Eddie
Tagus was exhausted from the long sleepless journey. He had spent two whole days without rest, from arriving at Amaryllis' pastures after a morning trot to all the physical exertions of battle and riding at a gallop's speed. The same could be said for Josephine, and perhaps she was the most tired of the young duo that was joined by the shepherdess, their guide and friend for the journey. He shut his eyes after saying goodnight to Amaryllis and let his mind wander to the dream world, where he was having a pleasant dream accompanied by the two girls. In his dream, each of them had their own horse, and they rode freely through the green hills of Northwind, down to the border with his homeland of Taemar.

But all dreams must come to an end, and his was a dreadful sight before reality woke him up. The entire city of Raunkastel was under the wild grip of fire. When the young knight looked to the side, he saw the melting faces of his friends, raw to the bone in crisp flames that made him rise in a fit of choke and cough. The entire bedroom was covered in a thick black fog that threatened to snuff the air from his lungs and replace it with a burning sensation that dried his throat and organs. A real life fire?!

It was not clear for the boy if he was the first to wake up, but it didn't stop him from rolling off the bed to the ground, where the smoke was weakest. He crawled to the bed where Josephine had laid the night before to find her reaching out to him and coughing. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled, dragging the girl from the bed and onto the wooden floor. Tagus didn't stop, for he never forgot Amaryllis on the other bed. He sprung into continued action and used tact to feel her ankle and tugged until her thighs were in his reach, then her hips.

He didn't want to talk and let more oxygen escape. Instead, Tagus tried to get the two girls to safety, putting his all on the line to prevent the dream turned nightmare to become reality. His right foot's sole met the wooden door and shattered it, only to find more smoke. What was going on?!
Frankie
"Tagus! Josephine!" Amaryllis had cried above the crackle and roar of the fire. But her voice was raw with smoke and it weakened her cries. She didn't know if they had even heard her until she felt a hand on her in the darkness, pulling her down off the bed. She blinked in the darkness and soon saw it was Tagus, much to her relief. 

She coughed again, but managed to sputter out, "Josie?" When Tagus nodded in answer, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, struck with an idea, she crawled to the dresser, where a pitcher of water stood. Quickly, she tore strips of cloth from her skirt and dunked them in the water before crawling to Tagus and Josie, gesturing for them to cover their mouth and nose with the damp cloth. It would keep some of the smoke from their lungs. She'd seen a number of barn fires in her life, and this was one of the things they used as they ran back in to get the animals.

Now they had to find a way out! She saw Tagus' foot go right through the wooden floor and her heart dropped. The fire must be below them! It was too far down to the ground from their room, so they really had no choice but to go down. They could try the back way, perhaps. With that thought in mind, she began to crawl with Tagus and Josie towards the door, slowly opening it and peering outside. The roar of the fire was louder here, but she could see no flames. Just a thick, heavy wall of smoke.
Eddie
They had to salvage something. Their weapons were back in the room and without them the journey would be hardest. Fire be damned, Tagus wasn't about to give up on his armor and Josephine's rapier. He wrapped the damp cloth around his mouth and Josephine's, pushing the girl forward to go with Amaryllis. He turned around to venture into the black room, battling the smoke with a breath of his lung strung to his throat as he dragged his equipment from under his bed and crawled away with arms and armors made easier to carry by folding and packing them all neatly. How lucky was he with the situation. Had the knight not cleaned and packed his and Josephine's equipment sunset last, when they arrived, perhaps he couldn't salvage them at present time.

Josephine grabbed the back of Amaryllis' dress. They left the bedroom into the broken hallway, with sounds of other guests and pounded wood crackling through the fringes of planks on the floor. The surface was hot, almost scorching. But there were many others coughing lungs out, if not to death itself. Josephine pitied them, but the smoke was too thick for her to act selflessly and recklessly. It was hard enough to met Tagus go for things they could replace, but hearing the heavy footsteps and the sound of plate against plate eased her spirit.

"Lets go!" The knight stated sharply, pushing Josephine forward. He intended to go down the stairs fast and use the backdoor, presumed to be in the kitchen area, behind the counter.
Frankie
Poor Amaryllis hadn't even stopped to get her dress, so she was left in nothing but the light cotton shift that she wore beneath the dress. But, better to get out with her skin and alive than to go back for a dress. She felt Josephine grab onto her and felt some comfort, as it made her more aware of where Josie was. She didn't want to lose her in the darkness all around them! She just hoped that she wasn't accidentally leading them out of the frying pan and into the flames, quite literally.

She felt more confident once she heard Tagus, and with that, she crawled forward a bit faster, carefully avoiding sections in the floorboards that looked weak. Her body was drenched in sweat from the heat of the flames, and all around her, she heard the harsh coughs of other guests. She wished she could stop to help, but right now, she, Tagus, and Josie had to worry about themselves. As she had been taught so many times: in Northwind, it was survival of the fittest. 

Soon, the reached the staircase and Amaryllis began to crawl down them, keeping her body low to the floor. The smoke seemed to be thinning, and this gave her hope. She had chosen the right escape route! The thinning smoke gave her more encouragement and made her crawl faster, blindly down through the darkness towards freedom.
Eddie
It didn't only hurt Josephine to leave the other guests behind. Tagus was also remorseful for not being able to go back, but the more they lingered, the more it felt like their escape could be sealed and they'd be trapped in the smoke and the fire leeching wooden structure from below. It was because of that rise to survive and continue with a charge more important than anyone else's that the knight pressed on, following behind Josephine and Amaryllis with the equipment behind him falling on each stair. A loud thud managed to pronounce itself above the snap and crack of wood as it easily became fuel for the fire turning wilder on the inn.

But what happened for something like this to happen? It was a tragedy in the making, with the loss of life and a roof over the man that owned the tavern. Like always, Tagus' knightly duty skewered his mind with paranoia. Yet they traveled to such a friendly place, who could wish them harm?

Josephine had no such thoughts. She was more concerned about going down the stairs without tripping in the bellowing dark, for if she did, she'd fall onto her friend. The noble paced her steps with Amaryllis' for the sake of nothing wrong happening. Not that the whole place didn't smell of wrong. It reeked of a hell she wouldn't soon erase from her mind, not after hearing the screams of those engulfed by the flames, coarse and fleeting in energy. It was a painful and horrible way to die.

"Is that the door?!" The noble girl questioned, peering at a glimpse of light in front of them.
Frankie
Amaryllis gazed at it for a moment, debating. She paused at the bottom of the steps, listening for anything in the roaring fire that might indicate where they should go. They were in a narrow hallway, and there was a door there, but the light coming through it was so bright... Amaryllis somehow knew in her gut that that would only lead them into the fire. She paused for a moment, doing her best to remember what this hallway had looked like last night, before it was so choked in smoke and darkness.

Then, she remembered it. That door led out into the dining area, where she and Tagus had been dancing last night. There was one...

She crawled forward, her hand searching blindly along the wall. Then, she felt it: a breath of cool air in the midst of this unbearable heat. She reached upwards and grasped the smooth wooden handle of a door and twisted, pushing against it with all her might. It didn't budge for a moment, but suddenly, it sprang open and Amaryllis went tumbling through. They were in the kitchen now, which was surprisingly unscathed by the fire at the moment, save for the smoke hanging at the ceiling. 

"This way!" Amaryllis cried, reaching out and grabbing onto Josephine. She was terrified that she'd lose her young friend. She crawled through the kitchen towards the back door. Freedom was in sight!
Eddie
Amaryllis was quick to notice the illusion that was the brightness behind the door. She was truly smart and had good memory, for Josephine would never guess that the creeping fire was waiting for them on the other side. When they pulled through to the kitchen, the clearer room made Josephine gasp for oxygen and bend her back forward, hands on her knees.

"Just how did this happen?" She wondered out loud, looking back at the trail of smoke thickening through the top of the door's frame to the ceiling. Tagus walked to her side, his throat filled with smoke black that he cleared with sharp coughs, a hand in front of his mouth. He returned to carry their equipment and turned to Amaryllis, his heart beating fast.

"Open the door, Ryllis! We're almost through!" He barked, not as an order though. Tagus was anxious to get out of the burning fire and see what was going on outside. Were people just watching or trying to put out the flames?!
Frankie
Amaryllis really hadn't slowed down for even a moment, although both her comrades had paused and stood. She was still crawling across the floor, her eyes fixed on freedom and nothing more. She made it to the door just as Tagus barked for her to open it, but she hesitated a moment, resting her hand against the nob to feel if there was fire on the other side.

She must have been right in her decision to go this way, for the door was cool to the touch and she couldn't hear any crackling flames on the other side. There were certainly flames behind them, but none this way. She quickly wrenched open the door and took a deep breath of the cool night air that came pouring in, relieving her from the smoke-laden, unbearably hot air inside the burning hell.

Yet, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she gasped at the sight that greeted her. She could hear screams coming from all around outside. Tortured screams. Screams of the dead and dying. More buildings were on fire further down the street from the tavern, and in the glow of the flames, she could see figures running about. It was enough to leave Amaryllis stopped in her tracks, frozen in the doorway.
Eddie
When the door was wrenched open by Amaryllis, the two teenagers behind her thought of the freedom they were about to gain by escaping the hell of the tavern fire. However, their minds were left bereft of reason with the scene that unfolded outside. It was as if the previous night had come back to haunt them, for the progress they made on horse gallop did little to increase the gap between predator and prey. A whole town was caught on the fire they desperately crawled away from, but that was not the worst of the sight that showed itself bare. No, there was far worse than dying veiled in fire. And that was when they all had a very rude wake up call to the reality of a very dark and grim world.

Wolfmen took pride in their hunts. They did not simply torture their captives, they *Ate* Them. Everyone stranded in the middle of the street and in the halfway burned buildings was eligible to be edible, as long as the barbarians got their hands on them. Needless to say that the spectacle spanning onward was as gruesome as it was nightmarish. Limbs were chopped off and gnawed on and the separate fires scattered through Midde were used to roast the flesh of human and other victims that fell prey to the wolfmen. They were as mad as they were vicious, and to say they simply ate the women was a rotten lie.

Josephine peeked from the frame of the door. Tagus tried to stop her, to prevent his charge from seeing the desecration of a place thought to be a safe haven, but it was all turning to ash and splinters. Blood ran free on the streets and stained the ground and walls red. The wolfmen had come with the aid of night and its dark guise. They cut through the mediocre militia without batting an eye and quickly swarmed the town with their might. It wasn't the grotesque image in front of Josephine that shocked her alone. It was the idea that, since the wolfmen were all the way in Midde, her knights had fallen. Where were Sir Roderick and the others? Could they truly still be alive if a band of rabid men attacked Midde so quickly? It was late into the night, almost nearing the darkest moment for the sun to rise from the overlooking hills.

"No, Tagus! We must help these people!"

"B-But the mission-"

"Give me my weapon, Tagus!"

It was the first time that the young knight saw the noble angry, perhaps even full of rage. She didn't try to hide it nor control it, because the barbarians had tarnished the town that welcomed her so well. She had made good memories there! Why were the wolfmen destroying everything? For the sake of doing so? Were they really just mindless beasts? Then they should be put down! Tagus gave Josephine her sheathed rapier hesitantly and pursed his lips. She snatched the sword from him and pushed through Amaryllis to see the entire situation. Things were dire, perhaps impossible to salvage then, but she didn't falter. Instead, the girl drew the needle blade from its narrow leather sheathe and sliced the air to her right side. Behind her sealed lips, her teeth were gritting together.

There was no time to get more equipment than the sword he dragged along with the packed armors. Tagus and Josephine had to fight on their clothes alone, with the boy wearing nothing but pants. He grabbed the hilt of his large weapon and pulled it free, making the blade gleam yellow with the reflection of the fires surrounding them. He knew it wouldn't take long for the barbarians to notice them and turn their full attention to them. Tagus breathed out and stood beside Josephine, ready for whatever the darkest hour of the day had to give them.
Frankie
Amaryllis was not at all on board with this! The two of them were going out on a suicide mission, and she was not about to let them end their young lives so soon. 

"No!" She hissed, grabbing onto both of them and tugging them back, towards the stable where their horses were housed. It wasn't yet on fire. They needed to get out! "You can't help them! You're completely outnumbered! It's nothing more than a suicide mission!" This was probably the first time that Amaryllis had put her foot down, though she really didn't look believable at all, standing there in her bare feet and pale cotton shift. 

She had no weapons on her; no way to defend herself. If her two friends went out there, not only would they die, but so would she. Hot tears welled up in her eyes as she tugged on them again, harder this time. "You can't save them! It's useless! If they're here, the knights must be dead! If a whole group of knights couldn't stop them, what makes you think that you can?" She hoped, against all hope, that the wolfmen hadn't gotten to the knights. It was entirely possible, since it would have been faster to come directly over the mountain and down into the valley, while the knights would have followed the road, which wound it's way along the side of the mountain and down through. But right now, she just wanted Tagus and Josie to pack up and escape with her!
Eddie
Amaryllis did her best to dissuade her friends from barging in on a suicide mission, which was accurate of her to call with how emotions were left unchecked and flooding the brain of the teenagers. She was the logical one of the three at the moment, and the only one that could probably guide them out of the valley and away from the danger. However, although her escape plan was sound for the stables were not yet set on fire, everything fell apart when they arrived. It was not that there was an ember beginning a fire, but the fact that the horses had been put down, one after the other, by the vicious strikes of axes, swords and picks. Not only the two horses they mounted to travel to Midde, but every other horse in that stable. The wolfmen were going to use the meat along with their cannibalistic streak to feast after the raid on the small town of Midde. They were completely berserk, more so when they saw two armed teenagers approach the building as they made an exit from it.

Surrounded by a group of mad murderers, there was one that stood taller than any other of the wolfmen in the vicinity. Usually, the strongest were leaders, and though the wolfmen lacked the size to be a full fledged horde, that band was big enough to sow terror through the town. There were many others beside them scattered through the streets and killing and raping, looting and eating. But the ones by the stables had their attention centered on Amaryllis, Josephine and Tagus.

"Armed fodder." The giant of a man spoke, grinning. "Tender young meat. Get them!!"

The hungry pack of wolves lunged at the three. They were starving, or appeared to be so, eager to ravage the skin with more than just the blades on their hands. Tagus took a step of initiative and heaved as he swung his blade, using the massive stretch of steel to hinder the forward movement of the group. However, the pack was working not to kill themselves, but capture their prey. They used the range which Tagus showed to have to circle around him and the girls. Their soulless eyes were more focused on the women, eager to pounce at them and have their fun.
Frankie
The sight that greeted them when they arrived at the stable was indeed a ghastly one, but not as bad as the sight of the dead and dying humans. It was more... The death of hope. As soon as she saw those magnificent beasts laying dead in their stalls, Amaryllis' heart sunk and she began to cry. They wouldn't make it out of here alive. Their ticket to freedom had been ripped to shreds, and they were going to die. 

She was utterly helpless as she stood there, unarmed and not even fully clothed. She could feel the wolfmen's eyes on them, looking for a meal and more. It sent chills down through her spine, but even now, she was more concerned with her friends' survival. She screamed as they lunged forward and trembled like a frightened rabbit, but somewhere in the back of her mind, the idea for her to help her friends tugged at her. 

"Josie," She whispered, "I'll distract them. They're... They're just like wolves. They're more fascinated by prey that runs... I'll... I'll run and distract them, and you and Tagus get out of here." She didn't know why she was doing or saying this. Her entire life in Northwind had taught her that you always chose yourself when it came to who was going to survive, but she found that right now, she was more concerned with Tagus and Josie. She wanted her friends to live. She wanted to see them make it to another day, or at least have a chance at it, and right now, they were so badly outnumbered that she felt that this was the only way.
Eddie
What nonsense was Amaryllis spitting from her delusioned mind straight to the ears of her friend? Did she really mean to sacrifice herself for the sake of the young knight and the noble she just befriended? Were they even going to consider such a tactic when they had met someone so kind and honest as the shepherdess was? Josephine shook her head and used her free left hand to grasp the right wrist of Amaryllis. It was a hard grip, harder than they ever held each other before.

"You aren't going anywhere...!" The girl stated, low but seriously sharp. It was odd how strongly Josephine held on to Amaryllis, but she pulled her friend behind her and, in the same duelist stance of keeping her sword pointed forward, she still held her left arm back with that same hand wrestling Amaryllis' hand against her back. "I told you. I will protect you!" The wolves put her words to the test. Once the cage was complete, they attacked from all sides, with the bigger one watching with a handful of barbarians as the show began. Tagus roared as he slashed forward, his body turning as left foot slid on the ground onward. The sheer length of the steel sword was once again barring progress by the barbarians in front of him, but the others were going for Josephine and Amaryllis. The noble used her footwork to keep the shepherdess behind her and between herself and Tagus. Amaryllis was weaponless, but never useless. She was who gave Josephine strength, she was her guide too. More importantly, she was her friend! But did that stop the wolfmen from assaulting them?

Their numbers, too many, and even if Josephine managed to cut one, two, maybe three at most, the others cared little about the fall of their allies and pounced at her. They tried to and managed to tackle the girl, maybe even dragging Amaryllis along. Tagus was distracted by that a moment too many and was struck, blade carving a gash on the top of his left shoulder, then an axe sizzled the wind to bite his right hand's smallest finger right off. The knight groaned in utter pain, his body trampled by the heavy feet of the barbarians as he tried to protect himself with his arms. It felt just like that time in the market, when Josephine was attacked by those thugs. He had pulled a good hit or two, but then they surrounded and overpowered him.

As for the girls, the wolfmen were trying to get on top of them, to pull their limbs to opposite sides and slap and punch them, maybe even insert their thighs between their legs, trying to remove cloth by force. They drooled on them, felt their skin, disarmed Josephine and felt her petite breasts, her tender flesh with malicious tongue.
Frankie
Amaryllis screamed again, a high piercing cry that made the wolfmen whine from the pitch in their ears. But it didn't last long, for a moment later the wolfman struck her violently and silenced her cries. A grunt of pain escaped her as hot tears trickled down her face, but it didn't stop her fight. The men grappled at her, groping her and toying with her as she fought tooth and nail, clawing at them and lashing out with every ounce of strength she had in her. She had lost sight of Tagus and Josie, as she was now surrounded by wolfmen and had her face forced into the dirt. 

Soon, the sound of tearing cloth filled her ears, and she struggled all the more. Then, by some miracle, she wriggled free for just a moment. But a moment was all she needed. She launched herself out from under them and began to run, her shift hanging to her by mere threads. She looked like a ghost, racing along faster than she had ever run before in her life. Just as she had said, the wolfmen were attracted by the running prey and began chasing after her, giving Josie and Tagus a break. 

Amaryllis could practically feel their hot breaths on the nape of her neck as she sprinted along, her bare feet pounding against the earth. They were so close and were gaining on her fast. If only...

She suddenly changed direction, veering into the stable and its gory hell. She slipped and slid on the blood coating the floors, but the perk was that the wolfmen slid too. Quickly, she ran to the ladder and climbed up it as fast as she could, into the bowls of the hay loft. The wolves were right behind her, but they weren't quite fast enough. As soon as she had reached the top, Amaryllis grabbed the top of the ladder and heaved it backwards, causing it to fall over and land the wolfmen in the earth on their backs.
Eddie
Everything was turning to shit. The ground was cold in contrast to the hell hole they managed to slip from, but the cold didn't mean anything to the hit sweat that rolled down their skins. Tagus clung to his sense of survival as best a she could with arms protecting his head from the backlash of feet stomping forearms and hardened gut. He tried to breath swift between the relentless waves of kicks, but he had to give at some point and the act of breathing when being attacked just made the assault even more painful.

Amaryllis managed to make most of the wolfmen surrounding the three break attention from the other two to give chase, but it mattered little to the pack leader if one of the prey made the hunt more entertaining. He had others to send out to help restrain the other two and kill them. What's more, when a couple of the wolfmen fell on their backs from the shepherdess' push of the ladder, the others were quick to rethink strategy and climb the outer sides of the walls. No matter how many of them fell, the individual desire each harbored within them was enough to keep going. If they'd comrade fell, it didn't matter as long as they had a turn in fucking the bitch.

The situation was direst with Josephine's clothes torn and her body slowly becoming more and more exposed, nude for the vandals to admire the greyed skin and bosom. The horror in her eyes was such that a high pitched scream followed not much longer after Amaryllis', though this one had a form that was beyond the comprehension of the wolfmen and others around.

"TAGUS!!!"

The deafening shout made the wolfmen hearken, if only for a moment, and turn their gaze to the young teen. They were about to return to beat their punching bag when a murderous intent spilled from the bruised warrior and pulled him up into a stand through his own throws of haymaker punches turned to violent hooks that smashed the sides of the skulls they hit. They were nothing like the strikes he was taught in the castle. The punches were wide, but fast. They were heavy, but struck their victims with surprise every time! Tagus didn't even finish any of the men that were on top of him. He simply cleared a path to Josephine, taking his sword from the ground and swinging it in the fashion of an arc. Its length, sized beyond the regular measurements of a sword, was the trump he had to slice through the bodies in a swing through which he channeled all of his fermenting rage. It was the first time that he sent body halves flying, as if they were twigs snapped from a tree. Josephine's horror frowned face turned into one of complete shock as she saw entrails cascading from a torso as it flew and twirled until it fell limp on the ground.

"Hmm..." The alpha wolf stepped forward, curious, building up to intrigued.
Frankie
Amaryllis hoped that at least the majority of that group of Wolfmen had been distracted by her flight. If nothing else, it would thin the crowd around Josie and Tagus. It'd give them a better chance at survival. 

To her horror, the lack of a ladder didn't stop the wolfmen from advancing on her. The fall did nothing to those that had been on the ladder In fact, they seemed absolutely unscathed, and in moments, about 6 of them were crawling up the walls, their fingers digging into the wooden stable like claws as the scrambled upwards. They were practically foaming at the mouth, eyes gleaming. They had been driven into a frenzy by the heavy stench of blood here in the barn, as well as the flight of their prey. They were eager to catch the poor shepherdess and turn her into a meal.

A little cry escaped her at this awful realization. Her fight wasn't over though. If she wanted any possible chance at survival, she would have to fight for it. With that, she dashed up the stacks of hay in the hay loft. The higher ground would give her a bit of an advantage. She came across a pitchfork and snatched it up, then stood at the top of a large pile of hay. At least now she had the means to defend herself, if only in a minor capacity.