[M] Battle of Baylet

[Tolvo]

The conqueror and gladiator backed off as they watched the brambles form. Pike wielding soldiers were caught and Aedan was able to run through cutting them apart. The Barbarians forced themselves forward on the left side of the street, pushing back through the other side of the pikes. Iskar leaped from behind his line and landed beside the conqueror. Both locked weapons and the old Barbarian looked to be winning. The gladiator did a wide swiping attack with the tip of her trident then followed it up by punching towards his face with the buckler. Immediately after both strikes she jumped back with a quick step and kept her weapon hand hidden behind the buckler to hide what she was doing.

[Evening Rain]

The gladiator went high, and Áedán, predicting the movement, went low, tumbling forward as she jumped back and making two slashes, one at each leg, activating poison slash on both blades and bringing his weapons up to mount a defense if necessary.

2 mana expended, 15 remaining.

[Tolvo]

The gladiator was cut across her right leg and she thrust the trident in his face. With the gash on her leg she started to move more slowly. She seemed to realize this and held up her hands. "Hey fuck this, I surrender. I only fight because I have to." The conqueror heard this and swung his blade at her. iskar parried it with the haft of his axe then shoulder charged the Imperial back into his own forces. The Barbarians were gaining a lot of ground again while from the rear the knights with ball and chain maces continued hammering the Barbarians from behind.

[Evening Rain]

Áedán threw her a quick glance, and stepped back. He nodded at the woman's request for parley. "Step aside. Cast down your weapons and you will be treated honourably. I have matters to attend to elsewhere." The Fadewalker turned, and and wove his way through the Imperial troops, leaping up onto shields and springing off of them when he could, making his way toward the enemy knights who continued to hammer the barbarian rear.

Áedán leaped down onto one of the warriors, and steel flashed in his hand as two more enemies pressed in from both flanks. A few quick flicks of the wrist dispatched the attackers, and Áedán had not even turned, facing straight on as another knight swung at him with his flail. The elf lithely bent his body back, under the crushing strike, and brought both swords around in the same motion to seperate the head from his shoulders, each blade passing within an inch of each other as they severed the man's esophegus.

Not missing a beat, Áedán spun to meet any other attackers - ready for an extended fight.

[Tolvo]

A ball and chain mace wrapped itself around his left sword and he felt the force of the knight pulling him towards her. She used both hands to increase the power of his pull while the others charged at him with their shields at torso height. They formed a semicircle around him and came with their weapons twrling, building up momentum. Arrows rained down on the knights from behind but their heavy armor protected them. The arrows bounced off of their armor. Away at the front of the line Iskar ran alongside his Barbarians further towards the church, leaving Aedan behind. Aedan was outnumbered until the leshen from before came charging through and picked up one of the knights. Despite their armor it punched through their helm and ripped out their jaw along with a portion of metal and bashed their mouth to death with it.

[Evening Rain]

As he felt himself pulled off balance by the strength of one of the opposing knights, Áedán did not wait to see what might happen if he was surrounded. Instead he let the world slip away as he, and both of his blades, drifted into the fade - leaving his startled enemy without her prize. Moving around through the semicircle in a swift motion, he re-emerged from the fade immediately behind them. Reinvigorated from his brief moments in the fade, and the animated ebb and flow of combat, Áedán slashed at the back of a knight's throat with each sword, and danced to the left, preventing him from being enclosed again, fighting across the line with quick movements and fluid strikes - this time trying to avoid getting one of the Faeblades entangled in a chain.

3 mana expended, 12 remaining.

[Tolvo]

Aedan cut into the knights quite easily. It was like they were mere animal fat to a knife. Realizing this, they dispersed after exchanging glances. They all went different directions fleeing from him. There came the sound of bells from the church. It was where Iskar and his warriors had been heading. A fire spread and the leshen had decided to chase down one of knights.

[Evening Rain]

Áedán sheathed his blades in a swift motion as the knights scattered away from him. No matter. Let them flee. He'd shed more than enough blood for one day, but even so knew that his duty lay with the barbarians and the elves who fought for control of the church.

A fire was rising. The elf wasn't sure if that was the work of the enemy, or pillagers. No matter. The Fadewalker sprinted through the body-choked streets toward the sound of bells, leaping over corpses and lightly springing from them were they lay too thickly to avoid.

[Tolvo]

As Aedan ran he was able to witness the carnage. Some houses remained occupied with terrified groups of people huddled inside. A few even in the midst of battle all around them were trying to save others from fires or were escaping in groups. The Barbarians weren't very concerned with them. Sometimes it looked like they'd take to pillaging but backed off. Perhaps after seeing it happen to their own lands they weren't keen on doing it to others. At the same time this was war. Civilian casualties were expected and already he could see the bodies of noncombatants in the blood stained streets.

Aedan spotted Iskar the One-Eye. He was in the midst of battle against more Imperials. He was a true warrior incarnate, leading his troops from the front. Iskar was a hero to the Barbarians and it was easy to see why as he lifted and tossed a warrior. He was unbridled strength, fighting to bring justice to an Empire that wronged him and his people. His one eye burned with a rage that he didn't even try to hide. An Imperial tried to stab him in the heart only for Iskar to grab them by the throat and toss them head first into an enemy officer.

The church at the center was surrounded by brick road. It was grand in size and was white making it appear pristine. They maintained it well for at the same time it looked to be at least a century old. At its peak a bell was ringing continuously drowning out some of the sounds of battle. The numbers of Imperials here was greater than in other positions. It looked to mainly be their heavy infantry, focused on this key location. There was a familiar set of armor present. The crusader David Wood was away from the front line. He was guarding the entrance to the church itself, standing in front of its large doors alongside another crusader.

Leading the Imperials was a woman in black armor with wild dark hair. It stuck out of the sides of her helmet. She was dressed a bit lighter than the others, while they wore the heaviest available to their infantry she had more mail than plates. In one hand she held a wicked looking blade and in the other a long dark barbed whip. Any Barbarian that dared face her she sliced up at rapid speeds, moving so hard between the fights it was hard to keep track of her.

[Evening Rain]

A scream, stifled by the sound of bells and choked by the smoke drew Áedán's attention to a burning building a short distance out of his way. It was partially collapsed, and the doorway was ajar. A few moments will not harm our chances at victory. The elf changed course without a moment's pause, pushing the door open and letting his eyes fall on a young boy, perhaps six years old, tugging at the still body of his mother. She'd probably inhaled too much smoke. He kept his body low as he ducked into the building, averting his eyes from the sparks that flew off the ceiling rafters. He smoothly lifted the child by the back of his collar, ignoring the boy's protests and depositing him safely outside the building. The woman would be more difficult. I didn't come here to save adults, as well as children.

But he darted back inside all the same, holding his breath as he knelt by the woman's body, lifting her into his arms. Something tingled at the back of his neck, and he leaped out of the door just as the roof gave way. Quietly, he placed the woman gently beside the boy. He did not know if she would live, but that wasn't his concern anymore. He had done what he could. Putting a hand to the child's shoulder and kneeling down, he looked into his eyes for a moment and said simply "Live."

Áedán turned, and did not look back - swerving into the courtyard and grand church within. Rather than fight his way through, the elf slipped into the fade, moving in a blur of russet faster than was humanly possible. He slipped through the church doors while walking the faerie plane, avoiding the crusaders who guarded it

Áedán melded through a mass of confused outlines, the shimmering, insubstantial forms of soldiers and civilians who sheltered in the church. The Fadewalker phased through the shell of a door, and moved up stairs so swiftly that he seemed almost to fly. When he reached the top of the tower, his physical form slipped from the fade. He stepped up onto the platform and calmly leveled his blade at the throat of the priest who desperately rung the bell. As the man shakily stepped back, Áedán took the horn from his belt and rang a haunting note from the top of the tower, its ringing, triumphant tone echoing across the town. His gaze swept across the area, surveying the battlefield from on high as his rallying chord faded from the air.