Diomede was struck by Panagiot. One after another, each strike was like a lightning bolt both in speed and power. Diomede's groans and sounds of pain were the thunder that followed. The knights holding Diomede against the wall, though weren't hit could feel the power of each punch vibrate through Diomede into their arms. Clayton stood behind Panagiot in attention and held the large book Panagiot brought up from the storage. With each strike, he felt in his core. Though it was a smaller feeling, Clayton couldn't help but be reminded of the gultonk stomping through town. Francisco sat with his back against the wall of his cell and prayed silently to his god of poetry for this moment to pass. Panagiot stopped, took a step back, and removed his massive helmet. Revealing a face covered in scars, so much so it was a wonder how his face still held form. He had three scars along his cheek, one reaching from ear to ear almost perfectly straight. And what looked to be a deep circular scar on his right cheek. Panagiot had no hair, no beard, no eyebrows, not even the thin hairs one has on their face. Clayton noticed a small scar poking out from Panagiot's breastplate, it reached just the tip of his neck. Clayton refocused when Panagiot's voice burst out. "I have struck you enough to cause internal bleeding, broken ribs, ruptured organs." Panagiot let out a sigh, " And you still draw breath." Then one of the knights holding Diomede against the wall grabbed Diomede's braided hair and lifted his face. The light from the torches revealed barely any damage, only what Francisco had conjured. Panagiot took a step back and pulled his massive arm behind himself to strike Diomede again. Before he could unleash another massive blow, a bell rang. Footsteps stomped overhead and a knight burst through the door calling for Panagiot. "Sir the village is under attack!" Clayton began rushing toward the knight. "What has happened!" He called out, " Who is attacking the village?" Before the knight could answer Panagiot called out walking up the aisle of cells and placing his helmet on his head. "Is it a Boarkar raid?" The knight stood upright and replied, " No Sir its the dead, the dead have begun attacking the villager!" Clayton's eyes widened and he ran upstairs almost knocking the knight over. Panagiot let out a decompressing sigh. Before the elite could make his way up the other two knights called out from Diomede's cell. "What should we do with the prisoner sir?" As Panagiot walked upstairs at a leisurely pace he replied, " Kill him and the other one, follow undead protocols." Francisco stood to his feet with worry in his heart. The two knights both shouted, "YES SIR" and turned to Diomede. Diomede sat on the floor with his back against the wall and groaned. "Let's beat him some more before we kill him, just to get our blood flowing before dealing with whatever is happening up there." One knight said through his grinning teeth. "Fine but hurry, if there are dead up there then we need to hurry and start burning the bodies." The other knight stated as he drew his sword. Diomede was pulled up by his collar and pushed against the wall. The knight's teeth could be seen through his helmet even in the dim light of the torches. Diomede raised his head revealing his eyes. " You can drop it now." Diomede said, looking past the knight over to Francisco's cell. Francisco snapped his fingers, and as he did Diomede's face began to reform to normal. Both knights felt a cold wave wash over them. The aura in the cells had changed. The knight let go of Diomede. Diomede stood up and his shadow began to grow behind him. "If you could be so kind as to kill the torches, Francisco." Francisco's sense ran wild, he could feel in his bones these knights weren't making it out alive. He twirled his finger closed his eyes and quickly covered his ears. All the torches were snuffed out with a gust of wind. The knights held their swords out in front of themselves. "What's happening?! Where is the bastard?!" The knights reached out and locked arms with each other and stood side by side. Their armor began to raddle. " What do we do?" One knight pushed out, with his words drenched in fear. "We find the way out and regroup, I don't know what he is doing but it must be a spell!" "We are Knights of Umar and have faced all of her enemies, this feeling isn't our own making!" The knight began to move along the cells, feeling out in the dark as they moved. "The spell was the one that made the lights go out." Diomede said from the dark. " And that feeling you two feel is called fear. I know too well what sort of training you have gone through to overcome such emotions as fear." Diomede said. " But this kind of fear isn't something you can ignore or truly overcome." Diomede's footsteps echoed as he continued speaking. "This fear is one that your body tells you. The kind that lets you know you are going to die." One of the Knights stopped, "Look!" He shouted. A pair of orange circles the size of grapes could be seen floating in the dark. "What is that?" The Knight asked. "I don-" The knight's sentence stopped and a gurgling sound filled the air of the cells. The other knight felt something pull his fellow knight deep into the dark. A loud thud from the end of the aisle of cells boomed out. "What are you?" The Knight asked as he felt the pressure of something big standing in front of him. "Plain and simple? I am a monster." Diomede replied. The sounds of gurgling and gasps filled the dark air. Francisco held his eyes shut, for he could see in the dark but still wished to deny himself of the sight of what befell the knights. The gurgling stopped and a thud replaced it. "Francisco, you can look now." Diomede said. Francisco opened his eyes and saw the aftermath of what conspired before him. The throat of the knight lay on the floor, the one at the end of the aisle was missing his jaw. It sat between the cell bars. Diomede squatted over the knight, wiping his hands with the knight's cloak. " What belongings are you missing, Francisco?" Diomede asked as he turned to him. Francisco covered his nose to block the smell of blood that took hold of the air, "Only my bag they took from me." He replied. Diomede nodded, " We will grab that on our way out, right now I need your services." Francisco, confused, snapped his head to Diomede who was looking directly into Francisco's big eyes. " My services?" " What could I do for someone like you?" Diomede replied in the Nesfundur languages. " A Boarkar princess is here and I have given her my word that I would help her find the one she seeks." Shock overtook Francisco, "A Boarkar princess? And this far north and in the Umar kingdom?" He thought to himself. He turned to Diomede, " You can clearly handle yourself, what do you need from me?" Diomede turned to the exit, "I need you to help me make sure she finds Orcsha, it would be easier if you could help hide her from the locals and after this night, I am going to need that kind of help even more so." Francisco walked behind Diomede, " I see, and what would I gain in return?" Diomede stopped. " Can't help just because you are good at heart?" Francisco chuckled slightly, " I am but, what you ask is a tall request and I only wish for a worthy compensation for my efforts AND the dangers that await us." Diomede was reminded of a friend of a past life. "Fine, on top of some financial payment, You may write the tale of our travels and I shall give you some of my many stories along the way, Deal?" Diomede turned and extended his arm. Francisco's eyes widened at the thought of such a story, and though he didn't know this human or whatever this man was, who was also able to speak his language, took down two knights of Umar and was more than willing to take not just a Boarkar but a Boarkar princess at that. The thought of being the one to tell such a tale filled Francisco with glee and excitement. "Deal" Francisco grabbed Diomede's arm firmly. "But I also want to know at the very least, what you are.." Diomede's face fell and he sucked in air loudly. Francisco felt the air change. "Fine." Diomede replied and let go of Francisco's arm, he turned and walked to the stairs. Francisco hurried behind him. " So what's the plan?" Francisco asked directly into Diomede's ear. Diomede pushed Francisco back and replied. "First, we find where they are holding the princess, then fight our way out." Francisco let out a small "Ah". Diomede pulled back the door and slowly let the light bleed into the stairway. Diomede peered out and saw what knights were inside the office running around and out the front entrance. "OH I ALMOST FORGOT" yelled Francisco. Diomede snatched Francisco by the snout with a tight grip. Francisco hadn't felt such strength since his father when he was a young one. "Please keep it down, we are the enemy here." Diomede whispered and let go of Francisco's snout. Francisco adjusted his snout and ran his tongue over his teeth. "Understood, but I just remembered that my bell is still on the part of my tail that the brutes cut off. Diomede rolled his eyes and turned to the door. "Do you truly need that?" Diomede asked. "Yes," Francisco replied. The pair made their way out the door. "Now or never." Thought Diomede