As Dagmar was lowered to the ground, Ariel quickly removed her shoulderbag and handed it to Ahnasha. "The rest of the fire salts are in the middle, set them up and I'll deal with this," Ariel said, dropping to her knees next to the paralyzed Dark Elf.

Dagmar had a pained look on her face, and it looked like she could hardly breathe. To prolong the paralysis while she worked, Ariel put her finger to the back of Dagmar's neck and delivered a steady, green magical paralysis effect onto her spine. Then, Ariel placed her other hand onto Dagmar's forehead and closed her eyes. A subtle but sure purple illusion magic stretched out from Ariel's fingers and entered Dagmar's head like ghostly hooked talons. Ariel's eyelids flitted open and closed as she peered through Dagmar's mind's eye for knowledge of the suppression gas. Wherever she found traces of the gas and how to make it, Ariel cut the ties that kept the memory together and carefully wove falsehoods in their place. The process took a long and tense half-minute. Thankfully, Dagmar was in no position to defend herself.

Once Ariel was done, the magical claws receded and she hooked her hands under Dagmar's frozen armpits to begin to carry her outside, motioning for Ahnasha to help. "I'm sorry Dagmar. I don't know what Lilia did, but this gas has caused too much suffering already." Ariel said, sounding regretful, but still confident through her breathlessness while she carried Dagmar out, "You must let its existence go like I had intended, before the coven gets completely destroyed in this war. Lilia knew the risks, don't let her folly cost the lives of all of our sisters." Once Dagmar was outside, Ariel took her key to the laboratory, then after Ahnasha was back inside the tower, she looked down at her again. "The paralysis will only last a few more moments. Get away from this tower before it falls."

Ariel shut the door behind her as she stepped back into the tower, then put the key into the lock and twisted it until a telltale click was heard. She turned around to Ahnasha, and retrieved her shoulder bag and dagger again, before pulling out a magicka potion. "We'll have to escape on the wall from the door upstairs." She uncorked the potion and swallowed a mouthful before stopping for a moment to continue talking, "I'll set up some fire runes, you make sure that the way is clear." Ariel wasted no time in quaffing the rest of her potion and began to place fire runes in certain areas to make sure that the all of the equipment and the notes would be burned and destroyed.

Once ready, Ariel climbed the stairs two at a time to reach Ahnasha. All they needed to do now was light the fuses again.

---

As they all rushed into the the hagravens' nest tower and slammed the door shut behind them. The sense of vulnerability from all of the projectiles slamming against Meesei's ward was suddenly quietened. They had no time for calm yet. They didn't need to worry about the door to the wall they came from as it only lead to a dead end at the ruined tower, but the door on the ground floor and to the other wall needed to be held. Janius and Fendros took the wall door, holding it against enemy spells while it would last. Lorag and Sabine ventured downstairs and found that the door was not only closed, but it was locked. There was another smell on the ground floor, however. Through the dark, there was straw, water, and the unmistakable smell of fresh fear on fresh meat. Sabine turned around and growled, but half of her mind was triggered to a panicked state for no reason she could fathom. She was starting to shiver while she postured at the silent presence. Why couldn't she move?

Knowing that they were noticed, the two witches that had thrown the gas flasks appeared in the light of their own charging spells on the ground floor. The two witches; a young Breton and a middle-aged Nord, stood wide eyed and filled with fear, but were in a stance to cast spells onto the two lycans at a moment's notice. They were hesitating though, mostly because they weren't sure what was wrong with Sabine to make her stand in place. The light from the witches spells revealed a squirming movement from behind them, and it was then that Sabine realised why she found the smell of fear so familiar. There were at least five girls hiding behind barrels in the far reaches of the room. They couldn't have been older than Sabine had been when she was infected with lycanthropy. Their little eyes gleamed as they peeked over the barrels. A quiet sobbing could be heard from one of them. The trauma came rushing back in earnest then, Sabine began to hyperventilate and growl louder, snapping and barking at the air in front of her. Her tail slid between her legs and her shoulders hunched inward. Suddenly mistaking Lorag for the creature that had wounded her as a child, she backed into a corner and slid down the wall until she was completely curled up, covering herself with one clawed hand.

Upstairs, forces kept slamming against the door, causing it to begin to crack. Janius and Fendros held the door shut, but the witches were throwing brute telekinetic force at the door to batter it open. After a few moments, the battering paused. Then there was a whooshing sound and a bright orange light from every gap the door had. Fendros and Janius instantly detected a strong heat warming the door until its metal features became too hot to touch. The battering resumed as well, but the door was close to crumbling now, and was failing faster with the fire.

A similar battering began on the downstairs door, though Sabine couldn't cope enough to do anything but stay still and fearful.