Devil's Last Dance

[Catrux]

((OOC: Sorry if it isn't the greatest, it has been awhile))

The darkness of Sehkem was momentarily distracted from Gwydion by the prospect of easy kills. Two horrendous, black axes were the man's instruments of destruction. Taking hold of the hilts of his terrifying weapons the man descended upon a group of Moridanu's soldiers who were beating back the demon's of Lucien. With a flurry of his axes set in time to his dance of death, the blood of the soldiers showered those nearby. Now blood drunk, the man couldn't resist the temptation that Gwydion presented.

With an animalistic snarl Darkness kicked off the ground to find his mark. Feverishly, he searched for Gwydion. He must be here somewhere. The righteous always stay for the slaughter. WHERE IS HE! Darkness was not a patient being, but was a stubborn one so he would not be swayed from spilling Gwydion's blood. He was just in time to see the Harpy seemingly skewer Gwydion. Rage over took Darkness, if he couldn't be the one to kill Gwydion he would kill the one who did.

As he flew toward his new target he noticed it was a trick, that wasn't the real Gwydion, Darkness could still feel the man's righteousness. Tricky lamb, very tricky. Now where are you hiding. "Come out, come out where ever you are." It didn't take long for Darkness to find his mark, he was next to a woman, a woman who Darkness felt was inconsequential.

Darkness wasted no time before tearing after Gwydion, ignoring anything or anyone around him. Before reaching Gwydion Darkness would tuck his wings in, tumble once along the ground drawing his weapons as he rolled before leaping at his target once his feet hit the ground. If things were to go Darkness' way his twin Dread axes would lodge themselves into the angelic mans shoulders before pinning him to the ground, where Darkness would continue his assault.

[Moridanu]

*Moridanu paused mid stride to wipe a drop of sweat off her alabaster brow with a swipe of her tunic sleeve, before she jabbed her blade forward, catching an Orc by surprise when his insides suddenly appeared on the outside as she withdrew her blade. Grinning at the Orc as he mumbled something inaudible and fell to the ground before her, Moridanu stepped over him and continued towards the Dancing Devil Inn. Impressed by Gwydions display, she raised her eyes to the heavens above and pointed over to Lucien’s general direction.

~He be the vile beast ye seek~ she roared above the din. She was aware of a horde closing in behind her, and she turned to face them, surprised to see a Paladin she did not recognise joining the fight. As he made short work of the demons around them, he introduced himself in short breaths between jabs. Moridanu followed suit, stabbing and slicing the orcs and Trolls around them as she even managed a short curtsey while she introduced herself.

~Well met Sir Ouranos Helaine, Knight of Helm,~ she ducked and swung out of the way as a large Troll swung for her, before she drew back and brought her blade up and under the Trolls armpit. Grinning as the Troll’s blood began to drip on her golden head like rain, Moridanu kept an eye on the surrounding horde as she continued her introduction. ~M’name be Moridanu Darkflame, and if ye are looking for who is in charge of this fiasco, then I guess I be ye lass..~

She narrowly avoided becoming Orc food as her lover arrived quickly to save the day, seemingly freezing his opponent as easily as he might draw breath. Having never seen this particular trick before, Moridanu was impressed and managed to flash him a smile before she was sent flying by the tail of a Bekula demon. After flying several feet through the air, Moridanu landed heavily on two of her own soldiers. Accepting their hands as they offered to help her up while barely being able to stand themselves, Moridanu could not help but laugh at the situation as she arose. The sudden gust of wind that was beginning to rise around her however, soon wiped the smile from her lips as she sensed that the new wind had something to do with Discord. Frowning as she focused on the battle before her, Moridanu realised she was now several yards away from the main battle front she had found herself in only minutes before. Deciding that nothing ever happened by accident, Moridanu took the opportunity to take stock of the situation and leave the closing of the portal to ODK and Gwydion.

The sudden arrival of the Harpies filled her with dismay, and she sent mental word to her archers and to Sabis in particular to focus their energies on the sky above them. Mitredaur picked up on her thoughts and used his impressive fireballs as small bullets to shoot at the Harpies as they flew past. Soon the Harpies began to fall from the sky, and Moridanu grinned grimly. The rain was picking up, and as the wind rose around her, she sensed something major was about to happen.

Oona’s message reached her loud and clear, but Moridanu merely shrugged helplessly. How could she run and abandon her kingdom in its time of need? She would never be able to forgive herself for such a cowardly act.
Mitredaur roared overhead, drawing her attention once more to the heavens as she saw that Lucien had summoned a shadow dragon to battle her old friend. She only had a few moments to lend him whatever strength she could spare before another group of Orcs encircled her. Grateful for Gwydions assistance, as he once again appeared by her side, Moridanu soon made short work of her foes. Glancing up, she saw the shadow dragon fall from the sky with an agonised wail before it vanished into a puff of smoke. She could sense that Mitredaur was injured and bordering on exhaustion, but still he flew on, attacking the few remaining harpies and shooting the odd fireball down at Lucien.

As she readied herself for the next wave of the war, Moridanu gave silent thanks for her allies as her amber brow furrowed into a severe look of concentration as she set about ridding Morthika of the foul stench of her foes. *

[Arianwen Chandell]

*Heeding the fauns warnings, Arianwen stepped warily into the tunnel. She turned to ask Gwydion to follow them, but the entrance way they had just stepped through was now closed behind her and the tunnel was illuminated with hundreds of fireflies.

Clutching the baby tightly in her arms, she followed the faun and Diseera as she tried to keep all thoughts of cave ins out of her mind. The tunnel seemed to be reinforced with beautiful chunks of timber here and there, and Arianwen began to relax slightly. Her sense of security proved false however as the tunnel began to rumble and the roof of the tunnel above them, caved in, bringing several Goblins who seemed to be eating something. Closer inspection showed it to be a human soldier, and Arianwen gasped as she looked away.

She didn’t see what the faun did, but soon he was ushering them on their way and she quickly followed his directions. Soon they were at the end of the tunnel standing in front of a beautiful door. At the instructions to call out her name, Arianwen did as she was told.

~ Er… name… is .. Arianwen Chandell..and… er… this.. be… ~ she looked down at the babe in her arms, no idea what its name was. ~Er… “Baby”?~ *

[Ouranos]

Well then m'lady, my sword is at your command. Direct me, so that I may smite the taint from these lands!

'The strength of his arms and armor becomes rapidly more apperant when he is struck, hard, by a claw from a demon emerging from the ground, a beast twice the size of a man. While it staggers the holy warrior, and flakes off several of the armored scales from his torso, it seems to pain and even annoy him much greater then it should. The observant nearby would be able to see why, and the clever to truly understand it. Most scale armors are interlocking plates over a leather hide to hold them togethor. When the scales flake off of him, it shows raw, now bruising flesh. Flesh with a greyish blue tone to it, that quickly turns silvery as scales GROW back in to replace the old ones. His eyes almost flash with angry white fire as his wrath surfaces.'

Those scales were a gift form my mother and her mother before her. You shall regret damaging the only gift my mother ever gave me...

'The scales are his own, part of his own flesh, a gift from his mother, a half silver dragon, and her mother, a silver wyrm who died centuries ago. He roars, an almost beastial, animal sound as he brings forth his head into the demon's skull before it can finish standing upright, caving in part of the beast's forehead. It's shortly followed by a jab with his sword that takes the creature under the chin with such force the head shears off, the demon's entire body turning to fiery ash shortly thereafter, the paladin tossing the head off with a flick of his wrist before the head, too, turns to ash.'

I beleive we have more monsters to slay, m'lady Darkflame...

[Crowe]

*Crowe was hacking and slashing alongside his lady, her lover, and the handful of others who had accompanied them, but soon it became apparent that he would not be able to stay by her side forever. Demons and orcs and trolls by the thousands still poured from the inn, and by now the flaming, half-collapsed wreckage of the building only served to deliver the horde faster upon the streets of the once-peaceful city. Warriors of every kind fought side-by-side, men with skin as dark as the night sky held shields locked with women as fair as parchment. The force of Morthika was always one to be proud of, and Crowe had never for a moment lost that pride.
Only now that very same pride became a barb in his heart. With every swing of his great broadsword, with every demonic cry and wash of ash and flame and blood, with every inch that he parted from his dearest Mori, his heart seemed to gain another leaden weight until he thought he could stand no longer under its great weight.
There were things he had taken for granted, times when he chose to be away from that which he cherished, yet most of these times had been spent in the pursuit of safety for all Morthikans, and now those very same gave their lives in the same pursuit. His sword was merely a tool, the spells uttered under the din of battle that seared the flesh of those evil things that stalked in his path merely words, and each death of a demon merely another creature fallen in the pursuit of chaos. None of these things mattered to the dark lord, and Crowe decided they mattered little to him either.
Heaving a great sigh, he came to a stop in the middle of the great battle, and a calm drifted about him such that within several strides of where he stood, nothing sought the end of another, demons and trolls and orcs, and even a few of Morthika's own, simply stood and looked out upon the carnage surrounding, peace in their hearts, blackened though some were. Crowe almost seemed not to notice, he was wiping the blood clean from his blade with a dingy rag that hung from his belt for that very purpose, and, when the rag seemed saturated with the stains of the blade, dripping with a strange black colored liquid, Crowe simply dropped the blade to the ground. He began to strip away his armor now, throwing that to the ground, and soon he stood in the midst of a furious melee in simple clothes, a leather jerkin about his body and plain breeches covering his legs. He would have seemed mad had not their been an empty ring about him where none of the bloodlust or righteous fury of the battle could penetrate, and none in such a condition could enter.
A great open space had cleared about him, and it began to move toward the inn as his slow stride began taking him, now alone, again in that direction. Though he had long been separated from his comrades in battle, he supposed they might come join him again if they could make it to him, and he smiled at the thought. The hordes of darkness spilled around him like a river about a boulder as he strode through the burned and blasted door to the inn and entered the heart of darkness, the conflagration that had once been the beating pulse of a peaceful city, the Dancing Devil Inn.*

[The Demon Auditor]

The Demon Auditor poised himself for another strike, but was easily finding that most of his targets were being removed by other players. To that end, he came alongside the man named Ouranos, and was going to make some silly remark when Moridanu was suddenly vaulted backwards from the very spot he'd been in only moments before. He felt a twinge of guilt realizing that tail was meant for him.

He dove under foot and tumbled into that spot taken by the Queen moments ago, and looked back to see her standing and smiling to her soldiers. Well, that was a relief. He ducked low as that same tail came flying back, and was hit in the face with one of Ouranos' scales. He looked up in time to see them grow back, and being the keen observer he is, whispered "Dragon scales" before rolling sideways as the Bekula demon's tail now slammed into the soft earth where his head was.

"I seem to be fighting a battle of being moments behind or moments ahead. Let's just settle the odds already..." he mused, tumbling into a prone position and sinking the base of his bardiche into the ground. The pole swiftly extended, lacerating the demon's jaw in two, before pushing further into its brain cavity with the pointy tip of the blade. Well, that's what 'pointy-tips' are for, after all.

He took another glance back to Moridanu, and nodded to her in understanding. The portal must be shut down. He dove ahead, slashing the now-normalized bardiche to-and-fro and sending magical blasts of energy left and right from the hilt.

He was upon Crowe quickly without realizing it, and slowed his charge to a trot. He whirled slightly as a long sword cut the air around him, and he hung his weapon at his side where it melted back into his coat. With a smile on his face, he walked backwards into Crowe's little bubble. For a moment, he felt like he had a hissing cat on his shoulder, but a few small pets and a soothing word or two and the black trench coat calmed down, latching to the safety of his body once more.

"Wonderful morning for a walk, comrade, mind if I join you?" he smiled pleasantly, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he came alongside Crowe.

[Moridanu]

*Growing weary as the battle around her seemed to be growing in size rather than ebbing as she had hoped, Moridanu glanced up to see that Gwydion had been swallowed up in the raging crowd. Sir Ouranos still fought gallantly by her side, and Moridanu smiled warmly at him as he declared himself and his sword to her plight. She gestured around at the hundreds of demons baring down upon them.

~Please sir, take ye pick.. there be many a monster for ye to slay!~

As if to prove her words correct, three Orcs and another pesky Bakula demon suddenly locked eyes on her and came straight at her, the Bakula screaming his desire to rip her head from her body. Moridanu bit her lip and locked her frame, hoping to make herself as strong as possible. She looked around for Crowe and her lover but found neither around her. Instead, they both appeared to be taking a casual stroll towards the Dancing Devil Inn, both of them seemingly untouchable. She could not see the bubble from where she stood, so it looked to her like both men had lost their minds and were now walking into suicide.

She was in the process of calling out her protest when she was blindsided by a large hairy Orc arm that sent her flying sideways. She landed heavily against the wall of a building, and cried out in pain as her left shoulder popped out of its socket. Calling out to anyone to help, Moridanu sagged against the wall, her breath momentarily stolen from her heaving chest. *

[sabis]

'The confusion of war can be a grand thing. A mysterious thing, the Fog of War. The little things that escape one's notice in battle. Things like a body seeming to disappear from where it lay, unnoticed because the harpoons that had stuck it find themselves in the same position in the dirt. The confusion of battle even is enough for most to never realise Sabis's unique aura, the field that surrounds him, that allows all supernatural creatures to sense his presence, did not disappear for several minutes after he had fallen to the ground, those same pikes in his hip and back, his shoulder. Who would notice such a minute detail?'

'Thus is the nature of his people. Thus is their truest and greatest power: Immortality. Or at least as close as one can get without being divine. His aura never reappears, so when that same orc that threw Mori to the wall prepares to lunge forth with a pike, all may seem lost. Until a simple flash of steel ends his attempt, the creature seeming confused before it falls to the ground, split down the middle from top to bottom, and standing behind him is the ranger, his hood down, his clothes dirtied and his face caked with blood, sweat, and dirt, but not a single scar or mark of injury upon him. His eyes are intense, almost furious with determination, the tranquil blue oceans they were before now raging maelstroms of power.'

Queen Darkflame, I beleive you have a war to lead. Stop playing with the orcs, and lets clear that inn. 'That is all he says before he starts his march towards the building, Imowen, his hawk, landing on his shoulder once before she starts her own attacks, harrying their foes and distracting them for others to slay, Sabis' blades working in gorgeous harmony, a beautiful dance he does, every movement a bloody end to a brutal foe.'

[Diseera Lefond]

Diseera watched as the woman with the baby in her arms spoke her name. Apparently the baby however had not received a name yet so she referred to it as Baby. Diseera fiddled with her fingers still unsure whether or not to give forth her name. What if it deemed her unworthy to enter through the door? That was of course one of her worst fears but she had tried her hardest to fight them back and that was what she was going to do.

Diseera took in a deep breath before stepping forward, her hand grasping her bow in case anything were to jump out at her. She coughed, clearing her throat. She didn't want it to sound raspy or anything like that. She took another breath, procrastinating. It was the worst quality she had and she finally racked up enough focus to speak.

"My name is Diseera Lefond." her voice seemed to echo in the small cave they were in and her heart now raced. What would happen now?

[Crowe]

*Crowe nodded absently as Mori's lover joined him. His whole being was absorbed at that moment in peace and calm, his mind entirely on the task at hand. Indeed, at this point the task was quite at hand as he strode through a burned out path through the inn, a small path only not burning because there was nothing left there to burn. Demons still flowed around him and the demon auditor, but now they came closer and some ventured to reach out to touche crowe, confused themselves as to why their touch was so gentle, but close contact burned their skin and they quickly decided that the city offered more blood and conquest and less confusion.
The power that issued forth in a calming aura would indeed cause an irritation for his companion as it was the power of pure gods, power that he had been given for one purpose. That purpose was to protect his queen and such is what he would do, firstly by closing this gate and secondly by killing the one who opened it.
As the pair approached the continuing source of demonic legions, the power of calm began to fade and Crowe's consciousness returned in full. Two hulking brutes of demons with gleaming green fire in their eyes stood guard over the gateway, a simple mirror through which even the largest of the legion seemed to have no trouble getting through.
The two beside the mirror seemed to be telepathically instructing the course of all the arriving demons, making it obvious why the telepathic master Lucien had enslaved such beasts. The dark spiny exterior of the beasts seemed to be one with their flesh, and a mazelike pattern atop their bald bony heads named them some mix between brute and mind beast.
Their powers and their close ties to dark gods seemed to counteract the powerful aura that Crowe had been emitting, and Crowe himself looked startled along with every other demon nearby as the clash of power came to a crackling standstill. The air was charged with the power of gods and nothing so much as breathed for a moment.
Luckily, Crowe recovered from the shock before any of the demons and, with speed granted by purpose and training, he seized a somewhat man-like demon by the sword-bearing hand. He spun the blade such that it twisted out of the control of the now-struggling demon, and quickly reversed it so that it pierced the evil thing's chest.
The wound dropped the creature, and Crowe turned just in time to see one of the hulking brute creatures leap into action, barraging his mind and his body with psychic attacks while leaping at him with a huge two-handed axe with double blades on both ends of the haft. The blade came spinning and Crowe ducked in close to the sharp spines of its body to keep its maneuverability low, meanwhile struggling with what power he had of will and strength to maintain control of his movements against the mental strikes of the creature. The battle raged and, surprisingly, the room cleared of all the lesser demons including those coming through the portal, leaving the double-duel space clear and open.
The other creature leapt at the demon auditor, assailing with a similar combination of psychic mental and physical barrages and deadly blades.*

[Camus]

Camus stepped forward and placed his hand against the thick metallic door, he rapped his knuckles against it briskly.

‘It’s me! Open up!’

As thick and heavy as the door was, shuffling could still be heard from behind it, tiny eyes peered through small holes around the top of the circular door.

‘Camus?’

A high pitched voice asked.

‘Yes!’

He replied with a sigh, he turned around to his comrades.

‘In any other circumstance, I’d tell you, to never, ever, ever! Give your true, full name out; it’s one of the most powerful spells someone can use against you’.

He said solemnly. The Door began to grind angrily, spokes were turning and the metal was twisting, the door slowly began to roll aside, a brilliant light shone from behind the door, Camus didn’t wait for it to open fully, he hurried inside, pushing the others after him, he looked behind him, but he could already see the goblins tunneling through the earth, the sound of battle and the smell of magic and blood was too much to resist.

‘Close the door quickly! Goblins!’

The Door began to reverse in the other direction, it was dark on the other side, but with a sudden brilliant burst of light the cavern was illuminated. The Gnomes of Morthika.

‘This is Gor’Gold, the Gnomish dwellings’.

He said with a grin, a winding open staircase was in front of them, but below that was a brilliant underground city, carved out of the bedrock that made up the caverns was hundreds of tiny windows; small silver flying contraptions flew throughout the cavern delivering rolled up parchments. Gnomes hung from the walls working on something or rather, hooked up to long elastic harnesses. It was unlike anything ever seen in the world above.

A small figure, shorter than Camus popped up from behind them, he was the door control man, he shook Camus hand eagerly. The Morthikan Gnomes, looked like children, more or less, they’re hair came in a rainbow of unusual colours and styles. The Door control mans hair was shaved short with archaic patterns shaved into the hair.

‘The Goblins made it through to the tunnel, but they wont be able to get in, we’ve been plucking civilians and the wounded from the surface for days now, Oona was right.’

He said the last sentence rather cryptic.

‘Welcome to Gor’Gold above folk’.

He said with a twinkle in his large blue eyes.

[Diseera Lefond]

Diseera smacked her forehead. She knew she should not have given her name. Another stupid mistake she made. Suddenly Camus began to speak and the doors opened revealing a brilliant white light which made Diseera cover her eyes since she was used to the dull earthy light that had been from the tunnels. She was hastily pushed inside from the fawn like creature and when she turned to see the doors closing, a goblin had broken into the tunnel. She quickly pulled an arrow from the case on her back and fired it without even aiming. The arrow struck true and went directly into the goblin, piercing right through it. She smirked as the doors closed.

When Diseera turned away from the door she saw an unbelievable sight. There was an underground city etched into the rock. It was something she had never seen before and never thought she would. She had heard about this in stories but never in her dreams did she ever think she would see it. War was going on though thus things happened that normally wouldn't. Looking again, Diseera saw little silver flecks flying around. A closer look told her that they were holding pieces of parchment. They were probably delivering them. Gnomes were everywhere now and she suddenly felt a bit on the tall side.

A figure that was quite small appeared who apparently was the "door control man". He shook Camus' hand and he talked about how the Golbins would never be able to come through the doors. Diseera let out a small sigh of relief. She was glad about that now. The gnome then welcomed them to the city of Gor'Gold which made her smile.

[The Demon Auditor]

The Demon Auditor seemed at ease inside the calming effects of the field Crowe generated. His own character was normally neutral, but the coat on his shoulders was quite clearly not. He could even feel the spiral tattoos on his face and body starting to burn. So much for being a good guy.

As soon as the aura faded off, the stillness around him was punctuated by the sudden wild flailing of his trench coat, finally free of the shackles of that curious field. Now his powers were mad. Angry for being forced to stay calm during this glorious battle and walk through the fighting without raising a finger. The trench coat flapped around the Demon Auditor's body in a nonexistent wind, and he smiled serenely at the hulking brute coming for him now, "I don't think you want to do this."

But it assaulted him anyway, psychic attacks almost completely useless - some would say he didn't have a mind to attack! As an ugly two-headed axe came for his skull, the angry trench coat formed a shield over him, causing the axe to glance off and slide to the side. Not even bothering to form coherent weapons now, the slick black coat around his body started striking the beast ferociously, every fold and edge of the coat as sharp as knives. All the while he smiled nonchalantly, hands stuffed into pockets. Each blow glanced off the beast's hardened shell, but was enough for a distraction while the Demon Auditor hatched a plan...in a manner of speaking.

[Syndesii Kahvi]

*The golden furred, sleek and built for speed feline was hunched down under a bit of brush as she took a breather. She had just found the battle once again after so many years ago of running off in call of her clan. Now as she had promised she returned in time to see Moridanu the Queen flung against the wall, as she prepared to leap out from the brush only 20 feet away she paused mid stride as a man killed the orc and spoke to the queen then turned away. Growling low she leaped out and in two bounds was at Moridanu's side. She shifted her form to that of her elven self her sword half drawn.

She eyed the area around them as she crept closer to the Queen and knelt down beside her. Syndesii's voice was low and should have only been able to be heard by the Queen. Her Blond hair braided down her back fell over her sholder on her forest green boiled leather armour, it shimmered slightly giving away that not only was the leather her armour but a bit of magic was guarding her as well.

"Your majesty, please catch your breath if you need help let me know i shall stay to watch your back as you ready your self once again."

With out another word she watched the area her eyes glancing from Sabis as he moves to the tavern then to the orcs that move in his way and two that turn to her and the Queen. Quickly she moved to intercept the first her sword held mid way then she spun flinging a throwing dagger at the orc and comming down on the massive creatures head with her sword. A distraction with the dagger, and the killing blow through the skull. She turned again to go at the second, when his axe came down inches from her shoulder, she leapt in the opposite direction and nicked him in the leg blood splashed on her and she dropped below his swing of the axe. She brought the sword up once again just as the orc went to bring his axe out the side to slash at her. She drove the sword deep into its throat and came close to his face as blood smeared across her face her voice dripped with venom as she spoke.

"Die where you stand you beast and begone from this life never to rise again!"
As those words were spoke a blue flame danced in her now golden eyes and seemed to appear on her arms and flowed down them to her hands and threw the sword in to the orc engulfing him leaving nothing in its wake. When she turned back to stand near the Queen again the blood had been burned away as well but left not a mark upon her. The blue flame dance wickedly and maddly in her eyes as she awaited the next opponent.

[The Demon Auditor]

The Demon Auditor faced off against a menacing brute, and somewhere nearby Crowe faced a similar beast. The ruined Dancing Devil's Inn burned and crumbled around them, almost nothing but a hollow shell now, the fires raging for hours during the fateful battle for Bendelsain. The demonic army of Lucien held itself at bay as the two guardians of the Queen bravely fought the portal commanders. In the middle of the weakening floor of the blackened and charred tavern, a full length mirror crackled with energy. The conduit which had allowed thousands of Lucien's troops through to Bendelsain from his lair now stood quietly.

The beast's psychic attacks could not breach the mental barrier of The Demon Auditor, but it irritated the crap out of his trench coat. Inky black, razor thin tendrils from the maddened trench coat lashed out and grappled onto the stone-skinned creature, weaving their way into the demon beast's armor skin through the hair-line cracks and patterns. The beast was enveloped in the dark depths of the unreflective coat, but moments later the demon's blood splashed across the room as its limbs were severed clean off. The trench coat burst through the hulking body with black spears slick with the blood of the monster. The Demon Auditor just stood in place, hands sunk into the coat pockets at his side, and smiled as the beast fell to the floor in a pool of its own blood. "You have been audited."

Stepping over the beast's mangled corpse, The Demon Auditor approached the mirror portal. Glaring through at him from the other side he could see the mass of troops ready to come through. Several well-armed orcs aimed their crossbows at him through the portal. He simply raised his hand, and with a muttered incantation, thin red lines snaked through the black spiral tattoo which wrapped around his arm. He flexed his fingers, and in a loud crack the crossbows burst into splinters of metal and wood, several of the arrows going in completely the wrong direction and striking down the wrong foes. He grinned and bugged his eyes at the troops through the portal, "Boo!"

He reached out both hands to the frame of the mirror, barely touching it with the tips of his fingers. The magic crackled across his hands like static electricity. His trench coat was much calmer now, but crept along his arms under the sleeves. His body disappeared in the darkness of the coat, only his hands and head remaining, and with each passing moment the coat grew longer and deeper, covering the sides of the mirror. From his arms the coat grew upward until it covered the top of the mirror, too. The edges of the coat wrapped around the sides of the mirror, and with the long, distinct sound of a zipper, closed behind it. The area in front of his face closed over, completely shutting out the mirror from the world in a large black ball. In a matter of moments the mirror was no longer on the correct plane of existence.

With a quiet snap, The Demon Auditor's coat shrank around his body into a normal coat shape. The area of the floor where the mirror had stood was now just a hole into the cellar. The Demon Auditor smiled again and dusted his hands off loudly. That's when he noticed one of the support beams of the floor had been severed in his attack on the portal. His eyes widened as he heard the crack, but he had no time to react as the floor caved in under him, tossing him down into the stone cellar with barrels of flammable liquors.