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Vincent watched as the assassins eliminated all but one of his bat minions. "Damn! Soldiers to me, circle my position." The forces did as ordered and encircled Vincent, leaving no exploitable gap. Vincents form began to shift and shake as his body changed into a large wolf; the new form of Vincent sniffed out the assassins positions and alerted the soldiers to their locations.

There! Vincent located a group of moving assassins moments before some vile odor infested the air. Painfully Vincent reverted to his normal form, still aware of where the assassins were moving. "Agh!" Vincent clenched his face, the odor still clinging to his sinuses; recovering his composure, "Men back to back strictly defensive movements, watch out for bolts. I'm going to get me some blood!"

Vincent lunged and clung to the walls, swiftly climbing up the wall he caught the attention of one of the assassins. Bad move, and it will be your last! Vincent locked eyes with the assassin and drove the spear of his will deep into his psyche. And now your mine! The assassin unloaded a crossbow bolt deep into his own throat falling to the ground, dead...

More of his soldiers fell to the ground bolts piercing their formation, outflanked by the assassins. Damn! "Men, perfect phalanx all areas covered!" The soldiers did as ordered bringing about a covering of shields that protected the vitals of each soldiers. True, the bolts could still strike them, but there would be no more instant deaths.

Vincent returned to the task at hand, leaping farther up the wall and grabbing a fleeing assassin by the leg, dragging the fool close enough to sink his fangs into the flesh. Sweet juicy life blood spilled from the wound as Eilov drained the living of every bit; and then dropping the corpse to the ground. Blood streaking from his mouth Vincent made his way towards his next victim, blood lust in his undead eyes...

The assassins were starting to catch on to just what kind of trouble they had stumbled into. Bolts whizzed and sunk into Vincents undead flesh, No sunlight to stop me here fools!

The apparent leader of the force gave a sign and the others focused fire only upon him. Taking aim the commander seemed intent on piercing Vincents heart, the bolt flew threw the air the aim was perfect, but Vincent was ready. Discorporating into gas he slipped into the vents of the structure and used the air flow to get behind another assassin on the wall.

Returning to his solid form he grabbed the fool and drained him dry. Laughing maniacally, "Men keep up the defense! These mortals are mine!" Vincent locked eyes with another assassin who had noticed his presence to late too save his comrade and now too late to save himself, the man swallowed a vile of his own poison and fell, dying from the craft of his own art.

Vincent discorporated once more this time traveling into the armory of the house and returning to a solid form; grabbing a few spears he discorporated once more and vented to the top of the walls.

The men were starting to lose their strength, the poison was faster acting than Vincent had hoped. Launching the new armaments he impaled two assassins but the rest dodged artfully. They must be waiting for reinforcements, damn, I've got to work faster! Vincent leaped through the air, his muscles rippling and contorting as he took the form of a large wolf; catching another assassin by the leg he devoured the fleshy being whole, blood dripping from his new fangs.

Leaping forward once more he ripped a gaping wound across another, crushing him under a clawed paw. Only a few left now, I'll lose all my men at this rate! Reverting, "Lolth save your house so it may cause yet more chaos in your name!"

Moments later, the squad of shock troops arrived at their destination. Having found a suitable location to return to the Material Plane, off to the right flank of Aleanduis' remaining defenders, Valagh made a pass with his hand and formed the rippling shadowy planar threshold. The rippling extradimensional curtain was wide enough for the entire squad to cross through at once, and tall enough to reach the stalactites above. "Once you pass through the planar boundary, you should be to the right flank of the defending forces," he said, taking wing to provide aerial support, if needed, before he made the return trip.

Malag's cloak fluttered as he watched the turn of events. Thunderstones were all well and good, but he'd been exposed to them before, and knew how to react; he dropped low and rolled backwards, out of range of the potent sonic blast. He recalled that certain monks could turn nearly any stone into a thunderstone, so he made a note to stay on guard for other attempts. His Shadow Guard was decimated, but he knew that his men would fight to then end; he took heart in the knowledge that his back-up had arrived, and it was only a matter of time before victory was theirs. He rose to his feet again, defiant.

"Hah; I feel no sympathy for those that have died; they served their purpose well. Tis a far less monstrous death to feel cold adamantine burst one's heart than to be cursed by Lolth for failure. I hold no pretenses about the Spider Queen's will, and I will never ape those who claim to comprehend her, but my survival rests on the fulfillment of her goals, and nothing will get in my way: not this House, not it's guards, and certainly not a few surprises. However, if you wish to know whom I serve, look around you: their insignia lies upon the shoulders of the fallen."

The corpses of the Shadow Guard showed the sigil of House Hun'Afin. A faint smirk crept across the Drow's features; he'd artfully been avoiding eye contact, and his ardent self-control made it a simple task.

"Bear in mind, vampire: we are here only to destroy Aleanduis. We have no quarrel with neutral parties or allies. You are a worthy foe indeed, and a potent warrior: it is a shame to see such potential wasted on these vermin. Do they truly deserve aid of a power like yourself? I am not implying that we do, but a careful review of your options may be in order. You needn't answer if it doesn't suit you: food for thought, and nothing more. Those who earn your loyalty are your choice and yours alone."

Sy passed through the shadow realm. Her ever wary eyes couldn't help but gaze at the landscape at first hand. She had never been on another plane before so curiosity got the better of her. Her warped vision starring at the twisted, inverted scenery made her feel as though she were in a state of euphoria. At first she felt totally lost in this other world. But then she heard Valagh's voice from afar, echoing in the distance. She used his voice as a guidance till she caught sight of him. Then she turned about and caught sight of the brutes looking all around, completely lost. Sy then gave a long whistle at them. Soon every one of them awoke from their daze and remembered their mission. They used Sy's whistle to catch sight of her and began to follow close behind. Sy then turned back around and began to follow Valagh's distorted form.

Before long, Valagh came to a halt. Sy watched as the half fiend summoned the doorway that would lead the squad back onto the martial plane. The area in which Valagh swept his hand made a ripple which formed an opening large enough to fit the entire crew.

Sy then stood to the side and allowed each of her men through. Tagerion being the obvious leader, first. Before Sy stepped through the curtain herself, she then looked back at Valagh's warped face and made a nod of acknowledgment and stepped through herself.

Once she was through, she then looked all around. Her vision returned back to normal as it adjusted to the usual sight on the martial plane.

She then spotted the Shadow Guard and Malag surrounded by Aleanduian soldiers.

Looks like I arrived just in time! If I had gotten here any later half of our troops would be dead! Never send a man to do a woman's job.

Sy acted fast as soon as she came back onto the martial plane and seen Malag surrounded. She then pulled away a few brutes and sent them towards the House, while she huddled the others and formed a quick formation. Sy then turned about and slipped her tiefling sword out of its sheath and pointed towards the surrounding Aleanduian guards, "CHAAAARGE!"

Before any of them could recognize the assault and turn to defend themselves, combat and carnage was upon them. Sy ran with the brutes, slowing up her pace towards the end so she could pull off one of her signature moves she often liked to use while in the mist of a war.

Using her agility and levitational powers, Sy placed one of her dainty feet between a brute's belt, sheath, and hip, using his split second stride as leverage. Using her hands, she placed them on his shoulders and kicked up. She then placed her feet on the brute's shoulders in place of her hands. In a flowing movement she straightened out her knees and used the action to launch herself in midair. With her jagged tiefling sword raised high above her head, Sy then brought it down to meet an enemy severed flesh between neck and shoulder. The blade went cleanly into the drow and out through his right armpit. Sy then landed on the ground behind the male and with a little bit more force, ripped the blade back out through the flesh. The jagged metal of the blade caused more damage out then going in and caused the carcass to let out a fountain of blood as the body tipped over into its own red pool at the drowess' feet.

"Looks like you guys can use a little back up..." Sy panted as she wiped the blood from her cheek before swinging her sword up and swiping it quickly to the right, beheading another solider. Then flipping the hilt in her hand, she placed her other hand on the bottom of the hilt and pushed the blade behind her on her right side to jab another drow in the gut as he fell to his knees and choked on his own blood before collapsing on the ground.

The other brutes rushed in and began to cause their own damage. Slicing and hacking away at every Aleanduian solider that was closest.

However whether anyone noticed this or not in the sudden combat, a few of the brutes that had been running behind hadn't joined in the fray. They had instead rushed into a clutter of stalagmites on the House's property. Sy however paid this no heed. She and the other brutes continued on their brutal combat. Showing no mercy.