Ceres was, arguably, furthest from the blast, but the loud Bang did a number upon her hearing, stunning her for several seconds from the pain, though the aftereffects faded relatively quickly, though everyone around her seemed to be speaking through a long tunnel. Her nose, however, worked fine, and the scent of burned flesh caused her to frown, before her mind realized that several holes had been punched through the membrane of her right wing, likely by flying wood splinters from the now-obliterated doorway.<br/><br/>Looking at Soa, She stifled a laugh because the dragoon was now essentially naked except for her undergarments and her enchanted breastplate, then at the Succubus' mimicry of a flame spout aimed towards the guards in the hallway. She frowned, chewing her lower lip for a moment, still unsure if she should trust the creature that had been spawned from the abyss, then mentally shrugged, re-collecting her knife as the tanglefoot mass expanded slightly, the semi-liquid gluey mass creeping towards the trio's collective feet as the bag's contents continued to ooze free.<br/><br/>Smiling, she pulled herself onto the windowsill, and scratched a quick plan into the wall, showing a burst of fire from Silet keeping the guards back while she planned to climb down to the Seventh floor, and attack the remaining guards from behind. Not waiting for acknowledgment, She climbed out of the window, her talons digging into the stone like it was loose cheese curd as she climbed down to the Seventh floor.<br/><br/>Easing herself into the window she and Soa had entered earlier, Ceres looked about at the room, not at all surprised that the guards had kept enough presence of mind to move their wounded into the room, as she ducked the sword swung at her and found herself locked into a point-blank brawl with at least three 'walking wounded'; elite soldiers who had broken limbs due to the various hijinks upon the ice-covered stairwell.<br/><br/>One man limped heavily, his left leg obviously broken and splinted, while the one that had taken a swing at her had his left arm hanging limp. The third soldier, sitting against the wall next to the door leading to the hallway was holding a large crossbow, and was waiting to get a shot off at Ceres, who was doing her utmost to keep at least one soldier between her and the heavy bolt-thrower. Above her, a Loud blast sent a cascade of dust down over the combatant's heads, though it was not the dark gray of the mortar used to cement the stones in place.<br/><br/>Ceres just concentrated on the fight, fending her foes away from her more than outright attacking, as the two skilled soldiers tried to flank her. At the last moment, she heard the K-Thock of the crossbow's string snapping back to its 'rest' position, followed by a searing pain in her side, causing her to collapse to one knee, the metal crossbow bolt having buried several inches of its length into the meat of her abdomen. Growling in pain, she let instinct take over, and, ignoring the attacks aimed at her, she charged, her talons more effective for ripping and tearing then her knives.