Els had clearly been shaken by the battle of the keep, Arthur had seen it before most veterans called them the battle shakes. Els was concealing it very well Arthur noted but she couldn't stop it completely.

"How long will it take," asked Arthur gruffly Els didn't react to his question "Els," he said tapping her shoulder.

"Sorry, I was somewhere else," said Els. "The bank is across the river Maws it was heavily defended, most of the wealthy merchants of Finepoint stored their fortune there. I wouldn't be surprised if that was one of the first places to fall."

"Alright," said Arthur placing his hand on his sword.

"Man of few questions aren't you," said Els regaining some of her previous swagger.

"I don't need any, I know what I have to do," said Arthur pushing open a door to the street.

Light poured into the room momentarily blinding Arthur. He marched out onto the street eyes open for any possessed who might have followed them, Els came out behind him taking the lead. Arthur left his sword in his sheathe as he followed her down the street, there was no sign of any pursuers. They moved slowly through the city, exhausted from the earlier battle they could not move faster. Arthur's body ached, his wounds felt raw as they rubbed against his gambeson. The stitches on his face were stretched and a small river of blood ran down his face. It was going to leave a scar thought Arthur wiping blood from his face.

"Here," said Els as she handed him a frilly white cloth. Soon it was stained crimson. "You can keep that," said Els.

"Thank you," he replied tucking the bloody scrap of cloth into his armour.

Arthur's ears pricked, he grabbed Els and pulled her into the shade; for a moment he was worried that Els would make a noise and give away their position but she stayed quiet. Arthur peered around the corner and saw a small patrol of heavily armoured possessed, they wore the tattered remains of the Baron's sigil on their chest. They were clearly the Baron's elite guard, Arthur thought they must have been called back to the keep to crush the remnants of Els's army. Els began to draw her short sword the rasping of the scabbard sounded impossibly loud, and Arthur put his hand on her sword arm stopping her from making anymore noise. If they were noticed swords would do them no good against their armour. In unison the guards snapped round the corner and began to search the street, Arthur cursed silently. They pushed back into the dark corner trying to remain unseen, Els was pressed uncomfortably into Arthur their armour gently clinked together. Arthur slowed his breathing as he stared at the guard who passed their hiding spot. He wore the same distant bored expression as the other possessed, he had been an ugly man before with missing teeth and a large crooked nose. In his hands he had a large pole axe with a wicked spike designed to punch through armour, Arthur's sword would barely scratch his thick plate mail. He could feel Els's heart beat faster as the guard swiftly marched past them and into the house they had just left. Arthur glanced around the street, none of the other guards were nearby.

"Come on," whispered Arthur as he left the hiding spot, crouched low he led Els away from the search party.

"Which way," Els didn't bother to answer and took off quickly down a side street.

"Slow down woman, they are out there looking for us and we need to be more careful."

"I know I just want to get out of here," she replied. Arthur heard the loud clinking of armour and the stomping of feet behind them. They had been spotted.

"Run!" yelled Arthur as he sprinted off in the direction Els had been moving, Arthur risked a glance at their pursuers. The armoured men moved fast and would be on top of them soon, the two of them were sprinting down the winding streets. Arthur cursed the state of the city, all of the fallen masonry and abandoned carts made it difficult to run without falling the only upside was their pursuers would have the same problems. Els nudged his arm as they ran and pointed at a side road which veered off to the left; they were upon it in moments and Els stopped at the corner breathing hard. Arthur glanced back again and saw no sign of the guards, that wasn't good thought Arthur he felt better facing an enemy he could see. Els had pulled a waterskin out of her bag and took a long drink, when she offered it to Arthur he looked at her with surprise.

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"We don't have time for this get moving," he said.

Slowing down to a jog for Els's sake Arthur tried to think of where the guards could have gone, perhaps they had given up he thought but that was wishful thinking. Arthur knew that they had not outrun them, the guards had been moving too fast to lose so easily; which meant they must be trying to outflank them. Arthur let out a stream of curses as he came to a stop in the road.

Els tried to speak but her laboured breathing made it sound like a raspy whistle, "Why did we stop" she asked.

Arthur drew his sword in response, as he spotted a single figure round the bend in front of them. The possessed with the large pole axe was standing where they had hid from earlier, he made no sound as he slowly stomped toward them. Arthur moved forward to meet him knowing his only chance was to get in close. The guard swung his pole axe slowly forcing Arthur to step back out of range. He'd expected that the main advantage of polearms was reach and the possessed wielding it was skilled. They circled each other for a time, Arthur kept Els behind his back, she was lightly armoured and one swing from the possessed would cleave her in two. Arthur held his longsword in one hand and in the other he drew the dagger he had found at the dungeon. In one practised motion he threw the dagger at the guard's head and dived forward after it.

His aim was good and the dagger hit the guard square in the face pommel first. Momentarily distracted by the dagger the guard failed to parry Arthur's strike which batted away his poleaxe. He lined up his longsword to stab the possessed straight through the eye but he was a fraction too slow. The guard slammed his arm into Arthurs chest, the sudden impact knocked him off his feet. His longsword was knocked out of his hands as he slammed into the ground. Before he could spring back up to his feet the possessed placed its foot on his chest, Arthur swore he could see a glint in its dead eyes as it raised the poleaxe ready to bring it down on Arthurs unprotected head. Arthur had not given up yet he struggled with all his might to shift the foot form his chest but the possess had lent his entire weight on Arthur dinting his chest plate.

Suddenly the possessed came crashing to the ground on top of Arthur. Not wasting a second he quickly rolled on top of the flailing possessed and groped at the ground for a weapon. He felt the handle of his dagger being thrust into his outstretched hand. He barely paused before he slammed it down into the possessed face. But the possessed wasn't done yet either, it caught the falling dagger on his forearm his other arm was punching into Arthurs side trying to dislodge him. Arthur put his entire weight behind the dagger but the possessed was stronger and slowly it was forced away from the guards face. Els appeared beside Arthur and put her weight behind the dagger as well, the possessed was strong but not strong enough and with a triumphant scream Els and Arthur pushed the dagger through its eye killing the possessed.

Els slumped over crashing into Arthur, "That's the first time I've killed a person" said Els.

"Not sure it counts as a person anymore," he said glancing down at the possessed face.

It didn't change expression even when the dagger slowly went into its head.

"He was once and now he's dead" said Els.

"It would have killed both of us, don't think about it so much," said Arthur gently.

Arthur stood up and went to pick up his sword, he noticed Els's sword on the ground as well.

"You lost your sword," asked Arthur and Els looked up at him going slightly red.

"Well I saw you throw that dagger and I didn't think I would be able to get close so..." She trailed off and didn't finish her sentence.

"Did you throw your sword," asked Arthur, Els nodded slowly.

Arthur burst out into fits of laughter the stress of the encounter washing out of him, soon after Els joined him and soon the street was echoing with nervous laughter.

"Why are you laughing its what you did," said Els.

"I used a dagger," said Arthur picking up her sword, "This is a short sword" he started laughing again.

Els walked over and took her sword out of Arthurs hand "I'll try to remember that."

Arthur could feel a small amount of respect building for Els, it almost made Arthur forget who she was. A Weimaer. One of the richest families in the High Kingdom and she was only here to live out some fantasy of being a hero. His face darkened at the thought.

Els saw it quite clearly and asked "What's wrong Arthur."

"Nothing, we need to get moving.," he replied gruffly turning away from Els. "Which way" said Arthur as he glanced down the narrow street.

"Follow me," said Els in a weary tone. Arthur wondered if she had guessed what he had been thinking. Suddenly he could feel the pit of his stomach turn cold.