The O'Tells estate servant hall was in shambles. Deep fighting had left great scars across several halls. The power that raged from from uncontrolled sword was still slowly tearing the room apart, and there was almost no stain glass that remained in the one window. Most of the glass had fallen outside, the only safety and good fortune.

The Servant Branch stood, letting the illusion drop from his clothes and his appearance. Marrin's sword was still gauging him, but it clearly didn't care about fashion.

The Shadow Warbler glittered and hummed, still trying to escape the wall. "What is this? What is this? Do we kill it? Do we keep it? What is this." But despite its nasty words, the Shadow Warbler seemed...subdued.

So, brandishing his assumed weapon, Daniel wished he could let the much more powerful Marrin go first. but power was an illusion.

"Now...It's time!" And Daniel pushed his focus and power downward. Whatever material this old and ancient crowbar was constructed from, it conducted lightning very well. Daniel pulled power, from the room, from his loosening restraints, and even stealing ever so carefully from the powerful Torn a Doe. Marrin had not the training, and as effective a teacher the Sword was, it could not supersede Marrin's established ability.

Daniel was a Servant now. But he was the Lordling who had sealed the Dead Dragon. His ability to gather the misused and wasted power before it scattered into the ether.

Standing tall and proud, despite wanting to sit down and take a nap, Daniel prepared his special move. Esra, unseen and probably hiding behind the pillars, aided Daniel.

With the last remnants of lighting, and using the last of the power generated in the Dungeon, Daniel launched an attack. At least the Game had faded somewhat after everything that happened with Kane.

Esra, unseen and probably hiding behind the pillars, aided Daniel, with an almost silent "gravity shot". Even with Esra's help, the power crashed from Daniel, and he felt like he may have thrown too much strength. Was it possible to throw one's spine into an attack?

But it was very effective, as the Shadow Warbler stumbled almost a third of the way back into the trap.

"Hmmm." Said Daniel, using his Elswith's large and in charge voice. "I think I have the best shot. Perhaps I shall finish it alone. This way I am prepared for our glorious duel!" Daniel said. He nearly ruined his carefully presented image by not dodging out of the way of flying debris. But he managed, and moved to the side.

Marrin was at Daniel's side, which was frightening because Daniel hadn't heard the large bleeding Fae approach. "My turn." He lifted his left hand. His lips were paler now, and his breathing was completely wretched.

"Well, I suppose this is a contest." Daniel said, flaring the Song of the Red Sword. "Very well! But can I impose a limitation to make it more interesting?"

The Sword hummed, and Daniel could hear its own song as an answer. Excitingly.

"Do it in one shot. Do what I couldn't. If you can't...Then this contest surely would not be interesting."

What Daniel did not add was that the closer the Shadow Warbler was to the trap, the greater the resistance would become became.

But the Sword was good natured, and Daniel spent exactly 2.4 seconds standing, looking impressive, before he felt his Gravity shift and pull him out of the way a mere moment the entire Torn a Doe converged over Marrin and Marrin launched forward attacking the Shadow Warbler.

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The Sword was powerful.

Very scarily powerful.

Daniel found himself being steadied by Esra. Daniel hadn't realized Esra had that level of control to change someone's direction like that. Was it because Esra had been holding back? Or did Esra not understand his own abilities well? He didn't know.

The two old campaign companions stood, watching Marrin move. The tall mountain of a fae seemed to relax as he pushed his attack against the Shadowy ilky thing.

"So, Spikes." said Esra, whom had pulled Daniel away. "Marrin has one of the murder swords? Like your dad?"

"No." Said Daniel. Whatever the sword was, however dangerous, it was not hunting blood. Also...calling the Red Lord, The High Fae and Master over the Red Faction...his dad? That ancient entity may have been Elswith's Lordly Father, but 'dad'? Never.

Daniel moved his hand, instinct alone, as a rogue piece of debris nearly crashed into Esra and himself. It shattered into pieces against his borrowed crowbar.

"So...how did talking go with Kane?" Asked Esra, dusting off his strange shirt with a long faded image. His blue tweed pants looked no worse for wear. Although, it did look like Esra lost a shoe somewhere. He also didn't look particularly bothered by it's absence. "Did she apologize?"

"Not great." Daniel said, still remembering her screams as she 'fell' vertically outward, in a storm of red glass broken by her own power.

"That's rough buddy." Said Esra, then smiled like he had said a joke.

The massive Torn a Doe was starting wind down as the power was being converted to pushing the Shadow Warbler.

It would have taken all of them together to re-seal the Shadow Warbler. 'Vye', Frank, Marrin, Daniel, and perhaps Esra, working together, may have been enough to join power and push the ancient Warbler back into its confinement. The closer the Warbler came, the hardest it fought.

But Marrin alone was doing it now.

The room shattered and banged as more and more of the Torn a Doe was pulled apart, that power spent countering the Shadow Warbler.

"Hey, remember that time I messed up and you ended up on the underside of that giant crow thing?"

"Where I almost fell into the sky in an environment where the griffins could not fly, and I may have tumbled to my death?"

"Do you remember how Kane got food poisoning that time? That cow deserved it. Everyone told her that it went bad, but boy, she didn't listen."

Esra brought up the weirdest things. They were in great danger, and the shrieking of the wind and the screams of the Warbler left little cheer.

But then again...

What else did they have to do?

"It was a memorable day." Daniel felt like his suffering that day had been greater than Kane's, but...at the same time, in light of everything...

Daniel laughed. Remembering Kane's haughty face, minutes before losing her lunch, as she implied her constitution was superior.

"Right." Said Esra, with a large wink. "So...how are we going to save Martin and his non murderous sword?"

"Marrin." Said Daniel. "His name is Marrin." Marrin, son of...whom?

There was terrible screaming from the Shadow Warbler, and Daniel felt rather than saw what Marrin was doing. It was...brutal. Which did not help Daniel's claim that the Sword was merely just playful.

"So...I go high, you go low?" Esra asked. "Whack some sense back into him? Is he our new friend? Are we going to go on camping trips with him and Parcel again? That'd be awesome. I think Marrin would like blackjack."

"As for removing the sword, I have a plan." Daniel stood up. He could feel the moment the ilky Shadow Warbler began being forced back into the ancient trap. There was a massive boom, and the room shook as it was overpowered.

"So that's a yes to going camping with da bois?"

"Parcel is not my friend. We are not friends." Said Daniel feeling exhausted.

"Right. He's totally not your best friend."

Daniel wanted to correct the Gravity Mage, once and for all, that the Lordling Parcel and himself were rivals at the best of times, and enemies the rest. How they had vied against each other.

And how hurt Elswith had been when Parcel had stopped training, and had given up improving. How Parcel had hurt Silvia by not working to make himself stronger. How Elswith had sent spies to try to find Parcel's secret plan, only to find out that he had yielded the upcoming Lord's position of the Sky Court to Lordling Fredar.

They were not friends clearly.

But before Daniel could inform Esra of all the clear and obvious facts, there was a great loud shrieking, a huge wave of power, and Marrin, descendant of Castor, Heirling of the Storming Sword, was the victor.

And all that rampant power now swirled, focusing on Daniel.

"I won."