed to get out of sight. Serhis pulled Iskdiwercaesin on his feet, moving him towards the hedge maze as Baous helped. Iskdiwercaesin growled as they sat down on the grass shaded by high rising bushes as Serhis examined the injuries in better detail, "Nothing is broken or sprained, count yourself lucky. I do have the right spell to heal that, but using it so soon wouldn't have been a good sign."

"Ah, well?" Iskdiwercaesin asked.

"Huh? Well what?" Serhis said.

"Well. Aren't you going to heal what I've got then?"

"You're not that badly hurt and any healing I do now would be too much and waste the spell. It's going to irritate you, but that type of injury won't hamper you. Besides, would you rather I use it now or if you get really hurt?"

"Fine, fine. At least tell me we aren't going through this ridiculous maze."

Baous looked back to the front of the hedge maze, "We might have to. Going from here to the mansion might get us seen. At least at the end of the maze there's some cover we can use to get to the house."

Iskdiwercaesin snorted, "Either of you remember which way to go to get through when we saw it from the top?"

Serhis and Baous nodded their heads weakly. "Uh, I think I know the way. Maybe," responded Serhis.

Without pausing, Iskdiwercaesin inhaled and breathed out into the maze. Bushes dissolved in the acid and a wide path was carved through most of the maze.

"Whoa! Someone could have seen that!" shouted Baous as he looked back out the maze entrance at the surrounding building windows.

"Feh. I doubt it. As long as the tops of the hedges block the view, we're fine. And now that we don't have to deal with going through some stupid little maze, we're better off." The wyrmling walked through the former maze in a straight line to the exit, while Serhis and Baous took care to step over any remaining puddles.

At the end of the hedge maze, they reached the backyard of the mansion grounds. Large trees hung over most of the area, obstructing the view of the surrounding buildings, though a few had been vandalized with broken braches littering the ground underneath. The flower garden had been badly trampled, likely on purpose, while the patio looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer and a hacksaw to it, and the small pool had an unhealthy looking yellow tinge to it. A gazebo that seemed to have been the centerpiece of it all didn't have the same fireproofing as the house and was a total loss.

"Since they couldn't get into the house without getting hurt, a bunch of people must have taken their anger out here," Baous commented, "I'd hate to see what happened at the other councilors' houses."

"I'd say most of them were looted and burned down. Otrin did seem like the paranoid loony sort, though he wasn't wrong about someone plotting a takeover at all," said Iskdiwercaesin.

Unrolling a scroll, Serhis chanted the needed incantation to activate it. "I guess the guard have to deal with a lot of traps during their duties to have so many of these detection scrolls. The door back here has a trap on it," he said as he went to the rear of the mansion.

"Can we get around it?" asked Baous.

Serhis shook his head, "This scroll can only give me some help in finding traps, but nothing to get rid of them. I might be able to build some of these things too, but that's little help to disarm them. We'll have to get inside another way."

Looking around the back, they took nearly four minutes looking through windows to find any that weren't rigged with something to hurt.

"This one too," Serhis muttered as he finished scrutinizing another window, "this one will activate the moment we try to force or break it open, and the spell is starting to wear off."

Iskdiwercaesin tapped on the glass pane, "Otrin must have been one really paranoid ass. Doesn't look like he was much of a family man either, what with all these traps. He must have had a command word or something so he could get in and out without skewering himself."

"That or some sort of switch," agreed Serhis, "I see a mixture of both mechanical and magical traps. Let's try the next one."

Peering through the window, it looked like this room was the kitchen. "Give me a moment," Serhis murmured as he give it a look. "Ah."

"What? Did we find one that isn't designed to swing something sharp and pointy at us when we open it to smell the baking cookies?" Iskdiwercaesin said.

"Well, not so much. This one looks like the window doesn't activate the trap, but stepping on the floor just underneath is going to set something off. Oh."

"Oh what?"

Looking down at the stone tile, then up at the window, the Kobold looked interested and inquisitive, "This one's nasty. Seems that anyone trying to get inside through here, but steps on the tile is going to have the window frame slam right on top of them." Wrenching up the frame with his pick, he looked at it's underside. "Ah, spikes and sharp blades. Messy." Going over to the fallen branches by the trees, he grabbed one, went back to the window and stuck it through the window and pushed the stone tile. The window pane sprang downwards, biting into the branch.

Baous shuddered, "So if someone was in between that with half outside and inside... Ick. Wouldn't just breaking the window and stepping through get around that?"

"Then it would go up instead."

Baous looked at the metal frame of the window and imagined someone sitting in it as it forcefully went up. "Really. Ick."

"You just want to take notes, don't you," Iskdiwercaesin chuckled.

"It's nasty, but not impressive," said Serhis while he opened the window and poked at the same tile again. "Not exactly disarmed, but it worked. We can get inside now."

Stepping through, Serhis got into the kitchen without being bisected, then followed by Baous and Iskdiwercaesin, though they hastily got off the window frame before touching down on the floor tile.

The kitchen was in pristine condition, pots and pans hung up with dustless counters and sharpened tools. There were three doors out, though one of them just lead to the larder, which was fully stocked and Iskdiwercaesin couldn't resist grabbing a slice of mutton before they closed it.

"So, where now?" asked Iskdiwercaesin as he licked his teeth clean.

"Well, we're going to have to look around this whole place," suggested Baous. "Maybe we'll find something in his office? A hidden room?"

Serhis looked at one of the doors, then the other, "This one doesn't have any traps on it, but the other one does. Avoid that one," he said as he opened the door a crack, peeking through. Through the door was a long hallway somewhat decorated with end tables and various random objects over a tan rug. Other doors lined the hall that turned towards the front door and the stairs upwards.

"So many rooms," Baous groaned as he counted the ones in this hall alone. "Five. And probably all of them with traps."

"Spell wore off. Hold on a moment," Serhis said as he took out a second scroll and used it. "Only one more left. I hope we find what we need before I have to use it."

Talking a step forward into the hall, all of them heard a click, then the sound of air parting to speeding metal, then a *thunk* as a wall scythe impacted into the wall above Serhis' head.

"Whoa!" Baous shouted as he landed on his backside and nearly onto Iskdiwercaesin.

Serhis nervously looked up at his reflection on the side of the sharpened steel blade, then stepped well away as the scythe went back and reset itself.

"I thought you said there weren't any traps!" yelled Iskdiwercaesin.

"I thought so too. Guess it wasn't the door that was trapped but the hallway to the door," Serhis said shakily.

"Right. New plan. Any entranceway we go through, it's trapped."

"You alright Serhis? That looked close," asked Baous.

"Yes, it didn't hit me."

"If you were a head taller, you would have lost it," remarked Iskdiwercaesin.

"Makes up for the times I couldn't reach a top shelf," Serhis tried to brush off his near decapitation, "Step over that wood plank so you don't set it off."

As the searched to rooms, they inspected the area in front, behind, and to the door itself in great detail before entering, all of those doors having a unpleasant surprise, ranging from falling blocks, fusillades of darts, at one point finding a broom closet that would have flooded with water.

Iskdiwercaesin stopped to stare at the closet with a sealable drain at the bottom, "Apparently I was mistaken. Otrin wasn't a paranoid ass. He was a paranoid, undeniably insane denizen of the bottom pits of the abyss megalomaniac of an ass," he said in an absent humored deadpan. "What sort of person has this sort of thing? I've heard of mages being overprotective of their living spaces, but this is excessive."

"I can't figure out how he lived like this," said Baous in a tone of agreement, though he wouldn't have used the same wording, "you would think having to remember how to get around a trap every time you had to leave a room would make all of this crazy."

"Ugh." Serhis had opened the next door in the hall, "I found the room with the poor soul with a spear in him. Looks like a small waiting room. That's it for this floor."

"Five gold says the bottom step of the staircase is trapped," muttered Iskdiwercaesin.

Baous shook his head. "No bet."

Walking over to the stairs, Serhis inspected each step up. "Huh. The bottom step isn't rigged."

"Wow, I'm surprised. Would have lost five gold there. How about five for the top step? Ten says it's set to make the stairs fold down into a ramp."

"No, I mean there is a trap, but it isn't set." Lifting a of the rug over the step, Serhis pointed at a specific part of the step, "This would have made the statues at the sides swing their arms. Those great axes aren't decorative."

"So he forgot to set one of them up in the morning, maybe a bit drowsy from spending the whole night stepping around all the traps in this fun house he has?"

"Everything else was set, why just this one?" wondered Baous.

"I don't know, but maybe we'll get lucky and there are others that aren't active," said Serhis as he went up the stairs, "Oh, and it looks like there is a trigger step at the top."

"What kind?" asked Iskdiwercaesin.

"Uh, one that would cause the steps to fold down into a ramp."

"Would have been easy money," the dragon sighed.

"It's also not set?" Baous stepped onto the landing while hopping over said step.

Serhis nodded, though he and Iskdiwercaesin also jumped over as well. The landing had four ways to go, three doors and stairs that led further up to the top floor. "Any preference on which way to go? It doesn't matter that much since they are all likely trapped."

"The late Otrin might be one of those ‘from the top of their ivory tower' types of wizards," remarked Iskdiwercaesin. "This isn't quite a tower, but it's sure built like one. If he had anything of value that he wanted to keep safe, he might put it at the very top. Or he put it in the center of the mansion. Take your pick."

Taking a long look at the steps upwards, Serhis checked, then rechecked, "This step isn't set as well."

"What about the doors?" asked Baous.

"Those ones are rigged with traps that are ready. Don't get near the one on the left, that one has a pressure plate in front of it."

"Convenient," Iskdiwercaesin said as he looked up at the next floor. "Either of you also getting a bad feeling about this?"

"Maybe a little," Baous said as Serhis nodded a bit.

Iskdiwercaesin slowly went up a step, "With our luck this week, the wonderful wizard probably had an experiment that's gotten loose or something."

Serhis walked a bit faster than Iskdiwercaesin up the stairs. "Let me go first. The spell has about a minute left and I there still might be something set along the way."

"Fine by me." They all still went over the last step to the top. The top of the third floor stairs only had one door, closed and looked like it was designed to withstand an iron tipped battering ram. "That must be the wizard's study. Nothing else could be so blatantly protected," said Iskdiwercaesin. "Damn. It's probably has an enchanted lock or something. Do you have any scrolls for unlocking doors?"

Serhis nodded his head, "Five of those, the Captain probably expected us to run into a lot of locked doors. But..." placing his claws on the door, he pushed with a bit of effort, "it's already unlocked."

"Guys, this doesn't feel right. At all," whispered Baous. "The traps leading up all not working, the place that probably should be the most protected unlocked."

Iskdiwercaesin and Serhis had the same thoughts. "Let's keep quiet and get what we need," Serhis said silently, "and keep a look out." Shifting the door a bit more, they proceeded inside. The top floor had an entirely different feel to it, in both atmosphere and decoration. Where the first two floors looked like they were meant to be showy, this floor felt contained and isolated. The walls were panels of sheet iron as well as the floor and ceiling. Looking behind the door they had came through showed a heavy lock that was likely also enchanted. The door had lead to a small corridor with three doors, two to the sides and the third all the way to the back, which seemed to be even more heavily fortified than the first.

"I'd expect this sort of thing at the bottom, not at the top," muttered Iskdiwercaesin.

Going forward slowly, they went down the corridor with eyes and ears alert. Reaching the two doors, they looked inside, seeing a bedroom that was wasn't lavish, but certainly luxurious, while the other contained an extensive library, books lining the shelves with a simple chair near the fireplace.

"I get the feeling Otrin lived up here more than down there," Baous observed.

"It might explain why he didn't care much about the traps. He didn't have to deal with them regularly," said Serhis.

Approaching the last door, Serhis had to take a bit of effort to shove it open. "It's too heavy."

"Allow me," Baous offered as he forced it open, only to be stuck after it moved an inch "Something's blocking the way."

"Here," Iskdiwercaesin grumbled, placing both claws on the door, then grunted as it only moved an inch more.

Serhis took a step back as Baous and Iskdiwercaesin pushed the stuck door. In one good jolt, they bashed open the door with a resounding *bam*.

Then the *thunk* of straining wood and tightly wound string unleashing.

Iskdiwercaesin roared in pain as he landed backwards as a he was hit by arrow passing through the door. "Trap?!" Baous yelled as he leapt back looking at Iskdiwercaesin, then realized he was half right as he looked back through the door. Crouching behind a solid oak desk, Atamis nocking another arrow as he readied to loose another arrow.

"Shit!" The wyrmling scrambled to get back as he tried to avoid getting hit again, but the Halfling had aimed for them being contained in the corridor as he started shooting.

Instead of retreating, Baous advanced, trying to close the range and give Atamis a smack of his war hammer before he could pull out his own close range weapons, leaping clear of the objects stacked in front of the door that was meant to hinder their movement and almost landing on the caltrops scattered around the floor. His feet didn't encounter any of the metal spikes as he landed and he continued his charge at Atamis, swinging for center mass and hitting. A bit of color drained from the Halfling, both from the injury caused from the hammer as well as the enchantment on it, he was a bit too slow on the attack while Baous had reacted quickly to the situation.

Placing a palm on Iskdiwercaesin's scaled torso, Serhis yanked the arrow out with the other, causing Iskdiwercaesin to roar in pain before the cleric of Bahamut healed him, only managing to stop the bleeding and close the wound, but not much more than that. Atamis was backing away rapidly from Baous and going to one side of the room, exposing himself a little too long and Baous swung again with another strike, causing him to list a bit as the enchantment wore him down further.

"Surrender Atamis! We've got you cornered here!" demanded Baous.

The Halfling rogue refused to respond, instead almost whispering, like he was calling out with his cracked, mostly disused voice, and a large animal leapt out from the adjoining room. In front of him came a creature from Pandemonium. A Howler had been summoned, a beast that resembled a canine or feline in only the barest shape, covered in long quills and looking for prey with it's hourglass-shaped eyes. "Remove them," Atamis pointed at Iskdiwercaesin and Serhis.

Like it's namesake, it's uttered a jarring howl as it went at them.

Serhis and Iskdiwercaesin had yet to see the creature, they were still in the hall as the dragon started to move forward to inflict his revenge. "Ow! You could have removed that a bit more gently," Iskdiwercaesin pointed at the arrow still slick with his own blood before he turned his attention back to the entranceway, first hearing the strange howling, then coming face to face with the howler. Taking a snapping bite at him, the howler drew blood, inflicting more damage than Serhis had healed and worse, causing the dragon yell in pain again. "Augh! What in-? Rarrr!" The angered wyrmling responded in kind, biting and raking with claws at it's face, chest, and front paws, the few places where quills weren't present. His own bite missed, but his claws managed to slash the howler a bit.

"Call that thing off them!" shouted Baous as he went on the offensive, again striking the Halfling despite the odds of hitting the more battle hardened rogue, though the enchanted war hammer might have helped in that regard.

Iskdiwercaesin was barely managing to stand now. Between taking a shot and taken a brutal hit from the howler, Serhis struggled to heal the damage and barely managing to get rid of the bite wound. "Can you fight that thing?!" he said to the now less injured dragon.

"As long as you can keep me alive!"

Atamis had enough of being bashed around, running at full sprint as he withdrew and ran into the corridor. The fact that it was blocked by Serhis and Iskdiwercaesin meant little to him as he leapt and rolled with an acrobat's talents, but it was a bit too much as Iskdiwercaesin aimed to vent his pain on the person that inflicted it, catching a leg as the Halfling went past with his jaw.

The howler attacked Iskdiwercaesin, this time with the quills as well as a crushing bite, this time the dragon couldn't withstand the onslaught, falling back with a long quill stuck in him.

"Iskdi!" Baous yelled as he saw the wyrmling fall and aimed for the howler. If Serhis had uttered prayer now that things were turning against them, it had been answered. The howler had turned to see what was howling at it, only to have it's head meet the swing at it's strongest point, shattering it's jaw, skull and all contained within and fell to it's side.

"Luck favor the righteous," whispered Serhis as he focused on stabilizing Iskdiwercaesin's condition, sending more energy into the dying wyrmling.

His protection dead, Atamis tried again to roll past, only to encounter the reverse, stumbling on the quills of the dead howler. Iskdiwercaesin almost jumped up as the spell finished and he found Atamis prone in front of him, and without hesitation or mercy, struck.

"Iskdi, are you alright?" Baous asked.

Pulling his claws out of the deceased Atamis, he turned his bloody head, the look he gave was answer enough. He was covered in blood and gore, the quill protruding out of him making him look all the more imposing. Leaning to his side, he put his claws around the wound. "Do you even, hah, need to ask? Th- this thing sticking out of me. Stupid question. And don't call me ‘Iskdi'!" he growled.

Nudging the corpse with the haft of the war hammer, Baous confirmed that Atamis was dead, "How did he get up here? And why?"

Serhis took out his healing kit and gingerly removed the quill before tapping him with a wand with healing charges in it, "There. You'll feel better in minute, though it's going to take a another tap or two." Turning to Baous, he looked into Otrin's study, "I don't know, but it looks like he was prepared for us."

Taking the stiff quill, Iskdiwercaesin jabbed it back into the howler, releasing a bit of his rage on the corpse, "He was probably after whatever Otrin had locked away up here, same as us. That's why the traps leading here weren't working, he disarmed them."

Baous shuddered as the quill was stuck back in, "What is that thing? It's loud and it sounded worse than any nail on a chalkboard. If it's Atamis' pet, I never heard it in the house."

"It's called a howler," answered Serhis, "and I don't think it's Atamis'. They are usually trained by infernal creatures and the like. Since the body's still here, it wasn't conjured or summoned. Someone actually brought it here."

Baous looked back into the study, "I guess we can ask those questions later. We'll get what we need, then we stop Lilthian and Gatosa. We can ask them about it, if they don't lie to us again."

"I'd like it more if we knew now," Iskdiwercaesin said, poking Serhis for another healing spell, "like if they have more of those things."

Serhis tapped him with the wand again, "I don't think so, those things are supposed to be hard to train, but I also can't figure out how they kept one without anyone knowing, since it howls almost constantly."

Searching the body, Iskdiwercaesin picked through the pockets as he attempted to detect any magic items, "Four hundred gold, not much. The rapier and short sword are enchanted, as well as the bow and armor. Nothing useful to us. Hah, some potions," he exclaimed as the tinkle of a few vials were pulled from the belt, "didn't have any time to use it. Bad luck for him. I can't tell what they are yet, but I'll bet it's healing and invisibility potions."

"What's this, more potion?" Baous was also searching, pulling out what looked like a large metal bottle with a firmly set stopper. He figured that last part out as he pulled on it.

"Wait! It's enchant-" Iskdiwercaesin didn't have time to finish before Baous pulled out the stopper with a pop, flooding the room with a thick smoke. "-ed. Well, I think we can tell what it does. An ever-smoking bottle."

Baous coughed in the thick smoke, barely able to tell the outline of the others in the corridor and putting the stopper back, "*Cough* *cough* Ah, gah! Guess he uses it to escape. At least I didn't give him a chance to get it out."

Leaving the corridor and heading into the study, they shut the door to keep out the thick cloud. "Here's something to remember. Never open any object without finding out if it's got a magic aura first." Iskdiwercaesin said sternly to Baous.

"Sorry. Uh, what about this room? We are in a wizard's study."

Iskdiwercaesin paused for a moment, "Oh. There's a lot here. I'm not going to say ‘don't touch anything', it's going to be impossible in here."

Most of what they found were little trinkets, stuff that only had a hint of magic, while they found a few prizes in the mess of the room. Otrin may have organized many of the plans of the council, but in the privacy of his own home he seemed to have been a firm believer in finding objects by putting them in a specific pile of stuff in the room. Scrolls lined a rack to the side of the room while a whole wardrobe was filled with robes with a stack of potions at the bottom. Iskdiwercaesin happily scooped out anything that had any remote usefulness from the deceased wizard's former life of adventuring."

"We would have been in a lot of trouble if Otrin and the others had their hands on all this stuff. Why didn't they have more on them?" Baous wondered as he unfurled a scroll in front of Serhis.

"This one is a stoneskin scroll. It does seem a bit odd. He could have certainly used this during the battle. They were minimally equipped, though them not expecting fight might explain a little, but that doesn't explain why they were that badly prepared?"

"Gatosa and Lilthian's doing?" suggested Iskdiwercaesin as he went through the drawers of the desk.

"At this point, I really can't put anything past them. Clairvoyance scroll. They probably had to use some of their equipment during the siege, but they couldn't have been that badly unprepared. Zone of silence."

"Ooh, let me have that one, that one's useful," Iskdiwercaesin said as he opened up the last few drawers, "oh. Oh. Now this is useful." Raising a ring into the light he grinned with little restraint, the air around him shimmering a bit "a force shield ring. This'll stop me getting skewered again." Then he looked down and the grin was gone. Then a manic cackle replaced it a second later as he reached down into the desk, pulling out a nondescript rod, "I don't know what this does exactly, but this is going to be very, very useful."

"What might be useful is whatever Otrin had to use against Lilthian, Gatosa, and Atamis. Though we don't have to worry about him anymore," Baous said as he looked at the closed door, then placed another scroll in front of Serhis.

"A rod of magic is never useless," Iskdiwercaesin said as he put in in his pack, "This place is a treasure trove of magic items. It occurs to me that plundering a wizard's tower is almost as dangerous as a dragon's horde, but you never hear about anyone hunting a wizard in detail. At least, not as much. I've heard a few storied about rampaging wizards."

"Use this," Serhis tossed a scroll at Iskdiwercaesin, "it's for identification of magic items. We found a stack of them."

Holding the scroll in one claw and the rod in the other, the wyrmling only seemed more giddy as the spell was completed, "A metamagic rod to empower spells. I hate Otrin's guts for all the trouble he gave us, but I like his taste in magic items. I can guess what he spent all his ill-gotten gains on. Hmm, one of the weaker ones, but still, very handy."

"Almost seems like an entirely different dragon," Baous remarked quietly to Serhis.

"Maybe because it's all the magic? Or that we're taking all of this? It's might be greed, but since we're going to need all of this, maybe not exactly greed, but survival instinct."

Scanning the whole room, they finally sorted through most of the piles of random objects and had stacked rows of potions, scrolls, and other junk. They hadn't found anything that referred to Lilthian or Gatosa.

"Strange, you'd expect them to have at least a crumpled letter or something about them, since they had some form of evidence and inclination that they were hostile," Serhis said as he quickly read through a piece of parchment.

"I've searched the whole room, there's nothing left that has a magical aura to it. Pity we don't have a spell to look for what we actually need." Iskdiwercaesin had curled up around a miniature horde of items and a bit of gold he had found tucked away.

Baous leaned back in a chair, putting down another piece of paper, "All I see are numbers for the money they took. I hope you're going to give that back," he pointed at the pile of gold underneath the lounging dragon.

"Some of it. Whoever it belongs to can have it, though we should get something for our efforts."

"It won't help if we can't kick Lilthian and Gatosa out of favor of the town," sighed Serhis as he picked up the next sheet of paper, "All I'm finding here is that they were correct about the council being corrupt. This one's a scheme for hidden fees, ‘special' building permits', and skimming out of the treasury."

Baous stood up and went back to the door, opening it slightly and seeing if the smoke had cleared. "Maybe Atamis still has something on him that might help."

"It better be something good," sarcastically remarked Iskdiwercaesin as he inspected the contents of another book at a glance, "A written confession might be nice. One of those scrolls to speak with the dead would be just perfect, let their friend's corpse condemn them for us.

Rummaging through more pockets than anyone in their right mind would have, the rogue's body had little more to offer aside from a few more potions, scrolls and three identical rings. He could recognize that the potions were of memory modification. "More of these potions. He was probably the one that slipped it to us."

Iskdiwercaesin closed another book with a slam of the covers and threw it over his shoulder into a growing pile. "Unless anyone wants to read about an in depth analysis of the nature of summoned creatures and their properties, I haven't found anything useful. I know having an extensive library of books containing some of the most trivial stuff is standard for wizards, but this is going nowhere.

Serhis sighed tiredly, "keep looking."

"Say, Iskdiwercaesin?" asked Baous as he came back into the room.

"What is it?"

"What side of the room did you start reading from? I'll help over there."

"Over there," he pointed to the left side of the room, "I'm now over here."

Looking for a moment at the opposing wall, Baous seemed puzzled, "That's strange," he muttered. He went back out into the corridor and into one of the side rooms, then to the other one, then back to the other.

Serhis looked over his shoulder through the door as he watched Baous go back and forth, "What are you doing?"

Baous came back into the study, looking at a shelf on the wall. "You went through this whole shelf, right?" he asked Iskdiwercaesin.

"Do you even need to ask? I was thorough."

"What did it have on it?"

"Lots of scrolls, some potions."

"What are all these?" Baous indicated a few random objects still on the shelf. A glass goblet, a small ornate silver bowl, an iron jar, three marbles, and a small stone idol of an owl were currently there.

"Those things? They had no magic to them when I went through there."

Serhis went next to Baous and inspected the shelf, "A shelf of magic items, but these things are with them."

Iskdiwercaesin also went over to the shelf, "I didn't miss anything. Those things have no magic aura in them at all."

"That's what's strange," said Baous as he looked at the shelf from all angles, "I went to the others rooms and saw that the bedroom was a little less longer than the library, but this study doesn't fill out the missing space. I think there's a hidden wall or something behind here."

Tapping the wall, it did have a hollow ring to it. "Huh. The mutt is actually right and rather insightful this time. I'm surprised."

"Hey!"

"You still called me Iskdi, so deal with it."

Feeling the shelf, they could make out little indents on the surface that were hard to see. Three indents were positioned at the points of a triangle, with one in the middle.

Knocking on the wood, the shelf remained immobile to Serhis, "It would seem that Otrin placed all those magic items here to distract anyone from looking too closely here. I can guess that these objects are some sort of key and the proper placement and weight on parts of the shelf might do something."

"Shouldn't be too hard, all the spaces are different shapes," Iskdiwercaesin said as he placed the owl idol in the center, the circular base fitting tightly. The other containers were placed around it and the three stepped back, waiting for something to happen. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened.

"Either there's something still missing or Baous thought wrong and those indents just meant that those things were there for a long time before and they were moved around." Baous growled at Iskdiwercaesin, then looked at the objects arranged on the shelf. Reaching for the marbles, he gently placed one in each of the containers. This time, there was an immediate reaction as they heard the noise of moving cogs and straining rope on pulleys. The shelf and a section of the wall slid forward slightly, then moved left and out of the way. Through the revealed opening, a simple desk and chair with a mirror on the wall.

Viewing their reflections on the large silver mirror, they approached with caution into the small room. Iskdiwercaesin kept watching the mirror, inspecting it carefully.

"Is something wrong?" asked Serhis.

"No. Just figuring out how Otrin and the rest of the council managed to keep every possible opposition under their thumb and everything they've done secret. Well, except for this latest predicament. This mirror can be used for scrying."

"Scrying? That would explain a bit. Being able to secretly observe the plans and movements of others would benefit them."

"Fits their profile perfectly, doesn't it?

Baous tapped the mirror, "How do you turn it on?"

Iskdiwercaesin sighed, "It doesn't work like that. Otrin probably prepared one or more scrying spells everyday to keep tabs on who they thought were threats. Without that spell, it just an ordinary mirror. A very expensive ordinary mirror. One of these could probably buy you a small cottage. Doesn't matter now, this doesn't help us in the least."

Opening the drawers to the desk, Serhis searched its contents, "This might," he said as he pulled out an old leather bound book the size of his hand. Opening it up to the current bookmarked page, he saw that it was a journal. "The last entry was two days ago. ‘Gatosa has reentered the city with others. Current plans to remove her proceeding smoothly. Implementation to go forward in three days. Newest associates do not appear to have full knowledge of situation. Some consideration may be taken on recruiting them to our plans. Remember to send Reevis revised strategy. Order of cold iron to be delivered to be delivered within twenty four hours, delays will affect plan. Also remember to pick up new pack of bat guano.'"

Peering over this shoulder, Iskdiwercaesin snorted, "They knew something was happening with Gatosa and they still failed. Sad, that's just sad."

"I'm more interested in what they meant by the full knowledge of the situation," said Baous as he rummaged through the drawers as Serhis read. "Eww." Holding up a vial to the light, they could see that it contained a severed finger.

"Scrying is more effective if you have something related to the person you're looking for. Keep looking, that's not the evidence that's going to help us," Iskdiwercaesin said as he glanced up, then back to the journal.

Flipping back to the first page, Serhis read through some of the more colorful entries that hinted at Otrin and his compatriot's pasts. Most of what Gatosa told them before held up, that they were prolific mercenaries that would handle any job that they found, no matter how distasteful. They disguised themselves with masks for their activities, but the masks themselves represented their group, striking fear into their targets. Serhis and Baous read on in disgust as Otrin recorded their exploits with a detached view, though Iskdiwercaesin seemed a bit mildly perturbed on certain acts as well. If the job paid well, it didn't matter if they burned down a village because a neighboring lord wanted to watch the flames as much as he wanted to conquer the land or that they traveled through the deserts with a team of slaves to sell them off. Otrin only ticked off the potential lost profits for the nameless souls that died in that journey. He had even elaborated on strategies so that if they did this again, they would be more efficient.

"Oh." Serhis halted as he flipped a few pages forward, then went back.

"What? You're going through it too fast, I was trying to read that," said Iskdiwercaesin.

"Otrin mentioned Gatosa," said Serhis as he went more slowly through the pages, trying to discern any other times that name cropped up.

"What did it say?" asked Baous as he took out three scrolls from the desk.

Iskdiwercaesin looked up at the scrolls for a second, then tried to read another passage from the book, then swiveled his head as he saw the scrolls, "Wha-? I didn't detect that earlier. How did-"

"The journal mentions her thirty years ago," unwittingly interrupted Serhis, "They worked for her for a time, and then she joined them."

Iskdiwercaesin half listened to Serhis as he inspected the room with much more scrutiny, "Ah, this whole room is lined with an inch of lead. That's why I couldn't detect anything here."

"Otrin described her a lot more differently. She looked more differently back then, with curling red hair and green eyes. And..." A moment of realization dawned on Serhis as he read further, "she is a succubus."

"It makes sense now. This whole place, it's lined with lead. It's not the healthiest thing to do, but it makes finding anything through magic much more difficult. Not only that, but..." he paused as he seemed to concentrate, "I think that this place is under a private sanctum enchantment. Divination would have been near impossible in order to look here. And maybe a forbiddance spell as well to prevent teleportation. Things that a succubus could do with little effort."

Serhis sagged as he sat down on the floor, "We are going to have to fight against a literal demon."

"They can be killed, right?" asked Baous.

"In a sense. They are difficult to kill, but once they are, it would take tremendous energy in an effort to bring them back from death. But that requires that they die first, and that is going to be very hard, since they have a natural resistance to magic and are resistant to most forms of harm."

"Keep reading," encouraged Baous. "Maybe since they were planning to get rid of Gatosa, they planned for that. They must have had something prepared and ready."

"I'm more curious in why they're trying to kill each other, since they were former partners," said Iskdiwercaesin.

Going further into the journal, their past acts only seemed to get more depraved now that Gatosa had joined them. Her natural abilities allowed her to almost effortlessly accomplish their objects as escape retribution, the three appreciating her company. Then the tone changed as Otrin wrote in less detail as time went on, eventually leading into a nearly a full month gap in the entries. That entry only read, "She is dead." A week later, the entries were written with increasing frequency, the wizard writing this down in an effort to collect his thoughts as much as to look back at his former thoughts. They had began harboring suspicions that she had been using them for some purpose and that at first, they were fine with it as long as they benefited, but as time went on, they came to become more distrustful, fearing that eventually, they would have to endure some hazardous task that would have certainty in their deaths, and that she would bewitch them so that they would do so happily. The fact they were thinking such thoughts assured them that they weren't, but they didn't know for how long. That they were thought so now was a danger to them and that if she read their thoughts, the she would ensure their loyalty if she found a hint of betrayal. He wrote of the vigorous methods they took to prevent that, using a nondetection enchantment and explaining it was in an effort to prevent any pursuit, buying rings of protection to ward any attempts to control their minds, but made no mention of what they did to kill her.

"Damn. I was hoping they would mention some useful tactics or methods in taking her down," said Iskdiwercaesin.

"Wouldn't have been too helpful since we have to face her, Lilthian, and the rest of the town," said Baous.

"True. This said that she was dead, right? Someone must have raised her."

Serhis heaved another sigh, "That someone would have to be extremely powerful. Let's hope that who ever it is isn't anywhere near here."

For the next few years of journal entries, they continued as they had, until they came to be this town. Thinking that they had traveled far enough, they discarded their alternate identities, starting anew, though not in an effort to stay in hiding. They used their skills as mercenaries to win the popular support of the town by way of protecting it from hostile entities, while using underhanded tactics to cement their positions and it has continued that way ever since, the entries from that period mainly concerning on planning schemes, writing down potential and confirmed threats to their power, and other such things. Flipping quickly through these pages, they came to one that had only three words again. "SHE IS BACK."

Iskdiwercaesin laughed a bit, "Bet he crapped his pants when he found that out."

"You didn't need to say that," said Serhis and Baous together.

"Yeah, you're right. He was probably wearing a robe."

Continuing through the journal, Otrin was writing with a shaky hand, devising a standard setup for Jaiques, Reevis, and himself so that they could plan in secret and without fear that she would teleport into their bedrooms to exact vengeance. They had discovered that Gatosa had returned after they heard reports of a new band of adventurers that were making a huge impression on the town, accomplishing acts that impressed the public in the spectacle and the way that they presented themselves. Revealing what she truly was not an option, as she could just as easily link them to their former lives of infamy. Otrin had written a page or two that only concerned him stewing as to why she hadn't revealed them from the start, she had all the information she needed. All that he could think of was that she was operating under certain restrictions, giving them hope that they could still kill her again without losing their positions in the process. Lists of material and spells filled the journal, plans and proposals made and rejected as the situation changed.

"She had all the proof she needed," reflected Serhis, "that means she could have struck at any time. She could have struck without them even realizing she was in the town. Why would she need to present herself to them?"

Baous nodded, "Otrin might be right about her being restricted about it. Or that she has another plan."

"Taking control of the town," Iskdiwercaesin said firmly. "It's the most likely reason. Killing Jaiques and the others wouldn't get her the town, exposing them would expose her in the process. I think the reason she waited until now was that she was working on having as many people as possible backing her when this is over. I can't make a guess why she wants this place though."

"Demons crave destruction and chaos, they don't need a reason," said Serhis, "but that would have been accomplished by killing them anyway and causing as much panic from that. And there is Lilthian and Atamis, how are they involved with Gatosa? It could be they are charmed by her and are unwittingly being guided by her, but I have doubts about that, they have more to gain from this than her. I also think it wasn't them that resurrected her, neither of them have the necessary power and skill to do something like that. If they did, it probably would have been unnecessary anyway since they would be so powerful." All further entries were dedicated toward the death of Gatosa, all until the last entry. Closing it shut, Serhis tossed the journal onto the desk.

"The more we figure this out, the more we find out how screwed we are," Iskdiwercaesin said in grave tones. "It certainly explains why Atamis was here. Gatosa probably read Captain Xephil's mind while they were speaking last night."

"We have all these scrolls and potions though, that can help," said Baous.

"Not all of them are helpful. Some of these scrolls are more powerful than what I can cast and there is a risk that trying to use it might will make it blow up in my face. I don't see anything here that's anywhere near helpful in prying the townspeople's lips from her butt. Damn council lied to us again!"

Serhis looked at Iskdiwercaesin, "Those three rings you found on Atamis, take them out."

Not understanding why Serhis asked that, he took them out of his pack, presenting it to him on his palm. Inspecting it carefully, he went back to the study and pulled an identification scroll from the pile and gave it to Iskdiwercaesin. Taking the scroll and using it, he seemed a bit surprised as he announced what they were. "These are rings of protection. Against those of evil alignment."

"I'm making a guess here, but I think that these belong to Jaiques and the others. Or used to."

"But those were in Atamis' pack," said Baous.

"Atamis might have stolen it from them. I don't know for sure, but it is one way to explain the myriad of mistakes that the council made. Without these rings, they had no protection from the suggestive influences of Gatosa. They did their best to keep away from her, but there must have been times that she got close enough to implant a suggestion into their minds. This could be why they were so ill prepared that day. Atamis probably switched their rings at some point with other enchanted rings and Otrin never suspected it, since he had no reason to inspect it or doubt it's effectiveness." Slipping the ring on, there was no visible effect, then Baous and Iskdiwercaesin also put the other two on. Rings on their digits, they went back into the study.

"That's one of their advantages gone. One that we didn't know they had about ten minutes ago. Any other brilliant ideas that can help?" asked Iskdiwercaesin, Serhis unable to tell if he was being sarcastic or actually hoping for an answer.

"Well, we're not under the same restrictions as the council. We have nothing to hide, so trying to reveal that she is a demon isn't a problem. What could be is proving or forcing her to shift into her true form in front of everyone. The support she has would dissolve if that becomes known, as she is a creature that feeds on the lives of others and who's whole existence is based on destruction."

Iskdiwercaesin seemed a bit uncomfortable, but still said with a bit of a bite, "Ah, so your mercy and forgiveness do have limits. I was afraid you'd try to change her as well."

Serhis also felt some discomfort, this was still a potential sore point between him and the ritually altered wyrmling, "You have the capacity to think for yourself and to defy your own nature. Those that are made from the very Abyss, whose souls are literally bent on the fires of destruction, I know I can't change them, only oppose them."

Remaining silent for a while, Iskdiwercaesin went to check the scrolls, "Then we'll do more than oppose them. We'll grind them into the dirt and kick them back into the hole they came from."

He could never be sure if that point of contention would ever go away, Serhis had to accept that he it never would, but he did hope for that distant possibility. Somehow.

"Do we have anything here that can force a succubus back into her original shape?" asked Baous, himself a little tense from that brief and awkward event.

Serhis contemplated on an answer, "My knowledge on demons isn't perfect, but from what I can recall, only a few things can. The most obvious solution would be to force her to change in order to flee. Placing a dimensional anchor on her would prevent her from fleeing either by teleportation of plane shifting, making escape by sky her only option, but she could also change into something also with wings and pass it off as a polymorph spell. It's going to be extremely hard to actually make her change back if she doesn't want to."

"Or, we could use this." Iskdiwercaesin announced with triumph as he walked towards them, holding three scrolls, "These were in the hidden room. I couldn't detect them earlier, but with the wall out of the way, I found them lodged to the rear of the desk drawer."

Serhis unfurled the scroll, reading it carefully and setting it down. "There are still going to be problems with that."

"The range is going to be an issue," Iskdiwercaesin agreed.

"I'm going to have to take some time to think of any other complications."

"This place is a fully warded wizard's tower," Baous said, "I think we're safe here for now. What is that scroll? What are you thinking?"

Serhis had that familiar smile of setting a devious trap coming out again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"An almost directly frontal assault. That was the best you could come up with?" said Iskdiwercaesin with disdain as they climbed onto the roof.

"It's not as if we have more options. A distraction is needed and ambushing a being that can detect the thoughts of others is going to be extremely difficult otherwise. You have everything you need?" asked Serhis as he aimed his crossbow, firing a bolt with rope tied to it onto the nearest wooden rooftop. Taking drafts of the invisibility potion, even as the streets filled with people, they weren't going to be concerned about being seen exiting the premises.

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you do keep their attention." Tugging the rope to see that it was secure, he slid down and landed with less problems than the first time, shortly followed by Serhis and Baous. From there, they separated, Iskdiwercaesin taking one route through the roofs, Serhis and Baous another. Both were heading to the same location, the house of Gatosa and Lilthian. Though the potions only lasted a few minutes, it greatly speeded their efforts as they weren't concerned about being spotted, but as wore off, their rate of progress slowed. It took over an hour to reach their target.

The streets were filled with people, some rushing to put out a fire that was still burning, others as they tried to go on about their daily lives despite the revolt of last night. The road in front of the house was packed, chanting and cheering towards the people that lived inside, screaming in support and adoration. Lilthian and Gatosa stood on the second floor near the open window, Lilthian speaking to the crowd below him.

"... and I say to you, the ashes that have blown away have carried with them the disease that has plagued our town for so long! I may not have been part of your town for long, it was only a few scant years ago that we came, but we have grown to love it's beauty! It's splendor! It's PEOPLE!" The crowd roared with a frenzy, chanting their names. "In response, we have done wonders for this town! But those wonders were constantly overshadowed by the actions of those that ruled. For every deed we have done for your benefit, they have reaped it for themselves. We have heard the lone cries of those that suffered from their cruelty, and we ourselves suffered as we could do little. We had to endure as those that were pained by Jaiques and his minions committed crimes that were hidden to all but those that suffered. Those that did could do little to protest. Those that tried were silenced, those that sought others for help were denied. Those that suffered thought themselves alone in their agony and thought that any attempt to resist would mean their doom. Now no more! Citizens of Natade, those that have suffered are now speaking freely, so many of those crimes coming forward and exposed. Jaiques and Otrin have received their fates justly. And now, one more of his associates will join them."

Leaving the window, they came out the front door with a bound and gagged Reevis. He was badly beaten and bruised, his face a horrifying mess and his legs broken. He wasn't fully conscious, there was no other explanation for him not screaming out in extreme pain, his head down, breathing shallow and ragged.

"Who would want to see this man face justice?!" Again, the people rallied to his call, shouting death to the maimed Halfling. "We will take him to the center of the city and we will hear all the crimes that he has done. We will stand on the wreckage of the town hall where they passed down corrupt rulings and cast one of ours! Many innocent people have died, both from their actions before and from the people they employed to destroy any that opposed them. Even we have been harmed. Those that we pronounced friends were merely spies, to report any action that we made. We really did find them as friends, we trusted them, despite what they were and what we knew them to be. And in response to our trust? Betrayal! When we told them of what we planned, they went to their masters. That is why so many of their mercenaries were at the central plaza that day, ready and waiting for those that came to remove those in power. Those in power now are gone and now you can choose that we can create something. We've heard of the calling that you have given us, to take up the mantle of leadership. We cannot accept, not yet. By accordance of the law, we cannot do so until sanctioned by the Captain of the Natade Guard. I personally have little regard for the law, seeing as how they were wielded against the people, but that will change when the last vestiges of the old government have been cast out. Having spoken to Captain Xephil last night, she has asked that elections be held first to establish that we are the rightful leaders of this town and I have accepted those terms, I respect her prudence and intellect. These elections are going to be quick and a bit inaccurate due to that, but I have full confidence that you will support me and that there can be no question to our legitimacy. We can now go forward from what held us back! We are free! We are committed! We are-"

"DECEIVERS!" Serhis and Baous shouted from the tops of the roof. The crowd turned around in shock, looking around in confusion until they saw them from above and behind.

"You're nothing but a bunch of cheats!" said Baous with total conviction, "You don't do anything but lie and tell everyone what they want to hear, but that's not the worst of it!"

"We almost die because of the lie you tell! Don't know if can show it to everyone, but have to try!" Serhis yelled to those below.

Lilthian and Gatosa looked up in shock at the two above. Lilthian swore under his breath, Gatosa looked at them with in a cold gaze.

"Are you surprised to see us? You didn't expect us to survive after you lied about us to everyone? I'm surprised too. Tell these people the real story, if you're even capable of that," said Baous in seething anger.

"In Bahamut's name, we come to show the truth. We learn much about what you done and what you are as well," Serhis stared at Gatosa in particular as he spoke.

The crowd below started jeering at them, calling them the liars, traitors, murderers, and worse. Calling for everyone to quiet down, Lilthian had regained his composure, the smile on his face looking like it had been there all along, "Our false friends. By what purpose are you doing here? Your masters are dead and you will find no welcome at any door. Confronting us now with false truths is not going to get you anything. Come down from there and we will judge you fairly."

Baous growled at him, "Judged fairly?! Look at what you've done to Reevis! If I'd known that you would torture him like that, I would've challenged him to a duel instead of letting you get his hands on him."

"You the ones that lied and we here to prove it to all these people you tricked," Serhis added quickly.

Even from high up, they could see Lilthian make a quick glance at Gatosa. The subtlest shake of her head told him something. Something that Serhis and Baous could make an educated guess at. As long as they wore the rings, she couldn't enthrall them, meaning Lilthian had to keep on talking instead of making this quick and decisive. "What can you do? Attacking us will solve nothing. Unless you intend to raise your masters from the dank pit where they rightfully belong, you fight for nothing."

"We fight to clear names," Serhis said. "Jaiques and other can stay where they are, but what you say about us is false. We know not why you do that to us, but no matter now."

"We have an elixir of truth with us," announced Baous as he pulled a bottle out of his pack. It was the ever-smoking bottle that they found earlier, but as far as anyone could tell, it was what Baous declared it to be. "You're going to drink this Lilthian and you're going to tell what really happened. We know you altered our memories and what you've told these people has nothing true, and you're going to tell these people. Maybe you'll even tell us why."

On the streets, many were picking up whatever they could find and throwing it up at them. Most of it was trash, a knife or two and a few bricks, but they were up high and the top of the roof blocked most of their bodies that the thrown objects were more likely to break a window below them. "How presumptuous of you," sneered Lilthian, "making such demands. Those in the plaza saw you on the walls of the town hall, they heard you shouting to lock the gates. There was no mistaking that you where inside those walls. Not to mention that Ms. Oakpith saw you entering the place, along with the guards that you put to sleep and a pair of other bystanders. You weren't very subtle, saying that you were there to deliver a message. A message to reveal our plans, I'm sure."

Serhis gritted his teeth. Lilthian was making this extremely difficult and he had them cornered in that regard, turning what seemed to be innocuous into damning evidence. "That no matter! You still drink the truth potion and you tell them that part of your plan."

"And why should I oblige you? For all I know, it's poison. How about you drink it? If it's elixir, you don't have anything to fear and speak the truth, though elixirs of truth aren't completely reliable and you could resist its effects."

Baous and Serhis wish they really had one of those elixirs if only to prove Lilthian wrong. It was strange that Otrin didn't have any at all considering who he was, but considering he scryed persons of interest to learn their secrets, at least he could have had a redundancy. "So what you're saying is if we drank this, you wouldn't believe us anyway," said Baous.

"I'm just saying that you all are suspect. By the way, what happened to your friend, the dragon Iskdiwercaesin?" said Lilthian as he scanned the roofs. It was now that Serhis and Baous became more anxious. It would be now that everything would be settled. Not daring to show them even the slightest indication of weakness, they only looked at Lilthian and Gatosa.

Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin had few tactics to use and they were forced to take one that would only have a limited chance of success. The scroll they found was for one of the deadlier spells, the finger of death. Those of weak fortitude would be slain instantly if subject to this spell, those of hardier constitution wouldn't escape completely unscathed either. If they could kill Gatosa, her own body would be the evidence they needed as she reverted back to her original form when she died, though there would be no doubt of the confusion that it would cause and it wouldn't completely free them from scrutiny, but it would be a start. Numerous compilations would have to be overcome, but that wouldn't compare to what they needed to deal with before that. The range of the spell was limited and approaching Gatosa would be problematic. Iskdiwercaesin's part in this would be to cast the spell and he was likely to be the one most at risk as he tried to come through the crowded street, pushing forward disguised as a militia guard from one of the scrolls of illusion and get a clear shot at her, but that relied on him not being spotted on the approach. Serhis and Baous' part in this was to attract their attention, most importantly that of Gatosa's. Gatosa would no doubt be trying to probe their minds at this very moment, trying to discern their thoughts, which was why she remained silent throughout the heated exchange, concentrating on hearing Serhis and Baous' thoughts. From her came the most danger and they struggled to clear their minds of any indication of anything regarding Iskdiwercaesin. The greatest danger would be in the next few seconds, now that they could hear someone pushing through the crowd, Iskdiwercaesin casting a spell that was far stronger than he could normally manage that might not work at all, bypassing the innate resistance to spells that belonged to all demons, and hope it was strong enough to kill her outright.

From the way that Gatosa's face shifted, turning from concentration to alarm and her arms moving into her cloak to pull out a wand, Serhis and Baous could only watch with horror as they found that they didn't have the willpower to resist Gatosa's, the lightning bolt sparking out of the tip and arching towards the guard that had come through the crowd. The metal armored figure fell back, tempered iron ringing as it fell to the cobblestones.

As the people in the crowd shouted and screamed, Lilthian and Gatosa's expressions changed from triumph to uncertainty, as well as Serhis and Baous' horror half turning into confusion. The illusion that Iskdiwercaesin used wasn't powerful enough to use sounds, only to project an image. Now more figures pushed through the crowd, all of them similarly armored, and behind them, those dressed in robes of clerics of different deities. They ran to the fallen figure, and it was then that Serhis, Baous, Gatosa, and Lilthian realized that the person who had came through ahead of the others was Captain Xephil.

"Gatosa, what are you doing?!" Lilthian privately snapped at her.

"I- They thought-," Gatosa was at a loss for words and again focused her attention at the Kobolds, reading nothing but blank confusion and concern.

Assisted by her men and the healing spells of the clerics that accompanied them, Captain Xephil rose to her feet, "Gatosa! What the hell were you doing attacking me?! Explain yourself!"

Breaking her attention from the Kobolds, she faced the Captain, the tiniest hint of doubt showing, "My apologies Captain. I mistook you for someone else."

"Mistook? You almost burned me into my armor! Who could you have mistaken me for that required you to almost kill me?"

"Ladies, please, it was a misunderstanding," Lilthian said, trying to recover the situation. "You'll have to forgive Gatosa, as well as me, we're a bit on edge as we are currently confronting these fellows," he said as he pointed to the top of the roofs, "these false friends. Have you come to aid us? Or did you come to grant us our authority now?"

"I've come to do no such thing. Gatosa Vihes, Lilthian Binns, I am placing you under arrest. You crimes are conspiracy, murder, forcing many to be ensorcelled by your spells, destruction of private and public property, arson, slander, and disturbance of the peace. The fact that you Gatosa are a demon is not an actual crime, but what you have used your abilities for most certainly is." The townspeople were shouting vile curses and threats as she read the charges, only to rile them further with the last sentence. "I have requested the assistance of the clerics of Boccob, Moradin, Heironeous, St. Cuthburt, and Pelor in an effort prove that."

"Like hell we'll do that! These are baseless allegations! You don't have the authority to do that!"

"I assure you that I can Lilthian. Under these circumstances, I have full authority to inspect the city for demonic activity and to prevent any actions that would harm the people."

Gatosa whispered in Lilthian's ear, likely to tell him of the Captain's thoughts. "You received a message from Iskdiwercaesin! You should be the one charged with conspiracy since you're working with the minions of the former tyrants of this town. What are you trying to accomplish? Do you hope to discredit us so that you can rule, alone and uncontested, placing us all under martial law?"

"Stop trying to escape from this!" shouted Baous. "Let them see what's true or not! If Gatosa really isn't a demon, you've got nothing to hide."

"Silence!" Gatosa yelled at him, "You have no authority here. And neither do you," she said to Captain Xephil, "the laws that give you your authority are from antiquated laws and you are taking advantage of them for your own gains."

"People of Natade, listen!" shouted Lilthian, "The Guard have shown their true ambitions, to rule you and to cast us aside. It is beyond a doubt now that they are to be destroyed! Rally to us and fight against them!" Even as he spoke, there were those ready to fight and had already hurled themselves at the Guard. But there were also others, hesitant to act now as they thought about it and some were arguing amongst each other. They thought that what Baous had said had some merit, that if they had just allowed the clerics to determine if Gatosa was a demon, this issue would be resolved. Others were concerned about attacking the clerics, as some of them went to them for healing and knew them personally. Instead of a crushing wave of people, they were yelling and shoving each other, their loyalties divided, their minds unsure.

Lilthian drew out his mandolin and set in his hands an instrument to rend the guards apart, Gatosa leveling the wand at Captain Xephil again, this time intentionally. The Guard had formed a line, ready to push back the attacking crowd. Baous and Serhis weren't going to stand still as another riot broke out, Baous picked though his pouch, looking for a potion of feather fall so that he could jump down to help the Captain in the fight as Serhis aimed with his crossbow at Gatosa. He had to jerk the crossbow upwards as he saw a mass of green scales land on her.

On the roof across from them, Iskdiwercaesin leapt from the top of the roof downwards at Gatosa, having waited until now to attack. Even without his wings, he dropped down the ten meters without hesitation and landing squarely on the succubus, his front claws slamming into her face as he made contact and smashing it onto the stone road as he landed. Had he been larger, it would have inflicted more damage, but having a wyrmling crashing down was still going to hurt, though it wasn't the most damaging thing that he did to her. Even as he fell, Gatosa's shape had begun to shift, her back growing blood red wings and her features morphed, changing from that of an elf to a creature whose beauty was not of this realm. As Iskdiwercaesin unsteadily rose, himself a bit winded from the hard impact, everyone could see that the person known as Gatosa Vihes was a succubus. If it wasn't the wings, tail, and unnatural beauty that convinced them, it was the fact that she was conscious after having a dragon land on her face.

"Try talking your way out of this!" roared Iskdiwercaesin as he shakily backed away from Gatosa, legs aching from a high, but cushioned impact. "Damn it, you probably could too, if no one else was around to prove you wrong."

The previous out roar from the accusations didn't compare to what the people did now. Some shouted that Iskdiwercaesin had cast some sorcery on her to make her look like a succubus, others demanded her death after minutes before thinking her innocent, many were arguing amongst each other about the implications of this and some were holding out religious symbols of various deities towards her.

"What did you do?!" Lilthian demanded an answer.

"Did you need to ask? Finally shut you up."

"Don't be fooled! He has subjected her to a polymorph spell," he said to the divided people, aiming to take advantage of any ignorance they had of the spell as it limits didn't allow for outsider of the material plane. He had begun to run out of well crafted deceptions. "Gatosa, use your own polymorph spell, change back!"

"She can't," smirked Iskdiwercaesin.

Striking a dissonant chord on the mandolin, Lilthian's fury made sound blasted at the dragon in an attempt to shake his skin from his bones, only to fade in as it came against a wall of nothing, leaving his mouth hanging open.

"An anti-magic field," explained Iskdiwercaesin, his smirk getting wider. "Lying isn't getting you anywhere and neither is silencing me. Want to surrender now?"

"What you see now is truth!" Serhis bellowed from the rooftops, still not sure what had happened, but he wasn't going to take advantage of it, "no more spells to fool eyes, no more lies to hide demons. You have no good intent for town, do you," he said to Lilthian, a statement instead of a question. "You act like you care only to have others like you. Did you care about all people that die last night? What deal did you make with her for all of this?"

"No more talking!" screamed Lilthian in a rage, "People! Fight! Don't listen to them!"

Chaos did not describe what happened next. The many people that had gathered in the streets were fighting each other, loyalties shaken or completely destroyed. A sizeable group still didn't trust Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin, willing to disbelieve what they had just seen, while just as many were swayed, if not by was staring them in the face, then by their own beliefs. They might still have felt that Lilthian had done much for this town, their concerns about being ruled by those that dealt with demons far outweighed that. Far too many stories about demons involved many, many more being summoned if they had a chance, ravaging large areas and leaving ruin. A few wanted no part of this and wanted to run away. All this meant was that everyone was pushing and shoving each other, attacking one another with the weapons they had gathered from last night. Even if they knew the first person they struck they knew was against them, the might not be so sure about the next person, resulting in a free-for-all as the opposing forces mingled amongst each other.

Hands still on his instrument, he felt it explode as he readied to play another chord, leaving splinters in his hands and ringing in his ears. Looking up, he saw Serhis with claw extended in his direction, his other claw still holding the crossbow. If there was anything that Serhis had learned when fighting against foes that were undoubtedly more powerful, it was to aim at what could be their source of power.

"I'll go help Iskdi," Baous said to Serhis, his voice not loud enough for the wyrmling to hear the shortening of his name, as he ran down the slanted slope of the roof at full speed, drinking a potion of feather fall as he jumped off the edge.

As Baous landed next to him, Iskdiwercaesin kept his attention on Gatosa, knowing his flank secure with Baous dealing with Lilthian. At least, secure enough for as long as the Kobold could hold out, since they were both dealing with more skilled adversaries. Instead of attacking, Lilthian ducked back into his house with Baous in pursuit.

"I really think you should surrender," Iskdiwercaesin said to Gatosa. "You could try to kiss me with those life draining lips, but that's going to do nothing. All you do is use those claws of yours." Leaping with claws extended, he slashed at her and drew blood. Despite being a demon, known for brushing aside blades with only their skin, as long as she remained in the field, she was vulnerable.

Slammed to the ground for a second time, Gatosa struggled to free herself, only to take more gashing wounds. Despite being slightly larger than the wyrmling, he was doing his best to keep her from flying away and out of the field. The moment she left it was the moment she escaped, meaning a demon bent of revenge would be somewhere in the abyss planning their destruction. He had to destroy her here and now.

"Squad Five and Six, break them up!" commanded Captain Xephil as she tried to take control of the situation, "Move the civilians away from here! Form a line!" Some of the rioters still loyal to Gatosa and Lilthian were also attacking them, their uniforms clearly marking them. "Only use truncheons. Squad Four, follow Lilthian. The rest of you, follow me!" Charging forward, she and nearly ten others rammed through the crowd. She and a few others managed to break through reaching the dragon and demon. Short swords cut into Gatosa, cold iron not needed. What surprised them all was that a few of the clerics had also joined them in the charge, while others were helping the line with the crowd.

Taking a running jump and spreading his wings, Serhis flew above the brawl on the streets and flew down onto the balcony of the house. Even without his instrument, Lilthian could still do tremendous damage. Sprinting down the stairs, he went to face him.

Outside, the fight had intensified. Wrenching away, Gatosa fought off Iskdiwercaesin's claws with her own and had leapt upwards, fleeing from the melee on the ground. "Damn, can't reach," Iskdiwercaesin snapped as he lost his grasp on her.

"Crossbows! Aim high!" Captain Xephil ordered. Those on the line sighted the winged woman framed to the sky and fired, a few managing to hit, but as they struck her skin, they bounced off. She was now outside the anti magic field. "Clerics, if you have any spells, use them!" The two clerics of Moradin and Heironeous that had joined them in the rush shook their heads.

"This will either kill her or she teleports out of here," Iskdiwercaesin said as he dismissed the anti magic field and breathed out. Half expecting that all he was doing was spitting at her, the acid covered her. Gatosa shrieked out a abyssal curse as she dropped, falling into the crowd. The brawl didn't come to a complete halt as more than a few were still punching and kicking each other, but those immediately surrounding where she had fallen had backed away from her. Slowly, a few approached it.

"Everyone, back away," Captain Xephil said as she went to inspect the body.

Iskdiwercaesin wasn't as polite, shoving through the crowd, "Is she dead?"

"I'm not sure. I'm not familiar with a succubus' anatomy."

"Make sure of it then, I've got to help a pair of Kobolds." With as much delicacy as he arrived, he pushed back out and ran into the house.

Almost flying down the stairs, Serhis almost crashed into Baous.

"Whoa! He went in here," Baous said as he hit on the lock to the door that lead down to the cellar. It took him a few more strikes to break open the lock, by that time Iskdiwercaesin had caught up.

"Idiot. He's got nothing left. Not giving up is going to cost him a bit of pain," muttered Iskdiwercaesin."

Opening the door slowly, Baous peeked inside and didn't see Lilthian waiting for them on the stairs. "What happened out there? We thought you were going to come through the crowd."

Hearing a mandolin play from down below, Iskdiwercaesin motioned them forward, "I'll tell you when we're not dealing with a compulsive liar with power issues. By the way, Gatosa's dead."

Baous went first, followed by Serhis and Iskdiwercaesin. Obviously Lilthian had a spare mandolin, but from the pitch, it's quality wasn't as good as the one he had before, meaning it was likely that it was an old one he had. "Lilthian! Stop now! There no reason to fight anymore," said Serhis, receiving no answer back and the music played on.

"Forget it. We've done enough talking," said Iskdiwercaesin.

Storming the cellar, the three recalled the false memory of what was down here. They had no inclination of how false those memories were. The parchment covered desks were still there, but what was written on them wasn't detailed reports of corruption, but actual corruption in written form, the abyssal script of demons etched on them. In the place were the coffin laid, there was the markings of a ritual circle.

Lilthian had taken cover behind an overturned table and kept playing the mandolin as they entered, but as they saw him, they wondered how it was possible. Serpents had replaced his arms, their heads rapidly going over the strings. Ready for them, he directed his attention at Baous.

As Baous tried to step forward, he felt immense agony wrack his body and almost fell off the stairs. Serhis grabbed the back of his tunic to stop him from collapsing forward

"Wha- Damn it!" Iskdiwercaesin had to hold Serhis when he almost toppled over with Baous. "It's a symbol of pain!" A glyph hung over the step that Baous had stepped on. Opening his mouth, he inhaled and aimed high to avoid hitting Serhis and Baous on the lower steps. One measure later, Iskdiwercaesin clutched at his throat, unable to expel the acid as circle of blue runes encircled his neck.

With no spells that could help Baous from his pain, Serhis aimed his own spell at the snake armed Lilthian in an effort to hold Lilthian to that spot, causing the human to come to complete halt. "Hurry! He might break loose!" he said.

Even if he was in pain, Baous could still move. Moving from his knees to his feet, he charged forward and easily hit the stilled Lilthian despite his arms burning from the swing. Iskdiwercaesin followed him with a snap of his jaws. Lilthian began moving again as the snakes that comprised of his arm bit both of them, injecting a poison sapped their strength. Already weakened by the pain, Baous was on the verge of collapse as he tried to fend off the snake with an arm. Iskdiwercaesin was bit in the neck and pushed the serpent away, but the damage was done. Despite being outnumbered three to one, Lilthian was still a more veteran adversary and he was going to make them all suffer for his defeat.

Bolstering both of them, Serhis' divine spells only helped slightly, the damage done much more extensive than what he could give, and he could only watch as Baous and Iskdiwercaesin tried to retaliate and do little. Baous' swing was sluggish, he could hardly lift his war hammer and Iskdiwercaesin managed to bite back at one of the snake arms, but he was so weak now that what would have normally fractured bone could only accomplish a flesh wound. Both jaws dripping poison, the serpent heads snapped again, making Iskdiwercaesin barely able to stand and forcing Baous to use his war hammer as a means of support when his legs gave out. Another injection of poison would mean that the battle would be finished for them.

Pointing the crossbow at Lilthian, he could only hope that Iskdiwercaesin and Baous had hurt him enough that this would accomplish something and pulled the trigger. Firing into the melee was the last thing he wanted to do, but as things stood, if he didn't try something to help, the risk of the bolt hitting either them was inconsequential.

The bolt hitting Lilthian between the eyes was in no way inconsequential. Air escaping from his lungs, Serhis gasped after holding his breath for the shot, bewildered at having killed the man so quickly. Odds were four hundred to one of such a shot and he certainly didn't try to aim for it with such bad conditions, but he welcomed it still. Lilthian was dead before his back landed on the floor, the only blood spilled were small bite marks on his arms and a little trickle near the bolt.

Rushing to help his friends, he helped them to their feet. Baous was still hurting from the symbol trap and needed the support Serhis and Iskdiwercaesin to stand, taking care to go around the step as they went back up.

Getting out of the building, they were most appreciative of the Captain calling for the clerics to deal with the poison and relieving Baous of the horrid pain, and even more that they had survived.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The town almost endured a second revolt when news of Lilthian, Gatosa, and Atamis' deaths spread. Compounded by the fact that Gatosa was a demon and what was recovered from the cellar of their house, those that supported them still had trouble believing that those they revered wished them anything ill. Many of those doubts were dispelled when they saw Gatosa's body, still on the street outside of the house. Captain Xephil wanted to remove the corpse, but the clergy of the town were still debating on how dispose of it properly, so it stayed there for over two days before they finally decided to cremate it, mix the ashes with holy water before burying it far away from the town, more out of thoroughness with a bit of spite.

Captain Xephil was quick to restore peace, approaching in force any situation that had the potential to spark more violence. She patrolled the town for an entire day before her troops pressed her to get some rest. Most of the clashes in the town were with the die-hard supporters, unwilling to accept the reason that Lilthian and the others had been killed. Rumors flew through the city, most outlandish and lacked plausibility, a few had disturbing accuracy of the facts, but were being misinterpreted.

Clearing out the cellar made many of the Guard uneasy. Closer examination of the scrolls showed them to be filled with corrupt power, though there were of moderate strength. A few claimed that some of them whispered as they were moved.

As for Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin, they spent their time recovering in the Natade Guard headquarters. Baous and Iskdiwercaesin still felt a bit queasy even after the poison had been purged from them and Serhis was quick to help, feeling a bit embarrassed from coming out of the incident unharmed and had spent most of the night explaining what they had discovered and done to the Captain. Sitting in a chair next to Baous and Iskdiwercaesin's bedsides, he waited until the wyrmling was awake, though it was hard to tell.

"What? You've been looking at me for the past half an hour," Iskdiwercaesin said with his eyes still closed.

"I wanted to ask about yesterday. I'm not sure what exactly happened," said Serhis. Baous was already awake and was sitting up in his bed as he was sketching a picture of the scene out of the window, the town recovering and rebuilding. Wondering about what had happened, he also turned to listen to Iskdiwercaesin.

Wanting to make it brief and get back to sleep, he only gave as much detail as he wanted and any questions they had were quickly answered. The scroll they had found in Otrin's study wasn't a finger of death, but an anti magic field. By forcing Gatosa into the field, most of her advantages would be suppressed, allowing them to expose her demonic features and making her vulnerable. The trouble was that Gatosa would notice the field if she was aware of Iskdiwercaesin's presence and she wasn't unable to detect his thoughts. It would have been easy for her to get away and many wouldn't question her ability to teleport. A diversion was required so that Iskdiwercaesin could get into position, but that would present a second problem, as Gatosa could examine the surface thoughts of either Baous or Serhis and discover of the ruse immediately. That was made abundantly clear when Captain Xephil was hit with a lightning bolt. In an effort to misguide her, Serhis wanted himself and Baous to drink the memory modifying potions they found on Atamis, making them remember that the type of scroll they found was different. It was a plan that had to be developed in five minutes as soon as Serhis realized the potential of the anti magic field. He had originally hoped that by Captain Xephil approach the crowd with the clerics would confuse Lilthian and Gatosa enough for Iskdiwercaesin to leap down while they were distracted while providing much needed reinforcements, but he hadn't counted on Gatosa to actually attack her. The plan was hardly perfect after only five minutes of thought, it didn't take into account of a backup in case Iskdiwercaesin failed to properly use the scroll or if he missed landing on Gatosa and landed hard on the road, and Gatosa still had the potential to escape if Iskdiwercaesin hadn't managed to slay her at the last second. Serhis had to send a quick message spell to the Captain to confront Gatosa after gathering clerics from various temples, the only redundancy he had to expose her and he couldn't explain the reason to the Captain with such a short message, having to trust that she would arrive. The whole reason they started talking to Lilthian and Gatosa instead of immediately attacking was to allow time for this all to happen, they were fortunate that Lilthian obliged with the extended speeches and retorts. The chase into the cellar and what Lilthian would do was unexpected and only raw skill and chance had saved them. Judging from the scrolls that Lilthian had put out, he had intended to weaken, but not kill them and use their souls to summon a number of lesser demons. The best theory they had was that he would have used those demons to slaughter everyone outside, preventing news of what happened from spreading. Afterwards, he would "fight" the demons he controlled and triumph, while claiming everyone else had fallen to them, including Gatosa. If anyone wanted to know where those demons had come from, he might have blamed Captain Xephil in an effort to discredit her. It would have certainly given the push he needed to secure his hold on the town. The accusation would have been a large stretch to make convincing, but twisting the truth was his specialty. Making it seem that she still had loyalties to the old government was almost too easy, since she didn't pass over control immediately.

"When you said I had to drop off of the roof, I thought it wouldn't be a problem. Actually doing it made me hesitate a bit," Iskdiwercaesin said as he finished.

"Oh? The fearsome dragon actually said that he was a little scared?" Baous said almost smugly, unable to resist getting a rare dig at him.

"I said nothing about being scared!" Iskdiwercaesin snappishly retorted. "I'm just saying that I used to think nothing of such a drop. Not having my wings for now is just going to make me rethink that. I want to see you not trying to time everything just right so you can land on a waif thin demon disguised as an elf."

Serhis contemplated on Iskdiwercaesin's recollection of events as well as what else they had learned. "Everything considered, there's still someone out there that revived Gatosa, almost as if they specifically chose her in an effort to destroy Jaiques, Otrin, and Reevis. That same person probably provided all those scrolls for them to use."

"I say you're over thinking it," said Iskdiwercaesin. "That person probably got what they wanted now, with Jaiques and the rest of them out of the way. What happened to Reevis anyway?"

"He's imprisoned here in the headquarters, for his own protection. He took a few severe injuries, but nothing life threatening and the clerics are sure he's stable. Unfortunately, they can't do anything for his mind. It's like there's nothing left in there. A good portion of his soul was likely taken out by Gatosa. Having almost everything taken away from him has broken him, and I mean everything, including almost all of his life force."

"Do you think it was okay to just let him run?" wondered Baous. "He didn't deserve to be tortured. He deserves a lot of things, but not something like that."

"Or what? You beat him in some duel of honor?" said Iskdiwercaesin. "That's not going to change much. He took his chances running and got caught. What's going to happen to the poor sod anyway?"

"Captain Xephil is trying to gather as much evidence against him. Though he did it for nefarious purposes, Lilthian did manage to allow for everyone Jaiques and the others ever wronged to speak freely. She trying to arrange for a trial."

"Playing things by the book," Iskdiwercaesin snorted, "I don't see why she needs to bother. Reevis is guilty of so much, I'm sure the only thing that's going to make things difficult is finding out what he did before he got here. Since he's practically an empty shell, punishment's not going to accomplish anything either."

"I guess it's so that people can get heard," said Baous. "Saying what happened makes everyone feel better, even if it's unpleasant."

"I don't think it'll be quite everyone, but from the way those crowds rabidly went to Lilthian, I'd say they got to a lot of important people. I'm amazed at how they managed to keep everything secret. It was crime wrapped in bureaucracy covered in brutal enforcement."

Hopping off the chair, Serhis looked out the window, "So many secrets. Do you think they'll find a reason why Lilthian tried to become the new head of council or who might have resurrected Gatosa?"

A knock on the door by a gauntleted hand rapped on the door as Captain Xephil entered. "We are still investigating that," she said after hearing the last sentence. "Our first impression is that he sought to gain the many resources that former head of council Jaiques had available. Deposing him immediately wouldn't have meant that Lilthian would have been elected himself, so he had to make a public image. As for his involvement with Gatosa and her own intents, that we can't determine."

"Good morning Captain," said Serhis, "need something?"

"I came to check on you and to inform you of our own investigation on you. You have been cleared of all charges."

"We were charged?" Serhis asked. Baous' expression of surprise spoke the same and Iskdiwercaesin opened an eye.

"You were still involved in Lilthian's conspiracy to depose of the council and assassinating government officials. Though there were corrupt officials, murdering them still carries a penalty. However, in light that your memories were modified and Gatosa ensorcelled you, those charges are now lifted."

"And if we weren't?" asked Iskdiwercaesin.

"You would have had to testify before a tribunal."

"That you would have lead."

"Yes. Though I would have declared you guilty, pardons would have been granted afterwards. I serve justice, not the warped law that Jaiques had created. A violent confrontation would have occurred eventually. You provided a service for Natade and for that I'm grateful. Being unable to confirm my suspicions about either parties' activities was maddening."

"Glad to know that there are government officials that actually think," Iskdiwercaesin said as he shut his eye and curled up to sleep.

"You are free to go where you wish. The people of this town are still a bit unsettled and are sorting out what is the truth, so you may find that a few of them bear you some ill will. Even with the new evidence that they had planned to abduct citizens for rituals to summon a large horde of demons."

"Whoa, what?" Baous said with some shock. "A demon horde? How did you find that out?"

"I received a report earlier concerning what was gathered from his house. There were enough of those scrolls to potentially summon a platoon of them for a year of service. As to why they would need that many demons, we can't determine, but we are might be in a small way fortunate that we may not find out why. The scrolls are being safely disposed of right now."

"You get enough sleep Captain? You look very tired," asked Serhis.

"I had enough rest, it's only that I have a lot to sort through between investigating Jaiques' actions and fixing the damage that Lilthian caused. We've already begun selling their possessions in an effort to compensate any victims of exploitation and those injured during the rioting. If you would excuse me, I have to attend to my duties," Captain Xephil said as she left and closed the door behind her.

Going back to his sketching, Baous seemed a little distracted, "What now? Are we going to leave soon?"

Serhis wasn't sure himself, "It feels a bit strange leaving after what we did here."

"What's the use of staying?" Iskdiwercaesin said with eyes still closed, "It's not like we're all going to be invited to some celebration and you're not going to be able to fix up every hollow wreck of an ash pit, that's a job for a carpenter."

"I suppose so," Baous sighed.

"We'll leave tomorrow after we've picked up some supplies," agreed Serhis.

"Good. Now keep quiet, I'm trying to sleep," snorted Iskdiwercaesin.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the morning stars faded in the next day's light, they had all packed are were ready to leave the Guard headquarters and leave Natade. Captain Xephil had given them some supplies from the building stores as a token of thanks, so they didn't need to go out to the town to purchase supplies.

"We'll head straight for the gate," said Serhis as he put the pack on his shoulders, "I don't want any more people to feel uncomfortable with us around."

"We'll always make people uncomfortable with us around, so don't bother," said Iskdiwercaesin.

Baous fastened his pack, "Let's hope Saletvarin doesn't have a problem with letting us in."

"The city itself, no. The Academy and the library, I don't know," Serhis said to Baous.

Walking to the entrance, the guards saluted as they passed. Xephil had arranged an escort for them to leave the city and was waiting on her horse outside to personally see them to the gate. Barely when they walked out, those on the street looked at them, whispering to each other. Getting into their wagon, they quietly steered the horse to go through the plaza and out of the city.

"You sure Captain?" asked Serhis. "We can take side street instead of go through main plaza."

"I would have preferred to take them myself, but the shortest route has been blocked by the fallen bell tower, not all of the rubble has been cleared to allow for your wagon to pass."

It wasn't long as they went down the road and into the large open space, going by the fallen town hall. A group of people were following behind them, keeping their distance from the guards in the rear, but they were talking to each other in louder voices. Even more people gathered as they came into sight, but they didn't block their way as they passed. They weren't expressing anger, fear, or concern. Some had started cheering.

"Captain?" Serhis looked around as more people joined in, "are they cheer for you?"

"It may be for all of us," she said. "You may not feel like it, but there are those that consider you heroes with your deeds. After what you've done to help this past month, all of you were beginning to be trusted. And now, you all have done much more. After disclosing everything to them yesterday afternoon, this is to be expected."

"Oh? So this was planned then?" asked Iskdiwercaesin.

"No. You can never tell what people think. For them to celebrate what you've done instead of jeering at you is just as likely. It seems after a night of discussion, some have decided that you are honorable."

At least fifty men and women of various races followed to them through the streets, shouting their praises and thanking them. A few that they passed scowled, but said nothing.

"What you going to do now?" Serhis asked Captain Xephil.

"The Guard is going to help rebuild the town while continuing the investigations. Even with the council destroyed, they still had loyal supporters that benefited from assisting them. There has also been a call for me to become the new head of council." Even through a full metal helmet, they could tell she was cringing from the thought. "The only politics I had to suffer through was dealing with Jaiques and his bureaucrats. I can't imagine actually being in charge of having to deal with the workings of the whole town and it would mean I would also have to deal with diplomatic relations with the surrounding towns and cities. I'm not someone that would like having that kind of power and being tactfully polite isn't my strong suit. It's my job to find out what the opposing party is hiding after all, and any diplomats aren't going to enjoy me pressing them. What about yourself? After reaching the library of Saletvarin, where are you going next?"

"It depend on what we find there," answered Serhis, looking at Baous. "First though, we need get into place first."

"Access to the library is restricted, but there are exceptions. I wish you the best of luck," Captain Xephil nodded to them as she halted her horse at the gates of Natade. Pulling them open, the guards on duty saluted as Serhis, Baous, and Iskdiwercaesin passed.

As the town and the people waving at them from the gate receded into the distance, Baous pulled out his book for a quick sketch. "I didn't expect everyone to be so friendly when we left, after all the conflicting stories. It doesn't feel like we did much."

Iskdiwercaesin let out a short laugh, "Hah! Not much? In three days, we toppled a corrupt town council, beat a trio of retired adventurers, managed to get out of a burning building, do in out betrayers that had the assistance of demons, and reverse all the slander. Retired adventurers aren't exactly common, and they only become retired and not dead because they learned a lot of tricks, though it was helpful that they were woefully unprepared and under-equipped. And that we fought Lilthian and Gatosa after grabbing a lot of the supplies Otrin had gathered specifically to fight them."

"Still, they were cheering for us. It's not that I didn't like it, but they didn't know us as long as Lilthian and the others."

"They might not have known us for long, but they knew us well," said Serhis. "Lilthian made sure of that. Maybe it was because they lost the ones they looked up to, found out they weren't the heroes they claimed to be, perhaps even manipulated them. I'm only guessing. After everything we've done, a few would consider us the real champions."

"Let them sort it out for a while. I can wait a decade for the historians to go through the details," said Iskdiwercaesin, "though I might pay them a visit if they get a few details wrong concerning me. If they were really grateful for helping them, they could have given us some gold for our troubles."

"Letting us have everything we found in Otrin's home should be enough, since most of the money used to make or buy them was stolen," replied Serhis.

Finishing a rough sketch, Baous put the book back and took out a map. "It's going to take about a week to get to Saletvarin if we take the river, as long as there's a boat ready to leave when we get there."

Turning around in his seat, Serhis faced Iskdiwercaesin, "Are you still going to come with us? Anyone that sees you know is probably going to recognize you, so you don't need us around anymore. And after what you've done, I trust you enough that you're not going to become an unkind and evil person again."

Iskdiwercaesin's green eyes didn't blink, staring back as he thought. "I might as well. There isn't anything I need to be doing and going along with you is still going to be beneficial. You're not asking so you can be rid of me, are you?"

"No, it's not that," Serhis replied.

"Good. Because you won't be rid of me even if you did."

"You've made that clear," Baous muttered, "though if you did go, I won't have to smell you all the time."

"What was that?!"

"Sorry, but you smell funny. I think it's your acid breath. I'm not sure if Serhis has noticed, but I sure have."

"You're not the only one with sensitive smell either! Every time after you take a bath, you stink up the place."

"You don't need to be insulting. If you had a way to get rid of the stench, it would be more comfortable being around you."

"Stop shedding hair all over the place, then I'll see what I can do."

"I can't do anything about that. Not unless you've got a spell for that."

"Scorching it off would be effective. No hair to deal with any longer. But then you'd be ugly to look at, so that's not going to work."

Serhis sighed and looked to the North sky with a prayer. After a whole month, they still argued, but it was a lot more tolerable. At least they joking more than they were threatening each other. It would still sound like bickering for the whole week.