Fanilly took a step forward. The fight with the vampire was intensifying more and more, even though he was bloody and injured. She had to find a moment to strike, to jump in and try and help. But before she could do much, she felt strong arms wrapped around her, pulled her in close. She couldn't help but let out a yelp of surprise. Mariah had woken up and... and grabbed her? There were a few moments of confusion, but it seemed like Mariah was just in pain and trying to reach out to any possible source of comfort. Fanilly was no expert, but while the half-giant's wounds looked painful and unpleasant she thought it wouldn't be too difficult to mend them successfully. None were deep from what she could tell.

"M-Mariah," she began, hastily, hoping to try and calm the half-giant girl, "Please, I... I have to go help the others, we'll get you healed as soon as we can, but for now try not to move too much."

Meanwhile, it turned out her assistance was not exactly required. The vampire staggered when then shields hit his legs, going to his knees. But the followup he twisted to avoid, getting one leg back up under him... just in time for an axe to come down. It struck his neck and bit right through it, a cascade of crimson pouring from the stump as his body keeling over and his head hit the ground nearby.

And yet, in spite of the beheading, the vampire's head was not quite dead yet.

"... You did it, huh...?" Damon Cal said, staring at his own corpse lying on the ground, "Bastards... I should have gotten to taste all of you, but now I'm reduced to this..."

He seemed more annoyed, as opposed to the rage he'd expressed moments ago.

"Hah... at least I got to taste one of you before it ended," he remarked with a sigh, glancing at the collapsed Knight, "You're in for a trip to the healers, aren't you?"

He chuckled a little to himself.

"Heh... you better keep an eye out," he added, "Even if you kill all of us, that's not the end of it..."

With that, the light faded from the vampire's eyes, and he was finally, truly dead.

[hr]

The skeletons were, of course, losing ground. With every moment, another of them crumbled under Sult's assault, leaving scattered bones and armor with nothing left to animate them. Only a scant few of them remained, raising their shields to at least keep the forces of the knights split apart, away from the captive. But even that had quite clearly failed.

The Necromancer paused, finally, when Tyaethe's slash forced him to back off. So she had killed necromancers before? He noted that one of the nem girl's bindings, between her hands, had been severed, and she was reaching down to try and untie her feet.

"Ah, have you?" he asked, cocking his head to one side, "How quaint."

The situation was rapidly deteriorating for him, but it wasn't showing. He still seemed quiet calm and collected.

"Here I am, little girl," he continued, simply, spreading his arms, "Try and kill me."

And then Tili kicked him in the head. It wasn't the most powerful kick ever delivered, but it still sent the necromancer staggering, reeling from the impact. The little assassin had hated getting thrown, but really she had to make the most of it as quickly as possible. Landing beside him, she darted to her sister almost immediately and tugged the gag off of her.

"Tili!" cried Kyphi, ceasing in her attempts to unbind her legs to wrap her arms around the other Nem in a tight embrace. Tili returned the hug with one hand, but the other swiftly went down to untie the bindings on her twin's legs.

The necromancer held the side of his head, but straightened, taking another step back.

"... Have it your way," he sighed. Snapping his fingers, he activated the defensive wards placed on his body, and swept his hand to the side, revealing a set of jars strapped to his belt, each filled with a sickly brown fluid.

He pulled one off and made to throw it down and shatter it. If it could be helped, it probably wasn't a good idea to let him do this.

Zalo swiftly raised his gauntlets, managing to move back enough to deflect the blows to his arms. The punch to his stomach, however, hit home, and the lightning mage let out a rattling gasp as he staggered back, clutching his stomach with one hand. But as the arrow came down, a field of electricity erupted from his body in a bid to knock his attacker back.

"It won't be that easy!"