A shockwave had been felt through every Circle of Inferos.  Something was happening, and the realm was certainly feeling the effects.  Domus Tenebris, the Reaper's home within Porta Inferni, had trembled from the shift in energy taking place within the realm.  Dalanesca could sense what was taking place immediately - her souls, the souls trapped within the Circulorum Inferni, were disappearing - and she was not the one releasing them.  This, of course, was cause for alarm.  She was the Reaper of Souls.  The souls belonged to her - yet something, something ancient, evil, and powerful was leeching them from her grasp.  With a bit of focus, she was able to discern where this source of power came from - Harena.  

-

A hell gate ripped open in the sands adjacent to Aestas Outpost, and the Reaper emerged.  She made her way into the outpost and it did not take her long to find out what was happening, through her charismatic conversation with those she found in the outpost.  A growl of frustration slipped through her pursed lips as she left the outpost, hell-bent on making her way to find this 'priest' and whatever power it was that was allowing him to steal the souls that she and her messorem had so painstakingly cultivated.  

At the edges of Aysut, Dalanesca could immediately sense the myriad of undead roaming the area.  She drew in a sharp breath through her nose, the sickly sweet scent of decay heavy in the air.  She began her advance towards the center of the city, wherein the distance she could see a massive pyramid - the pyramid that those in the outpost had told her about.  She stopped for a moment, hands on her hips as she surveyed the sheer size of the monument, apparent at even this distance.  Rolling her eyes, she muttered under her breath.  "Ridiculous," she said, dropping her hands to her sides and continuing her advance.

The undead roaming the city noticed her within moments of her entrance, but their reaction was a bit different than what the inhabitants of the outpost had warned her of.  They milled towards her, swarming her as though they planned to attack her, but as they came within a close proximity of her, they stopped as though waiting for her command.  Of course, these particular undead were not under her control and she would not be able to command them - but they seemed to stop before physically attacking her.

She moved to push her way through the throng, but they continued swarming her, nearly suffocating her.  "Out of my -way!" she yelled, her words short and stiff as she attempted to force her way through.  Her normally blue eyes flashed crimson as a new rage coursed through her and within moments an explosive blast erupted forth from her aura, blasting aside a large majority of the undead that had been surrounding her.  She paused, and looked around, admiring her handiwork, and smirked to herself before continuing on.

As she finally arrived outside of the pyramid, she could see the statue of Sardon and Xunatar.  She immediately began laughing out loud, clearly amused by the sight before her.  "Oh, this is just great," she said between laughs.  "Get a load of that, will ya?" she said to an undead that shuffled towards her.  It stopped a few feet away, staring at her with its dead eyes.  She frowned slightly and waved her hand towards the creature, which immediately disintegrated into a pile of dust.  

Turning back towards the entrance, Dalanesca placed her hands on her hips once more.  "Stealing my souls… tut," she said, making a clicking sound with her tongue.  A devious grin spread across her lips.  "In the end, I'll be thanking you… any excuse for death and mayhem is fine with me," she said.  With a swift movement, she pushed the fabric of her skirts to the side, pulling a flask from a holster wrapped about her thigh.  She cracked it open and took a long draw before placing it back.  "Let the fun begin," she whispered rather maniacally, as she advanced towards the pyramid's entrance.

Ernest had had a feeling that something bad was going to happen on this trip. Looking around her, she realized she should have listened to that feeling. The desert was not how she had expected in the slightest. Instead of being wide and empty, the desert was filled with… were they people? They vaguely resembled people, but with a stiffer gait and movements. They were most likely not human. 

Despite herself, Ernest was interested by the figures, and whatever it was they seemed to be surrounding. A building of some sort. She walked a bit closer. Some of the figures turned to look at her, and one or two started shuffling toward her. And then, abruptly, they all stopped and turned. There was someone there. Someone who was, apparently, much more interesting to them than Ernest was. She stopped for a moment, but then realized that they would probably remain interested by whatever - or whomever - was distracting them long enough for her to see what was happening. 

It appeared she was correct, as none of the creatures seemed to notice her as she approached. From this distance, Ernest could tell that they were definitely not human. They were vaguely humanoid, but nothing more. That seemed to her to be a bad sign, but before she could turn, there was a flash of light, and most of the figures simply… disintegrated, leaving nothing behind. Unfortunately, the few remaining appeared to have lost their focus on whoever was distracting them, and turned toward Ernest. "Wonderful," she muttered. She then turned and ran.

The main problem with this strategy was the sand. As anyone who has tried knows, running in sand is much more difficult than running on solid ground. Despite her practice at running away, something she was very good at, Ernest ended up slipping down the side of a sand dune. She frowned and pulled herself up to her feet, but by then the creatures chasing her had caught up to her. 

She pulled her knife out and slashed at one of them, but it didn't even seem to care that she had removed several of its fingers. It continued its advance, and Ernest looked around, trying to find a place to run to. With a sigh, she realized that her only option would be magic. She wasn't very good at magic, but desperate times called for desperate measures. 

There was a flash of light, and she found herself standing near the the entrance of the pyramid. She frowned. This had not been the direction she had wanted to go in. In fact, she had wanted to go in the exact opposite direction, but her magic rarely did what she wanted it to do. She had learned that the hard way. On the plus side, though, she was out of danger, for the moment, at least.

She heard a voice behind her and just barely managed to get out of the way of a rather crazy-looking woman as she strode toward the pyramid. Ernest was almost certain that this woman was not someone she wanted to get in the way of. However, she was even more certain that she didn't want this woman to not see her and accidentally explode her or something, so she made her presence known.

"Hello?" she said. She decided not to ask, are you insane, because she doubted that would go well. "You seem to know what you are doing. Would you happen to be able to tell me what is going on with this desert?"

The attack Aestas had barely managed to stave off just hours before was mindboggling in its scale; never before had the novice necromancer seen such an incredible amount of undead concentrated in one place, and backed up by incredible powers of regeneration and a gigantic sandstorm to boot.  The rumors concerning this city were all true; this was something far beyond the scope of what he had even imagined was possible, and a true testament to the power of magick in all of its glory.  But where did a 2 and a half foot lizard named Ivacus Manaclaw fit into all of this?

Why, said lizard wanted it all.  If his species spent most of its time collecting valuable metals and trinkets to hoard beneath the earth, then he collected esoteric knowledge of far greater worth to hoard within his mind.  

Plus he just had to know how to make those mummies; they looked like too much bloody fun to pass up.

As soon as he felt strong enough after recovering from aiding in the defense of the outpost, with the buzz of a heavily-concentrated mana potion still in his system, the young Kobold climbed atop the highest building he could find in the settlement.  Some might call what he was about to do suicidal, but to him there was no fun in a life lived far away from danger.  At any rate, he had an escape plan, should he get swarmed upon arriving at his destination.  One that he (perhaps ill-advisedly) had convinced himself was foolproof.

Everything was set into place, and his mind was clear.  He focused on a dune situated right before this grand pyramidal city that was creating so much ruckus.  And with a flash of light, he was already there.

He had to fall to a knee and catch his breath upon the completion of his long-distance teleportation, but he still felt enough magic coursing through him to push him forward.  Brushing off his raggedy robes and cloaking his head with his hood, Ivacus would carefully descend the dune.  He had wanted to go in stealthily, already prepared to camouflage himself into the shifting sands around him.  But strangely enough, there barely seemed to be any of the undead he had expected to see left.  Had whoever was running this shindig given up already?  Poor form indeed.  Perhaps this colleague in necromancy he was so keen to learn from was frustrated that an entire army of mummies couldn't even wipe a simple researcher's outpost off the map…whoever he was, he must have had his brain as rotted as his minions to not manage a flawless assault on Aestas' meager defenses.

However, he would soon see the cause of the vast swath of undead missing from the area.  Two women, both of them similar in stature and looks, yet one seemingly incredibly more imposing and confident than the other, were standing before the pyramid's entrance.  He hadn't expected anyone to be here…but from the looks of it they were likely as incredibly brave and stupid as he was.  Some commonality at last.

Hopefully they weren't incredibly righteous pricks just here on some noble crusade.

Traversing what little distance remained between Ivacus and the two mysterious strangers, he opted to be upfront with his presence as he approached…though perhaps not quite as straightforward with his vocation.  "Ah, fellow researchers!  I'm so glad to see the Irian Academy sent some reinforcements…whew…Aestas nearly got plastered a few hours ago, boldly-intriguing-colleagues, we mussssst get to the bottom of this before we're attacked again!."

A voice - not the moaning tones of the undead, but an actual voice - caught Dalanesca's attention, and she stopped dead in her tracks, abruptly turning to face the direction from whence it had come.  Her eyes, which had been burning crimson with rage, reverted back to their normal icy blue.  She analyzed the girl who had called out to her, eyes narrowing slightly as she looked over her form.  "Does anyone really know what they are doing?" she asked, tilting her head a bit as she continued to look at her.  "What I know is that someone - rather, something - incredibly powerful is in that pyramid, and it's sucking the souls right out of Inferos," she said, her gaze drifting back towards the pyramid, and her teeth clenched together as she continued to speak.  "According to the people at the Outpost, it's some priest and some big, powerful ruby."  She paused and looked as though she were about to spit on the ground.  

"And then, there's that," she said, pointing in the direction of the statues of Xunatar being struck down by the original Chaos god.  "That's damn near laughable.  Xunatar'd never let someone take him down like that, he's far too vain," she said, speaking as though she clearly knew Xunatar well.  She let out a chuckle as she took in the full sight of the statue again, before turning back to the girl.  

"To answer your question… I'm not sure I can tell you because I'm not sure I completely know," she said, shrugging slightly.  She took a few steps towards her, stopping when there were only a few feet between them.  "I do plan to find out though because I plan to get those souls back," she said, clearly not concerned about concealing her identity from this girl, focused entirely on the task that lay before her.

She was about to introduce herself to the girl when another newcomer appeared, speaking to the two of them rather jovially.  Dalanesca blinked a few times, staring at the lizard that appeared.  He was much larger than the average reptile she had come across in the wilds of Revaliir but still smaller than a normal human.  "And just what the hell are you?" she asked rather blatantly, clearly not holding much of a regard for the newcomer's feelings.  "I'm not from the Irian Academy," she said, her voice letting way to the fact that she would take such an insinuation as an insult.  It was rather clear to her that neither of the two was aware of who she truly was - to no fault of their own, of course - she rarely revealed herself to mortals.  

"The two of you clearly are not cultured in the deific ways of Revaliir," she said, sighing slightly.  "The souls that lich priest is stealing with that stupid gem?  They're mine.  From Inferos.  I'm Dalanesca?  I'm the Reaper."  There was no flourish to her voice as she spoke, but more a tone of incredulity that the two of them were so unaware of who she was.  "And lucky for the two of you, you get to help me now!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.  "So.  Names.  Who are you?"

The instinct that had told Ernest not to cross this woman had been correct. Unfortunately, that instinct had not extended to warning her not to talk to this woman. For one second, when she had turned toward Ernest, the girl had thought she might just be murdered. Thankfully, though, the woman calmed down somewhat - at least, her eyes turned from red to a more normal colour - and she seemed to be interested in talking rather than just smiting. That was a good sign, at least. 

As the woman explained what little she knew of the situation, Ernest began to realize just how far in over her head she was. This had only been meant as an exploration trip! It occurred to her, though, that she would probably get plenty of exploring done. It would just probably be inside a pyramid being chased by undead. That would make for a lovely story to tell later. 

She raised one eyebrow in slight amusement at the statue, but lacked the ability to contribute any more to the conversation. She really had almost no idea who Xunatar was, and even if she had, she was a bit preoccupied with figuring out what the heck was happening.

If even this woman wasn't entirely sure what was going on, Ernest was about convinced that no one did. That didn't help her sense of anxiety at all. Even less helpful was the woman's continued talk of "getting her souls back." That was unnerving. She had a slight moment of thinking that she might become one of this souls, but then, suddenly, they were both distracted by the arrival of a third being.

The newcomer appeared to be… some sort of lizard. Taller than any lizard Ernest had ever seen, and clearly more sentient, but still a lizard, which was quite odd in her opinion. She was trying to think of a polite way to ask exactly what he was when the woman simply asked him straight out. That was one way of doing it, Ernest supposed. Although probably not a very polite one.

Ernest blinked. "Irian Academy?" she asked. "I don't think I'm quite the kind of person they would send on this mission, even I was from there. And I certainly wouldn't count me as a reinforcement, seeing as I don't even know what's going on." She left him to draw his own conclusions about that. He didn't need to know everything.

Apparently the other woman was also not from this Academy, and Ernest was slightly interested as to the disdain she clearly held for it when the woman properly introduced herself.

Ernest probably looked as though she had been punched in the stomach? Dalanesca? She had heard of her. Heard of her all too well. Memories flashed unbidden to her mind of the whole world shaking around her, of Angela crumpled on the ground coughing up some strange metal, of Angela as a little girl, saved by some pure luck. She managed to get her mind back to the conversation, and to look somewhat focused in time to hear Dalanesca tell them that they got to help her.

She blinked, her capacity for surprise utterly dead by now. She was still angry at Dalanesca, but she doubted that was an option now. She would have to keep her anger under control. "I'm Ernest," she said. "I'm an explorer. What do you want of me?"

Initially, the small lizard was incredibly taken aback by the more confident of the pair of women he was looking at asking what the hell he was, and was dismayed at the same time as both of them seemed to say they weren't from the Irian Academy of Mages. That was a shame, considering he'd wanted to rail on someone from there for rejecting his application. Discrimination against necromancy just because it was a "black art." Utterly shameful, for a group of supposedly open-minded academics. He had a mind to visit them at some point, and show them exactly who was boss when it came to the magical arts. Those bloody stuffed shirts wouldn't withstand the assault of an undead army, that was for sure.

But he had the more pressing matter to attend to of showing this woman exactly what the hell he was: someone not to be taken lightly. He grimaced as he prepared to get into a serious tirade: "Now see here, exceptionally-egotistical-erratic–"

Instead, however, he was left fuming as the woman cut him off in the middle.  It was probably for his own good; he still had no idea who he was talking to.  But as she continued to speak, the revelation of whom he was truly standing in front of didn't quite wash over him.  He instead burst out laughing, stamping a foot into the sand-dusted stone beneath him, covering his cloaked face with his hand.  He barely managed to compose himself long enough to look back up at the Reaper herself, tears in his eyes whilst he caught his breath in a desperate gasp for air.

He knew full well of Dalanesca the Reaper, of course, from the people he had met as he traveled Canelux, and he had ever since learning of her asked for her permission every time he had need of the dead.  Purely for precautionary purposes, but still respectfully enough.  And not once had he ever received so much as a letter in the mail that she even acknowledged his existence.  He had surmised that she cared little about necromancers in general…so this couldn't be her.  Gallivanting around in the middle of the desert just to go see someone…taking her souls, was it?  Everyone with half a brain knew necromancers only borrowed bodies! 

…Well, most of the time.  But it wasn't like he'd ever been punished for the accidental soul ensnarement now and again.

"Fear tactics don't work on me, "Dalanesca,"" he said mockingly as he made quotation marks in the air with his hands.  "If anyone here's a master of death, it's me!"

He bowed low with a flourish, before looking back up at them both.  "I am Ivacus Manaclaw, the finest necromancer this world's ever seen!  And you, Reaper-impersonating-most-disagreeable-whelp, should be ashamed of yourself!  Everyone knows the gods couldn't care less about this world going to Porta Inferni in a handbasket!  The sheep has not been pulled over my eyes this day…your guise falls flat!"

He pointed in her general direction as he finished his chuckle.  "You have the dressup part right though, where'd you get that ensemble?  These rags are getting a bit bothersome, if you are catching my drifting."  The Kobold then turned to Ernest with a smile.  "Fair-Desert-Explorer-Ernest, pleased to make your acquaintaince.  If there were any unused bodies around here i'd be happy to donate you a zombie porter.  But it seems our host is a greedy bastard indeed.  No one in the discipline seems to have any etiquette anymore, 'tis a shame really."

There was something visible in Ernest's expression as she regarded Dalanesca, something that triggered a deep emotion within her.  Dalanesca could not, of course, place what emotion that would have been, but she was at least perceptive enough to see there was something there.  Perhaps it was something that could be explored at a later time, as this was most certainly not the place for drama to unfold if that even were the case.  She certainly did not recognize Ernest, but it was quite possible she had negatively affected her life in one manner or another.

The two-and-one-half-foot-tall lizard, on the other hand - that was a different story.  While Ernest seemed to accept Dalanesca's identity, the lizard - who introduced himself as Ivacus Manaclaw - berated her as an impersonator.  This, of course, flared Dalanesca's temper.  While she was normally quite calm and collected, more so than one would expect the Goddess reigning over Death and the underworld to be, she did not bode well when she was in her true appearance and people still called her bluff.  

Instead of acting out with violence, however, Dalanesca uttered a loud, rather amused laugh.  So amused, in fact, that she doubled over, hands resting on her knees just as they had when she had laughed at the statue of Xunatar being struck down outside.  "Oh… that's funny, that is," she said as she straightened back up, focusing her eyes on Ivacus.  "I hate to spoil your berating tirade, but unfortunately for you, I am not an impersonator.  It seems, however, that my words are not enough to prove this to an all-powerful necromancer such as yourself," she continued, emphasizing the words in a bit of a singsong manner.  "Other means will be necessary then, I suppose," she said.  Her blue eyes immediately flashed to crimson with a single blink of her eyes, and she snapped her fingers. 

The three, who once stood in the sands of Aysut outside of the pyramid's entrance, now stood in the depths of Inferos (or at least a projection of such).  They were at the gates of Domus Tenebris, standing on a pathway littered with shards of obsidian on either side.  "My home," she said, gesturing in a rather flippant manner towards the large black palace beyond the gates.  Without another word, she grabbed two pieces of obsidian from the sides of the path, placing one in Ernest's hand, and another in Ivacus'.  Another snap of her fingers and they were back in Harena, back where they had been standing moments ago.  Dalanesca blinked once more, her eyes returning to their blue state.

Before she could say anything else, the air next to her shimmered and a woman appeared, a startlingly beautiful woman with striking emerald eyes and hair the color of rubies.  "Jazrael?" said Dalanesca, focusing her attention on her.  The woman nodded, tipping her head deeply to Dalanesca in a respectful manner.  

"Ma'am," she said, addressing her.  Her eyes darted to the other two, and then back to Dalanesca.  "I've word from Purgatorio, shall we discuss in private?"  Dalanesca waved her hand.  Jazrael understood that this meant she could go on speaking.  "The lich priest… his power, from the chaos ruby, has breached Purgatorio.  The souls are slipping out faster than they come in," she explained, her voice wavering slightly with worry.  Dalanesca placed a hand on Jazrael's shoulder.

"Hold the gates, and pull as many back in as you can.  I'll get to work up here on the surface," she said, to which Jazarel nodded, and faded out of sight once more.  Dalanesca turned back to the two that stood near her, presumably still holding the obsidian she had given them from the ground of Inferos to prove that it was more than an illusion. 

"That was Jazrael.  She is one of my Messorem… the agents that travel the surfaceand hold the gates below," she said.  "I trust I've shown you enough to prove my identity is what I say it is… or do I need to resort to more drastic measures?" she said, her eyes narrowing and flashing with the same crimson fire they showed before, her gaze zeroing in on Ivacus.  Ernest was no longer her concern - she now wanted to hear this lizard-man admit that he had been wrong before they would address what was taking place in the pyramid.

Ernest opened her mouth to respond to the lizard - although she was honestly not sure whether she wanted to shout at him for being so stupid or to thank him for the compliment - but she was interrupted by Dalanesca. Frankly, she wasn't that surprised - she would have probably gotten angry in that situation as well. 

However, she didn't have much time to react before the area around them abruptly changed. They were suddenly standing on a dark pathway, with a castle in the distance. Ernest stared. What had happened? Where were they? Dalanesca's next statement answered that question at least. Hell, or whatever area of it Dalanesca happened to live in. Dalanesca grabbed two shards of obsidian from beside the path, and pushed it into Ernest's hands. Suddenly, they were standing in the desert again, with absolutely nothing having changed except for the shards of obsidian. Ernest blinked. Her head spun, and she caught herself on Ivacus so she didn't fall over. 

When her dizziness faded, she saw Dalanesca talking with a woman with bright red hair and green eyes. She was explaining something about souls. Apparently, whatever was in the pyramid was now taking souls out of the afterlife. Ernest frowned. She was almost certain that could not be a good thing.

The woman slowly faded away, and Dalanesca turned back to them, introducing the woman they had met as Jazrael, and explaining what she was doing. She then turned to Ivacus, her gaze zeroing in on him so completely that Ernest thought for one crazy second that she could probably slip away unnoticed if she moved fast enough. But even she, whose main life strategy was running and hiding, wasn't confident enough to try to escape a goddess.

Instead, she just stood there, waiting, and slowly tilted the obsidian shard back and forth, watching it shimmer with strange colours. She was almost certain that she wasn't being asked to say anything - and she knew her place quite well. She was supposed to wait until Dalanesca finished dealing with the lizard man - then whatever they were helping her with would get underway.

Ivacus was initially gladdened, surprisingly, by Dalanesca's laughing.  He couldn't quite understand yet that he was looking at the real deal…genuinely, in his mind, he thought that she was laughing at her own terrible joke of impersonating a goddess, and that the game was finally up.  He even started to laugh with her, until she stood back up.  Perhaps it was only now, as her gaze began to bore through his skull, that he realized how intimidating she really was…especially when he was only a midget in comparison.  The smile slipped from his face as the realization slowly washed over him, with each passing word that flowed from the Reaper's lips.

He hadn't just messed up this time around.  He had royally screwed himself.

The little lizard was about to open his mouth to apologize, but he was halted as the world around him changed drastically.  They were standing before a dark, fearsome scene indeed, a dimly lit gated mansion reflecting the scant illumination off of the silver riddled throughout its structure.  In another less stressful time, Ivacus might have considered it hauntingly beautiful.  At the moment, however, it seemed more pants-crappingly horrifying, and his first instict was to turn and flee.

However, upon turning around, he was faced with a pitch blackness so dark that it seemed even his very soul was being sucked into it.  He backed away slowly, his eyes remaining glued on the void with his mouth half-open in a frozen scream.  He barely even noticed when Dalanesca pressed a shard of obsidian into his clenched hands forcibly…his heart was pumping too hard for him to notice much else but the sound of blood rushing past his ears and into his eyes, slowly blanking his vision and hearing as the darkness continued to swallow him where he stood.  He swore he could've seen something in there, shapes in the gloom, beckoning and teasing him.  It was like fear itself inhabited it…and it was clutching his mind and body like a vicegrip. 

Before he could lose himself entirely to whatever it was waiting for him beyond the darkness, he was forcibly drawn back to the sandy roads of Aysut, standing stock still, reptilian eyes wide open, and his jaw dropped down so far it seemed ready to fall to the floor.  A slight twitch of his fingers around the obsidian now pressing like a shard of cool night in his palms confirmed he was still alive, but for the most part he seemed utterly comatose as his mind processed what had just occurred. 

It took a while for the equation to be formed in his head after all that transpired…so much so that he completely missed the conversation Dalanesca was having with one of her servants, as he was busy staring off into the middle distance away from the Reaper and Ernest.  But eventually, his mind reached the simple conclusion that "Angry-Rogue-like Woman-Dressed-in-Edgy-Clothing = Dalanesca the Reaper."  He turned around slowly, just to make sure that the angry goddess still wasn't there…only to be greeted by a glare that could melt the frozen wastes of Itjivut with its unwavering, piercing power. 

Suddenly, the floodgates of his mind were released; he fell to the ground in a heap, clasping his hands together as he kowtowed before what essentially amounted to his patron goddess, whom he had slighted so carelessly.  Any thought of him not wanting to be beholden to some form of mental or physical control had leapt out the window at this point…he was dealing with an honest to goodness GOD right now, and all he could think of was saving himself.

Tears were in his eyes as he began to beg: "Magnificent-Reaper-Lady-of-Hell-Keepings, I'm so, so, so, so, SOOOOO sorry, I honestly didn't know it was you, I was such a foolish fool for doubting you, please, PLEASE don't kill meeeeeee!"

He took a deep, shuddering breath as he almost slammed his and arms into the ground beneath him.  "I swear it was an accident, Glorious-Leader-of-All-that-is-Dead-and-Undead, I had no ideaaaaaa!!  And if I accidentally trapped a soul in a body for my personal use I'm sorry for that too, but I promise I only did it like one or two or three….ok maybe ten times in the past, but swear I only raise the dead responsibly!  Abstain from retributioning me, pleaaaaase, I'm not ready for Porta Inferni, I haven't even told off Iria for not letting me join their stupid college…I HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO DOOOOOOO!!!"

He then lifted his head up, once again gasping for air before continuing, turning from apologizing to bargaining in an attempt to spare himself from a long, drawn out eternity in pain and suffering.  "I-i-i-if there's anything you need me to do to amend my sins, I swear I'll do it, I promise you, I didn't meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean it!"

Though his eyes were normally somewhat draconian in their non-human slant, now he had managed to widen them into a gaze not unlike a puppy desperately begging for food.  "I-I'm sorry Glorious-Reaper-Dalanesca…forgive me for having the stupdity in my brain at that most unsavory of moments…please…"

One would not expect the Goddess of Death to feel regret at her actions.  One would merely expect her to continue with whatever method of proof she felt was necessary, in order to show these two new acquaintances who she really was.  However, Dalanesca was not what one would expect, however, in terms of someone who reigned supreme over Death and Darkness.  She immediately felt terrible when she saw Ernest's reaction - the girl had done nothing to disturb a fright such as she had been given.  Though it had seemed that Ernest was not entirely happy with her identity, she hadn't argued with her - there was no reason for her to have been shown in such a manner.  However, it was much easier to transport all of them than it would have been to do so to just the little lizard man, so some collateral damage had been necessary, unfortunate as it may be.  

"My apologies," she said, directing her voice and attention towards Ernest.  The lizard could wait.  "Such drastic measures were certainly not needed to show you my identity - you were not the one questioning me.  It was, however, necessary for that one," she said, obviously indicating towards the one that had introduced himself as Ivacus. 

She then turned on the lizard, approaching him in what could have come off as a threatening manner.  She nearly chuckled at the expression on his face, but she was unable to do so as he had collapsed on the ground in front of her, begging for her forgiveness.  She narrowed her eyes slightly as she analyzed him.  Was he… was he crying?  Yes, it seemed that he was.  It also seemed that the crying and begging of forgiveness was just the beginning of the 'show' he was going to put on for her.  She let this go on for a few more moments, before inevitably walking to his side and crouching beside him.

"Okay, you need to just… stop… calm down, please?" she said, attempting to calm the lizard as he looked at her with what could only be described as puppy-dog eyes.  She gingerly and somewhat awkwardly patted her hand on his shoulder, feeling somewhat bad and embarrassed for him.  "Stupidity is something that runs all too common in most of the living," she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.  After a few more moments of reassuring the necromancer that she was not going to kill him, she got up from her crouched position and turned so that she could address both of them simultaneously.

"As long as the three of us are standing here, we may as well formulate some sort of plan.  I am going to be just fine in here - the undead will not harm me, they merely hinder my progress by blocking my path.  The lich priest is powerful enough where I can't teleport into the pyramid, however.  The two of you may face a bit more obstacle than I in your progress - but work with me and fight by my side and you'll be just fine," she said, giving the both of them a quick smile.  

Just then, the muffled moan of an undead shambling towards them, wrapped in bandages, broke the silence that had fallen as soon as Dalanesca had finished speaking.  As she turned to look, there were three of what the common folk referred to as mummies meandering towards them.  "Grand," she said, rubbing her hands together.  "A perfect opportunity for both of you to showcase your skills, and show me what you will be working with, what you bring to the table," she said.  "I can ensure your safe passage and exit from Aysut, but you need to pull your weight. "  Saying nothing else, Dalanesca faced the three mummies, and snapped her fingers.  The front-most undead fell into a pile of dust and rags at the ground.  

"See?  It's rather simple for me… but now, I would like to see what both of you can do." She directed her attention to Ernest, first, hoping that she had recovered from the shock of what had just happened.  "Ernest, it was?  You first.  And then you, Ivacus if I recall?" she said, indicating the order in which she wanted to witness their abilities.