Hiro looked out into the desert, watching the desert sands blow in the hot wind.    He was tall, with black, spiky hair with red highlights running through it. He wore a suit of crimson armor, with a fiery red cloak, and a surcoat with a golden phoenix embroidered on it. A long sword was sheathed on his side.  He looked at the The sky was pitch black, with the sun appearing eternally eclipsed, even though it was the middle of the day.  It was the curse of an old God Sardon that was the cause of swarms of undead out in the desert, the inky black sky, and the appearance of a city once lost to time, and the Pyramid that houses the source of their power.  Hiro wanted nothing more than to go inside that pyramid, and blow up that Chaos Ruby, the one source of the evil curse upon the land.  However, his mother made him swear not to do anything reckless that would likely get him killed.  He needed assistance, maybe a party before he could consider an expedition into the pyramid.  So for now, he was at the Aestas Outpost, trying to find people to go into the city with.

"Help!  Help me!"

The call for help came from a young woman who was running into town on foot.  She was distraught, covered in sweat, having been running through the desert for some time.  The young Phoenix Knight approached the woman, who had to be in her late twenties or early thirties.  She had long blonde hair.

"Miss, what is wrong?"  He caught her as she nearly collapsed into the sand, upon reaching him.  He handed her a canteen of water, which she drank from before speaking.

"My child!  My sweet child!  She was taken!  Our caravan was attacked outside of town by a group of horrible undead monsters!  They . . . they killed everyone!  Oh god, my husband."  She had tears running down her face.  "But my child!  She's only thirteen!  She was taken alive!  I managed to escape, I was holding her hand, but they grabbed her, and took off with her, I don't know why, but they took her alive!  But I failed her.  She's as good as dead now, who knows what'll do to her!"  Hiro's face softened.  The girl wasn't much younger than he was, only a few years.  He was only sixteen years old, but he was capable of fighting and taking care of himself.  But this poor child, she could've been like Sapphire, his girlfriend.  Were the undead planning on sacrificing this child?  Or did they want to make her undead like them?

"Miss, I'm sorry for your loss, but it's going to be okay, I'll help you.  I need some information first.  Did you see where they took her?  What direction did they go?  I'll go find her, and bring her back to you.  If I have to go alone, I will.  I may be young, but I'm really strong."  The woman looked at the young Knight, through teary eyes, and spoke further.

"O-okay.  We were heading toward this settlement when we were attacked.  The mummies, the undead, I saw them heading toward that cursed city!  You don't suppose they want to make her one of them?  Oh Gods, my whole family!  No!  They can't claim you too, please.  If she's still alive, please, save her.  If . . . if she can't be saved, please do what you have to.  I just . . . need closure.  My little girl, my poor Sophia.  She has long blonde hair like mine, her name is Sophia, and she has blue eyes.  She looks like a younger me."  The woman sobbed in Hiro's arms.  His face turned toward the group of people who had assembled around them.

"I need someone to take this lady inside, tend to any wounds she has.  Get her nice and hydrated and safe.  I need a small team to accompany me.  I'm going in there, alone if I have to.  I'm going in there to save that young girl."  There were no immediate volunteers.  "Is there no one brave enough to assist me?  Do you think this just . . . a fool's errand?  If I have to go alone I will!  There's still time to save her!"

The black haired woman had been here for a little while, she had headed out of the desert and back to the town to rest for a little while. She was a veteran fighter, in her forty-first year of surviving, but as fit and as physically strong as she could be, she could hold her own against younger females and a lot of the males as well. Larka stood a few inches over six feet and was wearing elven made leather armour and had two swords at her left hip.

She had been fighting for hours so when she came back to rest she had gotten some food into her and a lot of water. Then she found a shady place to lay back and drink until she fell asleep. She was thinking on things before she had passed out; her life and that Celeste was out there still fighting on. Larka had wanted to stay with Celeste and keep her safe until the fighting was over, now that she had the elf back in her life the human didn't want to let her go for anything. However, at the same time, Larka knew that Celeste was able to take care of herself and Larka wanted Celeste to know that Larka knew that and that she trusted Celeste. Celeste had been captured over two years ago and had blamed herself for being weak and allowing it. So Larka wanted to show her wife that she was still strong, despite what happened and, in Larka's mind, that meant allowing Celeste to fight on her own.

So it was that when the woman came through the gate that Larka was in the shade half asleep and a little drunk from rum. She heard nothing of the exchange at first, trying to block it out until the woman mentioned her little girl and that caught Larka's attention. When the young man first called for help in finding the lost girl Larka didn't hear any reply as she forced her body to wake up fully and got up with a wide yawn stretching out her arm as she did.

She bent and picked up the bottle that was a quarter full of rum and started to walk over as the young warrior man called out again, saying he would go alone. Larka couldn't blame anyone for not wanting to join that particular fight, and even Larka figured there was little chance the girl would still be alive and whole. But still, a fight was a fight and Larka could gain a little reputation around here if she went along, even more if they actually brought the girl back alive. That and Larka had in her past lit the fire to her own family's pyre, and that was something that a mother should never have to do, and even then, at least Larka was able to give her children and first wife and a proper send off. Not like this mother would have if her daughter wasn't found, in any condition.

Taking a long pull of the rum Larka walked over to the young man, he was less than half Larka's age if looks were anything but he was in great shape and seemed well trained. ”I'm in.” Larka spoke finishing the rum off, maybe not the best introduction, and tossing the bottle aside and glanced to the mother who was staring up at her.

“But, you only have..” She spoke concern in her eyes.

Larka chuckled lightly and glanced to the stump that was left of her left arm. ”If I didn't know how to fight like this, I wouldn't have ever made forty. I was a mother as well.” Larka smiled and that seemed enough for the woman, Larka's words and tone said enough of what Larka meant. When she was away the Reaver looked to young man. ”So, young blood, where are we heading? Name's Larka, by the way.”

An older woman stepped forward.  She was old enough to be his mother perhaps.  She was also drinking alcohol, his mother was prone to drink too.  She had to be a veteran warrior of some kind, being armed with a pair of swords, having a toned appearance, and being very tall for a woman; she was about as tall as Hiro was!  Most surprising of all though, was she was missing an arm (which the mother he was helping pointed out).  Still, he wasn't going to turn down her help.  Hiro smiled at the woman, who introduced herself as Larka.  The lad reached his hand out to shake her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Hiro Kouen, Phoenix Knight.  We're gonna head toward that cursed city.  If they just snatched that girl up, like they said, there's a chance she could still be alive.  Maybe they need her for a ritual, maybe they want to turn her into a mummy like the ones roaming the desert.  That takes time, so we need to get on some horses and get over there quickly.  Do you happen have a horse?  If not, you can rent one, I happen to have one I can use.  Either way, we should get on the way quickly."  A couple volunteers came over to take the mother away to rest.  She looked toward them, with tears in her eyes.

"G-good luck."

"I'm glad you volunteered, I really would have gone by myself, but it would be extremely dangerous to go alone.  But if I have someone to watch my back, there's more chance for us succeed.  So, thanks."  He said, smiling warmly to Larka.  "So, shall we get our equipment, mounts, and reconvene here?"

Larka took the offered hand to shake, her grip tight as she listened to what the young man, Hiro, had to say about the situation. ”I don't know a lot about magic, can't do a lick of it myself, so I'll have to trust you on all that. But, that said, if they have taken her alive while they usually end up killing everyone else, maybe there's something else going on here other than making her into a mummy. So, I think your idea of a ritual is right, and this may be the start of things. If we fail and it works they may start taking others alive for more rituals, and that's never a good thing.” Larka put in. ”No, I'll have to borrow one I suppose.” From her voice it was clear she didn't like that idea, Larka wasn't a rider, she barely knew how and it didn't help that she didn't like horses to start with.

The mother was escorted away and wished them luck and Larka looked back to Hiro again. ”You're welcome. A mother should never have to bury their child, even still, she needs closer no matter what happens, I think. It would still be devastating, but in the long term it would be easier to know rather than not know.” Larka added and then went to get herself ready.

Larka didn't need much more than she had on her already. She got her empty water canteens filled with fresh water. She had been carrying them not only to drink but in case she ran into Celeste again and her water mage of a wife needed more material to work with in this desert. Now, the hard part would be a mount to ride, she really just hated the idea of having to ride a horse.

So, when she came back to the spot to meet Hiro, Larka was riding a camel instead, and she was still looking just as uncomfortable on it as she would on a horse. ”I hate horses.” Larka grumbled to Hiro. ”And I'm still not all that happy. So, come on, let's get going, I want off this thing.” Larka did as the handler had told her and got the tall smelly beast moving(well, she thought it smelled anyway), out into the desert. Yes, a horse would be faster, but camels could survive the desert that much better, since they were born in it.

As they rode Larka called over to Hiro. ”So, tell me, what kind of fighter are you? So I know what to watch for you. Me, I'm fairly quick, and my movements are almost dance like, my sword can turn into a whip so I may need more room than normal. But I can close up as well with the rapier if needed. Also, and I'll explain in more detail later, the wounds I get, the stronger I become.” She explained as she continued to bob up and down on the back of the camel, looking a little sick from it, and holding on for all she was worth to the saddle.

Hiro was impressed by the woman's grip, though it would make sense that her arm would have impressive strength, considering she was a warrior with only one arm.  "I imagine they intend her to be a sacrifice, or they're trying to make more mummies to replenish their ranks or for whatever reason, though that makes me wonder why pick a little girl, if they want to make her undead.  Maybe she has some kind latent power they want?"  Hiro shrugged, he wasn't sure what they would want with her, but they would have to hurry to find out before it was too late.  He wondered why Larka seemed uneasy about taking a horse.

"Indeed.  And say the unthinkable happens, we fail, and say they turn the child into an undead abomination.  We . . . will have to end it."  He thought about his own mother, who would be crushed if something happened to him in this venture.  But he couldn't just sit here and not help someone in need.  Hiro gathered his belongings, an ample amount of water, medical supplies, whatever else he could think of that would be useful.  Hiro met with Larka after gathering his belongings, he was riding an impressive, large, white stallion.  Larka had rented a camel suited for the desert.  They started riding out into the desert, she seemed ill suited for it.  "Do you not like animals like horses?  Or . . . do you get motion sickness from it?  My father trained me from a young age on how to ride a horse into combat.  I love animals in general, particularly dogs.  I got a little doggy at home named Ember.  She's not suited for combat."  Larka asked him what kind of fighter he was.  "You're gonna have to explain that more later.  Me?  I use a long sword that I can use with one or two hands, while also being a master at fire magic.  I use my force of will and focus to command my flames.  I also have a few other tricks up my sleeve, beyond just fire magic.  I can focus mana into my limbs to become faster and stronger.  I have also trained in other weapons too, such as polearms, but I prefer swords."  They continued to ride through the hot sands, Hiro was at ease with riding, but it seemed Larka was struggling, he felt bad.  He slowed the horse down a little bit, so they could travel at a more comfortable pace.

"So if you struggle with horses, you just walk everywhere?  You can't use magic to make portals either."  Hiro could begin to see the cursed city in the distance.  The city was massive, and it seemed the closer they got, the realization came to him that they might have to search the whole city for the missing child.  That would be near impossible to find her if that was the case.  "That's one big city.  Going to be hard to find her if we have to search the whole place."

Larka pondered it a little more as Hiro spoke.  "Hm, maybe, I think sacrifice might be closer to… or, maybe a vessel for something that can't come into our world without a host body?  Like some long dead entity that needs a body to inhabit and they took the girl knowing she won't have the mental defence to put up any kind of fight."  Larka though, the idea very idea of that making her sick and angry.  "We do what we have to do, we are warriors, not saints… at least I'm not."  Larka replied in a matter of fact voice, though of course she wanted to find the child alive and well and return her to her mother.  At the same time, if it came down to it Larka would have to do what was needed to make sure everyone was safe and that the mother had closer, no matter the kind.

They started out and talked, getting to know each other as they did, their fighting styles to know what to expected from each other.  "I just don't like horses, I don't get sick from them.  I do get sick from ships, just as well since I hate sailing and I can't swim… I have a tendency to sink and go in a circle."  She chuckled, the last part was meant as a kind of joke, the rest was true, she hated ships and couldn't swim very well.  "I have a little wolf puppy though, her name is Kyu, she a storm ruined wolf, so once she's gets older I'll bring her along more.  I had another wolf companion when I was younger raised him from a puppy as well, his name was Fel, sadly, age took him years ago now.  So when I saw Kyu, I couldn't help myself."  Larka chuckled with a small smile as she listened to Hiro's description of his fighting style after explaining her own.  "Interesting. I have no magical talents myself beyond what my Reaver abilities give me, and a bellow that can knock people back, but that I inherited from my mother's side.  My wife is an aquamancer though, and a damn good one, she can use ice as well.  She's out here somewhere as well fighting and helping those that need it."  Larka replied as they continued on, the talking was helping her ignore the fact that she was still riding on the camel.

"Pretty much, yes.  I'll catch rides with caravans when I can, usually taking on a guard job.  I can always find a friendly mage somewhere that's willing to open a gate for me for a few coins.  Though I make sure they aren't going to trick me of course, always get them recommended to make sure they're on the level."  Larka replied to his questioning to how she was able to get around with a horse or magical abilities to make a portals.  By that time the city was in the distance, it was huge and take a long time to cover the whole place looking for the girl.

Hiro spoke first what they were both thinking and Larka nodded her agreement.  "What are the odds that they're heading towards the pyramid though?  To me that makes the most sense.  Mummies don't move that fast, and this place, as you said, is big, so I can't imagine they'd get that far.  Still, we have to make our way through the streets and the undead.  We can either fight our way through them, or try and sneak out way around.  I think any sound of a fight will draw more to us, we'd never get past the numbers I don't think, so maybe sneaking from street to street and going through the buildings would be best.  I have a dagger I can use to sneak attack if needed, a good stab to the head seems to stop most of them."  Larka spoke her thoughts and looked to the younger man, wondering what his more youthful mind would tell him be the best option, or would he go with the old soldier's idea anyway?  Larka did enjoy fighting with young bloods like Hiro, even if they were already experienced, her age gave her that much more on him and just living that long gave her more life experience as well.  Not that that was anything against the young man, hardly, he was nice and Larka could tell he could handle himself.  Still, it was fun to see, at her age, how well she could keep up with someone half her age.

[OOC:  Sneak or attack, up to you, Larka will follow Hiro with what is decided :)]

"You could be right, there's gotta be a reason why they took her alive, but we can't look a gift horse in the mouth, as it were.  They could've taken her to a tea party for all we know.  it's all conjecture at this point.  We just gotta find her and bring her back."  Larka said they were just warriors, not saints.  "I wouldn't call myself a saint, a warrior yes, though I strive for something else beyond a mere warrior.  I strive to become a true hero.  Someone who helps the people when needed, a savior of the land.  I guess that's not TOO off from a saint, I don't know.  It's a bit lofty, but my father, before he came to this land, in the world we came from, he was one of the greatest heroes of the land.  He was a living legend, and I want to live up to his accomplishments and his expectations."

Larka explained why she didn't like horses, and boats as well.  What she described sounded like motion sickness, combined with bad experiences with oceans, not being able to swim.  "That's unfortunate.  Well, I was raised as a human, but turns out both my parents are fire elementals, but I can swim no problem.  Father was originally a human, who transcended that when he became a Fire Deity of the old world, then he fell, but became and remained an elemental.  Mother, apparently originally was a demon, but Father was able to save her soul, and she became a fire elemental.  Water weakens my magic, but I won't die from taking a bath or anything, so I was able to learn to swim and what not.  But that's unfortunate to get sick on boats, or being unable to swim.  Though i imagine it would be hard to swim with only one arm, I guess that's why, now that I think of it."  Hiro listened to her story about her wolves.  "Aww.  I love dogs, Ember is a very little dog, with a little fire elemental in her, she can't cast or anything, but she's very red in color.  I think they call the breed a badger dog, or 'dachshund.'  Ember is short, with a long body.  She loves people and is fearless, but she wouldn't be of use in a real fight, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to her.  I love her too much and don't want to put her in harm's way."  She described that she has no magic powers beyond her Reaper abilities and a bellow thing.  She also mentioned her wife was a aquamancer.  "Wait, wife?  That's something I haven't really seen or heard much of, but I have no problem at all with it."

Hiro laughed a bit, feeling at ease talking with this woman.  She was a really nice, kind person, so far.  "Yeah, you have to be careful when you buy a trip with a portal, if you can't trust the person you're paying, you could end up on the other end of the planet, if they're a trickster or something.  I can't use portal magic yet, I need to learn that.  What I have learned to do, is to be able to summon objects like weapons from other places, so I can summon a weapon I need that I'm not carrying on me.  It uses a rune etched somewhere on the weapon, it allows me to summon it to my hand."

Larka discussed strategy, thinking they should head towards the pyramid, because that was as good a spot as any other to head to.  The mummies don't move fast either.  She suggested they had the options of either stealth or a head on fight.  Hiro gave it some thought.  "Well, on one hand, I enjoy a good fight, but there have to be tons of mummies and undead in this area.  IT has to be heavily guarded, and if we have to fight waves of enemies, they could possibly win by mere attrition, and it could take a while to get where we want to go if we're being chased around by hordes of them.  I'm not a very stealth-oriented warrior, but I think that's the best option we have.  I just stand out a lot though,   One thing I've heard reports of though, the closer these mummies are to their source of power, this gem I've heard that's keeping the curse up, the stronger they get.  If you engage a mummy in the middle of the desert, they're not much smarter or stronger than a common zombie, but if you fight them close to the pyramid, they get progressively stronger and smarter.  They feed off the dark energies that are controlling them in the air.  Something like that."  Hiro started to slow his horse down, and motioned for Larka to slow down too.  "We are getting close, we need to hide our horses nearby so they're safe.  If we go galloping into town at full speed, they'll hear and see us coming, and the horses could get killed.  Then we'll be in trouble in more ways than one."  Hiro spied a small cave some distance away from the city, close enough to walk to, but hopefully far enough out of line of sight that they won't be seen by any enemies in the city.  They dismounted in the cave, and got ready to mount their expedition through the city.

"Larka, since you are probably better at stealth than I am, you should probably lead the way.  I have a magic sense, I can sense mana in the air and sources of magic, but I'm a six-foot something man in a suit of red armor.  It's well oiled for smooth movement, but yeah, I'll try the best I can.  But I stand out a bit," he said with a grin on his face.

”All I am is human as well, surprising considering what I have been through in my life. The fact I haven't been turned into a vampire or lycan or something is amazing in my mind.” She chuckled, considering how of each she had been with over the years it was, but she wasn't about to add that little detail, not to a male at least. ”I mean, I say that, but I'm a Reaver, I'm still human, but with some added powers, like gaining strength the more wounded I become. It may not make sense when I say it, but, trust me, when you see it you may understand how it can actually benefit in a fight.” She explained with a grin but as to the part about one arm Larka shrugged. ”I couldn't swim when I had two arms anyway. The hardest part for me, aside from having to relearn all my sword work with my right hand since I was left handed, was being able to keep stuff on my so I could reach it and not run out of room. Think about it, you may have you sword on your one side, and your money on the other, but what of a supply pouch or something? I can't keep that much on my belt and a backpack was annoying as hell since every time I wanted something I had to stop and take it off. That's why I saved up for this.” She reached her hand down into her bag deeper than it should have been able to before taking a hold of the camel's reins again. ”An endless bag. I can anything and everything I want in it, with no limit to how much, and all I have to do is think about what I want that's in there and it'll appear in my hand. It's perfect for me.” She was very happy to have such a thing in her possession, it helped far more than some might think to make her quality of life that little bit easier.

The topic of their animals came and Larka smiled when Hiro explained more about his puppy and then laughed lightly at his comments about her wife. ”Even if you did I wouldn't care, I've gotten used to it. My homeland was more open than these lands to such love it seems, I have encountered a few people who, when they find out that I have a wife, or even that I just don't find males attractive, no offence, they get twitchy.” She grinned. ”Don't get me wrong, I can look at a man and think that, ya, he's handsome, but to actually think of doing anything, eh. More likely I'm eyeing up his wife if he has one.” She laughed, though she'd never come between a marriage, unless it was an open one and the husband didn't get involved in any way, or even watch. Then she was more than happy to have fun.

The topic turned towards how they would enter and handle what was inside the city and how best to search around. Larka listened and followed as he slowed their pace and found the cave to dismounted and hide their mounts in. The camel snorted and Larka glared at it. ”Spit on me and when we get this all done I'll get to find out what camel tastes like.” She growled at it, though she couldn't actually speak to animals. She turned her attention back to Hiro. ”I've heard much the same rumours, and I've already been in a fight and lost because of numbers, I don't want to do that again. So, agreed, stealth is the better option here. I'm not much on stealth either, but dealing with the undead is far different than the living. At least the living will eventually get scared and run away, but my powers only go so far with the undead like this.” Larka explained as they headed towards the city. ”If you can summon your armour like you said you can weapons, be ready to drop it on the run if you have to and can to make yourself lighter.” She warned.

The area around the outskirts weren't too populated with mummies, and were easily avoided with careful and timed movements. ”Talk only if needed.” She whispered as they continued on, Larka picking her steps carefully as they came to the streets, but now things would get tough. There mummies milling about aimlessly, and it was almost dead silent apart from the occasional moan here and there. Larka carefully removed a canteen from her bag and took a drink of the water within before dropping it back in again, the heat was terrible and she was sweating heavily, she couldn't imagine how anyone could wear armour like Hiro was in this heat. Even with his fire magic Larka figured he'd have to be roasting.

The Reaver carefully poked her head around a corner staying low, and motioned for Hiro to follow her and started down the street before slipping into a building that she had seen with no door. She stopped and listened for a moment, nothing to indicate they had been spotted so she leaned out again, there was one mummy in the way of where she wanted to go next.

She waited but it didn't move, just stood there facing away from them and Larka sighed, it would have to be removed. She looked back to Hiro and motioned for him to stay put and then removed the dagger she had hidden in one boot, six inches of sharp two sided steel blade, nothing fancy but it didn't need to be to kill. She took a breath and moved from the building down the street and slipped into a door way and leaned out. Larka waited but the mummy didn't move so she closed the distance staying low and when she was close rammed the blade into its head and then dragged it down to the ground as it flailed slightly. She removed the blade quickly and stabbed it in its throat twice before putting the blade into its face and it finally stopped moving. She looked up and motioned Hiro over and dragged the mummy into the building she had wanted to be in in the first place, and nothing seemed to be inside of this one either.

Once Hiro came over she grinned, keeping the blade in her hand for now. ”Just hope these things aren't hive minded somehow or I just made a big mistake.”

[OOC: How hard to you wanna make this? :P hehe I'll leave that you ;) ]

He pondered over the bit she said about not being turned into either a vampire or a lycan at this point.  He had a few ideas about why that might be the case, but for fear of things getting awkward or embarrassing, he decided not to voice questions about that.  She also explained her Reaper powers give her more strength the more wounded she becomes.  "Is that something like a berserker?  Like a berserker rage?"  He listened to her talk about how hard it was to lose her arm, having to think about where to reach equipment on her body, to learn to use her right hand like she could her left hand, since she was left handed.  "That sounds very hard to deal with, especially the pain of losing a limb.  At least you were able to adapt to it all."  He shrugged his arms when she talked about her sexuality

"I don't discriminate against people.  It takes all kinds, and everyone's different.  I can tell you're a good person, so no shame in who you consider a loved one.  Or a wife.  Or husband.  Whatever floats your boat, as it were.  I'm in a committed relationship, I have a girlfriend.  She's a very sweet girl, very shy though.  She's a bookworm, the polar opposite of me.  I guess we bring the best out in each other through our differences."  Hiro smiled, thinking back about Sapphire, who was probably at home, safe and sound.  He had to make sure he was able to come home in one piece for her, as well as for his own parents.

"Yeah, mindless undead don't feel fear, they don't tire, they don't have morale.  They either attack relentlessly until there's nothing left of them or us.  At least my fire should work on them.  Most undead burn well."  Hiro smirked as he mentioned how well the undead burned.  "Dusty, old, wrapped up living dead will go up like a tinderbox."

They made their way to the outskirts of the city.  Hiro nodded to Larka and followed behind her with some distance so they didn't bump into each other or anything.  Larka was forced to kill a mummy, having to stab it multiple times until it finally died.  Hiro came over to her, and laughed softly.  "Yeah, really, I hope they aren't.  Else we're in trouble."  Hiro suddenly heard something, raising his hand for silence, he heard shuffling and moaning heading in their direction.  Rushing into the room came a group of shambling, decaying, ugly mummies, covered in their ceremonial wrappings.  "Gods dammit."  Hiro cursed under his breath.  He reached to his sheathed sword, and drew the blade, a huge flash of flame erupting from the hilt.  Fire engulfed the mummies, who were conveniently gathered together in one spot, went up in smoke, the scent of burning flesh and cloth filling the room, an enormous amount of heat was generated by the blast and the burnt mummies.  "We should get out of this building, maybe find some high ground.  Maybe the mummies are bad climbers."  He could hear more moans in the distance.  Hiro started to rush to the nearest exit.  The mummies knew they were there, the element of surprise was lost.  They were going to have to run for it and survive through pure brute strength.

[OOC: Lots of deep discussion going on XD I like it]

”Erm, kind of. Berserkers get their strength from their anger and rage, where as we Reavers get our strength from wounds and can heal if we have blood spattered on us. And it's funny that you mentioned Berserkers, since that's what I was when I was younger, all angry and shit.” She chuckled. ”But, some… things happened in my life and I just couldn't get angry anymore cause I didn't care about anything, anyone or even myself and what happened to me. It's why I joined the Reavers, that initial start, well, it has a chance to kill you instead of giving you the powers that I have now. I had nothing else to live for at that point, so why the hell not take the chance?” She explained not willing to go into detail for now. But as Hiro spoke about the pain of losing the arm Larka thought for a minute. ”Hm, the pain is just that, pain, that was the easier part. It's all of the mental shit that does with it. When you go to reach for something and you reach with the arm that you're missing since that's what ingrained in your mannerisms. But as far as pain goes, it's the phantom pain that can be really annoying. Your mind decides that the limb is still there and when it can't make it do something it decides that the limb is somehow hurt so it starts to give you pain in that arm, even though it's not there. Seriously, for more than a year I'd wake up at night sometimes and feel a terrible pain in a left arm that wasn't there anymore, in my head it was and my body was feeling the pain there, even though it wasn't. That is one of the hardest things to cope with, it does away in time as your body adjusts, at least it did for me.” She explained unconsciously reaching over with hand to rub at the stump that remained of her left arm under her shirt.

Sexuality came up and Larka grinned at Hiro's reply to her own words. ”Good for you two. They say that opposites attract, but I believe that anyone can fall in love with anyone if there is some kind of connection there, no matter who or what they are.” She glanced over to him. ”Take it from me; take all the time you can together, never waste it, make memories while you can and cherish them, hell, make babies to, and get married, the sooner the better. We only get one life and not everyone can get a second chance at happiness.” Larka sounded like she was speaking from experience, and she really was, though for now she gave no details as to what had happened.

Now into the town Larka had knifed the mummy blocking their path into one of the buildings to hide and Hiro caught up with her after that. Larka was about to comment but then he held his hand for silence and she stopped and listened, hearing the same as he did. Mummies were heading their way and Larka sheathed her dagger in her boot again and drew her trusted sword as Hiro used his magic to burn the mummies. The heat rose instantly and it was already hot enough in the desert, and the stink was terrible. When he spoke Larka thought for a second and shook her head. ”No, these buildings are unstable as it is, and we don't know how far we can get on top of the buildings, though I'd love to trust them and get higher up. I think we need to stay on the ground and fight only when we have to. They aren't fast and we'll never kill them all so we can't get bogged down in a fight. We'll carve a path in find the girl and grab her if we can, and then carve a path back. Hopefully we'll find some help on the way out, but those chicken shits weren't giving me much hope for coming to help us.”

Larka poked her head out of the door and took off, sword out and she flicked her wrist and the blade came apart into pieces of blade connected by strong and flexible cables. She swung it over her head a couple times before lashing out with it in a arch before her at neck height, taking a few heads off of the mummies with the attack. She pulled the whip blade back but now spun it around at her side keeping the momentum up in case she needed it again, which she would. The Reaver kept going, lashing out now and then to keep a path cleared for them.

Coming around a corner Larka skidded to a halt as there was a wall of mummies waiting for them. ”Cover your ears and get your magic ready.” Larka called back to Hiro, giving him about a second to react as she inhaled deeply and called up the one innate power she had from her mother's side. Larka let out a bellow, almost a dragon's roar, and it created a concussive force strong enough to knock a lot of the mummies down closest to them and send some of them off their feet into the ones behind. ”You're turn!” Larka called again back to the young knight now that she had created an opening for him, she'd be unable to use that power again for a little while, unless she wanted to make her throat raw and risk losing her voice.