As instructed, they all downed the resisting potions. Fendros was glad that he made quick work of it; it tasted like clay and lingered in the mouth. Its effect was subtle, but he could feel it. A sort of inflamed feeling in the very centre of his skull. It wasn't bothersome, but it was slightly uncomfortable.

Instead of a resisting potion, Ariel took another night-eye potion as she had done when they were scouting. "Right, follow me." Before she started moving, Ariel reiterated the movements of their plan, "Once we're past the grate, we'll head to the second tower on the right, set it to be destroyed, then the one after that. If we haven't found her already, we'll try and deal with Lilia before escaping through the grate the same way and waiting at the meeting point." Ariel gestured to the potions that Ahnasha carried, "Don't hesitate to hide yourself, and if you can help it, avoid the witches altogether. Some of them are capable of life detection spells that will see through invisibility." With that, Ariel started over the rise, inspecting for any patrols before casting a muffle spell on herself and moving.

"Ahna," Fendros brought his hand up and caught Ahnasha by the arm at the last moment. He looked at her for a moment, before smiling and letting her go. "Good luck," he said.

The approach to the grate went similarly to the scouting run, except this time when they reached the wall, they had to press up against it and become silent for several moments. Something holding a torch was up on the wall. Whether it was a witch or a sentinel, they couldn't know. Eventually it walked away. Its presence was concerning for Ariel. Had they increased the number of sentinels on patrol? They might have, if they found out that they had been infiltrated. If that was the case, the witches might be on the lookout for interlopers.

They hugged the wall until they reached the culvert. The grate was still crudely welded in place from when Meesei last repaired it. Good, it would only have been a matter of time before the coven noticed something wrong with it. That meant that this route was probably still clear. Ariel turned to Ahansha, charging a red disintegration spell in her hands. "Keep an eye out," she whispered, turning and setting to work on the metal. Without Meesei halving the work for her, it would take a little while longer to displace the grate, so she kept her eyes looking through the grate for any wanderers while Ahansha watched in the other direction.