17 Cold Season 716
As much as Nauta wanted to finish his investigations in Etzos, the city was so adverse to Immortal worship that obtaining any information of them was difficult. The one lead he had was through luck and, it was only later he realized how lucky he was not because he found it, but because he was not harmed after he followed it. Had the shrine been for true worshipers of the plague Immortal, no doubt some mishap would have met him even before the call to Ne'haer. A blunder he would not repeat.However Ne'haer's stance on Immortals and their worship, the opposite of Etzos' policies was the perfect place to continue his efforts. It was his one goal because unlike his Etzori fellows, he had no reason to risk himself in the defence of Ne'haer. Once he may have intended to relocate to the city and though its continued survival would leave it an option, he reasoned it was no good option if it could not handle the Shadows Etzos had no difficulty with.
But Nauta had to keep up appearances, especially when he had the Etzori fooled he was part of the Blackguard with his stolen armour. Nauta did not want them if- when they returned to spread word of his refusal to protect them which would have him investigated and, discovered by the true Blackguards. With no choice but to show he supported their efforts, he decided to tag along in the defence; at least until he had the opportunity to sneak off.
It would have been easier without such considerations. Even if Sirothelle's City Guard had some authority over soldiers, he was no leader. Nauta preferred to be in the city, safe, even if citizens and visitors had no respect him or his authority. Fear had been the only acknowledgement he received, and Nauta was unable to believe the Etzori felt anything other for their Blackguard. It also worried the Aukari how much the armour convinced the Etzori he could only add to their capabilities. He had to be more careful of how he used his false affiliation next time.
Any harm from their reliance would only feed the Aukari's guilt for the fools which trusted him. He tried to recall his old training, to impart to the group so they could get through the trial at least. The same training he had with the soldiers of Sirothelle. In hindsight he should have taken the possibility of a command position over the grunts more seriously as he would not be so troubled by his inexperience to assist the Etzori. At least it could have avoided the awkwardness when he stumbled through his muddled explanations for the group.
Unable to keep calm, his poor start of "soooo, uhmm...," which got worse when he commented, "many Shadows in city. Not many of us." demoralized the group. The atmosphere was oppressive and he tried to recover with a plan against the Shadows' numerical advantage. That "we fight together against many. If one fights, we all fight. We'll slowly make Shadow less!". It was not as clear as he hoped and the confused group's dispirited response only weakened his confidence. Had it been a poor start? No, to Nauta it was the worst start.
The old man, Rost, could see Nauta's low spirits and spoke of his days as a Black Guard to distract him. With no real knowledge of the organization, the imposter decided to deflect with a flood questions instead. Of how it was in the good old days and other questions of the man's superiors, a topic he knew as a former guard as one with no end. He learned some useful details about the Guard and even their salute when Rost corrected Nauta's 'piss-poor' posture. It was then Nauta identified the man as the group's lifeline and made sure it was the experienced Rost they followed, not the fake which neglected the training which would help their situation.
It was the groups decision to hit the streets as it was the best way to find the Shadows. With so many others involved in defence of Ne'haer, Nauta's group met no Shadows other than those which broke from their pack. Nauta had purposely chosen to patrol close to the city's center for this reason, instead of the walls where the Shadows poured out of. Unfortunately not even that precaution allowed the group to avoid the attacks, a proper unified attack which threatened their fitness for their true purpose in Ne'haer.
Shadows slowly trickled from the darkness and the group went with what worked. The Etzori surrounded and attacked the Shadows as they appeared and gave no chance to form. Other defenders jumped in which helped the effort. It was obvious the joint force which included the Etzori Nauta was with would succeed, despite the Aukari's choice to remain at the side. He only participated to relay Rost's advice and take shots at the odd Shadow. The ones not in the melee with his group as he feared he might hit one of his own. He was however not as considerate of outsiders as he never hesitated for a shot at the faraway Shadows with them. Without a care Nauta aimed at the bulk of Shadows despite the defenders which flailed around, and quickly fired after a few thrills.
It was nothing serious as only two or three defenders got hit, which were too busy with the Shadows to remember Nauta. As Nauta's own group continued to eliminate Shadows, he grew more confident. He started to ignore Rost's advice and he excitedly commanded the group to attack more Shadows, pointed out on his orders without any consideration for their tactics and position. He used each success to rally the others as he encouraged them to chase even more Shadows, until the formation they had successfully used was forgotten and the group splintered in the rush of battle.
Nauta himself ended up separated from the rest of the group and when he was finally able to gather his own breath, realized he was all along in a city which was completely foreign to him. He quickly searched around him, for some familiar sign or a landmark like the ruined temples he visited but there was none in sight or more accurately, a lot of the buildings around him looked like they needed some repairs because of the Shadows. As a place which he has barely been in and probably will not be in for much longer, there really was no reason for the Aukari to take the time to familiarize himself with it. Hell, he did not even want to fight Shadows in the first place!
With an ear out for the familiar sounds of battle in hopes that he might be led back to his own group which might still be in battle, Nauta did not even hear the sound of a brick which fell behind him. If not for the dark cast shadow over him which reached the ground in front of him, he would not have even noticed the Shadow until it was too late. However with just enough time Nauta was able to spin around to face his adversary, one, which was fortunate for him although he would have preferred a lot more people with him to fight it off. It responded to the rapier which Nauta drew with a shadowy construct of its own, one much more larger and dangerous than the piddly weapon which the Aukari wielded.
"Têskêth..." he thought to himself.
As if the Shadow was toying with him, it smacked away each thrust from the Aukari effortlessly and though it was obvious it would return another blow each time, abstained from doing so. On the fifth thrust, another which threw Nauta off balance as his blade was smacked aside again, he decided to go on the defensive in hopes those he was split from would be able to find him. The Shadow however was not amused and increased the intensity of its attacks which took its opponent all he had just to stop its strikes long enough to get out of the way until finally, Nauta had his back to a wall. End of the line.
In vain he tried to send a few more thrusts at the Shadow in an attempt to get it out of the way, his, so he may escape his unfavourable position but the Shadow would not give up its advantage. Its jawline shifted akin to a satisfied smirk after it had its fun with the Aukari and prepared to make one final blow which would have been the end of it. As it happened back in Etzos, the Shadow thrust its arm forward and filled Nauta through his nose and mouth it's deplorable fumes and as it happened back then as well, drew back its arm in an eerie cacophony of hollow screams as soon as the Aukari's body heat reached it.
The screams was enough to remind Nauta of the previous incident and what he had prepared for another as he grabbed for one of his newer creations, the blood from his newly inflicted wounds from the Shadow smeared unto it and, threw it right into its smug face in a bright flash of light which left the Shadow in a blaze. As it doubled back in surprise, Nauta took this opportunity to rush forward although it was not to finish off his opponent but to get some distance away from it. In one last ditch attack, the Shadow threw itself at Nauta with its arms spread wide. As a very similar reaction to the previous Shadow the alchemist has faced with his self-made weapon, he had his rapier strike the Shadow repeatedly not to wound or kill as its fiery fate was already obvious; his only goal was to make sure the Shadow did not get any closer to him until it burned out.
Before the Shadow became ash, the combination of bright hot fire and its death throes got the attention of Nauta's so-called allies who arrived on time to help him. Once he saw them, he quickly retreated with his blade still in between him and his adversary while they fired some shots until he was able to reach them for safety. After that, it was only a matter of time before the battle had ended and for the Aukari, enough was enough.
"We done. Time to rest." Although as he had done his duty, he would be on to fulfil his own objectives in the city.
