<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">Morgan</span></span><br/><br/>Morgan was torn between conficting influences; one was to walk towards the light, another was to try and comfort Lilly (not that he knew her name), and yet another was focusing on his fading cuts and aches, as well as the Flumph's lighteneing bruise. Okay, the first can be delayed, the second was paramound, while as for the third, he'll let the Flumph do the detecting; after all, it was sapient, wasn't it?<br/><br/>"Kid...I...I promise you, if I'm a churchman, then I'm a heretic. You know what heretics are, right, people who belive in ways that the Church doesn't approve of, yet still belive in God - or Emperor, if I'm right that you're referring to the name of your god. If your church was here - and they're not, don't worry about that! They'd hunt me down, too. So, please, don't cry, miss...?" That last part was an inquiry as to Lilly's name.<br/><br/>"My bruise! My bruise has healed!" spoke the Flumph suddenly, breaking in. And, true enough, the creature's bruise had entirely faded away. "Someone here must be a healer! It can't be me, and it can't be the demon, and it can't be the Fighter, since he's a Fighter. So perhaps it's the little girl? But how can that be? She's no cleric; perhaps it's a wild gift?" the Flumph was suddenly talkative now.<br/><br/>"Anyway," spoke Morgan, who looked all around him, "I'll try to open the door; it's obviously magical in nature." Now that Lilly had been reassured, it was time to deal with the sense of loss that he felt from the keychain where the shrunken Clarent and Claiomh Solais were; the Journeyman suspected that he had lost one of the blades, a bad thing considering their value. Discreetly, he checked; yes, he had lost Clarent.<br/><br/>The man would despair at the loss of the artifact that had dominated his dreams and goals for his recent life, as well as fear that it might fall into the hands of 'undesirable' people, but there was Lilly (not that he knew her name) to take care of. Morgan, as mentioned, did not like scaring kids, especially ones like the girl, and freaking out over the loss of Clarent, super-sword that it might be, would do that.<br/><br/>Instead, Morgan focused his efforts on opening the door, pushing on it with all his considerable strength. It was strenous work, even for someone as trained as he was, but, in the end, the Journeyman began to make headway. If Damian chose to pitch in and help him, then the man would give a hurried 'thanks', before continuing his push. Finally, though, the door would begin to open...<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">Ascot</span></span><br/><br/>Everything was chaotic, with him being unable to see, but Dzel, through something that Ascot figured was magic, navigated the dust cloud with ease, getting both children out of trouble safely. The boy, not being prepared for such a thing, allowed the girl to control everything, which, it turned out, was the right thing to do. He wasn't one to balk at letting a female take control of the situation, when she was able enough to do so.<br/><br/>Finally, they were out of the dust cloud and on the bottom of a mound of rubble created by the crash. Dzel was uninjured; more evidence of magic. Ascot breathed hard, trying to settle himself down after adrenaline had filled his body. Due to this, he barely noticed the bats as they rose up, out of the hole. But, notice them he did, and the boy thought that something bad must have happened down there.<br/><br/>Seeing the mound, and briefly catching a glimpse of a flying man and girl, a sight that would have astounded Ascot if he wasn't so exhausted, the boy asked:<br/><br/>"So, what do we do now, Dzel? Are we going to stay here?" The girl appeared to give no response.<br/><br/>"Well, it appears that there might be another collapse coming, so I think that we should go someplace safe from it. Now, I know that the hole might be dangerous, but it's also the best place to look for survivors. Morgan might be there; I know he survived."<span style="font-style: italic">Both of us know it takes more than a collapse to kill Morgan,</span>Ascot thought. "Anyway..." he paused in asking, "will you protect me?"<br/><br/>In that last question was an implicit request to do the same thing that the girl did before, to not just protect Ascot, but also to guide him through the obstacles that existed.