Spotting Ahnasha's intentions, Ariel looked ahead for a moment, then went back and hefted the grate back into position. Last time, Meesei was able to somewhat weld the grate. They didn't have time to do the job as thoroughly, and they needed to make sure it wouldn't take them too long to escape through the same way. In light of this, Ariel attempted the same trick as Meesei did, charging destruction magic to heat the grate until it was white hot and started to flow just a little bit. She made two joins only, so it wouldn't take too long to detach them if needed. They left the grate in its original position with two glowing red spots that Ariel hoped would not be noticed before they cooled completely.

Now they were inside the grounds, there were a couple of groups of sentinels running over to the gate with long and clumsy strides. At the gate, there were the shapes of a couple of witches in a quite alert state supervising the skeletons. The gate was opened and the sentinels proceeded out before the gate closed again and the witches disappeared inside one of the towers next to the gate. Either the pack had stepped on a rune or they had engaged a patrol. A small explosive popping sound from somewhere over the wall confirmed that they had raised the alarm.

Because it was dark and there didn't appear to be anyone in the courtyard nearby after a life and death detecting spell, Ariel quickly made her way to the tower with the first objective. A life detect spell revealed that there were some witches behind the tower walls already. Turning to Ahnasha, Ariel pointed to a dark corner where the tower and the main wall met. Once they had made their way there and hid behind a small bush, Ariel shared her thoughts. "There are some witches in the laboratory still. We'll need to wait until they come out to defend." She whispered.

Outside of the fortress, the response to the pack's incursion came fast and loud. All around them, a howling wind started to pick up, getting louder and louder. With it came whispers of unintelligible words. As they proceeded, the wind started to deliver shrieks off terror from every direction. Streaks of light swirled around them, then formed into the shape of great disfigured undead giants between them and the fort. The giants leaned forward and roared like otherworldly beasts, causing the wind to have a dank smell of sewerage and death. It was just as Ariel had said, fantastic and terrifying illusions to scare intruders off. Janius and Fendros' hearts raced and they stood at the ready, but they knew they were harmless and incorporeal. Sabine seemed calm all things considered, this wasn't what was worrying her.

While the illusions stayed menacing, eleven skeletal silhouettes started to appear through them. These were real. All were armed with a shield and a either a sword, axe or mace. Their pace was slow, bordering on shuffling. The pack stood their ground. Once it was abundantly clear that the intruders weren't going to run, the sentinels raised their weapons and broke into a charge. The leading three went straight for Meesei, who was ahead of the group, while the others wrapped around. Two went each remaining pack member. The space they had very quickly shrank as they were surrounded, but they only had to land a single hit on each of them.

Confident, Janius leaped forward and struck one of the skeletons, aiming for the head. The sentinel raised its shield to block, but upon contact, its entire structure came apart and it collapsed under the weight of its own block. Fendros acted similarly, swinging at one of his opponents' flanks and causing it to fall apart sideways. Sabine stayed nearby Lorag, ready to strike. She just needed Lorag to distract them enough so she could get around them and deal with them. The sentinels didn't seem smart enough to adapt to the threat of the pack's weapons. This was going to be quick.