As Neia drew out her bow, she felt a twinge of pity well up from the bottom of her heart, not in that instant, for the people. Not in that instant, for the common soldiers. Rather she felt it for the members of the order of which she was once part. The Paladins. Their faces were blank, numb, reminding her of the looks on the faces of those ripped from Jaldabaoth's hell, or who had finished a hard fight and had nothing left inside themselves. Others wore twisted masks of personal torment as they were compelled by the actions of the priest to turn on the people they were supposed to serve. Her pity however, was not enough to slow her down. 'You know you're wrong, yet you obey? That makes you worse than evil. It makes you weak, and weakness is the ultimate sin.' Neia thought serenely to herself as she drew back an arrow and put a soldier down.

'Guardians of justice? Protectors of the people? Saviors of our Holy Kingdom? What nonsense.' Scorn shared living space with pity in her breast as events unfolded. Her low whisper was heard only by herself in the chaos. "All it took for you to kill the people was for a priest to brand those people heretics, and now you act to take their lives? I will correct your sins."

The priest drew a horn from inside his robe and began to blow it madly as peasants began to push back against the soldiers, grabbing weapons, rocks, or fighting barehanded against the guards over which they had the advantage of numbers.

The horn blew loud and long as he turned his body to send the sound in every direction.

It echoed far across the city, and guards abandoned their posts and headed for the sound, the garrison commander ordered the men out of their guard houses and towers, and the governor looked out the window over the city, the sound of fighting began to ring out.

Neia sent arrow after arrow into flesh, finding chinks in armor as small as an eye slit, her sky blue eyes decided who should die, based on how dangerous they seemed, relying on her training in threat assessment to make quick decisions.

She fired until her arrows were gone and a dozen bodies lay being kicked, trampled, and tripped over in the rising chaos. Her small number of soldiers began to work deadly effect on the Paladins. Black runecrafted armor deflected paladin swords, but the swords of the Black Justice warriors cut through steel like butter. Paladins fell clutching at stumps and blood flowed freely

The small numbers of her own that she had with her then entered the mad melee. They however, chose to rush in with swords, charging as Neia stowed her bow and drew her own blade. They fought their way to facing the Paladin Order's numbers themselves. To the horror of the Paladins, the one handed sword work and decisive brutality exerted against them.

The priest fell with a blow to the back of his head, still standing and blowing his cursed horn, it had done its work, if the noise of the fighting had not. Guards and new paladins began to pour into the square, drawing up ranks with leveled spears and drawn swords, the rioters were badly outmatched.

Neia furrowed her brow. "People of Prart! Fall back! Get behind your defenders!" She rushed to the front, thankful for once of her small build, she wove through them like water through cracks until she was in front of the now anxious crowd. "Soldiers! Fall IN!" She shouted, and the few of her numbers drew themselves into line at her left and right.

Neia had her sword out, "I died once on your city's walls, don't think I mind dying again in your city square!" She shouted and slid her right foot behind her, holding her sword parallel to her body over her head, her free hand came slowly up to chest height in the direction of her the new arrivals.

Her eyes swept them, "In the name of His Majesty, the god of justice, I pronounce you, sinners!" She put power into her voice to drain the fighting spirit of those in front, and hearten those at her side.

Her short blonde hair blew lightly in the breeze, the smell of blood and the sight of scattered body parts amidst the dead, she could hear the rising breath at her back. 'Survivors, survivors of the last siege. I'm sure those memories are painful, poor bastards.' She thought dispassionately as her breathing slowed and she felt her instincts kick into high gear.

There was no time for words, the guards saw the downed priest and others of their number crumpled in front of the fountain, and lowered their weapons preparing to charge. They did not get the chance. Neia was not one to let the enemy seize initiative. "Protect the people!" She shouted, and charged full tilt, the other Black Justice members had drawn their bows and fired their quivers empty before the shock had even worn off among the city guard, who had definitely not expected a single woman and ten men to go on the attack.

Guards fell with disbelieving looks on their faces at the sudden flight of arrows, with more in the air before the first had found its mark, the black clad warriors of Neia's elite hundred, despite being outnumbered, showed their worth. Screams cut off or never came before death did, and guards fell rapidly. Without waiting for orders, dismayed by the sudden offensive, they chose to charge the eleven on their own.

Neia and her warriors fell back firing arrows until they ran out, and as one they matched their commander by drawing out their swords.

"Attack!" Neia screamed and flew into them in a frenzy under the watchful eyes of an equally dismayed mob who saw eleven charge a hundred.

Neia couldn't see anything, she shouted and bit, struck with ki enhanced open palms, grabbed and threw those who dared come to grips with her, and her sword danced like a bee in the melee. Still, greater numbers began to push her little numbers back. blood splattered in her eyes when she opened up the throat of a careless paladin and she was briefly blinded.

She didn't see the horn blower.

But she did feel the change in the battle's flow, and savage bloodstained teeth were bared as she felt her people come for her.

Black clad soldiers hit en mass directly behind the ranks of the soldiers at her front, and the certainty of her victory began to rise in her heart.

Skana grinned happily as she put arrows into the unwary backs of those who went to kill her commander. They began to fall before they knew there was a threat. She gripped the horse's flanks with her thighs and cast a silent prayer of thanks to whatever clever soul invented the saddle and stirrups. Figures began to fall, she heard the sound of running feet in great numbers not far behind her. The smell of blood was in front, the sound of clashing weapons and the screams of the dying were ever louder.

She hopped up to the top of her horse's back, and barrelled it straight into the rear ranks, hundreds of pounds of warhorse slammed into human bodies, sending people flying into their comrades, trampling others. The horse reared back and kicked as it whinnied in fear, but Skana had jumped before it impacted. [Agility Boost] She activated her martial art, and planted her feet on the shoulders of the man she landed on, he went down from the sudden impact, but she'd already flipped off of him to land adroitly on her feet. She spun with her enchanted adamantite blade and cut through the armor of several men, creating a brief open space around her. her green eyes stared sharply and those who recoiled briefly, responded to the sudden challenge by the auburn haired woman.

A spear thrust out, she grabbed it with her free hand just like she'd been taught, and yanked the person forward, as he came in, stumbling and with a stupid look on his face, her sword took his head, she then yanked the spear again and taking it up, she threw it hard into the man behind him.

Then the rest of the nightmare hit, as the full hundred elites tore into the ranks of the guards who had the misfortune of responding to the horn. Like a raging flood, soldiers hopped up on debris like the river had overflowed its banks, and arrows came down like rain into the fray.

Neia smiled a bloody smile as she watched the green eyed scout tear a hole in the ranks by herself, at least briefly. 'Bold one, I'll give her that. Good with a sword too.' She acknowledged before taking a luckless fool's sword and using it to open up his own throat.

Others of her numbers, she saw began to appear on rooftops and end lives from the high ground, and pushed herself deeper into the enemy ranks.

The crowd of dirty peasants watched the horror unfold as one of the heroes of Prart disappeared from view as she was surrounded, for someone back within, though nobody but the one who said it, would ever know who, a voice came up, it was the breaking moment.

"If we won't fight for ourselves, why should they die for us?! Get them!" And the crazed peasant ran to the fray himself, snatching up a fallen sword, his scream of hate was like the creaking of a dam just before it burst, and the bowl of wrath was spilled over among the crowd. One became two became five became a horde.

Personal knives, rocks, captured weapons, anything and everything was used, including the nothingness of empty hands.

For the guards and the few paladins who had answered the call, it had become a nightmare. They were used to oppressing cowed people through fear, now they felt the fear they inflicted, some of them not for long, as a spear in the brain tends to still thought more or less permanently. While others panicked at the raw fury they were experiencing directed at them and tried to flee, tangling themselves with others and making the killing easier. The paladins who had responded to the call, found themselves killing the very people they were supposed to protect.

Soldiers in steel armor began to go down, rocks rose and fell, smashing faces into mush, paladins who desperately used their martial arts, found their counter in the black clad nightmares that faced them. One by one, they fell, some forever, some into unconsciousness.

The bulk of the fighting had lasted mere minutes, despite what it felt like in Neia's mind. However more and more began to trickle in, expecting a cleanup as the sounds died down, maybe some easy looting, they instead found themselves ambushed in ones and twos by Neia's soldiers and dragged into the city center where they were stripped of equipment, bound, and gagged, usually by a bloodstained cloth.

Neia took control quickly, she returned to the fountain from which she'd spoken and addressed them all.

"Citizens, take up swords and armor, quickly, there is no time to lose!"

When the first man had finished putting on equipment, she said, "You are in charge of the next ten to be ready, stand over there!" And she pointed to a spot a few feet away, soon ten more were with him. "Go and spread the word in the place where you live, it’s time to bring it all down, then go and seize control of an intersection, let no one under arms pass who is not dressed like us, or who is not an unarmed citizen!" She said, and he quickly departed, one by one she gave like instructions to groups of ten, and the bodies of other guards were dragged into the square and stripped of their equipment, only to repeat the process with more citizens. "The rest of you, follow us!" She called out, "We’re going to get you more equipment!" Her grin was predatory, and met by equally hungry grins from the crowd who understood what that meant.

If there had been any doubt in Neia’s mind about whether or not she was doing the right thing, it had vanished when she saw how easily the guards were turning on the people and how happy the people were that the guards of Prart were dead or dying. Black Justice, a hundred strong, swept over the streets, followed behind by a growing mob, some guards died without ever knowing they were being attacked, others died with just enough time to realize they’d made a very bad decision about which side to be on. A trail of nearly naked bodies began to form in their wake.

The mob was getting better and better armed, and a pitched fight did not occur again until they came to a barricade where a dozen guards had stationed themselves. They wore faces of men who thought themselves already dead. Blank and hopeless, they fired arrows wildly and without discipline. A few peasants fell, but the rapidly moving soldiers of Neia's hundred could easily avoid arrows fired individually, and ran low and leaning into the direction they wished to go. Their adamantite swords made quick work of guards, whose cheap swords simply glanced off the vastly superior armor of their unexpected enemies. The dead the guards inflicted, far from cowing the mob, sent it into renewed rage like it was a single wounded beast.

"You, Skana!" Neia said as they finished securing another public intersection by putting the guards to the sword. The minor wails of pain were quickly fading behind her, the smell of blood was now over a fair amount of the city's poorer districts.

Skana jogged over and snapped a salute. "Ma'am!" She said sharply.

"This is easy now, but that won't last unless we keep control! Take a dozen men, secure the paths to the governor's estate, that coward is sure to still be there. Don't let any messengers get in or out!" Neia snapped the order quickly before taking up a sword that had lost its owner, and handing it to a dirty faced young peasant boy wearing barely more than rags.

The instant he took it, Neia saw from the look in his eyes he'd never let it go. Wild eyed devotion and an instant love, he caressed the flat, bowed deeply, and rushed to join his comrades.

"Yes ma'am!" Skana replied with a wild eyed look of devotion that reminded Neia of the look on the boy's face when he looked at his sword. She rushed off and after tapping a few of her peers on their shoulders, they left with her and faded rapidly into the distance.

"Guess that one's definitely loyal." Neia muttered with amusement under her breath and dispatched some of the armed peasants to other intersections to rally new rioters and take control of various areas.

Skana ran like mad, her martial arts enhanced body moved like fire through dry grass, as did those behind her, though they took down guards along the way as a matter of course, they didn't stop when doing so. Their enchanted gear enhancing speed and stamina, she felt like a force of nature with power thrumming through her, until they could take to the rooftops and run over the top of the city, ignoring the streets entirely, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, they reached their destination in short order. She pointed to the left and to the right. "Six there, and six there. I'm on overwatch, if you capture arrows, give me half each time for my own use, and return mine to me when I use them." Skana said from their crouched position at the center facing gate of the manor. Her eyes went left and right up and down the street, and thanked her god that nothing had evidently happened yet.

She drew her bow and put the two guards at the gate down, they fell hard, blank eyes staring at the uncaring sky. "Move them out of the way, then take your places." Skana said softly, and clenched her hand into a fist. "GO!"

They went, the bodies were tossed into the bushes that ran the length of the wall, and they took up ambush positions as she instructed. "Never thought I'd be back here." Skana muttered, "But... hey, I like it more visiting it like this than the last time."

Neia having dispatched armed citizens to secure intersections, provided effective barriers to the small patrols of guards that were normally out and about within the city, some attempted to just bull past as if their authority mattered and they just died, having failed to understand the mentality of citizens who believe they have a chance to end their suffering. Others recognized the danger, and surrendered on the spot, removing arms and armor and withdrawing, either way, the intersection occupiers had more gear to hand out to more citizens who were learning what was happening.

The strength of the city guard was decreasing, the strength of the rioters was increasing, by taking on the equipment provided to the city guard. It was a delightful irony from Neia’s perspective, within a few hours most of the slums were in her hands and several of the noble establishments were occupied, with the nobles still inside them and now held by the mob, other riots began to break out independently as the pent up fury of the people turned on their oppressors, over in the wealthier quarter, this did not go as well, the personal guards of the well to do were more effective than jumped up thugs one step removed from being outright bandits.

But as Neia’s forces grew and took more and more control over intersections and guard posts, it became ever more obvious to the rest of the guards what was happening, and to conserve their strength, they began to draw back to defensible positions.

It made the mob ecstatic, but Neia knew better, she sent out other men as scouts to determine the locations where the guards had chosen to make a stand, and when they found one, Neia reacted by taking the people down a different route. However for one unfortunate group of fifty guards, they had chosen to make a stand where one side of the building which housed a tavern, with all that flammable alcohol available, it seemed a shame to let it go to waste.

Zagan grinned when he found what they’d done. He had a group of his people engage in a ‘standoff’ while the rest went through the door of the tavern that had been left unoccupied. His fellow guards looked at his big silly grin like he’d gone insane, and at each other, each wondering if they were the crazy ones.

Then he stuffed a rag into a bottle and lit the end of it on fire with a candle. Understanding dawned on their faces and they rushed to take up stray rags. Two minutes later he said simply, “Light em up boys!” And hacking a hole through the cheap, thin wood, he simply threw it at everything that moved. The howling and horror of being on fire was blessedly short lived for those who were struck. They flailed and screamed, the smell of burning flesh was sickeningly sweet, like cooked pork. Unable to fight back, some simply fled, and those who didn’t, burned… and another junction fell.

The rest gave in when they were frozen in terror, and those few survivors swiftly surrendered and were told to get out of town after being stripped of their equipment. With the fall of that juncture, Zagan captured another two blocks.

'The wealthy district. Hmpf, might as well call it the corrupt district. In a place like this, you don't get or keep wealth without being scum.' Neia groused to herself as the tall ornate buildings stood out to her. Their streets were clean, the walls of the homes were often stone or good brick, nothing cheap or shoddy. Bright colors, rich fabric awnings, and beautiful gardens of green populated by richly colored flowers. 'Every petal and brick is a stolen coin or a stolen life.' Neia thought with anger roiling in her stomach.

But it was also paying for serious opposition. She took on a predatory look and fired her snake shot. It ran through several soldier's throats before it lost power and lodged in the seventh man, and her own people ran full tilt as if they were chasing her arrow. 'Thank you my precious Lord, for the training you have given us.' She prayed as she watched her soldiers conduct a by the books breach entry, crashing through windows and streaming through doors, breaking apart as soon as they entered in order to occupy and clear a room step by step.

House by house and block by block, the wealthy district began to fall, private militias crumbled or just plain switched sides, each time the equipment or the people wearing it, fell entirely into the hands of the rioting peasants.

So it went until she came to the great temple of Prart. Atop the stairs there stood several score of paladins in shining armor. They arrayed themselves in front of a small number of priests, and the rioters following Neia began to slow down in the face of their fear of the gods. Neia's hundred however, had no such fear.

"Black Justice, fall in! Double line!" Neia shouted, and in seconds the paladins watched in confusion as many footsteps became one. "Left Face!" She shouted, and in uniform step they turned and stomped the ground.

She could see the anxiety at the unfamiliar on their faces, 'The secret military arts from the heart of mighty Nazarick... the wargod subordinate of my master, who left all knowledge behind him. Thank you, vanished Punito...' Neia praised the forty friends of her god. The paladins shifted nervously, the silence and perfect synchronicity of those still with Neia like staring into the darkness and wondering what hides there.

Neia took out her bow, the Paladins began to overlap their shields, creating what they thought of as an impenetrable wall. A grim smile came over Neia as they acted predictably to protect the priests and the place of the gods.

"Target left wing!" Neia shouted, "Loose!" She said, and the arrows raked the left wing of the paladin formation. The thick, heavy shields offered some protection, but against the enchanted bows, the archers forced out cries of pain as arms and legs were pierced. "Target right wing!" She shouted, "Loose!" And the next volley repeated the horror to the right. The paladins did not go down, but the pain of their wounds brought out their human instinct to secure themselves.

The wings began to fold in as each man sought th eprotection of the shield next to him. Neia repeated this several times as the paladins endured the barrage and waited for it to end through the use of all the arrow supplies. They silently cursed their lack of magic and archery support, but did not see the true threat.

"Charge!" Neia barked and took off at a run. The paladin formation had buckled in far as each man sought out safety for himself, and as a result Neia's numbers were able to swarm around the flanks and get behind the Paladin Order. Neia's sword rose and fell as she hacked through her opposition, the front rank held the paladins in a fixed position, while the second rank swept around, and the entire Paladin position began to collapse. Realizing they were lost, they fell back within the temple for a final stand, but the Black Justice warriors pursued them recklessly, and killed or incapacitated opposition all the way to the alter, where Neia clashed with the last of them. "Heretic! Apostate! Betrayer!" The paladin screamed her insults with reckless hatred.

She had deep chestnut hair and fanatical eyes of blue that reflected Neia's face back at her. She clashed with Neia using an adamantite blade of her own, but had lost her shield and her arm hung limp with two arrows in it.

Neia fended off the blows and avoided those she couldn't fend off, her ki powered strike hit the woman in her sternum, sending her staggering back, which put her in reach of Neia's legs. The former follower of the old gods kicked the paladin square in the chest, staggering her even further.

The noise of their fight was like a battle unto itself as their strikes echoed off the stone walls, and Neia brought her sword up, taking the Paladin's sword hand, and dropping it to the floor as it was severed.

The woman howled and held the stump aloft, blood pumping out and down her armored forearm.

Neia took up the fallen sword, and thrust it into the paladin's gut, she doubled over, cursing and coughing blood.

"One day... someone like me will fucking punish you." She said as she managed to bring her good hand up despite the pain of the bad arm, and clutch the stump.

Nea put a knee into her face and sent her jackknifing up, back, and landing on the alter to the gods.

Neia shook her head, "Doesn't matter. My god will win, no matter what happens to me. Do you surrender?" Neia asked as she brought the paladin's own sword up and over her chest where the wounded woman lay with her arms out and body heaving for breath.

"Fuck you." The Paladin spat blood out of her mouth, it struck Neia's face, and the squire only stared down at her.

"Your choice." She said, and looked up at the images of the gods, which looked down on them in turn. "And doing nothing? That was theirs. This is the result of your gods." Neia said, and pushed the woman's sword down into her chest, it slid in easily, and sank into the stone beneath, impaling the body there.

The paladin twitched, her corpse voided her bowels, and the silent eyes stared up to gods that did not care for her.

Neia shook her head again and wiped the blood away, she cast it off down to the stone, and faced her warriors that had stopped to watch the final struggle. "What a waste." Neia said regretfully, and began barking her orders again.

"Next up, the manor! We take the rats nest and all the rats inside of it!" She shouted and raised her sword in triumph.

"Leave a few peasants to tend and guard the captives and wounded here, the rest of us, we go to finish this!" Neia shouted passionately, and strode for the exit, leaving the corpse behind.