"Seren, I want you to chain your lightning Spells and hit as many of the small fry as you can. Ric, follow up with her. I wanna see some big DoTs on the soldiers, switching to the big mobs when you run out of trash. Rach, Ard I want you to hit him from behind, keep him from casting if you can."

"No can do, Commander. He has some sort of Reaction defense geared specifically against Rogues and he can cast without words. Zone of Silence won't work." My explanation causes her to swear in Infernal and I shoo away a half dozen ghostly flies.

"Okay, Rach you work with Richter. Sonny, Ard, tank the giants with me. Ard, you and I will pull double duty as healers."

Dawn flicks a hand past her Ear Cuff, "Kona, can you solo the birds?"

A screeching, unlady like swear directed towards her fills the air and we take that as confirmation.

"Great, let us know if you need a hand." Dawn readies her shield, Sonny and I forming up to her left and right respectively. I conjure an Arcane Shield and swig a couple of potions. Taken in rapid succession like that always gives me the feeling of a harsh heartburn that spans from belly button to the back of my throat, but I have to deal with the discomfort since I don't have time to drink slow.

Sonny has Meteora floating left of center in front of her like a riot shield and a Greyladium rapier and shortsword drawn. Her feet and hands glow yellow, a sure sign that she activated a Stance of some kind.

Dawn doesn't have her Thunderstruck out yet. In its place, sits an unadorned, metal-bound book.

"Cold iron into living steel. Ancient defenders, come forth. Create the array for life. Wall of Swords!" The book glows blue as she chants a familiar verse and a magic circle rotates lazily on the ground before us.

"Thought you were gonna drop the big metal house on the wicked witch," I comment with a grin as soon as she utters the final words.

She shakes her head, "The fortress manifests directly on the ground and needs the area to be clear. The sword wall, however…"

The charging center squad of undead treds right over the completed Ritual Spell and are beset by ten iron sabers. Unperturbed by the simple weapons, the Giant Skeleton bulls forward past the wall. Swinging a massive double-edged, bone greatsword through the air with slow, but sure strokes, its abyssal eye sockets burn with deep indigo orbs. Its gaze shifts between the two of us, before settling on Dawn.

"Sorry, Ard. Looks like I get the first dance. Mind leading us off with a merry tune?"

I agree with a teasing sigh of resignation, "Sure, but I only know one song."

I belt out a ground shaking roar followed up by an inner growl from Minor Dragon Force, my two main battle buffs. Beacon is too small for such a wide set fight and I still need to save some MP for healing or any other of my utility Spells. I pull aggro from one of the other giants, its hulking frame leading the hoplites in a steady charge.

A surge of white hot electricity arcs through Sonny's enemy squad from Serenity's outstretched wand, breaking their stride as well as full on paralyzing a few of them. They drop to the ground, continuing to spasm and discharge static in quick pulses.

This is followed by the sounds of loud pops from bolt Spells bursting overhead. Dozens of undead birds explode in a symphony of many crackling and tumbling small bones. I can also hear the heavy sounds of clashing weapons from the other two tanks as my own target approaches, already winding up for a big, glowing swing.

Remembering the clip of Emilio Mallards, the solo monk, I evade the diagonal attack as closely as I dared and avoid getting spilt in two by mere inches. The pressure vacuum of the empowered greatsword is enough to rock me on my heels before I spring back up and use Tempest Fist's Reach Ability to claw twice in rapid succession at a patch of unarmored bone at the Giant's side.

A quick glance at the damage tells me that its Armor and Resistance will make this a long, drawn out fight if I stick with piercing and slashing attacks. Unfortunately for me, almost all of my Skills are based on those types of attacks except for maybe Echo Strike and only in my off hand. Now is not the time to experiment with something new. I slip past a follow through strike and find myself staring up the back of the heavily armored skeleton. Behind me, its squad barrels down the few remaining yards seperating us.

Without much thought, I dismiss my Arcane Shield and scale the giant's back, holding on tight as it realizes what I've done and tries twisting to find me. I barely make my way to the base of its neck and the skull turns all the way around to greet me. Grabbing hold of the collar of its armor with one hand, I withdraw my Battle Wand and aim directly into the glowing eye socket.

"Bolt!"

Unable to sign, I shout the word of power and channel the Spell through the wand. Three purple orbs find their way into the giant's skull and do a little rearranging inside.

[Vital Spot! You deal 190 arcane damage!]

[Vital Spot! You deal 188 arcane damage!]

[Vital Spot! You deal 189 arcane damage!]

The giant skeleton reels from the trio of attacks, dropping its massive blade and reaching up to grab at me. I manage a perfect, reverse swan dive off of its back, avoiding getting caught in its grasp, and landing both feet on the helmeted skull of one of the hoplites. Unfortunately, the smaller skeleton is unable to soften the impact, nor support the gravity of my weight and it topples harshly to the ground. I'm thrown backwards into the arms of two hoplites who are slow to respond to the awkward outcome. Taking advantage of their lapse in action, I spin around for a swift Roundhouse Kick and send one flying into the other. With two temporarily out of the fight I search for the other three while trying to keep the giant in the corner of my vision.

Two blades descend on me and, even though I manage to parry them, a spear tip shoots forward and slices just under my armpit. My armor blocks some of the attack but the burning pain of the cut pulses throughout my body. I curse reflexively, finding the three hoplites in a triangular formation with the two sword weilders side-by-side in front and the spearman in the back center.

Without further pause, the swordsmen rain blows on me while the spearman waits patiently for opportunities to sneak in an attack. They press forward without fear and I lose ground quickly to them. It's a great tactic, proving that these aren't just simple mobs, and I make a note to maybe try it out sometime later with the group. If it weren't for things like Spells and Skills, I'd be hard pressed to fight back.

As it is, I also find moments where my attackers will be close enough together that when I attack back I can use Air Cutter to slice through all three and since Reach is still active I can attack the spearman back as well while not worrying about how close I might to be to the swordsmen. It becomes a short battle of attrition, the four of us playing a deadly combination of Chicken and Chess to see who has the guts and determination to survive.

All of this happens in what seems like an hour, but is most likely only a minute or so and the other two hoplites and the Decanus prepare to jump back into the skirmish. Before they do, I Blink Step behind the trio and lay waste with a spray of elemental destruction thanks to Trinity Stream. By the time they turn to face me, they receive at between seven to eight hundred damage and hit the floor like scattered bowling pins.

Before the hoplites can close the distance, I hit them with a flurry of claw swipes and deactivate Reach. The damage I inflict isn't enough to destroy one and I block and parry attacks the moment they're close enough. In the middle of our battle, the two take on a familiar, pale yellow aura and their attacks shift into a higher gear. Faster and stronger now, just the two hoplites feel as though I'm facing a half dozen.

Sword attacks flood my vision and I'm barely able to keep up. I spot the Giant Decanus picking something up from the ground and winding back for a throw. Whatever it is, I won't be able to dodge in time as well as avoid attacks from the Maneuver boosted hoplites. So, just as the big guy begins the motions to launch his missile, I activate Body of Smoke and the spear passes harmlessly through me as do the sword strokes.

"Bro! That almost skewered Seren!"

I curse to myself, turning to see where the spear had sailed between Richter and Serenity and stuck itself in the ground. His outcry catches their attention and they drop me like a hot rock. As they start moving toward them, my mind churned to come up with a way to keep aggro and I stop on a single idea.

Back in my corporeal body, my feet glow blue and I strike at the back of one of the skeletal soldiers, draining the last of its HP and dropping the bones to the ground. The other turns to face me, ready to finish what it had started and I have to step back to keep from being sandwiched between it and the Decanus. This affords me the view of two terrible things.

First, my Skill's footwork is distracting enough to attract the attention of Dawn's group, drawing the remaining two hoplites and giant toward me. Second is Dez, who was far from idle during the initial skirmish.

Building and bulging above his raised hands is a globe of inky black magic, it's aura appearing as though all the light touching it is being sucked into an unescapable void. A manic grin spreads across his lips.

"Here's a trick I've found useful," he says as he cackles and pours more energy into the ever expanding sphere.

Not knowing what to expect, we brace ourselves and I back pedal to put some space between me and the encroaching undead. The ball grows and floods The Keep like a sea of darkness and I switch between my different sights before returning to my normal vision, nothing having worked to even let me see my hands before my face. I assume Darkvision doesn't work because this isn't a normal darkness and that Arcane Sight is just a bright, blue screen for probably the same reason.

My nose and ears still work, but only in the sense that the red dots on my radar appear closer to me than I'm comfortable with. I have to move to keep from being surrounded and pounded since Distracting Footwork is only a few moments from running its course. Dawn's voice bounds out from the shadows.

"Pillar of Radiance!"

It takes a single heartbeat before a glorious column of light erupts from around the diminutive Infernus, healing the party, damaging nearby undead, and dispelling the dark just long enough for the three of us tanks to find each other. My taunt Skill ends, draining my SP, and Sonny and I move toward Dawn before the sea of darkness fights back against the light, engulfing us once more.

"I count six little adds and two big boys left," Dawn announces to us, "And Dez is already charging another Spell."

"You can see in this?" I ask incredulously. "None of my visions can cut through it."

"It must be a kind of magical darkness then," she observes and Richter verifies my statement, telling us that his screen saturates like mine does. Serenity must be blasting a chain of lightning Spells, the scent of ozone fills the air and all the little, virtual hairs across my body stand on end.

"As Inferni, even half like the Commander, we have the ability to see through magical darkness," Serenity yells through the abyss. I recall the distinction from my pen-and-paper days, but it doesn't make the current situation any easier.

I try to orient myself according to my mini-radar and blind fire three Arcane Bolts. The muffled sounds of a single impact echo back at me and something groans in the darkness. I get the notifications that I hit the decanus, but the simple words on the single notice and low damage dealt grant me no satisfaction.

"How many more pillar Spells do you have in you?" I ask out loud since I don't know if Dawn is still where I last saw her. To my surprise, a small, strong hand grasps my wrist and I have to stop my initial reaction to pull it back defensively.

Sensing my trepidation, Dawn quickly assuages me, "Whoa, whoa, dude. It's me, Dawn. I need you to Blink Step forward as far as you can when I finish aiming you. Dez will be on your left."

"But--"

"I can see Elsbeth trying to take aim from the aperature. Serenity will distract him with magic while you get in as close as you can and send a bolt up to let El know where to aim the ballista." I splutter incoherently as she slides behind me, grabs my hips, and repositions me a few degrees to the right. "I know it's crazy and it's gonna be tough, but you're the only one who can do it."

[Dawn Nobel's Protection Aura increases your Armor +3 for 10minutes!]

[Maneuver Bonus: +10%Agility until you reach Reposition point. +5Dexterity for 5minutes when you reach Reposition point.]

"It's not much, but this should help a little." She slaps my rear, the unspoken wishing of luck rippling through me.

I also take that as the signal to go, but before I do I reach into my inventory and hand her the bottle of Glorious Dawn that I've been saving for a rainy day. I ready my Arcane Bolt Spell in my left hand and my Battle Wand in my right. I let the world vanish in a momentary blink of the eyes only to remain dark when I reappear several dozen feet from where I left Dawn. The darkness does more than blind me, somewhat seeping into my other senses like swimming in an ebony batch of honey. I can almost feel it dripping into my ears and nose, breathing it in like some thick, noxious smog.

The sudden crackle of discharging electricity nearby as well as angry grunting tells me that Serenity hit her mark and I take advantage of the muscle locking power of lightning Spells. I turn, firing off one of the Bolts into the dark and getting the satisfying notice of a hit on Dez. Once within only a few feet, his hazy form starts becoming barely visible and I thrust the Battle Wand forward only to feel the skeletal hands catch it in a two handed grip.

Perfect.

My Bolt hand points to the sky and releases another missile in the shape of a yellow arrow pointing toward our location. The third bolt I turn into a saber and swing it down with all my might. One of the hands releases my other weapon to block it, and I channel a torrent of Corrosive Spray through my wand directly into the back of the Necromancer.

Anguished grunting fills me with vengeful delight as the mortal Halfling soaks up almost all of the damage as well as gaining Poison30, or thirty damage every two seconds for the next eight seconds. My saber disperses itself in the form of a third Arcane Bolt and it slaps the back of Dez's head.

I wouldn't even call it a slap, considering how little actual damage I inflicted in that single moment. He doesn't even feign a glance over his shoulder as he continues to channel MP into his staff.

"Damn Travelers. I've had enough of you all. Every single one of you has caused me nothing but trouble. It's about time someone taught you all your place. You're nothing but crops of Life Crystals and you and your friends look ripe enough to harvest. I'm just gonna bring out some field hands to help me do just that."

It takes a bit of struggle to get myself free from his boney grasp, but the moment it happens I pour out a trio of elemental torrents in the form of Trinity Stream. The Battle Wand reduces the MP cost to my relief, especially since it looks like this fight will be shifting into a new phase. And, judging by what he said and the fact that he's a Necromancer--

It's probably the dreaded endless wave of trash mobs…

Seemingly unphased by the nearly one thousand points of damage I just dished out on him, Dez turns to me grinning his wide-eyed, canine-baring smile. I take that opportunity to see that his health is only at seventy five percent after everything we've done so far.

"It's a unique Spell from the Book of Shadows that allows me to return all of my soldiers slain within the last twenty four hours to the battlefield in the form of shadow beasts."

Yep, trash mobs.

A deep violet circle of magical glyphs and runes materializes like a beacon in the darkness a few yards away from us, turning into a sort of cobblestone portal. An eddy of purple mana swirls within it and proceeds to absorb the abyssal atmosphere, finally allowing us to see further than a couple feet from our noses. A staff tip awaits my notice an inch away from my nose, trembling and glowing with a blue energy.

"Dispair, little Blue Mage. Your time has come. You will be--"

Before I could hear what he thinks I will be doing, a massive something shakes the ground with a thunderous force, followed by a concussive wave of air. Dez's face twists with shock and what must be excruciating pain. Pinning him to the ground at a steep angle is the shaft of a spear running through his torso. Both of his hands claw frantically at it, unable to decide between trying to rip it out or break it apart.

A quick glance skyward earns me a silent salute from Elsbeth. Afterwards, she stows her Ballista and makes her way down to us aboard Alima's back. The Sphinx bows her head curtly towards us, spreads her wings, and takes off back through the aperture.

As she whips out her longbow and showers the enemies with magical arrows, the rest of the battlefield comes into view. What looks like a river of darkness speckled with something bone white pours out of Dez's portal and I realize with a start that it's actually a constant inflow of the shadow minions he was talking about. Large, inky black canine creatures with sharp, boney protrusions jutting out near joints attempt to swarm the party, but my friends' formation remains steadfast. Dozens arrive each second, suprising me since he had mentioned that each one represented a minion lost during the entirity of the battle. Dawn must have Scanned one already as the basic information pops into my view.

[Lesser Grim, Hound. Level 12

[250/250HP, 97/97MP, 15/15SP]

How long was I gone and how much of the fight have I missed? My blood boils thinking about the amount of suffering this little shit has caused in my absence. Twice, he's waltzed into our home with his skeleton horde and twice he's tried to wreck the place. This time, however, won't be like the last times we've fought.

This time he will not be slipping away like he's done twice before.

This time will be different.

The steep angle of the spear makes it awkward for both of us as I engange Dez in hand-to-hand combat, but my high Agility gives me an easier time dancing around it as he tries in vain to block my clawed hand with his staff on one side and my Battle Wand with the surprisingly resiliant Book of Shadows on the other. Once in a while the speciak effect of my Prismatic Mask kicks in and I get an ethereal bonus strike, slipping in much needed damage. Adding to my DoTs, I activate Shadow Toxin-- although I can't seem to get the other two debuffs besides Poison to activate.

After a mere minute of this, a handful of the hounds split off from the main pack and make their way over to protect their master, forcing me to break away from my one-sided duel. From about three quarters to maybe sixty or so percent health, Dez spits blood at my retreating form as I make room to fight the Grim.

My HP is still high since Dez could barely defend himself let alone fight back, but my MP is sitting at a quarter tank (114/452MP) and my SP is nearly exhausted (7/164SP), making me a bit light headed. And, as low leveled as they are, the shadowy canines have a numerical advantage and they push it by attempting to surround me.

Instead, I Blink Step back to Dawn's side and use 5 of my final 7SP to trigger Assassinate on a Grim moments before it lands a pouncing attack from behind her. The cost of my save, however…

Dawn turns to thank me, but the words are muffled. Winded from nearly bottoming out my Stamina Points, I search feebly through my inventory for a yellow potion. A quick series of invigorating notes from Sonny's violin enters my ears like static and I can feel my body fill up with energy, my regen wait times instantly dropping to zero.

I decide to stick to basic melee attacks as the three of us continue tanking for the back line. Kona flies back low, toward our rear, a dozen or so skeletal birds still in tow. Serenity finishes them off with streaks of magic that chains electrity through all of them. The Faunus joins her and the two of them down mana potions of the deepest blue.

I watch as a few hounds help Dez break apart the spear and guide him to his feet. He keeps part of the shaft in the wound so he doesn't just bleed out, but I'm astounded that he's still alive after such a hit. The broken piece miraculously holds its place, but every move causes him to wince and cough up more blood. Hopefully this means he's taking continuous damage somehow.

He holsters his book, wipes his mouth with a sleeve, and pulls a bottle full of a glowing red liquid from a small, messenger-style bag hanging over his hip. My veins turn to ice as I think about all the hard work I just put into him going to waste when he drinks that, but from where I am in the battle there's nothing I can do.

"Anyone," I shout out loud for everyone to hear, "He's trying to heal himself!"

A couple of arrows zip past their mark, barely missing the bottle and my heart skips a beat. Dez raises the tip of his staff and a purple lens flares with light upon impact from two more arrows and a few bolts of magic. Chuckling to himself, he raises the bottle in cheers to us before guiding it to his lips.

Rachel appears in front of our line, having Blink Stepped just above the sea of Grim, and she shouts her incantation.

"Death Knell!"

The sound of a somber bell penetrates the din of battle and she slashes at two of the shadowy hounds before they could pounce on her as she lands. We cover her retreat back behind the line by giving her some breathing room to recast Blink Step.

Seemingly unaffected by the sudden Spell, the Halfling greedily sucks down the life saving, ruby red liquid and tosses the empty over his shoulder. Smiling to himself, he readies his staff and pauses. His grin morphs drastically into disgusted confusion and we all watch his HP bar with bated breath. It doesn't budge.

Was something wrong with that batch of potions? Did he mistakenly drink something else? Or did Rachel's Spell really do something? I don't have much time to ponder it before another shout rings next to me.

"Richter! Grab his bag!" Dawn orders as her glowing Thunderstruck crushes a Grim into an oily paste that quickly turns into a disipating black vapor.

Hearing this, three men react. Dez grips his messenger bag with one hand and frantically shifts his Arcane Shield about with the staff in the other. His boney back arms poise themselves, ready to intercept any sneak attacks. I summon Shelly, who's still a little worse for wear, as close to him as I can and mentally command her to cut the strap and act as a distraction.

With one claw she wrenches Dez's arm holding the bag high into the air and, even though the Grim swarm over her like army ants, she manages to snip free the bag from around his neck. With no time for recuperation after my initial battle, her HP is still in the red and her fractured, blue carapace hits the ground hard under the constant onslaught of bleached white claws.

Her efforts were not in vain as two ghostly purple hands catch the falling bag and haul it over to us. Dez's lamentations devolve into spitting and growling before he blasts my dying summon with a globe of dark energy along with several of his minions that continued to cling to Shelly's back. The only thing remaining of her is a smoking crater. He waves his arms and stamps at the ground, jostling the broken shaft out with a wet sucking sound and his wails of pain enter the unearthly realm.

It's a shame Dez doesn't keep his book in the bag and he draws it out again from its holster. Richter sends his hands in for another go, but the Halfling is already anticipating the attempt. The book glows as the flood of shadowy creatures presses into our line harder than ever. Forced to focus all of our efforts into preventing the Grim from swarming past us, Dawn, Sonny, and I tap into our reserves to protect the others as they focus their attentions on Dez and his Spell. They aren't able to derail him so we three front liners brace ourselves for impact. Our assumption of the type of attack coming our way, however, is a little off.

[Dez Driftwood's Snaring Shadows have restrained you for 3minutes!]

Inky black, tendrils whip out from a pool of dark magic beneath our feet, binding our forearms, torsos, and legs to keep us in place. They feel like wet, hempen rope and smell of mold with a hint of sulfur. Even the Grim within the Spell's range get wrapped up in the tangled mess, only to be somehow absorbed by the bubbling, shadowy pool.

"Blink Step!"

Richter and Rachel both shout out at the same time as I sign the phrase with my left hand, but all three of us grunt in pain as our Spells fail and we receive magical backlash in the form of twenty points of damage, or the Spell's casting cost. It's the first time I'm unable to escape a situation with my go to Ability and a system notification pops into view.

[You are being magically restrained by Snaring Shadows. You are unable to use teleportion Spells to escape.]

We all collectively swear at our notification windows and Dez's deranged chuckling echoes overhead. We turn our attention to him and an odd blend of feelings overcomes my frustration. For one, his HP bar is dropping steadily and passes the halfway point. Unable to heal himself, his gaping wound continues to bleed at an alarming rate. Second, a sharp note of pity resonates within me, startling me since I normally hold nothing but contempt for the Halfling. Still, seeing rivulets of black speckled blood run at the corners of his mouth as he coughs between bouts of manic laughter, barely coherent rambling, and frantic head bobbing would take the fight out of all but the most violent of souls.

"Life crystals-- need them-- the prisoners, too weak-- must get-- stronger--Travelers"

As if drawing upon the very depths of the seven hells for energy, he throws his fists into the air and bellows a mighty scream. A swirling aura of red and black energy envelopes him, the book in his white knuckle grip pulsing with the exact same color lights. The energy whips up a current of wind and dust all around us. Unable to raise our arms up to shield our faces from the squall, we instead try to tuck our faces down into our chests and squint our eyes to keep tabs on the battle. Dez's HP stops in its tracks, probably a third or so remaining.

"What do we do?" Dawn asks in a yell. "We can't move because of these damn shadows!"

Move…

Shadows…

"I may have an idea!" I shout back, "I might be able to use Shadow Swim in this stuff. If it works I could be free, but I'll be on my own." There are still dozens of the Grim milling about the inky black pool of tentacles, just out of reach and waiting for their chance to play with us again. Facing them myself, let alone the half-dead, half-demented, infuriated Necromancer who summoned them is not an appealing prospect.

"I learned Counterspell recently. Will that help at all?" Rachel asks. As a budding mage killer, she's been slowly adding such Abilities to her repertoire to better fill the role that I've been stepping into this whole time.

Dawn clicks her teeth, "That might have worked as he was casting, but his level might have prevented your Spell from being effective anyway."

"But--," Sonny adds, trying to find the ground beneath the shadows and through the buffeting winds. "--My Dispelling Song might still work. I just need my violin as a focus."

"How will you play it?" I ask, readying my Spell with a blur of finger movements.

She hesitates for a moment, "I-- I can just sing it. But! But… Please, you guys, don't make fun of me. I'm a much better musician than a singer."

"If it gets everyone out of here, I'm sure no one will have any qualms about your singing." Dawn says in a firm, commanding tone. "And in case you all can't see me I am trying to glare. Ready Ard?"

"Here it is," Rachel says while trying to motion with her head the general direction of the violin just outside of the pool. The Grim are wary of it, but other than a cursory sniff they leave it alone.

With a quick glance at the standing, yet hunched over Dez whose yelling has slipped into a gutteral growling, I confirm my readiness and I get the signal to commence with my idea. Just then, a clattering of bones catches our attention in time to witness the horrifying final phase of Dez Driftwood, Tier 3 Boss.

Along with the wicked light show, a shower of bones falls from another small portal just above Dez. Each piece falls into place like some sort of puzzle game. They snap together loudly and threads of black and red energy bind them like ethereal muscle fibers. The first things to change are the arms on his back, metamorphosising into clawed wings like those of a bat. They stretch and flap as the rest of the bones pierce and wrap around Dez's broken body, creating a sort of exo-skeletal armor, going so far as to cram into the gaping hole in his chest. Surrounding most of him is the ribcage of some terrible beast that encases him to just above his head. The areas where the bones punch into his flesh drip dark, almost black blood. His torso, arms, and even his legs receive the calcified upgrade treatment. They look like morbid stilts and the bend in the middle of the leg pieces backwards look like those of a horse or dog. Razor sharp claws tip long, thin arms of bone and magical sinew.

As exasperating as it may be that his HP bar is back up to one hundred percent, especially after what we had to do to get it down so low, it's a relief to see that his MaxHP also dropped significantly. From 18,118HP to 14,770. He shouldn't be too much of a problem if he isn't going to cast anymore, right?

Dez stands, striking a much taller and imposing figure like that of a young, skeletal wyvern. The skull of some predatory beast falls on his head and fuses with the rest of the boney suit. Empty eye sockets blaze with red orbs and the new creature drops back down to all fours. The gleaming red eyes turn to us, hatred burning within them.

"Move, Ardacen!" Dawn shouts and I activate my Spell.

For a split second nothing happens and I stupidly remember that I have to mark a destination. There are too many of us crowding this area for me to safely choose a spot in this pool, so I opt for the one Dez created earlier. I look back and see that it's already shrinking. Oddly enough, it seems that each Grim, a beast of bone and shadow, is also a viable target for Shadow Swim, but the area of which I can emerge from is narrow and constantly moving. Spatial magic, being one of the most strict and unforgiving of the schools, deals harsh punishments to those who utilize it recklessly.

Making a quick mental measurement, I pick a spot where the shadowy edge should pass over just after I make it through to the other side.

The floor drops from under me and the shadowy tendrils lose their grip. I feel like I fell into frigid waters and I instinctually hold my breath. I glance about for the spot I need to reach, willing myself through the chilling darkness and quickly arrive at the dimly glowing, grey outline of a circle.

The way I breach the shadows would have almost been on par with an olympic gymnists perfectly sticking their landing, had it not been for a tiny miscalculation in my timing. A sliver of my foot doesn't make it out of the shadows in time for the edge to pass over the spot where I leap out of and I pay for it with staggering pain.

[Spatial Spell has been disrupted during transition. Magical backlash deals 30 arcane damage to you!]

I try to tuck and roll, but the acute pain, like several papercuts along the tips of my toes, causes me to tumble too hard. My arms shoot up and lessen the impact of my face against the ground.

[The ground deals 7 bludgening damage to you!]

Of course it does.

I look up in time to see that my fail attracted Dez's attention and his hulking form is already making its way toward me like a hungry beast sensing downed prey. I only have enough time to roll to the side, avoiding earth rending claws and fang-filled jaws by a hair. I end on my back and sit up on my elbows, watching him try to hang a tight u-turn.

Facing me, he digs furrows into the dirt and snaps his jaws menacingly as he prepares to charge at me again.

Something slams his head into the ground with a thunderous impact and my eyes widen as they search for the source of the attack. When the dust settles, the handle of a Thunderstruck sticks up at an angle from the skull nailed into the dirt.

"Be quiet, or you'll wake up the baby."

A voice I longed to hear since my return slides smoothly into my ears like the sound of a whetstone against a blade. Already a third of the way down from the aperture on a magical floating disk is the love of my life, a gust of wind and snow tugging at a long, light grey coat. Looking like the commander of some snow-based army, two floating sabers poke out from behind her back and she shifts the shield on her left arm to her side. Her right hand, now free, pulls one of the advanced iklwas from storage. Her legs glow yellow and she leaps over to my side as I get to my feet.

We exchange warm smiles knowing that this isn't the time for more. Instead, I conjure two arcane short swords and motion for her to follow me to wade through the remaining horde of Grim.

As we hack and slash our way to the violin the others cheer for her presence-- a bit too jubilantly for my tastes since the battle was far from over. I manage to get the Sonnavarius back into the hands of its mistress and Sonny disperses the shadows with a haunting tune that lingers in my mind, though how the song went exactly I cannot say.

Since they didn't have to worry about being sucked back into oblivion, the Grim are free to accost us. However, Vic's presence adds her Centurian aura to our party which increases our combat efficiency as well as a much needed fourth member of the vanguard. I may be capable of stepping into the role, but Victoria and Dawn, and to an extent Sonny, are much better suited to be the Tankers.

"Dez'll be out like a baby for a bit, thanks to Vic, but he'll be up soon. Any ideas?" I ask while the others rekindle the fight against the shadowy hounds.

"Like, that's not what she meant when she said that," Rachel says with a sly grin.

Kona elbows her before firing meteorites out of her staff into a crowd of Grim, "Seriously? You don't get to spoil that for them!"

Before I can ask what they're talking about a heavy wind blows through the opening up top, sending a practical avalanche of snow down at us. Sounding like an It blankets Dez and he awakens with a start, shaking the snow off like the animal he's become. The Grim leave us alone to gather around him, their pack leader. There must be forty or so remaining and once they're close enough to him they turn to us, raising their hackles, snarling, and snapping their jaws visiciously.

Dez speaks, an unearthly growling rumbles along side his voice, "I will lock you and any other Travelers in the deepest pits and kill you over and over again, harvesting your Life Crystals until you're nothing but husks. I will have more of you in chains. I will have power. I will have justice!"

A lengthy notification pops up, probably a Quest of some kind, but I mentally push it aside for now.

"Whatever you're babbling about doesn't sound like justice, Dez," I shout back at him as we ready our Abilities, patches of yellow and blue dimly glowing light dotting our party. "And if you're holding prisoners, especially Travelers, then it sounds like you're the bad guy. Not us."

To this he says nothing. He simply bellows out a roar from the skull, a yellow light filling his minions with a familiar red energy and us with a grey energy along with the Enfeebled Debuff. He just used Hellbent Roar on us! I offset his Skill with my own and we watch them charge our way with suicidal energy. The shadowy hounds speed past their master and will reach us long before he does.

We dig in to our position, casting every Buff Spell we can muster and grip our weapons tightly. I conjure an Arcane Shield and prepare Shadow Toxin as my once-a-day Cerulean Touch fusion. Beside me, Victoria has three weapons trained on the incoming horde and a shield braced for impact.

Without turning to me, Vic's words come out from behind a grin, "Took you long enough."

"A snail's pace, sure, but I did get here as fast as I could."

The first Grim to reach us is eviscerated by a maelstrom of Victoria's blades and Sonny's musical notes, the rest try in vain to breach our four person phalanx. Arrows, daggers, and streaks of magic slip through the gaps between us.

Bone and metal collide, blood and shadow spill. There are so many Grim to fight, yet there doesn't seem to be enough to quench our thirst. In mere moments, Dez hits the scene in his necrotic power suit and combat reaches a fever pitch.

From the tip of his tail to his clawed wings, every part of Dez's monstrous form is dangerous as he whips about the battlefield. Our line breaks for the first time, causing our formation to split. Normally, this would be cause for concern seeing as half of our team consists of long-ranged specialists. However, weeks of daily practices with Conner and the other soldiers prove to be time well spent as Richter, Kona, and Serenity shift seemlessly into melee combat. Though not as proficient as the rest of us, they're able to fend off Grim that get too close before someone can step in between.

Even though she's throwing dagger oriented, Rachel is still a Rogue and she uses her Discipline, Twin Fang, to great effect. In a moment of sheer bravado, she conjures a small, wooden catapult from below one of the Grim and launches the shadowy creature right at Dez nestled inside the skeletal ribcage. The action kills the hound, splattering inky darkness across Dez's actual face and upper body. His large form flails wildly in blind fury and I act on an impulsive gamble.

Dawn shouts over to me that she needs me to distract the BBEG, or Big Bad Evil Guy, and I compose a half baked plan in a heartbeat. Before it could evaporate or before Dez could wipe off the mess, I tackle a Grim to the ground and activate Shadow Swim. My body sinks into its form and I push pass the skin crawling feeling that washes over me. Thinking about it for a split second, I believe I may have felt the same thing when "water-boarding" foes and nestling deep in their squishy bits. Finding the exit stain on Dez, I move with haste and leap out of it, grabbing onto a ribcage to hang right in front of the Halfling.

I aim a glowing Battle Wand right at his face, "Tell me about the prisoners. What the seven hells have you been up to?"

His reply is to grin sadistically and growl. The moment I release the first Arcane Bolt I feel something heavy and sharp digging into my back. The world shifts harshly and painfully around me as I'm torn away from Dez, my second bolt hits the ground and I readjust in time for it to sail at his face only to hit a rib bone and deal minimal damage. Im being held aloft by one of the clawed wings digging into my shoulders and back and I quickly sign another Spell.

The world disappears for a split second and when I return, the view of Dez spinning around to attack where I imagine he assumed I'd be fills me with a smug joy. He's fought so many players who use the Assassinate combination that it's down to muscle memory for him to react this way. Normally, it would be something I do and I would have been caught then, but this time my recent experiences have taught me something simple.

"Radiant Beam!" Dawn's voice rings out as I land nearby. Vic and I dispatching several Grim to give the girl space. I swear she enjoys shouting the Spell chants just to watch me cringe. Luckily for her, the bad-assedness of her actions far outweighs the awkwardness I feel. So, especially when it comes to the undead, I've learned to let the Clerics do a majority of the heavy lifting.

The intense satisfaction of seeing the fiery, golden beam of energy easily cut out a swath through the Grim and slam into Dez's back like an eighteen wheeler is intoxicating and I have to reign in my enthusiasm in order to keep focus on the remaining adds. It's a good thing that I do as a long, boney tail winds up like a whip in retaliation. Without hesitating, I conjure my Arcane Shield and dash to place myself in between the rushing tail and Dawn. I have no delusions regarding who the MVP of the end of this battle will be and keeping her safe for as long as possible is a top priority.

If I had a full MP tank the hit wouldn't have been so bad, but all I can recall about the impact floats in my vision as I pick myself off the ground.

[Arcane Shield absorbs 189 damage! -189MP!]

[0MP! Arcane Shield shatters!]

[Dez Driftwood slashes you for 211 damage!]

[Reaction: White Flame I]

[You heal yourself for 122HP!]

(130/348HP) Yeah, that was a good hit and I can't rely on White Flame again for at least an hour. (0/452MP, 83/164SP) At least I still have some SP for Skills and maybe even for use on a Monster Ability thanks to Cerluean Touch, though an added twenty percent to the casting cost is a bit of a hindrance. No potions left either so I have to regen all of my pools slowly.

I swipe a sleeve across the corner of my mouth, tasting the gritty, metallic tang of blood. I landed a dozen or so yards outside of our circular formation with only a handful of Grim left roaming around it. Dawn's perfectly timed Radiant Beam took many of them with it and she still has enough charges for one more shot as well as a free heal. A brilliant light fills The Keep and a keening roar from where I think Dez is washes over me followed by a ground-shaking crash.

Back in within the safety of the group, I find an almost feral looking Dez poking out of the remains of his suit of bones. The skull and some of the upper portion of it as well as the left wing, limbs, and tail lay on the ground charred and still smoking. He's poised to strike back like a wild animal driven into a corner even though he's trapped, unable to do more than wiggle menacingly within the confines of the ribcage. Seven Grim in a semi-circle protect him from the entirety of our party. Dawn casts a Spell on Victoria who is barely hefting her shield in order to the two of them, filling her with a soothing light and her face and body language shows instant relief. I look around at the others. Serenity holds up a battered Kona, one of the Faunus's arms draped across her lover's shoulder and the other dangles limply. Her HP is hovering at about ten percent and no one seems to have any MP, SP, or potions to spare.

I grasp Kona's free hand and the two turn to observe me, wincing when they notice my bloody and dirty figure. The warmth of my Fey Touch Spell courses through my fingertips, draining an extra 6SP as I cast it wordlessly. A wave of fatigue hits me and the two of them jerk forward to steady me.

"I'm… okay. You?" I ask the recovering Warlock.

"Thanks, Ardy." I can hear the purr in her voice and the smile in Serenity's single, ebony eye.

They release me as I move toward the front lines and take my place beside Victoria. "What happened?" I ask as I ready my claws, still waiting for more MP to regenerate.

Dawn answers as she moves to my right, "His armor was divided into sections, each one taking massive damage from Radiant Beam. Seems like it constituted most of his HP, even when he wasn't wearing it. When the pieces broke and fell off, his Max HP dropped as well."

"That's… weird. Right?"

Kona chime in from behind, "He could've tethered life energy to the bones. That would also explain how he could control them."

"So, like, what do we do now?" Rachel asks, black and white daggers still trained on the snarling man. "Break his bones and cut his throat?"

"Whoa," Richter chuckles, drawing his bow out once again. Elsbeth does the same and they both have arrows knocked and ready for flight. "Easy there, killer."

Rachels makes a throaty noise of disgust, "Like, I meant his skelton suit."

"We can't kill him yet." My words surprise everyone around me. Even Dez has a spector of confusion cross over his face at my utterance. "He may have a lot to answer for, but he also has a lot of answers to many of my questions."

"So what do you propose we do?" Vic asks, gripping her spear tightly.

"Hold a trial…" Pushing aside the Quest screen I dimissed during the fight, I hold up a palm-sized talisman in the form of a matte grey coin. An embossed pair of black and white wings flanking an unopened book sits on one side and a set of scales in front of a double edged sword sits on the other. It crackles with black and white sparks of energy, seemingly knowing it will be used soon.

Victoria lowers her spear, a streak of awe in her voice, "Ardacen, love… What is that?"

"This is a Token of the Marduks." I look Dez squarely in his eyes. "You know the Marduks, right, Dez? Angels of Pravdera, Goddess of Law and Justice?"

His scowl widens into horror and for the first time I feel something besides dread and fury when looking at him. Sure, there's a touch of pity for the wretched thing squirming helplessly in a cage of his own creation. But the sense of finality and incoming justice, the first rays of closure cresting his dark, monolithic presence in our lives, is going to be sweeter than anything we could have done to him ourselves. If we can get him talking, maybe we can even rescue the other players he may have imprisoned.

[Major Quest Received: A Hole In The Ground I

[Dez Driftwood has hinted that he has imprisoned a group of Travelers. Find out where they are and rescue them. 0/1 Location discovered, 0/?? Travelers rescued. Time Limit: 06:23:14:22]

[Reward: 3000XP, ???

[Bonus: 1500XP, 1*Knight Chest per Traveler rescued.

[Failure: More than 3 Travelers die during the rescue: -10,000XP, ???]