The girl came dashing along and nearly bowled Vincent entirely over, and then pulled a classic bluff, indicating Vincent and the priest, CJ, as her newfound "backup."  Most likely she hadn't even paid him any attention, which was as he normally liked it.  However, there was one complication to this...<br/><br/>She was the Chosen they were looking for.<br/><br/>On the one hand, it saved them a lot of time.  On the other, she had already brought them trouble.<br/><br/>"Oh, by the Gods' collective teeth...<b><i> LUCY</i></b>!" Sal shouted, considering that to be sufficient, as they were right outside the stable door.  Then he promptly vanished.<br/><br/>Was a time, he would have needed to draw his short sword to take advantage of the invisibility power.  However, one of the basic, more uncreative Gifts he'd been granted was that many of the abilities of his magical items had become natural abilities of his own.  Whereas before, he'd relied on his wonderful toys, now he could do it himself.<br/><br/>Invisibly, he strode to flank to the left, keeping on the dry cobblestones, his soft boots (also enchanted) making no scuffs as he circled around.  He arrived just as the leader of the ruffians was smirking and about to make some kind of smart remark to Vincent as the dark mage stepped forward.  He noted CJ had latched his book and readied his staff, but he didn't have time to tell if the stable door was opening as he stepped close to the one on the end and brought his elbow up hard to the back of the man's head.  His target pitched forward, and Sal took a moment to kick savagely at the knee of another nearby thug before following his original target, driving a knee into his back, just about his kidnety, and then grabbing his arm and shoulder and pivoting, using the man's own stumbling weight to slam him into the half-stone side of the stable.<br/><br/>Though it was certain the ruffians wouldn't hesitate to use deadly force upon them, and though Sal wouldn't have worried in the least about depriving Corus of their scintillating presence, he didn't feel it was fair.  It would have been like savagely murdering a kitten who was determinedly attacking his boot; they were just entirely outclassed, and had no clue of that fact.  So he didn't intend to kill them, but he'd make the chiurgeon or healing magician earn their money.