Svarak was busy humming a tune and moving to its rhythm as he sliced his way through wave after wave of these ice minions. His breath wasn't even coming fast yet, barely even a workout. He watched them crumble, and yet there weren't shards everywhere. He would've rolled his eyes had he not been deflecting some ice spears coming his way. Reforming monsters were a pain, it always meant there was an external source that needed to be destroyed.

He heard Rilana's words and smiled. At least one of them had been paying attention. Apparently he'd gotten lax since magic disappeared. He shouted in reply, [color=fff200][b]"Got it."[/b][/color] He thought back to where there were shards from ones he'd destroyed earlier and waited until they were gone. So it took a few slips to reform, and his grin turned sinister. He crouched, the muscles tensing, his boot digging into the solid rock. Then he surged forward, so fast that following his movements were nearly impossible to follow, and behind him was left a wake of shards and crumbles.

When he stopped, they all were temporarily destroyed, and his breath was coming fast as he leapt atop the shield where Rilana and Kona were waiting. Smiling, [color=fff200][b]"I'm getting to old for this stuff."[/b][/color] He then noticed that the woman was unconscious, probably from her hard landing. That was going to make things trickier. But he formed a plan. Then he sliced through the shield around them, and the trio fell through. Kona would be able to slow their descent, Svarak using the sides of the hall to slow himself. Once at the bottom, the dragon would stir lightly, but couldn't lift his head or open his eyes. He'd be surprisingly warm to the touch, his brilliant blue scales a bit grey now. 

The pit they were in was quite large, and the dragon was against one of the walls. There was a large cave opening at the opposite side that had gone unnoticed before they'd gotten down there. It made sense, it was likely how the dragon could come and go if it weren't a prisoner. If the dragon was touched by Rilana or Kona, they would hear the following in their mind, [color=00aeef][b]"The Gatekeeper... is coming... he keeps... my cage..."[/b][/color] There was a loud pounding, as something appeared at the cave entrance, something they could only assume was [url=http://ebonfort.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ice_golem.jpg]The Gatekeeper[/url] the dragon referred to.

It was massive, larger than the dragon, and everyone knew that it was formed by all the creatures that had been fighting them moments before. It approached slowly, each step shaking the cave, Svarak smirking, [color=fff200][b]"That's more like it."[/b][/color] He moved next to Kona and stuck his Null Shard Greatsword into the stone, speaking to Kona now, [color=fff200][b]"Only touch the hilt. You need to take out the shield. I'll handle this guy and keep Rilana safe."[/b][/color]

He stuck the sword easily into the stone in front of her and turned back to the creature. He considered drawing the daggers in his boots, but he decided on something better. A clinking was heard as he unhooked a pair of studded ebonsteel knuckles from his belt, and slipped them onto his hands. Then the creature struck out a lot faster than one might expect, taloned hands stabbing out. Svarak jumped over the strike, as the arm sank into the ground, shaking the entire cavern, a few stalactites breaking loose and crashing down. He flipped over in the air, landed on the arm, and ran up the creature's arm. When he reached the arm, he unleashed a devastating uppercut,, sending the creature flailing backwards, as Svarak flipped backwards and landed out of reach. He dashed forward once more as the creature regained its balance, as Svarak drilled his metal fist into the icy leg, sending cracks up through it. 

If Kona or Rilana touched the sword to the edges of the shield, they'd be able to see all the edges of it. They could see where Svarak had leapt through earlier, as well as where they'd fallen through. At the center of the domed ceiling, they'd see a funnel stretching up through the tower. 

Meanwhile, on the fifth floor, the chain successfully tripped the ice orc, tipping its balance backward. However, it had managed to plant a hind leg as Chartrose charged, and it responded with a vicious headbutt. The head powered forward, the axe biting deep but not stopping the momentum. The butt of the lodged axe crushed right into the bridge of Chartrose's nose, his weight not enough to tackle the orc. Chartrose was thrown bodily to the ground hard, his nose broken and bleeding profusely. The orc raised its club to strike the Charr down when the lock clicked loudly.

Alya had indeed found the correct key, and the door swung open effortless. All of the ice statues stayed where they were, save the orc. The killing blow had finally killed it, and the ice magically disappeared and a massive orc corpse collapsed atop the Charr, his club nearly dropping on the man's head. Alya could only hear the singular song from earlier now, and on the other side of the door was a beautifully adorned library. The walls were lined with shelves, completely full of texts but the odd part was the central spiral staircase. It was crystalline, that led up to the ceiling, but there was no gap to move through. It just stopped.

The two knights and the homunculus caught up with the main group, confused about what happened. Drisceya immediately began searching the room for traps and loot, knowing the Knights would want to hear of this library. They paid handsomely for texts of any kind. This could be what would promote her to Lord, if Svarak died. If Alya or Chartrose entered the room though, they glowed briefly and would find themselves teleported to another room. They would find themselves trapped in small, visible shields, staring at a [url=http://ebonfort.wikia.com/wiki/File:Leandra.jpg]woman[/url]. 

She spoke, [color=a187be][b]"Good, I was hoping there would be a few mages in this group. I can finish the ritual now."[/b][/color] Alya and Chartrose could feel their magic draining into the prison shields and funneling into the Moon Fey woman. Alya could feel the song from earlier growing stronger from the woman. Chartrose could feel Tricia stirring within him scared, knowing that if his magic was drained, they'd both die. The pair would start growing weaker by the passing moment, any attempt to physically move through the shield would be thwarted by it.