<<LATE! VERY! VERY! LATE!>>
How long had it been? A week now? Beniroc sighs faintly, his search for the blonde haired woman known as Letessa still continuing. He sat in the Black Dragon Inn, looking at each and every one of the patrons. Looking for Gwyn, looking for Sephyr Bridges, looking for her. Where had she disappeared? Where had she gone. He feared the worse and it seemed more and more likely to be the truth. Letessa was dead, gone. All his fault it would seem.
Moving away from the bar of the Black Dragon, he stands. He makes his way over to Dulcina and asks for the location of Gwyn's house, perhaps she would know more of where Sephyr might be. She, at the moment, was his only hope of figuring out this mystery.
He reaches her house, only to find that she not there. He searches about the house, smelling her scent in the air about the house. He nods and then moves away from the house, back towards the inn that he's been staying at.
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The day flowed into the next and he went back to the Black Dragon, sure to catch Gwyn there and speak with her. But as soon as he finds her, she faints within his arms from exhaustion, from some sort of spell. Glancing around the Inn, he then takes the woman outside and to the bench. Only to be followed by a large demon and then to large mastiffs. Unsure whom to trust with Gwyn, he guards her protectively. Beniroc licks at his lips as he watches the three things before him. "Are you friend, or foe?"
"I was -about- to say the same to you..." Craig looked over Gwyn's unconscious frame with a bit of curiosity, though the mild chill in the air forces him to stop momentarily and... apparently begin casting. With a quick movement both dogs rushed at Beniroc, though not trying to bite, they tried to ram their collective weight of over 550 pounds into his body to try and knock him over and make him let go of Gwyn.
"I came to speak with her about a friend, and perhaps befriend her if she will let me. I will not let you have her if you mean her harm." He looks down at Gwyn, his eyes taking on a soft quality to them. He whispered to her softly. "I won't let another come to be harmed."
Realizing that she's growing steadily more awake with each passing heartbeat, Gwyn tried desperately to reclaim that blissfully ignorant blackness of unconsciousness--but to no avail. As the dogs attack Beniroc's eyes shot up again and he deftly jumped to the side to let the dogs bang into the railing of the porch.
Ah yes, two birds with one stone. The moment the hounds are engaged with Beniroc, Craig took advantage of the attack to swoop down in an attempt to grasp the poor barmaid and bring her to the air. Not only would the dogs bang into the railing they would quite possibly damage it extensively, though this didn't seem to faze them very much as they slowly turned and began to slowly move towards Beniroc, almost as if they were attempting to help Craig... the work of the shadowmancer, or are the dogs that damn sentient?
Her awareness of the situation is exposed when she throws her arms up around Beniroc's neck as he leaps to the side. She twists her upper body so that she might bury his face against his collarbone, knees curling into his ribcage. Beniroc lost his grip on Gwyn as she's hefted from his arms. He looked to Craig, swallowing slightly. He then looked back to the dogs that come near and his body changes quickly into that of a wolf. He backs away from the dogs, his hackles rising along his back, a growl coming from his lips.
However, Craig's strength is too much. Just as Gwyn's about to get a secure grip on Beniroc, she's yanked away with a yelp. The dogs seemed to almost chuckle at the wolf before them, they'd make mince meat of that thing within minutes. They would continue their slow forward progression seemingly growing more aggressive with each passing moment.
Just what made each of these men think that they had some sort of claim on the barmaid escaped her. The one with whom she was best acquainted was Craig, and that wasn't saying much. Well, the fact of the matter is that she had asked him for this subconsciously, and Craig was thus performing on it. Of course, as the woman is pulled away from danger, Craig simply floats the few feet to the roof and sits upon it, still clutching the barmaid to him and watching below.
Beniroc watched the dogs as they continued to come forward. He wasn't about to run away from them, but he wasn't going to try and fight them either. He continues to back away, further from them. ~Beasts... I think there's a problem here.~
The dogs didn't seem to care much about anything he attempted to communicate as they continued forward that deathly chill forever it would seem intensifying, the shadowmancer was quite possible getting ready to make an appearance. ~Gwyn...~ Beniroc began. ~Gwyn are you all right.~
It does not escape the woman that Craig's arms, not Ewan's, are the ones that have whisked her to safety. Maybe the men are taking turns? 'Ok, you save her life today. I get her tomorrow.' Still confused by what's going on, she makes the mistake of replying aloud to the voice in her head: "Fine."
"..." And rather than anything else, Craig simply lays her upon the roof disappointedly. Obviously there had been no semblance of injury other than the random bruise from having fallen to the floor, and maybe from an overly rough grip by the mastiff. Nothing for -him- to do.
Beniroc continued to keep his distance from the hounds before him, pale green eyes continuing to watch them, hackles still slightly raised should they attempt to attack him again. ~I wish no one harm here.~ His thoughts flowing to those that are about him. The tan colored mastiff would rush forward quickly but veer to the left at the last minute and would attempt to come to stand behind him. The dogs seemed more then adept at such maneuvers of battle tactics, eerie really. Beniroc growled faintly at the tactic, turning himself so he can see both of the dog at either side of him again. ~I wish no fights. I was only making sure she was safe.~
Beniroc's very own shadow would begin to bubble and boil as the mastiffs aggressiveness intensified now letting out only growls and barks. Well, this is... different. Gwyn can't recall having ever been up here. Putting pressure on her elbows brings her body up into a sitting position; a hand snags at her knee, pulling her torso forward till her stomach presses to the tops of her thighs. Her arms wrap around to hug her legs, her eyes blinking down to the scene below. Beniroc shivered at the feeling from his shadow. He stayed perfectly still for the moment.
Craig allowed a wing to curl about her back, then to her left side, perhaps shielding her from view, perhaps extending his protection spell to her. He had no intent of attacking the dogs any further- they had done nothing to him, and nothing to Gwyn beyond the initial, and therefore he had no right to harm them.
Slowly Beniroc's form returned to the six foot five tall man. He stretches himself and remains standing there, looking at the dogs at either side of him, waiting, patiently it would seem for whatever they might have in store for him. Gwyn is happy not to see any more of the scene below. Her forehead falls to rest atop her knees, her eyes close, and her voice is muffled as her lips move against the thin brown fabric of her skirt "Why'm I nae dead? "
Beniroc's shadow literally began to rise up taking on a shape very similar to that of Beniroc as the mastiff's silenced. Their master, the shadowmancer had arrived and for all purposes he was pissed, had it not been for Beniroc's interference his pets may of very well gotten Gwyn to the shadow before Craig could have managed to stop them. "You...fool..."
"Fool? For helping a woman when she's fallen?" Beniroc said as he continued to stand where he was.
Craig starts to respond out loud, but instead turns to quiet whispers as he watches the scene unfold. He doubts that broadcasting his intent to the entire world would do either of them any good.
"You interfered with my pets, and my plans, that is unforgivable" each word was spat out with a low growl as Hyne's shadowy form flickered and began to move toward Beniroc slowly along with the mastiffs.
The inevitable follows. "But why?" Gwyn's head lift, now, eyes squinting a little in the fading brightness of early evening as she looks up to Craig, dwarfed by his stature.
Beniroc continued to watch the mastiffs at either side of him as the shadowmancer stands in his own shadow. "What a shame, that I should take it upon myself to make sure she is all right. I know none of you and if you want her so badly, then why not go after the one that has her instead of the likes of me?"
Craig's busy hands began to work, not upon Gwyn, but upon the air, obviously readying a volley of spells... just in case. Hyne Randall's hand drew back as it shifted to resemble a very thin whip, with a single movement it flew forward in an attempt to whip Beniroc across the face "Silence worm!" The mastiffs growled from their throats as the moved in closer.
"I think this is highly an uneven fight as well if that it your intent at the moment. Three against one? For what purpose? To teach me not to mess with you?" Beniroc stands there, the whip hitting his face, causing a thin line of blood to come forth, dark red with a faint glittering quality to it.
Heh. Beniroc does have a good point. Whatever Craig says makes her fall silent; she curls her fingers around her knees, hugging them tightly to her bodice as she watches the creature begin its spell casting. The occasional growl or yelp from below keeps her heartbeat unhealthily rapid.
"Teach you? If your lucky I will kill you quickly" again the whip was drawn back and sent forward this time it grew bigger as it went and aimed to whip him in the chest. Of course, who is to say the shadowmancer, Hyne, and the dark beast, Craig, are not working in tandem? Who is to say that the dark one had not been lying all along, and there is a professional courtesy between like beings, and Craig was only preserving Gwyn so that the hounds could attack without regard for avoiding injury upon her?
Beniroc closed his eyes and growled slightly as the whip hit his chest and sliced through his clothing, exposing the well toned chest underneath it. "I have no problems with you, sir, but if you continue, I might be forced to use some force. But I do not like the odds." Hyne chuckled slightly and then vanished, his hounds going with him. As Hyne and his hounds vanished, Beniroc fell to the ground, gasping and hanging his head.
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"I believe there is something that everyone must learn. That there are things out there far scarier than that, that lurks on the streets at night. There are things that reside within our minds. Are you ready to see them?" --Alazandra Moore "The Night Speaks"
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