A shiver ran down Ly's back as her mind raced. She tried to recall everything she knew about Fauknirs as quickly as she could. Everyone of her Order knew the general bits and that they were a major threat, but she'd need a lot more than that if she wanted to have a shot at surviving this.

First of all, she remembered, 'they were arrogant. Believed themselves to be self-righteous to the point they often saw themselves as godly. Given that this one addressed himself as the Lord, that point was proven. She could use that to her advantage. She praised the Lord that she was allowed to falsely call out his name.

"My Lord, I did not, I must admit to my shame. I was not aware you were here, clouded as the world is by Darkness. I have failed to recognise Your light, worry filling my head on how to further spread Your light. I ask humbly for your forgiveness, that you do not retract Your light from me, that I can remain on the blessed path, and that I may learn how to serve You better."

She hoped he'd buy it. Fauknirs were smart, far smarter than most people gave creatures with such self-delusions credit for. And if things turned violent, well, at least she wouldn't exactly feel it coming. They looked human, but were anything but. Physically, mentally and magically they completely outclassed them. It would take a large force of Paladins supported by high ranking Priests to subdue even a single one, if the Fauknirs themselves were the only factors involved. The real danger was hidden in their ability to use blood magic. Not a little trickle like what she had at her disposal, oh no. They could turn others into puppets simply by speaking to them. Blood magic wasn't comparable to normal magic. It was alien, inhuman and dangerous beyond measure. Even now she kept fighting the urge to simply kneel down and swear allegiance to him, and she had decades of harsh training behind it.

Her mind raced and tried to draw up plans to let her survive this encounter and to safely withdraw to the Order, so she could return with an army. They'd torch Tinas to the ground to get him, but the price would be worth it. Left alone, Fauknirs could rally entire populations and destroy nations through civil war. Influence some here, convince some there, and before the rulers' would know it half the land would have sworn allegiance to the creature through it's malicious and insidious influence.

The creature tilted its head. It looked so damned regal. If the Lord would deign to descend from Heaven, He'd probably look similar to this. She blinked and cleared the heretical thought from her head.

"YOUR APOLOGY IS ACCEPTED, LOYAL SERVANT. I DO NOT BLAME YOU FOR YOUR BLINDNESS. THE DARKNESS THAT NESTS NEARBY HAS ALREADY CLAIMED MANY LIVES, AND THE PEOPLE HERE ARE SLOW TO ACCEPT MY TRUTH. YET FEAR NOT, SOON ENOUGH OF THE FAITHFUL WILL HAVE GATHERED AND WE SHALL MARCH INTO THE FORESTS TO ERADICATE THEM ONCE AND FOR ALL."

She opened her mouth to speak, to protest that the civilian population might revolt, before her mind kicked itself in gear and reminded her that she had to ditch her entire earlier plan. Saving civilian lives, using the city as an outpost, every objective she had, all of that was irrelevant now. She only had two objectives. The primary being to survive long enough to report to the Order. They had to learn that a Fauknir was here. The secondary one was to limit the damage it could do.

She suddenly felt very glad that the Orc was still in the city. He might be the only one who could resist the creature's influence and actually take the fight to it, or to a large group of brainwashed civilians and win. Well, no. Not to the creature. The Fauknir would squash him like a fly.

"It fills my heart with joy to hear that, my Lord. If Your humble servant may voice a request?"

"YOU MAY SPEAK."

"I worry that the Darkness will have spread to the population. If You take Your forces out of the city to eradicate them, I fear that they might revolt, seduced as they are by the Dark. If You would permit me, along with a token force of my choosing, I could keep them at bay." She was lying through her teeth and would disappear as quickly as the situation would permit, but she prayed that he'd buy it.

"My skills are infinitely inferior compared to Yours, my Lord, but I am still significantly more able than the others here, I—"

"DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DECEIVE ME?"

She felt her pulse quicken at the thunderclap of a sentence. Her blood started heating up and the pressure the creature omitted washed over her defences and forced her to kneel. Focused as he was on her alone, she stood no chance. She was going to die and she couldn't even fight against it. "My Lord—"

"YOU WISH TO PERFORM THIS TASK SO YOU CAN SHOW OFF YOUR ABILITY. TO GAIN PRESTIGE IN MY EYES. TO MAKE ME WITNESS YOUR ABILITY IN THE HOPE THAT I WILL REWARD YOU FOR YOUR FAITH AND SERVITUDE. I DO NOT DISLIKE THAT, BUT DO NOT TRY TO DECEIVE ME AGAIN."

An opening. She threw herself to the ground, burying her honour and spitting on its grave. She grovelled in front of him, kissed the ground and let her very real tears flow freely. "It is as You say, my Lord. I am truly sorry. I only wish to serve You and to be allowed to be near You. I beg You for Your forgiveness." She could feel him smile at her as the pressure lessened.

"IT IS KNOWN THAT I AM GENEROUS AND KIND. I FORGIVE YOU. AND THE CONCERN YOU RAISE IS A VALID ONE. ALL POWERFUL I MAY BE, I CANNOT BE EVERYWHERE AT ONCE. WHAT FORCE WOULD YOU REQUIRE."

"My Lord!" She didn't have to act much to put pure elation into her voice. Death didn't scare her, but the idea of leaving a Fauknir at large was terrifying. Left alone in a city like Tinas, the creature could marshal a devastatingly powerful force in far too short a time.

"My Lord!" she repeated. "If I could be reinforced by wick-leader Miriander and any of his men, or Your less loyal soldiers." She took a gamble with that last sentence, but smart minds tended to find explanations for things even if they weren't there.

"YOUR HUMBLENESS SIRES YOU. VERY WELL. I SHALL GRANT YOU THIS BOON. I SHALL DEPART SOON WITH ALL THOSE FULLY LOYAL TO ME. I AM GRATEFUL THAT ONE AS CAPABLE AS YOU SERVES ME."

A note of amusement crept into his voice.

"EVEN IF YOU ARE A BIT ON THE ZEALOUS SIDE."

Ly felt a hot flash of anger roar through her body that she suppressed immediately, narrowly keeping her from glaring at the monster. The Fauknir laughed, a truly musical sound, but given how he didn't react beyond that she doubted he had spotted her deception.

"GO NOW, MY SERVANT. I HAVE MUCH TO DO STILL, AND TOO LITTLE TIME TO DO IT IN. BUT REST ASSURED, THE LIGHT WILL TRIUMPH AND PEACE AND PROSPERITY SHALL REIGN OVER THESE LANDS ONCE AGAIN."

Ly made a remarkably fast retreat out of the room, given that she had to remain dignified the entire time. She nearly ran out of the building, pausing only to nearly strangle the first guard she found and shouting at him that Miriander had to meet her at the inn he was at last night. Normally this would have ended in a snarky remark from the guard, but given that the Paladin was throttling him the man had wisely decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and promised on his eternal soul that he'd deliver the message and that the wick-leader would be there.

When she left the city hall, the guards recognised her immediately and jumped to attention, saluting her as she went by. She fled the courtyard and shrouded herself once again, vanishing from sight. She quickly picked up speed and soon gave in to her previously suppressed instincts as she took off in a full sprint.

She didn't stop until she was several miles away from the building and the monster inhabiting it. She looked at her hands and wasn't surprised to see them shivering. She fell to her knees and clasped her fingers together. She cast her head skywards and closed her eyes and started praying. It was one of the most heartfelt prayers she had ever uttered. The Order of the Eagle had always hammered on how dangerous Fauknirs were, but it was the lessons she had received from the other group she was a part of, that had really driven their danger home. After all, if one of the most powerful and well hidden organisations in the world proclaimed something as a major threat, then a smart woman listened carefully. And Ly was many things, but stupid was not one of them.

Once she finally finished her prayers and recovered her wits to a reasonable extent, she made her way back to her hideout, taking a long and convoluted route to get back there. Once there she quickly changed into her serving clothes again. She let out a sigh. The bloody thing was decent in terms of skin it covered, but that was something she really didn't care about. She'd have gladly worn the most gaudy piece of lingerie if it had been properly enchanted with defensive spells. Her armour may not offer her any protection against a Fauknir, but she'd be foolish to ignore all other threats because a massive one had roared its ugly head.

She neatly put her armour back into the chest but kept her badge on her person. She closed it, locked it, shut the second lock and clicked the third one shut for good measure, before hiding the chest. Then she left and made sure both locks on the door were closed as well.

As she rushed through the shopping she had told the innkeeper she'd do, a hint of a smile finally broke through the worried lines on her still pale face. At least Daenan would still be around to provide an excellent distraction in the evenings. She paced herself at the last bit to keep herself from arriving at the inn while panting. Her reputation was already bad enough when she had simply playfully flirted with the green giant when he'd been around before, but now it would have undoubtedly plummeted after she actually slept with him. If it weren't for her employer's firm hand, the grim truth that most people had bigger things to worry about than she sleeping habits of a tavern girl, and the fact that even the most intoxicated patron realised that should Daenan should take offence to them, he could crush their skulls with a single hand, then a lot more salacious offers would come her way, accompanied with insults and other similar pleasantries. It was a close thing though, and if she arrived with her hair disheveled and panting heavily, not to mention a good bit later than she ought to have returned, then a lot of folks would start viewing her as a cheap two-penny whore. And that could only end badly.

She pushed the door open and immediately slipped back into her role. It was like putting on her second skin. She'd worn it for what felt like an eternity. With her mind still focused on the Fauknir and whether or not she should risk sending carrier pigeons, her body ran through the motions automatically. She greeted the innkeeper warmly, smiled at the patrons, batted the hands away of those who wanted to cop a feel or pull on her skirt to get them to sit on their laps, and danced through the room with her usual gleeful demeanour. It would take a keen observer to notice that her eyes weren't as radiant as they usually were, and looked dull instead.

Sadly enough for Ly, she wasn't aware of the discussion that her bed partner and his friend were having quite close by. Because Daenan might not have been paying a lot of attention to the details of what transpired in the morning, but his little Faerie friend was a whole lot more attentive, and was now pointing out every irregularity he had found in the story, and the Orc was listening with rapt attention and a dark scowl on his face.