Kiris didn't wait for the 'calvary', as it were, to arrive. She recovered herself quickly, because she had to. The night wasn't over- the Death Bell, which signaled only the death of a Herald, began to toll and would not stop. She pulled herself away from Oryon's arms; but he did not try to hold her, nor did he try to stop her. She had grabbed up her sword from the stand beside her bed, and without being asked threw a second one to him. It was lighter than he was used to, because Oryon was not a man of small stature. Despite Kiris' own height and girth which were beyond what most women held in this nation, he still out-weighed her by at least half as much as her own kilos. He was immensely tall for a nobleman, but that was something else altogether. Pondering their physical differences might come later, though having the thoughts to begin with was absurd on its own.

He caught the proffered sword with ease, and made for the door. Instantly they became like comrades in battle. There was a resounding commotion outside, signifying that the fight was not yet over. The haunting bell continued to ring, bringing Kiris' spirits and hopes lower with each tone. Children were suddenly screaming, and with that sound, Kiris leaped into action. She threw open the door and went storming down the hallway, finding the nearest room filled with cowering children. There were packs of them, running this way and that, demons skittering after them and lashing out, bringing down one or two. The shrieking of the Companions was almost as heartbreaking as the Death Bell itself. Unable to split herself, she had to settle for using Oryon's skills to their benefit.

"Oryon, the room! I'm heading outside!" she called. She merely received a 'Right!' in response, and she was bursting out of the window that led out into the court yard, where the children had gathered themselves, obviously heading out toward Companion's Field. Waves of stampeding white stallions and mares came charging up the way, but they would have been too late had Kiris not thrown herself toward the group of youths when she had. Two demons had already caught one child, and had killed the poor little one. Kiris could pick out the child's Companion, running at breakneck speed at the first demon it could see. The demon leaped out of the way in an instant, but not without lashing out in his own defense and scoring the brilliant white hide of the enraged mare.

Yet; Kiris could not keep her attention upon the Companion and her dead Chosen, or even take the time to grieve for them. As soon as the Companion had avenged her fallen child, she would likely not survive the encounter, or make sure that she wouldn't. It was reputed that Companions followed their Chosen into death. However; hearing about it, and witnessing it were two entirely different things. Another scream from the children, and Kiris was in front of them, brandishing her sword. The remaining demon snarled, exposing blood stained teeth, eliciting more screams from the babes who were clinging to her. Why were the Companions not here already? They had been racing toward them and yet they were not there. She couldn't take the time to turn around, not when the demon finally attacked her. She slashed at it with her sword, holding her ground because if she wasn't in place, then it would be all too easy for the demon to leave her and head for easier prey. She slashed again as it advanced and she strove to keep the demon distracted even as the Companion was.

Where -were- all the Companions?

:We're here.:

She didn't have a chance to turn and meet Vander, because his body flashed by her and he reared once before bringing down hooves on top of the demon. With him were a few others, all of the Companions tossing their weight into the fray and literally mashing the creature into the ground. They were infuriated and had it not been for the fact that their fiery eyes remained blue, she would have thought they were demon mounts themselves. Yet more screaming came and the children from the room that Oryon had aided were all leaping out of the same window that Kiris had exited from. Oryon emerged as well, covered in blood, and panting heavily- but he wasn't exhausted- he looked just as maddened as the Companions.

Soon, the mares and stallions were pairing off with the children and following silent orders and speeding off with their charges. Was there a safe haven? Without prompting she had the answer for herself. "The Grove..."

:Yes; Elspeth and Darkwind are already there, it is one of the most powerfully protected places in all of Haven.: It was Vander, bumping into her side, and immediately she grabbed onto him and swung herself up. Without a saddle, she was fine, but some of the children weren't. One in particular, who looked only about seven or eight, and even then, very small for their age, simply didn't seem strong enough to hold onto his Companion's mane. Certainly his legs weren't even wide enough to hold onto the stallion's girth. He was slipping even as he rode and Vander needed no urging to move beside his fellow stallion. Kiris grabbed the child who gasped with fear at first, then seemed relieved to see a 'grown-up'. Kiris wouldn't really consider herself a grown up, but she was bigger and stronger at the very least.

The stallion wasn't particularly pleased to allow his Chosen to ride upon another Companion, entrusting an unknown person with his Chosen, but considering the circumstances, he didn't appear as though he was going to argue the point either. She merely held onto the child who clung to her, and blinked as Karai, with Oryon, sidled up to her. They were running as well, and a glance to one side found half of the Collegium's inhabitants fleeing the stone structure. Heralds were leading large groups of gray clad students, and others in varying shades of red and green. Despite the numbers that were spilling out into the yards, Kiris knew in her gut how many were likely dead. It was her fault. She and her clan had led these foul creatures here, they had plagued the plains- they were after the Shin'a'in, and now they had found Valdemar.

:We don't even know if they were after the Shin'a'in alone, Chosen. Their entire goal could have been to drive them out of the plains, where they seem to have originated themselves, then to spread to the nearest Kingdoms.:

It didn't matter to Kiris, if felt as though the weight of the guilt truly fell on her shoulders and no one else's. She was the one to blame, and thusly was the one who had to fight off the enemy. The Grove came into view, to her Mage Sight she saw the shield erected around the ever widening mass of people and Companions, this bolstered by the Grove's protections which had already been in place. The Grove usually wasn't visited by humans, reserved for the Companions and those few who were Grove-Born. This was a phenomenon that remained a mystery to Kiris, but as so many other things now, it didn't matter in the least. The goal was to save as many as could be saved. Kiris could see the Healers already separating minorly wounded from majorly wounded individuals.

All Kiris could see in that ocean of bodies and screaming were her family's faces. Illyana, Shey, her mother...each of them torn and bloodied, dying at such a pace there was no way Kiris could reach them in time. She was no Healer, she couldn't be of any assistance down there really, and Elspeth had Darkwind, An'Desha, and Firesong to aid her in their protections. She supposed that the Shield was allowing only humans and Companions through, keeping everything else out. However, demons were flanking them, already pounding on the invisible barrier that they had erected. As they closed in; Kiris could see, almost with a hawk's eye, that her fellow mages and Herald-mages were struggling suddenly to keep their defenses up. The barrier was like sheet metal, but underneath the savage pounding of a hammer, the barrier was swiftly bending and giving way. Distressed, she couldn't say why this was so, all of those she had worked with her exceptionally powerful, and very experienced- but they were failing. There was even stronger magic backing that of the demons. Magic in their very claws and teeth, because that was all they were attacking with.

Something to think about later- for now Kiris knew there was only one solution to this current state of affairs. She pulled the child from his seat upon her saddle and shoved him into Oryon's arms. Oryon groped for the child as Karai struggled to keep her Chosen balanced enough on this rough terrain to receive him. She didn't have much time to tell Oryon her plan, and most of her figured she probably shouldn't, because he would just begin yelling at her again for putting herself in needless danger. However; this was not needless. Her mind was whirling a mile a minute and even her deeply bound Vander was having trouble catching up; though he was turning around even as she spoke to Oryon. She resorted to Mind Speech, because it was faster and she could continue speaking to him even as she moved away.

:Take the child, make sure the Queen, her consort, and the little ones made it out and tell everyone to hunker down.:

:Where are you going!?: he demanded.

:I'm going to try to find a solution without getting myself killed.: she returned smugly.

She blocked him, and everyone else, from her mind after that because she needed to think.

:From what I can hear, you're not thinking at all, merely reacting.: came Vander's disapproving voice. She could only smile, then let him in on exactly what she was thinking.

:By the Havens.: was his only comment.

She needed a vantage point, high off the ground, and in the middle of these fields there was only one such place.

The death bell tolled, as though its mourning couldn't even be imagined. It mourned the fall of that child and his Companion who through herself into death's waiting jaws. It mourned the countless others who were, even now, laying inside the Palace walls without life left to them. When they reached the cathedral base of the bell tower she had Vander break down the doors with his powerful hooves, and his great weight. She had to hurry. With senses honed to monitor the progress of the demons on the barriers that her fellow mages had erected, she knew that the time was drawing near. Even with the Companions adding their strength to their Chosen, and random power grasped even from the Heartstone, they had a few more moments only.

Her own limbs were powerful things, and she had always been an adept climber. Racing up the stairs to the middle of the bell tower she was forced then to climb a ladder in order to reach the top. The Death Bell's droning made her head echo and ache together, but she pressed herself to the top. She had to make this work, though she had only half concocted what she was actually going to do. The first order of business was to gather as many of the demons to her location as possible, and sense it seemed that those of Shin'a'in blood were one of their primary targets, calling out to them might provide a simple enough answer. At least she could give it a shot.

:I'd hurry if I were you.:

:Are they close.:

:You could say that, I believe they've caught your scent.:

Fabulous. Exactly what she wanted. She got to the top of the bell tower and ducked beneath the swinging bell which needed no pulleys or cords to activate it. She absently prayed to whatever patron God that these people generally prayed to and asked Their divine forgiveness for what she was about to do, and what consequences there might be to her success. She clambered out onto the edge of the tiny apex of a building and looked toward the Grove. She pursed her lips for a moment, called upon her energies inside herself and tried to focus as much power into her Fire-Starting ability as she was able. Only the Gods could see her now, and even as she gave a great, ululating cry into the darkness, her hands burst into flames as though anticipating her goal.

Another similar cry, and as she watched, the walls of black began to surge in her direction. There were a dozen or so more who stayed at the barrier, still trying to defeat it, but the majority of the demons came at Kiris' call, as though indeed it was her life force they wished to extinguish the most. She panted, from the force of the fight, and the exertion of the ride and climbing to the top of this massive structure. In no time, the tower was surrounded and demons surged inside to reach her.

:Vander, run!:

:I won't leave you!:

:I can't be sure you won't be killed by my own magic, if you die, I die!: she reminded him ruthlessly.

:Just be sure you keep the opposite in mind.: he replied grimly.

Below she saw him streak out of the church and race out into the open, back to the Grove.

"Come on...come -on-!" she sneered at the creatures, beckoning them closer and closer to her. She wanted them all as close as they could be. Her heart raced, pounding so hard within her chest that she was sure it would crash right through her rib cage and plummet to the ground below. Demons were finally spilling out of the bell's tower, on the roof now and coming toward her. She hoped it was enough, this stunt. She hoped the rest could fend off the remaining demons because if they could not, she would be either dead, or else completely useless until she had some rest. Her resolve hardened, and finally it was the time to strike.

She reached upward, as though she might pull even an iota of power from the sky itself, and then with a swift, downward motion of her hands and arms, the entire tower and the surrounding area was set immediately to blazing. It was a mage-fire, something that they thought had incinerated the demons before she had reached them, it had worked upon the demon in her room, and hopefully it would continue to work. She had heard the tales of Lavan Firestorm; and for one arrogant moment she was sure she might live up to his standards of excellence and power with this explosive ability. If she lived that long. Her fury, her rage, and all of her pain fed the flames, the rose higher and higher around her until all she could smell were the smoldering bodies of demons, adding acrid billows of smoke to that of the burning of stone and wood. Her hands held to her sides, she panting continuously, wearying as she stood there and was still not done. Outward her arms were flung, and the entire tower and all its inhabitants exploded outward as well. It was a concussive blast that they would feel even in the Grove. Before she knew it, the tower was crumbling and she was left with the rather tricky issue of surviving a fall from this height. She was scored by her own fires, but she didn't mind the pain. Her eyesight was already blurring, and the crumbling of the rock beneath her feet couldn't even rouse her as she started to lose conciousness.

The last thing she saw before returning to darkness and silence were three figures on the ground. Two were white, Companions, and one was a human with their arms outstretched as though they would catch her. Impossible, considering how far away they were, and the fact that both humans might end up dead if he was truly trying to break her fall. Either way, she was falling to certain doom, and though her body expected the jolt of landing on the unyielding ground, she never experienced it, because she was lost to the world before her fall was finished.