Fendros swallowed a bare drop down his dry throat. "It's not meant to be this way..." he managed to say in a monotone. The wolf nose of the ring felt like a sharp tooth in his palm. "We always get through together. That's how it has been for years."

The lift creaked as Janius warped a bar of the cage behind them with his free hand. But his head hung low. Even transformed, he could not muster the anger his bared teeth were looking for. This was Meesei's choice.

Sabine had not given up yet. "Is there no other way?" She pleaded. "Summon a daedra or shield yourself from all this...I...I can still help! The potions I have left!" Sabine hurriedly rifled through her shoulder bag for anything that could help Meesei survive.

Sabine had many powerful potions, even the sorts that could reflect a proportion of magic. Though the staff Meesei held was an artifact on the level of the divine.

"How will we go on?" Fendros asked helplessly. He could barely speak loud enough to be heard.