The smile on her face dropped, eyes narrowing with suspicion. It was strangely comfortable to look at him at her own height, but in this life and the last she had never been approached with any form of affection—or rather, those who did show her such warmth never did so sincerely. Chae had no reason to trust this man. She recoiled from his touch.

“I was a healer,” she replied, eyes cast down. “I helped people, and I protected them from terrible deaths, and I exterminated nasty leeches like you… and like me.” She turned her back to him, for it was difficult not to think of her current condition as a curse. In any case, it was no good to admit such things to a fellow fiend. Though she could not see him with her two eyes, he would surely feel the sickly touch of her magic, which reached out around her on all sides. She knew where he was, and she would not tolerate their proximity again.

The sky seemed dimmer then, the ashy stench of her sacrifice more foul. “You are probably from another world. So am I. Histories mean nothing here, only futures. Intentions are ants beneath the boot of action. What are you going to do? Will you guard this worthless barrier for the rest of eternity?”

< The barrier protects it self i prefer to live in the shows my dear and before i was a Vampire i was like you killed any thing undead no matter how my dear and you seem like a…> he couldn't think of the word with out possibly angering her and getting his throat slit by her he found her attractive for some reason he always despised the undead before but she was different he didn't want to anger her in any way so that she would dside to hate him.< i feel attracted to you in some way im sorry but you seem different from the rest of us. i have never felt like this in about a thousand years now to words any thing living or dead.>

(((Hope im allowed to join in.)))

Xallithelid phased into sight as the vampire started to flirt with the lich. He thought the creature a fool for wasting his time, as love in undeath was less likely than true love in life. and as far as he was concerned, that simply didn't exist. Not mutually, atleast. He called out to the two, "Having fun, companion lich? Also, i believe i have seen you before, bealcrest."

His rats circled him, his bird resting on the top of his scythe. He could speak with animals, and he heard his rats saying they didnt like this… vampire. He claimed to be royalty, although he couldnt see a crest from any vampire count royal house he knew of. Actually, the vampire seemed to not be of the underdark's vampire counts at all. He was also out here, in the sun, without burning…

<yes you have i shot you with an arrow> he said preparing to take a shot at him with his bow and taking off from the ground. < and how have you breached my ancestors barrier as well?> he said questioning where he had come from. 

She hesitated as Bealcrest's words and their implications filled her ears, allowing them both to wallow in stinky silence for many long moments. Just as she thought she had found the syllables to respond, a different yet keenly familiar voice interrupted her. Chae turned around to be greeted with the image and aura of the squid himself, held at arrow point by her latest acquaintance.

Initially her frown only deepened, as her control of the situation was slowly slipping away from her. She had started the bright day with a crying girl subject to her every arcane will an now, beneath the glory of a fading dusk, she was being propositioned and defended by a couple of creatures whom she could neither kill nor command. She sighed. "As much fun as a girl can have in the middle of the desert," she answered, gesturing to her spent sacrifice. With a softening look down towards the swarm at his feet, she added, "You've been busy, I see."

As a being of death and decay, Chae held a special place in her unbeating heart for rodents and their kin. Though she knew no primal magic to summon one outright, she held out a hand and made a soft kissing noise to beckon one of the rats at his side. 

She did not condone the vampire's aggression, but neither did she attempt to prevent it. Chae had no role in their quarrel. Still she kept them both in her periphery–secretly hoping the encounter would come to violence.

"Go ahead, fumble. The lich doesn't bite, unless you bite her first." He said, to the red spotted rat. The rodent skittered over eagerly, climbing up the lich's form to rest on her shoulder, sniffing her cheek and then plopping down, falling into a resting position between her shoulder blade and collar bone. "Vampire, do not insult me with your idiotic notions of being able to harm me. If you are anything like your magic, i could rip through you like paper." he said angrily towards the pale figure. To accentuate his point, he used his telekinesis to snap the arrow that had been strung.

"Nosenger, i am guessing you would like to keep Pyreskull elsewhere? He may get a bit rowdy." He said to his bird, who purred in response. The demon was quite the character, but when it came to murder, it was almost second nature. Xallithelid moved towards a sparkle in the sands, bending low to examine it. It was a small golden spike, no more than an inch long, but the illithid knew what it was.

There was a paladin near.

Although it wouldnt affect him too badly, his companions would be ripped to shreds by the holy spikes. These were called angel tears, and when activated would zip through the air, towards the nearest undead, tearing through flesh and bone, burning their very essence. He sent his bird into the air, now suddenly feeling holy energies all around him.

<last time we met you were on some godforsaken quest so did it end for i see your still some how in one piece.> he said slowly watching the bird and seeing a golden tip come out of the ground.< what have you done you stupid squid you brought paladins here and now me and my linch friend will die chae get we must leave.>

Chae had been scratching the rat on his little eyebrows when the angel tear was revealed. She started and stepped backward, accidentally pressing too hard on his splotchy head. In the next moment her hand was moving rapidly over his furry spine, both an apology and a nervous tick. Her attention darted to Bealcrest as he spoke. They needed to leave. She could do that. 

The magic sparked on her fingertips, but she hesitated to make the portal. How hadn't she sensed it? She cringed at the exposed holy energy, and the too familiar sickening sensation that overcame her in its presence. "Where is the righteous wretch?" She said out loud, resentment boiling in her congealed veins. She wished that she could just go after the paladin and destroy him like he deserved, but ultimately she knew that she could never have the advantage. 

Then the gate opened beside her and Bealcrest, showing a dark wet cave on the other side. Desert sand tripped across the threshold as she shooed Fumble back to Xallithelid. As she looked up at the squid, she asked, "Will you fight or flee?" 

She said it almost like a goodbye, while secretly craving to take the paladin on.

< chea if we fight we surely will die we need to leave be fore they activate> he said letting his wings out and grabbing the linch by the hand<if you want to leave we need to now or we can try and find its up to you my dear..

Bealcrest was right. Chae’s face twisted in a tight frown, craving the relief of an exasperated sigh. Instead, her dead lungs remained limp in her chest as she turned away from Xallithelid and toward her gate. She did not take the vampire’s hand. She could find her own path and escape in her own way. She stepped into the portal and, sparing a moment to savored the dry air and the succeeded sacrifice, she stepped into the anonymous cave on the other side. The portal closed almost immediately afterward, trapping her in the comfort of lonely darkness.