[h1][center][i][u]"Burn Baby Burn"[/u][/i][/center][/h1]

Phagora, Alexina, and Taran had slipped around to the castle's eastern walls. There was a postern gate there, and it would provide easy access to the interior. However, Phagora stopped dead in her tracks, holding up a hand to beckon the others to do the same. "Feel that? Some sort of cursed ward. I can't tell what it is, nor how to dispel it. I'm not good with that sort of magic. Alexina, you have any experience with breaking enchantments?"

Alexina lead Phagora and Taran through the eastern walls, her feet light as she leaped from rubble to rubble like a panther. She came to a stop just as Phagora did, even though she was a head of her. She sensed something was off as well... Phagora spoke, and she looked back to her, and answered.[color=00a651] "Sadly I cannot, My shape shifting abilities are the only thing I am and ever was capable at achieving." She looked forward and tried to even sense where the runes were laid, using her animalistic instincts that warned her of danger. 

Phagora concentrated again, taking a second look at the web of magic in front of her. "Aha! Yes... mhmm... not bad spellwork, Madame Ruvina, but unfortunately, the thought process behind it was rather abysmal. Get low, if you would. I don't want to have to sweep up your ashes."

Phagora got down into a crouch and picked up a small stone, which she lobbed about twenty feet in front of her. As it broke the magical field, half a dozen large black lightning bolts raced outwards, thankfully over the trio's heads. The half-demon seemed to be a little shaken. "Yikes! The Ruvinas had a lot of power to throw around. I rather hope that they don't get more subtle. That curse was set up to expel all its energy in a single blast, so it should be safe to proceed."

Alexina watched as Phagora as she searched for the runes. Sometimes she wished she had more than just the ability to shapeshift, but even though she tried many times before...she couldn't even perform the simplist of spells, even with Lorelai's help. So she focused her time in strengthing her mind and abilities every day. 

When Phagora told her to duck. she simply stood to the side, behind a fallen wall. Though she was expecting something quite large, she still had her heart skip a beat at the black lightning shot over head. 

She wondered, who could have ruined the castle in such a state, and make it through traps like this...AND defeat the lady of the castle. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. When Phagora said to proceed, she moved forward, a bit more slowly this time.[color=00a651] "I do hope the next traps are something more tangible..."[/color]She said mostly to herself. She hated lighting, fire, or waht ever she couldn't touch. She was usually nimble enough to dodge, but still it was all she could do. 

She covered her nose at the stench of the undead that occupied the castle...perhaps the others didn't notice it as much, well...they would. but instanious it was enough to make her vomit. She looked around at the ruined castle... wondering where to look for a Library... with all the fire damage, did one even exist?[color=00a651] "Any idea's where we should look Phagora? I....don't tend to visit castles much..."[/color]

He had wanted to stay with the carriages, but his request wasn't even met with a responce. Just a blank look from Lorelai and an order to go with Alexina and Phagora. However, after what he saw between Phagora and Genoveve, he had a hard time looking the woman in the eye. Instead, he chose to keep very close to Alexina,  even stepping on her heals once or twice. Probably to her discomfort. 

For the most part, he just let the woman do their work. He would be absolutly no help in any situation that didn't require brutal, indiscriminatory levels of distructive power.  There was a faint smell of decay upon the air once they got to the castle, but nothing too awful yet.   Taran took a few steps ahead of the woman, silently poking into the nearby rooms, but never trailing too far.  He came across a promising looking room.  [color=708090]"Hey Alexina, I think the library, or whatever is left of it, is...in here," [/color]

Phagora looked into the room. Yes, there were plenty of books and scrolls, but there was plenty of glassware and magical reagents, all which were in surprisingly good shape. "It's not just a library, it's a laboratory. The Ruvinas were doing some sort of magical research here, but it beats the hell out of me what it was."

Alexina growled a bit after Taran stepped on her heels once or twice. But he seemed terrified of Phagora as if he got too close she would snap his arm off. Soon Taran managed to find the room. And she was even surprised to see everything in great shape dispite the condition of the castle around them...perhaps there was a ward that had protected it. 

She looked to Phagora and asked,[color=00a651] "Do you sense anything?"[/color] She asked as she slowly looked around, At the books, and reading their titles as she ran her fingers acrossed the spines. Looking for anything with 'family history' or'Ruvins'. 

"Yes. There's some sort of powerful artifact here, and the energy it's giving off is... nauseating. I'm amazed you can't feel it." Phagora followed the sensations to a box on a bench, wincing as she did so. She opened the box, revealing a mummified human finger, complete with a placard. The witch let out a long, low whistle. "Well, this explains why this room is in such immaculate condition."

Taran entered the room, running his hand over every single thing that he came in contact with.  The glass orb that turned red the moment he touched it, the furry  ball that started to purr,  He struggled for a second as a hole he stuck his finger in clamped down.  He pulled his hand away from the object, shaking his hand until the strange little tube released, shattering on the floor.  He looked up as Phagora spoke, but the  finger meant almost nothing to him.  Instead his attention was pulled to a bright, red, glove sitting on a shelf.  He picked up and held it up, it seemed so...ordinary to be in this room. Perhaps someone just left it behind. 

Alexina flinched as Taran shattered something. she looked over to him as he seemed obvlious to what he just did. She looked over to Phagora as she whistled. Showing the finger in the box, she rememebred something like that in castle bloodrose. something to do with the illusion that hid the castle. So it made sense to her. 

[color=00a651]"Taran... stop...touching things please."[/color] She was afriad the boy would destory everything before they had the chance to find anything useable. But before she could ask Phagora anything she started to hear something... it sounded like shuffling, with the clang of plate metal with each step, and the smell. Alexina held her hand to her nose. The smell was almost unbarable to her. As it smelt of rotting flesh...soaked and molding clothes, rust. She didnt' know if the other's could hear it...[color=00a651]"Somethings coming..."[/color]She said as she lowered her stance 

The first of the undead legion revealed itself in the doorway.  Clad in breastplate resplendant with the seal of house Ruvina - a passant black wolf upon a blood-red escutcheon - the creature's rotted hand grasped what was likely once a fine longsword.  Behind it the shuffles and moans of its unliving battalion could be heard,  each armed with steel and armored in the same.  A chill came into the air as witch met undead,  something far more evil than simple zombies stalked the moonlit hallways of this ancient castle,  and the intrepid witches would meet it soon enough.

Phagora stared at the zombie for a split second in disbelief. The finger's power should have brought an end to any dark magic in the area... though perhaps its strength had been weakened during its separation from the rest of the corpse. Yes, that was it, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get close to it.

Phagora drew her sword, bringing it up in a defensive position. The edge was keen as a midwinter blizzard, and it gleamed wickedly in the moonlight. Let the dead come in their legions. She was ready.


Taran opened his mouth to respond to Alexina,  After all, he didn't do it on purpose... all the same, he put the glove in his pocket and kept his hands behind his back, looking at everything in the room, but [i]not[/i] touching anything else.  It was less than a moment later that a stomach churning scent entered the room, followed soon by the ones who worn it.  They were...dead? And alive at the same time.  

Taran, unlike Phagora, was ready to flee. However, the undead army blocked the only path he knew out of the room.  He took a few steps closer, standing behind  Alexina, his hands balled into tight fists by his side.  [color=708090]"W-what should I do Alexina?" [/color] he asked, his voice cracking slightly. 

Alexina growled as she said, [color=00a651]" Phagora! I'm hopeless when it comes to finding what we need. I think you should continue to look for what we came for! Taran and I will hold them off." She gave a confident smile at Taran.[color=00a651] "Taran Follow me, I have a plan. " Looking back to Phagora, [color=00a651]"Close the door behind you as soon as we get through ok?" With that she morphed into a large bull and snorted before charging headfirst into the army of the dead. Not many were able to sneak throught the door as she plowed through them, their metal armor did not much for them as she slammed into them, sending them sprawling backwards and out of the room. 

She continued charge, aiming her horns at heads and throats to decapitate them or destory their brain, but what she mostly focused on was knocking them all over and giving Taran room to follow. Once cleared enough and far enough from the door She morphed back into her normal shape, blood started to spill from her as wounds from weapons that happened to be pointing at her as the dead held them could now be easily seen. She gripped one near her shoulder.[color=00a651] "Taran." she said looking back to them and quickly added. [color=00a651]"As soon as I make it out of that window there, I want you to fry these horrors!" She turned into a cougar and jumped through the window, busting the glass out and quickly morphing into a hawk to fly up and away from the window.
 
Phagora nodded at Alexina and Taran as they dashed out of the room. She knew she needed to find several things, but luckily, the shelves were labeled in such a way as to give her an idea where to look. She quickly swiped a few loose papers into the pockets of her robes, then started searching for anything on the Ruvins.

It took a little longer than she would have liked, but she found a slender tome entitled "Notes on the Ruvin Heritage." The book was so small it was clear that there would be fairly little in it, yet it would still give them an advantage over the vampires. "Hold on, you two. I'm on my way."


Taran followed Alexina's bull form out of the room as she plowed through the undead.  Once the door was slammed behind them, he felt trapped. No way back and no way forward.  Taran felt a pang of worry as Alexina's human form showed the extend of the injuries, but before he could say anything, she was gone out the window. 

That left Taran alone with the horrors. They got close, very close, close enough for a few of them to stick Taran before he was able to focus enough to call his flames forward. Then they exploded. Taking the wooden door down with them and spreading slightly into the library and out the window. 

When the flames died down, Taran was alone, even some of the horrors metal sheilds and swords had melted into the stone. Smoke filled Taran's lungs and he spent a few minutes coughing before calling out  [color=708090]"Alexina, Ph-Phagora. A-are you alright?" [/color]He looked at the fried door, a little bit of panic in his chest. 

Alexina could feel the heat of the explosion that came from Taran, though she was far enough away to not be harmed. She heard him call to her and swooped down once the smoke was semi cleared. She morphed just as she entered the window into her human form and landed on her hands and knees. Looking around she saw the molten metal here and there and the absolute nothing left of the corpses. She coughed at the smoke and smell of burnt flesh that remained before standing slowly, leaning against the wall as she looked at Taran [color=00a651]"Perfect dear..." [/color]She said a little light headed

Before Phagora could rejoin her two fellow witches a dark shape pushed through the wall.  A tall black shadow with two small red embers for eyes reached out with a blade,  as it approached the witch it suddenly gleamed as it became corporeal briefly and impaled Phagora deep in the right shoulder. The witch screeched in agony, switching her blade to her left hand. She launched a thrust at the shadow's midsection, but it didn't even try to block. It didn't need to. The blade slid right through with no effect, as if the creature was made of air. Phagora grimaced. Fighting an intangible foe with her off hand, and a holy artifact draining her strength? This was going to be rough, to say the least.

Taran couldn't help but feel a little pride at Alexina's complement, a faint blush went across his face. But it faded the second he heard Phagora scream. Almost wihtout thinking, he lept back into the room, just in time to see Phagora stab her sword into a shadow figure, while still being impaled by....a shadow. Taran already had his hand raised and was about to shoot fire, when he glanced behind him and to the front of him. Yes, he could ....burn the creature...maybe, but not with Alexina so close, or Phagora literally attatched to it.  [color=708090]"I...Alexina, I don't know what to do," [/color]

Phagora pulled her blade back and wrenched herself off the shadow's sword, howling in excruciating pain as she did so. The blade hadn't hit any major arteries, so she'd live, but the arm would be useless for months, if she ever recovered at all. Another strike swept in, this one aiming at the worst possible spot: her stomach. Phagora's eyes went wide. Had this... thing figured out her weakness? In desperation, she tried to shove aside the sword with the flat of her own weapon, and to her surprise, she succeeded. "We can defend ourselves, but we can't hurt it! Taran, you'll have to burn it. Don't worry about me, better to live scarred than not at all!"

Alexina made her way back to the library only to see phagora being attacked by a shadow. She felt uneasy as she had no way of fighting a shadow, or spirits for that matter. Well One way, but that form was much to large for this room. She looked to Taran as Phagora gave the go ahead,[color=00a651] "Taran..."[/color] She placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.[color=00a651]"Just focus on the shaddow, tune out everything else, including your second thoughts. Focus your attack on that one spot."[/color] She knew there was no way to get out in time even if she managed to drag Phagora with her out of the room. This was all or nothing, up to him to finally find some control. [color=00a651]"I believe in you Taran. Don't be a victim to your powers any longer. Use them to your advantage. "[/color]

Taran turned and and stared at Alexina as though she had grown a second head. [color=708090] "B-but...I might kill her," [/color] he said, horror written all over his face.  But, he could tell by her face that she wasn't going to argue with him. Taran took a deep breath, his fingers fiddling with the glove he'd picked up, almost as though stalling for time he slide it over his hand. 

Studdenly a thousand different voices filled his ears, but he saw now one. Almost as though he wasn't  the one in control of his gloved hand, he raised it. 

Out of a single hand, the furry of fire exploded, hiting the shadow...and Phagora. 

There was good news and bad news about Taran's fiery blast. The good news was that the shadow was hit, and hard. A large chunk was torn out of its right torso, becoming tangible as it separated from the body. It hit the ground as a mess of black, sticky goo. The shadow was somehow still standing, but it was reeling.

The bad news was that Phagora found herself caught in the crossfire, quite literally. The flame lashed across the outside of her left hip and thigh, causing her to sink to one knee. Her vision swam, and the only thing keeping her from completely blacking out was the fact that her demonic heritage made her somewhat pain-resistant. "Taran! Hit it again, with all the power you have! Another strike like that should do it!" 'And probably kill me as well' she thought.

Phagora hadn't needed to give the  order, Taran was already shooting another geyser of flame in her direction, almost indifferent to her over-all survial. The voices seemed to be growing louder and clearier in his ears. They knew he wanted the shadow thing dead and were happy to help. Everything else was just a perk. 

Finally his flames died down with the voices and only a single "Until later then, Taran-son"  was left echoing in his ears.  It was only after the voices left that he  finally [i]saw[/i] what he had done.  He glanced first at Alexina, not wanting to see if Phagora made it or not. 

Phagora was still alive, but hanging on by a thread. Her entire lower body was badly charred. Thankfully, the shadow had been finished, leaving a massive stain on the floor. Phagora reached into the pocket of her robes and felt for the mummified finger she had nicked from the laboratory. It was unharmed. Not surprising, really, considering who it had belonged to. Phagora squeezed it out of her robes, careful not to let actually it touch her skin. "One of you, take it and focus on it. It's a healing artifact, runs on pure thoughts. Kindness, charity, that sort of thing. I literally can't touch it, but it'll still work on me. At least enough to stabilize me."

Alexina quickly had moved over to Phagora, well another good thing...he didn't just explode taking all of them in the blast, but had managed to even focus it a bit. despite hitting phagora. She knelt down next to her and gripped her hands ,holding phagora's hand slightly as she pulled out a mummified finger, explaining what to do. 

She furrowed her brow and took the finger into her hand as she tried to think.. when she thought of kindess her thoughts turned to Lorelai...the one woman that had truely been kind to her, especially only a week ago as her mind block had snapped. She thought of her warm embrace and her smile. She thought of how she felt at seeing her. She could feel a warm sensation through her chest as she thought of Lorelai.

It took a while for Taran to turn around, eventhough he knew that Alexina had to be doing something to help the girl. But he couldn't help but picture the burned flesh of the hunting father and son team.  He had no urge to see that happen to one of the coven, although the memmory of the father and son brought him.... a certain satisfaction, almost pride. But the emotion felt strange, as though  he was feeling it through someone else feeling it. 

Finally he was able to turn around. What he saw was...bad...but...not as bad as he thought it was going to be.  He rushed over to the witch.  [color=708090]"Oh, Phangora, I'm so sorry. I should have...thought. But....  And now I've hurt you,"  [/color] he said, looking miserable.  [color=708090]"I...don't think I can even ask your forgivness" [/color] 

She had no clue who or what Alexina was thinking of, but Phagora could feel the finger's power coursing through her. Her injuries weren't completely healed, but they were lessened. She heard Taran mention how she had he hurt her. "I don't bear you any ill will, Taran. In fact, I'm thankful you did that. Yes, this hurts like the bloody blazes, pardon the pun, but the pain's just a reminder that I'm still among the living." She managed to struggle to her feet, even though she had to use her sword as a cane. "Let's go find the others. They sure can't be in any worse shape."