The Castle (IC) [M] {04}

[Stygian]

Caught right in the middle of unleashing another barrage of flame, Asmodai was taken by surprise when something ran into his side and sank its teeth into his side. A massive, shaggy shape of fur and muscle and claws and teeth rammed him, and sent them both tumbling back, sizzling cinders singeing both their forms. His blade dropped, the demon struggled with the larger creature, a snarl of fury and frustration echoing far as he cried out.
   It seemed that Cogidubnus' plan had worked out, if one could call it so much as a plan. However, if there was anything that Demons were reputed for, it was toughness. And at his age and power, Asmodai was the epitome of Demonhood. The moment he collected himself, the Wolf began feeling a much greater resistance to his clawing and chewing, and an increasing strength fighting him back. Flames twisting, closing on the thrashing shapes, the Demon erupted into a blast of fire from his mouth, aiming to knock the wolf away. Hands wrenching the wolf's limbs off him, Asmodai twisted like an alligator, scraping them both against the rocks, before kicking the Were away. With a curse in some twisted, dark tongue, he sprang for his blade.

- -

The interruption in attacks was sudden, but more than welcome. Slamming into the ground together with both Jeremiah and Ketefe, Stygian had narrowly avoided the crumbling of the cliff behind them. When he heard Keaton cry out though, he cursed loudly, and with a leap that had his knees aching in protest after having absorbed the shock of catching the frog and feline, he flipped over as he sailed in a high arc above again, kicking off a protruding rock as he caught the jackal beneath. With a grunt and a snarl, he landed behind her, and immediately ran into her back, lifting her as he sprinted forward. It was with another hard slam that they both landed, yards away and below.
   'We need to get closer! Get a move on! And don't stick together!' the bat snarled, tone harsh and his eyes flaring.

- -

The response was so slight and frail that Rynkura didn't feel it at first. But like a scent that is so miniscule and unnoticeable that one has to close in and focus all their attention to actually feel, it very slowly became distinguishable. Shapes. Life. Amid the echoes and refractions from the hideous and unnatural things around, the darkness that moved and crawled and concealed, she thought that she could sense living, vital things, far out in the darkness. To sift the feeling of their presence from the all-encompassing, unliving blackness around though, was like sticking one's hand in a barrel of maggots swimming in crude oil, to reach a pearl at the very bottom.

[Boog]

Jeremiah probably wouldn't have appreciated consciousness, his battered and still broken frame being tossed around as it was. His chiropractor alone would have a heart attack, and then advise a procedure the poor frog could never afford. But hey, it's safe to assume things were looking up for him in that case, wasn't it? While the world was going to hell in hyperbole around him he was blissfully unconscious, happily tucked away in his own thought-
Oh, yeah. Well crap, that wasn't gonna help...

A mask in a pitch black room. Parts for a marionette, switching out so fast they were blurring. The Lunacy wiped its brow, even though it didn't sweat. It did a lot of things just for the look of it. A green, webbed fingered hand reached back into the mess of parts and moved more things around, the marionette starting to take on the appearance of some geometric algorithm that had moved beyond mere numbers to include shape and light. And laughter, the room always filled with laughter...
Bal closed the door and stepped back, feeling slightly ill and not knowing why. Let the crazy thing have its fun, there's some shit you just don't want to involve yourself in.

Pinpricks of white flame blossomed across Jeremiah's form, accompanied by wisps of smoke...

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel, although she was capable of flight and not in danger of falling like the others, was in as much of a panic. The gouts and sprays of lava had her on a winding descent to stay the furthest away from them. She did manage to remember to shift her coloring from shining white to a dull mottled grey and black to make herself less visible against the cliffs even as she powered on all of her anti-heat charms. Despite her distracted state of mind she managed to make a reasonably light landing near Ketefe and Jeremiah just as Stygian called out for them to move.

[Angel]

No matter how much wouldn't have surprised Ketefe at this point, she still gasped when Stygian materialized behind her and Jeremiah, scooping the two of them up and practically flinging himself and them to another platform. A gout of lava tore through a cliff right over where she and the frog had been and sent the rock tumbling to the ground, but Ketefe was too frazzled and shocked by the destruction around them and the suddenness with which the bat had saved both her and Jeremiah's lives to thank him.

The only thing she did catch was the command he gave, and even that didn't make sense. Follow Mel? What's to guarantee she's even alive at this point - Her thoughts were cut off by a very hard landing and, a few moments later, the sound of Stygian yelling to someone else.

Pushing herself up quickly from the ground in spite of the pain from her battered form, the azure cat was about to pick up Jeremiah again when little points of white fire lit up randomly over the frog's body. "What the hell?!" The feline backed away, her leg muscles taut in an instinctual warning to run. Soon. Now, if possible.

Mel landed right near her and the now either very-hurt or possessed-again Jeremiah. The cat sighed in relief, even though her eyes still darted about nervously and her muscles were tighter than piano wire. "Thank goodness you're okay! Something's wrong with him..." She cautiously, but quickly, leaned down to yank one of Jeremiah's arms over her shoulders, mindful of the flames and looking like she'd drop him at the first sign of bad intentions. "We've gotta get out of here before..." There were too many possible endings to that sentence, and not enough time to pick one. She dragged the frog and herself in the safest-looking direction as quickly as possible, looking back at Mel to make sure she made it alright.

[Cogidubnus]

 The wolf was not incapable of advanced thought or planning. Most of the time it simply contented itself to mindless rage and bloodlust, but when confronted with a challenge, it was very quick on its feet when applying problem-solving skills. Sometimes it only seemed the creature didn't think - however, when so many solutions are answered with quick and easy brute force, it can sometimes only appear that no thought is involved.
The wolf understood what it meant when the demon dove for his burning sword.

Taking advantage in the Demon's lapse of balance, the creature jumped into the air, and with enough force to crack stone slammed into Asmodai's back, trying to knock the demon to the ground. Gleaming, moon-white teeth tore at his throat, and jaws that could crush iron shook the demon's neck like a ragdoll while long, wicked claws raked down his body. Desperately.

The Wolf itself was aware it was fighting something that might be stronger than even it. It fought with rage and bloodlust, but also fear, the urge to kill before it could be killed surging through the beast's muscles and urging it on to greater strength.

[Stygian]

Already well on his way, Asmodai swept out viciously with his sword, but only managed to make a shallow cut across the wolf's flank, before the beast smashed into him again. By now he had managed to harden his skin enough that it did not matter much though, and he was merely thrown back. So he had no trouble compensating for not being able to cut the wolf's head off by simply burning it up instead. Grinning madly, he swept his hand out in the Wolf's direction, and fire moved with him. Cracks spiderwebbed through the ground underneath the werewolf for a second, before it shattered and the monster was thrown upward in a blast of rock and flame and scorching lava.

- -

It seemed that the others had not listened to him, and though his attention was barely on them, Stygian cursed loudly enough for them to hear, his voice twisting and seething and making the already foul words unpleasant enough to make hair curl, and then set off. He had the most direct firepower to bring to bear. So if he could save at least someone for Mel to heal while she tended to the rest of the troupe, perhaps they would have a chance. Avoiding a splashing gout of fire as he threw himself over a ledge, he spun in the air, and massive black wings swept out to his sides, carrying him up and allowing him to pick up speed. Teeth gritted, his thoughts racing, and hunger aching within him, he pushed himself forward as fast as he could. Whatever had caused Asmodai's barrage to stop had been a blessing. Of course, there were still those snake-like shapes closing in. And the rising sound of voices and whispers could only mean that some of the evil was taking notice of them at last, instead of just desperately trying to claw its way out of the pit. That was not good...

- -

It was with shock and a distinct feeling of unpleasantness that Rynkura watched the tail flames of the hideous serpent-like thing that had been called up from the lava depart. The creature had splashed fire about so that she had almost felt her fur singe. Yet even as she was relieved of its hungry gaze, which had lingered on her unnervingly long before it set out to its new purpose, she began feeling as if she had only been spared momentarily. There was something turning the darkness around inward, something that had distracted it from its desperate craving and hunger, which had drawn its attention upward before. She could practically feel the shadows growing eyes, and though free of her bonds, she was far too close to the Hellish gateway that it seemed a wise decision to prick that attention even further by using light magic.
   As the Angel suddenly heard a rattling, inhuman sound to her side, deeper in the dark that she had formerly taken for safety, where she had been placed relatively high and secure from the flames, she suddenly felt that it might be too late for such concerns...

[Aisha deCabre]

It was like trying to see through molasses.  The waves of the echoing light magic raced across the dark, hellish rock with each pulse, bent more and more on finding the essence of those whom the angel looked for.

But soon it was easily seen through the layers and in the heights...past the seething darkness that the demons and creatures hiding in the shadows were made out of, to sense a true life force.  With her eyes closed she could see where they were and the struggles they made, fighting through Hell to reach the final layer.  Like a heartbeat the magic came back to her and slowly, but surely, mapped out their status and location.  Yes, still alive.  Yes, still fighting.  There were two more there who shouldn't have been.  Only two were missing, and she hoped, were still safe.

And she also noticed that Asmodai wasn't down where she was.  He was more than likely orchestrating the trouble; away from her.  And not for the first time that night, Rynkura wondered if the time of reckoning for her and for the others were soon to come.  The warping darkness around her, the farthest away that she could sense, it was turning its attention away.  But it did give the white tigress an idea for a chance.  And she wasn't above taking chances.

That was when her thoughts were interrupted.  Her true vision returned to see what had risen out of the flames below...a massive serpent whose essence radiated flame and intense heat that threatened to scorch her.  Its gaze only passed over the prisoner for just a moment, before it took off where it apparently had been summoned.  Her eyes narrowed.  How long was that thing down there?  Watching me?  Then, Rynkura glanced back into the darkness.  How much longer would I have...?

Her answer came in the form of a sound, just nearby in the black of the cavernous lair.  And after a few moments of listening, she was beginning to inwardly wish that it was she who had been asleep.

She knew where the others were, as far as she could sense.  It was time to get out,...and hopefully, join the others in the fight.

Rynkura's moves weren't at all hesitant...against her nature.  But at that point nothing more mattered.  She extended the barrier again around herself, the other one having been broken out of.  Then her arm coursed with electricity, a great lancing bolt of light, which was released into the darkness to impede whatever it was.  And then finally, the Healer flexed her wings, running out and leaping toward the air.  Practiced in flight as she was, the angel found no trouble extending enough of her power out to protect herself from creatures that could charge them.

And with the map in her head and her magic at the ready, she set out in their direction...

[Cogidubnus]

 The Wolf was thrown backwards, the sudden eruption of flame from the ground catching the beast off-guard. A high-pitched yelp echoed through the dim, yet hellishly illuminated chamber, magma and cinders alike burning its flesh as rocks ground themselves into it also. It spun once through the air  before landing like a ragdoll on the rock floor.
It was still, and then shifted at once, finding its feet almost immediately. Yellow eyes burning with hatred stared at the large demon, eying both his burning blade and the ground beneath it. Large patches of fur were simply missing or burned into sludge, and blood flowed freely from some portions of it's flesh - it seemed that pain, however, didn't affect something as animalistic as the wolf's mind. Pain was a teacher that said to watch out for the volcanoes underfoot.
The wolf was aware enough, however, to know when something was bigger and strong than it.

The wolf had no tools, and darkness wouldn't save it - instinct told it to run from the bigger dog and fight another day. Rationality, however, told it that running wasn't an option. Adrenaline flooded it's veins as the fight-or-flight equation turning towards fight.
The wolf nearly lept, launching itself forward at a blinding speed, and darting quickly to the side hid behind a massive stalagmite. Clawed hands and burned arms reached across the waist of the rock, and squeezed. The wolf yelped again as the rock began to crush beneath it's arms and splinter into the burned flesh beneath, but it kept going, until an earsplitting crack echoed through the chamber. A fracture at the bottom of the column of stone, a clean break.
The rock tipped forward, slamming into the ground and sending violent vibrations throughout the chamber. And then, it began to move.

Not rolling, but moving to the side and then a bit backwards, the former stalagmite moved in a circle. As the rock's path reached the quarter-circle mark, the cause was obvious. The werewolf, in some sort of sickening display of strength, has dug its claws into the base of the rock, and was proceeding to build momentum as it attempted to throw it.
The rock moved faster. The Wolf's arms strained. It moved farther, faster. It began to skirt the floor, kicking up a bit of dust. By the time the wolf had completed one circuit, it was off the ground and flying. It continued, continuing to move the massive piece of rock until finally, with amazing dexterity and timing, it released.

The rock didn't fly through the air, not high - but it did arc for just a second, maybe a second and a half, before bouncing off the rocks once and tumbling for the ancient demon, positioned to hit the ground like some divine sledgehammer.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel took a quick head count as everyone started running again. Ketefe was dragging the still unconscious Jeremiah ahead of her along the ledge and Keaton hobbling along behind. The fireballs had momentarily stopped but things were now taking advantage of the lull to approach. Hell-twisted flying serpents, bigger even than Mel's formidable grandmother, were eyeing the group hungrily. She began pulling up power and preparing force waves to push the serpents back when they got too close. She was not sure if the group combined had the ability to fight off the four serpents and whatever came behind.

[Boog]

Goddamnit, Nex, you couldn't have held out a little bit longer?
Heheheheheheheh...
We are alive.
Freaking barely!
Hehehehaheeehahahahahah...
Which is by far preferable to not at all.
You could have broken my hands! My HANDS!
We can check on that later, what matters is that you live.
Heehahahoohaheehehehehaheheeh...
Great. Fucking perfect. The great circle of bullshit is complete. Shouldn't Bal be around to verbally abuse me soon? If we're sticking to theme.
He has been uncharacteristically quiet...
HeeheehahahahahoohoohehaHAH...!
What on earth-!?
Oh gods, get him AWA-!
HAAAHAHAHEEHOOHAHAHEHAHEHEEHAHAHEAHAHAAAAAAAAH!
Eeheheeheehoohooahahahahahaha...

---

Ketefe could feel something solid shifting under Jeremiah's coat, like he was just clothes filled with an erect-a-set. Details were hard to make out; so much smoke was pouring off the frog in oily clouds it was only her memory telling her what part of him she was hanging on to. There were gristly popping and stretching noises as he was warped and changed, the process expedited by the cursed amphibian's proximity to hell. Within seconds, the transformation had reached a boiling point and subsided, revealing what had been made of Jeremiah by the Lunacy's meddling this time.
The first noticeable feature of the creation was its posture; hunched, but not in a manner relating to deformity or injury. It was more akin to the structure of a hyena, the thick neck sloping forward to the head. It looked as if it were made of porcelain or ivory, some smooth white substance comprising a carapace. A carapace that, if one were to get a good look at the joints or eyes or the narrow slit that was its mouth, would appear to contain nothing save for the occasional flicker of white fire and tuft of smoke. Some mineral had been carved, woven or possibly grown where hair would be found on a normal furrae, swept back and lying neatly along its neck.
It was also heavy, but fortunately managed to catch itself after it was dropped. The third not-Jeremiah rose to its feet and looked out at the situation before it, its eyeless gaze eventually settling on the serpents.
"Interesting. Very... Interesting..."

[Stygian]

His attention turning toward the others approaching from farther away in the pit, Asmodai did not quite notice the Wolf getting back up at first. He did not credit the creature with such toughness. His focus went into initiating a new summoning spell instead, glyphs forming in fire around his hands as he began weaving the dark magic. The sound of stone crumbling was all around, and not enough to bring his attention, but when he caught the massive motion of the rock in the Wolf's grip, his head snapped to the side, and he took a step back. He almost grinned, laughing incredulously for a second. The next one, he began forming up fire, and tried to lash out with his blade, dashing to the side. That's when he was struck by the massive rock, and crashed along with it into the edge of the platform behind him, tumbling into the magma.

- -

It was not without difficulty that Stygian spotted what was happening in the distance, between the Wolf and Asmodai. And it was not something that he could do anything about, nor something that he would not be distracted from. Headed on a collision course with the fiery serpents twining themselves through the air, and having to dodge flames and more manifesting attacking things, whether they be of darkness or fire, he raced on at what was now ludicrous speed. Sweeping past one of the charging serpents, he narrowly avoided its snapping maw, slicing a long seam through its side and splitting it, even as he rounded it, tumbling to avoid another. To his surprise though, they did not follow him. Nor did they die. The cleaved halves of the serpent began to fall, the scorched scythe of darkness that he had summoned up being burned away, and then they twisted. Twining and coiling, the flames re-knit, and the fiery thing was born anew in two smaller ones, exactly like it. If Stygian noticed that development though, he did not show it. He raced on, approaching the site of the Wolf's and the Demon's confrontation.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel stole a look at the newest incarnation of Jeremiah. There was no knowing what his abilities were now. Ketefe was a swordswoman and this was not a physical fight, and Keaton appeared to be bled white. Mere defense would not be enough to save them. Time to stiffen her spine and act like a dragon of multi-millennial years. The forcewaves she had been creating were unraveled to begin again. Fog began to appear around her as the temperature in her immediate vicinity began to chill. With a throwing gesture serpents of her own appeared.

If the demon's creations were travesties of the form the dragon's were sparkling crystal fantasies. More slender than their fiery counterparts yet almost half again longer they seemed to slide through the air towards their prey rather than fly. Yet the icy creations weren't just pretty as shown by the glitter off the jagged blade-like edges of each scale and the mouthful of man-long backcurved teeth that gave the appearance of a mobile cave full of icicles. As they dove downwards they left trails of fog in their super-cooled wake. The heat only seemed to make them more foul-tempered rather than diminishing them as they approached their opposites.

[Cogidubnus]

 The Wolf stood tall for a moment, breathing raggedly, and then fell down to all fours, nearly collapsing onto it's stomach as it stared at the spot where Asmodai had stood only moments before. Yellow eyes brimming with hatred stared at the lake of lava in which the demon had fallen incredulously, the beast's brain not quite believing that all danger had yet to pass. Claws dug into the stones like fingers into butter, ready to launch itself away at the first sign of retaliation.
Coins of blood pattered onto the stones beneath the Wolf, nearly black in color. It suppressed a whimper, instead letting it's stomach hug the stones beneath it, the relatively cooler rock relieving a bit of the burn from its wounds.

[Stygian]

The colorful shapes that twisted and twined through the air rushed forward, fangs opening in echoing roars, like the growls of volcanoes and the grinding of glaciers. They locked, and instantly, the fumes and drifting cinders suffusing the bottom of the pit were blasted away. The collision became a fireworks display of massive proportions, sparks and flames and steam detonating in arcs and clouds. None broke through to the other side. The tearing force and the explosions were massive enough to rip through them all. They had bought a lot of time.

- -

A shadow fell on the wolf's back as something settled high up above it on a cliff outshot. Folding giant wings, glints of wicked green eyes hinting around it for a moment, the shadows deepening and extending from where it sat perched, it peered down at the wolf below, and then at the last crumbling piece of rock sinking into the molten slag. Perfectly still, Stygian tensed, and narrowed his eyes, glowing darkly from within the shadow he cast. Far from convinced that the old Demon was out of the action, he watched the magma run and roil, stretching his influence and quietly wondering how pissed the old man would be when he got back up, and what he would do...

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel held her breath as she watched the two groups of spells impact. They made quite a show. Aside from the sparking discharge of magic the explosive release of steam from the impact point of fire and ice was enough to rattle rocks loose from the sides of the pit. Thankfully none of the fiery beasts emerged from the clouds. Now she had a moment to look around at her companions. Ketefe and the latest Jeremiah seemed fine for the moment but Keaton was wobbling where she stood. The dragon addressed Ketefe, "Please watch and tell me if anything else starts this way." Then she took the rather glazed-eyed succubus and helped her to sit so that a healing spell could be woven around her.

[Angel]

When Jeremiah began to shift, Ketefe could only watch, awestruck, as the frog turned into some sort of porcelain, fire-tongue-covered golem, and became too heavy for her to support. She dropped him and backed up, unsheathing her sword reflexively. His attention shifted to the other side, and when she looked, she finally noticed the fiery serpents she'd been too confused to care about earlier. Mel took care of them with an icy, impressive assault of her own, leaving the room at a more bearable temperature, and they once again had a moment to spare.

Ketefe nodded at Mel's request, leaving the dragon to take care of a very dazed and sick-looking Keaton. The feline advanced, just the slightest bit, on the translated frog-creature.

"Okay. Whatever you are, it's pretty clear you're not Jeremiah, and given where we are, whether myself or anyone here can trust you is a big issue. So explain to me why you're here, and it won't be me who kills you." She glanced around meaningfully before looking back at the thing.

[Stygian]

Stygian had barely readied his first trap, before a rumble shook the cave, like a giant turning in his sleep underneath them. A slow, long, grinding noise rose up from the sea of fire, and a crack ran through it somehow, making the magma tumble and splitting the platform down in front of the wolf nearly to the middle. Slumped to the ground and tired, it could not see when the fire began moving, and something shot out of it, scraping and clawing digits splashing droplets of molten rock to scar the stone beneath it and then become one with it. A hand, large as a man's head when clenched, dragged a body to the edge, then helped it rise as ridged muscles pierced by horns and spines, bare of clothing, of skin, rolled forth from the lava. Spikes like the attempt at wings jutted out beside its backbone, and the ground shuddered when it stepped heavily up onto the platform. The stone caught on its almost liquid skin and in strange, bristly fur cracked and fell as it cooled off, if it so much as cooled in the first place. Breathing ash and hot, poisonous fumes, Asmodai turned, stark naked and burning, and watched the darkness encroached nearby.
   'If there was a way to contain you, I'd be ever so glad. You haven't been punished nearly enough', he rumbled, his voice more ground-splitting than ever. Flames and dust gathered to him, ashes and cinders swathing themselves around his form, taking on the shape of a robe of some sort, fire in the tracks of his steps as he walked closer. 'You will face torture nevertheless, but not by me. Not where you're going. So, I guess I'll settle for second best.'
   The demon's arm whipped out, his hand directed right at the adventurers across the span of the inferno, and the lake of fire rolled with it. Instantly, a splash of magma and horrid, writhing shapes within it manifested, and began rolling against their targets like a tidal wave. The ash and fumes at the Demon's back were set ablaze too, and again his wings manifested, stretching out and sending fire out in waves, before curling around him. Shrieks and ghoulish howls filled the air, malevolent spirits hinting within every flame and sooty shadow.
   'The path to Hell is open again, filthspawn. It's time you return where you belong!'

[Boog]

A rhythmic ticking went along with the thing's movements as it turned to look at Ketefe. Its own memories were disjointed, nonsensical and warped, almost an acid trip of the frog's entire life packed into an instant.
"I Am Not Sure." The Whatever-it-was-this-time didn't speak so much as enunciate. It sounded like it was reciting out of a book. "I Recall What Has Led Up To This Point, After A Fashion, But Details Are Hard To Make Out. I Think What I'm Doing Here Has Something To Do With Curses. And Masks." It reached out and prodded the cat's mask with a dull 'clnk', as if it reminded the creature of something. It considered it's snapshot memory a bit further. "And Part Of It May Have Something To Do With A Pair Of Shoes Lost In Third Grade, Although I'm Assuming That May Be A Misinterpretation Of Matters Beyond My Ken As Of Yet."
The oncoming wave distracted the creature from the contemplation of its own origins, drawing its complete attention in a full-body jerking motion.
A wave of molten rock, either containing or comprised of creatures of similar coloration with body types seemingly ranging from serpents to some manner of betentacled creature. Some odd form of magic- A word jumped forward from its memory, Infernal in nature. Of respectable physical and nonphysical power. There are many of them.
"Pardon Me, I Shall Answer All Questions Shortly."
Three seconds after it had noticed the creatures it had already hunkered down on one knee, gripped the edge of the ledge they were on with its long neck and head leaning out over empty space, and arcane sigils were flashing in a circle in front of its face. Anyone magically inclined would be able to see a LOT of energy being orchestrated for a complex spell with a very SIMPLE effect.
Even the non-mages could probably figure out the creature's intentions. Positioned as it was, it even looked a little like a canon.
"One Moment, Please."

[Sunblink]

Lethargic and blurry-eyed, Keaton leaned rather listlessly against her knees from where she was seated on the stone, apparently quite unaware, or at least delirious to most of the events which were occurring around her. When Mel touched her, a strange surge of purified energy coursed through her veins, electrifying her blood, and Keaton heaved, gasping and leaping, as though a sudden awareness had returned to her in that instant. This return to rational thought didn't last long, as Keaton felt her mind reel and buckle in the next moment, momentarily disoriented, only for it to be shunted back to focus by that concentration of healing magic. Gradually, Keaton felt some of her wounds disappear, closing up like zippers, the skin fixing back together and the lost fur re-encroaching upon the bare flesh. Still a little shocked, and still waiting for the remainder of her wounds to vanish, Keaton started gazing back and forth rapidly, squinting as she struggled to distinguish something amidst the smoke and darkness.

She saw something like a silhouette in the distance, covered in horns and spikes. Keaton's vision was still blurry, so she couldn't recognize who or what it was, especially not with the additional subterfuge. However, when flame and smoke leaped in billowing gouts from the shadow's back, Keaton no longer cared about discerning its identity and yelped instead, backing up against the stone wall in a sudden outburst of fear. Quite a sight to witness just when one was saved from dying of blood loss.

Keaton heaved and gasped, her ears flat. "I-I-I-Is... Is THAT...?!" she hissed to Mel tremulously, struggling to form her sentence. She spat out the rest, "Is THAT Asmodai!?"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha found herself nearly nodding off as her wounds healed.  For once it seemed that the cathedral was going to be quiet and peaceful, while there was a war raging on more than likely miles beneath their feet.

Her concern should have probably been sated, but still somewhere deep down there was such a feeling of darkness...in fact, if she didn't know better, it was stronger.  Even the little raven that had been watching for a while from the rafters of the unholy church was cawing a little more often.

The panthress shook her head, dismissing the worry, and finished checking on Gareeku's wounds.  "You feeling better, amigo?" she asked with a little tiredness, but nevertheless concern, in her eyes.

*     *     *

Up through the shadows, seeing lesser demons charge and step back through her barrier of light, Rynkura's wings took her through Hell's levels as fast as she could be carried.  And as she drew closer, she could feel the dark power growing into unimaginable heights.  It threatened to block and, most certainly, take out the life energies that she had sensed.  But she was coming ever closer to them, and thank all gods, they were still alive.

When she thought of them all, standing against what they all probably knew was certain death...and when she thought of those left behind, Aisha and sir Manoko...the angel was determined to keep them alive, whatever it took.

The demons she dodged, the attacks she blocked, until there they were in a space just below her, where a sea of magma met their short-lived shelter in a perilous wave...even the tigress could feel the heat from where she was, looking down from the underground "sky" far above.  They were watching it with apparent fear and apprehension as the very rock all around them quivered and crumbled.

And then, he appeared out of the molten depths, and set its sight upon the adventurers.  His seething voice even reached her own ears.  There was only one for whom the words were meant, but all of the adventurers were branded targets.  And then the demon made good the threat and sent all manner of creatures from the wave of fire and shadow out of Hell and all around.

Rynkura grimaced, and let down her barrier in favor of a more powerful spell.  Her eyes glowed, and holy lightning coursed over her body.  With a powerful charge, she was launched from the rock upon which she perched, down past the demon and towards the adventurers...straight through a horde of damned spirits and with a flash, sending several lances of electricity across his form.

She landed beside them with a gust of air, on her hands and feet, less dignified than they have seen her in rather burned and torn robes.  But nevertheless steadfast and formidable with her teeth bared and emerald eyes still fiercely glowing.

"I seriously doubt it, demon," the healer nearly hissed, before standing up again and looking over the exhausted-looking group with warm, but serious eyes.  "Right...is anyone hurt?"

[Gareeku]

Having closed his eyes, Gareeku had said nothing for a while now, staying quiet as he tried to let his body heal. Pain was still surging through his body a little, mostly originating from the wound he had received to his midsection. Thanks to the bracer that Aisha had given him, the healing process was moving much more quickly, though it still hurt like hell.

"I'll be fine." the wolf murmured in reply to Aisha's question, breaking his silence in doing so. Opening his eyes, Gareeku looked at the pantheress. "How about your leg? How's that holding up?"

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha smiled with relief as she saw that Gareeku was mending well...with the bracer's magic working, it would be able to keep him from getting any worse or catching infections, until the healers returned to patch them completely.

At the mention of her leg, the black jaguar nodded and shifted herself comfortably so as not to lean on it.  The fabric of the wolf's shirt was now completely covered in her blood, for which she thought to apologize...later, at least...being dirty and bloody took a back seat to the concern of being alive.  "It'll be alright too, I think, thanks...don't worry, I can be just as stubborn."  She joked in reply.  "'Course...I can't think of any worse situation outside this castle right now, but..." she snorted.  "So long as we don't get in any more fights tonight, I think we'll live.  And we still have each other to look after," the huntress finished with a soft smile as her hand rested carefully on his shoulder, cautious of jostling the wounded wolf.

Leaning back on the chair and looking up at the ruined ceiling, her eyes then started to close again.  Just what time was it anyway...?  Doubtless it mattered to Aisha at the moment, even with the raven still making a few noises.  "I think I might just sleep for a little bit..." she murmured.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel looked over her shoulder in the direction where Keaton was staring. Her eyes widened, the demon had to be at least her size in her natural form. "I believe it is," she responded out loud while mentally she was running through all of her grandmother's favorite curses, and not the genteel ones she used in public. Ryn's abrupt appearance amongst them hardly rated a blink at that point. "I am just finishing a healing spell on Keaton," was Mel's automatic answer to the angel's question, "I have not had time to check Ketefe or ..." she stopped, unsure how to address the newest incarnation of Jeremiah.

It was only as she looked at, then past, the Jeremiah-thing that their most immediate concern came to her attention. She stepped up to the edge of the ledge and debated her next spell.

[Stygian]

Snarling, eying Rynkura's incoming attacks with an air as if they were merely a nuisance, a distraction, Asmodai swept his hand out, a burning wing following it, and immediately fire rose to follow in a torrent that shook the air throughout the whole of the pit. The singeing bolts of light struck and pierced it, but were reduced to mere residual sparks, petering out in the air and dispersing.
   'Pest! You Angels are nothing but!' came the echoing, booming voice again. He extended his hand, and streams of fire, arrow-straight and thick as a man's wrist, cut through the air against the fleeing tigress and the adventurers. The next second though, something black whipped out and smashed its teeth around that hand, drawing blood before it was engulfed in fire. The Demon's gaze snapped up, and he roared with indignation.
   'Don't forget who you are dealing with here', Stygian growled from above, his voice having turned as hideous as the darkness that concealed all of him but the fiery glow of his eyes. The others were the perfect tools for hampering and striking at Asmodai where he could not reach. It was hard to believe, but Stygian knew the bastard to have even better crowd control than himself. So he had to make every effort to keep him off the others, while bringing all firepower he had to bear. 'If you are going to actually finish this, I suggest you do so before I rip your ugly countenance from your skull!' A few shark-toothed, oily black things began crawling down the rock face against the Demon, and the blackness clawed its way further forth, smoky tentacles turning more solid as they gripped the stone, cracks spiderwebbing it.
   'Wholly the wrong person to speak!' Asmodai roared in return, an instant before sinuous, concentrated lashes of fire snaked up, beheading those first signs of darkness beginning to reach down. Green eyes flared up, and a unison of terrible voices cried out in fury, before slivers and slices of black began raining down amid the flames in return.

[Angel]

Ketefe kept her eyes narrowed as the once-Jeremiah spoke, though she was fairly certain this new form wasn't dangerous. Her look took on a curious cast when the thing poked her mask, and her puzzlement deepened when its speech became slightly pointless. But then it looked away, and Ketefe turned her head and saw the wave of hellish magma quickly closing in on their "safehaven" (a term which she used very loosely). Any and all concern about the Jeremiah-thing went out the window as the feline backed away quickly and tightened her grip on her too-useless-here-for-comfort sword. And then, of course, at Keaton's exclamation, her gaze shifted to Asmodai's form. Distant though the demon was, finally seeing him was terrifying, even keeping where they were in mind. He was at least twice as huge as Khimara in dragon form, and if the tidal wave of molten rock was anything to go by, he was ten thousand times more powerful.

But just as she was hitching in her breath to shout to Mel, Rynkura showed up and saved them from immediate death. At this point, Ketefe's brain had gotten so used to surprise that Rynkura being alive was only a minor thrill. The cat's eyes flickered between the group and Asmodai, focusing when the demon aimed another assault at them and widening when it was stopped by a familiar black and twisting power. Still, her primary concern was not what was attacking them, but how she could possibly be of use right now. She wouldn't be able to look at herself the same way if she was completely incapable of helping. I need to know that I'll be useful against something more powerful than a thousand Shapeshifters...

At that moment, the lightning-bolt bracelet Mel had let her keep crackled with a few minute bolts. It wasn't a lot of energy, but it was enough to grab Ketefe's attention and keep it for a few seconds. She stared at her wrist in shock... then her face grew purposeful and just the slightest bit pleased. It seemed she would be of some use after all...

[Sunblink]

Keaton flinched against the rock wall as she helplessly watched Stygian and Asmodai exchange attacks, one utilizing shadows, the other brandishing fire and flames. Against the hot stone, Keaton could feel her skin blister and tingle, but in her desperation to avoid being hit by the blitzkrieg's periphery, a few burns was the least of her problems. At the moment, she wanted to be helpful, but wasn't sure if she could find a suitable opening to exploit. Not yet, at least. Plus, Asmodai's fire kept the vicinity brightly illuminated, which made darkness considerably harder to conjure up. That alone eliminated most of Keaton's most improvisational and unpredictable resources.

Amidst the torrential downpour, Keaton noticed a familiar white blur standing nearby, its shape and identity chiseled into clarity by her improved vision and restored health. Instantly, Keaton's attention redirected itself to the staff nestled in Catastrophe's holster, which she quickly unsheathed with her free hand. She started to formulate a plan: she'd throw Rynkura her staff, and charge in when Asmodai was preoccupied with Stygian.

Keaton pried herself away from the rock, and dove around where she could reach Rynkura, or where she was, at least, out of the range of the warring bats. She spun Rynkura's staff like a baton, increasing its momentum, and shouted to get the tiger-Angel's attention. "RYN!" she exclaimed. Once the tiger was at least, aware, of her presence, she chucked the staff toward Rynkura, hoping the tiger would catch it. "CATCH!"

Keaton didn't stop to witness the results of her plan. She stormed forward, starting to feel blackened mist encroach upon her bloodied form, coagulating into a thick layer encapsulating her body. Her eyes flashed white, and she snarled as she drew Catastrophe back. Pitch-black tendrils of darkness arched and writhed around Catastrophe, sparking lividly, and when Keaton felt all that darkness culminate, she thrust the mace forward, watching the spectacular bolt of purple, interwoven with spades of black, lance in jagged streaks toward Asmodai.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Boog]

The Not-Jeremiah finished making its assessment of the circumstances. The big issue was that it was roughly a mile away from the only place he could hit that would really do anything. After much consideration, it finally decided to fall off the cliff.
Fall was really the wrong word. After the initial tumble, long spindley legs started seeking footholds in the rock to push against for some control, eventually stabalizing out and running town the side of the rock wall. The Not-Jeremiah pushed off to another rock spire sticking out of the lava and continued like that, leaping from place to place with surprising agility as it made its way toward the combat, spell still glimmering around it as it readied itself.
Just A Bit Closer, Quickly, Before It Goes Off...
EEEheheahehaeheahAhaheheaheah...

[Stygian]

The first few hits did not seem very dramatic, or very clear. The combination of fire, smoke and deep blackness was not easy on the visibility, and for a few seconds it was as if the Demon and the creature of darkness were wrapped up, sealed away in their contest from the rest of the cavern. Then, the first shockwave split the fires and shadows both, cracking through the air, and the ground shuddered. The Demon reeled for a moment against a broken rock, before stamping the ground with his foot, and bringing up a wave of fire that cracked the ground and sent shards and splinters of stone flying. The torrent of flame tore through the onslaught of shadow, driving up more flames through the cracks in the rock below, and as a finisher a gesture from the demon's hand created a final, circular blast that turned the darker creature into a mere silhouette of black before being blasted back into the rock.
   Not that the Demon himself had much time to finish off his work. For while he did not notice or care about the skittering, loping danger which was beginning to approach across the few 'safe' paths over the lake of fire, the shadowy, shimmering bolt that struck him in the neck caused him to twist and clutch at an open wound. Immediately, the flames intensified with his rage, and his glowing eyes swept to find the source of the attack. In the unclarity and heat of battle, he only glimpsed Keaton, but with his anger boiling he saw neither time nor need to specify an attack. He hurled flames with his fist, and immediately, the nearby surface of burning magma began to rise and thrash, coming alive.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

If the lava was the demon's tool the most effective use of her energy, decided the dragon, was to deny him as much as she could. She couldn't cool everything around to a nice sensible temperature but she could make it harder for him to shift the molten rock around.

Mel chose the area nearest to the fight and began pouring cold into it. At first it seemed a fruitless expenditure of her magic, but as she continued the lava darkened, then began to skim over with solid rock. It was at that point Mel realized that she had no way of knowing how solid her work was. There was no way to tell from this distance if the solid layer was as thin as the skin on a pudding or continued down for meters. She was going to have to keep blasting away until she got confirmation of success or failure by other means.

[Aisha deCabre]

Despite the fierceness of the battle, and a mere curse from Asmodai at her attempt at hurting the demon, Rynkura calmly listened for everyone's confirmation on their state of health.  Truly though, she had only heard two voices, very few reactions at all to the angel tiger's swift return...the others she could easily see for herself.  For a moment though, Jeremiah's appearance made her very curious...as did Mel's...were they not up in the chapel earlier?  It made her worry for the two left up in the chapel for a moment.

She shook her head...none of the adventurers could be blamed for being distracted, either.  They had a monstrous battle going on in front of them, and the magma and fires of Hell continued threatening to devour those near it at the giant bat's volition.

"Good, then..." Rynkura growled, her voice still unnaturally fierce as she quickly pushed herself from her knees to her feet, trying to dodge whatever Asmodai could throw at the adventurers while Sebastian distracted him.  The only one that still didn't seem to be there was Cogidubnus...or whatever he had turned into.

As she moved away from the fire, further up the alcove, she suddenly heard her name called out.  It was the succubus, Keaton...bearing her staff.

Eyes widening, the tiger's hand reached out and grabbed it from midair.  And as the jackal seemed to turn into a mass of shadow, Rynkura herself was feeling a flood of relief while reunited with her treasured talisman...and weapon.  A great, unending source of light magic...having lost it, she not only felt a weakness, but also incomplete as well.  She shouted a quick thanks to Keaton, and prepared herself.

The fires raged, the shadows roared, the magma surged.  And while everyone was preparing their own attacks...while Mel's ice looked to do a fair job of cooling the lava into mere rock...her staff suddenly flared.  Gentle blues, greens, yellows, the colors of a great bounty of magic was being tapped into...the angel was gathering power that equaled the kind she would have gotten after five or ten thousand years of life, maybe more...

Strength gathering in her veins, lightning encompassing her entire body like a crackling suit of armor, holy energy moving through the cracks in the rock like rivers through a valley, Rynkura knew she probably wouldn't match the demon in his own strength.  But damn it all, if this enchantment did its job, she would come close enough to cause the bat some good injuries and help to turn the tide in their favor...and in Sebastian's favor.

I will be so exhausted after this...she thought, feeling such power that she hadn't felt in a few hundred years...But by the gods' will I hope it will be worth it.

With speed only bested by the bolts that she used for power, no longer was the angel standing on the rock.  She had shot herself towards Asmodai just as Keaton had, unleashing a mighty amount of power and shock into any piece of flesh she'd be fortunate enough to touch.