"Stealth isn't your strong suit, is it dear?" The words cut through the air just as quickly as the ethereal saber of Cygna's eidolon leapt through the air, piercing Horace's shoulder to the far wall before he could even react. "Damn you," he cursed as he unsuccessfully tried to wretch the blade from his flesh. It seemed that the axe he had so easily held had fallen in the center of the room, and that the apparition was content to leave him pinned, at its witch's demand. "Fion," she remarked, almost as if he was an after thought. "It is," she smirked as flashes of light blinked in a trio of similar creatures to the one still unmoving with Horace. "-wonderful to see you again." The words lilted off her lips, almost hoping for him to attack.

Fion drew his sword, but remained still, giving Cygna a wry smirk. "I'd say the same, but considering that you're threatening my life, it's not that wonderful to see you." The mercenary replied calmly, staying in a defensive stance. "Now, why are you even here in Dansila? Don't you have a demon child to protect?" He asked, trying to find a way out of this situation, which already didn't look good. Horace was injured and weaponless, and Fion himself couldn't cut loose with Sword Arts while Riley was still in the way. 
"Ah yes, the demon," came her reply, lazily. "A passing fancy, really. Brought on by my dearest's own father, no less. Had I known what power my daughter has had in her possession, I would have come here much sooner. But now, it seems I must protect what is mi-"

She was cut off before she could issue an attack by her [i]daughter's[/i] own voice. It was a simple statement, but one that was surprising even to her; enough for the very shock to show on her face. He had such ability? Even so soon after the transfer? The shaking of the room was her answer. 

As [i]Riley[/i] awoke and cast her spell, Fion showed the same shock that Cygna did, although not without noticing the witch's expression. So Riley's new-found power was surprising to Cygna too. Plus, Riley seemed strangely out of character for her, given her speech to her mother. With what he knew so far, all he could guess was that Cygna had done something to Riley. "So...I'll bite. What exactly did you do to Riley and how much is it about to backfire on you?" Fion asked conversationally, trying to fish for information that he didn't have. After all, the most likely reason for Riley's sudden change had to be her mother, given her witch magics and the fact that there weren't any other likely culprits around.
 
"You have no idea of what you speak of!" she barked, at wit's end with what she knew was to happen. They were hundreds of feet underground, and below them was a gaping maw ready to swallow them all whole. The only way to escape was to dig up... or perhaps down. "For now, boy," she addressed Fion as the four specters flickered out of existence, "Let's call a truce and escape before we both die in a realm beyond our own." The rumbling intensified as Cygna visibly began to concentrate and let loose a torrent of magical energies as screams could be heard from both above and below. At the peak of it all, the witch simply muttered the same spell that was now being used against them. It was simply... at the surface, compared to far below. Eating all that stood between them would be a simple matter for the beast.

"Fine by me." Fion shrugged, sheathing his sword while helping Horace to his feet and handing him his weapon. "You should start talking then, Missus Thomson. Don't exactly know how this summon of your daughter's works." Turning back to Horace, Fion assessed the man's condition while handing his axe back to him. "Can you walk on your own, old man?"

"Unless he can fly, he's unlikely to make it out," Cygna responded before Horace could get a word in edgewise, a smug look of satisfaction spread across her face. "And it isn't exactly in my best interests to do any more for either of you than I already have." Horace scoffed at her remark. "I'll be fine, boy," he responded, ignoring the witch. "We-we just have to make sure that ev-" he was having trouble breathing, likely a side effect of being stabbed and still bleeding, but cut off his statement upon realizing that everyone down here was a crook or thief; expendable lives in comparison to their own. "Just take care of yourself," he finally continued as the rumbling intensified even further.

"If your matters are settled then," Cygna said after a moment, "I would suggest covering your heads." The monster, almost as if with her words, burst through over them, the sunlight above casting a shadow over the monstrous form. A mixture of blood and and mud from everything that had settled above covered its monstrous maw, but before it could continue any further, Cygna cast it away before unleashing another flood of energy and bringing a giant bird to her assistance. Stepping on the mount, she said, "Meet you at the top, boys. Do try to be hasty, the floor is likely to give out... Oh, now."

"Oh, you bi-" Fion's expletive was cut off as the floor collapsed from under him and he fell down further with Horace. Wind blazed around him on instinct and Fion found his reflexes sharpened, which combined with the adrenaline coursing through his system, slowed the world around him as he spotted a handhold, which he promptly reached for, stopping himself from falling any further. Looking around, he saw Horace, who had found a handhold of his own. Nodding in satisfaction, he hoisted himself up and gazed towards the surface, mentally calculating his path back up. When he was satisfied, Fion leapt up, jumping from platform to platform as he followed after the witch on her gigantic bird. 

Horace looked down only once, seeing the face of the monster that had been above, but without the obscurity that the shadows from above provided. It was in this terror, that the grip he had on his weapon tightened, and the thought of escape left him. All that was left was the burned image of the creature below, and the terror that it filled him with. With of crack of the wood that was his handhold, the man snapped back to the moment. He could see the creature preparing to lunge, and with all the effort that he could muster, Horace tossed himself up to the next plank to avoid the snap of the creature's jaw. His effort was only slightly enough to save his life, as he could feel the air shift beneath him with the monster's leap, and the warping of space as it retreated back to its domain. A sigh of relief was all he could make of the situation as he continued to climb his way up the hole.

~

The man in the next room awoke with the rumbling of the room in which he was in. It looked to be in the same building in which he had fallen asleep in, but with a bed, an end-table and a broken door. Where was his mother? Had she left, despite her sweet words which had promised otherwise? The very thought was wounding to the man, but at the same time staggering. He had been drinking, so where was the intoxication, or even the impending hangover that was bound to come with it? He grasped his head, and found that his hand were rough; calloused. He found that his hands [i]weren't[/i] his hands, but that of a [i]man's[/i]. Panic took over in the resulting confusion, and thought overridden even the basic sense of sight, which would have recognized the three familiar figures which hung outside his doorway.

When the roof caved in from above him, he snapped back to reality and almost as reflex, conjured a shield of energy above him to block the rubble. [i]Since when could I do that?[/i] But before the thought could be answered, or her brain even searched of what she knew, she felt instinct give way again and the conjuring of another being taking place. "Hello, strange man," came the voice. "Have you perhaps seen my weetch lady, hm?" The voice was that of the djinn; the one that [i]she[/i] had summoned only twice before. "I-" he wanted to respond, but his voice caught upon hearing just that; his voice. It wasn't [i]hers[/i], so why id it belong to him? No questions were answered for either of them as the floor gave way soon after the roof, and the only thing to save the man was the djinn, who swooped him in his arms and began to float upwards; away from the advancing creature. "You much heavier than last charge; maybe you lose weight?" His first instinct was to smack his savior, but a voice in the back of his head was saying: [i]That isn't very masculine, is it?[/i]