"Give it up." The man laughed, leaning back against his chair. "Admit it, save us some time, and yourself some pain."

Arakash eyed the old, overconfident soldier. He seemed affable enough, and while strong, it was a predominately combat ability, not a man who knew much complex magic theory. "Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you." He grabbed the palm-sized glowing artifact in front of him.

"I'm tellin' ya, it's never gonna work." The soldier crossed his arms, certain of his victory.

Arakash heard a chuckle from behind him, as another soldier chimed in. "Some people gotta learn the hard way, sir."

"That they do." Arakash placed his piece on the tile right in front of an opponent piece, as diagonal to another, then nudged them together. The three panels began to glow, his white, theirs black. Moments later, the two black panels flickered and died. Not because they should have, but because Arakash used his magic to siphon just enough power from the board to give his piece victory in spite of the odds.

The man just stared at the two pieces he lost. He moved one of his pieces to take the piece that had just taken two of his, but at this stage of the game it was a formality; his formation was broken and his pieces outnumbered. Attrition would see to the rest. "The pigs are whislin'." He gave the board a nudge toward Arakash. "Your game."

"Beginner's luck." "Yeah." "No way you knew that would happen."

Dismissive though the soldiers were of his victory, there was no hostility, only good-natured teasing. Mage Chess was for gamblers, and this was a gentleman's game.

Arakash stood as well, eyeing a number of heavily armored knights and mages gathering near the keep gate. "I'd offer to play again, but it looks like the people I was waiting for are arriving." He walked toward them, leaving the local guards to wonder who he was that he would be joining the Princess' entourage.

He didn't have long to wait, before Ada joined them along with her brother and his would-be lover. He strolled toward them, back straight and head high; if they wanted him to play the role of an elite guard, he had no choice but to play that role to the best of his ability. "This is everyone?" Counting himself, that would make fourteen elite guards for the girl. "I must say, I am impressed."

Soret bristled, but he played along because he had little choice. "Nobody but the best to protect Princess Ada."

Arakash's smile was almost genuine; he now knew that not everyone in the group knew his true nature. "Surrounded by so many powerful guards, it seems like my presence is redundant." Let the cautious prince digest that statement for a time. The truth was that this crowd counted no less than nine people he was confident could destroy him in individual combat. The rest, minus the princess, were still too strong for him to dismiss.

"Be that as it may, the King has spoken." Soret tried to ignore the demon's subtle goading. He looked at the men and women who waited in silence for his orders. "Let's depart. I'll be joining you to the edge of the city."

Left unspoken but not unnoticed was the lack of Sorda's presence.

On leaving the castle proper, they began their walk through the castle town. Like many fortress-castles, it traded the convenience of flat ground for the security of sitting on the edge of a mountain. The route to Castle Tyras was well maintained, but steep enough to make walking difficult and provide as many advantages as possible to a defending army. In some places, there were stairs for people and long, snaking paths for animals and wagons.

The castle-town that always blossom around such construction was built in narrow strips along magically landscaped flat layers in the hills next to the main road since it was impossible to occupy both sides of the winding route.

The few nearby townsfolk backed away and knelt as the progression marched onward. Yet another reason to keep the business of the city away from the main route was the annoyance of having to stop and grovel every time someone important went by. While the underclasses of Tyras were better treated than their contemporaries in many nations, they still preferred to avoid their overlords where possible.

Princess Ada took the time to smile, even wave, as they walked by. Nobody waved back, but such was to be expected. She hoped that they would at least think kindly of her for being kind.

Then chaos exploded around them. Ada stumbled as an explosion of sound and light erupted out of her back. Arakash hissed in agony and clawed at his own chest, unable to identify where the pain was coming from.

"Assassin!" Soret shouted. "Mages, shields! Defensive circle! We need a healer! Scouts! Find the location of that sharpshooter!" He gripped the bolt sticking out of his sister's chest, only to scream and release the magical-infused metal. "Don't worry, we'll have you better in a moment."

Fiora arrived first, and took over Soret's position tending Ada. "It's Miasma magic!" Insulating her hand and arm, she grabbed the metal. The venom slammed against her magical defenses, and for a moment they held. Gritting her teeth, she pushed the bolt deeper to try to force it through, knowing healing would be impossible until it was removed.

The energy began to seep through and every beat of Fiora's heart carried the burning venom further into her bloodstream. Her arm went numb and fell limp at her side, followed by her collapsing to her knees. "... Sorry..." Unconsciousness took her.

In that time, Arakash stumbled his way over. With more force than was perhaps necessary, he shoved the bolt through and ripped it out of the girl. Only then did his breathing return to normal. "I'll find the assassin."

Two rust colored bears standing twice the height of the men burst forth from the ground and knocked aside the nearest knights. "Fine!" Soret wouldn't have agreed to such a thing under normal circumstances, but at this point he needed to deal with more pressing concerns. "Ada, look after Fiora!"

Concealing himself in shadow, Arakash jumped up and used a flap of his wings to take him over the fighting and onto a nearby building. This maze of slum buildings was a great place to hide from most people, but not so much against his eyes. He looked outward for signs of magic, specifically magic capable of insulating against Miasma magic so intense that it could disable a druidic warmage.

Not including the defensive magic of the castle itself, there was one aura which fit the description. It was fleeing on foot. Arakash scaled the rest of the way to the roof using his claws, then got a running start before taking flight.

It didn't take long before he found his target, and swooped down on him. The man screamed in terror as he was lifted off the ground. Or, perhaps, the screaming was because demonic talons were now embedded into his arm bones. Arakash didn't know or care, he just used what momentum was left in his dive to drop the man on the roof of the nearest building before letting the darkness dissipate.

The terrified marksman stared up at the monster which had captured him. To Arakash's surprise, the terror bled out, replaced with hopeless resignation.

"S-so her evil is even greater than predicted."

"Well, before I was going to torture you on the principle of the matter." Arakash crouched next to his captive and leaned down. "But somehow, you managed to say something interesting. What is this about evil, and who's predicting what?"

The bleeding man had the nerve to smile, even. "I couldn't answer the second question if I wanted to. Magical binding." Arakash doubted it; bindings could be broken with time and effort. The question was only a matter of whether it was worth the effort. "As to the first, if you don't already know... the princess. She's a monster, and if she's allowed to live then the whole world shall suffer."

"I suppose you have some proof to back your claims." Arakash began the process of transforming back to a human state as he spoke. "Because I've met Princess Ada, and... speaking as something of an expert on monsters and suffering... she doesn't seem the type to me."

"It's been foreseen!" The man tried to sit up, only to fall back again. "Our oracle is never wrong! I failed, but there's still a chance! You have to believe me. Kill her while you still can, if only for your own safety!"

"Out there somewhere is no doubt a god that thinks all this is very clever and amusing," Arakash muttered. He grabbed the man's face, holding his jaw as he siphoned away energy to restore his wounds and spent energies. "But why should I listen to an oracle too incompetent to know you were going to fail? Or maybe he just doesn't like you very much."