As ferocious as Janius was, the numbers he was facing could easily be overwhelming. Naturally, Skaafin spearmen were at the front of the enemy charge, and he could not possibly deflect or avoid all of their thrusts. A Skaafin could not stab through dragonbone plate, but every attack came with a risk of them finding a gap between the plates. Not to mention, there were other types of Daedra surrounding him as well. After cleaving through enough Skaafin, Janius found himself with a Daedroth charging him from the front to try and tackle him, while a Dremora flanked him from the side with a heavy warhammer at the ready. Of course, Janius, too was not alone. 

Kaleeth rushed in to help guard Janius’ flank. Though, she was not agile, and the Dremora had already been rearing back for a swing on Janius, so his hammer found a new target when it smashed into the armor on her neck. It was a hard hit, to be sure; almost as bad as a blow to the head. There was a loud crack on impact, though fortunately, it was not from a broken neck. She roared out in pain, and may have even been injured, but she was still able to retaliate. When she swung out at the Dremora, she was able to grab a hold of his head. Daedric armor was hard to get through, even for a werecrocodile, but in this case, she did not need to. She simply grasped his head and twisted until it was facing backwards. 

On the rear flank, Leaps hissed and roared at the approaching Dremora, but slowly backed away and gave ground in fear. Their spears, swords, and hammers were known threats to him, and their numbers were intimidating. Every instinct wanted him to run, though he had nowhere to go. However, matters did change somewhat once he was no longer alone. Lorag bellowed out a roar when he ran out to meet the Dremora, running in front of Leaps to directly challenge their enemy. Leaps did not have as much fear about facing the threat in a group. Soon enough, there was a charge in the air as lightning started to pool in Leaps’ maw. 

Ahnasha loosed arrows in the general direction of the enemy without much focus. The enemey was densely packed enough that pretty much any arrow shot would be guaranteed to hit [i]something[/i]. The rest of her focus she put into considering Fendros’ suggestion. “Yes, but…I’m not sure any one or two Daedra would be enough. I…I have an idea. Just buy me time.” She answered. The bound bow disappeared from her hand as she reached into her bag and grabbed one of Sabine’s magicka fortification potions. She would [i]certainly[/i] need it. Ahnasha moved back, hiding behind Leaps in the center of the group before she fell down to her knees. She closed her eyes to concentrate, which, of course, meant she would be exceptionally vulnerable if not protected. The technique she intended to use was related to one that could be used by mages who could attune themselves to the constellation of the Ritual, and she hoped Neesa’s teachings would be enough for her to accomplish it as well. 

The ice did indeed give Arinette trouble, as Sabine had planned. Yerig moved to support Do’rhajul and Tarna, and all three were ready to finish Arinette when they had the opportunity. As the mangled Breton slid towards the spikes of ice, however, she raised up her healthy hand with her own magical power surging through it. Crimson red, thorned vines erupted from the ground in front of her to shatter the ice and clear away the spikes. By that point, Do’rhajul and the others had already started to charge her, and it was too late for them to stop, so they were caught with vines tunneling up out of the ground around them as well. A pair of thick vines wrapped entirely around Tarna’s legs to pull her to the ground, while their long, sharp thorns tore into her flesh. At the same time, a shout could be heard from Yerig nearby: [b]FEIM[/b]! Vines had attempted to entangle him as well, but his shout allowed him to pass through them unharmed. As a vine tried to wrap its way around Tarna’s neck, he became corporeal and managed to cut it precisely enough with his greatsword to save her throat from evisceration. From there, he did what he could to cut away the rest of the vines to free her, as they could certainly take her life if he did not. 

Do’rhajul too was faced with vines, but his reaction was as quick and efficient as one could expect from a masterful warrior. Before the vines could get any sort of hold around his legs, he spun around and cleaved through half of them with his ebony sword In one single motion, and the rest did not survive another slice. He was still in a position to be a threat to Arinette, but as much rage as she held for him as a traitor, her fury towards Sabine still eclipsed it. Arinette’s crystal glowed for a moment as she used some of its power to conjure forth a powerful Daedra to occupy him: a [url=https://images.uesp.net/thumb/9/99/ON-creature-Gruthaz.jpg/900px-ON-creature-Gruthaz.jpg]harvester[/url].

The surge of power damaged yet more of Arinette’s body, but she still rushed forward with Sabine as her sole focus. As she was now close, she conjured a bound sword in her free hand. Others might soon be able to help her, but for the moment, it was just Arinette and Sabine.