As Wil continues to stand against the tempest whipping around him, he can feel more and more of himself literally being pulled out into the creature surrounding him.  Painfully aware of how dangerous this was to his continued survival, he realized that unless he somehow broke the connection between them, he would not last much longer.  Concentrating solely on the flow of energy leaving his body, he began to gather up what little strength he had left and funneled it into the wards built into his body, feeling them solidify into shape around him.<br/><br/>Designed to deflect and protect Wil from hostile magical or psychic phenomena, his wards formed a sort of second skin around him that would keep out any unwanted influences so long as they held.  Freed from the strain of the creature’s vampirism, Wil nearly collapsed in relief.  Although he had fought off the creature for now, he could feel it trying to force it’s way back in, almost like a massive weight bearing down on him.  Wil could already feel his wards starting to unravel under the strain; they were designed to work with an external source of power that he carried with him, and he couldn't keep them fully active for long without it, especially in his weakened state.  The question now would be how long he could hold out against the creature; if his defenses went down again, he wouldn’t have the strength to stay conscious, much less put up any resistance.