The Heroes Strike Back

As Kit's charm subsides, the Night Lord's mood sours once again. Ryvid's question reminds him of their contest, and he takes his cup and downs it in a long gulp.

"Are you serious, shepherd? Everyone knows the story of how Mother Sorrow, the World Goddess, sacrificed Herself so that we might escape the end times. But the stories were wrong: She never died. She fought against the darkness that tries to consume Her and won. And now She wants us to come back. You might be good at killing, but do you comprehend what you are up against now? Do you think you can stand in the way of a pissed off Goddess?"

The other Night Blades shift uncomfortably in their stance, eyes glancing between their leader and the violescent masses.

Ryvid drinks the slightly overfilled tank before pushing it off to his side. "And there he stood, a man of Sorrow. Befallen of heart and soul whilst tending my children. Fret not, my son, for I have heard your stricken cries and silent you will be no longer. A bit of my soul and a bit of my heart and you will rise again; you will live on through me, as I will you."

"The last testament of the Mother." Ryvid grabs the tankard back, filling it, and taking it all "I do not stand in Her way," He stands slowly, deliberately, "when it is I who marches alongside Her." and pulls his robe to the side, revealing a mangled scar above his heart.

The magic of Ryvid's tankdard continues to feed the brightly glowing orbs, and the Night Lord reacts to Ryvid's words with rich surprise.

"You, a follower of Mother Sorrow? Of course you are!"

He breaks into a joyful laugh tinged with madness. Behind him, the masses dilate.

"She told me a stranger would come. She whispered to me to follow his lead, that he would help usher in the next era. And then you arrived. I assumed you were an unwitting pawn in her game, and I indulged your foolish contest. But perhaps Mother Sorrow has brought us together, her two last Disciples in all of creation, at the dawn of Her revival."

The other Night Blades back away uneasily from the blindingly bright masses. Much like in the caves beneath the inn from weeks ago, movement stirs from within. A great claw emerges from beyond each mass, only this time there is Barendd is not here to cleave it from its hand.

"Behold, the Children of Sorrow have come as She promised they would, to help me forge a new world!"

He reaches down and pulls his golden mask to his face, and the eyes of the mask flash green, matching that of the glowing masses. The Night Blades are frozen, but in horror or awe it is hard to say.

"Witnessing" all this through Pageflap, Torden says, "We've got to get in there! We'll probably all die but we've got to try and stop this!"

Agreed. Can we wresssst Pageflap from hissss tranccce or should carry him with ussss?

As he listens to Pageflap's account of the events nearby, Ander bends down and touches his bow to the ground, reciting a few arcane words, "Klaatu barada nikto!"

Mist swirls around the bow, forming into Canthus, Ander's canine companion. With a smile, he stands, "Yes, let's go rescue our friends, shall we?"

The roaring fires cast a hellish backdrop as the creatures continue to emerge from the viridescent portals. You realize the claws are not actually that; rather, they are some kind of horn or crest. The creature's hands emerge from the portal, white as maggots, and pushes against the edges of the portal. They are moments away from entering the world.

Schneider turns to his friend, Skeetz. He is visibly shaken by what he is watching unfold.

"This ain't right, this demon shit. I'm packing my bags and getting as far away from here as fast as I can. You with me, Skeetz?"

You don't have to ask me twice! Let's get the rest of the boys out of here, too! Kit begins to usher Schneider toward the door, yelling in panic, Let's get the fuck out of here, boys! That demon's gonna kill us all! If Schneider hesitates, Kit keeps pushing him and ushering out as many others as he can.

The whole time, he's yelling, trying to induce a panic and a stampede out the door. He ducks behind one of the night blades and effects a deeper voice, He's right! We're gonna die. He turns to get another night blade, moving behind him, turning his head away, and shouting in a higher pitch, We gotta get outta here!

Suddenly there's a chorus of different voices.

A demon!

Look out!

Run for it!

When he gets out of sight and through the door, he steps to the side to let the others pass and, in yet another voice, shouts, Oh gods! Everybody run!

"Fuck this, I'm outta here!"

In the roaring heat of the flames and the chaos caused by Kit's ruse, Schneider and two of the other four Night Blades turn and run for the door.

The other two stand firm - Kayne, the one armed with Iman's glaive; and Crank, the one with Raishe's warhammer. They yell taunts of "Coward!" at your heels as you run for the keep's front doors.

They don't ssseem to be looking for anything other than an essscape. Maybe they should find it unimpeded. They'll find their jusssticccce sssoon enough.
If possible I'd like to raise the gate for them to be able to make a speedy exit.

Ander considers Sulprax for a moment and then nods, "Besides, we may need all of our strength and more in the coming battle. Let's not waste it on the cowardly ones."

As the fleeing NightBlades begin panicking, Pageflap orders the weasel close to the Night Lord before removing himself from its senses. He looks around to see if his allies got all of what he was hearing before he pulls out his staff and his dagger, preparing for a fight.