It is a night of turmoil, even more so than is usual for Babel, the City of Strife. The Tower of Babel has changed hands, as a high-ranking officer of the inner circle of the Guardians led a revolt. His Order of the Anchor has driven out the General and those who survive of his loyalists, and have taken the Tower. Over it fly flags of red and white – pennants of the red Star-and-Anchor on a field of white, alternated with pennants that show a variant emblem of the Anchor on a field of red.

Not far from the Tower of Babel is the Coalition Tower, home to an organization devoted to unifying Babel's diverse powers – be they wealthy nobles, well-armed warlords, or priests and priestesses of the dark gods. With such a momentous shift in the balance of power in Babel, word has been sent out to the Coalition members to gather in an emergency session of greatest importance; the fate of Babel's future is to be decided, and this is not a time for diplomats and proxies. No, the leaders themselves are converging on the Tower; this situation presents a unique opportunity for the Temple.

While most would travel by air, it is still possible to travel by wheel, along certain routes through the city. So it is that a nondescript carriage rolls along at a breakneck pace, its passage broadcasted by the thundering hooves of a team of four Drokars urged on by the whip-snaps of the cowled Eeee driver seated on top. Thick curtains obscure the windows to the carriage, hiding the occupant from easy observation by eye or ear … but the rider hasn't quite as much privacy as she might think. Someone is waiting for her.

Hidden in the shadows of a tower-affixed empty covered merchant stall waits an ebony furred Gallah. She is garbed in an unmarked suit of dark gray chitin covered by an equally shadowy black travelers cloak. Beneath her a rakhtor stirs impatiently as its master waits for target to come speeding down the road below this rooftop. Her plan is two-fold. When the guards and carriage pass, she takes this opportunity to ambush the priestess's protectors. This then she imagines will cause a panic among those within the carriage and spur the driver to speed all the faster on his way. What they should not know if all goes according to plan is that further down the road lies blocked just around a blind turn. The resultant crash should disable the carriage and by then the guards should be taken care of. If all is according to plan, that is. To the rider of the black rakhtor it seems all too similar to events that seem like only yesterday.

The carriage speeds along, not averting its path. (After all, with such a steep drop on either side, and no branching paths in sight, the driver has hardly any choice in the matter.) The hidden warrioress is able to pick out the movement of four armed fliers whose paths run more or less parallel to that of the carriage: the guards approach. Unless something betrays her hiding place, they will be past in mere moments.

Quietly the disguised Gallee readies her crossbow. Should she go undiscovered she will be set to snipe at one of the guards before her assault begins in full. And should she be discovered at least she will have a weapon ready to try murder the one who discovers her and thus attempt to confuse a counterstrike. Provided there is only one. If she is discovered by the whole of them she'll have no choice but to begin her attack early.

At first, it looks like all is well, and the carriage passes by without betraying any notice of the Gallee's position. Two fliers pass, at a distance … and then two more … but then, the Gallee's ears tingle, as she hears a high-pitched sound. Did one of them just "sound" her out? Sudden shifts in two of the fliers' movements suggest that to be a very real possibility.

Rather than attempting to hide and wait out the possible detection the woman in black spurs her mount to take flight. Her initial decision is to force them to expend their bolts on a rapidly moving target and thus force them to reload the cumbersome crossbows while she returns to strike at them. The rakhtor is directed to leap from the building and dive to gain speed rapidly before pulling up and circling back over a tower-free area of air.

So fast is the descent that if the guards bothered to fire at her, their shots would be far off their marks. As she comes around, she can see the two fliers descending upon her. The two other guards seem to have caught on, and are circling around, while the carriage thunders on, drawing very close to that treacherous turn.

As the rakhtor glides in a sharp turn the cloaked rider aims her crossbow at the nearest guard and snaps off a shot. As soon as the bolt is loose she urges her mount to begin approaching the Eeee in an evasive swoop to further hinder their attempts to shoot her as well as determine if any of them are in the process of reloading. Her approach takes her towards the two who initially detected her and her bolt is aimed for one of the same.

Elise hears a sharp cry from her target. It sounds like her bolt found its mark, though in the fury of flight, she is unable to see whether this has downed her foe or not. The other Eeee are definitely still airborne.

If a shot is made at Elise, it doesn't get close enough to cause her any real peril. So far, she still has the advantage from her surprise attack, it seems.

Presuming the wounded Eeee will be distracted by the new-found hole in whatever body part that bolt landed in the woman turns to press her attack on his nearby fellow. She directs her mount to swoop so either it can tear him from the sky with it's talons or she can rend him with the sword she draws. A wing, an arm, at this height she'll not be picky about what she cleaves from him. The fall is as deadly as any blade or claw.

Although the Eeee tries to evade Elise's attack, it is too late. Elise's blade cracks through light chitin armor and through softer flesh underneath. She hears a scream – of a tone that suggests that her target was a "she" rather than a "he" – and a warm spray hits the side of her face, flung from her blade.

Satisfied with the result of her charge thus far the Gallah directs her mount onward towards the two straggling defenders. Again she initiates a evasive approach urging her rakhtor in to swoops and dives as it and it's rider streak forth to try and rain more blood on the stone streets. And thus clear the way to attack the true target.

A couple of shouts, a couple of vain swipes of swords – neither of the guards is able to do any damage to Elise, and neither are they able to escape the fury of her attack. Two more bodies fall, and Elise's ears are rewarded by the sounds of shrieking Drokars, and a crash just around the blind curve.

With nary a victory cry the rakhtor carries its rider onward like a flitting shadow whose path is lined with gore. The great bird is directed to speed its approach towards the point of trap. Meanwhile the black-cloaked rider sheathes her sword and rearms her crossbow. If Davaryna attempts to escape by wing she'll be prepared to attempt to shoot her down. If not the bolt may well find the driver if he or she is still alive.

As Elise rounds the corner, she can see the driver – dead, most likely, from the way her neck is twisted at such an unnatural angle. The Drokars are tangled in their tethers, and won't be going anywhere anytime soon – nor will the carriage, though one door is open.

Suddenly, the rakhtor lets out a shriek! The Gallee sees a shaft protruding from its neck.

Gritting her teeth at this turn of events the canine determines landing will be necessary. Either now, or soon. The bolt in her rakhtors neck is likely to make continued accurate flight difficult and if the bolt is poisoned there's a very real chance of her mount dropping unconscious or dead beneath her. Thus she angles the rakhtor's descent to take it out of easy range of fire from the carriage door. As she comes nearer to the ground the Gallah searches the wreckage and door carefully and prepares to take immediate evasive action should signs of another shot at her crop up.

As Elise circles around, she can tell from the rakhtor's reaction that the bolt must indeed have been poisoned, or the wound was more severe than it looked. If not for the Gallee's excellent ability to handle such mounts, she would have been dashed against the stones when she tried to make that last turn. She can see some movement up at the carriage – someone's still alive, definitely – but landing is definitely going to be a necessity. Either it'll be under her control … or that of gravity. The rakhtor is not long for the air.

With her mount dying beneath her the woman decides to land immediately. She's no acrobat and she doesn't relish the idea of attempting to survive a fall against hard stone. Especially not given her lame right leg. So she directs the mount to touch down directly behind the damaged carriage. As she does she draws herself close to the bird to minimize herself as a target during this procedure. At this point the rakhtor is expendable and can offer this last service as a shield for its master.

The Gallee manages to get into position as planned, this once. A chance sight of a shadow passing in front of a distant torch-light, however, alerts Elise to the possibility that this shot did not come from the carriage itself, after all – but from the air. "You would do well to turn away now, while you can!" comes a girl's voice from the carriage. "If you do not, you will suffer Barada's Curse!"

The threat almost makes the Gallah laugh out loud. In lighter times the warning very well may have amused her even more except here with murder on her mind her sense of humor is numb from duty and a kind of bloodlust. Of all the Babelite Pantheon, Barada hardly strikes her as the most imposing of goddesses to offer a curse by. And she's met most of the major Eeee goddesses in one fashion or another. She takes up cover behind the carriage and behind the landed form of her mount and takes a shot at the figure that assails her form the shadows. All the while keeping a careful ear perked least someone exit the carriage from the other side and circle behind her.

The flier tries to dodge, but Elise is far too good of a shot, and the First Ones seem to be with her tonight, to so skillfully anticipate her enemy's move. She hears a scream from the target, and then sees the silhouetted form plummet somewhere far, far below. From the carriage, a voice cries out, "All your secrets will be laid bare! Every truth of your life open to any who care to see it! All your dark secrets will be broadcast to all with ears to hear it – and the choicest bits given freely to your worst enemies! Not even your loved ones will be spared – by association with you, they will share in your curse, so long as you live!"

As the dark form of the wounded Eeee plummets to what is most assuredly his or her demise the Gallah edges on a path unblocked by the body of her rakhtor to one of the side doors. Before she exposes to the door she swings her travelers cloak off her shoulders and holds it before the door on the tip of her sword cane giving the illusion of a hooded figure sneaking around to the door. The idea is simple. Should the Yodh fall for it she'll discharge whatever weapon she carries in to her cloak. Then Gallah will fall upon her.

Nothing happens. There are no more shouts from inside the carriage.

Satisfied well enough the Gallah gestures with her sword-cane in front of the door. She directs the occupant to depart the carriage.

The carriage lies partially on its side against the debris, and the Drokars have stopped kicking, though Elise hears a low moan from one. Inside the carriage, in the flickering faint lights of fires, she can make out the sole occupant – the small, bejeweled form of Priestess Davaryna, a tan-furred Eeee with stylized markings on her cheeks and the Key on her forehead, in full regalia as a representative of the Temple of Barada. She smiles quirkily. In a voice that carries despite her size, she says, "Oh, slayer of gods, oh slayer of Eeee, have you grown overly bold with your success in dreams? Elise de Bellefeuille, you will regret this day – you and everyone you hold dear. The life of a Yodhbarada is always very, very expensive."

"You were warned," is all the Elise tells the priestess. Her voice betrays no fear, nor any great delight. It is even and cold – not a tone to be unexpected from someone whose career often spells it success in the deaths of others. Be they good or evil. And even as she speaks those words the canine stabs her sword at the Yodh.

Davaryna does not flinch. She makes a choking noise, and she keeps staring directly at Elise, even as life ebbs away from her. Elise can hear a flutter of wings somewhere to her left, somewhere to her right – but whomever they are, they are flying away, it seems … and not more opponents to try (however late) to challenge the Gallee in her mission.

Rather than leaving anything to chance the canine withdraws her sword to strike again and behead the priestess. With her target dead she has the distinct urge to depart the scene of the strike as quickly as possible. Thus the canine draws herself out of the carriage and hurries towards the tangled Drokars. Here she hopes to cut a healthy one loose and ride it away a distance from here while looking for a suitable place to hide or else another rakhtor to confiscate.

The First Ones smile upon Elise again, as she finds one of the Drokars free of any broken legs. She manages to free it, and coax it to stand. Although it lacks a saddle, the Gallee has had to ride bareback before during her Academy days. With any luck, she should be able to make it before anyone else can arrive…

Quickly now the Gallah mounts up as best she can. Her maimed leg twinges with old pains but doesn't give her any more trouble. Now that she's once again riding she swings her cloak back around her shoulders and spurs her mount off and away.