The Eternal Vigilance got within range of Rephidim over the southern Savan, well before crossing familiar and friendly grounds such as Xenea. At Elijah's urging, the captain – all too willing to delay his own retirement – changed course, and allowed two of its passengers to debark under cover of night, bypassing patrols and secretly approaching Rephidim via one of the secret tunnels through Underside that had been discovered during previous adventures.

Sukara had succeeded in finding and contacting Shade and Vague. No one, after all, had any due cause to be on the lookout for her, and Rephidim is enough of a melting pot that an Eeee – even a Babelite one – is not inherently cause for suspicion on sight alone. A meeting was arranged, taking advantage of the fact that Vague and Shade had already been busy at work stripping the Sanctuary of Shadows of anything that could be removed. (If it were possible to take down every last stone and move it, surely they would have.)

There would be no reason for anyone to be suspicious if Vague and Shade should return to the Sanctuary yet again, disappear into its dark confines, and not emerge for a long time thereafter. And no one would have any cause to suspect that anyone might be meeting them there, for the Sanctuary still has some secret accesses known only to the Knights Templar.

So it is that Elijah is able to meet with his fellow Lancers again. Vague procured a map of the College Esoterica, and Shade has brought in her magical supplies. Sukara has been busy in the corner, enacting a passive spell to search for the presence of Srinala – Passive, as an active spell would only draw attention to this location (which, after all, shouldn't exist), and quite possibly even alert wary mages to the existence of a scryer.

Shade eyes Sukara warily – She has been reluctant, to say the least, to have anything to do with a priestess of Sunala, and clearly categorizes Sukara's magic as sorcery. (After all, what is Sunala, but an evil spirit, and that Sukara submits requests to this spirit for magic is a classic definition of sorcery, to Shade's mind.)

Vague has been slightly less obvious in his distrust of Sukara – His concern is not so much the "sorcery" aspect, as it is his Vartan-inspired wariness of magic in general. While he can readily accept Shade's contribution to the group, it is because she is a warder – one who detects and dispels magic: if there were no magic to detect or dispel, her contribution to things would be not the least bit overtly supernatural, and therefore not disturbing the natural order of things, to a Vartan mind.

At present, though, Vague is more obsessed with examining the maps, trying to find any good reason to rule out anynumber of potential hiding places for Srinala. There are numerous parchments devoted as well to the specific purpose of raiding the College Esoterica – a scenario that the Knights Templar had seriously considered almost as soon as the College started packing up and moving to Caroban as a theoretical scenario to practice for. (One must, after all, be prepared for all sorts of eventualities.)

So far, the trouble is found in an over-abundance of possible locations. Simply getting into the grounds is hardly an issue, as Shadow Lance has many means of bypassing the magical perimeter security. The College grounds, after all, are fairly large, encompassing what might be charitably called a school for each one of the Spheres, and having general facilities as well.

Only a fraction of the space is used for the Mages' Guild Hall – Caroban's embassy on Rephidim, essentially – but the other buildings are still patrolled, and occasionally still used for storage purposes or else as sites for experimentation away from Caroban, dormitories for traveling mages, or unofficially personal abodes for mages practicing on Rephidim.

All of this has been thrown together in the course of but hours. There is, suffice it to say, a sense of urgency here.

Elijah traces a talon over the map. "They would keep her someplace secure. That would probably rule out the boarding rooms where they used to house students and some of the old classrooms. I would almost wager they're in a basement or a central classroom for more advanced studies, some place that has ready access to supplies they might need for a ritual, and some place where it would be difficult to just casually stroll in unnoticed."

Vague nods. "For what it's worth, my preliminary look at the area – and that's only from afar – indicates no obvious Temple presence. No Temple Guards, leastwise. There are some hired guards patrolling the grounds here and there." He makes this last statement a little more precise by drawing his finger across the map in several spots he's already marked.

Shade signs, "I can deal with any spirit patrols. The College uses them in great number, as they're so cheap … but there is a reason they're cheap. Good enough to deal with common trouble-makers, but we can handle them well enough."

"I have an inkling of an idea for a distraction that might help us get in, but I am loathe to suggest it simply because of what is at stake if the information I've been told might be incorrect." The brown Vartan taps a spot on the map with a cluster of patrols. "Pouncer and Enos have tried to rescue Srinala a few times before, and supposedly the Collegia mages are very strict on not causing them any harm, but I doubt it would be considered out of the ordinary if they showed up and caused a big enough disturbance for us to slip in."

Vague seems startled by the suggestion. "Perhaps it would arouse no suspicion before the fact, but they would almost certainly be considered accessories, if this mission cannot be presented to the Temple afterward in a favorable light."

Elijah nods. "Good point, although I am loathe to present this to the Temple at all right now, considering that this could just be used as more ammunition against us, and if they find out about Srinala they may take her into custody for themselves, considering her Babelite ties." He leans back over the map, marking out rooms that have easy access from the outside and rooms that look too small to hold a ritual in. "Sukara, can you narrow down that search at all yet?"

The Eeee priestess finishes up her prayers, then slowly rises and steps away from a colored sand painting she has made on the floor. She shakes her head in the negative. "No, I cannot. I can find nothing passively, but this tells me little. It could either mean that the Srinala is not there at all – and, indeed, nowhere in all of Rephidim – or else it could mean that they are employing rudimentary shields to hide any easy trace of her – something that does not require any great undertaking to thwart a passive search such as mine."

Shade turns, looking away from the priestess, to study the maps more intently.

Sukara adds, "I can, however, tell with all certainty that she has been here in Rephidim. Her link with my Lady is strong enough that I have been able to find evidence of its passing here. It may well be that there could be a break in whatever shield they employ, if I should keep searching, but I cannot tell you how long that might take."

The Vartan leans back over the maps. "Then it may be that we will need to narrow things down as best we can, charge in, and do something more aggressive." He gestures to the map. "Do you recall any details about the room she was being held in? Was it large, small, full of storage items, a classroom, a laboratory?"

Sukara closes her eyes and concentrates. "It was small. No windows. Maybe only a single door. It had a low ceiling. It was quiet. Cold. The floor was stone. Very dusty."

"Do you recall any furnishings or smells? Was it dank like a cellar or dry like an attic?" Elijah starts marking out the larger assembly rooms and classrooms.

"Dank. Very much so," Sukara says, with all certainty. "The walls were very solid. Underground, I am thinking."

Vague shakes his head. "There are all sorts of catacombs under the School of Earth. On the positive side, that means several possible routes to use to get to any one place. On the negative side … that means several places to have to search."

Sukara opens her eyes again. "I could attempt a probing search … but if they are exercising the least bit of caution – which I am certain they are – I will most certainly alert them to my presence … and, if they are wary enough, perhaps even my location."

The Vartan nods again and discounts the attic rooms and upper floors then takes a moment to appraise how much and what remains. "I may station one of you at an escape route in case they bolt down a path to escape." He shakes his head at the bat. "If you do, don't do it here. It won't do much for their level of calm if they find out they're being probed from Golgotha.

Sukara nods. "But further, that I might jeopardize your secret place." She pauses thoughtfully. "Earlier, what was it you were telling me about the Srinala, when she sleeps?"

Elijah snaps his fingers. "Yes! When she sleeps, she somehow plays a bunch of roles in some sort of vision. I remember using Amber's helmet on her and there was almost a visible thread trailing away from her towards Babel, almost like a beacon. I don't have the helmet anymore, but could that be trailed by some other means?"

Sukara's eyes light up. "That's even better than what I was hoping for. Unless they have some way of blocking off her connection to my Lady entirely – and I am quite certain that has not happened – there would be no way they could possibly hide a link such as that, if it is as you describe. Perhaps obscure it from a mere scryer, but with the guidance of my Lady, I am certain I would be able to find more. The trouble is … if this is the case, then the Srinala is most assuredly not sleeping now. We should have to wait until such time as she rests."

The Vartan's ears flatten. "I dislike waiting. She could be dead right now for all we know, or they are forcing her to stay awake." He sighs. "But it may be the best option, especially since she may not even be on Rephidim anymore. I can busy myself by getting my gear ready. Shade and I can work up a few wards to use against any spirit guardians in the meantime."

Sukara sobers at the reminder that they have no idea how much time they have to work with, and nods. "I shall return to my prayers, then."

Vague looks to Elijah. "Is there any special gear that I should try to acquire in the meantime? I am not certain how we want to go into this. Will we be attempting to disguise ourselves as something other than Knights Templar, or will we be using our regular equipment?"

Elijah folds up the map and motions for the two Lancers to follow him into the Champion's chambers in his sanctuary. There isn't much left of it, but it's also probably the most soundproof room in the structure.

In the most secure room to be found in the Sanctuary – above-ground, at least – the chamber has been stripped down to bare walls. Every feature not permanently fused to the walls has been removed, lest it be claimed by the Order of the Pink Ribbon or the Silver Sword, or whatever other "knightly order" might move in here. It is, of course, quite insulated from sounds. Excessive noise is as anathema to the concept of the Shadow Lance as bright lights.

Shade and Vague stand at attention, focused on their leader.

The Vartan leans against one of the bare walls. "Firstly, I know you don't trust Sukara. I can't say I trust her utterly myself, but I've been with her for months now and I know that she's sincere here. A Srinala in the Babelite culture is apparently a big thing, which is why I had tried to keep her presence a secret." He studies his fingertips. "As for preparations, I think it may be best if you two make sure they don't run off a different route with her, so I'm going to ask you to stay to the perimeter and monitor likely escape routes while Sukara and I go in. Also, I'm going to want to keep the big clunky equipment to a minimum. I'm big and clunky enough as it is and probably shouldn't go in further weighted in armor and armed to the eartufts. As far as I know our adversaries aren't soldiers, so I'll probably take a pistol, a crossbow, and my sword and that will be it."

Vague nods. "How about us, though? We'll do our best not to be seen at all, but in the event we are, there's the trouble: Armored properly, we'd stand up better in a flat-out fight … but if there are any survivors, it would be obvious that the Knights Templar were involved. If we care more about disguise, we could pass ourselves off as ordinary Paradysian Vartans … but even that exalted group," he adds this with a flick of an earwiggle, something he's picked up from Shade, "is not very great in number, and so not terribly anonymous."

"Considering we're going against mages and hired guards, unless the two of you want to go the route of dying your pelts like I did, it may be best just to get some generic armor from the armory and go in that. Enough to protect yourself and not stir up instant recognition," Elijah suggests. "My experience with mages is that armor doesn't help you much against some of what they use, plus if we're going to get caught I'd rather it be in trappings that show us as acting as an independent agent instead of as knights, especially since there's so many fingers out here right now itching to point at us for being loose cannons or what have you. If anyone will take the blame for this then it will be me and not the knights."

"Please forgive me, as this is not meant as an insult – indeed, it's a credit to you," Shade ventures in hand-sign, "but it could be that you are giving undue consideration to Sukara because of your hope to turn her from sorcery? You have an honorable history of redemption … but perhaps you have become too accustomed to success in that realm. Sorcery is sorcery, and she does not even hide hers in the trappings of mage-babble."

Elijah rubs his chin. "I do not humor myself in regards to Sukara, though. She is a follower of Sunala and very much so. I do not play with the concept that I may turn her otherwise, because I think it is too deeply rooted within her. But the fact that she's not one of the fanatics who shred their wings and leap off cliffs in dark rituals is enough for me to trust her in this matter. She tended to me when the Champion of Ice went rogue and I was injured, and I think she cares enough about the well being of Srinala that she can be trusted here."

Vague says, "I do not think it is just mages we will be facing. There aren't all that many of them there anymore. I've heard estimates that they have no more than a score active full-fledged mages … meaning that while they most probably have one, often two of any given sphere present, they wouldn't be pulling patrol duty, I'm sure."

Shade nods to Vague, then signs, "As for Sukara, I will defer to your judgement. I will not allow my doubts to jeopardize this mission. But I felt it an obligation to sign my concerns plainly."

The Vartan taps his beak. "This puts me in a quandary. On one wing, if any guards see you in full armor you'll command a bit more respect and have a certain level of intimidation to play with. On the other, it's another excuse to accuse the knights of going rogue." He frowns and nods. "I have always respected your honesty, Shade. And I am not telling you to drop your guard. If she does do anything you find to be suspicious, then tell me that instant."

Shade nods firmly.

Vague says, "It is no exaggeration to suggest that were there any suggestion that the Knights Templar might be involved in this, the proponents of the new 'knightly orders' would seize upon it for their own purposes – even without any solid proof."

"Precisely. I don't feel like getting further kicked while we're down." Elijah sighs roughly. "Get some guardsman armor and helmets. Don't break your vow and show your faces … but wear armor that has no markings, neither Templar nor Rephidim Guard. I doubt that the poodles keep track of who is in which order, and if we are fingered in this by identity, I may be able to talk to someone in the Temple over it who might still be an ally, but the fact that we won't be walking around with 'Knight Templar' stamped to out chests may afford us enough breathing room. Although… if we are caught and if we are used to further harm the order, I for one would rather deny my knighthood and claim to be acting alone than see it further damaged. I will claim that I forced the two of you into this, and do my best to make sure that this won't be used as a smear."

Vague inclines his head. "I will see what can be found in the stores. Some of the self-proclaimed 'squires' already helped themselves to the main guardsman armory, but they hardly know their way around the place; it's not as if we've felt inclined to give them guided tours. I'm certain we can piece something together suitably 'mercenary'."

"Leave the large explosive items here. The hired guards may think they're just defending the grounds and may be ignorant that they're protecting kidnappers." Elijah shakes his head. "I'll trust you to know how to keep an eye out for trouble and when it may be necessary to attack. Now, let's see what we can get together and see what progress Sukara has made."

Back in the secret chamber underneath the surface, Shade has already completed her own preparations, but keeps her circle intact, occasionally "recharging" her wards. Vague is suited up in a mish-mash of armor pieces, and most assuredly, no one would guess him for a Lancer at a casual glance. Shade is similarly attired in generic fashion, and has applied a hasty disguise to her Creen-rainbow-colored wing-feathers so that now they just look dingy gray-brown with only faint patches of color that don't stand out enough to be noteworthy.

It is only into the evening that Sukara finally breaks free from her probing, to announce, "I found the Srinala!"

Elijah ties his belt down in some leather armor he's opted to wear, it's not much protection, but it will hopefully be soundless. "Where?"

Sukara rises from her circle, a faint anti-nimbus of shadow playing around her crown, eerie in the moss-light. She walks over to the map, and brings her finger down to point at a chamber indicated underneath the School of Earth. "Here. It was like a beacon, reaching out toward Babel … but there is magic around it. If I were not in the service of the Lady, I might not have been able to find it, but so strong a link cannot be hidden even by their shadow mages."

Vague nods. "Underground. Few entry-ways … definitely one of our contenders, but it would have been a while before we'd gotten around to checking it, through our list of possibilities. That narrows it down nicely."

The Vartan shoots a nervous side-glance at Shade, unsettled slightly by the odd shadow plays. "Srinala is still alive, then? Sukara, you might want to get some armor yourself, and if you have time I'd almost suggest creating a held spell in case Srinala is weak when we find her."

Sukara nods. "I've already readied a Blessing of Healing, in between my searches. I don't know that we have the time for me to prepare another. The sky islands are not favored by my Lady – She is slower to grant Her blessings here."

For what it's worth, Elijah's sense of active magic around Sukara doesn't seem to have any different "flavor" than ordinary magic. The nimbus about her head might well be a manifestation of her version of a held spell.

"Smart thinking." The Vartan leans over the map again. "Shade, can we carry some foci that will help you ward any spirit guards or spirit magic we encounter along the way?" He taps a couple of spots on the map. "These are the closest exits. If they decide to bolt, if they're dragging a prisoner with them, then you shouldn't have much difficulty telling. You can't just fold a bat up and stick it in your pocket after all."

Shade nods, and pushes a number of talismans across the table. "My standard concoctions, giving you some protection against spirits, plus some 'bait' pouches. I will do my best to keep any spirits away from you. Of more concern will be any magical alarms that act on negative rather than positive theories."

(In other words, mages are quite aware that other mages can simply dispel their spells, or that some people are gifted with means of negating magic or avoiding it. Some spells rely upon the notion of sending a constant "All is well" signal of sorts to a monitoring mage, and when that signal halts, this is the signal that something is amiss and worthy of inspection. Given that magic is by its very nature unstable, and that magic works not nearly so well at this elevation, it wouldn't be enough to send the whole place into a frenzy, but it would still draw attention, should the defenders be the least bit competent.)

"We'll try not to dispel everything we run into, in that case. But once I start getting close, I'm going to be less and less subtle. For all I know they'll kill Srinala outright instead of losing her, and if I think an alarm's been tripped, I may opt to simply charge forward as fast as my legs will take me." Elijah presses his palm against the map. "Unless there are any other preparations that need to be made or issues to bring up, are we ready?"

Vague checks his gear. "I'm ready." An affirmative nod comes from Shade. Sukara nods firmly as well.

The Vartan shoulders his crossbow. "Let's go, then. Star watch us all."

Sukara keeps behind Elijah, though she occasionally stops him and pauses a moment in reflection, before nodding and assuring him silently that they're on the right path … or not. Even with a map of the layout, it's hard to keep exactly on track, as the corridors do not intersect at nice, 90 degree junctures, and many times they curve above or below each other … a feature that it is very hard to accurately and clearly present in two dimensions.

According to Elijah's best estimate, it is not much further. They have so far managed to make it into the compound without any confrontations with guards – magical or otherwise – though there have been several close calls. Shade's herbal concoctions have helped to keep down any scent that they might give off to warn keen-nosed guards, and the musty odor and preponderance of flowery growths here and there provide enough of a "background" to minimize such senses anyway.

Up ahead, however, it appears that there are two guards in a mish-mash of leather and chitin armor, by a doorway that is a bottleneck to the network of tunnels that the target chamber is located in.

One of them is either a Jupani with strange fur markings, or else a Gallah with a wolfish cast to his features. The other is a Cervani with one antler cleft halfway off. They both have a fairly tough look about them, and a ragged look to their armor, though they wear tabards identifying them as being in the service of the Mages' Guild, and look more hygienic than the average Darksider. Besides, too much personal smell would negate whatever benefit a Gallah's or Jupani's nose might offer against intruders.

Elijah keeps his ears pricked as he walks along, trying to muffle the sound of his footfalls as he does so. He spots the guards and shrinks back, motioning for Sukara to do likewise as he takes a moment to size up the two. ( The Jupani is probably more likely to notice us first by scent, but the Cervani may be the hardest to knock out with that antler rack and may do the most damage in a fight. I don't think I can deal with both of them quietly. ) "Sukara," Elijah whispers in the bat's ear. "I may need you for a distraction. Is there anything around here you might be able to trigger and draw one of the guards away? If I shoot them from a distance I'll have to kill them to do it quietly, but they look to be just some hired help and may not even know what's going on."

Sukara looks askance at Elijah, giving him a look as if she's not nearly so concerned about sparing their lives. (And, given the situation, it's a fair bet she isn't.) She closes her eyes … and then her eyes snap open abruptly, her body jerking back in surprise.

The Vartan puts a hand over Sukara's mouth in case she makes any noises as a result, and stares into her eyes, a confused and concerned expression hanging on his features.

Sukara motions for Elijah to lean down, and tries to add an inch to her own height by standing upon her toes.

Looking quizzically at the bat, he shrugs and hunkers down until he's squatting against the floor.

Sukara whispers directly into his ear, "I can sense the Srinala, it's so strong. She's behind the wall to their left, past the doorway down the hall only a few meters. And there's a ritual active. There's no chamber there according to the map – solid rock. I erred by correcting myself, pointing at the closest chamber to the area I sensed."

"So we cannot get to their location from here? There's a wall of solid rock between us and them?" The Vartan's head tilts back in the direction of the two guards. A ruckus is less likely to be heard through a wall of rock, especially if there's chanting going on…

Sukara pulls out her scrawled copy of the map, tries tracing the corridors, then shakes her head, and "taps" at the paper (though not actually touching it) at the "nonexistent" place she's just described. She then leans back to the Vartan's ear and whispers, "A secret door. Or a magic one. The Mages of Earth can reshape stone, after all."

Elijah nods. "I should have known. Well, it may muffle our noises to suit us for now, and the guards might have something on them to open the door. Otherwise … I hope I'm strong enough to break the wall down." His feathers bristle. "I'm going to try and deal with the last two guards since there doesn't seem to be an easy way past them. When that starts, get ready for things to start happening quickly, understand?"

Sukara nods, and taps beside her eye in an "I'll watch your back" gesture, as she pulls a matte black chitin stiletto from her robes.

( Here goes the point of no return… ) The Vartan inches forward as far along as he dares down the corridor, and then barrels down it at full speed, intending to slam into the two guards before they know what's going on.

As bored as the guards might seem by their duty, they react surprisingly quickly to the threat presented by the intruder, and quickly draw swords. The Gallah/Jupani has a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, while the Cervani has a double-handed blade. "Intrud-!" the canine howls, just as he's bowled into by Elijah. In the initial exchange, however, the Cervani makes an expert swing with his blade, coming around Elijah's back and cutting through his light armor, and hitting heavily against his ribs. If the Vartan were of average build, he would have been finished by that one blow.

Elijah bites down a scream as he feels what seems to be an explosion of fire in his lungs and tastes blood on his mouth. He draws out his sword with one arm to parry against future blows from the Cervani while he tries slamming the Jupani against the ground hard enough to knock him out with the other.

With a crunch – which might be of chitin armor or bone, though it is hard to tell in the instant – the Jupani rams against the unyielding stone floor, and his dagger and sword fall from his grasp. The Cervani draws back his heavy sword, finishing the canine's call: "INTRUDERS!"

Knowing that he has precious little time now, the Vartan swings his sword out to meet with the Cervani's to guard against future stabs, and also to distract as he swings his free hand around to try and punch the deer's head.

The Cervani is a better swordsman than most Elijah has dealt with, and evades Elijah's sword to strike at his relatively exposed right leg, digging deeply and painfully into it. However, he has no defense against the true attack which was the punch, perhaps overly confident of a more lethal intent from his opponent. Elijah's strength in that blow is none the less for his wound, and sends the stag spinning away, loosing his sword, which rakes free of Elijah's leg and spatters crimson upon the floor.

Elijah sheathes his blade and rips a ragged strip of leather from his chest, tying the wound off on his leg as best he can to keep the bleeding down. He swallows and presses his hand against the wall, limping down the corridor as he searches for a particular spot that feels more magical in his head then the rest of the wall.

The pain in his body seems to scream in protest for more attention than the whispers of magic, but just as Sukara told him, there is active magic here, and now that he is so close to it, there is no avoiding it. Probably onlybecause of Sukara's own connection to things magical was she able to notice it before he. There is a section of wall that seems slightly "softer" than the stone about it (in the sense that a tree is softer than an iron pole), and to Elijah's mind is saturated with magic. He can hear distant shouts, and the honking of horns and magical klaxons. Sukara rushes to Elijah's side, and leans over the Cervani, dagger in hand, looking as if about to make certain he doesn't get back up.

"No, don't forget the goal," Elijah croaks out and presses his hands against the wall. "If I pass out, just grab Srinala and run." He swallows and then shoves against the wall with every ounce of strength his body can muster.

Inside his mind, Elijah can hear his own body howl in protest, and he cannot put his full weight against his wounded right leg for proper leverage. Nonetheless, while the wall may be solid, it is thinner than the walls on either side, made more for concealment than as a barricade. The stone cracks, and that proves to be enough to weaken the magic holding it together. The enchanted rock crumbles along countless fractures, and falls free of the frame to either side, revealing a roughly cleft chamber beyond, with a runic circle in the center, ringed by candles. In the very center are two forms – an immediately recognizable Eeee, lying on her side in slumber, and a startled white Lapi in robes of black with gray stars and Morpheus crescents – a dream mage.

The Vartan draws out his pistol and charges forward, intent on scooping up the Eeee and getting her out of the circle as quickly as he can manage.

"No!" calls out the Lapi. "You'll break the ritual! What are you doing?!"

Sukara slips behind Elijah, and as he charges into the room, he can see that Srinala is still alive, though her sleep seems greatly troubled.

"I'm not going to let you kill her!" The Vartan shakes the Eeee, trying to awaken her. "Srinala… it's me. Please wake up!"

Srinala shakes about in Elijah's grasp, and seems to stir slightly. The rabbit, meanwhile, staggeringly starts to rise to his feet. "Stop!" he calls out again. "You'll destabilize the feed!" Out of the corner of his eye, Elijah can see Sukara slip into the room, stiletto in hand, and eyes focused on the rabbit with deadly intent.

A murmur escapes Srinala's lips. "Mmm… who calls Sunala? … disturbs me as I judge the sea … mmm."

"Sukara, stop! If he was carrying a fireball or swinging a sword… but… " The Vartan coughs and spits blood out onto the floor. "Right now we just need to get out of here and let the mages deal with their own chaos." He shakes the Eeee again. "Srinala… it's Elijah, remember the caves? Come on… wake up!"

The rabbit's attention is now drawn to Sukara, and he lets off a positively feminine shriek as he puts up his paws in pathetic defense. Sukara relents, though she doesn't lower her guard against the mage, and puts her back against the wall just inside the doorway.

"… Srinala can't hear you," the not-quite-conscious bat murmurs. "She's hiding because she's scared and weak. Sunala will protect her… "

Elijah can feel a fluctuation in the magic of the ritual, and the candles lining the circle flicker as if challenged by a sudden wind, though none is felt.

Elijah's gaze focuses on the rabbit. "You will tell me what you were doing right now, and if you've hurt her at all so help me I'll shake Caroban until it falls out of the sky!" He scrapes a hoof across the floor, marring the circle and gives Srinala a light slap across the cheek, remembering how she reacted to a slight bit of pain back in the cave and hoping that another little jolt might be enough to bring her out. He doesn't quite feel like it would be a good idea to let Sunala into the room right now…

As the rabbit stammers in typical Lapi terror, Srinala's head lolls. "How … dare you treat Sunala like this? She will step out of the Sea of Souls … and then She will punish you for certain!"

The last is almost drowned out by a wail from the Lapi: "If I don't fix it soon, the ritual will destabilize entirely! I can't take responsibility for what happens – Ahhhh!" Sparks fly from the place where Elijah scraped the circle, and rise up in the air like glowing ashes borne by the warmth of a campfire. The Lapi grabs at a handful of colored dust from one of his pouches and tries to lean toward the circle as if to hastily patch it.

"Answer him!" Sukara shouts, pointing at the rabbit with her dagger. "You can't buy time by playing the cowardly fool!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?" the Vartan all-out roars at the Lapi, his arms trembling as he tries to fight off shock from the blood loss. "Srinala… you don't have to hide anymore, you're safe. Come out… if you come back out I'll take you back to Pouncer, just please wake up."

"There's no time!" the Lapi sputters, his ears laid flat back against his neck. "If she wakes up while the link is still active, now that we've pulled off a thread for examination, only the First Ones know what will happen! You've got to let me fix it!"

Sukara's ears flush with anger. "The Srinala is not a test subject for you to dissect to see how she walks and talks, mage!"

Srinala's eyelids flutter. "There is no Srinala," she says. "… only Sunala, who rules over the dead … and to whom all living things come in the end!" Her voice sounds less slurred now, more coherent. But, too, there are the soundsof rapidly moving boot steps in the corridor, most assuredly coming this way with all haste.

Elijah shakes as he weighs the consequences in his head. Finally, with tears in his eyes, he sets her back down but remains with her in the circle. "I am going against every voice in my head right now, but I will give you one chance. Fix your damage and end the ritual… but if you murder this child I will do to you what I would do to any man guilty of such a crime… "

Sukara's eyes go wide. "NO!" she squeaks, and even as the Lapi moves to repair the circle, she raises her dagger and rushes forward to strike at him.

Elijah drops Srinala and dives for Sukara, throwing his arm up into the path of the dagger so that if it does impact any flesh then it will strike his instead.

Sukara seems determined to end the life of the Lapi, but has the presence of mind to realize that her stiletto can't go through the Vartan to do so. She aborts her thrust, and crouches to the side in a defensive stance, as if fully expecting Elijah to follow up with an attack against her person.

The Lapi, meanwhile, feverishly works at the circle, repairing the seam … but even as he works, bits of powder break away from other parts of the circle closest to where Elijah is standing. "Uh! A w- You're disrupting the magic by your mere presence! You're a null!" To Elijah's knowledge, he isn't any sort of "null", but it would seem that some peculiar things are happening to the magical circle, even as Srinala is stirring.

"Sukara, I want you to look at Srinala. That's your goddess, a little girl made into a vegetable at birth by priests and kept alive to play puppet in the realm of the Gods… and now Sunala wants to kill this little girl who has been awake for only a few months so she can pull the strings on her body just like she pulled the strings on her mind. You can't tell me that that's right. And you can't tell me that you're so mindlessly fixated on this that you'd kill me to get to her. Now drop your dagger and we'll give the mage a chance. Have I done anything around you that has made you believe that I would let a child get murdered in front of me? If I can take this risk, so can you." He shakily takes a step out of the circle and moves himself to stand in between the mage and Sukara. "Otherwise, you will have to kill me. And I'm weak enough that you just might be able to."

Sukara is obviously taken aback. "We cannot trust them! They don't care about the Srinala! She is only a curiosity, a puzzle to them - a puzzle that, if broken, they'll simply shrug and study the pieces!"

Srinala moans, "The Sea of Souls is storming … Sunala is angry … very angry."

"How do you know?" Elijah coughs again. "I thought that at first, and I had all intentions of coming in here and killing every mage I met out of revenge if one hair on her was harmed, but if we take her now I think we'll be killing Srinala and letting a ghost from the world of gods inhabit her body. If Sunala is a goddess of life and death, why does she have to steal it here? Srinala was made into a vegetable at her birth by some mad priest, and has only been able to be truly alive for a few months. Maybe they're trying to free her from the dreams, I don't know… but… rrrrr… come on, Sukara! You've always struck me as a logical girl who enjoys collecting facts, what do the facts tell you right now?"

The Vartan glances over his shoulder. "Fix it, I'm out of the circle… please!"

Before Sukara can formulate a reply, the rabbit, on the verge of hysterics as he tries to squash one rift and then another in his circle with haphazard applications of sand, calls out, "I'm trying! I … Please! Leave the chamber! I can't think straight while I'm being threatened by nasty little knives and nulls who can make magic circles crumble just by being in them, and if I don't get a lid on this soon, the energies in the circle will just burst out like a Gooshurm in a little box!" He grasps his own hand doing the pouring with the other, just to stop the nervous shaking.

Sukara looks between Elijah to Srinala and the circle … and then closes her eyes. "Forgive me, my Lady." She clenches the handle of her dagger tightly to the point of whitening her knuckles.

Elijah walks forward and puts his arms on Sukara's shoulders, moving her out through the hole. One hand grasps the wrist holding the dagger. "If she dies, then let her death fall upon me. Either way, we have some guards to surrender to… and I think I'm going to pass out soon if I don't plug the hole in my back… "

Tears stream from Sukara's eyes, as she presses her free hand against the Vartan's back. "That won't be … necessary." He can feel energy flowing from her to the wounds, urging them to knit themselves together. But even as he feels the energy … somehow, Srinala's presence seems all the more clear to him, as if she were radiating her existence around the fringes of all of his senses.

Outside, several guards are gathered, along with a mage bearing a halo of flickering flame, and another holding a crackling ball of blue energy. At the head of the guards is an Aquilan whose head is feathered white, though black shows at the ridge around her neck where it disappears into leather and chitin armor and a tabard of the Twelve-Sphere Circle. "Please drop your weapons," she scrawks in Vartan.

Elijah closes his eyes, as though closing in on himself might bring her in closer. "Srinala … please don't leave. You're not the Sea of Souls, and I don't know if I can explain to my daughter that she's lost another friend." Mechanically he pulls out his pistol, holding it by the muzzle with the tips of his fingers and gently places it on the ground. He does the same with his crossbow, and then unties his belt and sets his sword, still in its scabbard, down as well.

The guards look meaningfully to Sukara … and she relents, setting her dagger down on the floor. The Aquilan quickly skids it away, lest Sukara try one of those pulp-novel tricks of somehow kicking it off the floor and into the air into her waiting hand for a surprise attack. The sensation in Elijah's head fades slowly. He can hear from the chamber, a nervously happy rabbit proclaim, "Aha! Re-channeled you back onto yourself … and maybe now we can get this little fuff'nar back into its hat!"

"There are two Paradysians outside. Could someone go out and please tell them that Elijah has surrendered willingly to them and they are to go home and not cause any trouble?" The Vartan plucks a foot-long feather from his wing and pulls out a few chunks from it in strategic places. "They're at the north exit over the fallen gargoyle. Give them this and they'll leave. They've done nothing wrong and I ask that they not be dragged into this mess along with me."

The Aquilan looks warily at the feather, and takes it, and hands it to a subordinate Eeee. She clicks her beak, and the Eeee takes this as an order, nodding in a snap, and dashing down the corridor. "Now then," the Aquilan scrawks. "We'll all take a walk and have a chat… " A mage in garish robes with a mark of the Explosion in random places pushes into the doorway, past Sukara and Elijah, and into the chamber with the rabbit mage.

"I'm staying here until I know Srinala is alright," the Vartan says matter-of-factly. "I came here because I was led to understand that you intended to kill her through a ritual, and until I have proof that this is not the case this is the farthest you will get me from her."