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Tranquil Waters: The Lead Crown Ch 4-3, Reversal of Fortunes

It was hard for Sada to tell how the assault was going from her vantage outside the building. She did occasionally catch sight of combat through a window but, for the most part, it was her job to maintain watch in case additional members of the Order of Blades returned. During the first few minutes it was quiet, but she eventually saw a cloaked, armed and armored figure rushing for the building. While she had a way to communicate with Wiesen, the mystery man was running toward the room where Inigo's group fought.

She watched as he sprang through a window, the figure doffed the cloak, and only then did the otter realize that whoever the man was, he was on their side. About that time Wiesen checked in and informed her that Joshew and Roland were setting the first charges, and he was holding off some of the defenders. By her count there were more than originally presumed in the building-- perhaps eleven?

She didn't have much time to consider the fact as the members of the group began climbing out the broken window. The armored warrior, at that point, finally had his visor up and she recognized Brother Jessen immediately. Sada smiled; during the time she'd come to know the soft-spoken, seemingly meek coyote, she had figured he'd all but given up on the Templar way, but it was relieving to see that he still had some fight in him... which was going to come in useful since she saw four more members of the Order of Blades-- they were coming toward the building from up the street.

She used Wiesen's nickname since it was faster to say, as she spoke into the sounding box the dragon had provided her, "Crook-- hurry up; there's more Order on the way. I see four of them coming from the north."

The dragon began speaking to the party as he helped the scholars through the window, pointing in her direction. Although she fancied herself skilled at reading lips, the reptilian maws of dragons did not make it easy... nor did the distance, but she figured he was warning them about the approaching Order and suggesting they meet up with her. She waited until she saw the last of the scholars out, followed by Inigo before she began to descend the two story shop where she had taken up her post; it was time to leave, and the sooner the better.

The group was approaching her when she exited the building. The majority of them were looking back toward the large structure they had exited, Inigo especially, "Don't light it-- Alarice is still-" He didn't get a chance to finish the comment when a good-sized explosion blew out every window in the main building. Inigo's shout was overpowered by a second, and then third explosion, and the bat spun around and started back toward the building as the entire thing came crashing down, "ALARICE!!!"

Wiesen grabbed hold of the bat before he could make it past him, "Inigo, stop."The bat twisted and squirmed in his grasp, "I have to get to Alarice!"

Joshew rotated his head roughly in the direction of the argument, "Shut up, bat... you're making too much noise... she'll just have to catch up." Sada didn't exactly hear what Roland whispered to the blind man, but she could guess when the human paused, "Oh."

Inigo lunged back at Wiesen trying to punch at him, but the dragon's reach was far greater than the bat's "Let me go!" and, with no other option, he sunk his teeth into the dragon's exposed forearm.

Wiesen didn't so much as grimace from the attack, and the bat quickly recoiled, shuddering as he leaned sideways and vomited. The hard expression on the dragon's face softened slightly and he let Inigo go; the bat simply fell to his paws and knees, sobbing.

Sada had spent more than enough nights of her life consoling men who had their problems... petty men with life-altering problems... powerful men with problems that seemed trivial by comparison... she knew all of the different approaches for making them feel better and reassuring them that everything would be okay. All of those ways, however, were an act-- a carefully planned, by-the-numbers approach to doing her job.

The moment she felt Inigo's sobbing shoulder beneath her paw, all of that fled her mind and she was left no more skilled than anyone else. The otter found herself stumbling over her words for the first time in years, "I-Inigo..." she swallowed, "Gahl'Agra..."

The bat interrupted her, "I'm fine." He stood up, almost stiffly, and turned her way; despite the fact that there were tears in his eyes, he put on his best smile... which, to her, looked more like a grimace, "These things happen, y'know?"

Inigo was a fine actor, but his performance then was abysmal. Sada leaned forward, and slid her arms around him, "I'm sorry."

The bat did not reply, and nobody else said a word for many long moments before Brother Jessen interjected into the silence, "We all mourn, but we must do so later. If we do not leave soon we will be seen."

Wiesen took control of the situation, "We'll split up and meet back at the Church. Brother... Inigo... come with me-- we'll create a distraction. Ms. De'Ahm?"

The otter looked up to where the dragon was, still holding Inigo, "Hm?

Wiesen was direct, "I need you to bring the scholars back to your Church."

She didn't miss the reference to it being HER Church, but she didn't dwell on whether it was a casual comment or if he was hinting that he knew more. Instead, she nodded, "Alright... but look after Inigo."

She slowly disengaged from the bat, whose tears continued to fall. He let go of her, reaching up a paw to wipe at his furred cheeks. Once his eyes were clear, they gained a harder edge, "We have to make them pay even more."

It made so much sense; with the anchor in his life gone he was drifting... grasping for straws to find meaning. She found it strikingly similar to how he was when she first met him at the brothel... and she didn't much care for it, "No, we don't."

Inigo obviously wanted to push the issue, but Wiesen didn't give him a chance, "We can discuss this later... right now we--"

"There they are!"

Brother Jessen glanced back at the scholars, "Go. Sister Sada will get you to safety." and he lowered his visor, turning to face the armed men coming toward them.

The otter would have grimaced at the title given to her by the Coyote if she'd had the time. Tossing the speaker box back to Wiesen, she simply nodded to the scholars, "Try to keep up." and, in an instant, she was off, heading straight into one of the alleys she knew well.

The scholars, in fact, did NOT do a good job keeping up. Although Joshew was blind, he still had issues allowing himself to be led. Thankfully, in the end, Roland just picked the human up and slung him over his shoulders like a pack of grain. Alvis, who was neither injured nor loaded down by an indignant, squirming blind man, did a good job of filling the gap between Sada, who led, and Roland, who was lagging.

Being used to ditching pursuers, Sada moved flawlessly from alley to the back room of a tavern. She nodded to Zaheeli, one of the tavern's cooks. The gazelle woman was from the Eastern Kingdom and spoke only enough Lehsunian common to get by, but the two knew one another well enough, and she was all too happy to keep quiet when the otter held a finger up to her muzzle and ushered the scholars past.

From there, the party circled around the common room and took a side door exit usually reserved for the staff's work breaks. She stopped everyone in the shadows of the adjacent building and glanced down the street. Seeing the coast clear, she guided the three of them across the boulevard and into an alley that winded its way through three city blocks-- it would be the fastest and most secluded way to get them back to the church; Sada liked to call it her own personal 'express way'.

As it turned out, however, they weren't the only ones using it. A hushed voice called out from the shadows of one of the many ajoining dead-end alleys, "Sada! 'ey, Sada!"

The Otter didn't need to hear more than the gutteral street accent and see more than the glint of rodentine eyes before she could identify the speaker, "These scholars are under my protection, Grange... they're not marks."

Alvis came to a stop behind her, one ear and one eyebrow up, confusion obvious on his face, "Marks?"

Joshew, despite being blind, was the most observant, "That means she doesn't plan on having us robbed, Alvis."

The rat emerged from the shadows, favoring what appeared to be a new wound on his shoulder. Roland identified him for the human scholar, "It's the rat that was staying at the church a few rooms over."

Sada wasted no time with pleasantries, "You look like shit."

The rat chuckled, and grimaced, grabbing his shoulder tighter, "Y'always say th' naicest things, Sada."

The otter woman offered a humorless smile, "We're busy right now... we need to get back to the church. Whatever you were doing when you got yourself hurt is none of my business, and we don't have the time to--"

His comment silenced her. "Ah was 'elpin' th' Church. It got sacked."

All of the fur on the back of Sada's neck stood on end, "When was this? Who did it? Where is everyone now?"

Grange shrugged with his good shoulder, "Surous an' I were fightin' t'get outta there... I mean... we helped some nuns'n'all, but--"

She cut him short, choosing to take stock of her available resources instead, "Where's Suros?"

The rat's gaze fell to the ground, "Didn't make it."

"And what about the church?"

Grange leaned back against the wall, still holding his shoulder. He slid down to a sitting position, leaving a streak of red on the dirty bricks behind him, "Still fightin', I think... not exactly in a mood t'go back, y'know?"

Joshew interjected, "I smell blood."

The rat grimaced with a grin, "Good nose on that 'uman."

Sada glanced around the alley, growing frantic; not only was the Church under attack, but Wiesen, Brother Jessen, and Inigo were going to be caught unaware if they went in without warning. WHY had she given him back the speaker box?!?! The otter woman made a split-second decision, "You three... see if you can do anything for Grange... I have to get to Wiesen and tell him about this!"

The only objection was from Alvis, but it was more advice than anything else, "Be careful."

Considering what was at stake, she wasn't able to make that promise.