2
De Marx grunted as he kicked the dead Keerian off of his blade with a wet thud. He had lost count of how many he had killed since the invasion. As far as he could tell the city was a complete loss and his only priority now was to get his queen to safety where they would be able to regroup and try to call in aid from the surrounding cities so that the Keerians could be pushed back to where they came from. He had managed to gather ten of his men on the way out of the palace and had lost five of them in the small battles since then. They had managed to pick up several people attempting to flee the city as well among them Shane Harris the smith who was now carrying the unconscious queen in his arms.
De Marx looked over his shoulder at Shane and whispered, "How is she?" Shane with a grim look on his face shook his head, "Not well, she bleeds more than I would think possible, if we do not find a cleric soon, I fear she will die." The Queen had taken an arrow to the chest from a Keerian archer just after leaving the palace. At first De Marx thought she had died instantly but the gods were merciful for the time being and she breathed still. De Marx spat a curse to the Keerians and tried to think of a way to get them all safely from the city. All of the gates even the minor ones had been taken by the Keerians, and each of them had to many guards to fight their way through safely.
The port was out of the question since that is where the bulk of the invasion was staged from in the first place. How they managed to get that many ships into the harbor unnoticed was a mystery but a mystery that could be solved later. "I am open to suggestions, anyone have any idea on how to get the hell out of here?" For a long moment so one spoke, then a woman's voice came from the back of the rag tag group. "I have an idea, but you ain't gonna like it." De Marx looked at the woman. He dark hair was long and curly but worn tied back by a black leather thong with silver beads. She dressed unlike any woman he had ever seen. She wore brown leather pants that were so tight they left little to the imagination and knee high black leather boots that were soft yet sturdy. Her outfit was finished off with a black leather jerkin that fit her snuggly and left little doubt that she was a woman. The woman also carried daggers that she wore on the sides of her boots and the two in sheaths on the backs of her hand.
She had joined up with the group just an hour before when they came across her fighting off three Keerians with a dagger in each hand. Since then she had proven to be able to give as good as she could take with those daggers. The style of fighting and her choice of attire made it obvious that she was of a trade that moved outside the law but right now he could care less if she were the Black Sorceress of Alrade, if she knew a way out of here he would take it. "Speak your plan woman, I don't like our current situation much either." The woman smiled and nodded to an abandoned tavern just across from the alley in which they were hiding. "In there, behind the old bar there is a trap door cleverly hidden under some empty kegs. It leads to a tunnel that will take you pretty much anywhere you need to go in the city. But more importantly, it will take you to a cave that lets out in grove of trees about two miles south of the city gates." De Marx narrowed his eyes, "And why wouldn't I like such an accessible escape route?" The woman grinned, "Cause for me telling you that, you owe me your protection. The guild would have me killed if they found out I told you about it, no matter the circumstances." De Marx allowed a grim sigh to escape him as he shrugged. "Very well, but you are a thief no longer, the first time you steal so much as a copper I will feed you to your guild master my self. What's your name woman?" The woman nodded agreement and said, "I'm Jenn Zoll but your guards know my name only as "The Wraith."
At the mention of The Wraith, several of the guards tightened the grip on their blades but De Marx motioned for them to do nothing. "Ok Jenn, lead the way." he motioned for Jenn to take the lead and moved aside to let her pass. She quickly led them across the street into the old tavern and inside. The whole time they were moving De Marx was thinking to him self, "Great, I just gave my word to protect the most notorious assassin the realm. How the hell do I get myself into these things."