Before Lency could question her, Estra strode out onto the stage peering down into the confused faces of the audience. The actors on the stage froze and murmurs of bewilderment began to rise as the onlookers watched the appearance of the surprise cast member.

"Halt the play!" Estra called out, holding up her pendant for everyone to see. "By authority of the Faith of the Twelve Enlightened, I hereby place the man known as Brennan under arrest for..." she paused for a moment, desperately groping around for whatever superficial charges she could bring to mind. "For the portrayal of heretical imagery."

Angry hoots of annoyance rose from the crowd immediately. Men and women threw up their fists and yelled, a few of them making their way towards the complementary crates of rotten foodstuffs to throw. Estra could sense the beginnings of a riot coming on, which tuned out to be exactly what she needed. There were far too many civilians in the vicinity for her to duel with the heretics now. The disturbance in the displeased throng was making it difficult for the Defiler's gang to press forward, hopefully providing her enough time to get somewhere more suited for her needs.

Estra shoved a cast member out of the way, grabbing the thin bard by the scruff of his collar. "Listen close and listen well," she whispered, leaning close to his ear. "Helena's men are in the crowd as we speak. If you want half a chance at living through the night, don't struggle and come with me quickly."

The bard looked down at her hesitantly, something close to recognition registering on his face before he caught the path of her eyes. The Broken Pillars were blatantly throwing people to the ground at this point, almost as if they were thrown into a blind rage at seeing Estra appear on stage.

"I understand," Brennan said, a strange smirk playing across his thin lips. He was still using his sing-song stage voice, but there was strange calmness in his tone that was more than a little unsettling. "Please, let's go."

Estra wheeled him around and ushered him back through the curtains with haste. As soon as they crossed the threshold, a loud crack rang out, dropping the bard to the floor. Lency hovered over him, her face the pristine visage of anger, palm raised to strike again as the bard clutched his bruised jaw.

"What the fuck were you thinking Brennan?" Lency said, pushing him back to the floor as he tried to rise. "You're wanted by one of the most infamous people in Eldrin and you decide to run out on stage and flaunt yourself around like a damned peacock. Tell me, what kind of good sense does that make?"

"Well shit, nice to see you too Lency," Brennan said, his ever-present smile never faltering.

"We don't have time for this right now," Estra urged, dragging the bard upright.

Lency shot a threatening glare at Brennan once more before the three of them took off at a mad scamper through the back stages. Troupers had already begun to pop out of their dressing rooms in the wake of the onstage disturbance. Estra decided to forgo showing her pendant to every one of them, instead choosing to barge a path through anyone that stepped in their way.

It didn't take much time at all for the trio to reach the back door, but even then, Estra could hear the shouting and hard footfalls of the heretics running at full speed behind them. She fought to control her growing apprehension as they burst into the open night.

Lency took the lead, angling a path towards the nearest alleyway, but skidded to a stop as Brennan pointed towards another route.

"We head this way," the bard commanded, "I know a good place to hide."

"Well whatever we do, we'd better do it now," Estra said, allowing a hard ball of energy to build up in her hand. It flew with perfect timing, striking the top of the door frame with a loud bang that caused a sizable portion of the roof to cave in on the first two heretics unfortunate enough to pass through. The noise of bones crunching beneath the heavy timber gave Estra the promise of some temporary respite and a welcome sense of glee at her accomplishment.

She turned around to find Lency and Brennan waiting for her wide-eyed and impatient. Estra didn't make them pause for long, breaking out into a wild sprint as she followed them down the alleyway. They took an endless route of twist and turns that seemed nearly impossible to track. Just as the thought crossed her mind, the sound of the broken pillars footfalls in the distance carried to her ears, making her heart leap forward like a deer running from a pack of wild dogs.

"You don't remember me at all do you?" the bard huffed in between steps, looking back at her.

"Can't say that I do, now quit talking and move faster man," Estra shoved Brennan ahead, quickly growing tired of how unathletic their easily distracted guide was. Despite the flair of his earlier movements on stage, the man was proving to be about as agile as a newborn giraffe with a bone disease and he was likely the sole reason that their escape wasn't already assured.

The back of Estra's neck was alight with the anxiousness of enemies close at her heels, and she was almost ready to turn and fight when the bard made a sudden dodge through an open doorway. Estra sucked in her lips, but followed him through without breaking stride, making sure to take a quick view of their surroundings as she entered.

The abandoned building proved to only be a shortcut to their true goal. The ragtag group leaped over termite ridden furniture and burst through the home's front door and found themselves standing in a wider alleyway parallel to the one they'd just left. Their situation didn't seem to have improved much, but Brennan's demeanor changed entirely. The bard confidently stopped behind them, smoothing out his clothes and collecting himself as if they were already in the clear.

Estra's jaw tightened in frustration as she looked back at the idiotic display, "What in dark hell are you doing man? We've got to-"

"Please excuse me while I have a brief discussion with these fine gentleman," Brennan said cutting off her words with a raised palm. The lanky minstrel walked over to a group of pox-ridden beggars huddled against around a makeshift fire. He smiled down at them warmly as if they were all old friends, engaging them in a hurried discussion that ended with something being passed from his hand to each of theirs before he returned to the other two without so much as a bounce in his step.

Estra reached towards the bard with anger shaking in her palms, having decided to drag the man if she had to, but stopped short as the heretics came bursting through the doorway of the abandoned house behind them. Without a word, Estra beckoned her flames forth only to find them weakened by her already taxed breathing. In this state, she wasn't going to be able to face all four of them without taking her fair share of harm, but there wasn't much else she could do.

She fought to get her rapid gasping for air under control, unsheathing her sword and allowing the flames to wind their way up the starsilver blade in preparation for the bout to come. The sickly-looking heretics loped forward, weapons bared and ready. Then something strange happened. To Estra's utter confusion, the mangy band of beggars rose between the two groups with makeshift weapons of back-alley refuse in hand, forcing the heretics to come to a grinding halt.

Estra looked around perplexed, watching as Brennan stepped forward with a white-toothed grin spreading his swollen cheeks. "My good men, may I welcome you to the marvelous portion of our fine city known as beggar's row, where the services of the finest bodyguards in Wulfdonria can be purchased with as little as a toke per head," Brennan said bowing theatrically.

The heretics shuffled around, eyeing the beggars warily. Each of the broken pillars looked to be seasoned fighters, but the beggars outnumbered them two per man and they all had about them the desperate look of individuals willing to do anything it took to survive. The heretics began backing away slowly, holding their weapons out carefully as they the beggars approached.

"And with that, I bid you all a good night," Brennan said with a wave. He took off once more, waving for Lency and Estra to follow behind.

Estra followed, trying her best not to look back at the bizarre scene unfolding in the dirt-stained back alleys. Just as they turned a corner, the shouts of moonlight bloodshed rose from behind them. Though she knew their escape was the most important matter, Estra found herself hoping that it was the beggars would be doing the least of the dying tonight.

What do you think the next step in the plan to take down Helena will be?

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