make it while Argenta was being attacked everywhere. The crew had experience working without all hands available, but no one really accounted the chance of doing so going into an elemental storm.

It would be a new experience, if nothing else.

"I'll explain it as I go, c'mon matey!" Drallic quickly dashed out of the artisan's square and further down toward the ship, expecting the artificer to keep up with his captains. If... nothing else, the eidolon could surely carry Yalnic.

While most artificers are kept within the ship, their lives too valuable to risk during a fight or a boarding action, Yalnic was one that you could never keep cooped up with the Wells. To defend the ship, he would always jump into the fray, spells and magic in one hand, blade in the other. So, you are not surprised when he is able to keep up with you despite your training or El'lans' near weightlessness.

You did not have too long to consider it though. In order to get to the gate out of the main city, you have to pass over one of two stone bridges. It only takes you about ten minutes of fighting to finally reach the closest one, and standing at the top of its arch is a pair of figures.

Both of them are hooded, cloaked and covered, so it is difficult to figure out their races, genders or anything. You guess that the one on the left is female as they are shorter and thinner than the other, but that could just mean that they are Reborne for all you know. The left figure wields a massive greatsword with an intricate, royal looking design. The right wields a firearm of some sort with what looks like a two-pronged blade under its dual barrels.

And they are just waiting for you.

They really didn't want pirates to make it back to port...

Drallic couldn't tell if the two figures were more cultists, or just other people wearing unfortunately-similar clothing. It was, likely, a safe bet that they were cultists waiting and getting rid of anyone trying to escape the city. And yet, there were no bodies scattering around the bridge. Thrown off the side? Or did no one make it here in one piece?

Better not to find out.

"We don't got time fer this," Drallic muttered to his fellow captain, crewmate, and eidolon. "El'lans," he began suggesting, "Take ye eidolon and yerself against the one with the greatsword; deal with it how ye like. Yalnic, we'll take care of the other."

It would be a lucky occurrence that these two cloaked figures didn't want to fight. Or, perhaps, they were open to reason if they weren't cultists. So the minotaur, having decided his own approach, marched up on the bridge and to the two cloaked figures. "Outta the way," he demanded intimidatingly, backing his words up with his overly bulky appearance. "Or we'll haul ye off 'fore you know it."

Would a threat work? Maybe. But not working was why he told El'lans to do things his own way.

As you step closer, you can see that the figures tighten their grips on their weapons. They do not move closer or away, but just stand their ground, showing no other reactions under their shadowy hoods. They don't even seem to notice or care about El'lans and Yalnic walking up behind you. The Reborne's blade is pointed at the greatsword figure, gun barrel ready to fire. You don't see Yalnic doing anything unless you look backward, but you can hear the wave-like pulse of arcane energy from where he is walking.

When you reach approximately five feet away from them, however, they move.

You are not fast enough to gain the upper-hand as the greatsword cultist charges toward you, their blade held back, ready to use their momentum to add to their attack. The blade comes up in a diagonal, the path of the blade moving from your lower right to your upper left before it twists back around to slam down4dF+2 was rolled to get 3 ([1, 0, -1, 1] + 2) upon your head. You know that if it misses you, its weight will greatly damage the stone of the bridge.

The other cultist launches themself into the air, moving forward with the motion. Facing down toward your group, they sight down the barrels before firing one shot4dF+2 was rolled to get 4 ([0, 0, 1, 1] + 2) down upon you. An explosion of sound slams into your back, and you know that a lead ball soon follows.

Drallic shouldn't have expected anything less from these cultists.

With only the stone bridge to support his feet, Drallic quickly leaned back and threw his left arm out forward, palm open. With precise timing, and frankly a little luck, he stops the blade's heavy swing before its momentum peaked by catching it. The steel's sharp edge seared lightly into his padded hand, causing a trickle of blood out of the small hack. Had he not managed to hold the blunt sides tightly with his fingers, he'd have likely taken a more painful slice to his arm. The gunshot, however, gave Drallic a by-the-book reaction: duck! Just on intuition and experience, the minotaur leaned down and let the shot sail over his back, harmlessly hitting the stone bridge.

"Have it yer way!" Drallic shouted, making good on his warning as he tightened his grip on the greatsword to keep the cultist from swinging wildly. "Change o' plans!" he called to his captain and crewmates. "Yalnic, help me with this one! El'lans, snipe that other one outta the sky!" Targeting flying enemies had always been one of Drallic's weak points. Neither his hands, nor his perception, were good at shooting targets from a distance.

Instead, he stuck to fighting at his optimal range, up-close, as he kept his grip on the blade while bashing the cultist with a series of fast jabs and punches4dF+4 was rolled to get 5 ([0, 0, 1, 0] + 4).

Your blows land hard, denting in the robes as if nothing solid resided under them. Yet, by the cries you hear from the cultist, you know that you are dealing damage. It tries to defend against your fists, but while its body is weightless, its blade isn't and it cannot get its weapon up fast enough.

Behind you, you hear El'lans sigh, "This never gets easy does it?"

He then spins around, swipes his sword up as if he was attacking the air, then fires his longsword-rifle4dF+3 was rolled to get 3 ([0, -1, 1, 0] + 3) nearly straight up at the dual-barrel wielding cultist. As the gunpowder powered ball lances up into the air, his eidolon looks up, sees that it cannot attack with it so far up, shrugs, and charges right for the greatsword wielder, running its blade through the cultist's side.4dF was rolled to get 1 ([0, 0, 1, 0] + 0)

The flying cultist sees the gun swing to point at them and tries to dive down. It is mostly successful, but the shot grazes the cultist's arm leaving a rip in the their robes showing the air underneath. El'lans' eidolon does much better, nearly bisecting the greatsword cultist. It is still standing, but it is certainly _Dissipating_, slowing it down considerably.

Yalnic sees that you and the eidolon are doing just fine with the greatsword cultist, so he turns around and releases the arcane energy which forms into arcane missiles4dF+2 was rolled to get 6 ([1, 1, 1, 1] + 2) that swirl and spiral up toward the gun cultist.

The airborne cultist is distracted trying to avoid the gunshot. So, it does not notice when three arcane missiles rise up above it before crashing down all at once. Their energy slices through the nearly incorporeal form of the cultist and it seems to take a lot of energy to keep itself together.

While the airborne cultist works to recover, the greatsword cultist, weakening but still dangerous, braces itself into the stone. Sturdy, it takes its greatsword and swings at you4dF+4 was rolled to get 0 ([-1, -1, -1, -1] + 4) as hard as it possibly can, knowing it could be its last attempt.

Recovered, the airborne cultist locks eyes upon Yalnic and dives down upon him, thrusting the dual-prong blade forward.4dF+4 was rolled to get 6 ([0, 0, 1, 1] + 4)

The worst comes. Yalnic is unable to move fast enough to avoid the near lightning fast dive upon him. The dual-prong blade goes deep into Yalnic's belly, poking out the other side before being pulled back out. The half-orc is still standing, though he is _Nearly Unconscious_ from the pain.

Plans, as Drallic and El'lans once agreed on, change and adapt at a moment's notice. So the minotaur kept his gaze firmly on the greatsword user as Yalnic changed his target toward the airborne cultist. Sometimes, you didn't always have to follow a captain's orders to the letter. Drallic should know; as commanding as he could be, he was a bit too relaxed to stick with a rigid plan.

Besides, he had the grounded cultist handled quite effectively as he sidestepped an inch and swung his left arm outward, colliding his forearm upon the blade's blunt side, to deflect it outward. The impact of muscle upon steel, however, was heavier than he thought and left him Unbalanced from the blow.

He only took his eyes off his foe for a second to find his artificer skewered. "Yalnic!" the minotaur blurted out as he quickly slammed4dF+4 was rolled to get 4 ([0, -1, 0, 1] + 4) his right fist into the greatsword user's gut once, twice, three times. "Someone get some cover for 'im!" Drallic, unfortunately, wasn't a skilled multitasker in combat. Defending an ally was a task, as far as he knew, more suited to the eidolon.

One, two, _THREE_. Your last fist, instead of meeting the slight resistance of billowing air, met nothing as the cultist dissolved into nothingness. Metal clanks as their greatsword falls, but you do not notice much as you spin around to try and help Yalnic.

El'lans was already ahead of you, though. He let out a curse and slid between Yalnic and the remaining cultist. Tilting his rapier to aim his pistol, he fires a shot that was far off mark. To anyone else, it would seem accidental, but you have seen El'lans pull of this trick4dF+3 was rolled to get 2 ([-1, 0, 1, -1] + 3) before, a loud and flashy shot to force a flying opponent _To The Ground_.

Distracted by the easy target Yalnic made of himself, and expecting a shot that hit, the cultist ducked. They did not go all the way to the ground, but they moved close enough for the eidolon to take a swing. They had to move quick, which was hard under their armor, but they took the chance4dF was rolled to get 3 ([0, 1, 1, 1] + 0) their master gave them.

Normally the cultist should have been able to avoid the attack. However, they were already _Dissipating_, unable to let the air move around them to fly fast. The greatsword came crashing down, cutting into the cultist, seemingly nearly cutting them in half. But, the cultist is still flying, spinning around to fire their next shot.

But someone else beat them to the punch.

A crossbow bolt, small but sharp, sinks into where the cultist's heart should have been. With a cry, the cultist fully dissolved, leaving their weapon laying on the stone just like the greatsword. Moments later, you hear from one of the nearby rooftops on the other side of the bridge, "Captains! Are you well?!"

Improvising how he could, Drallic had to thank his fellow captain, eidolon, and the unexpected help for things to have gone as smooth as they did. He heaved a heavy sigh of relief when the remaining cultist dissipated, leaving the four in relative safety. While, yes, Argenta's dome was not in any reasonable condition, they were better now than they were beating up more air-embracing madmen.

The large minotaur was busy, briefly, looking over Yalnic's injury before waving at the person at the rooftops. "Ahoy! We need a damn medic kit here!" Without any actual supplies, the most Drallic could do was attempt to stop the flow of blood using some of Yalnic's heavy robes and some pressure. "Bah, if only we had time here..." Remembering his small experience of medical knowledge, Drallic made sure his crewmate could stand and, if not, carefully lifted him up to carry the half-orc the rest of the way to the ship.

"Get down 'ere an' come on!" the minotaur yelled to the one on the rooftops; he didn't take time to check which crewmate had helped, if it was one of their crewmates at all. But if it was, Drallic knew exactly who it was...

It takes a few moments, but two figures land onto the road. One is the small form of a goblin, wielding a heavy crossbow taller than him. You know Chucker as your greatest deadeye. Guns, cannons, bows, it does not matter to him. But you have never seen him without his crossbow.

Next to him is your pilot, the human with instinct that could rival gods. Gellya is a fantastic duelist wielding a longsword in one hand, using her brain more than her might to survive fights that should have flattened her over and over again. And while she is not your medic by any means, she is skilled enough to slide next to Yalnic and start pulling out simple supplies, "I can get him moving, but we won't be able to do more until we get back to the ship."

Chucker takes a knee near you facing outward, crossbow already loaded and aimed, "And we need to move now. Some of the nearby fliers are converging on us."

Nothing felt better than some of your most trusted allies coming to help when you need it most. Drallic's crew made a habit of showing up right when they had to. Some called it flair, some called it convenient. Drallic liked to think it was simply dramatic. Either way, he couldn't be happier with the timing.

"Aye, aye he's right," the minotaur responded, agreeing with Chucker's helpful observation. The goblin made the best spotter on the ship, thanks to his perception and accuracy. He was as good at range as Gellya was at melee; and Drallic could attest, seeing both of them in the thick of combat before. "Gellya, hope ye can work on the move," he warned as he gave the duelist a confident but also concerned look with his bovine-shaped head. He, and El'lans as far as Drallic knew, had nothing but the closest trust for their crew even when it meant working in awkward conditions: like now.

Without giving the cultists a chance to