For as fast as Rossarm was in casting his spell, Hal-Neesa was even faster in defending against it. Meesei did not even see her cast her ward, yet it protected her all the same. She wondered if the vampire had somehow imperceptibly prepared it ahead of time, or if she could be as fast as she seemed. 

Regardless, Neesa showed no outward strain to her defenses. Granted, Rossarm's attack had been especially quick, rather than especially strong. She held one hand out straight, bolstering a ward to its full strength. At the same time, she formed more of the dark crystals, but did not launch them all immediately. Rather, they floated around her, as if waiting to be used. And indeed, Rossarm did not have to wait long. Instead of a single attack, Neesa now varied her strategy. She struck his ward with a powerful strike from an exploding crystal, then followed it an instant later with a lightning bolt of more modest strength, much like the one Rossarm had attempted on her. After that point, she followed through with another crystal, to be followed by another lightning bolt. All of it alternating and repeating to afford Rossarm little opportunity to recover the strength of his ward. Of course, overwhelming a mage with rapid strikes was hardly a new or unique idea, but Neesa's crystals were powerful. A direct defense would likely be unsustainable.

[hr]

There was another few seconds of silence between the three of them before Lorag finally acknowledged Rhazii's stare. "What?" Lorag replied, evidently unphased by Narsi's brusque response. 

Both Lorag and Narsi were perfectly content to wait in silence, but fortunately for Rhazii, Lorag had been correct about the sort of rush that Sabine was in. Through the gate, at the bottom of the stairway outside the city, they could see Sabine's returning portal, and the fact that she was not the only one to step through it. Janius, Kaleeth, and Julan were all right with her. 

Once Sabine and the others were through the gate, Lorag was right there to meet them. He approached Janius and Kaleeth first, and did not bother with pleasantries. Despite clearly noticing Julan's tattoos the moment he set his eyes on him, Lorag did not make mention of it. "Janius, Kaleeth, care if I borrow Julan for a while?" 

At the same time, Julan found himself caught off-guard by the sudden sight of Rhazii, as he had not expected his brother to be [i]right inside[/i] the gate. He was not wearing much more than his loincloth, so Julan's new tattoos were easily on display. He had been going through his head all the while that they had been waiting for Sabine trying to figure out how to explain it to Rhazii, but in the moment, he froze up. He did not recognize Narsi, and did not even notice her at the moment.