[M] Battle of Baylet

[Tolvo]

All around the church Barbarians and Elves were converging. Aedan could see the battle was heading towards victory for them. He could also see some of the Imperials were starting fires, likely to deny the city. At the same time small bands of Barbarians were doing the same, giving in and pillaging. No matter who was the cause the people suffered because of it. Downstairs in the church the people cried out loudly in fear at the blowing of his horn while his allies outside seemed energized by it. Someone came rushing up the stairs with a sword raised. But upon seeing Aedan he lowered it. It was David Wood, the crusader from the forest.

[Evening Rain]

Áedán turned from the bell and gave a quick wary glance to the priest to ensure he wouldn't try anything stupid. Returning his horn to his belt, the Fadewalker calmly drew both swords and held them low, in a neutral position as he watched the crusader.

"David Wood." He acknowledged his rival sternly. "Neither of us want those people in the church below to come to harm. I cannot say what the barbarians might do if they're forced to fight their way in. Do you hold the command here? Have your warriors surrender, and I will do all I can to ensure your people are treated courteously."

[Tolvo]

David cursed under his breath. "I can see where things are headed. I don't know if I can trust the Barbarians. I hear a lot of stories, and I've seen the fires." His face was very serious though there wasn't any hostility in his voice. "The battle is lost for us. We're supposed to die fighting then." He paused. "But, these people below are innocent. i won't fight you, and if I can I'd like to avoid any further bloodshed." His fist clenched inside of his gauntlets. "I can't fail these people. I want t take them out of Baylet. To sneak them out however possible. But our commander wouldn't allow it. Grand Hospitaller Zylinius will kill any she considers traitors. But those outside and her will fight to the end, and might be enough of a distraction for me to lead the innocent out."

[Evening Rain]

Áedán met David's sincere eyes with his own, and considered his words. If he let him go, and take the civilians with him... Áedán would technically be in defiance of his own kind. But then he remembered the burning houses. Remembered barbarians turning to pillage and loot despite their best intentions. In the fire of passion, men can do terrible things. Áedán was not sure what would happen if the barbarian forces took the church, but he was not entirely confident that it would be pleasant.

"I will slay this Hospitalier. You have a good heart, David Wood." He paused, sheathed a sword and stepped forward to put a hand firmly on the crusader's shoulder. "I fear for what may happen to you if your decision to abandon the battle is revealed. But that choice is yours to make. I will not stop an honourable man from doing the right thing. Go. And stay alive, David Wood. The world needs men like you."

[Tolvo]

"Hopefully my commanders will understand." David Wood wore a helmet hiding his face but Aedan could almost feel a grim look through it. "And we could use more like you Aedan." The crusader turned and moved down the stairs and began to call to everyone in the church. "The Barbarians come and with them unknown fates for us all! It will be dangerous yet, we must steal outwards from this position! Gather what you can easily carry we are to flee this place. The gods may yet favor us, and do not require a house of worship but instead true believers! Follow me to possible safety and an escape from this hell we find ourselves trapped within!" Downstairs Aedan could hear people murmuring and rushing grabbing whatever they could hold onto and following David all at once out of the doors. From still in the tower he could see the Imperial commander as she continued to rip apart Barbarians.

[Evening Rain]

Áedán turned as David left, his expression equally grim as he stepped to the ledge of the belltower. Beneath, battle raged on. Although the tide was firmly against the Imperials, the dark-haired woman with the whip and the savage blade cut down those around her. That must be the Hospitalier.

Áedán's brow furrowed. She was a master with both of those weapons, and unconventional as the whip was... it was a lethal weapon. At least from a distance.

I will negate that advantage.

With deft grace, Áedán leaped from the tower and tumbled, rolling to his feet on a roof slightly lower down to avoid the jarring impact that might damage his legs. He moved along the rooftops, finding a place that would serve him well enough to descend from. A low, slanted roof that he briskly jumped off.

Áedán cast Fade Breach, sprinting through the combat, and toward Zylinius. He arrived in a matter of moments with the help of the fae realm's altered time, and as he reached within a few inches of the woman, he slipped out of the fae right in front of her - not letting her get the distance to use her whip effectively. As soon as he emerged, he slashed in a flurry of quick attacks wherever her weapons were not currently guarding - before adopting a quick defensive stance, getting the measure of her strikes, using his intuition to block her attacks. He continued to stay at a close distance so as to keep the whip at bay, but was also prepared to deflect a blow from the handle.

[Tolvo]

The haphazard appearing attacks of the woman were disjointed. At each moment Aedan thought he’d score a direct blow only for her to twist her body in a dodge. Her movements were bizarre, deft yet founded within a chaos. To add to the mix she was fast, unlike any Aedan had ever seen. It came off like she was toying with him. When he turned to the defensive she instead merely leaped back and bounced off of a legionnaire who went tumbling to the ground. Her form ricocheted off of them and sent her moving in between Barbarians and Imperials alike. With the whip in hand she snapped her wrist and sent it snaking towards Aeden’s throat amidst the battle.

[Evening Rain]

Áedán noted the woman's strange and unpredictable movements, as she twisted away from attacks that he was certain should hit. He cursed silently as she managed to gain distance, turning her whip into a lethal weapon once more. He wasn't going to risk losing his blade in an attempted parry, so instead he dodged away and cut the throat of a legionnaire as he did so. She was a worthy foe. The only one who'd managed to evade him in some time. Flicking his blades, the Fadewalker sprinted toward the woman, swerving away from whip strikes and dodging under blade strikes as he neared - activating Dance of Death in the process.

You play a dangerous game, woman. Let's see if you can keep up now.

In perfect clarity, Áedán's blade flashed at many parts of her body in the space of a moment, his scimitar poised slightly further back... waiting for her to dodge...

And dodge she did. As she made to twist her body from the attack, Áedán sensed the movement before it came, and when she moved his blade was there to meet her - slashing along the tendons of her whip arm and casting Poison Slash, unaware of her own mastery of the substance. Then, he renewed his assault.

[Tolvo]

In the middle of their fight a strike landed. Not from the woman before him. The pommel of a sword hit Aedan in his kidney as around him the Imperials swarmed. She moved in closer and let out a shrill laugh as she flexed her wounded arm spraying blood at Aedan's face. "On me!" Her voice carried far. Over the sounds of the battle even. Iskar was making his way towards the two and began to crush foes with his axe making the space he needed. But then he was forced to duck behind a dying Barbarian as quarrels riddled the body. From the front of the church sprang forth David with his fellow crusader. They were leading the citizens out with a handful of Imperial soldiers helping. The group took to heading North as fast as possible, parents carried their children holding them tightly against their chests. A group of Barbarians stood in their path and there was an argument going on between the refugees and them.

[Evening Rain]

Áedán was surrounded. He could feel enemies pressing in on all sides, but for a little longer... he was unbeatable. At least, that was how he felt as a current of energy seized his veins, as his eyes saw many places at once and his blades moved like a dozen blades, caught in the throes of the Dance of Death. The Fadewalker was forced to stop focusing on the Hospitalier, so instead he moved like lightning through the Imperial forces, carving through them with his weapons as bodies began to pile up about him. In the midst of his tempestuous dance he did not even notice the discussion happening elsewhere. Everything was here, and now. In this moment. It was battle and blood, and the clash of steel on steel as he culled his foes.