The bell struck midnight in the Sanctuary of angels. Many of the buildings had candles in their windows, crowds of people came to this town to pray to the goddess of life everyday, even at this time of the night but none of the crowds noticed a winged woman landing on a roof of a large building. The woman stood there for a moment then fell on her knees in pain, her wings retracting and her shape changing. Once the transformation was over with she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "damn... I hate shape changing, but I guess I have to go through this," Elexis said to herself. She stood up in her half demon form her pale blue skin almost blended with the low light in the night, only the small spines on her arms and the few on her face shimmered with the moonlight. She walked over to a window on the roof and opened the lock, opened the window, and dropped down into the darkness.

She landed with a quiet thump upon the wooden floor. She mumbled a curse to herself as she heard a voice from the next room and the handle started to turn. She quickly hid in the shadows as the door opened and a monk stepped into the room looking for the source of the noise. A hand quickly grabbed his mouth and before he could struggle for help his throat was cut and the monk's robes were stained crimson. Elexis Lowered the body to the ground making sure to not make anymore noise. She looked at her hand which was now stained with the monk's blood. "gods, if only things could go as planned" she whispered to herself as she wiped her hand off on the dead monk's robes.

She walked through the door being watchful for anymore monks who might interfere with her business.She thought back to the inn where she got the job. It was snowing back at the kaima inn, she was waiting there as usual looking enjoying her ale when some hooded man walked by carrying something. It was a monk, like the one that she just killed. He died that night from the poison that Elexis slipped into his drink. She was able to steal a envelope from his dead body and it eventually lead her to this place. "I just hope that letter was right" she said to herself as she opened the door to yet another room. There was little security in the warehouse due to the town guards that patrolled the near crime less streets of this holy city.

Her eyes fell onto a golden statue among the crates and barrels that were filled with the wares used by the merchants that could afford the rent needed to be so close to the churches and palaces in the sanctuary. She looked around, making sure no more of the monks were waiting for someone like her to try to steal the artifact residing on the miniature shrine to the goddess of life that would be its holding place until it was moved, or stolen.

Every once in a while, Vex did something just for the sheer heck of it. She didn't have a contract, didn't have a job here- and yet here she was. A supposedly repentant she-devil who wanted to make good with the creator. She had been quite the image of servility and... other vile and disgusting descriptors that she didn't care to think of. She had been acting like a right and proper pansy- the nuns had almost let her play with the children.

Almost.

She didn't know whether to be glad or sad that their instincts were so good. She hadn't done anything 'bad' for over three weeks and the itch, the itch that almost every demon had, was getting to her: she needed to kill something. Or drink something. Or both. Preferably at the same time. Preferably without having to blow this lovely identity- the repentant devil was a lovely game she liked to play. How much sweeter victory would be when they were all poisoned and dying and she would be there to see them die with the knowledge that their kindness had done them in! She reveled in it. Thrilled in it. And it was, to be honest, the only emotion that kept her going in this darkless place.

Damn do-gooders. They just did *too* much good. Outlaw drink?! Freakin' psychos...

It was thus, in this state of un-drunkeness and non-murderingness that Vex's senses sharpened themselves. She was just taking a walk, in her usual nun disguise (but with those ridiculous manacle things that supposedly cut off her demonic strength and reduced her magic power- not that it worked) when she realized that the thing she was smelling was blood. She followed the scent and was un-surprised to find a body. It was a monk. A monk she knew.

"So George," she mused, sitting down next to the dead corpse. "Who did this to you- and how am I going to explain it? Hmmmmm..."

Elexis perked up at the sound of a door closing in the distance, someone entered the building. She listened closely and tried to find out where it came from, and to her horror she realized it came from the room where she entered from, the room where there was the dead body of that monk. “Damn it, I should have hidden it in some closet, or in a crate.” She said to herself. She waited for a scream of terror or shriek of horror, or someone running outside screaming for the guards to come. But none came, Elexis winced as whoever was here’s emotions tingled aganst her skin. She was half succubus, and that made her extremely sensitive to others emotions. She could feel that he, she, or whoever was feeling supprise at the dead body, but not fear, not sadness, just supprise. “That’s odd” she thought.

Elexis Hid in the shadows in a corner behind some boxes, hoping that the person would leave, even to get the guards. Then she could grab her prize and get out of here. She held her dagger in her hand just incase, some of the monks blood still on her hand, making sure that she would get the first strike, as always.

"An expert cut," Vex mused as she twisted the dead mortal's head this way and that way, watching as the fast cooling body continued to emit blood. This one certainly wouldn't be getting up any time soon- least not with *that* much blood missing. If she didn't miss her bet, even true Holy magick would be hard pressed to fix this one. He might need a completely new body altogether.

Not that anyone was going to waste *that* level of holy magick on a mere monk. Perish the thought that the in-infidels would get any better care than the infidels.

"But no follow-through." Vex muttered- wondering at why someone, an expertly trained someone, would leave a body just lying about. It was the first rule of any proper assassin (Vex was far away from being a 'proper' assassin, but she still knew the guidelines) to never be caught. It was permissible to have all sort of identities, but getting caught on the job? Always bad for reputation. And dead bodies always had a way of catching up with ye.

It was about then her demonic sensibilities noticed an intrusion of demonic pheromones. She was immune to them, of course, being of the same demonic stock but still. She had heard of bottled demon blood used in various cultures as an aphrodisiac but she was pretty sure that this... indulgence... came from a fresh source.

Curious and curiouser.

Was this a newcomer to the dance of death? Had she (Vex was fairly certain it was a she) trying to seduce a monk? From the looks of it, it was not the case. The monk was clearly surprised, but by the contortion of his face, it appeared that he had only caught a glimpse- or even less than that- of his killer. This was not a monk surprised by a supposed lover. Vex sighed, that had been one of the scenarios she envisaged for killing some of the monks here. It would have been a delicious work of art. But no matter. She gently placed the body back on the ground and closed its eyes still thinking.

The body was fresh- but not fresh enough for her presence to have alerted the assassin into making an escape. The puzzle pieces clicked into place as Vex tried to outline a reasonable scenario.

"You surprised someone here, Georgie-boy." She mused. "She panicked and left you like this. Hnnnn.... I suppose the only real question is what was she doing here. There's the stench of demon-scent everywhere but I don't know why..."

Then she froze.

Were they trying to frame her? She was, as far as she knew, the only demon in the city. She didn't think that another could have gotten in, not with the wards and the various priests- it could be done but it would be hard as hell. No, the only real conclusion she could think of was that someone out there was trying to frame a demon for this murder.

She gave a throaty chuckle.

"Oh my, oh my- ohmyohmy. I've only been here three weeks and there's already a good bit of backstabbing going on."

"Delicious." Vex smiled. She was in a very, very compromising position. She knew that- but she also knew that they couldn't kill her without substantial proof. She would submit to their stupid little inquisition... and then the real games would begin. She would not be the murderer of *this* monk... but the monks after that.

Ahh yes... delicious.

A silent squeak engulfed the area announcing that one of the many old doors of the sanctuary has been opened. The squeak was followed closely by the sound of carefully placed footsteps belonging to an average-to-massive person, most likely a male, another member of the clergy perhaps, one who didn’t have any idea of what was going on around there, yes, probably that. The noise became louder and louder and from the darkness of the room, the figure of a cloaked male was slowly starting to take shape. Despite the fact that he was walking, he still seemed absorbed by the opened book held in his right hand, delaying him from realizing the crime that has happened just right under his nose.

“I can’t say how grateful I am for allowing me to check your collection of books, mister…” The imposing and resonating voice paused for a long moment, it seemed like he forgot the name of the priest, or it was the strange feeling he was getting that halted him from his speech. A familiar feeling, his head began to spin as if he inhaled the smell of sulfur combined with blood. No, this was only happening in his mind, he was the closest thing to a clairvoyant and this was just a bad omen. In less than a second, his mind has worked the puzzle, the sulfur scent was something associated with demons, and the blood with a murder, or something similar. Oh no, if only his mind was wrong.
His attitude changed and he became wary while taking the last several steps, it was no doubt now, a corpse was laying on the floor and someone was next to it.

“Who’s there?!” The voice thundered. The book was slap-closed, and his eyes locked in a glare towards the slender figure from the distance. Meanwhile his left hand gripped onto his staff, he would not hesitate to use it if he had to.

He managed to get even closer, and unbelievably, the slender figure belonged to a nun. Of course, he wouldn’t suspect a nun, would he? His eyes, however, betrayed his internal suspicion and doubt.

Ahhh... the way she played and 'talked' with the corpse, was she insane?

“What happened here woman, I hope you have a good explanation for this.” Usually Vor was not one to care about justice or the fight between good or evil, but the man laying there on the floor with his throat cut was kind enough to let him read the rare books kept in the sanctuary’s collection.

No one would kill a simple priest, unless it was an obstacle. And if the nun was the assassin why was she still there?

“I can feel adrenaline and panic rushing through your body, I wonder why… You are not what you claim to be, are you?” All in all the woman was very hard to perceive and comprehend, he needed more time to focus, more time to think of the best course of actions, more time…

Elexis shivered as the emotions of yet another flowed over her "damn it did I break into here during visiting night?" she thought to herself. She heard the mumbling of a woman in the room with the monk, mumbling like a madwoman. "I could have killed her too, just like the monk but two thats impossible the second would have a blade to my gut or a bow drawn or a spell ready... just something bad for me." she continued to think what to do next. "I can't just run, the only exit is through them and if I transform into my demon form they're sure to hear it."

"just calm down, they'll do whatever and once they leave I'll take the relic and be out of here, I have plenty of time to wait." she continued to check the room that she was in, making sure that she didn't leave a trail. She looked at the small specks of blood on her hand and realized that she might have left a trail. After finding none she sneaked up to the door, making sure not to make any noise. She put her ear to the door, and listened being ready to slip back behind some crates near the door should there be any signs of them approaching.

She listened into the conversation

"woman, I you have a good explanation for this.". She thought to herself "funny, that doesn't sound like a guard, more like a scholar.". She continued to listen "I can feel adrenaline and panic rushing through you're body, I wonder why... you are not what you claim to be are you?" Elexis began to ponder "I wonder if he is sensing me instead?" She continued to listen, and to be ready for anything or anyone she would have to kill to complete her mission.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Vex asked, somewhat put off by the fact that she had no idea *what* she was talking to. None of her demonic senses were making any sense- he was mortal and yet not at the same time. It was... weird. Yes, weird. His entire body was... weird. And that made her ever so slightly cautious. Weird things tended to be dangerous more often than not. She hoped that he hadn't heard her speaking to Georgie-boy (bad habit! Bad, bad habit!) but didn't bet on it. She only hoped that her words had been somewhat muffled by the distance.

She was a bit confused by the whole adrenaline and fear thing. She was a professional assassin. Professional assassins didn't get antsy around corpses. She was pretty sure *she* wasn't antsy. Was he picking up the demon pheromones? It made sense to a certain extent, most demons didn't willfully lose their phermones and thus, embedded in them, was the scent of fear for those who could detect it. But even she, a rauko who was familiar with rauko scents, hadn't picked it up. Either this guy was good or he was bluffing.

Or...

She showed her manacled hands, realizing that she had been staring into space for a good few seconds. It wasn't a particularly appreciable pause, but it made people nervous when she did it. "I'm the sanctuary's pet demon. I've been nunning for the past... oh, letsay... three weeks. Georgie boy, as you can see, is dead." She took a breath before saying the next word.

"Murdered."

Her mind raced. Was this the one who was trying to frame her? No, it didn't make any sense- he was a stranger and a stranger who clearly didn't know who she was or of her reputation here in the Sanctuary. Was it part of the plan? Have a clearly un-biased third party render judgment on her? She felt web after web of an intricate plot tighten around her and Vex squirmed a bit. This had not been within her calculations- from the sound of his voice she thought it possible that he might lose his cool completely. And she just didn't know what his weird body was capable of. She didn't relish the thought of dying.

"I know you don't believe me... Mr... Uhh... whatever your name is... but I didn't kill him. In fact," she whispered, "I'm pretty sure I'm being framed."

Elexis almost burst out laughing when she realized what she got this poor person into "framing, now thats a new one" she thought to herself. She stayed at the door waiting for this person to go on. But what interested her was what the woman said before. "Pet, demon great more priests and all that holy bull crap, at least their detracted with this little imaginary scheme, ha." She continued to look at her dagger with unease, spinning it, waiting for when it would be used.

With a wicked smile Elexis had a sudden realization, she stared over to the pedestal and the small golden statue upon it. "they probably don't even know why Gregory or whatever his name was, was even here. They don't care about the relic, they don't even know its here." Elexis continued to move silently towards the relic and stared at it with a dark and sinister glee. It was a small statue of an angel encrusted with precious metals and gems. It was probably worth a fortune on the black market but she wasn't her go steal it then sell it, Elexis had other reasons for wanting this holy artifact. She reached out and grabbed the small statue of an angel. The instant she touched it a bright lance of pain went up her arm, "damn, I forgot that the stupid thing was holy and that it wouldn't react to a half demon like me holding it." she bit it back and quickly stuffed it into her backpack and as soon as she stopped touching it the pain went away. She stared at her hand, it looked normal even though a few moment I felt as if it was on fire.

She moved back up to the door, dagger drawn. "I want to kill these people and be done but I don't know what I'm dealing with, for all I know someone could be in there with the whole town guard. I just hope that they leave soon. Then I can leave and get out of this city."

A deep breath and a short moment of silence it was all he needed to figure everything out. He was right from the beginning, and he was glad that his mind and sixth sense were still working properly. Such an unearthed charisma she has… I must admit, she is clever and hard to figure out But all in all this made it even worse, it was hard for him to believe her words. She did sound like she was telling the truth, however it came hard for the sorcerer to believe her, no wonder why.

“Pet demon?!” Was she even serious about that? “Cleary you are a demon, but a pet? That is a little difficult for me to believe, you are not the type to allow yourself to become a pet.” He gave her a chance even though it was not likeable for a follower of everything which is holy to hold an abyssal creature as their pet. Vor was not one to hold grudges against any race, be them demons, angels or whatever else, they could be all the same.

“Be it as you wish, let’s say I believe every single word you are throwing at me. Then someone else must have done it, do you have any ideas who and why would they do that?” His eyes measured her closely, he scanned for a menacing action.

---

The answer would come shortly, it was indeed someone else, an amateur triggering a signal which would probably alert anyone inhabiting the sanctuary, a holy force has been released like a wave throughout the building, not far away from the room in which the corpse and the other two people were located. Something important has been disturbed, perhaps something TOO important.

A menace, another bad omen… the night has just begun. An amateur… A relic?...

As much as he didn’t like the situation, the truth was that he could have been suspected at well, he was a stranger, and a weird one.

“The silence will be soon engulfed by chaos, the clerics and the paladin-guards will be here shortly, we must do something or we will both end up dead. We are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and someone else is probably laughing at us from now. We must find this someone else, or flee this place.” The fact that his reputation could have been tainted made his whole being shudder, no… to flee was not an option.

His right palm opened, and from the tip of his fingers a miniature red lighting seemed to take birth. He contemplated the lightning and stared at it, he will use it if he had to.

“You have been given to chance to prove your innocence, what do you say?” The tone of his voice was more serious than ever. Probably she figured out what was going on by now.

They didn’t have much time, as voices echoed into the distance. It was just a matter of time before the clerics would figure out what was going on.

Vex stared at the odd looking fellow in consternation.

He was treating every single one of her words literally. She felt the ground shift and shake beneath her feet and tried to hold on. Sarcasm would have no effect on him. Irony would have no effect on him. Allusions would have no effect on him. Rhetorical questions would be answered. Metaphors would... her heart wept as she threw all of it away. It wasn't quite the same level art as the art of dead corpses and broken and screaming children but it did in a pinch.

Gah, this guy probably didn't even understand what 'in a pinch' meant. She had to be careful here. Very, very careful.

"I am," she said softly in reply to his first question. "A demon that has tried to walk the path of good. People like Georgie-boy," she touched his neck softly, "Have shown me the right path. The way that I shall mend my deeds and fix my soul."

Okay that _was_ a bit thick. She gave herself a mental kick.

"I do not know who killed him but I do know why: they wish to frame me-"

She felt her head pound as a wave of holy energy ripped through the air. It slammed into her back making her gasp and groan dizzily. A tripwire spell? Those were rather rare, each time the tripwire was tripped it had to be re-fed with magic and the spell itself tended to degrade with time. Someone was playing with something out of their league- the only things that could sustain tripwire spells were things that produced their own magical energies- artefacts and relics and such. Such powerful items protected themselves.

Her scholarly... companion, surmised as much and she shook her head. "Running will be tantamount to admitting guilt." She grinned wickedly. This wasn't quite as satisfying but the man-person-thing was right. Their course of action right now was to find the perpetrator. Hopefully it'd be a monk and hopefully they'd let her 'play' with him for a few hours. She doubted it, but it was always nice to dream.

"Let us find this murderer then." She said, getting up and unfurling her two wings. "I do not like being framed." Her red eyes burrowed into the darkness. "Not. One. Bit."

" CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP" the second she heard the scholar's words she couldn't think of anything else. "Stupid letter it didn't say anything and I can't detect magic for anything." She quickly looked for an exit, only seeing the windows that were too far to reach. She continued to ponder when the words from beyond the door reached her. Wooden walls and wooden crates, nothing that she could use to make her escape. "ugh I was hoping for a quick escape, to help defeat any tripwires, and now I'm stuck in here"

She continued to play around with her dagger, she always thought of things like that while she was thinking. She crouched there, feeling the emotions of the others tingle on her skin. Confusion was one of the major ones, anger and frustration were coming from the woman. "At least they have no intent on seeing the guards here, maybe setting off the alarm wasn't that bad, maybe it'll flush these people out."

Elexis opened her backpack to stare at her prize, the golden statue of the angle, its golden form and the gemstones on it shining in the moonlight. "The key to it all... and I'm still stuck here while these people make up imaginary schemes." She smiled as she thought of what this can unlock. The one thing that she wanted and the key to it all was in her pouch. "the second these people are out of here, I can use this thing and then sell it. Why oh why did I panic, the letter said they were relying on the fact that no one knows that its here and that heavy security wouldn't be needed. Guess I took that too literally."

She continued to hold that dagger, some of the monk's blood still on it. " The second one of them is alone, thats all I need." She gave a wicked smile at that thought. Then she continued to listen to the unfolding drama.

Vor had to agree with the demoness on that one, running will be tantamount to admitting guilt, and when he thought the things couldn’t get more interesting, from the back of the woman something seemed to shift and eventually a pair of wings unfolded.

“Impressive, I wonder what other tricks you have up your sleep.”

Regardless of what she thought, Vor was perfectly capable of understanding such things, even if he hid that under a cool and collected attitude; despite the gravity of the situation in which he’s been thrown unwillingly he didn’t seem one second to be panicked or on the verge to lose control. He needed to somehow detect the other presence, and knew that he was capable of doing that, he needed just a little time… then came the enlightenment… Time is relative, I have all the time in the world.
“Give me a few seconds!” With that being said his eyes were shut-closed, his mind dismissed other interferences such as noises and useless things, and started to review everything from the beginning, the events unfolded one by one in reverse. The holy ‘wave’ seemed to viewable now and pinpointed the right location from which it has been released. With a drop of luck the assassin was still in that room… Unfortunately it was a little too hard for the prophet to see that place, strange.

“I think I figured this out, now follow me.” The lightning from his hand was long since dismissed, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be summoned once more. He dropped the book from his hand and walked off towards the release-point of the holy energies.

It wasn’t long before he stepped into the corridor which headed straight towards a door, the only door on the hallway. “Here it is, get ready!” Without any warning, his right hand outstretched and from the middle of his palm a blue energy erupted, a few arcane words were mumbled beneath his breath and an Ice Arrow was practically launched straight towards the door, with enough strength to shred it out of its place and make it collapse. It was a small chance to hurt the incognito if it was hiding behind the door.

Knocking on the door was not a viable action for him, most certainly the assassin was a master of stealth and deceit and he wouldn’t throw himself in front of such a person. “Now get out of there and turn yourself in or things will become nastier than that.” He hoped that the newly acquired ally had more skill than him in melee confrontations, that would save the walls and the furniture of that room to be torn apart by his spells.

Elexis Grasped the bleeding wound from a shard of ice that sliced through her shoulder. She winced as a voice rang out “Now get out of there and turn yourself in or things will become nastier than that.” " how did he find me, he's probably can sense me, I am a demon in a holy city I probably stand out." She thought to herself. Finding no way to escape she stood up and sheathed her dagger in her hidden sheath in her sleeve, "Just in case he gives me the chance.". She stood in the wrecked door way, and stared at her aggressor. He had pale blue skin and wore robes of a mage or scholar. She let out a sigh [color=purplequot] The upper sleeve of her left arm was now stained red with blood.

She stepped over the wreckage of the door, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. Which was hard due to her looking obviously demonic, pale blue skin, small spines emerging from her forearms and few parts of her face. But what cought her sight is the nun with wings emerging from her back, now that she was closer Elexis could sense that she was a full demon. She paused for a moment, hoping to the gods that whatever this thing was that demolished the door, that it would keep to its word.

"You're not a monk."

It was said with such an air of indifference and statement of pure simple fact that Vex herself was taken aback by it. But still... what in Hell's name was going on here? One moment she had been blissfully believing all the worst of the mortal world and the next... the next she was realizing how dangerously accurate mortal prejudices seemed to be. This was not a monk. This was a half-breed. This was a half-breed thief. Not a horrendously difficult or even rare combination but for her to pierce so far into holy ground she must have either had an astonishing amount of luck or skill.

And to kill the monk so expertly...

More and more pieces clicked together in Vex's brain. Looked at in a different way, as merely her stumbling upon the corpse that this thief had killed- no one was trying to set her up. No one was trying to frame her. She let go of that particularly possibility with something approaching a sigh. It had been such a delicious thought- that her mere presence were corrupting the holy men and women here. But alas, it was not to be. She'd have to corrupt them with more... subtle but forceful methods. It was something of a paradox, but an accurate one.

"Why are you even here?" She finally asked, peeved and somewhat mortified at the failure of her own race (half of her race, she amended mentally) to do something properly. If one was to do anything and fail at it they had better damn well fail spectacularly. It was the only way to go out- fires blazing and havoc wreakin'. Like a true trooper. "You will die, you know," she said conversationally. "And not like Georgie-boy. They'll put you in manacles and toss you in a cell and then execute you after a big long court session."

"Why. Are. You. HERE?!"

Elexis could feel the fustration coming from the nun. It hit her like a wall, at first there was some confusion but then this anger and fustration almost made her go limp. She was in shock at the woman's anger. It might have had something to do with the fact that she was getting "framed" but in truth its only just a halfbreed thief. "Alright, you want the truth, yes I am a half demon, yes I killed Georgie or whatever his name is, and yes I am a half demon." She paused for a moment, letting out a sigh of fustration. "the truth is, I came here to steal a priceless relic, but when I arrived through that window" She pointed to the window above them. "The human came inside when he heard me landing and I killed him. But when I got into that room," She pointed to the room past the demolished door. "I found that the pedestal for the relic was empty. They moved it out to some monastery I guess yesterday, then you arrived and made it so I couldn't escape."

Elexis waited for a moment, letting the nun's words sink in. "And I know that they will put me in chains, I've had the death penalty before, but I have that nasty tenancy of not staying caged for long." She looked into the eyes of those who ruined her plan. She hoped to the gods that they would let her go. She let out an sneer as she said "you know, the guards in this place aren't that merciful, they got the city's reputation to uphold and a murder story can spread fast, they'll silence you two as well, so we might want to get out of here."

She continued to walk up to the two, the flair of pain in her shoulder made her realize that is was bleeding, she looked and saw her blood all over her sleeve. She was now close to the two, the mage stared at her with an unblinking gaze, not an accusing one, just one of udder discipline and tirelessness. The nun on the other hand looked like she was about to slit her throat like Elexis ruined something. "so, why are you two even here at this random warehouse, and at this late of an hour? And does anyone have something to bandage this arm.... It hurts like hell."

Definately she was not a monk.

Too easy.

It was for the first time when Vor noticed that his voice held so much ‘authority’, or did it? It seemed just to easy, the assassin didn’t attack him upon the first and didn’t try to flee, on the contrary, she was quite the communicative type.
For a couple of minutes, the mage has been rendered to silence, it was not wise to interfere between the two women, both radiating with a strong personality and attitude.
Oh, what sacrifices one needed to make for some ancient knowledge...

He often told himself that he needed to socialize more and gain a few companions or trusted friends, but even with the mind of an oracle he never envisioned that he will end up in a situation like this, forced by the circumstances to work with two she-demons.

But if he thought better on that, some action will put that rusty body into motion, he didn’t remember last time when he had this feeling gathering up in his stomach.

“I don’t think the reason why I came here matters too much, but you are right, we are strange enough to be suspected of assassinating that monk, I could turn you in, but who would believe that I don’t have anything to do with this.” The frustration consumed him from inside, but he made quite an effort not to show it.

A piece of the puzzle was missing though, the assassin was talking about a relic, a relic which wasn’t there, or so she said, then what triggered the alarm?

Oh no… damn the thinking

“The guards are closing in on us, we don’t have much time, and there is no way out other than that window.” At least one of them was lucky enough to own a pair of functional wings. But he was the magician.

The relic was last of Vor’angkoo’s concerns now, and so was the wound he inflicted upon the half-breed.

"We don't have time!"

He hurried to the window, opened it and eventually jumped off its edge.

…

…

…

After a few seconds of silence his voice would be heard again.

“Hurry up!”

He was floating into the air just beneath the window. He was atop his magic carpet. It was perfectly fit for flying, and probably the rarest item he possessed, something you don’t see everyday.

Elexis was almost glad that to make an escape she wouldn't have to transform into her demon form, she begun to scale the wall when her arm flared into a bright lance of pain. She gritted her teeth and begun to climb up using the same route that the mage used. She scaled the wall quicker than he did due to her being a thief and she had unnatural agility and grace. She jumped out the window and dropped onto the flying carpet. Her shoulder ached in dull pain as looked at it once again, it was bright crimson and her dark shirt was now blood red on the entire sleeve. The pain was only made worse due to the ice melting. She tried not to think of the pain but what to do next.

"Ok at least I don't have to turn into my demon form to get out of here, gods that is painful." She shivered of the thought of the wings bursting from her back and spines pushing their way through her skin. "Alright, I get a ride from this one, he doesn't kill me, and hopefully he'll believe in that little lie until I can get away and go on with the plan." Elexis had never rode on a magic carpet before and her balance was uneasy even with her agility. She let out a sigh, "I might as well get to know this, whatever he is, as long as I'm getting a ride from him." There was an awkward pause as he waited to see if the nun was coming and she was waiting to introduce herself, she was getting annoyed by being called "you" or "her" but she was also nervous, obviously he wasn't the most social person to exist. But she was relying on him to get her out of the city and past the holy wards that were way too annoying, tedious and painful for her to deal with again when she had the chance of a free ride.

"alright, now or never," She wispered to herself. She took a deep breath and waited a moment. She took a good look at him and finally said, "Oh and by the way... my names Elexis."

Vex raised an eyebrow. This was an opportunity that was simply too good to pass up. There was a body, there were fugitives and she hadn't done anything bad. Not yet anyways. And truth spells... truth spells were funny things. She was pretty sure she could squeeze past the one that they were going to cast onto her. They were in the Sanctuary of the Angels after all- however low of an opinion the weird looking one had, she was fairly certain they asked questions first before killing...

Especially if they came across a victim. Vex took a deep breath, counted until two (guards *were* coming after all) and then let it out.

And then she punched herself in the face. Hard. She felt her nose break and blood squirted downwards, making a plume of smoke rise from as demon blood mingled with holy ground. She was surprised- those were rare runes somewhat surprised, she hadn't *heard* of such an event happening before- and hoped that it didn't foretell of some greater Holy Magick. Then she gritted her teeth, what she had started she would continue.

Then she punched herself again. And again. And again. For good measure, she slammed a hand into her gut and (with a great deal of trepidation and pain) slammed the butt of her own mace through the fine membrane of her left wing. If she had nails she would have done her own crucification, but alas, that was not to be. Still, this would be good enough. She didn't know who would get blamed for her apparent 'defence' of Georgie-boy but she didn't doubt that she'd be able to ferment something truly diabolical once the guards arrived and the story- a carefully crafted and fabricated but true story- got out.

The pain nearly felled her, but she was smiling as she fell to the ground.

It struck him, the moment the half-demon landed on his carpet, a feeling of uneasiness threatened to turn his stomach out. A glance over to the other demon, and it felt like his whole sight was blackening, he couldn’t believe his senses.

“You don’t look too good, Elexis…” He repeated her name with the same tone as she introduced herself. His ability to read surface thoughts of the others would prove to be a disadvantage to both women. An attempt to take advantage of him and his uncommon ‘kindness’ shown towards two individuals of a very suspicious race. For some reason he fell just in the middle of this problem. His plans to end this peacefully were now coming to a ruin. Why, might you ask, just because someone was thirsty for justice.

“Abyssal creatures on celestial land, honestly, how much do you think you will last here. And how much value do you think your word has in a place like this? I am very disappointed…” Up to this point there was no doubt that the relic said-moved, was actually in the possession of the assassin. An attempt to double-cross him, not from one, but from the both of them, that was frustrating up to an unbelievable point, but this was not the time nor the place to lose his temper. With his palms were pressed firmly against the rocky outside wall of the building, his whole body seemed to become transparent, taking a strange consistency which allowed him to walk right through the wall and step back into the room, where the nun was mutilating herself.

The prophet clapped his hands in both recognition of the nun’s action and to order his carpet to become unstable in its flight, to make Elexis lose her balance, and eventually wrap around her, in an attempt to cease and hold her to a safe distance. But would it succeed?

With slow steps Vor headed towards the fallen demoness, his eyes never leaving her face. “If I didn’t know better, I would say that you have quite a sense of justice, but truly, what made you do that?” His words calm and yet ironical. The guards would be there soon, maybe sooner than expected and things will only then turn really nasty. Indeed, the crime could be proved, easier than they might think. By now sanctuary was under a general alarm, and in a couple of minutes there would be no inch left unwatched and unguarded. The whole events following the activation of the holy ward gave the celestials enough time to group and guard any exit, be it by air, land, or through any magic mean.
Fleeing was not a good option from the start, yet why did Vor had this little attempt? Did he hide other things beneath his actions?

"You double crossing son of a..." Elexis'es words were sut short be her falling onto the ground. She landed into a cart of hay. The dull pain in her arm flared up again and small puffs of smoke flew up as her blood mingled with the sacred ground. She was able to get out just as the carpet tried to entangle her. She dodged to the side, grabbing a pitchfork from the cart and pinning the carpet onto the wall, It struggled like a living beast. She started to walk away from the alley when the yelling of nearby guards could be heard. "I'm not going back to prison that easily." She started to run the other way when the orders of yet another unit of guards could be heard. She looked at the stones on the building across from the sanctuary, once she found a path she started to scale the walls. "I just hope that that friggen mage dosn't show up again to ruin things, thats what I get for trusting someone." She reached the top just in time to see the small regiment of guards passing by the alley. She ducked for a moment making sure that they don't know where she it.

She turned to the window, seeing the mage talking to the nun who was knocked out "Screw it I'm getting out of here, at least my arm won't leave a trail." she said as yet another plume of smoke arose from the ground, her arm was bleeding openly now due to her fall. She started to run across the roofs of the tightly packed buildings. After she reached the end of the block and the gap between buildings was too far to jump, "damn it, I guess I need to to escape the city anyways, and I should be finished before they can reach me." Elexis stopped at the edge of the building and turned to looked back to see the regiments storming the buildings. "At least this will be worth it..." She said as she collapsed to the ground, wings bursting from her back as she started to transform into her demon form.

“Double crossing?!” The prophet almost erupted into a laugh, she tried to double cross him first, and use him. She would have been somewhere nice right now if she wouldn’t have tried that from the beginning. He glanced over his shoulder and watched the assassin struggling with his carpet. It seemed that the magical rug was not powerful enough to stop and cease her flee. Too bad, probably she will encounter some angels on the way who would be powerful enough to stop her. Vor knew that she had stolen the artifact now, it was no doubt that she won’t be chased to the ends of Ea.
The approaching guards should be his main concern now, and what the self-injured demoness will tell them.

A few more seconds his gaze lingered on the demoness before he turned and walked back to the window, releasing his flying carpet from the place it has been stuck against by the assassin.


A few knocks against the door announced the imminent approach of the guards, they were the type to ask first and hurt later. That was a good thing to know, at least he will not be killed on place. It would be wise not to flee, he was but a scholar, in the wrong place at the wrong time, the guards will know that he didn’t have anything to do with the crime. Moreover, the clerics knew some spells who would force one subject to say the truth and nothing but the truth, so he should not worry about that.

Elexis stood up, her transformation complete, She looked over to the sanctuary, no sounds of fighting, no spells being cast... nothing. "Damn, I was hoping that they guards would finish those two." She looked alot different now, her skin was darker, horns emerged from her head, more spines were protruding from her skin, and her face was almost featureless, her nose was a featureless form in the middle of her face, and her mouth was more pointed. Her feet were now wicked talons, and her fingers now had wicked claws on them. "I better get out of here before the mage turns up..." She jumped off the roof and took flight, many people were looking up in shock as an obviously demonic figure was flying in their holy sanctuary. She reached into a small pouch and pulled out what allowed her to get through the wards, and what will allow her so escape. The order of monks that she just stole from deals with demonic artifacts and sometimes the order need to bring one of them to here for safe keeping. So the amulet that Elexis now held in her hand "cuts a small hole" in the wards to allow something demonic to enter. Now that this fell into the wrong hands Elexis can now escape uninhibited.

She was getting closer the the walls and her escape. She looked down, guards in distress, peasants wondering why or how something like her got into their holy city. Several arrows whizzed by, but due to the low light and her being a small target, most of them flew far from their mark. As Elexis came close to the walls the amulet started to glow and a small warmth infused her hand. As she hit the wards, a small glow came but nothing else. "this could have gone better, but I got what I came for... and thats all that matters." She was about to land when a winged form slammed into her, both of them plummeting from the sky and slamming into the grasslands outside the walls of the city. "damn angels," she said to her self as she picked herself up from the ground.

The angel spoke in a voice of a warrior with utter certainty "Surrender foul fiend and prepare for judgment," Elexis put her hands up and said in an innocent voice, "I'm unarmed, and I'm not a demon..." She said as she fell to the ground, changing back into her half demon form, wings slipping into her back, her face regaining her form, and the horns receding "A half breed, ha all of our defenses and a half breed manages to break in."[/COLOR] He raised his sword to strike but before he struck down for an executioner's blow, he paused, "I couldn't slaughter an unarmed foe... not even a half demon swine like you." Elexis smiled to herself, "thats too bad... because I don't feel the same about you." She said as the slipped the dagger from her sleeve and with unnatural grace struck the angel in the neck, a look of shock on his dying face as he fell over, his large sword dropping to the ground, his armored form clanking as he hi the soft grass, he tried to talk but his split vocal cords could only make a moan of pain. Elexis bent over the dying angel, he grasped his neck struggling for air, "Aw so sad, my hearts breaking, you gave me the chance and I'm taking it, I can't go to prison again." She gave one last look into the angel's eyes, he only returned a hateful stare. She turned and began to run, other winged shapes beginning to appear on the horizon behind her.

One of the guards was a spellcaster. Or maybe he had the key. After a few polite knocks the door swung open on its own accord. That sound of steel filled the room as paladins and knights entered some of their eyes haughty, some of them benevolent and all but one pair moved by the carnage. The unmovable eyes had entered last and the body wore no visible armor or weapons, just a simple monk's garb of the lowliest order. His eyes... his eyes were special though, far colder than that of any monk's... even colder than Vex's own orbs.

"Abbot." Vex managed to spit out. Blood accompanied the pompous, self-satisfying title. "How nice to see you again."

"And you too, child. I am happy to see we arrived before that which befell Brother George befell you as well." The abbot replied gravely. He nodded towards the paladins who were cautiously walking towards the only other suspect in the room. "He bears us no ill will. Treat him with caution but also with respect."

Vex laughed. Blood bubbled and frothed at her lips. For a moment she was worried that she had burst something important on the inside. The paladins who were advancing towards the blue man halted as they looked at her. Some of the stares were pitying. Some were regretful. Some probably thought she deserved every wound she had and she knew they would have preferred to stay ignorant of the fact that they were self-inflicted.

"Please. Don't resort to trickery Abbot. You can't pull it off."

The Abbot smiled. "No tricks, child. He is still an honored guest." He bowed gravely towards the semi-prophetic statue person. "And he will agree to come peacefully... will he not?"