Skirmish!

The guards were shocked, a dozen of them trading worried looks back and forth while equipping their swords. Perdilius raised his brow, peaked with interest at the young archer who quickly readied a second bow. Pulling back, Spi'Reto released a second shot only for the maid to slap it in mid-air once again. Frustrated, Spi'Reto launched a third, fourth, and fifth arrow all directed to the priest in the far end of the chambers. One by one, the maid snatched each arrow by its shaft, spinning and twirling by her feet as if it were some kind of dance, her hair flowing in gentle strokes before falling back into place as she glared back in return.

"She's good." Reta commented, Spi'Reto groaning and reaching back for another arrow. He paused briefly, glancing at the high colored windows surrounding the chamber before setting his sights back on Perdilius.

"She's annoying, can't survive without someone doing the heavy lifting for you Perdilius?" He scowled, tightened his grasp toward his bow.

Perdilius tilted his head, unamused by his efforts to kill him and dismissing his remark. "Aren't you a little too young to be playing with arrows, child? You look rather familiar... you're the spawn of that elven woman correct? Ana?"

"That's Alma to you, be very careful with what you say next." He fumed, pulling his arrow hard enough for the bowstring to groan. This time, the arrow appeared to be different from the rest, it was much wider in girth with a spherical tip like a ball joint at the front end.

"Alma... such a noble spirit. Driven yet narrow-minded. I should be thanking your clan for providing me with the demon's eye. Your contributions have led to this, we could not have done it without you." He spoke while forming a grin on his face, his hands pressed together as if he were to begin a prayer.

"Yea, that wasn't very careful." Spi'Reto let go, surprising everyone as this one arrow short forward and bursted apart revealing three smaller arrows looking like large splinters. They flew rapidly, catching the maid off guard as she jumped forward catching one arrow in front and a second behind her. The third grazed her cheek, flying straight for her master when a sudden burst of water curved its trajectory narrowly missing Perdilius once again.

Spi'Reto fumed and shot a fiery stare toward Raz, feeling his blood boil. Raz shook his head back, staring back as he weaved a soft stream of water around his waist.

Perdilius smiled and leaned back, his hands resting on his waist. "Nicely done, Mesa. Girls, would you kindly send our visitors to their judgement?"

The Monster Girls in the room bared their fangs as they began charging on all fours, across the walls and on the ground floor after them. Reta's eyes grew wide and Na'Vi stepped back, hesitant and uncertain. Spi'Reto held his arms out in front of them, glancing around the chamber for a sign. Movement at the corner of his peripheral caught his attention, his eyes darted to the left as he noticed a waving shadow behind the colored glass.

"Finally!" He held his breath and shot a hunting arrow, shooting through the window creating a mouse-sized hole to the outside. A thin beam of sunlight entered the large room, the monster girls staring out the window in confusion.

Na'Vi swallowed heavily and tapped her friends shoulder. "Are you sure exposing ourselves was a good idea?"

"I told you, it's part of the plan." Spi'Reto whispered back, although the visible sweat on his forehead worried her. They had mentioned something of a plan but in their haste did not elaborate any further aside from the instruction to follow along. "Any moment now."

"I hope you guys know what you're doing." Reta mentioned, reaching for a fallen guards sword.

Perdilius cleared his throat, reminding his pets of his command as they continued dashing forward. One Nekomata pounced up in the air with her claws ready to swipe, when out from the window came a familiar face smashing through sending hundreds of red shards into the air. She crashed into the assailant, sending the possessed girl rolling on the floor as Zimi stood on all fours before them, her eyes piercing through her hair as it covered her face from momentum. Her arrival was accompanied by another Nekomata crashing from the opposite window, followed by another. Reta and Na'Vi looked in awe as one by one, each of the six windows were shattered as more and more Nekomata's joined the fight, clashing with the possessed cat girls among the followers of Perdilius.

"STOP THEM!" Perdilius ordered, his voice echoing as he hurried over to his lectern where his book lay open in display. Licking his finger, he fumbled through several pages delicately before he began reading some incantation in latin.

With a growing fight occuring in the room, Reta grabbed Spi'Reto by the arm. "Why didn't you say this was the plan?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Spi'Reto shouted back with a smile. The activity in the room had grown loud enough that they needed to shout into one another's ear to communicate. "You see that book of his?"

"Got it!" Na'Vi barked back, making her way around the fight by crawling on the walls.

He turned around back to Reta. "Are you any good at fighting?"

"So long as I am still human, yes." She answered back.

He gave her a puzzled look. "Okay, I need you to grab them for me. Those collars they're wearing have them under his command. I remove them, they'll be back on our side. You got that?"

"Hai!" Reta rushed in just as one Nekomata noticed and approached her to attack. Spi'Reto watched as Reta formed a peculiar stance just as the Nekomata stabbed forward with her left paw, right as Reta stepped to the side and grabbed her paw to subdue her. In a moment, Reta had her knee pressed onto the poor girls back before her hand reached for the collar and yanked it off from her neck. The Nekomata snarled but her glowing pink eyes faded into a natural auburn color and all fight in her was gone in a second.

"Like that?" Reta asked. Spi'Reto nodded in confirmation, although he was looking at her with wide eyes and a hint of admiration. She didn't notice, simply hurrying to subdue another girl to repeat the process.

"Nice." He smiled before launching a bow, carefully slicing a collar off another monster girl. This would be extremely difficult, he found himself spending nearly a minute before launching another arrow. The precision and accuracy had to be perfect, although some shots did knick the girls neck but it was only soft grazing.

Ori'chi and Janette stuck together side by side, slowling making their way toward one of the smashed windows. Janette pressed herself against the wall while Ori'chi stood in front of her, however both women were trembling. When someone spoke out to them from above, both women shrieked in terror and nearly jumped from their skin.

Na'Vi dropped down before them, glancing back and forth between them and where the rest of the fight was going. "Ori'chi? What the heck are you doing here, what's going on?"

Ori'chi shocked her with a deep embrace, squeezing the Nekomata with her arms around Na'Vi's slim waist. "Alive! Y-you're alive, we m-missed you."

Na'Vi smiled back as Ori'chi pulled away before shyly brushing her arm. "F-F-Felix found us, we're here to... to..."

"To rescue you guys." Janette finished for her, quickly inspecting Na'Vi's body. "Are you hurt? Are you okay? Did they do anything funny to you?"

Na'Vi pulled away, pushing Janette when she tried leaning to look at her backside. "Nothing big, what's going on? Everyone is here?"

"Yes, we have a plan of attack. Some of the girls are-WATCH OUT!" Janette shouted before pouncing on top of Na'Vi, toppling her to the ground just in time. A guard swung his blade to her waist, slicing a few strands of hair as the two women fell to the ground to evade his attack.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Ori'chi shut her eyes and swung her paw in terror, slapping the guard so hard his helmet spun around twice. He groaned on impact, his legs wobbling before he collapsed on defeat. Ori'chi stared with wide eyes, her tails reaching out to gently nudge the man to confirm his unconsciousness.

Na'Vi looked up at Janette who was laying on her, briefly realizing the situation before pushing Janette off to get up. Janette parted her hair to the side, breathing heavily as the adrenaline kicked in and her heart felt like it was a drum banging loudly inside her chest. She was offered a large paw to help her to her feet.

"Thanks." She said, "So, about this plan?"

Janette brushed her waist, keeping an eye out in case of more interruptions. "Some of the girls are placing bangers around the tower's weak points. Once we get the rescue done, Nyitzcha does her thing and the whole place returns to mother nature."

"Who's Nyitzcha? And bangers, where did you get those from? How do you know what the weaknesses are?" With each question, Na'Vi seemed more flustered.

Janette reached into her bag, pulling out her special book. "We have Vardare to thank for. It's a long story, we'll explain later just help us with all of this okay?"

"Guys, a little help here?" Dimyri cried out, pulling at the chains cuffed to her wrists. A strange blue aura had grown from beneath the stands for all three girls, surrounding them in a soft spherical prison. One by one, each sphere would collect itself bit by bit before connecting at the top. All except Dimyri's, in which the process was visibly slower before draining down in defeat. She hissed in pain as her back had begun to burn in a familiar spot, catching the priests attention.

Perdilius stepped behind her and sliced the arm of her dress to reveal a glowing symbol on her shoulder, pulsing and resisting whatever magic was in place. "So this is the cause, no matter."

Once his fingers touched the symbol it sent a seething pain to his flesh, prompting him to pull away in a flash. "Damn you!"

Looking around, he noticed Janette and the other two staring from a few meters away, his focus shifting to the book in her hand. His eyes grew narrow and he began making his way toward them immediately.

"Not good, not good!" Janette cried out, stepping back with Ori'chi hugging her arm. Na'Vi bared her claws and lept at the giant only to be backhanded and sent flying with a whimper. Ori'chi stepped forward, pushing Janette back with a scared look in her eyes.

"R-Run!" She turned around just as Perdilius grabbed her head, lifting her body with ease as she threw her paws around in a panic. Na'Vi hurried back and hugged his leg, sinking her teeth into his thick skin. Perdilius looked down and released Ori'chi before kicking Na'Vi away.

Janette took the opportunity to run away, holding Vardare to her chest when the maid stepped in to block the exit. Mesa pulled out two pearls from her dress, both swirling with a pink glow as if they were swimming with life. Beside the exit stood two large statues for decoration, both with an hole to their chest. Mesa placed both pearls into the center of each statue, sending veins of mystical pink energy throughout the bodies before emitting a bright glow. The heavy groan of rock breaking apart and grinding together came to as both statues came alive, equipped with large stone swords near her size. The two Golems raised their swords in front of them, stepping at a slow pace towards her. Janette retreated back and turned back just as Perdilius' large hand covered her book and pushed her away.

"No!" She fell back as the shadow of the nearby Golem stood over her, its sword raised above its head. Zimi swooped in and snatched Janette just in time as its large sword buried into the ground. Spi'Reto spun around to stare at the two behemoths, uncertain of what their next move will be.

"Now would be a good time for her to arrive!"

"Sorry!" Zimi replied back as she carried Janette safely to the corner of the room. "Big size makes for slow movement, she's on her way!"

Perdilius laid the book open in his hand, scrolling through blank pages and turning toward Raz. "This is the book you mentioned, the one thay shares knowledge? How does it work."

"Speak to it, it will answer." Raz replied before avoiding the claws of a Nekomata.

Perdilius, unfazed to his son's situation turned back to the book at hand. "I see, magic novel of sorts. Tell me how to remove the seal on that monster."

It's Vardare, and I answer to the magic word.

"And that is?"

Please.

Before Perdilius could ask more, Na'Vi lept over him and snatched the book using her tails. She slid between the legs of a nearby Golem and made a run for it toward the open window when Mesa pounced on her in time, sending Vardare sliding across the floor between the legs of many in an ongoing battle.

Raz noticed Vardare being kicked around on the floor, hurrying to grab it in time. Once the book was kicked away, it fell to the feet of an elf who stepped in front of it ready to face him. Spi'Reto swung his bow around, securing it in place before stretching his arms and jumping in place.

"Ten times out of ten, right? Let's if it's true." He smiled, his feet apart in a fighting stance. "No water this time, seems fair to me."

Raz answered back by drawing their attention to the bottle he had to his belt, drawing a small bit of water to levitate over his palm. "I'll only say this once, back off."

"Not a chance." Spi'Reto stepped in with a kick, prompting Raz to lean back to avoid it as the two began trading blows one after another.

Na'Vi pushed her away and stammered to her feet, hurrying toward Vardare when Mesa grabbed her by her tail holding her in place. Na'Vi spun back and attempted to swipe to her, but Mesa blocked in time and struck her shoulder hard. Na'Vi yelped and lost feeling in her arm, dangling helplessly as Mesa landed a swift kick to her chest knocking her to the ground. Na'Vi looked in horror as Mesa reached for a sword from the ground, stepping on her chest and swinging for her neck when Reta kicked her in the face and sent her back.

Mesa stumbled with a look of shock in her face, her nose beginning to bleed as Reta stood facing her. Both immediately recognized the others capabilities as the maid tore away her dress, revealing short leggings of a stretching material clinging from her chest to her thighs. Reta threw her dark blue hair away from her eyes, stretching her neck and scanning this woman. "Heck of a maid."

"I'm more than a maid." Mesa replied as she dashed in with a punch, followed by a twirl of her body to disguise a round kick. Reta dodged both, blocking another punch to the chest and trading with a swift kick to the body. Annoyed, Mesa pressed forward attacking as if she were in a dance, blending motion with offensive movement and sneaking in a cut to Reta's cheek before landing an elbow to her head. Reta felt dazed as she countered another swing and pulled back just as a large sword split the girls from their fight. The Golem turned its head as Reta moved around it, tempting the being to swing around itself and nearly hit Mesa had she not ducked in time. Before she could compose herself, Reta grabbed her by the waist and both girls went falling down the stairs.

Felix and Nyitzcha moved aside to let the two continue rolling down the spiral stairway, watching in shock before continuing back up.

"Now das a cat fight." Nyitzcha remarked as both ran up in a hurry. "Ye don' reckon we should 'elp?"

"Reta's strong, she's doing that to buy us time. I trust her." Felix replied with a focus in his eyes.

"Ay, I hope ye know what yer doing." His wife mentioned back.

"Me too."