The Castle (IC) [M] {04}

[Boog]

The not-Jeremiah managed to grab hold of the side of the pillar of stone that Asmodai was on, having managed to evade notice thus far. This was Good. This was going According To Plan. True, it didn't know that the next part of The Plan was yet until it completed the prior one. Nevertheless, it was a Plan. The not-Jeremiah liked plans. Plans made the world go round. It scrambled around the side of the stone, getting behind Asmodai... And then it heard the crack and boom of two attacks, Keaton's and Rynkura's. Now, while he's still reeling... The not-Jeremiah scrambled up and crouched at ready, the spell it had been preparing creating a whine growing in pitch to a shriek and then halting, completely...
Light.
And there was. A single blast; flash, Bang...

[Angel]

Ketefe flexed her legs just a bit, more out of habit than anything. Even if she wasn't using her sword, reflexes and quickness meant survival right now. She moved quickly out of the way of falling splinters of rock and embers, and watched Keaton re-arm Rynkura and fire a successful blast at Asmodai. She almost screamed when the Not-Jeremiah let itself fall of the edge of the cliff, but she soon saw it leaping among rock spires and heading for the combat. If it wanted to get close to attack, even when the power of Asmodai and Stygian's attacks didn't need to be felt to be obvious, it must have known how dangerous that would be. And no-one puts themselves in danger without at least the feeling that they'll survive...usually.

When the bat retaliated with a wave of magma, Mel cooled it and turned it into simple stone. Immediately, Ketefe saw her chance. She only had a hunch about how this was going to work, but it was the best shot she had. Nothing was in the way; and if she was right about her hunch, she wouldn't need to see Asmodai clearly for this to work. She lifted the arm that had the bracelet on it and thought as hard as she could: Fire a bolt at Asmodai! A strong one!

But as the lightning bolt left the bracelet and traveled toward the demon, there was a blinding flash. Ketefe winced and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to see if her best hope of being useful had worked...

[Stygian]

It was nearly as if their attacks had all been timed together. Keaton's bolt struck to the left of Asmodai as he dodged it before the stream of power drew after him and took him in the shoulder. The Demon growled fiercely, flames intensifying and thickening to a shield near him, dust and rock drawing up. Roaring faces in the flames screamed their fury at the attackers. The next second though Rynkura's attack turned that rage into anguish. Her attack was more easily directed, and the sheer release of power was enough to weaken the Demon's defenses down to near flimsiness. Flimsiness that was broken when Ketefe's bolt cut through it, hitting him in the head. He cried out, clutching a hand to his face and dropping down on a knee, swiping at the air.
   'You will burn! All of you!' Asmodai snarled amid the faltering flames, crouching and tensing up, the effort and strain of calling out more Hellfire to aid him obvious. He was trying his utmost to kill them now, all stops pulled. Mel felt the heat beginning to rise again. Her cold was being fought by just too much heat welling up from below. She could keep it down, but not completely, and not for too long. The bat seemed to be on the way of giving another big push; he had no clearly visible wounds yet.
   And then, something hit him in the back, right beneath his neck. Something hard and cold. With a hard, meaty sound that few recognize but that those who know always signifies an impact and a clearing of all air from a pair of lungs, the Demon was hurled forward, spinning slightly. He landed on a patch of cooled lava with a crack, grunting, and laying nearly still for a couple of seconds before straining to get up.
   '...burn. All of you. All of us', he growled, rasping worse than ever. 'At least I can bathe in the flames...'
   The darkness that was Stygian had drawn back before the attacks impacted. After the Demon got up and spoke again though, it seemed to freeze, tensing up. And then, it lunged. But not before Asmodai had managed to punch his fist into the ground.
   There was a loud, crackling sound, and then a silence much like the one before, when they had just arrived. This time though, it was followed by a groan. One that underlined the voices in the air and just kept on growing. Suddenly, the heat began to rise again. Yet now, it seemed that there simply was no stopping it. And at the same time, a clinging, grabbing sensation filled the place. As if something were clutching at the shoulders of anyone there, trying to drag them down. Whatever he had done, Asmodai didn't seem to consider it the end though. Spinning on the spot, he swept his arm out, and unleashed a thick wave of flame back at the adventurers.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel could feel the heat pushing back against her cold. The demon had the natural elements to play with while the cold was entirely of her creation. Her second idea was to just drop a glacier on his head but since everyone had closed in on the fight all of her grander spells were off the menu. Then she felt the spell to paralyze the fighters in place. A trivial spell to dispel if one had time. Of course the one who used it never granted it's victim time. She saw the wall of fire and hoped someone close could affect it, meanwhile she increased her efforts with the cold, adding freezing rain to the mix.

[Aisha deCabre]

The demon was great and formidable, that was certainly apparent.  But as Rynkura darted around the flames and the attacks of the others, still looking less like a tigress and more like a glowing, electrified true angel looking to close the gate to hell, it was easy to see that he wasn't unbeatable.  The shadows that were Sebastian and Keaton, the weapons from the adventurers, her own magic of light...there was, after all, only one of Asmodai.

It was the other bat's attack that came last, and that seemed to turn the tide of battle into a much higher level.  A hissing threat escaped his mouth...then, his fist struck the ground with the force of a comet.  And in an instant--it is probably redundant to say that hell broke loose--but that's what it did.

A force permeated the room...a feeling.  Rynkura was familiar with it...the same kind of illusory fear that they had all been facing since taking the tentative steps below the altar, and perhaps even to the castle itself.  Even the angel, powered as she was, could feel herself being dragged out of the air.  But it was easy to shake off, when one knew how.  Her glowing eyes and body only seemed to intensify when the voices broke out.

And then, the wave of fire.  "Look out!"  The tigress had suddenly roared towards the others...her voice having an echo to it as well, through the energy coursing out.  "Take attacks further away...!"

The wall nearly overtook her.  The intense heat was horrid.  She didn't know if anyone heard her, but hopefully they would protect themselves any way possible.  The electricity was gone, but there was still the light...which she used to its fullest and more than possibly hurtful power.  As soon as she could, Rynkura's wings took her up higher and a little further away.

Her next attack wasn't as strong, but it came in sheer numbers.  The darts of light, each sharper than any sort of blade when it ran against the opposing magic element, rained upon a part of Asmodai.  It would be hard to tell exactly where she was, for the angel was changing attacking positions as much as possible...and making sure to show no signs of fatigue until the battle was over.

*     *     *

Far above the actual chaos, the raven was still uncomfortably ruffling its feathers in the rafters of the cathedral.  The open altar was emanating all sorts of evil that any living creature wouldn't like, at least when it came to natural senses.

It stopped cawing loudly, at least.  Aisha, or the simple black cat to the corvid's view, was sleeping gently on the arm of the white wolf, and their wounds were healing as swiftly as they could, so long as both were in the vicinity of the bracer.  So far the adventurers had held their own and, it seemed, had nothing else to worry about...for the time being.

As if it were of truly intelligent design, the raven's red eyes locked on the head of the church.  Something was bound to end...at one point.

[Angel]

A thrill ran through Ketefe when she saw her bolt strike Asmodai square in the face. That and the other attacks combined subdued him for a moment, and Ketefe could almost think that the fight would be over soon...

Then the air grabbed her shoulders and held her still. Her eyes went wide and blinking - what was this? Before she had any time to figure out what was going on, though, Asmodai launched a wave of flame at the group. Ketefe came close to screaming as pure panic raced through her. In her paralysis, all she could do was watch, helpless, as the fire came to her. HELP!

As the wave reached its peak, she braced herself for the impact. But instead of getting her flesh scalded off of her and feeling her bones melt, all she felt was the intense heat of flames... passing over and past her. She opened her eyes and saw what had saved her: a glowing wall of white energy had blocked the attack. ....Oh. Mel did say there was a shield charm in this thing...

As the flames passed, the feline carefully and quickly maneuvered herself to a spot that was farther back and a little higher up, stepping on a few scalding spots and jumping as she did. The shield stayed up, and she moved her wrist to block any more oncoming attacks. Once she was satisfied with her position, she focused on the battle again, waiting for another opportunity to strike.

[Stygian]

Yet, even as they fought to shrug it off, that dragging, clinging sensation seemed to be growing stronger. It wasn't so much that it slowed their movements or weakened them. Rather, it seemed to be sapping the very will to move from their limbs. The darkness was thickening around them, and even as the stinging heat grew it was getting darker. The ground was shuddering, and a roaring noise was growing in the air, the cavern seeming to lengthen and expand, and the dark gateway behind them to grow along with it. It was almost as if it were coming closer, or as if they were being drawn to it, like a horrendous maw sucking them in. The very space around them seemed to be thickening and expanding at the same time somehow. It was as if time itself were gradually, slowly but still observably and in the most dreadful manner slowing down.
   Stygian had smashed into Asmodai, the already unsteady demon now fighting from down on the ground. His strength seemed to have faltered somewhat, because something burning was pouring out of wounds that he had previously sealed up, some magma-like substance that might be called blood dribbling down his limbs and dripping onto the floor. One hand gripping around the darker creature's head, he was returning Stygian's swipes with his other hand, clearly not seeing well enough to make clear shots. Stygian, meanwhile, kept slashing the larger creature's ribs and face, hacking and stabbing with vicious swipes, dark and sharp and lashing things interrupting flames in the exchange.
   There was something wrong though. And it was clear to see, amid all the flames and the sprawling, clawing, groping darkness. The fire flowing through the air was rolling slowly and unnaturally, and very clearly in one direction. The burning blood seeping from Asmodai's wounds was making near-straight trails over the ashen ground. And the darkness oozing from Stygian's form and all around was being driven like smoke before a wind. Whatever was trying to drag them all down was very palpable. The only solid points of light around left seemed to be the beacon that Rynkura represented, and the glints of energy still sparkling around Ketefe.

[Sunblink]

By then, even with her rejuvenated energy and even after she had been brought back from the brink of death, Keaton was finding staying on her feet a difficult task. Launching so many dark spells in a row, while satisfying, was momentarily exhausting; especially as that heavy, invisible influence bearing down on her body pushed and pulled at her form. Even if she was in the company of her darkness-based ilk, she felt nauseated, overwhelmed. This was unnatural. This was Hell.

In spite of this, Keaton kept her body upright and conjured up another gout of energy to fuel her next assault. Livid darkness coalesced in a wreath of black particles around Catastrophe, moving faster and faster, synchronized with the accelerated pulse of her heartbeat. Gripping Catastrophe's shaft tightly, Keaton spun about, swinging the mace in a wide arc, cleaving a giant, electricity-laced arc through the air. A flurry of flat black crescents, composed of shadows, whirled toward Asmodai like airborne blades. Just in case this attack failed, she had the energy for an additional attack prepared. Summoning the strength necessary was difficult, especially with the backbreaking atmosphere, but Keaton resisted.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

A few frantic beats of her wings put the dragon above the fearsome wall of fire. It was quickly followed by the spell of despair, but fear of the lava below gave her wings a strength they might not have had above cooler ground. Mel saw that her ice attack was doing little in the tide of the battle, aside from making the combatants a fraction more comfortable. Her magic wasn't the kind needed here. Mistress Rynkura's light magic was probably the most hurtful to the demon and she seemed to be flagging. The dragon flew closer to the angel and lent her some magical strength.

[Aisha deCabre]

It was hard for Rynkura to tell just how long her energy would be able to stay.  She could not use electricity due to the overwhelming heat; the light thrived though, and for all it was worth the angel was still hitting the fallen Asmodai with her powerful darts...coming down like a vengeful holy rain.

Sebastian's strength also seemed to be more than enough power for the large demon.  As he fought, Rynkura's luminous green eyes narrowed with concentration, though the very environment now seemed to be twisting against them.  The beast was injured, bleeding fire...did he even really HAVE blood?...and she felt the pull of a kind of vortex, a siphon from the bowls of the earth, pulling them further and further down.  Still, the Healer's strength refused to give in...hopefully the others hadn't succumbed yet to the flames, surely there was some way yet...

Rynkura had barely noticed just how far down she was being weighed, before she was rocked back with another burst of energy.  This didn't come from her own adrenaline, her own stores of magic...this came from another; and it wasn't destructive.  She recognized it as the sort to lend power...

Looking to the side, the glowing white tiger saw Mel.  The ice dragon's very presence and magic was a cooling force to match the lava below, or it should have been.

"Try not to exhaust yourself, Mel..." Rynkura said with concern, her voice still energized and echoing more within itself than the chamber around them.  She gave her a nod of sincere gratitude, and spread her wings to keep aloft nearby...if she could use the opportunity to its fullest...

The cold magic lent from the dragon gathered in her fingers and surged between her claws.  Ice and light, brightness and cold, became one with her will.  And with a great heave, it released like several lancing beams, with the intent of striking Asmodai...

[Stygian]

Keaton's attack, sickling through the air like a giant reaping blade, flashed across the two fighters, and seemed to cause them pain, Asmodai more than Stygian, as the burning creature was shot through by a spasm of pain that momentarily threw Stygian off him. The blackened thing was still held fast by his throat nevertheless, and in response he stamped down with the hooked claws of his feet, spearing them into Asmodai's flesh. Flames licked his legs and the wounds hissed as the Demon's burning blood scorched the blackness, making it singe and flake, floating on heated air and turning to acid cinders that were inevitably drawn toward the hungry maw of the gate.
   Barely audible, Stygian's tainted voice scraped forth through his strangled throat, acrid and smoky.
   'Y-you've... lost...!' he rasped. Blood sizzled and dripped from the corners of Asmodai's mouth as he bared his teeth in return, in a hideous mixture of a grin and a snarl.
   'So have y-'
   It ended there, quickly and with neither flair nor regard for either of the dark creatures wrestling on the ground. Asmodai's words were immediately cut off and turned into an inarticulate roar, as a silvery spear of light stabbed through Stygian's side, blasting a hole into his chest. Not a fraction of a second passed before the next one came, followed closely by a next one, and more following that one. They impaled the duo like huge needles, shearing one of the Demon's arms and riddling him and the dark abomination with holes. They shuddered, smoke rising and frost crackling off the open wounds.
   Stygian managed to stand, the last he did, turning and looking back at the others with an expression that, while so dark that it was practically faceless, seemed confounded. Then he staggered, the acid green of his eyes flickering, and fell to the ground, the blackness rolling like fog off his body. Asmodai was already dead, the fire in his veins visibly cooling and dissipating, fire twisting from his husk of a body which was cracking with a sound like rotten wood burning. A wailing flame rose from his body, twisting and snaking, burning features struggling to cling to his dying form. Yet, no matter the desperate scrabbling of its ephemeral, fiery fingers, it could not resist the drag of the hungering Hellmaw. Spiraling as if caught in a vertical tornado, the howling wraith was dragged from the corpse and hurled into the darkness, flaring like a torch in strong wind as it vanished into the distance, before finally being swallowed up by the blackness.
   There was stillness for only a moment, before the heat and the groaning sounds grew once more.

[Sunblink]

Keaton admitted that there was a great deal of triumphant satisfaction in watching Asmodai suffer from her attack. She didn't want for Stygian to be caught in the crossfire, but he seemed largely unaffected, so she didn't let it concern her terribly. Not unless he started to exhibit side-effects or demonstrate any sort of pain. Asmodai seemed on the brink of death when he finally climbed to his feet, flames belching smoke and crawling up the length of his legs, eating away at the detritus of the ground. Keaton claimed the opportunity to scramble away, yelping unintelligibly, as though she expected for Asmodai to direct his vengeance toward herself. Instead, he seemed distracted by his grandson, and was exchanging insults with him. Keaton dropped against a rock, pressing her back to the giant stone.

Shit, this asshole just won't die! Keaton thought in regards to Asmodai. She grit her teeth together and pawed at the rock again, grabbing for an outcropping so she could assume a more upright position. However, she didn't need to fire an attack - someone else did. She didn't see who, but a shot of light that instantaneously lanced through both chiropterans ended the fight.

Both chiropterans was what ruined the moment for Keaton. As Asmodai's body collapsed, starting to disintegrate into ash and smoke, Keaton watched the pallid bat stagger and sway. Her attention was drawn to Asmodai's shrieking, apparitional aftershade being dragged into the darkness; she watched him disappear with some satisfaction. She didn't know what had happened to his soul or where a hell-beast like him would go after its death, but the fact he was dead finally brought a conclusion to this nightmarish episode. And for once, in the group, Keaton felt genuinely useful and not like a useless adjunct, unlike what she had been told she was all throughout her later years of servitude. She felt elated, but before she could elaborate on this simplistic and inexplicable upswell of happiness, she noticed Stygian's body.

"FUCK!" Keaton shouted, "Sebastian!"

[Stygian]

Shuddering, the bat lay on the scorching rock, fist clenched in the dust and claws trying to find some sort of purchase against the ground for no real reason. His eyes flicked back and forth irregularly, his chest somehow still moving in futile defiance of the holes that had been seared right through it.
   'Wasn't it... warm down here...?' he said, his voice so low that it was doubtful whether if anyone could hear. Black smoke seeped from his wounds and the oily something running from them, drawn as inevitably toward the horrid maw as Asmodai's flames had been. Something splashed at the edge of the cliff they were standing on, behind him, and rocks clattered on the ground.

[Sunblink]

Keaton twitched uncomfortably where she sat, gradually prying her body away from the protective surface of the stone. In spite of her recent altercations with Stygian, she didn't want anything bad to happen to him. Somewhat hesitantly, she started to approach Stygian, and, after checking the environment for any potential threats, quickly sheathed Catastrophe and charged toward Stygian. Her wings materialized and unfurled from her back, instantly adopting a form that would be of some use. The membrane of her wings pervaded into several, individual tentacles and hooked themselves underneath Stygian's body, hefting him into her arms. While Keaton couldn't hold Stygian on her own, she kept her wing-tentacles unsheathed and available to support his body. She stared balefully at the hole gaping in his chest, and started to resist the urge to grimace.

Keaton tried to run back to the group, running through her memories of earlier events. Stygian was able to heal his injuries by channeling some of her darkness magic, so maybe she could repeat the same process to get rid of that hole...

[Aisha deCabre]

It all happened quickly.

Though it was far too late for Rynkura to call back her attack as soon as she saw it hit Sebastian--as well as the near-death Asmodai--she did when their banter ended and the great demon bat fell with his last breath.  Skin crackling, the fires inside and outside eating up his overpowered flesh, there he was, claimed by the pit of the evils that he had opened.

The monster was gone, and the angel, still hovering in the air with the power surging throughout, was glad.  Never had the Healer really been glad for a creature's death without a hint of pity, but this time she was.  Now he wouldn't make good on his threat to harm anyone...especially Aisha, whom she hoped was still alive along with sir Manoko back up in the chapel.  Soon enough the plague of creatures would end, and the Castle would hopefully return to normal...

...Except there was still a gaping hole to close.  The walls all around them rumbled and rocks started to fall, but all still looked stable enough for a quick rest.

Rynkura searched out the others.  Mel should have been nearby, and she saw Keaton from the air running to those who were left, picking up the bat's tattered but living body along the way...and they still needed to find sir Mithlome...was anyone else missing?  Hopefully not...

The tiger's energy was spent.  Her wings took her to the edge of the cliff where the others stood, and the staff that was the source of it was floating back into her hand.  The electric glow dissipated as she fell on hands and knees to the rock, leaving the just the old white tiger angel with her striped wings dropping at her sides.  The place was still rumbling, the hole was drawing in clutter, and she had barely the strength to move.

"We need...to get out of here..."  Rynkura murmured with urgency, drawing in as much breath as she could.  She didn't know how much of the area was still Asmodai's hellish trickery, but it was still going to be a long way back up.

[Angel]

It all seemed to happen so fast, and at the same time, every detail was painstakingly clear, as if someone had stopped each moment to paint it in Ketefe's mind.

In the first picture, a heavy feeling. Everything becoming difficult, and her shield beginning to fade just a little, Asmodai and Stygian hacking and slashing at each other furiously, Keaton whirling around to fire a dark assault at the fire-bleeding demon.

In the second picture, a sidelong eyeview as the feline glanced up from her frozen position on the rocks. Mel flying up to Rynkura, two glistening forms of magic coalescing in the tigress's hands, blasting once again towards Asmodai.

In the third picture, the finale of this amazing, infernal triptych, Asmodai and Stygian each screaming as the attacks hit full force, Rynkura's spearing right through both of them. A howling spirit being pulled from Asmodai's corpse, being pulled irrevocably into the endless dark - and, most frightening of all, Stygian giving one last bewildered look to the group before crumpling to the ground.

Keaton's scream pulled Ketefe from her shock. The shield winked out completely as her mind refocused on the others. She started to run to Keaton and Stygian, but stopped, realizing this was a wound that her basic healing knowledge couldn't comprehend. Rynkura's words got her attention, and the feline began to look around and notice that while the walls were sturdy enough for now, they wouldn't last. She did a quick head-count. Jeremiah was missing, and Cog... well, no-one could know, or so she thought. She had seen something fighting Asmodai, but the connection hadn't formed in her head.

In the meantime, there were other ways she could help. Light, she thought. Immediately, a small, glowing sphere began to crackle above her bracelet. It was a little dim, but it was enough. That task out of the way, she took a few deep breaths, trying to smell out Jeremiah and anyone else she could through the burning air.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

As Mel hovered above the lava pit, her wing beats keeping a bubble of cooler air around her, she scanned below to find her allies. Stygian and Keaton were easy to identify near the demon's body and she picked up Jeremiah's form close by. Ryn, a spot of brilliant white in the gloom was landing near Ketefe. Then she noticed something unusual off to the side. A spot of grey against the obsidian rocks. A familiar shade of silvery grey.

Folding her wings and dropping she found that she had located the missing party member, Cog. He was burned and crushed and limp and it took a scan with her magic to ascertain he was even alive. "Rynkura. I have found Cog. He is not in good shape."

[Stygian]

More and more, the group began feeling the clinging, horrid sensation of the place strengthening, clutching at them. Behind them, the vile dark, cavernous maw leading deeper seemed to stretch, its craggy and toothy edges like teeth wanting to snap into them. The pressure around was growing, and as the fire and darkness both fluctuated wildly, the ground cracking and the heated gases and flames and the liquid rock flared and flickered with heat.
   If Keaton had hoped to heal the bat's injury though, then it was a futile hope. She could actually feel his form seething and disintegrating, his skin turning into some ashen, crackling material in her fingers. A pallid glow emerging from somewhere deep within the sooty darkness, he looked as if he were withering, aging years in a matter of seconds. The green glow in his dark eyes flickering, he slowly shifted his gaze to the jackal.
   'No...' he rasped, head trembling as he shook it. He could feel it. Weakened by his injury, he'd gone far past the point where he had the strength to hold on to any sort of physical form. And then he would be exposed to the ruinous hunger of the cavern. Unless... 'I'm sorry.'
   Letting go of the already quickly slipping grasp he had on the shadows around, the bat finally dissipated, the mass of his body breaking apart and turning into slowly rolling black fire and dust, seeping right around and past the Succubus. Flares of green, yellow and white broke out from the heart of the cloud, pallid flickers of light licking against her, a hint of a hollow-eyed face forming amid them before they too slipped away somewhere.
   

[Boog]

The Not-Jeremiah hung from the dragon's grip, still trying to assess what in the HELL had just happened, albeit not in so few words. So, The Large Creature Is Dead. I'm Not Sure How I Feel About This. It Was A Constant Throughout My Entire Existence, Brief Though It Has Been Thus Far. Sort Of. It tugged at Mel's sleeve and turned its expressionless face toward her. "We Need To Go Up, I Believe. Very Fast. Who Is Not Yet Accounted For?" Not waiting for an answer it turned to search out anyone who could be found. It saw Keaton standing in the middle of some sort of cloud of smoke, cast its eyes about for anyone else. It had no idea why, but it was VITALLY important to it that everyone get back alive.

[Aisha deCabre]

It took a few moments for Rynkura to rest, digging up the will to get back on her feet.  While the angel took in breath after quick breath, feeling more and more like she was going to be choked to death in that horrid underground.  The darkness still surrounded them with such intent...if they didn't go soon...

But she saw the others soon accounted for.  Jeremiah, turned still into some sort of creature from only out of the most interesting of nightmares...Ketefe was just close...and Sebastian was dissipating in Keaton's arms.  Though she had very neutral opinions about the bat, it was in the Healer's mind to feel pity as he slowly wasted away into dust, his presence seemingly altogether gone.  His being of a...unique nature, Rynkura wasn't sure of what was truly happening.  But still her head found itself bowing slightly.

Then one of her ears swiveled backward, hearing her name called by the ice dragon.  Upon the news, she stood up and turned around to see where Mel was...where a very exhausted and very wounded Cogidubnus lay in full form once again.

"By gods," Rynkura hummed and walked over, using her staff more as a walking stick while her muscles slowly regained their energy.  "And here I had already finished healing him before...he was injured, deposited in the prison alongside me by Asmodai...wicked bat," she snarled slightly and bent over to help pick him up, then looked around at the others.  They were shaken, and disjointed...well past the need for rest...but there was just another trip to make, and the Healer would definitely be there to make sure they all got out alive.

Of course, Jeremiah echoed her sentiment as she saw he was there with them.  "We do, and we will.  Everyone!" Rynkura addressed, her mind trying to work quickly.  "I want all who can use their wings to help carry those who can't, fast upwards.  As fast as possible, if we cannot teleport," she glanced towards Keaton, knowing that 'Cubi often possessed that particular skill, though she hadn't yet known if the jackal herself did.  "Back to the paths, where we can run if we cannot fly."

Stretching her wings, and still feeling the effects of hell, she finished.  "We can heal everyone once we are safe back in the chapel.  Or perhaps, outside of it, back into the Castle itself."

The tiger's serious emerald gaze locked on the others.  One could see how easily she seemed like a mentor.  "Unless there is an objection, or a better idea, it would be advisable to decide who to carry and go, now."

[Mel Dragonkitty]

With a nod of agreement to Ryn's escape plan Mel stepped a bit to the side where there was more room and changed to her full sized form. "Grab on. I can get us as far as I fit, anyway."

[Sunblink]

Keaton instinctively turned her head to look at Stygian as he murmured, and immediately tried to reassure him. Keaton had little to no experience with consoling the half-dead, but she was relying on what she had witnessed Stygian endure thus far to substantiate what little confidence she had. "H-Hey," she said woodenly, trying to energize her voice with what could be interpreted as something encouraging, but failing, "Don't... don't exhaust yourself. You'll be okay. You'll -"

Contrary to Keaton's empty reassurances, deep down, she did not suspect that Stygian was going to be anything close to okay. She had never seen anyone survive an injury to the degree of what he had been inflicted. As Keaton ruminated over the impossibility of Stygian's survival, she gradually felt herself sink into desperation, which she just barely prevented from bleeding into her voice. She was so preoccupied with trying to keep her increasing frenzy in check that she didn't notice the instability to his form; not until it became obvious, at least. When he let go, she could do nothing to stop him, and could only watch helplessly as his body suddenly broke apart. He seemed to spasm in her hands, and then he was suddenly gone, leaving only rolling gouts of virulent smoke trickling through her fingers and her now-unencumbered wing-tentacles. Where Keaton's eyes were once fixated on his face, she was now just staring at her hand, smeared with ichorous blood.

Keaton felt something very cold, like a big, concentrated glacier, drop into her stomach. She was very quiet, but her mind was racing with guilt and doubt and shock and thoughts of what she was going to tell Cogidubnus, if he was alive after this mess, and for once she didn't feel responsible for Stygian's death but she still felt sad and empty. She wasn't sure why, seeing as Keaton was only in the Castle for a few nights. Although she was shaking a little, still unnerved and still digesting the gravity of what had just occurred, Keaton forced herself into motion as she realized Mel and Rynkura were departing. She chased after both of them, waving and gesturing for herself to be lifted, as she couldn't fly.

[Boog]

Fissures cracked and shook the cavern as the pulling sensation grew stronger; it was starting to reach the point where Mel had to really concentrate to keep from succumbing to the force of hell trying to go back to hell. Greasy smoke smelling of sulfur and ozone billowed up around them as the magma rose...
"... It Sounds Like Home..." The Not-Jeremiah said, watching the advancing tide. "Like Home I've Never Been To..."
Its mask cracked, slightly, chips of it being whisked to the center of the pit where something involving angles that hurt the eyes was taking place. Sounds of people and things that couldn't POSSIBLY be people in torment or some sort of madly perverse joy echoed up from below; regardless of what the spindley thing in Mel's grip was hearing, the sound pretty clearly said out. In no uncertain terms.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Leaving Cog to the care of Rynkura because she could carry the gravely injured wolf more carefully Mel grabbed her remaining three comrades up in her arms like a bunch of kittens. "Sorry. No time for dignity." With a jump and a bit of a protest from wings not designed for a vertical start the dragon fled the advancing lava.

[Aisha deCabre]

The response was as close to immediate as what had Rynkura satisfied.  With Cogidubnus safe in her grip, and the others within the dragon's, the lava was churning around them and no longer felt like holding itself in.

Gods willing...the angel tigress pleaded, flaring her wings and willing them to lift her to the air alongside Mel.  The added weight combined with her intense exhaustion kept her behind for a small while, but as hell seemed to collapse upon itself and the earth started to complain and right itself again (or so it was guessed), it was all the incentive she needed to speed straight up and into the vast upper levels.

There was another incentive, too.  The will to make sure that all of the adventurers got out alive.  The Healer had to admit that she was in desperation to do that, and even more so to see if the ones they left upstairs were safe.

Up and up they went, shooting straight past and through darkened paths of stone as things shifted in the corners of their eyesight.  Staff carried along, Rynkura was like a small beacon in the dark.  And the dark seemed to thankfully lack any remaining demons to hinder them.  She just kept her deep emerald eyes locked on the path ahead, darting the obstacles while maintaining speed, and awaiting the moment that they would lay eyes on the paths that led right back up to the chapel...

*     *     *

Back up in the peaceful chapel, the raven on the beams noticed that things seemed to feel a little more normal, though it had done so quickly, and the mess was still there.

The feeling was only slightly lost on the slowly-healing adventurers too, it seemed.  Something was making the floor rumble, and Aisha could feel it under her bare paws.  It was as faint as the rumble of a hungry stomach, but it was there and noticeable, coming and going at intervals.  It awakened her from her slumber with a bout of curiosity, lifting her head from Gareeku's shoulder and glancing around.

For that moment, she'd forgotten her wounds.  "Something's happening..." she muttered, still trying to wake up and contemplate things fully, eyes narrowing.  Was she just dreaming?  "I think...something's happening..."

[Boog]

The Not-Jeremiah crumbled, its shell cracking and fading to be sucked into the maw of hell that resonated with it. This left a significantly less useful frog hanging from Mel's grip in a gibbering panic. Where once was a merely eye-aching point had expanded into a huge patch of a thing indescribable; it was something the eye was not meant to register, not a presence or absence of light but light that was in some indescribable way wrong. It grew and pursued them, more of the cavern being sucked into it and going away...

--

Meanwhile, elsewhere...
The floor shook. This was not in and of itself terribly exciting, but the happenstances that it seemed to trigger seemed to have quite the result. Something brushed Aisha's foot... Rats. Or something that used to be rats. Or things trying and failing to be rats. All heading OUT, as fast as they could go. Some were trailing a sort of vapor, leading behind them in the direction of the hellmouth.
Nothing wants to go back to hell. Even the things from there.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Clutching her three hitchhikers tightly Mel was very glad that her wings were large for her size and that she had spent her university years on the racing team. This was a race for higher stakes than a gilded trophy. She knew she was making frightened little squeaky sounds in her paniced flight but the howls of the things both chasing and bypassing them were drowning it out. Jeremiah was squirming dangerously in her grip but by the look in his eyes as he looked back over her shoulder Mel decided to neither protest nor look back. The things swirling around them, also fleeing, were enough to horrify her without seeing what they were afraid of. Each time one brushed against her stung and burned. Luckily Ryn was keeping pace as Mel drove upwards for the exit that was hopefully still open.

[Aisha deCabre]

On and on, as more of Hell was swallowed in that maw of darkness, Rynkura's wings strained, her eyes narrowed against the ceiling.  Occassionally the tigress veered away from the spirits straining...not against them, but with them...to get out.  In a roundabout way it was like getting out of a cave by following the bats to where they flew outside...or following birds to shore.  If there was an escape route, they seemed to know where it was...

But far be it for Rynkura to let any more of those beasts out.

Gritting her teeth, the angel glanced to Mel as she kept a tight but gentle hold on the still-unconscious silver wolf.  "I don't suppose anyone knows any good holy sealing spells...or perhaps you, Lady Mel?  Because once we get out, it looks like we may have to take precautions to...AH!"

She exclaimed while trying to dodge another barrage of creatures wheeling past, righting herself from a barrel roll before trying to speak again.  "We may have to take precautions to make sure nothing else comes out or the entire place isn't swallowed...!"

And sure enough, there it was...the path, too crumbled and worn to walk on.  The hole was just about in sight, and it became a race to reach it before anything else happened...

*     *     *

Aisha twitched and lifted her feet up to the bench quickly as soon as she saw movement on the floor, and against her fur.  She wasn't afraid of rats of course...but then again, these didn't even make the effort to look like rats.

So long as they weren't attacking, at least.  There was more fear than aggression.  Lots of fear, from the quivering floor.

That was fortunate.  Neither she nor Gareeku looked like they had the energy to participate in any more fights just yet...watching the altar, Aisha silently hoped that they could hold out.

[Gareeku]

He did not know how long he had been out for. Slowly his eyes has closed completely, his body giving in to the wave of oncoming unconsciousness.

"Wha...what's going on..." The white wolf murmured with a drowsy slur as he slowly came to. Seeing those...things...scurring along the floor. Like rats, but only a grotesque mockery of them. Though the way they were moving. It didn't seem out of anything else but fear.

"What the hell..."

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha's ear twitched as she heard Gareeku stirring, her attention momentarily diverted from watching the macabre spirits scurrying across the floor.  Despite the uncertainty of the moment, she gave him a light smile.  "Hey, good morning mi amigo," she said, although it was hard to tell whether it was morning yet.

Not saying anything else except for releasing a grunt, she unsheathed her sword and held it in front of her near the floor.  The rat-things still didn't seem to notice them as they ran straight out from beneath the altar in fear, but she wasn't about to let anything attack them just in case; though she still felt a bit of pain from her wounds and fatigue from some blood loss.

The floor still quivering, she looked on in concern...what was happening?  Were their comrades coming back?  Or was something else coming for them?  Seeing lesser creatures from Hell itself running from something didn't seem at all like a good sign...

"I'd like to know what the hell's going on too," she said, gritting her teeth.  "Part of me wants to go push the altar back over the hole, and part of me wants to wait...I don't know what we should do..."

Wanting to banish the worry (hard as it was to try), she glanced back toward the wolf, her face softening.  "How're you holding up?  That bracer been working for you?"