The Azure Citadel

Izaneus Phortea

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Izaneus stood high next to the man who rudely grabbed him by the collar and thrust him into the blackened sky. Carrying him into the night with barely any chance for the young Wizard to get a grasp on his situation. Yet even so. As he slowly gained his balance on the branch he stood upon. Which he believed could snap at any moment. He couldn’t help but feel a wave of relief being away from Elise. He cared for the vampire. But sometimes he couldn’t help but…

He sighed out. One hand holding tightly to the base of wood that kept them both hidden and safe from breaking their necks from the fall… Well, Gildarts would be fine. But Izaneus was slowly learning that he was far too underprepared for these things. There was so much yet he had to learn…

He already wanted to sigh again. His thoughts kept drifting from one depressing topic to another. Did he enjoy the act of learning? Of course.. But… he couldn’t quite explain why it placed a weight on his chest. Why everything going on made him want to curl into a ball and rot away.

But it did.

It did.

“Hey, you payin’ attention?” The elder mage spoke roughly. His eyes, not leaving the cave they’d been eying for a few minutes now.

“Not really..” The heir muttered back. Which made Gildarts raise an eyebrow, grabbing the younger one by the arm and pulling him closer to the branch edge. Something that Izaneus was not particularly fond of. “Wh- Are you trying to make me fall??” he near shouted. But tried to refrain due to the fact that this was supposed to be a “stealth” mission.

“Look down there. See?” Izaneus wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be seeing. Gildarts had already seemingly spotted whatever it was that they… “ What..?” He whispered, as his eyes focused themselves to better view the sight in front of him. There was a large amount of spacial energy coalescing in front of the cave entrance. Whirling about in a circular motion that slowly drew in its surroundings. Through his innate vision. Izaneus could see the destination that it led to. Which was alight with torches. Orange and yellows splashing on well constructed walls.

It was a spell. A portal of some kind. But that wasn’t all..

Izaneus watched as a small squirrel exited harmlessly through the portal from the cave. Trodding gently over to the tree he and Gildarts currently stayed on.

“Ahh, I know that look. You’re getting it now.” He heard the other Wizard speak his approval. Almost feeling the grin that he wore. Izaneus huffed softly in response. As though that was supposed to be difficult.

“So is that how the Dragon distinguishes guests from intruders? But then.. What allows the guests to go through the gate..” He wondered aloud. His eyes glowing their faint Azure hues in the orchid darkness, as they squinted in a futile hope to help him think better. Gildarts stayed silent, save for a faint hum. As though waiting patiently for something. Which, Iza couldn’t lie, Mildly irritated him. Why was he simply sitting there waiting for him to figure the answer out? Izaneus wished he’d done more work on the source of the mind. That way he’d be able to learn exactly what Gildarts was thinking. If he was.

However. One thing was for certain. The mage was powerful… This was proven throughout many steps of their journey, he also had a fair bit of experience about him. Yet even with all of Izaneus’s study into psychology. He couldn’t get a glimpse into Gildarts mind. Other than he was troubled, and the magic that surrounded him was no benediction. But more of a malignant curse… There was always a faint wisp of ambient power about him.

Izaneus, as per usual, was once more lost in thought. That he didn’t notice the convoy creaking to a halt. With the whines of the engines that supported its movement.

However, luckily. There was another set of eyes on that branch. Which flicked about. Watching for the movement of their other companions. They were a competent bunch. If violent. Gildarts quite knew that there was little chance of them being spotted this late into the game. Yet.. even so. He couldn’t help the faint feeling in the back of his head like something was amiss.
 

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Meanwhile, half a mile away, the caravan truck grumbled to a stop outside the shimmering rip in spacetime. Elise and Edos listened as the drivers exited the cab, murmured, and groaned as they stretched their stiff limbs. A faint whiff of cigarette smoke through the truck's canvas indicated that the guildsmen were in no rush. Still, someone or something would be pawing through the cargo bed soon to retrieve the shipment, which meant that the vampire and leonin had to make some tactical decisions.

In typical fashion, Gildarts had split the party. But this time, he had taken the second-smartest person in their little gang with him. She could only assume that some sort of giant, cataclysmic explosion was imminent as the crash mage brought the full might of his brute force and ignorance to the problems in front of them...

...not that she was knocking that. Sometimes, brute force and ignorance was the perfect skeleton key. It had certainly sped things along back at the Guild depot. Now, however, they were up against something that was both crafty AND a fair bit stronger than they were. If they leaned too heavily into their destructive abilities, this dragon would outwit them. If they took things too slowly and deliberated, Tyretlethen would bring the mountain down on their heads.

First of all, they needed information. Elise tapped the top of her backpack, and Greenstripes groggily poked his gooey mantle out of the top of her bag.

"Keep an eye out." she whispered to the big cat. Edos nodded, and drew one of his hatchets, keeping his glimmering, feline eyes fixed on the back of the cargo bed. Elise sat down, and closed her own eyes, allowing her senses to extend through the little terratopus as he slithered from her satchel. Seeing through his eyes, she looked up at herself and lamented at the state of her makeup before the familiar scuttled off through the cracks in the back of the cab. Soon enough, the slithering mollusk was on top of the truck, in the open, cool air of night, and taking in the scenery.

Directly in front of them, of course, was a the swirling portal. An arcane gate of some kind, no doubt with a host of divinations and enchantments built into it. It was projected onto the face of a sheer, dusty cliff wall that rose almost sixty feet straight up out of the desert floor. There were one or two groves of trees nearby, but the stone itself was barren. Beyond this natural rock wall, a tower seemed to rise right up to the very moon. It was a towering, sandstone structure at least a thousand feet high. Warm, fiery lights flickered out of natural windows cut into the cylindrical structure.

There was...technically nothing stopping them from flying straight over the wall and right up to the dragon's top floor. But Elise had to assume that any attempts at such hubris in the past had been rewarded with a wide array of deadly traps and security systems.

Just then, there was motion inside the portal gate. A dozen gaunt, clattering humanoid shapes shuddered outwards from the magically connected hallway. Elise sighed in disgust.

"Skeletons..." she said aloud, even though she couldn't hear it from Greenstripes' perspective.

The boneheads took rickety, uneven steps towards the two drivers, who had gone still as statues. At this point, the third convoy truck began to pull into the clearing. Its headlights illuminated the empty, gawking sockets of the undead servants in eerie contrast. Greenstripes watched as the other truck drivers shut their vehicle off and dismounted. The second driver, evidently more experienced with this run, clapped the other two on their shoulders and laughed mockingly.

"Ah don't let a coupla dry bones get you spooked, boys. Tyretlethen keeps a good, tight leash on his little ghouls here. They're just here to take the boxes inside, that's all."

So...Tyretlethen was a dragon AND a necromancer to boot. Hammuzi could have mentioned any of these details ahead of time! The veterean Guildsman whistled to the animated bones and pointed to the trucks, commanding them to retrieve the cargo. Elise opened her eyes, bringing her focus back into her own body. Edos crouched, anxiously, in front of her, still ready to intervene with anyone entering their hiding place.

"Okay. Okay okay. Edos there's like six undead skeletons coming to lug the boxes inside. We need to...shit..." Elise said, wracking her brain for ideas. Could they drive the truck through the gate? No, it wasn't big enough. Fight and kill everyone here!

...and give themselves away to the dragon. No. Hypnotize the guards into letting them pass? But then the skeletons could not be hypnotized. She blinked as she watched Edos, who was rapidly ripping one of the crates open and throwing the contents onto the floor around them.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed. Edos pulled his head out of one of the drab boxes and motioned inwards.

"Get in. The skeletons will carry us inside!" Edos said as quietly as a lion could. Elise rolled her eyes.

"What with the cargo scattered all of the floor? Boy, they're not that stupid, we-" Elise started, but then cut herself. Skeletons and most basic undead were, in fact, completely that stupid. They had been ordered to carry boxes in; it wasn't their job to check and take an inventory of the contents. If the convoy men were too lazy to do it themselves, no one would notice until it was too late.

Probably.

"Actually, you're completely right, my fault. Let's cuddle." Elise whispered. She scooted over on hands and knees just as Greenstripes sloshed back into her knapsack. Edos squeezed in after her, which was...pretty cramped. He did smell better than she was expecting, though. Was that eucalyptus oil in his fur? Okay.

Edos did his best to pull the lid shut behind them, but it was far from perfect. Some long, tense, breathy moments passed as they waited to be picked up by the unsteady hands of long dead servants. Eventually, though, the lifting did come. At first, the box was noisily pushed along the floor of the truck bed.

"Gonna need some more hands for this one!" a Guildsman called. Bone palms and fingers went clickety-clack on the wooden hull of the box, right next to Elise's face. Sure enough, though, the boneheads managed to start lugging them towards...well...Elise had to assume it was inside.

Hopefully.

Now she just had to hope that Izzy and Gildarts could figure out a similar solution that was, you know, discreet and savvy.

"Ah shit."
 

Izaneus Phortea

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Hm, see. That was an issue.

Watching the Undead minions of Tyretlethen carry the Cargo inside. The blonde Wizard desperately racked his brain for anything regarding a plan. How were they supposed to sneak within when all they really had going for them was a shitty vantage point and a worse method of entry?

The boy stared off in silence for a few seconds. Before exhaling a deep breath. His eyes focused slowly on their surroundings. Okay. Dragons are crafty by nature. Entering through the cave system was likely a bad idea. If that was a viable entrance. But the skeletons… there wasn’t any particularly strong force sustaining them… there was, however. The ever lingering signature of Draconic influence among them… Was it a dare?

The thought made Iza’s hair stand on end. No, he didn’t dare. “Hey, we need to get in there, preferably soon.” He spoke quietly. To which Gildarts hummed with thought. “Well, my abilities are anything but subtle Kid. I got one or two tricks up my sleeve, but..”

Yet another pause as the two deliberated. Where Izaneus took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Illusions would be his friend here. Of which he knew a few. But none he could activate at a distance. He watched the Skeletons shambled around, grabbing crates of cargo from each truck. Which. Did get him thinking.

“Well this is going to be rather stupid…” He sighed outward. Turning to Gildarts. “What are those tricks?”


Just a few moments later. A barebones (yes) skeleton crunched against what vegetation there was around. Crouching and creaking as it did so. Moving behind one of the nearby guild cargo trucks. It’s head peeking around the corner. Where it watched one one more undead thrall follow and stumble out of the whirling gate. The guard watching it do so, stiffening, and clenching his weapon evermore tightly.

“Not fuckin right I tell ya’...” He speaks. Sluggish in his movement to point to the truck behind him.

The being behind the truck took a look at the treeline. There it saw Gildarts however faintly, through the glow the magic around him took in an effort to make sure that the illusion supporting the guard’s influence stayed strong, stable, as it stumbled toward its own position.

The plan was simple. Make it seem like there was an extra skelly. Not too difficult. But the simplicity made it all the more nerve wracking. The sheer number of things that could go wrong here were rather… plentiful. Putting it mildly.

Yet all the same did Izaneus, wait for the illusory form of the skeleton to reach his position. As it did so, and walked out of sight. For the most part. Regardless. Izaneus then stood up in his disguised form. Walking and grabbing a crate. Huffing under the weight it housed.

He didn’t dare speak. Fearful of the consequences if he were to be caught.

Slowly, he shambled out, and conveniently, the weight made it all the more easy to appear disjointed and uncoordinated. Though. That wasn’t exactly an effort in any case.

However, Izaneus couldn’t help but peek at a small wisp of ambient power emanating from one of the crates nearby. What kind of things were they bringing in here?

He’d never thought to ask. Yet, quite a few of these things held… some form of power. At least. Regardless. That wasn’t the main problem here. He had to make sure he wasn’t… “OI.” Called one of the guards, from nearby. Causing Izaneus to pause in his step. “Ye don’t talk about me mum like that.”

For once, Izaneus praised the stupidity of security. For as he crawled through the portal with his crate. He was more than sure in that moment, he’d been caught.

Now all there was to do.. Was follow the rest of the skeletons… drop the cargo off, and pray Tyretlethen hadn’t made him out as soon as he entered.

What could go wrong?
 

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Alright Elise, let's review the situation here.

You are currently stuck inside a cramped cargo box with a big, sweaty lion man being carried by clattering skeletons. The box that was supposed to be full of artifacts and knick-knacks for a blue dragon necromancer, whose magical lair you are currently infiltrating.
It's the middle of the night, miles away from any method of escape, and your other two allies are, as far as you know, stuck outside for the foreseeable future.

What exactly does one do in this situation?

"Hold tight, Edos. Just chill. Be chill." Elise hissed as the leonin mumbled and adjusted his muscular bulk within the confines of the wooden crate. They could feel their weight being buoyed along by the silent, bony laborers, and it felt like they were moving...down? Yeah, like down a shallow flight of stairs. Her mind raced for a moment, trying to consider her options. It was impossible to work any spells inside the cramped confines of this box, but just waiting to find out their fate also seemed silly.

Wait, where was her buddy?

Elise reached out once more to tap into Greenstripes' senses, simply to find that the familiar no longer existed. Hm. So something had either killed him or...ah, of course. That arcane protection over the main gate probably had dispelled the spiritual magic binding him together when he tried to sneak through. Oh well. She'd have him summoned up again soon enough.

That still didn't help her immediate situation though. She silenced herself again, and let her normal heightened senses take over. Even with her vampiric sight, she could barely see anything inside of the pitch-black box. But she could hear...water? Yeah, gently running water, lapping against stone. Even as she listened, Edos half whispered to her.

"Smell that, dark one? It smells like...a pool." Edos huffed. He paused to sniff at the air, chuffing softly. Elise could feel his whiskers tickling against her calf. "Yes...chlorine. A swimming pool, perhaps." he purred.

And indeed, Elise could smell it too. The distinct chemical tang in the air could hardly be anything else. Just as she was about to try and make sense of this information, the crate was dropped to the ground with an unceremonious bang, which startled even the predators hidden within. She was pretty sure she had made some sort of pathetic yap as the box hit the stone floor; hopefully these skeletal porters hadn't noticed.

...which apparently they hadn't. Edos and Elise breathed quietly as the sounds of clattering, bony feet echoed through this underground reservoir. From the sounds of it, other heavy boxes were being deposited here. Eventually, the sounds of heavy lifting subsided, and the stowaways figured that their chance to abscond deeper into the Citadel had come.

Just as they began to shift and extract themselves, however, they froze. Something hard and metal slammed into the lid of their container -- a crowbar -- which swiftly pulled the cover away. Edos and Elise froze, caught and entangled amongst eachothers' limbs, as a singular skeleton stared down at them.

A long moment passed.

"Well? Make it snappy." the grinning skull quipped. Elise blinked, then grinned as she fluidly pulled herself free from the box. She surveyed the room briefly as Edos unfolded his hulking form behind her. It did indeed seem as though they had been deposited in some sort of underground swimming pool or atrium. It was a pleasant little oasis in an otherwise arid rock formation, and sized to accommodate a fully grown dragon, of course. Most importantly, they were alone.

"Not bad, not bad. But how did you hold the spell intact through the gate barrier?" Elise said, slapping Izaneus on the shoulder through the glamour. The skeleton tilted its head slightly.

"Maintain? I didn't notice anything interfering with my illusion when I passed through. Is that what you mean?" the younger wizard queried. Elise only responded with a small frown. Apparently her guess about the barrier's function had been incorrect, but then, where was Greenstripes? What had really happened?

"We shouldn't linger here..." Edos growled. He had his bow drawn, with several arrows clutched in his right paw. The big white cat-man's tail swished and flicked irritably as he continued to peer around at the shifting shadows cast by the glittering blue water.

"You right, but..." Elise said. She trailed off as she looked at the available paths to them. There was the long entrance hallway they had come down, of course. Then there were two side hallways to their left and right, and then an overhead tunnel which seemed to be for ventilation...but it was awful big...

"Ah. The dragon's path." The hunting cat said, tracing a clawed finger towards the skylight and further up into the darkness. Fair enough. But that still wasn't the information they needed to find somewhere to get their bearings and get some damn spellwork keyed up. Elise stared at their choices again. Everything was the same, nearly featureless carved sandstone, with no signage or writing to indicate which way was which.

Then again, they were technically in someone else's house.

Oh wait.

Elise flexed her hands a few times and rolled her head around. Sure enough, she felt sluggish and slowed down. The vampire had entered someone's house uninvited, and now the curse was taking its toll on her. She growled softly as Edos and Izaneus noticed her discomfort.

"Can someone ELSE make a damn decision for once?" she snapped.
 

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“Elise?” Izaneus questioned, still disguised, the form through which he appeared made his concern perhaps come off wrong… or the vampire was just irritable. Izaneus couldn’t tell, Elise slapped his outstretched hand away with some force, causing the boy to massage the area affected as his intellectual superior glared at him. “Plan, get one going??” She spoke with annoyance laden in her voice.

Iza took a step back as he nodded. Restraining his instinctive thought to gulp down whatever anxiety he had in his chest.
“Alright… uh…” he stammered, looking and spinning in place for a moment before Edos placed a large paw on his shoulder, causing the younger boy to look upward, and see the lion-like face stare forward, tail whipping at the ground. “We must climb, swiftly.” His deep voice nearly growled in agitation. Something about this place was... Gnawing at the two of them. Something Izaneus himself was either oblivious to or…

As he began to think this, a swift overbearing pressure weighed in on his chest, causing him to stumble over the nothingness from his position, before just as swiftly retreating… or passing by them with nothing more to show for it. Turning to Edos, who now had his fangs bared in a reflexive response, and Elise, who wasn’t fairing much better than himself. Iza concluded that Edos was correct, they couldn’t stay here. Slowly he felt his feet moving in the direction Edos stared so intently, trying to find whatever the Hunter spotted with such ease as he scanned the stonework, melding ever so fluidly into wild rock formations. Were these just.. Conjured? By the Dragon? Izaneus himself could do similarly… but, with his abilities. There would at least be some indication of tampering, such as bricks not aligning perfectly. But…

There it was, entire corridors of perfectly sculpted stone.

Izaneus had read about Dragons. Their abilities, their myriad spells of ancient wonder, the like of which rendered all he was moot. Yet for all of their tales regarding Destructive unending power, Iza hadn’t read one of elegance. It was curious.. In that regard. He wondered, briefly, why that was as he, and the two E’s slowly moved from the first staircase towards the other.

He felt the air rush into his lungs from his nose.

Once more he found his thoughts drifting to the end. Now drawing ever closer, or so he hoped. As they climbed the spire sculpted to fit the Draconic liking of Tyretelthen. The youngest of their trio turned back to see Elise still clutching her head in annoyance as they scaled the seemingly never-ending stairs. Izaneus couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrow as he watched the vampire through the side of his eye, a faint cold in his chest, followed thereafter by the hulking frame that was the Leonin in front of him. Sniffing. Before his hulking frame curled into a crouch, moving forward with experienced focus. His footsteps making nary a sound.

Turning around to face his followers, the Hunter turned to Izaneus first with a look which the latter couldn’t decipher in time before the former pointed behind him, and moved left in a crossed path. Towards an orange glow… translucent lines flying from the Hall. Which caused Izaneus to shift uncomfortably as he moved forward, Elise in tow, breathing as deeply as she could to stave off… whatever it was she was facing. Izaneus knew little about Vampires… Well, he’d learned more since meeting her. But he supposed he really needed to study more, and learn more about the worlds and their inhabitants…

The thought brought the thought of his and Elise’s first reunion to mind. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant memory… He was utterly helpless against her. She’d held him still while all he could truly do in response was bluff.

…Perhaps it was because of this that he couldn’t identify the tightness in his chest, maybe it was all they were doing to get Rean back… though he was aware that there was more to it..

He was distracted briefly by a creak of the door. Before he found himself left behind, Elise having gone forward without him… probably sometime while he was just.. Sitting in thought, in the middle of incredibly dangerous territory. Surprised to not have been chewed out quietly for his lack of action. Izaneus began to move forward himself. Peering around the left hallway in the crossroads they wandered to. To see Edos and Elise in some kind of… armory? Was that what that was? He couldn’t quite tell.. The glow of magic that came from the area.. In swaths of green.. And a little bit of purple. Izaneus surmised, though… he couldn’t tell which power they heralded.. He could barely make out the green to be sickly in nature. Necromancy, to be sure.

Well… if nothing else, that was probably what he had to look for, when finding the Necromancer Dragon.

A breath of air later, Izaneus turned back to the two other rooms… inconspicuous in nature… save for the gentle shimmering on the center of one of them, which was.. Strange.

Normally anything Magical in Iza’s senses, appeared as colorful brushstrokes in his vision as wisps from the lingering power that wafted off said Magic. So this was.. Slightly surprising. The gentle shimmering continued, and Iza would have spent a great deal of time staying there, had he not felt a rock pelt the nape of his neck. Turning, he found himself the center of attention for an Irate Vampire and increasingly anxious Leonin. Neither of which was particularly beneficial. So instead of lingering, and trying to decipher whatever it was that the door had. He moved towards the left hallway. Which had been decided upon as the agreed upon destination. By majority.

Elise quickly tapped her toes against the floor as Izaneus approached. “Y’know, I thought the looming presence of actual Dragons would’ve kept you more on your toes Izzy.” The Vamp hissed unpleasantly, arms uncrossing as she sighed following his lack of response.

“Look, we need’ta get up and out Asap… huh..” She wondered, her brow furrowing further in annoyance. “Y’know, speaking of we. Where’d our third mage get off to?”

Once more, Izaneus had no response, save to shift in place and cross his own arms. Where had Gildarts gone off to? “I… I don’t know, last I saw him he was helping me get through the initial checkpoint…” he spoke, causing the Vamp to groan as quietly as she could while also letting some steam out.

“Course we’re down a man… that’s just peachy isn’t it? Whatever, if he shows up, cool. If not… Fuck us, I guess.”
Izaneus couldn’t help but nod. He hoped Gildarts would arrive. But if not… well, they were far too deep to just turn back now. So it was do or die.

Having been left out of the conversation long enough, Edos announced his displeasure for their current Idling with a hefty breath of air from his nose, followed by a short, and commanding. “Come, we must make haste. Any further time spent dawdling is a minute closer to our demise.”

This thought went across his companions well enough. As all three could do little but agree that a Dragon’s lair was perhaps one of the most dangerous areas to snoop in. Yet here they were…

Slowly they crept further through the rectangular room. Careful of making more noise as they crept closer and closer to the doorway leading them forward on their current path. Silently, Izaneus wondered whether or not developing some form of divination would assist in future ventures such as this… if, perhaps. Not as deadly as trying to steal from a Dragon unimpeded. However.. It was the stench, that first made Iza wary as they moved closer to the next room.

They then found that said room was the hoard of bones and decay that must have supplied all of the Skeletons. Below.. And with Necromancy being favored here.. It was all too possible that hoard would become their tomb if even the simplest of mistakes were made… or so they assumed.. It was also possible the Dragon was far too cocky in his own reputation, that he simply didn’t bother with any defenses aside from the entrance.

“I don’t see any Magic… are you picking anything up, Elise?”
 
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Elise

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"Give me a second..." Elise said. The vampire withdrew her grimoire from her backpack and began to leaf through it. Izaneus, understandably, moved to crane his neck over her shoulder but she turned away from him with a self-conscious hiss. Damn did she really just do that? Her nerves must really starting to really come loose.

"I smell...death, yes. But something else, I cannot place it." Edos rumbled. His nose was twitching constantly as he eyed the bone pit, keeping watch while the wizards played with their books. Elise also perked her nose up, allowing her vampiric senses to take in the stagnant air of the pit, and cocked her head.

"No Izaneus, I don't see any magic..." Elise said softly. She touched her hand to the smooth stone wall and licked the tips of her fingers, before spitting violently onto the floor. She slammed her book shut with a snarl and hunkered down in a guarded stance. Izaneus gave her a pained expression.

"...care to share?" he sighed as he did...something defensive looking with his arms.

"It's salt. Tyretlethen has this whole tunnel system laced with alchemical salt of some kind...messing with binding magic. That's why Greenstripes didn't make it in..." Elise grumbled. Her eyes continually flicked over the edges of the room, looking for any indication of the interior structure or architecture that could be exploited.

"...that doesn't make sense though, not completely..." Izaneus conjectured, "...the undead creatures require binding magic to function, and they seem to be fine-"

"So write a paper on it some time! We're sitting ducks here in this stupid bone room..." Elise snapped back, but was herself cut off as Edos cleared his leonin throat.

"The dragon stirs bones to move, yes? Perhaps this pit is not for dumping, but for...building materials." he said, stroking the beard of his blonde mane. Izaneus and Elise looked up at the lion simultaneously, then over at the pit with dawning comprehension.

"Do you suppose it responds to a command word, Elise? Or freshly applied magic?" Izaneus said, pacing towards the rim of the charnel pit.

"Command words would be awful flashy, so if I were a dragon, I'd spring for it." Elise said, tilting her head in consideration. There had to be a way to deduce the words used to shift the bones into the proper configuration to proceed, but that would require the exact kind of binding ritual that the salty air was inhibiting.

"Oh...clever." Izaneus chuckled, arriving at the same conclusion. Elise glanced over at him and they shared, if even for a brief moment, a conspiratorial grin between peers. It was at that moment that both of the wizards froze on the spot and stared at an empty space just behind Edos' head. The Leonin stared back at them with a perplexed expression, then behind him. The clammy, sandstone hallway was still clear as far as he could tell.

"What is it, my friends? You look as though you've seen a ghost." Edos chuckled nervously.

"You're not totally wrong." Izaneus said softly. At that point, even Edos could begin to tell that there was now a presence within the room. Something unnatural and malicious had joined them inside the room of the bone pit, which doubtlessly meant that Tyretlethen was starting to catch onto their presence within the Citadel. Elise did her best to squint her smoldering eyes at the spot near the archway where a powerful magical signature was presenting itself, sampling the flavor of magic lingering there. This was not necromancy...

"It's a suffocator! Edos, move!" Izaneus said, moving forward to intervene as the Leonin suddenly found himself bound up in a whirlwind of choking winds. He roared in protest, attempting to draw his hatchet, but the elemental spirit had even his immense muscles bound tight as it began to draw the air out of his lungs.

"Shit shit shit, uh...Kan Sehr!" Elise shouted. She threw her hands in the formation of a sigil towards the spirit gripping Edos. The antimagic sliced through the air, and the unseen elemental surrounding the Leonin pulsed with a purple light, shuddering for a moment. It was just enough for Edos to gulp down a fresh breath of air and writhe free from the arcane grasp...but not enough to permanently dispell the invisible air elemental.

A tense moment passed as a breeze began to kick up inside the room. The spirit was whipping around in the air so quickly that her occult senses could hardly pinpoint it, but...

"Izzy, run run!"
 
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