[h3][color=thistle]Io[/color][/h3]

[at the people at the breakthrough!]

The rune trap was triggered - yet it didn't stop their enemy to the degree Io wanted. There was no time to for reaction from Io when his onslaught began.

She couldn't handle the sudden attacks, each one scattering her focus. While there was no threat of his choke-hold having Io lose consciousness, she was still stuck in a dangerous position. Her enhanced control over her senses allowed her to dull the pain, but the shock her body was encountering was something she couldn't stop completely. Io briefly retreated into her mind, trying to focus and regain control of the situation.

Io realized in a flash that she had been dropped to the ground. Her body rang in warning of the damage she had taken, now that she had returned to her senses, but it was far more manageable now as a dull pain. A trickle of black blood, clearly not that of a truly living creature, rolled down Io's face and briefly shimmered with magical energy as she reached out her hand to cast a spell.

Io poured her plundered magical energy into this spell, hoping to hinder the Varjan prince enough to give the others breathing room. Io had to touch upon something she was well-versed in to turn the tides. A black magic circle shimmered below his feet, and from it grasped countless skeletal remains, clawing and reaching out to bind the Varjan to the floor. Io focused to maintain the magical circle as she stood up - she would have the circle continue summoning more skeletal arms and claws to increase the grip on her target as best she could.