"I'm going to find out who is doing this, one way or another." - Nellies' Girls: The Hand The Feeds (1)
32 Zi'Da 719
This portion of the bazaar had the rough frame of a wooden rooftop over the various stalls which let in less moonlight than those in the open air portions of the bazaar. The things around Balthazar became darker but the glowing mage was just as plainly visible as he'd been before. The district itself formed a long hall of sorts with dozens of stalls on either side but by this time of night some of those stalls had already closed down for the trial. Yet the bazaar, large as it was, could never truly be empty with the few Element's patrolling and the vendors who were more than willing to stay open at all hours because they had the staff to do so.
Balthazar visited a few shops with varying interest. The first one he stumbled upon was a weapons vendor from Etzos who had all manner of copper weaponry left over from the war. Alas Balthazar had no use for it because he was the weapon he chose to wield. When Balthazar mentioned that he did not use swords and axes, the man tried to sell Balthazar on a set of rings that would make his punches hurt more and Balthazar declined again because from the look of it, the rings would make it harder to cast spells while he was wearing them.
The next stall that drew his attention sold pets. There were simple cats and dogs but also more unique creatures from the area around. Balthazar, recognizing he wanted one but had not practical means of keeping it alive, did his best to walk passed that stall without looking in at the big loving eyes of the animals on display. They could not accompany him in his works and that made him a little sad.
Eventually Balthazar came upon a stall selling various liquids in small vials and he began asking the salesman about them. What were they? What did they do? Well it turned out that some were poisons and some were cures. When Balthazar further inquired about the poisons all being liquid the man showed Balthazar a small box with a white, scentless powder within and claimed it was one of the more deadly poisons he had with him. It was during that exchange that everything changed.
Someone of short stature ran passed one of the land troops in the narrow portion of the bazaar and stole his sword from his belt before taking off. The land troop and his fellow officer ran after the small man and the moment they were out of the hallway of stalls a figure who'd been browsing a stall behind Balthazar turned quickly and seized Balthazar in a full nelson. The poison peddler's eyes widened and he retreated backwards while the large figure holding Balthazar's arms turned the mage to the side where another shadow was waiting for him with a knife.
Balthazar had not been surprised when he was seized from behind but he wasn't certain the man had been coming for him until it was too late. Balthazar wiggled and writhed in the man's grip, the struggle allowing him to move his torso so that when the second assassin's knife pierced through his abdomen it luckily didn't strike any vital organ. Balthazar let out a pained yelp when he was stabbed but he kicked out wildly with his feet, using the larger man holding his arms to keep himself steady. Balthazar's heel slammed into the side of the stabber and then Balthazar stomped on the man holding him's foot. The assailant's grip weakened and Balthazar pulled his arms free before turning and delivering a jab to the larger figure's nose. The hit connected but it didn't seem to phase the large man all that much. Big Man then seized Balthazar by the throat and lifted him into the air so Balthazar conjured blue flames around his hands and grabbed Big Man's head. The fire seared into the large man quickly and a pained scream accompanied Balthazar being dropped.
Then Balthazar thrust out his fist, propelling a ball of fire that engulfed the larger man completely. The large man's screams grew louder and he dropped to the floor to try and put the fire out. Balthazar looked down at his tingling hand, wondering how much ether he had left to expend.
The Small Man with the knife came in again, slashing across Balthazar's back to remind the mage he was here. Balthazar gasped in pain and turned with a round house that the Small Man caught beneath his right arm. Then he raised his knife as if to drive it into Balthazar's knee and Balthazar jumped off his other foot, spinning his body so that his other foot crashed into the assassin's head. Of the three of them falling to the floor, Balthazar was the first to rise, blood now beginning to soak into his cut and torn clothing. Balthazar called on his ether quickly and propelled a ball of fire into the sky to draw the attention of the land troops throughout the bazaar.
The assassins had lost the element of surprise... but they seemed dedicated.
The Small Man rose again and lunged at Balthazar with the dagger and Balthazar stepped back to dodge it only to find the Big Man with facial burns had risen as well. The Big Man drove his fist down onto Balthazar's shoulder and the impact/ pain brought the mage down to his knees. Then the Big Man's two burly hands tightened on Balthazar's shoulders, trapping him in his kneeling position as the Small Man drove his knife towards Balthazar's stomach again. Balthazar caught the small assassin's arm, stopping the knife for a moment before the big man began to squeeze and Balthazar lost his grip.
The blade was driven forward through his abdomen again and a familiar pain burned through the mage as his mutations worked rapidly to try and prevent him from bleeding too much blood. Then the Big Man grabbed a tuft of Balthazar's hair and pulled his head back. "Cut his throat, she wants it done right this time." Big Man ordered the small man. The smaller assassin nodded and began bringing his knife up to Balthazar's neck but Balthazar had other ideas. His hand was tracing a circle along the floor and it began to speed up as the blade neared his throat.
Then, quite suddenly for the assassins but far too slowly for Balthazar, a portal shrieked into life beneath the three of them and they all fell through. Balthazar had set the egriss ten feet above the ingress (all he could see with his head wrenched back) and so they all fell, seemingly endlessly through the two portals over and over again. Balthazar held the portals, straining his ether to do so, while his mutations mended enough of the damage for him to refocus himself.
Balthazar couldn't hear the boots of the many land troopers who'd arrived to see what caused the commotion, all he could focus on was that he was falling and he willed the wind to help him stop. It took a few more passed through the portals but the wind helped slow Balthazar's decent enough that he was able to fly himself out of the portal range. Balthazar didn't quite have the control he needed to land safely while balancing two magics, but he had enough control to toss himself out of the portal tap before the dozen or so Land Troops who'd arrived as the larger assassin tried to catch the edge of Balthazar's portal and instead broke it. The portals shut and the two assassins slammed into the ground at terminal velocity. The noise that they made when they hit the floor was enough to cause the injured Balthazar to cringe.
"Help." Balthazar muttered as he struggled to push himself up to face the Land Troops who couldn't seem to figure out who the aggressor had been. All they knew was who the last man standing was.
The Land Troops closed in, gathering Balthazar and the assassins to take back to their hall for interrogation. One way or another they'd find the truth of this attack. Fortunately for Balthazar his investigation had begun in the Element's Hall, and clearing his name would be a matter of time.
