Overtaken

"Shh." he whispered

Will finger pressed on her lips. Looking slightly left, the sound of the horse had started to trail off. The severity of the situation had become apparent, if it had not already. His hands went back to his axed-glaive.

"Yes. This was the place. Now, I need to ask you...what kind of voices did you hear?"
 
She brushed off her blush as she focused on their conversation. "I haven't heard much. Just whispers around from some of the people in town. About two people trying to conquer cities and lands. Destroying cities. It bothers me, just as much as it bothers some others. But it appears that most have not heard about this and are oblivious. I was hoping that maybe you might have some information or confirmation," she whispered, studying him to gauge his reactions.
 
An aura of reluctance had swarmed around him. Vivianne seemed trustworthy enough, but perhaps a little too curious.

"A follow of Shelyn came into the chapel, a fortnight ago. She came baring terrible news. The news she bore was that could put all of Vanderark in dangers. Unfortunately...all of what you said is true. All of it. Colkirk has already fallen. The woodelves were ran out of Clearwater Forest. What's worse is that the army is massing at pass of Mt. Union. The army intends to invade.."

He had to stop himself. Will was sweating terribly. The thought of losing everything scared the holy out of him. Slowly, a pale look appeared on his face.

"...with the next few days. It is why the city has massed many guards and mercenaries. If we fall, this shadow-like army....may consume us all. That is all I can tell you."

Many clops of hoof started to get closer to them.
 
Vivianne looked to the side, blinking away tears. Her fears confirmed, she was frightened. She loved her way of life, and the idea that it may be gone soon terrified her. "Th-thank you for your honesty," she whispered. "It was as I feared. I tried to ignore them,but -" she shook her head.

She took another glance around. "What is that I hear getting closer? Or is it just me being paranoid?"
 
Will could see that her emotions were welling up. He felt bad, but there was no use hiding the truth. This city was in potential danger. Thankfully, the king seemed to be in tune. Forces have been massed. Vanderark was very well fortified. His hand found her shoulder and squeezed it.

"Don't worry, Vivianne. Vanderark will be defended to the last soldier. There are a lot of soldiers. Things will be taken care of."

He stopped to listen. The clops had stopped just near them. Will slid down the wall to the corner. There was a bunch of mercenaries huddled around a carriage. Coins clanked as small sacks were tossed out of the opening. The hand tossing looked sickly in the moonlight.
 
Vivianne quickly hid, as she watched the exchange. The negative feeling kept growing. Watching the money being tossed out was almost a bad omen in her mind.

She tried to scoot closer without being seen, going against her normal nature. She just wanted to run, but she knew it would be best if she could hear the discussion.
 
"You will receive the rest...when the deed is done. Now off with you." a scratchy voice declared.

The carriage started to roll in their general direction. Thinking quickly, Will grabbed Vivianne's hand and went into a dark corner. He held it tight, as the wheels rolled by. Much to his dismay, it stopped. Those two ugly hands gripped the door frame. An index finger pointed right at them. A strange wind started to blow. It was now obvious that they were found out.

"We should leave, go to the chapel. I will meet you there." he whispered.

The mercenaries crept into the alleyway. William started a low whisper and fog started to appear.

"Go." He said, letting go of her hand.
 
Vivanne listened and ran. Ran as fast as she could to the Chapel. She knew that if she had stayed behind, it might not have helped in the least, but she could not help but she kept looking back. If it looked like he needed her, she would have turned back in an instant.

'Why is this going on?' she thought. 'Those hands...they are not hands of a right person. And he's paying the mercenaries...' She stopped. She didn't feel right. She looked back to see if Will was okay.
 
A fireball blazed, from the carriage. It cut through the fog like a knife. Crashing into the wall, the fire cleared the air. No one was there, but the mercs. A shadow flashed in front of Vivianne. It was Will running, on top of a roof.

"I said GO!" he called out.

Just then arrows started to fly past him. The mercenaries had crossbows. The fancy carriage made off like a bandit. As quick as he could, the jr cleric dashed from roof to roof. A merc seen Vivi and took aim at her.
 
She let out a quick scream upon seeing the fireball. Seeing Will she started to run, unaware that she had been targeted. She quickly headed towards the chapel, praying to reach it in good condition. "What was THAT?" She asked no one in particular.

Her cloak's hood had fallen at the beginning of the run, but she did not care. All she was thinking about her and Will's safety.

((If he follows her and shoots she will be hit....))
 
The merc pulled the trigger. Nothing fired. He examined it until it randomly fired into his own face. Will leapt off a roof and through a window. By the time the rest of them realized Vivi existed she was out of range for their crossbows.

Horns sounded. They were a obnoxious bass, in tone. It sounded like it was outside the walls. Will looked out to see what had happened. Seeing just outside the wall....They were here.

"No..." he sighed out.

There was no time to lose. Will had to get to the chapel.
 
Vivianne stopped and looked towards the wall. She could not see anything, but looked up to see Will's face. It must not be a good sign. She covered her ears and continued to ran. She had lost all sense of direction at this point, but continually checked above her to follow Will.
"What's going on?" She called out, knowing there was a good chance he could not hear her.

There were more people coming out of their homes to find out what that loud noise was, and she was having to dodge more people on the street.
 
Will burst out of another window. There were cuts all over his arms and legs. Thankfully, his weapon blocked most of the shards from reaching his face. A few more buildings and they could keep the chapel. He just seen Vivi, within the crowd. Will heard her yell something, but he was too far up to hear. Sliding down a ladder, Will met her in front of the doors.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.
 
Vivianne was breathing hard. "Yes." she managed. "I am. Fine." She stood straight her, question still on her mind. "What did. You see? What. Is going. On."

She then calmed herself down to form sentences. "That man did something odd. He shot FIREBALLS at us. That's magic. He used magic against us. I have a terrible feeling Will, and I think we are about to experience something that has never happened before." She then remembered her parents. "My parents, what if something happens to them?"
 
Magic Kingdom Castle Night.JPG

More horns sounded off. The Vanderark guard had amassed at the north wall. Apparently, the info was off by a few days. The battle was here, and it was about to bust open. People were starting to panic and leave Vanderark, altogether.

Her bombardment of question caught him off guard. Will was glad they were okay, for now. Ideas and thoughts were forming. Quickly, the young man knew what to do.

"Get you parents and bring them here. I have to speak to the priestess. We--"

"CHARGE!" someone cried out

The battle had begun...

"They will be okay, I promise."

Will squeezed her hand before running into the church.

 
Vivianne did not give herself time to think and rushed to get home. She had to fight through the crowds to try to reach her home and pray her parents were there. What she found was her parents home FILLED with people. People pushing and fighting trying to get in. She didn't understand but fought her way through to try to find her parents.

She finally made her way through and saw that everyone was trying to talk to her mom. "Mom, what's going on?" Vivianne asked, again out of breath.

"Everyone is trying to leave sweetie. And they need food for the road. We are doing fantastically financially," her mom said with a smile.

"Mom! We have to go, NOW. Where's dad?"

"Making a fresh batch. Now honey, don't rush too much, we need to make sure they all have food..."

Seriously? Vivianne wondered about her parent's prorities. "There is someone trying to help us. He said to bring you and dad to the chapel-"

"Well, why didn't you say so? We've been giving the bread out for free for a bit now, I guess this will be our last batch. Go tell your father to get ready."

Vivianne could not help but smile. No matter what, her mom was always calm.

Gathering her mom and dad (and they handed out almost the last of the bread, save a few for them and for some possible people in the chapel) they finally left their home, rushing to meet Will.
 
Chaos had began to ensue. The sounds scratch and clank of steel could be heard all the way to the castle. Catapults were now being fired. A little late, for some generals. This army seemed to have a leader drunk at the wheel. Nevertheless, flaming rocks pelted the city. Thankfully, the guard seemed to hold up. The invaders had yet to penetrate the wall. People either tried to escape or rallied people to escape with.

Will stared at the battle. He was mortified. For all his confidence and bravado, he had never had a real fight before. The though of running his glaive through another man....or beast...froze him up. Could he really do it?

None of it mattered. His task was to escort who he could out of the city. The priestess had promoted him on the spot. Will was now a true Cleric of Shelyn. Maybe magic would propel him to success.

Not knowing what else to do, he stood out front of the church. Gathering citizens, a party was quickly formed to escape Vanderark.
 
Vivianne noticed the growing crowd as the panic was definitely there. She was getting pushed from side to side, from people trying to find others or just reacting to what was going on around them. Vivianne got separated from her parents, but she knew they could handle themselves here. She tried to search for Will.

She gave a sigh of relief when she found him and tried to make her way through to him. "So, what is the plan?" She asked, nearly being knocked down.
 
Will looked happy to see her. Though he did see that she was alone.

"Where are your parents? Are they coming?" he asked.

His concern was glued to his face. Surely, she would want to make sure they were safe.
 
Vivianne nodded."Yes, they are here. She tried to look above heads and found them. She smiled when she noticed what they were doing: they were handing out bread to others to calm some of the people down. "Do you see that couple that is passing out pastries? That's my parents."

She looked at Will. "You didn't think I'd just leave them do you? I had to drag them away from the bakery, they were giving those trying to flee food for their journey, and wanted to do the same here."