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Randolph passed one of his grenades to Tobias. He wasn't about to stop going along with the mission at this point; he hadn't yet learned anything new, and his instincts weren't being any more helpful than they'd been before.

Elisa

Elisa swore when her shot missed and was waiting for another chance before a shotgun wielding one appeared. "CEASE FIRE!" She attempted to order the man using Howard's voice. It was a long shot but if she could distract him long enough for the others to take him down, it was worth it.

Guo's bullet hit the shotgun wielding guard in the upper chest, he stumbled backwards and fell on his back, firing his gun in the process, the blast hit the ceiling of the cave causing some rock particles to fall down.

Tobias was handed the grenade by Randolph.

Elisa

"Try not to cave it in!" Elisa warned the others after hearing parts of it fall whilst remaining in cover. She would attempt to take a peek out of cover to determine if she could sneak around to the side and set up what many called a 'flanking' tatic.

Tobias took Randolph's grenade and pocketed it.

He held his gun pointed at the cave entrance.
"You go ahead, I'll cover you." He said to Alex.

The cave itself was only 20 meters long and a straight line down to the entrance of the temple itself. 'Flanking' wasn't a possibility.
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Alex nodded and ran into the cave, his pistol still in hand and carrying the bag which contained the cube. He fired two shots into the wounded guard, killing them, as he made his way to the wall next to the temple entrance. He briefly glanced in at the temple and a bullet whizzed by before quickly ducking back. Alex cursed under his breath and lit a magical blue flame in his free hand. Alex turned and unleashed a massive blast of blue fire into the temple for 10 continuous seconds. Painful screams filled the air, when the blast of fire was done they could still hear a few low moans. Alex turned his head and looked back at his fellow mages. "Was hoping that wouldn't come up. Come on." said Alex, urging the others to follow as he stepped into the temple.

Tobias followed behind Alex. The Governor was quick, and Alex had reached the temple entrance by the time Tobias had entered the cave.
The sudden burst of blue flame startled him and he pointed his gun forward.
What the Hell!
"Watch out!" He shouted from several metres behind Alex.
He fired his gun twice down the corridor.

Tobias shot two bullets, one whizzed past Alex almost hitting him, the other hit the center of the rucksack he was carrying on his back. Alex fell forward to the ground, his arms were underneath him around stomach level and they could hear his head hit the ground. He wasn't moving immediately following the fall so they couldn't be sure if he was conscious or even alive.

"Oh my--what are you--!" Guo gasped as Tobias fired in Alex's direction.

Perhaps thinking her companion had deliberately struck the governor, Guo made a decision.

She aimed at the back of Tobias' head, both hands steadying her pistol, and opened fire.

Elisa

"What the [&@%!]!?" Elisa exclaimed after Tobias shot Alex in the back and just like Guo, she believed it was deliberate. It may have been her mind being occupied and her memory not being reliable at the moment but she recalled him disagreeing with their plan. He had killed someone before and this was just another incident where he murdered someone in her eyes. If by some freakishly dumb luck prevented Guo from hitting her mark, she would unleash a small barrage of flame at Tobias. Just enough to engulf the murderer and give him a painful death. It felt both right and wrong as if her past self would do something just like this if she had to.

When Alex went down, Tobias ran towards the temple entrance, grabbing Randolph's grenade from his own pocket.

As he ran forward, he pulled out the pin and dropped the grenade on top of Alex's rucksack as he ran past him and into the temple.

Tobias ran forward but as he was pulling the grenade out of his pocket he was shot in the back of the head by Guo. As he fell to the ground he dropped the grenade and became engulfed in Elisa's flames. Tobias's body was hardly incinerated but it was badly burnt, regardless the mage had been killed. His grenade, pin still intact, rolled down the slope coming to a stop beside Alex who still wasn't moving.

"We need to fall back to the entrance!" Guo whispered to Randolph and Elisa. "Can you check on the governor, Elisa? I will...get us some help."

Finally calling upon the dread powers that resided within her, Guo unleashed streams of purple energy from her hands, attempting to raise Tobias' corpse as a zombie thrall.

Elisa

Elisa felt sick after the smell of burnt flesh entered her nose along with having actually killed Tobias or at least, contributing to Tobias's death in her mind. "[&@%!]." She uttered and needed a moment to gather herself. "Knew he couldn't be trusted." She commented.Jeeze, i feel sick. Knew we couldn't trust him. Just damnit. "Will do." She crouched and would attempt to check on the governor. "Oh and if he can't be saved, i think it may be kinder to er... you know. But only as a last resort and out of mercy."

Eliza approached Alex, she was by his feet, her own foot hitting off the hand grenade when he rolled over onto his back, his bag still on his back and aimed his pistol up at Eliza. "Try it." said Alex staring her down. "I knew I should have gone alone, both times." He tried to look past her to see what was happening with Guo but kept his pistol focused on Eliza.

Guo's magic worked as the newly arisen zombie thrall opened his purple eyes and stood up.

Elisa

Elisa was relieved that Alex was still alive and did not even attempt to make moves to defend herself when he held her up at gunpoint. "Tobias was the only one that pulled that crap. The rest of us want to help you." She stated to the governer. "I know it's hard to believe but we have no intention on killing you and we need you. Once this is done, a lot of violence is bound to break out and Howard is likely to arrange for us to have accidents. We'll need your help when this is done and all of us are committed to see this through to the end."

Alright, let's see how good you are at following orders; pick up the grenade. Guo commanded her thrall.

"He's alive? We need to get him back to... ...'both times'?" What was their name again... "...Eolas?"

Guo's zombie thrall walked down the slope, bent down and picked up the hand grenade.

'Alex' got to their feet and backed away from the mages moving into the temple. "That's right." said Eolas. They transferred their gun into their right hand and lit the blue fire in their left hand. "Look, I am sorry for leaving you earlier. But if you want to help, just go home. I'll finish this myself."

At the sight of fire in their palm, Guo backed towards the entrance, into cover. Walk closer to Eolas. Pull the grenade pin, but hold down the lever. Don't detonate it yet.

"How can we trust you?" Guo asked the manipulative mage. "You've used us once, and you've tried to use us again. How do we know it ends here? And just how can you finish this without us?"

Guo's zombie thrall followed its order, pulled the pin and walked past where Eolas had been lying moving into the temple, getting closer to the experienced mage. "You're the ones who shot at me! I've spent lifetimes trying to do this and I-" The zombie thrall was now only a couple meters away from Eolas. Eolas lit a blue flame in their hand and redirected their gun to aim at the zombie's legs. "Get him away from me!"

Release the lever, charge at Eolas. Hold that grenade to their face, and kill them! "After you've used us as puppets, we can't trust you!" Guo declared. "Elisa, recover the cube and fall back!"

Guo's zombie thrall rushed toward toward Eolas who shot the zombie in the knee, causing it to fall forward dropping the grenade which rolled between the pair. "Sh-" Eolas began to scream as the grenade exploded. The noise was deafening, dust filled the room and large pieces of stone fell from the ceiling.

Shrapnel ravaged Guo's thrall, it could barely move and likely wouldn't be of much further use. The best thing to do would likely be release her control over Tobias's corpse.

As for Eolas, the explosion had propelled them upwards into the air before landing face first on the ground. Their gun fell out of their hand in the air landing some distance behind them, their body was covered into bruises and cuts. If Eolas wasn't dead, they were severely wounded and weren't moving. Both of their arms lay in front of them.

Elisa

"[&@%!] hell!" Elisa retorted as she got out of the way and saw the zombie injure Eolas. She knew it was cruel to let him suffer and unlike some, she would be merciful. She cautiously approached Eolas but remained out of arm's reach. She aimed for his head and fired a single round into it out of the belief it was better to give him a quick death then a prolonged one. She would recover the cube afterwards if he was truly dead.

Elisa walked forward and shot the unconscious figure in the head. Seeing as Eolas had been possessing the Prince, Alex was undoubtedly dead. Elisa opened the bag on the body's back and recovered the mystical obsidian cube.

Elisa

"It would have been cruel to prolong his suffering." Elisa explained to Guo afterward retrieving the cube. "But I don't think we're going to get out of this in one piece. It seems to just be us left and Howe's men are sure to overrun us at some point. I think it'll be best for me to take the lead on account of me being a thief in the previous life and with luck, both of us will be able to reach our goal but unless the cube knocks everyone out who isn't a mage, we may face certain death there." She told her only remaining companion as far as she could tell. Looks like this will end in all our deaths. It was nice knowing you. Any advice you wish to share before me and Guo commit to a decision?