Markus landed on the ground as gracefully as he could, though due to the rough landing and the lack of air, he could only manage by catching himself on his hands and feet. The Lich shrieked, ironically, much like a banshee, only without the physical damage to their person that a banshee likely would afflict. After massaging his neck a mere moment, he held out his hand, his backsword appearing out of a sudden flash of steel, his hand within the basket-hilt grip. 

"You know for a moment there, I thought you really meant to call me a whore." Calliope said. "You would have made a good politician." 

Markus smirked. "One might argue you gave the graver insult." he said, and she cackled. The Lich was sharing in very little of their amusement. 

[h3]"Fools!"[/h3] 

His voice amplified and terrible, though they could sense it was nothing more than a scare tactic. The Lich obviously was not as ancient as most would think a Lich would be, no doubt having betrayed his comrades and gained Lichdom a decade ago, if that. Most would be too wiley to have fallen for such a ruse, unless teased further. The skeletal terror opened his jaw wide. In fact his jaw bone grew unhinged, his eyes glowing brighter as an intense cone of blizzard-like cold erupted from within his maw. 

The backsword Markus held burst into flame, and he sliced into the spell as best as he could, though it was mostly Calliope's protection wards that kept the two from being frozen on the spot. As the Lich was preoccupied with his wrathful attack, Calliope's lithe hands twirled and flourished, causing the cone of cold to realignand swirl about the rool in a counterspell to launch it back at its origin. 

The Lich disappeared and teleported on the eastern side of the room, chuckling darkly as he began to incant a spell that would turn Calliope's sword into a hostil viper, though he could only grant half of the magical spell before a flaming blade erupted from the Lich's chest, causing his spell to fail and his wail to increase tenfold. Teleportation spells were on of the most complicated in the realms, for it meant manipulating the very fabric of space time. But there was a reason Markus was not a very good mage. He had spent most of his time on the sword, and learning this very useful blink spell for melee combat. 

As the Lich screamed, his could see Calliope in front of him, holding the ring Markus had worn teasingly. A simple spell caused the stone and metal to turn brittle, and she let it drop onto the ground, If a Lich could evoke a look of horror, this was surely it. With a grin, Calliope crushed the ring and banished the Lich, its form growing intangible and flying out of the room into either the nether realm, or another phylactery. Either way, they would likely not see it again. 

The keep suddenly grew lighter in hue, though still dim from the only true light source being a few torches and the overcast outside filtering through the windows. The swordsman breathed easier, sheathing his blade and relaxing his taut muscles. "That could have gone worse." 

Sron banged through the door, Grimney on his shoulders with a frying pan, holding it aloft like a weapon. "I'm ready! Where is the danger?" 
[@Penny]