You decide it will be best to pull back and ask Nyrial a few questions. You consider doing it at sword point, but she has been pretty cooperative so far so you decide to be polite. "That witch over there," you demand calmly, "Who is she and what is she doing?"
Nyrial hangs her mouth open and shifts her eyes back and forth, wondering what to say.
You glare, "Talk."
"Okay . . . her name is Tara Ivywinder . . . she's quite . . . I don't know her too well. I think . . . I think she might be in some kind of relationship with Maliea Nettles, like there's something weird and kinky going on there I-"
You cross you arms and clear your throat.
"Right right. She's the keeper of the Deep Holding Cells, meaning that if you want you keys you'll probably have to pry them out of her panties or something."
This girl confuses you. One minute she seems terrified of even looking at you, the next she can't even keep herself from gossiping and slut shaming.
"What kinds of things has she done?" you ask, sounding as serious as you can.
"Same kinds of things as all of us, kidnapping, theft, making human sacrifices. I think she was supposed to have put a spell on the heir of some noble house and made him sleep with her? I don't know. I don't talk to her much."
"Okay. What's she doing right now? I assume she isn't just sleeping."
"Right now, she's casting a barrier spell. If you go right in there you'll fall off of it like a bird hitting a glass window. You'll have to use your augmented weapon to break through."
You ready your whip, "Right." you almost thank her by instinct, but then realize what you are doing.
As you head back down the hall you stop and face her again, "Hey, Nyrial. I just brutally massacred two of your friends. How does that make you feel?"
She doesn't seem to have an answer on the ready. She bites her tongue and think, "Well . . . obviously I don't like it, although it's not like they were my best friends or anything, Veronica was kind of a bitch and Emiell . . . was like really pathetic. Still, it's not like a few deaths happening in front of me are going to put me into shock or something." she nods toward the wall behind you, hung all over with skeletons, "I've already seen my fair share of shit."
This is good enough for now. You head back over to the crossroads to deal with Tara.
She is still sitting there, cross-legged at the crossroad, but now her eyes are open, and the pupils are white. Her spirit is probably on the astral plane now, so you burst in, snapping your whip as you shout, "Ignis!" the whip hits against something invisible and breaks it like glass. Tara awakens and leaps to her feet. She begins to chant something but you snap your whip again, striking her right in the crotch.
"Oh, fuck!" she shouted, grabbing at her wounded member with both hands. You draw out your sword for the kill, but just as you do two more female forms appear, one from each of the passageways.
The blonde witch finishes an incantation just as she appears and you begin to feel dizzy. The brunette witch claps her hands and you fly back against the wall.
You glance over at Nyrial, who mouths, "Shit!"
Looks like you are outgunned and in hot water. What will you do?
