Flight

While the white-eyed man was racing towards the cowering witch, Alexis ran towards Tarmen and the young girl, who, by the looks of it, had put everything into giving them a little breathing room. They desperately needed to make use of this chance.

She picked the girl up and strode over to her friend holding the young witch out to him.
There wasn’t any time for small talk, so she got straight to the point.

“We need to run! Think you can still carry her?”

she called out to him, glancing towards Voah and the heavily wounded Gonyaul, who clearly wasn’t going to be walking anywhere on his own two legs. Tarmen looked like he could topple over any second himself, but Alexis knew how tough the man from Kr’ull was and trusted in him being too stubborn to give up just yet as she helped him taking hold of his young ally.

Gesturing him to follow she sprinted over to Voah and Gonyaul, kneeling next to the pair.

“We’re getting out of here, bràthair beag…“

she softly spoke to her dear friend, desperately pushing away the horror at his grievous wounds.

Looking up into Voah‘s eyes, giving her a second to recognize her, she kept it curt again. Their time was running out.

“I know it sucks, but I need you to pick yourself up. We need to run and hide.”

she commanded, pulling Gonyaul into her arms as she stood.
Looking around for everyone’s battered forms to gather, she noticed the man she had aided previously apparently being of two minds whether to run or to engage with the white-eyed assassin to get to the still petrified witch. Chances were, he wasn’t going to win this.

“You might want to cut your losses, pal!”

the mercenary called out to him. He turned, and after another moment’s hesitation, retreated towards her and the others. Alexis’s eyes met the white-eyed gaze of the shaft’s holder for a fleeting moment. But she was carrying a burden much more precious to her now.
Alexis started running.

The Brotherhood had clearly known about everyone else but they had been surprised about her presence. So she hoped her hideout was still safe, for however short.

As she led her group into the tight alleys, in the distance she thought she caught glimpses of armoured men racing towards the inferno they were leaving behind. Maybe the city guard was finally wondering why their city was on fire. And why there was a local sandstorm at their haven. Hopefully, they would keep the assassins busy for a hot second.

They were running in silence, each of them having barely enough breath left to keep going. Alexis only slowed down to check wether everyone was keeping up.

They were, thank the gods, with one exception: her short time companion. Somewhere along their flight, he just didn’t round the corner. She was fairly sure they had no immediate pursuers at this point, so she could just assume that was a choice on his part. Looking down at the barely conscious Gonyaul, she decided she just couldn’t take the time to check.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally arrived at the Red Keep. She ushered everyone inside.
She laid Gonyaul down on her bedroll and threw Voah the backpack Tarmen had left when he vanished from the Oasis, so she could help to get the girl comfortable as well.

So many questions. But for now she pulled out her bandages and got to work.