The Castle (Rebma, for the heck of it, but don't hesitate!)

[Gareeku]

With as much effort as he could possibly muster, Gareeku took the last step down into the vault after Stygian had done so. Observing the dirty marble floor that his sandal-sporting feet had just stepped on to, the wolf then lifted his head to look at his new surroundings. The vault he was now stepping into was dark and gloomy, like much of the rest of the house had been. However, this darkness seemed to be more alive than ever. It reeked of ill intention; a sinister aura around him that seemed to want to swallow him up.

Looking up at the ceiling, Gareeku observed the style of the cracked architecture. It looked as if this chamber had been dug out of the very mountain the house stood upon. Lowering his head and looking around, the wolf saw that there seemed to be no walls around; only the same sinister darkness that hung around the group like a canopy of evil.

It was then, however, that Gareeku looked ahead, and with narrowed eyes saw a figure; chained up in a stone coffin between a pair of pillars, visible in the dim light the unearthy flames produced from the braziers nearby. From the shape of the figure, it could be seen that it was female; a winged creature, with an empty gaze on her face that seemed to be staring right at them. The wolf stared right back; a grim stare, tinted with slight anger.

Cousin, hmm...? Gareeku thought to himself upon hearing Stygian's low-voiced comment, igorning the ferret's cries as his hand gripped the hilt of his sheathed blade firmly, his eyes continuing to stare at the figure before them as he moved calmly to stand beside Stygian. Blood runs thicker than water...

[Malicious]

The canine heard a voice shouting out to him admist the gloom. It was somewhat familiar, female.. he couldn't tell.  As her voice grew in volume, the black around him began to fade, revealing the room around him.  He blinks and looks around, sitting up to feel his body, in disbelief of what had happened. 
                        He looked up to see the catgirl ahead of him, unsure if what he'd seen was manifest or some hallucination, he couldn't tell. However, he regained his composure and brought himself to his feet.  Looking down at the catgirl, he looked ahead at the rest of the group and began to move foward, following them into the cavernous room.  The heavy cold that surrounded his chest remaining yet supressed for now, turning to look at her and jerked his head in guesture for her to follow. Whatever just happened, I can't let emotional c*** like that intefere again.  Gotta focus on the mission...

[Sunblink]

She should've felt some form of comfort or security after she escaped the threshold separating the accursed level from their destination. She should've felt relieved. She should've been even, dare she say it, somewhat HAPPY that she had been liberated from that hateful, manipulative Hell.

This couldn't be further from the cold, cruel reality.

Heart still throbbing erratically in her plastered, aching ears, Keaton's steps continued to drag  hopelessly against the ground, dirt and grime clinging in thick layers of soil to the pads of her bare, clawed feet. It was as though the weight that crippled the travelers mere moments ago had stubbornly remained latched to her back, leeching off of her misery like a fiery parasite. Tears still oozed from the tumescent corners of Keaton's bloodshot eyes in tenuous trails, the branches of sanguine snaking through the whites of her eyes a stark contrast to the lustrous blue of her pupils. The alabaster fur around Keaton's face had become more exsanguinous than beautifully pearlescent.

Thankfully, Keaton's once-constricted throat had begun to open somewhat, allowing fresh air—heady, salty, but fresh and gratefully accepted nonetheless—to trickle back into her reticent lungs, which had exhausted themselves from her frantic gasping. Pants eased back down to shaky, carefully-calculated breaths.

It was when the agonizing pain in her chest started to fade that Keaton realized what it was.

Panic attacks. Fucking hated them. She had been afflicted by them most prominently after her first kill, but after many tribulations, they had been reigned in and suppressed. Occasionally they would surface in times of extreme stress, especially after the death of her family and when particularly pressured by her ex-fellow subordinates back when she worked under her former 'lord', but it had been a long while since she had suffered from one of this magnitude.

Burying her head in her hands briefly, it took her a joined effort from her abused neck muscles, but Keaton managed to peel her face away from her palms shortly after wiping her cheeks relatively free of moisture. The voices of her family were still echoing irreversibly in her head, like how the chimes of a bell would resonate through a tower's chambers. Goddamn it. Goddamn it all. Keaton could easily orchestrate one's deepest fears and worst memories to her advantage, but when someone does the same she breaks down like a helpless child! It was pathetic. Self-revulsion started to well up in Keaton again, teeth gritting angrily against one another like an ivory bear-trap.

She would find whoever had done this and kill them with her bare hands, devoid of Cubi abilities and her weapon or not. She would ensure that the final moments of their life would be wrought with nothing but pure suffering.

She promised herself this.

Keaton didn't have to wait long for them to reach the archangel's lair, however--a wretched place permeated with atramentous darkness. The stench of stagnation hung heavily in the air like a rotting tapestry, swirling around every shackle that draped from the aging, buckling roof or shard of rusting metal. Furious resolution in Keaton's blazing eyes, the jackal stormed among the adventurers, quaking fists clenched and milky fur bristling. It was obvious from the fiery waves of burning hate that radiated off of her that she was dead set on vengeance, on ripping whoever was responsible for the afore-experienced atrocities to pieces and devouring their soul. If Keaton were acrophobic, she probably would've broken out into another panic attack once they reached the spot where the floor gave away, but it was enough—along with the intensifying strength of the darkness engulfing them—to make her very, very afraid.

Fear was not something Keaton frequently experienced until she entered this palace, this nest of despicable nightmares and creatures. Another reason among a quickly-growing list of a thousand to hate it.

Down below, Keaton could see, withering in the nearly endless pit of shadows, an ancient coffin fettered to a flanking set of stone pillars. Engraved on the front was a woman, an angelic creature, with obsidian eyes that vacantly stared out into space, boring through black darkness to penetrate right into Keaton's being.

They were here.

An insane smile slowly spread along Keaton's cadaverous lips.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Cogidubnus]

Cog did not clap, nor did he speak, but merely gazed at the tomb of stone before holding the Broken Moon in his hand. It began to glow, infusing him with holy light and energy, and within the scabbard his sword glowed as well. He grabbed the sheath with his left hand, and simply waited.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha wasn't too far behind the leaders of the group, having been drawn back a little with her own distractions on the illusory stairway.  The weight seemed to cling to her back during those last few steps, the voices pleading louder than ever.  She ignored them with a wrenching heart until she saw Stygian traverse the last step, and with infinite relief she followed suit with the others, easily catching up again.

But the chamber they were in sent a shudder crawling up her back.  The panthress gazed at the appearance of morbidity, the intimidating columns and encompassing shadows that gave the place a dungeon-like air and feel.  Moving through, her tail ring didn't need to glow with such an emerald intensity as it did for the huntress to know of the dark presence the adventurers were coming upon.  She only stole one glance at the ceiling and shot her gaze back ahead, her teeth clenching with the outright concern...no, fear...that should the adventurers fail they would be buried alive, lost to eternity.

Aisha had to distract herself from the thoughts that were still threatening to make her just turn and run.  She stole glances at the others, each with virtually the same haggard expressions emanating anger and a deep inner wish to just let everything end as soon as possible.  She too was angry, and as they finally came upon the coffin, the panther was gazing straight back into the figure's dark countenace with such ferocity behind her mind that even the light-magic relics she carried were pulsating at her belt.  Jeremiah probably would have seen the bracer glowing brighter.  So there we might find the one with the power over the castle.  Couldn't make US run.

Then she remembered the holy sword she was carrying.  Aisha laid her hand on the pommel thoughtfully, then drew the sword out of caution and tied her blood-drenched cape back around her neck, moreover for its comfort in the dingy chamber than anything.  She felt a need to make a comment out of humor about what they were facing, but after what the adventurers went through to get there she couldn't bring herself to break the silence, and instead waited for what would happen next.

[Stygian]

Stygian kept pacing over the cracked floor, stepping over splinters of stone that had fallen from the darkness above or been broken right out of it, as if something had wrecked and shaken the place long ago. Considering how the chains hung, and the state of the place, it was obvious what creature had thrashed to get loose...
   "You have something that belongs to me, cousin. And I'm here to reclaim it. And kill you," the bat said, completely ignoring the arrival of the others behind her. She tossed the ferret to the side, and reached into her pocket, pulling out the glowing pieces of cinders from before, those that they had pulled from the flesh of the wyrm and the spider-woman. As the bat spoke again, her voice began to change, darkening and growing chillier until they could all recognize Stygian's voice as it had been before, during the fight outside the library.
   "You tore out my heart, and I shall take pleasure in doing thesame to you..." she said, darkness beginning to spread around her as she slowly walked closer.
   A tremor shook the hall, and the chains surrounding them rattled. Dust fell from above, slowly drifting to the floor, glittering in the cruel light.
   "It's too late for that now, Sathariel. You have lost. And we will not be dying for your freedom!" Stygian snarled, stepping closer to the coffin, while another thrash caused some rocks to fall from the great roof, dropping to the floor with an echoing clatter. It sounded as if someone was screaming from far off.

[Boog]

Jeremiah followed, his face grim. The huge, cavernous vault looked as though it could fall in at any second, and the crashes that could be heard in the distance didn't help. It seemed that they had reached this mad angel, relative to Sebastionette, and here they would fight her amidst the crumbling masonry. The bracer shone brighter as it sensed the almost palpable darkness in the air and the wraith, sensing its source, fought for freedom. His curse clamored to act, he could barely keep them from doing so. Bal, taking his body and fleeing, maybe turning up later to rot all of this away. In, smashing everything in this chamber to remove this oppressive feeling. Plic, stealing the soul in the grim angel's sarcophagus or the hearts thrumming with power that Sebastionette held. Nex, isolating him from everyone and everything forever in her panic to keep him alive. Cab, who would try to bargain with this angel. And Jeremiah, whose thoughts were not nearly so focused on his goals, simply wished to get out alive and briefly wondered if he'd left the gas on at home.
It was really, really driving him nuts. The funny smile that the cubi wore didn't help his mounting paranoia any. "You alright?" He turned toward her and quirked an eyebrow. However, it was then that the angel replied to the party's worrisome guide through the Castle.
"Fucking hell," The statement was oddly resigned. Was he making a statement about hell, or merely cursing the situation?

[Gareeku]

Following Stygian as he observed the splinters of stone on the floor, Gareeku raised an eyebrow at Stygian's words as he watched him begin to reveal his darkness. Watching the dust fall from the ceiling as the room shook, the wolf narrowed his eyes as his gaze turned back ahead, his hand firmly gripped on the hilt of the katana at his side. A scream could heard. It sounded far off, but could definitely be heard by him as he walked. Mentally preparing himself for what he presumed would be an evitable, not to mention hard, battle, Gareeku tensed his muscled slightly. If anything should suddenly happen, he would be ready.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

As Mel took the last step off the stairway the voices stopped, but it was as if their silence was more of a condemnation than their words. Without the voices to fight she felt a bit lost for a moment. She looked around at the space that was at once vast and claustrophobic. As a flying creature she had no fear of heights but this wasn't proper flying air, it was alive and malevolent. The magic had an almost spoiled feel. Mel felt dirty just from being near it. Of course the lovely decor of rusted chains and a sarcophagus could only make the imagination run to feelings of despair.

With a deep breath, and a brief pep talk she gathered her shredded confidence and her magic to herself and took another step onto the platform.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

PBH jumps up when 75 moves and gets up..."He heard me" whisper PBH with tears in her eyes.  She steps from her platform and the Tesser gate disappeared and then the cavern appeared as PBH step towards Tough Guy.  She smiled at him and the rest of the others.  PBH could see the Cavern, but the darkness seem to remote to her.  Until the room started to shake.

PBH pull back from the center of the cavern and prepare her magic.  PBH look around slowly, and trys to make out any symbols or text around the coffin or walls or the floor, as she scanned the room movement.

PBH

[Malicious]

The canine followed the group, passing the catgirl, his eyes scanned around the room and fell upon stygian, talking down to a coffin.  The canine frowned and narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the details of the crypt. This is it.. he told himself.  He hung a few yards back from the gathering, lest they were somehow caught by suprised, he might be able to slip away... he grunted again and shook his head.  He might be able to provide "backup"

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha kept a steady grip on her weapon as she watched Stygian pace across the angelic figure's line of vision, quirking an eyebrow when the bat started speaking again in a voice that radiated hatred and darkness.  So, cousins, she thought with a curious quirk, assessing the situation only mostly to draw her distraction from the fact that the room seemed to be taking on a life of its own.

She watched as dust fell from the roof high above them, ears pinned.  It was as if the castle above them was alive...and it always seemed that way.  Screaming and squirming as if the adventurers were parasites aiming to cease the pulse of its life.  That was most likely the exact case.

"Okay, what's going on...?" Aisha almost whimpered beneath her breath as more rocks fell across the floor and to their feet, before straightening up and bringing her sword in front of her.  Easy to see, she really didn't like the idea of being right beneath a crumbling roof.

[Stygian]

The distant screams grew in strength, and something pulled on the chains again, hard. The coffin suspended in them shook once, then twice. A crack appeared in the face on its front, as it writhed and seemed to scream.
   Then the coffin smashed asunder, pieces of it flying in different directions, and a ghastly light of blue and green hues emerged from between the columns, like light reflecting on clear water in a pool. It all emanated from one point; the shape of a winged woman.
   She was white as snow, her shape surrounded by swirling wisps of white, her form robed and swathed loosely in long, billowing pieces of white cloth, hung with chains. Her eyes were black around a blue-green, almost teal iris, glowing with a light that enhanced her piercing gaze. Her feline face was immensely beautiful, yet filled with rage, an anger and hatred that seemed to seethe and flow out toward them in waves. Her hands held the chains that bound her, and both their black fingertips and the chains themselves seemed to flow out and unify with the surrounding darkness, pulling on and guiding it. In her right hand, she held something glowing and sizzling. She spoke, in a voice like a hundred whispering and hissing people in a state of panic, confusion, despair...
   "You miserable, despicable creature!" she roared in anger, her eyes locked on Stygian. "You deserved to perish from the start! This time, you will not be sealed away...!" She began flowing against them, her pure white wings of flowing, fuming white trailing light through the air.
   "You couldn't kill me before, and you can't kill me now..." Stygian said, standing fast and looking up at the ghostlike angel.

[Sunblink]

As though completely immune, or utterly desensitized to the escalating exacerbation of the screaming echoing through the chamber from the coffin, Keaton watched the tomb shake and writhe in its rusted bonds, too angry--as was indicated by a distant, muted gleam of hatred in the back of her cobalt eyes--to be fascinated. Something was clearly inside of that thing, and it was desperate to get out, even infuriated at Stygian's words. So this was the archangel they were talking about.

Jeremiah, the frog, who had drifted down from his transformation, was asking her something, she realized. Turning her head toward him, the smile on Keaton's lips became all the more malifcent, even though she knew perfectly well that this exposed the swelling in the corners of her bloodshot eyes and the vestiges of moisture that had collected there to his view.

"Never been better," she said vindictively.

Meanwhile, below the adventurer's, the coffin's surface quaked erratically as though resisting the irresistable grip of the bonds lashing it to the pillars, just before its surface broke apart in a shower of razor-sharp splinters and chunks of masonry. Before Keaton could comprehend the destruction of the archangel's prison, a celestial silhouette broke free, swimming into the air, surrounded by a distorted, volatile halo of transclucent greens and blues. Swirling in the center of a majestic ring of diaphanous mist, garbed in gossamer sheets, was a vaguely feline woman, still sporting the shackles on her wrists--she was incredibly beautiful, although the rage that diffused from every ethereal pore of her body was enough to nearly evaporate Keaton's initial eagerness on the spot.

Hard to believe something so gorgeous could be so angry.

The chains locked around her arms amalgamated with the tangible darkness surrounding her, one hand holding aloft an indistinguishable, glowing object that Keaton couldn't make out readily. Alabaster, light-suffused wings emerged from her back, flaring out like feathered, glowing fans.

At the sight of the heavenly woman, even as Keaton backed away as the angelic apparition approached, the jackal could only think one thing:

...All glory be to God on high...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"BY the Lords of Light!, By God and Goddess!,  MEL Who is the True evil, Mel?  Is the malice of the angel still enough to bout her?  What of The Bat?  Are we here to save the angel  and/or to close the gate to this hell.?"  PBH said s and wonders if the canine attitude of neutrality maybe better than her trust of the others.  PBH moves closer to Mel and stands behind her on her guard toward the coffin and the angel.

PBH uses her magic to try to see the Truth of this.  And she can see that the angel is dead and that this is a ghost that stood before them. It's a very powerful creature...  But what of the bat?  Is she dead?  Is she trapped?  What binds her here?  The only true, PBH knew was that the bat wanted to close the gate.  Whatever other great truth or crime must wait for later once the greater danger has been stop.

Yet, Was the angel only able to stop the bat by sealing him in the castle, while bat trapped the angel here in this cavern which is stuck between the mortal realm and Hell itself.?

PBH

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel hears Bambi's questions regarding which side they should take. "I don't think we have time for a philosophy debate but if you want to measure who has done us ill and who hasn't, look at the magic. Follow the strands from her hands outward. She is the taint in the castle. She controls the castle, she controls the monsters, she has been trying to make us worse than dead since we arrived."

From the angel's fingers, to the chains, to the darkness of the pit and outward Mel could see the web of magic. She couldn't describe it as dark magic, this was disturbing somehow. Was it possible for magic itself to go mad? Mel didn't voice aloud her worry that neutralizing the angel might cause the castle, and this chamber, to collapse onto them. It appeared that on many levels the angel and the castle were one and the same.

[Cogidubnus]

Cog growled deep in his throat, a snarl that slowly took over all his features and colored his demenor, ugly. His face was twisted in what could only be described as utter loathing.
"Falsehood! Abomination!" he said, his eyes glowing again with yellow light. "Hell is calling, demon in white robes!" he said, his fingers closing hard around the hilt of his sword. "Hell calls! O hasten thither! Let life no more separate what death joins together!" he screamed, throwing one hand behind him in preparation for a blast of force.

[Boog]

"Well, that's..." Jeremiah replied to Keaton, unnerved both by her growing smile and the signs of crying proving her words false, "That's good..." His eyes continued flicking back and forth between the cubi, who he doubted was in the most mentally stable of states, and the recently emerged angel below. He was sort of with Bambi, but with one added aspect; was either of them worth helping? In this case, it was probably wise to side with Sebastionette, seeing as it was alledgedly the other who wouldn't release them, but could the bat really be trusted? Would he take her place? He could see the energies tying Sathariel to the curse or haunting that permiated the castle down to the bedrock, but how far could eyes be trusted? How far can I be tru- Gah, no time for that. He blinked and squinted his eyes shut; his head was starting to hurt. Plic and In were both becoming really insistant that they act, and he probably wouldn't be able to just keep mentally yelling at them forever.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha winced as the ceiling's quake had grown worse, thinking that the chains would snap under the immense weight and pressure from the coffin and the thrashing of its contents.  The panthress straightened herself, holding her grip on the sword tightly as she felt it sting her palms again like a powerful static, only briefly as the metallic blade started to glow.  Whether or not it started to of her will, she didn't know.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from the coffin when it started to stir, the figure's cracking face keeping an unwavering hold upon the group, until the creature's prison shattered around them.  The light resulting was blinding, and for a second, Aisha held a hand over her eyes to shade them until they were used to it.  And when they where, what she saw certainly wasn't what she expected.

The angel still appeared ethereal and brilliant, yet marred by anger and the chains that hung from her form.  There was of course much darkness from this fallen, picked up by any various light-magic artifacts in the room and giving her tail ring an almost electrifying green glow.  The panther wasn't at all fooled by the appearance of the one called Sathariel.  She was pretty much as prepared as Cogi was, and the others who couldn't wait to put a blade into her after what they have been through.  The fire around Aisha's sword seemed to intensify as she side-stepped around, trying to keep out of Sebastian's way, and hopefully being prepared for anything.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Bambi can now see what Mel was talking about.  The angel seem to be connect to the Castle and control everything within...
"We need to look and see if we break her hold on the castle without letting her go" Bambi whispers to Mel.  "Maybe remove the chains for the key supports to the Castle's wallls, but leave the other in place? "

** Using her magic sight and her scientific knowledge, Bambi works out which chains go to the main structural supports to castle. Hoping that they aren't also the main bonds that keep the angel in her coffin. **

PBH

[Gareeku]

As the violent shaking increased, Gareeku continued to look at the chained prison the angel was in, beginning to unsheathe his sword as the prison cracked, and was then destroyed as the angel finally revealed herself to them. The wolf saw how beautiful she was, but he also took into account the rage and hatred the creature displayed.

Hearing the others speak, Gareeku grimaced in annoyance.
"When you're all quite done with the dramatic ourcries..." he growled, unsheathing his sword as he looked back at the beautiful, yet wrathful, form of the angel. She had been the one; the one who had unleashed the monsters that had attacked them. True, he didn't entirely trust Sebastian, yet he had not been the one who had set out to kill them all.

"You may look like an angel, but in my experience, angels can be quite evil, and it seems you are no exception." the wolf growled. He knew the battle was about to begin, and he was fully prepared, a flame of soul energy bursting into life in his free hand as he kept his eyes locked onto the creature now in front of them...

[Stygian]

Sathariel's eyes just glanced up from her viewing Stygian, hissing quickly at the adventurers with a look of loathing to her face.
   "Wretches. Go away!" she shouted, and threw out her hand as of swatting at a bothersome fly. A wave of aetherial energy, like fire shifting sharply between hues of incandescent white and dense, dismal black, swept out in a storm against them, tearing at their limbs and garbs and throwing itself against them with a force to knock them all back several yards.

   The angel flowed over the floor against Stygian, practically snarling at her, ignoring the foaming and crying ferret who had been knocked aside and nearly thrown down into the opening central to the platform, clinging to a crack in the floor and trying to pull herself up. Her eyes shone with venomous light, crackling with hatred as much as her face showed it.
   "All our family for you. A monster." She showed her teeth and growled, stretching out her clawlike fingers for the bat. "I will see them avenged!" she screamed, diving for her.

[Boog]

Jeremiah was thrown backwards to crack his head against the wall. groaning, he pushed himself to his feet as bright red flames started to form a figure in the air nearby.
In...

[Sunblink]

Not initially anticipating the ephemeral assault, especially after so little provocation and when the archangel's attention was on Stygian, Keaton was completely caught off-guard by the wave of energy that Sathariel sent their way. Under normal circumstances, Keaton would've tried to throw up a barrier to absorb the incoming blast, but her instinctual attempt to pull such a maneuver failed miserably--it was as though the shadows were neglecting her spiritual commands entirely.

Instead, Keaton was tossed backwards by the crescent of fiery light, the energy sawing through her ebony clothing and skin. Landing painfully on her back, she struggled to get back to her feet, wiping away a rivulet of blood that had dribbled down her chin from where she bit her lip. Goddamn it. She didn't stand a chance in her current state, where she couldn't manipulate the darkness around her. She could rely on tooth and claw, but that would be nearly useless against this celestial creature, despite her physical prowess.

Unbeknown to her, the pool of shadow beneath her crumpled form seemed to take a life of its own, bubbling and emitting acrid fumes as something seemed to rise from the surface, taking the form of a very familiar weapon...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Prof B Hunnydew]

PBH had magically ground herself and she stay root to the floor as the wave attack hit them.  Hair and clothes whirled and tore from the wind blast. 

"Aisha, anyone, the Ferret needs help" PBH says and point to Gina as she hangs on the edge.

She is busy watching the play of power along the Leylines to the angel.  Sathariel have send a wave of energies out along all them but two lines.  These had brighten but didn't pulse with her wave attack.  These two lines feed the Angel and were no longer part of her imprisonment.  It would be foolness if PBH try to cut all the ley lines, but cutting these lines would weaken the angel, and maybe just maybe prevent this one corner of the cavern from collaping.

"Mel, Can we cut or remove these leyline from the angel's power tie point.?" says PBH as points out the leylines that are feed the angel. 

**PBH magically touchs one of the feeding leylines by accident and she is suddenly part of the magically stream to ground.  This fully recharges her magical battery, and then briefly overloads it, causing a magical backlash wave down the leyline to the angel and then snaps the leyline.  PBH is sent flying to a back wall by the explosion but most the overload is send to magical ground.  The angel burned by the magical energies that whip back at her.   Sathariel is hurt but not very, yet her magical energies are not being recharged very well.  The anger Angel turns to slap another wave attack directly at the pesty little cat-girl, who laying against the cavern wall.  **

PBH

[Cogidubnus]

Cog bared his teeth against the fell wind, but was yet pushed back several feet, his coat flying behind him like a cape and his heels leaving lines in the dusty floor. The holy aura permeating his body kept the energies from harming him directly, but they were still powerful indeed, and brought great physical force to bear.
He was sick of waiting. He didn't care if the angel could kill them all, as he had suspected from the first. Damn demon. He would die trying, in any case. Throwing a fist forward, he launched a wave of holy-imbued force at the creature - and despite his deep instilled focus, stumbled. Along the wave were ropes of crackling electricity, blue and white, thunderous ropes of lightning that traveled in webs. He'd never been able to do such things, and he knew it was by no facet of his own nature. His anger seemed to dissipate into horror for a moment. Arcane. he thought, and gazed at his own trembling hand.
He sucked in a breath and steadied his hand. He had no time. Grasping his sword with his now-sparking appendage, he rushed forward and charged the angel.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha's eyes widened as soon as the angel made her assault against the adventurers, which was more like a gesture to swat them away like vermin if anything.  She was taken by surprise at the rush of energy, actually flying off her feet for a brief moment before anchoring her claws to the ground and holding her clothing in place, having landed hard a few yards away.  When it calmed, the panther carried an annoyed look of her own, coupled with the fierce adrenaline rush that comes before a fight.

Nothing but nuisances, are we?  She thought and brought up her blade, watching as the others started making a move.  Suddenly hearing Bam, Aisha darted her head over to where the ferret was hanging on for her life...or at least the life of a body that had long since lost its true owner.  Cursing inwardly, Aisha rushed across the floor and dove, grabbing a hold of the ferret and pulling her up with a bit of effort.  "Either get to a safe place or just hide," she advised hurriedly, and then turned around.

Her blade ablaze, she started rushing for the angel herself, despite the power she wielded against them, while trying to avoid hitting anyone nearby.  If I could just get her wings.  She swung the sword...

[Gareeku]

Watching the angel attack, Gareeku was nearly knocked off of his feet as the wave of fiery light struck, growling at the burning pain it caused as he was sent skidding back a few yards.
Wretches, hmmm? the wolf thought to himself, a look of anger on his face. We'll see who is the wretch here...

Watching the others attack, Gareeku decided to make his own move.  Dashing forward as Cogi did, Gareeku suddenly darted to the side, swinging his right forward and sending a surge of soul energy roaring along the ground towards the angel. As soon as he did this, the wolf moved again, swerving around to the back of the creature as he brought his glowing sword upwards in a powerful upwards sword strike aimed at the angel's spine, knowing that multiple targets in different locations were much harder to battle against than targets who were bunched together.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel found herself blown backwards by the magically poisonous wind, just as the others were, despite toe claws making dramatic gouges in the marble. The plain of stone was too open, too visible. She cast an illusion to blur the outlines of her allies, like visions through rain streaked glass. It wouldn't help with an attack such as the blast but if the angel took time to aim it might buy someone a few precious inches.

[Stygian]

As the angel met the bat head on, the chiropteran turned female was thrown back, despite her having drawn out what darkness she could and facing the accursed celestial's assault with strength. There was something decidedly wrong with the place, something that kept her powers back and restricted, making them vastly inferior to those of the angel herself despite all natural alignment and power. Up in the house Stygian had been able to make use of his own darkness in about half proper form, the shackles that the vile cherubim still had on him loose becasue of reach and interference. Here, they were nearly so tight they strangled him.
   Then came the assault from Cogidubnus, swiftly followed by that of Aisha and Gareeku. With graceful and elusive moves, the angel parried the werewolf's wave of force, sparks and dark fire flowing in showers. His blade was quick, but she was too fast to move out of reach, and his form wasn't the best to strike at a foe who came at him with both range and power superior. Still, the intensity of his attack seemed to keep the angel busy, for the next moment, Gareeku, whose soul energy had been faced with an almost similar but blackened torrent of fiery power, came up with a strike that seemed to hit true.
   It was all for naught though; the blade that should have cleft the apparition's back went clean through with barely so much as resistance, and the angel rewarded his effort with a hasty grin and a swipe against his midriff strong enough to send him flying hard against one of the columns. That problem dealt with, the angel turned against Aisha.
   The panthress seemed more successful, to start with. Speeding past the recovering bat, she made one of her trademark dodgy maneuvers, depending on her speed and agility as always, and then made a sweep with that fiery lash that had split the ghosts in the mansion clean in twain. But, like all angels, this one seemed to think and move viperously fast. She caught the blade in her hand with a metallic chink, not unlike Stygian had snatched Cog's sword from its path some time before.
   "Whose sword do you think that is, girl!?" the angel spat, pulling the panthress in close by the blade, and then making a powerful punch to her face and a sweep that took the air from her lungs, sending her flying like the wolf and the bat, and the sword clattering to the ground someway to the side.