The Castle (IC) [M] {04}

[Sunblink]

"They've opened up a passage to Hell!"

Attention triggered by the sound of Stygian's panicked voice, Keaton's head snapped to the side, ocher-orb gaze landing squarely on the white-blond bat as he rushed past her. Instantly the rest of Keaton's body followed the gesture of her head, spinning her form around so she could stare directly at his retreating form, the coattails of rippling darkness cascading off of his body.

Despite the escalating panic of the situation Keaton found herself growing irrationally angry, even moreso than she was before, perhaps exacerbated by her previous, smoldering ire, but now directed towards how confused she was about what was going on and how useless she felt.

"They opened a gate to WHAT?!" Keaton demanded, screaming over the shrill shriek of the flames and the cacophonous screeching of the apparitions assailing them. "I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING O--"

Before she could continue that enraged, partially-delirious exclamation, one of the tentacles trailing behind Stygian's form hooked behind her and looped around her waist, snatching her up and dragging her along with him. At first she instinctually resisted, not appreciating the presence of something so vile on her body, but halfway through her thrashing she realized how unwise it would be to reject something which was only here to accelerate her. Instead, she moved along with it, feet grazing the ground as she propelled herself forward, hand still clutching Catastrophe.

"What the FLYING FUCK is GOING ON!?" Keaton shouted again, unable to keep the rising panic from her voice.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Pausing just long enough to haul the now conscious rat to his feet and push him towards the corridor Mel ran. As she ran Mel went over her spells but couldn't think of anything that seemed likely to work. She was an elementalist and illusionist, neither of which would be effective against spirits. She heard the others running as well. The hallway gave no choices of direction so forward they went, dodging the flaming skulls until they got to an area that seemed familiar.

[Cogidubnus]

Cog's eyes widened at the bat's sudden proclamation, taking a step back. His face darkened, and he muttered a string of curses under his breath. It wasn't too long ago they had just bottled hell up. Now some idiots had undone everything they had nearly died for.

Cog watched as Sebastian scooped up the protesting Keaton, and with his glowing sword in hand he ran after the two, sheathing his blade as he started forward. Multiple points about the wolf's body glowed, hidden charms working their magic, and the darkness seemed to recede just slightly to the wolf's presence. Keeping clear of the walls, he ran quickly down the halls, one hand on his sword, the other on his hat.

[Stygian]

Diving around a corner, Stygian let go of Keaton and unholstered his right-hand gun. It would hardly do anything to stave off the ghost-like things around them, but he knew worse things were probably on their way. Not to mention that the spider's protesting was becoming increasingly difficult. She moaned and struggled in his grip.
   'You heard me! Eyes open!' the bat shouted back over his shoulder. His moment of inattention earned him a whack on the side of his face, which made him growl and wrench his grip on the woman in his arms around. A more human-like spirit stared in puzzlement at the troupe as they ran past.
   'Put me down, you idiot!' Sal cried out, before striking out again and gracing her captor with a swipe of claws across the face. Another one of her hands was gripping his shoulder, digging into the pallid fur. 'Let me g-'
   Stygian whirled around, and for a second the spider cried out as she was slung like the water in a bucket on a rope in a lab demonstration of centripetal force. The next second that force was turned into a bone-jarring impact as she was pinned against the stone wall, the bat's hand around her throat. 'What is wrong with you, bitch?!' he snarled.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog nearly stumbled to a halt, their sudden brisk pace interrupted as the Bat slammed Sal into a wall, his hand wrapped around her throat as he nearly growled at her. Cog stood still, his eyes scanning, and sighing he paused, refraining from leaning against the hellfire-lit walls. Now really wasn't the time...

Sebastian's face inched in close the spiders, his eyes glowing like coals as the Sal writhed in his grasp. She stared daggers back up at him, her fangs bared and her face twisted in anger.
"If you...do-ack! If you don't let me go..." She began, fury rising up from her voice. She opened her mouth to speak again when it clacked shut, her jaw pushed up from below.
The barrel of a very large pistol rested against her chin, Sebastian's face now twisted in distaste. He turned the barrel a little bit, making sure the spider felt the cold steel digging into her chin.

Cog's eyes widened. Although he -was- all in favor of killing Sal as quickly as possible, he hadn't expected the bat to merely be waiting for her to wake up. That didn't really...no. Cog kept his mouth shut and waited, yellow eyes watching the exchange carefully.

"Those things might kill you." the bat began, embered eyes boring into the spider's black. "But this will go through your head and take a third of your brains with it!"
He pressed up just slightly with the barrel. Now. I know you've been ordered to kill us. But if you can't wait... Sebastian said, his voice dripping with menace. He didn't smile - he didn't seem to enjoy it at all. It was simply business.
That was perhaps more terrifying than any grin, or any laughter could ever have made it.

Sal stared hard at the bat, calculating. She seemed to hang there forever, although it couldn't have been more than ten seconds. She swallowed, the sound audible even through the strange dissonance that now enveloped the castle, and nodded once.

Cog looked at her, his face blank, and turned back to the hallway, eldritch flames filling his vision.

[lucas marcone]

Ian stumbled along the halls assured Mel was behind him. As he entered the room the walls he was useing for balance ended and he fell and hit the floor with his left sholder. "Mel? What the fuck is going ON?" He had never had to deal with anything like this.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Wandering a little lost, Bambi finds her way to Chapel without Gina's help.  The Poor girl has grown more more quiet as they near the chapel.

Bam sees the two males entering the chapel. But she must stop and stay with Gina down the hall in a nook as she trying to calm the girl down after seeing the old bat. 

"Come on Gina, we have to stop them, for once the hellgate is open again, it will be too late...." Bam finishes as the blast of the shockwave hits Bam and Gina.  The Fae instinctively raises a shield around Gina and herself as they huddle in the corner.  and the Spirits flys past them.

PBH   

[Angel]

Just after Ketefe had helped Aisha to her feet and was tensed to run down the hallway, a ghoulish apparition flew right through her.

She started to gasp, and then fell to the ground, dropping her sword with a loud clang. She dug her claws into her arms as she clasped her stomach and clenched her teeth shut; her insides were churning so violently she thought she might vomit them out. If she didn't, she'd be forced to slice herself open to get rid of the awful feeling. The creatures surrounded her, and the nape of her neck was suddenly burning, freezing, it didn't matter, she just wanted it to stop.

Must...have...! A low, horribly clear voice was whispering to her, but the agony and fear prevented her from answering. She felt it move into her head somehow, and then the pain and terror rose as white-hot, piercing images and thoughts rushed into her already overwhelmed mind. Memories, voices, and panic blended together in a somehow palpable pain that she had never known could be real. Her hands shot from her stomach to her head as she clawed at the back of her skull, arched forward and screamed at last.

"GET IT OUT OF ME!!!" she howled, eyes squeezed shut in a tortured, panicked grimace as tears trickled out of them. "MAKE IT STOP!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!"

[Boog]

Jeremiah had no idea what to do. Ghouls, panicking people, and so damn COLD...
"Warned ya this place got interesting. Get those guns out in case something angry and tangible shows up!" The frog shouted after Ian, before going over to Ketefe. Those screams...
A ferret woman, on the floor of the chapel, trying to scream out whatever was trying to posess her.
So Jeremiah did what somewhat worked on Gina.
"Ketefe? Ketefe! Can you hear me?" The teacher took off his glasses and looked the young woman in the eyes, "Everything's going to be fine, Ketefe." His voice dropping to that low, softly hypnotic tone as he mustered what little magical power he had to work with. He was still so drained, from when the Lunacy had him... "Do you hear me? Everything will be fine. Can you walk, Ketefe?"

[lucas marcone]

"The guns the guns! Where the fuck are my gu-- FUCK! They're probably still in that hall!" Ian said exaserbatedly. The guns wern't his only line of defence though. He leaned over Jerimaiah. "O.k. I know something's been f.u.b.a.r. how do we fix it?" Ian had fully recovered by this point, though he was still disoriented and confused but atleast he had his wits back.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Realizing she had lost everyone else, Mel stopped running. She was at a joining of multiple hallways and recognized where they were, or where they had been driven perhaps. The corridor leading off in a 90 degree angle from the one they were in was half-blocked with the bodies of dead spiders the size of dogs, the walls painted with their blood. The hallway to the chapel that they had fought their way to only two days before. "The hell gate," she whispered, realizing why this seemed so familiar. "Someone reopened the gateThat is the only explanation. We need to find the others, or find a safe spot to wait for them to come looking for the trouble."

[Stygian]

The two men stood like statues, dark against the church walls that were illuminated by the brass light emanating from glyphs and symbols. An eerie glow was flickering behind the stained glass windows, tainting their colors in the fiery glow. Already the face of the chapel had changed. The broken columns had somehow mended themselves, though the cracks still remained in the stone. The statues had changed somehow, growing fiercer and darker in expression and appearance.
   'It should do,' a voice grated, audible even through the chorus of soft and horrible moans that echoed throughout the chapel. 'Go. I will send you aid.'
   The floor shook again, and the rasping of heavy stone on stone immersed the place, almost concealing the tapping footsteps heading in the direction of the entrance. A cold, hard clattering of claws followed them, and ragged breaths seemed almost at the neck of the two women hiding. Next to Bam, Gina cringed and backed up, hiding her face and making herself as small as she could.

- -

Satisfied with the spider's answer, Stygian slowly removed his pistol, the cold metal gleaming darkly in the murky light. 'Good,' he said, retreating carefully, wary of any sort of retribution from her. As much as she seemed reasonable, he knew quite well that Sal was more like an animal than any of them, more subject to her instincts. She had been made that way. 'Now, you will help us find our friends and ma...'
   A rattling hiss interrupted him, and in a moment Stygian's concern with Sal was as good as washed away. A snarl from the deepest shadows at the end of the corridor was turned into a scream, and something crawled down from the ceiling, eyes glowing like fire as it peered at them with malice. Whipping a barbed tail behind it, it crouched low, and then lunged out at them, a dark mottled red-brown shape made of hideous sinew and muscle. Stygian swung his arm out and fired away, his gun roaring at the incoming monstrum.

- -

It was horrid. Thoughts and feelings that were not hers flooded her head until she thought it would burst. Her eyes stung from the tears and her spine felt as if it were trying to escape her body. But most frightening to Ketefe was the voice that called in her head, hissing words in a garble between English and some other language she couldn't understand. It was clinging to her, she realized, gripping her mind like a clawed hand fighting for a grip from falling back into whatever hellish pit it had come from.
   Jeremiah's attempts at soothing the girl were only met with what seemed like worsening symptoms. Ketefe started shuddering, wracked with more than just her own sobs, and the frog could almost see her skin bristling with the seizures overcoming her.
   Then, against her will, the cat's shuddering hands sprang forward, mercurially quick, seizing Jeremiah by the throat. Her trembling fingers clenched, and her eyes sprang open. They were red and lit as if with fire from within.
   'Leave me alone!' The words that passed Ketefe's lips were not her own, and neither was the rasping voice that turned into a screech her own throat could never have mustered. Her face contorted in senseless fury and something else, before the real Ketefe surfaced again in tears. She was fighting to pry her hands from the frog, but it was as if something else was holding them from within, and it was frighteningly strong.

[Sunblink]

When Sal began to writhe and thrash wildly on Stygian's back, struggling to break free from his protective grasp, Keaton nearly stopped where she was running, automatically lifting Catastrophe and allowing her gaze to snag onto Sal's twisting form. "YOU!" she ejaculated in a loud, grating snarl, her fists clenching around the handle of her mace. "I'LL K--"

Alas, neither bat nor arachnid had heard the beginning of Keaton's threat over the tempestuous screaming of the flailing flames. Before she could resume her rant, Keaton felt herself trail off as the cold barrel of Stygian's shotgun was jabbed into Sal's chin, pushing her jaw upright. For a split second, something akin to fiery satisfaction coursed through Keaton's veins, trailed behind by coattails of sparking shock. Against the flaming glow suffusing the room the gun looked nearly like it was coated in liquid metal, its whole bulky body beaming with erubescent orange, giving it an almost devilish radiance far too harsh and seething to be considered anything close to benevolent.

While she was initially internally goading Stygian on to pull the trigger and blow the bitch's brains out, this attitude soon faded to make way for cold, numb surprise. She wasn't sure why--it was probably the fatalistic calm in which Stygian handled threatening Sal, maybe something as minuscule as the subtle tension in his trigger finger or the ominous luminescence radiated in his grey-black eyes, but either way, her sadistic joy was soon robbed from her. She didn't even feel the slightest twinge of disappointment when Stygian removed the gun from under Sal's chin and returned it to its resting place, the resplendent flash of acrid light flickering off of the weapon's edge signifying its departure.

Instead, Keaton felt slightly appreciative that his ire hadn't been directed towards her.

This lasted only momentarily. They needed to move. A hoarse, hollow hiss whistled over the eldritch scream of the fire as a sinewy figure was catapulted over the gnarled halos of flame, the wretched creature itself landing in a heap of muscled tissue and moist innards before them as its whip-like tail unfurled behind it. Keaton unconsciously released a snarl of revulsion as she took a preparatory step back, but the reminding presence of Catastrophe in her hands restored her courage.

Even as the voices in her head mocked and reprimanded her efforts she reared back, preparing herself for any assaults in her direction from the sinuous creature, outline illuminated in the rapid gunfire.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Boog]

Jeremiah scrabbled at Ketefe's hands locked around his throat. He'd forgotten that Gina had been like this too, the only difference being that he'd had Cog to pin her down.
Wait, what had Cog done. That thing that had helped keep her down...
"Kyrie, fons bonitatis..." The frog choked out, not taking his eyes away from the girl's for a second.

[Aisha deCabre]

"Hell...?" Rynkura asked with an intense bit of incredulity in her voice, disbelief her ruling emotion while the rest of her energy was focused on keeping the malevolent and pained spirits from penetrating their defenses.  The cries still came to her ears like screeches and howls, loud enough to stick in her mind even when she tried to curb her hearing by pinning her ears.  It was shot after shot and attack after attack, while behind she could hear Keaton trying to make sense of the whole thing.

But it was hard to ignore.  Adventurers, Creatures, and a bunch of unmindful explorers against the essences of the tortured and malevolent...if they weren't going to be found soon...

That was when she halted for the moment, eyes settling on the disturbance that had come from among them.  In a flurry of curses the spider woman had suddenly awakened, struggling with futility against the bat's grip and instantaneously tossed against the wall.  Rynkura had almost reacted as Keaton did, her hand already glowing with that electric blue tinge that signaled the start of her dart spell.  But Sal was already being threatened in a more crude method: with the barrel of a gun to her head.  Like the jackal's anger, the spell was diffused and the tiger's attention simply returned to protecting the group's flank.

She had her doubts about the woman.  More than likely, she would have several sets of eyes watching her actions from there on forth.  The group had more pressing business to get to...until the appearance of the beast before them.

"Damn this!" Rynkura spat and leaped out of the way as the monstrosity approached, its body being met by the oncoming and rapid barrage of gunfire.  While that was dealt with, the tigress whipped her head in the other direction, and then her hand rose to slam another presence in the face with a flare of light, moving her feet to meet anything else that could come at them.

Time to clear a path.

*     *     *

The bracer blocked the pain enough that had come from the ghastly encounter.  But even then, that left Aisha with little choice but to remain in that tower base alcove; where she least wanted to remain, to fend off the creatures while the others tried to run to the hopeful and temporary sanctuary of the chapel.  Mel had already gotten Ian to his feet and heeded her words...but before Ketefe could, she had been struck down and was now on her knees, screaming and attempting to literally banish the demon from her head.

"This is no good," the panther snarled, observing as Jeremiah tried to help while the spirits just kept moving around them, their voices rising in a chorus of discord, lacking all harmony.  Voices in different tongues, and scarily even including that of her ancestors, swept and threatened to scare the souls of the mortals before them.  They weren't going to be scared away by her own trusted blade.  That was slid back into the sheath at her belt...and from the sheath on her back, she grabbed the handle of the holy sword.

As she drew it, she could feel the stinging spark that flew through her hand.  In the very presence of the energy around them, the blade took on a hot red glow, flames licking and snaking along the steel surface.  Strangely, Aisha didn't feel the heat from those flames...the fireproofing on her new amulet saw to that.  Even when they were close enough to touch her hands, all she felt was a tingle on her skin.

She held the sword up like a shield, and the light from the flames caused a circular orange light at their feet.  Ketefe continued to scream...Jeremiah continued to reassure...Aisha continued to prevent the loss of her composure.  The raven clung to her shoulder, wings flaring outward and adding to the noise of the surroundings.

And then, the thing that held the masked feline in its powerful grip had taken control of her body...the next instant, the frog's throat was in her unwilling, clenched fingers.  How the hell were they going to run now...?

Aisha didn't have time to think.  With a quick word, she tried the hopefully next best thing and unlocked the bracer on her wrist, snapping it on Ketefe's outstretched arm while she tried to help pry the frog from her hold.  The influence of the light magic would hopefully be coursing through her system within moments, doing its job to liberate her from the impurity within.

"You guys better be ready to RUN!" Aisha snarled in command as the blade in her other hand took on a brighter glow.  To the screeching mass of black feathers, she quickly brushed it off her shoulder.  "No place for you either, cuervo.  Get out of here or find a way to the others, guide them maybe.  Either way, get!"

It was clear that she was getting more impatient, angry...and thus, scared...by the moment.

[lucas marcone]

Ian was watching waiting to see if she had the willpower. Things didn't look good, so he got into a muy thai stance ready to drop on her if things got worse.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel wondered where she had lost everyone. She hadn't run that quickly. Looking back down the hall she only caught the movement in the chapel out of the corner of her eye. Caught flat-footed in the middle of the hallway she was as visible to the bat, panther, and things as they were to her. For one panicked second she could only stare, before taking back off at a run the way she came, hoping the others had found a safe bolt-hole. Things just got a whole lot worse.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

The cracking and scrapping sound of stone and rock over the hollows of tortured spirits, Bam pulled the quaking ferret farther out of sight into the side hallway and beneath a wooden bench.  Using the wood to mask their presence from the main hallway,as the clawed thing barrel its way up to the main castle.

After a few moments of not any sound, even the ghostly whails were far off,  that Bam dares to open her eyes to see.  a puppy  yes a three headed puppy... that did licks Gina and Bam.  But Gina pulls back, she know what it is.  Bam throws a stick down the hallway as a distraction, but the puppy as big as a Great Dane, has no trouble at all bring back an oak bench.   Bam and Gina trying get away, find their way block by the puppy and the dropped bench and  awaiting for another throw.  Yet, Bambi can only shake her head "no", and the puppy growls and grows to full height.  His shoulders reaches near the ceiling and his heads the width of the side hallway as he growlings at the girls and gives a bark.  The old bat laughes at the girls to see their fright.

PBH

[Angel]

It was the worst moment of her life, and if she didn't die, she'd be amazed and terrified.

Ketefe's body felt like it was going to rip apart at any second, her brain overflowing with foreign thoughts, her spine strained against her skin, and her eyes and cheeks burning from hot tears and shame. A subtle warmth was near her, and she opened her eyes a little to see Aisha standing nearby, and Jeremiah right in front of her, staring at her calmly. She could hear the frog's voice trying to placate her, felt a warm trickle of magic try to invade her mind. But it was all in vain. Whatever had invaded her was clinging to her brain for dear life, it wouldn't allow Jeremiah to take control. She felt her muscles spasm against her will. It felt like she was being pulled out of her conscious mind, but she couldn't fight it, and sweet Lord where was this pain coming from...

Then she watched her own arms shoot forward and her unwilling fingers lock around Jeremiah's throat.

"Leave me alone!" A raspy voice - no doubt the voice of her parasite - growled out of Ketefe's throat, and she heard herself screech well outside her voice's range. As if to tease her, the creature let Ketefe come out again. She tried to pry her fingers off of her friend's neck, but it was teasing her again; they wouldn't come undone, and the frog was starting to choke. Fresh tears spilled down her face as she pleaded with her body: Let him go, he's a friend, he's helping me, why won't you let go? Stop this! STOP! Her eyes begged Jeremiah to forgive her; she didn't want to kill the first person who'd been nice to her...

Sudden squawking distracted her thoughts. She moved her eyes to see Aisha, and her crow, move forward suddenly and snap her bracer onto Ketefe's wrist. The panthress snapped at the others to prepare to run, but Jeremiah couldn't move, and Ian was now standing in some sort of karate stance. All eyes were on the masked cat.

Something in her head hissed, and she felt the shadow back away from the bracer and into her mind again - still present, but unable to do anything more... for now. She released Jeremiah's throat at last, and her crying gradually quieted to a few hiccuping sobs. She looked up at the others - ashamed and frightened, but shaking with relief that the pain had stopped and her friends were safe.

[Stygian]

The moment Aisha's bracer snapped on her, Ketefe felt the pain recede. It didn't vanish, but it mildened enough that it seemed at least partially bearable, a mere itching compared to the burning before. Her trembling stopped as the voice in her head screamed out in pain and faded into a mere whisper, and though she still shivered she had little problem removing her hands from Jeremiah. Still, though her darkened features had returned to normal, there was still an unnatural glow to her eyes behind the tears.
   The  few moments of peace that Ketefe's recovery led to were rudely interrupted by a bestial growl from down the corridor they had come from. A dark shape, four eyes low to the floor visible at its head and a ridge of spines along its back, was hurdling down it toward them. It looked like a huge, mutilated wolf of some kind, and it was raging, foaming at the mouth and its claws scraping the floor raw as it ran for them.

- -

As the muscular thing fell upon him and the spider, Stygian leapt back to get out of its way. It landed between him and Sal, and grabbed his leg before he could get away. Fortunately it managed to do little more than claw him before a bullet tore through its head. A hard kick from the spider sent the thing flying. It screeched and flailed wildly as if it didn't know it was dead already.
   'Shit!' Stygian spat, pulling his second gun. His head swiveled around while his gaze searched the dark. Then his eyes found Mel. She was standing down at the end of the hallway, not fifty metres from them. 'Get moving!' he shouted, and leapt back up, squeezing the triggers of his guns and sending a hail of bullets into the dark that strobed with the muzzle flashes, revealing crawling forms on the walls. He ran backwards, firing at the creatures even as they leapt down for the others, hoping that he could nail at least a few before they had a chance to drag the others with them. Looking over his shoulder, he screamed at Mel. 'Get the others! Run! We're coming!'
   The shuddering started again, and dust fell from the ceiling as the walls began moving.

[Boog]

Jeremiah backed away from Ketefe, coughing and clutching his throat. It ain't fair. It ain't damn fair. You shouldn't feel like your not as young as you used to be when you're barely thirty.
Because, you know, fair's been a big part of your life up until now.
His head swam, his senses drowned... But the girl young enough to be one of his students was safe.
He saw the look on her face and tried to smile. Didn't exactly succeed, but he made the attempt, "Hey, kid, don't worry. Hell, I'm sure as hell not about to accuse you of anyth-"
And then things were awful again.
A monstrous thing that looked as though it were once canine, storming down the hall. Elsewhere, he thought he heard Sebastion yelling. He saw dust flutter from the ceiling, a twitch at the end of Ian's tail, heard gunfire...
Nope. Ignoring it didn't work. The monster was still there.
With a curse that could blister paint Jeremiah threw a pair of illusion traps between the beast and the group. They weren't complex things that had to be drawn out in symbols like the previous one, just illusions of more people, with spells for searing flame and smoke inside. Given the amount of power he had to work with, it wasn't exactly a LARGE amount of fire and smoke, but he was hoping that, like a canine, the thing would attack with its teeth first.
"Aisha!?" the frog yelped, trying to look at everything that was going wrong at once, "Getting the distinct impression that any weapons you're not using better go to someone who will! Ian, got anything?!"

[Sunblink]

Fortunately for Keaton, the sinewy creature which had launched itself at them did not have the opportunity to redirect its bloodstained gaze towards her--for its efforts it was rewarded with a bullet wound through the skull and a harsh kick from Sal, sending its writhing form sprawling on the ground. Keaton let out a relative sigh of relief, but knew this reprieve was short-lived--sooner or later this abomination would be replaced with a swarm of several more, or maybe even worse.

Never before had she been so unhappy to be right. Rapid-fire flashes of gunshots rocketed through the air, tearing through the flesh and bone of dozens of other mutated monstrosities clinging like wretched arachnids to the walls.

"Holy shi--" was all Keaton could get in before this profane exclamation severed away into a loud cry as one of the creatures hurled itself bodily at her.

It soared overhead, one of its meaty claws grazing her forehead with the serrated edges of its wicked nails, opening a shallow, but nevertheless acute slash of red. Snarling in pain, Keaton drew back, shielding her eyes from the fresh torrent of blood which poured from the wound--since it was on her forehead, the bleeding was copious, the trickling red streams easily traversing past her chin and rolling down the length of her neck. Shrieking vengefully, Keaton whirled around to face the creature as it ran at her, left-eye vision dyed with crimson. Gratefully, her artificial eye-stone had been mercifully spared from the encroaching mask of ichorous blood. One eye was all she needed for her to target her approaching adversary--she swung Catastrophe with all the force her body could muster as she rushed past, the barbed head smashing right into the beast's mutilated face. Pulpy blood spurted around the puncture wounds created by Keaton's mace, the creature slumping onto the weapon before its body was discarded by a sling of Catastrophe.

Even with her would-be attacker destroyed and blood clouding her right eye (she kept it shut to avoid more from spilling into it), Keaton kept running after Stygian and the others, Catastrophe held in a preparatory stance beside her. Around them, great plumes of dust billowed from the ceiling, the walls shifting and shuddering.

She was not in a happy mood.

Anyone who attacked her would witness that.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog's blade flickered a strange, white-red in the hellfire covering the hallway, the flames reflecting off the metal even as his sword glowed a holy white. His glasses flashed bright and opaque for just a moment as he walked forward, blood dripping from the tip of his sword. Without looking or breaking stride, he whipped the blade in in front of him in a tight arc, the blood sluicing off the steel to spatter along the wall. A second later he walked with both hands free, the blade resting at his side. Two halves of a demon poured blood onto the marble floor behind him, black blood making the stone slick.

A demon crawling along the ceiling barked something harsh at the wolf, and dropped straight down on him, intent on simply holding Cog down as he bit and tore at his throat. It let go of the ceiling above the wolf, arms and mouth stretched wide.  A droplet of saliva fell past the brim of Cog's hat.
Hand pulling back on the sheath of his blade, Cog grabbed at the hilt with his other hand and almost dropped to a knee, using his momentum to slide forward even as he turned on his heels, using the sudden rotation of his hips and the backwards motion of his hands to free the blade. The sword rose instantly, swinging into position over his head. His eyes rose upwards, and he could count the number of teeth the demon was showing him. Taking a sliding step forward, he struck, his sword turning into an arc of silver above his head.
The demon fell on his shoulders in two halves, nearly knocking the wolf down, precariously positioned on the top of one foot, and the other in line with it. He stumbled, the two halves sliding off him and slicking him in gore, matting down his hair obscenely and painting two sides of him a deep scarlet.
He stepped out of the entrails surrounding his feet, stopping a moment to spit blood on the floor, and turned again, looking down the hallway. More demons greeted his eyes.

He twisted his face in disgust and began to walk towards them, his feet leaving little bloody footprints on the marble.

[Aisha deCabre]

In Aisha's mind, she frantically prayed for the bracer to have an effect.  And whether or not a prayer worked in this furiously hellish house-scape, becoming more hellish by the minute, at least she noticed it had worked.  Ketefe had a little more control over herself, but the fact that the spirit hadn't left her body entirely had worried the panthress...never before had the relic failed in this sort of thing before.  But then again, they had never faced a horde of malevolence of this magnitude.

"Get up, chica," she helped the masked feline to her feet, shaking with fear and still in tears while the apparition still dwelt with her.  The situation had just become more difficult...with Mel suddenly lost, having not come back with Ian, Aisha (while not the only one with weapons) was the only true and fit adventurer left with this group.  She was only glad that Gareeku had stayed down in the town when all of this started.

The holy blade seemed to flare brighter with her sense of urgency.  So I'm left with a punk kid, a girl who'll need an exorcism, and a strange frog.

But then they heard something horrific enough to cut through the screams and howls from the spirits still lingering around and past them: following a soul-trembling growl was the sound of scraping claws and of running, getting louder and closer.

The panther swerved upon hearing Jeremiah's panicked voice, following his gaze to the creature coming toward them.  Reminiscent of the Fenris, a crazed wolfen-like canid eyed them with intense hunger in its fearsome gaze and power behind its legs.  As the demonic creature advanced, Aisha growled and quirked an eyebrow at the frog.  "You think that thing will mind Ian in the condition he's in?  He'll be torn apart, and I'm not about to let anyone get torn apart.  Just keep an eye on Ketefe."

Just don't let ME be torn apart.

She stood in the creature's path, the sword held high in the air with both hands gripping the handle fiercely.  The fire from the blade, now that she no longer feared being burned, seemed to travel to her hands...and she felt the grip tighten and strengthen, arms eagerly ready and on a hair-trigger to release its power.  The beast kept running, undeterred at the appearance, waiting to get one of the helpless in its grasp.  The panther's eyes, as red as the blood they always saw, were equally as dangerous.

And then, she swung the blade through the air hard and fast, the flames whiplashing towards the creature in a bright and luminous arc, hungry to touch and consume the flesh of the beast.  And if it would resist that, she had leaped forth, ready to impale it in the neck...

[Stygian]

More screams ensued as they fought their way back toward the others. Stygian was making good way, but unlike him the others had to fight their way clear, and couldn't make nearly as speedy an exit. Closest was Keaton, but even she was a good dozen meters behind, and time was running short.
   The first sign was a single stone moving out of place, being pulled halfway out of the wall as if it had been pushed by a hand from behind it. Then the entire walls began breaking apart, the perfectly rectangle stones moving as if by their own volition and rearranging themselves gradually, closing more and more of the passage off. Clearly, someone or something was trying its hardest to make sure they kept separated.
   There was no time. Cursing loudly, Stygian turned and sprinted toward the opening, the darkness of his wings morphing and billowing out around him, stretching into clawed tentacles that grappled with the stones. But the tiles slipped between the darkness, or forced it aside. He couldn't get a grip. Sprinting forward, he threw himself through the remaining opening, and then tried to put his hands between them, but the section of wall was too thick for him to succeed. He tried to tear the wall asunder with his darkness, a feat which normally would have been a relatively easy task for him, but nothing worked. Fingers numbing, he drew back from the wall, watching the last few stones slipping perfectly into place, a sight which no doubt must have been replicated on the other side. More monstrous screeches ensued.
   'Fuck! Keaton!' He banged his hands on the wall, cold and hard and standing as impeccably solid as if it had always been that way. 'Cog! Go back and around! We'll come to you!'

- -

The monstrous thing didn't even hesitate as Aisha faced it. Its mouth frothed some sort of cindery ash as it tore through Jeremiah's illusions and rumbled past. In the illumination of the windows, the panthress could see its twisted form clearly, the spines and spikes along its back jutting through the flesh that had been scraped raw of fur at many places as if they had been pushed through it like studs. Bellowing in rage, it threw itself into the oncoming whiplash, which took it in the face and elicited another roar of agony through the crazed thing. Its momentum still carried it forward, though blindly, swinging jaws that could have ripped a car apart around for its attacker.

[Boog]

Jeremiah swore as whatever it was went through his illusion traps like they were made of smoke. They were, but that's neither here nor there. He was scared, but it was a cold sort of fear, the kind one can use. It gnawed and burrowed rather than throttled and burned.
A laugh bubbled up in his damaged throat.
Jeremiah clamped his teeth down and held it in, trying another spell to simply cover over the monsters eyes and confound its hearing with a ventriloquism spell.
To command such a beast... What prestige!
It has nothing to take!
Run, you fool!
Because, as you all know, it's not a full day without something going wrong.

[Sunblink]

Keaton only noticed the erratic shifting of the rocky walls when it was too late--the loss of her depth perception had hindered her vision, not to mention the additional distractions of the blood caking her face and the shrieking of the demons--a sizable rectangle of stone thrust outward from the rumbling wall, erupting a few millimeters from the taut muscles of Keaton's stomach. Involuntarily, Keaton let out a loud curse as she withdrew, then attempted to follow, but was stopped by yet another rectangle shooting out in front of her. This time it was accompanied. Shortly afterwards the rest of the wall followed, utterly obscuring the distance between her and Stygian and severing her way of escape. The bat himself had tried valiantly to prevent it from doing so, but even that had resisted him, forcing him to withdraw before he was pulverized.

Keaton screamed out another curse, mostly released in frustration and anger. "GOD DAMMIT!" she wailed, clawing at the relentless stone with one hand while she readied Catastrophe with the other. No! This could not be happening!

Backing up, she swung the mace around in a sweeping, horizontal arc, hoping to smash the wall to pieces. The spherical head resonated against the wall, its many spikes grating along the stone just before it bounced off, Keaton's arm instinctively jerking as an irreversible tremor raced up the pommel and along her arm. Despite Keaton's effort and the force contained in the swing, the wall was undamaged, not even a mark marring its surface. Keaton screamed again, swinging and swinging away, each attempt rewarded with the same result. Swing after swing seemed to increase in strength as Keaton's rage escalated, but not a single one affected the barricade--every last one was repelled instantly, almost as though it was unbreakable.

One last scream punctuated the collision of the mace to the unyielding wall. Keaton stood where she was, panting and heaving, Catastrophe's head resting against the ground. Her muscles trembled, her heart pounded in her shaking chest, and for once, reality started to swim back into her. For the first time, she tasted the sour blood in her mouth and felt the aching pain sting at her exhausted muscles, and most especially the raging frustration which flared in the depths of her stomach.

It was only set ablaze when the slightest of cracks appeared in the wall, snaking like trickling ink across its surface, then stopping. Too superficial, too shallow, to make any difference.

The mace clattered to the ground as it slipped from Keaton's formerly petrified grip. Tangling her fingers in her hair, Keaton flung back her head and let out a loud, prolonged shriek, a single exclamation of anguished fury and defeat as every single failure and inadequacy came crashing down on her in that one, fucking, second. It was unbearable. It really was true. She was a detriment, useless, nothing more than an obstacle for her companions. Regardless of her earnest efforts, that was all she was ever going to be. Couldn't fight back the Mythos which invaded her head, couldn't push away the spider which twice possessed her, and couldn't even get past a fucking wall. With that penultimate, devastating thought fresh in her head, Keaton allowed the remnants of her din to perish, her teeth clamping onto her lower lip with such ferocity that her flesh split around her fangs and fresh blood added to the mask coating her face.

Scabrous scales scraping against the floor alerted Keaton to the woman behind her. Slowly, the jackal's head lifted from where it hung, ocher-orb gaze shifted to the silhouette she saw surreptitiously slinking away.

Sal.

She had been trapped with her.

Teeth grit, eyes narrowed, and a vicious, thunderous bellow erupted in the pit of Keaton's mind as rage exploded within her once more, replacing the defeated devastation with nothing more than simplistic, animalistic, murderous rage. Rage and bloodlust for the woman who had ensnared her mind and used her like a tool. For the fucking bitch who had exacerbated that hideous doubt and hesitation which had wretchedly crept onto her volatile ego.

She would kill her.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Scooping up her mace, Keaton rushed at Sal, feet pounding against the floor in rapid-rhythm beats, pulsating against the tune of Keaton's pulse oscillating wildly in her ears. Legs buckling, Keaton launched herself at her, teeth bared and looking nothing short of a screaming hellhound with her face masked with blood, both congealing and fresh from her injured lip, hair disheveled, and an insane expression etched in vibrant scarlet across her bloodcoated features.

"BITCH!" Keaton screamed, "It's all your FAULT! IT'S ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT!"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Aisha deCabre]

Rynkura's staff flared along with her hand; her crafted dart spell found more ethereal, unliving faces and bodies to pierce as she tried to move across the hall.  The very stone walls of the castle themselves seemed to be screaming, and sweating puddles of hellish darkness around the unfortunately caught.  The beast that had charged towards them had been dealt with...but there still left more; an unending force that they could not hope to just stand and push out of existence as they were doing.

But just as the tigress turned back to check on her comrades, she felt the dust shaking and stirring from the stones as the walls shifted and moved.  The others soon noticed; the bricks and foundations, floating, rearranging, all in a very discernible pattern.  Forced, intentional...she could sense it briefly from touching on the energies; and the action that she touched parts of Hell sickened her.

"Oh no you don't!" she snarled and tried to cast a barrier against the rapidly-closing walls, against the partitions that walled off Keaton and the spider from Stygian as well as herself and Cogidubnus.  But the stones were unbearably strong, resisting even her efforts.  The more she tried, the more they pressed, and the more she tired.  "Ah!" the Healer exclaimed when she could take no more and nearly fell to her knees.  The sounds of scraping stone and the incessant cackling of the spirits were in no way helping the mood.

Her fist still flaring with magic, she just placed it against the wall and rested it there almost tiredly, as if it would help.  So they were separate, but hopefully, not for long.

She glanced at the wolf, who had been beside her, barely hearing the bat's voice directed at him...and suddenly, the jackal's roaring and cursing in another direction, but this sounded more clear...unsealed and close.  Not that she verily blamed Keaton, but...

"We'd better get to them, quickly," she stated, looking around.  Rather blatant, but her deep voice had a level of irritation that should never have been reached.

*     *     *

Aisha growled with frustration, leaping quickly away from the hound-creature's outstretched maw as it came for her with blinded, burnt eyes.  The fire had hurt it, surely, but it was proving more than resilient for its rage.

"That's right, you focus on me, perrito!" the panther mocked, baring her fangs in a hissing grimace.  If the dog wanted a chew toy, best it have been a cat who fought back rather than ran.

Then, she smirked, a grin almost as ready and dangerous as the hideously malformed wolf's was.  Her hand gripped the amulet.

And she had just about vanished, but for a blindingly glowing line that came at it suddenly from its right flank.  SLASH!  FLARE!  PASS!  SLASH!  SLASH!  Aisha came at it with harrowing speed, wielding the sword in a deadly and quick dance, and slashing gouges in its flesh...over and over again, flames left behind in the wounds...hopefully, all before it could try to act when pinpointing her.

[Stygian]

Snapping at her, the hideous hound-like creature tore a long seam in her robe, and managed to throw its fangs around so as to cut her leg. The wound burned with something more than just the pain of her skin and flesh ripping, but it was just a shallow gash. The thing thrashed and roared in crazed fury, but finally one of Aisha's cuts managed to split its hardened skin and sear into its exposed neck. Even as it broke, the thing's head snapping loose and dangling off the tendons of its lower neck muscles, it kept on thrashing and struggling in unconscious pain. Its flesh began to sear and burn, disintegrating into ash and fumes before the panther's very eyes.

- -

One of the horrid humanoid things thrashing on the floor before her and already starting to seethe and burn, Sal snapped her head around and stared at Keaton with shock as the jackal charged at her, screaming her fury. The spider spun, and launched herself onto the wall, scrabbling a hold with her many hands and her feet, and then arced back, picking web from her spinnerets and stringing it out in front of her, moving to put distance between herself and the raging woman. She wove fast, but even if she could keep that mace away easily, that would not stop Keaton from frying her with a bigger spell.
   'Stop! How is this...?!' Sal shouted. Pupils contracting within her red irises, she shot a flaring, thick strand of silk right at Keaton that stuck to her mace, and pulled, trying to throw the other woman off balance. But instead, it was she who was thrown, as another demon leaped onto her back and slammed her against the wall. Panicking, the spider lost her foothold, first with all but two arms and then with those as well as the monster pulled at her, and then they both tumbled against Keaton.

[Cogidubnus]

Fairly dripping with gore, Cog cursed at the newly made wall in front of them and turned, nodding at the Bat's muffled words as he walked back down the hallway. The floor was slick with demon-blood, almost to the point of making it difficult to walk.
"Hellgate..." Cog murmured, deftly stepping over the body of yet another cloven demon.

Just then, Keaton screamed out, making Cog's head whirl around and his sword come on guard. She was holding her head and yelling by the wall, and Cog thought for a moment she might have been hurt again, or maybe lost another eye. He took a tentative step back towards the Jackal when she turned, and screamed out at the Spider before lunging for her.
"KEATON!"
Cog ran towards the both of them, being careful not to fall on the blood-slick floor. They were, however, much to far for him to get there nearly fast enough. Sal retreated onto the wall, using webs to try and slow the enraged Jackal down. Stalling tactic, but...
A demon jumped onto Sal's back, knocking her off the wall and into the Jackal, the three of them suddenly entangled by the webs that the spider had been weaving. All three of them thrashed and rolled about on the floor, the demon in particular biting and tearing.

"Dammit!" Cog said, a hint of irritation in his voice. He finished crossing the distance, and being careful not to get caught in the sticky web or get tripped by the rolling and biting combatants, he stomped down on the demon's body, holding the thing still. For a long, terrifying moment, the demon swiveled its head and stared at Cog, small, black eyes twisted in hate as it hissed at him. It's teeth were thin, and rotted yellow. Cog grimaced and ran it through, his blade burying itself through its eyeball and into its brain, stopping just short of exiting the skull. He pulled it back out with a wet squelch.
  That left the other two.

Cog was a swordsman. He was not largely trained in submission holds, delaying moves, or really anything designed to incapacitate in any nonlethal fashion. He was a swordsman - he knew how to kill. It was what he did. One thing he did remember, however. The last time he had gotten Keaton to stop attacking something.
Ignoring the vicious, feral sounds coming from both the spider and the jackal, Cog murmured a few lilting phrases under his breath, and aimed a hand at the wall. The sky outside grew just slightly darker, and with a deafening, almost painful crack a thunderbolt struck the wall, tearing out a bit of stone and nearly making Cog drop his sword to cover his ears. In the enclosed space, the sound was incredible.
"Keaton!" he yelled again, hoping the sudden thundercrack would be enough to stun both of theminto listening.