Her initial instinctive reaction to his open hand did not escape his attention and the fact that she took it despite that, reinforced his initial theory that this foreign girl was not just some commoner. A commoner wouldn't go out of her way just to investigate some peculiar new phenomena, at least most of them wouldn't. He was almost certain that she was more or less a nobility, even if her present state did not suggest it. Lots of things could be learned from a physical interaction with another person and as she took up his hand he could feel an incredible amount of self-confidence and decisiveness radiating from her fingers. Even if she wasn't a nobility, she was certainly something, he had rarely felt such total lack of fear and insane self-confidence streaming from someone else, let alone a woman! When she spoke, there was no longer even as much as a trace left in his mind as to her belonging to the higher class. Those were not the words of a servant or a worker who is used to doing someone else's bidding. No, no, no, those were the words of someone who was used to issuing orders and taking the responsibility. The words of someone who was not used to people talking up to them. He smiled as she mentioned his upbringing, he had anticipated her inquiring about that, after he made the gesture. "I will no doubt tell you all about it, Daewyn, but I'm afraid that it would be incredibly boring." well, he did't lie about that, contrary, he said the plain truth - his journey here was definitely the most exciting thing that has ever happened to him. "But I can definitely return the compliment" he grinned "and would love to hear about your upbringing." Daewyn... he had definitely heard that name before... somewhere. A beautiful name, appropriate for a noble.
Nevertheless, her words were wise and for some unknown reason he felt much better knowing they were on the same page as far as the cult goes. As he was about to agree with her plan and suggest some more details, he noticed the movement behind them, or rather sensed it, not noticed. It was not the slick and soundless movement of a wild beast or the ephemeral whisper of a spirit. It was the sloppy, uncanny movement of a man. Of several men, actually and they were all armed, their weapons hitting the earth and hurting the trees and small bushes as the men moved through the darkness. His vision was better adapted to seeing through the thick twilight created by the forest landscape and the stars above, so despite their hoods and attempts to stay in the shadows, he could recognise some of the faces that he had seen in the tavern. Daewyn was quick to deduce that too.
Laxus was not a great warrior. His father and Thorren both agreed that this was not a problem, since a king would almost never have to stand and fight toe-to-toe on the battlefield. "A King wins the battle in his tent, while planning it and his weapon is his wisdom." Astros had said and while Laxus generally agreed, in this particular moment he regretted not having spent more time with his arms teachers. Sure, he knew how to fight, but he lacked the sturdy backup of solid practice and as he was greatly outnumbered, his only ally being a feeble girl, that could be disastrous. For the first time since the start of his journey, he regretted not having taken Morrden with him. The man had sweated as much time on the sparring fields, as Laxus had spent in the library, so he would definitely be able to repel this assault. He hadn't been beset by such deadly a challenge so far, so his emotions swung from regret to fear and lastly, to panic, as he realised there was no way they could deal with the dozen men surrounding them. He though of attempting to talk their way out of this, but quickly realised this would be futile, seeing the conviction in their eyes, bordering on the edge of insanity. For part of a second, followed by great shame, he though of revealing his true identity, but quickly though that would only make their situation worse - the men would probably not kill the prince of Erathia, but what they would do to him was much worse and degrading. Regardless of his inner struggle, his expression remain unchanged, as he reached for his two daggers, one in his left boot and another one at the back, tugged in his belt, determined to fight as well as he could and get out of this alive.
Daewyn, unlike him, was unfaltering - she reached for her weapons, both quite peculiar, perhaps custom made for her. He knew she was not one to perfectly control her emotions, so her calmness somehow spread onto him. That incredibly confidence which her gentle touch had conveyed to him, now displayed itself to the fullest. There was also a hint of pleasure, as she took a fighting stance in an anticipation of the fight. Laxus promised himself, he would seriously talk to her about her identity if they both survived this. Her words reinforced this decision of his, as those words of not killing were just what he had read in the books of knighthood that he had read. It was stupid, of course, this was a kill or be killed situation and if those guys just ran away, they would come back with more reinforcement regardless of the situation. "Don't spare anyone, Daewyn. Cut the last breath from them without any hesitation - they have attacked us and whilst we've given them no reason to do so - the King's law permits it and even if it didn't, the spirit law does!" he said with steady conviction in his voice, as her calmness somehow caught on to him and he was able to think normally. "Those two holding metal blades that spread over their arms as shields and finish with dagger-like spiky extensions are Hattags. We can't beat them with our weapons, they are too heavy arms- both defensive and offensive, but their range is not too good, so try to stay away from them. That woman over there is holding an Arg - it's a very deceptive weapon, since it looks like two small swords, but they are connected by a semi-transparent metal link, if you're not careful it can cut through flesh and armour with ease, since it has been reinforced for years. It also looks like it has only a small range, but if the user is experienced, he can make the two parts together into a long-ranged double-edged spear with just one swing. Be careful, Daewyn, this weapon gives incredible amount of versatility to its user."
He couldn't explain the specifics of the third Erathian special weapon, since he had to block the attack from the first cultist - a tall man armed with a sword. Nevertheless, he did note, that all those weapons belonged to different pars of Erathia and seeing them all here meant that their users were also not all locals. There had to be some sort of a cultist gathering in Stonebridge. That's why all the men were so hostile when Daewyn spoke of the cult - they were not locals! They were all members, coming from different places in the country, gathering here for some unknown reason! He now wondered how many of the town's real occupants were actually in Stonebridge and if there weren't there, than what has happened to them? But it wasn't the proper time to dwell on this, as another attack came from the rear and he had to jump backwards in order to avoid being hit with another sword. Well ,at least his vision was better then their, he could use it to his advantage! With that thought it mind, Laxus rolled over behind a tree, moved soundlessly through some bushes and low branches and, as the men were cutting through the vegetation trying to locate him, he jumped behind one of them and before the person could reach, he stuck his dagger into her throat, as hard as he could, so that only the handle remained out. The person was a blond woman with blue eyes - she was pretty, but her mouth extended in a gruesome expression as she murmured some unknown words, before blood began to erupt from her mouth, choking her and pouring down over her clothes, mixing with the stream coming through her sliced throat. Laxus griped her long spear, a weapon he was more used to, and moved away from the blade of one of the men who had reached him.
It was his first time taking a life and his hands were shaky. He would probably never forget that woman's expression as her spirit began to depart from her body, her eyes beginning to darken and her mouth filling with blood. But it wasn't the time to regret and there was no reason to. That was the way Erathia fought, bot in wars with foreign enemies and inner oppressors - no hesitation, no remorse, no mercy. Every hit was mean to carry death and every swing carried murderous intent. That's why there were no tournaments in Erathia - it's warriors couldn't fight without really meaning the death of the opponent with every hit. That is what made its people seem so barbaric to the other states of the continent which worshipped the Light Gods. But as his momentary shaking passed, Laxus knew all too well he had done the right thing. The spirit world approved of this way of fighting it did not care for forgiveness or reconciliation - each action brought its consequences and those were inadvertent. Laxus made some distance between himself and the enemies, by making a rather long swing of the spear an that bough him tie to run further away and also look at Daewyn, who was effortlessly fighting three people at the same time, without giving them an inch of ground. As he noticed a forth man joining in and swinging a Kyggreh - a large metal weapon that looked like a battle hammer, but carried two blades on its sides, connected through small chains and spinning at tremendous speed with every swing of the main weapon, so fast they were hardly visible, all he could shout was "Daewyn, stay away from the sides!" He knew there was absolutely no way for her to even reach the user of such a weapon, it was designed to attack one person, keeping his allies away, or directly shredding through a group of tightly-stack enemies. Perhaps one of the deadliest in the Erathian military arsenal every part of this weapon, both the hammer head, its spiky handle and especially the two blades, moving at tremendous speeds on the hammer head' sides was mean to go through even the hardest of armours and could cut through visually anything, while keeping an enemy at a sword distance away. It did limit manoeuvrability. though, but with its insane range, he didn't imagine there was anything his companion could do.