Aether Draka was wandering around like she wasn't even paying attention to what she was doing or were she was. In all truth, she wasn't. She had made a mistake that day, and the few days before it. She had forgotten to eat and it hadn't taken much to let her Hunger take over her mind. She had quickly gone feral, the logic gone, but not the powers. It was after but a rabbit that she had found her way into the tunnels. She had chased the thing with all her agility and speed, and she had caught it. She had killed it and eaten it not long. Before she had caught it though, she had managed to slip, slicing open both her skirt and her right leg starting at the knee and heading toward her hip for about six inches. Turin had not stayed with her and she had failed to notice the injury as of yet. Her mind was still recovering, though not well. She had gained a lot of power and now, she felt weak. Part of that was the bleeding though. She had done nothing to stop it.

She paused before a ledge, looking up at it for a dazed moment before attempting to climb it. She got about half way there before the rocks beneath her feet slid out of under them. AD slid part of the way down before tumbling and landing flat on her back. Her arms covered her face as the dust settled. Perhaps she should just stay here for a moment. No, she should move. She let her arms drop to the ground, shifting the rocks that she had tumbled down with. AD pushed herself up and only then noticed that there was a large damp patch on her skirt, going all the way down her leg. How long had that been there?

Dalhar sighed, and shook his head. The hunt had been bad this night. Not a single challenge, only some minor duergar, and one shaman. That had been a fun fight. As it was, he was munching on a strip of the last Hook Horror he had slain. That had been the last time he had been down in the tunnels. He had actually gone 'home' as it were, and received a warm welcome. Though he suspected that was because he was bringing back a delicacy.

But he rose to his feet quickly when he heard some rocks shifting farther down in the tunnels. That was toward Menzoberranzan. And this tunnel led out RIGHT IN FRONT OF the Temple of Lolth. And echoes traveled far underground. If it was an outsider, he HAD to get them out of sight, or at least into one of the side tunnels so he could protect them.

So saying, he lowered his arms, his shoulders popping, and his eyes flaring red. "Let's see who's down here," he whispered to the darkness, and set off.

But he drew up to a halt when he saw who it was amongst the rubble. And his eyes widened, and a muttered oath left his lips. "AD! What the hell did you do?" he asked, picking his way forward through the rocks, picking her up bodily, and looking down the tunnel toward the city. Already he could see the flickering lights of a patrol heading this way. He sneered, and then looked down at her, a kind light in his eyes.

"Unless you want both of us to be turned into jerky, keep quiet," he said softly, and slipped into the nearest side tunnel. It was a bit narrow, so he had to turn sideways to avoid catching her feet or head on the sides, but once inside, it widened out into a fairly cozy cave. He murmured a single word, and the cave mouth seemed to vanish from the outside.

He sighed, and set her down gently. Pulling off his tunic, he ripped it into strips, and began to carefully bind her knee. "What happened, AD? How'd you get hurt?"

The sound of a voice brought her attention away from the blood and to a familiar face. She opened her mouth, about to answer and found she didn't have one. She closed her mouth again just as he scooped her up. She was about to protest, but his words cut her short. Jurky? She tried to make out what was down the tunnel, but he had turned and she only saw a few lights. She closed her eyes for a moment as she was brought through the narrow part of the side tunnel. Once she found herself sitting down again she opened her eyes again.

She watched him tie strips around the cut she hadn't noticed until now. With him applying pressure to it now, it started to sting and she took in a sharp breath through her teeth when he tightened the fabric. "I don't know, I don't remember yet. I will though. I'll tell you when I do." She blinked and looked around. "Where's Turin? He can heal it." She asked and went to try and stand. Trying to move her leg only caused it to sting even more and she halted the movement before she had gotten anywhere at all.

"It didn't hurt that much before." She murmured to herself. AD was just starting to understand what had happened to get her down here, but what she had done to her leg or what she had been after wasn’t clear yet. She didn’t remember yet, not yet…

Dalhar shook his head. "My best guess... I'm no healer, but I'd say that your blood was full of adrenaline, and so the pain was dulled by that. But now the adrenaline is wearing off, so the pain's going to hit you full force," he said, pulling his pack off and rummaging in it. He pulled out a few strips of meat, and a small flagon. He handed them to her.

"Eat. You look like you might need your strength boosted. The flagon is ale, but watch it. It's Duergar Ale. Deep Dwarves. Strong stuff, and if you drink it too fast, we'll be sitting here for the better part of a day," he said. He had no clue who this... TURIN she mentioned was, but apparently it was someone she cared about, or at least a healer. He smiled. "I don't know where Turin is, but I know that if you get some food and proper drink in you, you'll be fine in a few hours."

He settled onto a rock at the entrace to the cave, a scimitar resting across his knees. There were torches that could be seen going by, and the sound of Undercommon, the tongue spoken by creatures of the Underdark. "They heard you making a racket, and came to investigate," he said softly. "Luckily, I got to you first. Or you would have been that," he said, pointing at the meat in her hand.

"Adrenaline?" She asked as she found herself holding food and a flagon of, what? She didn't hold alcohol well, so she ignored the flagon and took a bite of the meat. She didn't recognize what it was, but it was good, so she ate it because she was still hungry. She finished one peace and saw the lights outside the entrance as he talked. When he pointed to the meat she paused and blinked. In her mind she saw herself outside of the caves. She felt herself crouched over, following her nose after a rabbit in the underbrush. She remembered shifting forward quietly as she tried to sneak up on her pray. She didn't see Turin there, or here. Had she lost him? Then she remembered there had been a movement, the rabbit had sensed her. She froze, but the rabbit ran down a hole, a large hole, and she had followed it.

Aether Draka shook her head. For that single moment she forgot what was in the flagon and took a drink. She regretted it the moment she did, but swallowed it anyways. Wrinkling her nose she offered the thing back to him. "I don't like it." She said as she held it out to him, leaning carefully forward so she didn't shift her leg. The stinging had gone down to a throbbing, but there was still blood there. She needed to do something about that."Damn, I wish I could sleep, then I would just sleep through this..." She tried to shift her weight and it stung a little again before settling into a steady throb once again.

He dug into the bag again, and pulled out a rather large blanket, or two of them, and rolled one up. "Use that one as a pillow," he said, handing her the rolled up one, and then he handed her the other. "And use that to cover up with." He gestured at the floor of the cave, which now that there was a little light in the cave, could be seen to be covered in what looked like pelts. "I make this as a bit of a den and ambush pit."

He jerked his head toward the cave opening. "These guys piss me off, so I hide here to ambush them when they go by. Them and their damned rituals, rules, and laws. They don't understand what TRUE freedom is. They don't know what it's like to live on the surface as a free elf," he said softly, his hard, chiseled features seeming to soften for a moment. "To breathe the free air, watch a bird soar in the sky." He shook his head. "Most of them, they only see the surface as a source of easy money, an easy way to get whatever it is they might want under cover of darkness."

He turned back to look at her, his eyes going a soft golden from the flickering torchlight outside. "I do what I do to keep them from doing so too often. When they're busy investigating why there's no Hook Horrors in a particular tunnel, or why a patrol didn't come back, they don't have time to raid the surface."

Aether Draka took the things handed her and shook her head. "No, you don't understand. I can't sleep. I've never slept in my life. The closest I can get is soul walking and for some reason I don't think that counts." She smiled at him. "That's sweet of you though."

She turned her attention back to the drow outside and the smile faded. "I don't know much about Drow, or most elves actually, even though I know I have elven blood. I'm not sure what type it would be called here in Imythess, but they were called forest elves by the village I ended up in. That was before they randomly decided I was possessed and chased me out though. What sort of rituals, rules, and laws did they have that you hate them so much?"

Most people, when looking at AD, simply thought her skin was tanned. It wasn't though, that was what color it really was. She spent too much time in the dark for it to be an actual tan. That was because she had acquired her skin color from her elven blood, which was the strongest bloodline in her, followed by a close tie of human and demon blood. She didn't have the connection with that part of her that she had with the demonic and celestial sides though. Her human and elven sides were not in conflict with each other and elves was not a topic she normally discussed.

He shook his head, glowering at the torch light for a moment, and then turned to face her, leaning back on one bunched up pelt. "Well, there's.... a ceremony they do, to celebrate the completion of the training of a new High Priestess. They bring all the new warriors and priestesses into the main room of the Temple of the Spider in the north of Menzoberranzan. They put guards at the door, and the High Priestess summons a demon."

He shivered, remembering his own experience with that ritual. "The demon then takes the priestess, and has his way with her. Meanwhile, the warriors and priestesses, well... It's pretty vulgar, and I have to say disgusting." He shook his head. "And then there's a rule that you can't strike females, males have to do what female says, blah blah blah. I got sick of it, to be honest."

AD looked completely confused by what he said by the time he was done. She pulled up her uninjured leg to wrap her arm around it. "I don't think I understand what you mean. I summon demons, but I don't understand what you mean by the demon taking the priestess and what?" She shook her head. "A summoner is in control of it's summoned creatures, unless the summonor isn't strong enough to control the being. From the sounds of it they are purposely making someone summon a being that they are not powerful enough to control. That's not even a sign of power, that's a mark of weakness. Wow, you can summon something you have no control of, congratulations! What sort of idiot does that? How is that any sort of ceremony?"

She thought about what else he had said for a moment. "I've heard of people saying that they shouldn't strike a woman before though. That's not just down here. I'm not sure about the having to do what someone says because they are female, though... I have had some guards in Taras try to convince me that that is true, but not for females, but for males. That he was right and I was wrong because he was male and I was female. He changed his mind when I asked my blade about it." AD said with a grin. Her gaze then went once more to the entrance. "Will they take long? I mean, if they know this place won't they notice us?"

He smiled. "No, it wasn't that they weren't strong enough to control it. It's part of the ceremony. If they don't allow the demon to take them, then they're not worthy...." Then what she said registered in his mind, and he turned to stare at her for a moment. "You... You don't know what that means?" he said softly, slightly shocked.

He shook his head. "I'll say it bluntly then. In order to be considered worthy, she has to allow the demon to have sex with her." He shook his head. "Bit disgusting, really." He shrugged.

When she asked her question, he looked at the cave entrance, and then back at her with a smile. "Nope. They won't know we're here unless I want them to. That entrance is a bit of work done by a friend of mine, a long dead friend. He placed an enchantment on that opening, and only I know the command word," he said softly. "At least, only I know it now that he's gone." He shook his head. "They won't see us, or hear us, unless I were to speak the command word again, dropping the enchantment. We can see and hear them, but they can't see and hear us."

He looked out once more, and shook his head. "I don't know how long they'll be. They're poking around the pile of rocks you made. They may be a while," he said, settling back against the cave wall again. His eyes moved back to her, and once again he thought of how good looking she really was. Bit short, but not short on temper from what he remembered. All in all, a fine woman. Even if she was a bit young.

At his explanation of the ceramony, AD frowned and said softly to herself, "So what happens to the children? How many half-fiends are down here?" She shook her head, not wanting to think about it. Instead, she got to her feet, shifting her weight over to the uninjured leg. It wasn't that bad, but it was still throbbing and a sharp pain went up her leg if she had her weight on it too long. She had her balance though and as long as she was slow it didn't hurt much more then it did while she was sitting. So she moved carefully over to where Dalhar was to get a better view of what was going on. She leaned against the wall.

Well, if they wanted to find something so badly, it could be arranged. She grinned at that thought and turned to look at the drow who didn't seem to want to be one. "Can things pass through the barrier without breaking it? I think it's about time they find something after all this looking. Wouldn't want to disappoint them after all."

She was going through her mental list of things she could summon. She would have to leave off the angel, as there was a huge chance Dalhar would hate her if he made the connection, and it woulf only give his demon infused even more of a reason to hate her. If things couldn't pass through though, she still had her fire elemental, and a demonic being she could summon. With their current conversation, the demonic being would suit. As she thought these options over, the black flame tattoo that ran along the entire length of her spine, from the base of her scull to her tail bone, seemed to sturr under her skin, flickering like a slow motion fire. Her unholy aura curled around her, ready to boost her darker summoning.

He shrugged. "One, I think. In bones. He was killed upon birth. Half-breeds, even with a stronger creature, are frowned upon down here. Corrupts the blood." He shook his head. "No, there have been no half-fiends born that I know of." He sighed, and shook his head.

He looked up. "Yes, things can go out. But from the outside, it's totally solid. Unless the barrier comes down." He shook his head. "Don't know what you're up to, but be careful. I don't know if this thing would hold if a bunch of freaking Drow magi started probing for hidden doors," he said, shaking his head.

He leaned back, his back resting comfortably in a small crevice in the cave wall, one that he fit in perfectly, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Go for it, if you want to. But like I said, be VERY careful. I use this cave a lot, and I don't want to have to desert it."

His mind was going a mile a minute, but he thought his thoughts were private. If he only knew. He's lonely, he's worried about the fact of how old he is. Combined makes a Drow VERY eager. But his honor conflicts with that desire. She may not even like him. It's HER choice, not his. He'll not force her. He IS an oddity among Drow. A Drow with honor, who lives by maat. But the NUMBER ONE THING he wanted most...

When he was honest with himself? It was a friend. Ranewen?She was just another form of the Drow Priestesses. Veronna? He wasn't sure HOW he felt about her yet. Lynthaer? He was more of a mentor than a friend. None of them really COUNT as a friend and ally to him. And that was a problem for him. Who can you trust if you have no friends?

Aether Draka nodded looked out the entrance. So she could pick anything? This was going to be fun. She was still grinning when she pushed off the wall to stand on their side of the barrier. She took a breath and closed her eyes, focusing for a moment before letting the breath out slowly and opening her eyes. The outside summons would be better. It wouldn't draw attention to where they were.

She cast out her hand and the shadows outside formed a spiraling nexus on the ledge she hadn't managed to reach earlier. The shadows worked with AD's magic and a full blown Pit Fiend appeared, his sin as white as bone. He lowered his shoulders and his glowing red eyes looked about as the shadows seemed to flee from him. AD smiled, please with herself. "Go ahead and have some fun DyChel." She said as the demon spread his wings and let out a howl of joy, which is even more frightful a sound to hear from a demon then one of rage. He leaped down on the drow below and AD whispered softly, "I thought you would like that grandfather."

She turned her attention back to Dalhar then letting her back rest against the wall. She watched him for a moment, then her emerald eyes flickering over towards the entrance to the small cave as a scream ripped through the tunnels. They were still fighting MiChel though. She heard the demon laugh and shook her head. She went over where he was sitting and stood in front of him. AD's head tipped slightly to the right and she shifted her weight over to her uninjured leg. "What's wrong?"

He lifted his head, and shook it. "Ah. Nothing. Just an old memory coming back to haunt me," he said quietly. Which was the honest truth. Thinking about Ranewen had made him think about how close he had come to being her consort. He snorted. "One I'd rather not remember, let me tell you."

He shook his head. She had vanished just when he had begun to hope. Since then, no woman had EVER given him reason to hope. So he had given up on women for the time being. But this female... there was something about her that just... sent that hope back into sparks that he had thought long dead.

He sighed, and shook his head, looking back out the tunnel as a Drow went running down the tunnel toward Menzoberranzan, and was cut down right in front of the entrance. "Fools. They try and try, but no matter how they run, they can't get away."

AD shook her head, and decided to sit back down again. AD remembered the person he had been thinking about, but didn't know much about her. So it wouldn't do to try and make that a conversation point. How frustrating...

She looked at him as he looked over to where the demon she summoned cut down the drow. She wondered... What would he think? Would he think like Lynthaer did or would she make herself another foe? She couldn't judge something that hadn't happened yet. Absently she bit her lip with one small fang, a tooth not big enough to be a true fang, but definitely longer then a normal tooth.

"How much to you agree with the demons, like with what they do and how they are?" She asked. That would be a good judge on weather or not she could tell him and from the side that they were familiar with. AD didn't have to hide any of the demonic things she knew from the guild and its members, but the celestial things and her more recent studies of holy magic… She doubted most of the guild would approve, but… Aether Draka now felt compelled to learn more of the “light” magic in order to once again gain the wings she had when Gregory Faust had… what had he done? She still wasn’t sure, but she adored flying and if she could learn it properly instead of it being thrust upon her like that, she would have loved to learn. If it hadn’t been for Sargoth help she probably would have died long before now. She decided to think about that later though. She needed to know what Dalhar was going to respond.

Dalhar's lips pursed slightly at her latest question, and he shook his head, shifting the scimitar to rest beside his foot. "I'm not quite sure what you're fishing for, answer wise with this, but I'll do my best to answer to the fullest extent of my knowledge."

He looked out into the corridor once more. "Their methods are good when it comes to combat: Overwhelm your foe until they have absolutely no chance of responding. Destroy them so they can trouble you no longer." He smiled slightly. "All things learned by EVERY male Drow, I have found similar things in the creed that my demon lives by."

He shook his head, and his face took on a very somber expression. "Though there is one thing they do that I disagree with. They say you kill EVERY Celestial you find." He shook his head. "I say give them a chance to prove themselves." He shook his head, and smiled. "Thankfully, we have not had to test whcih is stronger, my will or his," he said.

He smiled. "So I don't know if I'll be able to resist the pull or not. I hope that I am. An unfair fight would not make me very happy with my demon."

She shook her head. "It seems that Celestials have the same opinion in most cases. I've been attacked enough to know. That's a War that has been going on for as long as they knew the other was there. I just wish that they could keep out of the lives of others. They think that they define good and evil, right and wrong, or so the angels seem to claim they do." There was a bit of raw hatred in the very last part of that statement. "I hate celestials, as if they really have the right to judge people like they do..."

She looked over to see DyChel just outside the entrance, a vicious grin on his face. Then that jaw opened and demonic words slid like acid off his black tongue. "Little grandchild, I know you are near. I can smell you, your blood so sweet, show yourself child."

AD looked over at him and sighed. "I'm not falling for any of your tricks. Why don't you head down to the city and see how much you can redesign it. And I know you really can't hear me, but you know what I'm telling you anyways, so just go."

The look on the demon's face became even more unpleasant as it went to go vent it's anger on the drow further down the tunnel. AD wrinkled her nose and turned back to Dalhar. She put both hands behind her to lean back on them. "Though demons hate when they are not in charge, I swear!" She rolled her eyes. Then she looked at him and her head tipped to the side once more. "Would you want to see if you would win against Misery in a battle of wills?"

He raised an eyebrow. Having Misery on his side, he could understand the words spoken by the demon, and his curiousity was piqued. Grandchild? Now THAT is MOST interesting, I must say.

He watched the demon head down the tunnel toward Menzoberranzan, and smiled. "Those Drow have no idea what's coming. Hope he sets off the--" A long, unearthly wail came echoing down the tunnel. He smiled. "The Shriekers. Early warning system," he said in explanation. "They grow giant fungi around each house's tower, but some of them are sentient. These ones serve as sentries for the house, letting them know someone is coming. From the sound of it.... That's First House, House Do'Urden. He may not be living very long. They have the BEST warriors and magi in the city."

His eyes traveled back to her. "And just how on earth do you propose doing that?" he said softly, his eyebrow quirking yet again. He wasn't sure what it was she had in mind, but he knew he was stronger than Misery, or at least he HOPED he was. He shrugged. "If you can think of a way, then go for it," he said quietly.

AD grinned as the sound went off. "He's summoned, if they kill him he will simply return to where he was summoned from." She pushed herself up then and looked him right in the eye. She drew on her power, readying a spell that would prevent him from attacking her if he couldn't win against the demon, but she was not going to cast it right away. She was going to give him a chance to win before resorting to that.

"First I want you to understand that I hate angels, very much so. The God of Light the most. I would love to paint his lovely little place with blood..." she said. "But you had mentioned that your demon infused didn't like me and I had told you that neither did Lynthaer's demon infused. In fact, his demon tried to kill me... I do have demonic blood. My mother was a half-fiend. She was sent to kill my father, and didn't. My father though... is part celestial. His own mother was a half-celestial. I can summon angels too."

AD waited. She had either made a foe or a friend, which was still uncertain, but she wanted to tell him. Why it really mattered was odd. He had helped her out though. She felt that she owed him something and that little bit of information was something she found caused people to pick sides. Either she became a friend or a foe. Luck had been on her side with the demons though. She had only told a few people and so far only Gregory Faust was her foe. The God of Light. Go figure.

The corner of Dalhar's mouth twitched, as did the hand closest to the handle of the scimitar beside his foot. His eyes flickered back and forth between the gold it normally was and the red of the demon within. His head tilted to the side, the red becoming more predominant, and he shuddered, shaking his head.

"And? Your point being? Lynthaer thought well enough of you -- LYNTHAER, not his demon -- to allow you into the Divschatten. I'm sure you told him. If he didn't hold it against you, why should I?" He shivered again, and turned to look out the opening of the cave they were in.

KILL HER!

NO. You will not cause me to violate the honor that I live by. No matter how badly you want to kill a Celestial blood, you will not kill her.

KILL HER OR YOU WILL LOSE MY FAVOR!

Do you really think that your threats impress me? If you do, you'd better think again, Misery. So I would lose your favor. So I would be thrown out of the Divschatten. At least I would be rid of your insufferable whining.

But Misery had no response to that.

Aether's head stayed slightly turned to the side as she watched his reaction. She saw the battle of wills, like she had to fight with many of her higher summons, like DyChel just tried to do and failed. Chel had once known her true name. AD wasn't sure how, but she had managed to somehow change part of her very being. Now it didn't matter if Chel used that name, it didn't work.

"Turin isn't here and I don't know where he is, and I'm not used to being injured like this. It's actually really, really starting to get on my nerves. I was thinking of summoning the angel to heal me. I don't mind if you kill it actually, but I would like to at least get healed first. I can control her, but I can't control you're infused demon. Letting you kill her to send her back is a lot easier then sending her back myself and I'm sure you could have some fun with it, if you want to."

AD's hand went into the small bag on her hip and she pulled a few cards, of which she picked one and put the rest back. Holding onto that one card she absently taped on the finger tips of her right hand. She noticed the white scar on her palm and stopped then. She leaned forward to rest her elbow on her uninjured leg and rest her chin on that same hand. "Do you have a problem with that idea?"

He shrugged, and shook his head. "I don't have a problem with that, and it'll probably appease Misery as well. He's trying to get me to kill you for what you are, but I won't let him."

He smiled and turned, scimitar coming free of the scabbard. "Well, go ahead and summon it," he said quietly, and settled into a low battle stance. Of course he was using the scimitar, after all, there wasn't much room in this cave.

He nodded. "Go for it. I need a bit of mayhem anyway. Haven't had any in a long time."

AD gave him a grin and sat up straight. She held the card up, facing her, and called on the shadows all around them. They answered more quickly them normal due to the quantity of them. The shadows curled about the card and she brought up her other hand to move the shadows out into her summoning circle. The card turned black as she opened both her palms and let her magic infuse the circle. The shadows seemed to grow, forming into a shape a vaguely humanoid shape. Then the shadows fell away to reveal a pure white serene angel. That was until the angel opened her eyes and saw Dalhar. Then she looked pissed and her hand went towards her blade by her side.

“You’re supposed to heal me first.” AD said, her voice flat. The angel looked from AD to Dalhar and back to AD. “He’s not going anywhere, yet. Are you going to heal me or not?” AD snapped, her patients already thin because she couldn’t walk on her own and she had no idea where Turin was. The angel blinked in surprise before removing her hand from her blade and kneeling down to look at Aether Draka’s injury. With whispered words the angel held her hands over AD’s injured leg and it glowed a little. AD caught her breath as the spell took effect and then it was done. It was still a little tender to the touch, but she found she could move it. Then the angel began to rise to her feet.

But she didn't get very far. The scimitar snaked over her shoulder, point pressing against her throat, as the cave seemed to rumble. "Usstan xun naut talinth ji. Dos ph'naut aluin jal'klar." The cave seemed to expand, and then it snapped slightly, turning into a massive arena. "You know, one of the added benefits to this cave. My friend made it so that I could have hid an entire ARMY in here. So now then." He slid the scimitar gently across the angel's throat, and then slashed sideways away from her.

"On your feet. You'll fight me on even terms. I'll not slaughter you like a sheep."

He smiled, and growled, waiting to see what the angel would do. His other scimitar seemed to appear in his hand, and hos he stood, both blades pointing directly at the angel.

1: I do not think so. You are not going anywhere.

The angel looked at the drow and frowned. She didn't like them at all. She wished she could find a way for her summoner to find better friends. Creatures like these were not to be trusted and always wished to cause blood shed and destruction. At least she could take one down before she was unsummoned. She smiled slightly to herself. In a fight between them like this, she couldn't die. That thought pleased her. Perhaps being someone's summon wasn't that bad. She just wished it didn't have to be someone so down trodden as AD seemed to be, to feel she had to be around creatures like this. Someone capable of summoning an angel like her was capable of many things. She didn't have to stay among these... vile creatures. She hefted her spear as she saw the room grow larger. She had room to maneuver now. The angel nodded and lunged forward with her spear held firmly in both hands. She was ready though, at a moment notice, to drop her right hand, which was further back on the shaft, to unsheathe her own blade should he get into close quarters with her.

AD stretched out her leg as the angel moved into battle. She rolled her ankle around one direction and then the other before putting her foot down. She then moved up the bloodied side of her skirt and started to untie the bandage Delhar had put there to stop the bleeding. Her gaze kept flickering up to the angel and him though.