Road betwen Middlebrough and Uldon

Captain Strongarm sighed and stretched his muscles, he was road weary already. They had been in the saddle for over 12 hours before resting for 6. The Druids and Rangers had already moved out an hour ago. He had some cavalry experience before he had been assigned to the infantry unit that had been positioned at the outpost north of Ineford. His reward was being transferred to a Calvary unit that was transferred to a new military unit under the direct command of the Empire. For the next two years, he and his unit would serve in the Legions before they were released from service or they could resign if they choose too.

"Sir, everyone has been feed and the mounts are finishing up their food as well. The camp will be broken down in the next 10 minutes, do you have any orders, sir?" The Sergeant asked as Braga Strongarm started pulling on his leather armor.

"Nothing Sergeant, make sure everything is packed. We got a long road ahead of us." Braga Strongarm replied as he finished his own preparations. Soon the sunset and 200 Light Cavalry of the Third Legion galloped north, desperate to catch a goal far more valuable then they knew. Jacob drank and ate half of what he was given, the other half he gave to the children around him. They had been given the same amount he had been given to share among themselves. He could only imagine what the adults were given to sustain themselves. "So finally done playing dead?" Jacob turned and looked at the woman who had attacked him before the poison had nocked him out. Jacob smiled as he eyed her and the two other Immortals behind her, both were Rogue types.

"So, I hope you are getting paid enough to set yourselves for life, I plan on filing a formal complaint once I am free. I hope you don't expect me to show you any mercy." Jacob told her. Her face went hard while her two companions rolled their eyes.

"What are they going to do? Nothing, and what are you going to do dumbass?" Faith sneered.

"You guys have no idea what you stumbled into, do you? As far as the Devs go, the frown harshly on Immortals that kidnap and imprison other players. If you are not banned, you will all be cursed in some way or another. If you do not believe me, feel free to look it up. Oh, and if Imperial Soldiers do catch up too you, they will drag your asses back to Imperial territory to face judgment for your crimes. You guys enjoy being here as long as you can." Jacob replied before laying down. Both Rogues continued to joke among themselves while Faith began chewing her lip as she stepped away. She would consider his words as she fell asleep and hope he was wrong.

Bloodsoaked Fort

Keep- Admin Office

John Swiftsure was brought before Brox, he looked like crap. "Well, tell me Prisoner Swiftsure, how did your escape attempt go?" Brox placed the report he had been reading aside to deal with the problem in front of him. He simply ignored the Orc commander, "Well to recap, you made it to the edge of how far you could go and then you were almost violently stopped. You were knocked unconscious and a small slime, a level 1 slime by the way, almost killed you. My men found you and healed you up to acceptable levels. For the record, this is your first strike. If you break the rules two more times, you will serve your full sentence, have a good day prisoner. Guards remove him and send him back to his work crew."

Being killed by a level 1 creature was both funny and amusing, but those prisoners were his responsibility so they would be protected from even them. He put the prisoner out of his mind, today scouts were being dispatched toward the area they believed the Sisters army was coming from. That was more important then some prisoner acting like a child and throwing a tantrum.

Alanthia

Temple of Light- Archons Office

"So, you have no idea who it was or what he had?" The Archon asked as Father Ignasio sat opposite of him. The chirping of birds and the dull sound of the city was in the background from the open air garden next to the office.

"No sir, I have never seen this man. I am however absolutely certain a powerful Holy artifact was using him for its own purposes. From what the man said the Lords of the Light gave the command. The better question is what Artifact could it be? I thought all Artifacts that possessed that level of power were safely locked away in the Citidal of the Light." Father Ignasio responded.

The Archon was the head of all Churches of the Light in the Free City Alliance, powerful in his own right and although separate from the churches of the nations to the north, was a close ally and thus trusted and respected with all important information. "Gentlemen, I am sure I am completely safe with the Inquisitors Captain, please give us a moment." The old Archon commanded to the two Paladins that were his personal guardians whenever he was not alone. They did not like the Archons orders and gave Father Ignasio a hard look before leaving though.

"Several weeks ago, reports from the Citadel were released to high ranking members of your church and mine. These reports state that one day the Tome of the Heavens has gone missing. No one knows who took it or why. You just might have answered that question. Now the better question is what do we do? The King of Arang'mor and the Church of the Light to the north have commanded that it be found yet the Artifact itself has been commanded by a higher power to fulfill a purpose we do not know. So we have to decide what to do." The Archon stated as he sat back and sipped his tea leaving both of them contemplating the choices ahead of them.

Road betwen Middlebrough and Uldon

Jacob watched as the children slept, he had a difficult time resting because this was his natural time to be active and now that the Curse was inactive due to the sun being down, he felt stronger then he had since he had begun this journey. He knew for a fact his stats would still be suppressed somewhat but the Curse was dormant for now so he was bursting with energy compared to where he was.

He could see very little of the camp through the small slit he was looking at, but he was enjoying the view when he saw a slight flash of light. He considered a storm cloud with lightning on the horizon but, it was cloud free and his view of the stars was unimpeded. Then a second burst happened closer, then a rapid fire of three, four then, five but they were steadily moving closer but starting to circle the camp. Jacob closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing. At first, all he heard was the heartbeats and breathing of those close by then suddenly a distant scream before suddenly cutting off. Jacob smiled and closed his eyes, it was going to be an interesting night he thought as he sat back against the nearby bars.

The distant sound of thunder woke her up as Faith opened one eye intent to roll over and fall back asleep but the chuckle from the wagon creeped her out. The Immortal she had taken was completely playing his kidnapping to cool, to relaxed. Most others would be freaking out by now, but he was laughing. More thunder in the night rang out.

She rolled over and stared at the canvas covered wagon, "Shhh maybe if you do not move it won't come any closer." He said before chuckling again. Faith rolled out of her bed and moved closer to the caged man.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Faith asked she walked up. The thunder was moving closer causing the target to chuckle more.

"You cannot hear them can you over the so-called thunder. Tell me, how can there be thunder and lightning when we have no storm clouds? I am guessing Hassim put out a perimeter of guards at 5,000 feet out, if that far. In groups of 2 or 3 based on the flashes of the so-called 'lightning'. Once it gets closer, you will be able to hear it better, that's when the fun will begin." The man responded before sitting back and started whispering to the kids. Two of them nodded and started moving the others so they were directly behind the target and the cage door. Faith was about to yell at him when she heard it right before the thunder, a scream and the thunder cut it off.

Faith whipped her head around and kicked her companions awake, "GET THE FUCK UP, WE GOT COMPANY INCOMING!!!" She screamed out as more thunder and screams filled the night. The guards were dying rapidly and she had no idea what was coming. The caravan was coming awake as others figured out that someone or something was hunting down and killing the perimeter guards. She whirled and rushed back to the wagon, "What the hell is out there?"

He laughed even harder, "I have no idea. Like I said when you kidnapped me you threw yourself into a situation you have no understanding of. You messed up royally and it looks like something or someone is coming to take your prize or set me free. Guess we will find out soon enough." Jacob watched as the flashes of light get closer as the camp came alive with activity. Something was out there hunting and killing people. He had heard over a dozen screams so far and whatever was out there, was coming closer. Suddenly something was moving through the camp and the screams of the guards and merchants filled the air as Jacob laughed. The other wagons that contained the other slaves remained dead silent though other than muted cries as the various people contained within prayed.

"Fall back into the hills to the west, fall back!!" Hassim called out from somewhere. Jacob could hear Faith cursing and start yelling at him as she led her small party further from the wagon and into the night. Jacob chuckled at her stupidity, had she never watched a horror movie? Never walk away from the fire and into the dark. Then more screams much closer filled the air as the remaining guards that stayed started dying. Faith led Jimmy and Tim into the darkness surrounding the camp while drinking a Cats Eye potion that enhanced her night vision. After a minute she found the attacker, but he was so fast it was nearly a blur and whatever abilities he was using was literary killing people in a flash of light. He killed 6 guards that tried to make a stand, not one managed to lay a finger or blade on him.

"Boss, I think its time for us to go. It doesn't matter how much this job is paying us if this guy sends us to the graveyard. I don't know about you, but I am bound to the other side of the continent." Tim said as he drew his daggers. Jimmy had triggered an ability that enveloped him in a green aura before triggering Teleport and followed by Backstab. The attack was deflected by a shield of some sort and the man whirled around and broke the offending arm causing Jimmy to scream in pain before the man slammed him into the ground and with a burst of energy Jimmy was sent to the graveyard.

"Fall back to the wagon, get the target north and don't look back." Faith started to run away but he quickly caught up to both of them and two more blasts of energy both Immortals were killed. The attacker studied the night, his gaze swept across the wagons that held all the slaves and started to walk away but suddenly stopped and studied the canvas covered one intently. Suddenly the intruder started walking forward toward the wagons, wails of terror and cries begging the attacker to save them or spare their lives. He ignored them and made his way over to the canvas covered tent, that conjured multiple threats from the other wagons from parents that feared for their children but the attacker just stared inside before cocking his head to the side when a man spoke, "Well isn't that interesting, do you mind if I ask who you are?" Jacob stared at the man, he had never seen anything move that fast with abilities that he had. That included his fights with Hyperion. Whatever was in front of him was far from normal even by the standards of Fate. "Well isn't that interesting, do you mind if I ask who you are?" Jacob asked the cloaked figure.

"This is a vessel, I am an instrument. We were traveling to find you and almost did not sense you because of all the protective warding around you and on your collar. We need to talk." the man responded as he contemplated the cage before touching and with a flash of light the wards disappeared. The man nodded as if satisfied with his work and then reached out and wrenched the door off its hinges and threw it away.

Jacob hopped down silently from the wagon, "Do you mind getting this collar off and helping me freeing all these people?" The man studied him and then the children before glancing at all the other wagons before turning on nodding his head. He slowly reached for Jacob collar, as soon as he touched it Jacob felt some heat and then the collar turned to ash. Jacob smiled and nodded his head in appreciation before turning back to the children and signaling them forward. They started lining up to be freed and now that Jacob was free as well he immediately equipped his armor and weapon. He still had a few De-Buffs but he was well on his way to recovering his strength.

He walked among the wagons, speaking quietly and soothing them informing them of what was going on while tearing off the doors to the wagons so they could get free. An hour later 238 former slaves had been freed, carts and supplies were being gathered as most had decided to go with Jacob south. About 40 were going to try and make it back to their own people on their own. Jacob begged them to reconsider, but they were adamant about trying so he wished them luck gave them some food and water before they left. Jacob was almost certain all of them would be recaptured within days and be back in the same situation as before but it was their right. After that Jacob and his new friends started south, while their liberator kept pace. Jacob had asked what he wanted to talk about but he was firm in stating that they would discuss it when they returned to a more secure area. Jacob agreed and the long road home started but hopefully, it would be clear of any problems.