The giantess was surprised that her companion was making conversation, and pleasantly so. [color=bc8dbf][b]"No, I get from mountain trader. I give him hides, he give me wine and potatoes. He come once a season. Nice orc, good tusks."[/b][/color] When he invited her to sit, she smiled kindly, nodding. She grabbed her plate and sat next to him, the displacement on the mattress sliding him closer to her. She picked at her food, before contentedly sighing, [color=bc8dbf][b]"What your name pretty man? I called Ezzemara."[/b][/color]

She ate slowly, [color=bc8dbf][b]"People hard to trust. No one trust giants. Giants trust no one. I trusted that trader. He trusted that Lady Moira. She take him in cave tenday ago. He never leave. If she feed to guardian, guardian go blood crazy. Your friends probably dead. And Gurook not here to fix guardian."[/b][/color] She looked down at him, smiling, a bit sadly, [color=bc8dbf][b]"But no matter, you with me now."[/b][/color]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were only six skeletons remaining, two Lords and four Wardens. After the other two Wardens were killed, two more were broken off the force facing Svarak. One made its way toward Ortha with a large maul in hand. Such a weapon would be able to damage the young balauradon through her juvenile armor. Torrin rushed to Ortha's side, slashing with his sword, and dodging the attacks that would break his arm if he tried to block with his shield. He tried to circle around the warden, to put it between him and Ortha, but it kept retreating to prevent such a flank.

Another Warden was coming toward Alya and Echo, spear out in front of it. It moved past its frozen companion, before cracking it with the metal butt of the spear. The ice fell away, and the two of them moved closer. The Homunculus medic, big, fat, and bulky moved in front of the songweaver, large wooden club raised. The spear wielder stabbed at him, while the previously frozen daggers wielder moved toward Echo.

The Warden that had been moving toward Drisceya lay in a heap as she moved past over it, every joint having been severed. It was still alive, but unable to move. With a smirk, she picked up the skull, which was attempting to bite at her, with no success. She slipped it into her bag, before moving over toward Alya to help them in their fight. 

Svarak was beginning to hear less and less and notice less and less, as he slipped toward going primal. With the two Lords and two Wardens facing him, he knew it would be difficult. But all Charr could go primal in times of desperation. And during that time, the best of them were unstoppable. But once it is done, they are little more than a wild animal. They never return to society, to being a person. His senses were nearing their peak when a massive bird crashed into one of the Lords. The skeleton was thrown bodily, but not before getting a shallow slash across the top of Kona's skull and down his beak. It wasn't fatal, but would hurt fiercely, the blood obscuring his vision, and would scar.

But then Svarak began sniffing at the air, recognizing a scent he knew. One he knew well. One he loved. It was Rilana's scent. He'd realized he'd forgotten about her for this mission. That he hadn't considered her in his actions. But the change had already been started, and he could feel himself, his last regret being that he wasn't saying goodbye to the woman he loved.

There was nothing but silence after Rilana attempted to speak to Juloya. It did seem there was nothing but a corpse within the stone. But when she touched the stone, she could feel just a tiny bit of her magic drain away, and the woman's eyes shot open. Nothing else moved as she stared through the crystal into Rilana's eyes. Through her mind, [color=f6989d][b]"You need to stop his change. It was [u]his[/u] plan all along to make it happen. He needs something more powerful to hold onto than his desire to complete the mission. He needs you. If he changes, he won't kill me." [/b][/color]

Rilana could feel a sudden drain in the other woman's magic, and her own was now brimming with extra power. The null stone in her pocket floated out into the air, shifting, changing, suddenly malleable like water. Rilana knew this was a one time piece of magic, that it could be used to turn the stone into an effigy and summon anyone or any creature to this time. The word catalyst came to mind. Memories were pulled from the back of her mind by Juloya's magic, an image of the dragon, of Ortha's mother, of the white raven, of the many ferocious creatures Rilana had met during her travels. 

Svarak continued to slip into his feral state as roars bellowed from his maw. He was faster now, running on all fours beneath the slash of a sword, crashing into one of the remaining wardens. He reached through the gap in the armor, grabbed its spine, and snapped it, tossing the skeleton away. But the Lord Knight moved in close, matching his speed with two swords. Svarak moved in for a swipe, only to be knocked away by the flat of a blade, the other carving a crimson slash into his chest. Svarak stepped back, to reassess the fight, when the final remaining Warden threw his mace, and it crashed into Svarak's shoulder. He spun forward from the blow, into the waiting swords of the Lord. In a fleeting moment, remembering his trainings, he reached over his shoulder and grabbed the handle of the mace, ripping it from his flesh, and swinging it down hard. It collided with the sword, driving it into the stone, snapping it. Svarak kept his momentum going forward knocking the lord off balance, before hammering blow after blow into its skull. 

He let loose a massive roar of victory, the pain in his body hurrying the primal state. He stood up and stumbled. He hadn't noticed the sword that was now sticking through his lower abdomen and out his back. He dropped his mace, reached down to pull it free, when suddenly, an animal panic began creeping in. Too much pain. Need to run. His mind was nearly lost.

Lady Moira turned with her crimson eyes, having sensed Rilana's magic. [color=ed1c24][b]"You dare to fight me still, Juloya? You know I am the stronger one here." [/b][/color]Her voice reverberating with magical power. [color=ed1c24][b]"You've lost this day. Your prized pet there is gone. Just watch as I tear the fabric of this world apart, starting with each and every single one of your little minions. Maybe I'll make this one here my bride. She seems lovely enough." [/b][/color] At those words, Rilana could feel an upwelling of emotion that wasn't hers, within herself. It wasn't anger. It was pity. Juloya's pity. Just as Moira had some of the dark mage within her, she now had some of Juloya.