Anarchy Rising Book 2: A Hunted Wasteland

Prayer

As Vino unleashed his attack on Ember and Faust, the winds would be met by Prayer's spinning blades, 3 blades each, spinning before Ember and Faust, to block the wind-based attacks. the six other blades would come at him from in from and behind him. "If we're running, I suggest we do it now" Prayer suggested to the two, as Faust moved to where ember was. "We'd be faster if I carried you two" He would offer. Should they accept, he would quickly grab both and rush off, while the blades distracted Vino.

Jasmine

The vampire almost exploded again, despite the meditation and her normal uncaring personality. This weird woman was rubbing her the wrong way... extremely so. Jasmine may have not realized it herself, but it was most likely because the lycan had a similarly condescending attitude towards her and Zhi that the vampire usually applied when she was forced to interact with others not on her own terms. She held back long enough for the lycan to have a short exchange with the god since she was pondering another suspicious thing about this newcomer - how did the woman know their names?

Unfortunately, she did not get the time to think it through. An eerily familiar noise overpowered all other sounds in the palace - a sound of explosives. She felt like she heard it somewhere before. But not even this thought was destined to be finished; the new girl took charge and set off to the source of the commotion, benevolently (at least in Jasmine's eyes) waving at them to come along. And she knew Zhi was a monk too; this woman knew an awful lot... and even her abilities seemed similar to Jasmine's own. The vampire stomped out of the palace without a word, only venting her frustration once they were outside. "Who does she think she is?! Who even put her in charge?!" she exclaimed, addressing her speech to no one in particular, though Zhi would be the implied listener. After she got that out, she lowered the volume a bit and added: "Besides, ahe seems awfully knowledgeable for someone who just got here..." It might appear that she dis not care about the attack at the fiefdom in the slightest, but the vampire was on guard.  Several of her butterflies would have already flown ahead, scouting the area around the gate. Should anyone attempt to destroy them, they would be met with a cloud of teargas and a small explosion.

Zack, Ember, Faust, Prayer, Vino, Ladd,
Revs blinked a few times, knowing exactly who had just shown up, the Fairy Queen’s personal wetwork man and assassin extraordinaire. Not even the Vatican archives had a lot of information on him, but he did show up from time to time in lore dating back centuries. And one thing was apparent, when you pissed off the fairy queen he was currently employed with to enough of a level to warrant serious interest… well there were reasons most those stories weren’t actually recorded. He was high Fey nobility which meant magic and a lot of it, and judging by how natural those two blades looked in his hands deadly on all fronts.
“The vampire will put his hands in his pockets and leave or I will sever his ‘claws’ as the knuckles.” There was a certain eeriness to the bored tone. And not in the confident self-aggrandizing heavy handed way most super natural heavy hitters sounded bored while confronting mortals, but rather it was the certainty. He was bored as he knew the outcome already, if Rev’s didn’t accept the invitation that blade was probably going through his throat, and if the vampire didn’t put his claws down he would lose them. It was like. “That is your sole warning vampire, I wont destroy you but leave you impotent to pursue your bloodlust, you choose.”
Revs had already floated the guns back into their holsters and sheathed his own twin blades. “So then, Lady Titania?”

Mathew’s and Winters’ fight had moved beyond vicious as they both lashed out at each other with pure and utter loathing. Mathew rolled under a blast of flame and came up swords leading as he exposed himself for a killing blow,m winters countered by taking a blade to the arm but lashing out with an open palmed strike to Mathews face that sent him spinning to the side with a nasty burn across his cheek. Mathew spinning to keep his balance as his leg swept Winters’ feet out from under him. Winter’s landed without breaking his fall grabbing Mathews leg and setting the material on fire.
The blows rained down on both of them, the blade on one of Mathew’s swords now melted, however he struck Winters’ in the face with it as an improvised brass knuckle. Blood was running freely from both of them as they snarled back and forth like a pair of wolves, unwilling to concede territory to the other.

There was a hiss in the air and then a thud, the arrow seeming to almost grow out of Vino’s throat. A lyrical yet stern voice rang out. “Unenchanted, next one dusts you vampire.” A dozen or so hooded and cloaked figures seemed to appear all around the combatants, moving with a level of grace that no human would be able to achieve. Bows where drawn back trained on the vampire. “These exorcists are guests of Her Majesty the Lady Titania, and as such are under the protection of our hospitality. You are excused. Exorcists you are to stand still until the vampire has left, in which case you will be escorted back to her Majesty’s court. An attempt to fell will be considered a rebuke of our hospitality and most rude.”

Chryse, Rover, Carlos, Selena, Ray
The strange mousy women smiled happily “Nope the stupid one got it, it’s in the presidio, however it is in the territory of the Witch of Thorns. Gasp!!! Your going to the Witch of Thorns? Not even the other faeries enter her territory. Why would you go there? It was the stupid one’s idea wasn’t it?” she finished pointing an accusatory finger at Carlos and shaking it rather vigorously.

Chrys

The kids listened to Selene's explanation with brightened expressions; it seemed they had a decent lead for once. Carlos was obviously itching to get out of there already, but they would stay for the additional information that Selene asked about. The bespectacled woman was talking without a care in the world - or so it seemed. She mentioned the Witch of Thorns, but before Chrys could even begin to feel shocked by the revelation, Ray tugged her by the arm towards Carlos. Automatically, she opened her mind to him and reached out to his spirit, which was telepathically shouting at her: "Get him out of here!" Not wasting time to think about it, she jumped towards the male lycan in unison with Ray. It was practically in the same moment the librarian pointed him out as stupid. The kids would each grab one of his arms and start pulling him to the exit, Chrys talking to the woman loudly:"Yes thank you for your help, we'll be on our way now."

Once they hopefully got out of the building without Carlos shooting anyone, Ray would quickly address Rover: "Come on, do your magic and get us somewhere else!" prompting him to do as he offered and use his dust to put some distance between Carlos and the library. "That way," added Chrys, pointing in the direction of the Presidio.

Once they were on the way, the situation would hopefully calm down enough to discuss the new problem - the Witch. Both Chrys and Ray would fall silent and hang their heads; this was an unprecedented obstacle. Despite the hopelessness of the situation, Chrys would not give up on the rescue mission however. That could be easily recognised in the determined line of her pressed together lips, glint in her eye, and the closed fists.

Zack

The "aura of strenght" that was coming from the Fae commander was enticing to say the least as Zack was imagining what kind of sound his flesh would made upon being sliced. Despite having a "grade A meal" in front of him, Zack lowered his claws around the same time Rev also gave up on fighting, the reason not being fear but rather satisfaction. One of the few "humane" traits he possed was the ability to "save a meal for latter", this was reserved however for those he considered would be "extra delicious" upon death. Zack's "cullinary skills" didn't stop just at being a "gourment", he was also a "chef", often slaugthering family's right in front of a childs eye in order to break and twist them, instill them with hatred in order to seek him out for revenge in the future. After "preapering" the meal, he would let them "cook" on their own, if they died along the way before managing to find him, just meaning that they simply werent tasty enough.

Vino

His fun with the the trio was interupted by the fae army but he could only laugh at the turn of events.
"Yes, this is how it should be, a timely rescue from a third party in order for a more interesting future, it wouldn't be interesting otherwise." Vino commented while covering the wound on his neck with his hand as he left quietly, passing by the trio giving them a friendly "untill next time" smile, as if they were some sort of best friends. It wasn't certain which of these pyshopaths outlook on life was crazyer but it was certain Vino's was creepier due to its bipolarity.

Vino would just leave the humans alone and observe the fight between Winters and Matt before meeting up with the others.

Faust

With the arrival of the faes and Vino's departure, Faust collapsed to his knees breathing heavily while returning to his normal form, it was clear that power of his had taken quite a toll on his stamina.

"Thank you for the timely intervention, we will of course acompany you to pay our respects to her majesty" Faust spoke in between breaths, already back in fraud mode. While he didn't exactly like the situation of being "escorted" to the fae queen, it sure was better then being left behind with the psychopats.

Zhi

Dionysus praised Jasmine and Zhi as his reason for sending them out to deal with these weirdos, so Zhi wasn't sure if the god was just trying to "manipulate" them or that's just how his personality was, afterall he didn't really need to try and trick them, he could of just told them to do it or leave his domain.

Suddenly what sounded like explosions started going of and zhi was able to witness something quite strange, dionysus mood turning sour with a face that would make one believe he was the god of war, not pleasure.

The strange woman which possessed knowledge she shouldn't normally have, very likely from an uncoventional source, as he was sure they had never met before, offered to help with the mess. The power she possessed, or rather he copmanion by the looks of it, reminded him of Jasmine's power, who speaking of which seemed to be in a foul moode.

"Save it for the intruders. So that's an interesting ability your friend has, can that liquid thing take more then just the shape of things?" Zhi spoked to both Jasmine and Rho while walking with them towards the location of the explosions.

Carlos

The kids idea of quickly grabbing and dragging the male lycan away was the right one as the vein of his forehead was visibly twitching for having to put up with this nonsense for so long. Obviously, the removal wouldn't go as smooth as they would hope, as he spouted obscenity after obsecenity, though by now they should of been used to it. In the short time that the two children traveled with Carlos they heard more then an entire village of children hear trought their childhood combined. Meanwhile Selena just giggle at the comical situation in which Carlos found himself again.

Rover

Following everyone out while laughing at the situation, Rover would gather his dust into a platform on the ground, which would then rise at the edges to form a sort of "railing", which, once everyone was on, would lift off the ground, and begin moving rapidly towards the direction Chrys directed him to fly it. "Witch? Witches are bad. Very bad." He threw out slightly in a daze, before returning to his usual self.

Prayer

With the sudden arrival of the fae, whom neutralized all hostilities between them and Vino, Prayer re-called his blades back to their bracelet form, and the dark shadow of Exodia that was around him dissipated, his hair turning back to it's blond color. "Thank you for aiding us. I will gladly accompany you to her majesty. Though I do not know what she may want with us.", Prayer said, while taking a bow out of courtesy. He was also obviously exhausted, but tried his best not to let that show for now.

Jasmine

The mis-matched group of defenders emerged into an inferno. Just as they walked out, a napalm bomb landed close by and incinerated a good chunk of the landscape along with a few guards. Jasmine caught a glimpse of a woman with the launcher and shouted over the noise of gunfire and explosions towards Zhi and Rho: "These are exorcist weapons! But what are those people  doing here... This place doesn't cause trouble to anyone," she spoke mostly to herself towards the end.

She looked around for some sort of cover and noticed the sniper's handiwork as one of the guards took aim at the napalm woman only to be immediately shot down. And it was a big caliber. "We need mobile cover!" she said and ducked down spreading the hard gummy dark matter on the straighter piece of ground into a shape of a rectangular shield that could be held up in front of two to three people by 2 handles, looking expectantly at Zhi. She was not that strong and would need his help to carry it; besides, while the gum should be able to bounce the projectiles back, it never hurt to have it strengthened.

Once the monk would get a hold on it, she'd turn the shield invisible so they would see where they were going and started progressing towards the napalm user. On the way, Jasmine would touch a few guards with firearms who still could fight and had her dark matter cover them in a thin film, turning the soldiers invisible as well. That would hopefully give them a fighting chance.

Zhi

The sceneary outside was one of hell, literally, flames and mangled corpses being all over the place, the strange thing however is that only their side was apparently taking damage. The napalm wielding woman being the only enemy in sight though it became quickly obvious that she had support from snipers hidden somewhere.

Jasmine erected a shiled from her dark matter which Zhi then helped carry before speaking to Rho
"Your powers, seem similar see if you can combine your powers, ill then strengthen the hole thing". Zhi spoke quickly reading a talisman which he would then place on shield (combined or not) in order to strenghten it.

For now he wouldn't suggest anything else and just observer how the invisibility and shield managed to fare

Rho
"Sniper!!!" Rho watched the direction that the bloody chunks splattered as the guards went down and determined the direction of the sniper fire. She whipped her back around to a part of a building facing opposite that direction and yelled out to Jasmine and Zhi. "Oi you two! be careful! that's a ****ing .50 caliber! It'll cut through anything less than composite main battle tank armor like tissue paper!" the Black substance within Rho's robes began crawling out and forming into the shape of a giant riot shield. As her familiar approached it began unzipping it's bag, the black substance inside crawling out and gathering onto Rho's shield shape. "Let's see, Titanium... Steel Weaves... Plastics...." She began to mumble to herself as her shield started to take shape. It began to change from it's black state, into various metals and other similar substances. The shield was extremely thick, and judging by the fact that she had to keep it laying against the wall beside her, it was too heavy for her to carry.

"Listen up gentlemen!" Rho yelled out to the guards, "If you value your lives and your home, lend me your ear! The enemy is laying down support fire with a sniper in the distance! keep your heads low! If you can manage to fight back WHILE doing that, focus all your efforts on the mortar troops! You're no good to anyone as a pile of fresh jerky!" Rho's butterflies drifted through the sky above watching for muzzle flashes and scope glint in the distance. "Jasmine!" Rho's familiar crouched down to reduce it's height and hoisted up the large shield, "Those butterflies of yours have that acrid smell! they do more than scout don't they!? if we can pinpoint the location of the snipers, can you give those ****ers a nasty surprise!? If we can knock out the support fire for a moment we can make mincemeat of their footsoldiers!"

Rho ducked in between the familiar and the shield as it hoisted the shield up. she pressed her back against it and began to move with the familiar as it walked slowly towards Jasmine and Zhi, the shield facing in the direction of the incoming sniper fire. "Jasmine, I know I might be pissing you off with all of these requests, but can you combine your defense with ours!? As Zhi said, it would give us both better survival odds! If you can cover us from the air and mitigate the damage from the mortars we can handle the sniper fire!" Rho was able to lower her voice as she drew nearer to the two, "the mortars appear to be mainly incendiary, and based on the size of their launchers the explosive force should be manageable if we all work together, even with a direct hit. In any case we should advance on their mortar soldiers ASAP or this place going to burn to the ground."

Zack and Revs
Revs weapons were stashed away his hands still “resting” on the hilts of his swords. The tension in the air between the three warriors was palpable, a powder get that could ignite into a blast of violent destruction at the slightest spark. All three appeared at ease but their muscles were lose and taught behind the calm facades.
The sound of maniacal laughter and explosions could be heard nearby “If you will excuse me, I need to go grab my squad and then we can leave to go meet with her majesty.” The Dark Fairy gave a nod of his head.
After Revs casually stepped off the roof of the building the Dark Fairy took a step to the side of Zack, the two apex predators nearly shoulder to shoulder. “I am going to say this once vampire, the only reason you still have your hands is by the grace of my Lady Titania, If it was up to me, that blade I threatened you with would have been through your dead heart heart.

Faust, Ember and Prayer
The Fae squadron glared at the baby vampire as he sauntered off. “Undead are so boring its always blood blood blood with them.” Sighed the one that had spoken earlier. “Where is Our Lord Assasasin” He said with a brush of sarcasm and a tinge of distaste his voice already sounding bored.
“He is finishing up with the exorcist and the Vampyre.” Said one of the fae as he flicked an arrow into his quiver.
“Her majesty should have let us clean this up without his involvement. Anyway if the madam and sirs will please wait against that wall for the portal to be open it would be most appreciated.

Mathew and Winters
The blows were raining in as both of Mathew’s blades had been melted down to the hilt and cast aside replace by a pair of curved knives, burn marks marring his face and his scorched clothing. Blood ran freely from dozens of cuts across his arms and legs, and a blade protruded from one of his forearms. However if he felt any of it was impossible to tell by the shrieking laughter that accompanied every successful blow of his red hot hands he landed upon Mathew. The two where toe to toe, both sides unwilling to back down as they snarled insults back and forth.
By this point it looked like the only outcome was both of them dying until suddenly they were blasted away from one another. Both rolling across the broken asphalt of the street coming up in defenses crouches as Rev’s landed where they had been standing.
“Need you big brother to come and save you again Mathew?” Winter’s cackled
“Your losing blood and despite being a homicidal lunatic you’re going to slow down from it pretty soon winters.” Revs said his guns flaring out to his side. “Looks like your new friends have left you as well, time for you to join the graveyard of corpses you helped build.” The guns cocked back and where quickly met with a powerful sprout of flame which caused Rev’s to hastily through up a shield and hide his face from the heat in the heavy cloak. When he managed to look back the ropes were already slithering away to the sound of Winter’s trailing laughter and parting shot.
“How’s Gabriel?”

Revs Mathew Faust Ember Prayer
Revs and Mathew gave each other a look as Revs helped his brother to stand, the adrenalin which had kept him going quickly fading. The pair limped over to the other’s lined up against the wall. “Are you ready to go?”

Chryse, Carlos, Rover, Ray, Selena
The group floated over the ruined city, the buildings a patchwork of shattered remains, proud structures which had withstood the violence and even some signs of repair as parts of the city had settled under the control of the various barons.
The foreboding hit them like a wall when they hit the borders of the witches domain. A large old growth forest had seemingly sprouted up out of nowhere in the last six months. The leaves were dark and what could be seen of the limbs was twisted dark bark with a canopy so thick it was impossible to look in from above.
The forest just radiated darkness and even the feint light of the overcast morning seemed to be swallowed up in it, never to escape. And the small group immediately felt uneasy, the hair on the back of necks standing up in a primal warning that something was wrong.

Jasmine

As they emerged into the fray, it became apparent that Rho had some fighting experience, since she seemed eager to take command. At this point,  Jasmine didn't even mind much. Once they were out of the greek god's domain, her head cleared completely and she returned to her normal self. If the woman wanted to take responsibility for the whole hassle, Jasmine was not going to stop her. She wouldn't even be there at all if it wasn't for the hope that she could catch a break there. In any case, she certainly didn't want to go to more trouble than absolutely necessary.

While she went ahead with her own preparations, Rho did the same, constructing a more conventional,  sturdy shield, asking the vampire girl if she could pick out the sniper from the air. Unfortunately, it was not going to be so simple. "Sorry, but they are just constructs. No sentience of their own. I can gas the sniper out, but first I have to see them myself. I could make it a carpet attack though..." She lifted her top hat and released the remaining tease. The toxic butterflies spread out in the general direction from where the support fire seemed to be coming and started releasing tear gas. If nothing else, the colourful smoke should at least screen them for a while and allow the trio to close in on the bomb woman. When the lycan joined her and Zhi, Jasmine touched Rho's shield, covering it with a film of dark matter and turned it invisible, same as the soldiers before. As soon as the trio could see again, she'd be looking out for other napalm projectiles, intending to use her own elastic shield to bounce them back or at least away from their side by extending it above the defence Rho provided (think a 'roof' above the riot shield).

Chrys

During the trip to the Presidio, it seemed no one felt like talking about their next destination, apart from a somewhat goofy remark on Rover's part about witches being bad. While a more thoughtful person than Chrys might have found the remark itself rather interesting, considering it came from someone who didn't even have a name a few hours ago, they all knew the witch was  bad news without having to be reminded. The rumours circulating about the place were ominous, but not more than the actual forest, once it appeared before their eyes.

Chrys took a deep breath and looked at the others. "Well, this is it. I'm going in no matter what, though I can't make the rest of you follow me. So it's up to you. If you decide to leave now, then know that I am thankful for your company until now," she spoke to the rest of the group. Her voice was clear and determined to begin with, and became even more so when Ray got up and stood at her side as soon as she first mentioned the possibility of not going with her. His quiet support was always very reassuring for Chrys.

The girl would wait for the answer of the rest and then, if no one suggested a different plan, she would simply walk up to the forest and step in between the trees, doing her best to suppres the ominous feeling it gave her. Unconsciously, she transformed into her hybrid form as she did, her senses and reflexes sharpening as a result. Ray would be right at her heels, the crossbow with iron bolts ready at hand.

Zack

"Don't worry about it, you should "feel it" as well, our paths will cross again. " Zack spoke to the Fae swordsman beside him, sounding more like Vino then himself. Zack didn't believe in fate or such crap, but he trusted his instincts which told him that eventually they would meet again, it was the logical conclusion afterall, the only ones who wouldn't run in his presence were those of equal/higher insanity or strength, requirements not met by many.

Zack had his hands hanging by the side of his body while he stared right up at the sky with a calm and serene look as he spoke again.
"The "smell" of death has vanished from this place, apparently it's over". Another cryptic saying from Zack as the sounds of combat ceased all over the place, with one glance back towards the swordsman, as if scanning him before the vampire left to meet up with the rest of the psycho gang.

Carlos and Selena

"Wonder if she could of made this place look even more creepy" Carlos spoke upon first witnessing the forest while Selena just tensed up moving right next to Carlos out of instinct, the male lycan apparently not noticing or not minding it.

Upon hearing Chrys's speech, Carlos could only laugh
"As if, how would it look if i let a couple of kids walk into the creepy forest by themselfs while i ran away."
"He has a point, what kind of person would let children go there alone."
The older lycan's both agreeing to accompany Chrys and Ray, was it out of duty, pride or just a passing whim would remain unknown buried underneath their joking remarks.

"Carlos you should transform to, our feline eyes will help us considerably inside" Selena told Carlos trying to appeal to his reason but his stern look told her it was pointless, she would remain in human form as well for now.
"We're still better of then Ray even in human form, plus i can use sound to guide myself, pinpointing enemy shooters with the help of sound is just basic for anyone who even thinks of calling a gunslinger" Carlos motivated logically as to not appear like a spoiled brat taht just didn't want to do something.

"Also we should look around for something to build a few torches with, but don't light them, chances are that using light in that dark place will announce our presence to anything with eyes in that forest. But just in case we should have them, we could use them as a distraction if worst comes to pass. Anyway, Dusty, can you leave a trail of dust behind us as we proceed, not really keen on getting lost in there?" Carlos told the others his plan, actually coming up with a plan first instead of going in gun's blazing as usual, showing that he was taking this atleast a little bit seriously. Regardless if Rover left behind the trail Selena and Carlos would leave markings on both the trees and the ground in order to be able to find their way back and not get lost in what looked like a maze of trees

Rho
Rho quickly took charge of the situation. Even though she had not been there long, Rho held a few key values in common with Dionysus if he was true to his mythology, and she felt passionate about those values. She knew the difference between the two of them was the pragmatism she possessed, devoid of honor and pride. She knew Dionysus would not be so pleasant in the face of such aggression as she would be. Rho folded her arms and looked at the cold humanoid woman with an odd mix of distaste and amusement.

She spoke loud and with a sense of confidence that one would expect of a war hardened officer, but also with the sly tongue that one would expect of an amused spectator. "Well I see the kitty cat likes to make her presence known? Can't have these poor bastards thinking you **** around huh? She chuckles for a moment but quickly sobers up. "Well I'd hate to get more of their asses shot. My Job's nearly done. I'm just here to play good samaritan so...  you've already gone and ransacked the place, and killed the party... what is it that you want exactly?"

Rover

Once they got to the forest, Rover put their make-shift ride back down on the ground. He had been quiet for most of the trip after the whole witches part. He listened quietly as everyone finished talking, then, the thing they rode dispersed into the air, after which he then finally burst out "Of course I'm going too!" with a big goofy grin on his face. He would leave a dust trail just is case, as Carlos suggested, but added "This place feels a little familiar.... except darker. I feel the dust trail probably won't help....." again sounded strangely out of character, before going back to normal a moment later.

Jasmine

Their shields held up, though it was uncomfortably hot. On a less lucky note, they didn't get a chance to deflect the mortar fire. Considering they were a unit of four people plus a heavy shield, it was no wonder that their manoeuvrability wasn't of the best.

Moreover, as Jasmine watched her butterflies with one eye, she noticed the suction pulling them off course. Well, that couldn't be helped with such light contraptions, but the one who was manipulating them was possibly in for a surprise; the butterflies would explode upon contact with the fire. While one of them would only cause a not very extensive one, there was a dozen of them. Should the wind manipulator or the snipers be in mid-distance or less from the tease, they would surely be affected.

Unfortunately, before anything more could be achieved, the enemy multiplied, while it seemed they were better equipped than Dionysus's forces too. The small squad didn't get an opportunity to devise a new plan, either. A female 'exorcist' emerged with the new troops and asked to parlay. The lycan was quick to respond, so Jasmine just kept quiet for now and kept an eye out for suspicious movement. While she refrained from any outright precautions that could be taken as an attack, she still had a few tricks up her sleeve. And she was ready to use them if necessary.

Jack
"Some people fight for the stupidest things..." The Lycan approached the road he had been suggested to approach. The Ghoul had made him curious himself about what was there. At any rate, there was nothing wrong with getting more knowledge as to what was really going on in the city. The Lycan began searching for anything valuable but wasn't exactly sure of where he was supposed to be looking. "So what's the deal with those shadows spooky-man? I came out here to find out."

Zhi

Their improvised defense had apparently held but before any realy progress could be made enemy troops appeared along with their representitive who apparently had some sort of void/wind power. The fact that she asked for a representative to try negotiating was quite comical as she took the phrase "shoot first ask questions later" to litteral it seemed, regardless Rho quickly steped up to speak on behalf of the ancient gods side.

Zhi wasn't sure borderline provocation was actually the best course of action in this case, but he wouldn't really interefere, he was more interested in looking around and deciding if it would be better to push forward and attack now they had shown themselfs or retreat back behind the walls and regroup, well if things turned sour again, which he fully expected to thanks to their initial hostility and Dyonisus mood earlier.

"Press forward and attack, or fall back and regroup behind the walls once this thing goes south again?" Zhi asked jasmine, basically whispering to her as not let anyone easedrop.

Rho
I don't know a Gregory Summer, I'd tell you you could search for him, but that's really not a call for me to make, and I won't lie to you girly, I don't think you're going to get permission from Dionysus. As Rho talks, her familiar hooks a dead body with it's scythe, opens it's bag and drops the body inside before zipping it back up. But let me see if i can help you out, for what reason are you looking for this Gregory? do you just want him dead? or is there something more to this? Perhaps I can deal with this matter internally for you, but staying here much longer id wager to be a bad idea on account of Dionysus.

Jasmine

"Press forward... we don't want them to figure out a counter to our abilities," the vampire whispered back, listening to the exchange between the exorcist woman and Rho. She considered the lycan's offer reasonable, though her tone less so. On the other hand, she seriously doubted Dionysus would go along with the exchange without problems. And if they fell back to inform him, it would lead exactly to what Jasmine wanted to avoid - giving the enemy time to devise a plan against them. "Hey! I think only one of us should go back. The rest needs to keep an eye on them," she hissed so that both Zhi and Rho could hear her. That implied Rho as the one who should go, since she offered it to the other side in the first place, but Jasmine was open to suggestions. She at least wanted to keep the position they gained by their charge earlier.

Zhi

"Good point" Zhi whispered back to Jasmine as he kept on listening to the exchange of words which seemed to get even more ridiculous with each passing moment, sure there was some logic behind it but a very flawed one, there was no point in getting someone to talk if you had already turned him into a determined enemy by that point, even though they had apparently taken all that into account they seemed to forget about the possibility of stubborn refusal out of spite.  

The fate of mr Summers wasn't really a concern of Zhi but it did brought to light some interesting concepts, extradation treaties, something one might originally think belonged only in the modern civilized world, though that was false as criminals of one country fled across borders since ancient times, the only difference was that starting a war over every dam criminal in the modern era would of been just to costly.

Zhi would finally offer some input by suggesting they send some random grunt to deliver the message instead of Rho, argumenting that the "ambassador" herself didn't need to bother with such trivial tasks. Zhi was expecting the negotiations to fail, he was actually willing to bet on it so when things turned bad he would rather have someone who's only usefulness was that of meatshield missing, then someone with such a versatile power as Rho.

The dark wood
The small group of lycans, the dust wizard and Ray crossed the threshold of the forest. The wood seemed to be in perpetual night, the sun blocked out by the thick canopy of twisted trees. The “old growth” of vegetation curled its way around the knarled trunks as thorny vines seemed to choke the life out of everything. Dead leaves and thick brown rose bushes covered the forest floor, not a single blossom in sight.
Normally even in the most still and tranquil forests there is still noise. The rustle of the wind through the brush, an animal scurrying through a patch of leaves, the soft trickle of a creek bed or drip of water off the leaves. But this forest was silent, completely and utterly silent. Even the steady shallow breathing and the heartbeats of the group seemed to thunder through the thick maze of trees like the banging of drums and the howling of wild dogs. And the crunch of leaves under their feet seemed to echo through the still air.
And the forest truly was a maze, the trees stacked unnaturally close to one another, their trunks twisted and disjointed making it difficult to see in the almost non-existent light even for the animal eyes of the lycans.
“Not particularly welcoming is it.” The voice was soft and not particularly interested as it carried on the air melodically. However in the silent forest it was practically yelling for all practical purposes. The speaker was slender, and wrapped in fine dark grey and navy blue clothes. His head wrapped in a scarf which only exposed his gray eyes and the ash gray skin of his upper face as he casually sat on a gnarled branch. “Cemetery is that way?” He said pointing behind himself.”