[i]Grand[/i], Jillian thought, cocking her head. If they had been facing anything but Hazzergash they could see it coming… too bad they weren’t. It made her nervous; the idea that any one of them could become the unwilling vessel of such a creature was highly unnerving, not only because it meant the complete removal of agency over their own bodies but because it would inevitably force them to hurt or kill one another. There must be some way to avoid such a fate, she thought; there had to be.

“I have not,” the witch admitted when Renold asked if she had ever [i]seen [/i]anyone produce large amounts of magical energy all at once. It was a vague question – [i]large [/i]was a matter of perspective, after all – but she had, at best, only felt others doing this, not seen it. The fact that magical energy became visible at all once it breached a certain threshold had not been known to her up to this point. She wondered if such amounts of energy were reserved only for gods, demons and dragons, or if it was attainable for humans as well. Did Crone possess such large reserves?

Renold then demonstrated what this might look like, manifesting his power as tendrils of otherworldly, dull yellow fire that appeared to exist in a state of total separation from the laws of nature. Such was the core essence of magic, Jillian figured, as she gazed with fascination at the brief display. One day, she dreamed. One day, perhaps, she too could dazzle others with such a show of strength. They’d admire her, or fear her. Yes, it was the only way left for her. One day.

Gerald pointed out that they would be able to tell who was to be the target of possession, a clever observation that Jillian had failed to make in her ravings. True enough, if Hazzergash’s power manifested itself as these magical, burning limbs then they would almost certainly be directed towards whomever he chose as victim. Not that this was an enormous advantage as they were still helpless, of course…

“Luckily there’s an easy solution to how to deal with him potentially possessing us,” the necromancer then concluded, surprising not only Jillian but apparently everybody else too. As he put it, so long as everybody remained inside the binding circle, they could keep the demon lord under control no matter what – or at least, long enough for Gerald to return Hazzergash into his prison. It seemed logical enough but there was one problem Jillian noticed.

“What if he targets you?” she asked, arms crossed and looking straight at Gerald. “I for one don’t know how to siphon him into the prison.”