Central Plaza

The bobbing, bouncy dance ceased when it began to slow the first time - looking up at Jochi from just a few inches below his knee with the wide, deep eyes akin to most owls. She clicked her beak and fluttered her wings just a little at him before trying to stomp this way and that with the new beat.

And he changed it again. And again. After about the fourth time Solie stopped entirely and squawked at the man. Her wings opened wide and she began waddling quickly after him - snapping at the little curls of his shoes repeatedly, almost angrily. And then there was a voice that came from the small bird body, though a touch ethereal as it seemed to emanate rather than come from an open beak - feminine, young and soft though it was a touch shrill in irritation. "You mean! You jest! Give it a rest! Only the fun music is the best!"

There was a tune of hoots from the owl before she balled up and fluffed about - showering herself in feathers before hopping high into the air with a spin and growing to a much larger size in a single twirl. When the feathers fell and the bird righted itself, it was no longer a bird! Instead, a very young woman was perched before him in curtsy that was draped in a feathery cloak with an owl's mask atop her head.

Her head tipped up to flash him a thin, devious smile while her own amber eyes watched him with a similar gaze seeming to brim with the thought of shenanigans. " 'Tis fine, 'tis well, my fair Jochi!" she giggled, making a smooth flip backwards to perch on the pavement in a crouch but upon her bare toes with the ease of the owl she was before. "When not a bird, I'm called Solie! What brings you here, to make such glee?"

The wily young lady gently clapped her hands together a time or two in delight, her smile broadening just a touch to show her pearly white, though slightly sharpened teeth as he answered. "Indeed, young man, your flute brought me here when I was there," she purred, pointing up at the mostly clear skies and fluffy white clouds. "Much softer up there than it is down here, but your flute was something I just had to hear! I was watching all the people, little ants - have you ever sat up high and watched them all?" she giggled, letting her eyes wander to passersby - settling on the very odd pair she had been observing before. "They scurry and scram, run and play, plot and scheme, hit and hold. It makes for interesting days."

"Indeed I do know these sights. I have done my fair share of people watching," he told her. "Sometimes from as far up as you, but not as often. Now, tell me, little Solie: you speak rather unusually. What compels you to chatter in rhyme, or is it by asking, I've committed a crime?" A wink was thrown her way. The smirk never left.

He seemed rather interested in this girl. He had just arrived from a party with fae. Was she one such creature? Oh, how fun they were!

Somehow the thin, devious smile on the girl's lips stretched further and her eyes narrowed. "Oh-ho, you sly thing, you," she giggled. "I think, I daresay, you already know the answer - but you can't help but be sure. What flutters in that pretty head? Let your thoughts be said, aloud," she tacked on, letting her gaze explore the features of this man. He reminded her of several Fae from home, and it was refreshing to meet even a lowly meaty human so akin in spirit. An elbow settled on her pointed knee to rest her chin on the heel of her fisted hand.

Lenny squatted on the roof of a building, peering down at the chaos below. He could feel the Blue Blood inside him, it was even more potent this time than when he’d previously taken it! He felt powerful, strong, and a little bit… Displeased. All those Isran guards wanted to stop the sale of this wonderful thing! Why did they get to decide such a thing?

Hands clenching into fist, Lenny’s face began to contort, revealing a crazed smile. Reaching into the pocket of his coat, he pulled numerous syringes from it. Without hesitation, he began stabbing them into his arm. Then came the various flask, which Lenny poured down his gullet as if they contained nothing more than water. Tonight he would have the ultimate high.

Eyes bulging, Lenny let out an otherworldly howl before leaping from the top of the building and landing with surprising accuracy on the back of one of the city guards below. The man was smashed into the pavement as Lenny jumped towards another guard without even the slightest hesitation. Grabbing the man by the throat, Lenny smashed his head into a wall before kneecapping another guard with his walking stick. One slumped silently to the ground while the other cried out in pain, clutching at their legs as they toppled over. This would be a night to remember.

A regiment of eighty heavily armed knights in intimidating black plate and chain make their way through the Southern Gate, responding to the summons carried by their compatriot back to the Black Vale encampment. Their ebony armour appears to absorb all light, the matte colouration offering no reflection or sheen. They are as a tide of void, rolling through the streets of Isra with a menacing purpose. They march in a square formation with three ranks on each side, leveling grim-looking halberds made of blackened steel forward, to each flank, and the rear, leaving no angle unprotected. The hordes of maddened and poorly equipped blue bloods don't stand a chance against their discipline, and any who dare approach are cut down swiftly by a swipe of the grizzly bladed edge of a halberd, or impaled upon its spike, or, if they're unlucky enough to get close, bludgeoned to death by the cruel stroke of a flanged mace, the sidearm of choice for these Dread Knights.

The Dread Knights cut a bloody swathe through the hordes of blue bloods, arriving in the Central Plaza around the same time as their necromancer-king, Ulfang, who leads what tatters remain of the guard contingent from the Bazaar into the Plaza and toward the Citadel. The lead Dread Knight stays Ulfang's advance with a shout, and move to link up with him and the guard regiment. Their square grows as the guard are absorbed into the formation, and the square halts as the lieutenant and Ulfang retreat to the center to discuss, their voices barely carrying over the din of terror and insanity without.

"My King," the young man says as he raises his greathelm's visor, revealing a smooth, angular face, blue eyes and short black bangs, "we have come as ordered, although we could not find the Captain."
"I trust that the lad can handle himself," replies Ulfang, planting his blade in the ground with one hand and running the other through his sweat-slicked hair.

"Any other news? Is the rest of the city so afflicted? What of evacuation efforts?"
"I'm afraid so, Lord. There's little chance of evacuating anyone, as the city is assailed from all sides within. If we had broken rank to help civilians, doubtless we would have been overrun ourselves. Irregardless of the final outcome of this battle, the death toll will be severe."
"What a waste," sighs Ulfang, and then hoists his greatsword to his shoulder.

"Well, we still must secure the Citadel if this city is to be saved. Onward, men!" orders the King of the Black Vale, joining the formation himself in the rear ranks, using the extraordinary length of his blade to add to the spiky protrusions of pointed halberds, wielding it more like a polearm itself than a sword. The formation moves through the chaos toward the Citadel, a rolling current of disciplined serenity in the ocean of madness that surrounds and breaks against the formation, leaving a trail of mangled blue blood bodies in its wake.

Lenny had already dispatched a multitude of guards via numerous methods. Stabbing, choking, biting, as long as it resulted in their death Lenny didn’t care. There was a rush of adrenaline every time he struck down a guard, a thrill that lasted for just a moment but that he wanted to last him forever…

And that’s when he spotted her, Naoki’s daughter. He had stalked Naoki for years before she had become Empress and knew far better than most who she kept company with. Eyes narrowing to slits, Lenny let out an ominous chuckle before scampering across several rooftops, aiming to close the distance with Skarlet before she would notice him.

Slowing his pace as he drew closer to her, cautiously he peered down at her in perfect silence, a hint of curiosity in his gaze. He knew she was a vampire from all his time spent following Naoki and that meant she’d be far more of a challenge than the guards he’d just brought down. Tightening his grip on his walking stick, Lenny’s whole body tensed as he waited for the perfect moment to strike.

Skarlet’s words were met by silence from Lenny, his crazed eyes narrowing as he watched her from the rooftop. Without a word, he sprung into action, leaping from the rooftop and falling in an arc that would lead him to land right in front of Skarlet. His eyes gleamed with insanity and he wore his ever too wide smile even as he jumped from the building, his lack of any exclamation making his expressions even more unnatural.

Walking stick gripped with both hands, he began swinging it downward mid-fall, his goal to smash it into the vampires head, or shoulders. While he was nothing more than a human, it would be clear to Skarlet he was being fueled by something that was allowing him to break the limits of one.