<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/rZcuOpc.jpg)</div><br/>Nirael thrust his arm forwards, arcane fire licking from his shoulder down his arm for a few heartbeats, building at his palm, before being released in a firey lance of heat.  The bolt of living fire shot from his hand at his command to land unneringly where he willed it.  The ghoul, it's face ruined from Mara's dagger strike, cried out once as the firey blast took it right in the gut.  The force of the flaming blow knocking it off it's feet and causing it to land on the wet, loam encrusted ground.  As it hit the ground it twitched a few times as it's flesh sizzled and burned, but it was obvious that it wouldn't be getting up after such a blast of arcane power.<br/><br/>Lunari made a noise, halfway between a cry of pain and a squeak.  Nirael turned his head towards the elven woman to see her.  She was in the process of bringing her blade back up from a confirming strike against the fallen ghouls.  But her left hand, it's arm wrapped in inky black from her voidcloth, reached out and clutched at her right forearm.  There the lavendar skin was broken by the claws of one of the ghouls.  She had a moment to look up at Nirael and gasp out slightly before her body began to tremble slightly.  Then in an instant her whole body tensed up and he could see her joints and muscles lock into place.  Her jaw set and her teeth clenched, though her eyes still whirled and danced around, it became clear that she couldn't move.  Her form still posed, half crouching, holding her blade in a death grip, the inky voidcloth rolling off her arm like a patch of pure black.<br/><br/>But before Nirael could react, he heard Mara's bowstring twang as she released another arrow and cried,<strong>"They're breaking free!"</strong><br/><br/>Nirael's view turned back to the ghouls that had been caught by his spell and sure enough the tentacles that had gripped them seemed to be falling too quickly to the slashing claws and gnashing teeth of the monsters.  The trio of remaining ghouls began to rush towards them before a voice, loud and clear rang out.<strong> "Hold!"</strong>Almost as if they had hit an invisible wall, the trio of ghouls stopped immediately, though they glared at Mara and Nirael with undead baleful eyes.  Mara quickly knocked a second arrow as Nirael's mind began to form the spell of summoning, but a crashing sound distracted them.  From the riverbank near by a woman strode forth.  Flanked by a pair of Zombies that moved with unnatural undead jerks, and wore what appeared to be ancient and rotting armor, and followed by a massive mountain of flesh.<br/><br/>That drew the eye immediately and Mara's bow snapped towards the ten foot tall mountain of muscle, it's body covered in scars and stitches, and it's face wrapped in a metal cage of sorts that seemed to be bolted directly to it's skull.  Nirael's mind blanked for a moment as he realzed what he was looking at.  While he'd heard of such things, he'd certainly never encountered a flesh golem before.  His lightning quick mind reminded him of the fact that not only were such monsters difficult to harm without magical or rare metal weapons, but also that they were difficult to effect with magic.  While Lunari's scimitar was magical, his wasn't, and he doubted that either were Mara's bow or dagger.  With Lunari frozen in the grips of a ghoul paralysis, that put them ill equipped to fight such a creature.<br/><br/>Thankfully the woman between the golem and the zombies wasn't immediately attacking them.  In fact it seemed that it was her voice that had stopped the ghouls from attacking.  Clad in a what could only be described as a 'dress' if you used the loosest definition of the terms, made of skin tight leather that exposed far more of her body than it hid.  Her arms likewise clad in tight leather before reaching delicate metal gauntlets of a bright silvery metal that gleamed in the sun dappled forest light, and who's fingers ended in sharp looking talons.  Her eyes were blackened with khol and her lips likewise dark from makeup, offset her pale face and short dark brown hair.<br/><br/>She clacked the tips of her metal talons together and glared at Mara, Lunari, and Nirael for a moment before speaking in a loud and clear voice, one ringed with power despite still retaining a feminine lilt,<strong>"Two humans and an elf.  Where do you come from, the north and the elves, or the south and the humans?   How did you breach all of my defenses and pass so far undetected into my territory?  And most of all... why have you broken the accord that I signed with the leaders of the elven and human people to leave me be!?"</strong>This last part was spoken with a rising anger in her voice and the last three words were practically shouted, which earned another snarl from the nearby ghouls as well as a flexing of the massive flesh golem's muscles behind the sultry dressed woman.<br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">ooc</div><div class="spoiler_body">Lunari is paralyzed<br/>the three ghouls that are still alive are 15 feet away, the two zombies are 30 feet away, the woman just behind them at 35 feet, and the massive flesh golem behind her at 40 feet.<br/>We can drop out of combat if you wish, though that can only happen if you do not attack or cast any offensive spells.  Mara will follow your lead.</div></div>