The Carver did not respond to Zadok in any conventional sense, with words or pictures or any other matter of telepathy. Rather, it accepted Zadok's story as truth, for deception was all but impossible when your mind was entwined and melded with that of another. The celestial being ceased its physical attacks at once, before forcing itself into Zadok's mind. The resulting experience would be intensely painful and uncomfortable; the Carver's vast and alien mind probing around probably felt akin to a parasite devouring Zadok's brain. 

With blatant disregard for privacy the guardian rapidly sifted through Zadok's earliest memories, affirming that he was no demon. Memories of Sophist and other anti-keepers caught the Carver's attention. It sifted through them with even more rapidity, up until the events concerning Outremar's Apocalypse. Zadok would feel intense hatred radiating from his new friend at every mention of the Four Horsemen, beings of the sort that it referred to as 'demons'. With an almost insulting ambivalence, the being glossed over the memories of the other anti-keepers' downfalls, Helrac's horrible death in particular. Then, there was shock, disbelief, and perhaps even a twang of mourning upon seeing the murder of Sophist at the hands of the Horsemen. As the Carver had shared some small connection with Sophist, it was hard to maintain neutrality and calmness, the guardian's preferred state of thought. 

However, whatever emotions were displayed upon the sight of Sophist's death were swept aside by an unimaginable surge of horror and disgust, upon seeing the transformation of the Weaver into the Ripper, the monstrous red creature that was currently corrupted the sun. Solemn determination filled the Carver, a determination to end the monstrosity that had once been a guardian like itself, now twisted into hatred and destruction incarnate. The being retreated from the depths of Zadok's mind, no linger crawling about inside. A flurry of images would race through Zadok's mind as the Carver began sharing information of some sort. At first they might seem strangely irrelevant for such a goal-oriented individual. There were long, rambling speeches from Sophist about his masterpieces, vague details the Carver had picked up from his rare visits down to Elysium, and finally firsthand information about what was below the swirling clouds of gas that made up the Source.

The Carver continued to shove thoughts into Zadok, though they were now mostly words. The being was capable of communicating with rapidity, although it did so awkwardly. [b]"I know what it inside there. Now you know as well. We both know that the demon inside cannot be allowed to continue. Dire implications. The Gateway must not be breached. I sense we are in accord. You come with me. May be of some help."[/b]

Likely before Zadok was even back to his senses after having his mind invaded, he would feel a strange tingling as the Carver wrapped itself around Zadok. It was hard to see through the ball of green, cohesive energy, but if Zadok did he would discover that he was being carried inside the Carver, towards the Source at what would be an exhilarating speed. Sheltered from the overwhelmingly powerful convection currents of wind that churned around the gas giant's surface, then from the heat, then from the pressure, and then finally from the electrically charged plasmas within the bowels of the star, Zadok would at last find himself and the Carver before the Ripper. The Carver could do nothing to protect Zadok from the terror he might now feel. The gases here were laden with magic, yet they still hungered for more, and so the Carver quickly found itself struggling to maintain a cohesive state. Zadok would be best to remain inside the safety of the guardian's form, as he would no doubt fare even worse if exposed to the Source's raw power.

_______________

Within the depths of the Source, the magic was strong beyond words. In such a concentrated state it superheated, compressed, and did other strange things to the matter of the gas giant, the combination of which allowed for it to emit light and act as a star. The magic would tear apart any living things and then break them down to their most basic and primal elements, just as potent acids dissolved stone. The Ripper, however, was not harmed. Rather, it dissolved, disintegrated, even removed from existence the magic-saturated gases that touched its form. The magic, however, was not destroyed. It was sucked into the ball of red energy, cannibalized to feed the Ripper and increase its already tremendous powers, or ejected outwards in the form of red, corrupted magic.

Content to feast upon the magic for a few moments, it was not long before the Ripper sensed something. It was hard, for the sheer abundance of magic served to distort and dilute the comparatively subtle traces of anything else, but there was an unmistakeable throb of holy energy coming from deeper. The Ripper made its way to the center of the Source, where it found a great, solidified core of metal. Flying straight into the core, expecting to simply force its way through, the entity was surprised to find itself unable to destroy whatever this core was. It did not take long to discover why: this was no physical matter, at least not as most things were. There were no tiny threads or particles making up the core; it was pure, concentrated magic, literally a ward so powerful that it took the form of an impenetrable ball of matter. Whatever was inside must be incredibly important, and incredibly powerful for its holy aura to seep through the ward. The Ripper's colossal shape stretched and wrapped around the rather massive core, which was a few miles in diameter. Slowly but surely, the Ripper focused its destructive aura to corrupt and weaken the ward.

Then the Ripper sensed something else, of equal interest: despite the incomprehensibly loud sounds of swirling gases and lightning in the plasma, the telepathic sound of Zadok's voice, and that of another, were sharply audible. When at last Zadok and the Carver arrived near the Source's core, they were addressed. The Ripper's splintered mind spoke telepathically, not as one, scrambling voice like that of the Carver, but as a thousand individual ones all clamoring to be heard. A dozen or so said clever remarks, though still more spat all sorts of vile insults at Zadok. One particular voice, seemingly oblivious to all that had happened, acknowledged Zadok in the familiar, ever-so-slightly friendly yet condescending way that the Weaver had always done. The vast majority of the voices, however, communicated only foreboding silence.

The Carver cut them all off. Its voice, loud and radiating confidence and unity, stood out from all the others. [b]"Enough. I will end you, as your threads should have done!"[/b]

The Ripper's voices almost universally communicated a perverse and sickening glee at the prospect of destruction, regardless of the implication that it was they who would be destroyed. A huge tendril of red energy shot out from the Ripper, no doubt trying to encompass the much smaller Carver and corrupt its energies.