Job; Mercenaries [Nikolai, Akeya - Team]

The Job:

Laying his back against the solid stone wall, Nikolai could already feel that this would be a long night. With the moon shining out from the clouds above him as well as the pale yellow light from the window to his left, he had no problem scanning the courtyard for any signs of movement. While he was currently slouched against the wall, he was ready to attack at a moments notice.  His metal formed a small pile under the window, mostly avoiding the light from it and conceal from view. Not like it matter though. If they were going to attack at night, they'd probably be prepared enough to at least have some sort of night vision, which he lacked. Still, he felt fairly confident in his ability to spot them before they could land any attacks, and he knew if he failed than Akeya would surely notice it.

He felt fairly confident right now. When he first read the job description, he assumed he'd be forced to fight indoors, which would have made things a more difficult for him. However, since there were still guards who worked here, he was able to strike a fairly good deal with them; they focus on the inside, he and Akeya took outside. With as many guards as there presently were in that hallway, anyone who wanted to attack Mr. Strauss had only one practical option left; the sole window into his large office. This gave the pair the perfect chance to guarantee they would strike tonight. By hiding themselves in the shadows to fake the appearance of an unguarded opening, they could strike and catch the assassins off their guard.

The courtyard the two were currently in was needlessly large, spanning about 20 to 30 meters across in his rough guesswork. It was lined on either side by a small stone hallway, a pattern which continued around the entire castle to separate one large circular courtyard into a series of smaller ones. Several trees and bushes, all perfectly maintained, doted the landscape, as well as a few benches on either side of small stone trail that lead across the yard. There were plenty of places for the assassins to be lying in wait, if they had gotten here before the pair, but that was very unlikely. Nikolai had spoken to Donaven, the Chief of Security, shortly after taking the job, and asked him for two small favors. The first was to shift all of the guards that normally guarded this courtyard into the hallway instead. The second, was to temporarily close the courtyard under word of "renovations." Because all access to the courtyard was shut off to the general public, the assassins only chances now was to come over the large wall on the opposite side of the courtyard. It wouldn't be much trouble for a trainned killer to scale it, but doing that would give Nikolai and Akeya perfect of vision of them. He let out a sigh, it was already fairly late, and truth be told, it was rather boring right now.

While Nikolai was right next to the wall Akeya had taken a position two yards or so further away, also using the fact that Nikolai was standing in between her and the window to ensure she wouldn't be revealed by the bright light coming from it. The moon was already bright enough that most humans would be able to see properly, so Akeya had tried to find the best spot to stay hidden in. It had partially worked: She couldn't find any spot near Nikolai which was better than her current location, but it wasn't really as dark as she wanted. Of course, it likely wouldn't matter, since for Akeya's eyes it might as well have been noon, and chances were high that whatever enemy they'd be up against would also possess night vision, making her attempt at concealment useless. Still, better to try and fail than to not try at all.

She scanned their surroundings, using her above average senses and her ability to detect and locate magic to keep a careful watch. Nikolai was certainly being careful enough, but with no attempt at making herself seem better or Nikolai worse, Akeya's skill set is a lot more useful when it comes to keeping a careful eye on things. On the other hand Nikolai is a lot better at fighting any assailants head on, and he was the one who managed to organize the situation together with the Guard Captain that chances were high the assassins would appear here, so it's not like he hasn't already done more for the job than Akeya has.

Since it was night Akeya wasn't wearing her large cloak right now, meaning that she'd have more mobility and that her dark clothing would at least give some help concealing her in the shadows, even if it wasn't much. When Nikolai sighed she looked at him, then returned her gaze to the rest of the courtyard. For Akeya this was much better than if they were doing this during the day, but Nikolai was probably wishing he didn't have to stand guard here in the middle of the night. She should at least help him stay awake.

"It's probably a good thing we've got a bright moon. Otherwise I'd constantly worry about your vision."

This was said without any intent to insult or belittle: Akeya would really be worried if the night had been darker, knowing that her partner doesn't share her ability to see the night as clear as day. If Nikolai took it as belittlement, the small amount of time he had spend with Akeya should have taught him that she doesn't do stuff like that: When she makes a statement, it's likely just a statement, not a subtle attempt at an insult. While talking Akeya kept surveying the courtyard, not intending to lose focus while helping Nikolai stay awake.

Nikolai was mid stretch when Akeya spoke to him. He really was having some trouble staying awake, and while he wanted to move around a bit to to wake himself up, any extra movement than necessary wasn't the best idea. Granted, he had already painted a target on his head by standing next to the light, but for their plan to work he had to. He needed to be the first thing people saw when they entered, so he could keep their attention off Akeya. Finishing his stretches, he turned to Akeya, nodding slightly. "It is. The guards were originally going to leave some light out for us, but I told them that any extra light would keep the assailants away. If it gets too dark, I can work off my senses, but my effectiveness will be fairly diminished."

It was weird for him to see Akeya outside her cloak. He wasn't used to actually seeing she had a body under it. He himself was also wearing dark clothes; his coat was discarded for the time being, and he wore a black dress shirt under his harness. He looked towards the window, hoping that everything was going on well inside. He had instructed them to clothes the blinds befor ehe entered the office, and had to hope that Mr. Strauss had no intentions of opening them. While it limited the light they got from the interior, it made it easier to hide what they were doing from him. After all, his wife had hired them in secret. They also had to make sure to be quiet too, which wasn't the easiest thing for Nikolai's magic, but he'd have to make sure. "It does bother me that we're doing this in secret though. I don't exactly like having to be so subtle about protecting someone."

When she noticed that Nikolai was actually stretching Akeya suppressed the urge to comment. She knew the plan as well as he did, with him acting as the only guard and attracting the attention of any assassins that would pop up, but something inside of Akeya objected to the idea of acting so casual during a job. Nevertheless she kept that thought inside, still keeping a careful eye on their surroundings.

"An extra light at a courtyard which is supposedly being renovated would be a good way to alarm any assassins that something is amiss."

She briefly looked at Nikolai, then back towards the wall at the other side of the courtyard. Nikolai was dressed as well as you could expect of him, but it was clear that this wasn't the kind of job for him. This job required stealth, and while Nikolai would no doubt do a good job at drawing the attention of the assailants and defending against them, that also made him easy to spot. Akeya meanwhile was a lot better suited for this: She's naturally stealthy, her magic makes her even harder to be noticed, and she's got the mindset to quietly proceed without losing her patience.

"Can't be helped. The husband of our client is apparently too confident, so he would never accept our help if he knew about it. There's no shame in protecting others from the shadows instead of in the open, especially if those others wouldn't appreciate it if you did it in the open."

Nikolai had a feeling Akeya wasn't too happy about being his partner for this. Sure, they were on a team, and the plan made sense in theory, but his style and Akeya's weren't exactly the best combination. Plus, this mission was much better suited for her than him. He was all about power, she was about stealth. He cracked his knuckles, sighing slightly. She also had yet to see him on a mission, being anything else than his normal jittery self. He had gotten used to Akeya now and could be normal around her, but his first impression usually sticks hard.This was a chance to show her he wasn't a complete idiot after all.

He looked around again, wondering just when the assassins would show themselves, if they did at all. Had they gotten word of their plans? they had been here a few hours already, and soon Mr. Strauss would likely head off, into a much heavier guarded section of the castle. If they were to strike at all, now was their best time. So why were they so late? He turned to Akeya, shrugging slightly. "Well, chances are tha-"

He stopped mid sentence, movement. He hear the sound of a door opening, one of the entryways to the courtyard. Who exactly could it be? "Akeya, get into a hiding spot, a tree or something. I'll see who it is." He needed to confirm it was them before doing anything, and keeping Akeya hidden from them was top priority right now. He started walking towards the door, straining to see who was exiting it in the night. He could make out a..... guard's uniform?

Akeya frowned as time dragged on, but otherwise showed no signs of being affected by the long wait. She could stay up all night if necessary, but from the information she and Nikolai had been given right now was the best time for the assassins to attack. It wouldn't be much longer before their client would be at a much heavier guarded position, so if they didn't come soon they could as well abandon the whole plan. While that would of course be good, since it would mean Mr. Strauss would no longer be endangered tonight, it'd still be really strange, and strange is usually dangerous.

At the same time that Nikolai turned towards her Akeya's eyes narrowed as she spotted something, her ears also twitching. Something was entering the courtyard. Only responding to Nikolai with a nod Akeya moved away from him, heading to a deeper shadow created by a couple of trees. This should at least really help her stay concealed. In her new position Akeya looked at the door which was opening, although she didn't forget to also keep the rest of the area under her surveillance. It would be embarrassing if both she and Nikolai got caught by a distraction. However Akeya was already seeing at least one man through the opening door, wearing a guard uniform. All the guards knew about the plan, so why would any of them enter this place? Akeya tensed as she prepared to jump into action. She'd have to stay in the shadows, but with her ability set that still left plenty of options on how to act.

The member 'FilFire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Nikolai walked as forward as he was willing to go, a few meters away from the window, and stopped. If he went any farther, he wouldn't be able to properly intercept attacks at the window, as well as get his metal to himself fast enough. Stopping there, he waited to see what the figures leaving the doorway would do. So far he could make out one figure, followed by another.... then one more, and finally a fourth, who closed the door behind them. As they entered the moonlight, Nikolai could start to clearly make them out. Putting his glasses on, he felt his mind go blank as he started to analyze the situation. 'Three men, one woman. All dressed in guard's uniforms. Two appear to be older, one younger, can't tell for the woman. One man with sword, woman with sword, one with spear, can't make out fourth. They are heading directly towards me, not following a set route.' As the group approached him Nikolai suddenly called out, loud and clear. "What do you want? You were informed not to enter this section as long as we are on guard."

The group stopped after he called out, seemingly unsure, before the first man spoke, giving a calm smile. "We were told to come alleviate your duties for a bit, it's getting rather lat. While the Chief appreciates a strong wizard such as yourself taking guard duty all by yourself, he wants to make sure you get proper rest." He was lying. Nikolai formed his Augmentation; Fist behind himself, slowly moving his arms behind his back as if stretching. Suddenly, he threw his arms forward, the two large fists quickly moving at the group. Not suspecting the sudden appearance of the spell, the group scattered. The first man jumped down, letting the fists pass over head, the woman jumped to the right towards Akeya, and the other two men to the left. "The guards were not told I was here, simply that this was being renovated." Nikolai adjusted his stance, ready to continue the attack. He started dashing diagonally, placing himself between the three men and the woman. 'They don't know about Akeya. place pressure on three men, keep them busy. Make woman think she has a free shot at me, separate her from group so Akeya can assassinate. Trust Akeya to cover my back.'

Active Spells: Augmentation; Fist
Magic Power: 115%

"Bah. Guess we'll do this the hard way then. You could've gotten away with your life if you had just accepted our story and ran along."

The three men spread out, trying to surround Nikolai and pressure him from all sides while the woman would take care of him from behind. The fourth one drew his weapon, revealing it to be a set of daggers. All three of them slowly approached, wary of any other tricks Nikolai had up his sleeve. However they would soon strike, the man with the spear moving first as he stabbed at Nikolai's head from his right, the other two using that as a signal to also begin the attack.

Meanwhile the woman was carefully moving towards Nikolai from behind, preparing to take him out in one strike. She has no idea why he'd show his vulnerable back to her. Maybe he thought her to not be a threat. Anyway, so far as the woman was concerned Nikolai just sealed his own fate. That is, until she felt something enter her personal space very quickly. However before she could turn around she felt something sharp slash across her neck, after which everything went dark.

Akeya made her way over the woman chocking on her own blood, preparing to throw the dagger which was still wet with the blood from the woman. She didn't know if she actually was supposed to kill the assassins or capture them, but right now she wasn't going to hesitate if the chance presented itself. She aimed her dagger towards the man approaching from Nikolai's left with a sword, which made him jump back as a dagger flew past his face. Since Akeya was at the moment concealing herself with shadows the three men had no idea where the dagger came from: All they knew was that their female companion suddenly dropped to the ground, and now one of them had nearly been hit with a thrown dagger.

As the three surrounded him Nikolai began to form a plan. This should prove simple enough. Keeping them at bay while he dealt with them one at a time shouldn't be a struggle. In fact, surround him rather than grouping up made it easier for him. The one with the spear was the most immediate threat; his extended reach made keeping him at bay much more difficult for Nikolai. The second would probably be the dagger wielder; if he had any poisons or started throwing them it would be disadvantageous. Deciding on his targets, Nikolai prepared for their strike, intending to counter. The man with the spear struck first, giving Nikolai the perfect chance to attack. As he approached, Nikolai called the rest of his metal to himself. Normally, he'd want to use Repulse here to knock the man off his feet and keep the assault, but Repulse was noisy. He ducked back from the spear jab, leaving him with no other choice to to continue the attack before the man could continue his. Nikolai's metal formed a circle around him, then suddenly pushed itself away from him, spreading out in a circle around him at his waist level.

Unprepared for a counter-strike at his lower body, the man was pushed back off his feet by the metal, hitting the ground with a thud and losing his grip on the spear, which fell to the ground next to him. The already on guard swordsman dodge the circle easy, taking the chance to move towards the woman and inspecting the area. He grabbed her sword in his free hand, now dual wielding two blades, as he tried to figure out what happened to her. His guard was up, and he stayed away from the shadows, standing in the moonlight. The dagger wielder was force temporarily back by the circle, unable to move towards Nikolai until the metal returned to him. When it started to return, he charged at Nikolai, moving towards his back and preparing for an attack.

Knowing another assailant was on their way at him, Nikolai moved away from the spear holder, needing to make distance before the dagger wielder and himself. As he moved, he took the chance to try and keep the spear holder down, slamming his fists towards the ground as they were above him, hoping to either knock him out or daze him a bit more. He'd had to be on the defensive for now. Making sure to keep the assassins quiet was another concern, so he tried his best to lead them away from the window, so far only succeeding in making one follow him.

Spells Active: Augmentation; Fist
Magic Power: 105%

Akeya frowned as the sword wielding man headed towards the woman and picked up her sword, but kept himself away from the shadows. She could take the shadows with her, but that would only mean the man had a harder time making out detail: He'd still see that a part of the shadow was heading towards him. Looked like there was no choice but to abandon the hope of doing this without being detected at all. Since she had already been at a low stance Nikolai's metal ring had passed over her head. He could take care of the dagger wielding man and the one with the spear.

Since this would be a close quarters fight Akeya concentrated and then charged forwards, still taking the shadows with her since the spell hasn't ended yet. It wouldn't be enough to hide her, but at least it would help with the element of surprise and prevent any precise counter attacks. At the same time her arms and legs grew dark blue scales and became slightly heavier, her hands and feet turning into claws. The man swore as he suddenly saw the shadows move towards him while growing claws, trying to keep himself from making too loud a noise. The assassins didn't want to raise the alarm either. The man lashed out towards Akeya, but since he couldn't see much beside the general shape of the shadow, and had trouble judging its speed Akeya managed to dodge by stepping to the right, in the process slashing towards the arms of the man with her left claw.

The man with the spear wasn't expecting to be assaulted from above by two metal fists, but managed to avoid getting smashed, rolling to the side. However he didn't quite manage to dodge, one of the fists hitting his side. It wouldn't stop him, but the big bruise would cause him to move more carefully and slower than before. Cursing he picked up his spear and stood up, readying himself to once again attack Nikolai.

The dagger wielder meanwhile looked towards the sword wielder in time to see his partner get attacked by what appeared to be a shadow with claws. Not knowing how to respond to that he quickly hurled one of his daggers towards Nikolai, reaching for another one while trying to figure out whether to press the attack on Nikolai or help the swordsman against the shadow.

Spells Active: Shadow Dance, Dark Dragon's Claws
Magic Power: 70%
TOE: 0

Nikolai had to make sure he kept both the dagger wielder as well as the spear holder focused on himself as Akeya dealt with the swordsman. As much as he wanted to try and get the swordsman's attention to himself as well, he knew that it wouldn't be enough. He saw the dead body and Akeya's attack, he was going to try and stop her. Leaving handling the man to her, he turned his focus towards the dagger thrower. He was fairly certain the spearman would focus on him, so he should focus on taking down the dagger thrower. When he threw the dagger at Nikolai, he had no other choice but to block it. His fists breaking apart, the formed into a large wall of metal, blocking the dagger mid air and causing it to fall to the ground.

Seeing the metal shifted towards the wall, the spear holder saw the chance to attack Nikolai. Coming at him from the side, he thrusted it at Nikolai's waist from a distance. Luckily for Nikolai, the man's movements were slow, mostly from the damage he caused with the slam. Breaking the wall in half, Nikolai moved the other half to block the spear, causing a resonating clang as they clashed. The unexpected resistance he met shook the spear holder, weakening his balance slightly. Taking the chance, Nikolai shifted his extra metal to his feet, creating his boots. Letting the wall break apart, he ran at the unsure dagger wielder, attempting a kick at the man's gut with his metal boots.

As the sword wielder was  dodged, he prepared for the worst. He couldn't accurately see her in the shadow, but he was close enough to make out her form and that was enough to respond. He scarified his left arm, dodging her left claw and letting her right hand dig her claws into it. Suppressing a yell through the pain, he took a swing at Akeya with his other arm, attempt to slash at her waist while she was in contact with him.

Spells Active: Augmentation; Boot
Magic Power: 90%

The spear holder cursed as Nikolai still managed to block his attack. He really wanted to pay this strange guy back for the attack he received from the metal fist. Once he managed to regain his balance the spearman moved around the wall, dashing towards Nikolai as he charged the dagger wielder, although still being too slow to catch up.

Fortunately for Nikolai the dagger man appeared to have been confused by the entire situation. First they got attacked with giant metal fists without warning, then one of his allies died in the first moments of combat, a shadowy creature rose up and started to attack one of his other allies, and now his thrown dagger had been deflected with ease and he was being charged. He was an assassin, who killed without being spotted. He wasn't used to suddenly being forced to fight two mages with no chance to prepare. As such Nikolai's attack was a total success, kicking the dagger thrower squarely in the gut and knocking him onto the ground. However in the process the man managed to still throw one dagger, and weak though the throw was it would likely at least hit some part of Nikolai.

Akeya widened her eyes as the man avoided her slash and then willingly let his arm get wounded by the claws on her other hand. And now he was slashing at her and she wasn't really in the position to dodge. To make it worse, her shadow dance spell was ending, meaning that now the man had a clear view of her. Gritting her teeth Akeya spun counter-clockwise in place, defending against the sword slash by slamming her left scaled arm against the blade and pushing it aside, although her scales weren't quite tough enough to prevent her arm from being cut in the process. While in mid-spin Akeya suddenly grew wings and a tail, although she only really needed the tail. Thanks to her spin the tail smashed against the man's waist from the side, some of the spikes running along the top cutting into his flesh.

Spells Active: Dark Dragon's Claws, Dragon's Limbs
Magic Power: 70%
TOE: 0

Nikolai felt assured when his attack went through. The force from this would definitely keep the dagger thrower down for a few moments, enough time for him to deal with the spear wielder. When the dagger flew at him, Nikolai blocked with his right arm, letting the dagger dig slightly into him. However, it wasn't strong enough to get through and stay in, falling to the ground after piercing him. Giving the dagger thrower a kick while he was down, to make sure he stayed down, Nikolai turned to face the spear holder. This would be the problem. He wouldn't be able to use fists again soon, so now he had no other choice but to play defensively. calling the rest of his metal to him, he formed his Augmentation; Armor, protecting himself from the spear wielder's blows for the time being. Charging at the man, he went for a kick to the man's legs, preparing to block any attacks the man attempted with his armor.

The swordsman was knocked back from Akeya's spin, his side now bleeding from the wounds Akeya opened. He was in pain right now, but nothing too dire. Readying himself, he entered an offensive stance, readying to go for Akeya once more. "Hey little girl, are you sure you wanna do this? You could go off, get married and have a lovely family, I wouldn't throw it away so easily if I was you." He gave her a smug grin, before suddenly slashing out at her. As he swung with his left arm towards her waist, he raised the right up and attemped a downward stab, trying to strike into her chest with it.

The dagger thrower certainly wouldn't get up any time soon: All the air had been driven from his lungs, he hurt all over from the impact with the ground and he felt like he had been hit with a sledgehammer. Groaning he stayed on the ground, Nikolai's second kick only making matters worse for him. By the looks of it Nikolai and Akeya could take care of the other two before having to worry about this.

The spearman cursed when Nikolai created a set of armour for himself, taking a step backwards. When Nikolai charged him the man started retreating, attempting to keep Nikolai at a distance by threatening him with his spear. However his attacks were rather hasty and he still didn't move very fast, so it wouldn't be long before Nikolai got the opportunity to close in.

Akeya didn't respond to the man, but at the remark her eyes narrowed, and the man would suddenly feel a strange kind of urgency. If he looked closely enough he'd see that Akeya's eyes had reptilian pupils. When the man grinned at her Akeya moved forward at the same time that the man started his attack. Seeing the blade heading for her waist Akeya dove to the ground, catching herself on both hands. Instead of stopping there she rolled forward and stretched out, her tail also lashing forward. Unless the man reacted quickly enough he'd get slashed across his face, chest and stomach by the spikes on Akeya's tail, and he'd also receive two powerful kicks to the bottom of his chin.

Spells Active: Dark Dragon's Claws, Dragon's Limbs
Magic Power: 80%
TOE: 10

Feeling fairly confident that the dagger thrower was down for the time being, Nikolai decided it was now time to teal with the third member of the group. The spear holder was already injured, so dealing with him now wouldn't be incredibly hard. Nikolai could read his movements easy; due to fatigue, his legwork was sloppy, and his wild thrusting to keep Nikolai at bay was not nearly sufficient at doing that. However, he couldn't make advantage of these facts at all if he couldn't safely close the distance between them. He suddenly kicked his foot towards the man. While he was not in any distance to hit with that attack, he was about to hit the man with another. Suddenly, the metal from Nikolai' boots exploded out from it, flying in an almost continuous stream towards the man, with enough force to at least daze the man on contact with any of it.  Nikolai didn't like using Shockwave from a distance; it gave the enemy more time to dodge. But with the spearholder's current state, he felt fairly confident it would be a direct hit.

The man was not ready for Akeya's sudden movements. While he had anticipated a dodge, he had expected his downward lunge to be enough to at least force Akeya back, not forward. Unable to dodge in his current arc, he found himself taking the brunt of the tail slash. He attempted to mitigate the damage with his right arm, moving it towards the tail and pushing it off course slightly, abandoning his downward stab as a result. This forced the sword from his right hand, but also knocked him backwards, allow him to dodge the kicks. Stumbling backwards, he took a moment to steady himself. He was clearly at his wits end. One more attack should be enough to keep him down. He held the sword in a defensive position, deciding that it'd be better to react to Akeya rather than pressure her more.

Spells Active: Augmentation; Armor
Magic Power: 75%

The dagger thrower kept groaning and coughing, too absorbed by his own predicament to notice that his fellow assassins were pretty much cornered at this point. In fact, he might eventually consider himself lucky, since removed from the fight as he is the chances of him being killed would be lower than for the ones still resisting.

At the same time the spearman was pretty much regretting accepting the entire mission. It was supposed to be easy: Sneak in, kill somebody too confident to hire additional guards, get back out. Then this guy appeared at the location they were supposed to use as their infiltration point. Then one of his allies got killed by a girl who apparently can hide herself in shadows. And right then both of his remaining partners were indisposed, one fighting the girl and the other wishing he hadn't gotten out of bed. At least so far the metal user hadn't been able to bypass his spear. About then was the time Nikolai suddenly kicked and unleashed a stream of metal towards him. The man spend what little time he had left wishing he hadn't thought that last part before he got hit frontally by the stream, causing a new set of bruises and forcing the man to drop to his knees while coughing and cursing, no longer even pointing the spear towards Nikolai.

At the same time Akeya was actually having a bit of a problem. She had hoped that her last attack would have knocked the man out, but it turns out he was a bit too skilled a fighter to let himself get taken down by a somewhat strange attack. Rolling herself back to her feet Akeya frowned as her dragon limbs and claws disappeared, the spells having reached their end. Seeing the man take his distance Akeya did the same, picking up the sword the man had dropped while defending himself. She wasn't used to fighting with a sword, but with one of them being so close at hand and her needing some time to be able to cast her take over abilities again it was better than nothing. Especially if her next trick worked. Akeya stood up straight and pointed the sword straight at the man's chest, still giving the man an impression of urgency as she glared at him with reptilian eyes.

"The others have all been defeated, and you're in no position to continue. If you give up now you might be able to avoid being executed."

Akeya was ready to react should the man try to charge her, not planning to be so stupid as to let her guard down while giving the man the option to surrender. She was also preparing her trick, in case the man really decided to continue fighting.

Spells Active: None
Magic Power: 90%
TOE: 10

With the man's spear dropped, Nikolai too the chance to end the fight. Dropping his armor, he approached the man, stopping just before him. He looked down at the man, prepared to strike him back down at a moments notice. "I'd recommend you stop now. You can barely move, and I'm still fine to fight more. Don't make this worse for yourself." Nikolai felt confident that the man would back down. While he has some blood going down his arm, as well as a few scraps and cuts, he was almost perfectly fine still. There was more sweat and dirt on him than injury. He looked over to the dagger thrower. While he was still on the ground, he was breathing and clearly not dead. That's good, he wanted to keep casualties to a minimum. As well, if Mr. Strauss had noticed, he hadn't made any indication of it. Things seemed to have gone perfectly, for him and Akeya at least.

When she picked up the sword, the man shuddered slightly, stepping back and gripping the hilt of his blade with both hands. He was clearly shaken, and trying his best to find a way out of the situation. Unlike the other two who had accepted defeat, this man was still trying to work out the situation. He had no intention of going against Akeya again, and didn't want to have to fight Nikolai either. He looked around frantically, looking for any sign of a chance. His face seemed to shatter when Akeya spoke. Executed. That's right, if he didn't stop here, she'd definitely kill him. She already proved she was willing to kill. Hope fading from his eyes, he collapsed to his knees, dropping the sword. He had to trust that she'd be good on her word and not end him then and there.

The man looked up at Nikolai, snarling as he saw that he was indeed out of options. Things started going wrong the moment their female companion dropped, since at that point their entire strategy fell apart. Trying to continue fighting now would be stupid: As much as he wanted to see Nikolai bleed out, the metal user would be able to pound him before he could do more than lift his weapon. Besides, he was bruised, he was hurt, he was tired, and it felt like no matter what he did it didn't matter. Dropping his head he threw the spear to the side, then placed his hands on the ground and bowed before Nikolai.

"I surrender."

While he said this he was fuming inside. This was humiliating. He and his partners could have gotten a lot out of this, and it would have succeeded if it wasn't for these two. Who had said that the target was too confident to ask mages for help?

The dagger thrower looked towards Nikolai and the spear wielder and saw that the assassin had surrendered. Looking the other way he saw that the swordsman had also given up, his determination shattered against the sure knowledge that if he didn't give up the girl would kill him without any hesitation. He would have cursed realizing they had failed if he still wasn't too busy dealing with the fact that somebody had kicked him squarely in the gut with a heavy metal boot.

Akeya tightened her grip on her sword as she saw the man grab his with both hands, the intimidating aura becoming slightly stronger as those who looked at her got the feeling there was something large and scaly hidden around the ninja girl. She really wanted to be done with this, since while she would definitely win against this worn out man she didn't want to risk receiving any more wounds. So far her only real wound was the slash she had received on her left arm when she deflected the swordman's strike, and so far as she concerned she wouldn't gain any other.
When the man appeared to have been shaken by the knowledge that Akeya has no objections to killing her enemies she relaxed slightly, although she made sure not to let it show. As the man dropped to the ground she walked towards him, her sword still aimed at his chest.

"Good choice. removing your head would have caused a mess."

Normally Akeya wouldn't bother with such comments, but she wanted to make sure the man got the message: Any attempt at resisting would be met with swift and merciless retribution. Pressing the sword against the man's chest Akeya looked over towards Nikolai, noting that now every assassin had been taken care of. The sword didn't press hard enough to wound him, but it should serve as another warning.

"I trust you have a plan to take these into custody without our client hearing about it."

Seeing that Akeya had finished with her target as well, Nikolai reached forward towards the man suddenly, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. He started dragging the defeated man, dropping him over by the dagger wielder. He looked at the man after dropping him, as well as the dagger wielder, with a completely blank expression. "Stay down and quiet, or I'll have to go get an additional body bag." He normally wasn't the type for threats, but he wanted to keep Akeya's impression to them in check, as well as prevent any rebellion. Walking over to Akeya, he looked down at the swordsman, before returning to her. "I'm going to get the guards to clean this up, Keep an eye on him and the other two and prevent any sudden movements. Don't worry about the corpse, I'll have them take care of it."

After that, almost without waiting for a reply, Nikolai walked towards the door the assassins had first come through. After a few minutes, he returned with 6 guards in tow, stopping at the doorway and pointing towards the assassins. The guards ran over, forcing them all up and binding them. One by one, the assassins all were lead out of the courtyard, to where from there Nikolai had no idea, nor did he particularly care. While four of them took the prisoners away, the other two moved over to the corpse, examining it and preparing to take it away. Removing his glasses, Nikolai walked over to Akeya, his blank expression breaking. He gave her a small smile, trying to be friendly. "S-So, good job I guess. Ready to head out and claim our reward now?"

Akeya watched as Nikolai threatened and manhandled the defeated assassin. It was curious how he was so calm during the fight, while normally he'd stutter just because she -or anybody else, for that matter- looked at him. Right now it doesn't matter though, it just means he's getting the job done, which Akeya can appreciate. She doesn't mind doing the hard work or staying up all night standing guard, but now that the end of the job was in sight she wouldn't say no to anything which would help reach it earlier.

Once Nikolai informed her that he would get the guards Akeya nodded, watching him leave before looking back down at the swordsman. Reaching down she grabbed him by his arm and dragged him to the two other assassins, throwing him next to them, showing a surprising amount of strength for her build.

"The first one of you that moves will lose their head. I'm not in the mood to be gentle."

The swordsman and the spearman looked up at Akeya, seeing just how cold her eyes were. Just because she kept her calm didn't mean she didn't become affected by situations like these. They made her even more dangerous, because she became both focused and didn't retain any objections to killing and maiming those standing in her way. They both didn't move, and the dagger thrower followed their example while still groaning.

When the guards appeared Akeya stepped away from the three assassins, instead walking over to Nikolai as the guards took care of the corpse and the would-be assassins. Her part of the job was done, so the guards could do whatever they liked with them. When Nikolai suddenly returned to his usual self Akeya blinked, then realized that it was the glasses which caused him to stay so calm. Interesting equipment, although it would have been more interesting if it was Nikolai himself.

"Good job indeed. Although it seems I wasn't fast enough when taking care of the second. No matter, let's go and get our reward."

With that she turned around and walked through the same door they first used to get into the courtyard, fully expecting Nikolai to follow her.