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Thaliat yanked her blade free from the ground and held it before her, ready to attack but waiting to see what Undakai had up his sleeve. He deflected that attack. But what is he plotting now? What is it that he thinks I am missing?

Thaliat grasped her locket with her free hand and pulled a bit more spirit energy from around her, certain she would need the boost to keep up with Undakai. She still was not sure where the spirits were that she was drawing upon, but she was glad there was something to supplement the energies she already harnessed. There will be time later to figure out where it is coming from, if I survive this. Not that I know how I'll get out of here if I do...

He brought his right hand up over to his side, protecting the side of his head from the last of Thaliat's attack. He grinned as he stood up, looking towards his nemesis, who looked, for a brief moment, perplexed.

"Confused my little Thaliat? But what are you confused about, mmm?" He smiled, standing erect again, his left hand on his chin while his right arm supported it by the elbow. "Oh hum...what ever could it be that you're so confused about...AH! Maybe you still haven't figured out just what is going on? Maybe you're wondering why I'm limited to using only half my strength? No, no, no, can't be that...hmmm...possibly, then, you do not understand yet why I am so amused? Well, maybe to answer that question, you should ask that squirrel that's been hosting your soul to take a look around, hmm?" He smiled for a moment, returning to his thoughtful posture after a few short moments. "But there is something more...hmmm...what ever could it be. AH! I was curious as to why you had that same perplexed look earlier when you disfigured my hand..." He smiled, looking straight into Thaliat's eyes.

"You don't know where all that power is coming from, do you?"

His laughter echoed hollow down the corridor. "Yes, that is it, isn't it? You fire one of the strongest attacks to come at me in a long time, and you don't even understand the forces around it." His smiling face masked his true thoughts. He was playing his game, as he always did. He himself didn't know for sure where her power was coming from, but he had a strong hypothesis. This soul barrier may be feeding that little locket of hers...and while I could easily deal with all of the souls within the barrier at full strength, this may prove to be a little tricky with it cut in half.

"Hmmm...Did I say something amusing?" He smiled, noting that there was a build up of energy around Thaliat. Hmm...I didn't say anything that I would have been amused by...unless... "Hmmm...Maybe something I said was...incorrect? Do you really know where that power is coming from? Hmmm, no, I don't think that would be that amusing...Hmmm...Possibly..."

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She is still in there, right?

Of course she is, I've been watching her since she entered the little rodent. He closed his mind briefly. Damnit I hate telepathy...and he does to...sigh, it must be important. He reopened his mind, speaking directly with Undakai. I'll go ahead and double check for you, but I'm certain... It took him only a second to check. Really the only reason he hadn't been checking the entire time was because he was too interested in the fight between Thaliat and Undakai. It's...not there...AWWWW DAMNIT!

I thought that might be the case. You know what to do.

Of course, I'll be right there.

I know you will

Yeah yeah, I know you know

I know you know that I know

Shut up He heaved a sigh, closing his link with Kai. Even worse, telepathy with yourself.

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He smiled broadly. "You are quite the sneaky devil, aren't you? Oh well...one less squirrel to hide in." He sniffed the air. "Yes...definately medium rare...though the skin may be a little burnt."

He twitched his hands, his claws coming out again. "Now...show me what you've got, little Thaliat."

((Slim-eo, Slim-eo, Wherefore art though, Slim-eo? I feel a little lost on the battlefield without thou.))

(sorry for the extremely late reply, been really busy)

He mocked Thaliat with a low bow, his right arm out to his side and his left arm held below his chest. "Oh, I would love to dance..." He said, his eyes looking up at her from his bowed head, staring into her. He slowly broght his body back up and turned it side ways, stretching out his hand as if in a gesture to take hers for a dance. "Shall I lead then?" His body seemed rapidly change while he did, his entire attire becoming much brighter and far more gallant. He wore a suit of almost all white, with a matching rose resting in his mouth. Another interesting change was that his tail had split into nine. Over all of that, however, possibly the most shocking change was his eyes. They no longer seemed chaotic or cruel, but soft and kind.

From what was a twisted and cruel looking demon now stood an elegant, well dressed, handsome individual.

He smiled softly at Thaliat, who was now almost upon her.

"If you run now, I won't kill you."

He frowned, shaking his head solemnly, as if to say she had just signed her own death warrent. Calmly, he took the rose out of his mouth, turning it over and over between his fingers. "I can assure you, if you can not defeat me now, you will not last but a few moments when I am reunited, and though you may not admit it, unless you have an immense power reserve somewhere that you do not know about or just haven't used that is far more powerful then what you have shown so far, you probably won't even last till that happens."

He turned away from her, walking slowly down the hallway, the rose still flipping over in his fingers. "But if you really wish to continue your futile advance, then there is nothing that I can do to stop you." With a slight flick, the stem of the rose landed in his hand, instantly transmuting into a golden hilt of a beautifully crafted saber. The hilt itself had a wavy design that flowed like a river over his hand. The blade itself was silver, with a smooth, flowing design and the words "Meus Mucro Meus Vita" engraved into it.

He turned back around, twirling the saber gracefully as he turned, pointing it in an arc towards the floor. His eyes looked straight into Thaliat's own in a manner that made it feel as if he was looking straight through her physical form and into the soul that controlled it. "If you charge, I can gurantee you, all the souls of this world could not give you enough power to save yourself."

Thaliat looked at Undakai with unmasked curiosity. Does he know? Is he challenging me to....even if he isn't, should I try to draw more? I only drew a little before, and the power was still strong. Thaliat grasped her locket with her left hand and drew a deep breath as she leveled her own sword. She gave the locket a squeeze. Doesn't seem much like it will matter either way. It seems hardly likely I will defeat him. I may as well go with as much of a blaze of glory as I can muster!

"Well, Undakai, I'm not charging you. But I doubt you'll be content to just walk away. Wouldn't make you look like much of an evil demonic leader if you didn't quash the good guy, now would it?" Thaliat smirked. The aura around her became solid as she drew deeply of the power she could access. "Besides, would you really want to miss a good fight?"

Thaliat continued to pull power from all around her and the blade of her sword changed from a modest metal blade with a flickering aura to a luminescent aqua broadsword. Her locket began to rise. Thaliat slowly floated up from the floor, unaware herself of the change as she dismissed the change in Undakai's position as another of his shifts. It wasn't until her feet were a full foot off the floor that she realized two things; she was floating, and she was still drawing unwavering power into her locket.

I bet if I could afford to check, there will be more spirits in there too. Well, that just means drawing on them will be easier later. Thaliat slowly let her hand slide from the locket and found she could still maintain the draw. This is good. Very good.

Thaliat shrugged at Undakai. "I didn't know I could do this either." She changed the angle of her sword slightly. "Well, this puts a new perspective on things. " Thaliat felt her free hand begin to tingle. She raised her hand to her face and gazed in mild wonder at the flickering light dancing about her palm and finger tips. "Huh? This is interesting..."

Rose gave a deep, heavy sigh. She didn't know exactly what happened, but something had caused Undakai to just up and leave in a hurry. This gave her ample time to get her wound under control, although something was stopping the wound from completely healing. No matter how much of her own healing power she tried to use, the wound just would not close properly. It was no longer the lethal gouge that it had once been, but now a nasty, disfiguring gash went a little to the left of her belly all the way around the opposite side of her back. Although it was under control now, it would reopen whenever she made any quick movements and start bleeding all over again, which would take a few moments to heal.

"Well, nobody can say I'm not lucky." She said to herself, thinking about how Undakai had just left her for dead. She hung close to the wall, one hand pushing against the wall to give her something to lean on, the other hanging over her side, a faint green glow coming from it. She limped slowly down the hallway, wincing from the pain that came from each step she took.

"Damn it, what's going on..."