Halam spun around, stifling a groan as he became aware of the two guardsmen. They'd evidently spent too much time debating, and in doing so they'd allowed themselves to get caught before they could even get inside. Small wonder they hadn't been paid upfront.<br/><br/>"Hello there, gents," he said with a grin, looking from one man to the other with a cheerful, innocent look on his face. "It's good to see you, I was concerned about the, uh, lack of security. Y'see, my business partner and I are here to help you with containing the crowds, we're guard consultan-"<br/><br/>"Shut up, dwarf," the second man spat, cutting him off. Halam hadn't exactly been hopeful about his ruse, but he still felt a twinge of annoyance as two different swords were drawn. "You and your partner have a date with a nice new set of prison bars, or the morgue if you don't come quietly."<br/><br/>"Let me ask you something," Halam growled as he deftly lifted his axe from the loop at his side. "If you're gonna come quietly, what's the point of having an orgasm?"<br/><br/>At the corner of his eye, he watched as a pair of men dressed in black slipped into the back door they'd been observing for too long not long before; his eyes flicked over to Merc, who he knew had seen as well. Someone else was trying to beat them to the punch!<br/><br/>The guard he'd been talking to advanced, blade flashing through the air, before crumpling to the ground. Halam stared down at the arrowhead protruding from the front of his neck in shock, before looking over to see the other man suffering a similar fate. Seconds later a group of four men garbed similarly to the two that had stealthily entered the temple appeared, breaking loose of the shadows adorning the further end of the alley. Two of them had shortbows out, and the other two hefted gleaming, curved swords Halam was sure he'd never seen before.<br/><br/>Mercutio took a step back, his hand slowly going for the dirk at his belt. As if somehow, by moving slowly, they wouldn't realize that they wouldn't realize they were about to be killed. They stood quietly a moment, and then everything happened at once.<br/><br/>"Now!"<br/><br/>With steel between his forefinger and thumb, he sliced through the air and let go, sending the blade to pierce the throat of one of the archers. His head jerked back and a black hood spilled downward and fell off, blood spraying outward between steel and skin. The body crumpled to the dirt floor with a sickening sound, and Mercutio sprinted toward it, running in erratic patterns to try and prevent the other archer from taking aim.<br/><br/>Halam threw himself forward, executing a front roll as an arrow went skittering off the ground where where he'd been standing a moment before. Once he was back to his feet he sidestepped, putting one of the swordsmen between him and the remaining archer. Sparks flew as the gleaming, curved blade crashed against the sturdy axe, and with his strength and the leverage offered by his smaller height Halam pushed the sword away from him long enough to drive a violent headbutt forward into the crotch of the man in front of him. The man screamed, doubling over, and the axe came swinging up behind him, cleaving the back of his legs and sending him crumpling to the ground.<br/><br/>The archer quickly drew another arrow, notching and aiming it. Mercutio was closing the gap between them fast, just a few more feet and...<br/><br/>The archer took a step back, and then another as the realization sank in that the arrow had missed. Mercutio was on him by then, grabbing the front of his garb and circling him, one hand tangling in his hair and the other taking hold under his chin. "It was a good try," he reassured the other man as he tried to throw himself forward to get away. With a sharp jerk and the blood curdling sound of breaking bones, the man dissolved into dead weight in his arms. Mercutio reached around to the man's chest, grabbing the front of the quiver that he had on his back and then letting the body sink to the ground at his feet. Merc snatched the bow out of his hand. He wouldn't be needing it any longer.<br/><br/>He half-ran to his first assailant, holding the body down with his foot as he wretched his knife free from his chest and ran toward the temple's entrance, looking over his shoulder to see how Halam was faring. Of course he didn't have any real concern for the man's safety - dwarves were well known for their prowess in battle. His main concern right now had to be for the safety of the lady of Aershire. How ironic.<br/><br/>The second swordsman was a little tougher than the first; he followed a swing with a thrust of his blade, which Halam ducked under, countering with an upward swing of his axe that grazed the man's cheek as he whipped his head backward. There wasn't much time for the black-garbed assailant to recover, as the dwarf immediately brought the axe back around, this time going for the midsection. The sword came down just in time to deflect it, but it went flying from the man's hand as Halam stomped out with a heavy boot, shattering his leg beneath the knee.<br/><br/>There was a scream as he fell down; Halam stared down at him for a moment, pondering on if he should finish him off, when he caught a glimpse of Merc reaching the entry into the temple. There were still the other two to worry about, and no one was paying him to kill this man, after all. Instead of delivering the finishing blow he settled for punching him in the nose, breaking it, and seizing the sword, deftly unbuckling the scabbard at the man's side. "Could probably sell this shit," he muttered as he followed in his partner's wake.<br/><br/>Mercutio bolted through the entrance, listening to the sounds of steel echo in the large temple, ringing off the walls in a macabre melody. Strewn across the floor were bodies of fallen guards and other members of the royal party that they'd spotted. One guard in particular fell slumped against a statue, the offering bowl shattered at his side on the floor. Where were their gods now?<br/><br/>In one of the corners of the temple, a lone guard stood against both assassins with two women at his back. Scimitar caught against scimitar as the guard held off on one of the intruders, while the other raised his blade high above his head. It was all Mercutio could do to load the bow in time, and aiming be damned. He shot blindly in the direction of the fighting, hoping against hope for a hit.<br/><br/>The arrow had pierced just above the shoulder blade of the assassin, causing him to drop his sword and clutch at the newly formed wound, muffling a cry of pain. It wasn't a kill, but it was just enough for the guard to bring the swordlock down abruptly, pulling his scimitar back to the side and dragging it through the air in a broad strike that took both of the assassin's through their bellies. As the assailants hit the floor, the guard raised his sword at Mercutio and Halam, as if<span style="font-style: italic">they</span>were the attackers.<br/><br/>"Who sent you?"<br/><br/>Mercutio blinked and dropped his confiscated bow to the ground, holding his hands up in defense. "What do you mean 'who sent us'? Did we not just save you?"<br/><br/>Halam didn't lower his axe right away (the sword he'd jammed into his belt - he wasn't very accustomed to them and wasn't going to try learning on the fly), but when six more guards filed into the room behind the man aiming his sword at them, he slowly replaced the weapon at his side. "Aye, we saved you, and we slew four more of the bastards outside," he said gruffly, spotting an opportunity even as he talked. "Your guards barely put up a fight against them, but luckily we were passing by. So spare us the suspicion and extend us some gratitude, for if it wasn't for us you'd be dead, and those women would be<span style="font-style: italic">wishing</span>they were so lucky."