With one of her demonic opponents killed, Elea turns to the other and advances past it's flailing tentacles. She keeps her sword between herself and the appendages, but lashes out as soon as she sees an opening.
'Rest, Sable,' the elf thinks back to her companion. Though the catwoman's state means Elea is now alone with multiple demons, she knws that asking Sable to continue fighting would only put her in an even more dangerous situation. Not wanting to risk looking away from her opponent even for a second, Elea calls over her shoulder to the stalker, "Slay this beast that threatens your mistress and her... property!"
Elea waits until the demon seems to have let its guard down before she strikes out at it, her blade catching some of its forward tentacles and cutting them from its body, just as before. The stalker, meanwhile, quietly says, without emotion; "Yes, mistress." Then, it walks around the cart, and turns toward the tentacled demon, before muttering a few words, and suddenly the enemy demon seems to have part of it grow very still, and expand, causing the creature to scream in pain. If either Elea or Sable bothered to look any closer, they would have seen that the limb was partially frozen, the blood in it having had the heat drained from it by the stalkers magic.
To-hit: Success.
Eleas dropping of her defenses, however, leaves her slightly vulnerable, and the elf suddenly finds herself lifted off of her feet by the creatures vile tentacles. The demon shrieks in triumph now, and Elea can feel its tentacles begin worming their way toward the joints in her armor. The hellhound, meanwhile, continues limping away, eventually turning the corner into an alley that both women knew would eventually lead to the demons camp.
Sable looked about the battlefield between her brief seconds of rest, rubbing her head slowly as she did. The sight of Elea suddenly being snatched up drew a long, helpless sigh from the catgirl, forcing herself back to her feet and rushing off away from the battle quickly on all fours, mewling softly on her way to retrieve her gear. Though risking further magics at this point would be a foolish endeavor, Sable did have a few other things she could do to assist, as she quickly snatched up her lost objects.
(Action: retrieve gear-bundle, arm up with rifle >:3 )
With the grievous wounds the tentacled demon was suffering, Elea was sure the creature would fall to her and the stalker's attacks. She had been so sure that after making her attack, she had moved her attention to the hellhound, it's limping form quickly receding into the distance. If it manages to escape, it might warn the other demons about their traps.
As she is lifted up, Elea gasps in horror. She looks down at the wounded, but still capable creature, and grits her teeth, pushing against the limb holding her until her eyes catch the creatures wounds once again. Turning to the stalker and motioning to the tentacled beast, she yells, "Destroy this filth, now!" At the same time, she raises her sword over her head, intending to bring it crashing down into the tentacled demon and finish it off before it could proceed any further in it's assault. The demonic hound is lucky; it had received an extension to it's horrible, already too long existence.
(If the hellhound somehow informs the other demons of traps and the setup... I kinda view that as a good thing. All of our traps are sprung and we're in no shape to take on a 3rd wave. But if they think there's a bunch of traps setup for them, it might be enough to discourage another attack.
Beyond that... I don't think any of us care if the hellhound gets away (barring Sable's momentary idea of keeping it as a pet), since if it gets back to camp, it's too wounded to be of any use in a fight against Matthias... and he's currently at the camp trashing it. Our task was merely one of distraction, to lure away part of the main force. ... Which having wiped out 10 of the black knights, I think that alone would've been enough to tip the scales against the camp. We're more of a mop-up crew right now, charged with making sure nothing escapes more than anything.
If the enemy keeps coming/goes past us, it just means a few of them escape... the camp itself is still ruined and the victims rescued.
To be completely blunt... if we had just hidden away in the buildings and let the enemy all rush past us, the only thing it would've meant is a couple dozen more monsters roaming the town. In regards to Matthias' assistance and Sable/Elea's rescue plan... it'll be successful wether we fight here or not, since it's still enemies Matthias wouldn't be fighting at the camp, and thus have no effect on his part being successful or failing.
The only part of the plan we absolutely NEEDED to participate in was in luring enough enemies away from camp for Matthias to go in and safely kill everything without killing the captives... Which by now, either he's succeeded and we've won. Or he's failed, and the entire place is a smoldering crater with a sheepish looking Matthias standing there saying "oops...")
The stalkers aid is apparently not needed, as Elea manages to yank her sword-arm free of the tentacled creatures hold, and then bring her blade slashing down onto the monsters insectoid head. Its hold on her releases instantly as her blade tears through its brain, and its corpse teeters and falls sideways before it hits the street with a quiet thud. Sable watches this happen as she picks up her rifle, and the group turns just in time to watch as the limping hellhound pulls itself out of their view.
Then, seconds later, Matthias voice returns within their minds; "The camp is mostly clear. Unfortunately, the rest of the demons are going to come at you in one big clump, and I won't be finished for another minute. There are only about forty of them or so, and most of those are fairly weak, so you should be able to handle them. Good luck." As soon as he finishes, the sense of his presence disappears once more, leaving them to fend for themselves. At the expressions on their faces, the stalker mage asks; "What is it?" And then, out of nowhere, the group hear a dog begin to bark, coming from the place where they had stashed the things they wouldn't need in the battle.
(You didn't think I'd let you get away that easily, did you?)
(... I'd forgotten that Sable had a dog. Huh... what to do with a doggy. )
Sable's eyes rolled back, still regathering herself as her expression remained neutral.
"Mmh, that was our companion, sending us a message through magic, informing us that we're just about finished wiping out your former camp." Sable replied truthfully and simply. "Though I believe most of our powers are more spent than we'd have liked them to be for the group remaining... but it can't be helped."
Sable glanced back over the destruction of the area and closed her eyes, chanting a brisk Scorching Mine into being, just beyond her line of pillars, a last ditch effort to deter further attackers, hopefully giving hint as to the destruction of the area been caused by similar mines, and enough to make the group take a different path, one that would slow them or even keep them from giving chase. She motioned to Elea and the stalker, "I would recommend we get a move on. As powerful as we are, even a goddess has her limits, and I'd rather not push mine any further. We're leaving the last of them... if they scatter, so be it. If they regroup, we can take them down another time. Sable commanded bluntly, her eyes locking onto Elea for a moment as a simple question whispered across the mental link, "Unless you intend to stay and fight... but I fear in our present state, it would mean little more than two new victims... three if you count our new servant."
Not waiting for a reply from Elea, Sable slung her gun's strap over her shoulder, clutching it tightly to her body as she took off down the street at a brisk, but gentle enough pace that she was sure the others could keep up, heading towards their stuff where they heard the barking dog, her intentions to reclaim her things, and that dog that seemed to take a liking to her, and get far enough away that by the time the other hellhounds found them, Matthias would be finished with his task and able to assist... Or at very least, she'd have time to catch her second wind and cast a few more spells. If it was fewer hellhounds, she might not have been so eager to retreat, but forty... was well out of their league right now.
'Retreat is our best option against such a large force,' Elea responds to her companion. Though in truth the ranger wonders at the groups ability to outrun their pursuers. The hellhounds are fast, and Sable's energy is nearly spent. At best, they can find someplace to hide until Matthias can come to their aid. At worst... well the elf had promised to protect Sable, with her life if need be.
"Yes, Mistress," Elea says aloud, continuing her charade as Sable's slave. The ranger retrieves her bow, then sheathes her sword while waiting the catwoman moves to recover her things. Stepping closer to the demon, almost coming face to ugly face, the elf grimly commands him, "Your mistress wishes to leave this place. Untouched. See to her safety, or you will wish we had slain you outright."
(It's not 40 hellhounds. It's 0 hellhounds, and a bunch of low level enemies.)
"Yes mistress." The stalker replies, and waits while Sable goes into the the place where she'd left her things. To Eleas statement, he replied; "I will do nothing to harm my mistress or her servants.... This I swear. If she required my aid in preparing to leave, she would surely have asked for it."
Once inside, Sable finds that the dog is backed into a corner, its ears flat as growls menacingly at where her pack had been left. When she goes to check on it, she finds many shards of glass, as well as a bunch of plantlike bulbs that were quickly growing. After a few moments, they ceased to grow outward and began to only grow taller, and within seconds each was as tall as Sable herself. Then, each seemed to bulge for a second, before their outer layer fell off, revealing human-like figures about the size and shape of Sable herself. Each was definitely feminine, their bodies covered in slime but still undeniably attractive, with dark green nipples peaking large well shaped breasts and clearly defined feminine parts right where they should be. Their heads, however, were rounded and featureless except for a pair of glowing red orbs that made up their eyes. "Mother!" Each of them said, in perfect unison.
"oh dear." Sable whispered softly. This was not expected at all...
"My sweet children! How pleased I am to see you awakened and well! How quickly you grow as well... Can you understand me okay?" Sable cooed lovingly, opening her arms adoringly to the group, "Come give Mommy a hug for a moment, but please be gentle, Mommy's been having a rough day... I promise if you're good and do what I tell you, we can have lots of fun and spend time together soon." She bit her tongue softly after saying that... she'd only meant it in hopes she could sway her 'children' to be obedient, fearing they would take after their 'father' more than her, but now that it was spoken, a twinge in the back of her mind quickly washed over her, turning the softspoken words into a resolute promise that she could not deny.
She approached the small group to hug them gently and purred to them in a motherly fashion, stroking each girl's head softly and caress their faces and shoulders happily. ... "Elea... we may have... other difficulties." Sable whispered through the mental link, "Take the stalker and start fleeing, I'll either catch up in a moment, or ... Well, either way, I'll be safe from the incoming enemies."
Her attention back on the girls as quickly as possible as she continued to speak to them, "None of you cut yourselves on the glass did you? I hope you're all okay. I did try to keep you all nice and safe together... Are you all going to be good girls and help Mommy? We need to hurry up if you are, my friends are waiting." she continued to ask in a playful manner, her soft smiles and actions trying to treat the entire situation as if she was simply their mother and trying to get a group of young girls to come with her as if it was a casual occurance... And why not, after all, she'd already played a goddess for a while, a mother was far less of a stretch, even if what she was mothering wasn't quite a normal group of children.
"She need not ask you anything," Elea responds sharply, attempting to return to her earlier, domineering attitude towards the subservient demon. "You are her toy, but also her shield. You will let none of your kind lay a claw upon-" The elf's imperious command is cut short by Sable's words, but more importantly, her surprise and worry. "J-just prepare yourself to defend your mistress."
"What's wrong?" Elea asks over the mental link, her inner voice nervous at what may have happened. Turning away from the demon, Elea takes a few steps towards the wrecked building, before looking back down the street where the attack would come from. Every moment they spend in this place puts them at more risk, but the idea of leaving her friend to face the threat alone is more distasteful than anything a demon could do to her. "I won't leave without you, but we must hurry."
"I take orders from my mistress, and only my mistress. Not from my peers. I will do all that I can to keep my kindred from harming my mistress, but if she wished to enter the building on her own, it was not my business to follow. I don't see what the problem is, they will not be here for a few moments more anyway." The demon replied to Elea, his tone noticeably arrogant despite his strange accent, and he glared down at her with faintly glowing red eyes. Not a moment later, however, a line of soldiers in battle formation came around the corner of a street not a hundred feet away. A second and third rank followed, and Elea counted ten men per rank. They wore thin black mail shirts and wielded spears. They were followed by a troupe of six more stalkers, as well as four more of the bug-like tentacled creatures. They turned toward them, a man on the end shouting something in an unpleasant language that reminded Elea of what the stalker form earlier had said, and the demons began advancing, their spears leveled.
Meanwhile, back in the building, Sables plant-like children immediately form a circle around her, their arms, which Sable now see are covered in a half dozen short tentacles instead of fingers, wrapping around her body. They are all very soft and flexible, and Sable suspects that her "children" have no bones in their bodies. As one, the plant creatures respond; "No mother, I am unhurt. I promise to be a good girl forever and ever mommy!"
(hmm, this may be a two-round action set. Trying to plan ahead and organize the group instead of letting it simply fall to the approach of the enemy. I doubt they're fast enough to overcome us even in 2 rounds so... Assuming everything works as planned...)
"Good girls, good girls..." Sable cooed lovingly to the group. "Can you all be good and keep up with me? We need to get out of here with my other friends. Then afterwards we can talk more and spend some quality time together, as a nice little family. So let's go!"
"Nothing is uhm... Wrong... kinda. But we may have obtained some new followers. Just go with it, and hope for the best. We only need to stall a bit more before Matthias arrives..." Sable thought quietly through the mental link, while gently trying to detatch herself from the group of copies she was nestled between.
If the girls listened and she was able...
Sable quickly rushed to her things, picking up the small bundle and taking off at a run back out to the others, with her new following in tow, calling for the dog to keep pace with the group as well with the kind of reassuring voice that she hoped would get her to come as well. She wouldn't wait even an instant on seeing everything going down before starting to issue commands, "We're off! Everyone ahead of me, if the enemy gets too close, I'll hold them off. Elea, as I've been with you the longest, take the lead. Ladies, and sir stalker... Mmmh, and my cute doggy companion." Sable added that last part despite the dog's inability to understand her, then motioned on ahead, "Please follow Miss Elf." Sable would give the elf a firm nod, as if to say she knew what she was doing. Though through the mental link, the elf would know Sable's confidence in her plan, but at the same time that she was utterly making things up as she went.
(Hmm, probably here's the break from round 1 to round 2, based on actions taken... so...)
If the assembled group continued to keep pace with her strategy...
Sable would, taking up the rear guard, gave a long, low groan, knowing she wouldn't have the kind of magical fuel left to do anything particularly impressive, and that she needed to slow the attackers down somehow.
"I never was very good at pure magics..." she muttered to herself mentally, the words slipping through the link. "But I think I remember enough of my lessons to handle this lot."
Though magically exhausted, she knew she could maintain a one or two lesser spells, her words of power escaping her lips as she chanted the words of power for an underused spell she knew she could muster, creating an area of pure force that surrounded her body, pushing outward against her fur and causing it to ruffle and shift around, as if an unseen wind was surrounding her naked body, tussling her hair and flowing across her like a thousand unseen hands caressing her body, as anything that attempted to approach her would suddenly feel the force against them, pushing outward, guarding her, keeping anything from getting near her...
"resistance." Sable purred the word out softly in it's runic language, prepared to guard herself and her following from the incoming enemies. As weak as the spell ultimately was, she hoped it would buy them the one thing they needed, more time to escape, by slowing any of the quicker foes who could reach the group, hopefully, just enough that they could stall until Matthias arrived.
(OOC Rambles.)
(... If the girls don't go along, or anyone in the group protests... Well, then I guess my/Sable's entire plan falls apart. XD Will rehash something new based on results thus far. Biggest concerns are that the plant-girls will go along vs. simply keeping Sable there... that the plant girls are fast enough to keep up... and that Elea won't try to be heroic and not let Sable take the rear guard.
Concerns for later... I hope Matthias doesn't try to destroy our little following when he arrives. Sable has been trying to deal with everything honestly, and he could really screw up her promises. ... Also, I wonder if Matthias can take the corruption factor out of the stalker (assume the girls don't have a corruption factor since the original plant didn't, and the girls haven't had any special corruption placed on them, but if they do, same pondering for them). hmm...)
"Peer?" Elea asks incredulously. 'This filthy creature feels it is my equal' she thinks, not meaning to send it to her mental companions, but not caring if she did either. "Never make the mistake of thinking you are on the same level as I am, worm," she snarls, a finger jabbing sharply into the stalker's chest. The sudden appearance of the mass of soldier's, however, brings the elf's tirade to a sudden stop, her finger still pressed against the demon but her attention focused completely on the wave of enemies.
"Sable," the elf thinks, concern heavy in her thoughts, "We have to leave... now." Elea silently pulls out her bow and readies an arrow, though she knows she can do little against the coming threat by herself.
(assuming Sable's "daughters" follow her orders)
Elea swings her gaze to the building, a brief wave of confusion, followed by revulsion passing through her mind as she see's the plant creatures following Sable. The looming threat, though, gives her no time to consider the sight before her, and instead the well trained and disciplined ranger reacts instinctively to the catwoman's orders. With a nod, Elea says, "Yes... mistress" adding the honorific with a quick glance at the stalker, before moving down the street that would lead away from the lines of approaching soldiers.
(and throwing my second action in, just in case)
Being at the forefront of the strangely composed group, Elea decides to take advantage of the situation, setting a brisk pace to give them all as much distance between themselves and their enemies as possible. "Come on, keep moving," she yells each time the stalker or the plant girls slow down, though the elf wonders if the strange looking creatures understand her or the situation at all.
"Don't strain yourself," Elea pleads with Sable over the mental link. Though the approaching soldiers weigh heavily on her mind, the still somewhat childish elf's true thoughts leak out over the link: "Please don't leave me alone with these things."
As the group continues down the street, Elea is continually keeping her eye out for any attackers that may have used the winding alleyways to flank them, as well as looking for possible areas to defend from. A building with a single entrance and intact walls would be best, though stopping to fight is not her true desire just now."
Sables Status: HP = 39/54, P = 65, EP = 3/45, Resistance
"You are a slave to the mistress, just as I am, are you not?" The stalker questioned, as Elea prodded him in the chest. He turned to view the approaching demons as well, however, and then said; "We should leave. The little soldiers will never serve any but the Queen, and I doubt that we could defeat that many, weakened as we are." He doesn't seem bothered by Eleas touch against his chest, so he doesn't try to push her away as she begins her mental communion with Sable.
Meanwhile, in the building, Sables children all said, in perfect unison; "Yes mama!" Then, they parted, allowing her to lead them as she saw fit, and they calmly walked in single file behind her as she exited the building. At the sight of Elea and the stalker, the plant girls all let out a quick giggle, giving the pair their first taste of the plant creatures strangeness. Still, when the group got moving, the plant girls kept up easily, actually going faster than any of the others as they loped after Elea and the stalker in single file.
When they'd started moving, the stalker wizard had stayed up front next to Elea, though he didn't say anything as to why. His crimson eyes darted around, taking in the streets as the group traveled on. After they had been moving for several seconds, he inexplicably says; "We should go right." And then points toward a narrow street to their right. Elea didn't see anything threatening ahead of them, either right or forward, but the path that the stalker was pointing out went down an alley and onto a different street that she couldn't see. He could be trying to lead them into a trap, even though his actions up to this point suggested that he was loyal.
Casting: Success.
Sable, taking the rear, stands at the end of the line of her plants, and quietly casts her spell. It only provided a little protection, but it was certainly better than nothing. The head of the last plant girl swiveled around to look at her, but didn't say anything, leaving Sable to wonder just how it was that they communicated with one another.
As they noticed their prey escaping, the formation of demons loosened as the front rank of soldiers quickened their pace and pulled ahead of the rest. Despite the fact that they had a head start, Sable noticed that they seemed to be getting closer despite the fact that they weren't even running or charging yet. The stalkers in the rear split into two groups and went down side streets, one left and one right, while the soldiers simply continued forward, trailing the fleeing group that had attacked their camp.
As the plan got underway, Sable had no idea of the infighting between the stalker and Elea, rushing to meet with the others and putting herself in harm's way, hoping that if any of their foes were to actually start to catch up, her spell would slow them enough to keep them at bay, as she was running out of ideas quickly.
She growled inwardly, turning back occasionally to keep track of the group behind them as offshoots broke off and attempted to flank them, to surround them.
"Elea... if we don't find some way to pick up the pace, we're going to be forced into a fight if we like it or not.... either we're more exhausted than I thought, or something's giving that group a substantial boost in speed... Just go as fast as you can, everyone here can keep up, I'm sure of it." Sable sent the message to her elven ally through the mental link. Despite her reassurances, Sable quietly feared that she was the one who was too exhausted to keep up, although her body wasn't bad off, her mind, and her magical energies, were exhausted, and she knew it was probably slowing her down.
As Sable struggled to keep up with the plant girls, she noticed the last one in the line having turned to look at her, smiling broadly back and giving a firm nod, "It's okay dears. Mama's just a bit tired from everything. We should be safe soon, and then we can relax and have a bit of family time..." Sable knew she had countless questions about the plant girls, and she hoped they wondered about her as well, though a quiet fear in the back of her mind wondered if her interest in them was typical feline curiosity, her own enjoyment of magical knowledge, or maternal instinct towards the girls that was somehow thrust upon her through the act of having birthed them.
It was a question she was hesitant to ask, for fear of offending the girls, but somehow couldn't shake... she did eat a large amount of that plant's sweet blue release, and thought it entirely possible she was under a spell of some kind still even... All of this made even more fearful by the knowledge that should Matthias deem the girls a threat, she would actually have tried to defend them against him. "what the hell am I thinking... as if I'd stand a chance against Matthias, even in top shape..." she let slip through the mental link, leaving Elea to wonder just what was on the catgirl's mind. Matthias himself, she knew, would easily glean her entire train of thought, the daemon having absorbed so much power and ability through the ages that he'd become a shell of his former self, with a single objective in mind... at least, that was how Sable seemed to envision him as her exhausted mind wandered from one reckless train of thought to another... "I wonder if Matthias was cute when he was still mortal..." If her latest train of thought went uninterrupted, Elea would soon be getting an earful, metaphorically, through the link, as a tired catgirl's mind drifted off to being stroked in all the right places by a sexy armor-clad Matthias, the mental image quickly growing more and more vivid and lustful in nature.
"I... I am her slave," Elea responds to the demon, preoccupied by the sight of the incoming demons, as well as the sight of Sable's new followers. "But you are not my equal."
When the stalker points out the alleyway, Elea stops and stares at it for a second, instinctively distrustful of anything a demon says. When Sable's message comes over the mental link, however, Elea responds, 'There's an alleyway here. I think we should take it." Elea nods to the stalker before running towards the alley he had pointed out, while turning back to wave at the others. "It' won't exactly speed us up or slow them down, but it will at least force them to trickle through a few at a time, rather than in a horde." Moving forward quickly, but cautiously Elea moves into the alley and towards the street beyond.
Sable's sudden mental communications confuse the elf, but the catwoman's mental images come through clearly. Elea blushes as she watches, mentally, the stoic, gravelly voiced daemon play with Sable, too surprised to interrupt her companion's fantasy. Struck with the intensely lustful feelings pouring over the link, Elea stumbles a second as she moves alongside the stalker, her free hand reaching out to him for support, though it inadvertently lands on his stomach. Before she can react, her hand slides down the creature's crotch, lingering there a moment before the elf recovers from Sable's influence. She looks at the stalker, embarrassed, then says, "Focus," more to herself than the demon. Her hand brushes against his cock before she pulls it away, repeating "Focus." Internally, she repeats the word again, making sure it continues across the link so Sable can hear it, and hopefully return her attention to the situation.
Sables Status: HP = 39/54, P = 65, EP = 3/45, Resistance
(Few have made me facepalm in such an amused manner. XD )
"In servitude, all are made equal, in joy and in growth, both of the self, and of the Cause." Is the demons last reply to Elea as it turns to flee with the rest of the odd group. It sounded oddly like something the demon had memorized, rather than something it had thought up in the moment.
As she gives her reply to the plant girl in the back, she smiles, and says; "I'm just keeping an eye on you mama." It said this by itself, the first individualistic action she'd seen any of them take.
As her thoughts about Matthias traveled across the link, his voice suddenly broke over it, accompanied by an image of a human man in full steel plate armor, holding a sword and kite shield, his body quite obviously well muscled beneath the armor even though his short dark hair was starting to gray around the edges, facing off against a demon that looked remarkably similar to the dark knights both of them had fought before; "This was what I looked like before I died. Though, I wonder at the wisdom of at thinking such things when a small army of serial rapists is descending upon you. I'm almost finished, by the way. Only six... Make that four demons left. Once I've finished them and given the captives a once over I'll come and kill all the little toy soldiers." Then, his presence faded again, leaving just Elea and Sable to commune over the mental link once more. His voice had been empty of any emotion, even over the more intimate psychic communication, so it seemed that he was neutral to her fantasies. The daemon makes no comment on her other thoughts, such as those on her plant children.
As her hand slipped over his cock, the stalker gave Elea a quizzical look, and the elf felt it stiffen immediately at her touch, though not quite to full hardness. When she tells him to focus, however, he nods, and replies; "That would be best for now. There will be plenty of time for that later, if the mistress allows it."
The group turned down the alley and picked up the pace, the demons still somehow gaining ground. When Sable, who was still in the back of the line, last saw them, the demon army was only fifty feet from them. When they reached the edge of the alley, the stalker immediately turned left, setting the group to go more or less the same direction that they'd been going before, just on a different street. To their right, the group can see one of the groups of stalkers that had broken off earlier round the corner 80 feet away, making on attempt at stealth, just flat out running after them now. "We should try and find another alley to our right. The columns will move more clumsily in narrow spaces like the alleys, and I doubt they'll break ranks before they have us in attacking range." The stalkers words are shouted quickly, the demon not having the advantage of the mental link Elea and Sable shared.
Continuing onward as fast as they can, the plant girls moving at the exact speed to ensure that Sable doesn't stay behind, they run for a few seconds before Elea spots another alley up ahead on their right. It was up to her whether or not the group would decide to take the stalkers advice, as she was the navigator of the group.
(The timing of this thread might start to get confusing if this keeps up.)
Sable was purring loudly at the image, almost giggling to herself despite Elea's warning to focus, before she tried to shake herself back to attention and focus again. She doubted Matthias would ever have such emotions and feelings, at least towards her, after his long lifetime. Not that it bothered her, her daydreams were little more than that, idle thoughts in her exhausted state, almost a dreamlike state that she was in mid-run, barely able to hold her concentration for the spell she cast.
"Mmh, I already assumed you were listening." she thought into the link so Elea could hear, but obviously meant as a communication to Matthias. "Please don't harm our new companions when you come here... at least give them a chance... we can discuss what to do with them briefly after... Since I'm sure you can read their true intentions with your little mind tricks."
As Sable continued to run, she briefly caught an eyeful, and earful, of what the two at the front of their group were doing, "Mmmh, focus indeed. I see quite the thing you're focusing on." The words of the stalker catching her as they rounded the corner and she struggled to keep up, knowing she was the weakest link in this group. "Keep coming up with clever things like this, and I may just grant you two that night together!" Sable called out to the pair at the front as the stalker made his suggestion.
With Matthias coming at any moment, Sable realized that they were almost safe, it couldn't have been too much longer, but that hardly meant it was time to stop and abandon oneself to the incoming opponents. With no enemy near enough to get a good shot off with her weapon, and her magical powers so diminished that she could scarcely keep up the spell she was using as a desperation attempt, Sable gave in to merely being able to flee with the group. As the last member back, it gave her powers that one, final use, but little more than that. The fate of this encounter had exceeded her ability to shape. What happened now, would happen...
(Actions: Other than talking and trying to bargin for their new ally's lives, Sable is simply following the others, not having anything really do to unless they stumble across enemies in her range that are worth targeting.)
The stress of the situation and the embarrassment she had just inadvertently thrust upon herself causes Elea to stammer for a second at the stalker's words, unable to come up with a suitable response. Finally, she says, "Yes, later," eager to keep moving away from their pursuers, and only afterward realizing what she had said. Sable's mocking mental words and alarming shout, bring a blush to the elf, her long ears and clenched cheeks growing red as she looks away from the demon at her side. 'It... was an accident,' she calls to Sable over the link, though it sounds more like an attempt to convince herself than her companion.
Though she had been taught how to skillfully evade enemies by her ranger masters, Elea looks at the unending row of human buildings lining the street with confusion. So closely packed, the houses and stores block visibility and prevent her from making the kind of informed decisions she would normally make in such a situation. The stalkers charging from down the street they had emerged onto, however, forces her hand. Bowing to what she feels is the demon's superior knowledge of this style of terrain, Elea nods to him again and points out their destination to the others following them. "There's another alley," she says, "Keep moving as fast as you can." She waits a moment to make sure Sable, the dog, and the plant-women all know where to go, then strikes out for the next alleyway.
