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Galesen could feel something as well and it wasn't setting right with him. A look to Sevilin and he sighed. "That's just great." Slowly he turned toward the entrance and started down into the open rock face. A look back and forth between Fianna and Piper before he gave a nod. "Alright then let's go before we go out because of these damn crystals." So inside they all went, after entering the opening Galesen looked around as he made his way forward, he couldn't hear anything yet and that bothered him a little. Usually one would hear something at least in a dark cave like this. "Does anyone sense anything off other than the air?" He wasn't a tracker so he needed an update since his own senses were being screwed around with, better than struggling around down there.

Ugh was he following her? "Shouldn't you be going home now? We've discussed this, there's no reason for you to be doing anything." Dhairiss idly watched his father with one eye over his mother's shoulder, but any moment it looked like Malik was going to look at him he ducked his head a little. Though it seemed even those little motions were taking far too much energy for him to do. Still walking along idly, "What are you trying to help now? Fickle."

She held a hand to her head a moment as something pinged in her head in that familiar feeling of trying to get through. Oh her head was swamped enough already. "Take it off? Gotta cut off my head to do that..." That thing was locked and there was no buts about it...unless he had done something to it that she wasn't aware of. A point to the left, stumbling along. "That way."

"The whole place is off." Holding his hand under a beam of light and watching it react lightly. "All this light, it's slightly disorienting." Shaking his head lightly and a raise of an eyebrow at Piper. "Where is she getting her directions?"

"She's probably tracking Malik...or trying to." Which could be a bad thing...after all who knew what these things were capable of."

He fell in line behidn the wandering four in the halls as the stumbly one lead them. Steely eyes trained to their back and silenty he padded...hm, let's have some fun and see how long till they noticed him.


That worked. It didn't have to make sense at all to the girl, point was to keep up with her and make sure she was still hazy and well on her way to being nothing more than that toward them all. tools were fun when you could use them well. "See, I was right. If we hurried we could outdo these things." Boisterous teenager was easy to mimic. A jerk of a thumb in a direction. "There's something over there, I bet that's where the rest of them are."

He grabbed Yinn to quell the various noises as he still sat, looking around them. The light seemed to concentrate to an area and he crawled over to it. "Yeah...there's one here but it looks like a tight squeeze and we have no idea where it goes...risk it or wait?"

He walked over behind her and grabbed her hair, and jerked it back.

"Go ahead. make him cry and scream if he even has the strength for it. Make him beg me to stop. go right on ahead."

He reached around and gripped his son's shirt, and attempted to pry him from her and kept his other hand on her hair.

"you weren't listening. family is important to me. you on the other hand, aren't. I want me son back. and if I have to pry him out of your cold dead fingers, and then go back and try to fix whatever the hell it is you've done to him, then I will. But I am taking my son with me. I'm not leaving here without him."

Growling some.

"souls I know. and you aren't taking mine. or my wife. or my sons. I'd be happy right now to hand over that damned Zahara on a plate by now but I just don't feel like contending with Sevilin. So why don't you take you and your miserable doppleganging friends back to the surface or go play somewhere else."

She was more irritated than anything...though she thought the funny thing that Dhairiss seemed more adamant to cling to her. But a laugh and she lifted one hand from the boy...showing a slivery string attached to her palm that ran for a lenght and apparently the other end was down Dhairiss' throat, seeing as the visible part of the string was hanging out the corner of his mouth before she had the other end. "Need I pop his little soul out now? I'm not in the business of soul taking. I'm in the business of destroying them...thought they are such wonderful energy producers." Hm...free souls were good things to have around sometimes.
If he was hurting her, she wasn't showing it. In fact, a slight look of eyes to her left.

Hard wood smacked into the back of Malik's knees a moment later and he casually stepped back. "I wanted to break his knee caps.." Sevilin stood there with a bored look, leaning on a glaive he apparently got from somwhere or another.

"You can break his knees later. Hush yourself now he's saying interesting things." A look at him. "That's that anything again is it? Hm, I think I'm interested just to see how far your resolve goes. Care to prove how important your family is by delivering just what you said you would." Oh this was just grand...it wasn't even about the soul really...she wanted to see how far a man would go even if it was an ill path.

Oh...well this was easy. Awesome. "She was jsut wandering about...I think she's a little traumatized. Come on we shouldn't stay in one place long." Ushering his mother along then to catch up to his sister as well as withdrawing a knife from his belt and handing it over to said sibling. Just in case.

He held up an arm to protect from rock and what not as his friend hacked away for a while. "Almost had who?" Resting a hand on his friend's weapon and stopping him to take a look. "That's good." Grabbing Yinn, he shoved the creature in first and then started to follow up, drawling on elbows and stomach. "Give a tug on my boot every now and then okay?"

Malik grabbed Galesen by his boot, dragging him off easily enough adn quietly in a mere few seconds of the elf's confusion as the others rounded another corner. Oh that was too easy. A hushing motion. "These 'nells are tracking Piper and Sevilin. If we stay away from them, we can get the better of them." Playing general to deceive.

"We've gone left three two times now...another one and we're going to end up in a circle. I think her sense of direction is screwed up." Shaking his head and grabbing Piper by the end of her braided hair to stop her, didn't care if he hurt her at this point. "Hold up there." A look back behind himself. "Where did Galesen go?"

Malik got himself up, shooting a look to 'sevilin' before back to 'piper'.

"Name your price, and give me the tools to do it...but I do this, you leave my family alone. my sons, piper, myself, and my House directly. and that includes Sevilin. he's of value to me."

watching his son carefully, before looking at this false wife.

"You don't know how far I'll go, or what I can do, is that it? you're curious. You want to see how far you can push."

"My price? Exactly what you said. Zahara." If he was going to push, she was going to push...many people cowed to him...well she was holding the important cards right now." A look to Sevilin. "Why don't you go get Kelligrin, hm?" Watching him wander off for the moment and back to Malik, resettling Dhairiss some in her hold and petting through his hair. "You're a necromancer, don't you have your own tools. Or do you think me stupid enough to give you my own methods." Almost affectionately pressing a kiss to silvery white hair and petting a hand through it again. She wasn't stupid either...no one ever did the 'repay and let go' scam. Grinning at him with a look Piper herself had probably never gotten in her entire life.

Oh this was easy. Too easy and so very very amusing. "You alert them and they know where I am. And captured is a matter of definition. More of just translocated to split us up as they wished." Shaking his head. "Their leaders are in Piper and Sevilin's skins, I would say they want to keep them away." Thusly gesturing him to follow and leading through dark corridors. They didn't go anything to me...I didn't encounter them. But these walls echo nicely. Best to let them think they have the upper hand."

He ruffled her hair. Even as his mother succumed to sheer shock right off the bat. Good. "Good girl...you did what you had to. Now hurry back." Grabbing Zahara by the shoulder strap of her top, he pulled her up and leaned her against him, pulling her arm over his shoulder. "Sorry mom. That won't kill you, but the pain will keep you from doing too much. Come on how about we visit Kelligrin hm?"

"I just knew you went off running." His voice echoing through the little tunnel...which wasn't too long seeing as Yinn exited into a bigger....seemingly more build chamber. "Hey Zykariel, get on through here. It opens up." Both boys through they dropped into the chamber. It was weird...and had a big crystal flower thing in it. "Wow...don't crack that one, I bet it could kill us. What are these things for anyway?" A blink then a the sound of metal.

She smirked at the two boys as violet eyes narrowed. "Naughty boys."

"I'm a necromancer, yes. we don't deal with removing souls intact. we deal with controlling and manipulating the already dead, or tearing into the flesh and soul with poison and disease. the only way we have of removing a soul cleanly and intact requires a rather time consuming ritual which I don't think either of us have the patience for at the moment. So unless you think you can stop what your doing, make sure my son and my family is healthy for the next three or four months of preparation, then you're going to have to divulge a faster method, aren't you."

sheathing his sword and crossing his arms.

"And before you dig into memories and bring up a particular name, that was done using tools that I don't have. and spells that I can't use. I may know necromancy, but am by no means that high of an expert. one of the drawbacks of taking up the sword."

watching his son and glancing back at her.

"Besides, how do I know a trickster like you will keep your word. I could just kill you, destroy my son's soul. it might be better in the long run than to have it eaten away so you can use him as a vessel. even if I do what you're asking."

He thought he was going to outsmart her. By not having his own way of doing such a clean cut thing, he was looking to see what she was using to do such things. Or rather what she was using on his son so he could figure out how to counteract her. “Fine then I’ll give you something.” Sure she would…just not what she was using because she certainly wasn’t going to slice off a finger or something for him. A sigh from her then as if she was irritated before a look to the little elf that lifted his head to her with a babbly word or to it seemed. “Don’t assume what you don’t know what I’m doing. Souls are mere fodder to me, and I’ve no care in indulging in them myself. More plant food than anything.” Another sigh and she snapped her fingers, a thin metal rod no bigger than a needle in circumference dropping into her hand, about a foot in length with what seemed to be a ball of light attached to the opposite side of the hollow point. “Here…aim for the heart.” Smile that said ‘I’m not telling you more than that’. After all…she had used this on them, but not to it’s full magnitude. Just a little.
--
He rolled his eyes. “Learn to walk…it’s not that hard. How long have you been living down here? Even my wife can walk better and she’s surface born.” Continuing to lead on a hand resting on his hip as if he were holding onto a sword hilt, though there was no at his side. “Strategy, why head where the enemy watches when you can merely head for the shadows and take their backs when they’re not looking?”
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Well she was fun and compliant. They managed their way into the place and he brought her to another room. Where Sevilin and Kelligrin were apparently.

“You stabbed her?”

”Didn’t want to take any chances.”

“You know the rules, no killing until we know we don’t need them. Heal her. Just make the pain linger.” Watching as his son did so with a flare of light it seemed and he adjusted his hold on Kel before brushing a hand through Faate’s hair and turning a look to Zahara. “It’s only one little elf, you can always have another you know. You’re making this hard on yourself.”

He tapped against the crystal with his sword, listening to the pinging sound it made before a look over to that voice. In his head he echoed his friend’s feeling on the situation. “I don’t think hi is the best answer…can we take her or no? I mean come on do we have any alternate plans or tricks…fight…or run away screaming like toddlers?”