"Who is that?"
"What is that?"
Kestle suppressed a sigh and stepped forward. He should've known he'd have to take on the role of spokesman for the trio. For all that Keinen had called him tactless, it was the elementalist who usually ended up offending people with his sharp tongue. Though Kestle had to assume that was often on purpose.
They'd docked sucessfully in Cantha. Siale hadn't even gotten seasick on the voyage, and thus hadn't ripped Keinen's head off for dragging her along. Being a couple days behind Mhenlo and his group they hadn't been surprised when the Dockmaster informed them their friends had gone ahead. Mhenlo and the others were supposed to have waited for them in Bukdek Byway. Which was where Kestle, Keinen and Siale were then standing, looking at a lone person who was decidedly not Mhenlo or anyone else they knew.
The man was tall, towering over Siale and edging out over Keinen and Kestle even. His black hair was pulled into a high tail and fanned upwards, giving him the illusion of even greater height. His clothing was loose, in places it was simply wrapped cloth, and all dyed in rich, dark shades of blue and purple. Black tattoos twined across his deeply tanned skin, covering nearly every inch of him. They spread from his feet to his fingertips, even up his neck, though they stopped short of his face. Colorful beads, bits of polished bone, feathers and coins hung from his belt or were sewn into his clothing. Kestle could only imagine the rattling all the oddments would make as the man walked. Despite his very odd appearance, the truly strange thing about the man was the way he seemed to track their movements as they approached, though his eyes were firmly shut.
"You all shine rather brightly." The man spoke before Kestle had a chance to ask who he was. "What deeds have you done to leave such a mark on the mists?"
"Huh?"
The man ignored Siale's eloquent question and turned his head as if looking them each over. His eyes still had not opened. Kestle fought the urge to take a wary step backwards when the man's blind regard fell on him. Keinen too held his ground, but scowled deeper than usual.
"Ah, you are Brother Mhenlo's friends." The man smiled as he came to that realization. "Then it is no wonder you glow like a torch flame." He then quickly lifted his eyelids, revealing eyes nearly as dark as his hair. He glanced over each of them again, then let his eyes rest on Kusrune sitting comfortably by the ranger's side. "Though, I did not expect you to look quite like that."
Kestle knew he at least was gaping at the strange man. "Who...are you?"
"My apologies." He said with a fluid bow. "I am Jektei, a student of Master Togo's. He asked me to wait here for brother Mhenlo, who in turn asked me to wait for you. If we hurry we can still catch them on their way to Vizunah Square."
And so they went, through the giant honey comb of a city, the blind leading the blind. Well, Kestle supposed he should amend that. It was more like the self inflicted blind leading the hopelessly lost. Keinen didn't have a sense of direction to speak of, and Siale wasn't much better, but Kestle was a tracker born and bred. It was hard for him to admit he was completely turned around, totally at a loss as to which way they were going or where they had come from. But after a few turns in the cramped city streets he had to do just that. He didn't like the feeling, and he certainly didn't like the city. He'd thought Ascalon City and Rin were amazing before the Charr had burned them, but Keineng was something else altogether. The cities of Ascalon seemed like little more than modest towns beside the sprawling mass that was the capital of Cantha. The cities of Ascalon had been much more beautiful, however. Nothing grew in Keineng except mold and pest populations. Even Kusrune seemed to disapprove, hissing at any rats that scurried before him. Siale sniffed delicately and stepped around the ubiquitous puddles. Keinen seemed indifferent to the place, but he was still scowling deeper than usual.
Their guide appeared to take no notice of the filth in his surroundings, but perhaps that was because he didn't see them. Jektei had closed his eyes as soon as they started off towards wherever Mhenlo was waiting, and closed they remained. The man hadn't run into any walls yet, so Kestle figured he had to be seeing something, but didn't have a clue as to what. He kept leading them down street after street, occasionally glancing about to look at nothing.
"How do you think he's seeing things?" Siale leaned over and whispered to Kestle. He just shrugged in response.
"Through the mists." Their guide answered without turning his closed eyes from the street ahead of them. "Every action of every being leaves a mark on the mists, some brighter than others. I can see the glow of your friends and mine from here."
"Uh huh." And Kestle thought Keinen was weird. "So if this city is so huge and populous, where is everybody?"
"They cleared out of this quarter as soon as the plague started spreading. The only ones left are the Am Fah and the Jade Brotherhood. Be glad we have not seen any of them." Jektei paused a moment when the street widened into a sort of courtyard. "Heh, there was almost a cat fight here. Your friends definitely passed this way. Poor Mhenlo."
Kestle didn't see any evidence of fireballs, but had no doubt that Cynn was, if not the direct cause, at least heavily involved in said near cat fight. Suddenly he was almost glad to have come later, even if it meant being at the navigational mercy of someone who closed his eyes to see better.
As soon as they left the courtyard for another constricted street they were startled to find a body crumpled against the wall. It was badly burnt, and obviously dead. "Am Fah." Jektei said coldly. "They keep to the rooftops and drop down on any unsuspecting people below."
"Killing or stealing?" Kestle looked away from the charred body.
"Usually both. There's also rumors that they've been helping to spread the plague." Jektei still kept his eyes firmly closed. "Come on, we're getting close."
They found more Am Fah bodies lining the street, and by then sounds of battle were clearly audible. None of them had to say anything, they all knew to hurry to their friends' aid. They turned a corner into another broad courtyard, but this one was far from empty. Mhenlo and the others from Ascalon were standing in the center of the courtyard, along with several others Kestle did not know. All of them were fiercely fighting against strange monsters, abominations of flesh with too many faces and limbs. Scraps of clothing and the weapons in their mutated hands spoke of how they had once been human. If this was the result of the plague they had heard about, then Kestle thought everyone had considerably understated things.
There were only a handful of the bizarre plague creatures left, but they fought fiercely, ignoring their own injuries until the last. Still against the strength of the human defenders, they fell rather quickly. Kestle had an arrow nocked, but didn't have a chance to pick a target and loose before the last plague monster fell. The four of them and Kusrune didn't hesitate to join the others.
"Jektei!" Someone Kestle didn't know called out to their guide. When the ranger got a look at who had spoken, he couldn't decide whether to stare or face-palm. The man was heavily blindfolded. "Good of you to accept our invitation, and with friends no less!"
"Of course, professor." Jektei dipped his head in respect, though he was grinning. He still kept his eyes closed, however. "Too lovely a spot not to accept."
Just then Kestle heard a familiar chuckle. Mhenlo moved as if he was going to introduce them all, but was stopped when low growling, the clang of weapons, and an all too human scream split the air. The slapping of many running feet was swift to follow the scream.
"Now is not the time for introductions, Brother Mhenlo." Jektei was all seriousness again. His blind gaze was focused on the street where the sounds were echoing out of. "More are on the way."
Kestle immediately put himself forward of the spellcasters in the group. A glance told him Aidan and a female ranger with an eye patch were quick to do the same. Devona shouldered past them to take the foremost position. Kestle very nearly dropped his bow in surprise when he saw who was following her. It appeared to be a tengu warrior. It was clear from everyone's reaction that the fearsome avian was on their side, but Kestle had fought against enough of them back in Tyria to still be wary. He had to refocus his thoughts then, as a rush of plague creatures began to pour out into the courtyard.
Behind him a voice began chanting an incantation that was somehow familiar. In seconds a sparkling ward had wrapped around the group of casters. Kestle recognized it as a protection against melee attacks. The voice had not been Keinen's, but Kestle had no time to contemplate that. The first of the plague creatures were within range of his longbow. He crippled one with a shot in the leg, then Kusrune took it down the rest of the way. Devona and the tengu had already charged into the thick of things and were applying hammer and sword liberally. Kestle kept aiming for the plague army's spellcasters, while dodging spells and arrows from them as best he could.
"This way too!"
"And here!"
Even as the first rush of afflicted creatures began to break, new ones came from the side streets, surrounding the defenders. Kestle quickly turned to the nearest of the new waves. A familiar growl and the erupting of the ground beneath the feet of the first wave of afflicted warriors told him that Keinen was right beside him. It only slowed them, and they quickly shook off the effects of the hot ash blinding them. Kestle took one down before it reached the group, but three of the warriors were soon upon him and the geomancer. A puff of black smoke and a flashing of steel distracted both Kestle and the swiftly charging enemy. One of the three fell before the ranger could even see what had happened to him. The smoke dissipated to reveal a small man in dark clothes, outfitted with dozens of gleaming knives. He stood behind one of the warriors, ready to land an unsuspected strike, but seemed not to see the second warrior bearing down on him. Without another thought, Kestle sunk an arrow into the warrior's throat and Kusrune bore the creature to the ground. A stone missile in the face took out the other warrior. The man with the knives grinned like a wolf, then dashed off to his next victim.
Those patterns were repeated he knew not how many times. The afflicted monsters just kept coming, wave after wave. Kestle ran out of arrows after the second wave, and took the tiny breather between that and the third to gather what replacements he could from the malformed bodies. More than once he and the others had been hit straight on with a fireball, or an arrow, or a vicious hex, but every time Siale was right behind them healing any wounds as fast as they were inflicted. Kestle just hoped she was holding up better than he. He could tell even Kusrune was getting tired. But there was no time for that. All his thoughts had to focus on taking down the afflicted charging at him before he or anyone else got killed.
Finally, they seemed to stop pouring from the sidestreet. Kestle didn't question it, he simply propped himself up and tried to catch his breath. He could hear the others still fighting. The tengu's squawks were clearly audible, and several low voices were muttering incantations, either prayers or spells. But the street mouth he, Keinen and the strange wolfish man with the knives were defending was clear, at least for the moment. He took that moment to look around at the rest of the party.
Beside Mhenlo was an older man, balding, but clearly energetic as he whipped his staff around and conjured balls of blue lightning beneath the feet of any afflicted who wandered near. Eve looked to be carrying on an animated conversation with her pet skull while sucking the life out of her enemies. Aidan was his usual steady self, Cynn had several of the creatures in flames, and Devona was enthusiastically applying her hammer. The tengu warrior had carved a swath through the afflicted, whether with his sword or his claws, Kestle was not sure. Jektei still had his eyes firmly closed and was doing some sort of weird contortion that resulted in a spray of blue lightning hitting an afflicted creature square in the face. The one eyed ranger woman was surprisingly accurate for someone without binocular vision. The blindfolded man Jektei had called professor was standing behind a veritable wall of ethereal spirits held down by misty chains. Another elementalist, clearly a geomancer, was cracking jokes between each spell he lobbed at his enemies. Another female monk with a very intricate hair-do was tending to a mesmer who looked more upset by the rips in his silk shirt than his injuries. Kestle flinched when he saw an afflicted corpse suddenly burst in a putrid explosion of diseased flesh. A woman with long dark hair, evidently another necromancer, gave a throaty cackle and exploded another body beneath the feet of a charging afflicted warrior.
Kestle couldn't do much more than stare for a while. And he thought his group was bizarre...
"You might want to go pick up some more arrows." Keinen intoned calmly. "There's more coming."
Keslte moved to do just that, then noticed his friend was wearing a truly terrifying battle grin. "You're enjoying this?!"
Keinen just grinned wider and reached down to pat Kusrune's ruff. The lizard grunted happily at the attention.
Just then the next wave of attackers began to spill into the courtyard from their street. Kestle braced himself for another battle just as the wolfish man appeared beside him in a puff of black smoke. The man gave Kestle a strange look before pulling a cloth mask over the lower half of his face.
"You mean you aren't?" He flipped his knives theatrically, and Kestle just knew he was grinning under the mask.
The man didn't wait for an answer and dashed off to meet the newest threat head on. Kestle just sighed and grimly started firing. He was sure of one thing at least, they were all, every last one of them, crazy.
