Devil's Last Dance

[Discord Lasarythe]

((I'm assuming, stepping up to ODK I'm going to be feeling some pressure from his air-thickener-thing as Camus does, yes? Will this affect anything but the fire? Better find out now before I charge in and pwn him...I mean...er...defend her. Yes, defend her.))

[The Demon Auditor]

((It's just a mild defense for the fire as a result of his uber awesomeness supah powah uuuppp!! But, it could cause dizziness, headache, sinus irritation, dry mouth, and mild diarrhea. Most patients did not experience these side effects. If you are unsure about this medication, discuss alternatives with your doctor. Heavy air is by prescription only, and should not be taken by women who are pregnant, or taking MEOI Inhibitors. Tell your doctor if you have any heart conditions or high blood pressure. ;D Seriously though, it's like diving deep under water, so the pressure is real, and may cause disorientation. Not sure if high pressure really effects fire like that, but it's magic, so nyeh. I should know, though, shouldn't I? All sciency engineer an' shit. XD))

((EDIT: Okay, so high pressure = cold air, low pressure = hot air, therefore the high pressure is generating colder air which buffets the fire and keeps it away from him. Easy. Now I don't feel like a total moron! XD))

[Elyza]

*Elyza’s dark manic orbs followed the progress of her summoned fire demons, and she grinned as she relished their destruction. A rather harried looking old man had been unfortunate enough to be closest to the fireplace, and he was now still screaming in pain as he desperately rolled around on the ground, trying to snuff out the flames that had all but consumed him. The stench of burning flesh filled the tavern, and Elyza’s nostrils flared as she breathed in the scent almost greedily. Turning to grin at Discord, Elyza frowned slightly as she saw that Camus had decided to indulge in some conjuring of his own.

The storm that he had managed to whip up was fairly impressive for a faun, but it was a mere blip on her magickal radar nonetheless. As the pouring rain had its desired effect of drenching the flames that had only moments before threatened to engulf the tavern, her fire demons merely shook off the repelled droplets of rain that had done nothing but sizzle against their firey hide. Hissing as they moved more quickly in an effort at avoiding the large puddles that were now scattered around the tavern floor, the demons turned their attention to Camus. At once, all six demons moved closer to the faun, circling him. Elyza watched silently as the heat within the tavern rose several notches. The pouring rain, combined with the soaring heat of the six demons that surrounded Camus, created an almost unbearable level of humidity. Elyza herself was surprised to feel more than a few droplets of sweat dripping down the side of her face and spine as she watched them slowly close in on the faun. She laughed as Camus called her Luciens Whore, and bowed mockingly to show what she thought of such a title.

~Save your sweet talk for someone who actually gives a shit, little faun..~ she snarled. With Camus temporarily detained, Elyza’s attention turned to Discord who seemed about to go into battle with Moridanu’s pet bitch boy. Elyza grinned as she rubbed her hands together in anticipation of the fun ahead before her nostrils suddenly flared, and her grin broadened as she found a corpse still burning slightly. Tearing off the leg of what had once been a barmaid at the tavern, Elyza bit into the rather well defined thigh and grinned as she chewed.

~Mmm… always loved a good bbq.~ Looking back at Camus, Elyza rolled her eyes as she called out to Discord.

~Dinners in the oven, luv. Come and get it when ya ready!~ *

[Discord Lasarythe]

<>The food was babbling as they so often did in the last remaining moments of their life, but Discord paid no mind. She hadn’t been audited in recent memory and, regardless, her receipts were in order should the day come. Today was not that day. And then, as if he was as eager to be eaten as she was to eat him, “Terrance” was powering up with all of the brightly colored grace of a Power Ranger and lunging for her with a final battle cry. There was little left to do but wait in welcome as he threw himself to fate like a man possessed. As the two met at last, she found it hard to ignore the chill that moved with him and Camus’ thick, shiny coat sprang into mind once more in the form of a scarf and matching gloves. Soon. Oddly, her mouth had gone dry. That, too, would have to wait. Presently there was the issue of a blade searching out the hollow in her chest where a heart may or may not reside to deal with. In the interest of not being impaled and bleeding out, she chose to deflect it now instead of later.

Dis’ lifted both arms before her, one with noticeably more flick to the wrist, spread her feet and bent her knees in balance to meet the attack. With real, live demon speed the whip snaking from the palm of her right hand sought to encircle the Auditor’s hands on his blade while her left caught the incoming blow and directed it up and over her shoulder with equally real, live demon strength. She let his own momentum carry him into her imposing form and was positive the tip of his weapon was safely above her before her jaw opened to expose the fangs she’d be using to chew his face off. Without bothering to ask- yet still wondering if- he could audit without his face, her head snapped forward abruptly to take a chunk out of his nose and/or cheeks. All the while the acidic tears continued to rain down from soulless, black eyes still locked on his so that she might watch him while he died. The steam and smoke rising from Elyza and Camus’ fun were making the moment so private it was almost cozy. In a perfect world, her whip would be burning holes through his arms, which were likely resting uselessly over her shoulder by now, and she would be holding him close enough to feast at will in spite of a little thrashing on his part. Sadly, this isn’t a perfect world.<>

[The Demon Auditor]

Discord's reaction was easily out-maneuvered with a grace far surpassing her simple brute-force attacks. His left hand departed his sword and faced her palm-forward as she deflected the tip of his blade over her shoulder. The slimy whip held no traction on his coat, just as the splatter from earlier didn't. Both sleeves around his wrists slid through the whip effortlessly, allowing him free reign to brace his left hand against her chest as she came to him straight on.

Given the proximity, and her intent to chew his face off, he bent his elbow, bracing against the impact of her body, and attempted to use his forward momentum to repel her backwards. In the fleeting moment their faces came close to one another, briefly enveloped in the fog surrounding them, he smiled seductively at her, and whispered, "I never kiss on the first date."

If contact was successful, all he had to do was concentrate the surrounding pressure barrier into the palm of his left hand, and push her away, resulting in a cone-shaped shock wave which would send her flying across the room (and into Elyza if he was aiming well).

His sword cut right and then came down to his side, and he grinned in Discord's direction. "This is turning out to be more fun than I thought it would be!" Darkness spread from his coat sleeve again, enveloping his sword, licking the air like black flames. The sword's shape changed, forming outward from the tip until it curved into a right angle. The pitch black flames retreated back into his sleeve, revealing the gleaming new blade; a double-edged broad sword with a scythe blade at the end.

[Camus]

Camus instinctively clipped his hooves against the old wooden floor, now blackened and charred, He growled low under his breath as the fire Demons began to circle him, the heat rose drastically, and their speed was building up creating a vortex of heat. Camus squinted, swear dripped into his eyes, He looked down and realized a curl on his foreleg had sparked suddenly. He immediately drew his hands across his chest, he closed his fist but left his index and middle finger pointed. The tips began to glow a deep dark blue. He blinked as what looked like a blue mist filled the space inside of his eyeballs, until he was looking out of twin ocean blue orbs. His staff fell to the floor, slipping between the crook of his arm, unusually enough though, it landed faceup.

The fire demons were building up heat, the smell of burnt flesh, hair and fur filled Camus nostrils, he clenched his jaw and drew his hands away from his body. Camus opened his mouth and steam poured from it. It was as if Camus had suddenly stepped out onto a frozen tundra, his breath could be seen. The Demons were demons true, but they were also elementals, they could be quashed easily. Arcane ice began to run up Camus body, almost covering him completely, the ice was so powerful even the terrible heat from the demons couldn’t melt it, not yet anyway.

Strange symbols appeared around Camus body, etched into the air around him, floating on the spot, Camus roared loudly, pushing his ice covered hands forward towards Elyza, the area around Camus exploded with frozen air, surely it would disrupt if not kill the fire demons, A thick wave of spiked ice flew towards Elyza, running towards her and tearing up the floor as it moved.

When Camus spoke his voice sounded altered slightly, deeper and menacing.

‘Your pathetic Elyza, as predictable and boring as ever, when are you going to sing a new tune? I’m going to dance on your grave, mark my words!’.

[Elyza]

*Elyza watched with unabated delight as the fire demons moved in even closer to Camus. The poor little faun seemed incapable of actually fighting on his own, and instead seemed pathetically reliant on invoking more elemental energy to fight his battles. As the ice began to form around his body, and his breath hung like mist in the steaming heat, Elyza rolled her eyes.

~And you call ME predictable. First rain.. now ice… pathetic.~

Camus had invoked a enviable amount of energy and had surrounded himself with a small, though effective force field of ice. Clearly underestimating the sheer heat of the tavern as the fire demons peered at the ice covered faun while they took a few steps back away from him, Camus sent out a spike of ice towards Elyza. The area around himself had been consumed by the freezing temperature that he had evoked, enabling him to become so frozen, but Camus seemed to forget that the rest of the tavern was all but melting with the extreme heat of the fire demons. The ongoing friction between Terrance and Discord nearby was creating enough of a conflicting form of energy to feed her demons, enabling Elyza to almost completely release her connection with them. Focusing more of her attention n Camus, she laughed as his little spike of ice roared impressively towards her while in a five metre diameter of Camus, before slowly but steadily losing speed before it melted into a puddle of water more than ten metres away from Elyza. The fire demons themselves had moved far enough away to be immune to the cold, but too far away to maintain their focus on Camus as they started tearing through the tavern again, killing those in their path before disappearing out the door and windows and spilling out onto the street. Elyza licked her lips happily as she heard the sound of new screams echoed through the steaming air that was quickly becoming thick with the smell of burning flesh. Fresh flames sparked from the demons destruction in the tavern, the few remaining curtains, bar stools and wooden furniture soon surrendering to their fiery death.

Laughing, Elyza turned back to the ice covered Faun. Although the ice that clung to Camus should have frozen him stiff, Elyza noted that he could still move his arms. Glancing down at his legs however she saw something that made her grin broaden as that evil glint shone in one eye. The ice that consumed Camus, combined with the heat coming up through the floorboards as the tavern was once again ablaze, had melted slightly and formed a large puddle in which Camus stood. The water that was immediately touching his frozen body had frozen two thirds of the puddle while Elyza watched the rest of the puddle slowly freezing over. Given the density of the puddle, and the thickness of the ice which was all around his feet and legs, Elyza deduced that Camus was now actually frozen to the floor. Judging by her meagre knowledge of physics that this should affect his mobility and ability to withstand attack, Elyza strode confidently towards Camus, the Phoenix Blade dragging behind her almost forgotten as the soles of her boots sparked new flames while they stalked across the floorboards. Any ice that came into contact with these boots seemed to scream before turning black and melting and Elyza couldn’t think why touching the frozen Camus should be any different.

Her insanity clouded her judgement for what could be the thousandth time as she almost skipped up to Camus at frightening speed. Reaching out with her right hand she used merely her thumb and middle finger to flick Camus in the middle of the forehead, as one might flick at a small bug to send it home. The strength behind Elyza however, and the assumed inability for Camus to move his legs - and therefore shift his weight, combined to be enough force to push Camus over so that he should fall backwards, breaking his icy prison as he did.

~I’d like to see you try to dance on my grave little faun, especially considering you cant move your legs. ~*

[Camus]

Camus underestimated the heat, he good a deep breath, loosening his grip his magic. His eyes returned to normal and his shoulders slumped painfully, he was exhausted, his joints ached, his head pounded aggressively. The energies inside of him surged dangerously, such an expression of power was dangerous for a sorcerer at Camus level, a trickle of blood ran from his nose stopped just above his lip.

Elyza was weaving towards him with surprising speed, Camus growled deeply under his breath with clenched teeth. His shinning green eyes had lost some of their light; if he was going to die today he was ready for it. Even if he didn’t leave a scratch on Elyza, it was worth it.

Even as Camus looses his holds on the enchantments still active in the room, an unusual thing happened, ice, rain and fire had created a natural arcane vortex, the clouds clinging to the ceiling surged. Ridiculously enough, the most beautiful snow began to fall gently. Elyza pulled back her hands and struck Camus on the forehead, his head exploded in pain and his neck snapped back. He lost the last few strands of energies he had connected to the ice; it exploded in a flurry of harmless water. Camus was Able to bring his hoof back behind him, with all the grace of a deer he managed to keep himself upright. He growled loudly and held onto his forehead with one hand. He leaned forward and with astounding animal speed, he lifted his hoof up into Elyza face with a vicious kick. He was surprisingly flexible and his hooves could cut glass and he was surprisingly strong, the perfect mix of man and animal (be it a small man!). Camus pushed himself away from Elyza, he couldn’t take her magically, even physically he was probably going to die, especially since Elyza had claimed the Blade. He snatched at his staff and spun it impressively, protecting himself.

'Cha, Cha, Cha bitch...'

He snarled uncharacteristically

((I think I said surprisingly about 84 times in that post, sorry! ;D))

[Discord Lasarythe]

<>It seemed the coat was going to be the bane of her existence, or at least it would be for the length of time he managed to keep it on, but the Auditor’s wardrobe was far from Dissy’s mind during those few, fleeting moments when they were close enough for Food to be suggesting any other kind of mouth on mouth contact that didn’t involve him being eaten. Unoccupied now and hovering behind him during this compromising embrace, her right hand- sticky, dripping whip and all- sought and dived for the hair that lurked so temptingly undefended and close to her fingers behind his head. She would turn the grip into a clenched fist capturing every strand she could manage in hopes of holding his head steady during the feast, when his left hand and all the power behind it tossed her suddenly into the air. All too happy with this convenient handhold, the Auditor was free to come along by his hair or stay behind without a good portion of it, serving at the very least as a slowing anchor unless by some miracle of foresight on his part she missed. In time the acid gushing downward from her palm and into the whip would have burned through the blond mop anyways were it not as untouchable as the coat.

Whether or not he chose to hop the flight or suffer whiplash instead was of little consequence as Discord’s back connected with the flaming chair ODK had mistaken for Elyza while aiming and she plowed heavily into the ground not so far away. Was it snowing? Rolling swiftly into a backwards somersault, she came to crouch beside the burning furniture that had broken the very least of her fall and hungrily sniffed her singed hair. Without so much as a sideways glance, her right hand shot out to extend her whip and the leg of the accompanying, flaming table sizzled under its touch. It was off the ground with a hasty, upward thrust and hurtling in whatever direction he might be where he stood showing off his new toy. More would follow given the sheer number she had available to her. Regardless of the ever changing weather, the ancient, dry wood of the tavern’s furnishings was enthusiastically burning in spite of the flurries as it made its way towards the Food.

Disturbing clarity of mind and a vicious, you’re-gonna-die-long-and-slow grin marked her next words.<>

“New toy, same fool. Are you old enough for that big, scary blade, Terrance? You were hardly big enough for the first one and you couldn’t even handle that. Put it down before you hurt yourself. I can hurt you enough for both of us…”

[The Demon Auditor]

Yanked forward by her interesting choice of hand holds, a large chunk of his hair and scalp ripped clean off his head as Discord sailed away from him. Entirely unphased though by the situation of blood running down the back of his neck, he swung his blade upwards at the thrown table, splitting it in half to land on either side of him. Any further thrown furniture would merely meet the same fate.

However, that was hardly here nor there. The burning building, quenched as it might be, even cooling off now with the snow, was structurally weakened by the fire. With a pleasant smile, he swung the sword again, creating arcs of silver energy that shot forward, striking around and above Discord with tremendous force. Now with additional damage to the ceiling, the heavy timber beams supporting it began to groan under the strain and quickly collapsed into Discord's current position, simultaneously destroying nearby furniture.

He laughed at Discord, his wound even now beginning to heal, "Come at me, then! Bring me that pain you so deliciously want to deliver! BRING IT!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Camus and Elyza battling. He realized somehow he had to bring the two wenches to heel before Camus ended up rump roast.

[Discord Lasarythe]

<>It hadn’t taken any time at all for Discord to discover the only skills this Auditor possessed came in the form of objects he carried on or with him rather than actual physical abilities. Her eyes followed the “swythe” as it demolished every bit of burning furniture- regardless of size, angle and speed- she threw at him, well aware of its importance to him. It was this keen observation of his technique and her convenient standing-at-the-ready position that made her so able to spring out of the way of the incoming ceiling. With a beautifully executed roll she was cleared of the crashing beams and watched from a considerable distance away as they met the similarly weakened floorboards and began working their way into the basement below. A wicked shudder wracked the tavern around them for a central section was now missing from its upper level and the demoness began to wonder if the Auditor might be trying to commit suicide right there in front of everyone. On her feet once more, Dis casually brushed the collection of burning debris and ash from the shoulder of her own expensive, but stolen, coat and positively beamed over the crackling fire that had been the roof at ODK as he shouted his taunts across to her.<>

“What’s that, Food? Dissy can’t heeeeaaaar you. Can see from the look on your face that you’re being dumb, dumb, dumb anyways. What really unintelligent food you turned out to be...”

<>Distraction came easily to Discord in any situation and this one was no different. With the Auditor trying harder to destroy the building than he was her or any of the other demons running amuck around them, it was easy to do. She cocked her head to listen to the exchange between Elyza and Camus and was struck with a pang of envy for the spunk her friend’s dinner was showing with his staff spinning and swearing. Maybe the little hairball would taste better after all. Always one to rile on the way out, Dis clamped her hands together, rolling the whip into a gooey ball between them as she leaned in slightly to address the decidedly inadequate adversary parading around on the far side of the flaming rubble.<>

“Poor, poor Auditor. Dissy’s too filled with pity to eat you. Pet tells her that the Moribitch has use for his Terranceness in the bedroom, but Dissy must wonder if he’s this much of a slug in battle can he be much better between the sheetsies? Has he even been up that righteous skirt of hers or is it all just fairytales and fluff? What does Dissy know? Maybe the lackadaisical flasher hiding under that perdy, widdle coat is saving his talents for her and the destruction of this stinky, flesh pit…Soooooo…Dissy’s just gonna go over here for awhile and eat him and you can finish auditing the roof. If there’s any room left in the tummy after, it could be saved for you but you have to be bad! Bubbye now!”

<>Bowing at the waist rather formally, Discord spun with flourish and rushed headlong at Camus from behind and to the left of him. Her whip had since separated from the hand that connected it and she heaved the resulting acidic mass at him mid-lunge. Sizzling, ink goo spurted forth from the open hole in her palm as she came for future fun.<>

[Elyza]

*Despite the disappointment of seeing the ice melt into nothing but harmless water, Elyza felt a small sense of satisfaction as she felt his pain caused by her finger. His energy aura was glowing a dark red and Elyza smirked as he began to dance in front of her.

“Cha, cha, cha.. Bitch..” he taunted.

Laughing, Elyza cocked her hip and stared in amazement at this faun. Despite being a mere bug on the windscreen of her life, Camus was deliberately taunting her into reaction. Happy to oblige she stepped towards him as she called out

~Why don’t you put the stick down before you hurt yourself little one, eh?~ Licking her lips she smiled at the faun, appearing to appreciate her next meal as she peered down at him. This lasted a few seconds before she grew bored. Pouting, she stuck out her bottom lip as she gazed at him. ~Bored now..~

Responding to her blood lust for the first time throughout this encounter, the Phoenix Blade began to throb in Elyza’s palm. The sheer electric current that was now coursing throughout her veins was enough to cause the air around her to crackle. Tightening her fingers around the handle, she cricked her neck before raising the blade up over her head.

~Mmmmm… time for venison kebabs!~ she murmured as she moved to slice him into several different pieces ( Discord would obviously want takeaway with her order). Glancing over at Discord mid stride , she heard her brilliant tirade against the bitch’s lap dog before she bowed, turned and locked eyes with Elyza. Applauding her friend, Elyza laughed and squealed in a sound of almost pure delight as she saw Dissy suddenly change course and come charging at the faun with all guns blazing. The Phoenix Blade, still held tightly by her left hand, fell harmlessly to her side as she stepped back to allow Discord all the room she needed. A glint of something shiny nearby soon caught her eye, and Elyza began to drift away from the faun, leaving Discord to deal with him.

The snow fell in soft white clouds, laden down with the dark ash that blew all around the former tavern. The ceiling above them had caved in, bringing with it a lot of furniture and belongings from the floor upstairs. One of these pieces of furniture happened to belong to a woman known as Pandora Pendelton. Pandora was a professor at the Avalon Academy and a regular tenant at the Dancing Devil Inn. Despite her free accommodation at the Academy, Pandora had a few items she could not risk being found by either the students or the faculty, so she had stored them in her room on the first floor of the Dancing Devil Inn. Her room was located directly above the tavern below the Inn, and as such it was majority of her belongings that were now scattered around the snow covered ruins. Some flames still burned, though most of the fire had been extinguished by the snow that clung to Elyza’s lashes as her previous victims gore once had. The falling snow had all but hidden the shiny item, which finally revealed itself to be a mirror. As soon as her dark eyes fell upon the large black mirror, her lips curved into a smile as she realised what it was. The glass itself was cracked into six large pieces, with several smaller chunks of glass scattered around the debris. Staring down into the dark glass of one of the largest pieces, Elyza began to hum softly in rhythm with the humming that was consuming her entire being. Her energy she had invoked was now morphing into somewhat of a magnetic field that called out and attracted every single piece of glass back to the mirrors dark oak frame. Carved into the wood were the symbols that had revealed the mirrors secrets to Elyza and her lips curved into a deep grin as the glass slowly began to reform. *

[The Demon Auditor]

He listened quietly to 'Dissy's little tirade, then burst into laughter. "You call me sluggish? I've never faced such an incompetent demon before! You insult me, but it's you who run in the face of danger! Go on, then, prey on the helpless and weak, just like those boys you slaughtered two moons ago with your whore here. Is that all you can handle? Boys with no sense to fight"

His laughter turned to Elyza now as she stepped towards him, transfixed on a broken mirror. "You too? Getting tired of fighting when you don't get your way? Unbelievable! If this is all Lucien has to offer, all I need to do is sneeze at his army and it'll fall to its knees quivering in fear! Really, I am disappointed in you both."

He frowned at Elyza and the mirror, then aimed his sword at her, "I think you've done enough conjuring tonight." Twisting his blade in his hands, he dove at her with blinding speed, aiming to slice her head off her shoulders with the joint of the scythe blade.

(Sorry it's a little short this week, been stressed out lately.)

[Camus]

Camus snarled at Elyza, his staff still in his hand, it began to vibrate as Elyza finally began to use the Phoenix Blade, it had an unusual effect on his weapon, it began to simply fall apart. Camus dropped the curling wood and took a step back, he was going to die. He wasn’t scared exactly, he was disappointed. He had so much still to do, The Nameless one needed training, she needed a name for goddess sake! Camus was resigned he’d see his goddess any second now.

It shifted, he could feel Elyza moving away, a new threat was upon him, Discord, She snarled and lunged towards him while Elyza moved off, interested in something else entirely. Camus saw an opportunity, for the first time since the fight began he was able to focus, to listen to his surroundings. Someone was speaking to him, they had been the whole time, he couldn’t tell who exactly but it almost sounded like Moridanu, They needed to leave, ODK had to live, he had to see Moridanu and he had to be elsewhere. Camus nodded to the voice in his head.

He growled again Discord was still in mid charge, Camus too charged. His graceful hooves moved daintily over the debris. When they were inches from connecting so close he could smell the human meat on Discords breath, Camus dove. He flew past her as quick as lightning. ODK had his blade raised high; Camus dove into to him tackling him, he’d be lucky if ODK didn’t kill him in surprise. As Camus held onto the Demon Auditor in a tight bear grip he spoke loudly, his words vibrated around the ruins of the tavern. Shaking the ceiling further.

‘Debesora Elesia, Torn’Sin Dorei Avalon!’

Camus felt the unusual sensation of teleportation, it felt like his body was being sucked through a very small hole, like his skin and bones and flesh were being ground into powder and reassembled, all in a heartbeat. He could feel the grass on his hooves, the sky above him. The foreboding statue of Talisen in the distance. He had done it; he had gotten them out of their just like the mother Danu had told him. The last of his energies had been depleted though, he wasn’t even sure if he had managed to take ODK with him, his head swam and he fell to the ground, with a small smile on his face.

[The Demon Auditor]

The force of Camus tackling him from the side spun him around so fiercely the tip of the scythe dragged into the floor, ripping the lumber boards to shreds beneath it. Unable to shake the faun off of him, he roared in anger as he realized what Camus was doing.

"NO! You fool!"

His sword lost its grip on the floor, and he began falling backwards, Camus holding him tightly. As the faun finished his incantation, the sensation of falling backwards was only heightened as he never met the ground. Instead, the world began to swirl around him as if he were spiraling out of control, until finally his head landed against the ground with a painful thud.

Wincing at the sky and foliage now slowly spinning above him, he sat up and rubbed the gushing wound on the back of his head. It had been only a minor scalping before, but with the added trauma, the blood was flowing freely over his hand. He gazed at his bloody hand for a moment, blinking in wonderment. He hadn't been able to actually bleed real, flowing blood in...well, a very long time.

He looked over at the sleeping faun and frowned. "You jerk. You just spoiled a perfectly good series of taunts which I wholly intended to follow up on. Now it's just meaningless words and those wenches are probably still ransacking that town. Where the hell are we, anyway?"

He pushed Camus on the shoulder, trying to rouse the sleeping faun, then groaned. He was starting to feel light-headed from the blood loss. His healing trick was working too slow, he was used to having a rotted cadaver as a body, not actual flesh and blood. It was a remarkable difference for him, really, and he would have loved to spend more time exploring all his new physical sensations, like the pumping heart in his chest, the expanding and contracting lungs giving him breath, and the burning tattoos covering his body... Burning? That seemed odd...

Before he could spend a moment further to comprehend the tattoos glowing bright red over his body, his vision blurred and he collapsed on his back again, slipping out of consciousness. His last thought was, Crap, what have I gotten myself into this time?