Breathe air, breathe. Focus Reggie. Take a deep breath, let everything flow by the wayside, falling off you like water off a duck’s back. Or an otter’s back, since, y’know, Shellcracker. Heh, I snort a laugh at my own stupid inner narrative, shaking my head. It’s probably the closest I’m going to get to being relaxed about this situation though. Come on Reggie, get this antisorcery stuff started again before some random goon from above decides to come down and check in with their lord Al’pa’ca.

Grr, I just can’t keep it working for more than a split second at a time, and engaging it is taking like a minute at a time. Grumbling, I admit to my pals, “Guys, this ability is harder to get working than I thought. We’re going to have to basically hop through a trap exactly in the split second I can manage to keep it up, then wait for me to get it up again,—.”

Teuila smirks, cutting me off with a mischievous glint in her eyes, simply sounding out in a teasing lilt, “Phraaaasing,” after which she chuckles. Her laughter as always is light, melodious, infectious, and I can't help rolling my eyes and chuckling along with her while shaking my head incredulously. She shouldn't even have a concept of-- then again we've been away from Can'Z'aas long enough, and she hangs out with Iylynila who reads smutty romance novels. At this point, I should probably just stop expecting my inner circle to be innocent Can'Z'aasians any longer. Besides, even Lil is snickering along with her, and he’s always been the most innocent of all of us.

Sighing while attempting to stifle my own chuckle, I joke, “Stow it you two goons, this is serious. I’m constantly bending and breaking the rules of magic, and I never know what the prices are going to be. I need your guys’s help on this. Lil, can you shrink down to sphere form? Te, can you grab us both? I’ll signal with a shock as I’m activating the ability. We’ll have fractions of seconds to make it past traps. None of us will have our magic or our items active, except maybe our Latents, so it’ll all be based on your actual muscles, and their speed. Which, y’know, for you is still ridiculous.”

Of course Te looses a Shellcracker Family Squee at having her hard work and abilities acknowledged. I can’t help smiling broadly at how pleased she is from such a simple off-handed compliment. Sighing contentedly for a moment, I wish I could bask in the radiant joy of seeing and feeling Teuila’s happiness, but hopefully there’ll be time for that later. For now, we need to get a move on. Glancing between the two, they make note of my shift in demeanor, and nod solemnly. No more time for joking around. Now’s the time to get things done.

Seeing Lil fluidly shapeshift, when I remember on Can’Z’aas that the last times he’d been able to practice, he wasn’t very adept at it, reminds me how far we’ve come, and grown, since we died. Friggin’ heck that thought is so weird. My dragon best friend got better at shapeshifting after dying. How in the world—. Who else could possibly ever think that thought, and have it not be a hallucination? Sighing and rattling my skull, I grasp Lil’s spherical body close in my arms as he wraps his tail around them. Te gets into position, in something like a modified runner’s stance, and she grasps me under one arm, while the other touches the ground. I feel her Latent activating, reducing our gravitational impedances to zero.

When I’m sure Te is in position, I begin focusing on trying to engage the wildly specific combination of Fel magic, Honoris Causa, Latent, and Rayileklian leyline binding that lets me mimic anti-sorcery for the briefest of moments. Thankfully my internal electrokinesis is biological at this point, so I can send the signal to Teuila at essentially light-speed, or thought-speed, by sending a nervous system spark from mine to hers. The instant my Honoris Causa manifests enough Void to encapsulate the three of us, Teuila takes off like a rocket, covering two hallways before I have to signal for her to stop near the edge of another trap. She’s ridiculously fast and powerful, easily hitting cheetah top speeds, or better, even without her magic.

Even still, my senses pick up an elongated trap, down the entire next hallway, and possibly around the corner. I don’t think we’ll be able to make it through the entire thing in the duration of my anti-sorcery flicker. Sighing, I analyze my senses in retrocognition, attempting to determine another route through this floor’s complex layout, from our current position. Thankfully, it seems like we can bypass that hallway, if we take a right over here, and then head into a room on our left. The room does have some ornate stonework, possibly statuary.

My genre senses are saying seventy five percent chance that the room itself has, or is, some kind of trap, or guardian. Yeah, thanks genre senses, I could figure that one out on my own. Still, better than whatever hell of magics would rain down on us in that hallway, probably alerting the entirety of the assembled horde up above that we’re down here. Mentally chuckling to myself, I roll my eyes at being snarky with myself and my own senses.

Flicking my head towards the open room, Te and Lil understand my silent intentions immediately. Lil begins to revert to his bulldog-dragon-like form, which takes only moments. Puffing air out through my cheeks, I steel myself, fairly certain we’re about to be in at least a mild spot of trouble. Breathing as deeply as I can, yawning and sighing, I nod to my companions, and we advance into the room together.

I’m not even surprised when the entrance of the room slams shut behind us, and its exit slams shut ahead of us. It leaves us in pitch-black darkness for a moment, but that’s hardly an issue for adventurers with our suites of magical items, abilities, and powers. Darkness doesn’t scare us, hell, it’s a comfort. Nine times out of ten, my senses work better than an enemy’s in pure darkness. So no, the room shutting on us didn’t manage to scare me. What does set me on edge is the number of presences I feel in the room, and how I’m certain all of their eyes lock onto me for some reason.

The moment we’d stepped into the room, I felt it. A shift, a subtle change in the air, a prickling sensation at the back of my neck. I crank my aura senses to the max, and auras flare all about the room, highlighting the presences in the room with the unmistakable glow of magic. Sighing, I nod while rolling my eyes. Yeah, that’s about what I should have expected for the ‘easier’ route closer and closer to Al’pa’ca’s seat of power.

The room's lack of light hadn't prepared me for the sights that greet me now that my eyes have adjusted. There, in the corners, several massive somethings stir. As usual on Rayileklia, at least, in the latter half of my journey, I’m met with creatures straight out of dark fairy tales, their skin a stormy blue-gray, like the belly of a thundercloud, ironic. Or maybe the opposite of ironic, considering where we are. Regardless, they're crouched low, muscles coiled, and there's a hostility in their postures that tells me these won’t be something I can offer mercy to.

Even just examining one of them is enough to verify my worst hunches. Looking at the nearest one, its eyes catch the light of crackling electricity in the darkness. They, like every pair of aggressive, hostile eyes in this room, are fixed on me, and they’re two bright spots in the gloom. I hate that their gazes convey intelligence, but also malevolence. I’d rather they be obviously mindless killing machines. They’re sizing us up, seeing us as prey, or threats. The ridges above those eyes are drawn down in a scowl, and despite this being a single room on a long path deeper into the fortress, I can't help feeling a tad bit daunted at trying to get out of this without using any resources.

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The gargoyle-esque things are built like tanks, all power and raw strength. Their hides look like they could shrug off anything I threw at ‘em if I were some ordinary Rayileklian adventurer. Unfortunately, when trying to conserve my resources, I might just be only as powerful as an average ordinary Rayileklian adventurer. Chuckling silently, I roll my eyes and shake my head incredulously at myself. No time to get self-deprecating Reggie, focus. Right, right. See if there’s anything else you can learn about them before they pounce.

Hm. Well, the stone spines along their backs are bristling and crackling with electricity that dances between pairs of them like Jacob’s ladders. That’s a pretty good way to signify danger, almost as directly as holding up an orange sign with the word itself printed across it, heh. The gargoyle things aren’t making any vocal sounds, but the silence is worse—it means they’re trying to be stealthy, and something that big trying to be stealthy is only ever bad news.

Focusing on the nearest one again, I can’t decide whether to frown, or grimace. Its mouth is slightly open, and even from here, I can see the glint of teeth that could tear through flesh and bone without effort. It doesn't have wings, but it doesn't need them—not with that kind of muscle. I can see its tail now, stubby, short, yet thick and powerful, swishing slowly from side to side. The whole creature's like a living weapon, and I’ve got no doubts it could snap me like a twig if I didn’t engage some of my defensive magics.

I still have to preserve my resources, we’ve got probably at least seven more obstacles between us and Al’pa’ca, so I’m more of a hindrance, a liability here, than an asset. I wonder if I could bypass some more obstacles safely, using only a few resources by say, dropping us down a floor. I can’t sense a level beneath us, though I know we’re not at the bottom level yet, so there’s likely too much distance between us and the floor below to get there in a single casting of bypassed-wall. It’s been like that ever since our first drop down a level, once we got past crew-quarters levels, into these more trapped labyrinthine structures.

I need to think fast. I take a slow, quiet breath, trying not to make any sudden moves. I've got to come up with a plan, because if those things decide I'm their next meal, I'm not sure I'd bet on my chances. This looks like it might get rough for me even with Te and Lil at my side. If either of them get pinned or distracted for more than a few instants, I’m dog-chow, or uh, gargoyle-dog chow, or something. Sighing, I can’t think of anything more I can glean in the split instant it’s taking me to analyze their appearances.

It’s only been fractions of an instant since we stepped into the room, my thoughts and senses taking things in at light speed, but that’s all the time I’m going to get to analyze the gargoyles. Groaning quietly, I mutter, "Uh, guys?" My voice barely audible, even to my own ears. I try not to laugh as I grumble a cliché line, "We've got company."

My Wings, the Valkyrie, Te, nods as she draws Mjolnir, her eyes scanning the room as she adjusts to the darkness a split second later than me. "Stone gargoyles with—, lightning powers?" she murmurs, her gaze fixed on the sparks crackling up the creatures’ spines, and around one of the gargoyle's mouths. "That's a new one."

Chuckling, I nod to Te as I try to take a deep breath and focus. There’s other hostiles in the room, other creatures, if they could be called that. Okay, focus. What the hell are they? It's like someone raided a tech museum and went nuts with the parts. A little bit like Littlebit’s automatons. Sighing, I facepalm and try not to chuckle, realizing how easy her name is to get redundant with.

So, anyway, these other foes are brass and copper metallic juggernauts. Similar to the canine-like gargoyle creatures, they’re standing on four legs. Only these robotic automaton things are all gleaming metal and wires. They look quite a bit like Triorgraiz’s drake mount, Fennel, only out of some retro-futuristic nightmare. They’ve got coils on their backs, sparking with electricity, making my hair stand on end just looking at ‘em.

The bodies’re armored, covered in this mesh that looks like it could take a sledgehammer hit from someone with my level of strength without denting. And the eyes are like old vacuum tubes, glowing with this eerie blue that's probably supposed to be intimidating. Well, congrats Al’pa’ca, it'd be working for anyone who wasn’t as seasoned as us, and even I’m not all that happy about their appearances. As I begin to wonder how they got the glass to make vacuum tubes, I roll my eyes at myself. Right, sand dragon. Silicates.

Ugh, I’m taking too long to come up with a plan. Now they’re moving, gears and pistons whirring quietly. Too quiet for something in their size. They’ve got cables running down their sides, thick as my wrists, and they're pulsing. If these things’re as dangerous as they look, I've got to come up with something fast if I want to help Lil and Te in this fight. Which, of course I do, because right now, I'm feeling about as useful, and safe, as a kite in a thunderstorm. The irony of the analogy is not lost on me.

Lil, towering beside me, catching my gaze, follows it, appraising the robotic drakes himself. He lets out a low growl, his nostrils flaring. "And those rustbuckets... they're not just any robots. They're dragon-bots. I can feel it."

I nod, my mind racing. We have to be careful. Al'pa'ca and his horde are close, and the last thing we need is to alert them to our presence. "Alright guys, let’s handle this quietly, and efficiently. We can't afford to waste too many resources here."

Lil's fiery eyes meet mine, and of course they flash with comprehension. Lil agrees as best he can, "I'll try Rej pal. But if things get dicey—."

I raise a hand, cutting him off. "I know, buddy. Just, let's try to be subtle, okay?"

Teuila smirks, twirling Mjolnir effortlessly as she cracks wise, "Subtlety's my middle name."

Fighting my laughter to keep from snorting wildly, I can't help but at least loose a chuckle, despite the situation. Te, and subtle, in the same sentence? Hah. A creature of subtlety she is not. She may be graceful, fast, and powerful, but she’s also full of explosive force, quite literally. As the stone gargoyles and draconic robotic constructs continue to animate, beginning their predatory prowl around us, Lil's eyes narrow, his fiery gaze assessing the situation further.

Groaning himself now, like I’d been, Lil grumbles, "Grr, these stupid buckets of bolts," he begins, his voice low and throaty, with a sort of anger I’ve heard from him only a few times before, "they've got dragonforce inside ‘em, desecrating dead dragons, stolen heart’s-blood, on something inside ‘em. Onyx Dawn dead dragons at that, momma’s old friends. If we don't do something about it, they'll just rebuild after we break ‘em. That’d be mega annoying, mega mega mega annoying."

I blink in surprise at Lil’s revelation. Lil picked up that the dragonforces inside our foes have hints of Kinzul on them, a fact even I didn’t pick up on right away. His massively potent analysis skill from Can’Z’aas must be bleeding over into Rayileklia the longer we’re here, or maybe he just loves his adoptive mother, my wife, that intensely. I’m going to choose to believe the former.

In that same instant, Teuila, as cheekily as possible, smirks and cracks her knuckles, her eyes alight with mischief. With faux-innocence, she begins, "Buckets of bolts, rustbuckets, nuts and bolts, whatever, doesn’t matter. So, what you're saying is, first we crack the shell, then we crack the nuts inside?"

My mind slams into a brick wall and goes blank for a moment, the familiar sensation of a mental BSOD hitting me like, well, a ton of bricks. Images of early system OS error screens flash before my eyes, and I can almost hear the droning beep of a system failure. Shaking my head to clear the unexpected pop-culture reference from my mind, I manage to sputter out, "Te... did you just...? Never mind. Focus, Reggie. Focus."

Lil look between the two of us, a hint of confusion in his eyes but apparently decides it’s probably better not to ask. "Right," he rumbles, taking a deep breath, preparing for battle. As he snorts like a bull preparing for a charge, Lil offers up one of my favorite cliché lines, "Let's do this."