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Shouting in horror at the griffin that was suddenly reduced from predator to prey instantaniously, Laura stayed as near to the wall as she could. With Kedri nearest to her, the woman reached to touch the creature's wing as she tried to make her way towards the exit.

She fully believed Leolin would follow her through the large manor out the front exit- away from the threat- but she was wrong.

A tamed beast, a hen-pecked racer- Leolin was never a very independant or brave griffin. But now, there were humans- his human- and a new friend that was in danger.

Leolin's wings flared, and he screeched at the black being that was a lot larger than he was. Purposely pushing Kedri back as he blotted the other griffin and the two women from sight, he was going to make damn sure he'd stand his ground until they were out.

Maybe it was the war griffin's gear he wore, or the rush of adreniline and fear of his favorite people being put in danger, but Leolin looked ready to fight. His talons clawed the earth, and he screeched at Abaddon once more.

"Hey! Ugly!" Seemed like the best way to threaten someone. "You weren't invited to this shindig!"

Deste was trying to speedily consider what route to take. While Mal's was definitely the fastest to get to the ground...he didn't necessarily want to get there himself. He needed to find the b*****d...or at least find Iris, get her to safety, and then find the b*****d....But damn it all to hell, Balsem was probably betting on him doing just that.

He had to at least try, and followed the one Mal had called 'Rem' into the hall...and was immediately assailed, in the form of a flying tackle that nearly bowled him over, by the person he'd rather not have to deal with at that point in time. But the almost-panicked look on her face (despite the familiar nickname of "Princeling!" sent his way) and the hard seriousness of her violet-blue eyes, told the man that Shane was likely on the same mission as he - find their former teacher.

"I need to find Iris," Deste said as he regained his balance, promptly shoving the girl off him.

"What we need to do, Deste, is get your a** out of here!"

He scowled and started to walk past her. "I'm not leaving until I know she's safe."

She sounded exasperated, considering the muttered, "And so the knight fell, trying to save the princess - who would have been right cozy in her little tower anyway - by trying to defeat the dragon."

Shane did, however, start running after him, somehow producing a set of daggers and a belt with a number of throwing knives from under her skir-...he didn't want to know. "Thanks, let's go."

"I have a feeling we won't need to go far...."

Deste glanced back at her as the pair began to descend the first flight of stairs at a run, taking note of the pensive look on her face. She was biting her lower lip in careful thought...the former rogue suddenly realized what she might be worried about. "Do you think he knows?"

"Knows I'm here? Oh yes, of course. He's a servant of God and the friekin' Devil, after all." Hmph. Her sarcasm could be taken one of two ways - she was either worried, or wasn't. Best to expect the worst and prepare better. "But I don't know if he knows who I've become. We might be able to use that to our advantage."

"We'll use what we've got. We'll have to."

She gave a heavy sigh as the duo reached the bottom of the stairs and began running off down the hall, on Deste's perception that Iris might be up on this floor. "This is all your fault, Princeling!"

"...Shut up and run..."

------

Abaddon lowered his head to his groaning prey's throat, piercing the throat in an almost casual manner. As the red blood flowed and the dying beast gave a last shudder, the brute was overcome with a calculating insanity. Bloodlust. He wanted more, even though, surprisingly, he wasn't as hungry as he thought he would be. The fear satisfied him, filling every inch of his body with delight as it spread and rebounded back. 'Like a drug,' the one-handed human had called it. Intoxicating and driving.

The first to openly challenge him was a creature of white, but patterned with a color the same shade that dripped from the beast's open maw. But that challenger was followed by more, as if the primary rally had given others the courage - or rather, the stupidity - to try and band together to fight him. Most were spreading their wings, rearing, trying to make themselves look bigger.

Pitiful.

Hissing with every intent to maliciously kill any who attacked, the black beast of hell reared himself, his massive, powerful wings outstretched, challenging the wingspan - and likely beating the rest - in sheer size. He roared again, the battlecry not of a bird of prey, but one more like that of those ancient, winged and flying serpents known as dragons.

In the past, centuries upon centuries ago, this black creature could have been a match for those creatures. He was weakened, still, after his enslavement to the underground sealing, but it was only a matter of time. Regardless, this was a good place to start. He would slowly, but surely, regain the empire of fear that he had lost.

He focused first on the red one, joined by one who was of a green hue, and then yet another who was black on white. Snarling, he dropped from his rearing pose and charged.

((For now, Abaddon is going after Elrok and the others he just saw. I'd write more, but I need to sleep. Will post more on Evil Chap tomorrow!))

((To make things fair, I'm going to roll Two 6-sided dice when it comes to the fight. The first will indicate Abaddon's action (1-2 attack, 3-4 doge, 5-6 counter), and the second will indicate his success within the scope of the first (1-2 successful, 3-4 somewhat, 5-6 failure).
A blank post indicates that I'm currently working on what he's doing.

Blaaah. I don't know what to do, so be prepared for a horrid post. xP))

The black creature was preparing his attack, when the shriek of another griffin caught his attention.

Whirling and coming to an immediate stop, the griffin hissed viciously, daring whoever was about to attack him to even try. Who would be foolish enough to challenge him? That call had indeed sounded like a battlecry...he saw a tawny-colored male charging his way. His attacker leapt, talons outstretched...he was going for his neck.

Roaring, Abaddon reared, slashing with one of his lion-like foreclaws. The strike didn't catch Leolin - luckily for the smaller male - but a wildly swinging wing from the beast did. Striking his opponent's assailing claws with the elbow-joint of his left wing, the black griffin jumped back rearing with another roar, daring his smaller foe to try again.

When the elbow knocked his talons away, the griffin took a tumble into Abaddon's stomach. The tawny fellow was sprawled on the ground, and in his haste to get onto his two pairs of very different legs, Leolin stumbled and flailed like a fish out of water. Jaw trembling slightly as he let out a desperate squeak in effort to call for help, Leolin knew he was at a clear disadvantage after falling. At best, he may have knocked the wind out of Abaddon, at the worst: given his enemy a very large opening.

Large eyes stared, hardly daring to blink, up at the massive beast that was his opponent. Every sensible impulse in his mind told him to run away, but at the moment he was petrified and shaking in front of his adversary. Those large green eyes of his never left Abaddon's face, though right now he was at an impass of thought. The impulses never seemed to reach his limbs, and Leolin suddenly realized what exactly he'd gone about doing. What was he doing?! He wasn't a fighter! He was a racer! With a delicate frame to make him lighter and faster; in no way was it ment for a brawl with a beast like this!

Elrok screeched as the fiend hit Leolin, trying to tempt the beast's anger in his direction. It was actions like that that were going to get everyone hurt, or killed. He saw Sekhmet jump beside Aeron - he might not be too happy about that - and start her threatening, while Ma'at was doing the same some yards away. There were a few humans out here too...that was either really good, or really bad.

"Get up!" he called out to Leolin. "Hurry! Get out of the way before he goes for you again! We have to attack him together!"

-_-_-_-_-_-

"What in the Lord's name are you doing?!"

Sekhmet looked up to see Ma'at beside her, trying to keep her attention on both the beast and Sekhmet...which was probably a dangerous move. The black female knew that she would be in for punishment later, for showing up here, breaking out of the house, etc etc...but right now, she didn't care. And damn Ma'at for caring, even though she only did it out of concern for Sekhmet.

"Could you focus on the bigger problem for one second" Sekhmet hissed, scooting closer to Aeron and away from Ma'at. Seriously! There was this giant beast in front of them, and Ma'at was mad at Sekhmet for being here!

....wait....ok, so, that made a little bit of sense. Not much, though.

-_-_-_-_-_-

How...interesting.

The green and white griffin stayed near the outskirts of the fray, watching all the others go 'up in arms', so to speak. Oh, she would help - she was pretty much obligated to...but right now, no one was doing anything. They were all just standing there.

....at least until the one griffin decided to be hero, and was justly punished. After that, though, they were all still again.

She heard the other one of her coat's pattern - except, this one was in red, while she was green - call out to the fallen griffin. Smart one, he was...or he seemed. It was entertaining how some males decided to act like knights of old whenever there was danger. This one was perfect at it.

Her calm and somewhat cold gaze continued sweeping over the crowd as she waited in the wings. Until she had to act, she would at least watch the show.

....was that Varun coming this way?

That was all too easy. He had expected Deste to freeze, but..not to that extent. How fortunate. Sadly, He was rudely interrupted at that point by the stupid actions of his other brat. Suddenly finding himself assaulted by Shane, Balsem moved fluidly and with the ferocity of the beast he truly was the instant before contact with his skin was made. Hmmm...regardless of Deste's actions, his other pupil had, admittedly, become a little faster. Too bad that speed was still nothing against his own. Balsem had a speed that could be matched by very, very few other humans. That was one of the many things that make him smirk at that moment.

And laugh. Though that part was mostly because of her drastic change.

"Of course I am, why else would I be here? Besides finding you again, that is...My my, you have changed, 'Shane'." he hissed, tilting his head with a frighteningly amused gaze. "You ran away from me, my pretty little pet. Foolish. I would expect that you knew better by now. Guess I was wrong."

He released Shane with a grunt, throwing her several feet away from the little trio of the two wolves and the sheep. She was not unconscious...but he felt very little threat coming from her, so he didn't feel the need to hold her. The girl was next to useless compared to him, except for...well, that's why he kept her. Best to keep that quiet. Ah! But back to the matter at hand. Using what was in fact his only physical hand, the man reached up to wipe at the blood near his mouth, spitting the current remnants of the still-bleeding wound onto the ground beside him as he stared at Shane. The little whore managed to hit him...not bad. But she, they, would have to do infinitely better if they planned on getting away with any dignity.

The snake tossed his head, throwing strands of red and white hair from his vision, and faced Deste and the Prince's woman. She stood beside him now, not behind him as most women probably would - despite her fear, she had a strength in her eyes that made her choose to still put herself in the line of fire. Brave girl. Or stupid. He knew not, and (at the moment) cared not, which was the actual case. Regardless of her, though...Deste seemed to be snapping out of his little coma, ever so slowly. He looked good and strong, but not up to par with the ridiculously intense regiment that Balsem demanded. So, this is what a normal life had done to his little prodigy...pitiful. And he hadn't even seen the full extent of the damage as of yet.

"This is no way to greet your teacher, boy," the man said quietly, a snarl hidden behind the calm voice. He felt the patience he had maintained for months slipping beneath his grasp. "Snap out of it and say hello, even your woman had the decency to do that much. You're making this all incredibly boring, and you know how I despise boredom."

Balsem was careful to keep his attention behind him as well as in front as he waited for a response. Leaving anyone to your back was never a good idea, even in the case of one with his skills.

-_-_-_-_-

Damn that bird of his! Bothersome thing in situations like this. When you could win, win. When you couldn't win, run. She wasn't following the rules!

The auburn-haired gentleman with the somewhat 'Ohshit'-type look in his eye stood with a nervous stance, trying to decide what to do. He could leave. Ooooh how quickly he could leave...but as much of a b*****d as he was, he couldn't leave his somewhat-faithful pet. Thankfully, she wasn't in the fray yet. If she was, he'd be forced to leave, as he couldn't stand up to a brute that large. She was a smart girl, she'd leave. Hopefully.

Ah, but he still had opportunity in which to do something productive! Brows furrowing in anxious frustration, he bellowed out. "LUNELAI. 'ERE. NOW. ON'T TAKE OFF MORE 'AN YE CAN CHEW, 'ILLY BIRD!!"

She just looked at him...and went back to watching the fight. Dammit!

-_-_-_-_-_-

Iris barely had time to think as she was suddenly pushed away from Balsem by this strange woman - the woman previously attending to the bar, actually - who was soon punished by this demon. Very soon as a matter of fact. She had never seen any man move so fast. Ever.

Her fear kept her from doing much more than regaining her balance, trying to let her mind catch up with all that had just occurred, and moving to stand beside Deste. Why had Deste not moved?! Still?! She stole a glance at him, to find that he had been momentarily stripped of that ability. At least, that's what it looked like. The woman had very seldom actually been afraid of anything, and never to this degree, so that had to be the case. This man, beast, 'Balsem', whatever he was....she knew he was very, very bad news. And not just in the scope of the moment.

Every basic human instinct told her to run. Finding a bit of courage still within her, she refused. Iris couldn't even find words to properly describe all this 'Balsem' seemed to be, but she would not run from anyone. Tearing her eyes away from her love, she stole yet another glance behind this man at 'Shane'. That's what he called her, at least. He knew her. He knew Deste. Iris' brown eyes focused on this man. This Balsem had tricked her, such danger had been so well disguised as a well-meaning stranger...it was amazing. How had she been so stupid?! How could she let herself fall for such an apparent trap?!

...that was the problem, actually. It wasn't apparent at all. He was the well-meaning stranger when he came to her, he just..changed.

Nyhali had one javelin stuck in the ground, one in her throwing hand, the long spear in the other, and the quiver of javelins over her shoulder. She glanced back for a moment to see Rem attempting to drag Laura away and motioned with her head for Kedri to follow before the griffoness could slink her way forward. It wasn't that she actually expected Kedri to stay out of the fight, not with two friends putting themselves in danger. She just wanted Kedri to make sure that Rem got Laura out of immediate danger.

As she turned her head back to the creature she spotted the man they'd named to be Malcolm Lansing. She stared straight at him for a moment, hefting her javelin slightly and cocking her head as if to ask, "You have something to add to this?" But just then a great black and blue griffon, though not as large as the hellbird, managed to knock the beast back. He payed for it, but it was almost the opening she needed...

Then Leolin darted in for his tail and in the split second of distraction she ran forward and hurled the javelin at the Black Beast. Not at a wing or his head or neck... no. She aimed for his mid-section, the area right around his abdomen and thigh. If she hit him, she might not strike a fatal blow, but she'd at least reduce his mobility.

~~~~~

Kedri fluffed up partly out of indignation and partly out of fear, but she decided to do what Nyhali wanted and get it over with. She stormed after the retreating Rem and struggling Laura, placed the top of her head squarely in the middle of the woman's back, and started pushing her (and indicentally Rem) to get her at least inside the building. She also stuck her wings out to the sides to keep the woman from trying to turn.

As soon as the two were some two dozen paces inside the building she turned and scrambled back toward the door, claws and talons clicking and scraping on the hard floor as she launched herself back outside to try and retrieve Nyhali, and hopefully Leolin, in one piece.