Hakon gazed upon the man, finding him unrecognizeable, she shudders faintly as she feels an odd… Shift in her body. She instinctively places her free hand over her stomach as if shielding her unborn child from his gaze before quickly wrapping the arm with her shield strapped to it around Aven's body. Immediately she presses the nose of her helm to the side of his face, hissing firmly," This is the circle of Liars, my love, gain control of yourself. Don't allow yourself to believe everything, please my love- control yourself." She hugged him tightly to her, squeezing him to her as she hisses," Please."

Whoever this man, whoever he was to truly cause her lover so much agony, she wanted to simply hack him to bits but she felt as if he was much more sinister then she could have initially imagined…

Aven shook his head. "I wish you were right, Hakon, but no. This is no doppelganger, that is, without a doubt, Rashir, the previous Scion of Dark Matter. This is the Circle of Lies, that's true, but the guardian of this place would never be able to mimic dark matter abilities, it's not universally possible. Dalanesca is the ruler of this place, a God, therefore nothing here could wield such a power."

Rashir Holds up a finger, grinning maliciously. "Correct, you are! I must say, I expected it to be much more difficult infiltrating this place, but the guardians are all so pitifully weak! I took the liberty of destroying that silly doppelganger that guards this Circle, thought I'd have a bit of fun and pose as it for effect. Consider that my early gift to your son." He turns around, waving a hand, a pitch black portal opening before him. This portal feels different than dark matter, even more sinister: it's almost as though the space around it warps and bends.

Aven grits his teeth. "The Void…"

Hakon draws Aven closer to her, stepping back with him in tow," My love-" she trailed off, quite at a loss for what to do, nonetheless, the Void-like portal reminded her eerily of what it was like being pulled from one plane to another. She grit her teeth and gently released him, taking a stand before this 'Rashir'. Brandishing her shield, she drew her sword which instantly came alight with holy magic she had learned within this plane of existance, gold flames licking upward and outward as she points it toward the man. Dark eyes gleaming with the flames of this hellish field.

" Then abide by the rules of this Circle. Let us continue this game-" she challenges in a low, deadly voice,"- We are here to save the Afflicted of this Kingdom, not fool around with the likes of you. Now allow us to continue."

Aven's eyes widen in realization. "Wait, so we aren't simply here because you wanted to fight?" He laughs, despite himself and the situation. "That makes so much more sense! Why didn't you say that from the beginning?"

Rashir arcs one crimson eyebrow. "Actually, I was just taking my leave." He grins almost comically before stepping through the portal, waving. "Toodles!"

Aven sighs. He hated everything about his predecessor, but one of the most unbearable parts about the man was his spontaneity. Deplorable, but Aven couldn't help but chuckle wryly. 

Hakon blanched slightly as this man who had shaken the very foundation of planes of existance. 'Toodles'. Not something she expected from such a powerful individual but then again, she didn't quite understand much of the Universe's workings so why should she bother now? After all, she was just a simple human. Nothing extraordinary about her bloodline but for the fact she came from generations of soldiers upon soldiers. She frowned slightly and closed her eyes, already feeling the now familiar tug of being drawn to the next circle- her free hand resting over her abdomen as she grasps Aven's hand in her, looking to him, she offers only a gentle smile,"… We're almost there."

Aven squeezes Hakon's hand, a nervous smile. "Yeah. We… can talk about Rashir later." As he spoke, the world around them shifted, and a wave of heat washed over them. The landscape became molten, fire everywhere, and harpies swarmed the skies, picking away at the innards of the captive of the Circle. Terrible groans and wails of agony filled the land, it was truly a horrifying sight. "The Circle of Violence… with all this light, it's going to be hard to fight here." Aven melds down into Hakon's shadow. "I'll support you from behind."

She gazes upward at the great swarms of harpies, before allowing her eyes to flicker across the fiery landscape before them before nodding slowly," More fighting?" She murmurs, drawing her sword slowly hissing from its sheathe. She felt unreasonably tired but trudged on. Again, instinctively, her eyes flicker to the warm of Harpies- why hadn't the beasts noticed them yet?

then she saw it- in the midst of the swarm- massive hippogryph seemed to be fighting for its like, being drowned by the beastly women again and again," Aven look- can we help it?" She asks

Aven had forgotten, Hakon couldn't regenerate her stamina like he could. It was likely she was running out of stream. The spark in her reignited, however, as she spotted a magnificent beast among the harpies. "Of course we can, Haki. I'll cover your back, see if you can mount it, on the ground, it'll be tough to hold off that many Harpies. I've read their talons can cut through steel." Aven snuck into Hakon's armor, reinforcing the armor with Dark Matter, just in case that was true. They may be able to slice through steel, but his Dark Matter had held against the most formidable  of swordsmen.

" Ah- right-" she gulps some of the sulfur scented air, clears her throat and begins to run at a job toward the base of the swarm. Nearing it, she gathered up her mana- as small as her pool may have been and raised a palm toward the base of the swarm. A throbbing orb of gold-white holy light erupting from her fingertips before condensing into a spear of pure energy. The Holy spell rips upward and briefly clears a path in the base of the swarm of harpies as the scatter, shrieking in confusion.

The hippogryph's great tawny wings immediately fold to its bloody sides, sending the massive creature barrelling down to each at a fall. It quickly catches speed, seeming to be threatening to crash directly into Hakon before - several tens of meters above the ground, it opens its large wingspan - nearly 25 feet from wingtip to wingtip- sending a harsh gust of wind before alighting rather roughly upon the ground. The beast drops to its knees before Hakon, uttering a rather pitiful shriek as it stared up at her, clacking its beak faintly.

The Harpies once more began to descend in a mass, akin to thousands of fish in a blackened and feathery school. The Paladin immediately places herself over the creatures back, ignoring its somewhat pitiful cries," Come now, come now-" she breathed, reaching down and curling her fingers into the thick blue-black mane that protruded from the feathers,"- be calm." It felt natural to staddle a horse-likebeing again. But her next move instantly caused a sensation akin to entire body falling asleep- the beast's feathers upon its neck stood on end as new life filled it. Hakon felt dizzy, she nearly slumped but forced herself to remain upright.

Gathering her strength she hugged her knees tightly to its strengthening barrel chest, roaring," Fly Ansgar! Fly!" The hippogryph immediately utters an ear-piercing trill of challenge and leaps upward with incredible speed, massive wings devouring the burning air like it was nothing. Immediately, they met the swarm and were swallowed whole by it. That was when the battle truly began.

Aven sighed in her armor. He thought they would do more of a battle of attrition by out maneuvering and picking the swarm off little by little, but this was certainly another way to do it. A dark presence, similar to Rashir's, emanated from Hakon's armor, and dark particles flowed from under her armor, forming a spherical barrier around them, nearly thirty meters in diameter. On the outside, countless minuscule balls of dark matter rocketed at insane speed from the outside, filling the sky like a dense, black rain of arrows. The pained shrieks of the harpies could be heard even from the inside of the sphere as their wings and bodies were steadily torn to shreds piece by piece, and the vast majority of the flock dropped form the sky in rain, showering the ground in harpy blood and bodies. After twenty seconds of the onslaught, Aven's reserves were exhausted, and the shell dissipated, flowing back to him. "Quite a strategy, Hakon, I'm impressed!"