Murder, Murder [c]

[Trinity]

Trinity smiled when Sonya gave her a quick kiss, giving her some good luck before heading off, leaving Trinity to go in her own direction as well to do her part of this operation. She made her way forth into the town as well. As she did, she noticed that she wasn't drawing much attention to herself. This was a relief, she could easily look for the information she desired and get out of dodge when the deed was done. Eventually, Trinity found herself wandering into the local inn, as instructed by Sonya, and she began to ask around. The Crimson Witch tried to ask anybody in the inn if they had seen anyone fitting the description of those men she had imprinted into her mind from the sketches Sonya told her. Hopefully she could get the answers she sought from the inn. If not, Trinity would have to leave the inn and go off from instinct, hopefully trying to trail them off. The entire time, Trinity tried her best to seem casual and friendly, hoping not to arouse suspicion and hoping not to elicit a reaction from anyone who had somehow recognized her and acted "appropriately."

[Sonya]

The innkeeper would be closed-lipped about anyone who may or may not be staying there, as would be expected of anyone running such a business. Other patrons around the end would say a bit more though. A few would recognize one man, the younger of the two, but not know anything other than that he had been in town or staying at the inn. A couple more would mention seeing him with an entourage who seemed Plegian, although their manner of dress would be the only evidence they could give to that. Only one would give them the same kind of information that Sonya's scout had acquired: that he and his escort were venturing out towards the Longfort every day that they had been there. He would also say that they had not yet come back today, but that they didn't seem to be going home yet. None would be able to identify which room they were staying in or anything to that effect, though. Fortunately, if anyone recognized Trinity, they kept their mouth shut, and most people found the group she was asking after a lot more suspicious than she was.

Meanwhile, Sonya was having a little less luck on her end. She was able to see all the way to the Longfort just fine, but none of the moving figures she could make out in between seemed to be human. Small animals, large animals, snow falling off a tree, sure, but no humans. It was only as the sun started to sink low enough that details were harder to see that she spotted them, standing out only as dark spots against the white. Six in all, with one clearly leading the other five, slowly making their way back towards the town.

"Perfect," Sonya whispered. Then, idly, she added "If I'm going to be doing this kind of thing more often, maybe I should take up combat archery too. I have used a bow for hunting occasionally..."

[Trinity]

Trinity was, at first, unsurprised of the innkeeper's unwillingness to share - after all, the fellow ran a business. They were pretty much obligated to leave that information confidential unless the person asking personally knew them, which Trinity did not. Other patrons ended up being more cooperative, and Trinity eventually discovered that they really had been staying here, though they were currently not present. It was not until Trinity found one fellow who shared the information she was seeking. The younger man and his company seemed to go out to the Longfort every day since they had arrived here. Apparently, they were not back yet but they weren't exactly leaving yet either. Flipside is, nobody knew which room they were in. No skin off of Trinity's back, though. And the best part is, it seemed nobody seemed to question who Trinity was. Either they were afraid of her, or they believed Trinity could do something about that group of people. She secretly hoped it was the latter.

Thanking the person for their info, Trinity left the vicinity and right as the sun began to sink into the horizon, her sharp-eye looked to the distance and saw some figures. She couldn't identify them to be the marks she was looking for, but she figured that if it was almost dark, the only people returning would be looking to rest, so logically speaking, it was probably them. A smile curled up along Trinity's lips as she quickly made a break for the place where Sonya would be waiting. Of course, while she was fast, her feet made no noise - as quiet as a thief in the night, Trinity distinguished herself from her fellow mages by being unusually dextrous, fortified by years of being hunted down by authorities back home in Plegia.

Hopefully, Sonya would be able to see Trinity coming.

[Sonya]

Sonya took another glance towards the horizon. Judging by the sun's position, they would have...at most twenty minutes of light left, before it got too dark to see beyond the light of the town. She'd have to move now. Hopefully, Trinity would be able to catch up. She climbed down the wall of the building again, as quickly as she could manage without slipping or making two more noise, then ran for the exit to the town. She caught sight of Trinity as soon as she reached the main street. "Come on, we don't have much time," she said. "Hope you're ready for a fight."

With that, she gestured for Trinity to follow, then sprinted down the street and out of town. The road quickly faded into a dirt path, with occasional patches of ice making it dangerous for any careless travelers. For Sonya, it was yet one more reason why they would have to finish quickly. At this rate, their targets would definitely see them coming. But that was fine. Sonya wasn't aiming for stealth here, not anymore. All she needed was to make sure there were no survivors. Even if some of them were archers or mages, she was confident that she could close the distance between them before they could get a shot off.

[Trinity]

Trinity made her way along the path but was soon able to catch sight of Sonya as she reached the main street. The sun was going down and it was only a matter of time before it got too dark to see anything productive beyond the immediate vicinity. Sonya then gestured for Trinity to follow her, sprinting down the street and out of town. Blinking, Trinity made a dash in pursuit of Sonya as well. Though she was wearing clothing that wasn't conducive to running, she was able to reasonably keep up with Sonya, managing to see patches of ice that would make it so careless folks would pretty much slip over. But Trinity was able to keep a vigilant eye for such accident-prone things and was able to eventually catch up to Sonya.

"Well... I suppose we're going to run in with the proverbial weapons a-blazing, I suppose? Going to be running with the 'leave no stones unturned' approach?" Trinity asked Sonya, wondering what kind of sorcery she would have to unload on the folks they were about to deal with.

[Sonya]

"Pretty much," Sonya said, only taking a quick glance back at Trinity as she joined her. "We don't have any daylight left, and they could leave tomorrow, that doesn't leave much time to ask questions first."

Fortunately, Sonya was able to avoid the ice patches with ease as well, stepping over most of them and weaving around the rest. She heard their targets shout to each other in an obvious Plegian accent as she approached, and one raised his bow and began to draw on her. Sonya pulled a small knife from her waist as he did, tossing it straight at the archer's head. It missed by a couple feet, but that was expected. Sonya hadn't aimed All Sonya needed was to distract him with it long enough to close the distance before he could shoot, and that was exactly what had happened. The next thing he knew, she was too close to effectively draw on her and instead tried to strike wildly with the bow itself. Sonya ducked, drawing and stabbing at the archer's gut, then slashing, then stabbing again. Finally, she pulled her blade away with one more cut and turned to find her target's other guards already on her. She dodged away from one but was forced to block the other directly.

"Well, isn't this a surprise. After last time, I would have expected you to crawl into a hole somewhere and die, Sonya."

"Nice to see you too, Reinir," Sonya said, pushing away from her attacker. That was just perfect. She had indeed run into the right group of Plegians, and it was even one of the ones she wanted to kill the most at the head. The only problem is, by crippling the archer first so that she could easily close in, she was now outnumbered. Now would be the perfect time for Trinity to join in.

---

Notes:
Enemies:
Reinir - Assassin
Reinir's guards:
-Mercenary
-War Cleric
-Archer (badly injured)
-Dark Mage
-Thief

[Trinity]

Looks like they were spotted too when Sonya rushed at their targets. Trinity tried to catch up but the other lady was too fast for her. Trinity wouldn't have minded being killed by someone so skilled after all. Regardless, Sonya ended up distracting a distant archer with a throwing knife, causing him to hesitate for a moment which gave Sonya the opening to charge in and badly injure him. More enemies came to the archer's aid, trying to swarm her and overwhelm her with numbers. The big bad seemed to address Sonya directly, and Trinity's dear loved responded in kind. Trinity trembled with anger as she barely heard the man insulting Sonya. She dashed in but still keeping a reasonable distance between herself and the Plegian enemies. Silently, her eyes began to glow a demonic red as she brought out a tome and began to chant quietly to herself. The tome seemed to vibrate in her hands as she glared at the War Cleric, who she had deemed as the biggest threat being a healer who could also defend herself and her allies with that axe. Now she let a dark ball of miasma materialize before her, and it released tendrils that sunk into the ground, then rose up below the feet of the War Cleric, binding her in place and letting the ends sink into her legs. Some rose up to sink into her arms and restrain her. One even struck at her ear. Trinity had called upon dark ruin to rid them of their mortal coil.

Finally, Trinity spoke. "Time for you to meet your worst nightmare."

[Sonya]

Right on time, Trinity caught up and unleashed a ruinous, wasting dark spell on the War Cleric. No amount of resistance to magic could save her as it bound her and struck at weak points on her body. Resistance to pain trained over years of being under Velia's ruthless leadership was all that kept her from screaming, but the sudden sound and purple light of the dark magic was still enough to divert the Mercenary's attention long enough for Sonya to react. She reached over top of both of their blades to grab his wrist, then slipped her own weapon under his arm and brought it back up right at his neck. Using it as leverage, Sonya dropped him to the ground and cut his throat as she pulled away. Just in time too, as she immediately had to move out of the way of a blast of dark magic.

Joy upon joys, they had a Dark Mage too.

"Keep them busy," Sonya said, making a break for Reinir. "Now would be a good time for some of your art." She approached the assassin with an unrelenting onslaught of cuts and thrusts, but he managed to avoid and parry most of them, receiving only minor injuries at best from the ones that got through. Finally, he parried one more of Sonya's thrusts and grabbed her wrist.

"And you hired a serial killer too? Funny, the old you would have hated the competition. I guess you've gotten soft after Aria's death after all." Sonya managed to snap her wrist out of Reinir's grasp before he could get a more solid grip, but he still managed to react fast enough to cut at her, forcing her onto the defensive. Or did you bring her here as a sacrifice? I can't blame you, no one would miss a murderer!"

"I'd tell your flunkies to relay that to Velia when I send you back in a bag, but none of them are leaving here," Sonya said, her almost cheery demeanor masking her anger. In truth, she was having trouble keeping herself under control. But she had to, especially since she could tell something was wrong. If her memory served, Reinir was talkative, sure, but only when he was certain he had the upper hand.

The fact that the last of his guards seemed content to hang back and watch hadn't escaped her notice either.

---

Notes:
Enemies:
Reinir - Assassin (Engaging Sonya)
Reinir's guards:
-Mercenary (bleeding out)
-War Cleric (bound and in lots of pain)
-Archer (badly injured)
-Dark Mage
-Thief

[Trinity]

Trinity shuddered now from anger. "Shut up! All of you! I'm here of my own accord! Get the hell out of here!" her voice quivered as her eyes continued to glow that unholy, devilish red, indicating that the Fell blood in her was boiling from her inner rage. She looked at the Dark Mage who tried to attack Sonya. "I'll start with this spurious wannabe here! Die!" Trinity yelled as she turned the pages of her tome and chanted, again the ever-so-familiar ball of miasma emerged before her. But instead of sinking into the ground, rays of dark energy suddenly shot out of the ball and weaved about in the air, suddenly plunging themselves into the Dark Mage. The target's energy was slowly being sapped away by the vampiric blast of dark energy (Nosferatu, as it were). Meanwhile, Trinity had also spotted a thief from a ways away. After the dark magic spell Trinity had used had done its work, she grabbed a stone from by her feet and threw it directly at the thief's head. It didn't connect with his face but the sharp edges of the stone cut into his cheek as it flew past him, serving as a distraction. "Sonya, love, remain focused! He's going to use your anger against you! Channel it into a fierce offense instead!" Trinity called out, her own expression had warped into something utterly terrifying, yet she was able to talk to Sonya so calmly.

She must have truly loved her to be able to do that.

[Sonya]

Hoooly shit, Trinity was pissed. Sonya knew she had to control herself or she'd get sloppy, but seeing her dearest erupt with pure rage was a sight to behold. She supposed she'd just have to let Trinity be angry for her, at least for the moment. She kept up her dance with Reinir, avoiding and parrying attacks as necessary while he did the same. She was faster, by quite a bit, but he had several more years of experience on her, and it showed in his swordwork. What he lacked in speed, he made up for in sheer skill and efficiency. Just overwhelming him with a flurry of attacks wouldn't be enough. She'd have to actually outmaneuver him.

"A killer always goes where there is potential prey. Your willingness just makes you all the easier to turn into a sacrifice," Reinir said, paying only brief glances to the enraged witch as he continued to defend and counter against Sonya. "If you survive this battle, she'll just keep you to use later. You'll die so she can live, just like the last two who wanted to be with her." The moment he had a second to do so, he signaled to the war cleric.

The war cleric struggled against the wasting bonds of Trinity's magic, breaking free to an extent where she could use her staff. She focused on trying to heal the downed archer (the mercenary was already a lost cause), but this left her wide open. The dark mage, meanwhile, continued firing volleys of dark magic at Trinity, powering through her magic on sheer force of will. And the thief? Well, he certainly got grazed by the rock, but he paid it almost no notice.

Meanwhile, as if a switch had been flipped, Sonya's offense suddenly became much more aggressive. It still had the same control and speed as before, but each attack became more ferocious, forcing Reinir to dodge more and block much more sparingly. "That's rich, coming from one of that bitch's goons," she said coldly. "Just how many people have you abandoned or cut off over the years? Myself included?"

---

Notes:
Enemies:
Reinir - Assassin (Engaging Sonya)
Reinir's guards:
-Mercenary (bleeding out)
-War Cleric (in lots of pain) (healing Archer and vulnerable)
-Archer (badly injured) (being healed)
-Dark Mage (Engaging Trinity)
-Thief

[Trinity]

The assassin Sonya was currently fighting had somehow managed to spout some nonsense to Trinity - he must have been very experienced himself to be able to continue this tirade. Shuddering, Trinity hissed. "She has already spared me once! I'll gladly die for her!" Trinity yelled out, overwhelmed by anger and emotion and her love for Sonya, making her say thing she would normally never say. Regardless, she realized the war cleric had finally managed to release herself from the darkness, and the dark mage had managed to fight back. However, Trinity didn't bother to evade the dark balls of magic being shot at her. She stood still and let them fly right at her. Some missed their mark, others had directly hit her, and eventually Trinity began to shed blood - some was dripping from the corner of her mouth, other small cuts had emerged too. It was a searing pain, but Trinity was far from rational now. An incredible killing sense emerged from the Crimson Witch as she wiped the blood from her mouth and licked her lips. Her entire form began to glow red as she let the loss of blood begin to get to her head.

Flipping through the pages of her tome furiously she began to chant even as the Dark Mage continued to attack. "Perish!" Trinity yelled out as tendrils emerged from her being now, lashing out uncontrollably in a frenzy, striking at the dark mage who had been attacking her. The tendrils fashioned themselves into ruinous spears that dug right into the target. And yet some tendrils had made their way to the distracted War Cleric, striking her as well while she tried her best to attend to the fallen archer. "No more fancy moves! Only death for you!"

[Sonya]

"So that's how it is. You really have gone soft. And here I thought I was just spouting shit!" Reinir laughed. He did a fantastic job of staying on guard while doing so too, but he wasn't able to stay as focused as he was before. And in that, Sonya saw her opportunity. She made a show of cutting at what most people would perceive as a blind side in Reinir's current state. Just as she expected, he moved to parry the attack, prompting Sonya to bounce her sword straight off his sword, bringing it to the side of his head in a quick whipping motion. There, she managed to get a quick cut across the side of his neck, not nearly deep enough to be fatal, but it opened him up to a flurry as Sonya followed up on him.

Reinir knew he was defeated. He had opened himself up too much, overestimating how much Sonya had changed since the last time he had seen her. Her response, "Not really," delivered in that cold, dismissive tone he had come to know before she ran away proved that in his eyes. But that sort of thing was why he had backup. A healer, and one other. But the healer had already been occupied with healing the archer, only to be lanced by the Witch's dark magic once more. And as he looked towards the thief, he simply continued to watch.

Finally, however, the thief spoke. "Cover and run. Leave the dead."

The dark mage, nodding, shook off what of Trinity's dark magic he could, although it was clear that he was severely injured. He fired a blast of dark magic straight at the ground, creating an eerie purple cloud.

"Oh, damn it, no," Sonya said, running through the cloud at the dark mage. The dark mage turned to run after firing off the last spell, but fell to the ground almost immediately. It seemed that he had only managed to power through Trinity's magic long enough to launch his distraction. Stopping abruptly, Sonya trampled right over him before skidding to a stop on a frozen patch of earth. Meanwhile, the War Cleric finally succumbed to Trinity's magic and collapsed as well.

---

Enemies:
Reinir - Assassin (down)
Reinir's Guards:
-Mercenary (dying)
-War Cleric (dying)
-Dark Mage (dying)
-Archer (badly injured)
-Thief ()

[Trinity]

The arrogance of Sonya's opponent seemed to be his undoing, as Sonya was able to take advantage of the opening and strike him down. Though, he was still breathing. Trinity meanwhile had started to feel dark tendrils poke out from her hands and arms, she had stopped her rampage for now, but her magic had gone somewhat out of control. It was very obvious to anybody still conscious how much of that tainted blood Trinity had in her. She glared as the thief she threw a rock at earlier seemed to just stand and watch. Then, he commanded those still alive to get the hell out of dodge. This was not a part of the plan. But Trinity could not move. She was still trembling. Shuddering. Still, too much anger. She looked down at the fallen assassin, she looked next at Sonya. Her voice quivering. "Sonya. You need to chase after him. I... I will catch up to you. I need... Need to take care of this." Trinity said, her voice still trembling with rage, her grip on the tome she was holding weakening as dark matter still seeped from her fingertips, almost as if magic was leaking from the very force she was tapping from.

"Too angry. Dangerous to stay. Go. Go! We can't let anyone out of here... here, alive!" Trinity shivered.

[Sonya]

"Way ahead of you," Sonya said. Whatever was happening to Trinity, it was clearly very dangerous to stay near her. She took one last, cold, look at Reinir, now lying on the ground and staring wide-eyed at the spot where the thief once stood, and...shit. The pieces fell into place as Sonya turned on the spot and made a break through the dissipating cloud of darkness after the thief. It was already too dark to see far ahead. She'd already lost sight if him. But there were patches of snow off the path not too far ahead, and he'd been in too much of a hurry to avoid leaving prints. The moment she spotted them, Sonya followed.

"Damn it, Trinity, don't you dare get killed by your own power," Sonya muttered. Truth be told, she had no idea what would happen. All she could do was trust Trinity. She'd done the same for Sonya, after all.

Sonya continued to follow the prints, in and out of patches of snow, growing father apart and longer as her quarry took running leaps, until finally she came to a solid patch of ice. She slid almost uncontrollably across it, stopping only as part of it gave way, dropping her feet back into snow underneath. She turned and looked around frantically, but there were no more prints that she could see. Even moving around precariously on the ice for a few minutes, all she could find were the prints leading away from the scene of the battle. The ice patch must have been too wide, and the area too dark. They'd lost the last of their daylight while they were fighting, and now they were paying the price.

"Shit. Shit shit shit. Get the hell out here, you damned eel. You can't...already be gone..."

[Trinity]

Trinity could only force herself to walk towards the fallen assassin after Sonya had left. The way she trembled and quivered as she walked - she was not afraid. No, she was mad. Angered. Pissed. Irate. Vicious. Beyond all belief. So, this was one of the men of that so-called 'bitch' Sonya was talking about. Looked like a rat. Seemed like one too now that he was down. Trinity looked down on him by the time she was able to stand close to him. Dark magic was now seeping from pretty much her entire form. She was so mad, she was unable to control her power now. She kneeled down to get a closer look at Reinir's face. Scowling, the unholy red glow in her eyes intensified. She was salivating. From the opportunity to erase this filth from the face of the land. For her one love.

"I don't claim to know you as intimately as my dearest love who's gone to chase after your man. But I do know this," she said, glaring at him with a terror that perhaps could remind one of... certain dark times in the past. "You need to die. No, not just die. You need to be eradicated. I will make sure that no trace of you remains on this soil, except the ragged clothes you wear on your back. Or perhaps your bones, to serve as a reminder to those who have the audacity to cross me or her. Got any last words to say?" she hissed, as she forcefully grabbed Reinir's arms.

The dark magic she was wielding began to suddenly lunge into the fallen assassin. Rending him asunder from the inside. Dark tendrils rushed out from every pore in Trinity's body, invading the man in ways that no one should ever be allowed to witness. Piercing through his eyes. His ears. His everywhere. Trinity screamed. She screamed in rage. There was no more being stylish. Only releasing the rage she held at realizing who Sonya's enemy was.

Disgusting rats who didn't deserve a stylish death.

Only the most excruciating and painful one.

The execution continued but for mere moments as Trinity finally unleashed a last, thick, spear-like tendril directly into the assassin's heart, whose body by now had been turned black from the sheer excess of dark magic forced into his system. There was no way he was going to survive the sheer ruin and miasma that just entered his body. By the time it was over, Trinity was panting. She looked at her hands. Stained with dried blood. She was riddled with cuts and bruises. What remained of Reinir was impossible to discern by now, except the clothes he wore. She looked ahead and remembered she had to chase after Sonya.

She felt weak and tired, but she pushed herself to go forward. "Sonya, I'm coming. Please be safe." she whispered to herself as she tried to run in pursuit, but ended more like limping.