Joe
*Mizu would glance over to the remaining two guards and simply aim her left-hand spear at the first guard and her right hand spear toward the third guard and thrust them both toward their chests. She had been too much thought and effort in this fight, and it wasn't a fun fight. They had no skill, no passion. Only the drive to follow orders. She didn't kill for fun, she wanted a fun fight. As a rather lazy individual, she couldn't understand why they continued to throw their lives away at her, but she supposed the silnari were always a bit weird in the head*

```
HP: 65/65
Focus: 9/10
Defense: 12
Movement: Staying in place
Attack 1: Guard 1| 27 hit | 23 (35 crit) 

```
Sue
Deep breaths. In and out, eventually the guard within the tower gains the confidence to throw open the door to the tower, charging out with a bellowing (albeit pathetic sounding) warcry as he charges right at Mizu. However, he carries himself poorly - and even though he aims to skewer Mizu on the end of his sword, it'll likely fail to even grace her skin. Meanwhile, emboldened by the charge of the fourth guard, the two remaining guards thrust their weapons forwards, aiming to strike Mizu down in a coordinated strike of three individuals - clearly no match for her, right? Except they're clumsy. She can easily spot a way out of their attack - especially when they've overcommitted, leaving them woefully undefended - well, as woefully undefended as they could be.

None of them had prepared for such a skillful display of fighting prowess. Her first spear punctures straight through the elf mans minimal torso armor. The force of her thrust such that it went straight through the first guards lung and out the other side, the spear head drenched in blood. This sudden thrust startled the guard so heavily he dropped the sword he grasped in his hand and stared at disbelief towards the spear sticking out from his chest. Uttering a word underneath his breath that Mizu cannot hear, he falls to the right, straight off the wall. Luckily for Mizu, the blade slips out as he plummets to the ground. Shocked by the sudden killing, and how quick and brutal it was, the fourth guard misses entirely as his swing passes a solid six inches away from any of Mizus flesh. Meanwhile, due to the falling of the third guard off the wall - Mizus attack on the third guard is sloppy, and barely misses his lung by an inch - even though it equally punches through his body. The pain from the shock of being stabbed causes the third guard to miss his swing entirely, leaving him open to be skewered on Mizus second spear - ending his life once and for all.

The fourth guard loses any and all will to fight, as any man would likely do after seeing the clean execution of three individuals. He drops his sword, and falls to his knees. Trembling in fear and expecting death he's unable to even open his mouth to beg for his life - the paralysis brought on by the fear of death preventing him from doing so, despite that the sweat which glistens his face and the fear within his eyes is clear - his pallid complexion painting a clear picture of utter fear. He probably won't be a threat to Mizu whatsoever, but who knows?
Joe
*Mizu despite all the killing she has done isn't fond of killing weaklings, especially ones that had lost the will to fight. There was no enjoyment in it for her. But she didn't want to go through this troubling scenario over and over again where she is trapped between passageways with no choice but to kill these cockroaches so she would point her spear toward the guard's throat and wave her other hand around in a motion to indicate keys*

"Your life for the keys. Sounds like a good deal if you asked me~"
Sue
The elf, left with no other choice, shakily draws his right hand to his waist, grasping a steel ring of keys. Was he really going to hand over these keys to attackers who had slain his brethren? Of course he was. His life isn't worth the protection of the keys, which Mizu would have probably obtained one way or another. He lightly tosses them to the base of her feet, the clanging of the metal keys against stone is suddenly drowned out by a thunderous ROAR as flames shoot from the windows on the secondary story of the castle itself, flames burning down the wooden doors to the ramparts. Screaming is followed, as the many soldiers who rushed into the castle are encased in flame and subjected to temperatures well exceeding 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Those few guards outside of the castle regard this event with awe.

The door to the tower lay wide open for her to explore - or alternatively, she can pass through the door leading to the other section of the wall, which connects directly to the castle itself. 


Meanwhile, for Ashnard, this development seems to have worsened his situation. Though being protected from the flames by earth and stone, the thick black smoke at the top of the stairs to the first floor has begun to slowly descend into the room, replacing the oxygen he needs to breath with choking ash and carbon dioxide. If he doesn't escape soon, he'll likely suffocate from a lack of oxygen. The brass skeleton approaches, seemingly confident in Ashnards inability to defeat it. However, with its slow walk Ashnard has plenty of room to maneuver - but it's unknown whether this being is slow because it wants to be, or because this is its maximum speed...
Joe
*Mizu would pick up the keys with a giggle*

"Wise choice~"

*She would also let out a whistle upon seeing the inferno of flame erupt from the castle. She didn't believe the Canifor to be that powerful of a caster, but she also doubted the elves would set their own castle aflame for no reason. In either case, it seemed reasonable to assume her furry acquaintance was over there so she would head on over in that direction. She hoped the canifor had found what they were looking for so they could finally leave this dull fortress*
Preston
*Well, that's one way to lose an arm...* 
Ashnard could barely pull his hand out before the creature snapped at his arm, yanking and twisting. The pain the lanced through him forced a flinch, enough for that thing to grapple and throw him across the room- only barely recovering his composure to land smoothly on his feet and avoid the worst of it. Had it not been for his own unnatural plating, he would have one less arm to work with, on that Ashnard had no doubt. 

Thankfully, whatever this creature was, it didn't seem as quick on its approach. But if that were to be some sort of small reprieve, the encroaching smoke ensured Ashnard had to act- and *Fast*. He clenches, and lunges. 

He doesn't rush for the skeleton directly, but rather the two tables between them. The runes on his uninjured arm ignite into ravenous flames and he grabs a jar of this oily, tar-like substance. Spreading just enough fire atop it, Ashnard tosses the now flaming jar at the skeleton, aiming for the chest. A reckless attempt in stalling it before moving away from it and testing the wooden door's lock for an escape route.
Sue
He dashes forwards, squeezing between the tables and deftly grabbing one of the unbroken jars of tar-like oil. The bronze skeleton presents no hint of caring or even registering this action - besides changing direction, instead of attempting to go around the tables it starts walking straight for them. The tar-like oil feels heavy, but ignites easily. As it is flung through the air, globules of burning tar are flung out of the container, splashing onto the ground leaving small fires throughout. Once it collides with the beings chest, the glass shatters and the burning tar is flung everywhere. The skeleton doesn't even flinch, the force of the impact not even registering as it continues forwards. The fire shoots upwards, licking the skull of the creature - making it look that much more menacing. Besides that, it seems to have done little - besides scorching the metal on the torso, alongside leaving a charcoal black flaky residue upon the torso piece wherever the tar is burnt away at.

Meanwhile Mizu finds no resistance as she walks upon the ramparts, through the second story of the tower, and out the door on the other side. Not even the archers who previously peppered her with arrows seem to be wasting their time. In fact, those upon the roof of the castle seem to be desperately attempting to escape the flames - which have now broken through the wooden roof of the structure, cooking those alive that get in its way. As she approaches the door - she notices it too, is being burnt away from this side. However, the courtyard down below is devoid of almost any soldier - those few seem far too distracted to notice her. The first floor seems to be far less aflame, though it is likely insanely hot due to the proximity to the flames. However - trying to go through the door before her, would likely burn the skin off her hand from the heat of the door-knob alone, not to mention the flames hidden beyond the door. She could climb upwards, to the roof - but that would be equally suicidal.
Joe
*Mizu would click her tongue in annoyance. She wasn't fond of fire and she doubt her mask would be able to properly protect her face and her armor despite being reinforced with magical material was still flammable. Well, whatever was inside was likely burning as well so no point trying to look through it.*

*So she would simply choose to wait by the lower floors as it was the most likely exit for the canifor considering everywhere else was starting to burn up. Their employer was either crazy or had severely underestimated how many Silnari were in this fortress to want the two of them alone to wipe it clean. Even if one of them were a skilled caster she didn't think it was likely considering how many were able to escape from the current inferno in front of her. So instead she would cross her fingers in hopes that the canifor had found the supposed artifact their employer wanted so that the two of them could call it quits and leave*
Fay
*No easy way out of that,* Ashnard cursed under his breath, watching the flames do minimal harm to the creature's armour. For now, at least. Heated metal may just break easier. The hound takes a deep breath (as much as the increasing smoke level would allow him) and takes a combative stance, focusing. [Work Up]

He pushes past the pain to clench both fists and ignites them, all the while channelling his inner magic. Swiftly, he closes in and strikes, a molten fist uppercutting on the skeleton's head, followed by an upward kick to vault off its chest and position himself in front of one of the corner pillars- intentionally obscuring part of him in smoke for upcoming retaliation. 

```HP: 42/45
Focus: 6/7
Defence: 15
Movement: Toward skeleton, then backwards to smoke 
Actions:
Work Up [+2 Tempo, free action, once per combat]
Attack 1: Shattering Steel play (Attack roll 26- Crit, Damage roll 24) [Aimed at head, inflicts Confused on successful hit, -1 Tempo]
Attack 2: Hit and run (Attack roll 13, Damage roll 11) [Torso kick, +1 Focus die, move 2 tiles backward without provoking OA, -1 Tempo]```