The Castle (IC) [M] {04}

[Gareeku]

As Aisha replied to his question, Gareeku looked at the injuries she has sustained in the battle with the Asal apparition, in particular the stab wound she had received to her leg. As Aisha tightened his cloak around his waist like a large bandage, the wolf grunted as a sharp pain very briefly made itself present in his midsection.

Watching the pantheress take off her bracer and speak of how he needed it, a look of concern became evident on Gareeku's face.
"But Aisha...your injuries...I..." the wolf began, but it was plain to see that Aisha wasn't going to take no for an answer, and so he took it from her and fastened the bracer to his wrist.

Looking back up at pantheress, Gareeku smiled weakly through his battered features. Cuts and bruises were littered all over his head and body, and his clothes were severly damaged; his top was in tatters, especially, exposing the beaten and bruised torso underneath. Looking at the wound on Aisha's leg, the lupine warrior then ripped off what remained of his top, before bending down on one knee and, before Aisha could protest or anything, wrapped it around the wound, fastening the fabric tightly around the leg.

"I think I need to sit down..." the wolf muttered, before limping over to a nearby seat and, wincing as he did so, sat himself down, breathing heavily as his body continued to ache, though not as much as it was thanks to the bracer. Looking at Aisha, Gareeku smiled somewhat, though there was a look of concern in his eyes. "...you ok?"

[Aisha deCabre]

When he took the bracer, Aisha smiled, relieved.  She wouldn't have let him carry on his pain like that if she could help it.  The way his bruises littered his body, and the deep scratches on his face; he was in worse shape than she was, that she knew.

But then, before anything else could be said, Gareeku had taken what remained of his shirt and started to wrap up the stab wound on her leg.  Her reply was a sharp intake of breath, testament to the pain in her nerves as the injury was sealed with the stained and tattered fabric.  Still, she allowed him to finish, and the bleeding there was stemmed.  "You didn't...have to do that..." she said with a wince, though the look she gave him was one of grateful thanks.

As the wolf started to move to a seat, the panthress kept with him, helping him to keep his footing.  As she moved too, though, it was apparent that she was not only feeling the fatigue from this battle, but a small remnant of the previous ones, as well.  In her mind, she prayed that nothing else would dare come after them...and wondered what the others were doing back underground...they seemed to be taking their sweet time.

At least right now the warriors were at peace...one battle behind them, and for them both, one more nightmare gone.  As she sat down beside Gareeku, Aisha chuckled as she heard his words, lightly holding her leg as she lay back on the seat and glanced over to see his concerned look.  "I'll be alright, Gar, thanks...I just need a little rest too, promise."  She moved her hand up to lay it on his shoulder, smiling.  "Long as you're okay.  You fought a fierce one."

She closed her eyes briefly, gritting her teeth and trying to forget the stinging for the moment.  "They could've had us."

[Stygian]

The lack of a response, of time, and of patience with pretty much anything at this point, settled Stygian's mind for him. Folding his huge wings in, and turning his back against Keaton and Ketefe below, he struck out with a clawed hand, darkness following his command. A shape swirled, took form, solidified and threw itself up against the blue flame, greenish eyes opening and gleaming in the nothingness and fangs the size of daggers, churning and sizzling, snapped apart as it headed for the falling light, intent on swallowing and crushing whatever the source of it might be.

[Boog]

Jeremiah was rather happy, at the moment. Lucid, no, but happy. A small blessing of his curse was that when he was woozy from energy loss he may very well be too dumb to tell how much trouble it was getting him into. Isolated as Nex was keeping him, all he could really tell was that everything was moving fast and wooshing. He was worried a minute ago, but it was probably over something silly. Nothing bad was happening right now.
Then something tried to eat him.
The frog looked up (that is to say, at his feet) at whatever he'd just crashed into. Some toothy thing with green eyes was looping around for another go at him, ignoring Mel as something other than the primary target. Its shape wasn't really a constant feature; at the apex of its arc it was already changing from some perverse hybrid of an anglerfish and a bicycle to something lamprey-mouthed and shrieking.
Jeremiah wondered what it wanted. The monstrous Stygian Fragment slammed into Nex's shield again, ricocheting the shielded frog off the chasm wall before falling past.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Still hanging back and away from the blue flames Mel almost didn't see the first attack on Jeremiah. Her night vision wasn't as strong as some of the party members and it was only when the glowing acid-green eyes came quite near that she realized hell was finally acknowledging their presence. She didn't think she could stop the creature going after Jeremiah without harming him more than it. Hoping to draw it away she folded her wings and dove downward, through the layer of bricks and rubbish and rapidly away from the frog. If she kept the orange glow in sight hopefully she wouldn't crash into anything big enough to break her neck.

[Stygian]

Clenching his teeth and snarling to himself, it was with an expression of grave irritation that Stygian at last realized the situation, and dissipated the rushing darkness right before it had another snap at Jeremiah. Twisting, he watched Mel falling along for a few seconds, before calling out.
   'Stay with us! I have the girls, but something has to stop Jeremiah before he hits the bottom!'. He spun half another lap and then tucked his arms in, diving like an arrow. Somehow catching up to the jackal and cat falling below, he at last reached out, and then grabbed them both firmly by the back of their pants, gripping their belts. The sudden slowing of speed as the bat spread his wings again was almost a jerk, but it wasn't so much the cut in speed as the slowly, yet all too quickly approaching sight of fire, in massive amounts, that stole the air from them.

[Gareeku]

As he sat there, Gareeku breathed slowly in and out, his eyes closed for a minute or so, before opening them as they looked up to the dark ceiling above. After the loud sounds of battle, the chapel seemed almost eerily quiet as he and Aisha rested their aching bodies.

When Aisha replied, the wolf smiled, glad to hear that she would be ok. Listening to her speak, Gareeku nodded his head in acknowledgement as the smile disappeared somewhat, thinking about what the pantheress had said.
"Yes...they could have..." he said softly, before a slight smile appeared on his face. "...but they didn't."

[Aisha deCabre]

The unholy feeling that the chapel had just wouldn't go away, it seemed...after the fight, she too could see how the almost-dead silence was unnerving, bar for the comfort of their own voices as they conversed despite the pain.  Aisha listened to Gareeku's breathing, and her own, as they took their much-needed rest.

Glancing up at the wolf, she nodded in solemn agreement with a slightly victorious smirk.  "Yeah, sí, they didn't...and, it's a pretty good feeling if...you can brag, that you not only defeated a monster...but also its ghost...if that's what they were."  She grimaced briefly from a sting in her side.  "Bold demons.  If they want us to go to hell...too bad, we aren't moving."

Aisha was quiet for a few moments as the dust was settling.  Sometimes a portion of marble would crumble from the force it had seen, and sometimes she thought she could hear a fluttering of some sort, the result of a ringing in her ears.  "By the way," she said, glancing up.  "Losing control of my boomerang, back there, and almost hitting you...sorry about that...I don't know what I would have done if I had...lost someone else."

[Mel Dragonkitty]

With the glow from the lava below making the passage increasingly brighter Mel was finally able to get shadowy glimpses of things again. Vague sight combined with his shout told her that the figure confronting them was Stygian. At his command to stay with Jeremiah she spread her wings to slow her downward progress so she could pace the frog. She was still trying to think how to slow his fall but a sudden stop from magic wasn't really much better than a sudden stop from stone.

[Gareeku]

Listening to Aisha, Gareeku smirked as she spoke of sending the demons they had just finished fighting back from where they had come.
"Indeed. They are back in hell." the wolf replied. "Where they belong."

It was then that the pantheress spoke of nearly losing her control, almost accidently harming him as a potential result. To this, Gareeku shook his head.
"It is best not to think about it. It didn't happen, and it is in the past. You have nothing to be sorry for. Tilun moved out of the way, that's all." the lupine said. "Don't worry about it. You didn't lose me. I'm far too stubborn for that."

[Aisha deCabre]

As Aisha listened to the wolf, reassuring her that the incident was indeed in the past, she couldn't help but smile at his words.  "Yeah...what am I worried about...your stubbornness is legendary," she teased Gareeku with a soft laugh, before letting her expression become slightly serious again.

"It's just something I can't help but fear.  Since I lost my mother...father...brother...everyone I've truly cared about...and now my mentor, with the chance of being trapped down there..." the feline said with a glance toward the altar.  It could easily be discerned, without really being said, that the only thing Aisha really feared was having it happen all over again.  Especially with her mentor, and especially with the one sitting beside her.

She shook her head with a thoughtful hum.  "Maybe I'm just letting this place get to me."  Aisha then put on a light smile once again.  "Know what though...if this all ends and we all survive...I like to imagine there's gonna be a hell of a party."

[Stygian]

Swinging both Keaton and Ketefe up as he made a long, sweeping turn, leveling out, Stygian aimed for a platform far off to the right. He slowed down, and pulled up just when he flew up over the edge, but it was still a rough landing. At least they landed with their feet to the ground, but neither was probably as used to hard hits as the bat, and both were still going forward somewhat fast. Stygian however simply spun in the air, and then slammed down to a dead stop right past them, wings disappearing like smoke. He didn't miss a beat. Standing straight, he walked past them both, solid-faced and grim.
   If Aisha knew just how prophetic her words were, regarding the situation of those trapped below, perhaps she wouldn't have spoken.

[Aisha deCabre]

Though he was out cold, a sensation of warmth could have been lightly sensed by Cogidubnus as Rynkura's healing energy kept itself going, slowly but surely repairing his injuries inside and out.  Any sensation of pain or bits of pressure was blocked within his mind.

The tigress herself however was frustrated.  The question of whether or not the others have survived wouldn't let itself rest.  Of course she knew that Asmodai, hiding somewhere, may have known.  Not that she would bother asking...the very clue that they weren't destroyed yet was the vital one.

Rynkura paused for a moment then, letting the glow in her eyes fade as she made a decision.  Without the power of her staff, she would have to rely on her own, and just hope that she wouldn't bleed dry.  A tap on both gems from her sleeves was all that was needed...her pearl and striped wings reappeared, as too did the rest of her energy.  Things would go much faster...she figured there was time to rest herself; and the first priority was always the injured.  Then the glow on her hands and in her eyes came back.

Blood stopped.  Cuts sealed.  Bruises dulled.  The end of the cut leg would be protected from infection for as long as her volition or his sleep.

Finally, after she was done for the moment, she placed a barrier of light over Cogidubnus's body similar to what she used to protect her student and sir Manoko.  Whatever corruption Hell had at the bottom more than likely wouldn't touch him.

"Brilliant," the angel muttered, satisfied with her work for the time being, and glanced up into the dark, unending sky of an interior.  The tigress stood up and strained her hearing to see if she could pick up even the slightest disturbances in the air that signaled the other adventurers.  Part of her wished that they wouldn't follow the bait.  The other part knew they had no choice.

"May they all be aided by the speed of the gods," she prayed as her wings drooped to a cape-rest on her shoulders.

[Sunblink]

"AUGH!"

Startled by the heavy impact against the ground, Keaton, after being released, stumbled and swayed on her feet once Stygian rocketed past. She nearly lost her balance, but in a rapid demonstration of metamorphosis, quickly restored her wings to their rightful place and used them to steady herself. After Stygian landed and walked away, abjectly ignoring both her and Ketefe, Keaton grit her teeth and miserably glowered after him.

Keaton looked somewhat exhaustedly at Ketefe. "C'mon, Mask." She said, droning out the nickname without even realizing it.

Keaton walked off, following Stygian closely behind, while she sunk her wings back into her body, their forms melting effortlessly into her blood-drenched outline. As she walked, Keaton assessed her body, noticing how covered in blood she was. Most of it had flaked off and coagulated in her fur, and some of it was starting to burn. Cogidubnus's charm, which she still clutched, had helped, but she probably needed to return it to him anyway, given his possible condition. At the moment, she just hoped he was alive, because if he was dead, that would be another mutilated person on her conscience.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Gareeku]

Listening to Aisha speak of his stubborness, which was apparently legendary, Gareeku laughed softly.
"I'll take that as a complement, then." the wolf replied with a smile, before noticing the more serious expression appear on the pantheress' face.

Listening to what Aisha said, Gareeku nodded his head in understanding.
"Hey now...your mentor may not be lost. We don't know that." the wolf replied in a reassuring voice. "Have hope, Aisha. Without hope, then all might as well be lost. We must be strong; for ourselves, and for those we care for."

When the pantheress spoke of the party that she imagined would be thrown if they all got out of this situation alive, Gareeku laughed again.
"Yes, I imagine there would be." the wolf replied with a smile. "I would be very surprised if there wasn't. I would certainly want to celebrate, anyway."

[Boog]

Jeremiah craned his neck and looked down. People were stopping off on a ledge. How quaint.
Wait, something bothered him about these events. Consider, wait.

Oh give it up Cab. Nex has the little Shitwit loopier than Jim Morrissy, you're not going to get a reaction.
I didn't say anything.
Deep within the frog's subconscious two personae did the psychological equivalent of looking at each other for exactly as many seconds as it took to put two and two together.
Sounded kinda like you.
We don't sound like things; we communicate in pure thought. I dare not suggest you need pay closer attention, but-
If you try to bullshit me I'll tie your wings together.
Very well.
In the same part of the mind, away by just a little bit, a masked frog snickered. It was just so easy sometimes.

Meanwhile, a frog made a mental leap that, given his current state, was practically superhuman.
Stopping on the ledge means STOPPING. There were quite a few negative connotations with stopping suddenly at these speeds, and the stopping being against stone wasn't good either. But going PAST the ledge is bad too. It was a most debilitating conundrum, that he didn't really have time to solve. Things will turn out fine. Yeah. Sure. Jeremiah smiled languidly, Life threatening things have been happening to me a lot lately, they haven't killed me yet.
As the edge of Nex's shield first brushed the ground the frog thought This should be fi- That shouldn't cave in that mu-
The shield buckled and was dispelled. Nex wasn't going to risk any magical power to keep him comfortable at risk of his not having what was needed later, whatever may happen. Just enough to keep him alive. Dispersed kinetic energy wracked the amphibian's body, enough to keep him a foot above the unforgiving stone below him for one and a half seconds, shattering bones as Nex frantically reallocated its influence so that it didn't snap his neck or crush his skull. As the last of the blue flames vanished, he landed on his face.
"Oh fuck you....." Consciousness slipped away again, lying in a shallow crater in the ledge not ten feet from Keaton.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Where Jeremiah's arrival at the ledge was rather spectacular, with blue flames, disturbing crunching sounds, and a cloud of rock dust, Mel's was silent and very unspectacular. She simply landed. Folding her wings neatly she dropped onto the edge. Looking around she noticed how much smaller the group had become since leaving the chapel.

[Aisha deCabre]

Listening to the wolf's reassuring voice, a small smile formed on her features.  He was of course right...to lose sight of that hope, she couldn't let that be easy to do.  "You really do know how to make someone feel better, you know," she said, with a great amount of sincerity.  "Thank you."

Then Aisha's mood had started to lift, and she found herself laughing softly along with Gareeku.  Thinking about celebration during a time of dire events...there were some who thought that such a thing was foolish...too soon to say if anyone would have come back.  But for every such person, there were always more who wanted to look forward to better things, which made their situation much lighter in tone.  Aisha then was no exception...she was striving for the light side.

"So would I," she chuckled.  "I can see it now.  The music and dancing, and for some, the drinking...and this'll all be laughed at for the whole the day and night until everyone collapses.  There'll be food...I'll make my fried fruit and rice again maybe."  There was a faraway look in her eyes right then, in which there was no sight of the pain she endured.  "Infierno, I'll go into town myself and get them.  I don't care that I've been told to never show my face there again, I still will."

It was then that she glanced down at herself, and at the arm that she had almost forgotten she was missing.  "Hmh," she snorted in ironic laughter.  "Or maybe I'll stay in bed first.  I know everyone's gonna insist I do...I forget what time it is anyway..." she said, shaking her head so that her eyes would stay open.

[Angel]

Unable to twist very far without flipping herself and Keaton over, and unwilling to let go of Keaton's arm just yet, Ketefe had to settle for looking over her shoulder every now and then before twisting back to see how much closer they were to dying. The a[[roaching flames, and the fact that Stygian seemed to be caught in some kind of midair fight, weren't really reassuring her that they'd be caught and saved anytime soon.

That is, until she felt a hand grab her belt and nearly got the wind knocked out of her.

Letting go of Keaton's arm in surprise at the unexpected lift and fear at the fire closing in on them, her claws came unsheathed and her muscles tensed in reflex. She might have actually twisted around and tried climb to safety had sanity not prevailed at the appropriate time. She felt herself and Keaton swung sharply to the right and dropped rather unceremoniously on a safe platform, the feline falling forward onto her knees and bracing herself with her hands from the sharp impact.

Uttering nothing more than a very quiet, gritted-teeth "ouch," the azure cat picked herself up and examined herself quickly and gently for injuries. More bruises than earlier, maybe a scrape or two she hadn't noticed before and a few jammed claws from the landing, but at this point, as long as her legs could move, her sword-arm was attached to her and her heart was beating, she judged herself intact.

She looked up at Keaton, noticing that the succubus, like Stygian, had retracted her wings. She blinked at the new nickname the jackal had for her, as if she was unsure whether to be offended or not care. Least it sounds more threatening than Teffy, she decided, hesitating to catch up to the others just yet in lieu of looking over at a very battered Jeremiah.

"Is he alive?" she asked, the first question half-directed at Mel and half to the air. "I can help carry him if you want."

[Stygian]

Walking to the end of the platform and glaring out over the blasted pit that was digging itself deeper even as he watched, Stygian narrowed his stinging eyes, and ignored the tremors he could feel through the soles of his feet. That the safe spot they had found would break and tumble into the rolling magma and flames below there was no doubt of. It was only a matter of time. Fortunately, they were elevated enough that they did not have to endure the full scalding heat of the lake of fire, but it was still enough to make one begin to sweat and sting. Ignoring the amphibian impact nearby, the bat kept gazing out over the hellscape, trying to make out where any others might be. But the vastness of the place coupled with the light of the flames and the noxious clouds of smoke and hissing sounds that dulled his senses made any such attempt futile.
   'We're alone', he said over his shoulder, dark voice eerily strong through the rumbles and hisses as it reached back to the others in spite of his low tone. 'But it will not stay that way for long. Get moving.' Harshness entered his voice, as he walked to the side, and peered out along the cavern wall they were situated next to. 'You are there, Mel, yes? Can you see to it that the others are fine to move?'

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel nodded acknowledgement to Stygian's suggestion of getting everyone at least partially healed up before anything else went wrong. Jeremiah would probably take a lot of time after that crash landing so she decided to begin with the girl's injuries. "Who first?"

[Sunblink]

Seeing Jeremiah's battered, bruised, and quite possibly broken body lying in front of them, Keaton cursed loudly and broke into a run, trotting up beside Ketefe. The masked feline had kneeled beside Jeremiah's body, and was already making offers to carry him. Since Keaton was already encumbered with Rynkura's staff, which was safely tucked within Catastrophe's holster, and Catastrophe itself, gripped in her hands, she decided it would be wise to leave Ketefe to the job. After all, Stygian wasn't exactly volunteering - instead, the bat was walking ahead and observing the area nearby, somehow fueling Keaton's further ire for him.

She already hated the bat - or at the very least, was infuriated with him - for treating her like garbage after Sal possessed her. She was going to be glad to get out of the castle.

"Yeah, just keep walking, asshole. Douchebag. It's not like one of us is hurt or anything, fuckface." Keaton muttered, just loud enough for Stygian to hear. Fortunately, Mel was around to treat their injuries. Feeling a little sickened and very close to tears, Keaton trudged over to a nearby outcropping of stone and dropped on top of it, sitting down as though the rock sufficed as a chair. She stared down at some of the wounds she had sustained from the earlier altercation with the bat-demons, then slumped a little and closed her eyes, deciding to rest until Mel tended to her. She was feeling sick anyway.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

Turning half against the others, glaring still, Stygian intercepted Keaton's sullen look and comments with a lethally cold gaze of his own, and seemed just on the verge of returning in kind with the same stinging effect that he had after their earlier fight. He spared the comments though, as something tugged at his attention immediately after. He turned around just in time to see something moving in the distance as the gases and smoke parted for a moment, not far from the direction of the deepening black hole that was the gate spewing more and more of the Hellish taint forth. Then something seemed to take the sound out of the air for a moment. The bat's voice came in a growling hiss back to the others as he tensed, and slipped into a low, broad-legged stance.
   'Run!'
   There was a scrape from his soles and a burst of darkness, flowing out like wings and beginning to evaporate like smoke almost immediately, his body disappearing in a blur, before a crack shook the ground, and the flicker of an eye later, a curving lance of fire as thick as a man's arm tore through the edge of the platform, spreading spiderwebbing cracks around it and cleaving the rock before flaring out. The pressing air stood still for a couple of moments, and then a pair of wails split the silence, closely followed by a third.

[Sunblink]

Looking rather snide, Keaton reciprocated Stygian's razorbladed glare with a nasty sneer of her own, her expression looking particularly deranged thanks to the coagulated smears and streaks of blood tarnishing her yellow-black fur and outlining the indentations of her grin. Probably from blood loss, she looked a little too delirious for it to be too threatening or even genuine. Cradling Cogidubnus's charm, which was still supplementing her remaining energy, in her hand helped the weakness, but it did little as a permanent antidote to her predicament. At the moment, her mind was essentially a jumbled slate that any Cubi who was capable of penetrating her mind-shields would have gawked at, just a kaleidoscopic jumble of assorted negative emotions, angry thoughts, and the occasional utterance of being oddly numb, almost like an abstract painting with no meaning or artistic guidance.

Ultimately, Keaton wasn't going to ruminate on other ways to verbally assault Stygian or provoke him. He seemed to ignore her, although Keaton had no idea that he was turning around to look at something which caught his attention. Instead, her mind seemed to go blank for a moment, and she let her eyes roll in the back of her head, vision going black. She just hung in limbo for a moment, until she heard, distantly, something like a voice.

When Keaton's sight was restored, she could only stare in absolute shock as Stygian disappeared into thin air, then a spear of fire split the stone, gouging through the rock and lancing into the air, its form pervading in cleaving lines through the earth. Keaton found herself quite fortunate that she as on the periphery of the platform instead of the center. Letting out a choking noise and backing up against the outcropping above the one she was using as a seat, Keaton groped and grabbed, nearly dropping Catastrophe. Even when the air petrified, her mind kept replaying the event, only for a new sound to split the air. Shocked, Keaton nearly dropped onto the stone, her legs failing her a few times as she forced her body into motion, pumping energy back into her muscles.

Run, he says. Where the fuck do I RUN?! Keaton thought, hyperventilating slightly. Ultimately, she gathered up Catastrophe and Cogidubnus's charm before she glanced over a few platform-shaped stones floating on the lava. Using them as stepping stones, Keaton ungracefully leaped and staggered over the flowing magma until she reached the opposite bank, gasping, exhausted from the normally-menial physical task. Biting her lip a little, she raced after Stygian, finding that resentment was a very inadequate excuse when it came to refusing any help for survival.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Angel]

Ketefe crouched beside Jeremiah and did her best to ignore the tension between Keaton and Stygian, opting to pay attention to Mel instead. Had the past few events not been so nerve-wracking, she'd have curled up and fallen asleep right there, but her body was stuck in survival mode right now. She could be tired later. She was about to suggest that Mel treat Keaton first, the jackal having lost a lot of blood and under considerable emotional stress, from what the feline could see. But before she could so much as open her mouth, something very strange happened. And then everything was terrible again.

For a split second, everyone went silent. Even the air seemed to still for a moment. Then Stygian yelled and disappeared, just as the ground began to rumble and a thick tongue of fire broke the edge of the platform. Cracks ripped through the ground, the platform fractured completely, and a few pained, tortured cries split through the air.

Ketefe swore loudly, hauling Jeremiah up on one shoulder and looking around for a path to safety. She whipped her head around just in time to see Keaton spring across a few stones floating in the lava. Acting on pure adrenaline, she practically flew across the jagged rocks, supporting Jeremiah with only some difficulty - her own exhaustion couldn't have mattered less right now.

Once she reached the other side, she stopped. Her eyes darted back and forth as she waited, ready to run at any time, but keeping track of where Stygian and Keaton were headed and making sure Mel got to safety.

[Stygian]

Keeping check on the bat proved to be more than manageable at the time though. After his first vanishing, he blurred into sight at a few places over a not-so-linear course, leaping and dodging obstacles and the occasional gout of flame, until he seemed to recall the others' exposure. Cursing, he changed directions in a snap and did a high overhead leap. Darkness moving with and around him, he blurred out of the air and behind Ketefe and Jeremiah next, throwing himself at them and lifting them both in a leap for the next platform. Another slash of molten red and orange split the air behind them and cut a large section out of a higher ledge, toppling it with a rumble.
   'Don't stop! Keep moving, whatever you do! Follow Mel!' the bat shouted over the noise, eyes focused at the distance and the origin of the blasts of fire hunting them. There were burning and twisting shapes moving through the air as well, chasing, snaking and twining as they approached, each one but a speck within their field of vision as it were, but from that distance it meant that they were most probably a dozen meters long each. It seemed that the old man was using his whole arsenal. How they were going to get through the barrage once they came closer was a considerable problem.

- -

From his vantage point right before the gate, Asmodai stood, broad-legged and tall, darkness and flame seething around him, the ground laced with cracks and the sea of fire roiling beneath the rock he stood on. One long-hafted sword in his hand, the blade having melted and turned into a lash of fire, his fiercely burning eyes were focused on the shapes moving in the dark, past the parting fumes and across the magma. His mind was with his vision, far away from his physical shell, extended throughout the burning hatred and pain that welled up from the gateway and twisted the area around it, with the fiery spirits that snaked through the air, closing on their target, and forming every lance of unholy flame that he drew from the lake and threw at them.
   The old demon's teeth ground together, his presence and power stretching out. He was going to finish this.

[Cogidubnus]

Screams. Heat. Pain. Bright... Something's... wrong?

Am I dead?

Slowly, painfully, Cogidubnus's lids retracted from his eyeballs, like a possessed man opening his eyes after the demons were gone. He felt...consumed. Utterly.
Rynkura's ministrations and magic had healed the wolf's body, even as it seemed every bone had shattered, and every organ burst. Yellow eyes, bloodshot with stress, stared up at a cavern ceiling that danced with lurid shadows and dull red light. His eyes stayed still, unseeing.

I've got nothing. he thought, the out-of-place coldness of the rocks beneath him chilling him. What was left of his clothing was in tatters, barely enough to keep him decent. His body itself was in patches, portions of newly healed flesh mismatched with old scars and miraculously undamaged tissue. His hair, a vanity he was loath to admit, would need to become a great deal shorter if he survived this ordeal. His sword, his treasured possession, was lost to hell. Gone – like his foot. His magic was spent. His charms were scattered. He couldn't focus on the ceiling, let alone focus enough to throw waves of force. He was spent.
The wolf's mind drifted back to days when he didn't have any of those things – when he was lost, confused and fearful, terrified of himself more than anything. He'd survived then too.

In his mind, he turned, staring into the darkest spot of himself. It was quiet in his mind, quieter than the limited deafness that stopped his ears in the outside world. He could see the familiar shape moving in that darkness, the little thing he could keep at bay but never truly destroy, never really free himself from.
He could feel the Wolf's breath, feel its presence on his skin. He opened his arms wide, embracing the darkness. The creature fell upon him in his mind, devouring him in an instant, consuming him utterly.

Outside of his mind, Cogidubnus grinned what he knew could be his last grin. "A-woo." he said, laughing deathly quiet.

* * *

The Wolf crouched, snarling. Both of his feet clawed gouges in the rock beneath it, it's claws gleaming wickedly sharp in the lurid firelight. It paused for just a moment, and then leapt, legs like coiled springs launching the creature into the air. It landed with a crack, and was instantly scrabbling forwards, eating up the distance between it and the demon it could smell – the wolf had been let out to play. It would kill the one who tried to kill it first.

[Sunblink]

Keeping up with Stygian was a greater challenge than Keaton, in her disoriented state, had imagined. Scrambling and flailing mid-motion, Keaton nearly tripped gracelessly over her own feet and landed on the magma-encrusted ground once or twice, but managed to keep herself both upright and in motion. For a moment, Keaton speculated that Stygian would simply desert her and leave her to die, but this was probably an exaggerated caricature of the actual truth. Besides, when she had infuriated him as she did, she didn't want to underestimate his ire.

Behind her, she heard a thunderous sound reminiscent of rock rupturing and the bellowing of fire upswelling from the splintered stone, but she didn't realize what was responsible until she glanced over her shoulder.

Keaton stopped for a moment, overcome with lethargy. In a momentary burst of frustration and fear that Stygian would leave her behind, she nearly started crying, and for a moment contemplated simply lying there and dying, since she lacked energy. Catastrophe sparked violently in her hand. Keaton heard another rock explode some distance away from her in a spectacular deluge of fire and lava. She nearly tumbled over again, and had to resist the urge to vomit as her thoughts flipflopped from one event to another.

With no other option, Keaton swallowed and pursued Stygian as fast as she could, heaving.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Gareeku]

Listening to Aisha thank him for his reassurances, Gareeku smiled and nodded.
"You're welcome." the wolf replied. "I know you're stronger than that, anyway."

Listening to the pantheress speak of what there would be and what she would do after all this was over, the wolf smiled.
"Indeed...I could do with my fair share of rest, too." Gareeku commented, notably wincing at the sharp pain coming from the gash he had suffered. Aisha's cloak was starting to become a darker shade of crimson, and even though the bracer was helping greatly, shots of pain made themselves present every now and then. "First thing is first; we'll need the healers to work their wonders."

[Aisha deCabre]

A voice had suddenly spoken, albeit quickly and quietly, causing one of Rynkura's ears to swivel back towards where Cogidubnus lay in the barrier.  The tigress relinquished her attention for a moment and glanced over to the wolf, whose laughter had faded by the time she did, and then he looked peaceful once more...before suddenly, he had changed.  Before she could make anything of it, he had vanished...confused, she rushed forward and looked around as far as she could...to no avail.  "Sir Mithlome, wait!" she called, only to be answered by silence.  She was alone again.

Her eyes narrowed.  There was something in the air...something had changed.  She wondered all of a sudden where the dark presence was.  And everyone else...and what she thought she heard...the struggling of a fight.

The Healer didn't know what to make of anything...but she did know one way to find out.  Kneeling on the ground and spreading her wings out, she sent pulsations of light magic through the ground, again as like echoes bouncing off of objects...these echoes were to find sources of life.  If they traveled far enough, perhaps she would get an idea of where the others were.

And, just perhaps, as the fleeting idea was too enticing to bypass, a good escape route.

*     *     *

As Aisha listened to Gareeku's voice, taking comfort in the presence of someone so familiar to her, she closed her eyes every so often.  In her experience, micro-catnaps were a good way to regain some lost energy.  Notably, the pains that she also felt herself from the previous battle were doing perfectly to keep her alert.

"Mm," she murmured in agreement to the wolf's mention of the healers, glancing up and watching him with concern on her face when she heard and felt him wince.  As she sat up and gently looked him over to make sure that his red-stained cloak was still secured, the panthress replied.  "Yeah, it would be nice to have them back.  For now though, I guess I take comfort in the thought that maybe they're keeping the others in one piece to finish all of this."

That was when she hissed through her teeth, having leaned on the area where her leg was stabbed.  Thankfully, the wound was holding up through the tattered remains of Gareeku's shirt wrapped around it.  The claw marks on her side had scarred over as well, though they still stung.  Despite that, she managed a chuckle.  "I can hear Mistress Rynkura and Mel though, scolding us for getting into trouble without them."