[b]T[/b]he immense, shimmering expanse of the city was beyond her comprehension. It was entirely under this tree, or mountain. It was so unclear that she felt dizzy just looking down. Not that heights were very appealing to begin with. Her voice carried off into the distance but garnered no real response from anything Humanoid. The creatures near her were enthralled by something. Something entirely sinister, she could conclude. There was naught for her to do other than to look for a way down - it was so real that the thought of jumping was too much and caused a lump in her throat to form at the mere consideration. A small walk is all it took to reach the edge, carved into the rock was a staircase that lead down into the city. Yet, if it wasn't eerie enough the cavernous walls were lined with hundreds if not thousands of small cages, bars lining each and every inch of it - being cut off by the edge of rock that separated each cage. Freda couldn't see anyone within the cages as she passed, the steps were narrow and hard to land a footfall on so she had her attention elsewhere but the mere thought of being grabbed by something inside made the lump even bigger, each swallow felt harsher and harsher.
   Sooner or later, the inevitable happened and the Knight reached the bottom of the long stairway that had spiralled up nearly a mile through the rock and down to what she thought was the bottom. Yet... her way was barred. A gigantic metal gate - lined with the same bars stood in her way and only shadow was on the other side. This was when the same voice that had greeted her here appeared before her, the shimmering expanse of what looked like her long deceased mother - yet it was too spectral and other-worldly to ever make that clear assumption reality. The voice spoke to her, landing a few inches from her. 
"[b][i]You have reached your limit this era. Dost thee feel the energy? The lines between worlds is breaking. Outworlds and worlds will soon align and a thousand years of chaos will ensue. Stop it! Find a Jonius, and swiftly![/i][/b]" The voice screamed at the top of its lungs, ripping through Freda's body as she joined the chorus, her energy and body quite literally ripping apart in that instant before forming into a rune on the floor, perhaps to mark her progress? On the other hand, she could see it all as she slowly drifted away from it all, flying through the rock, the trees, the water and the wind before something slapped her very hard in the face, almost breaking her jaw if she could remember and within seconds she was back within her real body, in the light forest and on the floor, bleeding from every inch of her face yet she felt no real pain.

A few moments after awakening she felt a cold chill wash over her visage and a very concerned Henry shaking her, saying swiftly. "Freda! Freda! Wake up, please. There's something going on! We have to hurry." He stood up just as swiftly, running to grab and then offer out her weapons which sluggishly reached out for, gradually bringing her unarmoured self up to bear. It was an odd feeling, given she went to sleep fully armoured and now she was in her gambeson clothing. Yet, given the boys frantic behaviour and sudden worry she gathered it was egregious. She strapped her sword to her hip, grabbing the spear and shield and brought these to each hand. Now following the boy out the forest to immediately gaze upon the display of the foulest magic in plain sight. The pitch darkness was little to her eyes that had adjusted in the dream which had somehow become a reality, any wound suffered within assuredly was felt in the Realms of Men all too readily.
  The warrior hissed in disgust, dismissing the boy with a fretful wave of her arm. "[i][b]Take the horses, my armour and everything we have -back- to the fort! Get them ready to march. I have written report of the entire affair, present that and do not ever speak. I will remain here.[/b][/i]" Henry was not too pleased by the way he was spoken too but knew better than to argue at this time and quickly ran back to the campsight to start packing up and readied to leave without her. She just prayed that he could be trusted. Her real test of valour was to come.


"[b]Ad-van-ho-dar! Assail the flame! Hein-rich-en-for! [/b]" She started to chant out in a very old tongue, one that would surely garner the attention of the shadow-mancer and hopefully draw fear into the hearts of the foul creature. The Undead caster held up his incantation and a portion of his power to siphon the essence form the two girls on the ground before him, remaining overly confident as he stretched out with open arms, almost as if he wanted to embrace the warrior of flame coming to greet him so brazenly. [i]"Ah! It has been so long since I have heard the voice of such beauty! Come, child. Join us. I will make your passing almost beautiful.[/i]" He would of shed a tear if he could, pouring empathy he never knew he had into the speech, yet within moments it devolved and sinister laughter replaced it. He unleashed hell incarnate from his finger tips!
  Freda's defence was to throw her shield over her shoulder and onto her back to begin with at the sight of the cast. This then called for her to spin her entirely metal, short ranseur spear around at an immense velocity, creating a whipping sound as she spun it in front of her person with both her hands. The lance of emptiness and shadow slammed into the spear, being ripped to shreds in a few seconds by the nullifying propriety of the metals coating. The man jerked back, aghast, yet did not give in. Not at all. His entire body rippled in shadow-energy, and the Void incarnate he became! The essence from the girls on the ground empowering him further, though he knew better than to simply kill them off yet, there was more power to life than their was to death. On the other hand, Freda took this time to advance, taking up a zigzag run to avoid any further bolts of evil and dashed through the moors to close the distance. In the time it took to reach that distance the man had already began to draw vicious tendrils from the ground, each of which whipped and lashed at the woman charging him. The caster was ancient in his ability, something the warrior of flame had never witnessed. Her defence was nominal, in any regard - trained to fight magic in all forms, she slashed at the tendrils in her advance yet it was impossible to remain unscathed. Each lash felt as if her soul was being rend from within, tearing at the fibres of her being. Yet as each tendril fell the caster staggered, he could only control so much at one time and arrogance had formed over the decades of no challenge. 

The magical nullifying spear was her only weapon to boast here, and it did its duty well. Within a few agonizing moments every tendril had been dispelled and the man clambered on his knees, laughing manically as defeat grew ever nearer. Unable to give up his prizes, his delicious soul-snacks. Alas, he knew deep in his black heart that this could very well be his end if he played it poorly. "[i]I-... am bested! My, my. It has been many a year. But! I must be going. Keep them warm for me! I will collect them shortly[/i]" Freda growled in fury, throwing her spear into the air only to catch it in a over-arm position and then threw it like a javelin from where she stood, unleashing out a loud cry as she did so. She fell to her knees afterwards from the sheer force she pushed into it. Yet, the being of the Void had little intention to remain here and released the two girls from its grasp, expelling what remained of their energy back into them and then just collapsed into his robes, black goo streaming out from them where the spear pierced the robe a few moments after the fact, setting the goo and robes ablaze in a white-flame, burning immensely hot for a few seconds before dying off - leaving but ash in its wake. 
  In these tantalizing few seconds Freda threw up her guts as agony swelled in her body, the wounds she suffered were spectral that only one skilled in the arts of soul-cleansing could possibly ever rectify. Her attention drifted to the two women lain broken and bloodied in the mud. Were pity formed a desire to assist began. She sprung to action and grabbed her spear first, slinging this over her back aswell before kneeling to the one closest to where the pile of ash had formed, giving her a firm shake to see if consciousness till prevailed. "[b][i]Hello! Madame! Speak to me. It is safe, I promise you this. We must make haste elsewhere.[/i][/b]"

[b]"[i]Are you awake!?[/i]" Freda gave her shoulder another firm nudge. Blood still soaked the warriors face, almost looking like a grizzly war-paint, if it was not obvious that she had bled from every orifice on her visage.[/b]