Alya listened to the voice in her head as the Elf explained to her what was going on. She had always thought that she was born mute because it was just a birth defect. That it some sort of mistake that she had been born that way. She didn't doubt a single word that the Elf spoke, she didn't have a reason to doubt her at all. However she felt an overwhelming amount of pressure weigh down upon her as the woman explained that the elves within the Feywild, her people, would suffer if she was to fail.

As the woman described to her the way she meditated, Alya followed suit, thinking that imitating her would probably be for the best, for she didn't really know how to meditate in the first place. She had never done it before. She assumed the cross-legged position, similar to the other Elven woman, her hands on her lap. Alya closed her eyes, a soft tune came to mind. A lullaby that her mother had always hummed to her as a child. A tune that she would never forget. It was soft and melodious, the inflexions in the tune where slow and few. She soon felt as everything seemingly disappeared. The song remaining. As the woman had instructed, she slowly picked away at the song, the different tones disappearing, leaving only one smooth, flat tone.

Suddenly she felt her vision flash. She gasped in surprise before seeing an incredible, beautiful world. She saw many plants and animals that she had never dreamed of, and many fairies and elves, those of the Feywild. Her vision shifted to a massive portal, similar to the one at the tournament in Mauven. She held her breath, thinking that she would hear the same blood curdling scream that she had heard before, but that didn't come. Instead she saw a mountain with many winged beings upon it. The view was amazing. She noticed a familiar looking constellation, one she had seen many a time when looking at the night sky. It was her world that she looked upon. She wanted to see more of what was beyond the portal, but it vanished with a flash.

She could hear cries. Cries of pain, anguish and loss. She could feel tears well up in her eyes as she tried to scratch at her ears, which she could not do. She felt that the Feywild was connected to this plane, but how, she did not know. She watched as a black, reddish shadow moved along the ground, only for it to crawl beneath the earth.

Again her vision changed, but she recognized it to be the same place that she had been viewing before. It was dark, disgusting, twisted. Toxic. The once beautiful world was corrupted. Everything looked dead and evil. Her vision panned across the devastation, she felt her heart sink as she saw the thorny trees and destruction. She could feel an overwhelming pain and sadness well up inside of her as she saw the Fey within a massive shield. She could feel their energy fading, but she didn't know what she was meant to do.

Jaspaiya. A word, or rather something that sounded much like a name, came to mind as the vision ended.

She slowly opened her eyes, she could feel that they were wet from her tears. She turned to look at the Elven woman, who was now glowing and smiling. After speaking, she vanished. Alya felt that she had ascended to another plane. She wanted to shout at the woman. Help me?! How is this suppose to help me?! She wanted to scream. She didn't know what she was meant to do. She didn't know where to start. She felt herself weighed down with pressure. Pressure to perform. This Purpose felt like too much. She was just.. A bard.. What could she do? How could she save those people? Did they expect her to do it alone?

She pulled her knees up, curling into a ball on top of the rock. Her body shuddering from her crying. After a few moments of grief, she collected herself. Or what was left. She crossed the pool of water again, collecting her coat and boots, donning them. She was still wet, but she didn't care. Her suffering was little compared to those in her vision. She quietly strolled into the house, ignoring everyone else, even Echo. She went in before everyone else, Echo following close behind as he noticed his Mother's presence.

It wasn't long before Alya had reached the end of the passage. She touched it the wall. It opened as any door would. A gust of cold air took hold of her immediately. Thankfully, the coat and boots were large enough to cover any exposed skin. However she still felt a strong chill. Echo yipped, headbutting his mother's foot to get her attention. Eventually he received it, being picked up and put into her coat like before, being held by his mother's arms. Alya was thankful for Echo's presence, she could feel some comfort from it.

The elven woman had spoken the truth about one thing. She caught up with Rilana and the others. She felt rather apprehensive about approaching them, but she felt a sense of relief as she approached the Moon Fey, however the elf girl's expression stayed quite grim.

Chartose nodded and went to load-up supplies, still wary even until their host dematerialized that what they were in could still be a trap... But the news meant he could allow Tricia to be a bit more at-ease as that small wolf-pup the bard carried around would bark for some sort of attention, resulting in a peculiar no-rules game of Marco-"but I don't want to get wet"-Polo.

He then suggested that they save some of the food and supplies for the rest of the group, since by now the knighted ebonfort taste-tester had quite thoroughly verified everything was safe to eat and delicious. He himself had some baked fish on fried rice, and left some of the raw eel for Tricia before loading his pack down with food and anything else that would be immediately useful upon their return.

While Alya had been the first to leave, Chartose lingered behind, if only to have a moment alone to summon Becker from Green Falls, loading him down with whatever valuables he could not personally carry before sending him back to the inn in Green Falls; it only took a few seconds and he was assured the white-elf would not miss any of it.

He then toweled-off Tricia, loaded the warm dry covers back over her, and made their way down the passageway and back into the mild chill.

---

After leaving the cave conditions became much more harsh upon Tricia; despite the challenges they faced, the two persevered with keeping the fires going through the cold nights, knowing that Tricia would be the first -and perhaps only- scream-raptor to walk into Fridgemount. Chartose's nightly bonfires were a common and somewhat popular occurrence within the expedition, often gathering the attention of anyone in the expedition that wasn't seeking solitude on almost any particular night.

The hurricane-like blizzard and white-out conditions however, tested the pair almost to the breaking-point. Being so close to the knights ever since leaving the caves, he no longer had the chance of sparing Tricia the dangers of the expedition even as it came to the point of nearly killing them all. But as luck had it, a solitary tower stood ready to provide shelter from the blizzard.

Camping out in the tunnels wasn't too terribly terrible for Rilana. Much of Frigmount was carved directly into the glacial ice and down into the ground as well, and it was all cold. But she was sensitive to the distress of the rams and the horse and it was the waiting and not knowing that ate at her. She spent most of her time either tending the animals as though she were personally responsible for their well-being, and worked up the nerve to talk to Warden Drisceya and learn from her about the nature and habits of the Underdark beasts in the region. The veteran drow was pleasantly forthcoming, but Rilana was still cautious around any Ebon Knights.

And that included Svarak, who she followed with her eyes but largely avoided, speaking to him only when necessary.

It was Ortha who spotted the other half of the party first, uncoiling herself from Rilana's lap and bounding off into the stalagmite forest, her black shape disappearing rapidly into the gloom, both heads making growling chirps that Rilana knew meant either friends or food.

As soon as Rilana saw Alya's face she felt a wave of relief wash over her, her boots loud against the stone as the tall, slender woman ran to meet her friend. "Alya! Alya! You're alright, thank goodness. What happened? Where were you?" Her questions were mostly useless, as the mute half-elf couldn't answer them easily, but Rilana's genuine gladness to see Alya again was openly apparent. While she did a quick head-count, eyeing the rest of the returning travelers and their mounts to look for signs of injury and finding none, she managed to get a cobbled-together version of the story from the other knights and Chartrose. Something about a house full of food and a naked elf woman? "I promise we'll find time to talk later. For now we all need to rest and prepare to head out in the morning."

--

When the group finally emerged onto the bright but frigid surface, Rilana breathed easier. Even Kona, safe and snug inside her head, appreciated life a little more with the open sky above them and the Druid could feel his need to fly free much more strongly than ever before.

But the wind was a concern, especially at night when temperatures continued to plummet so that even the wooly rams were uncomfortable and needed the extra protection of blankets and wind-screens. Rilana found Chartrose one evening while everyone was setting up camp and shyly but determinedly pulled the charr aside.

"Chartrose, I need to talk to you about Tricia." Like most of her people, the moon fey was annoyingly resistant to the coldness, tending to wear far less than what looked comfortable to those who could feel the breath of ice down to their bones. But even Rilana had started bundling up in wolverine fur and reindeer hides, her dove-grey cashmere cloak almost obscuring her leggy frame.

"It's going to get colder by the day, but this weather it's...not normal. I've never been able to feel the chill like this before, and I'm worried about her." She gestured towards the thin-skinned raptor swaddled in her blankets. "She's not going to survive if you don't do something more for her."

Rilana, tall by most standards but still short enough to look up into Chartrose's face, turned her pretty blue eyes on him, pleading. "Please, I want to show you something." She lifted her palm and showed him a small statuette of the two-headed balauradon that traveled with her. To anyone else, it would have seemed simply like a very skilled carving and nothing more. But to Chartrose the likeness to the creature it was tied to would be uncanny, not just a figurine, but an Effigy like the one he carried.

"I saw yours the other day and I knew you were like me." Taking his paw, if he let her, Rilana pulled him into the privacy of her tent, where Ortha was already snoozing on top of Rilana's pack. The creature was nearly bigger than Echo now.

Chartose froze -not physically but emotionally- when he saw Rilana had a totem, and even mentioned that she saw his earlier; he did not want to risk telling-all on a bluff... but this looked less and less like a bluff as she guided him to her tent, as being pulled would not really describe it when he was more anxious to get out of public sight than she was.

The tent interior was slightly warmer, and a fair amount warmer than the lean-to he kept setting-up beside the fire for Tricia and the rams. He even saw the little multi-headed beast that seemed quite fond of nipping at him and Tricia when it wasn't napping.

"Then you know I can't just send her away, or even say she ran back to warmer climates only to suddenly appear in the streets of Fridgemount shortly after our arrival." He paused, choosing his words carefully "She really wants to visit Fridgemount, personally."

Rilana was quick to tie the tent flap down, both to prevent it from letting out the warm air (it was such a strange new thing to be concerned about!) and to add another level of certainty onto their privacy. Turning back to the large male, the Moon Fey seemed nervous, crossing her arms over her slender torso.

For now, Ortha simply stirred enough to eyeball the furry creature that had suddenly appeared in her space, but as he didn't seem to be threatening at the moment, she resumed ner snooze.

When Chartrose spoke again, Rilana's expression turned knowing, sympathetic, and she nodded. A tendril of her silvery hair fell from behind her long, pointed ear. "I know. Trust me, I know." She gestured towards Ortha as an example and then tucked the little Effigy into her pocket, patting it fondly.

Her silvery brows furrowed at the charr's intense tone and his unspoken concern, but when she realized what he was saying, her face relaxed. "It's Frigmount, not Fridgemount, but no matter how you pronounce it you'll be happy to know that unlike anywhere in the south, the Frostfell never lost its magic. Druids are well-known and welcome among my kind, so you needn't worry about hiding Tricia from my kin. But you DO have to worry about her perishing before we ever make it there..."

Rilana knew she was rambling a bit, trying to work up the courage for what she was going to do next.

"Forgive me, but I am assuming that if you could send her away with an effigy you would have alreay done so to spare her from the cold. But I wanted you to know there is another way..." Rilana bit her lip in a hesitant pout.

"Effigies aren't the only thing... You can make a Mark out of Tricia too. On your body. You may already know this. I couldn't...I couldn't tell because of all your fur."

Not that you have anything against fur, Kona reminded her, and he was deliberately vague enough that she couldn't tell if her gryphon was talking about himself or Svarak. She could feel his arrogant pride building up, because he knew what she was thinking.

"I've only done it once, and I have no idea how to teach someone how to do it...but if you try you just might be able to...to help Tricia." Rilana tried to keep the warm-weather raptor's well-being in mind, focusing on helping Chartrose's Familiar as she slowly turned her back on the charr and fumbled with the front of her cloak.

The cold started biting at her as soon as she pulled the supple cloak off, but there were still several layers to go. First her reindeer hide vest, then the thick pale blue linen shirt under that. Finally, Rilana let the soft suede camisole slide down to her waist until her back was bare. Or it would have been bare, if not for Kona.

Rilana's skin was as moon-white as the rest of her, almost statuesque with the alabaster hue, the barest hint of pink proving that she was alive and not some animated marble thing. And it would have been flawless, except for the massive tattoo that nearly covered her back. A proud gryphon peering up haughtily at Chartrose, all black and white like a creature of the forever-winter, only piercing yellow eyes that watching him, catlike and predatory. Even as Rilana gave the man a chance to look, Kona lashed his tail and flared his wings until it almost seemed they would burst from the Moon Fey's skin. As her fellow Druid, only Chartrose would be able to instantly recognize the Mark for a Familiar.

"His name is Kona. I Marked him half a year ago when I first left my home. I don't know exactly how I did it, I just felt him, knew that I didn't want to be apart, and the magic in our Bond made it happen. I wanted to show you because I know how much it would hurt if something happened to my Kona and I didn't want that for you." She was glancing over her shoulder, her cheekbone flushed pink, and she quickly pulled her shirt up.

Chartose was transfixed with the temptation to reach out and pet the Gryphon-mark, but was too slow to act before Rilana pulled her shirt up to ward-off the chilly air and bundled herself back together, looking up from time to time for an answer -or even a question.

Eventually, he found his words: "Kona did not look too happy to see me... does he have any say on when to be released?" He then looked at his copper effigy of Becker and sighed.

"In any case, it still won't solve how to deal with the knights on the matter. How do you plan on keeping them from noticing?"

Relieved that the big charr didn't seem about to make a comment or even a face in reference to her brief toplessness, Rilana pulled her cloak back on and sighed as the warmth returned to her pale flesh. She even chuckled at Chatrose's observation of Kona's arrogance.

"He's a gryphon. He isn't pleased to see anyone unless they are fawning over him properly." But when Chartrose asked about Kona being Marked and un-Marked the moon fey paused thoughtfully. Kona argued with her all the time. They bickered and snarked at each other constantly. But underneath it all, they were one. Their hearts beat together and she knew that when all else failed there would be Kona there to support her, loyally, faithfully, forever. But how did she put all that into words?"I suppose ultimately no, I would have the final say in that. He is my Familiar, not the other way around, and it was my...soul...or power...or magic...whatever you want to call it, that Bound us together in the first place."

The truth was, being Master over Kona had troubled her thoughts before, and she wondered what life would be like for Familiars who had cruel Masters. Was such a thing possible? "I think that if Kona were ever miserable being Marked, my heart would break until I let him out. You will feel everything that Tricia feels. You will know when being un-Marked is something she needs rather than when it's just her being a stubborn brat. It's not completely one-sided. She will live as long as you will, which is far longer than most animals."

She wanted to talk more, to discuss the differences between a Familiar like Kona who was sentient and intelligent versus an animal like Tricia who wasn't quite at that same level of awareness. But baring her secrets (and more) to someone who was essentially a stranger had left Rilana feeling drained. Perhaps a conversation for another time.

"The Ebon Knights have no say in the matter," Rilana snapped firmly, an icy bite to her words and a frosty gleam in her eye. "I am getting very weary of worrying about what they think!" They meaning Svarak, mostly. "As it turns out, being Envoy means I'm in charge of them until the moment we are back in Ebonfort Territory. So what if they notice? They are, all of them, traveling to a place where magic is celebrated and normal and if they have a problem with that then they can hike back to that dismal black mausoleum all by themselves. The would be fools to take issue with your talent here at the top of the world. Breathe easier, Chartrose, and worry about Tricia instead."

Rilana patted Chartrose on the shoulder and eventually showed him back out of her tent.

--

But whatever fire had existed in Rilana seemed to fizzle out after her birthday-night chat with Svarak under the stars and the moon, replaced by a grim determination. The Aurora Polaris was especially wondrous that night, a last hurrah before the devastating storms swept down in all their icy, deadly fury. It wasn't right, and it wasn't normal, none of it. The cold was unnatural and not only did it make Rilana miserable, it terrified her. It could only be magic. At first her thoughts were only on the crimson-eyed horror from Svarak's memory, but later she remembered the tale she'd heard in Stone Crest about some kind of ice wizard? No longer seeing any wisdom in keeping her suspicion to herself, she asked the others if they knew anything helpful, even going as far as to admit that avoiding some unknown terror in the mountains had been the reason she chose the forest road out of Stone Crest.

Whatever the rest of her party knew or didn't know ended up being irrelevant. The vicious blizzard swelled up like a living thing, cutting them off and dictating their course along ground that Rilana wasn't intimately familiar with. The best she could do for her charges was to help them survive. She showed them how to make barriers of snow around their tents to block out the wind, how to keep their beasts alive, how to avoid snowflake lichen and avalanches. Many times she was tempted to send Kona up above the storm, but one look at the wall of white stormclouds changed her mind for her. Ortha remained huddled uselessly on Bruin's rump. Rilana was thankful that the extradimensional two-headed monster seemed to be weathering the deadly cold a bit better than Tricia, though she complained quite a bit.

The Moon Fey felt no small sense of forboding at the sight of the strange tower, but they couldn't afford to not investigate it and take shelter. At the very least it would be a place to wait for the blizzard to pass so that they could then travel in the direction they liked.

The entire group moved their way into the entry room at the base of the tower. There were sculptures everywhere carved from a stone that seemed similar to ice in both touch and sight, but could not be melted. There was a sculpture of a human man brandishing a sword, another of a sleeping katzheer, and another of a baby frost troll, holding its arm up defensively. The entire room was lit by candles, and a massive candelabra hanging from the ceiling. The rugs on the floor, the paintings on the wall, all of Frigmount design. Svarak voiced the concern that seemed to be on everyone's mind, "This storm is unnatural, and this tower is centered in it. I cannot believe that they are not connected somehow. Time is of the essence, so we need to find out what is causing it, be it this ice wizard Rilana heard rumors of, or something else." He'd leave the sorting the details out for Envoy Rilana.

As the group was talking, there was a pained screech from outside, one that Chartrose would recognize only as Tricia. Quick inspection would see a thin layer of ice forming all over Tricia's exposed hide, and was visibly thickening as they looked on. She was thrashing slowly, ice breaking off, but it was growing over her faster than she could stop it. Blankets would do no good, and fire would only slow it in small areas. Soon the cold caused her to collapse as her body began to drift into a frigid slumber. It became clear that she had very little time left especially if left outside. If dragged inside, the growth of the ice would slow, but never cease. Eventually she looked Chartrose in the eye, letting loose one last pained, sluggish screech before slipping into unconsciousness. Rilana and the Homunculus medic would be able to tell that she was still alive, but growing weaker and weaker.

Alya, on the other hand, would hear the ice giving off a song, it was dark, and cold, but still beautiful. The song coming off the magical ice seemed to drift through the upward stair well to the upper floors. She was starting to realize that her own magic seemed to make it possible to hear any other magic currently active. Svarak gave the creature a pitying look, before heading for the downward set of stairs. The unranked knights were more interested in staying at ground level, while Drisceya would offer to join anyone who took the upward stairs.

The next several floors upward would show many more realistic sculptures of that strange ice-stone and Frigmount adornments. Eventually there wouldn't be an obvious signs of an upward stairwell and only a door that was locked. The room was colder, for the windows were open, long icicles hanging from them. There were no statues in this room, no adornments, just snow, ice, and the door. The door was a thick, heavy metal, and clearly wouldn't be broken down. Drisceya pulled out her lock picks and went to work on the oddly wide and circular keyhole. But this was quickly realized to be futile, "There's no pins in the lock to pick." Eventually it would be seen on the wall next to the door, in the Fey language, a message that when translated said, "Flowers may die, but keys will always grow."

The downward stairs led to no floors, but rather just wound deeper and deeper into the ground before stopping at the bottom of an open cavern. Svarak could be seen peering into a dark, deep hole, several stone throws across. At the bottom of it was a brilliantly blue dragon, seemingly asleep. Any attempt to contact or wake the dragon would only trigger one thing. Several slices of the cavern walls would slide back and dozens of creatures poured out. They began moving aggressively toward Svarak and any others that had come down, already blocking the stairwell back up. Many had blades of ice as arms, other had hammers. They stood at half the height of Svarak, but seemed to be working in unison as they unleashed a volley of ice shards at them. Svarak leapt nimbly out of the way, drawing his Null Shard Greatsword, and slicing several in half in a single motion. But still, more came.

Alya walked somewhat behind the group as they entered the tower, Echo followed next to his mother, looking around and sniffing for anything else that might be in here. The frigid air discouraged the canine from sniffing around too much, as the cold air bit at his nostrils. The half elf looked curiously at the statues, confirming that she could identify most with the baby troll that had it's hands up defensively. She felt like her mind had been doing the same thing since she had learnt of her purpose. She walked up to the troll statue and laid her hand on it's hands. As expected, the ice was cold, but she wanted to just stare at it for a little while longer.

A pained screech caused her ears to twitch. She turned away from the statue, toward the noise. Echo instinctively turned as well, growling. It seemed that the Charr's mount had been hurt. By what? She didn't know. Maybe the cold. Upon further inspection, she realized that it was being slowly encased in ice. She knew there was nothing she could do, she could try ease the pain with some music, but it seemed futile. As she continued to watch the ice grow upon the creature, she heard a song. It was deep, dark.. cold.. Almost sad. The sound of the song seemed to drift upstairs, leading to the upper levels of the tower.

As if in a trance, she turned toward the stairs, seemingly mindlessly walking up them. If anyone was to call out to try stop her, she would not. AS she proceeded up, she noticed other sculptures of ice, but she pressed on as she followed the song, ultimately ignoring anyone else that followed her. She reached a room. It had not statues and it felt colder than the other ones. She noticed the windows were open, allowing gusts to flow in. Echo shivered slightly, but his fur and knitted coat kept most of the cold off of him. Lyle had prepared a coat for Echo before the trip, which Alya had put on him after exiting the cave.

When she and the Drow encountered the door, she watched curiously as the woman tried to use her lockpicks, but to no avail. The key hole looked very odd. Much too large. However, she didn't want to just give up. She needed to know what was beyond the door, for the song felt louder as she moved toward it. She looked around for something that would remotely be a key, her grip tightening on her flute in frustration as the room was empty, nothing but ice and snow.. and a door. The riddle added to her frustration as she didn't know what it meant. Keys couldn't grow, that was preposterous.

Chartose and a few of the knights struggled to drag Tricia into the tower. Time was clearly growing desperately short and he knew what would have to be done, even as he cursed his own folly of trying to let Tricia make the journey. And now it seemed as though they'd be paying the price for such arrogance.

"Move along, you've done all you can." He thanked the knights who'd helped him and continued to offer futile aid, "I'd like some time alone." It was a simple request, one that thankfully appeared to be honored as Alya and Drisceya went up, Svarak went down. The unranked knights continued to mill-about with morbid curiosity.

"I said leave!" He shouted at them, drawing a spearpoint in their direction. Whether they went up, down, or outside for a minute was none of his concern. If his plan failed, Tricia would be dead for real. He'd be cutting it very close to the three-day wait after summoning Becker so many times back in the caves... had he not ben so greedy he should have marked her back there and then.

Hugging his mount closely, Chartose felt his life-energy surround what little there was left of Tricia's, and absorb it into himself, along with her physical being; he only sign remaining being a dark and almost cancerous-looking mark hidden under his fur of a scream-raptor sprawled-out in exhaustion on his back, its neck extending over his shoulder with its snout nuzzled into his heart for warmth.

Having performed the act, he took the blankets for himself as he felt the world grow a little colder around him; despite the re-assuring presence of Tricia murmuring in thanks to his mind. He went upstairs after informing any knights outside that he was ready to move-on.

The statuary inside the frigid tower gave Rilana a feeling of dreadful unease. The tall woman weaved wordlessly through the seemingly randomly placed figures, her lips pressed into a grim line as she eyed the clothing and weaponry that bespoke of Frigmount styles and fashions. It was impossible for her to not recognize them, even though the colours were all washed out and muted by the ice they were made of. Even the features on some of the faces looked eerily familiar, and if the Moon Fey wasn't already frightfully cold, a terrible suspicion crept icily down her spine.

"I...I think these people used to be alive... They're too real." Part of her didn't want to believe that these creatures had been frozen alive, but it was difficult to reason her way out of, especially when she looked into their eyes. And the very thought stirred a cold anger within her.

The Scream Raptor outside let out an agonized shriek, the sound unlike any of the frostfell animals Rilana was used to, though it was somewhat similar to the noises Ortha made.

Sounds like the lizard will be joining the exhibit, Kona predicted morbidly as Rilana spun on her heel and hurried outside to help Chartrose with his own Familiar. Tricia looked bad. Even before the unnatural ice began to creep along her pebbly skin, Rilana could see the signs of frostbite and hypothermia. Her colour was washed out, her extremities dark and unmoving.

I should have forced him to leave her behind in Stone Crest! she chided herself as she tried to comfort the beast while avoiding her sharp incisors at the same time.

Yes, Kona agreed. You shouldn't second-guess yourself when it comes to standing up for what is right.

If I had done it then, Chartrose might have found the way to Mark her then instead of now when she's in so much pain and time is short. I'm not even sure if Marking her now will save her.

Stooping next to Chartrose, Rilana helped move the huge heavy reptile into the shelter of the Tower, calling for blankets and rummaging in her pack for extra furs to wrap tight around the raptor's legs so that her blood would be forced towards her heart where it would stay warm. But as the white crust of rime swept over Tricia's body, Rilana's heart sank. No amount of fur and heat could compete with magical cold.

"Chartrose..." the beautiful Moon Fey was at a loss for words. She had already voiced her fears to the huge charr mercenary and told him what she thought he must do. Her tone was urgent, letting him know that now was the time to Mark his Familiar. Now or never.

When Chartrose requested time to be alone, Rilana turned and began shooing the others away. Either the leonine-faced man was about to have a special and literally magical moment with his companion, or he was going to watch helplessly as she slipped into death, and either way Rilana thought he deserved some privacy.

But apparently they weren't moving fast enough for the distraught charr because there was suddenly a keen spearpoint stabbing through the air in her direction. Shocked and a little offended, Rilana gave the pair a last look before turning to follow the others.

The Druid intended to follow Alya, but wasn't sure if she had gone upstairs or down. There was nothing in the ground floor of the tower to secure the rams and Bruin to other than the statues, and their uncanny realness (especially due to the looks of terror on many of their faces} prevented her from using them as hitching posts.

The storm will keep them from leaving, Kona reassured her.

It's not what's out there that worries me.

But she could see no fringe or flake of supernatural frost clinging to the beasts and forced herself to believe that they would be alright. She was sorely tempted to Bond with Bruin right then and there, if only to protect him from danger. Now that she knew what it felt like, she could sense the horse's trust, the connection. But Bruin belonged to Ebonfort now and it would be wrong to Bond with someone else's creature, no matter how much she loved him.

...someone else's.

Her stomach hurt. Something warm rubbed against her legs and Rilana looked down to see Ortha's Vilemaw head staring up at her. The Firefang head was looking towards the stairs leading up, and the juvenile balauradon's tail twitched back and forth. The Moon Fey noted the glimmer of fell saliva brimming on the two-headed creature's lips and knew that she was responding to the grim predicament in which the party had found themselves. No longer terrified that Ortha was going to bite someone accidentally, Rilana hadn't made the creature wear her muzzle in long enough that the gray spot worn into her snout by the rough leather was nearly gone.

She's getting bigger by the day. You don't notice because you see her so much.

Rilana remembered the little satchel that Knight Togan had handed her all those weeks ago during the aftermath of the fated tournament and it seemed absurd that Ortha had ever fit in it. As she met the gruesome creature's gaze, Rilana explored the connection between them with her mind and discovered that not only could she see an expression of anticipation, expectation, in Ortha's fangy and horned face, she could feel it.

She's dumber than me. You have to concentrate harder to hear her thoughts.

Rilana made an exasperated face at Kona's rudeness but didn't waste time chastising him for it. At the end of the day, Kona and Ortha were on the same team.

I didn't realize I'd be able to hear them before she was Marked.

It's because you're getting better at this, of course.

Crouching down, Rilana stroked her hand across Ortha's head, looking her firmly in the eye. "Go. Find Alya for me." She said it out loud, which seemed to add strength and specificity to the mental command. She pictured the pretty, dimunitive musician in her mind and projected it to her armour-plated Familiar.

With a purring sort of snarl, the balauradon took off, wicked claws scraping against the icy steps as she ascended. Rilana turned away just as Ortha's tail disappeared, but the Druid found that even as she took a different path down the stairs into the dark cavern, she still had a sense of exactly where Ortha was.

Rilana joined Svarak in the underground chamber, concentrating hard on watching where she stepped as well as the strange new sensation of keeping tabs on Ortha. It was like a daydream that wouldn't fade away, whispers of things the two-headed creature could hear, flashes of what she saw in her unique dual perception of the world. It made Rilana's head ache but she knew it would be useful when she could make sense of it all. Kona was mercifully quiet as Rilana reached the edge of the drop and looked down.

The Moon Fey's face registered absolutely nothing, as though she couldn't even see a blue-scaled snoozing dragon at the bottom of the hole. But in truth, a dragon seemed to be almost mundane after the last few weeks. It wasn't even attacking, though the Druid knew that could change.

But then she remembered something and straightened up, reaching slowly into a pocket at the front of her vest until she came up with a single blue scale pinched between her fingers. She could feel its chill working down into her skin. For a creature supposedly immune to the cold, Rilana was finding herself quite sick of her own homeland all of a sudden.

"That Raven," she groaned, trying to work out the how and the why and the when that bird could have possibly come up with a dragonscale to bring her. A dragonscale that matched this dragon quite suspiciously.

That bird is Trouble.

She could almost hear the white raven's cackling voice in her ear, and the last thing she needed were more voices in her head!

It was about that time that there was a deep grinding crackle as the walls slid open and short but menacing creatures scurried out, lifting blade-like limbs threateningly, their eyes just as cold as the ice they had emerged from.

With no shield to defend herself, Rilana scurried backwards to avoid the icy shards that splintered into shrapnel when they hit the stoney ground. Pieces hit her clothing and stung where they struck her skin, and Rilana suspected that as the little creatures drew closer their projectiles would become far more than just an annoyance.

Are they protecting the dragon?

Hard to imagine that it's giving them orders in its sleep.

Nor does it make a good guard dog if it's napping.

Why did the bird bring the scale?

I don't know! I don't even know if it's from this dragon!

Kona's silence spoke volumes. Rilana stood still and her fists clenched as she collected the magical power within her and focused it on Kona. The Mark on her back began to itch, and then it felt warm as though something soft and furry was caressing her skin.

Behind her, the air thickened with a whitish mist that coalesced and grew into a huge winged shape, the white, leopard-spotted gryphon suddenly appearing behind his Mistress, tail lashing back and forth behind him. His ear tufts twitched and he leaned into a long, lazy stretch, retractable claws kneading at the ground as his black beak gave a yawn.

It's good to be back, he chuckled mentally, still speaking into Rilana's mind as he came up beside her and looked at her out of one yellow eye.

"Good, because we have work to do."

Waking up a dragon?

"I know it sounds crazy, but yes."

He didn't have lips, but Kona still grinned.

Rilana climbed up on Kona's back, gripping his furry shoulders behind his wings with her legs as she twisted around to pull her longbow from where it was strapped to the outside of her pack.

"You're bigger," the Druid said flatly.

Rilana wasn't the best shot, more used to sniping and hunting things that didn't know she was there, but she began to take shots at those closest to the edge of the hole to try to knock one in and see what happened. It was a task, keeping her torso straight and still enough to command the pale bow even as her abdomen had to roll with the motions of the beast under her. Kona kept an eye on the ice-archers, strafing back and forth to avoid being hit, growling in low tones. Rilana and her gryphon were hardly the cavalry and did their best to stay well away from the creatures. The giant feline-raptor let out an angry piercing shriek as he faced the elementals.

Unable to help it, the Moon Fey kept Svarak in the corner of her eye, watching with a grim sort of satisfaction as his null shard blade cleaved through the milling ranks of the short creatures like a scythe through a field of wheat. She liked nothing about any of this, but she did like watching the Lord Knight.

On the fifth floor, the room seemed to be growing colder, as Alya and Drisceya were joined by Chartrose and shortly after, Ortha. Drisceya got annoyed with the door, kicking it fiercely. It did no damage, but it did change the song that Alya could hear. The song became a chorus of many songs, all similar, all haunting tales. None of the others seemed to notice anything was off, as Ortha meandered over to a corner and began devouring a pile of snow.

On the ground floor, with the two knights, Beran and Chet, and the Homunculus, Sesser, were just investigating their temporary shelter. Chet was staring into the face of the man swinging his sword, "Man, I think that Moon Fey is right, the detail on this is phenomenal. He has pock marks just like my brother. Remember Tedden? Covered in pimples and the like for so long. Too good to be from an artist. What do you..." His eyes grew wide as he saw the face looking at him seemed as surprised to seem him, and this was shown as the face had moved, the eyes opened wide. Then it turned fierce, angry, and the sword that was held high, swung down.

Chet half drew his sword from its sheathe, catching the ice statue in the arm with the hilt, stopping the swing. He used this delay to skip back, "Bloody fuckin' hell! They are alive!" The ice man came toward him as fast as a seasoned warrior would, and soon him and Chet were locked in a deadly dance of blades. Beran drew his own blade, and the Homunculus drew a large hammer. However, the Katzheer that was sleeping remained that way, though they could hear it now purring in its slumber, seeing its form move as it breathed. The frost troll child fell back on its rump and was crying for its mother in its native language.

Chet managed to disarm the man, and plunged his own blade in the neck, shattering the ice there, and watching the man's head tumble off. He shouted in triumph as the body fell to the ground, and quickly changed from ice back to that of human man, blood spilling out from his open neck. Then Beran heard the noise from above them, and stated what they feared, "How many do you think are up there?"

Back on the fifth floor, Chartrose and Drisceya could hear movement below them, Alya a bit to honed in on the many magical songs she could hear to notice. There were heavy footfalls up the steps, until a large ice orc with a massive spiked club entered the room. He roared ferociously as he charged at Chartrose, swinging heavily to crush the Charr.

Down in the cavern though, Rilana would find that shooting from a flying, moving mount, with a longbow, was a near impossible task. However, one lucky shot took out the knee of one of the creatures, causing it to tip into the dragon's pit. It fell, landing atop the dragon's head and shattering into so many ice shards. The dragon lifted its head weakly, looking up and locking eyes with Rilana for a moment, before it slumped forward again. She would be able to see enough to guess that it was weak, but it didn't seem to have the normal signs of undernourishment, even if she didn't know dragon biology.

Svarak's face was passive as he mowed down the seemingly endless amount of creatures with so much ease. A closer look would show that he actually looked bored. The grace with which he moved was so much more deft than how he'd moved on the ice on Rilana's name day, and not a single move was wasted. Each blow killed at least three of the creatures, and led him to the next set. Another fell on the dragon, and it stirred once more, and a weak voice could be heard in the cavern, "You... you can't kill them all... they.. reform..."

Svarak had slaughtered an entire side of the pit, and made a running leap to hop over to the other side to continue, his blade out in front of him. Rilana would see a flash as the Null Shard Greatsword came into contact with something in the air at the edge of the pit, and again, as Svarak's leap carried him over to the other side. Kona would be able to feel the air shift, as if wind was being sucked downward near where Svarak had jumped through. The Charr continued his easy efforts of destroying the creatures. If Rilana and Kona flew too close to the pit, they'd find their way stopped by an invisible force, one as solid as rock.

Upstairs, Ortha had discovered Alya as requested. But with no further instructions from Rilana, aka. The Shiny White Momma with Weird Food, she was content to wander about the perimeter of the room. With one head she kept an eye on her surroundings, and with the other she tried her nasty teeth on various objects to see if they were edible. To Ortha, just about anything was potentially food, and it was a testament to Rilana's constant training that the people (and Echo) in the room fell distinctly into Ortha's 'Not Food' category.

With her Vilemaw watching somewhat placidly as Drisceya kicked at the door, Ortha stretched up on her hind legs to check out the window. She hadn't been particularly impressed by the snow that melted in her mouth and chilled her belly, but perhaps the long icicles would make a more substantial meal. Her teeth scraped shrilly against the ice as she broke a long one off, her Firefang dribble turning it shiny where it had already begun to wilt and melt.

Sensing the sudden movement of creatures in the many floors below, Ortha let out a concerned chirruping Grawp!, slightly muffled by the ice in her mouth. With her spare set of eyes focused on the stairwell, the otherwordly beast scurried over to Alya and Echo, spitting the icicle out as her tail lashed back and forth. The armour plating on her back had not yet grown in all the way, but the largest pieces rattled together in an almost chitinous sort of way.

Down in the depths, Rilana was bit too busy to focus on the wavering food-motivated double vision of her extraplanar familiar, and nearly threw her longbow at the stony ground in disgust at her shoddy marksmanship. She was nearly out of arrows and had perhaps only made one good shot the entire time. It was maddening and she knew that in this dead air Kona could only swoop and hover about for so long.

"Oh...mammoth balls!" The moon fey cursed as Kona swerved to avoid another volley of icy shrapnel. The shards were striking the roof behind them, raining a gritty glitter down on everything below.

"This is no use. We have to think of something else. Something is happening upstairs but I..."

The way is blocked.

Rilana glanced towards the stairs and saw that it was true. Perhaps Svarak could have fought his way through the loitering mass, but Rilana and Kona would die in the attempt. It was only then that a shrill whistle of an ice elemental falling from a height attracted her gaze, and Kona had flown them close enough to the edge of the pit that the Druid could see the flailing creature strike the bottom.

It took the dragon so long to respond that for a moment Rilana feared it was nothing more than a creepy statue like the ones upstairs, but then it lifted its head and Rilana thought she saw pain and despair in its eyes. The druid knew very little about dragons. The only one she'd ever seen before had been at a far distance as it flew against the azure winter sky. This one seemed healthy in stature, but moved as though the life was being drained out of it.

The urge to swoop down and try to help it was powerful, but the fact that it didn't immediately attack them in its weakened state didn't prove that it was to be trusted. It did, however, suggest that there was something far greater than a simple ice dragon to deal with here.

Guiding her Familiar with simple wishes through their mental connection was almost as easy as if she were the one spreading her wings and flying. Kona's feather's thumped the air rather noisily with no currents or updrafts to assist him, though a breeze fluffed along the ground in his wake.

Rilana tucked her bow away, having no use for a weapon that she wasn't skilled enough to bring to bare on these creatures with any kind of results. Kona came to land on one side of the pit, taking a moment to breathe while the elementals scurried around towards them. They seemed endless, but as of yet were not attacking with anything Rilana could recognize as organization. More like a swarm of ants defending a hive.

Bees. Bees have hives, Kona corrected her.

"Oh, right," Rilana said thoughtfully, leaning forward to pat the gryphon on the head. The proud black and white creature snarled at the incoming elementals, sides heaving in an attempt to catch his breath, tufted tail lashing back and forth as his claws kneaded at the stone.

Another creature sailed through the air at the end of the glacial gleam of Svarak's sword. He didn't even seem perturbed by the masses of creatures surrounding him, and Rilana wished the circumstances would have allowed for her to just sit and watch.

"I wish I had his courage."

Kona didn't say anything, but he puffed his chest out a little and fluttered his wings. He didn't have that kind of courage either, but he had to be strong for Rilana.

"They're getting close," she warned, her legs tightening behind the huge muscles that attached Kona's wings to his back, and his haunches bunched, just the tiniest cat-like wiggle before he launched into the air again. They didn't get far before the gryphon flinched.

Screeee!They hit me! It stings...!

Heart in her throat, Rilana tried to glance down to see where her Familiar was injured, but all she could see was blood dripping, not where it was coming from. She could barely do more than hold on at this point as the gryphon arched to avoid a stalagtite.

"Your wings are still working, at least," she said through gritted teeth. Whatever she was going to do, it needed to happen soon.

That was when the dragon spoke. And it had to be the dragon with a voice that sounded so weak but with so much potential for might behind it. There was a brilliant flash and Rilana followed Svarak's arcing progress as he leaped adroitly over the pit, unsure where the light had come from.

But then it happened again and Kona's head turned towards the sudden rush of air, angling his wings to bring them closer.

I think someone is using the ice dragon to make all that unnatural cold weather we've been suffering through, and those statues...who knows what else.
Her eyes narrowed at the swath of destruction in Svarak's wake, trying to see if any of the elementals struck down by his antimagic sword seemed to be, indeed, reforming.

"Svarak! There's some kind of shield over the pit! It's keeping the dragon in. The null shard can pierce it! I..."

But whatever she was about to say was a mystery. Swooping towards the invisible barrier had unforseen circumstances. With a savage bump, Kona's dangling hindpaws struck the smooth curve of something and sent them both sprawling gracelessly across the high point of some sort of dome. Rilana saw white as she struck hard and cried out in pain before she lay unmoving at the summit.

Kona on the other hand, continued to roll over, feathers and fur flying as the catbird tried to right himself. He almost slipped down the steep side, scrabbling wildly to climb back up, his pelt mussed like a ruffled chicken as he hurried back to his Mistress's side. She looked terribly small hovering in midair at his feet.

This is weird, he said to no one, lifting one set of claws and then the other as he peered down through to the dragon below, placing his feet back on the solid but unseen cage.

The elementals, by virtue of being able to move through the barrier, could not climb up to get them, but their flying ammunition was getting closer to the mark. Kona gripped one set of talons harshly into the back of Rilana's vest and then looked for Svarak. He didn't like the huge Charr at all, but this was Important. He shook his feathers out and opened his black beak to let out a shrill, piercing cry like the biggest damn eagle and stared at the lion-man expectantly, his own tail lashing, mostly at the pain in his ribs where blood was staining his flank.

SCREEEEEEE!

As Alya pondered the fey-written riddle, Echo had noticed that the two-headed beast had come up the stairs to 'greet' them. Echo growled at it in an irritable fashion, since the last time they had met in the tent wasn't too pleasant. Echo half expected to hear his mother's command to make him stop growling at the beast, but when he looked up to her, he noticed that she was in slight pain.

The songs pounded in her mind. As the Drow kicked the giant door, she felt the songs begin to pile up. Different songs, all of them dark and cold, melding together in some fantastic chorus. She massaged her temples as she felt a giant headache grow. She couldn't stop the music and she couldn't take them apart like she had done whilst meditating either. It was a mass of icy hatred flooding her mind.

As she attempted to think about something else to soothe her throbbing headache, she heard a massive roar that rang in her eardrums. She jumped in surprise at the sudden loud noise, slipping on the slightly icy floor causing her to land firmly on her buttocks. At least the pain was somewhere else for now..?

She could hear Echo growling at the giant ice orc that now stood at the entrance, attacking the Charr. Fearing that Echo would become a potential target for the orc, she snapped her fingers sharply, commanding him to stop. He hesitated at the command, conflicted. There's a beast that threatens his mother's life and she's telling him to stop? He complied, but placed himself in front of Alya, so that he was between the threat and his mother.

Alya wasn't sure of what to make of this situation. The music that flooded her mind was confusing her and stopping her from forming any proper thoughts. Clunk. Something solid hit the stone floor next to her, tapped her gently on the leg. It was an icicle. Given to her by.. Rilana's two-headed pet..? Alya stared between the puppy-like monster and the icicle. Something clicked in her mind.

Flowers may die, but keys will always grow. She remembered the way the ice 'grew' on the Charr's mount. Thinking of which, It doesn't look like he's grieving... Either it's not dead or he's a heartless cat.

She picked up the sharp piece of ice in her hand as she got to her feet. Attempting to and successfully ignoring everything that was currently happening concerning the ice orc, she walked over to the door. She stared at the lock for a moment before looking at the icicle in her hands. It seemed to be the right size? Maybe? She shrugged and tried to push the icicle into the keyhole.

"Maybe the lock is frozen." Chartose mused to the drow while she vented her anger upon the lock, watching the vilemaw scamper by and amuse itself on some snow. A commotion then occurred below and spooked all the creatures, Cartose and his familiar included. He saw Alya had fallen-down, but was sure that was not everyone's cause for alarm.

Chartose took one look at the crystalline Orc and cast his spear aside [nope], figuring it would be useless for blocking bludgeons and equally useless in doing any damage to it. Instead, he whipped-out a length of stout chain to lash at the facsimile-orc with, hoping to ensnare or knock-off a limb as he made a fighting withdrawal up the steps.

Fighting with two arm-spans worth of chain however great it is at providing a safe fighting-distance, is a cumbersome affair; it would not take long at all for it to snag or get caught on something, or for it to take too long to make-ready for another swing. In the highly likely event that the orc rushed too fast for him to make another swing, he whipped the chain off the ground and between the orc's legs with about as much force could be expected to come from a violently lashing five pound chain before he took his trusty tree-felling axe and counter-charged. Chartose was not patilcularily skilled at axe or club-fighting, but he was sure that tackling the orc head-first back down the stairs while driving an axe through its rock-hard skull would be the winning strategy of the day.

Svarak was busy humming a tune and moving to its rhythm as he sliced his way through wave after wave of these ice minions. His breath wasn't even coming fast yet, barely even a workout. He watched them crumble, and yet there weren't shards everywhere. He would've rolled his eyes had he not been deflecting some ice spears coming his way. Reforming monsters were a pain, it always meant there was an external source that needed to be destroyed.

He heard Rilana's words and smiled. At least one of them had been paying attention. Apparently he'd gotten lax since magic disappeared. He shouted in reply, "Got it." He thought back to where there were shards from ones he'd destroyed earlier and waited until they were gone. So it took a few slips to reform, and his grin turned sinister. He crouched, the muscles tensing, his boot digging into the solid rock. Then he surged forward, so fast that following his movements were nearly impossible to follow, and behind him was left a wake of shards and crumbles.

When he stopped, they all were temporarily destroyed, and his breath was coming fast as he leapt atop the shield where Rilana and Kona were waiting. Smiling, "I'm getting to old for this stuff." He then noticed that the woman was unconscious, probably from her hard landing. That was going to make things trickier. But he formed a plan. Then he sliced through the shield around them, and the trio fell through. Kona would be able to slow their descent, Svarak using the sides of the hall to slow himself. Once at the bottom, the dragon would stir lightly, but couldn't lift his head or open his eyes. He'd be surprisingly warm to the touch, his brilliant blue scales a bit grey now.

The pit they were in was quite large, and the dragon was against one of the walls. There was a large cave opening at the opposite side that had gone unnoticed before they'd gotten down there. It made sense, it was likely how the dragon could come and go if it weren't a prisoner. If the dragon was touched by Rilana or Kona, they would hear the following in their mind, "The Gatekeeper... is coming... he keeps... my cage..." There was a loud pounding, as something appeared at the cave entrance, something they could only assume was The Gatekeeper the dragon referred to.

It was massive, larger than the dragon, and everyone knew that it was formed by all the creatures that had been fighting them moments before. It approached slowly, each step shaking the cave, Svarak smirking, "That's more like it." He moved next to Kona and stuck his Null Shard Greatsword into the stone, speaking to Kona now, "Only touch the hilt. You need to take out the shield. I'll handle this guy and keep Rilana safe."

He stuck the sword easily into the stone in front of her and turned back to the creature. He considered drawing the daggers in his boots, but he decided on something better. A clinking was heard as he unhooked a pair of studded ebonsteel knuckles from his belt, and slipped them onto his hands. Then the creature struck out a lot faster than one might expect, taloned hands stabbing out. Svarak jumped over the strike, as the arm sank into the ground, shaking the entire cavern, a few stalactites breaking loose and crashing down. He flipped over in the air, landed on the arm, and ran up the creature's arm. When he reached the arm, he unleashed a devastating uppercut,, sending the creature flailing backwards, as Svarak flipped backwards and landed out of reach. He dashed forward once more as the creature regained its balance, as Svarak drilled his metal fist into the icy leg, sending cracks up through it.

If Kona or Rilana touched the sword to the edges of the shield, they'd be able to see all the edges of it. They could see where Svarak had leapt through earlier, as well as where they'd fallen through. At the center of the domed ceiling, they'd see a funnel stretching up through the tower.

Meanwhile, on the fifth floor, the chain successfully tripped the ice orc, tipping its balance backward. However, it had managed to plant a hind leg as Chartrose charged, and it responded with a vicious headbutt. The head powered forward, the axe biting deep but not stopping the momentum. The butt of the lodged axe crushed right into the bridge of Chartrose's nose, his weight not enough to tackle the orc. Chartrose was thrown bodily to the ground hard, his nose broken and bleeding profusely. The orc raised its club to strike the Charr down when the lock clicked loudly.

Alya had indeed found the correct key, and the door swung open effortless. All of the ice statues stayed where they were, save the orc. The killing blow had finally killed it, and the ice magically disappeared and a massive orc corpse collapsed atop the Charr, his club nearly dropping on the man's head. Alya could only hear the singular song from earlier now, and on the other side of the door was a beautifully adorned library. The walls were lined with shelves, completely full of texts but the odd part was the central spiral staircase. It was crystalline, that led up to the ceiling, but there was no gap to move through. It just stopped.

The two knights and the homunculus caught up with the main group, confused about what happened. Drisceya immediately began searching the room for traps and loot, knowing the Knights would want to hear of this library. They paid handsomely for texts of any kind. This could be what would promote her to Lord, if Svarak died. If Alya or Chartrose entered the room though, they glowed briefly and would find themselves teleported to another room. They would find themselves trapped in small, visible shields, staring at a woman.

She spoke, "Good, I was hoping there would be a few mages in this group. I can finish the ritual now." Alya and Chartrose could feel their magic draining into the prison shields and funneling into the Moon Fey woman. Alya could feel the song from earlier growing stronger from the woman. Chartrose could feel Tricia stirring within him scared, knowing that if his magic was drained, they'd both die. The pair would start growing weaker by the passing moment, any attempt to physically move through the shield would be thwarted by it.

The big gryphon was not impressed by the Charr's grin, and simply stared unblinkingly, lifting Rilana's unconscious form protectively towards his white and black underbelly with both sets of fore-talons as he leaned back on his haunches. Kona's dark wings flared outwards just as Svarak lifted his sword, anticipating the strike as the glittering sword slashed through the invisible barrier and the ground fell out from underneath them. The pit was too narrow for him to glide properly, so the gryphon flapped hard, letting air spill out from under his impressive feathers to slow his descent and avoid landing on the huge dragon at the bottom. Carrying his Mistress was little different from carrying prey, though Kona was much more gentle with the limp Moon Fey than he would have been with a horse or reindeer.

Kona set Rilana down on the stone, leaning down with his huge beaked face to nuzzle her head from side to side, small birdlike squeaks of distress whistling through his maw as he pawed at her worriedly. His ear-tufts twitched. He put himself between her and both Svarak and the dragon, trusting no one, especially when the charr came towards them with the sword. Did he not care that she was hurt?! Kona tilted his head at the sword as Svarak embedded it in the rock and ruffled his wings angrily.

It was only the repetitive concussive shaking of the ground under the massive footsteps of the huge ice monster that earned a flutter of Rilana's eyelashes. "Svarak?" Only the Lord Knight made her head hurt this much. She moaned softly, her face twisting with a pained frown as she lifted her hand, reaching dazedly towards where she thought Kona was. "Kona?" Missing, her hand landed on the very tip of the dragon's tail, and his voice, weak as it was, seemed to hammer reverberatingly inside her skull.

"...ow. Shush, my love. Don't worry." She wasn't sure if she said it out loud or inside her head, or both, her tone as gentle as if she was tiredly comforting a kitten. Her eyes opened blearily, taking in the scene as she repeated her attempt to grab at Kona, who her her use his neck as he lifted her to her feet. Glancing around, it took a silent query at the gryphon to figure out what had just happened, and together they backed away from the approaching monster, though all of Kona's fur raised in fluffy irritation and mistrust as they scooted closer to the dying dragon.

Turning somewhat gingerly as she continued to recover from smacking into the shield, Rilana turned and looked at the dragon, reaching out to touch his sickly-feverish graying scales. "Oh you poor thing." She stroked her fingertips across the ridges over its eyes, hoping that the first dragon she ever touched wouldn't die so soon.

The sword, Kona reminded her. He says not to touch the blade.

Fear, greater than any she had felt since entering the tower, slid uncomfortably into Rilana's belly as she thought about touching the Null Shard. Almost as though ignoring it, she climbed back up onto Kona's back, only reaching down for the handle of the massive blade and trying to pull it. She could barely lift it, and grunted as she laid it across her lap so that it wouldn't flail about as Kona jumped into the air again.

With a glance back at Svarak, who was literally punching the ice golem to death, Rilana and Kona flew up to the bubble-shield and the gryphon hovered in place while Rilana carefully poked at it with the huge sword. She held the hilt with one hand and balanced the blade across her forarm, both to help control the weight and to keep it from touching Kona's back.

The shape of the shield lit up before her eyes, illuminated by the power of the sword. Rilana couldn't explain how she knew, but she could feel that the funneling shape shooting up through the tower was the link between the dragon and whatever was draining its life away. Shoving the sword-point through the barrier and urging Kona forwards, the pair swept swiftly around the pit to destroy the shield.

--

Upstairs, Ortha dutifully followed Alya into the Library, one head keeping an eye on the tiny half-elf while the other promptly began sniffing around and began scarfing the edge of a large book. The balauradon had no interest in loot, not even as something Rilana might be interested in. The two-headed creature seemed to grow especially gluttonous for a few minutes while the Moon Fey was unconscious, growling wetly at Drisceya when the drow moved closer to her, but then looked up with irritation.

The songweaver had disappeared again.

Grumbling, the balauradon sniffed around and began to climb the staircase, most of a book still sticking out of one of her mouths.

Alya felt a wave of relief as the giant door swung open. The songs had mostly stopped, leaving the singular one from before. The mute slowly walked through the door, hoping to find the source of the magic. She noticed a lot of bookshelves around, filled with texts. However she didn't have much time between entering and being transported somewhere to observe anything else. She looked at her hand as she noticed that she had begun to glow briefly, but when she looked back up, she was in a totally different room from the one that she had entered.

Sudden feelings of fatigue washed over her as she felt her energy.. Her magic being taken away. Her gaze fell upon a woman. Another Moon Fey? However, this wasn't Rilana and the atmosphere that she felt from this woman was cold and dark. Much like the song that emanated from her. This time the song was clearer and stronger. She went to move toward the woman, but she noticed that she was trapped inside of a small shield.. Much like Trix's. Alya focused her mind on the woman, whom she knew was magical, especially after all of this. 'What are you doing? Why are you doing this?' She questioned. Her telepathic voice was soft and melodic, but a tone of pain could be heard within it. The half-elf could feel her strength being drained little by little as time went on.

Meanwhile back at the library, Echo had followed his mother through the door, only to see her disappear in an instant. He panicked. He felt lost without his mother. He sniffed the air hastily to try find her scent. He started growling at everyone in the library as if he was accusing them of his mother's disappearance. He noticed the two-headed beast's movements. He followed it up the stairs, but there was nothing beyond the flight. He growled in irritation, trotting up and down the stairs, hoping something would change.

Chartose was sprawled-out on the floor beside the steps, clutching his nose tightly as a pair of ebon-knights showed-up late to the fight as usual. He heard the sound of large doors creeking open and assumed rightfully that they managed to undo the lock. Not long afterwards it seemed as though he was left alone, just himself with Ortha and Echo vying for soemthing to do.

"Shouldn't you two be following our mute bard? And you..." He pointed at Ortha, "where's Rilanna off to?"

After a pause, Chartose sighed. Giving orders to these two was a lot like trying to herd cats away from food.

With himself unable to really risk wandering around aimlessly, not able to count on his current companions, and with Tricia frostbitten... Chartose decided to try summoning Becker, at least she could follow directions.

After opening the portal, he was greeted by the lil husky dutifully marching through it before it closed-up.

"Becker, fetch me my things. Then go find Rilanna. Her scent is on that one." He commanded, his temper a bit strained from pain. Becker oboey, naturally, although he could tell she cocked her head to the side, enquiring with a certain primal concern that maybe something was wrong.

"I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle. Just have to be careful. And check for traps like I taught you." Chartose consoled the dog, which then yipped in acknowledgement and proceeded to sniff around Ortha before running-off downstairs.

Svarak was toying with his prey now, each powerful blow sending chunks flying from the creature. These chunks did not reform, did not return to the creature, but just melted where they lay. Finally, a massive forearm shiver shattered one of the creature's legs, and it toppled over, hitting the ground hard. The entire cavern shook, and a stalactite broke loose, just narrowly missing Rilana and Kona falling straight for the dragon. Svarak saw it and sprinted over to the fallen creature, and leapt tackling into the stone shoulder first, and sending it away.

He landed gracefully next to the beast, looking up, just as his partners finished the shield, which flashed bright blue before dissipating. He smiled, shouting up through the cavern, "Well done you two!" His gaze came down, when he saw the Gatekeeper doing something strange. It was digging with a single claw into its own chest. Svarak's instincts were screaming for him to act, and he started toward it.

The creature exposed a glowing, blue, crystalline core. Just before Svarak could kick the claw away, it sank into the core. An intense, high pitched squeal filled the cavern, followed by an explosion of blue flames that froze the entire bottom of the cavern, filling the hole that Rilana and Kona had left, jagged shards growing out of it. The sudden explosion was causing the ceiling to collapse, large chunks falling. Kona would see the entrance that would leave to the safety of the tower.

A single voice, one that Rilana would know came from the dragon, sounding exhausted yet elated, only heard in her mind, "Thank you for freeing me..." Soon the entire cavern would be filled with fallen stone.

Svarak could feel the ice sucking the life from him. He could just barely make out Kona and Rilana above, through the crystalline prison. He found some peace that knowing that he'd be dead soon, even though he'd failed in his mission. At least now he could rest. He just wished he could've had some peace in life, settled down in the easy life, sought out the love of a woman who could love him back. As his mind began to shut down, the face of Rilana, smiling, on a lake of ice was seen. His last thought was that would've been perfect.

Up above, the entire tower shook as the cavern had collapsed, but it held firm. As Becker was searching through the tower, the sudden shaking startled him, for his training was not near as complete as it should've been. His mind was filled with fear, and Chartrose could hear it, as the dog darted out of the tower, dashing past the scared rams, into the cold.

As the draining shield below was severed, the woman before Alya grew furious. "No! How? That's impossible!" Alya could hear that song was all but faded, that the only notes were those being drained away from her. The Moon Fey woman was rushing around the room, creating more shields, muttering loud, her frustration and anger very evident. It seemed as if only one more straw was needed to break the camel's back with her.

Her back was to Alya as she worked, swearing and huffing angrily. "I... I have enough, I surely have enough. Yes... yes..." It would take a simple prod, toward anger, toward frustration, perhaps even toward confidence.

The dragon actually felt more alive now that he was in this frozen prison. His mastery over the element made him feel like a fish in water, and he moved through the ice with such ease. He saw the feline man before him, the one who'd fought so bravely and successfully to defend him. He plucked the man lightly by his clothes, and swam through the ice, through the tunnel the gatekeeper had appeared in. He knew it led to the outside, as he began sucking the cold out of the man. It would be such a shame if he died. But the dragon was hopeful. And had some business to finish.

Drisceya popped her head out, "Oi, get your lazy asses in here and start loading up these books. I'll know if you sneak any of them away. These are being claimed for the empire." The others looked at her as if she were nuts, considering how they'd just fought their way up here before the statues had frozen once more. But none of them could challenge a Warden and began getting back to work.

Drisceya was getting the feeling she was missing something. There was another lock in this room, yet not another door, she was sure of it. No one had a room this nice without hiding the best parts away. But what might one hide in a library? She continued scanning the room, her eyes falling on a chess table. It had two chairs, yet, this tower was clearly a place where one sought isolation from anyone else.

Moving over to it, she could see a thin layer of dust, except for one square. Studying the game, she smiled, appreciating the key. She moved a knight forward, putting the white king into checkmate. There was a soft grinding, as the table began lowering down into the floor and away, revealing a ladder into a small, hidden chamber. She hadn't noticed it one the way up, must be some clever architecture. Slipping down inside she squealed in delight, and began lifting three, heavy, small chests out of the room. One toppled over, unlocked, and a single book, stained with what seemed to be blood, fell out. Ortha would be able to smell the blood on it. If she turned toward it, one of her tiny horns would carve a thick groove through the ceiling, revealing the sound of the mage. The songweaver may have been transported by magic, but it seemed the ceiling was nothing more than plaster and beams.