[Intro, closed] I think, therefore I kill

[Tarot]

As everyone steeled for the almost inevitable confrontation, Mashaen and Qiao stood calmly as only the dead could. They had likely been through this kind of ordeal more than once before. For some reason people with power were often inclined to gain even more power, at the expense of other people with power.

A lone figure stepped through the doorway, emerging from the smoke of the explosion. As expected, it was another Nuit, though this one seemed as far from the stoic image of the two Sahovan leaders as it could possibly get. He (well, it looked more like a male body) had a cracked, ruined shell, obviously not cared for. Rotting muscle flashed through layers of stained clothing. The upper lip was missing, revealing a row of pointy yellow teeth. The head was half-defleshed, and the skull showed through in several points.

"Master Shelker," the Archwizard said, "fashionable as ever. I take it you have not brought the challenge forms in triplicate." On Sahova, anyone could challenge the Archwizard for his post at any time. Knowing that they could challenge him if they wanted, curiously made this event less frequent. Many Sahovans probably planned on taking over at some point, but procrastinated. "I'll do that in a couple centuries, after I'm done researching this." - that was common Sahovan thinking. Of course, Mashaen's individual power made such attempts fruitless.

And so, sometimes the Nuit teamed up against him. Like now, it seemed. When it happened, the Archwizard's response was usually merciless. He needed to make an example out of the offenders.

"You are... a fool... Archwizard..." the Nuit drawled, perhaps struggling to get the words out. "I can see... clearly... now... the beginning of the end..."

Qiao had to keep himself from just blasting the rotting shell called Shelker into oblivion. Not until the Archwizard gave the order. "Stronger men have tried," Mashaen said, "you should reconsider."

"Freedom..." Shelker murmured in non-sequitur, longing filling his word. "I see right through you... Falling into place... Drainira's shutdown phrase is... 'Reprieve from the azure heavens'" Mashaen's dead eyes went wide upon hearing his secret phrase revealed. "S... sorry, Father. Initiating temporary shutdown sequence," came the Supervisor's apologetic voice.

Most magical lights went out. It was as if the ubiquitous presence of the citadel-wide golem had vanished all of a sudden, and all the automatisms she oversaw were gone as well. "That was restricted knowledge. Will you tell me who revealed the phrase to you before you die, Master Shelker?" Even in the near-darkness, Mashaen's scarf could be seen jerking and twitching angrily about his neck.

"I know... a better one..." grinned the deformed Nuit. "'Blissful eyes open to life..." Suddenly, Mashaen extended his arm, the Projection of his astral body so intense that it could be seen by the naked eye, a glowing golden hand that sprouted from his arm and turned into a blade. "... may bliss be the one thing they see...'" Shelker's head was already rolling on the floor by the time he finished voicing the phrase. His body slumped next to the severed skull as the Nuit finally met his 'freedom'.

Mashaen turned his head and saw that his worst nightmare had come true. The golem's black eyes had opened, though the circumstances were all wrong. It should have undergone a first binding to Dranquay, and this sudden awakening changed everything. The golem's eyes had already selected someone - the Akvatari's sister, Chaelnomyl. The artificial woman was smiling. Before a single moment had elapsed, it had made its move. This was no lump of metal and wood - it sprinted with an energy unthinkable for any but the most athletic humans, and with extraordinary grace, as well.

The golem grabbed Chaelnomyl by the wrist, and rushed out of the room dragging her effortlessly. Mashaen seemed transfixed, and they could not even rely on Drainira's help.

This was an official mess now.

[Chaelnomyl]

The calm with which the situation was handled did put Chaelnomyl to a somewhat state of mental ease. It was no surprise then, that her mental guard was subsequently relinquished ever so slightly as “Master Shelker” was properly dealt with. She, however, did not let go of Dranquay’s shoulder for a second. She could not – not until everything had been properly settled. Silent as could be, her eyes merely widened ever so slightly as Drainra’s shut down mechanisms were initiated. The lights went out and though the Supervisor was not exactly a living entity in the room with them, Chaelnomyl did look around as if she was, and had simply, inexplicably vanished into thin air.

Nevertheless, surely the Archwizard could merely start her back up again once Shelker was dealt with. There was nothing to worry about. Chaelnomyl did find it odd though, that Drainira’s last report had mentioned three Nuits, and this was only… one. Were the others waiting to see if he would fail? Her brow furrowed in the darkness. Things kept getting weirder and weirder, as Shelker – whom was now a bit harder to make out due to the sheer lack of magical lighting in the Citadel – uttered something that caused the Archwizard to perform things the Akvatari had only dreamed of seeing. Projection in its deadliest, yet most beautiful form shot out of his arm, a wondrous array of gold that she could not help but inwardly admire… and also feel a terrible fear if she ever crossed something with that sort of power.

The head of the Nuit rolled off his shoulders and collapsed to the floor as the body followed suit. Chael exhaled slightly, curious as to what the phrase had meant and not entirely too sure she understood it. But there was, sadly, no time to analyze it… Mashaen was looking behind them all, as was evident by the angle of his head, though she couldn’t make him out too well or properly understand his expression – rather, his horror – until it was too late. Something lept to life behind them and with an unnatural grace, snatched her wrist and began to drag her alongside it.

Fingernails raked across Dranquay’s shoulder as if somehow, trying to cling to him would stop the Golem’s ability to drag her out of the room. Her tail whipped around, momentarily disregarding smacking anyone’s extremities as she let out a cry of surprise. Surprise and complete terror. The same sound an Akvatari might make if they were flying along quietly and someone suddenly ripped their right wing off. Sure, the Akvatari were emotionally stoic and withdrawn by nature, but in the face of such circumstances, who could fault her for expressing her shock and sudden fear?

"Dran--!" Was all Chaelnomyl managed as she was hauled out of the room, voice quickly becoming useless in the emotional overload she was experiencing. Wings beat in objection and her tail flailed in response, flippers smacking against the ground and brushing by Akuaysun’s legs with all the force that it would have had should she be swimming under water at that very moment with one last thrust in the air. The lower portion of her furred tail hit the ground again and it was all Chael could do to keep it up off the floor, wings fluttering initially to strain against the Golem’s might, quickly realizing it was impossible, and merely trying to keep herself from getting pulled across sharp objects that would invariably rip her apart considering the thing’s athletic grace.

With an attempt to stabilize herself in the air and clenched the hand the Golem had a hold on before relaxing it and deciding that there was no budging; it was better to comply with the damned thing than to injure herself trying to remove herself from its uncanny grasp. Curling her tail around herself as best she could, she tapped on the golem that was hauling her off to… somewhere, who knew? She slapped her fins against the “daughter” a few times and cleared her throat as the words caught in it, voice hoarsened by the predicament.

”Miss Alkastir?” The Akvatari breathed, barely able to suppress the rare caustic emotions that were subsequently boiling up inside of her. Alkastir was what the Archwizard had said the buyer’s last name was, and the picture was of his daughter. Chael was hoping that it had been given a vague sense of who it was intelligence wise… otherwise she had no idea what to call it. ”If you wanted some company--" -- she gasped, "...all you had to do... was ask…” A sigh as she began twisting at her wrist as they were back out into the hall, Chaelnomyl unable to resist the Golem’s strength and not finding a reason to be violent with it.. not yet. Though, what could she have done against something made of metal? It was already demonstrating that it had immense strength. It could probably crush her even if she had somehow managed to employ the one tool of usefulness she had.

Hopefully the others would shortly be emerging and running after them. After her. Chael couldn’t imagine why they wouldn’t, so it was no use screaming for Dranquay or Akuaysun or even the Isur and the Archwizard. Not yet, anyway. Her eyes were far from distant, instead focused back there as best as possible and slightly watering – though nothing near crying. Despite the situation, the Akvatari did have a propensity to be emotionally distant… most times. Nothing too life threatening had presented itself yet. She was getting dragged off by a Golem, probably to the other two Nuit or something similar, for no apparent reason. The time to start crying would be when the Golem threw her into some fiery pit or the Nuit decided she was better served being dissected alive … or whatever it was they did with new things.

Staring back towards the direction of the room, the Akvatari dropped her tail to the ground for a moment before jerking it back up, trying to swim in a medium that was not water, against a current that would do nothing but pull her under.

[Javen Vyta]

Stealing what little courage he might be capable of mustering, Javen tore after Chaenomyl without a thought. In his mind he was already trying to think up some manner of getting the wing-sea-girl free of the golem. Certainly separating them would be easy - doing it without causing injury - much more difficult.

Perhaps - perhaps - if the wing-sea-girl spoke to it, maybe it would stand down - or at least stop. This seemed a rational enough course - what was her name again - thinking and running, two steps ahead of fear and already falling behind exhaustion he tried to yell to her over the commotion.

"Chaenomyl, talk to it - her - ask her to stop - to let you go! She might listen!"

Javen saw his chance at a cure 'running wild on empty promises' - an old gambler's euphemism for playing against the worst sort of odds. The odds were pretty bad right now.

What was worse, somewhere in the commotion he had dropped his mouse - and there was no telling where Guile was now.

[Ialari Pythone]

As soon as the rotting form of the renegade nuit stepped through the blasted entrance, Ialari regarded the events almost in slow motion to begin with. Mashaen was confident to the point where it seemed he was toying with his adversary. The exchange, while lasting but a moment, seemed to last much longer to Ialars as she noted something quite interesting about a particular thing said by both the renegade and the Archwizard. It seemed that the renegade had somehow learned how to deactivate Drainira, a secret supposedly known only to Mashaen. It occurred to Ialari however that a secret of such importance would not have foolishly been revealed to anyone and everyone. In her own experiences, secrets of such magnitude were either never shared or were shared only with one's closest comrades...or apprentices. Her eyes darted to Qiao who remained silent through the whole thing.

Things suddenly jumped in speed as events exploded once again but this time not quite as flashy. Ialari's isurian eyes saw well into the darkness that surrounded them upon Drainira's deactivation. She saw the renegade's head fall just after he spoke a rather odd phrase. Then the feminine golem awoke and with great physical prowess, grabbed the female akvatari and darted from the laboratory. Ialari, standing close to the golem, tried to reach out to grab her yet despite the Isur's impressive physical skill, she was unable to catch hold. Instead of darting off after two, she remembered that Drainira had mentioned there were three of the undead approaching the lab. That meant there were still two others waiting on the other side of the entrance. While she could see in the near total darkness, Ialari was certain that so could they.

She kept an eye out for Qiao as she was suddenly more distrusting than before of the unliving wretch though called to Maeshan while hoping the rest of the assembled group would listen as well, "What about the other two renegades?! How long 'til Drainira starts up again?! Can't she stop them before they get too far?!"

[Akuaysun]

Aku watched as the master stepped silently through the area where the door had once been and the way the dissipating funnels of smoke wrapped about him whilst his rotting form stared down the other Nuit in the room. The Myrian’s green-gold eyes never wavered from his opponent, even as the Archwizard spoke to him, trying to talk down his obvious lesser. The master spoke back, labored, but direct in his accusations. As far as Akuaysun was concerned this was still an internal matter, and he would hold his ground until the situation changed.

In all respects Aku hoped this matter could be settled quickly in whatever form these things were done. That hope was cut dramatically short however as the next phrase escaped Shelker’s lower lip. He spoke with confidence and for good reason, with the completion of said phrase the lights dimmed and then vanished as Drainira powered down, leaving the group in darkness. As the lights slowly burned out, the Ethaefal tightened his grip on his chosen weapon, his eyes darting about as the blue light of the crystals nearly disappeared. It seemed things would not be going smooth at all.

Then it was Maeshin’s turn again, he asked who gave him the information to shut down his greatest work. It was an obvious surprise as the code was restricted to but a few of the upper echelon of the covenant. Instead of answering however, a second phrase was spoken, its repercussions apparently more worrisome as the leader of these people shot out with his arm, a glowing energy of shimmering golden light that severed flesh and lopped off the head of the uprisings first tool. According to Drainira, that left two.

First there was nothing but silence, again Aku’s eyes did not wander, instead waiting for the next to enter, but instead came surprise from behind. There was the soft hum of movement, and then the screams of the female Akvatari. She squealed and flailed as she was drug by, the ageless warrior only catching a glimpse of the sprinting golem as it passed. Chaelnomyl’s flailing tail caught his leg and dropped him to a knee. He could hear her wail as she continued into the hallway and beyond, and as Aku composed himself once more caught sight of Javen foolishly chasing after her. At least the man was showing more bravery and less sniveling. A mistake perhaps, but it earned him respect in Aku’s mind none the less.

The Isur fell further back and began babbling right away about starting up the fortress again, and asking about the others that were yet unseen. In his personal thoughts he had little fear for the golem and female Akvatari. The faux person was likely trying to protect the one it deemed master, and the gates had all closed behind them as they entered, without Drainira, and with a complete lack of knowledge of the citadel Aku doubted they would be going very far from their current location.

From that he devised it was best to hold ground until power was returned, or advice could be given. This place was akin to a catacomb, full of endless halls and maze like corridors. Going blindly wouldn’t help anyone; if Drainira could be restarted she could likely locate and or hold the fleeting pair. Further, two others could still be holding out of the sight around the doorway, it was best not to talk and give up position until they were located and dealt with.

So Aku found it best to resume his pose, eyes trained on the door, trying to remain relaxed and focused, and listening intently to whatever the leaders had to say.

[Dranquay]

Landbound politics, it seemed, reached even into the afterlife where the mortal body had been supplanted by a vessel to hold the soul. Exactly what this Master Shelker would have done with the power he sought to obtain the Akvatari could not be sure, indeed he was relatively convinced the man was insane given his ramblings about beginnings of ends and falling into place. He was not, however, it seemed without resource as he shut down Drainira.

This, ironically, so far in events, was the thing that bothered the Akvatari most, that these creatures could have so little respect for the consciousnesses they had created and lived around that they saw the need to control them. It was all about control though, the desire for it...without knowledge of what would be done with it afterward. Control and that concept of power.

Dranquay knew power of course as the magical words were spoken, Mashaen's Astral Form buffeting the room with its intensity as it beheaded the deformed Nuit. He witnessed the control of the self displayed by the Archwizard....and yet the man's flaws seemed larger than even the power he had displayed as it became clear that somehow his secrets had been stolen from him. Indeed it would have been a topic worthy of further consideration – although not a word of speech – were it not for the open black eyes of the female golem who was bearing forward on Chael.

One moment her fingertips were there, the next they scratched, the next they were gone. “Chael!” The Akvatari spun. In the same manner as Chael, stoicism did not quite manage to evade humanoid emotions and the Akvatari were not so inhuman as to be immune to surprise, shock and familial affection...else they'd have survived precisely one Generation and no longer.

He was none the less not so completely distraught by the situation that his reply was to immediately float out of the room after her in the direction of the two unknown Nuit who were liable to kill him for doing so. Instead, as Javen screamed and whined and raced off into the distance, and the Isur asked far too many vexed questions, Dranquay stared after where his sister had gone, considering what he knew of the situation.

The foremost, being that the golem was most likely not some kind of amazing landdweller killer-thing...so therefore its reaction was presumably pre-programmed, perhaps protective? No, that was overly hopeful. To the side of him in the darkness, unable to really see much more than general direction, Dranquay noted how the Myrian waited, turning his gaze on the Archwizard.

“I hope that reaction was in her....design?” He mused tightly. “Do you know where she might be taking my sister?” There was, however, unavoidably, a tinge of saddness in the Akvatari's tone at these land bound disturbing what should have been a very simple exercise in exploration. Flying after his sister was an impossibility so he was left to try and pick apart what the Nuit knew of his own creation in the hope that there might be something useful in that knowledge as to what to do next.

After all, the panicking Isur had asked everything else relevant along with the completely stupid... and Javen had run off after his sister.

[Tarot]

The golem dashed out of the room, jumping over the charred remains of the door and tearing Chaelnomyl away from Dranquay's touch. Sahova truly looked like a set of actual catacombs when you took away the magical lighting. While some may be blessed with clear vision in such a scenario, there was a creepiness that exhuded from the walls, as if the darkness had liberated a scent of death barely kept at bay.

Chaelnomyl found herself pulled unceremoniously, with no apparent concern given to her comfort, or her feeble attempts at disturbing the creature. As the Akvatari tried to start some kind of conversation, the golem turned its head briefly and gave its answer in a clear, crystalline voice.

"Silence."

Well, at the very least it could speak. More than that, Chaelnomyl felt certain that it had understood everything she said, and there was intelligence behind its eyes. Said intelligence was not going to listen to her for the time being. They sprinted down the corridor, and almost immediately Chael spotted two figures standing in the way. They were clearly Nuit, and - perhaps surprisingly - they stepped aside to let them pass.

Perhaps even more surprisingly, they did not mind Javen, either. They let him through without trying to stop him; instead, they advanced at a leisurely pace towards the room, as if everything were going just according to plan; which it probably was. This left Chael and the golem running through the desolate corridors of Sahova, with Javen trying to catch up. He was giving it his best shot, though his sickly build would start taking its toll very soon. If he wanted to stop the duo from going wherever the golem wanted to go, he had to act right now.

Inside the room, Mashaen had recovered and was staring at Qiao questioningly. He, too, must have had thoughts similar to Ialari's. "I have nothing to do with this madness," the bald Nuit folded his arms across his chest, "at least, if I were to betray I would not rely on such scum for my plans." Contempt filled Qiao's dismissive gaze at Shelker's beheaded skull.

"We shall investigate later," Mashaen nodded, "for now we have to reactivate Drainira, as you say. This will take a few minutes. I have to access her controls manually and change her switchphrase, or else nothing keeps Shelker's allies from turning her off again." He walked over to the wall and opened a little control panel near the (currently off) magical lights. He began fiddling with levers and various controls wired into the wall.

He turned to Dranquay for a brief moment. "I am not a designer. I am a creator. Every once in a while, my children can surprise me. Like now."

Unfortunately, as Javen was busy running after Chael and no-one else seemed inclined to go and face the other two traitors, they were completely free to launch their attack at leisure. They were clearly prepared. Four embalmed hands unfolded a large, poster-sized parchment scroll and held it open, aiming it towards the doorway. Too bad the occupants could not see the ominous glyphs on its surface.

They could, however, see the yellow flash when the magic in it was activated. And soon afterwards, something blasted through the door.

Tentacles. Hundreds of thin, but incredibly long tentacles sprouted from the scroll, entering the room and flailing blindly in search of victims. The pink appendages were flying everywhere as some eldritch creature cast them from inside a scroll some forty feet ahead in the corridor. They sought to lash, whip, coil around things, and squeeze. A simple plan, but surprisingly effective if it happened to your throat.

OOCFrom now on I'll be posting once a week regardless of who has posted and who hasn't. I'd rather not drag this forever. Thanks!

[Ialari Pythone]

Ialari was not quick to believe Qiao's dismissal of suspicion. One thing she learned from her time in the Silver Tower was that long-lived beings had a way of spiderwebbing plans within plans and she doubted the Nuit were any different. In fact, they were probably better at it than most considering their lives were not only long-lived, but never-ending. While Qiao may be truthful in his plans not relying upon others, that did not mean that he was not involved. His position seemed one that could offer opportunities that would benefit a plan such as the one that had just unfolded before and around them.

As Maeshan moved to start-up Drainira and hopefully contain the situation, Ialari's thoughts moved from Qiao to the other Nuit that she knew were on the other side of the blasted entrance. Her dark brown eyes scanned passed the opening and could see the unliving forms and their movement through the near impenetrable darkness. She could see them holding what looked like a map or some other type of parchment. It dawned on her too late what was happening as the yellow flash reflected off of the silver veins of her metallic arm; they were releasing magic once again.

As the magically charged tentacles exploded forth into the room, Ialari recalled something one of her instructors had taught her; an instant flash of focus and insight amidst an otherwise chaotic and destructive situation.

Master Zivos, the instructor who taught his students above all other things the importance of priorities, pulled Ialari to the side after she had failed a test of such things. His hand on her shoulder, he looked at her sternly and said, "Ialari, while you must look out for yourself when faced with a dangerous situation, you must also think about what or who is around you that could present a more enticing target. You will not always be the center of world or the things that happen within it."

Ialari had dismissed Zivos' comments as being said merely to squash her ego; something he seemed to enjoy doing. However, in the instant the tentacles blasted into the room, his words had returned to her and she realized that the greatest target at that moment would be the Archwizard as he focused on restoring Drainira to activity. While not fond of the thought of what she was about to do, she understood all too well what would happen if the Maeshan was unable to bring Drainira online. While still relatively close to the Archwizard, she leaped in the path of as many tentacles as she could in an attempt to keep them from him. As they latched onto her, wrapping around her waist, arms and legs, she reached for them as fast as she could with both arms and began ripping and tearing at them. Successful at first, their were too many to keep up with. She focused primarily on keeping them from tangling around her neck and head while also trying to keep herself between as many tentacles as she could and the Archwizard at least until Drainira was back up and running.

Self-sacrifice for the sake of goodness? In Izurdin's name no. She was finally learning a lesson taught years ago and if she survived, she would be stronger for it.

[Chaelnomyl]

It was the first time Chaelnomyl had heard the creation speak. It commanded her to silence and the Akvatari in turn obliged her – why shouldn’t she? It was difficult to tell if it wanted her silent to protect her or for some other reason and it mattered little because the important thing was there – it was smart enough to understand her and smart enough not to listen because it was… dare she think it? Aware of the danger they might be in.

… Danger they were charging haphazardly towards.

Chaelnomyl fluttered frantically to keep herself as slim and straight behind the Golem as possible. There was no telling what would happen if her tail whipped one of the Nuit – they didn’t seem to be a forgiving race. The Akvatari tried to remain as silent as possible and strained every muscle in her body in an attempt to keep her tail from being jerked about in such a manner that it slapped one of the Nuit. Javen’s cries, while heard, could not be granted by the Akvatari as she silently wished she could convey to him somehow that it hadn’t worked. Or maybe he’d heard the Golem tell her to be silent. Hopefully. She sucked in air as they passed the Nuit and tried to avert her eyes, as if it would somehow hide her from their gaze. And it seemed to work. Or maybe they didn’t care – they had let Javen by as well.

Horror struck her inner mind as Chael relaxed once more, the threat having past. They didn’t mind that she was getting away. That made one thing very clear. They didn’t care about the land dwellers at the moment. Their main concern was destroying Mashaen… and there was nothing Chaelnomyl could do to convey that to the rest of the folks in the room – specifically her brother, Akuaysun, and Ialari, who were about to come between a dispute of the Undead and their plans. This was not something they should have been involved in. This was not a place they should have came. Where was the Golem taking her!

When the Nuit were well out of sight, Chaelnomyl breathed heavily, exhaling the tension and fear that was boiling up inside her. The main question on her mind was where exactly they were going. Gates had closed and the thing that controlled them – Drainira – was offline. Presumably, Mashaen would be trying to get the Supervisor back online. How the Akvatari wished she could have Drainira to speak to at that point, to ask her what the devil was going on and get some sort of prediction in terms of it being ”99% probable” that the Golem wasn’t going to harm Chael. Or perhaps that it was, so she could be ready for it and would know whether or not she should be struggling at that point.

Assuming that the command for silence had been imposed in light of the Nuit they were approaching, Chaelnomyl quietly asked, ”Where are you taking me?” in hopes that she would be able to get a response that wasn’t the equivalent of “shut your mouth silly Akvatari”. The female child of the sea and the sky was not quite ready to believe the Golem meant her harm, but was more concerned that it was running blindly. After all, simply “because it was a Golem” did not mean it understood the layout of the Citadel or that it properly understood that getting out of said Citadel wasn’t going to be as easy as walking out the front door. Moreover, Chael wasn’t exactly sure it knew where the front door was.

”The Supervisor is not active. The gates are going to be closed. If you know where you’re going, I apologize and will go back to being silent. The man behind us is not something to be running from, though. “ The Akvatari finished and prepared to be verbally slapped or thrown into a wall if she was wrong that the Golem didn’t mean her harm. Looking back at Javen, Chaelnomyl shook her head and held up her free palm as if to shrug.

The deathly glow of the place gave her goosebumps. How she wished Mashaen would hurry up. If not for her own safety, for the lights so that the eerie twist the Citadel had undertaken would go back to being chased away by the light.

[Dranquay]

Dranquay was probably alive because he hadn't gone after Chael...that was fairly clear when the tentacles started coming. The little human? He might or might not be dead, Chael might or might not be dead but he'd heard no screams; no, he had to believe she was alive because he had no reason to suspect otherwise for now.

And, then there were tentacles, so many nasty tentacles. Revulsion was not a concept Dranquay was used to in relation to other things, he found some concepts of bipedal revolting and he found certain other things but these tentacles were just wierd.

They were, also, intent on doing harm.

Floating backward, away from the door, Dranquay raised his hands and began to slowly pull them apart, summoning a vision of bleakness within him. There was no...hurry about this, yet. Even as Ialari rushed forward...after all there were two other mages in the room that did not really want to be ripped apart by tentacles and surely there was more than enough time to open a void to hold these strange things with the assistance of the others? Yes, yes there was.

So, putting his hands together he opened them outward and and then began slowly pulling them apart and the Void with it, opened to face away from him like a rippling wound in the fabric of the reality of the room.

“Help me.” He said mainly to the Myrian who seemed to have a bit more sense than Ialari and was not rushing ahead, floating on his wings and performing something he had done hundreds of times before; creating a Void with a little bit of pull – not much, just a little, to entice the tentacles into it.

Stability was the first step, he'd worry about making it bigger and moving it toward the door to deal with what was the other side later, but first he had to get it to exist...or not exist. The philosophy on that point was a little open to interpretation but provided it sucked in tentacles this was not currently a topic for discussion.