Well. 

Things hadn't exactly gone to plan.

It turned out the ghostly champion amidst the towering circle of stone was fantastic at fighting. Far better than Leiken, at least, who had really only put a few hours into learning the basics of combat. And sure it had seemed like an okay situation at first, but it was very quickly getting out of hand. Leiken had gotten in the first few blows with the lightning wand's spells, but now they were beginning to wonder if they'd had any effects on the apparition. There was no visible damage on the featureless visage. The lightning merely seemed to glance off the shadows, crackling in the surrounding air before dissipating. 

"What do we do now?!" Leiken felt the panic raising in his voice. His eyes were wide, the wand shaking in his teeth as he spoke. 

Euele snorted, kicking out at the ghost as it circled the group once more. "I'm not sure at this point. But if anyone else has any ideas, I'm game to try it." Her attention flicked between the ghostly for as it wheeled away and the drake clinging to her shoulder for dear life. Acherna had been hissing and growling ever since they entered the arena, and would lash out with her tail whenever the faceless figure got too close. The other pets had been doing similarly well. Hawkey had taken to the sky and was circling over Hawkes, diving at the shadow as it circled round and round. Dusty was hidden away in Solace's packs and Que was desperately barking and growling at the shadow, the only thing keeping her from lunging was the little looks she kept getting from Leiken. 

"Is anyone actually hurt right now?" Solace asked, bearing xir teeth as xir poleaxe swung through the air, cleaving into the earth as it harmlessly passed by the ghost. Xey grunted with frustration as they reset the weapon so they could strike again. 

"Not at this moment. But we are all getting worn out. I think we'll need a new tactic, and soon." Hawkes stared at the ghost, seemingly weighing something in their mind. 

Euele glanced back towards the wall, her ears flattened. "If we can start moving towards the wall maybe, maybe I can do something. I'd just need a minute or two and a wall of protection."

"Anything else you need, Euele?" Leiken shouted over the sound of clattering hooves, hardly stemming the tide of panic rushing over him.

"No. We just need to get to somewhere we can have our backs to the wall..." She hesitated a long minute. "I will need all of your weapons for a moment actually but... We can worry about that when we get to the wall but first we need to get to the wall." She started towards the wall, only to be pushed back by a slash from the ghost. The wound didn't cause her skin to break, but it felt like frozen hellfire under her flesh, burning through her veins and sending shock through her chest. She was unable to keep the shriek from tearing from her lungs as the pain caused her front legs to buckle. 

"NEW PLAN." Solace's voice tore loudly through the air. "We do it here." Xir gaze fell to Euele, fear glinting in xir eyes as xey met the agony in her eyes. "Can you still do it?" The question left xir tongue in a breathless huff as the anxiety caused xir lungs to sieze. Xey couldn't see the injury, but xey had heard her scream.

She nodded, unable to form words through the pain. She could barely comprehend as the others dumped their weapons on the ground at her hooves, now forced to face this threat without a single blade between them. Acherna seemed to sense her intent and instantly dove into her packs, kicking out potion after potion and scroll after scroll until they lay on the ground next to her. Her heartbeat was loud in her ears, the rapid thrum drowning out the sound of her companions shouting back and forth to each other as she stayed sprawled over the earth.

They had all seen the way she had collapsed. And now being weaponless, they were desperately trying to avoid the shadowy ghost's too long hooves.

Her life seemed to flash before her eyes as she poured potion after potion over the weapons, casting what little magic she could manage without a vocal element. There was another scream, Hawkes had been hit, the sound just barely loud enough to pierce the panic pounding in her skull. "HERE!" She managed to rasp, shoving the weapons with her hooves as she tried to get back on her feet. She couldn't stay down. She couldn't go down. They needed her, and something told her they wouldn't survive this if not everyone was able to help. "Leiken, wand!" 

Without hesitation, the youngest member of their party shoved the wand her way, grabbing his sword from the pile and wielding it instead. Its edge glistened with magic, some foul potion dripping from its tip as he gripped the hilt tightly in his mouth. His lips threatened to curl and his instincts were telling him it wasn't safe to hold with all the magic flowing through and around it, but it was this or death. And he and all the others knew it. A new sense of determination had coursed through him, and he let out a loud cry as he lunged to meet the ghost in battle. Solace charged with him, matching his stride in perfect rhythm as they leveled their poleaxe and steadied it against their chest.

Euele was helping Hawkes to their feet when Solace and Leiken met the ghost in a clash of steel and sparks.