On one hand, perhaps she should have seen this coming.

It was Veronica Barothy’s plan after all, to set forth the inevitable spark to unite the people against her father. To set the stage for the war that was to come. She had seen forth enough ahead of schedule to predict that this would be the approach taken, that the result of the cultists’ involvement would stir the people, but Vyra found herself wondering if this was even to the scale that the Countess had envisioned.

On the front steps of the church she watched, standing beside the two Sisters, Talia and Mara, as the flood of people continued to pour in from the village. Hundreds upon hundreds, having now far passed the first few hundred who had gathered upon at the church, having unleashed their untamed fury upon the unfortunate guards deployed by Lord Barothy, their deaths being nothing more than the first bit of justification to further their anger.

An anger now directed towards that of the Barothy Keep.

“A sea of torches,” Sister Mara mused, looking on with Vyra as the exodus of people marching towards the Keep did seem to emulate that, the torches that littered throughout the crowds of people seeming to move in unison together, not unlike that of waves along the distance sea. “Veronica wanted war, it seems that she truly has gotten it.”

Vyra swallowed, fearful of how true Sister Mara’s statement really was. One could have looked at what happened earlier, the incident committed by the cultists, there was certain to be a strong reaction out of it, but never would Vyra had reasoned that it would have led to thousands of people united together all within the intent and purpose of removing Lord Barothy. And as she peered further, it seemed that the amount of people did not seem to wane. Truly, the village was going to exhaust itself to the point that everyone would have been mobilized.

It only be a short time now until the Barothy Keep, the place in which she had been first forcibly brought to what seemed like days ago now, would be completely under siege.

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It was something to behold, to simply stand upon the Church steps, watching as the flowing mob was seeming to remain as constant as it had been since the very beginning, with the key difference through all of it being the people themselves. Faces that as much showed a myriad of emotions, some of them who had become convinced that the Barothy family had taken someone that they loved, or a friend of a friend, their motivations ranging, and it showed upon their faces.

It left her wondering just how many of them perhaps truly did believe in the cause versus how many of them were just angry, angry at Lord Barothy for one reason or another. The Sisters and Veronica had made it seem that for years the Lord had been causing problems for the people, so if this was to happen, that the people were going to rise up against him, they were responding to going against the Lord with years worth of reasons and motivations backed behind them, not just the nature of what happened tonight.

As well, the Demi-Human wondered just how many people would have backed Veronica as the new ruler when she did eventually secure the throne? Everything had been made to believe that she was well-received. Even the cultists, who had no kind words to say towards the Lord Barothy, did not seem to utterly despise her, though there may have been some level of hesitation to whether or not they were actually someone willing to help. These people, while their motivations may have widely ranged, so too may have their opinions on Veronica, to the point that even if this war were to go in their favor, would they support a new Lady on the throne?

Or was it just a matter of time before eventually they would be rising up against the Countess too?

The only way to say entirely would be in time. Until then, all that was pretty obvious was the focus of their collective wrath was the Lord, not the Countess.

A thought did occur to Vyra though in that immediate moment. Where even had the Countess disappeared to? Had she ventured back to the Barothy Manor?

The idea that Veronica Barothy’s disappearance could have led to the complete failure of this effort was not lost upon her or the Sisters either, it becoming clear that someone had to try to find her. If the forces may have reach the Keep before she had escaped, it may have been too late.

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“You must find her,” Sister Talia pleaded, Vyra wishing that she had some idea of where she may have gone to, but it seemed that throughout much of what had happened, Veronica Barothy had slipped away completely as though she were a ghost. Quite when it was, it was impossible for either the blinded Sister or her orange-haired Sister to be able to say with any level of certainty.

What was of no debate though were the importance that she be found, and unharmed more than anything. If Veronica were to become the one to secure the throne following this impending war, it would be absolutely detrimental to that idea if there were for any reason that she find herself unable to lead. Worse even, if something were to have happened and she were killed or something to the like, then it would likely lead to a huge civil war that would utterly destroy the region.

Everyone wanting to make a claim for power, it would utterly consume the lands, to the point that nobody would be able to secure power. Save for maybe the cultists, who were perhaps the most capable amongst all of them to be able to maneuver through the political quagmire that would have come about it.

Determined not to allow that to happen, Vyra found herself the unlikely one whom would be forced to find and rescue the Countess, an ironic twist to the circumstances surrounding when they had first met, with Veronica having saved her.

Now it was time for the Demi-Human to return the favor.

But the first challenge that was going to be faced by them was the fact that she did not know a good route to get to the Barothy Keep, and the mob that was descending upon the Keep had a significant head start on her, even if she were knowledgeable about a different route towards the Keep. It made her wish that she had spent more time focusing on the exact route that they had been taking, but it was clear enough that they would have been no reliable way for her to remember any of the routes taken, exhausted or otherwise. She had been completely in the dark during their original venture, no reason to think she could have remembered otherwise.

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She had wandered aimlessly for a short time, trying to remember what she could of the route. There were a few things that loosely came to mind, a few times in which she remembered Ser Gholston having put her down to better move something out of the way. Precautions, Veronica had described them to be. Artificial traps and deterrents to give the impression that those who may have sought venturing to the Sisters’ church would only know they were on the right path by these markers. Though it was much more difficult to maneuver through them under these dark conditions, it at least enabled her with a small bit of flexibility to at the minimum get an idea of where to go.

Venturing through this for a short bit of time, she finally seemed to encounter some sort of a boon in the form of Ser Gholston, seeming to have gotten the same idea that Vyra had as to the protection of Veronica. The Demi-Human had actually forgotten that she had effectively abandoned Ser Gholston while he helped the cultists in setting up this fake kidnapping ruse. Where he may have gone afterwards, she had not even given her a single thought, but now seeing him on the same route that she found herself, it made sense. He knew the area far better than she, so it only made sense that he would be further along, despite likely having left the area far later compared to her.

In what amounted to a one way conversation between the two with Vyra’s plea of aid only being received in silent nods and loose signs of acknowledgement from Ser Gholston, the two began towards the Keep. This time with the towering Knight lead the way while Vyra accompanied behind. Unlike the mob that was descending upon the Barothy Keep, they only knew the main road into the area. That were not so for Vyra and her new – albeit temporary bodyguard – who were able to travel through the more secret routes that had been traversed seldom outside of those who were in contact with the Sisters, Veronica being one such example.

Within a relatively short time, maybe no less than a fraction of an hour or so of traversing, the duo had arrived at the Barothy Keep, well before the incoming army was approaching, but it did not seem that that mattered much. The entire area seemed rather calm, either the people unaware of what was coming or otherwise not thinking that it would have been horribly serious. Either way, it would stand to work out better for Vyra and Ser Gholston, hoping to take advantage of the ignorance to find the Countess.

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A lengthy amount of time searching through the Keep, using the notion of returning to find the Countess being enough to not draw too much attention towards the duo, despite Vyra having returned there after being nearly brought to the gallows, it seemed that they had finally found what they were looking for in a pair of guards who were stationed before a room, unlike that of anything else that they had seen up to this point.

When Vyra sought entry, the two guards denied her, claiming that the Countess was not to see any sort of visitors. Knowing that the Countess was there, it seemed to be enough motivation for Ser Gholston to react violently, cutting down one of the guards before they even knew what was happening. The other guard sought to draw his blade, but Vyra had been faster, having grabbed one of the blades herself and used it to impale the guard through an unarmored part of his armor, a lucky strike if there had been one, but an effective one. Unable to fight back, the guard fell to the ground, leaving nobody to try to stop the duo.

Within the room there was Veronica Barothy, having been bound and chained to a chair. An effort to try to ensure that she did not run off anywhere else, but certainly one that was indicative of her father having lost any sort of trust and confidence in his daughter. Soon enough that would not matter, but in the meanwhile it was going to be that they had to get Veronica out of there.

As Ser Gholston began to remove the chains, more by destroying the chain than dealing with the actual chains that had loosely held her in place, there was a sound of alarms and cries of panic. It did not take much for Vyra to realize what was going on; the people had arrived at the Barothy Keep. The complacent approach that the guards had been taking before was now going to cause them to regret that decision. And Vyra, Ser Gholston, and Veronica Barothy stood to take full advantage of that, immediately venturing out of the main room and through the route that they had first taken, but it was clear that it would be nowhere near as easy as it was before.

Between those who had begun to penetrate through the main area, the guards were all on hyper alert, some of them having been mobilized to protect the Lord Barothy, while others were being tasked to locate and protect Veronica Barothy, those guards that fell within the latter category at points throughout their venture through the Keep run into Ser Gholston and Vyra. And even though Ser Gholston was able to handle much of the combat that had taken place, it was clear that once the guards had realized that they were trying to get Veronica out of there, they had changed their approach, insisting on trying to overwhelm the towering Knight.

At first it did not seem that the attempt was going to work, but as they further along through the Keep, having handled no shortage of guards and resistance, it seemed that it was taking a toll upon Ser Gholston. As they stopped for a moment, there was a sizeable pool of blood that seemed to be gathering beneath his chestpiece, making one wonder just when it was that he was struck, but it was very clear that he had been wounded. That he was able to fight still was something to be impressed by, but it meant that they had to hurry out of the Keep, the sooner the better.

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More time passed and the lack of resistance that was first met, the capability for Vyra and Ser Gholston to move effortlessly was long since eroded away. Between the towering knight’s injury and the sheer amount of fighting that was taking place now, trying to avoid the carnage was proving to be a very serious challenge, one that was only made worse and worse with the knight’s injury.

A pair of guards sought to ambush the trio as they were entering the wildlands again and one of them was able to get a strike against Ser Gholston, their blade glancing off of the knight’s leg, not enough to either sever the limb nor cripple him, it was again another instance of a serious injury that was going to all the more impede their ability to move quickly. The guard that struck Ser Gholston was not able to get a second shot as the knight was able to punch the man in the head, enough force behind it to cause his head to turn entirely, his neck breaking in the process. The other guard was stabbed in the back by Vyra, who was able to save the knight from what may well have been a killing blow.

It looked like that had been the maximum amount of the resistance that was being faced by the group as once they had entered into the forests leading back to the shortcut routes that they had taken only a short time ago, it seemed that there was a massive red glow behind them. Looking back, the flames had begun to consumes parts of the Barothy Keep. The building was not going to be burned down entirely, but it was clear that the Barothy reign was over, or at least, Lord Barothy’s reign was coming to an end. Unable to spend too long to appreciate the fires though, the trio continued back to the church; there were not many places in which medical attention could be provided, but the church was certainly an option.

Despite being saved, Veronica Barothy seemed worried, given especially that it seemed from what she had overheard from the people who were at the Keep that things were not concluded. Unwilling to go into further detail until they were actually safe, she insisted that they continue on, something to which Vyra was in no interest of objecting towards.

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