Nick Corwin is breathing pretty hard. His recent injuries have caught up to him and have only been added to by being thrown against the iron bars. He lays on the floor, not really moving. His long hair hides most of his face and sticks to him through his sweat. A rune on the gunlet of his right hand glows for a split second and then fades again. It's magic is not going to help him right now. His narrow eyes are trained on Noah and Marian. He will not look at Angel, for fear of of what the sight will do to him. He believes it is all his fualt she was captured. It was his responsiblity to keep Kayosia safe, and he failed.
Noah ... Marian starts to hack and cough, but again she flinches away from Noah's silent offer of assistance. Beside the pox-scars that cover her body, she has a new rash that goes up the right side of her face. "This world is eating me!" she hisses, furious about innumerable things. She hobbles after Calian, hoping to salvage some of the glory for having arrived just in time to help, leaving Noah alone with... hmm. Nick and Angel. He knows perfectly well that Marian sometimes believes what the legends say: that basu feed upon the health of vadi, while vadi are parasites who feed on the potential magic of their counterparts. It's not a very pleasant way to view their situation. After a moment, with a sigh, he goes to kick Nick's dropped sword across the hall before turning to regard the man. "Don't ever touch her," he says simply.
Nick Corwin coughs a little bit himself. He now realizes that the source of the power he came across came from Marian. His mother would be greatly disapointed that he didn't sense the magic before hand. He looks up at Noah, but doesn't move. He hasn't yet decided that Marian is a target, so she's safe from him until the day she hurts someone he wants to protect. He's a lot like a wildcat, only to him his teritory are his friends, family, and co-workers. He lays still waiting for the mental strength to return to him enough that he can use the shadows to pull his teleportation sphere back to himself and retreat. Angel will have to hold out longer, Kayos will kill him if he gets himself caught.
Noah's expression remains mild; he missed the action, so there's no rage there, or need to do anything. He does go to kneel down beside Angelicia, however, to check how strong her pulse is. He can see that she's not dead--how not dead is what he's interested in. He curses quietly to himself, looking over the chains as well. "You should have been faster," he says quietly--presumably to Nick.
Nick Corwin seems to find the strength to pick himself up a little now. He raises himself up on one elbow. His eyes first go to his weapon. The effort of calling it to him will take magical effort which will drain him mentaly and physicaly, he doesn't have it in him again yet. He then looks to Noah and Angel. He's a bit confused, wondering if he sees consern on the other man's face. Nick always has a backup plan. His first plane was the teleportation sphere, his backup was the shadows. He had no idea Calian would have a great control of the shadows than himself.
Noah adds in that same even, disinterested tone: "Move too much and I'll hit you so hard your grandchildren will be born with nosebleeds." He's got his back to Nick, but he can certainly hear him moving. That's really all that he would ever need. Angelicia looks bad to him. The fact is, he's never seen her before. Marian's been down here, but he usually waits near the stairs so he won't have to consider how many of the prisoners here are normal people, or 'cattle.' Marian has never once let him in on her 'great scheme.'
Nick Corwin gets the impresion that Noah means what he says and has the power to back it up. It's like a great fighter meeting another on the battle field and understanding what he is seeing. He's too weak to do too much while in these heavy chains anyway. A few hours ago he was demostrating he wasn't strong enough to stand on his own. He's not sure what he was thinking coming here. Lark had just upset him and called his integrity and honor into question. He had to act on it to restore his honor. He didn't seem so weak during the action, but then he was feeding off a strange and unknown magical source. That source has faded now, like his adrinalin.
Noah finally gives up the idea that Angelicia might wake up so that he can ask her a couple of questions that might help Marian to save her own skin in all of this. Nick is his second choice. He straightens up and turns around to regard the other man. Noah has no magic that he can consciously control at all, but he's not ignorant. Nick being here smacks of the illogical intervention of... sorcery. Of some kind. Noah doubts very seriously that anyone Calian captured would have be capable of stealing a sword. Simply, he asks, "Who are you? You came for the girl?"
Nick Corwin takes in a deep breath, more to see if he has the strength to speak instead of stalling. Stalling wouldn't seem to serve any purpose here at this time anyway. "Nick Corwin. I'm her friend." He doesn't point out that he's also the guy that killed Baron Ferdinand Croxx for striking Angelicia. The offical story is the baron fell down the stairs and broke his neck. He doesn't think that throwing around titles will impress or affect Noah either, so he keeps those to himself.
Noah wouldn't care. Titled people don't exactly rate as 'real' in Noah's world. They've always been too far removed.--Until just recently, that is. "Well, Nick Corwin," he says, "you wouldn't happen to have brought a crossbow along, did you?" Noah goes into a crouch past Nick's feet. He's perfectly well aware of striking distances.
Nick Corwin keeps his eyes trained on Noah. He didn't think Noah would care about title, because neither would he. He gives a slight confused look. The only normal weapon he had on him had been his sword. He doesn't miss that Noah breaths, meaning he's not undead. "No." His eyes ask the question he dosen't voice. What's with the crossbow? He wasn't expecting to fight when he came today, so he didn't bring it.
Noah sighs and glances back at Angelicia briefly. "That's bad luck for you, then. Tell me how you got in here, and how you planned to get back out again." Pause. "And, yes, there are probably others listening. Nobody here minds their own fucking business." Marian has her plan... Noah is slowly developing his. His is a lot more simple than hers, however.
Nick Corwin gives another confused look. He doesn't think he needs the crossbow to kill a vampire. He has other means. He doesn't know anything about Calian's fear of the crossbow. "Magic." He quirks his eyebrow at the man's tone and is beginging to wonder how loyal this guy is to Calian.
Noah only has one set of clothes, so he's looking exactly the way he did when Calian and Aleez first saw him. Marian asked for more, taking full advantage of being a guest here with a mission. She also worked very hard at eating them out of house and home when it came to mortal foods. At Nick's curt response, Noah looks annoyed--for about half a second. His expression, typically bland, swallows that little sign of emotion. "You're not helping yourself, there, Nick Corwin. Answer my question, please."
Nick Corwin decides to give Noah a little more and see where it goes. "A sphere. I lost it. She knocked it out of my hands and it went back without me." Something suddenly occurs to him. The sphere will be found by his bodyguards and friend back where he came from. Others will know where he is and come for him. Knowing Kayos, he'll get left here for awhile to learn a leason or something.
Noah grits his teeth in frustration and shakes his head. He'd been hoping that Calian had removed the 'sphere' or whatever--that it might just be a task of restoring it to Nick. Yes, yes. His plan sounded really good for a minute there. The ground just fell out from underneath it. "That's too bad," Noah says lowly, glancing at Angelicia again. "And not just for you. Except that you came here with a Plan B." Now, of course, he doesn't know that about Nick. He's just being hopeful.
Nick Corwin quirks an eyebrow again. He knows it might be a lucky guess, or the man might have done his homework. He's pretty sure that Calian had been ready for him. She knew he was pissed at her, and he's pretty sure she realized what he said when she took Angelicia wasn't a vain threat. He had ment it, she is going down. Noah seems to be trying to help and that might just be a ploy to get Nick to talk, but he's backed into a corner through his weakness physicaly right now. "I can shadow jaunt."
Noah has no idea what that means. It's a pretty catchy phrase, though. Noah has kept his voice very quiet this whole time, but he's crouched tense as if expecting for some bored Jar'Ha to show up any minute with a spotlight shining right on his face. "Explain what that is. Keep it short and sweet."
Nick Corwin takes another deep breath in order to find the strength, and to get the thoughts straight in his head. "I enter a shadow here, and come out a shadow somewhere else."
Noah looks Nick over and then asks flatly, "You in good enough shape to manage it?" Lightning strike, and--shazam! His plan lives again.
Nick Corwin seems to think about it. He calls a little energy to the surface to test his strength. "I might be." The last thing he wants is to get lost in the shadow. The peple there would hold it over him and he'd have to owe them a favor if they helped. He'd owe them nothing if they riped him apart. "But I can't take her with me." He has been hoping to use this only as a last resort. He wasn't sure he was strong enough to use the shadows when he first got here, and though the hitting the bars wouldn't have hurt him much when he's healthy, he's not healthy. He only came tonight, because he'd been attacked by a vampire yesterday.
Noah frowns, and this time he doesn't hide it. "You have to," he says simply. "If you leave, you have to take her with you. Understand?" To help lever his position, he raises one brown eyebrow and says darkly, "If I have to leave you here, it will be to inform Calian that you can 'shadow jaunt.' Is that clear?"
Nick Corwin sighs and thinks it over. He doesn't know any spells to give him extra power or anything, those are higher level spells he left to his twenty other siblings. He's not sure he can take Angelicia with him. Though the threat has seemed to spark that source of magic in him again, like the feeling in the air right before a huge battle. "What is your stake in all this?"
Noah shakes his head. "That's none of your business. Can you do it?" His arms rest easily on his thighs as he crouches, blue eyes intent and serious. "You'd better say yes. And you'd better be gone from here in ten minutes."
Nick Corwin winces anticipating all the many things that can go wrong with such strong magic and lack of energy to control it. If he got lost in the shadows strings could be pulled to get him out, Angelicia on the other hand has no friends, or anyone with friends that work with that place. He glances over at Angelicia. She looks really bad. He's reminded of how this is all his fualt. He can't fail again. "I'll do it."
Noah nods and reaches toward Nick's chains. His expression momentarily sharpens with concentration, and then, with a disgusting amount of ease, he begins snapping links. He relaxes a little to finish--he'd been expecting some ward or barrier over the chains. Luck is with him, and in short order Nick is free to move about. "Is there anything special that you need to do it?"
Nick Corwin is a little surprised at Noah's abilities. Luck hasn't been with Nick in a really long time. He wonders if Noah expects him to take Angel with him. He could always come back for her later, with a team and better planing. He should never have been so reckless to begin with. "No."
Noah nods and straightens up, moving over to Angel, now, with greater haste. Unfortunately, his efforts with her chains don't gain him anything at all. This is more along the lines of what he'd expected. He focuses--and gets no where. The iron is more than iron. There's magic in it. Without a word, Noah changes tactics, moving Angelicia carefully out of the way so that he can kick and pound at the stone to which the chains are fastened. Flakes and chips shoot off as if he's shredding soap.
Nick Corwin doesn't pick himself up off the ground yet. He's still waiting for his strength to return a little more. He watches Noah move over to Angelicia and says nothing. Calina claimed to know when Nick got there, says she had some kind fo magic. She might be distracted now with whatever evil she's busy planing, but there's no telling when she'll look in on her prisoners again.
Noah doesn't know for sure that there's any kind of surveillance down here, but--as he implied before--it seems logical to him. These Jar'Ha are paranoid types, Noah believes, who are too much in love with their superiority to forego using it. Oh well. No going back now. Eventually, Noah drags Angelicia--enchanted chains and all--further from the wall and looks at Nick expectantly. "Snap to it, man, or we're all dead." The holes left in the wall are gaping. Noah figures... no one around here knows he's got that kind of strength except Marian. If Luck stays with him, others will take the blame first. Or maybe blame will fall on Mr. Nick Corwin.
Nick Corwin says, "You coming too?" Nick still doesn't move. He doesn't need to. All he needs is to be close enough to Angel to touch her. His sword has long sense seemed to turn to shadow itself and disolve into nothing. Nick didn't cause it to do that, a fail safe spell was cast on it to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. It returned home without Nick already. He reaches out for Angelicia, but waits to see if Noah wants to tag along. He doubts he has the strength, but he can't leave the man to die after helping him.
Noah ... The look he gives Nick is a little startled, but he shakes his head. "No. I've got to stay with Marian." He moves Angelicia even closer to Nick and grimaces while he reels in the chains and folds them over her. "I can't get those off. Sorry. Best I could do. Now get lost."
Nick Corwin thinks he can have someone take the chains off when he gets to Kayosia, if he makes it all the way back that is. He has nothing to lose in trying, however. He reaches out to touch Angelicia, as soon as he's done so they both seem to sink into the shadows that were on the floor below them. Then they are gone, chains and all. There is no spectacular light show, or engery waves, they just seep into the shadow and are on their way.
Noah makes a silent count of thirty seconds before brushing the shadows where Nick and Angelicia vanished with his fingertips. Then, he gets back to his feet and leaves the dungeon as quickly and quietly as possible. The other prisoners... no doubt they saw it. He's gambling on the fact that they hate their captors enough to protect him: he hopes they'll point at Nick and say, 'He's the one.'
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