ella took serena and looked at the army coming towards them, she looked back at zenith and held out her hand
"get on, but i need you to hold on as tight as you can. i also need you to hold onto the girl as well i need my hands to be free to do this. we havent much time, we need to go now"

Zenith smiled and gave a quick nod. She hopped on and grabbed Serena.
"Let's ride!"

ella nodded
"let go midnight"
she grabbed the reigns and gave them a light tug and charged towards the army heading towards them as fast as lightening, ella leaning in on the horse,her eyes along with midnight eyes were glowing brightly, as midnights hooves hit the ground you could see blue sparks. ella was coursing her ability in midnight giving him the speed they needed to get past the army.
"hold on"
she quickly turned the horse and rode along the line of men looking for an opening, when she spotted one she charged towards it
"its gonna be a tight squeeze but i think we can make it"

Mathuriel looked at the girls leaving, then whirled to Carlyle.
"Great! Women are relatively saved, chivalry is satisfied. Now what?!"

"We... Run, Be. Quick, Make no mistakes."

A last pulse surged violently throughout Carlyle's body, It seemed almost like something was coming out of his chest. His body, No longer resembled what he looked like, Even his face was blacked out, scaled. And just eerie. His nails became weapons, as did his glove, it radiated with more power, it was so extreme it bypassed the magic wards, however. There was relatively no control over what attacks he was going to use.

"It's time." echoed throughout this new beings head. It was an inconvenient time for a blackout but. The blackouts were never convenient. For now there was no control of what happened.

Jericho smirked, almost knowing that Carlyle was no longer himself. He screamed on loud enough for the inrantry to hear. "CHARGE!!!!" No sooner there was over 60 people rushing into the front gate. And the other infantry charging in, Luckily the yard was big, however it would fill up quick. As the soldiers charged the group in the back made its way to the front. Over 120 soldiers were waiting to get inside. The stronger men surrounded the perimeter, a little bit off of the wall, just enough to surround the place.

3 more catapaults had arrived, they were in all directions. The first one was already reloaded, the other 3 had the ball on it. Setting more on fire, they all released at once. One landed in the stables, the other landed in the center of the house, And the last 2 at arbitrary areas in the yard. It was a mess of fire, led, and minimal death, only 10 soldiers dropped. Because of accuracy issues.

"We will meet again, Carlyle. And When we do, You will become my playtoy. And that gaunlet will be mine."


Though Carlyle was still in a relatively possessed form he had just enough control, to grab into Mathriuel, and throw him away from the house. As it was going to collapse on seconds and the shockwave would have harmed him easily. Despite his strength.

As Carlyle saw the horde of men running towards him, He had no choice but to stand his ground, he used the last of what he could do by saving mathriuel. All that happened was a stance of defense as the soldiers were pouring in. It seemed like a never ending barrage of men.

Oot: Just say you got on the horse with everyone and left before the stable was hit. Or make it a struggle to get into the stable, with your horse still alive and able to leave.

Mathuriel had less than a second to think and react.
Stay. He would die.
Run. He would live.
It was actually very easy.

"LET ME ON THE HORSE LET ME ON THE HORSE LET ME ON THE HORSE!!"
Mathuriel jumped on the back of the horse panting for breath, his robes dishevelled and looking pleadingly at Ella with puppy-dog eyes.
"Please don't throw me off the horse..."

ella looked over to Mathuriel
"if you take the reins you can ride on the horse, just get the girls to safety and keep going no matter what happens"
she handed the reins to him as they came close to a low branch, standing up on her horse she grabbed hold of the branch and pulled herself up, and started climbing up the tree just enough to see the estate. she sighed
"its all gone now"
she looked down as the others rode away on her horse
"guess its time to move on from here"
she started jumping from branch to branch following behind the others on her horse, her eyes were the only things visible

Mathuriel struggled to keep sight of Ella, then gave up as she vanished through the foliage.
He looked down at the horse.
"Follow..." he said tentatively, and the horse gave him a look that seemed to say Are you kidding me?

"Alright then..."
Mathuriel drove the reins, hard.
"WE RIDE!"
The horse neighed and instantly shot forwards, following the tree-bound Ella...

Carlyle began to breathe more rapidly, his larynx close to growling. About 5 Men surrounded him, But to no avail, A blood curdling, gut wrenching roar emerged from the throat of Carlyle. Bone chilling sounds erupted as he lifted his right arm the gauntlet became part of his new form. The men surrounding him were in amazement, awestruck, and perplexed on how to attack. They took to long. His nails as durable as a sword, as strong as a mighty hammer. Has been released in place of his nails.

Carlyle, Charged, jumping into one of the soldier. However he purposely side stepped, the launch slit one or their throats. He threw the corpse into the others, granting them no time to recover, he turned around when the other soldier grabbed onto the corpse to throw it. But Carlyle was to quick, He pushed his new claws into the sternum of the 2 soldiers, mainly targeting the heart. Both men had dropped.

A 3rd soldier challenged him, while 6 more tried to surround Carlyle. And so, with the strength of hid magic he formed his arm into a huge double edged sword. He swiped and slashed away at the soldiers, all of then dying by bleeding out or decapitated. Finally, he charged in against 2 soldiers, His hands covered both of their faces, They screamed as Carlyle began to absorb their souls. Once it was finished. He began to flee from the area taking a similar path to that or ellas.

While Ella was fleeing from the tree tops at high speeds one guard had noticed. He anticipated smartly and as she was approaching a nearby tree he tackled her, She absorbed the shock from falling onto a log and the ground as it was. After doing so he violently jumped a top her chest and placed a small dagger onto her neck. A slight disturbance would have killed her. He was only going to take her as a prisoner if she couldn't get out of this situation.

Another group was closer to the ground as the horse began to near them they attempted to jump on, however there was too much force, so the ones that did make didn't have much of a grip. So they were more liable to die.

Jericho, Was looking towards the woods when he saw the figure that was Carlyle running away. He smirked knowing that he absorbed petty soldiers souls, however. That only lasted a moment as he began to flee into the town before the safe house.

ella cried out as she hit the ground, the blunt of the fall knocked the wind out of her, but didnt knock her out. next thing she knew she had a blade at her throat. she looked up at the man and spoke but her voice was weak
"please.. dont kill.. me"
her eyes were still glowing, a orb started forming in her hand, she had just enough energy to create an orb she just needed to position her attack right but with being held down made it complicated she needed to stall long enough
"why are you doing this to us? we didnt do anything wrong"

"THIS!"
Crack.
"IS!"
Thump.
"NOT!"
Whack!
"MY!"
Fizzt.
"HORSE!"
Blam!

Five guards fell from the horse, but the two that remained were starting to move towards the girls at the back.
Mathuriel hooked one with his scepter, but the other was dangerously close to them.
"Defend yourselves," Mathuriel said urgently, as he bashed the first guard over the head again and again.

Zenith drew her sword and swung at the other guard. It wasn't easy standing up on a horse, but she had balance. The guard had pulled himself up, and blocked the attack. He was now off-balance, so she swiftly kicked him in the chest to knock him off.

The soldier that was on top of Ella Drew back and punched her in the jaw, It was just enough to knock her out. When she was laying unconcious he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, He climbed up the tree the best he could, placed her on the branch, jumped up on side of her, and picked her up again. this time he jumped east, to get out of the forest and towards the direction of town.

Jericho was in an unmarked inconspicious house, preparing a cage for a prisoner, It was a just in case thing. He prepared some food, it was really a dish for 2 but he was hungry. After he finished cooking. He sat down, and looked at the wall while he waited for the food to cool down.

The soldier that was kicked off unfortunately was launched into a tree, It ultimately broke his back, He was gonna die. As for the soldier getting hit in the head. He began to shout. "HOW IS THIS NECCESARY! IF YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME JUST DO IT, DONT JUST GIVE ME AN EXTREME HEADACHE!" He began to climb more, and eventually gained enough balance to grab his arm. 


Carlyle, Was starting to go back to normal, The horse was in sight and the forest was near an end, The black figure slowly gained a skin tone, and his arm switched back to normal, Only his left. As he neared the end of the forest, mainly the very end, He dropped down from the branch and hit his chest on the concrete ground.

"Ow, Today is just not my day, Ugh. First we get chased out of our house, now we fight for our life."

~~ella felt a sudden blow to her jaw and the next thing she knew she was standing in an open field, the wind was blowing but it was warm against her skin, the sun was shining like it used to before the wrath of the king, off in a distance there was a group of people they looked to be having a picnic. she started walking towards them to see who they were. as she got closer she realized it was her fiance and his family..........

The horse neighed wildly, struggling to turn back.
Mathuriel took one glance back and saw why.
"ELLA!!" he yelled, and instinctively made to turn back with the horse following.
But then the two girls still on - and in his care - forced him to pause.

I have to get them safe. She'd want that. Then I'll come back for her.

"GODS DAMN IT, YAH!" he almost screamed and the horse reluctantly galloped further into the trees, away from Ella.

"Take us to safety," he whispered, as the horse galloped further and the forest got darker and darker...

Carlyle regained his consciousness, He noticed his arms slow transformation back, however his memory served him well, He was back to normal except for his wild appearance. He picked himself up from the ground. The forest behind Him, he heard the neighs of the horse almost as clearly as if they were right behind him. He walked further away from the woods just in case and sat down pressed against a rock. He waited and thought back to his army days.

The scene in his mind began to become images of nightmares of his life. It was a small remote town he assaulted. Embers, Fires, Ashes. Everything was burned to the ground. It was him and Jericho, They worked together on the raid corpses lined the streets, Decay, nothing pretty. It was dark and gloomy. But that isn't what stuck out. Carlyle was walking back, with shear horror imprinted on his face. Jericho was in front of him he looked back at him and stopped walking. Turning around, He looked at Carlyle, and embraced him with a hug.

"I know, your first orchestrated raid is the hardest. Your brain cannot compute the destruction that you have caused. It can destroy a man. That look in your countenance is the same expression that had fallen upon me. When I was your age I had to do exactly what you did. It brought me an unimaginable amount of nightmares, terrors, and more. I couldn't live with the guilt. But, I eventually moved onward, killing became easier, But sometimes I still question it... I will be in the military as long as you are, kid. When you leave I leave. We can be friends one day, not brothers In arms. The world still has some beauty in it. Just dont let it decay in front of you.

Carlyle, Buried his face. He let out a short stream of tears, it was absolute shock of the raid. Killing never got easier for Carlyle, Unless there was a just cause. Death however didn't burden him from that day on. In silence, He waited for Mathriuels appearance maybe Ella's. Whoever got there first would give him his answers.

The soldier who was holding Ella had jumped down from the last branch, And began walking into the town that Jericho was stationed in. He found the discrete cabin and knocked. Jericho had opened the door. And welcomed the guard in. He shut it behind him quickly. Signaling to the cage he had the guard drop her in there. He kicked the guard out immediately after doing so.

The food was ready, He kicked up a small table in front of the cage and placed the food down in front of Ella. The cage was closed, locked, and sealed to lock magic inside of the cage. Jericho unsheathed his sword and slapped the side of the cage to wake Ella up.

"It is time to eat, Wake up. I know your jaw is probably in pain, that is however because of our barbaric staff for soldiers. I dont want your food to go bad so please eat it if you're awake."

Jericho walked away and spun a chair around, He was going to sit there and watch Ella if she was awake or asleep. He began eating as he waited for her to move.

Zenith placed a hand on Mathuriel's shoulder. "I'm sorry. Thank you for protecting us."

~~as she got closer and closer to them, the scene completely changed, this time instead of standing in a feild of grass and flowers she was standing in a field of ash and fire,
'i-it cant be'
everything was gone burned down, turn to ash, she tried to cry for help but no sound came out. she started walking towards the direction she saw her fiance in hopes they were still alive, only to find nothing but corpses, she heard a noise from behind her and when she turned around she was face to face with a knight dressed in all black, it raised it sword and swung it down at her......~~

ella suddenly jolted up, her eyes glowing brightly, sparks were jumping from her fingertips, the noise from slap of the cage woke her. she suddenly felt the pain on her jaw and placed her hand on it
"ow"
she heard a voice tell her its time to eat, she looked around for the source of the voice and it was then she realized she was in a cage. she took a moment to gather herself and what happened, the last thing remembered was being attacked by one of the men and he had a blade pressed against her neck. she slowly started to get up, a small orb started to form in her free hand, her other hand still holding her jaw
"where...is...he? the one..who did this to me?"
she took a few staggering steps towards jericho the orb getting slightly bigger, she didn't have much strength in her since she was still weak from being knocked out
"where am i, and why am i in this cage, get me out of here now"
"

ella gave him and annoyed look when he told her that using her ability would backfire on her. she decided to discharged her orb, she was still weak and preferred not to take a blow of her own ability, she would most likely knock herself out again or worse. she walked on the opposite side of the cage from him and sat down and leaning her back against the bars
"and how do i know for a fact that you dont work for the king, you did attack my home after all, something a knight of the king would do, that home was all i had left"
she looked up at him and noticed him looking at her strangely
"i dont believe we have ever met, and if we did i dont remember"
she thought for a moment and then sighed realizing she had no other choice but to be somewhat civil, she at this point pretty much had no other choice
"im ella"
the glow from her eyes vanished revealing her natural green eyes
"if i may ask what did you do to the person who knocked me out?"
she placed her hand back on her jaw it was throbbing a bit from the pain, the pain made her remember an incident that happened when she was younger where she was backhanded very hard as a child by one of her mothers lovers. she closed her eyes and shook her head then looked back up at Jericho
"how long do you plan to keep me in this cage? where will i sleep?"
she then remembered she was carrying guns on her, but with him watching her she wouldn't be able to check to see is she still had them on her without him noticing. she knew the ones on her hip holsters would have been removed since they are the most obvious, but did they get the rest of them. she took a moment to study the room she then noticed the food and pointed to it
"you said it was time to eat, is that for me?..what is it?"
she wasnt sure if she would be able to eat with her jaw throbbing but she was a bit hungry

The forest got darker, as the horse rode further and further into the trees.
Then, as if it was designed to leap out and give any unwary rider a heart attack, a single dark wood cabin suddenly sprung from the trees, causing the horse to rear wildly.
"Whoa, boy, whoa."

A short moment later, Mathuriel was looking down at the two who had disembarked.
"Wait here, no-one will find you. Mind you, that's because no-one would reckon us to be stupid enough to hang around, but that's beside the point."
He turned.
"I'll be back with Ella... if not..."
He paused.
"The horse will be."

And with that, he shook the reins and the horse bolted back the way they came...

ella shook her head
"i am not a vegan"
she got up and walked over to the food an started eating it while listening to him, when he mentioned someone coming for her, the one who was riding her horse she stopped eating
"Mathuriel, but what do you mean by rightful owner, i dont own him"
she then looked up at Jericho when he said about her not being able to speak or speak loudly
"and if i speak or speak loudly then what will happen? and if you plan to keep me prisoner then what are you going to do to me?"
she crossed her arms
"i believe i have a right to know"

"If you speak, I will drag you out of here, and throw you on my horse. hog-tied, and well. You'll have to deal with the king. If you cooperate, I will treat you humanely, And when I've gathered what I want out of you. You may leave, In fact. I will only keep you in the cage until I can trust you enough. Then you get your own room, with no windows, unfortunately, and A locked door. I will visit you if you wish for company, 5 visits a day for food, etc. Believe me when I say, I do not wish to harm you, I've got no reason to do so, Also, I didn't disarm you neither did the person who brought you in here. You have your holstered gun. Though I am placing enough trust in you not to try and shoot me with it. I will get you ice for your jaw when I come back."

Jericho Opened the door, and gently closed it. It was a smoke break, really he didn't like smoking in-doors, it is rude in his eyes. he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. opening the back, he took one out and placed the cigarette between his lips. and used his figner to light it, since he does know how to use fire magic. he inhaled, and blew the smoke out with him looking up at the sky. The stars shone beautifly, while the black yet somewhat indigo sky had helped him relax. a moment of silence was all he wanted really. it was the most he would ask for after a raid.

His thoughts slowly turned bitter-sweet however. It wasn't a negative memory that approached him it was a nostalgia memory. He looked down at his right hand. The glove that Carlyle now wears was once his. His right hand, in his eyes was rotted. however it was nothing more than scarring. When Jericho wore it, it gave him power because he was never afraid to use it's full potential. however, the more so he used complex attacks with it. it corrupted him more and more. It also re-coded his genetic infastructure amplifying any magic attack he would use after it was removed.

He almost had attained his full normalcy again, but now and again he will break out in psychotic fits. which is why he needs to kill, bloodshed unfortunately is a necessary component of his. he finally began vividly imagining how everything had happened.

It was an eeriely lit down, dim, however prosperous with gloomy sections of it. ultimately, it was a nice town to live in. Carlyle and Jericho were at a bar, having fun. Playing darts, And just cracking jokes. The usual for them. Until Jericho got up, and left. Carlyle had to pay the bill, Jericho had covered them the last few times. once Carlyle exitied the bar he walked towards the barracks. However Carlyle had heard a noise from around the corner. A gasp of air almost. So he quickly turned around and ran towards the source. there stood Jericho. In the eyes of a child was Jericho, A full grown man. Strangling him to death, However it looked opposite, Jericho had no control, almost as if he was hearing voices within his head.

Carlyle had no choice but to run over, and tackle jericho, the child had ran as soon as Jericho had fell. Though he was in shock he survived. It was a wrestling match for a few moments. Jericho actually ended up restraining Carlyle for a few moments. however He headbutted Jericho in the nose, causing him to release his grip. He Slammed Jericho over him. and grabbed onto the gaunlet, he violently ripped it off, Which left the scarring on his hand. and began to talk.


"Jericho, You're losing your sanity, I am not even sure if you're aware of your actions at this point. I cannot, and Will not as a friend let you wear this glove any longer. An innocent child was just almost killed. use your brain man, otherwise I will end up having to battle you to the death, I don't want to do that to you."

In that instant The glove had seemed to set it's root inside of Carlyle's forearm, wrist, and hand. A tremendous amount of pressure had entered. It was bone crushing. Carlyle was forever stuck with the cursed gaunlet from then on. Until someone forcefully pryed it off, or until he died. It will need a host, regardless.

Finally Jericho finished his cigarette, throwing hit below his foot he stomped on it. and waited outside for a few moments, waiting for the Mathriuel to come and rescue Ella.

The horse stopped outside the complex, and Mathuriel dismounted.
The guards outside looked at each other.
Then they looked at him.

"What... do you think you're doing?"

Mathuriel stepped smartly up to them.
"Rescuing a friend, thwarting evil, going to foil dastardly schemes and the like."
The guard blinked.

WHACK!

The guard slumped as Mathuriel smashed his head with the sceptre.
The second lunged with his sword in one fluid movement and Mathuriel blocked.
"You're dead."
"Correction. I'm handsome."
BZZZZZZZZT.

The guard collapsed as the energy faded from Mathuriel's readied focus.
"Note to self, come up with better one liners next time," Mathuriel said to himself as he slipped inside...