<br/>Valtegaard had always been the jewel of the southlands. Hidden between mountain peaks and the ocean. A secret that none could seem unravel - until tonight. The invaders had used the wreckage as a shield, had managed to sneak in and incapacitate the tower guard before the main militia could be called upon. The long history of Valtegaard being impenetrable against all invading forces was now over. Many of the city guard and militia were severely wounded or dead. It had been a clever thing to do - strategically sound, really, to use the wreckage of past invasions to mask their approach. She didn't have to like it, but she could still respect their strategy. They had planned to break down and salvage a lot of the closer wrecks during the fall and winter, when it would be too cold for most to even dream of coming close to Valtegaard and its surrounding mountains.<br/><br/><br/>Now gathered in the center of what was left of the town, Lyra watched the man pace before the weeping wives, the frightened children. The man paced without a word, just watching the crowd and waiting for them all to be gathered here in the square or shuffled off to medical tents. She had been in the battle proper, but once the main forces of the city had fallen, they had all been overwhelmed and gathered up like cattle to the slaughter. Her amber-gold gaze followed the man's movements as he eyed over the crowd that surrounded her. Lyra had been one of the guard who was still capable of standing on her own and not in need of immediate medical attention. She had a split lip, and several small gashes from combat, but she had taken down several of this man's men before they'd managed to surround her and force her to yield. She stood with a smattering of her fellow guard, their armor not showing any sort of ranking system.<br/><br/><br/>When he spoke up, asking who was in charge of the city until his take-over, she felt herself frown. Valtegaard had no real leader, per se. They all looked after each other, looked for guidance from the elders of the town. But, as the captain of the town's guard, she supposed it fell to her to step forward. She was the closest thing to a leader they had, aside from the elders - there was no way she was going to let any of them step forward to face this<em>demon</em>. Indeed, several of the townsfolk looked to her at the man's query. Looks of hope, of sorrow and loss evident in their eyes. Her tongue darted out over the split in her lip as she looked over the crowd. She waited just the length of a heartbeat before she took one step forward away from the crowd, her gaze focusing on the man who had invaded her home and destroyed their lives in a matter of hours.