As soon as the first cloud made contact with the enemy, Lyra could tell that something had gone awry. The gas ate swiftly through his clothing, as expected, but the man's glowing form seemed unchanged. [i]Another trick?[/i] Moving around at the speeds he did no doubt required some resilience, but even so, no conventional matter should have been able to withstand those lethal fumes- which meant he'd pulled out something new, a defense she hadn't seen before.

If the gas didn't work, there was no use in focusing on her intended assault. The spike she'd been driving at him from behind continued on its path, no longer requiring any steering. The ice surrounding the second bomb dissolved as it entered the first cloud, and its payload swiftly detonated, briefly adding to the the miasma. Briefly, because an instant later, the falling scaffolding was blasted apart by the glowing man's own detonation, which unleashed enough heat to scatter both clouds and disperse them into the surrounding air, leaving them diluted to the point of harmlessness.

Within her Shroud, Lyra frowned. Was that it? Had he blown himself up in a final act of defiance? No, because apparently there were now five of him. She didn't bother trying to attack these duplicates, however- she still couldn't quite tell what he'd done, so striking now would simply be a waste of resources. Better to wait until his move played out, or until he directly threatened her.

Instead, she busied herself with minor logistical adjustments. A forceful downdraft above the center of the chamber, pressing the gas released by the detonation there against the ground, keeping it hidden behind the slope. A quick dip of a hand into the pouch at her side, retrieving and priming one of three remaining bombs. Fragments of gathered ice moved together around her, fusing into larger structures. Meanwhile, the last of the strange field passed through the Shroud fragment she'd shorn off after the cannon attack, leaving the black mass free to form a simple sphere. That, she left hanging where it was, unmoving.

When her opponent revealed himself, she smiled, realizing what he had done. This one was well worth hunting.

None of the five golden figures were him, and- as made evident by the missing clothing  -neither had the original been. She'd attacked a scarecrow, a dressed-up golden decoy. What she'd thought to be some kind of energy buildup had been him slipping away and leaving it in his place. Hard to tell exactly how, but those lines of power were evidence enough to let her make an educated guess.

As he began to charge his weapons, she split the Shroud three ways.

Its division was neither even nor clearly visible, for the parts of it that protruded out from behind the pillar remained more or less as they were. Even from behind, the cloud demonstrated no outward change. Internally, however, Lyra's mind began to carve and reshape, radically altering its previously simple configuration.

Technically, there were now four distinct pieces of Shroud, including the one that had split off earlier. Keeping it this way took some effort. The thing seemed to like her, in its own strange manner, and she felt almost uncomfortable forcing pieces of it to move independently. Nevertheless, she couldn't keep relying on its natural defenses alone to protect herself.

This took some attention, and thus she didn't immediately begin another assault. She had the means, but she needed a little patience.  Needed to make [i]sure[/i], this time.

With the Shroud apparently stilled and no further machinations emerging from it, the chamber seemed at peace once more.

Alas, it wasn't to last.