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The blade stopped and zipped back to his gauntleted hand a mere instant after missing it's attack. He watched the hound jump towards him, explode into a few more versions of itself and then speak to him. Not something you see every day, however that did not detract from the fact that they were simple hell hounds with a sub-par master.

"Hmph, who's playing games ... I've come to see Draeken die and I'm not leaving untill he does. Don't even try to stop me Sai, you little tag along wench. Shouldn't you be off playing with that inferior being Truinthil or latching yourself to some other powerful being since you can't fend for yourself?"

The air around Xol would briefly shimmer before exploding outwards quite suddenly. A trick he picked up from one Anastacius Focht. Hard air. It would move a great distance outward and concuss or destroy any living or dead being it touched with it's tremendous waves of subsonic sound. Essentially causing their atoms to reverberate so violently that they would literally explode from it.

Z paused at the sight of the hounds. He hadn't remembered them being there last time, so he was fully unprepared to deal with them. He raised his hands slightly, palms out in a semi-submissive gesture and took several steps back.

And out of nowhere came a massive sword, flying towards the guardians. He blinked, looking quickly up in the direction it had come. A flying man. He'd seen some pretty strange things when he was soldiering for the Empire, but this topped them all. He'd never seen a man fly unaided.

The subsequent events took place far too rapidly for him to follow. The next thing he knew, there was one hound on the ground and several in the air surrounding the one who flew. And they spoke. At least, he assumed they spoke. He could see their mouths moving, but he couldn't hear what was said.

Then some invisible force knocked him back several feet. He landed hard with an "oomph". Sitting up, he rubbed the back of his head. He had hit it on a rock when he landed, and now it throbbed as if it where going to explode. He sat there, huddled around himself, rocking to and fro, holding his wound.

He had no idea what had just happened, but he knew he had to find safety quickly. Z stood as quickly as he could on wobbly legs and hurried rather unsteadily back towards the forest.

Z stopped just shy of this newcomer. Geez. How tall was this guy?

He blinked at the other's words, wondering what exactly he could mean. Glancing over his shoulder at the flying one and the hounds, perhaps he'd picked a bad time to return? Or maybe the perfect time, depending on how one looked at it...

He gave a slight nod of submission, curious as to what was going on. Maybe if this guy let him tag along, he could find out. Z took a few steps to one side, wishing to follow behind the giant.

Seven feet, he says. Z himself stood at six feet one inch. But that was still a full eleven inches taller than he. The only other person he'd met taller than himself was Shapeshifter, the lumbering giant that once served the Lady as one of the Ten Who Where Taken. That was not an encounter he wished to relive...

"So, you're here to help Draeken, then?" Z asked after a few brief seconds of concideration. He would not perticipate in any action that would harm a member of the Company

Phia looked between D and Sai. She didn't trust Sai, she was running out of time, she grabbed the pendant from her dresser and shoved it in the now changed Erike's hand.

"Take 'im an' go back, stay with Joel I'll come fer ye when I can..." She kissed her brothers cheek, he smiled and hugged her tightly, picking up his nephew, the portal opened and he stepped through it closed shortly after. So many people, most were evil. She was uncomfortable. She grabbed D's hand and looked to him.

"I think that Phia has chosen an even more safe place. A parallel reality if you will. I appreciate your offering to spare our newborn from harms way, however." Holding Phia's hand tightly he smiled at her. "Everything will be quite alright. There is no need to worry." He felt much differently, seeing as how things could go any which way in the near future. He was feeling all sorts of presences around the Mansion. The time was near when he would have to face what may well be his biggest challenge ever. The fight for his way of life, his ancestors soul, and the way the lives of those closest to him play out. He was far from calm on the inside.

The portal from the realm of dreams opened silently and suddenly within the walls of Draeken's manor. The portal took those who had stepped through it exactly where it had intended to. It did indeed seem that, while he had trouble with certain other actions, portals through time worked exactly as intended.

Due to certain chronal instabilities and factors within the portal, Erudemasa, the last to go through the portal was the first to emerge from the other side. This was just another of the many confusing and paradoxical actions that seemed to follow the young avatar around. He wore his normal clothing, which did not look like they were well suited for fighting in at all. He carried with him a dual pronged spear. The weapon looked like a pair of red spiraling ribbons up to the point where they separated to create the dual spear prongs. The edges leading up to the points gave off the appearance of an edge, implying that it might function either as a slashing or a piercing weapon. All in all, it might be somewhat frightening, if it weren't for the fact that it was far too large for one of Erudemasa's size to wield well in combat.

Shuddering violently as a grin spread across his lips and the sound of bones cracking and shifting within his own body Truinthil began laughing. "They come! Oh Light, but they are finaly here! Let the fun and games begin, I say! Let the torturing, the killing, maiming, the pillaging and the morbid dismemberment of children begin!" Cackling still he bent at the waist and wrapped his arms around himself as if to keep his sides from bursting open, which they very well might have with how hard he was laughing.

Then, wiping tears from his eyes, Truinthil grapped the man next to him by the shoulder and tightened his hand rather viciously. "Do not flee this place. I do not expect to see you in any battle that may take place, whatever side you may choose, but do not flee. I wish for you and all near by to witness what I am about to do." That sinuous smile that was on his lips cracked apart a bit to show his teeth, giving him an almost feral look as he began almost dancing forward towards the Mansion at a slow pace. His eyes began to change colors from gold to black to red and from blue to green all in a rapid and random sequence. The sound of bones churning within him still echoed from his body, though no physical change was seen on him.