*Eustace reacts in an instant, already having his rifle aimed before John has the chance to say "Shut that thing up", and takes aim at the creature.*
Eustace: Vaseraga.
*Before Eustace is close to finishing his name, Vaseraga bends down and lends Eustace his shoulder to have something to stabalise his rifle on, which Eustace lines up with the creature and fires, aiming at the inner part of the creature's mouth, closer to the upper jaw part for more possibility of the shot hitting where Eustace thinks it's brain might be. The shot itself will most likely hit unless the creature moves fast, but whether or not it does much is still in the air as Eustace didn't have any time to prep a bullet with a bigger bang.

---

*Beatrix watches, cause she's out of her element with range, though she does take the downtime to memorise what the creature looks like, and whether or not it has any fleshy bits/appendages that look vital/fun to cut off.*

*As Eustace round hit, a crack of energy sounds out, and a strange rippling energy surrounds the floating monster. It opens it's maw to make another screech, but is silenced before it can speak by the beam from Sasha'a lance. It red chitin plate turns a amber color, and strange tar like liquid pours out from between it's armored plates.*
*A group of humanoid figures burst from the treeline, all appear to have apple red flesh, and strange spikes seem to be protuding from their shoulders. Their faces are covered by a metal plate seemingly fused with their face, all of them seem to be covered in the red chitin plate. Each holds a Jagged looking blue sword caked in dry blood, and some even sport shields made up of human flesh. The monsters charge the group weapons raised.*

*John aims at one of the leading metal faced creatures, and fires his quad barrel. Though he misses, again.*

---
*The faceless creature watches through the eyes of the outlander (Floating creature.), and it's distended jaw makes a semblance of a grin.*
*He wordlessly waves a arm towards the fighting, and a massive creature close to the size of a two story house stomps forward on it's six hoofed legs. The creature also has red chitin plate all over it's body, and four meaty arms, two of which end in a stubby looking blade.It's head is a massive toothy grin, and three beady black eyes stare out towards the ensuing battle. With it's free arms it carries a huge maul, made up of strange bone and red crystals. Purple energy crackles around this creature, and the maul almost seems to pulses with a purple glow.*

*Vaseraga stands up after Eustace's shot does nothing, and stands in between the group and the giant creature, then laughs and holds his position cause he wants it to come closer to him, cause he needs to think of a plan to kill it before it kills him. Beatrix on the other hand, doesn't bother with restraint, and casually skips her way towards the group of creatures, then flicks her sword out of its sheathe, and giggles like a madwoman.*
Beatrix: Diiiiiiiiiiiiibs on the short ones!
*Eustace starts taking potshots at the giant creature, but most of his time is spent casually looking for specific bullets which he hoards in one of his hands, so he's shooting a twenty-ish kilo rifle in one hand, firing it with bullseye accuracy, and splitting his focus on finding specific bullets with no real discernible markings. Badass mofo.*

*Lecter opens fire on the creatures with his pistol, and activates his Devil Trigger while following after Beatrice*
Lecter: Reminds me of home in the wrong way.
*He twirls Karma through his fingers as he dashes forwards, ready to let Karma spill blood*

*Elewynn nods, somewhat surprised by Taboo's eagerness*
Elewynn: Another realm. Demons and spirits reside there. It's also where we go when we dream, and allows us to use magic.

*Horus doesn't bother to see if his shot hit or not, for as soon as he sees the giant creature he takes aim again. He takes a few seconds to make sure his aim is true, then fires 2 shots, attempting to turn the creature into a cyclops by taking out 2 of it's eyes*
*Again he doesn't wait to see if the shots hit, instead setting the Lance to stab-mode and flanking to the left of the creature. He roars a challenge at it, attempting to distract it*
Horus: Hey! f&#$face! Down here you house-sized s$&@head!

*Taboo frowns slightly, thinking*
Taboo: Father never mentioned... Is this were ALL magic comes from? There's no other source?

*Elewynn shakes her head*
Elewynn: Some use blood instead of the Fade for magic. But that type of magic is very dangerous, and volatile.
*Finnick looks up from his glass at the mention of blood magic*
Finnick: But it can be worth the risk, if you don't suck at it. Which means that you'll end up being a stain on the ground, and maybe leave a small crater where you used to be.

*Taboo nods, then hesitates for a long moment. She sips her wine again, then looks back at Elewynn, completely serious*
Taboo: What about life? Is it possible to use life-force as a source or magic?
*She looks between them both, 100% serious*

*Mergoux emerges from the sanctum of her room. Stumbling drunkenly towards the kitchen. She leaves the door to her room open and the inside is surprisingly neat, except for that the carpet is covered in a layer of empty glass liquor bottles*

*Some of the lesser red creatures get taken down by the gunfire, but doesn't seem to effect their morale. The larger one get's hit with the beam, but a crackling energy shield absorbs most the damage.*
*The red fleshed creatures press around Horus, stopping him from reaching the larger creature, or at least slashing the fuck out of him as he plows through them. While the other little ones engage Lecter and Beatix.*
*The large creature makes a series of low rumbling barks, and holds his maul head high. Then juts his maul towards the creatures engaged with Lecter and Beatrix. A purple beam fires out, and hits what the creature was aiming for, the lesser red fleshed creatures.*
*When the beam hits the red fleshed creatures immediately mutate, one grows in size, and also sprouts blade arms, another has a large toothy maw open up from where his chest cavity was. Overall each red fleshed creature becomes more durable and stronger, after the beam hits them.*
*The larger creature keeps firing it's beam, and if Horus managed to get next to him and stab him it's red crackling shield would take the hit. Also it turns, and swats him with one of it's forearms.*

---
*John fires his quadbarrel at the towering beast with maul, and fucking hits thank fucking god.*
*It's red shield makes a loud pop, unless it did not get stabbed by Horus then in that case it still there.*

---
*The faceless creature grins, and waves another two praetorians of Darkness (What Lecter fought before) forward.*
*They quickly take positions, and begin hurling their spear crystals at Eustace and John.*

*Lecter growls at the sight of the Praetorians, and makes it his goal to kill them*
*However, he doesn't want to abandon the rice beater (Beatrix), and engages the mutated creature with arm blades*
Lecter: What's the bet that mine are better?

*Elewynn's face darkens slightly, and she nods*
Elewynn: Entropy magic. It's a dark art, and not many can master it. I prefer dealing with the Fade than using life force or blood. Not everyone thinks that way, however.
*She glances at Finnick with her last comment, though her tone has no sign of spite in it towards him*

*Taboo nods slowly, seeming to think to herself as she takes all the information in to process*
Taboo: This entropy magic, what do you know about it?

*Mergoux starts cooking herself something to eat*

*Horus doesn't bother trying to plow-though the red dudes, instead he takes a running start, plants the lance in the ground and jumps, using the lance almost like a pole-vault to leap over the red-humanoids. He lands solidly, before jabbing at what looks like a chink in the giant 6-legged creature's armor. As he stabs he readies another blast, which he fires point blank at the creature's underbelly. He then get's swatted and flies several meters, rolling and tumbling, tearing up chunks of turf as he maintains his grip on the lance. He pauses for a few seconds when he comes to a rest, shakes his head violently to clear it and gets up to charge the big-boy again*

*Elewynn shakes her head*
Elewynn: It's destructive. Not just because you can harm someone, but you drain away the very life of something. Even the dead aren't safe from it, some mages even use dead companions as fuel for their powers.
*Finnick sets his now empty mug down*
Finnick: Some use living ones. But I try to not hang around those ones. Why waste a good companion when you get just as much energy out of them when they're dead.

*Taboo seems to be considering all this very thoughtfully*
*After a few minutes of silence she nods and smiles slightly more genuinely, the coldness in her eyes having receded somewhat*
Taboo: Thank you, I just didn't know hardly anything about magicks, and I was curious...
*She drains her wine glass for the 4th time, but seems to be holding up extremely well for a young woman her size*
Taboo: So, what brought you out this way exactly?

*The large creatures energy shield pops from Horus's attack, yet it turns it's attention to one of the praetorian. It fires it's strange purple beam, and this time the praetorian mutates.*
*It becomes much bigger, probably standing at twenty feet, and it's flesh turns to a dark shade of purple. The crystals on it's back become Jagged and misshapen, on top of that spark of purple lightning dance between the crystals. The creatures turns it's attention towards Horus, and from it's four arms bolts of purple energy shoot out.*

*John manages not to get impaled by one of the praetorian's spikes (Hooray), and he fires back at the creatures... again I kid you not he fucking misses.*

*Lecter dashes forwards at the arm blade creature, and stabs Karma at its throat, aiming it kill it in one blow*

*Elewynn shrugs*
Elewynn: We were being tailed by some Templars, and Finnick wanted to lure them away from their bases. I guess we got lost along the way, but the Templars died all the same.
*Finnick frowns, while staring intently at his re-emptied glass, as if challenging it to remain empty*
Finnick: We didn't get lost. I know exactly where we are. Maybe.
*He sighs, and his glass is replaced by a full on*
Finnick: We're probably lost. But at least this place has booze.
*He pulls out a small pouch and pours a beige powder into his drink, with his smile returning as he does it*

*Taboo nods*
Taboo: Well if you're lost, maybe I could help... My father's lands are nearby, perhaps he could help you!
*She smiles, more to herself than them, thinking Tiaz would enjoy slaying Finnick and keeping Elewynn as a slave. She knows her father's tastes lean towards the Elvish variety*
*Her smile turns back into interest as she sees the Finnick spike his drink*
Taboo: What's that you've got there?

*Horus ducks his head and roars in pain as the energy sears his flesh. The wounds aren't too bad, but they hurt a LOT. He stands up, takes aim and fires another at the house-sized beast, aiming for it's face. Like before he doesn't pause to see if they hit, instead charging the red-humanoids with the lance in stab mode. He impales one and takes it's weapon, then flicks it off the end of the lance and starts dual-wielding, fighting like a demon and rending his foes before him.*

*Finnick smirks*
Finnick: Funny. Someone just wanted me to leave their lands. Gave 'em some Lyrium to snort, and he walked away. Well, as best he can walk. And now I'm getting invited to a different one!
*He grins at his drink Taboo asks about it*
Finnick: Dragonthorn. Grind it up, mix it in a drink, and you're in for a fun time.

*The larger creature howls with rage as it's hit with the searing laser, it staggers back, and a larger hole is visible through it's chitin plate. It roars, and fires at the creatures surrounding Horus. The newly mutated creatures crowd around Horus, attacking with all manner of weapon.*

*Lecter's strike is true, and slices open the creatures head. It staggers for a moment, before toppling.*

*Taboo perks up, interested*
Taboo: A fun time?! Wait, what's this Lyrium!?
*She seems highly interested, even more-so then when talking magic and doesn't pay attention enough to connect her father with Finnick*
Taboo: What kind of fun time are you speaking about exactly?
*She looks at the dragonthorn with extreme interest*

*Tiaz re-enters his old home and goes to his bed to rest*

*Horus keeps fighting, though wounded in a dozen places he stabs with the lance and slashing with the stolen weapon. He backs up sharply, readying the lance for another blast as the mutations start*

*Vaseraga uses Horus' distraction to charge the giant creature, and swings his massive scythe at the closest fleshy bit he can find. The scythe glows fiercely as it swings, and makes a humming noise.*

---

*Beatrix giggles and dances through the group of creatures, almost as if predict8ng where each blow will land, and bends her body accordingly to avoid it, though she probably won't be able to dodge everything. She lashes out with the tip of her sword, using the sharpest part of it to open where she assumes is its cavities and/or tendons, not so much going for kill shots everytime, but more disable shots.*

---

*Eustace doesn't flinch at the spears being hurled at him, and fires several times within the time period of two seconds at whatever spears he assumes to be on a collision course with him, aiming to displace them so he doesn't get skewered.*

*Lecter nods to himself as the creature topples, and he presses onwards, still trying to get to the praetorians*

*Finnick keeps smiling*
Finnick: Light hallucinations, and an easier transition of emotions. It increases your connection to the Fade, which gives you the fun part. And Lyrium is the only physical connection between our world and the Fade. It grows in both places, and some people use it to make potions to restore your energy. Or you shove it in your nose, if it's processed right, and hope you don't die. The raw stuff will kill you.