"Halkeginian "

'Thoughts'

'Telepathy'

'Spells and the like'

"Common/Dwarven/Elven"

"Speech: Draconic"

"Speech: Abyssal"

The rather mismatched group finds itself a short walk away from the entrance of a crumbling fort, which even in its prime had probably not been anything grand.

Getting this far had not been all too difficult due to the presence of Felniir, and her skill in tracking things. That she had been able to a days old track of what must have been a flying creature is nothing but impressive truth be told.

Now the party of seven, plus one dragon circling above them, stood in a circle preparing themselves to enter. But before they did Raskreia held them back from entering.

She turned to speak to the students "How would you like to attempt to solve this yourselves?" Foreseeing the objection and question she quickly added "Of course I don't mean you do this alone, I can turn Cathilia, Felniir and I invisible. That way we would be able to follow you and step in, in case something comes along you cant handle."

The kids look at one another and Kirche speaks up "That does sound interesting darling, but what precisely is the point of doing this?"

"The point is that it is that this is a good way to learn a practical application for your skills and magic. I wont always be around to help you when things get hairy, wouldn't it be a good idea to sharpen your skills in a relatively safe and controlled setting rather than in life or death situations? The three of us can step in at any point that we think would be too much for you to handle."

Guiche stepped up chest puffed out "I for one welcome a challenge, what are we waiting for?"

Tabitha simply nodded eyes jumping between the entrance of the building and her companions.

Louise stood a bit unsure for a moment before steeling herself and standing more firmly.

Kirche also seemed a bit excited about going on what she might interpret as an adventure.

"We shall leave the formation you guys take up to you, and we will be a step or two behind you, so don't worry so much about things coming from behind."

The students decide on a simple two by three formation, with two of Guiche's creations making a small shield wall at the front, Tabitha and Guiche himself behind them, and lastly Kirche and Louise.

After things were decided Raskreia turned the other two and herself invisible one by one. "Alright, you are up. Oh and Louise?" Being called out made the girl in question perk up "Small tip, there is few creatures that are resistant to pure explosive force. Keep that in mind when should you encounter something resistant to fire and ice. But explosions are really dangerous in tight spaces." To which the kids looked a bit confused but Louise nodded nevertheless. The last thing Raskreia did before going silent was cast a 'Light' on a branch she picked up on the ground and handing it to Guiche.

And as such they entered the not quite yet ruin. The trek through the building had been mostly uneventful and undisturbed, the upper floors clearly not in use whatsoever. Once they got to the entrance to the dungeons however it got clear that this area had by far the most traffic going through it, compared to the rest of the structure.

As they were about to head down the stairs they suddenly hear cackling coming from below and slowly approaching.

What came into view, illuminated by the light spell, made those not accustomed to sights like these gag in revulsion. Small green and absolutely hideous creatures hobbling up the stairs with an awkward but surprisingly swift gait. The things were no larger than a human child, though admittedly a morbidly obese child, short stubby legs and arms long enough to reach the ground that they used to support themselves.

The way these things looked at the children in front of them made one thing certain to the children, these things were NOT friendly. And suddenly they all heard the voice of Cathilia echo in their minds.

'Dretches, stupid creatures. As strong as the average grown human. Immune to electricity and poison. Fairly resistant to acid, cold and fire. Somewhat resistant to normal physical attacks. Minor magical abilities, has ability to cause magical fear." And just as soon as the voice started it had stopped. But it was a wellspring of information to the kids nevertheless.

Kirche surprisingly acted first wanting to test the so called fire resistance these creatures had. Quickly forming a lance of fire and hurling it at one of the little monstrosities striking it square in the chest. Yet the creature is still standing and coming at them. "Huh, I guess they really are resistant to fire."

Before the thing could really come any closer its head was removed from its shoulders leaving the tiny monstrosity to slump down pitifully and tumble back down the stairs.

The other Dretch not being impressed by its compatriots demise points at the area of the students and with the sound not unlike a fart a massive bank of green fog. As soon as this fog hits the nostrils of those affected they are overcome with an intense urge to vomit.

Raskreia, Felniir and Cathilia are more or less fine, the former two due to an almost iron fortitude, and the latter due to her racial immunity to things like these. It is still obscuring their vision and making it uncomfortable to breathe.

Out of the kids it is only Tabitha and Louise that manage to keep their meals where they are supposed to be. The other two becoming sick on the floor, the two golems being unaffected naturally.

This is actually rather fortunate as the last orders given to the valkyries was to attack the monsters in front of them. And even almost completely blind they have little issue beating the critter into submission for now, as they clearly have the advantage over it in both strength and agility. Not to mention it too is hindered by its own fog.

A few seconds after the cloud came into being it winks out of existence once more, leaving the group to see the remaining creature being repeatedly stabbed by the pair of constructs, yet it was refusing to lay down and die as it even managed to break the arm of one of its assailants.

It was finally finished of by an ice lance through the face, courtesy of Tabitha. Leaving the kids to try and recover from the abhorrent smell.

After about half a minute of them catching their breath Kirche coughs out "By Brimir that was nasty! I did not think something could smell that bad."

Again they hear a voice in their head This time it was Raskreia "Actually that was a rather mild smell as far as magic is concerned. If I were to cast the same spell it would be even more potent for example, as well as last much longer. Nevertheless, congratulations of killing your first demons."

Almost as one a cry came from the four students both mentally and vocally even Tabitha usually quiet and reserved was shocked "DEMONS?!"

"Yes, demons. Arguably the lowest type of demon, but demons still. And you did remarkably well. Not that I didn't expect you to of course. Now chins up, eyes straight and prepare yourselves for more." Raskreia voiced over the link established by Cathilia once more.

Guiche looked over at the perforated corpse of the creature his creations have helped kill before voicing out the first thought that came to mind through the link "Doesn't this technically make us demonslayers then?"

Everyone heard a chuckle coming from an invisible Cathilia before they heard her voice in their heads "Certainly. That is if you wish to brag about killing the demon equivalent of rats, then yes you are demonslayers. Don't be surprised when something higher up the food chain wishes to test that claim however."

"On second thought, never mind."

They carefully moved down the rest of the stairs surprisingly unmolested. Down here they came across a multitude bones and half eaten carcasses of animals.

"Gross, thank Brimir those pests did not get a hold of us. I don't fancy ending like this." Kirche said as she dandily stepped around the severed head of a deer.

"Now where do we go?" Said Guiche as they all reached the bottom. The path ahead was basically a series of doors and corridors.

"Straight might be a good start." Louise said in response trying to avoid looking at all the blood on the ground.

They took up formation once more, and began moving forward, checking each door separately. They were actually crafty enough to use the disposable golems to open doors in case of traps, which slightly made Raskreia proud.

Raskreia however heard the voice of Cathilia in her head all of a sudden "There is a quasit lurking about invisibly. Hasn't done anything yet. Should kill it?"

"Really? I take it that it would be no issue for you to swat the thing at any time? So would you mind following it closely? Kill it, if it tries something immediately hostile, otherwise I would like to see this play out."

"Will do. Hey, have you ever noticed how a quasit sort of looks like a miniature balor? Well at least the more conventional looking balors at least." The demoness says this with humour clear in her voice.

Raskreia only barely managed to suppress the snort of laughter that threatened to escape. "I'm sorry, but I cant help but imagine one of them posing in front of a mirror, pretending to be one of your kind. Fear me! It is I Trix the Terrible!"

Now it was Cathilia's turn to almost give them away with laughter, she only managed not to by biting on her tongue, and right through it. "GAH! A thousand curses on whoever decided that my tongue should be as soft and fleshy as it is and my teeth as sharp as they are! Oh wait that was me."

"Everything alright?" And isn't that a weird concept for Raskreia. Actually showing concern for a demon.

"Everything is fine, I just bit of my tongue. Mind you I only wanted to stop myself from laughing at your joke, I guess I am still not quite back to my old level of self control. Don't worry, it is already regrowing." Considering the lack of pain in her tone Raskreia decided to drop the issue of she might have once considered one of the most unusual things to have happened in her proximity.

"Also, I have got to say you were rather spot on with your impression. I have actually witnessed a quasit imitating me in my own chambers. It was supposed to clean in there and instead it was posing in front of a mirror, holding a dagger as though it was a sword. The funniest part about it all is that it was trying to imitate how I fought with my blade, screaming its own little warcry all the way."

As this was going on the kids, and by proxy them, were still moving from room to room. Cathilia was lurking next to the quasit at all times during this. And the kids even killed one more dretch.

As they opened one more door one of the metal constructs up from was suddenly knocked over and within seconds it was reduced to little more than dust on the ground.

What caused this is to the non-natives the unholy combination of a lobster and grasshopper. These things were actually sucking up the remnants of the golem, seemingly feeding of it.

In a panicked reaction the kids all go to cast spells on the creatures. Luckily Raskreia is attentive enough to stop Louise from casting just in time. She can only shake her head in amusement, what an overreaction over just two rust monsters. Then again she doesn't want the things to eat her knick knacks either.

The entire event lasted some ten seconds and all that remained was the mutilated carcasses of two rust monsters, and four somewhat shaken kids. "Alright, its official. This world is crawling with weird things." Louise stated. "And why did you stop me from casting a spell Raskreia?"

"No offence Louise, but its somewhat obvious. Can you imagine what would have happened if you caused an explosion in this kind of tight space?" Kirche answered instead of the invisible sorceress.

Louise was about to grow angry and shout at Kirche but suddenly thought of something and calmed down. "You know, I think I can see what you mean. My mother once told me about the dangers of fights using gunpowder in closed spaces. I don't think anyone here wants their eardrums burst cause of some stupid bugs. By the way, can you tell us what these things were?"

"Rust monsters, they exclusively eat metal. Their feelers can cause any metal to rust rapidly into dust, which they then eat. They are not particularly dangerous, but they can be persistent. And if you don't have anything made of metal on you they will generally leave you alone." Raskreia's voice drifted into their minds, leaving the kids to wonder how such weird creatures came to be in the first place.

They went back to exploring the dungeons after that leaving Raskreia and Cathilia to converse once more.

"So. What did you do to that quasit impersonating you?"

"I teleported right behind it, this scared the thing so much it almost died right there. I haven't laughed like that in ages so I let it live for the amusement. Besides the things wasn't half bad at imitating me." The mirth in her tone was obvious to Raskreia, she honestly expect her to have just killed the thing, not that she would have minded if she did. "I sent the thing on many tasks after that, and surprisingly, despite my intentions to the contrary, the thing kept coming back alive and with reports of success."

They paused for a bit at an intersection, as the kids were deciding on which way to go first.

"Bloody thing managed to work itself up to becoming a babau, and it just kept succeeding in whatever I made it do. Eventually this developed into a sort of routine. I would send it one some random task, which may or may not be suicidal, and it would come back for more every time." Cathilia mentally chuckled at this point. "Heh, I even gave it some tasks where it would have been very easy for it to simply leave, yet it came back anyway. Must have been a masochist. But one can say about me what they want, I value competency."

"So how does this story end then?" Strange participants aside, Raskreia found herself enjoying this story.

"Doesn't really have one, the thing managed to work itself all the way up to becoming a marilith, probably the only being in the abyss that comes close to what you mortals would call a friend to me. She was on yet another… suicide mission, when I was put into that prison. I don't know beyond that."

"Well, from what you told me so far I don't doubt she is still alive. And hey maybe you can meet her now that you are free. Just keep in mind that I don't particularly fancy fighting greater demons, at least not on my own."

"Don't worry, she should know better than to attack someone under my protection." At that moment Raskreia cant help but think that having Cathilia as an ally might be something great.

'Yet if we had met under different circumstances we would have probably fought to the death. I wonder how Thorgal and Kwalin will react to this.'

"Shush now, I think we are close." This brought Raskreia out of her mental reverie once more and let her focus on what is ahead.

True to her word, they come upon a door at the end of a corridor, the last door they have not been through yet.

The group readies itself for whatever might await them on the other side.

Once they opened the door the quasit tries to fly through the door but Cathilia, who has been hovering next to it the entire time, grabs it by the tail with one hand and around the face with the other.

As expected the quasit starts to struggle in panic, as if its life depended on it. It kept chanting in its mind, accidentally transmitting through its limited telepathy, "Let go let go let go let go let go let go let go let go…"

"Silence your rambling and cease your struggling lest I feed you to a nalfeshnee." The creature instantly stilled all movement and dared not even blink.

"You, you are one of us." The things high pitched voice echoed in her mind to her annoyance, causing her to tighten her hold on it.

"You will lower the volume of your screeching within my mind. Either lower it to a normal volume or cease altogether, preferably the latter." To her satisfaction silence was all that greeted her then, at least in her mind.

As the group entered the room they saw several things of interest. The first was a miniscule man happily dancing and singing around a pole. Second, tied to the pole was the naked and disfigured corpse of a man.

For the children the horror of the sight of that man was so great that they couldn't even find it in them to empty their stomachs. For the corpse had the lower portion of its body missing, starting from just above the waist its organs liberally spilling to the floor. Next its face had been cut of unevenly, exposing parts of the skull in places. And lastly, in place of its face a locket has been placed, within it a picture to far to recognize.

And last was a woman of supernatural beauty sitting next to a makeshift throne one the steps leading up to it, she seemed to be supremely annoyed with the current situation as her eyes were darting between the man and her current task of cleaning her nails. Additionally of note was the sizable pair of crimson wings sprouting from her back, the pitch black horns parting her midnight hair, and a delicate tail curled lazily around her and resting on her lap. She wore numerous trinkets adorning her wings and horns, and was clad in a sensual crimson dress.

The woman was the first to notice them, evident by the widening of her ruby eyes as they settled on each one of them separately, with the exception of the invisible people of course. Her expression was curious yet not hostile, in fact she looked almost happy to see them, and as such moved not a single muscle to alert the only adult man in the room, only taking up a better position to observe what is to come.

Unbeknownst to the children the man was singing a morbid, out of tune, song which can only be described as the ramblings of a mad man. Or in this case, gnome. It was very hard to understand what he was singing about as he constantly switched between languages starting with celestial, ending with necril, and everything in-between. It didn't help that he threw in words without meaning at random. But the general gist of the song was.

"How do you like it Geoffrey, I have a better wifey. I will burn your body, and chop down your bellowed."

Louise had her hand over her mouth in horror before muttering out "I don't want to know what he is saying, that… that THING needs to die."

The mans head instantly snapped in their direction so fast they could hear his neck pop from where they stood. And to their surprise he answered them in their native language "GUESTS?! Why I have not been expecting guests, have you Xylara dearest?"

The woman sitting on the stairs rolls her eyes before taking on a mischievous smirk. "Why yes… dear. Those are my cousins thrice removed. I asked them to come to deal with a madman that has been giving me problems as of late."

He turned to the woman and if his face is anything to go by was offended at her words "Why my dear, if you had anyone giving you problems all you had to do was tell me. I would give them a right whooping."

The woman, Xylara laughed, though it to anyone not deranged it was quite clear that it was at the man, and not with him. "I'm sure you would, but I could never bother you with such… small issues."

Guiche whispered to his fellow nobles when he thought that the madman might not be listening "I think she is asking for our help with the midget."

"Well, well, well I welcome you family of my dearest wife." he ran up to his makeshift throne, which was actually too big for him so he had to legitimately climb it to sit in it. "You stand now before, as you most likely already know, Topip the Terrible. Soon to be scourge of all lands far and wide. All will tremble at my demonic legions!"

"Oh by the eternal depths, make him stop. Kids please just kill him. Expect an arguably skilled spellcaster. So I recommend swarming him with your metal golems and killing him before he can cast spells." Cathilia's voice echoed through everyone's mind.

"But I am so very glad that there is people who share my eternal hatred of the despicable Geoffrey. Tell me all about what you hat about him."

The teens had a mutual, unvoiced, understanding in this that they would try to distract this madman long enough for Guiche's valkyrie to close the distance and then they would strike him down before he could so much as attempt to harm another fly.

Kirche spoke up in what she hoped was convincing voice of loathing "Well for one his insufferable smirk."

"Yes, yes he always seemed to know everything didn't he?"

"He just never seemed to shut up either." Causing the gnome to nod in agreement.

"His off tone singing, unkempt hair, his stature, illusions of grandeur. Just about the only thing I liked about him must have been the brass weapons impaled into him."

"Wait a minute, I don't remember that ever happen-" he was cut off when one of the valkyrie impaled him, the other missing him by a hairs breath as he recoils in shock. "TRAITORS ASSASSINS! FEEL THE WRATH OF TOPIP THE TERRIBLE!"

He was about to cast something but was interrupted as he had to dodge a flame lance aimed at his chest "I that the best you can do?!" his gloating was short lived as an icicle impaled him in the shoulder.

He started chanting a spell and the valkyrie tried to exploit the opening but only one managed to connect as the other was deflected by an invisible field surrounding the gnome. And that was not enough to disrupt the spell.

Both Raskreia and Cathilia would have stopped him there if they didn't know that the spell he chose to cast wasn't ultimately harmless. As it stands they will wait for a bit longer to see how this will play out.

'Hold monster' and with that Tabitha was completely immobile, not even able to blink.

Kirche and Guiche trying to make up for the temporary loss of one of their own bombarded the midget with their own spells, only with marginal success. Louise still did not want to cause an explosion cause in doing so she would destroy Guiche's valkyrie, who were at the moment the most effective at containing their enemy.

The gnome once more chanted a spell, but having learned from last time he covered his sides from the golems before doing so. And once the three invisible people and cat realized what spell he was casting they were about to step in before deciding to let things happen ass they will, since the kids were not doing so bad right now.

'Summon monster IV' as the last words of the spell chant left the gnomes mouth a gray skinned goat headed creature faded into existence before them. Its eyes were blood shot and instantly focused on the group before it.

When it lied eyes on the creature that is Cathilia it had conflicting thoughts. Lust and Rage were most prominent, followed by arrogance. However, on a very basic and primal level, the longer it stared at her the more every instinct in its body in its body screamed at it to bow down or flee and never look back.

Sadly due to being bound as it was by magic it had no such option, and as such fell back to the reaction most animals have when cornered. Lashing out at the object of its agitation.

With a mighty roar it lowered its head and charged straight at what appeared empty space to everyone but it, before abruptly coming to a halt. It mewled pathetically as it seemed to be trying to free itself from something, as if its horn was stuck somewhere.

Not a moment later the creature was lifted into the air and brutally slammed back into the ground. At the very same moment the thing made contact with the ground Cathilia blinked back into being.

The goatman tried to rise shakily but the back of its head was met with the sole of Cathilia's foot, reducing its head to a paste on the ground before it dissolved in a flurry of magic which then too vanished from existence.

All those who have not yet processed just how strong Cathilia is, and those who were not even aware of her existence, had their eyes widen in awe or horror at the display of might.

The quasit Cathilia is now holding with only one hand had stilled to the point where I was barely even breathing, in fear of offending its captor.

The gnome surprisingly was not one of those seeing this event in horror, no he was excited.

"DEMON! You must have heard of me! Have you come to serve the great Topip?"

Raskreia had never seen Cathilia as disgusted as this, she was angry when talking about the goblins, sure. But this was outright disgust, as though it wasn't even worth getting angry over. And then it was gone, her face was completely blank and unreadable. Which was impressive since she knew that she must have only caught parts of what the gnome had said due to her outdated abyssal dialect.

She dropped the quasit, which went unseen by all, on the ground. The critter dared not move either way.

She sauntered up to the wannabe warlord like a true seductress, her hips and tail swaying with every step. Her wings folded neatly behind her back. Even her face was graced with a seductive smile which would be enough to melt the heart of almost any man. But Raskreia could see that the smile was fake, she could see it in her eyes. Cathilia's eyes promised nothing but brutal murder.

Raskreia capitalized on the fact that they still had an active telepathic link "Don't make his death to violent, I don't thing the kids can take much more."

She stopped within arms reach of Topip and knelt down to be on eye level with him.

"I have come here today, and found something truly unique." Those words caused the gnome to puff up in pride, something that Cathilia did not allow to last for very long. "Uniquely stupid that is." Before he could even contemplate what she meant by that she lashed out with both hands. One hand holding his shoulders and the other firmly grabbing his head, before pulling in opposite directions. Severing his head from his body with a sickening pop and snap.

As soon as she let go of the remains, both the body and head burst into flames and the ground beneath was turned into brimstone. With a cackle the hence unseen quasit also vanished in a burst of brimstone.

There was a moment of pause for everyone in the room at what had just occurred "I had forgotten that that happens with quasits." Only to be broken by the nonplussed voice of the one who had caused it in the first place.

"That was… brutally efficient." It telling how unusual this situation must be for the children, considering that it was Tabitha's even voice who proclaimed this. The other teens could only nod numbly.

"Might have been brutal, but it is quite literally the most satisfying thing I have seen since I was summoned here." Came the voice of the woman. And already anticipating a potential language conundrum Raskreia handed her translation necklace to Cathilia and casts a 'Comprehend languages' on herself, also at the same time dispelling her invisibility. Leaving only Felniir invisible.

The woman, Xylara, now finally stood up from where she sat on the stairs leading to the pseudo-throne, dusting herself off as she did so. "And I must say what a sight for sore eyes you all are."

Kirche overtaken by curiosity speaks before anyone else "May I ask, if it is not rude to ask, how you know our language."

Xylara smiles at the young girl, eying her from head to toe in doing so. "Mhhh, it is interesting not being met with immediate distrust and prejudice. To answer your questions however. The answer for one, is the answer for the other. I am a Succubus, and all Succubae are able to speak and understand any language."

This caused the teens to all take a step back from the woman, and Louise to voice what they all thought at that moment. "A demon of seduction from the old scriptures." Causing the demon to frown and glance at Cathilia and then Raskreia. Raskreia couldn't help but frown at what she knew was going to come next.

"I don't see why you are so apprehensive at the identity of my species. You travel with a half-dragoness and a demon of far greater power than I. Would I be correct if I said you were a balor?" she said the last part directed at Cathilia.

"You would, yes." Was all the second demoness in the room said. And causing the teens to widen their eyes as the meaning behind the words fell into place.

Guiche then pointed shakily at Cathilia "You, you are a demon!?"

"Yes."

"Why did neither of you say anything about THAT then?" He said in an accusing tone.

Raskreia only looked on apologetically, but didn't have a means to speak their language at the moment, but then felt a telepathic connection form. "It was information that would have only complicated the situation if you knew of it. I myself had to get used to the idea of the proximity of a non hostile demon. You who have almost no experience in this area would have had an even harder time. So I decided to let her integrate like I did. And before you accuse me of being irresponsible. While I may not be able to win in a fight against her, outside of very unlikely circumstances, would have been able to get all of us away alive should something have gone awry."

"She speaks truth, I would be hard pressed to keep her from escaping with you in tow. Besides, it is not our fault that you did not recognize the designation for one of the upper echelons of demons. Figures though that you would know of succubae, everyone always knows about them."

"You know, you could include a girl in your little telepathic communication."

"Why should we?" Louise snapped at the succubus, before turning to Raskreia "And this discussion isn't over." Only to rethink her aggressive tone as Cathilia involuntarily releases a deep growl.

"Mostly cause I would like to know if I am going to live past this day. You know mentally prepare myself and all that."

And for a second time in as many days Raskreia was placed into a situation where she could release a demon or kill them. And it would be quite hypocritical of her to treat this demon any differently than she already treated Cathilia. True the circumstances were wildly different then, but the core issue was quite the same either way.

Then she remembered a small detail about the current situation.

Cathilia was a balor lord. to acquire such a position they needed to be a) powerful and b) had to have at least some rudimentary form of army. Or in the case of demons a unruly horde most likely.

"Hey Cathilia how does one such as you usually keep your, lets call it army, under control. You had one right?"

The demoness looked at her curiously for a moment before considering her answer "Generally other demons flock to powerful individuals in hopes to gain favours, or at the very least a chance to advance their own means." She looked over at Xylara then "Generally to gain marginal loyalty, as far as you can call it that anyway, it is most efficient among my kind to show overwhelming power that they wouldn't dare cross."

Cathilia walked up to were there was a magic circle drawn on the floor in silver dust, before looking Xylara dead in the eyes. "Tell me, what do you know of a balor by the name of Tezirus. Pitch black hide, glowing white eyes, and an ego to fill the entire abyss."

For a whole minute it seemed the succubus was not going to say anything, when she finally did "Can't say I have ever heard that name before, at least not carried by a balor." Causing Cathilia to nod in acceptance, if not satisfaction.

"What about a marilith named Ezaar? Red hair, green scales, golden eyes." here Cathilia instantly saw a flash of recognition in the eyes of the succubus.

"You mean The Chaos Blade? Ezaar The Chaos Blade? Sure I have heard of her, she is marginally well known in the lower reaches of the abyss for constantly switching allegiances. Apparently she cant find someone worth to serve or something. Not to mention one of her swords is said to be of legendary might."

"Well, last I have seen her she didn't carry that title. Nor carry a weapon that could be considered such, but a lot of time passed so I'm not surprised." Cathilia then turned back and strode to where she originally stood.

"That is all well and good. But now that I have answered your questions, could you tell me what you intend to do with me? The suspense is killing me… hopefully not literally."

Raskreia stepped forward to…

YUP! Cliffhanger! I always wanted to do one of these.

Well I hope I made this little adventure fun to read so far. I did not want to give descriptions of a room by room search, when most of them would be empty or non-consequential so I hoe you can forgive me for skimming on the details with that. Instead you got more character building for Cathilia.